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Many of us like to think we’re independent, but we’re really not. On a physical and social level, we are dependent on the universe – the earth, the sun and the rain — and we are clearly dependent on one another for our food, shelter, tools, vehicles, roads, schools, medical care, companionship and love. Even if we were on a deserted island, we would be dependent on the coconut that falls from the tree!
While we can’t and shouldn’t pretend we are independent of one another, there is a level of independence that we need to claim, but which few of us have mastered: independence from the “dark side.” In honor of the U.S. Independence Day, I’m offering this blog on declaring our independence from the dark

Does your morning routine feel more like a “mourning” routine? The first 30 minutes of your day have a powerful grip over the rest of it: they can influence how you feel and what you do. Instead of smashing the alarm clock, kicking the cat and cursing your life every morning, you can do five simple things that will start your day off on a better note and help you live your best life.
1. Kill the kryptonite.
You are no longer allowed to hit the snooze

In his inaugural speech of 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed the nation as it was being consumed by what is now known as the Great Depression. One of his most memorable statements from that now-famous speech is, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” What you may not know, though, is the full context of that declaration: “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
FDR certainly had it right about that crisis. He realized that economic conditions — both bad and good — are influenced by the psychology of the times. FDR also knew that the psychology of panic that was overtaking our country during that economic crisis would prevent it from taking the action it needed to recover quickly.
The Great Recession
This recent economic crisis has been dubbed the Great

Death is an important ally for appreciating life. I am not referring to a morbid preoccupation with death. Rather, I mean the felt awareness of our finitude as physical beings — an honest recognition of the short time we have to love and to learn on this earth. The knowledge that our bodies will inevitably die burns through our attachments to the dignified madness of our socially constructed

Don’t let a little fear get in the way of a rockin’ 4th of July vacation! Fear can consume our mind and act out in many ways. We can compare our fear to a sick dog off a leash. If you fight with a sick dog they become crazier, whereas if you simply strap on his leash and take him for a walk he can shake it off. So let’s treat your fear like that sick dog and get moving with

The Global Party is inspired by Around the World in 80 Days and could be more accurately described as around the world in over 80 parties in less than 24 hours – over the 15th and 16th September 2011.
90,000 of the world’s VIP’s are invited to party around the world, in the name of charity. Like Phileas Fogg, the global party starts aboard the Orient Express, who have donated their train. “We are delighted with some of the work they’re doing and the charities they are supporting,” Gary Franklin, Managing Director of Orient Express tells Crane.tv.
This is one of many donations made to the Global Party. David Johnstone, CEO and Founder says, “Premium luxury brands have partnered with us to try and pull together the essence of luxury without being too age-specific.” Individual party plans are under wraps, however the Grand Hotel Palace in Riga is expected to host a 24 hour

Damien Hirst is one savvy businessman. His publishing company Other Criteria, devoted to producing affordable limited editions and multiples, announced earlier this week that its Hinde Street store in London would sell a selection of skateboard decks he designed. This isn’t the first time the decks, based on Hirst’s famous Spin and Spot paintings, have been sold: the 200 on sale in July come from a series Hirst originally designed in 2009 for the skateboard specialist and fashion company Supreme. The difference between the 2009 decks and the 2011 ones? None, except that now they’re being sold directly through Hirst’s own publishing company for a whole lot more money.
Damien Hirst skateboard decks for Supreme / Damien Hirst and Other Criteria
The sale reflects a rapidly growing market for the decks, part of a series of collaborations between Supreme and famous artists including Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, and Christopher

If you don’t have a smart strategy, summer cookouts can single-handedly sabotage your diet efforts. A few seemingly innocent forkfuls could tally up to a shockingly high calorie count. Learn how to save 1,200 (or more!) calories by swapping the “standard fare” for these “better bargain” or “best bet” choices.
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1. Skip potato chips and creamy dips and instead choose hummus and veggies for about one-third of the calories.
Standard Fare: Potato chips (1 ounce) and French Onion dip (2 tablespoons) — 215 calories
Better Bargain: Woven wheat crackers (1 ounce) and spinach dip (2 tablespoons) — 170 calories
Best Bet: Sugar snap peas (1 cup) and traditional hummus (2 tablespoons) — 75 calories

This is a fun post about smiling. I say it’s fun because, let’s face it, smiling and laughing are generally seen as a positive thing. I mean, really, who out there doesn’t like to smile and laugh? Yea, maybe some dour political or business figure you dislike never seems to smile, but generally, isn’t smiling “good”? I think it is, and I’d like to discuss a few fun observations about smiling.
I will point out that medically; there is no concrete, definitive “proof” that exists in terms of smiling being good for you, or healthy, or whatnot (at least I could not find any that I could point you

The holiday weekend may be a great excuse to indulge in grilled meat and ice cream, but my favorite thing about the Fourth of July is that it signifies summer is in full swing. And there are way better ways to celebrate than just treats — your fitness routine can get a huge boost from the heat wave. Looking to get motivated? Here are the reasons I love summer workouts!
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More Daylight
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While squeezing in an after-work sweat session can be tough if you’re leaving work and it’s already dark out, these longer days make me feel more energized and like I have more time to myself.
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This week, economic tremors continued to rattle the world. In Greece, despite ongoing protests, the government passed harsh austerity measures. Closer to home, California passed a budget with deep cuts to social safety net programs and the state’s once-vaunted higher education system. And, in Minnesota, a budget impasse forced the government to begin furloughing state workers and shutting down services, including state parks — just in time for the 4th of July holiday

The moment the “what-are-we-cooking-for-the-Fourth?” emails from my brother, sister, mom and dad start pinging like crazy in my inbox – usually about a week before the holiday — I know it’s time to stake my claim.
“We own Saturday night.” I poke on my iPhone as quickly as possible.
Then everyone else starts claiming meals – I’ll make pancakes that morning for the kids; I’ll do burgers and dogs for Sunday dinner; I’ll bring smores stuff. You get the idea.
It’s important for me to claim Saturday night because it’s the one big summer feast that my husband Andy and I look forward to making all year. My sister’s beach house, where the dinner takes place, is a mile from the ocean, and more important, a quick drive away from a fish purveyor whose backyard is Shinnecock Bay as well as a few excellent butchers. It’s never just the family either – what starts as about a dozen of us turns into twice that before we know

The politics of war are endlessly fascinating. Especially as they concern the party which set itself up as the party of “Long War” after 9/11.
Republican politicians are beginning to follow their voters as their voters shift away in recent months from their staunch backing for the War in Afghanistan. But Republican pols are driving their voters against the Libyan war, even though the cost and exposure are minuscule in comparison.
The net effect for Barack Obama is real trouble, as he finds popular support for both the Afghan War and the Libyan War has plummeted. Even though most Democratic voters still support his far more limited mission working with European and Arab allies in Libya, it’s the newfound opposition from Republicans that accounts for his Libya operation now being opposed by a national plurality.
Republican members of Congress, joining with some left-liberals, are making trouble for President Barack Obama on Libya.
Now new Republican Senator Ron Johnson is stalling a Senate vote next week in favor of authorizing Obama’s Libyan

This week Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Tom Coburn (R-Ok.) introduced a proposal to eliminate $600 billion from the Medicare system. They should have been applauded, commended and celebrated around the country. Instead, democrats swiftly rejected their proposal. No questions

Pollution is non-partisan when it comes to claiming victims. That is why it is astonishing to find a majority of Republican respondents in a recent national poll favoring the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Even politicians most sharply critical of the EPA readily concede that progress in curbing pollution over the last four decades is largely due to the federal agency’s enforcement of landmark environmental laws passed by Congress in the 1970s. Past success, however, does not mean that victory is at hand. Empirical evidence dictates it is delusional to think that the battle against pollution has been won, or that the remaining problems can be resolved through regulation-free spontaneity on industrys part.
So what was the majority of the prospective Republican voters in this poll thinking? Certainly not the thoughts held by the overwhelming majority of Americans according to a poll of all party affiliations conducted by the Rasmussen

Time magazine’s cover story shows the U.S. Constitution and asks, “Does it still matter?” Reading this story, we kept waiting for Emmanuel Goldstein to show up for the Two Minutes of Hate. It was difficult to discern whether we were reading Time, or Orwells’ 1984.
It portrays the Constitution as an outmoded document that we should ignore to whatever extent is expedient to pursue someone’s vision of a better society: “We cannot let the Constitution become an obstacle to a future with a sensible health care system, a globalized economy, and evolving sense of civil and political rights.”
The story shows all sorts of poll questions that present a false choice, such as, “The 14th Amendment says that any person born in the U.S. automatically becomes a

One of my favorite quotes of all time is John Maynard Keynes’ famous retort, “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” Unfortunately, too often people hold onto their opinions regardless of the changing landscape of facts.
News flashes across the screen and we immediately fill in as many blanks as possible using our knowledge, experience, imagination, biases, etc. This is human nature. It is how we function in the world given the vast amount of incomplete information that exists in every

Your parents’ divorce might be setting the stage for your own.
Shannon*, a 48 year old client of mine, recently explained her “aha” moment when discussing the issues behind her impending divorce. She married her husband because he “completed” her — masking low self-esteem and feelings of not being worthy of love.
It wasn’t until after therapy and introspection that she realized she had fallen into a relationship trap: Trying to fill a void of lost love left by her parents’ divorce, and the loss of a relationship with her mother, when she was just 5 years old.
Seeking a rescue, not a relationship
Shannon considered her husband a real catch. She thought her knight in shining armor cared about her every

Prominent in the move toward democracy for European countries was the feeling among their citizens that their governments had little or no tolerance for the opposition. Slowly, the rights of opposition parties became firmly defined, often leading to the ouster of the government in power. More recently, the citizens of Libya and Egypt have protested against their leaders’ similar intolerance for opposition.
Early in my days within the United Nations Secretariat I was shocked to see a newly formed government in Africa exiling their opposition leaders by making them ambassadors to foreign countries where they could do no harm (or have any influence). My more seasoned colleagues laughed at me and noted that this was a step forward for some new

Has Obama saved or betrayed progressive politics in America? A conversation with Arianna Huffington and Michael Sandel in the video below. Read a recap of the panel from the Aspen Times here.
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HuffPost is live at the Aspen Ideas Festival 2011. We will be live-blogging sessions as the weekend progresses. Check back often for updates, features, and

Is Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the third cinematic iteration of Hasbro’s undying toyline, better than Revenge of the Fallen, the witless, charmless sequel from two years ago that I’ve previously said I’d sooner stick an icepick in my ear than watch again? Sure. But let’s not mistake that to mean it’s anything close to good. Like its immediate predecessor, Dark of the Moon is loud, dumb, and dull. It’s as much an assault on the senses as it is on the intelligence, and as trilogy-cappers go, this latest explode-a-thon from director Michael Bay — notwithstanding its brilliant use of 3D — is wholly unsatisfying and wholly unexceptional.
As we join the proceedings this time around, we find that Shia LeBeouf’s Sam Witwicky has gone from slacker high school student in the first flick (which I liked, remember?) to slacker grownup in this

Anyone who despairs at the sheer scale of the challenge that AIDS represents should hear the story of Jacqueline, a 21-year-old Brazilian mother who I met this week in Sao Paulo during a Global Fund conference. She was born HIV-positive and grew up destitute, but was put on treatment as a child. The treatment saved her life and after forming a stable relationship with a young man, Jacqueline gave birth last year to a healthy HIV-free baby, Heitor.
“I was born homeless, the fourth daughter my alcoholic mother, Irineia, had with her third companion,” Jacqueline told the conference. “At the time my mother was only

For some relevant reading on this Independence Three-Day Weekend, one can hardly do better than “God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution”. At a time when both American history and religion are hotly contested territory — caught between purported dichotomies of holiness and nihilism, theocracy and secularism, provincialism and pluralism — a bit of perspective, fact-checking and a brief immersion into the genesis of an independent America is in order.
“God of Liberty” dispels the false dilemmas by showing that America has always been religious — and also religiously diverse. The historical narrative suggests that it’s this special combination to which the United States owes its existence, and this that made the American Revolution so

No time to page through thousands of eBay listings? Then just sneak a peek at my weekly eBay roundup of top vintage clothing finds.
This eclectic mix of designer and non-designer vintage clothing and accessories caught my discerning eye because of their uniqueness, contemporary feel or highly collectible nature.
As always, buyer beware! Be sure to read the listings closely and contact the sellers with any questions.
Today’s selections include pieces Lanvin, Betsey Johnson, Judith Leiber and Christian Dior. Be sure to check out the collectible 1960s Harry Gordon poster dress, the whimsical 1980s Chanel domino print dress and the amazing Victorian turquoise and pearl earrings.
Which item is your favorite? Leave me a comment below to let me know and please take a minute to rate your favorite slides.
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(Disclosure: Editorial selections are made by Zuburbia with no direct promotional consideration from eBay sellers.
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