A R C H I V E

My dad, born in the walled Jewish ghetto of Tehran, Iran, built himself a small fortune using an abacus. I immigrated to America and got an engineering degree using the same calculator, the slide rule, that sent a man to the moon.

The impact of the mainframe computers in the 1950s and the personal computers in the 1980s has often been compared to the invention of the printing press and electricity in the march of human evolution. I recall rehearsing my message before making an expensive long-distance call; a worldwide video connection is free and instant today.

There it is, in one lifetime – from Tehran to Boulder, from an abacus to a supercomputer in my pocket. So now the question is, what’s next on this logarithmic curve of progress?  

While predictions, especially about the future of technology, are daunting, I’d like to think Highland Institute for the Advancement of Humanity is well situated to take a stab at compelling areas such as Blockchain, Stablecoins, Bitcoin, Crypto, Artificial Intelligence, and Quantum Computing. On this front, I’d like to explore a few random thoughts on a range of issues:..

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One of the signposts of the recent cultural revolution is the oft-repeated phrase of not being seen. From the hard-working father supporting the family to the hardworking stay-at-home mother transforming a house into a home, a perceived lack of appreciation seems to be the norm.

My awkward teenage years were marked by confidence issues, especially regarding my appearance. Truth be told, I simply did not like myself at some level and, by projection, could not imagine why others would see me differently. Decades later, during school reunions, some female schoolmates, happily married, would suggest, after perhaps pointing out some of my positive qualities, that I came across as aloof and off-putting.

I raise this somewhat painful account to ask a simple question: just as every coin has two sides, is the perceived lack of appreciation a matter of its true lack, or is it, more simply, the inability to perceive it? In other words, might one be incapable of being seen and feeling bestowed love? We are again reminded of the need to look within and account for our actions and attitudes before we look to the outside and blame others for what might be missing in our lives.

Behold: more often than not, when we face the enemy, the enemy is us.

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“Community” is one of the most misused words in the English language, evidenced by the fact the Surgeon General of the United States has declared loneliness as the #1 pandemic in the United States. Why are so many lonely if everyone belongs to one or more communities? Why is the rate of suicide, drug, and alcohol use so high?

The recent spring storm that flooded Gregory Creek damaged our “Fish Goddess” fountain, depositing tons of sand and debris along the creek path and into the fountain’s 300-gallon water storage tank.

With most of Highland’s spring cleaning done and the gardens in good shape, the dysfunctional fish goddess, the centerpiece of our enchanted garden, was grating on my psyche. When I mentioned this to member Stefan Du Toit, he rallied other passionate and caring members to gather last Sunday at 10 a.m. to help dig and carry hundreds of buckets of silt and sand out of the bedstream and water tank. This was a hard and dirty task…

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It is my sad duty to inform you that our Brother, RWB Kevin Townley, City Club member and Scholar in Residence, the Grand Lecturer and Secretary of the Colorado Masonic Lodges, passed away at 4.26 am on Saturday, May 25th, 2024. Kevin suffered another heart attack yesterday and drove himself to the St. Anthony Hospital in Denver, where he died a short while later.

Kevin was a scholar, author, teacher, and student of Western Mysteries and Ageless Wisdom for over 50 years. He began his studies in a Carmelite Seminary at the age of thirteen. He completed his decades-long curriculum in Western Mysteries, which included Masonry, Rosicrucians, Theosophy, Qabalah, Sufism, Buddhism, Esoteric Christianity, Tarot, Tree of Life, Alchemy, and Astrology.

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It is my sad duty to inform you that our Brother, RWB Kevin Townley, City Club member and Scholar in Residence, the Grand Lecturer and Secretary of the Colorado Masonic Lodges, passed away at 4.26 am on Saturday, May 25th, 2024. Kevin suffered another heart attack yesterday and drove himself to the St. Anthony Hospital in Denver, where he died a short while later.

Kevin was a scholar, author, teacher, and student of Western Mysteries and Ageless Wisdom for over 50 years. He began his studies in a Carmelite Seminary at the age of thirteen. He completed his decades-long curriculum in Western Mysteries, which included Masonry, Rosicrucians, Theosophy, Qabalah, Sufism, Buddhism, Esoteric Christianity, Tarot, Tree of Life, Alchemy, and Astrology.

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If current trends hold, Donald Trump will be the newly elected president of the United States in November. I am not saying this is good or bad news, but a potential outcome unless something changes, and fast.

Facing seventeen Republican candidates tearing each other apart, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 race was hers to lose, which she did by calling half the voters gun-carrying, Bible-thumping “deplorables.”

The most recent election polls place Donald Trump ahead of Joe Biden by a comfortable margin. Yet, Democrats are whistling past the graveyard, confident that come November, common sense will prevail, and voters will be so afraid of Donald Trump and his unwashed supporters, those redneck Walmart shoppers with missing teeth—our modern-day Les Misérables —that they will re-elect Joe Biden.

The upcoming presidential election’s main political battle line has been drawn between hard-working citizens wanting a fair shake (The Normies) and the intellectual ruling class, including our universities, the press, and many corporate chieftains….

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What sustains me through life’s hard spots, whether it be the challenges of my relationships, or launching a club or an institute, are the words of Patanjali regarding the power of life purpose and the nature of commitment: 

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds. Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”

The secret to evolving from our animal self to our higher self, from our lower three chakras to our higher chakras, is our ability to commit wholeheartedly.

Our reptilian brain is nearly three billion years old and hard-wired to the point it is nearly impossible to overcome the urge to breathe, eat, and procreate. Emotions like fear, greed, and jealousy are deeply embedded in our psyche and act as survival mechanisms…

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Webster defines an Anarchist as “a person who rebels against any authority, established order, or ruling power, using violent means to overthrow the established order.” This political philosophy opposes all forms of authority and strives to violently abolish established institutions. Revolutionaries are driven to change the established order, while anarchists seek its outright destruction in the belief any alternative is better.

The American Revolution was powered by true revolutionaries like our Founding Fathers, while the French Revolution was the product of anarchists who used the guillotine as their main power tool. Like Communism and Socialism, anarchy is a philosophy that can be taught and used to exert power, making universities an ideal Petri dish for such indoctrination.

The Ayatollahs in Iran and their “Ring of Fire,” including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, are too smart to directly challenge America’s military might. Instead, they exploit our societal weaknesses, hoping to indoctrinate our young and the disenfranchised. Imagine spending four years and six figures to obtain a college degree, only to end up with a $24/hour barista job at Starbucks. Wouldn’t you be inclined to bring down the system that held out such false promises?…

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Recently, I have been getting calls and inquiries from close and distant friends about how I am feeling. Having had two heart attacks and two unrelated near-death experiences, my first reaction was, “Why? Do I look pale?” Then I realized the question is being asked of a Jew in America in light of the brutal Hamas attack against Israel and the antisemitism it has unleashed in our society, especially on our college campuses.

Jews are a peculiar people. Representing two-tenths of one percent of the world population, they bench 100X their weight when it comes to making money, making scientific discoveries, or earning Nobel Prizes. Their belief as the chosen people tends to induce anger or envy in almost everyone else, for which they ultimately pay a high price. 

Throughout history, the Jews have suffered from terrible PR and have often been slaughtered as a result. And, so, that begs the question, “How is it they have lasted longer than anyone else?” Mark Twain’s 1899 short essay “Concerning the Jews” is an excellent place for a closer glimpse at the question. Steve Smith’s introduction to MM 11/4/19 Anti-Semitism provides some further insight.  

Jews are like the canaries in the mine. When societies allow Jews to live free and prosper, humanity advances. When Jews are threatened and Pogroms act as societal pressure valves, humanity tends to take a giant leap backward…

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I immigrated to the United States in 1969 at the age of seventeen, having no family, language skills, or cultural familiarity. I considered America a land of opportunity and a proven melting pot that had, for generations, received and culturally integrated many immigrants like me.

Once I found my cultural sea legs and took a closer look at the American culture, I started noticing deep divisions, played out with the assassination of political and civic leaders, race riots, global wars, economic turmoils, and internal instability, all of which led me to believe that America was concurrently a melting pot and a seething cauldron with a tendency to boil over in response to heated circumstances.

The upcoming Presidential elections, for example, illuminate some of our moral failings, such as our inability to distinguish good from evil as we abandon allies like Ukraine and Israel. The House, Senate, and Supreme Court are not operating in a manner envisioned by our founding fathers.

It is important to distinguish the 1960s student riots directed at a losing war in Vietnam from the antisemitic students in elite universities like Harvard, Columbia, and Yale rioting in favor of Hammas and Iran, shouting “From the river to the sea” and “Death to America.”…

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I take inspiration on how to build a community from many sources, and who better than Benjamin Franklin? In 1727, Franklin and a group of friends founded the Junto Club, also known as the Leather Apron Club, referencing their Masonic background. In 1743, this club morphed into the American Philosophical Society, which still exists today.

While I am no Franklin and our community does not have a stellar 280-year uninterrupted history, City Club strives to emulate Franklin’s focus on exercising the mind on subjects such as the advancement of science and human evolution. However, we endeavor to balance this task with emphasizing fun and play, delicious food, and exotic drinks. As they say, all work and no play makes for a dull life, not to mention the man. Hence, as promised, here comes the fun on which we shall spare no effort or expense.

Forty-five years after Highland’s renovation and nineteen years after its humble beginning in its dark basement, City Club now has ~300 of the coolest, smartest, and most caring members. Looking back, we see the Great Recession of 2008 and the recent Pandemic as having been nature’s way of pruning our membership to strengthen our roots…

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Constantly learning, growing, and leading a meaningful life is an arduous task. Every religion and culture offers a vehicle for achieving this goal. 

The Indian Chakra system, the Kabbalah, and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs all outline the seven layers we must traverse to conquer the reflexes of our reptilian brain, open our hearts to feed our mammalian brain, and achieve the full potential of our Neocortex.

David Brooks’s The Second Mountain: A Quest for a Moral Life suggests that we climb the first mountain in an effort to please our parents, teachers, coaches, and society in general. When this image of ourselves fails to bring us happiness, our fragile ego is shattered, allowing us to climb the second mountain in our own image.

Two millennia ago, Rabbi Hillel said, “If I am not for myself, who is for me? If I am only for myself, who am I?” We can’t climb the second mountain until we have climbed the first. Given the notion that we can’t care for others unless we first care for ourselves, how do we make that switch?…

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After seventy-five years of peace and prosperity, mainly thanks to America’s political leadership, military strength, and economic wealth, the world is once again on the brink of war due to America’s political weakness.

Putin’s reelection as Russia’s President for life, the failure of the U.S. Congress to provide financial support to Ukraine and Israel, Israel’s multi-front war with Iran, which is on the verge of explosion, and President Xi of China dictating terms to President Biden regarding Taiwan entitle us to ask – What in the world is going on?!

We might also take note that this week, gold broke through the $2300 ceiling, Bitcoin traded over $70,000, and the Chinese have apparently chosen to load up on gold over holding US Treasures, all of which begs the question of what exactly is going on with the U.S. Dollar?…

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The negative consequences of the pandemic are still working their way throughout society, and our City Club community has not been spared. This may have particularly affected the fun factor of our club, forcing us to lean more toward intellectual pursuits. 

It is with great pleasure, then, to report that City Club’s 19th-anniversary party last Friday night was a fabulous engagement on all fronts. We hosted approximately eighty attendees, including members, spouses, and guests, who partook in great food and exotic drinks, with member Jeremy Ciampa’s saloon Jazz band setting the mood. It was a joyous occasion appreciated by all, whether it was a smiling Nineteen-year-old Lauren Gould soaking it all up or our own 95-year-old legendary Oak Thorne banging out tunes on the piano during band breaks.

They say a man can live a month without food and a week without water but not a day without hope. Let us honor Spring as we celebrate hope, whether that be in the form of more light, new life, the Persian New Year, Easter, or the potential for one’s destiny to morph from anguish to rejoicing, from hardship to comfort, from war to peace as taught in the story of Esther as we celebrate Purim this year…

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As we approach a new Spring season and City Club’s 19th anniversary, I have been reflecting on the club’s humble start in a dark corner of Highland’s basement and the progress we have made, evidenced by its expansion into the entire building. 

After spending years and millions of dollars in renovation and overcoming many obstacles, such as The Great Recession of 2008 and the pandemic, we still faced two challenges: an aging membership, thus our search for younger prospects, and my own aging, underlying the need for a succession plan. 

I am so pleased with our membership of about three hundred, more young than old, going a long way to satisfying my long-standing hope to establish a community of passionate and caring people within a beautiful and nurturing home. My son Dustin is now fully in charge of operations, and our community, like a multi-faceted jewel, is positioned to do big things and make a small dent in the universe. For example:

The launch of the Highland Institute for the Advancement of Humanity in 2020 has blossomed by taking on many worthy local and national problems, including a key leadership position to help the City of Boulder design and develop a world-renowned Cultural and Performing Arts Center…

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City Club’s Notes From The Underground lunch series is the start of a great club tradition to share snippets of our reading. 

Since the wars in Ukraine and Gaza have been weighing on me, as if I were carrying a heavy cross, I decided to write about the inevitability of war and the successful navigation of its consequences. My research revealed an enlightening sermon by C.S. Lewis, titled “Learning In War-Time,” delivered at the University Church in Oxford in 1939, just as Britain had been engaged in the war with Nazi Germany. Far be it for me to top Lewis, I decided instead to simply share his thoughts on the matter: 

May we find inner peace, and intellectually grow during these turbulent times…

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Duality and chaos are the nature of the universe. Even as we strive for unity and order, we are often forced to fight on principle and engage in war. From the earliest caveman’s hand-to-hand combat to the modern era of nuclear annihilation, the nature and consequences of warfare have been upended.

Kinetic wars in places like Ukraine and Gaza have now expanded to involve technology, space, economics, currency, trade, research, biology, and artificial intelligence. The chosen arenas of engagement range from undermining an opponent’s economy to releasing a deadly virus, which is more cost-effective than bombing cities.

Another area of warfare is the advent of “lawfare.” Take the current battles involving Donald Trump in New York State and Elon Musk in Delaware courts, cited by way of examples and not because I am a personal fan of either…

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The global Covid pandemic was a black swan event with still-unknown lasting consequences. At the global level, millions have died, trillions of dollars have been added to the national debts, and China has been set back a generation and may be in the throes of a deflationary cycle. Meanwhile, in America, the nature of work has fundamentally changed such that there is roughly a thirty percent national office vacancy, creating a precarious financial condition for the banks that hold their mortgages.

Less clear is the extent of the alarming unfolding food disruptions in our midst, leaving us vulnerable to social unrest, indeed revolution. Just notice how inflation and “shrinkflation” have ravaged the average American family’s household budget, heavily weighted towards housing and food.

While these negative effects show up in America at the consumer financial and health levels, farmers in Europe, for the past few years, have been acting like anarchists by taking to the streets, alongside their cattle and tractors, as they march on their capitals in a rebellious mood that brings to mind a modern-day French Revolution…

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Alexei Navalny, born on June 4, 1976, was murdered this week in an Arctic Russian penal colony at the age of 47. With his passing, a ray of hope has been extinguished.

The long list of influential Russians who have been killed or died after opposing, criticizing, or otherwise crossing Russian President Vladimir Putin just got longer. Generals fall to their deaths from balconies like Autumn leaves, opponents' jets conveniently explode in mid-air due to “mechanical failures,” and political opponents are regularly poisoned or shot dead in the daylight, execution-style.

After the assassination of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, in a plane crash along with his top associates on August 23, 2023, Alexei Navalny was one of the few remaining opposition voices in Russia to give President Vladimir Putin any resistance to his dictatorial rule for life…

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We are often so consumed by doing things that we seldom take the time to think. In our 24/7 digital world, we have evolved from a human being to a human doing.

We live in a world where software trumps hardware, where ideas eclipse material goods. In this world, Apple is worth ~$3 Trillion, an order of magnitude over the value of Exxon, one of the largest natural resource companies in the world. Even though AI is not yet mature, social media dictates what we see and how we think.

To that point, this week, instead of venting, spouting politics, or waxing philosophic, I’ll simply quote a poem dedicated to the power of thought…

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