FOLLOWING THIS DEBATE has been excruciatingly painful.  A classic example of how not to do something.  If you are going to create a national health care program, then create one.  Make it the envy of the entire world.  

That's what Apple did when they created the I-phone and the I-Pad.  Now they are the wealthiest corporation on the planet.  You don't make revolutionary changes by tweaking a failed model.  That would be like slapping a coat lipstick on it and giving it a different name.   It will still be a failed model just the same.  People will see right through it.  And hopefully the justices will too.  

Where Obama went horribly wrong was not fulfilling his promise to create a 'Single Payer National Health Plan'.  To blame this failure on the Republican party is a lame excuse.  None of us what to hear it.  He had the majority in both the congress and the senate.   

Personally, I think we need to start all over as Tracy Chapman suggested in her hit song.  And I'm not just talking about the Health Care Plan, I'm talking about everything.  When I voted for Obama, I voted for him because he promised to make revolutionary changes.  While his opponents were promising more of the same.  Bomb bomb Iran.  Drill baby drill.  What I wanted was a National Health Care plan that would provide coverage for every American, much like what's being provided in Canada, Europe and Japan.  I didn't think that was too much to ask for, especially since we are a nation that is constantly boasting "We are number one!"   

Number one at what exactly?  No seriously.  I'm not trying to belittle our country.  I'm the first one to place a flag at the top of a skyscraper.  I'm just asking.  What are we number one at?  I think it's fair to say we are number one in killing people.  Nobody kills more efficiently than the good old USA.   We are number one in incarcerating people in prison.   But when it comes to taking care of our own, providing affordable education or healthcare, we are at the bottom of the heap.  

Point is, if we're going to make such a bold claim, then we should start acting like a nation that is truly united, not divided.  We should be moving heaven and earth to create the best health care system on the planet.  And we could start by embracing this belief...   

Health insurance is a  'Right', not a 'Privilege' reserved for those who can afford it. 

Telling the American public they aren't allowed to purchase the same insurance that is provided to every government employee and member of congress, is not only an act of pure arrogance and superiority, it's downright discriminatory.  Instead of being offered the 'public option', we are being thrown to the wolves and are being ordered to purchase insurance through the private sector, which as you know, has a monopoly on this  lucrative business that is making many filthy rich.   And to make matter worse, we are told if we don't participate in their grand scam, and a scam it is, we will be fined a penalty that will be added to our Federal Income taxes.  

Now correct me if I'm wrong, history has shown that if an individual doesn't pay their taxes, whether those taxes are due from income or a penalty that has been added to your bill, you could find yourself in prison.  You don't see this debate happening over National Security.  Why?   Security has been deemed a right.  Not a privilege reserved for the wealthiest one percent.   

And this debate is no different.   

So if you think this won't affect you, think again.  The day may come when you are no longer covered by a prosperous corporation (you could get laid off) or your gracious parents.  You could be on your own, swimming with the sharks, wondering how you are going to pay for your student loans and insurance at the very same time.  

I'm hoping the Supreme Court Justice strikes this bill down and forces the Obama administration to start all over again.  And when they do, I'm praying our nation will unite, not fight, and take this opportunity to create a National Health Care Program that will be the envy of the entire world.  So when we are beating our chest, claiming we're number one, we'll actually be number one at something we can be proud of for generations to come.

Until next time my friends.  Be well.  Be good.  And remember to breathe and believe we can make our future whatever it is we want it to be.   Namaste ~d

NOBODY WANTS TO TALK ABOUT IT.  But the game exist.  I know, I've been playing for more than a quarter of a century, and I've lost more friends than I'd like to admit.  This game isn't for everybody.  The prize is walking away alive.  And those that play knows what is at stake.  It's do it or die.  

When I scaled the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada (the tallest structure in the World), I could sense the 'Grim Reaper' peering over my shoulder.  I could feel his acid breath seeping through his venomous fangs like a broken fan, sending a chill down down my spine like a cube of melting ice.  It reminded me of scene in the Alien movie, where the monstrous creature is drooling on Sigourney.  

I pretended he wasn't there, that I really couldn't hear what he was whispering in my ear,  but I could hear him as clearly as the words appear on this screen.  He might as well screamed.  I had no defenses again him.  He had hacked into my brain and was attempting to reprogram my thoughts with negative words and horrifying images designed to terrorize me...."This is where you are going die.   You can't make it.   Don't even try.   Just let go and accept your fate.   Don't have faith."

Let there be no doubt, this a mind fuck game.  Most of the time I can filter it out the chatter with a mantra of positive thoughts and images of me placing a flag at that top.  But it's still a battle.   There is no room for error, especially in the head.   It's like doing the most insane 'Moon' practice, holding difficult postures for hours.  Reality becomes blurred.  Time warped.  And all you are left with is your breathe and your thoughts.       

The 'Game' is quite simple.  There are no rules or membership dues.  You just have to be willing to place your life completely and  unequivocally on the line.  There can be no doubt as to what would happen if you should fail.  You either make it or you don't with no gray areas.  You are either pumping your fist triumphantly in the air, knowing you just cheated death once again, or you are dead and in the hands of the undertaker. 

When asked "Why I chose the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower), for my first building ascent?  My answer was simple..."I knew after I reached the 5th floor, it really did matter which building I was on, the results would be the same.  So I figured, if I was going to die, I might as well die trying to climb the world's tallest building."

So the game is real.   

Although I can't speak for anyone else, I can you give a little glimpse into my mind.  From a very early age, I identified with characters I saw on TV.  For many kids, their memorial impressions were gangsters robbing banks, but for me it was Kung Fu with David Carradine and Bruce Lee.   Their philosophical views and teachings on quieting the mind and to "be like water", resonated deeply.  Spoke to my soul.  I wanted to walk the world like David Carradine and to be like Bruce Lee.  

When I discovered the teachings of Carlos Castaneda, reading his books like Journey to Ixtlan and Tales of Power, which embraced the philosophy..."There is no past.  There is no future.  There is only now.", it was all over for me.   The person I once knew, that was clinging onto his past like an a sinking anchor, no longer existed.  I had buried him in the desert at the base of a Joshua Tree.  

And that's when I developed my own philosophy: "Since we all know we are going to die, but we don't know when that time is going to come, it's as if we have been given permission to do whatever it is we want to be within our lifetime.   I am simply being who I want to be."

So when you see me scaling another skyscraper or free soloing a sheer rock cliff, just know I'm embracing this philosophy and playing the Game of Death.   

Be well my friends.  Remember to breathe and believe in your dreams.   

Namaste~d

P.S.  If you get a chance, check out the video below.  You see how I was thinking 25 years ago.    

SAINT PATRICK'S DAY brings up a lot of memories for me; the slow moving river of florescent green flowing through the heart of the 'Windy City', an old haunt of mine, the taste of Irish coffee as the warm liquid soothes my insides, the clinking of tall glasses of foaming beer, the feeling of belonging to a kindred spirit.  But my strongest memory is the day I discovered I had cancer.  And it was Saint Patrick's day!

Even though that was 12 years ago, back in 2000, another symbolic year, predicting doom and gloom with promises of major transformations, I remember that day as clearly as if it happened yesterday.  Usually memories play tricks on you.  But I'll never forget my doctor's words for as long as I live.   I still have that conversation time stamped and recorded in my head.  

"I don't know how to tell you this Dan, other than coming right out and saying it...."  I remember hanging onto his words with the hopes he was going to explain the pain away, that everything was okay, that my intestinal cramps, which started when I was in Chamonix, France on a snowboard trip, were due to a bad case of food poisoning, or too much wine and cheese, but he didn't.           Instead he said..."You have cancer!"

I have to admit, I was a little confused.    Was he was talking to me?  Or was he talking about someone in the other room?   I wasn't even suppose to be in this hospital bed.  I was supposed to be at a party with a group of friends, celebrating the completion of a million dollar home in Incline Village, just a few blocks from the sandy white beaches of Lake Tahoe.   Since then, I have done my best to eliminate the phrase"Suppose to be!"  Because as I've learned...Nothing is suppose to anything other than what you think it is inside your head.


Obviously, there is a lot more to the story, and if you want to learn more I encourage you to read my book.  But when it comes to celebrating Saint Patrick's day, I can guarantee you this, I will be lifting my cup of Irish coffee, counting my blessings and praying for all the people that are battling cancer as you read this.  May they find the strength and the belief that they can beat it as I did.  

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!  

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STEVE JOBS wasn't your typical genius.  What made Steve unique was his ability to deal with failure and to be human, even in the end.  Some said he wasn't the easiest person to get along with.  Whether that's true or not is no longer important.  What is important is knowing that Steve was a college drop out that was into creating super cool things.  It didn't matter if he was one of the richest people on the planet.  Steve acted like the money didn't matter to him.  He never flaunted it.  His trademark was sneakers and jeans.  When I think of the people that most influenced me, Steve Jobs appears on that short list of names.  Not since the death of Martin Luther King,  John F. Kennedy, Bruce Lee, John Lennon, and Michael Jackson...has the world experience such a feeling of lost.

People like Steve don't grow on trees.  Although if you listen to his speech at the graduation ceremonies at Stanford University (watch the video below),  or consider the symbolic meaning behind the Apple logo, one would be lead to believe that we all have the ability and potential of achieving our wildest dreams.  It has been said that Steve would look into the mirror every day and ask himself whether he was doing the right thing, whether he was being a good person or not, and if after four days he didn't get a good feeling about what he was doing, he would change his course of action.  Remember Michael Jackson's song The Man in the Mirror?

We all have a lot to learn from Steve, and Michael for that matter.  I'm now looking at the man in the mirror asking the very same questions.   Am I doing everything that I can to make this world a better place?  Am I being the best person that I can possibly be?   Am I following my heart and pursuing my dreams?  Am I 'Staying Young and Staying Foolish?"   If after four days I don't get a resounding 'Yes', I'll change my course of action until I do.   I  recommend you do the same.   
 
Here's to you Steve.  May we all carry the torch in your name.

Ishinomaki, Japan ~ A Story of Human Compassion 

UNEARTHLY SILENCE hangs over Japan.  Even though it’s Golden Week, a national holiday that is usually celebrated with a series of festival activities that last for a week, the Rising Sun is in solemn mourning.  Everything is tempered down.  Nobody wants to appear disrespectful to those that died during the earthquake and tsunami on March 11th, 2011.

This was Japan’s version of 9/11.   

Although the destruction was not carried out by a group of terrorist or warring nation, the magnitude of the horror is impossible to measured.  It’s one thing to see it on TV under breaking news, it’s entirely another to walk through the aftermath in person.  

The last time I had seen such destruction was when I visited Ground Zero just weeks after the towers collapsed.  I could smell it then, as I could smell it now, the stench of decaying debris and asbestos that leaves a nasty metallic taste in my mouth.

I’m not sure what I expected, but as I approached the Shotaro Ishinomori Museum, I had a funny feeling this bizarre spacecraft and the activity surrounding it would somehow play a significant role in my mission.  I just didn’t know how it was going to play out.  I was too busy filming and attempting to navigate a country that didn’t speak my language.   

It was all surreal.  

Stan Lee, the man who created Spider-Man, once said, “The lesson of Spider-Man, if there is one, if you are able to do something that will do good, that will help people, you damn well oughta do it.”

After March 11th, I couldn’t get Stan’s words out of my head, especially when I read about the school that loss more than 70% of their children and teachers when the tsunami struck just minutes after the 9.0 earthquake.  

How can anyone measure the loss of life?  If it weren’t for the Shotaro Ishinomori Museum, named after Shotaro Ishinomori, the original creator of the Kamen Rider, there would be very little for the people of Ishinomaki to cling onto.  Everything else has been destroyed.   Although Shotaro passed away in 1998, his legacy lives on with this museum.     

Outside the entrance were a number of volunteers from International Red Cross and Peace Boat, preparing meals in blackened kettles with a large Japanese flag hanging on the wall behind them.  I continued filming, passing several Kaito characters in costume, as I followed Jill Glikbarg, a renowned yoga instructor, inside the spacecraft to deliver a package of Kanji cards, 

Little did I know, until returning to Tokyo, that Shotaro Ishinomori was Japan’s version of Stan Lee.   Once this realization hit me, the significance and meaning behind my visit to Ishinomaki couldn't have been clearer.  I will have to return with the intention of launching my comic book version of Skyscraperman.    Shotaro Ishinomori and Stan Lee would expect nothing less!

Below is video that depicts our trip to Japan.  Hope you enjoy!  Namaste~