From outside the box

Every now and then I like to tune into one of the many right wing radio personalities just to see where the right is coming from. Lately when I tune in, they are all talking about the same thing....Hillary. And their not just talking, they are taking her apart limb by limb. I'm trying to figure out the rationale here. She's only a front runner, why can't they wait until the primaries are over? Are they really that afraid of her? Do they want her to run because they feel she would be the weakest candidate against their guy? I honestly do not know, but what is apparent in all of this is the fact that they seem to be operating from some higher authority. Who tells these guys what to talk about? Who gives them their talking points? For years I have noticed that they all seem to use the same arguments everyday and pound on the same issues, using the same spin. Coincidence? Maybe.

So I'm curious....what is so evil about Hillary? I can understand the right disagreeing with her positions, after all, she is a liberal. But what terrible thing has she done to this country? Why can't the fear mongers just back off and let the primaries run their course? Personally, I would rather see Edwards or Obama win the democratic nomination, but really, anybody, democrat or republican, will do a better job than Bush has done.

Posted by Joe Shaw at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Writing a blog is a blast! It's too easy because we do not have to adhere to any rules of writing. We can spell werds rong and. End and start sentences anywhere we want to. We can start new paragraphs

anytime we choose. We can use commas or dots, and we can use, them out....of context. We can even havewords runtogether. we don't have to start a sentence with a capital letter if we don't want to. Mix our words we can up anyway choose we sentence in a. I've even seen people end a sentence without using a period Now that's just wrong. I also love the fact that we can make up our own statistic's. Did you know that 79% of writers do? The worst thing a writer can do is start an interesting story and never finish it. Funny I should mention this because just the other day my doorbell rang, and when I opened the door, I was shocked to see this naked

Yes, I do love writing a blog, but I will admit to one mistake that I make a lot. I tend to apologize for expressing certain thoughts, and a good writer should be confident enough in his writing abilities and ideas to never have to apologize for anything he writes. I am so sorry that I do this, but it's in the past, I have grown and moved on.

In the end, it doesn't really matter how we write, it only matters that we cap off our blog with a clever wrap up sentence, one that sums up all of the thoughts expressed in the blog, one that doesn't carry on too long, using a lot of commas, instead of proper sentences that are short and to the point, because if the sentence is too long, with too many commas, you can loose the readers attention, and that is something you not want to do, not if you want them to read your blogs, the ones you will be writing in the future, so we should always keep our sentences short, and well, to the point, and we should never try to make a whole paragraph out of one sentence!

Posted by Joe Shaw at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I keep scratching my brain, trying to figure out how we Americans can be so divided on this war in Iraq. Both sides believe they are correct in their point of view, and in that respect I will give it to the pro war folks, that they are sincere in what they believe. I believe they are sincere because they honestly believe we are fighting terrorist's who want to kill us, and there is some truth in that fact. But here's the thing....there have always been people, nations of people, who would like to see America wiped off of the face of the map. If we were truly out to get the terrorist's who did 911, why did we go to Iraq? Iraq never supported terrorism and they had nothing to do with 911. Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iran supports terrorism but we aren't going after them. And I'm glad were not. If we went after every country that either supported terrorism or wanted to destroy us, world war 3 would have started long ago. Should Israel go after every terrorist country that wants to destroy them?

So why Iraq? I'll tell you why. Based on the fact that we hated Sadam, the Bush regime knew Iraq would be an easy sell. This war is not about killing terrorist's. If it is, we are going about it the wrong way because this war has created more terrorist's than we have killed. This war is about transferring the wealth of this nation. 911 was the perfect catalyst that Bush needed to take advantage of our collective anger. He could have justified bombing France or Uruguay and we would have bought into it. He used fear as a lightning rod, he played the patriotism card to the max, and we followed like scarred sheep, right over the cliff.

I have seen the videos of terrorist's in their training camps as they play on the monkey bars and fire rifles into the air. These guys are not a unified army, certainly they are not a true threat to America. 911 happened because a small group of fanatics caught us with our guard down. There were lessons to learn from 911 for sure. Going after Al Quida and Bin Laden in Afghanistan was certainly justified. But the rationing for going into Iraq, the reasons that seem to change every few months, the flawed logic, none of it adds up. The dots between terrorism and Iraq have never been connected.

WMD's were a fabrication, free the people of Iraq from an evil dictator was an excuse, Sadam's connection to Bin Laden was a myth, and establishing democracy in a country of warring fundamentalist Islamists is a childish concept to say the least. These were all wet lies on the finger of George Bush as he held his hand into the air to see which direction the winds of patriotism were blowing. Which lie would stick? Now that they have all been dispelled one by one, it seems they've decided to hang with the "terrorist that want to kill your family" thing. This would all be very funny if it wasn't so damn tragic.

We Americans have so far spent $8,000 for each and every man, women, and child in this country on the war in Iraq. How many of you good old boys that work your ass off everyday to barely make ends meet would have written a check or handed over your credit cards to the corporation of Bush or Cheney's choice to make this war happen if you would have been asked to up front? Well, that's what you've done, that's what we've all done. How many families would have said, "Take my child. If it will fill the corporate coffers, you can have my child's left arm, or his eye sight, or his life." This war is the greatest evil and the biggest scam ever perpetrated on the American people. I hope that in the end, we will at least learn a lesson from the experience. But I won't hold my breath. I thought we had learned from Vietnam, but I was wrong.

For information on the costs of this war and the outrageous profits by government connected corporations, check out
http://www.citizenworks.org/corp/corpkilling.pdf

Posted by Joe Shaw at 02:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I was answering a comment made to me concerning my last blog about perspective and inner reality, and it motivated me to write a little more on some thoughts I have about perspective. Isn't it interesting how your perspective changes on something once you get interested in it or get to know more about it? In my response in my last blog (see comments at end of blog), I referred to old furniture, especially antiques. I used to always see antiques as just old stuff. Once I became interested in them and started actually buying and selling them, my whole way of looking at old furniture changed. Where I used to see junk I started seeing treasures. The funny part is, nothing changed about the "junk", just my perspective. It's like they came into focus.

I remember when I was younger how music used to sound to me. Once I started learning music and playing an instrument, I heard the same old songs in a whole new light. What I used to accept as just a song became a structure of chords and notes that I could break down in my mind as I listened to it. Now I could hear embellished chords, passing chords, 12 bar structures, 3rd and 5th harmonies, as well as know what the chord changes were in the song. I could appreciate the complexities as well as the simplicities of music in ways I never could before.

And this leads me to wonder about the things I know very little about. What does an astronomer see when he looks into a starry sky at night? What does a doctor see when he watches somebody walking down the street? What does an artist see when they look at a painting? They must be noticing blends of colors and types of brush strokes that most of us would never think about. When a home builder looks at any given house, they must see angles and form in a way that most of us would never think about. What does a director see when they look at somebody else's movie? What does a molecular physicist see when he looks at....well, anything!

The interesting thing about all of this is that we are all looking at or listening to the same thing, but with different perspectives. Many things are not in focus to us the way they are to somebody else. I often wonder about this as I'm driving around or walking. I like to look at things and see what new aspects of that thing I can notice about it. I wonder what I would see if I studied the structure or the composition of that thing for several years, how differently would I see it? How much more is there to notice if I try to step outside the box of my accustomed perspective and look a little deeper?

A student once asked his spiritual teacher what the teacher saw when he looked at him. The teachers response was, "When I look at you I see only light." The teacher was saying that he saw the greatest potential in everything that he looked at. That's not a bad way to look at the world. Imagine if we applied this same perspective of looking at things to how we look at each other? Wouldn't it be a better world if we could see, or at least tried to see, the greatest potential in each other rather than the superficial that meets the eye?

Posted by Joe Shaw at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It seems to me that the more simple minded a person is, the more they tend to see things as black and white or right and wrong. This "either/or" is a simplistic way of looking at the world. Religious teachings and doctrines are based on this idea, that everything is either right or wrong, good or bad. Children tend to view the world as black and white. I'm not saying this is good or bad. Actually, it serves those well that need to have a narrow perception of life. Within the parameters of this narrow perception, there is a comfort zone. It narrows the field of decisions you have to make from moment to moment. There is less room for mistakes. It's much easier to make judgement calls as well as judge other people.

The world of relativity is a much broader playing field. Big can only exist if there is something small to compare it too. Our solar system is big, right? It is if you are comparing it to a planet. But when you compare it to a galaxy, it is very small. So what is big? In the world of relativity, right and wrong become gray areas. Good only exists if it can be compared to something bad. If everybody on earth was generous, there would be no such thing as generosity, it would just be the way people are. When the ancient Greek soldiers practiced homosexuality with each other while out on campaigns, there was no judgement call about it. They all did it so it was considered normal. Conservative Christians have a problem with this concept because they have a need to know right from wrong. Life is simpler if someone just tells us what to do and what to believe.

A few years back I was discussing this subject with a friend of mine who was a born again Christian. He said, "I need the structure of religion to keep me on track. I need to know what is right and wrong. If left to my own devices, I would crumble." Great, that's why we have religion, for people like him. Some of us, however, do fine left to our "own devices." The problem I have with people like him is that he tried to tell me my view point was wrong. It was wrong....to him....because he could not understand a word I was talking about. I walked away from that conversation thinking, "I guess you can't put a 10 lb idea into a 5 lb brain."

In reality, there is no good or bad. We as a culture define good and bad based on what behaviors are acceptable at this time in this particular culture. Good and bad are always temporary and always changing. Morality is a point of view. For anything to exist as good or bad, we must agree that it is good or bad. Even then, it gets murky. You could say it is good to win the lottery. What if the person who won the lottery became vain and egotistical over being rich, was it then bad that he won? What if he became vain but gave a large part of his winnings to charity, was it now good again that he won? What if the money he kept for himself went to support a drug addiction, then is it bad that he won? Is a child getting killed by a drunk driver good or bad? What if the child's mother channels the anger and pain into starting a group like MADD which helped to raise public awareness about drinking and driving, then was that child dying good or bad? Is it good to torture if lives can be saved from the information that is gotten from a torture victim? Is it wrong to kill? What if it was in self defense? What is you thought it was in self defense but in reality you miss read the attackers motives? All of life works this way. All things are interwoven, all things are relative.

So if this is true then what rules do we follow? Well, here's the thing....we need good and bad and black and white because mankind is so out of touch with his true spiritual nature that without the guidelines and rules, society would fall apart. If all of mankind were in touch with his inner divinity (higher self), we would all understand and possess true empathy. We could not hurt or take advantage of another any easier than we could hurt ourselves because we would know that on a spiritual level, we are all connected. We would have no choice but to be true to our heart and therefore our guidelines would be in sink with our highest ideals and our deepest understanding of who we are. In such a world we would need no laws, rules, guidelines, locks, or weapons. There would be no need to define right and wrong or good and bad. But for now this is not that kind of a world. For now, we need religion and rules, and black and white and right and wrong. But, maybe someday....

Posted by Joe Shaw at 08:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

There was an interesting letter to the editor in the newspaper today. It was written by a conservative who was making the point that if liberals are banning together to boycott services advertised on the Rush Limbaugh program, then conservatives can do the same and boycott businesses that promote or support liberal causes. What the F...!!!??? If there are liberals that are doing this, they are missing the point, as is anybody who would boycott a business because of their political beliefs or affiliations.

I am a liberal who advertises my business on KPAY radio as well as in the Enterprise Record, both of which are conservative leaning news outlets. I even have Lars Larson, a national conservative radio personality, doing a commercial for my business. If liberals boycott me because of that and conservatives boycott me because I am a liberal, I'm out of business! I realize that I may have lost some potential business because of my expressed liberal views in this blog and in letters to the editor over the years, and that's too bad. On the other hand, I believe that it is our responsibility to speak our truth, regardless of the cost. Is that not one of the core beliefs that help to build and define this country?

First let me say that I have never been too interested in reading "Tell it to the E-R" in the Enterprise Record because these are call in's from people who do not have to leave a name. It's easy to make bold statements when you are anonymous. On the other hand, I have the utmost respect for those who are bold enough to take a stand on issues, knowing that many will disagree with them, and sign their names to their writings. And I do not give a hoot if I agree with them or not. I repect that they are putting themselves out there for the world to see and make judgements and this takes some balls.

So the point I want to make about boycotting businesses over political beliefs is simply that this is America and we are all in this thing together. If we all had the same beliefs, we would be a fundamentalist country. Our diversity strengthens us and makes us who we are as a country. I want to hear why Hillary would be a bad president as well as why we should or should not be in Iraq. I want Anthony Watts to prove that global warming is not man made but a natural cycle or even a hoax. I enjoyed engaging the Jehovah Witness that came to my door this morning even though I did not agree with a word she said. I love it when a conservative can change my mind on an issue, and it has happened a lot! What I do not respect is spin and lies, regardless of where it comes from.

I remember when the Japanese cars started getting popular in America and there were many who were boycotting them and only buying American. Then we found out that some of the parts for American cars were manufactured in Japan and other countries and we got a little confused over what to boycott. It's not a black and white world any longer. Everything is meshed, as are political, philosophical, and religious beliefs.

The writer of the letter to the editor I was talking about went on to say that he goes out of his way to shop at Wal-Mart because liberals don't like the store, or something to that effect. Well, what if he found out that the family that owns Wal-Mart donated large sums of their profits to institutions or causes that he did not believe in? What if the writer is Christian and found out the owners of Wal-Mart were atheist's? What if the head of Wal-Mart had 3 DUI's? Would he still shop there? My point is, there are bound to be some things about this company, or the owner's personal lives, that the writer profoundly disagrees with. And if this is true with every company on earth, as it surley is, what are ya gonna do?

Personally, I support any business that I have need of. I advertise thru Deer Creek Broadcasting because they target an audience that is more likely to use my services than say a radio station that targets teenagers. And I don't give a hoot if my adds are played on Rush Limbaugh or Shaun Hannity because, although I may differ politically with these guys, I respect that they are out there speaking their truth (with a few lies and a lot of spin), as more Americans should be doing.

We Americans are a strangely diverse mixture of cultures and beliefs. We come in all shapes and colors as well as different religious and political beliefs. I know in election times we start defining our differences more. But shouldn't we always remember that in the end, we agree on more things than we disagree on? Most of us are for freedom, family, the right to succeed, apple pie....etc. We share many core values, that's why our ancestors came here in the first place. It's good to differ, debate, even argue, but we should do it with respect. We should respect as well as support each other, regardless of our differences. Like I said, were all in this together.

Posted by Joe Shaw at 07:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's a funny thing about writing, sometimes there's nothing there and other times, you can't stop the flow. Business has been a little rough on me the last couple of weeks, and when I get stressed, I tend to play my guitar for a creative outlet instead of write. Unlike writing, I don't have to think when I play the guitar. Now I could download some of my guitar playing on here but then I would loose what few readers I have for sure!

This morning, as I sat reading my coffee and drinking my morning paper, I couldn't help but notice how peaceful the world seemed to be. The eastern sky was a glowing orange as the sun began to peak up over the Sierra's. For a few minutes, I put the paper down and just gazed into the dancing flames leaping up from the artificial logs in my fire place. From the far end of the house I could hear the shower running as my son went thru his morning ritual of getting ready for school.

"Life is good", I thought to myself. These really are the good old days. Someday I will look back on this moment and remember how good I had it. But I don't want to wait for someday, I want to have that feeling now. I want to experience nostalgia as it's happening, not just as a memory. As I sat contemplating on the beauty of the moment, I realized that life is always going to have problems and challenges. The trick is, to realize the beauty going on around you and inside of you right now, in spite of the problems in our lives.

Posted by Joe Shaw at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have always been fascinated with communication techniques. I wished that I had been on a debating teem in college or at least studied the English language in greater detail. I know I would be a better writer and have a clearer understanding of communication skills. However, I try to pay attention in life, and my blogs are about sharing what I have noticed. And one thing I have noticed over the years are the subtle ways that an experienced speaker can get your attention, distort logic, or pull you into their point of view.

There are obvious power words that immediately get your attention. Have you ever noticed how good it feels when you say something to somebody and they reply with the word, "Absolutely!" That is a power word that gives instant confirmation to what you just said. When you watch CNN or Fox TV, notice whenever there is a debate of any kind, how often a speaker will start a sentence with the word "Look" or "Listen".These words are used to get your attention and/or to change direction of where the conversation was heading. If person "A" is making too much sense on a point that person "B" disagrees with or if "B" feels he is loosing the debate, person "B" will say something like, "Look, (and there's always a small pause after this word....this gives you a moment to readjust your attention) we can debate the reasons for going into Iraq all day but what we should be talking about are solutions for getting out of Iraq." Now he has shifted your attention from the point he was loosing on to a new subject of his choosing.

Besides power words, there are power phrases as well as subtle body language that one will engage to enhance their point. Some good power phrases are, "and you know I'm right about this", "you don't get it", "I know what I'm talking about", "I don't think so", and "Is that so?" When I think of body language, I always think of Bill Clinton shaking his finger at the camera and squinting one eye as he said, "I did not have sex with that women." He must have been telling the truth because he shook his finger which says, "shame on you for doubting me." Maybe he was poking his finger which would have said, "You'd better believe me because I'm angry that I even have to say this." The squinting of his eye said, "I am focusing my message to you because I am serious and I want you to get that I am being honest."

The point I am trying to make with all of this is....it seems to me that the more honest people are when they are speaking, the less power words, phrases, and body language they seem to use. When they are lying or spinning the truth, you start to hear more power words, phrases, and excessive body language. It goes back to something Andy Rooney once said...."How come the more wrong somebody is, the louder they talk?" Check it out the next time you are watching a confrontation on Fox or CNN, it's interesting.

Posted by Joe Shaw at 03:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)