SageTree

Hey Folks,


Just got back from doing a short weekend traveling to NYC and I got my dose of States-age for sure. The radio and head lines are alarming and the way people are talking about each other really shocked and astounded me at times.... Fox, NPR, Local or Cable.... all very heavy on the bummer/wow factor.

Now this is a broad brush no doubt. And it's not so shocking to hear this, but it's the frequency at which its aired on the radio and tv, as well as the general rhetoric from person to person.... the 'fear' level sounds high... higher than I remember, perhaps it's distance, but I'm just stunned.



Does anyone remember when Joe McCarthy was calling everyone a Nazi?
Does any one remember the Salem Witch hunts?
Was WWII that looong ago?




Wow.... I mean... let's just yell 'Pinko' why don't we....?

This is from Russia and all, but how far fetched it is?

The Mom who cried terrorist....

NPR Ends Williams' Contract After Muslim Remarks

• Quote:

  "Look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

NPR's reaction or just reactionary?

• Late Wednesday night, NPR issued a statement praising Williams as a valuable contributor but saying it had given him notice that it is severing his contract. "His remarks on The O'Reilly Factor this past Monday were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR," the statement read.

No matter the slant.... the fact this was said is pretty crazy.

Fox News 'Nazi' Rhetoric Starts At The Top

• Roger Ailes, who in published remarks referred to NPR executives as "Nazis" for terminating the contract of news analyst Juan Williams.

Fox News President: Jon Stewart Is Crazy And NPR Is Run By Nazis

Yet Stewart, himself, is still getting in on with unlabelling which is still a form of labels.

• Stewart, of course, is a vocal critic of hyper-partisan cable news. At his Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear in October, he rebuked the media, saying, "If we amplify everything, we hear nothing. Not being able to distinguish between real racists and Tea Partiers or real bigots and Juan Williams and Rick Sanchez is an insult, not only to those people but to the racists themselves who have put in the exhausting effort it takes to hate."

Sort of ironic in a converse the 'party' kind of way, imo. Truth or not about Stewart.... point withstanding.


Speaking then about Juan Williams, who quickly landed a $2 million contract at Fox News after being fired from NPR, Ailes said he hired Williams because he was "mad" about the pundit's losses. He had even stronger criticism for NPR than he did for Stewart.

• Quote:

  "They are, of course, Nazis," Ailes said. "They have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism. These guys don't want any other point of view. They don't even feel guilty using tax dollars to spout their propaganda. They are basically Air America with government funding to keep them alive."

The 'full' interview with Ailes


Fox News President Apologizes For NPR Nazi Comments

• Quote:

  "I'm writing this just to let you know some background but also to apologize for using "Nazi" when in my now considered opinion "nasty, inflexible bigot" would have worked better."

Surprisingly this Sunday when listening to this show since we were in the States and all the opening comments of this show really surprised me and frankly NPR is edgier than I remember....NPR Media Player

I don't want to call it 'going to that level', but wow.... this programme wasn't an exception for the listening day and sorta made me 'oh no they didn't' a few times.



That back and forth accompanied by all the talk of body scans and the people who are boycotting on Thanskgiving... on and on and on......

It's just over whelming and I'm sorry if that is what it feels like for anyone else... it's alarming and maybe it wasn't like that, but after 5 years one tends to forget.. maybe it was the same.

The dismay now is still real though.

The



And in hopes of ending on a half a laugh.... although even this 'humour' like the NPR radion show link.... the undertone is sooo sooooo not exactly friendly we'll say.





Perhaps this is more of a rant... I don't know...not a higher thought really.... so thanks for reading and sharing.

In kind
SageTree

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The Rev

Holy Shit! Sage is DdC!!!

Srs, tho, this is why I stay away from the news, politics, and all the rest. There is SO MUCH BULLSHIT flying in the media, from politicos calling each other nazis, to newsmen mongering fear, to commercials promising you contentment if you buy Brand X. Lying and exaggeration have become our only intellectual nourishment.

But it doesn't stop there. We, as individuals, lie to each other all the time as well. We say we're fine when we're not, we compliment others when we don't really care or mean it, we go through the motions of cordiality with people we can't stand, we lie to our children to protect them, etc. etc.

Personally, it all makes me nuts. There's so little opportunity left for real connection. And there's so little you can actually believe. In fact, it's too much to bear, sometimes.



The Rev

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SageTree

lol Rev Ddc....

Kind of a compliment really,since I'm actually telling you how I feel.
Which I'll add... I can be all to good at doing
I'll always tell you man... I ALWAYS tell you.


On a far back view life can look like that. Lord knows I do and have felt like that many many times. But I gotta share some good news from the weekend.

My Wife and I took her Gramma to New York City to see the Rockettes.

As a country boy, who has done a time in a city, I am not as surprised as I used to be about that many people, and I always brace myself a little. And especially NYC.... sorta has made Istanbul (17mill) feel personal in my past memories.

People really reacted sooooo nicely to our Gramma though. Those rushing around the streets, gate keepers are the show, Amtrak employees, a stranger on the street who talked for a while after bumming one of her smokes.

This isn't the treatment I expected at all of a slow moving, taking her time lady with no place to hurry to. She got total respect... and get this... mostly from the younger people from 20-30, more nice smiles when I, who was playing lineback, would turn around to see half the city behind us.

Good shit man.... Loads on nice people on that trip, lots of who were approached first, by Me, Gramma or my Wife. Really good experience to have in such a large place.

Riding transit a lot is much like that.

It's honestly what I like about walking and transiting. That is, life is more real, if you will, the bubbles we create CAN be much smaller. It's amazing to connect with strangers, but also hard to see how people are so interested in the ads on the train

I think the 'being nice= lying' is a little heavy and I myself prefer to believe people are just doing their best and if they ask it's really ok for me to answer.... or that when I ask, I can really let that person know I mean it. I can only keep my 100% of the 50% alive, so got'sta keep it real. If one side is shallow, maybe it can be deepened a little with a true reaction or question or gesture?

The ritual may come from just being scared or not knowing anything deeper, not feeling why anyone would want to get to know them or why they should anyone else or just the sheer number of people in the world, who knows.... We can't figure out the other person, but we can look within our selves and ask why isn't making us feel connected, what is holding back the love or connection we want to give.

But the caring still need to reserve themselves as well, because there is a lot of people to care for out there. That is overwhelming to the people who do care, don't care or don't consider other wise.

The quote from Rumi is a mantra consideration of mine.

Like you say about turning off the TV or radio, so do we need to sit and eat or sleep.... and it's pretty feasible there are a lot of people, every people, with plenty of the 'blocks' that keep us from really loving each other authentically.

That's what I think and how I feel Rev



Thank the Lloyd for YaHooka eh? Right here is a connection

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The Rev

My sister moved to NYC, and she said the people there are really courteous and nice too. I think it's the natural human urge to distance oneself from a negative stereotype, because in L.A., people are rude and pushy, and L.A.'s got a rep for being laid back.

As for lying to be nice, here's why I have a problem with it: Because everyone is always telling white lies, you have this condition where no one believes you if you say something nice. For example, if I tell my wife she looks nice in what she's wearing, and all her friends say the same, she can still be totally thrown off if one person says her outfit is less than flattering. Because people expect you to compliment them, and they know you're probably "just saying that", kind words carry very little weight compared with unkind ones.

You see how that can create distance between people? The only real connection in the above example is between my wife and the critical friend; the only instance where she really listens to what they say, IOW. This habit of white lies undermines trust, and connection between people. I agree that most do it out of habit, and would be afraid of the results if they dropped the pretense, but it's still a fundamental problem of human culture. If we cannot give each other happiness, we have lost one of our greatest tools toward making the world a good place to live.



The Rev

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SageTree

I think I didn't make it clear I don't think people are lying at least as a whole... Imo, they are just trying.

There are a lot of 'people' and 'they' .....

Where do YOU fit in this schema you believe in?

Like I'm 'people' and the last thing I expect is a compliment from 'people'

I'm not sure we can 'give' people happiness. I only think we can be there on the journey and hope they find it.

The old horse water cliche'.

I think we are interconnected with out a doubt and we can be of great service to each other, but the 'lasting causes of happiness' are almost a 'responsible for our own salvation' level or responsibility. We can't do it for, nor can it be done for us. It's good to want to encourage that as much as we can, but Ultimately.....

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adventure

I thought we were going to be able to call each other names damn it. I'm feeling lazy and I don't want to read anything intellectual. Sage I hope you had a great trip.
and you all are cockie heads

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Coming Full Range

The Rev

I'm right in there, myself, actually. I have alot of conflict where displeasing others is concerned. It makes internet posting a great outlet for me, because I can take my time, and don't feel like I'm on the spot when replying to another person. So, face to face, I often "say the nice thing" rather than just say what's on my mind, out of anxiety and long standing habit.

I do think people lie quite a bit, tho. It's not even intentional lying. In fact, maybe it's more like pretending. "Pleased to meet you" (are you really?) "I'm fine" (are you?) "This meal is great, hun" (is it?). We hide our true feelings all the time, especially those we would benefit most from sharing. For a mass of men who live lives of quiet desperation, we sure don't talk about it; imagine what it would do for our sense of connectedness if we did?

When you combine that state of affairs with being lied at constantly by those in the media, from advertisers to our leaders, the world starts to seem like a pretty fake place. Not always malevolently fake, but fake enough to do harm, IMO.



The Rev

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SageTree

Thanks for laying that out for me Rev.

I understand the message board format verses the face to face.

Spanky had a thread a couple of days ago that talked about interacting with people. I myself am quite schizophrenic. At some times I am able to talk for a good hour to a 'stranger', but when there are people I'm 'supposed' to me, I shut down sometimes and am the quiet guy, albeit w/ at least a friendly welcoming look on my face 90% of the time as I can't deny there are times when the situation is just too socially overwhelming for me.

And much to my Wife's dismay... when someone asks me how its going then, I tell them,'Actually I'm a little over whelmed right now, but it's within my bounds of knowing myself and how socializing can go for me'. In other words 'the crazy response'.

Other times I think I'm good at laying it out with people and connecting.

I think the stupid level of openness that I try to approach people with is why my Wife says with a smile, 'Honey..... You are not that crazy man in the subway station who is your life long friend.... YOU ARE that crazy man right now.'

Which makes a lot of sense because I feel often the level at which I try to be open with people scares them or something because often there is a bewildered look for a few minutes.... at least until they feel safe with it.

And sometimes that 'deer in the head lights look' never stops and I do admittedly feel like I've overwhelmed this person some how and feel a little uncomfortable at what I perceive as their uncomfort.

There are certainly times when saying everything on my mind isn't the most skillful practice, it's egotistical to assume that people NEED to know everything I am thinking. Then I ask, "Will this be more beneficial than silence?

There are times when I maybe just wear a smile and shoot for eye contact, as I said I don't think it's feasible to try to connect verbally with every last person I see every day. But I can make those times when I do talk the best I can.

I can't say I don't have angry thoughts or frustration, things I might even wish I could say 'as is', but I try to take them as cues or a red light going off.

It's okay for me to be honest with myself about the negative emotion, but wouldn't say I often think things I can't distill into a way in which I can present someone with.

The 'Do they need to hear this/Do I need to say this/Does this really help?' questions......

Granted I'm not telling people on the bus what I think of their conversation I can hear, but I do think if I'm at a table when someone is saying something I disagree with or find erroneous, in a constructive way or in an 'if you can state yours I can mine' way, I add my .02. They don't have to like it.... I welcome that honesty as well.

All that said, there are of course moments of pure restraint, but I still don't consider that a lie of any sort, as lie infers something negative to me.

Not sharing could be a 'lie' of sorts to ourselves, I suppose, but I think it's deeper than 'truth/lie' as there is a lot of considerations to the intention of wanting to share or not share but honestly on that same note it would be a 'lie' to snap at people or tell them every thought on my mind and not be the person I know I am, deep in side.

I believe there are barriers for not connecting that I am just as responsible for in the relationship and I can only do m 100% of my 50%.

A good example I can think of is that person who won't ever shut up about themselves (my first thought thought), they might just need someone to validate their life or they are scared of this or that... worried perhaps.... and I ask myself, why does it bother me that I'm not getting to share myself (does my talking help this moment?) ... then I think, maybe this person truly authentically needs me to listen right now. And to me that is me honestly connecting to myself and with this person.


I'm not trying to tell you that you are wrong of course Rev... I just had some thoughts I wanted to share about how I feel connected and unconnected, then how I proceed from there.

In Kind,
SageTree

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