Eric Keyes Journal

What follows in this blog is of a mature subject matter.If you are under 18 you should get the consent of an adult to read this. Some of it is graphic in nature and deals with radical honesty concerning sexuality. This is for the greater good and it is time we started being “real” I just want to make sure and state this:

I read in the Dallas Paper yesterday that 8 women and 2 men in Iran had been sentenced to death by Stoning. First I had to turn to the front of the newspaper and make sure that it really was the year 2008 and that I had not lost my mind. Well, I hadn’t lost my mind it really was July, 21st of 2008 A.D. not B.C. (it was worth a look, i have been wrong about the date before) maybe this was just a bad dream.OK, now I had to go back and actually read the small article.
The headline got my attention so I went ahead and read it. As it turns out the women alledgedly had sex before marriage and the men’s crime was cheating on their wives, i.e; they had sex outside of the marital union. They were all sentenced by a judge who was told of the crimes by word of mouth and therefore sentenced them to death by stoning.

Adultery in the Iranian penal code is to be punished by stoning. The men are buried up to their waist and the women up to their breast. The penal code specifically dictates that the rocks that are thrown not be too big because the objective is to prolong suffering as long as possible. They are wrapped in a white cloth that looks like gauze and then buried upright in the sand.

I am not one to stand on the sidelines of life and just believe everything I read and I also believe seeing is believing. So I went on to google and found some videos of the stoning ceremonies in Iran. In stoning to death, the victim’s hands are tied behind their backs and their bodies are put in a cloth sack. Then, this human “package” is buried in a hole, with only the victim’s head showing above the ground. If it is a woman, she is buried up to her shoulders. This is to give her an seemingly equal (but nonetheless impossible) chance to escape recognizing her lesser physical strength.

After the hapless individual has been secured in the hole, people start chanting “Allah hu Akbar” (meaning god is great) and throw palm sized stones at the head from a certain distance (a circle is drawn).

The stones are thrown until the person dies. Escape is impossible, given that the individual’s hands are tied behind their backs and they are buried in a hole up to their necks or shoulders. Naturally, the procedure is extremely barbaric and bloody.

All of this reminded me of a book my good friend Dr. Blase Harris M.D. recommended to me years ago. “The Function of The Orgasm” by Wilhelm Reich.

In this great book Reich explores “sexual repression” and direct correlation to mental illness, sexual neuroses, cancer, almost all kinds of “dis-ease” and specifically violence.

Dr. Reich noted that look at any country where there is an inordinate amount of violence and you will see a direct correlation with the amount of sexual repression in the region.

Look at the Middle East where the women are all covered up. I could not help but think of Dr. Reich’s work when I was watching these stoning videos.

In 1930 Wilhelm published a book entitled “The Sexual Revolution” He set up clinics in working class areas and taught sex education, but became too outspoken even for the communist. After his book, The Mass Psychology of Fascism, was published he was expelled from the party. In this book, Reich categorized fascism as a symptom of sexual repression. The book was banned by the Nazi’s when they came to power. He realized he was in danger and hurriedly left Germany disguised as a tourist on a ski trip from Austria. Reich was expelled from the International Psychological Association in 1934 for political militancy. He spent some years in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, before leaving for the United States in 1939.

You see, this guy was way ahead of his time and definitely on to something. Sit back with a cup of hot tea sometime and get out a globe. Look at the countries that have been traditionally known for war and violence. Make a list.

Now do the same with countries with a “Laissez-faire” or “Detente” attitude towards war and violence. Also note that both of these terms are French. “Laissez-faire” literally means “let-do” (more on that later)

Here is a mini example:

Denmark                             Germany
Sweden                                United States
Switzerland                         United Kingdom
France                                  Middle East

Here is my 1st question;

When is the last time you have heard of Denmark, Sweden or the Swiss attacking anyone?

In the case of France you would have to go way back to Napolean’s time to find any significant aggression. Everyone called them “pussies” in WWII and look at the ridiculous crap the sheep in the U.S. were calling the French when they were against us attacking Iraq.

Freedom Fries? come on sheep!

Just because the French enjoy their food, wine, and are actually busy getting laid and fighting for a 30 hour work week! That sounds like a pretty healthy culture to me. The past president of France Jacque Chirac’ had a mistress. His mistress attended his wife’s funeral along with him. It was in the front page of the papers and no one considered it a scandal. They couldn’t because he did not lie about it. The current president of France Nicolas Sarkozy is married to a supermodel Carla Bruni. She has taken nude photos before, as many models have. She told Nicolas when they started dating about the photos. Rather than this turning into a national scandal he asked for copies. Sounds healthier than the tabloid sensational neuroses we have here.

Janet Jackson’s boob mishap is a “national crisis” at the superbowl! Come on! A nipple? Big deal. Nobody complained about the “viagra ads” in the same superbowl. You can’t explain a nipple to your kids? Then how did you explain the commercial for a pill for guys that need help getting an erection?

His presidency survived a divorce and his subsequent relationship with the model Carla Bruni. This to me seems like a culture that is too busy enjoying life to alleviate their energies by bullying other countries and wasting their time meddling in the affairs of others.

Switzerland is another prime example. Switzerland is one of the most affluent countries in the world. They also have a very modern, sophisticated and well maintained army. Switzerland being a neutral country, it’s army does not take part in armed conflicts in other countries. However, over the years, the Swiss army has been part of several peacekeeping missions around the world. All able-bodied male Swiss citizens are conscripted to the armed forces until the age of 30. Yet you never hear about the Swiss getting involved in the affairs of other countries and when they do it involves a noble cause.

Have a look at the approach of the Netherlands when it comes to teaching their children about sex:

The Netherlands:
Subsidized by the Dutch government, the “Lang leve de liefde” (“Long Live Love”) package, developed in the late 1980s, aims to give teenagers the skills to make their own decisions regarding health and sexuality. Nearly all secondary schools provide sex education as part of biology classes and over half of primary schools discuss sexuality and contraception. The curriculum focuses on biological aspects of reproduction as well as on values, attitudes, communication and negotiation skills. The media has encouraged open dialogue and the health-care system guarantees confidentiality and a non-judgmental approach. The Netherlands has one of the lowest teenage pregnancy rates in the world, and the Dutch approach is often seen as a model for other countries.

Wow!, a governmental policy called “Long Live Love”? Could you imagine that in the US, the UK, Germany or the Middle East.

One thing that is even crazier is the practice of circumcision. Yes I said “circumcision” you noticed I did not say “female circumcision”

The whole idea of circumcision is absolutely heinous and has all of it’s history based in fear and in somehow that the body is filthy and dirty. I am an expert on this subject and spent years researching it’s origins and what I have found is an extremely sad and ignorant across the board. Everyone freaks out about female circumcision, as they should. However the routine circumcision of boys is equally barbaric and based in misinformation and fear.

If you want to have some fun sometime. Throw a party with a bunch of people and invite me to speak on this subject. I have taken some boring “surface level” dinner parties to the new heights when we get on this subject.

Even Judaism seems to have it’s roots based in fear. In general traditional Judaism maintains that the body of a person belongs not to the person but to God. Any permanent modification of the body which does not serve the purpose of correcting a deformity is considered to be a defacement of God’s property; thus tattoos and body modifications are forbidden, with the exception of male circumcision, which is mandated. Zeeeeesh! Foot in mouth already.

One of my greatest mentors taught me a very basic simple tenet about Human behavior. All human behavior either boils down to one of two things;

Love or Fear

All the stoning, genital mutilation and violence mentioned above. What does it come from?

I will tell you; FEAR FEAR FEAR

The Dutch program “Long Live Love”, Hmmmmm. I wonder what that comes from?

This is the challenge that pornography introduces into our society. When I was watching the stoning video I could not help but think that these extreme Muslim fundamentalist just simply hate women. You would have to hate someone to throw stones at them.

All the word “hate” means is fear. It means that you do not understand. I used to “hate” Algebra, I didn’t understand it.

I have looked at pornography and I have studied it and I have studied the people that make it and star in it. I have even interviewed them. You do not have to look into that world very long at all to see where they are coming from. FEAR.

In Japanese porn there originated a genre called Bukkake. Where males would stand around in a circle and ejaculate on the face of a female. I am not kidding look this stuff up. It originated because in Japanese Adult Films they were not allowed to show genitalia. It was OK to show ejaculation flying across the room but genitalia had to be blocked out. Zeeeeeeeesh!

So the producers of Japanese films came up with this as an alternative. Here is what is eerie about all of this.

Look at the similarities between The Islamic stoning ritual and the Bukkake film genre. One is significantly more barbaric physically because it results in death. Yet think of the spiritual death experienced by a girl who is being “spit roasted” in a film like that. In the Japanese film genre they often would build an apparatus where only the actress head was visible and she could not escape.

Sound Familiar?

I was lucky enough to be adopted into a loving Czech Catholic household. There was the typical drama but nothing too crazy and I love my mom and dad. They did the best they could and that is all you can ask for. I went to Catholic school and I quickly as a child picked up on the “sexual repression” there. It was obvious to me as early as 9 years old. I could see it in the nuns.

I want to leave you with a straight from the heart honest essay from one of my Heroes; Wilhelm Reich.
He wrote this in 1949. Keep in mind Wilhelm was Jewish so he is not singling out Judaism about circumcision. He is just being honest.
Here it is, it is called “The Source of Human “No”

When a child is born, it comes out of a warm uterus, 37 degrees centigrade, into about 18 or 20 degrees centigrade. That’s bad enough. The shock of birth…bad enough. But it could survive that if the following didn’t happen: As it comes out, it is picked up by the legs and slapped on the buttocks. the first greeting is a slap. The next greeting: Take it away from the mother. Right? Take it away from the mother. I want you to listen here. It will sound incredible in a 100 years. Take it away from the mother. The mother must not see or touch the baby. The baby has no body contact after having had nine months of body contact at a very high temperature-what we call the “orgonotic body energy contact,” the field action between them, the warmth and the heat. Then, the Jews introduced something about six or seven thousand years ago. And that is circumcision. I don’t know why they introduced it. It’s still a riddle. Take that poor penis. Take a knife—right? and start cutting. And everybody says, “it doesn’t hurt.” Everybody says, “No it doesn’t hurt.” Get it? That’s an excuse, of course, a subterfuge. They say that the sheaths of the nerve are not yet developed. Therefore, the sensation in the nerves is not yet developed. Therefore the child does not feel a thing. Now that’s murder! Circumcision is one of the worst treatments of children. And what happens to them? You just look at them. They can’t talk to you. They just cry. What they do is shrink. They contract, get away into the inside, away from that ugly world. I express it very crudely, but you must understand what I mean. Now that’s the greeting: Taking it away from the mother. Mother mustn’t see it. Twenty-four or forty eight hours, eat nothing. Right? Penis cut. And then comes the worst: This poor child, poor infant, tries always to stretch out and to find some warmth. something to hold on to. It goes to the mother, put’s it’s lips to the mother’s nipple. And what happens? The nipple is cold, or doesn’t erect, or the milk doesn’t come, or the milk is bad. And that is quite general. That is not one case in a thousand, that is general. That’s average. So what does that infant do? How does it respond to that? How does it have to respond to that bioenergetically? It can’t come to you and tell you, “Oh listen, I’m suffering so much, so much.” It doesn’t say “no” in words, you understand, but that it is the emotional situation. And we orgonomist know it. We get it out of our patients. We get it out of their emotional structure, out of their behavior, not out of their words. Word’s can’t express it. Here, in the very beginning, the spite develops. Here the “no” develops, the big “NO” of humanity. And then you ask why the world is a mess.

Wow!

That is some radical honesty and that was written over 50 years ago. By the way the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the good ol’ USA locked Dr Reich up in prison and burned all his research. He died alone in a US Prison.

I wonder if they locked him up from love or fear?

I often wonder what percentage of the four P’s have the courage and heart to speak up for the children like Dr. Reich did.

The four P’s by the way are the people that will manipulate you the most.

1. Parents
2. Priest
3. Professors
4. Politicians

Which one of these today has the courage to speak like this?

I wonder?

Read his book the “Children of the Future” by Wilhelm Reich.

Read the “Function of the Orgasm” these books will open you heart and change your life.

Namaste,

Eric
http://www.erickeyes.com

I made an awesome tuna salad sandwich this evening and watched an HBO documentary on a woman from Australia.

Here name is Schapelle Corby, she was on vacation in Bali and during a routine search of her bags at the airport; Authorities found 10 pounds of marijuana in her “boogie board bag”
I must say these HBO documentaries do not mess around. This is a chilling reminder of the risk travelers face when visiting countries with vastly different criminal justice systems and cultural mores.
She was subsequently found guilty, lost both appeals and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Have a look at this film; it is controversial but very well done.

The director Janine Hosking captures the hopelessness and the dire straits this brought to Schapelle’s family and all the lawyers involved. I will leave it to you to decide her guilt or innocence.
After watching the film I feel strongly regardless of your personal verdict and opinions; the sentence in no way whatsoever fits the crime. In fact the entire scenario is absolutely ridiculous and pathetic.

The film is called “Ganja Queen” and is showing on HBO this week

There is a much bigger picture emerging in our world these days and it is starting to become very clear to me. Not only is the majority of our culture quick to judge and tear people down. We love to build people up and then tear them down. Regardless of what you think of Martha Stewart or Paris Hilton. You have to question either of those two being sent to jail and the media frenzy that followed. How is that big news? Unless you have been asleep in the last 20 years. Here’s the big news! and this is old news.

Welcome to the United States of America a complete “police state”!

Those of you that know me, I feel strongly will attest. I am not a “doom and gloom” guy. I also believe in law enforcement and I have a lot of very close friends in the field that I admire and respect.
They teach people that there are consequences for their actions. They also put their lives at risk on a daily basis. Growing up in a city like Houston, TX. I definitely know what I am talking about.
I experienced my first murder in Jr. High school. Yes that’s right Jr. High. His name was Stanley Conde and he was stabbed in the heart after school with a sharpened butter knife and died on the spot.

Our dear family friend Bernard Pivonka was murdered in his home in Houston and his wife witnessed the horrific event and I could go on and on with these stories. I understand there are “bad guys”.
Furthermore I have not lived some sheltered life devoid of exposure to the grim realities of what can happen. I want to make that very clear before I get on the tirade that follows.

The most important thing is that what has “supposedly” happened in the last few years has given our government “carte blanche” to creep into our lives and feed off the constituency like never ever before.
And my friends this is an insatiable beast with a hunger that never ends. It is a bureaucracy run wild, with out checks and balances and your constitution? Sorry my friend they gutted that beloved document years ago. All that is left is an echo of our beloved past that our fathers framed for us.
The constitution has been shredded into mincemeat under the guise that it is in our best interest. I am a fan of a great man named Benjamin Franklin. He said something that we need to hear again in these times:

Here it is:

” They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security”~ Benjamin Franklin

I first faced this harsh reality in my own life in the last 10 years. I am a responsible fun loving adult with a big heart and a massive affinity for people. I love people.
I live in a groovy little college town with 2 universities known for it’s thriving music scene. It is kind of like a baby Austin and has been mentioned as a hot spot lately in The NY Times, The Village Voice and scores of other publications as a breeding ground and upcoming mecca for artistic creativity and live music.

I myself have wasted thousands upon thousands of dollars defending myself against “false accusations” that had absolutely no merit whatsoever. Only to have the powers that be “drop the charges” when they saw that I had the moxie and the courage to defend myself and that I would not blink. I will always do whatever it takes to find the resources and bring the best to the table when it comes time to stand up for justice. I respect the great men that stand up for us when “the beast” salivates and begins it’s feeding frenzy. I am very humbled and fortunate to have friends like Rafe Foreman, Robert Hirschhorn and Richard “Racehorse” Haynes.

I support the work of Gerry Spence, Barry Scheck, Tony Serra, Dick DeGuerin and countless others who do much of their work “pro-bono” defending us against this tyranny. Racehorse himself told me over dinner, “Eric they have taken the courts away from the people”

A prime example of the emergence of the police state is modern Day DWI laws. I have been hit by a drunk Driver. I was rear ended by him at the intersection of Fondren and Westheimer in Houston in 1988.
I still remember his name and I will as long as I live, It was Kevin Leck. He passed out at the wheel and rear ended me going 55 miles an hour. The crash was witnessed by 4 HPD officers. One of the officers found my wallet across the highway 2 blocks away in the parking lot. That will give you an example of the impact. I ended up in the hospital and had minor surgery. I am lucky I survived, it wasn’t my time and I am here to tell you about it. I am also here to tell you that I do not feel the need to go and project my pain on to everyone else and somehow blame them for what this guy did. Look at these signs on the freeways these days; ‘Drink Drive, Go to Jail” what kind of broad bullshit statement is that?

Since when did responsible adult drinking become a crime?

I will tell you; since it became a massive “revenue stream” and since the “neo-prohibitionist” at MADD extended their militant moralism on the rest of society. I am sorry for the loss the families of victim’s of Drunk Driving have to endure. I have been to a “victim impact panel” and what a joke that was. A bunch of MADD whiners projecting their pain onto the rest of us who are not even responsible for their pain. I have a message for them; “Remove the speck in your eye first”

Even Candy Lightner the founder of MADD who watched her 14 year old daughter get run over and killed by a drunk driver has gone on the record and said. “Enough is enough” she wants nothing to do with this organization as it stands today. She is the one that started calling them the “neo-prohibitionist” She was trying to get repeat offenders of the road. Not Grandma on the way home from her birthday after having a margarita. Or an innocent college kid driving home after a few beers and watching a game!

Did I miss something? No just another government lie directed at the people to instill one thing my friends; FEAR
Just like when everyone went out and bought “duct tape” because that buffoon John Ashcroft started to enact his fear campaign and the “patriot act” The biggest joke since Pat Boone’s last album.
Here is a guy that covered up a statue in the Department of Justice that had been there since the 1930’s because she wears a toga and sits with a single breast exposed? I guess the war on terror wasn’t enough, so he also had to declare a war on “nakedness”

The drapes to cover the statue cost us taxpayers $8,000 dollars by the way.

I have so many friends that have been in jail, on parole, on probation or that have been indicted that the reality of this has started to sink in. I mean really sink in, and I am not talking about any real crimes here. I grew up in a nice family with a nice neighborhood. Most of my friends are middle to upper class, college educated and own their own businesses.
Just petty income generating bullshit to feed the big monster that keeps growing and growing. Now the police in many jurisdictions are obtaining bench warrants from judges if you exercise your right against “self incrimination” and refuse a field sobriety test.
Yes my friend they will drag you down to your local hospital strap you down to a gurney and forcibly take your blood. The same way they force someone down when they execute them. What do you think Benjamin Franklin and the founding fathers would think about that?

A police officer is not the one to blame my friends. That is easy and there is an old saying. “We are so busy pulling people out of the water to keep them from drowning; we never go up the river to see who is throwing them in”
The police are not evil, look in the mirror. We are for being complacent and trusting these politicians to “take care of us” and “protect us” Do you really believe after all of this that they have your best interest at heart?
Come on! A police officer is a human being just like you and me that loves his family, wants to see his kids and daydreams about fishing or learning to play guitar like the rest of us. He is just trying to pay the bills like the rest of us.
They get a little jaded like we all do from time to time. Even Kindergarten teachers want to scream at kids once in a while it’s just human.

No my friend’s it’s much deeper, our apathy and complacency has given all of the rights our forefathers fought and gave their lives for away, Most recently under the guise of “national security”
Police officers have become “revenue officers” simply rounding us up and herding us into the corrals they call courts. Like a cattle auction we become a pawn in their game led to the slaughter.

As of the year 2006 a record 7.2 million people in the United States of America were behind bars, on probation or on parole. Of the total 2.2 million were incarcerated. More than 1 in 100 American adults were incarcerated at the start of 2008. Only the People’s Republic of China ranks second with 1.5 million, despite having over four times the population of the U.S.

Think about this; That’s about 3.2% of the U.S. adult population, or 1 in every 31 adults. I didn’t make this stuff up folks. These are straight from the U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics.

U.S. Bureau of Justice

In recent decades the U.S. has experienced a surge in it’s prison population, quadrupling since 1980, partially as a result of mandated sentences that came about during the “war on drugs”.
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world at 737 persons imprisoned per 100,00, More than 1 in a 100 adults are confined in an American Jail or Prison.
The United States has 5% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s incarcerated population.

George Carlin recently passed away and he summed this whole mess up best! “It’s called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it”

Comedians have a way of being radically honest and it is often when we are joking that we are the most serious. Throughout history political cartoons were always the way candidates could be kept in check and “razed” indirectly. You see how upset the muslim extremist became a few years ago over the political cartoons based on Mohammed. They couldn’t take the joke because they are pent up and repressed like our Ashcroft clown.
One of my favorite comedians Chris Rock said it best. “The war on drugs is a joke” People don’t sell drugs; drugs sell themselves” When is the last time you saw a crack dealer saying “Man! How am I going to get rid of all this crack!”:

I don’t believe drugs are a great thing but putting people in jail because they are addicts, and users and dealers and etc; is a joke and completely evil. Everyone knows my drinking; no one knows my thirst!
Why does the person desire the drug in the first place? How can we help them alleviate that need? What are they trying to escape from. These are the types of questions that bring about change.
Want to see something even more scary? Google “Michael Ruppert”. This guy is no quack he is a former LAPD Narcotics detective that took a stand and risked his life and liberty by going on the record and publicly calling out CIA director John Deutch for the agency’s connections to cocaine dealers in the city. He told John Deutch at a public hearing “I can tell you empathetically and without equivocation, that the agency has dealt drugs in this country for a long time.” Michael was as I mentioned a former police officer and a member of Alcoholic’s anonymous for over 20 years.

This brings me back to the sad case of the girl Schapelle Corby. The criminalization of marijuana is the biggest joke of all time. To me it boils down to this;

How do you legislate a plant?

Just someone answer that simple question for me? What right does one human have over another to tell him or her that she is forbidden to partake in something that occurs in nature.
Whether you be a Judge, a Police Officer a Politician or even a poet, a pauper or a King! What right do you have to declare yourself god and start legislating plants. I ask this all the time.
No one can ever answer it. Ever, I always get some “skirting the issue” or the old “gateway drug” tired ass script. It’s not a drug it’s a plant. End of story! That’s it. End of Story.

Now that being said; cocaine, crack heroin, meth. Yes I get it. These are created in laboratories with the intent of profit and addiction and chemical compounds that cause harm.
Make them illegal and educate the public as to the negativity and heal them. While we are at it let’s criminalize Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline , Hoffman-La Roche and Merck.
Collectively these companies are the true drug dealers and their profits and addictive destructions parallel any of the so-called underground drug trade.

Last but not least I want to clear up one thing that always comes up when I speak publicly about this heated subject. Inevitably my friends always tell me that I am unreasonable.
You can’t get rid of jails!

I always reply. Thank you and then I tell them something I believe deeply in that George Bernard Shaw said:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him…The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself…Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man”

They hate it when I say that by the way:-)

Creative thinking is simply finding new, improved ways to do anything. The rewards of all types of success-success in the home, at work, in the community-hinge on finding ways to do things better.
What is one thing we could do to move away from this “police state” we are in and stop this stupid war on drugs that is in all actuality a war on ourselves and our very own country.

*Step One: Believe It Can Be Done. Here is a basic truth: To do anything, we must first believe it can be done. Believing something can me done sets the mind in motion to find a way to do it.
To illustrate this point of creative thinking I often use this example: I ask a group of people, “How many of you feel it is possible to eliminate jails within the next 30 years?

Once assured I’m not joking someone always blast me with something like, “You mean to say that you want to turn loose all those murderers, thieves and rapist loose? Don’t you realize what this would mean?
Why, non of us would be safe. We have to have jails”

Then the others cut loose.
“All order would break down if we didn’t have jails”
“Some people are born criminals”
“If anything we need more jails”
“Did you read in this morning’s paper about that murderer?

And the group goes on, telling me all sorts of good reasons why we must have jails. One fellow even suggested we’ve got to have jails so that the police and prison guards can have jobs.

After about ten minutes of letting the group “prove” why we can’t eliminate the need for jails, I say to them, ‘Now let me mention here that that this question of eliminating jails is used to make a point.

“Each of you has come up with reason’s why we can’t eliminate the need for jails. Will you do me a favor>? Will you try extra hard for a few minutes to believe we can eliminate jails? Joining in the spirit of
the experiment the group says in effect, “Oh well just for kicks.:” Then I ask, “Now assuming we can eliminate jails, how could we begin?”

Suggestions come slowly at first. Someone hesitantly says something like: Well, you might cut down crime if you established more youth centers.” Before long, the group, which ten minutes ago was solidly against the idea, now begins to work up real enthusiasm. “Work to eliminate poverty. Most crimes stems from the low-income levels”. “Conduct research to spot potential criminals before they commit a crime.”
“Develop surgical procedures to cure some kinds of criminals.” “Educate law-enforcement personnel in positive methods of reform”

These are just samples of the 78 specific ideas I’ve tabulated which could help accomplish the goals of eliminating jails.

WHEN YOU BELIEVE, YOUR MIND FINDS WAYS TO DO.

This experiment has just one point: When you believe something is impossible, your mind goes to work for you to prove why. But, when you believe, really believe, something can be done, your mind goes to work for you and helps you find the ways to do it. Believing something can be done paves the way for creative solutions. Believing something can’t be done is destructive thinking. This point applies to all situations, little and big. The political leaders that do not genuinely believe permanent world peace can be established will fail because their minds are closed to creative ways to bring about peace. The economist who believe business depressions are inevitable will not develop creative ways to beat the business cycle. In similar ways you can find ways to like a person if you believe you can.

I want to leave this rant on a positive note and if you have read this far into my banter Thank you, I feel like a kindred spirit with you and I am not waiting for the world to change. I am going to change it.
I look forward to helping you as well and together let’s Wake the people up!

It you would like to see some of the inspiration for this the following articles are brilliant and were penned by a true statesman Gerry Spence:

1.http://www.gerryspence.com/sharedalready.html

2.http://www.gerryspence.com/sharedkobebryant.html

*I also quoted David J. Schwartz from his wonderful book “Magic of Thinking Big”- An excellent book I highly recommend reading.

Much Much Much Love and Play Guitar!

Eric Keyes

July 2008

http://www.erickeyes.com

I was thinking today whatever happened to originality? Or at least the pursuit of it!

Zeeeeeesh! I saw this Coldplay commercial last night on TV for Apple Itunes and it was such a blatant rip off of U2 it was sad.
You would think a band like them could come up with something better than that. They had some kind of kind of a basic “Dave Matthews” sound when I first heard them but this is awful. Here is a link:

Look at Chris Martin’s body language and vocal timbre; looks and sounds like he is trying to be Bono for Halloween. The guitarist is even wearing a cap so he can capture the essence of “The Edge” and the song sounds just like U2. What is really sad is that no one notices this stuff. Everyone acts as if this is some groundbreaking sound and video. I am serious read the commentaries on youtube after the video. The writing is on the wall.

Imitation is a type of flattery when done by the youth who are still in “identity crisis” mode and searching to find their voice.
The challenge is there are so many that just get stuck there. Equally challenging is how everyone just accepts this as the status quo. It seems to me like everyone is just “playing it safe” so they are not judged and that they do not stick out from the “herd”

We have become a homogenized culture of robots and it is very sad to me. I am a big fan of Mike Judge; the creator of ‘Beavis and Butthead, King of The Hill and the brilliant movie “Office Space”.
He just created a new movie called “Idiocracy” Go out and rent this, it is great and prophetic in every sense of the word.
Luke Wilson plays this military guy with a mundane desk job. He has no family and no ties to society. Therefore he is chosen for this experiment where they send him into the future. They do so by freezing him and thawing him out in the future in something like 150 years. Of course the Government slashes the funding for the project and he end up getting dumped into a dumpster or something and thawed our early.

The movie is hilarious, he wakes up in the future and everyone is dumb! and I mean dumber than a bag of hammers.
There is no water anymore only Gatorade and the president is a wrestler. I do not want to give away the entire plot but trust me on this one you will get a great laugh. Everything in the movie is run by corporations (sound familiar) and there are no people
doing anything anymore.

One can look around today and just see how dumb we are becoming. You know what is an excellent example of this?
Text Messaging! Yes good old text messaging. It has over night revolutionized the way we communicate. All of a sudden conversation has become snippets of codewords, symbols, and mumbled jargon that is dumbing us down more and more.

There are times when I find it convenient don’t get me wrong. But I have friends especially female and younger friends who seem to be only able to communicate this way. Since when did this become a primary method of conversation?
Me and my friend Eric send each other these horribly cheesy text messages all the time; but we are joking.
Most people are not and that is what is sad. I realized today I haven’t talked to someone I am very close to in quite a few days. Then I realized I never really do talk to her. It is just all these silly text messages. We never talk on the phone.
Yet when we are together in person we have these “amazing conversations” and we click big time. I am basically boycotting excessive texting anymore. I just tell people I am not into “casual text” :-0

Here is an example of some texting interaction Me and Eric had lately.

This was fun and we laughed our asses of while we are doing it. But to much of the population this is standard conversation.

Eric1: OMG K-Fed is about to speak LIVE on the news about britney’s custody hearing. Big Stuff
Eric2: #@%! I am at a cafe:-( OMG! Can you like DVR it?
Eric1: OK. Mark Kaplan his attorney is speaking now. THIS¿IS¿BREAKING¿NEWS!!!
Eric2: OMG! Breaking News!!!! Moonshine has left Miser
Eric1: Holy¿FUC#%&#@¿SHI#!!! call omg.com they need to know
Eric2: LOL, ROTGLMFAO, WTF, Olive Juice, OMG!
Eric1: In a meeting. On a call. Running Late. Where are you?:-/ Can you talk now? Call me: Email me: Meet me at Can you pick up:-):-):-(:-D:-p:-):-X:-((:-/:-&:-))

OK just retyping that was exhausting. However keep in mind we are joking and having fun. But this is normal “conversation” these days. Could you imagine if some aliens intercepted this? They would be “like” WTF!

OK, that last part was cheesy but I had to get that in there.

Look at our music scene these days we are pelted with assembly line “cookie cutter” safe to the core music that is so sterile.
I laugh at what is considered “punk” these days. Everybody is hip and that’s not cool. I saw that Kat Von D the female tattoo artist is peddling Pontiac cars now. She even tattooed a car they are giving away. Don’t get me wrong she is sexy but what’s next? Kimbo Slice selling Mrs. Baird’s bread. “This is no ordinary slice! Try a Kimbo slice of bread! it’s fantastic.

When I think of punk I am thinking anti-establishment. I think a great example of a punk band is “Brave Combo”
Carl Finch has the moxie and courage to take something like polka music and make it cool. Now that is punk! Even the name of his band is a “self fulfilling prophecy” think about it what a great band name ‘Brave Combo” willing to be brave and break new ground and barriers. Another band that was truly “punk” was the Talking Heads. They got their start at CBGB’s in NY and were a true punk band. Playing world beat music and writing songs about serial killers and dressing in nice suits. That is the core of true punk doing something different. When I see these clowns today with their Mohawks and Leather jackets with all of the patches and mandatory piercings I just feel sorry for them.

You know what’s even worse? A Fauxhawk, at least the wanna be punks go all out with their wannabe-ness.
To have a fauxhawk is to be a wannabee wannabee. Once again just a direct path to “douchebagness” and mediocrity at it’s worst. Another hipster trend that was a crying shame is “trucker hats” This may have been the lowest pop culture has dipped yet. Schopenhauer has a great quote about how one can tell a civilization is about to collapse. When the bourgeoisie or “upper class” of a society is imitating the lowest class of society you can tell the society is fixing to collapse.

Well friends watch out! David Beckham has a fauxhawk and how many of those posers in Hollywood have we had to endure wearing those god awful trucker hats. I think we are about due for a big collapse and it may be the best thing that ever happened to us. Mother Nature has a way of cleaning when it need be done.

So when you find somebody truly cool and original that is following their heart; pick em up and hug them.
You have just found a “needle in a haystack”, a “diamond in the rough” and a rare pearl in this oyster that is our world these days.

Much Much Love!

Eric
http://www.erickeyes.com

Several years ago when I first heard the Bobby McFerrin song “Don’t Worry be Happy” I will admit I thought it was quite cheesy. You see I grew up a metal head and we all know the writing is on the wall in the name “metal head” i:e’ stubborn, knucklehead, and “dumber that a bucket of hair” were applicable to me during that phase in my life. You see metal head to me is a natural progression in life that we must face. We must enter the belly of the beast and go to war and find who we are. That is the genius of the music. However it is a phase one of many and we are always connected to and respect our roots. It is just important we see the wisdom in other types of music as well and not become mono-theistic in our musical beliefs as well.

The road to enlightenment is a long hard one but what the hell I sure have enjoyed the journey and I am nowhere near “enlightenment” yet but I am a lot closer than I used to be. I was at a Marilyn Manson concert recently and I had a great time. I like Brian (Brian Warner is his real name) and his message. While I was at the show I couldn’t help but notice how many of his fans seemed to not get it though. Here is a guy who is on a mission to “wake people up” and who definitely has the intellect and courage to back up his message. His book is called “The Long Road out of Hell” and it is an incredible story of transformation.
I highly recommend reading it.

There was the cat next to me who every time I would look over to him he would tip his Budweiser to me and say “Marilyn F’#$%*’in Manson dude” I would tip my beer back to him and he would say it again. “Wooo Hooo! Marilyn F#$%*’n Manson dude!
Gandhi has this great quote he used to say that was something like “I do not have a problem with your Christ, I have a problem with his followers” I always liked that and I couldn’t help but think Brian must feel that way sometimes. Then I read an interview with him where he said exactly that.

A few years ago when all the fear based control freaks where blaming him and his music for the Columbine shootings. Michael Moore took the time to interview Brian backstage and ask him what he would have said to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Brian said ” I wouldn’t have said anything, I would have listened to them. No one else did” Wow, I still get goose bumps when I read that. My friend Stephane Hemon says that when you get goose bumps that is “consciousness” letting you know that the truth is present. I love that and I got goose bumps when I heard that. hehe

I have no desire whatsoever to get into mosh pits these days. I did when I was younger and not getting laid. I feel that mosh pits are just a type of tension release. Several years ago I was hanging out in The Czech Republic with my friends Milan and Patrik.
They had taken me to this heavy metal concert in the middle of the woods were we saw this band “Fleas and Lice”
It was hilarious there were no women at all except this really thick blond girl named Ludmilla or something liked that.
She was shaped like a cinder block and she kept throwing her drinks on me. It was hilarious so I just kind of went with the flow.
So any way all the guys take their shirts off and tie them around their waist. Then they start moshing into one another around this big bonfire. The whole thing was so surreal I felt like I was in a Dali painting or something.

Not one to spoil the fun I joined in haphazardly and made an evening of it. In the town I was in Brno everyone walks and there is a pub on every corner. Why don’t they do that here? It would totally alleviate all the “drinking and driving” controversy. Anyway I was sore as a Rugby player and we all waddled back to this pub in the village and sat down for some beers. All the guys were laughing at me and asking me what I thought about the concert and I remember looking at the guys and saying. “You guys need to get laid”

They thought it was funny and started talking about starting a band and touring the world and getting chicks and it was fascinating to see their eyes change from a “squinty anger” to childish gleam when they talked of the women they would meet touring the world. There is so much anger and frustration in a lot of todays music it makes sense and reflects that about 96% of our culture is not truly happy and following their life’s bliss. I read a great interview with Stevie Ray Vaughn when I was in high school that is a great testimony to opening the heart. I liked it so much I framed it and put on the wall at my parent’s house.
Here it is:

‘Ya know, right now the most important thing in my life is to make sure you understand that, first of all I thank god I’m alive today, and I mean that. You see, I spent too many years of my life thinking that the big party was the whole thing. It took me quite a while to find out that the real deal is to be able to be enough of a person on your own to know when somebody loves you and cares about you. You see, we are here, as far as I can tell, to help each other; our brothers, our sisters, our friends, our enemies. That is to help each other and not hurt each other. And sometimes to help them we have got to help ourself. So that we will know that they are around in the first place. Are you listening to me ? Thank you. I’m glad to hear that.

You see that its a big world out there; with enough pain and misery in it; without me going around and helping it out by hurting myself; and consequently, those that care about me. What I am trying to get across to you; is please take of yourselves and those that you love; because that is what we are here for, that’s all we got, and that’s what we can take with us. Are you with me?’

Stevie Ray Vaughan

I had quite a shift in my heart and consciousness after reading that and I was 18 at the time. Almost overnight I started getting into music on a deeper level. I started listening to Bach and Beethoven and Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. I didn’t bail on heavy metal and I am proud of my roots it’s just strange that I found myself not identifying with it as much. On special occasions I would be drawn to it but it became rarer and rarer to a point where I just seemed to evolve out of it altogether for awhile.

In college I dated this wonderful girl from a small town in Texas named Indira. She left home on her own at 16 and did an amazing job of making it on her own, She never went to college or anything but had a down to earth wisdom and connection with nature that was deep. I had heard about this scientist in Japan that did a study with plants and water molecules where he studied the effects of negative stimuli vs. positive stimuli. He would take one vile of water and curse it and then read the molecular structure. It would create a state of dis-ease in the water and affect the biology in a negative way. When he did the reciprocal with positive stimuli the molecular structure would thrive and respond in a positive way.

This is no big shock if you really think about it. My first job in high school was at a Plant Nursery and Indira had a lifelong love of plants and gardening. One weekend we were at a nursery and I suggested we do an experiment. We bought two of the exact same Ivy plants. We decided to water them both at the same intervals and give both of them the same light. However one plant we