Honesty is business !

What I want to discuss in this article is the basic idea of honesty. The internet is a wonderful place to do business, but with the continuous flood of spyware, malware, and spam, it can be a horrible and very frustrating for the average user. I am amazed, but not surprised, by the unethical practice of businesses using popups and spam to sell a product. It isn’t surprising because the fact is that those business practices work. Any of us that have worked in this field for awhile know that traffic is king.

My experience has been one of honest return for honesty when dealing with customers. Maybe it’s not a quick buck, but I can look at myself in the mirror in the morning and know I did the right thing. I would rather have a customer for life than a fly by night sale to a customer that I tricked into buying my product. It isn’t always about the bottom line of making cash. It should be about service and product value. Over the past couple of years I have had more business cleaning up computers that have been completely overran with viruses, trojans, and spam than I’ve done computer builds. The number one complaint is ‘I just want to be able to use my computer, not worry about viruses and trojans and updates!!!’ Do I profit from unethical business practices? Yes I do when I spend an hour cleaning up a computer. Do I take the time to teach the user? You bet I do! I spend an hour to two hours with a client after I do a cleanup or a computer build. Do I lose money with this practice? Yes I do, but I gain respect from the customer and that customer will always come back.

The one major challenge with doing business online is that we don’t always get to be face to face with our customers. Even so, there are ways around this that will bring value to your customer and value in repeat business. It doesn’t cost that much to call and thank someone for their business. It doesn’t cost much to send out a thank you card. I think at times we forget that email isn’t the only way to communicate. With the prevalence of spam it isn’t always the best way to communicate either. The internet can be a very impersonal place. It is ethically challenging to all of us who try to sale a product or business online. Is there a chance of giving away too much with little return? That is always a chance we take when we offer advice or tips to a customer. I can guarantee that over time, the word gets around, and your business will develop a core group of customers who value your service and will tell others.

Being a small business is a challenge in the fast paced retail world of chain stores. We can’t offer the huge discounts the major chain stores can, but we can offer service value for the product. I challenge anyone in the IT industry to take that little bit of extra time to teach users the do’s and don’ts of surfing the web. It will benefit your business and benefit the customer as well.

WHEN THE MORNING DAWNS

The following article covers a topic that has recently moved to center stage–at least it seems that way. If you’ve been thinking you need to know more about unconditional love, here’s your opportunity.

When darkness turns to day, the sun moves over the horizon and touches everything in sight. This movement across the landscape brightens everything. Such an illumination awakens us all. We rise with energy moving in and through us allowing us to create a new day. A day unique from all the rest and creatively woven into our soul.

This is the landscape of our soul. As you can see, nature has a way of showing us just how powerful we are. The same power that created the moon and the stars and the movement of all space and time lies within the human heart. It is the heart of creation itself, and perhaps, the heart of our Creator.

Human beings are fortunate to be able to be aware of our awareness. This awareness gives us an opportunity to reflect on our soul and find blessing in being alive. Our consciousness of a creative force inside us guiding us into this world, through it, and eventually to our eternal home allows us to fulfill a purpose on this earth.

Such a purpose is beyond our own ability to really know. Yet, we can open our heart enough to allow our purpose to find us. This is done by recognizing that the things in life that really matter ARE the things in life that isn’t matter.

Yes, it is our soul’s longing to fulfill the purpose for which we came to earth for. No one really knows how a baby is conceived totally. Science and human understanding still hasn’t been able to fully comprehend such a force of nature. We can only embrace what is beyond us and find a way to bring into being forces of nature such as a tiny child.

When a child is born, we are in awe. The miracle of birth creates something inside us all. It is the remembrance that life does not come from us. Instead, life comes through us. As such, we are living in a dream come true. All of us are probably living our soul’s purpose more than we know, and even, can know. It is the mystery of all mysteries.

This does not explain why some of us find peace and other’s find pain. But, such a philosophy will enable us all to find grace in knowing our lives create in our world facets of ourselves we all are a part of. An understanding of such grace gives every one of us a chance to find mercy and grace and the same unconditional love we came into the world with when we were born.

Samuel Oliver, author of, “What the Dying Teach Us: Lessons on Living”

Breaking The Habit Overcoming Your Shyness

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o you often feel uneasy in social settings? Do large gathering of people make you want to retreat back to the safety and solitude of your home? Do you often break out in a sweat or get nervous when at a large function? If any of these sounds familiar you probably are one of the many people who suffer from social anxiety disorder. The good news is with time, counseling and practice you can join the ranks of the hundreds of thousands of people who are breaking the habit and re-introducing themselves to social settings with ease.

Many of us yearn to be able to get up in front of large crowds of people and be in the spotlight. We see others around us who are at ease with being the center of attention and the respect they earn for doing so. Yet when it comes time for us to take the stage or be the center of attention we often feel ill or uneasy about the entire situation. While some may think of this as purely a habit that has no consequences except for our embarrassment, the truth of the matter is people who are uneasy about themselves or react badly in social gatherings tend to be passed over in life for promotions, advancement and just being a “part of the group”.

There are a number of methods and simple at-home exercises you can do to help you overcome your anxiety and re-join the crowds and social activities you may have had to give up out of fear. A number of online support groups as well as local support resources provide the information and help many people need to regain control of their fears and stare them down.

If you believe you may be suffering from this disorder start by reaching out for help either online or locally. You don’t need to be afraid of interacting with society – there are those out there who can help you

BRAINWASH BY : RELIGION AND SCIENCE

Everything is brainwash,what you think is real and normal can easily be considered brainwash.Brainwashing is said to reduce its subjects’ ability to think critically or independently, to allow the introduction of new, unwanted thoughts and ideas into their minds, as well as to change their attitude.Infact; that is your fear ,you are not afraid of being brainwash, you are afraid of being left clean.you would like to be reconditioned immediately so you have another prop, another thing to cling to , another philosopy to believe in . I simply destroy all philosophies and leave you alone. That is freedom but that is always frightening . Then you have nothing to cling to .you have nothing to lean on ,you are left in an abyss . I call that abyss God-a bottomless abyss it is , I leave you in that state of ignorance.But ignorance is innocence ,you are not so worried , actually about your brainwash . You are worried that if you are left there in innocence , how will you act , how will you perform your life ? You always depends on the conditioning. That conditioning has given you a certain identity – a Hindu , a christian. You know ,who you are ,you know where to look when needs aries , go to the church or look in the bible. You know where to go when there is problems.I will leave you helpless you will not know where to go , I will take the bible and koran away from you and I will not replace it . That is the real work always done by the buddha’s ,they leave you alone . If you are courageous enough to be alone , in that helplessness for the first time you start growing . In that state of innocence for the first time understand to aries , knowledge goes on playing the role of understanding.When all the knowledge is dropped, you have to face life without any knowledge . You will have to respond without any pas , you will not able to go into the memory . There will be no memory , you will have to act immediately , in that action , understandning is born there .Whether these statements ever passed the lips of these unfortunate men is doubtful. If they did, however, too familiar are the mind-annihilating methods of these Communists in extorting whatever words they want… The men themselves are not to blame, and they have my deepest sympathy for having been used in this abominable way.So , that much I can’t tell you guys comment your view below .

THE NIGHT SKY

No matter how far along you are in your sophistication as an amateur astronomer, there is always one fundamental moment that we all go back to. That is that very first moment that we went out where you could really see the cosmos well and you took in the night sky. For city dwellers, this is a revelation as profound as if we discovered aliens living among us. Most of us have no idea the vast panorama of lights that dot a clear night sky when there are no city lights to interfere with the view.

Sure we all love the enhanced experience of studying the sky using binoculars and various sizes and powers of telescopes. But I bet you can remember as a child that very first time you saw the fully displayed clear night sky with all the amazing constellations, meters and comets moving about and an exposure of dots of light far to numerous to ever count.

The best way to recapture the wonder of that moment is to go out in the country with a child of your own or one who has never had this experience and be there at that moment when they gaze up and say that very powerful word that is the only one that can summarize the feelings they are having viewing that magnificent sky. That word is – “Wow”.

Probably the most phenomenal fact about what that child is looking at that is also the thing that is most difficult for them to grasp is the sheer enormity of what is above them and what it represents. The very fact that almost certainly, virtually every dot up there in the sky is another star or celestial body that is vastly larger that Earth itself, not by twice or ten times but by factors of hundreds and thousands, can be a mind blowing idea to kids. Children have enough trouble imagining the size of earth itself, much less something on such a grand scope as outer space.

But when it comes to astronomy, we do better when we fall into deeper and deeper levels of awe at what we see up there in the night sky. Some amazing facts about what the children are looking at can add to the goose bumps they are already having as they gaze eyes skyward. Facts like…

* Our sun is part of a huge galaxy called the Milky Way that consists of one hundred billion stars just like it or larger. Show them that one hundred billion is 100,000,000,000 and you will se some jaws drop for sure.

* The milky was is just one of tens of billions of galaxies each of which has billions of stars in them as well. In fact, the Milky Way is one of the small galaxies.

* If you wanted to drive across the Milky Way, it would take you 100,000 years. But you can’t get there driving the speed limit. You have to drive five trillion, eight hundred million miles per year to get all the way across that fast.

* Scientists calculate that the Milky Way is 14 billion years old.

These little fun facts should get a pretty spirited discussion going about the origins of the universe and about the possibility of space travel or if there are life on other planets. You can challenge the kids to calculate that if every star in the Milky Way supported nine planets and if only one of them was habitable like earth is, what are the odds that life would exist on one of them? I think you will see some genuine excitement when they try to run those numbers.

Such discussion can be fun, exciting, and full of questions. Don’t be too hasty to shut down their imaginations as this is the birth of a lifelong love of astronomy that they are experiencing. And if you were there that first moment when they saw that night sky, you will re-experience your own great moment when you was a child. And it might set off a whole new excitement about astronomy in you all over again.

Child Abuse

Child abuse or child maltreatment is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to act by a parent or a caregiver that results in actual or potential harm to a child, and can occur in a child’s home, or in the organizations, schools or communities the child interacts with.

The terms child abuse and child maltreatment are often used interchangeably, although some researchers make a distinction between them, treating child maltreatment as an umbrella term to cover neglect, exploitation, and trafficking.

Child abuse can cause a range of emotional effects. Children who are constantly ignored, shamed, terrorized or humiliated suffer at least as much, if not more, than if they are physically assaulted. According to the Joyful Heart Foundation, brain development of the child is greatly influenced and responds to the experiences with families, caregivers, and the community. Abused children can grow up experiencing insecurities, low self-esteem, and lack of development. Many abused children experience ongoing difficulties with trust, social withdrawal, trouble in school, and forming relationships.

Babies and other young children can be affected differently by abuse than their older counterparts. Babies and pre-school children who are being emotionally abused or neglected may be overly affectionate towards strangers or people they haven’t known for very long. They can lack confidence or become anxious, appear to not have a close relationship with their parent, exhibit aggressive behavior or act nasty towards other children and animals. Older children may use foul language or act in a markedly different way to other children at the same age, struggle to control strong emotions, seem isolated from their parents, lack social skills or have few, if any, friends.

A support-group structure is needed to reinforce parenting skills and closely monitor the child’s well-being. Visiting home nurse or social-worker visits are also required to observe and evaluate the progress of the child and the caretaking situation. The support-group structure and visiting home nurse or social-worker visits are not mutually exclusive. Many studies have demonstrated that the two measures must be coupled together for the best possible outcome. Studies show that if health and medical care personnel in a structured way ask parents about important psychosocial risk factors in connection with visiting pediatric primary care and, if necessary, offering the parent help may help prevent child maltreatment.

Power and the Republic

I

In the Republic Plato focuses not only on desire for sensory pleasure but also the moral consequences of abusing power and lacking self-control, and its affect on the individual’s soul (Plochmann, 1973). In this sense Republic goes beyond the physical desire of pederasty to the power that corrupts when there is no social consensus for action. In Republic the dimensions of the individual soul and the state in relation to justice and the constitution are considered one and the same (368d, Plochmann, 1973).

Plato’s reference to self-control and moral intentions are the parts of the soul needing guidance such as “…reason, high spiritedness and appetite…” (65). Republic perhaps is an example of Socrates doing all three; where reason and logic are a defence against human’s instinctive behaviours such as sex, kinship, eating, love and a constitutional ideal of the appetites power and social justice over others, such as equity and the equal distribution of social goods such as benefitting from education, the law, security, commodities (e.g. accommodation, water, food) and healthcare. Republic aims to ensure that social justice is maintained through the careful training of the wise philosopher ruler, agreeing principles of education and sharing of tasks between men and women which he re-defined in many of his dialogues, notably Symposium (Lee, 1987; Plochmann, 1973).

The dialogical lessons therefore are about insightful human intention between desire and power which are elevated on a grander scale in politics. For example, the well intentioned lover who uses his position morally to promote life chances for his beloved is paralleled in Republic societally. Plato starts from the premise that all existing states are badly governed, their constitutions badly composed and incapable of reform unless drastic changes occur, and the philosopher ruler being allowed to justly their rule in place of the unprepared non-philosopher (Plochmann, 1973). Social justice for the individual lies in balancing the impulses and appetites of life and justice for the soul state is enabled when teaching citizens to mind their own business and fulfil their pre-arranged duties to society (Lee, 1987). However, the notion of social justice in the Republic means that the highest and the lowest talents are at the disposal of the community over the needs of the individual (Lee, 1987). This ensures the sharing of social goods such as justice, security, education, fairness, and equality rather than the allocation of property and power (Ricoeur, 2000).

The fundamental myth within Republic is to teach society about values and moral duties (Lee, 1987) and so Socrates and Adeimantus discuss the need to start an educational system to develop children’s mind and character through stories, poetry and mythology (376e-412a), which were the moral equivalent to religious text at the time (Lee, 1987). Bettelheim (in Naugle, 1999) suggests therefore Plato understood better than most how humans learn through the telling of myths, rather than rational teaching to shape social values and culture. This is evident in a quote from Republic:

“We must first of all…supervise the storytellers. We’ll select their stories whenever they are fine and beautiful and reject them when they aren’t. And we’ll persuade nurses and mothers to tell their children the ones we have selected, since they will shape their children’s souls with stories much more than they will shape their bodies by handling them…” (Republic, 377c).

The second part of the quote, shaping knowledge through stories is an interesting point to consider. Citizens of Plato’s republic commenced their literary education of an idealised democracy through mythology and storytelling (Bettelheim in Naugle, 1999). Folklore, myths, music and poetry were carefully selected to impart the right messages to the community at an early and impressionable age (Lee, 1987; 377c). Therefore, Homer’s Iliad comes in for some specific treatment in the Republic, censored line by line because parts of it apparently misrepresenting god’s and heroes’ actions (377e) to encourage moral weakness (383b). Some of the tales are rightly unsuitable for the minds of the young but Homer’s stories of war, plot, myth, battles amongst the god’s (378c), deceipt, disguise and false promises (383a-b) were considered unacceptable (Lee, 1987).

CONFUCIUS

Confucius is the vision of the future that looked heavily to the past. Convinced that a golden age had been fully realized in China’s known history, Confucius thought it necessary to turn to that history, to the political institutions, the social relations, the ideals of personal cultivation that he believed prevailed in the early Zhou period, in order to piece together a vision to serve for all times. Here a comparison with Plato, who lived a few decades after the death of Confucius, is instructive. Like Confucius, plato was eager to improve on contemporary political and social life. But unlike Confucius, he did not believe that the past offered up a normative model for the present. In constructing his ideal society in the Republic, Plato resorted much less to reconstruction of the past than to philosophical reflection and intellectual dialogue with others.

This is not to say, of course, that Confucius did not engage in philosophical reflection and dialogue with others. But it was the past, and learning from it, that especially consumed him. This learning took the form of studying received texts, especially the Book of Odes and the Book of History. He explains to his disciples:

“The Odes can be a source of inspiration and a basis for evaluation; they can help you to get on with others and to give proper expression to grievances. In the home, they teach you about how to serve your father, and in public life they teach you about how to serve your lord”.

The frequent references to verses from the Odes and to stories and legends from the History indicate Confucius’s deep admiration for these texts in particular and the values, the ritual practices, the legends, and the institutions recorded in them.

But books were not the sole source of Confucius’s knowledge about the past. The oral tradition was a source of instructive ancient lore for him as well. Myths and stories about the legendary sage kings Yao, Shun, and Yu; about Kings Wen and Wu and the Duke of Zhou, who founded the Zhou and inaugurated an age of extraordinary social and political harmony; and about famous or infamous rulers and officials like Bo Yi, Duke Huan of Qi, Guan Zhong, and Liuxia Hui—all mentioned by Confucius in the Analects—would have supplemented what he learned from texts and served to provide a fuller picture of the past.

Consequences Matter

Think about something you did today. Chances are, you did it because you wanted to make something happen, to accomplish some goal, to achieve some end, to bring about certain consequences. It could have been an important end: maybe you gave someone CPR to save their life. Or it could have been relatively insignificant: maybe you had Cap’n Crunch cereal for breakfast because you knew you would enjoy it.

Upon reflection, it starts to seem as though everything we do is to bring about some consequence. What does it mean to bring about a consequence? This is a way of changing the world, in a small or a large way: I want the world to be thus-and-so, but it’s not currently thus-and-so, so I will perform this action.

We often, maybe always, do things to bring about certain consequences.1 Why would you do anything if you didn’t think it was going to have some result?2

If all our actions are done for the sake of bringing about some consequence, and the consequences are ultimately what we care about, then it makes sense to judge actions, that is, to determine the moral status of actions (e.g., wrong, permissible, obligatory), by their consequences.

This view is known as consequentialism: that the consequences of an action are all that matter in moral assessment. What should we do, according to consequentialism? Consequentialists typically argue that we are obligated to do whatever action has the best overall consequences, for all who are affected by the action.

Consequences do seem to dominate our moral thinking. Why should I donate to a charity? Because people in need will be made better off. Why is it wrong to vandalize property? Because you will likely make the space uglier, and it would be costly to fix it. It’s difficult to think of an immoral action that has no bad consequences. Why is lying often wrong? Because if I lie, it might cause you to not trust me in the future, or it might hurt your feelings were you to find out. But many of us think that if a lie would truly be harmless, with no bad consequences, then there wouldn’t be anything wrong with it. That is just what a “white lie” is, and many of us think there is usually nothing wrong with white lies.