Ffolkes,

 

This picture, which I’ve named as I saw fit, was taken by the NASA Hubble Deep Space Telescope, which has given us the ability to see further into the depths of space, and time, than ever before…. In fact, this image is the one they say is the image of the deepest part of space we have seen, so far away, the mind cannot imagine the distance with any real understanding….

I like this picture, as it fits with a fanciful theory of consciousness I have considered for many years…. I am of the opinion that galaxies may be alive, in a way we are not able to understand…. As such, to imagine them dancing among the stars is an image that makes me smile…. Call me a hopeless romantic, if you wish; I don’t mind….. The Universe, to my mind, is a beautiful place, and romanticism is a response to that beauty of which I am more proud than ashamed, for certain… But, then, I AM a Bozo, of the first degree…

That said, now what? If I comment on the quote above the picture, by Calvin & Hobbes, it will turn into a rant, for sure and for certain…. Hell, that’s why I put it there, as a perfect example of the core philosophy of modern America; it’s a perfect metaphorical interpretation of the way that 99% of the people alive today think, and feel, and act….

Anyone who disagrees with that assessment, or, agrees, for that matter, is welcome to comment below, or via email to me directly; I will argue this point all day and night, for I KNOW I am right in my analysis. I can prove it, merely by pointing to the news headlines that grace the top of our news media’s outlets…. (See discussion, below….) So, in the infamous words of the Junior Shrub, “bring it on….”….

Someday, somebody is actually going to answer my challenge in this respect: I’m not sure if I’ll know how to handle that. Thankfully, it isn’t something I need to lose a lot of sleep over…. Today, I’m in too good a mood to care, anyway…. I got a chance to visit with my grandson yesterday, and felt well enough, for a change, to be able to take part more fully.

We had a great time, especially when my son’s new girlfriend/mate ( I never know what word to use for their relationship….
They’re not yet married, and may never be, yet are in a married living situation, and are creating a family… I think it’s time to make up some new words, to describe modern family relationships; they’ve  morphed into more varieties of situations, than the language has words….) came to join the visit with her two daughters. It was the my first opportunity to meet them, and it was very nice, indeed, to see my son interacting with his own new, instant large, still growing family (they announce they’re expecting another child in March, a girl… so, now, in one fell swoop, in one day, I’ve gone from the grandfather of one, to the grandfather four…. Instant family, just add water…. (*huge grin*)

I’m happy for my son; he is hard-wired for family, so, I think he will do well having a big one. In addition, this woman seems much more stable and compassionately oriented than his son’s mother, and will also be good for him; he deserves it….. It is also amusing to see my daughter sublimating her own wish for kids into being the world’s best Auntie, the kind of Aunt every kid wants, as a break from mom and dad’s disciplines…. She’s good at it, too….

Well, that was simple…. A bit of a short rambling rant, or maybe travelogue would suit better, plus some reminiscence, and the intro section is good to go…. Bonus! Some days just work out better than others, don’t they?

Shall we Pearl?…..

“The caterpillar is secure in the womb of the cocoon. And yet, to achieve its destiny, it must cast off its earthbound burden…to realize the ethereal of the butterfly.” — Master Po

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Another great Sherlock video for today, ffolkes…. I’ve been having a great time, seeing a lot of Holmes stories I missed when they were first televised (probably because the BBC didn’t really come to us much until the last few years…), so, y’all reap the benefits of my joy…. I’ve checked this one out, as promised, and, it is an excellent adaptation of one of the finest of the Holmes stories by A. C. Doyle….. Enjoy!

 

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“I recalled my last night at the Ebola management center in Sierra Leone. I was called in at midnight because a 10-year-old girl was having seizures. I coaxed crushed tablets of Tylenol and an anti-seizure medicine into her mouth as her body jolted in the bed.”

“It was the hardest night of my life. I watched a young girl die in a tent, away from her family.

Describing her experience at Newark Airport, Miss Hickox said: “I walked up to the immigration official at the airport and was greeted with a big smile and a ‘hello.’

I told him that I have traveled from Sierra Leone and he replied, a little less enthusiastically: ‘No problem. They are probably going to ask you a few questions.”

“He put on gloves and a mask and called someone. Then he escorted me to the quarantine office a few yards away. I was told to sit down. Everyone that came out of the offices was hurrying from room to room in white protective coveralls, gloves, masks, and a disposable face shield.”

“One after another, people asked me questions. Some introduced themselves, some didn’t. One man who must have been an immigration officer because he was wearing a weapon belt that I could see protruding from his white coveralls barked questions at me as if I was a criminal.”

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The foregoing lines, following the link, are all excerpted from the article in the Daily Telegraph. I’ve included the other headlines, minus links, to demonstrate the different techniques each news outlet uses in reporting the same story; their choice of words can be rather telling…

The article to which the link will lead, written for a European/British newspaper, gives what I feel is the best overall idea of just how STUPID the American public is…. These politicians,  especially Chris Christie, the mad neocon idiot from New Jersey, are using this subject as just another piece of political manipulation. They are all jockeying to see which can be the most aggressive in asserting how much they care…. which is a pretty long stretch in the first place….

These political peacocks preen and strut, trumpet their cliches, do their posturing, and compete desperately for approval ratings, by, essentially, completely overreacting to a relatively non-threatening issue, (the virus is no more contagious than any other disease we watch for, or have dealt with in the past; it’s just newer, and since there is less information currently available, there is more fear….), thus fanning flames of ignorant fear among the public, and making loud, obnoxious claims of looming crisis situations, that simply DO NOT EXIST, merely to gain points for their public image, as concerned leaders of the “people of this state”…. which is, as we all know, a huge load of horse shit, steaming fresh…. But, this particular variety of shit  doesn’t smell as nice as fresh horse shit…. I can attest…

I’m going to be polite today, not to mention brave. Stopping a rant in the middle can cause severe mental constipation…. but, I think y’all can figure out the rest of what I intended, using some of my older rants as a reasoning tool for comparison. It’s actually pretty easy; our minds naturally will fall into ranting mode when that technique is utilized, so, it should work fine….

Simply put, just consider the degree of assholishness of each politician, as compared to the average citizen’s intelligence (or, mostly, lack thereof…), throw in a bit of realistic observations and some logic, and voilà, instant rant…. It’ll be fun, I assure you…. Y’all can trust me, I’ve never run for elected office in my life…. well, there WAS that one time, in sixth grade, when I was elected class clown….

Oh, right, then there was that committee in HS, but, I don’t think it counts, as the elective body consisted of seven or eight students on the committee, who voted me to be the chairman…. I declined, so I say it doesn’t count… I had already figured out I wanted no part of politics, in ANY form or fashion…. That way, I have the right to criticize them as much as I wish….

Enough…. the whole political response to this Ebola crisis is a reaction to the media’s tendency to blow everything out of proportion…. It makes these idiotic politicians, with their insane need to be in the public eye, go through mad contortions in their efforts to not merely jump on the bandwagon, but to rip the reins from the driver, and whip the horses into a frenzy…. If the media didn’t make such big mountains out of all the molehills they stumble upon, we wouldn’t have this problem at all… Some common sense would be liable to creep into the issue, and it would just disappear, like cotton candy in the mouth, dissolving away into nothing at all…

Oh, well…. I’ll say this, and be done….

Close observation of the events of modern life in human society currently shows humanity to be struggling mightily on its path to its destiny, desperately seeking to find ever more foolproof methods of living, that will enhance Life and ensure out survival, while the Universe continues to create more, and more powerful, fools…. So far, the Universe is winning….

So be it.

gigoid has spoken…..

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I’m feeling lazy today, which means y’all will have to make do with one of my poems…. I’ll try to pick a good one, but, you know how THAT goes…. We’ll increase the odds with a two-fer….

 

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Okay, so…. This pearl is one which can only be described as scrutable, yet subtly complex, and simple at once…. I know, sounds a bit impossible, doesn’t it? Even for English…. but, there you go. Just follow the bouncing concepts to a conclusion that may surprise you…. or, not. Regardless, you will have completed an arduous, and dangerous assignment, which is how we define the consumption of the contents of this blog…. Go figure….

“Do you think there’s a God?” “Well, SOMEbody’s out to get me!” — Calvin & Hobbes

“If people behaved in the way nations do they would  all be put in straitjackets.” — Tennessee Williams

“The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“Everybody has the right to be stupid, but you’re abusing the privilege.” Smart Bee

“Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too self-full to seek other than itself.” — Kahlil Gibran

“It is only the ignorant who despise education.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 571

“Reality is in the mind of the beholder.” — Smart Bee

“Most legislators are so dumb that they couldn’t pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were printed on the heel.” — Smart Bee

“Why may not a goose say thus: “All the parts of the universe I have an interest in: the earth serves me to walk upon, the sun to light me; the stars have their influence upon me; I have such an advantage by the winds and such by the waters; there is nothing that yon heavenly roof looks upon so favourably as me. I am the darling of Nature! Is it not man that keeps and serves me?” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book ii, Chap. xii, Apology for Raimond Sebond

Ffolkes, this one didn’t even need any application of twisty wrist…. I hope you enjoyed it…. If not, well, just submit the proper forms in triplicate, and you should receive a rejection notice, of a request for refund of the price of your ticket, in about, oh, three or four years….

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Okay, so…. that went as well as can be expected…. Rather than tempt fate yet again, we’ll show some rather adult forethought, and take our leave while things are still calm…. It never lasts long, so, I’ll be nice, and take advantage of the moment…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

 

À bientôt, mon cherí….