The quote adorning the first line, above the most excellent picture, is a familiar idea around here; that may be why, whenever I come across it, I am also reminded of another fine statement, to which I also strongly subscribe, to wit:

“There comes a time in every man’s life when it becomes necessary to just roll up his sleeves, spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and start slitting throats.” — H. L. Mencken

Just gets me, right here (*somber expression, with hand over heart*), every time…. The picture you see, by the way, was NOT posed, reportedly…. An average guy was taking pictures in the forest back of his home (in France? I think it was France…. must have been an escaped snail….) when he noticed the frog and snail toddling along, in whatever form of interaction they may have been pursuing….. Makes one wonder what that interaction might be, doesn’t it?… Well, it does this one…. I suppose that makes me a strange one, but, if so, so be it….

Beautiful frog, isn’t it? It doesn’t seem to be in any hurry, does it?….

I thought I’d end the year on a high note…. and, no, that doesn’t mean I’m any higher than usual. Boy, tell people a secret, and ya never hear the last of it…. No, actually, I meant I was going to actually write an intro section that made sense, well-thought out and constructed, and perfectly led the way into the day’s post…. Of course, that idea is now kaput; frogs & snails will do that…. I’m not sure just how I do it, but, somehow these never seem to quite come out the way I start them….

I go off into tangents, maybe? I suppose if I knew, it wouldn’t happen, would it? Probably not, but, then, that assumes I have some sort of clue, which is patently uncertain, if not outright untrue…. Maybe it’s like my friend suggested, and I’m addicted to parenthetical remarks…. I do love my commas, semi-colons, three-and-four dot pauses, and parentheses….

Who knows? Maybe there is a purpose in all this meandering around…. Nah…. If I thought that, I’d shoot myself. No, I’d rather it be just what it is… a bad habit of spending too much time in my head, then giving myself the chance to put that stuff out for everyone to see, all without any clear idea of what it will do, or mean, or anything…. I’m just throwing it out there, and seeing what sticks, so to speak…. Plus, it gets all this crap out of my head, which helps me no end, so, y’all will just have to put up with it, no matter how silly it gets….

Well, no, actually you don’t, but, I hope you will… Some of it, at least, is worth reading, or listening to, or watching…. Plus, I guarantee, a LOT of it is worth thinking about…. and, I don’t even care, or assume, or put any pressure on anyone to do anything with what they think…. only that they do…. Or, if not think, at least laugh…. even if they don’t get it….

Of course, if I can help anyone see the light, or even point the way to the road they need to be on, I’ll feel okay with it…. If nothing else, it keeps me off the streets, which, given the way I feel these days, about people in general, and the world at large, is probably a good thing….

Enough blather….

Shall we Pearl?

“I’m a belligerent omnivore – I eat vegetarians.” — Smart Bee

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Music is, perhaps, the most powerful form of social influence in society, when it lives up to its promise, and is used to promote change.” — gigoid

Okay, so, this will pull some covers, but, I no longer care…. Whenever I hear this song, I weep…. I can’t seem to help it….. The song was such a big part of my musical education, as well as one of the most powerful songs of the “revolution” that my generation underwent during the 60’s, that period of American history when the emerging importance of the income gap was first highlighted by the studentsn and young people of the nation, with protests taking place against almost every facet of our sick society, molding the political future of the nation in ways that are still being felt…..

This song, for me, brings back all of it…. the hope, the anguish, the sense of purpose, and the sheer hedonistic pleasure of being able to listen to such brilliant geniuses take rock music to new heights, while at the same time, bringing the message of love, and peace, to a world that sadly needed it…

I’m not sure, but, in the cut I chose, there are a number of other famous rock musicians playing along with George & Eric…. One of them, I believe, was Elton John, on the piano…. Another great cut of the same song can be found when this one ends…. when Eric played it at the Concert for George, giving his ALL to the song…. amazing guitar work….

Any who, here is George, before his passing, at the height of his musical talent, in one of our songs of revolution, the one that makes me weep….. just as I am now…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. rock music never got any better than this….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The truth has never been of any real value to any human being- it is a symbol for mathematicians and philosophers to pursue. In human relations kindness and lies are worth a thousand truths.” — Graham Greene

I hate that this is true…. We humans are a perverse species, are we not? This next pearl strikes me the same way, with regret for its validity…

“You may either win your peace or buy it; win it by resistance to evil; buy it by compromise with evil.” — John Ruskin (1819-1900)

Damn, Sam, this is also true! Why? How have we come to this? Yes, I know asking why isn’t always productive, but, it really does bother me…. In this country, sadly, it is easy to see the how and why of it; for example….

“You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in their struggle for independence.” — Charles Austin Beard, American Historian, 1874-1948

Sterling truth, as is patently obvious, merely by looking at some of the documents released by the NSA, more than one of which make it clear they use those patriotic phrases as key search elements in their paranoid quest to find ‘domestic terrorists’…. Just read them, I’m not making it up… well, read what little they’ve released; there is still a great deal more information on us they have NOT told us about, nor will they ever do so, if we allow it….

Okay, here, read this…. It has both good news, and bad news….

http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/29/latest-snowden-revelations-expose-scope-of-nsa-interceptions/

“Do not be afraid of enemies; the worst they can do is to kill you. Do not be afraid of friends;  the worst they can do is betray you. Be afraid of the indifferent;  they do not kill or betray. Yet only because of their silent agreement, betrayal and murder exist on earth.” — Bruno Yasienski, contemporary Soviet novelist

I only speak the truth when I say it is indifference at play here, as well…. The NSA, and the people who support their work, are completely indifferent to any of the principles upon which our country was founded, and is supposed to be run. Add to that the incredibly MASSIVE indifference of the average citizen, who cares little about anything beyond their next meal, composed of the processed, fatty almost-foods that are killing them…. but, not before they use a great deal of their time and resources to pay for the medical care to keep them alive longer, living in ignorance and fear…..

Whew! I didn’t know that was in there…. I typed so long it hurts…. If you couldn’t tell, I am just a little bit annoyed with our government, and the assholes who partake in its thievery from the citizens who trust them, and, most especially, with those parts of it which actively wage war against the very people they are sworn to defend…. The problem lies in their belief that “defending” us entitles them to invade our privacy, and make every part of our lives their business…. which, is , of course, illegal, immoral, unethical, and just plain wrong, from any virtuous viewpoint one may assume…..

I’ll say this once, and mean it…. No matter what anyone tells you, or wants you to believe, ffolkes,

I’ve ranted enough for one day…. and, I’ve made my point, I believe…. Now, it’s up to the rest of y’all, to decide how long we will allow this to be done to us, and whether or not we are going to take our rights back from those who would abrogate them… Plus, I’ve got more to do today, and this won’t get it done…. Let’s go read a poem, shall we?…. Well, naturally, AFTER an appropriate pearl….

“Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances.” — Mark Twain

Oops, wait, that wasn’t the one I wanted…. Right, here it is…. I will say, there isn’t anything wrong about Mark’s observation… it just doesn’t fit the rant very well…. though there IS a slight connection, if one looks closely…. Never mind, here, this is a much better ending to this particular section, I think…. Accurate, anyway, if anyone cares to buy into the God idea….

“God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.” — Voltaire

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is one fucking amaaaazing pearl…. It was put together during a bout last night with some rather severe arthritis pain, served up with a side dish of dyskinesia, providing me with several hours of riveting entertainment….. I think, in retrospect, I’d much rather skip the show next time…. The amazing part is that I kept sitting for a moment as I paced around the house, limping and moaning, to hit the keys to go through SB for quotes, just to distract myself….. The following seven-star pearl came up, piece by piece, and damn if it didn’t end up making a point, or more accurately, a statement of belief, that is a big, big part of what I am all about…. Totally cool…

“He who endeavors to serve, to benefit, and improve the world, is like a swimmer, who struggles against a rapid current, in a river lashed into angry waves by the winds.  Often they roar over his head, often they beat him back and baffle him.  Most men yield to the stress of the current…  Only here and there the stout, strong heart and vigorous arms struggle on toward ultimate success.” — Albert Pike (1809-1891)

“If an expert does not have some problem to vex him, he is unhappy! If a philosopher’s teaching is never attacked, he pines away! If critics have no one on whom to exercise their spite, they are unhappy. All such men are prisoners in the world of objects.” — Chuang Tzu, “The Way of Chuang Tzu” Thomas Merton, transl.

“The belief that words have a meaning of their own account is a relic of primitive word magic, and it is still a part of the air we breathe in nearly every discussion.” — Charles K. Ogden, The Meaning of Meaning

“A good word is an easy obligation, but not to speak ill, requires only our silence, which costs us nothing.” — Tillotson

“The great question of life is not the question of death but the question of life. Fear of death shames us all.” — Edward Abbey

“For my part, I had rather be the first man among these fellows than the second man in Rome.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Caesar

“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” — H.H. the Dalai Lama

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This Pearl is a testament to my own degree of dedication…. or, some would say, obsession, to get this stuff out of my head, despite everything I, and the universe, can do to stop me…. The greatest portion of YESTERDAY (it appears that way in my memory now…. that’s how bad it was….) was spent in SHEER MISERY. I was attacked, all at once, by severe arthritic pain, a side dish of dyskinesia, thanks to my ongoing battle with my HMO, and, the concomitant aggravation of reacting to all of that stress with emotional outbursts, disconnected to anything going on physically…. What a mess I was!….

But, it’s done, though I could not say exactly HOW that happened…. So be it….. I’m going to press my luck now, and post it, so, I guess I’ll see y’all tomorrow, given half a chance…. See ya, ffolkes…. and watch out for Big Brother….