“A man can only do what he can do.  But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day.” — Albert Schweitzer
    The pub pictured above, is, as can be noted by the mirror over the bar, the The Old Swan, in Kensington, just around the corner from the B&B where I stayed in London, in Abbey Court, quite near Portobello Road. It could be considered as my neighborhood pub for when I am in that city, as it felt like home from the first time I walked in…. During the three days I spent in London, I was in here four times, for three meals, and a night out, once I’d gotten over my jet lag. It was everything an English pub was advertised to be; comfortable, friendly, and bursting with tradition, from the dark wooden walls, to the pretty barmaids, and the warm fire in the hearth….

For three years now, damn near, I’ve been trying to create an environment here, on this blog, that would make ffolkes feel the same about coming here as I did about going to the Swan, with the same sort of welcoming atmosphere, sans food and drink….. Instead, here, we serve dishes of a more intellectually fulfilling nature, rather than those of a savory, aromatic, stomach-filling sort…. The intent is a bit different, too…. The pub’s focus is on providing a place to relax and socialize, rather than one designed to stimulate thought, and to illuminate that which is kept deliberately dark, thereby arousing the passion to make changes…. all in the hope of helping the world to make the changes needed to save our ignorant asses….

That goal, of course, is probably not realistic, but, it’s the only one I find to be worthwhile, since, if we don’t manage to make the aforementioned necessary alterations in how we approach living, we, as a species, are certainly going to die…. I hate being so pessimistic; it really isn’t my nature to lose hope, or to give up…. but, between the intransigence of those in power, the ignorance of the great unwashed masses, historical inertia, and the unfortunate tendency of our species to express the violence in our nature rather than the compassion that exists within us as well, I don’t see the necessary changes as having much chance of being made in time to fix what we have made of our nest….

That lack of hope doesn’t keep me from trying though, and, if the last three years is any indication, my efforts are, if nothing else, prodigious…. I guess it wouldn’t be out of line to say I must have had something to say, because I’ve certainly said something, to the tune of about four thousand PAGES, holding more than three million words that have been inside me for years, waiting for their chance to come out to play…. I’m not sure how many are left in there, but, as you can see, there doesn’t seem to be any lack of them to pick from…. thank goodness…..

In fact, I’m pretty sure we’ve put enough of them together so far today to have reached one of our potential points of entry into the later sections…. Yep, there’s the ending of this intro coming up right there, up there a few lines ahead of us…. Probably a good thing, too, as this was beginning to unravel, or, as we like to say around here, it was “preparing for burn”, or “damn, what the hell was that?”….. I’m sure you know whereof I speak, as it tends to happen here on an almost daily basis…. I’m not going to bother naming it, or trying to define it, but, y’all know exactly what I mean, don’t you?…. I know you do, but, if it embarrasses you to admit it, that’s okay…. We all know, so, it’s cool….

Oh look, it’s the ending I saw….. Good, the water looks inviting today….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Scilurus on his death-bed, being about to leave four-score sons surviving, offered a bundle of darts to each of them, and bade them break them. When all refused, drawing out one by one, he easily broke them,–thus teaching them that if they held together, they would continue strong; but if they fell out and were divided, they would become weak.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders

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“All men profess honesty as long as they can. To believe all men honest would be folly. To believe none so is something worse.” — John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)

In the course of this blog, I’ve ranted many times about how the Asininnies, or, at least, those in that group who speak to the public, consistently lie about their actions, as well as their motivation for those acts. Moreover, I’ve tried to relate how the ignorance of those who listen to those lies, believing them implicitly, is as much the underlying cause as the lies themselves….. In support of that opinion, I offer the results of the presidential election in November of 2012, when 55 million Americans voted for a man who lied to them more than 50% of the time, a figure corroborated by more than just two fact-checking organizations….

Yes, you read that correctly…. 55 million Americans chose to vote for a man who was a proven liar, just so they wouldn’t have to consider the idea of having a black man as President for another four years…. Not that the established conservative political coalition would allow him, or his political allies, to actually DO anything for the people; the GOP has managed to throw up a roadblock on EVERY piece of legislation designed to help the public for the last six and a half years, becoming in the process the champion “do-nothing” Congress of all…. This Congressional group has considered fewer bills than ANY other of its predecessors, and has passed even less of it, thus earning their championship with a truly monumental, record-breaking LACK of work…. or, progress….

“A long tradition has regarded low self-esteem as a powerful and dangerous cause of violence. Our review has indicated, however, that it is threatened egotism rather than low self-esteem that leads to violence.” — Case Western Reserve University psychology study as quoted in Thomas C. Palmer, Jr.’s Boston Globe article (3-31-96), — Self-Esteem Self-Threatening?

I ask you, sincerely, as an experienced, retired mental health professional, what is legislative obstruction other than passive-aggressive violence to the public, like a spiteful child complaining of a lost entitlement?…. As far as I can see, the House of Representatives Republican majority has done NOTHING other than act like spoiled children for the last seven years, since BEFORE the ’08 election, when the threat of a black president first surfaced…. and, in the process of their throwing their series of legislative tantrums, have managed to slow the process of healing so needed by the economy, and the national psyche….

In spite of their efforts, the economy has improved, a LOT; unemployment and inflation are at their lowest rates since the first Shrub started raiding the public coffers, the banks are fat and happy, and even the middle class has seen an improvement in their overall economic picture…. It’s looking as if the American economy is finally starting to recover, a little bit, from the disaster of the Reagan years, and the complete catastrophe that was the legacy of the Shrubs, both Senior and Junior, each of which created their own particular mess in the money world, giving new meaning to words such as nepotism, corruption, and cronyism….

I’m going to give y’all a break today; I’ll end this rant here, & finish off this section with some appropriate pearls…. I’ve made the point I wanted to make, if only minimally…. but, I feel myself approaching a level of anger at such immorality which could potentially affect the quality of the argument, so, I’ll let it go, and just reinforce my point with pearls…. Remember, ffolkes, you have to listen closely to what they say, and make the effort to determine its veracity, or lack thereof, before buying into anything that comes out of a politician’s, or a preacher’s, or a banker’s mouth…. They don’t have a good track record at truth-telling…. nor, as far as can be seen, do they have any interest, or investment, in learning to do so

“The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.” — Winston Churchill

“What one fool can do, another can.” — Ancient Simian Proverb

“What we wish, that we readily believe.” — Demosthenes

“Men of power have no time to read, yet the men who do not read are unfit for power.” — Michael Foot

ARTHUR:  I am your king!
WOMAN:   Well, I didn’t vote for you.
ARTHUR:  You don’t vote for kings.
WOMAN:   Well, ‘ow did you become king then?

— Monty Python and the Holy Grail

“POLITICIANS do it, but they stay in too long and make you pay for it afterwards.” — Smart Bee

“What is it not to sin? Do not ask much; go, the silent flowers will tell you.” — Angelus Silesia ne Johannes Scheffler (1624-1677)

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Hang on…. I just finished section one, and don’t have a clue as to a poem for this section…. yet. I’ll be back… I won’t be Arnold, but, I’ll be back…. Uh oh, stand back, ffolkes, I feel a poem bleeding out….

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Time for some more old-school pearling, ffolkes…. Smart Bee has been pretty cooperative so far, so, I’m going to push my luck, & see if we can come up with another pearl of virtual wisdom to finish off today’s effort….. Go, SB!….

“When ideas fail, words come in very handy.” — Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

“A guilty conscience never feels secure.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 617

“Christ believed in hell. I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment.” — Bertrand Russell

“If you have had your attention directed to the novelties in thought in your own lifetime, you will have observed that almost all really new ideas have a certain aspect of foolishness when they are first produced.” — Alfred North Whitehead

“You must turn and face the tiger to learn it is made of paper.” — Smart Bee

“I grow old ever learning many things.” — Solon 630 – 555 BC

“..  I think I’d better go back to my DESK and toy with a few common MISAPPREHENSIONS…” — Zippy the Pinhead

I rest my case…. The most cogent of the above aphorisms came from SB itself, which, obviously, goes to prove my assertion….. I hope you enjoyed this one, it’s pretty good….

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When I awoke this morning, I had no idea this would all flow out before I was done…. It’s all fresh, and all punctuated, so, I’m going to take my chances with it as it is, sans any further perusal, and trusting to my basic skills to protect me from the grammar Nazis out there…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. I feel lighter, for sure…..