Ffolkes,
I hope everyone who visited yesterday took a moment to register their disapproval of SOPA and PIPA to Congress and/or the President. We’ve already lost the Bill of Rights, we can’t afford to lose any more of our freedoms. It already has a cost which it never had before the NDAA was signed…….Today’s version will seem somewhat disjointed, I should imagine. It’s the only way it could be, considering the state of mind I’m in this morning, which might best be described as funky. In it’s exact medical definition……I have been funkified;  no quarter will be given, and none will be sought…..
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“You can’t legislate morality. We tried to outlaw consumption of alcoholic beverages. We found that violation of the law led to bigger crimes and bred disrespect for the law.” — Jimmy Carter, 1976.

“The cure for capitalism’s failing would require that a government would have to rise above the interests of one class alone.” — Robert L. Heilbroner

“What would happen if the President, the Supreme Court, and all members of both houses of Congress were stoned out of their gourds twenty-four hours a day? The chilling truth is, it might be an improvement.” — Allan Sherman

The United States Supreme Court has handed down the eleventh commandment, “Thou shalt not, in any classroom, read the first ten.”

“Whether you have an abortion, what you put in your own body, with whom you have sex – these are not the affairs of the state.  A government does not exist to control the citizens.  When it does, it is a tyranny, and must be fought.  The tree of liberty, Jefferson warned us, must be refreshed with the blood of tyrants and patriots.” — Gore Vidal

The conclusion here is left as an exercise for the gentle reader….. think about the effect of the age-old battle of entropy versus will, and avoid underestimating the power of human stupidity…… it’ll come to you in time….
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The silent snow fell relentlessly, unceasingly, mercilessly from the sordid, sullied surreality of the sky as if some enormous, ethereal diner were shaking grated parmesan on the great, soggy meatball that was earth. — 1988 Bulwer-Lytton bad writing contest, runner up

This doesn’t require explanation or discussion. I just liked it. And I think I probably would like the first place winner, too. This one is what we like to call “pure crap”, and deserves all the scorn it garnered, and more…..
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“The Internet may fairly be regarded as a never-ending worldwide conversation. The government may not, through the [Communications Decency Act], interrupt that conversation… As the most participatory form of mass speech yet developed, the Internet deserves the highest protection from governmental intrusion… The government, therefore, implicitly asks this court to limit both the amount of speech on the Internet and the availability of that speech. This argument is profoundly repugnant to First Amendment principles.” — U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell, 1996

Two bills currently in Congress are making another attempt to curtail free speech on the Internet. These two bills (SOPA and PIPA, by acronym) want to have the authority to shut down any American web site for having on it a link to another site that pirates music or movies, even if that site is in another country. It would also limit what people could say or do on the internet, and in conjunction with the NDAA (the latest version of the Homeland Insecurity Act) means that almost any citizen of this country can be taken to an undisclosed location, without benefit of lawyer, to be tortured according to law, and without the agency doing the kidnap having to justify why to anyone (there is no oversight written into the NDAA; they don’t have to even tell anyone they are doing it).

It is now possible for this kidnapping to be done because someone writes an article criticizing the government, or advocates protest, and posted it on the Internet. In other words, freedom of speech, freedom from unjust accusation, freedom to address our grievances, freedom to do any damn thing, all have been eradicated. You no longer have those rights. And now, they will try to completely shut down any opportunity for anyone to disagree with their new policies.

Sure, they say they are doing it to protect intellectual property, but what they are really doing is making sure that no one takes away any of their profit margins. I’m seriously considering moving to another country, where at least the government is honest about what they keep from the people. Our own government has lied us right into slavery, and we let it happen…..fuck ’em!….fuck them all! I want my rights back, and not tomorrow, today…..who else is down with that?……..Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.
— William Butler Yeats, “The Stolen Child”
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SCRIPTURES, n.  The sacred books of our holy religion, as distinguished from the false and profane writings on which all other faiths are based. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

The saddest part of this definition lies in the fact that most of the people who see it will think it makes perfect sense, and completely ignore the irony of the statement. It never ceases to astonish me to what depths the power of deliberate ignorance can take us. It always produces a sense of amazement in me to realize that not only do most folks never question what they are told by others, they actively reject any kind of interaction that would cause them to either change their minds, or one that merely asks them to consider another opinion as a viable subject for discussion….

Boy, I sure wish I could see some hope for us, but every day brings news that clearly indicates how grim the situation is, and doesn’t leave much room for hope…..intolerance and deliberate ignorance are winning the day just now, and look like a lock to continue in that vein……SIGH…… let us lift a toast, in memoriam. R.I.P. US Bill of Rights…… it was all a dream…..Hope, of all ills that men endure,
The only cheap and universal cure.
— Abraham Cowley (1618-1667) — The Mistress, For Hope
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DISCLAIMER — I said it. I must’ve meant it. There is nobody else to blame.

There is a bit less here than normal; chalk it up to the discordant state of mind I mentioned above. This will have to do, ‘cuz it’s all I’ve got today…. y’all take care out there…..