Ffolkes,
We made it, and now are happily sailing along the coast of the great Northwest, somewhere near Oregon or Washington, perhaps, headed for the Inside Passage. Not much scenery as yet, we’re a bit far from shore, and from the sea, one can see the effects of pollution, as most of the coastline we are passing is covered in a light to heavy haze, and it isn’t fog….. But, the water is calm, the sky is blue, and the food is plentiful…. Score!

This promises to be a wonderful trip, though I may not be as able to post as much as I did from Europe…. I’ve already realized that this time, I’m not alone, and my time isn’t as flexible as when I am…. I have to say, I am much happier with Patricia here with me than I was traveling alone, and not just because I love her, but because it means I can share all the good times….

That’s really all I have right now…. I’ve gotten my internet hookup done, and shouldn’t have a problem there, but, I’m not yet sure about the email version of the Pearls. This new computer is balking at installing Thunderbird, the email browser I normally use, so I may have to access it all online, which I am not sure will work for posting… I can access my yahoo mail, though, so contact is possible, just reduced…. Ah well, travel makes it all a bit more complicated, but, is well worth it…..

That’s all I really have to say today… I don’t have a rant, and I’m having too much fun to break away to write just now, so, I’m afraid y’all will have to wait for fresh material until tomorrow…. For today, I’ll merely dip into the archives for a couple of old school pearls, and find a nice, tasty poem…. Shall we Pearl?….
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Rather than an old-school pearl, I found this rant, from election day in 2012…. it’s a good one….

“Americans have the right and advantage of being armed – unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” — James Madison

I found this yesterday; I’d seen it before, and it seemed serendipitous that it showed up just in time for the event today (psst!…. go vote!….). In my mind, a good standard for figuring out if a person is a true patriot is to get their take on the Second Amendment, and the idea of gun control by the government. As I’ve stated before, I believe the risk of letting the government restrict our rights in this regard, IN ANY WAY, can only lead to the eventual loss of the right altogether, and that is an event that is completely unacceptable to me. Yes, it means that the world will be a dangerous place, but, guess what, ffolkes, that is something that happened a long time before guns. Taking them away from the general populace is not going to stop mass killings, or unjust, insane use of guns against innocent people. That occurs on a daily basis, anyway, but with the guns in the hands of police officers; that is a fact….. So, don’t tell me that the government is more qualified to use guns than I am, because that is just stupid….

Now that I’ve insulted many of you, we’ll try to go on to the election…. didn’t mean to get off into a rant on that, but, wanted to get it out of the way, so that the discussion may go on to other ways that the government is, quite simply, fucking us left and right…. George Carlin had a lot of good points about the corporate masters and their lackeys, the beloved ruling classes, and the priestly hierarchies. He often pointed out that the world has turned into a massive corporate conglomerate, with all the world governments at the mercy of those few individuals who actually control all the resources, and money. Those are people you never hear about, or see in the news, unless it is by intent…. they don’t allow accidents like that to happen…. But rest assured, they exist, and are perfectly content to let the world believe whatever it wants, as long as their profits, their power, and their control over others continues to grow….

“The rifle and handgun are “equalizers”–the weapons of a democracy. Tanks and bombers represent dictatorship.” — Edward Abbey

But, the invisible rulers don’t like the Second Amendment…. it leaves too much chance for independence in the hands of the people, and in case the people ever find out what they have been up to, they want to be able to know where all the guns are that might threaten them….. Having the general populace of this country continue to have access to any significant firepower is not in their best interests, so they work behind the scenes to get people to believe the nonsense about gun control, and how keeping guns from the hands of the citizenry will make life safer…. which is just so much bullshit… plain and simple.  Ultimately, the only real effect of making guns illegal will be to make a large percentage of the American people outlaws, because I don’t think any of us will give them up without resistance, whether overt, or covert…..

“The right to buy weapons is the right to be free.” — A. E. Van Vogt, The Weapon Shops, — in Astounding Science Fiction, December 1942

How, you may ask, does this relate to the election? Well, it doesn’t, directly…. it’s just a pet peeve of mine, and an example of another of our basic rights that are being eroded by politicians, preachers, and those who ignorantly buy into their lies. I don’t trust the Democrats any more than I do the Republicans; perhaps even less, because the Republicans seem to be far more open about their lack of concern with the rights of the people. In that sense, they are easier to spot, and to resist. The Dems are being more subtle, but that doesn’t make them trustworthy; they do, after all, seek that power over others as well. There just seem to be more of them who are motivated to do so out of some community feeling, and concern for others, and those are trying to encompass reforms that are sorely needed.

“A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman, of the next generation.” — James Clarke

The difference between the two parties that have the only chance at the seats of power is extreme in this election; very seldom has the choice that needs to be made been clearer. One can choose to move forward into a future of change, or one can try to return society to the middle ages, with all of its injustice, and misery. It is that simple, and anyone who wishes to argue with that is welcome to present their views…. I’ll knock them down easily, with headlines from the daily news that, although not exactly unbiased or always true, are nonetheless balanced out by the outrageousness of each side’s contributions.

“Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.” — H.L. Mencken

The facts are all our there to see, and they clearly show one candidate whose only interest is in increasing his own power and wealth, and protecting his cronies on Wall Street, his cultish church, and the ruling class; he cares noting about the common man, and makes his disdain obvious. The other is, well, definitely the lesser of two evils…. on the apparent surface he is a dedicated, honest man, seeking reform and change, but, there are indications of less than stellar activity in his administration, too.  But, he obviously cares about the common man much more than his opponent, and since the common man is the one who will be affected the most by what happens this time, the choice is clear. If you don’t want to have to take up regular use of Vaseline and Preparation H, then vote the incumbent…. If you really want to get a good screwing in the nether regions, then vote the opposition…. it is that simple ffolkes…..

“There is but one element of government, and that is THE PEOPLE.  From this element spring all governments.  “For a nation to be free, it is only necessary that she wills it.”  For a nation to be slave, it is only necessary that she wills it.” — John Adams (1735-1826), Letter to John Taylor, 1814
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I Must Have Wanton Poets

MUST have wanton poets, pleasant wits,
Musicians, that with touching of a string
May draw the pliant king which way I please:
Music and poetry is his delight;
Therefore I’ll have Italian masks by night,
Sweet speeches, comedies, and pleasing shows;
And in the day, when he shall walk abroad,
Like sylvan nymphs my pages shall be clad;
My men, like satyrs grazing on the lawns,
Shall with their goat-feet dance the antic hay;
Sometime a lovely boy in Dian’s shape,
With hair that gilds the water as it glides,
Crownets of pearl about his naked arms,
And in his sportful hands an olive-tree,
To hide those parts which men delight to see,
Shall bathe him in a spring; and there, hard by,
One like Actæon, peeping through the grove,
Shall by the angry goddess be transform’d,
And running in the likeness of an hart,
By yelping hounds pull’d down, shall seem to die:
Such things as these best please his majesty.

~~ Christopher Marlowe ~~

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Here is another good one from a day or two after the above rant was posted…..

“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.  I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.  Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me.  It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” — George Bernard Shaw

Now, THAT is a good attitude toward living! Carpe diem, and all that, don’t y’know? I like to think that I approach life in much this same manner, even though I have my moments spent in depression and despair; those moments I consider to be anomalous, and not fully representative of my take on life in general. Many people may not feel this way, and I cannot disparage them for that, as living often requires more of our attention that can be spared to make sure we are positively motivated; it’s not easy to get by in this world, and maintaining a positive outlook can become secondary to just having the wherewithal to do anything at all. But, George points out a pretty good way to think about it, even if one hasn’t the time or resources to fully appreciate, or apply, the principle as given….. As such, it joins a number of other viewpoints of famous historical figures, all of whom had advice to give to people about how to live well…. below you will find several of these suggestions for living life as well as one is able to live….

“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it… Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher.  But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings — that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” — Buddha

“Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.” — Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)

“Honor has not to be won; it must only not be lost.” — Arthur Schopenhauer, Parerga and Paralipomena

In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don’t try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.
— Tao Te Ching

“A wise man first determines what is within his control; all else is then irrelevant.” — Epictetus

Well, there you go…. now, all you have to do is put all of this into practice…. sounds like fun, eh?….
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Okay, it’s long, but it’s done…. and being old pearls, I don’t have to proof them, having done so already, last time they were used….  I’m calling it a done deal, and going to go spend more time having fun…. See you tomorrow….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.

gigoid