Monthly Archives: May 2014

A schlemiel, or a putz?… Not an easy choice….

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Ffolkes,

There are moments, when I sit to begin each day, when my mind wanders, into places that other people know not…. which is something about which they should be very glad…. But, in a real sense, that could easily be said of just about anyone’s mind, not just mine, so, y’all probably have an idea of the kinds of places I mean; I don’t believe for a minute that I’m all THAT different than the rest of mankind, even if a great deal of the available evidence says so….

This difference is one I’ve always tended to cultivate, actually, as the general run of ffolkes in the world are involved in stuff that holds no interest for me; they pay attention to people that I consider to be manipulative and self-serving, and spend a lot of time wasted, to my way of thinking, engaging in activities that don’t either improve their lot, or make them, and those they love, happy, both of which I see as our primary goals in this reality. Other ffolkes, I know, seem to think there are goals more worthwhile, but, to my mind, those two cover all of our REAL responsibilities in Life….

Anything else you hear in place of those activities is most likely something someone else told you, or convinced you to believe, in spite of how silly it sounds, or how much it doesn’t seem to help at all…. I know that all of my life there have been numerous silly asses who have tried to convince me of the rightness of their ideas (about God, about Life, about Government….), each of them more strident and more insistent than the last….

Fortunately, in my mind, I learned at a young age (4-5 years…) how to spot them, determining back then to NOT listen to them, as they were only trying to get me to do what THEY wanted, not what I thought I needed to do…. and somehow, what seemed right to me, with my young, unfettered mind, and no prejudices, was that what THEY were telling me was a bunch of bullshit; it was ALL so unbelievable, I couldn’t buy into it, so I’d just nod my head, and go my way without bothering to pay much attention…. I believe it drove several Sunday School teachers to drink….

I’m not sure what prompted this, except possibly the email I found in my inbox this morning…. Supposedly, it’s from Google, but, the link it wants me to connect to is suspicious, to say the least, (it connect to a private domain, with a dot.me suffix, so, I suspect it’s some hacker, phishing for whatever idiots he can find to click blindly on the link, just the way they are instructed to do in the letter, which threatens to close my account if I don’t click on it…. I didn’t, of course, and will check with Google later….. Somehow, I don’t think they’re sending out official emails at 0317 AM, to get people to verify their accounts….

But, because most people in this country are programmed to obey instructions from official sources, this guy will no doubt end up with a lot of fools who are giving them a clear path to steal their information, all because they never learned to use the crap detector their brain came equipped with when they were born…. They forgot, or got distracted, and never used or registered the software in their head that allows them to see the world with clear eyes, unhindered by the delusions/illusions that much of the world uses as their basis for belief…. I’ll say this, it’s a lot simpler when you can see the shit coming, ffolkes; it allows one the time to duck, thus saving us from getting hit in the face with that crap, or getting it on our clothing….

Okay, so, there you have it…. A complete, unbearably long, complicated, rant-like diatribe, right there at the front of the Pearl, where it can do the most damage, and serve as today’s excuse for an intro…. Six paragraphs should certainly be enough to satisfy any official myrmidons, and the unofficial ones aren’t armed, so I don’t pay them any mind…. For now, this will do, and, since my thumb and wrist are beginning to get rather painful as I type, it would no doubt be best to get on with today’s effort….

Shall we Pearl?…..

REVEILLE, n.  A signal to sleeping soldiers to dream of battlefields no more, but get up and have their blue noses counted.  In the American army it is ingeniously called “rev-e-lee,” and to that pronunciation our countrymen have pledged their lives, their misfortunes, and their sacred dishonor. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

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Since my thumb is paining me, I’ll switch this intended rant about Ed Snowden, and the aftereffects of his heroic act of bravery, to a newer model Pearl, where I will provide links, then comment on the contents of the included articles, and the subject of those reports…. Let’s see what I’ve collected for us to poke at today….

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/may/09/westminster-may-have-to-concede-edward-snowden-had-a-point

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/10/the-battle-to-retake-our-privacy-can-be-won-in-the-halls-of-congress-really

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/08/guide-deceptions-word-games-obfuscations-officials-use-mislead-public-about-nsa

https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying/wordgames

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/07/nsa_lexicon_how_james_clapper_and_other_u_s_officials_mislead_the_american.html

“First as to speech.  That privilege rests upon the premise that there is no proposition so uniformly acknowledged that it may not be lawfully challenged, questioned, and debated.  It need not rest upon the further premise that there are no propositions that are not open to doubt; it is enough, even if there are, that in the end it is worse to suppress dissent than to run the risk of heresy.  Hence it has been again and again unconditionally proclaimed that there are no limits to the privilege so far as words seek to affect only the hearers’ beliefs and not their conduct.  The trouble is that conduct is almost always based upon some belief, and that to change the hearer’s belief will generally to some extent change his conduct, and may even evoke conduct that the law forbids.” — [cf. Learned Hand, The Spirit of Liberty,– University of Chicago Press, 1952, The Art and Craft of Judging: — The Decisions of Judge Learned Hand, — edited and annotated by Herschel Shanks, The MacMillian Company, 1968.]

The five or six articles above are a series of reports on the NSA spying fiasco, complete with some articles that show us just how the assholes who run the spy agencies, and the politicians who are supporting them in  their paranoia, all tend to use a different set of words than the other English speaking members of this country, having decided to assign new meanings to old words, so they can justify the lies they tell on a regular basis, merely pointing at their actual words, and telling us we didn’t understand what they actually meant by them….

I won’t belabor the point here, as the articles are pretty clear about how they do it, showing EXACTLY what words they have altered to suit their purposes, thus, in THEIR minds, making what they say the truth, not the lie it actually is, to anyone using the language in a normal fashion. They do it on purpose, to try to hide their chicanery, and, in many cases, they may actually BELIEVE their own lies…. which makes them all the more dangerous to the rest of us….

“Necessity is the plea of every infringement of human freedom.  It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” — William Pitt (1759-1806) speech on the India Bill, Nov. 18, 1783

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/10/judge-says-arkansas-gay-marriage-ban-is-unconstitutional

This one is here not because it is terribly controversial, (to me, this is no longer a question of anything but time until the laws of this country reflect reality more closely in this respect….), but, rather, because it is yet another example of the STUPIDITY displayed by so many in government….. Once again, because the Constitution is what it is, the illegal discriminatory laws are overturned by yet ANOTHER Federal judge who can read….

Yet, in spite of this, and in the face of EVERY OTHER decision that preceded it, in every case where such discrimination is challenged, the idiot assholes in the Arkansas Attorney General’s office are planning to appeal this, just as all the OTHER fools who keep trying to force their own beliefs on the rest of us keep trying to do, in the eight or nine states where this identical scenario has already been played out….

Talk about banging your head against the wall, to show your objection to having built it in the first place; it’s rather counter-productive to refuse to see what is real…. Sad to say, though, these folks are accustomed to believing many things which have no basis in reality, so I suppose it isn’t really surprising they would keep performing the same unreasoned response to an issue whose conclusion is no longer in doubt…. Stupid is as stupid does, as Forrest’s mama used to say…..

The Bible is true this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.

— Jordan Henderson

(Just for fun…. if you don’t already know it, look up the meaning of the Latin phrase, “ipse dixit”….)

“Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Give a man religion and he’ll starve to death praying for a fish.” — Smart Bee

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/A-look-at-all-that-Benghazi-stands-for-5469335.php

I finally figured out this whole Benghazi issue…. After reading some of the historical perspective presented in this article, I can see that most of it, if not all, is just an argument between the two major political parties about who can lie the best, and when they’re allowed to do so…. It’s all a mass of pots calling each other black, the whole thing…. The whole mess apparently began because the elephantine idiots in the Republican Party thought they could make some points with the public by making a stink over the lies told by the other side, the donkeyites in the Democratic Party

(I find it interesting to note the two terms for these parties, one hundred years ago, were reversed in terms of party philosophy…. The Republicans were the party of the people, and the Democrats were the rich fat cats; now it’s the opposite, image-wise… Philosophically, of course, neither one resembles anything close to a democratic organization, not anymore; they’re both oligarchies, plain and simple….)

The Republicans, in their self-imposed image of “disloyal opposition” have created an unholy cacophony of accusations and allegations of conspiracy, most of which came straight from their own imaginary fears of things that MIGHT have been true, if reality were not what it is….

The Democrats, having been caught making a paper trail, of their attempts at spin-doctoring all the information about the incident, are naturally upset at the Republicans, who are the reigning champions of lying to the public without a qualm or quiver of guilt. The Dems are upset because the Repubs are accusing THEM of lying, which is actually, to me, rather hilarious….

I mean, talk about chutzpah! The Republican Party, calling someone ELSE a liar! It HAS to be one of the most egregiously arrogant, ignorant stances I’ve ever seen, having personally watched over 50 years of this circus called American politics. In the last national election, in 2012, I believe the average speech by their candidate, Romney, never passed 50% on the fact-checking done by several organizations…

This translates to mean the candidate they chose to represent them to the world at large was lying through his teeth, at least half of every time he opened his mouth to speak…. This is a statistic you may check yourself, but, I’m pretty sure of its accuracy, as I read the reports at the time; they all had him telling an untruth with every other statement he made…. I should add, most of the rest of what I heard was either wrong-headed, selfish, or completely lacking in compassion for anyone other than his own narrow group of supporters…..

Yet, these same liars are upset because the Dems lied to the public about this attack on an embassy, an attack that came as much of a surprise to them as it did to the entire rest of the world…. The attack wasn’t one of those big, planned events…. It was a clusterfuck of incompetence, all around, diplomatically, militarily, and intelligence-wise, on BOTH sides of the issue, and the war; nobody knew it would happen until it did…. Then, of course, the media and the pols get hold of it, and it becomes an issue for them to exploit in the public eye, for their own aggrandizement….

And people wonder why I don’t like ANY of them…..

Well, that’s certainly enough for one day…. even I can only take so much of the news before getting nauseous, so, rather than use up more of my anti-nausea meds, ( medications which double, fortunately, as pain relievers…. Cannabis is wonderfully flexible, sort of a multi-tasker when it comes to what it can do for us….) I’ll leave you with these final pearls, to send us on our way to the next section….

“The simple realization that there are other points of view is the beginning of wisdom. Understanding what they are is a great step. The final test is understanding why they are held.” — Charles M. Campbell

“In a state-run society the government promises you security. But it’s a false promise, predicated on the idea that the opposite of security in risk. Nothing could be further from the truth. The opposite of security is insecurity, and the only way to overcome insecurity is to take risks. The gentle government that promises to hold your hand as you cross the street refuses to let go on the other side.” — Theodore Forstmann

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I’m going with whatever serendipitously throws itself under the wheels of this bus we’re on…. Here is a thought, and a poem, from two classical Chinese poets, to whose translators I offer my complete admiration, and thanks, for such excellent work….

“If you work on your mind with your mind, how can you avoid an immense confusion?” — Seng-Ts’an

Alone, Looking for Blossoms Along the River
The sorrow of riverside blossoms inexplicable,
And nowhere to complain — I’ve gone half crazy.
I look up our southern neighbor. But my friend in wine
Gone ten days drinking. I find only an empty bed.

A thick frenzy of blossoms shrouding the riverside,
I stroll, listing dangerously, in full fear of spring.
Poems, wine — even this profusely driven, I endure.
Arrangements for this old, white-haired man can wait.

A deep river, two or three houses in bamboo quiet,
And such goings on: red blossoms glaring with white!
Among spring’s vociferous glories, I too have my place:
With a lovely wine, bidding life’s affairs bon voyage.

Looking east to Shao, its smoke filled with blossoms,
I admire that stately Po-hua wineshop even more.
To empty golden wine cups, calling such beautiful
Dancing girls to embroidered mats — who could bear it?

East of the river, before Abbot Huang’s grave,
Spring is a frail splendor among gentle breezes.
In this crush of peach blossoms opening ownerless,
Shall I treasure light reds, or treasure them dark?

At Madame Huang’s house, blossoms fill the paths:
Thousands, tens of thousands haul the branches down.
And butterflies linger playfully — an unbroken
Dance floating to songs orioles sing at their ease.

I don’t so love blossoms I want to die. I’m afraid,
Once they are gone, of old age still more impetuous.
And they scatter gladly, by the branchful. Let’s talk
Things over, little buds —open delicately, sparingly.

~~ Tu Fu ~~


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This is going better than I’d hoped, so rather than push my luck, we’re going old school now; I’ll take my chances with the critics…. Enjoy, ffolkes, serendipity has been good to me so far today, so, I have high hopes for this pearl….

“All history shows that every man who has authority is led to abuse it; he does not stop until he comes up against limitations…Things must be so arranged that one authority checks another.” — Montesquieu

“Imagine me going around with a pot belly.  It would mean political ruin.” — Adolf Hitler

“He who cannot draw on three thousand years is living from hand to mouth.” — Goethe

“What a fool cannot learn he laughs at, thinking that by his laughter he shows superiority instead of latent idiocy.” — M. Corelli

“Anyone entrusted with power will abuse it if not also animated with the love of truth and virtue, no matter whether he be a prince, or one of the people.” — Jean de la Fontaine

“Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.” — Aesop

“Fear has its use but cowardice has none.” — Mahatma Gandhi

Hmm….. Sometimes, pearls can be dense, unfathomable, inscrutable…. This one certainly is all of those, even though the actual quotes are not…. I mean, hey, maybe the one by Adolf requires some thought, but, the rest should be pretty clear…. Together, though, it’s a bit of a poser, so, just flow with it; it will come, if and when it does, and not before…. Some pearls are like that….Yeah, they are….

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No matter what anybody says, I’m NOT doing it over!…. Nope, no way! This is actually a good one, so, as John Lennon said, so aptly, “Let it be”….. See ya, ffolkes…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Simple truths are always welcome, but seldom seen…

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Ffolkes,
Reblogging just seems like the thing to do today, as I don’t have any real creative urges bursting to get out…. which sentence goes to show the wisdom of this decision….. Given the state of my mind/body this morning, it’s for the best, believe me…. Most people forget, as do I much of the time, that the mind/body is one entity, not two, and the state of one is going to affect the state of the other…. So be it… I’m just glad I have an old Pearl like this one to put out today…. Enjoy….

gigoid's avatargigoid

Ffolkes,
In the bitter cold, his hands felt like wooden clubs, and the skin on his face and nose felt as if it were being ripped off in broad strips. Silently, he crossed the yard in back of the old two-story house where he had lived his entire life, heading swiftly toward the stand of trees just past the rear boundary. Not sure if the other would be there yet, he slowed his pace, slipping between the trees without a sound, until he came to the meeting place, a small clearing among the massive trunks of the ancient trees, empty of life, waiting. Standing outside the circular clearing, he watched, and listened; his breath forming small clouds in front of his face as he waited. “Nothing will stop him now,” he thought, “If he won’t listen to me, he’ll really do what he said he would do, and life itself…

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Distracted by a classic diversion…. cinnamon-glazed potato cakes….

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Ffolkes,

Soft, puffy, pristine white clouds scudded lazily across the morning sky, looking like nothing so much as huge balls of cotton, tumbling through the blue vastness, dazzling in the bright sun. The chirping calls of thousands of awakening birds echo through the trees, as the mundane creatures of the night silently retreat to their dens, giving way to those who hunt by day….

One of these predators, walking on two legs, is up, moving through the dappled light between the trees…. With rapid steps, he heads east, toward the sun, moving silently between the trees as the bright orb rises slowly, higher and higher, laying a blanket of oppressive heat over the landscape, stirred by the gentlest of breezes, enough only to make one wish for more….

Whoever that is, walking through the tropical forest (it’s too hot, too early to be anywhere but tropical…) is on their own today; I don’t care what he’s hunting, or how hot it gets…. It is now 0215 AM, and I’m up, wide awake, having slept for eight straight…. an unusual occurrence, to say the least…. I won’t be going back to sleep awhile yet, as I slept right through two pain pills (thank you mary jane!)…. Now, here I am, at this ungodly hour, wide awake, nerves dancing with massive dyskinesia, the result of missing two doses of Norco…. That alone will take an hour, before the pill I took hits, & I can stop jitterbugging in my chair, like a junkie who needs a fix….

So, I began with a landscape/story opening, just for practice, and to see how my mind is loosening up so far today…. Not too bad, all in all, so, there may be some hope for this process yet; I’ll be gracious, and try to assume the WORST is not necessarily going to happen…. I’m not yet ready to completely give up my curmudgeon status, so, I won’t be anticipating any Pollyanna issues, such as positive proof of the death of Murphy; however, I WILL try to keep a bit of a positive outlook about the future, especially as it pertains to this….

That isn’t to say I’ll be any more lucid or coherent than I usually am; no, I won’t make promises I can’t keep…. But, it does mean I probably won’t bite anyone, at least, not until someone actually SAYS something really stupid to me…. The mere act of being stupid in my vicinity won’t be held against them, beyond a bark or two, and I’ll break tradition so far as to go unarmed for the first couple of hours, until these homicidal urges pass….

By “unarmed”, I mean, of course, I won’t carry any guns, crossbows, spears, atl-atl’s, or other types of projectile weaponry…. Items such as knives, cords, shuriken, that sort of hidden tool set, doesn’t count toward the state of being unarmed, as I carry at least one of each of those at ALL times…. Just an old habit learned at me father’s knee, so to speak, and not subject to alteration…. You know how a Christian feels naked without clothes? Well, that’s me, without my standard tool set…

As is patently obvious at this point, though, it becomes clear that this intro section IS subject to alteration, and thank goodness for small favors, eh?…. In fact, I’ve already blathered sufficiently, following the fictional opening, to be able to legally call this an intro, and be done with it…. That, given the time of day, and my state of mind, may just save my ass, and, by logical concatenation, yours as well…. I find it to be a very good policy to keep the asses of my Gentle Readers intact, insofar as it is at all possible to do so; it makes everybody happier, especially my insurance guy….

With that in mind, I believe we’ll bring this to a halt; I’ll be firm, as it appears to be making an attempt to drag itself on, preventing me from either finishing this, or getting on with the rest of today’s effort…. But, as I say, firm…. so, with no further ado, we apply #4….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“We are all bozos on the bus of life, lunatics every one, but there is a difference; the one who can analyze his own delusion is often called a learned person, a philosopher.” — unknown smart guy, found in Smart Bee

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“The public weal requires that men should betray and lie and massacre.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book iii, Chap. i, Of Profit and Honesty

http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Obama-at-Wal-Mart-touts-efficiency-angers-labor-5465332.php

When I first saw this article, I wasn’t going to react; it was on one of those recent days when my pain level was through the roof, and it seemed too much effort to get into…. but, today, I’m okay, for the nonce, at least, so, we’ll take a shot at it, and see how it goes….

In truth, this article is one that provides us with a number of issues to discuss, so we should probably pick one to focus on, so we don’t get too lengthy, or involved to the point of distraction, & spend the entire day at it, creating an opus that nobody will ever read…. too long, too windy, too pedantic… So, lets see…. We could go for the obviously metaphorical conjunction of a “transparent” president using one of the country’s most reviled corporations as an example of green technology commitment; this, of course allows for a discussion of the minimum wage, and healthcare reform, either of which is a subject Wal-Mart fails at, totally…..

Or, we could talk about how Obama is now, finally, after six years in office, getting around to doing something about the climate change issue, as he promised in his first campaign, regarding an issue which, now, is even further away from being fixable than it was in 2008….

Or, we could talk about how Obama, and the BRC in general, are becoming less and less clandestine in their efforts to conceal the lies that are their stock in trade….. (Now, don’t start on me…. He’s a politician, therefore, he lies…. That is not a theorem, that is a proven fact, and arguing about it is counterproductive…. Please see the original pearl, at the beginning, by Montaigne; if they knew this in the 1500’s, it is certainly not disproved by any of today’s political figures…. They ALL lie, ffolkes, get used to it….)

I voted for Barry…. At the time, he was the only logical choice, since the only decision to make was which was the lesser of the evils, in the field  from which we were forced to choose…. But, I was never convinced of his actual honesty, as the previous four years of his administration had already demonstrated he was no different than any other man who occupied that office in the last hundred years or more…. They all lied ffolkes, regularly, and with no shame; if you don’t believe that, then, I’m sorry, there is nothing at all that can be done to save your sorry ass from the consequences of that belief….

I’ve previously ranted numerous times on this subject, so I shouldn’t have to demonstrate any further just how often the lies are spread; my only source of data comes from the daily news, which is available to everyone, just as it is to me. All of the evidence needed to convict any politician is right there, in the public record for anyone to read, at any time of the day or night…..

The hardest part for me is to realize that, much of the time, the lies aren’t even being covered up any more; more and more often, they are being left right out there in the public eye, obviously untrue, yet, the Beloved Ruling Class says nothing to augment, defend, or alter them….. whereupon, the public just accepts it with resignation, or with deliberately ignorant enthusiasm…. Myself, I find it hard to be enthusiastic over having my ass reamed on a consistent basis by those who ostensibly work for me….

Ah well…. I could rant all day on this subject; there is a lot of evidence that supports it, and it’s easy to pick out examples that prove my contention. I mean, examples of political prevarication are all over the news, every day; one need only look, to find…. But, I feel too good this morning, physically, to spend any more time at this; I still have to read TODAY’s news, so, I figure it would be best to let go of what came from a couple days ago…. There will be plenty more data for me to use, should I choose to take up this gauntlet another time, I’m sure….

After all, all I have to do is watch TV, and wait for one of them to open their lips…. At that point, I know I’ll have another choice lie to add to my evidential pile….

“It is an unhappy lot which finds no enemies.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 499

“It is better to deserve honours and not have them than to have them and not to deserve them.” — Mark Twain

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I wish I had known Oscar Wilde…. I think we would have had a lot to talk about…. Plus, the society of his time hadn’t a clue as to what to do about him, so, I think we would have been, in that sense, brothers in arms…. I like some of his poems, too, and though this isn’t one of them, it IS a good one…. I don’t always go with my own tastes; I try to be flexible, acknowledging those works that deserve it, even though it may not be completely to my liking…. This is okay; it’s a very good poem…. I just like others better…. Nonetheless, enjoy, please….

A Vision

Two crowned Kings, and One that stood alone
With no green weight of laurels round his head,
But with sad eyes as one uncomforted,
And wearied with man’s never-ceasing moan
For sins no bleating victim can atone,
And sweet long lips with tears and kisses fed.
Girt was he in a garment black and red,
And at his feet I marked a broken stone
Which sent up lilies, dove-like, to his knees.
Now at their sight, my heart being lit with flame,
I cried to Beatrice, ‘Who are these? ‘
And she made answer, knowing well each name,
‘AEschylos first, the second Sophokles,
And last (wide stream of tears!) Euripides.’

~~ Oscar Wilde ~~

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I’m a bit disappointed in my rant today…. It’s long enough, but seems a bit disorganized to my mind; not enough vitriol, or anger on hand to drive it, I suppose. That’s what happens when I sleep so long; my attitude improves, and my ranting goes wonky…. SIGH…. Oh well, such is life…. I can make up for it all here, though, by putting together an excellent old-school pearl, thus balancing out the scales of reality…. Hey, we’re all entitled to our fantasies, right?…. Right….

“Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all the others.” — Winston Churchill

“Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero!” [Seize the day, put no trust in the morrow!] — Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace) (65-8 B.C.)

“Not only is life a bitch, it has puppies.’ — Adrienne E. Gusoff

So the struck eagle, stretch’d upon the plain,
No more through rolling clouds to soar again,
View’d his own feather on the fatal dart,
And wing’d the shaft that quiver’d in his heart.

— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, Line 826

They say there is strangeness, too dangerous, in our theaters  and bookstore shelves.
Those who know what’s best for us,  must rise and save us from ourselves.
Quick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand;
ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand.

— Rush

“The known is finite, the unknown infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of in illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land.” — Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)

“My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world and exiles me from it.” — Ursula K. Le Guin

Sometimes, I look back over a pearl, such as this one, and I think to myself, “Wow.” Then, it occurs to me, I didn’t have a damn thing to do with what just took place here, not with any consciousness of doing so, anyway. Yet, taken as a progression of thoughts/ideas, in this instance, the seven pearls that constitute the greater pearl, in the context of today’s Pearl at large, still manage to follow a logical train of ideas to a conclusion that is at once infinite, yet, specific and precise, though not annoyingly so…. Much better than I can do myself, more’s the pity….

😉

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If the process of putting out a Daily Pearl of Virtual Wisdom were this easy every day, I’d probably end up posting more often than once a day…. That isn’t to say this was a snap; it’s taken over two hours to get this far, into the closing section. But, all of it, completely fresh, came out smoothly, in a relative sense, and all of it, to my probably only semi-coherent mind, appears to be uniformly logical and well-reasoned, if a bit opinionated. Of course, logical doesn’t mean much, but, the reasoning is good…. I also avoided swearing a lot…. Mom would be proud….

Since it went so well, I’m thinking I’ll bring it to a halt here, so it doesn’t get out of control, as it can so quickly in this corner of the space-time continuum; reality tends to twist itself into some rather fanciful contortions, rather rapidly at times, so, we’ll take our leave before that happens today…. I will, however, be back tomorrow… Take that as a warning, or a heralding, your choice…. See ya….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Safely beyond the reach of the corporate myrmidons….

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Ffolkes,

Yesterday is a wash; one of those days that I’d just as soon forget, in spite of the rather nice finish it had….. Pain turned most of the day into a misery, a state of affairs that prompts me to make this decision…. The subjects, of pain, and/or yesterday, are now banished from all discussion, as being unworthy of either lamentation or praise….. There, hopefully, that will do it…. I didn’t wish to start out by whining; hence, the requisite banishment to the hinterlands….

It was bad enough yesterday without adding the indignity of whining about it, as I know, in spite of how it may have seemed to me at the time, my condition is not as bad as some other folks I know, and could be worse…. So, it’s not attractive of me to whine about it, when others have it so much harder than I….. At least, it seems that way to me…. At any rate, I was able to finish the Pearl, even though it was a push; afterward, THAT was the misery… which, I see, I am talking about, post banishment…. Does that make me a criminal?…. I don’t know, but, we’ll go on to bigger and better things….

Not that I could tell you, at this point, just what that might entail…. It IS still shy of 5 AM, though not by much, so, I’m way behind my usual schedule for this… A natural result, I would imagine, of the extra time I put in bed last night, to recover from the day. In fact, I slept long enough the cat got annoyed, & woke up milady, so she would poke me to arise…. Asshole cat!…. It DID get me up, but, unfortunately, it also got milady up, way before she was done sleeping….

I suppose it’s a bit pathetic, to have our lives run so chaotically, all because a cat decides to be a butthead…. Any time she gets annoyed, she starts in on her cycle of mischief….. Attacking ankles, jumping up on places she is proscribed from, knocking over stuff on tables or dressers, hiding when called, and generally getting into whatever she can, especially those things she KNOWS are liable to garner a “bad kitty”, or a squirt from the water spray bottle we keep for those instances….

I don’t imagine we are the only household that is often taken hostage by a cat, but, nonetheless, I’m going to start the process of talking milady into letting me get a dog…. I’ll get an Aussie heeler mix, mongrel enough so it isn’t expensive, but with enough heeler instinct to be happy to spend the day herding the cat away from trouble… I’ve had heelers before; their instinct to herd compels them to herd whatever is in their vicinity to herd….. kids, cats, hamsters, whatever, if it isn’t where they think it should be, they’ll try to make it go there…. If nothing else, it will give the cat something else to bother, or worry about….. and, I imagine, will end up the best of friends, as cats and dogs living together generally do….

Which is more than can be said of most people, isn’t it? I find animals, of almost all species, to be much easier to have as roommates than any people I’ve ever met…. They always seem to be willing to make accommodation for another creature’s presence, and usually learn to live without any severe arguing or fighting, other than the ‘play’ type all young animals engage in….. I have pictures of my own animals, cats and dogs mostly, sleeping and playing together, and will always believe, firmly, that the animals I’ve known were, or are, better people than most any of the people I compare them to….

Well, lookie there…. It’s an intro section, full and complete, with some whine, some cheese, some blather, and a bit of poignancy, just for good measure…. It’s such a full one, I’m not even going to think about what it says, as that could bring on nausea, or worse, the urge to do it over, and, I’m just not going there today….. Instead, we’ll do this…

Shall we Pearl?…..

“In the worlds before monkey, primal chaos reigned.   Heaven sought order, but the Phoenix can fly only when its feathers are grown.  The four lands formed again and yet again, as endless eons wheeled and passed.  The wind, time and water (??) all worked upon a certain rock, old as creation, and it became magically fertile.  That first egg was called ‘thought.’  Tagahatha (??) Buddha, the Father Buddha, says, ‘with our thoughts, we make the world.’  Elemental forces caused the egg to hatch.  From it came a stone monkey.  The nature of monkey was IRREPRESSIBLE!” — Smart Bee

Well, sorry, I know it’s a bit early for such…. enthusiasm….  However, to my way of thinking, this makes just as much sense as the Hindu version of creation, or, for that matter, the Muslim, or Christian versions…. They’re all a bit far-fetched, don’t you agree?…. This one, bless its soul, has the advantage of the concept of ‘monkey’, a rather perfect representation of the irresistible force of nature we call entropy, or chance….

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

“How do you explain Wayne Newton’s POWER over millions?  It’s th’ MOUSTACHE… Have you ever noticed th’ way it radiates SINCERITY, HONESTY & WARMTH?  It’s a MOUSTACHE you want to take HOME and introduce to NANCY SINATRA!” — Zippy the Pinhead

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/television/article/Efrem-Zimbalist-Jr-star-of-The-FBI-dead-at-95-5450261.php#page-1

First impressions are NOT always the most accurate, which, I’m sure, is a statement not all will be willing to accept without some discussion…. But, I can attest to its veracity, at least, partially, under the evidence of my own experiences…. Now, many of y’all may wonder just how an obituary column about a deceased TV actor connects to such a grandiose notion…. have no fear. You’re here in MY blog, and I’m gonna tell ya….

As a freshman in high school, in the fall of 1964, I was a member of a campus organization, the California Scholastic Federation, whose membership was limited to those students whose G.P.A. was above 3.25… i.e., the eggheads…. In my small school, there were only about 15 or 16 student members, who, once per year, were allowed to take a Friday off school for a weekend long school sponsored trip, to some location where there existed some kind of educational facility for us to explore, thus giving us a weekend holiday, as the educational facilities always seemed to be located near some attraction for teenagers, such as Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Fisherman’s Wharf, or other fun places to waste time….

As a sort of reward for being A students, once a year, we were given two days to play, with supervision by chaperons, who generally were the most popular teachers and advisers…. In my freshman year, my first as a member, we went to L.A., ostensibly to tour a movie studio, to observe how movies were made…. a fine prospect, to us, since it also gave us a whole day to attend the other fun activity of our choice, since the area has so many places that specialize in taking the money of millions of teens and their parents….

We chose Disneyland, for our activity AFTER seeing Warner Brothers Studios, the home of the TV studio where “The FBI”, a long-running series in the 60’s, was filmed…. The show’s leading star, of course, was Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., as noted in the above article…

See where this is headed? Yep, while touring Warner Bros., we got to watch as that show was shot, during which, Mr. Zimbalist, Jr. came over, near where we were standing, intending to use a telephone on a stand, right next to where I stood….

For about two or three minutes, I was treated/subjected to listening to his phone conversation with whomever was on the other end…. I decided, as I stood there, trapped in a spot where I couldn’t politely walk away, and couldn’t make it obvious I was listening, to do my best to try to not listen, but, it wasn’t possible to ignore it, as he didn’t seem to notice anyone was there, & spoke at the top of his actor’s voice….

The impression that conversation had on me was an epiphany; it gave me an entirely new perspective on TV, on actors, and on the entire culture we live in…. a lot, I know, for one short eavesdrop, but, remember, I was a smart kid…. and got even smarter after hearing that conversation, believe me….

For the next five minutes, all of my illusions, of modern culture, of society, of what we perceived vs. what we could believe, were shattered beyond all hope of reconstruction….. As I stood there, trapped and bemused, I listened to this man, who, according to the roles he played on TV, was a stud, a man’s man, a huge person who dominated the room he was in by force of personality… I listened as he stood next to me, blithely destroying ALL of my illusions….

First, he’s tiny… At 15 or 16, I was about 5’6″ tall, & weighed about 140 or so; he could not have been taller than 5’2″, & seemed shorter. Standing next to me, he came up to my shoulder, and couldn’t have weighed in at more than 110-115 lbs. Since we were at a filming of the FBI, he was in the standard cop suit, this one with heavily padded shoulders, to make him look bigger….

He was wearing nice shoes, though, since they never got on camera…. You see, The stage upon which they filmed was staggered with steps…. Efrem was the only actor on the top level, all the other parts played steps lower, and the cameras filmed the scenes from below the steps…. This gave the visual impression on screen that Efrem was taller, or as tall as everyone else, though he only stood as high as most of their chins……

He was not only tiny, compared to a high school freshman, but, his mannerisms and speech patterns were NOT exactly those one associates with someone like the Marlboro Man…. When he spoke, his speech was what I would term, “Hollywood smarm”, with lots of air kisses, laughter, sprinkled with ‘darling’ and ‘my sweet bubaloo’, or other such endearing phrases, all delivered in a high-pitched, distressingly GAY voice…

Yep, to my 15-year old mind, full of prior misconceptions/illusions, the way he was acting on the phone convinced me, without any doubt, that he was as gay as the day is long…. That opinion, which, naturally was a revelation, compared to what I had seen on TV, stayed with me for the rest of my life, and colored a lot of what I thought about the Hollywood culture, and movies & TV at large….

But, what I now realize, after reading more about him in the retrospective article above, is that my impression was influenced a great deal by the cloud of misconceptions and prejudices I yet retained in my persona at that tender age, of fourteen, or fifteen, depending on the time of the year it actually took place in reality, outside my obviously colored memory…. What I thought I knew, at that age, was seriously challenged by the tenor, content, and delivery of the interaction I heard that day, and not all of what I perceived was fully understood by my adolescent self…. all of which is what I see NOW, but didn’t understand then….

In essence, I’ve been laboring for many years under a staggeringly WRONG impression, created by a moment’s observation of an actor, who, come to think of it, may have been playing another role, for the obviously provincial teenager eavesdropping on his phone call, to give the kid a raspberry, so to speak, without ever talking to me….

Regardless, even now, at my current age of 63, it seems that I have lessons to learn, about making snap judgments of people, based on possible misperceptions, and holding on to those as if they are written in stone, rather than being merely a passing impression that should never be used to judge another’s real persona….

I AM a Bozo, of the first degree, ffolkes, and, apparently, have been so for a very long time….. Ain’t LIFE Grand?….

“There’s a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.” — Oscar Levant (1906-1972)

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

It’s one of those days, ffolkes…. so much one of those days I’d best use a poem of my own, to keep from getting anyone else in trouble…. Ah… nice…. This one seems appropriate…. Enjoy, please….

A Dubiously Soft Morning

Idiosyncratic images, clamoring for regard,
fill up the white, white screen on which I view
my life, never seeing, nor invited to sup
ambrosial remnants of anything new.

Still, but almost in motion, allegory sails away
bobbing gently, quick and easy to find,
signs of one happy child, seriously at play,
blissfully immersed, focused joy in mind.

Formidable cries of outraged simple justice
echo plaintive relevance, in half the time.
Maladaptive infants, destined for hospice
salvage an only child, daring to sing in rhyme.

Creativity equals unquestioning farce,
often reaching for absurdity, brazenly afire.
Instead, a blow is felt that no joy will soften,
accepting the price, added to the cost of desire.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

The piece in section one has been developed over the last five days, since the article appeared; I was fortunate it was nearly complete, as my late start today had me behind schedule…. But, since all I had to do was finish the last four or five paragraphs today, we are back to being fairly on time, and can put here a normally constructed old-school pearl, just as if it were meant to be that way…..

You gotta love serendipity… Well, I do…. it saves me a lot of time and energy…. Too bad, being what it is, we can’t DEPEND on it always being there for us, but, hey, it always feels good when it IS around, so, that will do…. Enjoy, if you please….

“God always has another custard pie up his sleeve.” — Smart Bee

“He who dies for virtue, does not perish.” — Plautus (B.C. 254-184)

“The best way to make children good is to make them happy.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

“Every word that we utter rouses its contrary.” — Goethe, _Maxims and Reflections_

“Ignorance of one’s misfortunes is clear gain.’ — Euripides

“The head thinks, the hands labor, but it’s the heart that laughs.” — Liz Curtis Higgs

” — Bother!” said Pooh “Eeyore, ready two photon torpedoes and lock phasers on the Heffalump; Piglet, meet me in transporter room three.”

By the way, this pearl is a classic…. Surrounded, by bookends from Smart Bee and Pooh’s evil twin, the five pieces of LIFE knowledge in between assume a greater degree, or darker, more noticeable shade, if you will, of their inherent meaning from the contrast implied by their positions…. Or, that could be just another of my own little personal delusions, but, we’ll never know now, will we, because, hey, I’m outta here….

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

(For the next line, you must imagine the voice speaking these lines with an accent…. Little Rock, Arkansas, or perhaps, Birmingham, Alabama will be about right…..) Well, shoot, Orville, tha’s jest a whole lot better ‘en I thought it maght be….Ah thank we cane let it go on out thar ‘thout any more tweakin’…. (Okay, accent off…. if you’re having trouble doing that in your head, just use the toggle switch on the underside of the left hand arm rest of your seat….)

Having thus completed my self-imposed duty, I will now take my leave of you, post-haste, to try to beat the also self-imposed deadline for posting…. Well, that, and the obviously forthcoming legal challenges…. In any case, it’s done, I’m happy, and I’m gone….. See ya, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Naturally, the investment of prior absolution for future transgressions received gratis by agnostics causes catechism envy in devout Catholics, and numerous Episcopalians….

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Ffolkes,

Since retiring in 2011, (2010, technically, but, ’11 was my first full year in that state, so, we’ll use it as the jumping-off point, for the sake of mathematical convenience….), I’ve been slowly, steadily having more problems with my ambulation, as my spine, hip & shoulder joints, and overall level of arthritic deterioration reaches levels of effect that can’t be ignored, or compensated for, without paying a price, measured in steps of the 10-point scale of pain…. This includes whatever pinching of my sciatic nerves is going on to create the numbness that forms on my thighs when I stand, or walk, too long…. I can now only get a couple of blocks before sitting down for a recovery period becomes mandatory, lest I go into distressed metabolic crisis mode from the grinding pain that builds up….

Now, I’m a tough guy, for the most part…. Football, basketball, judo, and kung fu (to name just a few of the sporting activities I once pursued, daily….) taught me well, how to use my body to the limit of its strength and ability, while ignoring certain levels of pain, which were part and parcel of smashing into other’s bodies in football, and other sports, as well as the physical training involved in the martial arts, not to mention throws, kicks, punches, blocks, and many other skills that are painful to learn; learning to turn off pain’s demands on our attention is a primary skill of any athlete, or martial artist…. Pain becomes another motivational factor, not a limitation….

Then, of course, age related issues intervene, and one can no longer tolerate the physical demands of sports and the arts; for me, this began around age 40-45, when certain issues involving digestion became the foremost point of experience for me…. It’s a condition called diverticulosis, and there are physical aspects of having it that preclude certain athletic pastimes, so, starting at that age, my level of conditioning began to decline, and I began to experience more pain, of several different types….

Why, you are asking about now, is he regaling us with these tales of woe from his past? Hell, I’m not exactly sure…. except that this morning, pain is foremost in my mind, since my body decided to gift me with two of three possible types of pain, both at a level I can’t quite get stuffed into the box where it won’t affect me so badly…. which, in turn, is making it hard to concentrate on this Pearl…. So, in what may have been poor judgment, I decided to try to use it as a springboard for discussion, and lead into today’s Pearl that way…. However, it seems to be more of a bitch-fest, and that wasn’t what I had in mind for today, by a long shot….

I think I was going to try to turn the discussion into how to deal with pain effectively, but, since I can’t seem to do that myself this morning, trying to tell y’all how to do it might be asking more of my writing skills than is wise…. It also might be more of an intellectual challenge than I’m up to, as I can’t seem to concentrate for long on any one thought…. That makes writing, or ranting, or even pearling, particularly problematic…. Since that’s all I do here, it’s going to be touch and go as to whether or not this bombs completely….

I’m going to take a chance, though, and continue on to the rest of today’s effort…. It may turn out to be a mistake, but, that’s a risk worth taking, to get past this morning’s wonderful state of agony with a bit of aplomb….

Shall we Pearl?…..

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

I definitely don’t have an organized, official-type rant in me today, so I’m going to use a pearl format that I’ve used a few times previously, to good effect…. I’ll let SB pick out five pearls, then I’ll comment on them, hopefully in a way that will lead us somewhere worth being…. or, we could end up somewhere we’ll never find our way home from…. It’s a risk, but, I’m pretty confident I can find my way back from wherever we find ourselves, so, let’s give it a whirl….

A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Criticism, Part ii, Line 15

It’s always good to start with a poetic pearl; it’s just classier…. This, of course, is a very familiar poem, (Okay, it’s actually an excerpt from a larger poem…. be that way….) even to those people who don’t read a lot of poetry. The first line has become almost a cliche in common speech patterns, as it has been used ever since first appearing, to indicate the perils of both possessing knowledge, and the lack of it, when reasoning, or, trying to reason…. It is only those of us who go on to read the rest of the epic poem who can truly understand the poignancy of this lament, as the last two lines of the quatrain show plainly the marked price of original sin…. and, in the process, gives us a hint of WHY we ate the apple…. Powerful stuff, of which Pope created a LOT…..

“You don’t tell deliberate lies, but sometimes you have to be evasive.” — Margaret Thatcher

When I first saw this, I thought it was the PERFECT way to show how the thought processes of politicians operate; upon reflection, I believe it to be even better than that, as it shows not only WHAT virtually every one of them thinks, but, also shows the self-delusion that MUST take place in a pundit’s mind for them to turn that direction….

This little statement implies that, not only is a little white lie okay, when it’s for the good of those who are being led (“good”, naturally, being decided by the one elected, not the folks being led….), it’s practically a duty to lie, in order to be in the position to make that decision for others (you HAVE to be evasive?)….. Of course, this doesn’t admit to possessing, or come anywhere near any display of ANY sort of ethical, or moral reasons for acting in this manner, as there aren’t any that are justifiable…. That, unfortunately, has never seemed to matter much to them, or kept them from making up their lies….

“Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.” — Marcus Aurelius

Okay, so, this one ISN’T about politicians, or preachers, or corporate snakeheads…. it’s about Life at Large, and how to live it well… And, darn it, it doesn’t need any more embellishment from me…. Oh, well, onward….

LAWYER: A professional advocate hired to bend the law on behalf of a paying client; for this reason considered the most suitable background for entry into politics. — Definition from “THE CYNIC’S DICTIONARY”

Now THAT’s what I’m talking about!…. This is a wonderful observation, made all the more appealing to me because it SOUNDS as if it is said in jest, when, in truth, it is a perfectly sober, accurate definition, based on long-term observation of Reality, as it pertains to society and culture….

Our government is inundated in lawyers; in certain circles, of which I am a conversant member, we refer to their presence in such numbers as an infestation, which gives a better feel for what they’re really like, to wit: vermin, such as rats, mice, or fleas…. the assholes…. As Jay Leno once noted, the definition of the word “politics” is from the Greek…. That is “poli” from “poly”, meaning “many”, and “tics”, meaning, “small, blood sucking vermin”….

Sorry, maybe I DO have a bit of a rant in there…..

“Nations and empires flourish and decay,
By turns command, and in their turns obey.

— Ovid

Now this is a very deep, incredibly insightful little couplet, from an poetess who lived well over 2000 years ago…. Even then, so long ago, there were enough ffolkes who could see the grand folly that permeates human society and culture, and were able to foretell the outcome of their own era’s repetition of what had gone before…. Now, if only we could get some of those who are in the position of leadership in this country to comprehend this concept, there might be a better chance for us to survive….

I’m not particularly hopeful that will ever happen, though, as I’m firmly convinced the men and women who inhabit the halls of our government wont’ ever get a clue, as they have what they consider more important work to do, that of emptying as much of the public treasury as they can fit into their own pockets; that doesn’t leave them room enough to accommodate, or even entertain, any such altruistic notion as species survival…. more’s the pity….

So, there you have it, a pearl of nondescript origin, in a reasonably new, different format, to take the place of what would probably have been merely another indictment of a lot of guilty folks, which happens often here, and is no doubt becoming a bit stale…. Hopefully, this little breath of fresh air will clear the atmosphere sufficiently to allow us a bit of breathing room, so we can come back to rant again another day…. When I do, I’ll be using this brilliant manifesto of technique, voiced by an old British bulldog, who became a politician, though reluctantly, I think….

“If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time–a tremendous whack.” — Sir Winston Churchill

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

Having begun the day, in section one, with a bit of classicism, it must be time for another reprint of an old favorite, from one of the masters…. Enjoy!….

A Thing of Beauty (Endymion)

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its lovliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkn’d ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
‘Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.

~~ John Keats ~~

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

As noted, today, pain is causing this process to move along at a rapid pace, without a lot of heavy thought, which would be beyond my current capabilities…. It’s really too bad, too, because I’d hoped to spend a bit of time today visiting a few of my regulars, to let them know how much I appreciate seeing them at my site each day…. That will probably have to wait until, at least, later in the day, if I can manage to get some relief… In the meantime, here is a fresh, old-school pearl, with parameters set to let SB pick today, as I don’t have the patience to sit that long…. Hope it comes out okay….

“The more you know, the more confusing everything becomes.” — Smart Bee

“Man, were he not corrupted by Governments, is naturally the friend of Man, and that human nature is not of itself vicious.” — Thomas Paine

“It is not necessary that whilst I live I live happily; but it is necessary that so long as I live I should live honourably.” — Kant, Immanuel (1724-1804)

“Following the Noble Path is like entering a dark room with a light in the hand; the darkness will all be cleared away, and the room will be filled with light.” — Buddha

“It seems like once people grow up, they have no idea what’s cool.” — Calvin & Hobbes

“His own character is the arbiter of every one’s fortune.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 283

“I may not understand what you say, but I’ll defend to your death my right to deny it.” — Albert Alligator, in Pogo, 26 September 1951

Hmm… a little obscure, but, all in all, not bad at all…. I’ll take it.

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

As well, since I have little choice in the matter, at least, none uninfluenced by the level of pain I’m currently living with, I’ll take whatever is above, as is…. No matter how many potential typos it has, it’s going out sans editing or proofing, other than what I’ve managed to do while trying to swim this horse across the Rubicon, or the Styx, or whatever mystical, metaphorical river you choose to call it…. Me, I’m calling it done….

See you tomorrow, ffolkes, God willin’ and the creek don’t rise…. (Pido disculpas por la blashpemia, pero, es necessario para mantener mi dignidad, si no otra razón….) (I know, it’s probably well mangled Español, but, I don’t claim any particular fluency, just basic comprehension, suited to my purpose… Plus, as an obsessive type, I looked up the words I’d forgotten….) Ta ta, then….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Horrible examples of overt penitence….

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Ffolkes,

“I don’t know, but I’ve been told, if the horse won’t pull, you’ve got to carry the load.” — Grateful Dead

I am uncertain, at this point, which of the Dead’s songs this line came from, but, it certainly fits the events of THIS morning around here…. I’m up late, for me; it’s now 5 AM, & I’m just getting started, after about a half-hour of attempting to wake up enough to even get coffee poured, much less get any writing done….. Beset on all sides by obstacles to getting this Pearl started, (don’t even THINK about getting done yet…), I’m “dappled, and drowsy, and ready to sleep”…. to quote another song (Simon & Garfunkel, I believe….)….. Well, maybe not ready to sleep, but, not quite ready to be awake….

It’s a fortunate thing, for me, anyway, that I had completed a rant yesterday, after reading the news…. Some egregiously avaricious Senator had to come out with more bullshit to try to convince the public the XL Pipeline disaster should be allowed to go forward, and a new climate report, by some agency of the current administration, came out with their report, which, though sufficiently scary, is merely a repeat of other reports that were recently released by climatologists connected to a WORLD organization…. Put together by some group commissioned by the White House, it parrots much of the material that was first noted in the report released by the UN study on the same subject, earlier this year….

Now the White House has jumped on the climate change wagon, trying to convince the public that the administration actually intends to live up to the campaign promises by the potUS to address those self-same issues…. It is, unfortunately, more than merely a day late, and way more than a dollar short of what is needed to actually FIX anything…. But, hey, they’re TRYING, right? Doesn’t that count? In their eyes, it’s supposed to count enough that you’ll actually believe them when they tell you they will…

That, of course, is on YOU, and ME, for electing them in the first place, but, I guess, given the lack of viable choices from which we have to choose, I suppose it is to be expected… Even if it isn’t, it’s another case of too little, too late, and Bob’s your uncle, once again, for society…. That is, IF I have correctly translated that eminently British epithet correctly…. (Willow? Is that correct usage….)

To clarify, no matter WHAT the White House, or any other government agency says or does in re: climate change, they really don’t understand it, or give a shit about it, and will say just about anything to distract the public from the issue, so they may continue their primary function, of looting the treasury….

SIGH… There I go again, ranting away in the intro, just as if it was the right place for it…. One of these days, I’ll find the correct method for getting this done without all the CRAP it puts me through…. Until then, all I can do is all I can do, and THIS, sadly, is all I can do today….

It DOES mean, however, that I’ve reached a point where I can dump this, and get on with the rest of today’s effort…. Thank goodness, too, as I was about to get really, really weird, more than I think you would be able to deal with…. Dodged a bullet there, we did….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“But is such a thing fit to be discovered to the people? shall I do such an unworthy Act?  Ah! my pen falls out of my hand.  Yet my desire to help posterity, overcomes; for perhaps from this gleaning as it were, greater and more admirable inventions may be produced.” — Giambattista Della Porta, Natural Magick

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

“Waste not fresh tears over old griefs.” — Euripides (431 BC)

http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Senator-Ukraine-unrest-shows-need-for-Keystone-5456253.php?cmpid=hp-hc-nationworld

A blatant, deliberate mix of misguided ignorance, implied corruption, fear-mongering, and outright lies perpetrated by a $250,000/year paid lackey of the energy lobby, er, government is the primary focus of this article. The statements made by this Senator, who, no doubt, has a DIRECT interest in getting the pipeline completed, so he can cash in on the lucrative lobbyist money being thrown around by the companies wanting to build the damn thing, are so egregiously biased, it’s a wonder he ididn’t fall over from the imbalanced weight, in spite of his desperate grip on the podium.

His justification for wanting it to happen? Because Putin and Russia are in conflict in the Ukraine, and we wouldn’t want anything like that to happen here, just because we were too wimpy to build the pipeline…. That’s it, I guess… You, too? I’m still waiting for the rest of the reasoning, that seems to be missing….  I’m having a hard time making the connection with this one, since I don’t have any particular fear about that issue to be fanned…. and I certainly don’t see any way the two issues are connected in Reality….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Fed-report-Warming-disrupting-Americans-lives-5455672.php?cmpid=hp-hc-nationworld

Here, though, is an issue that is firmly entrenched with Reality, tied in a relationship so close, there are NO degrees of separation… Indeed, global warming/climate disruption (the identified new term for that process we’ve initiated with our idiotic, self-serving obsession with carbon-based fuels and the internal combustion engine, along with the attitudes that allow that obsession to permeate all levels of our society), is an issue connected to our very existence.

The worst part of this report, mild and non-accusatory though it may be in tenor, is that it is merely another repeat, of the same information that has been available since the 1960’s, when the environmentalism movement began, & we, the public, first began to take note of the coming changes….

That’s correct, you heard me…. the 60’s…. I went to college starting in 1968; by that time, the basic groundwork of assessing the damage caused, and the potential harm to come, had already been completed, and available to read, for some years.

The green movement was at a grassroots level, but,  after a comparatively short time, it was EVERYWHERE, in essence; all of the information that is in this article was already basic knowledge by 1968, readily available to anyone, though not commonly known among the mainstream, of students, or the public at large….

So, I figure, what this article speaks about is an issue that has been around for, let’s count…. If we start at 1964, (during the Free Speech movement in colleges across the country) that makes it an even fifty years….

Fifty years…. This stuff has been around fifty years, at least…. I know this, for a fact, because I WAS THERE; I READ ABOUT IT, AND HEARD ABOUT IT, IN A NUMBER OF VENUES. There were hundreds of people, all standing right next to me when I heard it, or in the room, reading or listening to the same public radio/TV report, or otherwise exposed to the same information, so, it’s pretty well verifiable….. and, has been so for all that time….

I cannot say whether society’s failure to take the warnings of impending problems seriously was the result of a conspiracy, by those who feel they’d be harmed by this getting out (there are a large number of candidates who fit those parameters….), or whether the public hasn’t the wit to comprehend such scientific information (probably true for at least half the public…. but, then, the other half COULD explain it to their peers….), or whether we’re all just too disorganized, individualistic, and stubborn to pay attention to what is important, preferring to focus on what we FEEL, or WANT to be true….

My best guess is a combination of all three are true… Whatever the ultimate reason, I think we’d BETTER pay attention to this issue, as a society; moreover, it had better happen as close to NOW as it can…. or, we aren’t going to have the time, knowledge, or resources to be able to fix what we’ve broken….. Our parent’s aren’t going to be able to pay the damages, either, so, the planet, our landlord, isn’t going to be very happy, I’m certain….

In defense against any further stimulation of my own depression, here is a viewpoint, on living well, I penned a while back, which gives us at least a chance to find a way to figure out how to not feel so bloody bad about all of this; in the long run, this can only help….

We’re going to need all of our wits about us, if we have any chance at all to survive our own foolishness…. our lack of true understanding of the Universe, and how it’s supposed to work will eventually eliminate us from this plane of reality, if we don’t figure out the correct answers, and pretty damn quickly…

From 7/15/2012:

“Don’t ever become a pessimist, Ira; a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun — and neither can stop the march of events.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough For Love

I suppose one could say I am pessoptimist, a word I have just coined to help me conveniently explore another facet of the duality of existence. I watch society, with both anticipation and trepidation, both of which are justifiable when dealing with something as capricious as human behavior. Reality itself is enough of a problem to deal with, given its wildly unpredictable nature, but the universe doesn’t care at all that it is a frightening experience, just to breathe and open one’s eyes to the chaos that surrounds us.  Reality marches on, regardless of our opinion of it; since we have the choice, why not look at the brighter side, eh?

It’s the pessimist in me that sees all of humanity’s flaws; the optimist sees all the beauty that we CAN create when we so desire. What’s difficult is, one never knows where or when the beauty will surface, whereas the flaws make themselves as obvious as dog poop on the shoes, on a daily, sometimes hourly basis…. The pessimist in me knows this, which is why I view each moment rushing at us from the future with a certain small degree of justifiable fear.

Fortunately for me, the optimist in me knows this about Reality; fear is always balanced by that aspect of duality which is inherent in the nature of all that exists, which dictates that whatever takes place has an equal chance of being the kind of experience that brings joy to my world, as it does to create pain. So much bad happens in the world, it can be hard to slough it off; it can come at us unrelentingly, like physical pain from a broken nose, or problems with the DMV….. But, one joyful perception can easily balance the scale…. and will even make us glad for the negative, since it provides the contrast that makes the positive so much sweeter….

“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.” — Emerson

SIGH… I guess all one can say is, I’m glad that I have the choice, even if making that choice can be a problem in and of itself…. One must remember that the Universe is, no doubt, proceeding as it should, so I’ll just keep my eyes, and options, open….

********************************

Read the articles, ffolkes…. Think about them, and pass your thoughts on to others, even if they’re bozoid, like mine; that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, you know…. In any case, we are all of us, and by that, I mean everyone on the damn planet, going to have to grow up, learn how to accept reality, and yield to the laws of the universe, which we (well, SOME of us…) have been ignoring for a long time…. In the Court of Universal Life, there is no appeal, no do-overs, and no pity…. You obey the laws, as they are, or you die…. It’s that simple….

Me, I’d rather live, so, I’m going to do my best to see that the assholes who don’t believe any of this, but habitually act in ONLY their own self-interests, DON’T get their way, thus, saving us from waking up one final morning, dead…. or something worse…. to be alive, but no longer human….

So be it…. gigoid has spoken…..

“Oh, well, I guess this is just going to be one of those lifetimes.” — Smart Bee

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

As is my habit, when I find myself without any idea of what kind of poem to include, I turn to my favorite poet(ess), knowing I can always find what I seek, or, if nothing else, something worthwhile, that will suit our (sorry, MY…. gotta break that habit, of using the royal “we”….), my purpose…. Today, Emily seems to end her poem with a metaphorical allusion to what we do here…. or not…. Regardless of my delusional hopes, please enjoy!….

Arcturus” is his other name

“Arcturus” is his other name—
I’d rather call him “Star.”
It’s very mean of Science
To go and interfere!

I slew a worm the other day—
A “Savant” passing by
Murmured “Resurgam”—”Centipede”!
“Oh Lord—how frail are we”!

I pull a flower from the woods—
A monster with a glass
Computes the stamens in a breath—
And has her in a “class”!

Whereas I took the Butterfly
Aforetime in my hat—
He sits erect in “Cabinets”—
The Clover bells forgot.

What once was “Heaven”
Is “Zenith” now—
Where I proposed to go
When Time’s brief masquerade was done
Is mapped and charted too.

What if the poles should frisk about
And stand upon their heads!
I hope I’m ready for “the worst”—
Whatever prank betides!

Perhaps the “Kingdom of Heaven’s” changed—
I hope the “Children” there Won’t be “new fashioned” when I come—
And laugh at me—and stare—

I hope the Father in the skies
Will lift his little girl—
Old fashioned—naught—everything—
Over the stile of “Pearl.”

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~


Aha…. I get it now… So, it’s not about Pearls, but about “Pearly Gates” or a “stile of “Pearl”, in Emily’s mind…. So, too bad, so sad, my bad….. but, it’s a nice poem, isn’t it?….

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

Having thus disposed of the hardest part of these Pearls, we come now to my salvation…. or, at least, my partial redemption, which translates as the last section for today…. I guess, actually, we’ll leave the redemption up to the preachers, and not worry about trying to fit into the small little round hole they are always trying to fit my hexagonal mind into…. I keep telling them it won’t fit, but, they’re bound and determined it will….

In any case, I think, today, I’m not even going to tell Smart Bee what I’m looking for; we’ll let the inherent nature of Universal Entropy have its head, and let SB pick out whatever strikes its fancy…. Should be interesting…. and, at the very least, you won’t have had to try to unravel any mysterious concatenations of my inner demons, which is always a bonus…

“C’est la vie, C’est la guerre, Say no more.” — Smart Bee

“Nothing is more damaging to a state than that cunning men pass for wise.” — Francis Bacon

“The cruelest lies are often told in silence.” — Robert Louis Stevenson, “Virginibus Puerisque”, 1881

“The idea of absolute freedom is fiction. It’s based on the idea of an independent self. But, in fact, there’s no such thing. There’s no self without other people. There’s no self without sunlight. There’s no self without dew. And water. And bees to pollinate the food we eat… So the idea of behaving in a way that doesn’t acknowledge those reciprocal relationships is not really freedom, it’s indulgence.” — Peter Coyote

“People have to talk about something just to keep their voice boxes in working order so they’ll have good voice boxes in case there’s ever anything really meaningful to say.” — Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Breakfast of Champions

“It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument.” — William G. McAdoo

“Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids.” — Aristotle

Well, that was close…. I almost couldn’t find anything to close this out with any dignity, or elegance, or any other adjective of a positive nature… Well, other than a very strange quote from Zippy (what else is new?)…. In the end, I managed to find Aristotle at his finest, instead, at just the right moment…. Serendipity is alive and well, and happily surprising people coast to coast…. Well, maybe not, but it’s a nice thing to hope for…. and, it did come up with a decent pearl, so, back off…. Just kidding….. We’re done here, and a damn good thing….

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

Well…. I’m at a loss for anything to say, which, as we all know, isn’t likely to last long, so, I’ll take this opportunity to just tell you, as required by law, that we’ll be back tomorrow…. Of course, this means you are allowed to begin the process of arming yourselves adequately beginning today…. More kidding, of a half-serious nature, but, accurate in one sense…. We’ll see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, rain or shine, Armageddon or not…. as long as the internet is still there, I’ll be posting…. so, see ya, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Can we salvage any of the platitudes?….

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Ffolkes,

I’m confused, but, then, nothing new there, eh? Today’s confusion started upon arising, at my semi-usual hour of 4 AM, to find the cat already up, waiting for me, actually being a good kitty, staying out from underfoot until I’d punched the coffee machine on (it doesn’t brew itself until 0430….), and sat down to don my socks…. She then politely bumped my ankle for attention, accepted some ear scratches as if they were her due, then went to lie down in the middle of the floor, in her Mae West pose, looking at me as if I should be bowing and scraping in awe…. Cats are strange, aren’t they? Most mornings she’s a psycho kitty for the first hour I’m up; today, she’s a sphinx, unfathomably inscrutable…. or, that’s what she wants me to believe, anyway….

Cat antics aside, here I am, up in good time, but, with a severe lack of stuff going on in my head…. I’ve ranted enough lately that my angst level isn’t causing any discomfort….. even though there are plenty of issues in the news I could rant about. In fact, issues seems to be jumping off the page, shouting at me to be written up; remember a couple of days ago, I had gathered almost ten article links that needed discussion, piling seven or eight of them into one pearl?…. Ah, those were the days….

Sadly for me this morning, I don’t have the inner emotional turmoil so necessary to providing the driving force behind my rants, so, as usual, I’ll cheat, and use what I can find in my earlier material…. I can usually find something relevant, as the same issues are happening today as were there when I began this particular site, almost three years ago….

Plus, my opinions may evolve, but they don’t generally take a whole new direction, as they tend to follow the antics of the same group of idiots, most of whom act out their own particular brand of insanity in an elected office, or a court seat, or some other public position that, for some stupid reason, makes them believe they should open their mouths, and let everyone know just HOW stupid they can be….

In addition to my lack of drive for ranting today, my thumb is getting worse; I’m thinking it is the repeated use of the mouse that is doing it, as I don’t use it to do all that much knife work any more, which is what caused this the first time it happened. Whether it is the mouse, or the typing, is unclear, and I hesitate to tell my doctor about it, lest the treatment involve a hiatus from doing this specific activity, which is the worst culprit in terms of how often it makes it hurt…. Typing does, that’s for sure, so I’d bet I’ll have to at least cut back severely for a time, to allow the ligament at the base of the thumb time to heal….

Or, I could go to the doctor, & ask him to send me to an orthopedist, who would inject some cortisone, or other steroid, right into the thumb joint…. When that was done last time, it fixed it up right and tight in a jig…. Within seconds, my hand was back to completely normal range of motion, with no pain upon starting any of the activities that caused it previously…. It was like magic…. I just don’t like the idea of steroidal injections like that, unless there is some critical need; I believe it’s better to use more natural, less intrusively aggressive treatment modalities as a first choice….

Whatever I do, this Pearl will have to be done first, so, I suppose I’d best get on with it; the silly thing isn’t going to write itself, now, is it? No, probably not, if past issues are any indication…. That being said, and the usual, legally constructed amount of introductory blather having been produced, I suggest we do that now, before anything untoward has an opportunity to happen….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“I don’t pick on politicians. They ain’t done nothin’.” — Red Skelton

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

As mentioned, since my own store of rantable emotion is a bit depleted, I’m dipping into the past…. This time, WAY into the past, to give you one of the first Pearls posted, with this one first showing its face here in May of 2011, as noted below….. Pearls of that time usually had a paragraph, or two, at the beginning, followed by a group of pearls…. It will appear a bit differently than it did then, as I’ll edit it using my current knowledge, to make it at least come close to what my writing should look and sound like today…. Regardless of all that, it’s a bit long, but, still pretty valid, so, I hope you enjoy it….

From 5/25/2011:

Ffolkes,
I’m not certain how or why, but this morning’s pearl took a serious turn on me, so bear with me. There will be pearls……

Humanity, and the societies that it formulates, are a never-ending source of interest to me.  It provides not only data for my overactive brain to chew on, but also gives me almost limitless subjects for this grist. After the grist is milled of course….. One of the more fascinating areas of observation is about honesty, and its’ root, honor.  When I grew up, half a century ago in the 1950’s, honor and honesty seemed to be part of the fabric of society, as least superficially.

What I didn’t know then was that those particular virtues were only given lip service, especially in the way the public was notified of the doings of government. It became de rigeur for politicians, and concomitantly government agencies, to lie to the public about what they were actually doing, claiming they were telling the honest truth. Truth to tell, it no doubt started well before that time period, but for me it was a disappointment to later find that the very people society chose (with promises of transparency and honesty) to lead them were bare-faced liars and cheats.

As partial proof of this, I offer the (already vetted) facts about the Vietnam conflict (Congress never declared war, so in my mind there was none). When I went to college in 1968 I found out the truth, which was that our government had been in the country, supplying ‘military advice and support’ since 1954, ten years before anyone in government admitted to it, having gone there to protect the interests of our ally, France, who had just been thrown out as colonial overseers, and the interests of the drug trade, in which both of those countries were heavily invested. Not 1964, when the government finally admitted we were there, because the number of troops sent there, and the money being spent, brought the situation into the public eye.

I have believed for a long time, and still believe, that the assassination of JFK was an act perpetrated by people in our own clandestine spook forces, who recruited and trained Oswald. It was designed to distract the American public from the chicanery in Southeast Asia, while at the same time removing Kennedy, who was proving to be an obstacle to the goals of the real government, and becoming far too popular. So, they gave us a martyr, blamed it on the Red Menace, and with the help of their (paid for) lackey, LBJ, proceeded to pour billions of dollars into the war, to continue to protect investments by our corporate classes in the heroin trade.

Today we find ourselves in ever more dire straits, as governments and politicians continue to lie, cheat, and steal, pretty much without any restrictions. The public, dazed and confused by a constant barrage of financial stress, is told lie after lie, confident-sounding utterances created by Spin-Meisters adept at making prevarication sound like truth. All of the politicians have become nothing more than talking heads, whose most valuable asset is their ability to lie with a straight face. And truth be told, there has to be some kind of character flaw in those people who run for office, for what sane person wishes to assume power over their fellow man?

It has gotten to the point that I spend each day fighting the urge to go buy a gun, and start hunting these assholes down.  But that would be giving in to their perversity; better to take up my pen (or laptop in this case) and start my campaign by offering to the public the Truth (as opposed to the so-called truths offered up daily in the news services), and do so in my own unique fashion, that is to say, with Pearls of Virtual Wisdom. With that in mind, we now go into the better part of this daily spew, with Truths from folks throughout the ages.  Enjoy!…..

“Sex! Lies! Drugs! Money! Power! Corruption! Man, I love Congress!” — Smart Bee

“They say you shouldn’t say nothin’ about the dead unless it’s good. He’s dead. Good.” — Moms Mabley

(I particularly like this one. I made a list of folks to whom this would apply, and in less than a minute came up with more than 10 names. Only two of them were already dead, and the other eight were all still out there, spewing their malice onto an unsuspecting public, shamelessly. Doesn’t say much for my tolerance, but then it has been in short supply for some time now.)

Annual drug deaths: tobacco: 395,000, alcohol: 125,000, ‘legal’ drugs: 38,000, illegal drug overdoses: 5,200, marijuana: 0.  Considering government subsidies of tobacco, just what is our government protecting us from in the drug war?” — William A. Turnbow

“I don’t mind being screwed, but the government thinks I’m a nymph.” — Smart Bee

“It’s said that ‘power corrupts’, but actually it’s  more true  that power attracts the corruptible.  The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.  When  they do  act,  they  think of it as service, which has limits. The tyrant, though, seeks mastery, for which he is  insatiable, implacable.” — David Brin, The Postman

Well, that is certainly enough for one morning. It can be a depressing subject, but we can consider ourselves fortunate that we have our own view of reality, and can modify it to suit ourselves.  Y’all take care out there…….

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

“Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education.” — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy.

While I don’t usually use section two for ranting, the following poem, by an American icon, stimulated the following discussion, as any really good poem might do to someone, at any time…. especially one as powerful as this one….

I hadn’t realized that Walt Whitman was an atheist/agnostic….. It isn’t part of what is taught in your average elementary or high school here in this hypocritical, unabashedly Christian nation, which continuously spouts off about the separation of Church and State, yet gives a tax immunity to churches, even those of other denominations, and/or names of gods worshiped…. (Nor was it made common knowledge that the prevailing opinion, both in his own time, and with modern scholars studying his life, that Walt was probably gay, or bisexual, in his gender preferences…. Not that it matters at all, in the ultimate sense, but, merely knowing it provides some interesting perspective on his work, and his life, eh?….)

I call this (single-mindedness re: Christianity vs. Reality) hypocritical because, while this generosity in tax status displayed to other sects covers their claim of non-discrimination, simultaneously, at every turn of events in society, these single-minded “men of one book” work to weave their “Christian values”, and strictly Christian morals into very fabric of society, negating the entire spectrum of beliefs held by its denizens, by influencing the majority of elected officials to write laws that favor the morality based on Christian dogma, none of whom dare risk their own excommunication, or chance at heaven…. Bless their point little heads….

Aha…. Thankfully for my embarrassment level, I checked with Wikipedia re: Whitman’s religious views…. While I stand by what I stated above completely, it’s slightly out of context, as he was NOT an atheist, or an agnostic, per se, though his beliefs were radically different than those of the average American, especially in the eighteenth century. He is described as a deist, similar to my own stand, as one who believed that ALL religions were correct, and true as far as their metaphorical principles were concerned…

The differing views by all those religions, of what God looks like, or what He/She/It may, or may not have said, or where, or when, held no interest for him (as they don’t for me); his understanding of reality, and, thus, his views on divinity and spirituality were much too tall, and wide, and deep, to ever be confined into one little philosophy, or any one set of dogmatic principles, as seen from only one viewpoint….

To my way of thinking, this is a very intelligent way to think; he has nothing but my admiration for his independent individuality, in the face of a society that could not understand his mind, or his spirit…. Well, and for this poem, which prompted the above, with only three or four lines…

A Child’s Amaze

SILENT and amazed, even when a little boy,
I remember I heard the preacher every Sunday put God in his
statements,
As contending against some being or influence.

~~ Walt Whitman ~~


“Poetry is sane because it floats easily in an infinite sea; reason seeks to cross an infinite sea and so make it finite… he poet only desires exaltation and expansion, a world to stretch himself in. The poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his head that splits.” — G. K. Chesterton “Orthodoxy”

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

Since most of today’s Pearl seems to have been produced at other times, I believe I’ll put together an old-school, but fresh, pearl for this section…. Let’s see what Smart Bee can find for us, with no hints as to what we should find, or see….

“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

“I do not believe in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.” — Thomas Carlyle

“Playing the banjo is a lot like throwing a javelin blindfolded… you don’t have to be very good to get people’s attention.” — Smart Bee

“Virtue is the beauty, and vice the deformity, of the soul.’ — Socrates (B.C. 469-399)

“Don’t believe your friends when they ask you to be honest with them. All  they really want is to be maintained in the good opinion they have of  themselves.” — Albert Camus

“They say you can’t do it, but sometimes that isn’t always true.” — Casey Stengel

“Let the greatest part of the news thou hearest be the least part of what thou believest, lest the greater part of what thou believest be the least part of what is true.” — Francis Quarles (1592-1644)

Hmm…. Not too bad, if a bit obscure…. But, all in all, I think it will do; it DOES make a point, though that point isn’t one usually found by any normal means….. But, then, we’ve never worried too much about normal, have we?….

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

I’m only sure of one thing at this point…. and that one thing escapes me still….. Be that as it may, all I have to do now is figure out what to say to either make up for what I’ve just put y’all through, or pretend that it’s good for you…. I think…. yes. We’ll go with the second one, because, even if it ISN’T good for you, it WANTS to be…. Intent is 87% of meaning, you know, and though it isn’t quite a much of a sure thing as being 99% sure, it’s not bad…. and, it’s done, so, there’s nothing more that can be done for it now…. Since that’s the case, I’ll see y’all tomorrow….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Alice, in a fit of pique, beheads the Cheshire Cat….

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Ffolkes,

Well, hell…. Now what do I do? Here it is, 0430 AM, I’m up, coffee in hand, ready to start trying to figure out if there is anything in my semi-conscious mind that would serve to begin today’s Pearl, & what do I find? This…. This is a completed Pearl, dammit! When I found the material below, and gave in to the urge to rant it stimulated, I didn’t realize that I would be usurping this morning’s time slot, thus effectively giving myself nothing at all to do now, except, possibly, proof/edit this, punching it up where it’s soft, & generally tinkering with it until it screams at me to stop….

But, if I do that, what do I do with this intro, that I so conveniently wrote, AFTER completing all of the stuff you’ll see below, including the poem,and the archived piece?….Though, I see now, I DID leave the closing section undone, so, I guess that’s something…. Big of me, wouldn’t you say?

Well, I would, given that I’m playing a practical joke on myself…. I USED to be pretty good at them, during my university days, but, like many of the skills I picked up at Berkeley, not all of them translated into something useful in later life; practical jokes lose a lot of their luster after having a couple of them turn bad, or, worse, ending up as the butt of one…. Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?

But, I DO have some pretty good memories of decorating certain fraternity and sorority buildings in Davis, on the night prior to their yearly homecoming, “Picnic Day”, a gently nostalgic, pandering title, designed to pull money from the alumni and the rich parents of students, who came to relive their own wild youth once a year, while pretending NOT to be envious of all the students by which they’re surrounded…. I lived in a cooperative dormitory, so as representatives of the bourgeoisie, the Greek brothers and sisters made perfect targets for a bit of ridicule….

Oh, not to worry, we didn’t do anything terribly terrorist, or frightening; just some minor breaking and entering, leaving notes and posters, complete with appropriate art work, (no graffiti, just tacked up stuff….) to show we’d been there, or running a few jock straps and brassieres out on the clothes lines between the dorms…. highlighting the  huge, long, signs stating, in two-foot tall letters, they’d been pranked by UCB’s “Society of the Green Hand” (The Society’s formation is a tale for another time; I believe the statute of limitations runs out in another couple of years on that….) Needless to say, we were lucky not to end up dealing with the local law….

Actually, that was close, because, as we were finishing up with the very last tree’s decor, of colored toilet paper, a campus police car drew up under the tree, shined their light on one of us, up in the tree, & queried, “What’s going on up there?”…. With admirable quick thinking, Jeff, the one in the tree, gave them a huge smile, and just said, “It’s Picnic Day!”…. The cop just shook his head and drove away, while we waited breathlessly for them to get far enough away we could breathe, and burst into nearly hysterical laughter… We then piled in our vehicle, drove back to Berkeley, and spent the day sleeping off the adventure….

Gee…. It looks as if I found a perfect introduction for today’s Pearl, at least in terms of being of regulation size and placement…. How this morning’s retrospective will fit in with what goes on afterward remains to be seen, as it does each and every day I put myself, and y’all, through this somewhat torturous process….

Ah well, it never gets bad enough to actually cause bleeding, unless, of course, some of you aren’t telling me when you leave the cabin, to go bang your forehead against the nearest wall, in reaction to some of the stuff that I say, and/or do…. But, then, that’s a personal problem, isn’t it?  So shame on you for trying to make me feel guilty about it…

Wouldn’t work anyway; I gave up guilt, over stuff I say or do, quite some time back, and have never felt better…. On that egocentric note, I think we’ll go now, and find something productive to do with today, since the only thing I have to write this morning is the closing section….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“I have discovered the art of deceiving diplomats. I speak the truth, and they never believe me.” — Conte Camillo Benso di Cavour

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

I found these two articles yesterday, after posting the Pearl…. As you’ll see, they provide the perfect jumping point for what follows…. I suppose that, as always, ‘perfect’ is a question-begging word to use, but, hey, I calls ’em as I sees ’em…. when I can find my glasses….

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/03/everyone-is-under-surveillance-now-says-whistleblower-edward-snowden

I had originally intended to have some words regarding this article, as it speaks to some rather important points…. but, then, I saw the following article, and my angst went right through the roof, stimulating the rest…. Now, read this one…. & just include it all together; it’s all of a piece, anyway….

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/18/cia-torture-architect-enhanced-interrogation

Here, then, is an excellent example of the definition of ‘gigo’, (garbage in-garbage out), from the psychologist responsible for the design and codification of many of the torture methods, including “water boarding”, used by the CIA at Guantanamo Bay, and elsewhere around the world….. His comments, which I will examine below, are so egregiously INSANE, I had to read the article in pieces, as I found myself shouting at him, every time he opened his mouth to make one of the reported statements…

I cannot BELIEVE this man was found to be an adequate psychologist, passing his tests and arguing his doctoral thesis, without having at least the basic innate ability to display even an ounce of compassion; I also don’t understand, at all, how he could be considered anything other than the US’s version of the Nazi scientist, the one at Auschwitz, who sent the Jews into the ovens….

Ah, yes, Josef Mengele…. the infamous, iconic mad doctor, the real version, the model for what all the comics use as the ultimate villain so often, whose insanity threatens the entire world, and everyone in it…. I tell you, ffolkes, those people  in Washington, D.C. are totally out of control….  I’m not kidding; the current crop of elected officials, as well as the appointees put in place by those (I stared at this point for a long time, and still  cannot, for the life of me, think of an expletive that it harsh enough…, so we’ll go with a classic….) assholes, all exhibit every single symptom of the violently insane, who believe their own twisted version of reality is the only real one, who hold on to their paranoid delusions so tightly, nothing, and nobody, can tell them differently….

Hell, I don’t even need, in this case, to resort to my special knowledge and experience, of working with the violently insane as a therapist for over 20 years…. These guys lay it out so clearly, right out in public, there’s no need for me to have to explain…. Their own words convict them whenever they condescend to open their mouths about what they truly believe….

Here, let me show you a couple of examples from the second article listed… The comments in quotes are by the protagonist in this drama, James Mitchell, (Piled High and Deep), Ph.D., formerly of the CIA, the psychologist regarded as the architect of the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation” program…. a description taken straight from the article…. You’ll be able to recognize my comments by the anger and vulgarity the statements produce in me….

“The people on the ground did the best they could with the way they understood the law at the time,” he said. “You can’t ask someone to put their life on the line and think and make a decision without the benefit of hindsight and then eviscerate them in the press 10 years later.”

You  can’t? Why not? These people were in no danger; there is no danger, no life on the line, when someone tortures another; only the one being tortured is in danger. And if you do something so obviously WRONG, it doesn’t fucking matter a bit how long it is, you SHOULD be vilified in the press. There is no reason on this Earth why anyone shouldn’t KNOW torturing another human being, for ANY FUCKING REASON AT ALL, is NOT morally defensible.  This principle is true even in cases where the ultimate goal is considered good; you’ve no doubt heard the saying, “the end does not justify the means.”

If they didn’t know it was wrong, why didn’t they do it out in the open, where everyone could see what they were doing? Fucking assholes think that their own parafuckingnoia should excuse anything they do….

“Everything you know is wrong.” — The Firesign Theater

“I’m skeptical about the Senate report, because I do not believe that every analyst whose jobs and promotions depended upon it, who were professional intelligence experts, all them lied to protect a program? All of them were wrong? All of these [CIA] directors were wrong? All of the people who were using the intel to go get people were wrong? And 10 years later a Senate staffer was able to put it together and finally there’s clarity? I am just highly skeptical that that’s the truth.”

This one’s easy….and so obvious, I again shouted this at the screen, hoping the asshole would hear me, “Why, yes, you bloody idiot, they CAN, and WERE, all wrong…. and every damn one of them WOULD lie to protect a program, which, in their minds, equals money, or influence….”

Then, of course, I realized I was shouting at my computer, so, I sat, tried to calm down, & began to type, to try to release some of the venom and bile that collected so quickly in the face of such evil insanity…. It started when the assbite used the phrase, “Senate staffer”, with the sneeringly obvious implication that position was only held only by persons of dubious character, and less than average intelligence, when compared to the noble men under his command….

When you start from a premise that is wrong, there is no way to make it come out right; every damn one of those directors started with the idea that whatever they did, right or wrong, shouldn’t be made public knowledge, and that such clandestine prevarication is justified by their goal (which, because it is their goal, they refuse to consider as anything other than right…. perfect “ipse dixit” logic….)

“If you get the first one in the wrong hole, you’ll never get all buttoned up right.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This, of course, is completely contrary to the values upon which our nation was supposedly founded; thus, any acts that indulge in that sort of paranoia, which were made on the basis of that idea, are, from the start, WRONG…. It really is that simple ffolkes, and I don’t understand quite WHY the public doesn’t get that, when listening to these lying, insane fools who pursue their delusional fantasies at the expense of the rest of us….

I reiterate….  “Everything you know is wrong.” — The Firesign Theater

Bloody fucking assholes, every damn one of them…..

“If I had a large amount of money I should found a hospital for those whose grip upon the world is so tenuous that they can be severely offended by words and phrases yet remain all unoffended by the injustice, violence and oppression that howls daily about our ears.” — Stephen Fry

I’d say the good doctor Mitchell would be one of the first admissions…. I’ll leave you to consider the following, which pretty much sums up what I see happening in the world today, just about everywhere I look…..

“It is okay to be ignorant in some areas, but some people abuse the privilege.” — Smart Bee

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Here is a poignant little poem, from a poet with whom I’m not very familiar… At first, I was going to pass over it, but, it grows as it settles, becoming more than it appears to be at first….. You’ll see what I mean if you give it a chance….

The Dreams of My Heart

The dreams of my heart and my mind pass,
Nothing stays with me long,
But I have had from a child
The deep solace of song;

If that should ever leave me,
Let me find death and stay
With things whose tunes are played out and forgotten
Like the rain of yesterday.

~~ Sara Teasdale ~~

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

Given the theme in section one today, this is a perfect piece from the archives, to finish out the day….

From 7/15/2012:

“I observe that there are two entirely different theories according to which individual men seek to get on in the world. One theory leads a man to pull down everyone around him in order to climb on them to a higher place. The other leads a man to help everybody around him in order that he may go up with them.” — Elihu Root

I’ve also heard it observed that there are only two kinds of people in the world…. Those who make lists about the types of people in the world, and those who are bored to tears by that….. 

     🙂    

Sorry, couldn’t resist, even for such an obviously true aphorism, one that is completely  worthy of pearl status…..

I like to think that I act from the latter motivational base, that of working with my peers rather than against them, with my only thought of reward the good feeling that serving others gives me.

One piece of evidence that I’ve been successful at that, can be seen in my own place near the bottom of what most would consider the social scale. If I had been leaving bloody corpses behind me, I think I’d be enjoying a few more physical comforts than I do, and would have bodies buried somewhere that could be used against me, if they were publicized. When one has nothing, there is nothing to steal, is there?

“If you wish a life of trouble, fill your house with treasures.” — ancient Chinese proverb

I think the morality implied by the original pearl above is obvious, and is one that neither side of the issue would argue. But then, those who climb on the bodies of their peers to advance would never admit to such behavior; rationalization is one of mankind’s greatest skills. But, rationalized or not, they DO know that what they do is immoral; they have merely learned the art of lying to themselves as readily as they do to others.

To my way of thinking, it’s sad, as well as stupid, for far too many reasons to list here; relating one will do. It’s sad because these people will never even see any need to change, until it is too late for them to do anything that might help them. And it is stupid, well, just because it is…. No, sorry, just kidding… it is stupid because, a life that is built on lies, is no life at all…..

Joshu asked the teacher Nansen, “What is the True Way?”
Nansen answered, “Every way is the true Way.”
Joshu asked, “Can I study it?”
Nansen answered, “The more you study, the further from the Way.”
Joshu asked, “If I don’t study it, how can I know it?”
Nansen answered, “The Way does not belong to things seen: nor to things unseen. It does not belong to things known: nor to things unknown. Do not seek it, study it, or name it. To find yourself on it, open yourself as wide as the sky.”

I can see the Way, but cannot point to it, and this makes me pessimistic, for it (the Way) is possibly our last hope for redemption as a species, and the people who most need to find it are not even looking. I am optimistic because I see great promise in Man, even if I am not certain that promise will be kept….

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The aforementioned edit/proof session took only about 30 minutes, which makes this one of the fastest Pearls to ever get completed, unless, of course, you’re going to be a stickler, and count the two or three hours spent yesterday in putting it together…. I, personally, don’t have a stick jammed far enough up my ass to feel like that, so, I’m just going to ignore the entire issue, before I say or do something to completely eradicate any dignity or aplomb I may have previously displayed today…. In other words, I’m outta here, before I get caught…. See ya, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Fat sausages, sizzling in the pan….

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Ffolkes,

Savory pieces of bacon bits flew elegantly through the highest points of the tent, filling all below with joy at the smell of sizzling pork fat; the crowd went wild…. Vendors hawked their plastic Jesus bobble-heads to unsuspecting Muslim tourists, while numerous swift-fingered waifs worked the crowd, lifting wallets from unsuspecting tourists.

Down in the center, two pathetic roosters were being abused so they’d fight each other, while money exchanged hands all over the stands, as winners and losers took turns feeling stupid….Me, I just watched and grinned, since I was the only one who knew the whole building would be coming down around the ears of everyone inside in approximately four minutes….

And thank goodness for that! I don’t think we need to go back there again; I stopped enjoying what I was writing about halfway through that piece of nonsensical farce, having apparently lost all of my sense of propriety, right along with my taste…. That was supposed to be funny, or at least strange enough to feel that way, but, never seemed to reach anywhere like that…. It was probably the bacon bits…. Nasty little things, those little chemical bombs can’t even be classified as food; they’re an artificially colored and flavored food-like substance, and I haven’t a single clue as to why ANYONE would want to eat them, ever….

However, it’s too late now to worry about whether or not the opening paragraphs made any sense, or even any nonsense; it’s already two paragraphs back, and we all know how hard it is to turn back the clock…. In our minds, or our writing, we can alter time, using the chance to do things over, to do them right, but, we all know the real world doesn’t allow do-overs, and couldn’t care less how you feel about that…. Besides, since it’s me, we just need to be aware of how simple it is to fill up space on the page, as I seem able to fill these intros, with pretty much nothing….

Of course, that’s a skill I’ve been developing now for close to three years, on this site; meeting the minimum introductory regulations has become almost second nature, not requiring all of my attention…. which probably shows in these little disasters I call the intro section. But, it DOES get the task completed, at least to the point each day where I am able to break free of it, and go on to finish the Pearl…. Given the methods I use, that is more of an accomplishment than it seems, though I’m not looking for kudos…. Just some new shoes…. and maybe a shot of two of Jack, when it’s quiet at night….

Shall we Pearl?…..

(1) You can’t win.
(2) You can’t break even.
(3) You can’t even quit the game.

— Ginsberg’s Theorem

Every major philosophy that attempts to make life seem meaningful is based on the negation of one part of Ginsberg’s Theorem. To wit:

(1) Capitalism is based on the assumption that you can win.
(2) Socialism is based on the assumption that you can break even.
(3) Mysticism is based on the assumption that you can quit the game.

— Freeman’s Commentary on Ginsberg’s theorem

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

“Some people confuse boredom with security.” — Smart Bee

I seem to be unable to find any spare neurons this morning, to help me find some small degree of intellect, or imagination somewhere within the reaches of my mind…. Moreover, I can’t seem to work up the energy to care…. I’d like to rant, as there is always so much to rant about in today’s society, as the two segments of mankind continue at war…..

I’m talking about the war between those who want to control everything and everyone, and those who don’t…. Mostly, throughout our species short, bloody history, the bad guys have been winning; today, the gap between the wealthy, and the other 99% of humanity, is as wide as the Mississippi River during flood season, and growing wider each day….

This, of course, means that this section of today’s Pearl will be an old school variety indictment; it’s what we do here as a default, when ranting is an unattainable goal…. I have no apologies, but, I’m sure they are unnecessary, as it DOES spare you from having to listen to yet another seemingly endless diatribe against people who don’t give the slightest shit about anyone else…. Just take in these pearls, complete with comments, and you’ll get the same effect as if you’d listened to me spew…. Enjoy!…. or, not, as you wish…. just pay attention, please….

“One of these days in your travels, a guy is going to come up to you and show you a nice, brand- new deck of cards on which the seal is not yet broken, and this guy is going to offer to bet you that he can make the jack of spades jump out of the deck and squirt cider in your ear. But, son, do not bet this man, for as sure as you stand there, you are going to wind up with an earful of cider.” — Damon Runyon

(And when you’re standing there, with your earful of cider, and a stupid expression, you’ll realize you should never have elected him in the first place….)

“We cannot assert the innocence of anyone, whereas we can state with certainty the guilt of all. Every man testifies to the crime of all the others – that is my faith and hope.” — Albert Camus (1913-1960) — The Fall (1957)

(Albert was a bit of an optimist sometimes….)

“I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics but for our contributions to the human spirit.” — former US President John F. Kennedy

(Why am I skeptical of this? Oh, right, because he’s a politician, and he opened his mouth… ergo, it’s a foregone conclusion he lied….)

“Christianity might be a good thing if anyone ever tried it.” — George Bernard Shaw

(Oops! How’d that get in here? Oh, well, they’re (politicians and preachers…) all of a kind, so, it can stay….)

For some reason the little Senators make us laugh.” — Smart Bee

(In my case, that’s a full-blown belly laugh, complete with red face, tears, and runny nose from laughing so hard….)

“A liar should have a good memory.” — Quintilian (42-118 AD) — Institutiones Oratoriae, i, iv, 2, 91

(Is a comment necessary? I think not…. We all know to whom this refers…. and his name is Barry…. or Joe…. or Dianne…. or Paul, or Rick, or George, or Mitch…. or Anthony….)

(The last name refers to Mr. Chief Justice of the scOTUS Scalia, who is more of a politician than a judge… Actually, he’d be what is known as an honest judge, defined as one who STAYS bought, once he’s been paid for….)

“Dogs, ye have had your day!” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Odyssey of Homer, Book xxii, Line 41

(This last line, from Pope’s Odyssey, is wishful thinking on my part…. this is what I would LIKE to be able to say to any of those assholes I mentioned in the pearl above….)

Thus endeth this modified old-school pearl, picked fresh for your reading pleasure, with completely new, yet exciting comments to stimulate your….. well, to stimulate…. Onward, he said, rushing into the next room….

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

I’ve been spending some time reading old Pearls, to get new ideas, and, as we have here, to find old ideas, or material, worth posting again…. This poem falls directly into that last category, as one of my favorites, and as one of the best ever written, in my estimation…. I hope you enjoy it….

First posted on 7/15/2012:

For me, one mark of a good poem, and poet, is when one finishes reading the last line, the mind does not immediately let go, but follows the train of thought created by the poem to its conclusion, whatever that may be for each individual reader. Frost is a master at that type of poem, to my mind…. There is so much power in the phrase, “But I wonder….”!…..    Enjoy!

A Brook In The City

The farmhouse lingers, though averse to square
With the new city street it has to wear
A number in. But what about the brook
That held the house as in an elbow-crook?
I ask as one who knew the brook, its strength
And impulse, having dipped a finger length
And made it leap my knuckle, having tossed
A flower to try its currents where they crossed.
The meadow grass could be cemented down
From growing under pavements of a town;
The apple trees be sent to hearth-stone flame.
Is water wood to serve a brook the same?
How else dispose of an immortal force
No longer needed? Staunch it at its source
With cinder loads dumped down? The brook was thrown
Deep in a sewer dungeon under stone
In fetid darkness still to live and run —
And all for nothing it had ever done
Except forget to go in fear perhaps.
No one would know except for ancient maps
That such a brook ran water. But I wonder
If from its being kept forever under,
The thoughts may not have risen that so keep
This new-built city from both work and sleep.
                                        
~~ Robert Frost ~~

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In the last few days, I’ve found some rather good old entries, in Pearls posted back a couple of years…. Some of them are worth a reprint, so, here is one of them, which is obviously the larval stage of a complete, adult religirant….. Enjoy!….

From 7/16/2012:

Okay, here is another “old-school” Pearl…. and yes, it makes a specific point. Read all of them, in order, and the message will be crystal clear…..

“The truth is that Christian theology, like every other theology, is not only opposed to the scientific spirit; it is also opposed to all other attempts at rational thinking. Not by accident does Genesis 3 make the father of knowledge a serpent- slimy, sneaking and abominable. Since the earliest days the church as an organization has thrown itself violently against every effort to liberate the body and mind of man. It has been, at all times and everywhere, the habitual and incorrigible defender of bad governments, bad laws, bad social theories, bad institutions. It was, for centuries, an apologist for slavery, as it was the apologist for the divine right of kings.” — H. L. Mencken

BIBLE : A bible is a book which one or more religions consider to be holy, and to be something that they should follow. It is of course generally rather impractical to follow books, not just because they  don’t often go anywhere, but also because they are not very good at public speaking, decision making, problem solving, or any of the other qualities recognized as being an advantage for leadership. A religion based around the teachings of any compilation of Toxic Custard would be very strange indeed. To subscribe to this new cult following, send $15 now. — Daniel Bowen’s TOXIC CUSTARPEDIA

“Angels, I read, belong to nine different orders. Seraphs are the highest; they are aflame with love for God; cherubs, who are second, possess perfect knowledge of him. So love is greater than knowledge; how could I have forgotten? The seraphs are born of a stream of fire issuing from under God’s throne… Moving perpetually toward God, they perpetually praise him, crying Holy, Holy, Holy… But, they can sing only the first ‘Holy’ before the intensity of their love ignites them again and dissolves them again, perpetually into flames. ‘Abandon everything,’ Dionysius the Areopagite told his disciple. ‘God despises ideas.’ — Annie Dillard, “Holy the Firm”

“Man has a single basic choice:  to think or not, and that is the measure of his virtue.  Moral perfection is an unbreached rationality — not the degree of your intelligence, but the full and relentless use of your mind, not the extent of your knowledge, but the acceptance of reason as an absolute.” — John Galt

“Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in their readiness to doubt.” — H. L. Mencken

“The sagacious reader who is capable of reading between these lines what does not stand written in them, but is nevertheless implied, will be able to form some conception.” — Goethe (1749-1832)  — Autobiography, Book xviii, Truth and Beauty

There you go…. I can’t make it any plainer than that…..

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

It’s probably a good thing my energy level is so low this morning…. I refrained from generating a discussion of the possible reasons for that (you can thank me later…), in order to keep from getting all wimpy, & to keep from wasting a lot of time whining about it, thus freeing me up to use that little bit of energy to put together the rest of today’s effort, a word definitely appropriate for what happened here…. Now I’m at the end, though, I’m at a loss for what to do…. This went together so fast, and so smoothly, it makes me nervous…. Ah well, it’s not as if I’ve never been THAT before… As I recall, there was this time in 1988….

Screw it, it’s done…. I’m not going to spend any more time second-guessing myself…. I’ll see you mañana ffolkes, provided we’re both lucky enough to get that far…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Of course it’s soap; we needed radio….

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Ffolkes,

Somnochirgraphy or no, this may turn on us, so I’d advise wearing the Kevlar-lined cold weather gear, not the lightweight stuff…. You’ll recognize the symptoms, I’m sure, if it does go wonky on us, so I’m leaving you here as a sentry, to guard our back trail, as we work on finding today’s pearls…. One can’t concentrate adequately when distracted by having to watch out for the stray bander snatch, or worry about whether or not their vorpal blade is sharp enough to penetrate the armor we’ll face later on….

Okay, break time; coffee’s ready…. Somnochirographism, as you may or may not remember, is the word I coined a few days ago, to describe the typing I found myself doing in my sleep…. It is a word drawn from the Greek, I believe, with parts that follow the same rules as other coined words, to wit: Somno meaning “sleep”, and chirography, meaning “writing”, thus matching another word common to our species’ perverted nature, somnambulism, or, sleep walking….

As may be surmised from the opening paragraph, somnochirographism is no simple problem; the effect on people can be drastic, and daunting, to say the least…. not the least of which is knowing that one has developed a completely new perversion, er, condition….. Moreover, it’s a bit of a facer to realize, not only is this condition new to society, it is new to reality; in fact, since I coined the word, and I made up the condition, one might be able to convince SOME folks that it isn’t a real condition at all, merely another figment of an overactive imagination….

Not only that, but, the word was coined PRE-INJECTION OF COFFEE!….. Now, I realize that a claim like that is liable to create a bit of a stir among the not-so-faithful; that’s okay…. My readers, bless their souls, would never hold that against me, even though they know it adds time and energy to the process of digging ourselves out of the hole we tend to fall into; no, they’d just smile and nod their heads, and go on to the next section, because they know that, eventually, we’ll find our way back to, at least, a semi-current point in reality, from whence we may proceed to regain what little dignity to be found in a post-apocalyptic world….

Actually, to be honest, today’s Pearl may just turn out a little odd, even for me…. I can’t seem to shake off the post-slumber-mode yawns, or get my eyes all the way open…. Add in the right thumb’s insistence on letting the strained ligament voice its complaints in a loud, abrasive tone, which translates into a sharp, stabbing pain, like a needle into a nerve, in the base of the thumb, every time I type another letter (it doesn’t seem to care that it isn’t being abused…. it just hurts every time it moves….), and the overall shape, tone, and nutritional content of this missive could conceivably take a turn for the dark side, if I’m not careful….

All whining aside, ffolkes, it looks as if I’ve rambled incoherently long enough to fulfill the obligatory intro section requirements; five complete, if strange, paragraphs is two over the minimum, so, we’re good to go in that respect….. Now, if I can find even a shred of intelligence in me somewhere, and persuade it to help out, we may just get through this without having to kill any of the hostages…. or, maybe not. We’ll see how it goes, I guess…

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Every one wishes to have truth on his side, but it is not every one that sincerely wishes to be on the side of truth.” — Whately

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For a couple of days I’ve been collecting headlines from the news…. As you know, I use them as a springboard for ranting, or for discussions of some idea or another that is stimulated by the article’s contents…. I’ve found, in the last two days, so many egregious examples of all that is wrong with this world, I can’t make up my mind as to which to use to as a jumping-off point…. So, I’ll let y’all create your own angst, and anger, and even your own rant, by letting you read them (I did….) and figure out how each one represents another nail in humanity’s coffin….

There are a lot, so we’d best get on with it…. I might make a comment or two along the way, but, mostly, just realize HOW FUCKING CRAZY the world is getting out there, ffolkes, and be alert…. As you know, the world can always use more lerts….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/GOP-presidential-hopefuls-met-with-donors-on-sly-5442909.php

(Politicians, meeting shadowy corporate interest lobbyists in the dark…. why, who would believe it?….)

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Ryan-holds-meeting-with-black-members-of-Congress-5443187.php

(More than just a little arrogant, don’t you think? Plus, why is it still an issue? Why does a white conservative Congressman feel he needs to abase himself before a token organization, one whose very existence hearkens back to the day when racism was the law of the land? Gosh, do you think they (rich, white men….) are finally cluing in to the fact they are NO LONGER the demographic majority in this country?….)

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/02/world/europe/us-and-germany-fail-to-reach-a-deal-on-spying.html?_r=0

(This might fit better in the international group, but, it came first, on the front page…. When you read this article, you’ll note that our beloved leader didn’t even bother lying to Ms. Merkel…. he just said they’d stop listening to her…. but, nobody else was mentioned…. Golly, y’think they’re serious about not wanting to offend anyone with their data collection? Nope, I don’t think so, either….)

http://blog.sfgate.com/hottopics/2014/05/01/judge-rules-state-farm-does-not-have-to-pay-for-exploding-corpse/?cmpid=hp-hc-bayarea#20571101=0 

( !!!!!! At first, I didn’t even WANT to know about this, but, it IS another example of how business interests always come first now, ahead of what may be right for an actual flesh and blood person….)

And, finally, a quick synopsis/summary of the day’s international headlines, as seen from the eyes of the editors of SFGATE, on the left coast of the USA…. What do you suppose those editorial idiots use as parameters for picking which stories will be written? Given the nature of the stories I found, it seems that at least ONE of those parameters is that there must be blood, or death in the story, or it isn’t news….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Ukraine-strikes-at-east-2-helicopters-shot-down-5447270.php

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Toll-up-to-19-dead-in-car-bomb-in-Nigerian-capital-5447483.php

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Attacks-in-Egypt-kill-4-including-police-soldier-5447351.php

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Seoul-subway-trains-crash-scores-injured-lightly-5447451.php

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Nigeria-police-276-abducted-girls-still-missing-5447560.php

Well, there you have it ffolkes, yet another NOT-A-RANT, structured for your convenience, perfectly set up for rapid, accurate consumption, and ease of comprehension…. Too bad it makes such an ugly reflection of Reality, isn’t it?….

“It’s not that we don’t have enough scoundrels to curse; it’s that we don’t have enough good men to curse them.” — G. K. Chesterton, ILN, 3/14/08

“There is a case for telling the truth; there is a case for avoiding the scandal; but there is no possible defense for the man who tells the scandal, but does not tell the truth.” — G. K. Chesterton, ILN, 7/18/08
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I’ve used this in the past, because it is one of my all-time favorite poems, by one of my favorite poets…. This is deeper than it seems, and is as close as they came in Ogden’s day to criticizing the monied elite… something that only poets may get away with…. It is just as apropos today as it was when it first appeared, pre-1960 or so….

Bankers Are Just Like Anybody Else, Except Richer

This is a song to celebrate banks,
Because they are full of money and you go into them and all
you hear is clinks and clanks,
Or maybe a sound like the wind in the trees on the hills,
Which is the rustling of the thousand dollar bills.
Most bankers dwell in marble halls,
Which they get to dwell in because they encourage deposits
and discourage withdrawals,
And particularly because they all observe one rule which woe
betides the banker who fails to heed it,
Which is you must never lend any money to anybody unless
they don’t need it.
I know you, you cautious conservative banks!
If people are worried about their rent it is your duty to deny
them the loan of one nickel, yes, even one copper engraving
of the martyred son of the late Nancy Hanks;
Yes, if they request fifty dollars to pay for a baby you must
look at them like Tarzan looking at an uppity ape in the
jungle,
And tell them what do they think a bank is, anyhow, they had
better go get the money from their wife’s aunt or
ungle.
But suppose people come in and they have a million and they
want another million to pile on top of it,
Why, you brim with the milk of human kindness and you
urge them to accept every drop of it,
And you lend them the million so then they have two million
and this gives them the idea that they would be better off
with four,
So they already have two million as security so you have no
hesitation in lending them two more,
And all the vice-presidents nod their heads in rhythm,
And the only question asked is do the borrowers want the
money sent or do they want to take it withm.
Because I think they deserve our appreciation and thanks,
the jackasses who go around saying that health and happi-
ness are everything and money isn’t essential,
Because as soon as they have to borrow some unimportant
money to maintain their health and happiness they starve
to death so they can’t go around any more sneering at good
old money, which is nothing short of providential.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~


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One of the blogs I follow is posted by a teacher, one Ivon-san, who has an appreciation for the beauty to be found in the world, and for the mindfulness that can be found everywhere, if one leaves themselves open to find, and use it…. He recently posted the poem below, in the format you see, with the drawing of the warrior embedded in the text…

I think the poem is, perhaps, the finest expression of the state of being one seeks as a “Warrior of the Light” that I’ve ever seen, taking into full account how the flaws in our nature can be used to find our strengths…. I’ve included a link to the post on Ivon’s site, as well as reproducing here the most excellent picture, with the accompanying powerful text message…. Enjoy!….

http://ivonprefontaine.com/2014/04/30/every-warrior-of-the-light-paulo-coelho/


everywarrior-coelho

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In spite of, or, perhaps, because of the handicaps under which this morning’s Pearl was constructed, it came together quite efficiently….. The whole shebang took only an hour and a half, rather than the usual 3 or so hours; since it’s done, I’m not going to look in the horse’s mouth, but will just accept the gift as it is intended, or, as it is found…. That might be somewhat indulgent, but, hey, I’m retired, so, I’m allowed… Regardless of any such inanities, the silly thing IS done, so, I’m outta here, with the hope you enjoy today’s effort…. See you tomorrow, given half a chance…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….
—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.

gigoid the dubious

dozer3