That said, you may have guessed I’m not as sharp as most of the other crayons in the box, and my not achieve much more than I have already, merely by getting up, then, flogging myself until I could consider myself reasonably completely dressed, if not fully groomed. Since getting this far has been a major struggle, it bodes badly for today’s Pearl, unless I cheat…

Oh, hey!…. There’s an original idea…. I believe it was Shaw, or Wilde, who said something about amateur poets stealing lines with guilt, and real poets steal lines with gusto… Well, that was the drift, if you catch my meaning, knuckle-ball though it may be…. You know what, ffolkes? This is becoming dangerously creative…. I think we’d best get on with this, before I start trying to make it sound all elegant, or even witty…. Goodness knows what might happen if I actually tried to be funny…. I think, given the fragile mental health of my insurance dude, we’ll play it safe….

Shall we Pearl?

“Religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they shall think.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

As made clear in the intro today, most of today’s Pearl will be some sort of cheat, if not outright thievery…. In that spirit, here is a short (lucky you!….) old-school indictment of our Beloved Ruling Class, for your morning enjoyment, and, to prepare you for the day’s news with a properly disgusted attitude….

From 2/6/2013:

— Bother! said Pooh, as he found a politician in his honey pot.

Eeeuuwww! Can you imagine the stench? And the waste of honey is appalling, to say the least…. Okay, sorry, but it was just too hard to resist…. I ranted above about religion, after which, Smart Bee presented me with four of the five pearls used in it, one after another, AFTER I had already finished it… The five pearls, you may note, if presented together, alone, would just about cover the same ground as the rant…. with perhaps a bit less verbiage, and, hopefully, equal humor….

Then, the above Poohism shows up, almost flashing by before I saw it, so short it is…. This tells me that Smart Bee has something to say about politicians today, so, old-school it is…. Here are what Smart Bee has autocratically decided to show us about the BRC, in general, and, in particular, the political branch of that entity…. Enjoy! Oh, and don’t fret, none of these will be on the Quiz, unless they are….

“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 have short-term memory loss, though I like to think of it as Presidential  eligibility.” — Paula Poundstone

“According to the tax bill signed by President Reagan on December 22, 1987, Don Tyson and his sister-in-law Barbara run a “family farm.” Their “farm” has 25,000 employees and grosses $1.7 billion a year.  But as a “family farm” they get tax breaks that save them $135 million a year.” — Smart Bee

“Laws are only words words written on paper, words that change on society’s whim and are interpreted differently daily by politicians, lawyers, judges, and policemen. Anyone who believes that all laws should always be obeyed would have made a fine slave catcher. Anyone who believes that all laws are applied equally, despite race, religion, or economic status, is a fool.” — John J. Miller, And Hope to Die — (in _Jokertown Shuffle – Wild Cards IX_)

‘We may not imagine how our lives could be more frustrating and complex–but Congress can.” — Cullen Hightower

Okay, five should be enough to get the point across…. if not, well, there’s always tomorrow…..  🙂

“He bids fair to grow wise who has discovered that he is not so.” — Publius Syrus — Maxim 598

“Don’t make a big deal out of everything; just deal with everything.” — Smart Bee

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” — Anais Nin

“During my eighty-seven years I have witnessed a whole succession of technological revolutions. But none of them has done away with the need for character in the individual or for the ability to think.” — Bernard M. Baruch

“The reign of Antoninus is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few materials for history, which is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.” — Edward Gibbon — Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776), Chap. iii

“It was a high speech of Seneca (after the manner of the Stoics), that “The good things which belong to prosperity are to be wished, but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.” — Francis Bacon — Of Adversity

“A hug is a heart to heart talk.” — Bobby Matherne

“In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. The young they keep out of mischief; to the old they are a comfort and aid in their weakness, and those in the prime of life they incite to noble deeds.” — Aristotle

Well, I took the time to go back & look over what I’d done today; all I can say is, it’s done…. Actually, it’s not bad, all things considered. Since that is well beyond the minimum requirements, we’ll call it a day here at ECR. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; in most circles, that’s considered fair warning…