Ffolkes,
~~ Yoda Bee ~~
Saturn’s Moons, Aligned
Image from NASA via Space.com
Hajime…. Whew! Usually, as I sit to begin, I’m still half-awake. Today after half-a-cuppa, a visit to the throne, and a fast, hard 15 training session with Leelu (it seems to hold her for a while, if I feed her afterward…), I’m fully awake, if a bit out of breath…. She demands we move fast in the morning, as she’s been waiting for hours, no doubt, for me to wake up….. Ah, well, new routines always take time to feel comfortable with, so, so be it…..
With that being said, I’ve kinda messed up any nonsensical beginning; it also seems rather inappropriate to get too silly, or weird, after such a, well, realistic, if boring, beginning…. As is my apparent habit, it has taken me only one and nearly a half paragraphs to lose my way. It’s a shame, really; I had this really strange, yet compelling opening all ready to go, then got distracted by Leelu to play, and, poof, out the window of my mind it went…. I guess I should shut that window….
Well, as long as we are this far down the page, I may as well wind this up and get on to the rest of the mess we’ve cooked up for y’all today. It’s not bad, as Pearls go; in fact, since some of it is from the archives, it should hold up quite well. Sometimes, it’s easier to poke holes in things when one uses an older style tool, from the days when brute force was our primary method of living…. Oh, wait…. Hmm. I guess I can’t say it WAS our primary characteristic as humans, because, as we see every day in the news, we still do violence quite well, and often…. Oh, well, there goes ANOTHER paragraph, down the tubes to oblivion….
Never mind. We’ll just employ one of our new toys, found in that drawer in the corner. The one we tried out before worked well, didn’t it? May as well try another one…. Let’s see what this little gadget, in such a nice, black color, will do when we push this button, marked, “Elsewhere”…..
Shall we Pearl?….
“I have tried marijuana, hashish, psilocybin, opium and heroin, but none of these have changed my way of seeing as much as has understanding the process of evolution by natural selection.” — purported J.B.S. Haldane quote
(Addendum: I must say, if J.B.S. found this to be true, he needs to find a new drug dealer; he’s getting ripped off….. Just sayin’…..)
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As might be surmised from the picture, and, to balance the raucous video we enjoyed yesterday, we are going Classical. We start with Brahm’s Lullaby, then, follow it with nearly 12 hours of soothing music, designed to help babies sleep (like they need help…..). Whether or not it works, it IS soothing to listen to, which is fine with me today…. Enjoy!
Brahm’s Lullaby Plus
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I find myself spending a lot of the energy I previously put into ranting, by commenting on other WP blogs. Some of my recent comments approach the epic; so far, no one has objected, so, why not? It’s probably why I haven’t felt like letting it all out here, as is my habit. Feeling better gives me more opportunity for surfing the blogs I follow, so, this is, no doubt, a good thing… Since I have so many older rants in the archive, I figured, why not use them here? Indeed, “why not?” is a good question any time….
Here then is a rant suggested by WP at the bottom of yesterday’s post, in a blog from the LAST time we were working up to a Presidential election…. I made some observations then which are perfectly appropriate as a response to the upcoming charade; I found the comments I made regarding the GOP candidate from that year to be quite similar, in fact, eerily similar, to the entire GOP lineup of candidates in this year…. Go figure….
From 9/30/2012:
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.” — Alexander Frazer Tyler (1748-1813), — The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic
It seems to me that we, here in America in the early 21st century, are just about at the selfishness phase(s). We’ve been using and squandering a large portion of the available resources of the planet now for quite a while, and apparently haven’t learned to play well with others yet, as a culture. In fact, I might even go so far as to say that we have entered the complacency stage, as we seem also to feel entitled to have so much, and share so little with the rest of the planet, which is a complacent sort of arrogance.
Elitist, to be sure. And in the election coming up in November, we have as one of the choices possibly the most elitist candidate ever to run for the highest office (though Reagan was no slouch at that….) (come to think of it, neither was Franklin Roosevelt, but he seemed to be able to put it aside, for the most part…. He wasn’t nouveau riche, you see; he still had some degree of noblesse oblige left in him….) Mitt the Twitt Romney is unapologetically elitist, and doesn’t seem to care who knows it, even the voters…..
“Whereas it has been known and declared that the poor have no right to the property of the rich, I wish it also to be known and declared that the rich have no right to the property of the poor.” — Smart Bee
Even if we leave aside all the myriad of reasons that Mitt is unqualified for the position of POTUS, and, my use of the word myriad is both intentional and accurate, his sheer arrogance and lack of sincerity should be enough to convince people of his unsuitability for the office. There are literally thousands of reasons not to give this egregious fool such great power, all of which indicate he would abuse that power from day one. But none of those reasons even matter…. to me, his greatest point of detraction is that he is, plain and simple, an asshole, or, as is sometimes used in lieu of that word, a dick….
Actually he is both an asshole and a dick, as those words are commonly defined. The running mate he chose is a perfect indicator of how little he cares about the voters, other than what they can do for him, not the other way around. Pauly, the Lyin’ Ryan is, if anything, a bigger asshole than Romney, though he might not be as big a dick, and is no more ashamed of it than his ostensible boss. Each of them is a bare-faced liar. Each of them displays the compassion and sincerity of a sub-lieutenant in Satan’s Army, on a good day. Each of them (Romney & Ryan) is motivated by simple greed, and the desire for power, and, of course, the wish to be handed the keys to the national treasury.
Both have been manipulating the system since their well-funded time in college; neither has ever even held a job that could be considered an actual job; they’ve been sucking at the public teat for their entire adult lives. Now, they are making their grab for the ultimate prize for a thief…. the keys to the national treasury, handed over by ignorant voters who buy into their lies, because they think that these two pieces of white bread will save them from the scary black man as President…. They are counting very heavily on the racist fears of part of the population to carry the tide of victory in their direction; moreover, they are feeding that fear as much as they can, with constant lies and misrepresentations, without even the illusory benefit of sincerity….
As we all know, I could rant about these two all morning, but there are things I need to do today, even though it is Sunday, and I don’t want to spend any more time stirring up shit, even though the shit is only what clings to the Republican ticket every time one of them opens their mouths to spit out another lie….. But, we’ll get on with the day, and try to find something more positive to do…. Just make sure y’all get out there and vote on November 6th, ffolkes, we need to show these assholes that there are more of us than there are of them, and we still have the vote on our side…..
“If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. There may be no candidates and measures you want to vote for… But there are certain to be ones you want to vote against. In case of doubt, vote against. By this rule you will rarely go wrong.” — Lazarus Long
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After the old rant above, only one of my poems is appropriate; it’s kind of silly, but, I like it. Why wouldn’t I?…..
Politicos don’t care much ’bout seniors and their ilk,
except for their money, I thinks.
They talk as if they’d cozen them in silk,
what they actually do, it stinks.
“The banks are failing, we can’t allow that!”,
steal from the aged, that’s their plan.
“Their life’s ending, that’s plainly where they’re at,”
lie shamelessly, because they can.
Maybe just once, if we all act together,
it couldn’t miss.
Right on their shoes, no matter the weather,
take careful aim, and piss.
Why the hell not?
It’s worth a shot!
~~ gigoid ~~
12/23/2012
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A pearl of balance, about Life, lived well…
“Dream as if you’ll live forever.
Live as if you’ll die tomorrow.
~~ James Dean ~~
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“It is hard to free fools from the chains they revere.”
~~ Voltaire ~~
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“The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point
than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.
The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.”
~~ George Bernard Shaw ~~
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“Love all, trust a few. Do wrong to none.”
~~ William Shakespeare ~~
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Virtue could see to do what virtue would
By her own radiant light, though sun and moon
Were in the flat sea sunk. And Wisdom’s self
Oft seeks to sweet retired solitude,
Where with her best nurse Contemplation
She plumes her feathers and lets grow her wings,
That in the various bustle of resort
Were all-to ruffled, and sometimes impair’d.
He that has light within his own clear breast
May sit i’ th’ centre and enjoy bright day;
But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts
Benighted walks under the midday sun.
~~ John Milton — Comus, Line 373 ~~
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“He who learns but does not think, is lost!
He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.”
~~ Confucius~~
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“If you love the sacred and despise the ordinary,
you are still bobbing in the ocean of delusion.”
~~ Lin-Chi ~~
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“Be strange… it’s cool out there.”
~~ Hunter S. Bee ~~
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“Dream as if you’ll live forever.
Live as if you’ll die tomorrow.
~~ James Dean ~~
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Gee, that was fun…. Really, it was. But, it’s over now, so, in the words of Death from yesterday’s final pearl, I guess I’ll put the chair up, shut out the lights, & lock the door on the way out…. See y’all tomorrow, if they don’t shut off my power….. Bill’s paid, so we’re good to go….
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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
The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.
PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.
“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….
That’s a sign I am not familiar with; it looks almost like “Stop”; but, it also looks like Death, turning off the lights…..
??? which is it?
gigoid
Shutting the window! Stop is below.

Thanks; I was half-right with my guess…
😉
Yup! You sure were!
Many moons ago, I worked with teenagers in Calif. State Hospitals; a few that came through our unit were deaf, so I learned basic signing to be able to work with them…. They often laughed at my signing, but, “Stop” was one I had to know, and use often, as they were there generally because they had behavior problems…
I can, and have, stopped 250 lb. psychotic men in their tracks, using only my voice, in a Great Shout that will cut through even their rage… But, that doesn’t work at all with the deaf, so, I learned to use Stop with perfect emphasis… I had to, or they wouldn’t “listen” to what I said to them…..
😆
And I for one…thank you and appreciate your input…..Baby Girl knows what a crank I am before caffeine and she waits until I start my 2nd cup and then all Hell breaks loose….LOL chuq
Training cats is definitely a two-way street….
😉
LOL…..
Lin-Chi hits it out of the park. I care not a wit for politics for many a moon. It has as much to do with the players as it does the life cycle of a government outlined above. I would state we are beyond the selfishness phase and long moved on to the dependency stage.
Epic comments are welcomed at M3, always shall be. I enjoy the company, as you are the only blogger who engages posts as long as I, despite my ability to pull off ones under 250 words, today’s as an example.
I noticed an azzhat yesterday who embodied Voltaire’s quote in such a hypocritical way as to be a double face palm.
And the Dean quote was definitely worth the double play.
Bientot, Cher.
xxx
Red.
Good to see ya; as well, good to have a comment from you. They’re always spot on, IMLTHO….
It’s funny, ironic style, to hear those comments on politics… When I wrote this piece, over three years ago, I had yet to reach the stage of disgust I now hold for all things of that ilk… In fact, as this comment came in, I was writing an email to another friend, wherein I said this:
“As for politics, I’m sick to death of all of it. None of it makes sense, and none of it has any real connection to anything REAL; it’s all a waste of time and energy, forced upon us by people who actually believe all that bullshit not only means anything, but, believe it actually matters in the slightest…. both of which are delusional…. and I can PROVE that…. Just ask any tree, or rock, or the Sea, how much politics matters; you’ll get an unequivocal silence from all of them, which, to me, says all I need to know about politics…”
You may be correct as to the stage our civilization (an oxymoron if I ever heard one) now inhabits. I’ve been a scientist all my life, pretty much, and all the evidence I see says we don’t have much longer to get it right. Mama Nature is going to exact her price for our stupidity in the VERY near future, and I don’t think we have the means to pay, other than with what matters the most….our lives….
Glad you enjoyed this one; I think, when last we spoke, I neglected to offer congrats, and best wishes, so, here they are….
🙂
I’ll be over to see your post for Monday in a while; it’s number three in line for my next reading period, in a couple hours…. Leelu wants her training time right now….
See ya
À bientôt, cheri
xoxoxo
gigoid
Good one!
So who are you voting for?
I do not like the way the world is heading…
Time for my departure..
😉
Lady Penelope,
Aw. there’s no need to go off in a huff…. I don’t like what’s happening, either, but, I still have duties to complete. As you know, for me, that isn’t negotiable until they’re fulfilled. And, there is still plenty of Joy to be found, if only on a personal level, so, I think I’ll wait a while. Any day is a good day to die; today isn’t the day….
As for voting, IF I vote, it will be AGAINST whichever is the most-luser-like (luser: a geek term, obvious definition). This time, I’ll most likely pass, as choosing between two evils is still evil…. It’s just a choice between Tweedle-Dum, and Tweedle-Dee, anyway.. What would be the point? So I can say I joined in the consensual delusion we call democracy? Fat chance…
Glad you enjoyed today’s mess; I think, if Bob Heinlein were still alive, he’d quit voting, and move into the hills…. where I will eventually, most likely, end up retreating to myself….
😉
gigoid
If you do……make sure there is no TV and no papers….and while I am at it no broad band……..;)
As a matter of fact, that is exactly what I intend; if I disappear, there will be NO trail to follow, not even digital…. No phones, either, especially ‘smart’ ones….
😉
Talkin heads with deep.pockets
No time to think just to speak
Without any bases for what they say
It’s a cage match
To the last one standing wins
It doesn’t matter any more what we want
It will have to be a quiet corner for your peace
I’ve got to go to get my toe clipped
Maybe when I get back when can speak some more
As always Sheldon
Passwords are correct, ami. You are welcome anytime.
Especially when your comment is a decent poem…..
😉
gigoid
Reblogged this on gigoid and commented:
Ffolkes,
I had planned to post new material today, but, instead, I’ll be babysitting my granddaughter, a worthy excuse, to be sure. I’ll do my best to get it up tomorrow, but, no promises, as the wee one may be here more than one day. Time, that blabbermouth, will tell… Either way, see y’all soon enough. Take care out there, & remember to stay loose, & stay strange….’
gigoid, the dubious
😎