Ffolkes,
~~ Edward Abbey ~~
Beauty
Hajime….. The Space/Time Continuum in which we live is pretty big. So big, even our imagination, which seems unlimited in scope, has a hard time grasping just how much of Space and Time there is… we use words like ‘infinity’, ‘eternal’, ‘vast reaches’, to try to describe the nature of what we perceive, but, we still don’t really have a complete understanding, down in our gut, where reality is connected, in ways we cannot perceive, but, instinctively know are there, for we feel their presence, even if we don’t quite comprehend their nature.
For many of us, this lack of comprehension produces a feeling of fear, our natural response to the unknown; this fear often becomes the driving force behind all they do, for they do not, or can not, find the courage to face the unknown, to learn how & why it works as it does, thus replacing fear with knowledge…. It is a rather simple task, but, far too many of our species never find the courage to face their fears, preferring to accept the false explanations given by others, which seem to give relief from the fear, but, in truth, merely reinforce it, using it as a means to manipulate them, using the guise of a ‘moral authority’.
Hmm…. I suppose the intro section isn’t exactly the best place for a discussion of ‘moral authority’, other than as a passing fancy to fill in a bit of space…. which we have accomplished, quite adeptly, if I do say so myself. Since there is little point in carrying this discussion further, unless we are planning on being here all day, I’ll chop it off right there, without going into the obvious solution to such ignorance, to wit: a bit of courage to face the fears…. We’ll leave those poor saps to their fate for now, and get on with our chosen task for today, which is to get the fuck done….
In light of our newly found purpose, I’m going all executive again, and removing us post haste to the oyster beds, so we can get this slow on the toad, where it belongs. How does that work, you may ask? Well, it works like this….
Shall we Pearl?….
~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~
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Today, I want smooth, and hot. Who else?…. Enjoy, ffolkes; he just keeps getting better as the years go by…. He was the very first artist I saw live on a stage in SF, back in 1968 or 69 (naturally, it’s all kind of blurry, exact-time-wise….); even then, he was not merely the best, he was the most uniquely himself, in every note he rips from his guitar, straight out of his soul…. He remains as unique today, 47 years later…. approximately…. What can I say, ffolkes? It was UC Berkeley, the year after the Summer of Love hit its zenith…. anyone who says they remember it in specific detail wasn’t really there…
Santana Live
Las Vegas 2015
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I had a nice quote from Ovid to rant on today, but, having bled out a poem last night, the driving force isn’t quite what it needs to be to do it right…. Here is a rant from 2013 about our old friends over at the NSA, those valiant guardians of your morals who so blithely steal information for their own paranoid purposes…. Enjoy!….
From 10/31/2013:
Well, I waited until now to begin ranting, which is probably a good thing. Perhaps this will be a bit more effective as a call to action than in the usual position, or wherever it’s been of late that has kept it from at least making me feel a bit better for having ranted…. What a mouthful! And so on topic, too! Gotta love us amateurs, eh?….
At any rate, I found this article yesterday, buried back a few pages, probably because everyone is so tired of hearing of yet ANOTHER outrageous instance of the NSA breaking the law, by once again going far beyond the scope of their legal mandate, in the ever-widening quest by our own government to become the true Evil Empire…. I know, that’s some pretty high-powered language to use to in discussing an agency of our own government, but, as always, I believe in calling a spade a damn shovel, not an indigenous individual digging device, type 2…. and you may as well get used to it….
These assholes over at the NSA have gone completely bonkers; they assumed that because they got practically all they wanted in the way of legal coverage by the administration, they may as well just go ahead and do whatever else they wanted, believing that the people who set them loose on the trail of ostensible terrorists would protect them from any critical attention and/or interference by something as mundane as the law, or the will of the people….. and, for a long time, they were justified in that belief…. But, now that their clandestine activities are being brought to light by that national hero, Eric Snowden, the rats are deserting their ship, and leaving them to their fate without any real support….
Talk around Washington is that the President is going to, belatedly, stop spying on the leaders of our allies, and will move to put limits on what the agencies are allowed to access in the data that is generated by the general public. This is a complete reversal, and I can only hope it is in response to the pressure put on them by the public’s obvious displeasure, and not as a temporary measure to appease while they figure out a diversion in some other area of the public venue, where they can cause some problem that will draw our attention away from this issue, allowing them to continue their illegal, but, in their eyes, oh so necessary theft of the people’s identities….
http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Report-NSA-broke-into-Yahoo-Google-data-centers-4939585.php
In the article, the most significant part of what is there, to my way of thinking, is that the companies involved say had no idea that they were being compromised, even though their own security measures are considered to be nearly impenetrable… Well, they SAY they had no idea; one must remember they ARE a corporation, and, thus, are very familiar with telling the public what they wish to hear….
However, it appears that the American and British spies went in, got their data, and left, without ever notifying Google, or Yahoo, of what they were taking, though such activities are still illegal, according to the laws in place…. (Not to mention rudeThe spying mandate they have doesn’t extend to what they stole, theoretically…. Of course, they can say they didn’t KNOW that, but, then, lying is their entire purpose, and the single most critical part of their entire modus vivendi, is it not?…. Even in the Art of War, Sun Tzu acknowledged the importance of the spy in warfare, calling them the most powerful of all types of warriors…
Of course it is, just as lying and cheating come naturally to anyone in a nationally elected office; it’s part of their job description these days, even if it is written in invisible ink….. Since Google, and Yahoo, and the other agencies that were hacked, are all corporations, and have pretty much the same characteristics as shown by the BRC pundits, (i.e., a tendency to lie at the drop of a cliche…), it’s a bit hard to tell who is more guilty here….
Is it Google and/or Yahoo, who are gathering all sorts of data about its users without their knowledge or permission (I don’t regard those passive advertisements that one can “control” what data is gathered by adjusting their “preferences” as real permission…. they take whatever data they want, and tell you about it later, if at all….)….? Or, is it the government spy agencies, who are stealing that same stolen data from the corporations, that fit the bill as the villain?
It should make for an interesting contest, to see how this fake argument plays out….. I mean, I can’t really believe that the BRC, who is controlled and supported by the corporations (go ahead, disprove that!….), will continue to try to take data from them without their knowledge. It’s more likely they are playing out this faux-dispute in the public venue in order to confuse the public about who is on their side in this issue… It seems to be working, as always, as the public is pretty much ignoring these latest revelations, and looking around for almost anything to take their minds elsewhere for a while… I’m almost interested, in a resigned, doubtful sort of way, to see just what they come up with next to draw the public’s attention off this issue…. Probably more to do with the recent roll-out of health care reform laws, which seems to be a hot button for a lot of people….
For me, all of it is dross and spittle…. I believe, absolutely, that if there is an official statement made by anyone in the government printed in the news, it needs to be examined in the light of what it is NOT saying, to ascertain about what it is lying, or what it is trying to hide by distraction, not merely for what it says…. Their motivation in making ANY public statement is manipulation of public attitudes; they’re not trying to make anything better. They lie, they leave stuff out, they point us in all kinds of useless directions, but they almost NEVER tell us what is actually going on, unless we’ve already caught them at it… In those cases, we see all sorts of backing and filling, as they come up with all sorts of “plausible deniability” in order to convince the public that their lies are really the truth…
What a crock! If it wasn’t so damn sad and depressing, it would be amusing…. SIGH… Enough is enough…. Stay alert, ffolkes, because they’re lying to you every day, and doing all they can to improve THEIR lot in life, not yours…. Let them know you’re on to them, at every opportunity…. If nothing else, it will make them nervous, which they deserve….
“You can fool all of the people some of the time; you can fool some of the people all of the time; and that should be sufficient for most purposes.” — Smart Bee, quoting from the true bible, used by both politicians and preachers…..
“The ideal robot, after all, is simply a properly processed human being.” — Edward Abbey
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Meaning fades to distant reality
while gazing at such triviality.
An insane world, where utter finality
is reward for disability.
Metaphorically, as a matter of course.
Moment to moment, passion blooms,
swells, and fades, swept by new brooms.
Bitter dreams catch fire in empty rooms,
waiting for broken time, which never resumes.
Superficially, with great force.
Dire wolves stand snarling at the door
called to existence from a distant moor;
discordant strains sound a mad, sad roar,
a dirge for those who went before.
Morbidly, without vital recourse.
Honest effort fades from human ken
until entropy finds home in every when.
Illusory fear inundates imagination, then
buries hope, in its own ashes, hidden.
Cruelly, absolutely no remorse.
Silence falls until it shatters the night.
The universe has refused the fight.
Illusion is now reality, such a fey sight.
Who has courage to live in the light?
Really? It could be worse.
~~ gigoid ~~
2/15/2016
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42
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“We pardon in the degree that we love.”
~~ Francis, Duc de La Rochefoucauld — Maxim 330 ~~
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“Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin,
but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”
~~ Harper Lee ~~
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“Purity engenders Wisdom,
Passion avarice,
and Ignorance folly, infatuation and darkness.”
~~ Bhagavad Gita (c. B.C. 400) ~~
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“Don’t hold to anger, hurt or pain.
They steal your energy and keep you from love.”
~~ Leo F. Buscaglia ~~
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“Intellect annuls fate.
So far as a man thinks,
he is free.”
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~
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“There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win.”
~~ Elie Wiesel ~~
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“A man’s happiness,–to do the things proper to man.”
~~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, viii, 26 ~~
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“Since everything in life is but an experience
perfect in being what it is,
having nothing to do with good or bad,
acceptance or rejection,
one may well burst out in laughter.”
~~ Long Chen Pa ~~
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“Nobody ever promised it would make sense…”
~~ Sarge ~~
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Well, there you go. It’s a Pearl, and, a damn good one, too. Now we’ll see if reality can match my expectations. Since the odds on success are dead even, we’ll just leave it at that, & be on our way, so we can try again tomorrow… Hey, fresh poem, right? It will do. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if my calculations are correct….
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….
An excellent choice with Santana……the man is a great musician…..NSA has been been listening to us mere mortals since the 70’s…..nothing will change that….I do not care how mush legislation they introduce…..we will be spied upon by our government……have a good day and keep the faith. baby….chuq
Thanks, mon ami… Carlos is da man…
I’m fairly certain, given clues from my (and your) past, the listening has been going on for longer than they will admit, probably since the 50’s, when the NSA became the agency it resembles today….
Remember the movie with Harrison Ford as a CIA operative from the 80’s? Set in Central America, it detailed how the US gov’t. killed a drug cartel leader by triangulating his phones, using a satellite based monitoring system… and that was a story from the 60’s….
Viva la raza, hermano….
gigoid
Let’s not forget my fave program…COINTELPRO……I spent many hours being watched…..such fun….the good old days…LOL chuq
I often think about asking to see my files with the FBI & NSA… might be fun to see what I was doing as they watched…
Plus, it’d make good rant material….
😉
g
FOI Act should let you see if they have a file on you….smile you are non governmental camera…..sponsored by Halliburton….LOL chuq
That’s the one…. It gives some stuff away I don’t think was intentional… if you can look between the lines….
gigoid
Hi gigoid.. i suppose the greatest protection of
freedom of speech is when folks exercise
it.. and while rules of social acceptance
dictate people hold their tongues…
Without the other face
in direct distance..
the tongues
will and do..
swagger
here and there.
and wherever they
care to go.. when everyone
is nuts about their truth.. and
that makes Facebook oh.. so fun..!
it’s harder to gather up the nuts
from the empty shells
that are of
real
concern..
i don’t have much
faith in government efficiency
as i worked there too long
to see the inefficiencies..
including all the
contracts
associated
with it.. then..
it’s mostly based
on big picture.. big dollar
items.. where details
get all the
attention..
it’s really
insane..
but it is what it is..
and all we have for now..
and nah.. it’s not likely
to get any better..
as all large
populations
of heterogenous humans
are evolutionary insane..
it’s just a symptom of
our Nature out
oF balance
with the rest oF Nature..
the bigGest smALLest picture
of aLL
wE
possess too..
when iN balance..
anyway.. i don’t work
there anymore.. except
for when i ask questions
and it takes a month
to get answers
to simple
questions..
or even a
month to
get someone
to open up
a letter or
email..
as efficiency
means MORE
COMPUTERS..
LESS employees..
and less customer service to
we who count as citizens now..
i’m not afraid of the government
as stupid
is as stupid
does.. and i’m
smARt enough
to play by
rules.. NOW..
to my advantage..
but truly and sadly
most people are not..
and that’s what keeps
on running as is.. now..
IN OTHER words i could
fKing be Jesus and
no would
notice
me..
that’s
kinda hilarious
but it’s true in
an ocean
of info
OVERLORD..
and just another
Anthropology/
Sociology/
Psychology/
Philosophy/
Religion/
Science/
ETC./..
project
i’m
currently working on..
just for fun.. Ynot..;)
Why not, indeed?…
I agree; the secret to living with the world as it is means ignoring those parts of it which have no meaning in our reality… which, come to think of it, is both an advantage, and, the root core problem with the species at large…. SIGH…. As you say, oh, well… it is as it is… At least some of us know how to be free…. just act insane like the rest of the inmates….
Later, brother
gigoid
SMiLes.. we live in a human hive.. So i reverted back to Ape as i was not successful as inSect.. WInks..;)