Ffolkes,

“A note of music gains significance from the silence on either side.”

~~ Anne Morrow Lindberg ~~

Always Alert….

Hajime…. Today is the 240th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in this country. I have personally witnessed this 65 times in my life, though never with the degree of reluctance I feel today. I am reluctant to celebrate, or show pride in a country which is currently engaged in numerous unjust conflicts around the world, all of which have nothing to do with any sort of justice, or anything other than corporate greed. Anyone who thinks our nation is justified for the misery and death we have caused by our interventions is welcome to tell me why; I doubt seriously I’ll have any trouble pointing out the discrepancies in any possible evidence presented….

To be honest, I am sick to death of politics, and corporate avarice, and ignorance, and all the other human failings I see in play in our society, all of which are denied, or ignored by both the public at large, and those who claim to be the leaders of our culture. So sick of it, I intend to ignore today altogether, just to get a bit of space from all the negativity that I associate with the loss of honor I see as responsible for our current status as a nation. I refuse to show pride in what I see us doing; there is no ethical or moral justification for any of it. So, this is the last y’all will hear about it today; I’ll even pick an archived rant that speaks to another issue, to be sure….

Since that’s the case, perhaps it would be best to get on with it. I guess this intro section isn’t quite up to our usual standards, which cannot be termed as standards of excellence without the risk of being called a liar; nonetheless, it will have to do, as I’m not going to do it over. Hell, it’s been a struggle to get it this far; starting over isn’t in the realm of possibilities I’m considering. In fact, the only consideration I’m thinking of now is how to get us the hell out of here before this gets any stranger…. I guess I’ll just be ruthless, which looks like this….

Shall we pearl?….

“The more I traveled the more I realized
that fear makes strangers of people who would be friends.”

~~ Shirley McLaine ~~

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Violeta Parra

Image from billboard.com via Google Images

A few days ago, I included a South American activist/artist, Victor Jara, for our musical selection. Today’s inclusion is a contemporary of his, also from South America, a woman who is also actively working for justice for the people, through her music, and her actions off-stage. Abondanza!…

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Violeta Parra

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“Is it not a noble farce, wherein kings, republics, and emperors have for so many ages played their parts, and to which the whole vast universe serves for a theater?” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book ii, Chap. xxxvi, Of the most Excellent Men

From 4/17/2014:

“A government that fears its people is a government that should be feared.” — Smart Bee

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10769041/The-US-is-an-oligarchy-study-concludes.html

“The US government does not represent the interests of the majority of the country’s citizens, but is instead ruled by those of the rich and powerful, a new study from Princeton and Northwestern Universities has concluded.”

My initial reaction to this opening line from the article to which the link leads was, “Oh. Really? How droll….” In case it’s unclear, that is sarcasm….

My second thought was, “Duh…”, because, well, hey, no-brainer, right? It’s only obvious, and has been since the 1850’s, when the “military-industrial complex” became a real person, at least in the courts….. The third thought that went through my mind was, “Why did I have to read this on the front page of a BRITISH news paper, while never having seen a single article on the report from an American news outlet?”

But, then, hey, oligarchy, right? That means the elite, the rich, the BRC, or, as I’m fond of calling them, the Asininnies, don’t want to hear about it, so, none of the news outlets THEY control will ever show that report, or, if they do, it certainly won’t be on the front page…. Any more than they wish to have ANY of their shenanigans paraded in front of the public eye; they’re well aware of how badly the rest of the country would react to that, if the notion that they were oppressing the rest of us, and worse, shamelessly lying about it all, ever became a common perception….

I could spend a few paragraphs here, detailing to you just how they lie, or relating just how often, and how completely these assholes are fucking over the rest of society…. but, it isn’t necessary, when such a plain and obvious indictment is right there in front of me, a report that does nothing if not confirm what I’ve been trying to get across to the people out there who need to know, for a long time now….

“[E]lections amount to little more than choosing between the scum that floats to the top of the barrel and the dregs that settle to the bottom.” — L. Neil Smith

The perverted masters of society, consisting of that 1% who control the money and resources of our planet, usurped our system of government within DAYS of the signing of the Constitution, and have continued to solidify their control for the last 240 years since that event…. Their biggest victories have come from their purchases, which gave them exclusive possession of the souls and loyalty of the judges in the federal court system, first in the early 1800’s, then, later, to the huge win in the middle of that century, when corporations were first declared to have the same rights as real people, a decision which ensures the establishment in society of the legal precedents that ensure their complete control….

What normal, real person, with merely their own skills and efforts as resources, can compete, monetarily, or time-wise, with a corporation, to buy the loyalty of congress and the courts? Only its owners, or the owners of other governments, er, corporations, who have the resources to contest what they wish, can hope to supply any restraint upon what they desire…. No average person has the time or resources to spend on any issue that a corporation can bring to bear, thus guaranteeing the common man’s views will NEVER take precedence in the courts….

It ain’t a particularly pretty picture, ffolkes, but, it IS an accurate description of modern reality…. more than we could hope, and certainly more than we could ever need, or want…. but, accurate, nonetheless….

Enough so to thoroughly disgust me, to the point I’m not going to rant any more…. I’m getting too worked up…. I can feel my blood pressure going up as I type, never a good thing….. So, we’ll switch modes, and go find some pearls with which to round out this discussion, hopefully with some humor, or at the very least, some bloodthirsty accusations of perversion against those assholes who thing we are not on to them….. Enjoy!….

“Hope is very dangerous….” — Servalan

(In our society, it is not merely dangerous, it is toxic….)

“After 2% of the vote is in, the networks tell us who won. It makes the other 99% of us feel a bit unnecessary… How come the networks are so good at picking the presidential winner, and so bad at picking hit shows?” — Smart Bee

(You don’t think they have information they’re not sharing with us, do you? Nah…. of course not…. Why would they do that?….)

(If you believe that, I have a wonderful opportunity for you, a chance to own the biggest bridge in New York, for a very nominal price…. Cash only, no checks….)

“When neither their poverty nor their honor is touched, the majority of men live content.” — Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)

(This is required learning in the schools that produce the fleets of lawyers who inhabit the halls of government…. Check it out sometime, how ALL the actions our leaders take are designed to keep from arousing the public’s ire, by avoiding the stimulation implied in this rule codified by The Prince….)

“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.” — Bob Dylan

“All military type firearms are to be handed in immediately… The SS, SA and Stahlhelm give every respectable German man the opportunity of campaigning with them. Therefore anyone who does not belong to one of the above named organisations and who unjustifiably nevertheless keeps his weapon… must be regarded as an enemy of the national government.” — SA Oberfuhrer of Bad Tolz, March, 1933

(I keep expecting to see a bill with this wording hit the floor of the House any time now, with a few minor changes to reflect the passage of time…. Every time there is another random shooting in this country, the pundits break out something like this to put through Congress, in the deluded hope that it might change something, which they refuse to believe cannot be changed, without changing human nature….)

“All you have to do is… Spot The Looney!” — Monty Python

(A very apt description of the voting process here in ‘murrica….)

“Being against torture ought to be sort of a bipartisan thing.” — Karl Lehenbauer

(One would think this is true, until you actually look at what they are DOING, instead of what they are SAYING….)

“Faith: not wanting to know what is true.” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

(Another fine delineation of how the voting process works in the oligarchy we call home…. Plus, do you see how smoothly this dovetails in with what the preachers preach from their pulpits?…. Funny how that works, eh?….)

Okay, so that’s eight pearls, an even number, which will never do…. We’ll go with one last pearl, in what I know to be a futile attempt to bring one of them down for good…. I’ll try to make it a good one, a fitting finish to an epic melding of irritated ranting and old school pearling….

“For in religion as in friendship, they who profess most are ever the least sincere.” — Sheridan

(I probably don’t need to make this suggestion, but, you can substitute the word “politics” for “friendship” in this, without changing or reducing its validity…. which is why it’s here….)

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Territorial imperative….

Beauty must define,
as augment to existence,
as life must be more
than mere subsistence.

Nature demands more.
Truth helps.

~~ gigoid ~~

12/15/2012

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Naked Pearls

Like ice, on the verge of melting….

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“. . is to attempt seeing Truth without knowing Falsehood.
It is the attempt to see the Light without knowing Darkness.
It cannot be.”

~~ Frank Herbert, Dune ~~

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“He bids fair to grow wise who has discovered that he is not so.”

~~ Publius Syrus — Maxim 598 ~~

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“Doubt is the key to knowledge.”

~~ Persian Proverb ~~

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“You cannot learn to fly by flying.
First you must learn to walk, to run, to climb, to dance.”

~~ Friedrich Nietzsche ~~

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“That’s the way things come clear.
All of a sudden.
And then you realize how obvious they’ve been all along.”

~~ Madeleine L’Engle ~~

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“Be happy. It’s one way of being wise.”

~~ Colette ~~

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“I just forgot my whole philosophy of life!!!”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

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In the elegant words of Hasan, the Moor, “I have fulfilled my vow.” Though I won’t commit to labeling it ‘good’, or ‘bad’, or even ‘indifferent’, I will say it’s done. Which gives me the perfect excuse to bring this to a final conclusion, probably best stated as, “Huh?”. No matter how we choose to view it, we’re outta here, with our common caveat, to wit: I’ll be back. I’ll even go out on a limb, and predict that will happen tomorrow. Go figure…. See ya, ffolkes…

Y’all take care out there,
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….