Wait a second! Is that a connecting bolt in your pocket?…

Posted on June 6, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Yep…. I’m definitely losing it…. and not just it, either, but, almost all of it…..Pretty sweeping statement so early, but, for me, it isn’t….. early, that is. It’s well after 5 AM, & I’m just now getting up…. The coffee isn’t ready, so I had to make it, and wait for it…. As you might guess, this does very little, if not nothing, to improve my mood, or my condition, of which I am afraid to even speak…. I’m coffee-free as yet, so there’s really no telling what might come out of my head, or my mouth, both of which tend to end up on screen…. Oh, man…. I hear the coffee machine finishing…. Hang on, I’ll be back, hopefully before I’ve murdered anyone….

I made it through the ordeal of procuring coffee, but, I’m still not sure about the rest of today…. To say I’m in a curmudgeonly mood would be far short of the actual degree of grumpiness I’m currently experiencing; homicidal, or perhaps, genocidal, might be more accurate…. Of course, being the moral/ethical creature I am, if I went for genocide today, you could at least trust me to confine my targeted group of intended victims to the BRC and the monied elite….

I wouldn’t go after any normal ffolkes, only those who make a habit of preying on the rest of humanity…. Hmm, I suppose, if one were wishing to be entirely accurate, picking on the people on this planet who deserve to die for their treatment of others, that would be more like a pest control guy, right? So, I’m committing insecticide on them, rather than genocide…. I can live with that….

Gosh, ffolkes, it seems that my anger, which is mostly directed at my own physical condition, wants to get directed into ranting…. I suppose that’s a natural outlet for me, one I’ve been allowing myself to use for about three years now, ever since starting this blog, and making the decision to discontinue my lifelong habit of silence on public issues…. Ranting comes pretty naturally to a curmudgeon, and I was already considered that BEFORE I retired, and actually joined the organization to receive the training…. So, letting out my angst on the appropriate targets has been my habit, and my pleasure, for that time….

Of late, I’ve been trying to rant less, as I was concerned it was driving readers away; I’m fully aware that my subject matter is controversial, and my opinions somewhat radical, but, I try to keep my writing in such a state that it won’t alienate people…. unless, of course, they identify too closely with the folks of which I’m making fun, or antagonizing, by pulling the cover on their lies.

Then, of course, they become offended, which is fine with me; I have no problem with people being offended by what I say, as long as they do so with politeness…. You can curse someone out thoroughly without ever becoming rude, though it takes a bit of effort…. Me, I tend to forget the polite part at times, so, I try to allow a bit of leeway for commenters, as well…

But, I don’t get a lot of argument with my issues…. I figure there are two reasons for that…. First, most of the people who read this are what I’d call members of the choir, in that they agree, if not wholeheartedly, at least in principle, with what I’ve said about the ruling classes, or the priestly hierarchies, or the faceless myrmidons who do their bidding…. This makes for not a lot of commenting, on what we all know to be true….

On the other hand, I also try to present arguments with the evidence, which I have used to make my conclusions, included in the argument, or, at minimum, easily accessed by anyone wishing to examine it….. Once anyone has viewed the argument, with evidence, then disagreement becomes somewhat out of place, since what I’ve stated is generally so obviously correct…. in essence, there’s nothing on which they can hang any disagreement….

As you can see by this example, I tend to ramble and blather when I’m in pain, and don’t have anything specific about which to rant…. which is exactly today’s position…. I’ve now semi-ranted for the entire intro section, without ever getting anywhere significant, or worthy of follow-up…. Ah well, at least it got us far enough down the page to call this a legal entry, so, I suppose that’s something positive…. To maintain that positive feeling, I’ll end this here, using method #4, as it is the quickest, most efficient method, if the most risky in terms of possible injury…. We’ve been lucky in that respect, so, for now, we’ll trust our luck…

Shall we Pearl?….

“In a mad world, only the mad are sane.” — Akiro Kurosawa

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Since I am so late today, and my pain level is not cooperating very well (I even made the requisition for this day off from major pain two days ago…. I can show you the paperwork!….), we’re going old school… I’ve been picking from the archives too much lately, so, we’ll go fresh, but with the kind of pearl that takes the least amount of time to produce…. Here is a random grouping, set with parameters to find pearls that take a poke at lawyers, politicians, preachers, pundits, or police myrmidons. those wonderful folks who enforce the will of the corporate assholes who own everything…

“There is no better way to exercise the imagination than the study of the law. No artist ever interpreted nature as freely as a lawyer interprets the truth.” — Jean Giraudoux

“Commonly we say a judgment falls upon a man for something in him we cannot abide.” — John Selden (1584-1654) — Judgments

“Anything labeled “NEW” and/or “IMPROVED” isn’t. The label means the price went up. The label “ALL NEW”, “COMPLETELY NEW”, or “GREAT NEW” means the price went way up.” — Hershiser’s Rules

“The very purpose of existence is to reconcile the glowing opinion we hold of ourselves with the appalling things that other people think about us.” — Quentin Crisp

“Agesilaus being invited once to hear a man who admirably imitated the nightingale, he declined, saying he had heard the nightingale itself.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Agesilaus II

“Do you call yourself free? I want to hear your ruling idea, and not that you have escaped from a yoke.” — Nietzsche, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”

“All educational organizations worthy of the name have always recognized what be the ultimate and significant principle of pedagogy: namely the absolute mandate, the iron bond, discipline, sacrifice, the renunciation of the ego, the curbing of the personality.” –Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain

A bit scattered, but, fairy pointed in spots…. it will do….

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Again, to avoid spreading blame for today’s Pearl, here is an older poem of my own, from early last year…. Enjoy, please….

Notes of process and program…

Poems, alas, don’t chase through my head,
bumping and pushing each other like brothers at dinner.
They’re more ripped out of my innards, instead.
Time and circumstance reveal no ultimate winner.

Simmering and bubbling near my unconscious mind
these maddening rhymes blind me sans glimmer.
Building until bursting as if to be dined and wined,
the remaining denizens appear much slimmer.

Fiery visions retain such glorious fatal dimension,
in retrospect, yet fail to leave a permanent scar,
until blessed, or cursed, with focused attention,
singing, crying, bleeding, fast as a movie star.

Pretty soon can’t be soon enough, she said
to a chameleon colored thief bathed in moonlight.
Fancy candles in stripes of blue, gold, and red
foster honest dreams in shades of white.

Passage to daylight is problematic, at best:
beastly ghosts of insomniacs cast no shadow.
Even judges with robes can pass the wrong test
while the rest of us go with what we know.

~~ gigoid ~~

“A poet is a kind of liar who always speaks the truth.” — Jean Cocteau

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witzelsucht (vit’sel-zoocht) [Ger.] “A mental condition characteristic of frontal lobe lesions and marked by the making of poor jokes and puns and the telling of pointless stories, at which the patient himself is intensely amused.” — Standard Dictionary

Having been accused in the past of exhibiting the perfect set of symptoms for this disorder, I can relate to how it feels…. which is mostly lonely, as the rest of humanity has a hard time sitting still for puns, OR for pointless stories…. Nonetheless, I like the idea that this condition is one that MAY be treatable…. it gives me hope for the remainder of my life as a blogger…. or maybe that’s just my fantasy gene kicking in…. who knows? Let’s find some more pearls, shall we?….

“Everybody is going somewhere!! It’s probably a garage sale or a disaster Movie!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“The way I see it, it doesn’t matter what you believe just so you’re sincere.” — Charles Schulz

“It is not a fish until it is on the bank.” — Irish Proverb

“In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all – security, comfort and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.” — Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter 29

“When a person can no longer laugh at himself, it is time for others to laugh at him.” — Thomas Szasz, The Second Sin, 1973

“The only act of revolution left in a collective world is thinking for yourself.” — Bob Geldof, “Is That It?”

“One can imagine a sane, healthy, cheerful human society based on no more than the principles of common sense, as validated each day by work, play, and living experience. But this remains the most Utopian and fantastic of ideals.” — Edward Abbey

Now, THAT’s what I’m talkin’ about!…..

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It’s a Pearl, ffolkes…. of that, there is NO doubt…. Fresh, too, or, as much so as I could make it…. The fact that I was able to complete it, fresh as it is, is, to me, rather impressive, in re: will power…. but, that’s all done now…. I’m going to go whimper now, and wait for the drugs to hit me…. 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

Bastardized versions of authentic matzo balls….

Posted on June 5, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

It made for a long day, but, it’s over, and going back there is counterproductive, so we’ll kiss yesterday’s pain and misery goodbye, and take what today has to offer, such as it is….

And good morning to you, such as it is….. Having thus disposed of another day by mostly sleeping, or otherwise helping my consciousness to defer the pain through distraction or drugs, (preferably the latter), I sit here again, beset by the demons of silence, who gleefully steal away every creative thought my mind can conjure in the mornings, no doubt egged on by Murphy himself. There are times when I don’t feel like fighting them off, but, I’ve been up a while now, and have already dealt with them as best I could, with what little bit of wherewithal I possessed…. Trust me, you don’t want to know what I did to get them to back off; it’s illegal in most states, anyway, so I’d rather not say what it was, or how I obtained it…

For that matter, you probably don’t want to know ANY of what I’ve done to find myself at this juncture, and, I can’t much blame y’all for that…. So far, as far as I can tell, this is pretty boring, being little more than a guy blathering about nothing much at all. That, of course, is just what we do here, mostly, but, it does get away from me on occasion (such as now….), dragging us all through a period of nonsense, fantasy, or just plain bullshit, just as if we had the right…. which, of course, we do…. You see, if you stop by to read, you have to read whatever I put here, don’t you? Yes, you do….

It’s that, or go somewhere else, and though a LOT of folks, and some ffolkes as well, have been avoiding this lately, I do like to think I’m doing something worthwhile, if not necessary, or even appreciated. I’m trying to help the world, and though it really doesn’t believe it needs it, it does, so I can’t give up, any more than I can stop breathing…. not if I want to be able to look in the mirror each morning, and still be able to meet my own eyes….

Boy, I’m really lost this morning…. I have no idea how I got to the point of moral/ethical motivation, but, the intro probably isn’t the wisest choice for that type of revelation, though it does indicate a degree of honest self-appraisal you won’t find a lot of places…. But, even if honest, it’s not necessarily interesting, or productive, so, we’ll just drop the whole thing now, and try to get ourselves out of here, and on to the day’s more entertaining material…. Well, we can dream, can’t we?….

Shall we Pearl?…..

He that will not when he may,
When he would he shall have nay.

— John Heywood (c. 1565) — Proverbes, Part i, Chap. iii

And, BOY, is that the perfect pearl for this intro, or what?…..

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The following entry is one I repost on occasion, mainly to save myself the personal drama and upset that dealing with this subject creates in me; it’s one of the quickest ways I know to bring out old PTSD-related feelings, arousing my ire, and my angst, along with other feelings best left unnamed…. However, my unwillingness to feel those destructive emotions doesn’t preclude, or override the necessity for this message to be spread; the picture and quote by Einstein guarantees that much courage as a minimum response, in my book…. Please read, and think about the ideas presented here; it is important, more so than you may think or believe, to a lot of women who are at real risk of more than simple harm….

From 10/20/2012:
Raquel Welch: 36-24-36
Bo Derek: 35-24-36
Ann-Margaret: 37-25-36
Bette Middler: 37-25-36
Marilyn Monroe: 37-24-37
Jane Russell: 39-27-38
Jayne Mansfield: 40-23-37
Sophia Loren: 37-25-36

— Smart Bee (?)

So, sue me. It isn’t what you think, unless you are thinking what I’m thinking. I’m not going to say that isn’t possible, or even unlikely…. unless you are thinking it is about some sexist premise that identifies women as objects. Being male, I’m not an expert on spotting or exposing that, but I’ve been around a long time, and have never held with most of what society holds as true about women, unless spoken by a woman who hasn’t proved to be one of the brainwashed….

No, this list is only here to note that what society seems to project, in magazines and advertising, through fashions and trends sponsored by those who determine such matters (i.e., the moneymen… those corporate snakeheads who control society’s resources) as the image of beauty, is not the same as what public opinion obviously feels about what makes a woman beautiful, in terms of weight and shape. All of the women in the above list were, and/or are, considered to be the visual pinnacle of what the public believes is beautiful, as evidenced by the popularity of their work, in film or on stage…. but none of them are at all similar to what the manipulators of fashion would have us believe is the ideal shape….

Whereas models can only be described as slender or willowy, (actually, to me they all look emaciated….), all the women in the list are what we might call zaftig, or Rubenesque, in their visual proportions….. Personally, I agree with the public…. I find Ann Margaret to be much more pleasant to look at than any model in a magazine that I have EVER seen….. And, the fact that I feel entitled to make a judgment makes me as guilty of objectifying women as a man who utilizes brothels for sex…

Thus, if we grant the truth of that revelation, the mere existence of the list becomes the most objectionable piece of it….. It illustrates that the process of objectification is subtle; just applying such standards to women at all tends to cause people to think of them as objects, rather than as people. Society has been male-oriented for a very long time, a state of affairs justified as “might makes right.” Sadly; a lot of what is wrong in the world can be traced to that unfortunate fact.

Men, all throughout history, because of their own insecurities about their own sexuality, and their fear of women in that respect, have set up society so that women have very little say about what happens to them in life; those decisions are made for them by fathers, brothers, or husbands in most of the world. In order to do this, and not suffer pangs of guilt at every turn, men, and women, are taught that it is okay to objectify women, and to treat them as if they are property…. and property needs to be labeled, hence lists such as the one above….

Yesterday, (note: 10/16/2012…..) rmott62 posted a blog, ( http://rmott62.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/your-lies-are-part-of-our-genocide/), which I re-blogged on my site, speaking about this very subject, to wit: how the language we choose can objectify those of whom it speaks. You can probably get a better idea of how insidiously the issue of victimizing women permeates society by visiting her blog; she speaks powerfully, with no punches pulled, from experience, and with great insight, much more forcefully than I ever can, so I recommend to you, very strongly, that you go to her site, and read what she has to say….

If you listen, and believe, it will change the way you look at much of what passes in our society for normal. It will make you ashamed for not noticing…. Every time I go there to read her posts, that is how I feel, and if it is not the same for other men, (women, too!….), well, it should be, for we are ALL guilty of perpetrating the evil, if only by not acting or speaking up…. Silence on this subject is habitual for most of society, & will be for as long as the victimization of women, and the entire prostitution industry, continues to objectify, demean, and drag women of all ages into perpetual slavery….. with the aid of the language itself, and the tacit approval of all those who won’t look at the issue….

“The makers of fortunes have a second love of money as a creation of their own, resembling the affection of authors for their poems, or of parents for their children … and hence they are very bad company, for they talk of nothing but the praises of wealth.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.)

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In perusing old pearls, which I do sometimes when I’m not up to creating them, I found this old poem of mine, which, apparently, I wrote on 10/17/2012, as it appears in the Pearl for that day…. It’s as good as any I’ve ever done, I’d say….

Raging at Aging

As old as you feel, we are told, is old as you are,
custom assures such vision will carry us far.
Reality begs to differ, may it be so bold
it is really quite painful, and very, very cold.The power and strength felt in our halcyon youth
desert us with age, yet another unwelcome truth.
Irony rules our time here on this bountiful earth
as we reflect the changes over time since our birth.

As physical powers fade from this fragile shell,
we learn our mind can serve us quite as well.
The strength that once filled our bones and hearts
is now applied by our will, to more arcane arts.

Life’s greatest gift is our freedom of choice
no matter how often we forget, we still get a voice.
Energy, or apathy, by our will we may choose,
failing to do so, our only way to lose.

Each of us lives in the grip of time and space,
always seeking our balance, our own chosen place.
One must accept reality, for it is true at the core,
all we can do, is all we can do, and nothing more.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Here are some pictures to form a pearl, some of which were taken from other sites…. The first one, of the ship and helicopter, is from the London Daily Telegraph’s Day in Pictures feature from June 3, 2014; the second is an artist’s rendition of a new planet around a distant star found by the Hubble Telescope, & released by NASA. The planet picture was found on a number of different sites, and thus is apparently in the common usage category, as long as it is attributed…. Hope you enjoy today’s pix & comments….
“I had rather have a fool to make me merry than experience to make me sad.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), As You Like It — Act iv, Sc. 1

My immediate thought on this was, “What a waste of tax money!”….. The copter shot off this in celebration of D-Day, I believe, and the photo itself was classified as the Armed Forces Photo of the Week, for some publication somewhere put out by the armed services….. which, to me, makes it even more egregiously wasteful…. Can you imagine how much it cost to put those two vehicles in that position, then fire off all 60 flares at once…. I’d wager it came to close to a million dollars, or in this case, pounds, as it was a British ship and copter…. SIGH…. I am very afraid, ffolkes, that we humans just don’t have what it takes to survive much longer…..
“The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything. Except what is worth knowing. Journalism, conscious of this, and having tradesman-like habits, supplies their demands.” — Oscar Wilde

“The tree of liberty only grows when watered by the blood of tyrants.” — Bertrand Barere (1755-1841) — Speech in the Convention Nationale, 1792

The picture, as noted above, is an artist’s view of the newest planet around a distant star found by the Hubble Telescope, in orbit around Earth…. The two quotes, however, have nothing to do with the picture…. Both of them came up while I was looking for an appropriate pearl to go with the planet, and just insisted on being included…. I think it may be from my growing need to rant, which I have been sublimating for about a week now…. Soon, I think, it will require that I let it loose, or it will cause me some problems in my personal life…. For now, just take these with a bunch of salt, and we’ll go on to better things….. Well, different, anyway….
“To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.” — Emily Dickinson

I call this shot, “A Shadow’s Heart”. It happened as I tried to take a close-up of these beautiful yellow roses…. As I lined up the shot, I noticed the position of the shadow, and took it as you see it…. Serendipity strikes again! I knew it was better than hoped for when I found the perfect pearl to accompany the picture, first time out….. Honest…. when I looked for the right pearl, Emily was the first one that came up….. I love it when a plan comes together….
— How many members of the U.S.S. Enterprise does it take to change a light bulb?

7….. Scotty will report to Captain Kirk that the light bulb in the Engineering Section is burnt out, to which Kirk will send Bones to pronounce the bulb dead. Scotty, after checking around, notices that they have no more new light bulbs, and complains that he can’t see in the dark to tend to his engines. Kirk must make an emergency stop at the next uncharted planet, Alpha Regula IV, to procure a light bulb from the natives. Kirk, Spock, Bones, Sulu, and 3 red shirt security officers beam down. The 3 security officers are promptly killed by the natives, and the rest of the landing party is captured. Meanwhile, back in orbit, Scotty notices a Klingon ship approaching and must warp out of orbit to escape detection. Bones cures the native king who is suffering from the flu, and as a reward the landing party is set free and given all of the light bulbs they can carry. Scotty cripples the Klingon ship and warps back to the planet just in time to beam up Kirk et. al. The new bulb is inserted, and the Enterprise continues with its five year mission. — Smart Bee

This is an example of what happens when my mind wanders…. I went to look for an appropriate pearl for the nice close-up of an unknown flower, and got caught up reading this…. I like it, it’s funny, and consistent with the Star Trek venue…. For today, that’s all it needs….
I saw young Harry, with his beaver on,
His cuisses on his thighs, gallantly arm’d,
Rise from the ground like feather’d Mercury,
And vaulted with such ease into his seat
As if an angel dropp’d down from the clouds,
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus
And witch the world with noble horsemanship.

— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act iv, Sc. 1

Here, at the end of all things, (Well, maybe it’s just the end of this pearl, but, Shakespeare is so dramatic, I thought….. Ah, the hell with it…), I have placed this picture, of the day I went strolling on Portobello Road, in London. I met this Charlie C. impersonator, a mime, who insisted on having a picture taken together….. There’s no meaning, to either the picture, or the accompanying quote…. It just seemed to go together…. Mostly, I just wanted to be done, and, now, I am, so there…..

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And thank goodness for that….. This Pearl, though partially created beforehand, still took a long time to put together…. In fact, so long, I’m considering returning to my bed, to finish what I should have done before, which is sleep until I’m no longer tired…. Maybe, someday…. For now, I’m going to trust my luck, and go post this…. See ya tomorrow, ffolkes, no matter how bad I feel…. Today is proof I can put out a Pearl practically on my death bed, so, be warned….

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

In defense of inconvenient innuendo….

Posted on June 4, 2014 by gigoid

Dear ffolkes,
gigoid is under the weather again, hence this reblog of an old Pearl, which he sincerely hopes y’all will enjoy…. Tomorrow’s another day….
“An agreeable companion on a journey is as good as a carriage.”
— Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 143

gigoid

10/20/12, aka 10/21/12 ~~ Time, or the labeling of same, is mine to dictate, so, today is tomorrow…. the missing day is banished from memory. So Be It….

Ffolkes,
It seems my unconscious mind has taken a hand in directing my conscious life as well…. but, in this case, it seems to work fairly well, all in all, so I’m going to leave it alone for the time being. I know that sound mysterious, but saying this precisely this way is merely withholding details that would be unenlightening, and at the same time, counter-productive to discussion. Suffice it to say that I am here now, sitting down to write, with more than average clarity, and a degree of unusual comfort…. Thank goodness for coffee, eh?……

I know, I know, that was a less than illuminating paragraph, but, believe me, you really don’t want any more details, so let’s just get…

View original post 2,144 more words

History will judge this a Pyrrhic victory…..

Posted on June 3, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Now, THIS is unusual, even for around here….. I’m up, I slept pretty well, I don’t hurt anywhere particularly badly, yet, I have no motivation to write at all…. It just doesn’t seem attractive to me this morning; the idea makes me nauseous, actually. If I didn’t know better, that would make me think I might be pregnant, which is, shall we say, less than good odds? Yes, let’s say that, and leave it there….

It’s true, though…. I really am not in the mood for this….. Of course, it might just be lack of coffee I’m feeling…. Let me work on that for a moment or two, okay?….. I’ll be back shortly…..

Nope, not the coffee…. Did you miss me? I thought not….. Even though I damn near fell asleep while worshiping, I feel torn, pulled on one side by my unwillingness to just give up, and my very strong desire to do just that…. I can’t even say why I haven’t found any of my usual strength of will; I only know it’s nowhere to be found. This, of course, is probably just another little gift from Murphy, to let me know he’s still there, and still an asshole…. as if I had forgotten….

This doesn’t even really make any sense…. I have a new format to play with, which has afforded me new opportunities to enjoy life, by getting me out into the world more often, camera in hand, to seek out interesting situations and/or places of interest to record, thus giving me both a focus for my daily need to get more exercise, and a relatively new activity to pursue while out there getting it….. It also gets me out of the house, so I’m not feeling as if I’m stuck between these four walls…. again…. I had enough of that feeling back when I was waiting for my SS, and was actually stuck from going anywhere due to having no funds to do anything beyond pay rent, and eat….

I guess it’s all just an adjustment my body/mind has yet to catch up to, so I’m feeling a bit of fatigue related to the adjustment process…. It’s typical to feel like this when getting used to new things; even if we accept the need for change, our persona doesn’t necessarily agree, because our subconscious minds don’t like to change. They prefer to always maintain the status quo, with no surprises, please…. When that desire is thwarted, as it often is by Reality, it (the subconscious….) retaliates, by making us feel fatigued with no reason, and eating away at our motivation, to prevent us from making the dreaded changes…. or, so it hopes….

So, how does it feel to witness mental illness, right out in front of you, complete with explanatory side comments?…. I don’t know about y’all, but, I think I’ll find something else to do now…. This…. intro, for lack of a better term…. has reached the point where I’m no longer willing to play along….. It’s becoming an embarrassment to my literary self-respect, with good reason, and I am not going to sit here and put up with it, not while I’m still in charge of my own fingers…. We may not ever get to any pearls if I don’t put my foot down here, metaphorically speaking…. So, stand back please, while I do my version of the literary boogie, and trip the light fantastic, alphabetically speaking….

Shall we Pearl?….

“How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of good will.” — Albert Einstein

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I’m not sure exactly how this is going to work, but, we’re gonna give it the old college try, anyway…. First, you will see a seven-star pearl, whose parameters are obviously set to “pick on the Asininnies”…. Don’t worry, you’ll see…. After the pearls, you’ll find a series of photos, some by me, others not (but, they’re attributed….)…. Your task, should you accept it, is to match the pearls to the pictures…. but, no worries if it doesn’t fit, or even if they aren’t in the same slice of reality…. It’s all just a pearl, ffolkes, so enjoy…. Here are the pearls….

“Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.” — Plato, The Republic. Book VIII. 558

“I am further of opinion that it would be better for us to have [no laws] at all than to have them in so prodigious numbers as we have.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book iii, Chap. xiii

“What then in the last resort are the truths of mankind? — They are the _irrefutable_ errors of mankind.” — Nietzsche

“Authority and liberty are two incompatible ideas…. Liberty diminishes in proportion as man progresses and becomes civilized.” — Antonio de Oliveira Salazar (1889-1970)

“Say what will convince, not what you believe.’ — Bureaucrat’s Law #2

“It is the mark of our whole modern history that the masses are kept quiet with a fight. They are kept quiet by the fight because it is a sham-fight; thus most of us know by this time that the Party System has been popular only in the sense that a football match is popular.” — G. K. Chesterton, A Short History of England. 156

“The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. “Where shall I begin, please your Majesty ?” he asked. “Begin at the beginning,”, the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” — Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

Well, there you have it, such as it is…. which is pretty good, all in all…. Maybe it’s just me, but, I think this pearl says quite a bit about the state of modern civilization…. about which we may also say, such as it is…. Here then is the Art to go along with this seven-star pearl…. Let’s see how it works today…. Of these pictures, two are not my own…. The caterpillar mimicking the snake, (and very well, I must add….), and the magnificent warthog Dad named Magnum both came from the London Daily Telegraph website, from their Pictures of the Day feature found & accessed on June 3, 2014…. The other five came from my camera….

I often wonder who this person was, and though it would be simple to find out, I don’t really care much…. He just LOOKS like a politician to me….

A wonderful plant near my where I live…. beautifully wild and free, in rejection of its urban placement….

A close-up photo of a caterpillar cleverly camouflaging itself as a snake to ward off predators. Professor Daniel Janzen captured the image as part of his work cataloguing caterpillars and says this is part of the hemeroplanes species. The neon-green bug creates the illusion of looking like a dangerous reptile by expanding parts at the end of its body. Its defence – designed to ward of predators while it is a larvae before becoming a moth – is so well developed it will even strike harmlessly if approached. Daniel, who is a professor of biology at the University of Pennsylvannia, snapped the bug while working in the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Costa Rica.Picture: DANIEL JANZEN / JANZEN.UPENN.EDU / CATERS NEWS

Absofuckincredibly awesome mimicry by a caterpillar…..

The houses of parliament, and Big Ben…. what else to go with a pointedly political pearl?….

An American Wall of Nutrition…..

Magnum the Magnificent! A zoo captive, but, a good dad, apparently…. and so magnificently ugly!…..

It’s spring in California, and even the most pathetically neglected flowers will bloom to the best of their nature…..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“…’cause anyone who would buy this record couldn’t give a fuck if there’s good musicians on it…. ’cause this is a STUPID song… …AND THAT’S THE WAY I LIKE IT!” — Frank Zappa, lyrics to “Little Green Rosetta” in “Joe’s Garage”

Okay, so I’m getting a bit hyped up; sue me…. Actually, I’m just getting warmed up, ffolkes, so, I’d suggest donning the Kevlar vestments that are situated in the mesh holders under your seat…. You won’t need them for the poem, but, considering the journey thus far today, I’m thinking it’s probably the best idea….

magical mystery tour

I am in this low-slung sports car
painted a deep, rich yellow
driving under an Italian sun.
I have a British accent.
I’m wearing dark shades
an expensive silk shirt.
there’s no dirt under my
fingernails.
the radio plays Vivaldi
and there are two women with
me
one with raven hair
the other a blonde.
they have small breasts and
beautiful legs
and they laugh at everything I
say.

as we drive up a steep road
the blonde squeezes my leg
and nestles closer
while raven hair
leans across and nibbles my
ear.

we stop for lunch at a quaint
rustic inn.
there is more laughter
before lunch
during lunch and after
lunch.

after lunch we will have a
flat tire on the other side of
the mountain
and the blonde will change the
tire
while
raven hair
photographs me
lighting my pipe
leaning against a tree
the perfect background
perfectly at peace
with
sunlight
flowers
clouds
birds
everywhere.

~~ Charles Bukowski ~~

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It’s late, & I’ve been at this for far longer than I had thought my motivation would take me…. It goes to show, I suppose, how focus and interest can completely ignore any factors outside of its own area of focus, and time will pass, unnoticed, until the interest is all used up, and reality can once again intrude…. We’ll finish up with the quickest sort of pearl, a relatively random old-school variety, sans any formal parameters…. Plus, the first one is a pearl I’ve been saving for a couple days, just looking for the right spot to include it, as it is a new contributor to me…. Enjoy!….

“No, sir, th dimmycratic party aint on speakin terms with itsilf. Whin ye see two men with white neckties go into a sthreet car an set in opposite corners while wan mutthers Thraiter an th other hisses Miscreent ye can bet theyre two dimmycratic leaders thryin to reunite th gran ol party.” — Finley Peter Dunne

“Happiness is an imaginary condition,formerly often attributed by the living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children, and by children to adults.” — Thomas Szasz, in The Second Sin

CARTESIAN, adj. Relating to Descartes, a famous philosopher, author of the celebrated dictum, _Cogito ergo sum_ — whereby he was pleased to suppose he demonstrated the reality of human existence. The dictum might be improved, however, thus: _Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum_ — “I think that I think, therefore I think that I am;” as close an approach to certainty as any philosopher has yet made, — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“The contact with manners then is education; and this Thucydides appears to assert when he says history is philosophy learned from examples.” — Dionysius, Ars Rhetorica, XI,2

“A faith-holder puts himself below his faith and lets it guide his actions. The fanatic puts himself above it and uses it as an excuse for his actions.” — Gordon Dickson, Chantry Guild

“Many a man has decided to stay alive not because of the will to live, but because of the determination not to give assorted surviving bastards the satisfaction of his death.” — Brendan Francis

Men of reason have endured; men of passion have lived.” — Sebastien Roch Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) — Maximes et Pensees (1796)

Well, that certainly came out well…. especially there at the last line…. I think I’ve always known this instinctively, which is why I have always tried to approach life with “passionate reason”….. It seems to be the best, if not the only, way to life life well, exactly the way we wish to live it….

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

I am sure, without even going back to look this over, that I’ve caused all the damage I can for one morning…. I mean, how much can you expect from me in less than three hours of random, yet somehow consistent effort to create, or, to give a reasonable facsimile thereof? Don’t fret, you don’t need to answer; it’s just one of those rhetorical questions one always hears about…. just wanted to show y’all what one looks like….. Any who, having done and said all there is to say, I’m outta here…. 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

Suffering slightly from anaerobic syncopation….

Posted on June 2, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I can’t have what I want, so, I’ll take what I can…. There, that marks me as an American, don’t you think? It’s a typically American male attitude, for sure; just go watch freeway traffic for a while, & you’ll see what I mean…. But, I’m not here to rant (not in THIS section, anyway…), so perhaps I should begin today’s Pearl in a slightly different fashion…. that is, if you can call this fashion…. more like the direct opposite of fashionable, I’d say…. But, then, I AM a cynic, mostly, so, that, too, might be suspect to some people….

Well, that was certainly a wash, wasn’t it? Not a single compelling phrase to be found…. Hell, one of those is probably not to be found in the vicinity, though we do like to pretend they can be…. Unfortunately for me, today, that could conceivably have an effect on the content of this Pearl, which is already somewhat uncertain, what with the new format and all…. Why, I find myself to be downright discombobulated over it…. or, was that upleft discombobulated?

(I always wondered about that word, ‘downright’…… How did a piece of directional advice come to mean “absolutely” or even “completely”? Gotta wonder about the English people sometimes…. or, at least, about the meanings of English words….)

Aha! I’ve figured it out! Wait….. Well, maybe not…. I thought for a moment there I actually had a clue, but, it was only a random neuronic twitch in that area of the brain…. No, wait, maybe not…. Okay, now I’m REALLY confused, and haven’t a bloody clue about either how I got to this point, or what the hell I should do to find my way out…. I haven’t been this lost in an intro for, heck, a couple of years…. make that days….

Oh, I admit, I’m often at a loss as to how to start this business each day, but, generally, I can ramble and blather long enough to get it done…. This, though…. I don’t know if it can be salvaged…. I think I’m going to have to use the old #4 method yet again, in order to bring this to anything like a reasonable conclusion…. It is our most heavily used emergency tool, mostly just because it works so well…. How does it do that, when all the other methods are so inconsistent? Well, it goes like this (and, I’d advise you to take a firm grip on the provided handhold…. Jeez, it’s right there on the wall, next to your seat….)…..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Things which you do not hope happen more frequently than things which you do hope.” — Plautus (254-184 BC) — Mostellaria, Act i, Sc. 3, 40, (197.)

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

Here is the second exhibition of what someday will be hailed as the saving grace of this blog (Well, I can hope, can’t I?….), a newly constructed photo-pearl, all for y’all…. I rode the ferry from the town where I reside to San Francisco for the morning, to take some pictures around Fisherman’s Wharf, just to practice my picture skills, and enjoy the crowds…. It was a good time, and I think I got some decent shots, even if my choice of subject matter is still a bit odd, compared to any sort of norm…. Please, enjoy, dammit!….

“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing -absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” — Mr. Toad in The Wind in the Willows (1908) by Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932)

Although I can’t fully agree with Mr. Toad, at least, not in this instance, I thought it fit quite nicely with this picture, which, as far as I can tell from having watched the harbor for a while, is a picture of a traffic jam on the water here…. Well, it’s as jammed as I’ve ever seen it, anyway; it’s a small town, relatively speaking, and since the naval base closed a couple of decades ago, there just isn’t as much money in town, and, nowhere near as many people who can afford to go boating, a fairly expensive hobby…. It’s fun to sail, but, the actual expense of owning a boat is well beyond the income average around here…. Just another example of the growing income gap in this world, I’d say….

“Flowery oratory he despised. He ascribed to the interested views of themselves or their relatives the declarations of pretended patriots, of whom he said, “All those men have their price.”” — Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745) — Coxe: Memoirs of Walpole, Vol. iv, p. 369

After disembarking the ferry in SF, I walked down a few yards, & took this picture of the entrance to Pier 39, one of the most unabashedly mercenary tourist traps in the City…. I wandered through the labyrinthine winding pathways, designed to highlight each shop’s “unique” piles of absolutely useless, worthless CRAP, such as the “World’s First Magnet Store”, or Bubba Gump’s Shrimp restaurant, or the chocolate shops, or one of the OTHER three magnet shops…. I swear, if you don’t want to eat, or buy crap, there isn’t a whole lot to do there, except watch people…. Since I arrived earlier than most, even that pastime was limited….. Ah well, there WERE pictures to be had, so, I took them….

For example….

“For “ignorance is the mother of devotion,” as all the world knows.” — Robert Burton (1577-1640) — The Anatomy of Melancholy, Part iii, Sect. 4, Memb. 1, Subsect. 2

I know…. It takes a “different” sort of mind to come up with such connections…. This is the crab sculpture placed at the entrance to Pier 39… the picture before this was taken while standing just behind this sculpture, looking away from it toward the end of the pier, and the water…. This is right out on the Embarcadero, where the world can see it as they ride by in their Mercedes, or their tour buses…. I thought it was the perfect statement to go in front of such an place, where the gods of economics hold sway over all other considerations…. As long as the money flows, the crab is happy….

“Knowledge dwells in heads replete with thoughts of other men; wisdom in minds attentive to their own.” — William Cowper

I was fortunate in finding a place from which to watch the session of Congress that was being held at the pier yesterday…. It was part of my reason for going, to be able to observe the workings of our government in action…. When I took this picture, a debate was going on over a bill on the floor…. By the sound of the different comments by each of the politicians at the meeting, there was NOT going to be a vote on the bill today…. It almost sounded like a filibuster, but, why would anyone do something so stupid, just to express their opposition, when right action prior to that time would mitigate any need for such?

I never could understand Congress very well; it always seemed like a way to get those idiots off the streets, which is fine, but then they had to go and let them vote themselves a key to the treasury….. Ever since, we’ve been headed downhill, toward the stunningly final conclusion we are now practically guaranteed to find waiting for us at the end of the day, while all the while, the sea lions keep barking, to no effect….

“You begin saving the world by saving one person at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics.” — Charles Bukowski

For the entire three or so hours I wandered around the Wharf area, the fog and mist hung in the air, softening and blurring everything, leaching the color from the very air…. except for the flower bed above, which was the loveliest sight I saw the entire morning…. Just as I took the photo, a blackbird fluttered through the lens, landing in the exact center of the picture, as if trained to be there on command…. He/she is a little hard to see, as it naturally took advantage of the background to blend in, but, still is a perfect example of how the animals that live with us on the planet have a better grip on what is important than our own species….

Well, that’s how it seems to me, anyway…. All the humans there, milling around in huge numbers, drawn together to seek out cultural phenomena to experience, so they can go home and say they have “been there, done that” to all their acquaintances, never once realizing that there is nothing unique, or uplifting, or particularly moral about these cultural experiences…. which were impressed upon them by OTHERS as being something of worth, of being a place they should see and experience….

So, they come to SF, and go to Fisherman’s Wharf, and Pier 39, where all of the WORST examples of Americanism can be found, in tourist shops that sell more of the iconic images that reinforce the cultural importance of the visit…. Souvenirs to take home as proof they were actually here, with the other 10,000 or so individuals from out of town, or country….

The flower bed, to me, was the most REAL part of the whole day’s experience, and well worth riding the ferry for an hour each way….. To me, the experience was an opportunity to assimilate a piece of wisdom that probably no more than one or two ffolkes on the wharf that day were capable of understanding…. the rest of the people were there to either spend money and see stuff they could talk about at home, working in one of the tourist traps, picking pockets or running scams on the tourists, or were jogging through on their way back to their apartment near the beach…. That was fine with me, as it is an endless parade of human folly, all in one spot, so I can sit in the shade or sun, depending on the weather, and observe the panorama of human folly in all its insane glory….

“The years teach much which the days never know.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), “Experience”

I took the picture above as the ferry pulled away from its berth at Pier 41, on its way home…. It’s a perfect picture to end my day, even though I took it at about 1130 AM…. I rode the ferry home, & proceeded to collapse for a nap as soon as I got home…. Upon arising, I went through the pix, editing and deleting as needed, then picked out these few for today’s Pearl…. It seems to work out well, now that I’ve got a handle on how to format everything, and to use my tools in the correct order, to be able to fit together picture, pearl, and comments, so they are, at least, comprehensible, or in some approach coherency…. So far, I think I’m doing okay, and I know it will get better with time….

I hope y’all are enjoying the new format; it’s a lot of fun for me, and is giving me a whole new perspective on this daily blog thing…. Some might say that a new view on this is long overdue, but, they’re just jealous, so pay them no mind…. I think, though, this is going to work well, and as soon as I figure out how to use this format to rant, well, ffolkes, then all bets are off, and the world may never be the same….

That said, lets’ move on to poetry, eh?….. Thanks fer listenin’…..

That ‘s the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture.

— Robert Browning (1812-1890) — Home-Thoughts from Abroad, ii

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

Oddly enough, I have the urge to poem…. stand back, and don’t let any of the splash get on your clothing. It has been known to cause spontaneous combustion, or, as in at least two cases, toxic shock…. I have no idea how this will turn out, so, wish me luck….

Pure Truth: Elsewhen

Everything I say and do, I’m sure,
only comes from what I know.
If what I’ve said or done is good, and pure,
I can say it’s not just for show.

Sometimes people don’t quite get me.
It can be a pain, for sure.
I try not allow it to keep me from being free,
especially when my thoughts may be impure.

In fact, I try quite hard most of the time,
to keep from hurting folks.
If our culture more often approached sublime,
I wouldn’t have to take so many pokes.

Now I’ll make another sacrifice, for y’all,
not for karmic advantage, or, not merely so….
But, to save me from yet another downfall,
I’ll stop here; ensign, make it so….

~~ gigoid ~~

I believe I was right to be nervous about the outcome…. but, it’s not bad…. I have the feeling it may get edited, sometime in the future, but, for now, it will do for our purpose….. I forget who said that all poets are mad, though not all mad men are poets, but, I can relate, for sure and for certain…..

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

Saved by the old school bell…. It’s getting late; the sun is well up, and I have yet to finish, much less post…. So, this will be a rapid-fire, randomly chosen pearl…. often the best kind….

“I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid.” — Smart Bee, quoting gigoid, the dubious

“I have a feeling that at any time about three million Americans can be had for any militant reaction against law, decency, the Constitution, the Supreme Court, compassion and the rule of reason.” — John Kenneth Galbraith

“All of Finagle’s Rules may be bypassed by learning the simple art of doing without thinking.” — Wingo’s Axiom

Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel; but being in,
Bear ‘t that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man.

— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act i, Sc. 3

“If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent him.” — Voltaire (1694-1778) — Epitre a l’Auteur du Livre des Trois Imposteurs, cxi

“Of all forces acting on man, change is the most beneficial and the most cruel.” — Smart Bee

“Everything flows and nothing abides; everything gives way and nothing stays fixed.” — Heraclitus

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

I can see that I will either need to get up earlier, or work on these ahead of time; it takes a significant amount of time to create it all from scratch…. But, then, I don’t always write a fresh poem, either…. It’s good, I think, that I tweaked my back in my sleep again last night; it will keep me from overdoing it today…. and, boy, doesn’t THAT sound old and tired! I’ll have to think about that….. For now, without even checking this over, I’m outta here….. 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

Subject to NSA review, it’s done….

Posted on June 1, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“It might not be Ibsen, but, it’s Art.” Or, in the case of our situation here on ECR, it could be merely Art’s friend Joey, who, while nice in most respects, isn’t Art…. Of course, I never promised any damn roses, or gardens, or any other sort of horticultural display; I’ve been known to kill cacti, so I usually try to avoid that sort of plant genocide…. The easiest way to do that is to keep my black thumb away from anything that depends on my attention to stay alive; it’s safer for the plants, and I don’t get the evil eye from every gardener who happens by….

“Castles in the air — they’re so easy to take refuge in. So easy to build, too.” — Henrik Ibsen

How did I get onto my inability to deal with watering? I had intended to start off in an entirely different direction, but, it sort of got away with me before I even got out of the first paragraph…. Sometimes, I think this is getting to be a bit strange…. Oh, I don’t mean strange, funny, I mean strange, weird…. Any who, whichever strange it is, it’s starting t show more episodes of rebellious independence, haring off in directions that make no sense at all, especially since they aren’t connected to anything but normal prose, that just happened to be there when it made its bid for literary freedom…

Of course, that doesn’t account for the tendency of all independent literature to become revolutionary in nature, thus exposing itself, and, by concatenation, the author, to scrutiny from those friendly fokes (misspelled deliberately…. they don’t rate even ONE ‘el’….) at the NSA, who are deep into the process of becoming completely insane in their need to collect ALL the data in the world….. That 60’s rock song had it right, when it told us, “Paranoia strikes deep; into your life it will creep. It starts when you’re always afraid…..”….. and, boy, are they afraid!….

That is as deep into ranting as I’ll get today, ffolkes…. I’m trying to keep to my plan, to avoid so much ranting it puts me into a bad mood, before I even begin to think rationally…. It’s never a good idea to decide on one’s direction before drinking sufficient coffee to keep such considerations out of the decision-making process; we tend to end up with several thousand words, all sharply pointed, and jabbing at the BRC, or the preachers, or the Corporate Snakeheads, those assholes….

That’s enough of THAT! Before this turns on me again, I believe I will head out to the oyster beds…. I’m thinking it would be best if y’all came along, if only to keep from getting Murphy excited…. He doesn’t need the help, or the stimulation, believe me….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Those who really deserve praise are the people who, while human enough to enjoy power, nevertheless pay more attention to justice than they are compelled to do by their situation.” — Thucydides

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

Here we go, off again into the wilds of a new-fashioned pearl…. let’s see if I can make this work today….

“He who endeavors to serve, to benefit, and improve the world, is like a swimmer, who struggles against a rapid current, in a river lashed into angry waves by the winds. Often they roar over his head, often they beat him back and baffle him. Most men yield to the stress of the current… Only here and there the stout, strong heart and vigorous arms struggle on toward ultimate success.” — Albert Pike (1809-1891)

To my way of looking at it, the picture is perfect for this pearl…. it shows us the river of which Mr. Pike speaks, as it appears to us BEFORE we jump in…. and, after we have reached the point in the river to which our struggles take us. Once the effort has been successfully spent, the road is smooth, and clear of traffic…. Well, it SOUNDS good, doesn’t it…. If reality doesn’t always cooperate, it can’t be helped…. or so they say….

“I think we’re all Bozos on this Bus!” — The Firesign Theater

There it is, ffolkes…. it’s the Bozo Bus, taking us all down to Reality, as long as we can pay the fare…. Actually, the picture is an example of amateur photography at it’s finest, or worst, which often happens at the same time…. I took it while in a sunny spot, on an overcast morning, which made it hard to see just how the zoom had worked, or not…. Hence, a picture that highlights the odd views we can get when we know NOT what we are doing…. in short, a perfect illustration of living up to our Bozoid natures….. Whether or not y’all know it, or believe it, Reality has the final word, and you may as well accept the facts, ffolkes…. We are ALL Bozos on this Bus…..

“‘Truth’ never set anyone free. It is only *doubt* which will bring mental emancipation.” — Anton LaVey

As further proof of the assertion made just above, in the previous pearl, (We are all Bozos, etc…..) this picture was taken, and included in this grouping, BEFORE I noticed the trash receptacle in the exact center of the photo…. I thought I was taking a nice, long view of a pleasant spot, (for a parking area….), showing how amenable even such stark buildings can be made….. while the whole time, the blunt nose of Reality was leaving a smear on the glass….. SIGH, oh well…. I guess even photography requires a bit of sharpness of mind, to achieve any real degree of competence…. That, or just paying better attention, which I’ll also try to work into the program…. SIGH…. It never ends, does it?….

Or, maybe it’s merely my just desserts, for using a quote by LaVey….. Even though true, one must remember to always consider the source; Anton LaVey, for those who are unaware, was the long-time leader of the Church of Satan…. so, it’s worth taking ANYTHING he says with a grain of salt, even when, like this one, it is so obviously correct….

“Stuckness shouldn’t be avoided. It’s the psychic predecessor of all real understanding. An egoless acceptance of stuckness is a key to an understanding of all Quality, in mechanical work as in other endeavors.” — Pirsig, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”

I’m not sure just how the quote goes with the picture, except that the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance somehow goes together with the idea of palm trees, especially when they are completely out of their normal place…. Those of y’all who have actually read the book by Mr. Pirsig will, I think, be better able to understand that, though it isn’t guaranteed…. There are, I’m sure, some people who read the book, who still don’t understand how Zen comes into it, so, I can’t always expect people to catch my references, either…. but, that’s okay, too, because, hey, look! We got Art!…. Well, we’ve got pictures, anyway….

“No one loves the man whom he fears.” — Aristotle

You might be wondering about now just how this picture fits in with the pearl…. well, it doesn’t, really….. I picked the pearl just because it is good to remember, and it makes me hope…. that there are a number of men (or women, I’m not picky in my enemies…) sitting somewhere in a basement somewhere in Washington D.C., dredging through all the stuff they’ve pulled out of people’s computers and off the internet, to search out the nasty terrorists they KNOW are hiding among us, reading what I’ve created here, and scratching their heads, trying to figure out if it is treasonous, or merely subversive…. while, all the while, I’m hoping they are getting the clue, that I’m laughing at them….

Probably not, though…. I don’t think they’re quite that sharp, to ascertain when they’ve been insulted…. S’okay, I’ve got plans today…. which brings us to the picture, of the ferry I’m going to ride in a couple of hours, on my new daily quest for pictures, and some fun for me, participating in LIFE at large… Today, that means I’m taking the ferry to SF, with my camera in hand, to try to take a couple hundred or so pictures, so I’ve got a bigger pool from which to fish for this new format…. For now, though, we’ll just go on, & try to get this done, so I can get going…..

To close this section, here is a political cartoon, by a cartoonist who posts a lot on the UK Guardian, which is where I found this little gem…. enjoy!

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

It’s an Emily day, I can tell…..

A Book

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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In order to keep with the format we’ve held to for nearly two years, an old-school pearl will be appropriate in this section…. not that being appropriate is a high priority around here, but, we do what we can….

“It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity.’ — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 780

“The real world is not user-friendly.” — Kelvin Throop

“Yield to Temptation … it may not pass your way again.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Any excuse will serve a tyrant.” — Aesop (620-560 B.C.)

“When two do the same thing, it is not the same thing after all.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 338

“Cato requested old men not to add the disgrace of wickedness to old age, which was accompanied with many other evils.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) –Roman Apophthegms, Cato the Elder

Aw, but, where’s the fun in THAT?…..

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

This seems to be working out fairly well…. and, if yesterday’s stats are any indication, the audience approves…. Of course, that is most likely some kind of anomaly, but, we’ll see…. For now, I’ll see you mañana, with a bunch of new pix…. See y’all later, 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

Only the freshest innuendo served here…..

Posted on May 31, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Yesterday’s title is more connected to reality than I had previously realized; I can feel the changes happening here at ECR as I type. Yet, it all looks the same from this vantage point; a blank, white screen, filled only with trepidation for the need to fulfill my chosen duty….. which is NOT going to get it done. Perhaps if I petitioned for an extension?…..

Reality, however much we would prefer it do so, does not do extensions…. When the bill comes due, it’s payable in full, or deal with the immediate consequences, regardless of whether or not those consequences are something with which we are capable of dealing. In short, duty gets done, or a price is paid. No exceptions, no excuses, and whining, though optional, is considered wimpy, and not encouraged by any right-thinking participants…. Reality itself adopts the cat’s position, i.e., it doesn’t give a shit either way….

Regardless of how much I blather about it, or dance around the point, it remains…. changes are coming to this blog…. In fact, they started yesterday, but, even I didn’t notice…. not that it matters now, does it? Once it’s posted, there’s no more editing allowed; once you set out on that slippery slope of scree, there’s little hope to ever get done with it…. and, given the idiosyncrasies of the WP editing page, I don’t like to chance it, anyway, as one never knows how one’s proposed changes will actually turn out on the page…. That’s too much of a crap shoot for me….

All of this blather, of course, is merely a prelude, to madness and folly, I’m sure, but, that actually remains to be seen…. One thing I DO know for sure, and that is that I am going to be spending a LOT more time out in the BBR, looking for suitable pictures to illustrate the pearls…. I say that because my first outing, yesterday, for that purpose was more of a wash than I like, as you’ll see from the pix taken…. It’s not going to be as easy as I had thought, which is fine….. a little complexity is good for the soul…

I’m wandering…. I can feel it. I’m circling around, just filling in lines until enough of them have accumulated to call it an intro…. AND…. I believe I’ve reached that point already. From what I can see from here, this appears to be sufficient, and I don’t hear any objections from the court-appointed monitors, so, I think we can go on now, and see how this is going to work, exactly…. You see, it’s all new to me, too…. Isn’t that encouraging?….

No? Oh well…. I guess that means we’re all committed to this fabulous folly, so, we may as well just get on with it, before I manage to screw this up any further….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“It’s snowing still. And freezing. However, we haven’t had an earthquake lately.” — A.A. Milne’s Eeyore

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

Here is how I’m going to have this work…. First comes the picture; below the picture will be a pearl, followed by some quick, hopefully amusing or engaging prose or poetry from me, then the next picture…. and so on, down the line. It’s not complicated, but, what do you want to bet I can screw it up? Okay, don’t everyone offer money at once; I know I’m a Bozo, so you can’t hurt my feelings…. I do hope you enjoy this new experiment, designed to save the sanity of everyone involved….. That said, let’s be off…. Oh, if it isn’t my own picture, attribution will be listed after the picture, & before the pearl….

This picture came from the SFGATE.com “Day in Pictures” gallery, on 5/30/2014….

“A child is a curly, dimpled lunatic.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Actually, kids are cool…. Ralph, I think, had just spent two days babysitting his nephews, and was a bit overwrought when he wrote this particular aphorism…. This picture is included just because it was so cool; it’s hard NOT to anthropomorphize this one, and believe the hippo is actually smiling at having her picture taken with the little girl, who is more bemused than pleased, to judge by appearances….. It’s also hard to not believe that both are familiar with the whole picture-taking thing, aren’t really INTO it, and are putting up going along with it out of politeness….

See, now isn’t this fun, and educational? Speculating nonsense about odd configurations of animals and people is always a kick in the pants, eh? No? Oh…. Well, we’ll go on anyway…..

“With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. However, this is not necessarily a good idea. It is hard to be sure where they are going to land, and it could be dangerous sitting under them as they fly overhead.” — RFC1925

The picture is a study of a park, across the street from the bus stop where I awaited a bus home from a nearby town. It has no particular significance, other than the desire to get started taking photos for this experiment….. I guess I’ll figure out how to make the pictures fit into the pearls better as the process evolves…. One may only hope….

“Money will buy a pretty good dog, but it won’t buy the wag of his tail.” — Josh Billings (pseudonym of Henry Wheeler Shaw (1818-1885))

The picture is the kid’s playground at another park, near my house, next to the field where a local semi-pro baseball team plays, a few blocks from where I live…. The pearl, once again, has little to do with the picture; I just thought it was a good pearl, and a good bit of logic with which to approach reality…. As mentioned above, this process is still evolving, so, bear with me, please…. It will get more compelling, I promise….

“A warped sense of humor is vastly better than no sense of humor at all.” — Smart Bee

This picture is my first attempt at an action shot…. not too bad, all in all. The accompanying pearl is my firm belief, and I hope that whatever sense of humor is possessed by the Gentle Reader will extend itself to include this Pearl, as the first of its kind…. I have a feeling this new technique is going to work out well, if I can only get enough pictures to work with…. If nothing else, it will get me out of the house, and save me from any further descent into sloth and lethargy…. For now, let’s go on, & see if I can pull the rest of this together for today….

“You see things, and you say “WHY?” But I dream things that never were, and I say “WHY NOT?”” — George Bernard Shaw, “Back to Methuselah”

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I’m saving time today by not searching for a poem; here, instead, is one of mine, to keep the blame for all this where it belongs….

Honorable Request

Days, filled to a brim with fluff and time, pass
dimly into memory, bit by combative bit,
ever mournful, yet loud with life and sass,
only in dream do we meet, and dance, and flit.

Souls, spinning ’round in gleeful wonder, comply
as they must, never given a reason,
somberly proper, yet limber and quite spry,
dancing on to greet each bright new season.

Storms, angered by apathetic care, rage
proceeding into ministerial glare, unknown,
clothed in colors, purified solely with sage,
past an infinite future, already flown.

Life, plumbed to its depths and secrets, keeps
flowing with currents, strong and fairly found,
love stands, asking release, as it slowly weeps,
seeking refuge unasked, to stay honor bound.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

To finish off today’s effort, an old-school pearl is pretty much a given…. If nothing else, it will give me a feeling of familiarity that should soothe the pain of the newest part of this, which is working muscles that aren’t accustomed to such a workout…. I’m not whining, because I like it; it feels good to stretch out in directions heretofore neglected, and my muscles can use the work. They’re actually more used to being worked hard than they are NOT being used, which is the case far too much in my current position…. Changes comin’ all around, ffolkes…. Hope you enjoy today’s gathering of gems…..

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) Essays: First Series (1841) “Self-Reliance”

“Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees; and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.” — Henry Clay (1777-1852) — Speech at Ashland, Ky., March 1829

(This pearl may seem out of place, but, I thought that maybe a politician might drop in to read today, and, if so, it would be good for them to see a reminder of what they are SUPPOSED to be doing….. The rest of the pearls all go together pretty seamlessly, I think….)

“I gained nothing at all from Supreme Enlightenment, and for that very reason it is called Supreme Enlightenment.” — Gautama Buddha

“A thing either is what it appears to be; or it is not, but yet appears to be; or it is, but does not appear to be; or it is not, and does not appear to be.” — Epictetus

“Often, the surest way to convey misinformation is to tell the strict truth.” — Mark Twain

“Men show their character in nothing more clearly than by what they think laughable.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

“The only abnormality is the incapacity to love.” — Anais Nin

Just so you know, this pearl is one for the ages…. I mean it. It’s got a LOT of what is needed to make ourselves into better human beings…. happier, too, if done right….

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

This certainly put the effort back into the job, I’ll say that. I suppose anything has a learning curve, at first…. Let’s hope it turns out to be worth it…. which I’ll never know if I don’t get this posted, 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

Failing that, we’ll go subterranean….

Posted on May 30, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I find myself in a position all too familiar, yet strangely, it doesn’t SEEM to resemble the past I remember closely. That probably sounds as confused as I feel, which, obviously, is considerably befuddled. Of course, befuddlement is also a somewhat common state for me, ever since my teens, when I started to question why what I had always been told about the world, and life, was pretty much all wrong….

I mean, can you BELIEVE this? They told me, when I was just a little kid, that I could trust policemen, that they would never harm me, or hurt anyone…. They told me my money would be safest in a bank, and would earn me the most if I let the bankers invest it for me….They told me that merchants and vendors were honest people, just trying to make a living, not trying to cheat me with shoddy products or hidden charges…They told me that the leaders of our country were honest, forthright men and women, who would never lie to the public (George Washington and the cherry tree are often brought out at that point….)….. And, they told me that God loves people, meaning me, and will make sure I live forever, if I just give enough money at church….

Do I have to give the evidence? Is it necessary for me to show y’all exactly how NONE of those things, that we ALL were told when young, are true…. nor have they been true for most of my life…. The world does NOT match the crap that we were all told, and to think it does, in any fashion, is just feeding into the hands of those who would keep us all in the slave’s collar, if they thought they could get away with it….

You watch, some day soon, wearing a slave’s collar will be described as “the latest fashion”, and people will fall all over themselves to get one in a leopard print…. We all may as well face the facts, ffolkes….. You, and I, and every other fool, whether we buy into the crap that the current leaders of society are putting out, or not, are nothing more than pathetic, economic slaves, and there isn’t a damn thing we can do about it, not any more…. If you don’t believe you are a slave to their form of economics, or that you really have any CHOICE in the matter, well, you are, quite simply, deluded, and all-the-more-perfect fodder for their pillaging….

They’ve got it all tied up, in a nice pretty bow, and nothing we do can cause any real changes to happen, if they don’t want them…. and change is NOT what they want…. Maintaining the status quo is JOB ONE for any politician; how else will the money keep flowing into their pockets?

And what the hell am I doing?….

I’m barely into the intro section, and find myself in a full-on rant…. It all stems from the article I read yesterday, which I’ve included below in section one; not the one about Eric Snowden’s interview, but the response by that prominent fat cat, Dianne Feinstein, which, I note, didn’t come out until well AFTER the interview….

I guess it took some time for Obama, Feinstein, McConnell, and the other players in this drama to confer, and decide who was going to lead off, with whatever lies they’ve prepared to answer Snowden’s latest attempts to communicate with the American people, to try to undermine anything he might say, as being the words of a traitor…. Since DiFi led off the barrage, I imagine today we’ll hear from someone at the NSA (maybe…) or McConnell, or Obama…. all of whom will try to convince the public that Snowden is the liar, not them…. Since there are many of them, and only one of him, they think they have the advantage, and they’re right…. Besides which, they’re all PROFESSIONAL liars, not just your average prevaricators….

I’ll finish this discussion in section one; if I continue here, we may never get there…. Damn it! I had hoped to not have to rant, at all, so I could create one of the new style pearls, with pictures, but, this just HAS to be addressed, or they’ll have the floor with nobody else to speak back, to show how they are the liars….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured.” — Tacitus (54-119 AD) — Agricola, 42

Ah!….. Well, that explains it…. It’s no wonder the politicians, the preachers, the bankers, et al, hate us all….

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

Here is an article regarding the interview of Eric Snowden on NBC a night or two ago…. In it, Mr. Snowden brings out several points which go a long way to helping understand why the government is so inflexible in going after him, and why they are so determined to prove him wrong… (Hint: in their eyes, it justifies their own illegal activities)…. Read the articles, especially the second one, with the egregiously STUPID remarks by someone I had thought was smarter….. not that I’ve ever trusted her, but, I always thought DiFi was smarter than the average Senator…. Apparently not, if this issue is any indication….

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/six-memorable-quotes-from-edward-snowdens-nbc-interview-20140529?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

http://www.sfgate.com/nation/article/Feinstein-Snowden-never-voiced-NSA-concerns-5514604.php

I’ve decided NOT to rant. I’m just going to say these few comments, then I’ll put together an old-school pearl to make my point…. DiFi makes one obvious error in her statements to the public on this matter…. She claims that Snowden didn’t really blow any whistles to the NSA, he just stole the documents, without ever trying to do what they consider the right thing, which is to ask the lying spies to tell the truth…. Such BS….

Any who, she says E. S. never said anything to his supervisors about his concerns….. and how does she know this?…. Well, ffolkes, that’s easy…. because the NSA told her so…. Sure, Dianne, lets believe a bunch of spies when we ask them what they’ve been up to…. This is the same woman who accused the CIA of hacking into her investigation of them; furthermore, she accused them of obstructing the process of investigation, and lying to her and her staff…. Now, she expects us to believe this OTHER group of spies are NOT lying to us, or to her; she wants us to believe they won’t lie when she asks them if he said anything to them…. Is that STUPID, or not? If you said ‘not’, then, I feel for you, living in a world where cotton candy passes for brains….

Oh, plus, she says that the NSA has no documentation that Mr. Snowden ever wrote anything to them to point out any of the reservations he was having…. Well, of COURSE they don’t…. Silly woman… What does she think they’ve been doing ever since his actions were revealed? Looking for things he wrote, to save them? If they looked for any written notes from him, they did so during their interior auditing process, after discovering the leaks, to look for what they needed to delete and/or destroy…. They’ve had over a year since then to clean up anything that might prove his contentions, and I’m positive they didn’t waste a minute of it SAVING his documents…. just the reverse…. They can lie about this without fear of exposure, because they KNOW they’ve already destroyed all he DID write….

Okay, that’s it, end of rant…. But, ffolkes, if any of y’all are buying into this crap the government is spewing about this issue, then, you are living in the land of the blind, and deaf, and more than just dumb…. Here are some aphorisms that may help you to realize how badly the BRC, and the rest of the Asininnies, wants us to believe their lies, and how important it is for them to have our blind trust and obedience…. Without it, they are sunk…. Well, that’s our hope, I suppose…

“Want a taste of religion? Bite a minister!” — Smart Bee

“By trying, we can easily learn to endure adversity — another man’s, I mean.” — Mark Twain

” — Bother! said Pooh, these people are evil.” — NOT Christopher Robin, & NOT A.A. Milne (In fact, your guess is as good as mine…. It SOUNDS very Carlinesque….)

“The First Amendment is often inconvenient. But that is besides the point. Inconvenience does not absolve the government of its obligation to tolerate speech.” — Justice Anthony Kennedy, in 91-155

“Is there a Lemon Law for Presidents too?’ — Smart Bee

“And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight…Then he [the Lord!] said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.” — Ezek. 4:12-15 (KJV)

(Just so you know…. That’s disgusting, in every way….. but, typical of the lessons taught by the Bible….)

Lastly, to round off this strange collection of insults and oddly phrased indictments of the BRC, et al…..

“God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent- it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks, please. Cash, and in small bills.” — Lazarus Long

Some of you may wonder how religious figures and churches got lumped into the group being vilified today…. That’s just me…. In my world, I tend to lump politicians, preachers, police, bankers, and sexual predators all into the same group, of humans who are either evil by choice and nature, or completely misguided fools, victims of the same propaganda under which we all labor in life, but, worse, because they ENJOY being assholes about stuff…. Any who, the last pearl says it all…. anyone who buys into their BS gets EXACTLY what they deserve…..

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

Since I’m in full curmudgeon mode, and have fallen back into my old ways today, here is one of my favorite political poems…. It’s kinda silly, but, it fits my mood….

Geezer to Congress, with Love

Politicos don’t care much ’bout seniors and their ilk,
except for their money, I thinks;
Though 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 ~~

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

In the very olden days, when I first began to post here on WP, the POVW had a different format. It was simpler, merely an intro, followed by a five- or seven-star pearl, and maybe one closing line….. which is the format you see below…. I’m late, and tired, and want to go start taking pictures for tomorrow’s new-style Pearl; since I intend to use my own pix, I’d best start collecting some appropriate pictures to use…. Any who, all excuses and rationalizations aside, this is a good example of how Pearls used to look every day…. They were a lot shorter then, as you will notice….

From 9/25/2011:

Ffolkes,
It is once again Sunday, and it looks as if we’ll get some rain. And talking about the weather is pretty much a useless pastime, but it’s all I’ve got today. I am, for some reason, exhausted, and I just got up. I believe I know the reason for that, though, and will have to take care of it some day very soon. Meanwhile, I’m going to just give you the Pearls today, and they can stand on their own. I’ll write tomorrow, I promise….

“A good many dramatic situations begin with screaming.” — Barbarella

“Communication is next to impossible with someone who has no doubts.” — Limon

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

— Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken

“Each has his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by his heart, and his friends can only read the title.” — Virginia Woolf

“Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.” — Smart Bee

“On the other hand, life can be an endless parade of TRANSSEXUAL QUILTING BEES aboard a cruise ship to DISNEYWORLD if only we let it!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Yes, if only we will let it, life can be what it is…..y’all take care out there….

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

Lest my habit of accepting the blame for all of this be abrogated, I think I’d best just be done with it, and begone from this place…. I DO have a lot to do today…. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it…. See ya tomorrow, ffolkes…. I’m hoping, anyway….

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

<big>gigoid the dubious<big>

Revolutionary changes are imperative, it seems….

Posted on May 29, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I don’t know about y’all, but, I’m starting to bore myself, a bit…. It’s hard to do, as we all tend to NOT get bored according to our own choices, but, I’ve gone beyond the normal, past the strange, into the overbearing…. and, apparently, my readership has noticed, as well. Site traffic at ECR has fallen off again, and this time, I think I know why…. I’m probably making myself crazy even paying attention to the site stats, but, in all honesty, my ranting has gotten old, to me, and, no doubt, to those familiar with my writing….

I write a lot, I know, so I always take that into account; a lot of people don’t read fast, and can be intimidated, I’m sure, by the sheer amount of what I’ve created each day…. I average about 2200-2500 words a day, and I know it can be a lot to take in, since not all of it is what can be called easily digested (I hope…). I had hoped that the content, and the relative importance of that content to each and every person alive, would draw folks, and ffolkes, in to read, but, I suppose, after a while, even the most compelling stuff gets old….

That, I think, is where I’m at…. at least, to some degree, enough so to affect my readership, and enough so I am no longer sure it’s what I should be doing here…. Of course, since this is a relatively new idea around here, I also have nothing in the way of replacement material, should I decide to forgo all ranting, or at minimum, avoid such depressing subject matter for a time, to give it a rest, so to speak….

It’s hard to decide, when it’s all so new to me…. Like many ffolkes my age, I am not dealing as well with CHANGE as I formerly did; it tends to make me grumpy….. Or, maybe it’s that I no longer want to put up with changes that I didn’t personally authorize or initiate…. It plays into it, I’m sure… I AM human, after all, so my own likes, dislikes, and preferences are going to play into whatever I decide to do…. Hell, being human, those are the PRIMARY reasons for almost ALL that I do…. as it is for all of us bald monkeys….

I know what I WANT to do…. which is probably a good thing. What I’d like to do is to alter the format some, to include images, and possibly videos; either one of those would enhance the experience here at ECR quite a bit, as well as make it more palatable for those readers who don’t read as fast, depending (as most modern folks do….) on shorter, more intense bursts of less information, more colorfully arranged….

In essence, what I’m saying here is this: I think I need to put my message into a format that is more acceptable for consumption by today’s readers…. The old fashioned, reasoned, logical, even philosophical approach to passing information is just that…. old fashioned…. Modern readers like their information in smaller bytes, so to speak, with more pictures and less text to read….

I suppose what I need to acknowledge is that the modern politicians, with their Twitter feeds, and Facebook presence, are getting the message out better than I can do with my ranting, because they are framing their words in pictures, (InstaGram, or Pinterest work for them….), or creating modern memes that draw attention for a short time, but manage to pass on the necessary information…..

Information is becoming three dimensional; soon our phone calls will include holographic images of the person to whom you are talking, just as if you were in the same room. Anyone who wishes to pass information to the public is going to need to learn how to frame their message in ways that will draw attention, and hold it long enough to inject the information into the person being addressed…. My method of ranting will have audiences limited to those who prefer the old fashioned ways, or who like their information in bigger bytes…. er, bites….

Any who, I will be thinking about this…. I will also be going out into the world, with my camera, to start recording pieces of Consensual Reality to use here, to frame the message I need to put out to people, using fewer words, and more pictures…. I want to use my own pix, for two reasons…

One, I LIKE to take pictures… and two, if I use my own pix, I don’t need to worry about attribution, which will make it much easier…. It can sometimes be hard to remember who is responsible for a picture I’ve found, and saved, as the attribution isn’t always present; I’ll stick to my own, mostly, and avoid the worst of that issue….

For today, let’s see what kind of trouble I can create, by keeping in mind the need for more art, and fewer words…. though, if this intro is any indication, it’s going to be tough as hell to stop writing so much…. I just got good at this rambling, blathering style, and can go on like this almost forever… which, as I say, wouldn’t be good for the blog…. So, instead, we’ll employ emergency method #4 again…. Hang on tight for a moment….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Reason is not measured by size or height, but by principle.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap. xii

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

“The Constitution of the United States guarantees every individual the right to make a damn fool of himself — in public or private, however he chooses.” — Solomon Short

This pearl will be the first of its kind…. Below you will see pictures ( provided I have done this correctly….), all taken with my own camera, during various trips to here and there…. After each there will be a (hopefully) short comment on some facet of life suggested by the photo…. That will, in turn, be followed by a pearl, that will hopefully speak to the picture and comment…. In short, these will be Visual Pearls of Virtual Wisdom, designed to expand, and augment the process of Pearling to a point where it’s more fun than the previous versions….

That’s the plan, anyway…. Let’s see how it comes out, shall we?….
First, imagine yourself standing on one of the ice floes you see in the foreground…., or, better yet, you’re swimming in that frigid water…. Feel the cold that surrounds you, making your breath almost freeze as it leaves your body, forming a thick cloud of icy vapor in front of you with each tortured breath….. Now, imagine standing on the glacier you see further down the stream, literally freezing your butt off….. Now, once you’ve come to understand the true nature of cold, you will realize why I call this picture, “The Corporate Heart”…..

“He knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.” — Old Testament — Proverbs ix, 18
This one needs no introduction; it’s self-explanatory…. Suffice it to say, my father taught me ALL of these, and I still try to live my life by these rules…. If the rest of the men in the world would use only HALF of these, that world would be an entirely different kind of place, one with some degree of rationality, and consequently, some degree of peace…. If you don’t think so, just try using these rules as a standard by which to judge those you see in a political office, and see how many of them they break, on a regular, daily basis…. it will shock many people….

“I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.” — G.K. Chesterton
Irish morning? Or, Scottish evening? It could be either one, and is a good illustration of how perception can be uncertain, if one doesn’t know all the pertinent information regarding those perceptions…. But, we get a new one, every day, to keep on trying to get it right…..

“If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.” — Horace
Time passes, and none may stop its progress…. and, Life treats us all the same…. badly. It is how we react to that abuse that determines the course of our lives, so, learn to enjoy what you see, and be honest and true in what you do…. I guarantee, it makes it all better than if you don’t do either of those simple tasks….

“Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend – or a meaningful day.” — the 14th Dalai Lama, interview in “TIME”, 11 April 1988
I’ve spoken previously of my feelings about Duty…. This picture, to me, defines that concept…. and I’m not really sure why…. I guess it’s because he is out there, all alone, dressed up in a silly costume, playing the pipes, which will only increase his solitude…. yet, he plays on, to complete the duty he has chosen to assume…. That’s the way it works, ffolkes, and any other way of looking at it is incorrect….. Dig it….

“Do not confuse “duty” with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.” — Lazarus Long

Well, there you have it, ffolkes, the first of its kind….. I hope you enjoyed it…. I certainly enjoyed putting it together, and I don’t feel all ragged out from ranting, so, that’s good, too…. See you down the page….

“We can be knowledgeable with other men’s knowledge, but we cannot be wise with other men’s wisdom.” — Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592)

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

I need some Emily….

I had no time to hate, because

I had no time to hate, because
The grave would hinder me,
And life was not so ample I
Could finish enmity.

Nor had I time to love, but since
Some industry must be,
The little toil of love, I thought,
Was large enough for me.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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

Since I created a new-style pearl above, and to avoid a rant here, I’ll go with the archived pearl I had already picked out for this morning’s effort…. Enjoy….

From 1/14/2014:

The following old-school variety will be a unique pearl, put together using a method of timing and selection heretofore untried…. I’m not even sure of my ability to describe exactly what parameters I’ll be setting, as the search for these connected aphorisms has taken place on three separate occasions, none of which were related in any elemental way…. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I have no idea how this will turn out, but, usually, when we try new techniques like this, it seems to work out pretty well, so, I’m confident this will do the same…. Enjoy!..

“The doctrine that the earth is neither the center of the universe nor immovable, but moves even with a daily rotation, is absurd, and both philosophically and theologically false, and at the least an error of faith.” — Roman Congregation decision against Galileo

“To command the professors of astronomy to confute their own observations is to enjoin an impossibility, for it is to command them not to see what they do see, and not to understand what they do understand, and to find what they do not discover.”– Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

“Kids, the seven basic food groups are GUM, PUFF PASTRY, PIZZA, PESTICIDES, ANTIBIOTICS, NUTRA-SWEET and MILK DUDS!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Okay! That, I think, will give you a clearer idea of where we are headed with this, so, make sure you’re safety harnesses are fully fastened, and you are hanging on for dear life to the soft, fluffy stuffed animals provided by your friendly flight attendants…. Hang on, ffolkes, these last four could get rambunctious….

“All riches come from iniquity, and unless one has lost, another cannot gain. Hence that common opinion seems to be very true, “the rich man is unjust, or the heir to an unjust one.” Opulence is always the result of theft, if not committed by the actual possessor, than by his predecessor.” — St. Jerome (340?-420)

“Heroes as great have died, and yet shall fall.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Iliad of Homer, Book xv, Line 157

“The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children’s games from the beginning, and will probably do it till the end, which is a nuisance for the few people who grow up. And one of the games which it is most attached is called, “Keep tomorrow dark,” and which is also named (by the rustics in Shropshire, I have no doubt) “Cheat the Prophet.” The players listen very carefully and respectfully to all that the clever men have to say about what is to happen in the next generation. The players then wait until all the clever men are dead, and bury them nicely. Then they go and do something else. That is all. For a race of simple tastes, however, it is great fun.” — Gilbert K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

“History is a lie commonly agreed upon.” — Nietzsche

I rest my case…..

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

Considering the relative newness of today’s process, it didn’t go too badly…. Now I get to see how it posts…. and, I’d best get to it…. See you, tomorrow, ffolkes, if I last that long…..

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

We have uncoded messages for the Betelgeuse delegation….

Posted on May 28, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I don’t care what anyone else says, I like this intro, so, here ’tis again…..

from 12/11/2011:

Ffolkes,
So, I was walking down the street the other day, quietly minding my own, when I came to a point where the street, and all the trees and houses that stood on each side, began to rapidly and silently fade away. All around me, a grey, swirling fog began to collect, shimmering in the air, cloaking the whole visible world with an insubstantial veil, until nothing at all could be seen, in any direction. The wind had died, and all was silent as the grave.

Behind me, veiled in the mist, I heard a slow, eerie, almost liquid scraping noise, as if a large slug were crawling down the sidewalk. I turned slowly, straining my eyes into the fog, trying to make out what was coming out of the mist. As I gazed, a shape began to take form, materializing before me as if created from the very air. The form slowly took shape, seeming to almost dissolve, then firmed, and became clear….. It had happened….. Our world would never be the same, for the prophecy had been true.

At last, in the very Nick of Time, our Blessed Day had come…… Forever more, the world will know the grace that flows endlessly from the healing hands of the Quirky Demon of Happiness, and All Good Shit, that underworld superstar known to all and sundry as Phil, the Frigging Awesome, half-brother (same father, different mother) of Alice, the Wiseacre, patroness and protector of short-order cooks, waitresses and tarbenders, er, bartenders…..

What you need to understand about the previous three paragraphs ….. ( Oh, yeah, wait…. sorry. This is now… I mean, it’s me… Well, shit, can I screw this up any worse? (Or, should that be “better”?….) It’s me, gigoid, and it’s now May 27th or 28th (I’m a little foggy just now, if you couldn’t tell….) in mid-2014…. just so you are on the same page…. of the calendar…. the hell with it… back to the intro….) is that I was suffering, at the time, from as close to boredom as I ever have been, in spite of the time of year….. Allow me to explain…

Well, maybe I’ll wait to explain…. Of course, waiting for an explanation is kind of like waiting for a campaign promise to be fulfilled…. Watch close, and it will never happen at all…. Why, no, I didn’t promise not to rant here in the intro, why do you…. oh, the campaign promise line….

No worries, ffolkes, it isn’t a rant, just an insult to all politicians, which is perfectly legal, and even encouraged on this site. I’ve been thinking of late that particular characteristic may have driven off a lot of old timers around here…. I DO have a tendency to run on and on about the BRC, Pimps, Priestly Hierarchies, and the ever-popular Corporate Snakeheads….

But, since THAT isn’t going to stop, until those particular groups have been either disbanded, eliminated from our culture, or otherwise brought into their own personal extinction, y’all may as well get used to it…. I’m retired from working, and as long as the assholes don’t carry out the constant threat to take away my Social Security money, I’ll have the wherewithal to keep after them for all the shit they pull on the rest of us, and I’ll keep posting these diatribes against them…..

They deserve every bit of my ire, and as much attention I can spare to rag on them, for all the shit they’ve already put us through, in the name of ‘security’….. just as if the word has ANY meaning at all, in a world where THEY live, only existing, as they do, to carry out their habitual predation upon the weaker members of reality….

Okay, that’s enough for now…. I’m ranting again, already, and it’s only the intro….. Once again, this calls for emergency extraction method #4, so, watch your step, and if seated, please make sure your seat belt is fastened….

Shall we Pearl?….

“I readily relapse into my reflections on the uselessness of our education. Its aim has been to make us not good and wise, but learned; and in this it has succeeded. It has not taught us to follow and embrace virtue and wisdom, but has imprinted their derivations and etymologies on our minds. We are able to decline ‘virtue’ even if we are unable to love it; if we do not know what wisdom is in fact and by experience, we are familiar with it as a jargon learned by heart.” — Michel de Montaigne, Essays

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

I’m in relatively high-level pain mode today, so we’re again going with a lot of archived material, because it’s better than anything I could currently come up with for your perusal…. It’s been a while since I took any shots at the churches, bless their pointy little heads, so, here is one of my better salvos, from a year or so ago, good enough it was also used in January of this year…. Enjoy, or, at minimum, pay attention please, there is stuff in here that can actually improve your life, should you choose to accept it….

From 1/16/2014:

This religirant is a bit more pointed than the one above (in another Pearl…. gigoid in 2014) that spoke about the battle in society for the minds of the people; the battle here is the same, but the methods used by the Priestly Hierarchies, and people of the same ilk as Billy Graham, are different than those used by the BRC, though no less demeaning, and no more honest…. This rant is one of my more potent, and very clear as to the targeted group’s identity….. which, as always in anything to do with humans, includes just about everyone….

From 1/29/13:

Delusional material, very dangerous…. Read carefully….

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;
I was made weak, that I may learn humbly to obey.

I asked God for health, that I may do greater things;
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I may be happy;
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life,
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing I asked for but everything I hoped for.
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

– unattributed, even by Smart Bee (I can assign no blame to anyone, for not wanting to take credit for this….)

From the time we are small, our minds are programmed with the ideas and beliefs our parents and families held as truth, regardless of whether or not there is any actual truth to be found in them. We have little, or no, defense against these ideas, as we are naturally inclined to believe what our care givers tell us. While I can understand the way it works, it seems to me to be a shame, that we don’t come with a built in truth detector, to protect us before we are able to reason for ourselves. Until our minds have been trained, we tend to accept whatever someone in a position of authority tells us, which may keep us safe, in a physical sense, when we are small and vulnerable, but, is a dangerous habit to keep when grown.

The above is an example of how churches and the priestly hierarchies attempt to befuddle people into obedience and acceptance of their credos, aimed at those adults who have carried over their trust in authority into their adult views. On the surface, the statements seem to imply a certain morality, one of patience, compassion, and beneficence; but, underneath, they are merely designed to reinforce the ideas they wish to espouse, of obedience, humility, and subservience to authority.

If one is to believe the priestly hierarchies, we humans don’t really stand a chance against the universe…. In their minds, God has it all worked out, and it isn’t our place to question any of His prerogatives; we are here only to do His (translates as: their….) will, and to sing His praises (keeps us busy NOT thinking….). We are weak, bumbling, foolish creatures whose only claim to fame is that God loves us…. according to dogma. It occurs to me to ask, whenever I hear such nonsense, “So, which one of y’all is the one to whom God spoke, when he laid down all this specious crap? Also, when y’all talked with God, how long had it been since you last took a dose of your medication?”

I know, I know, not very friendly approach, but, sheesh, give me a break…. I mean, these people are responsible for a great deal of the suffering and trouble mankind has endured over the last 5000 years or so, and don’t even have the courtesy to take credit, or apologize. In their minds, all that stuff they do to maintain their status quo is justified by their holiness, or whatever it is they claim makes them special. And, all the time, in reality, everything they do is designed, ultimately, to bring coins to their purses, and food to their tables, at the expense of the ignorant mass of believers….

I feel a nasty rant coming on…. Sometimes, when I write one of these rips at religion, I just get SO ANGRY…. I’m mad at the preachers and priests, and those who support them, for their willingness to prey on the public, using the pretension of religious fervor and worship to justify their narcissism, and for the thousands of years of suffering that mankind has endured at their hands.

I am also angry at those people who buy into their bullshit, for not having the courage to use their minds, for blithely accept anything told to them by an authority figure, never even considering that there might be more to life than they are seeing…. It is all such a waste, and my anger knows no bounds….

“Civilization is fun! Anyway, it keeps me busy!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Well, it would keep me busy if I could find any…. I had to include this little side-trip from Zippy in order to bring my anger level down. I was feeling the urge to let out ALL of the vulgar curses I could think of, to express how I feel about all the assholes who perpetrate this entire fallacy on the rest of humanity, knowing how gullible they are, and how little effort it takes to fool them into believing the most incredible bullshit.

I mean, how hard can it be to fool someone who would believe, even for a minute, that the recent spate of cold weather means that global warming is a myth? How hard is it to fool someone who will gladly trade their freedom in this life for the promised reward in the next life? It’s so damn easy that the fools actually come asking for it, to be made into puppets, just so they can believe they are beloved of God, and guaranteed a spot in Heaven…. I often wonder just how fit to survive our species really is, when we can’t even come to terms with our own sense of self, or learn to accept the responsibility for our own actions….

Most folks are so scared to think for themselves that they gladly surrender that chore to the priests and politicians, apparently not even caring how often they lie to them. Even when the lies are exposed, proved false beyond any doubt, people will hang on to their prejudices, and to the belief in supernatural beings that control our every move; they are quite unwilling to let go of what they’ve bought into all their lives, even when it’s clear that none of it is true. Most of the time, they are unwilling to even look at any arguments against what they hold to be true, preferring the solid comfort of their ignorance. Makes me want to puke, it does…. on THEIR shoes….

Ah well, I’ve spilled enough bile and venom for one morning. It would probably be best to move on, and let this one die a natural death. If nothing else, I got some angst and pressure relieved, for the time being. It is almost a comfort to know that the politicians and preachers will be providing more ammunition in the coming days, as they continue their campaign of oppression against the people of the Earth; that means I’ll always have plenty about which to rant…. Happy Days!….

“Those who won’t think will have it done for them.” – Smart Bee

Back to the future: We’ll bring this fine set of indictments to a close with this final note, along the same lines…..

“It’s all good, and, if they can’t take a joke, fuck ’em!” — gigoid, the dubious, in a curmudgeonly mood….

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

About ten months after writing the religirant in section one, I wrote this poem, which is a comment on that group, as well as the BRC and their corporate masters, all of whom are in the habit of lying to the public for their own ends…. I think this is one of my better efforts, relying only softly on metaphor, so, please enjoy….. To my mind, the final stanza is about as powerful an idea as I can put into poetic format….

From 10/11/2012:

Seeing is Conducive to Belief

Folly sits so comfortably upon my fevered brow
one would easily believe that I would know how
to look at Life with a jaded, weary eye
seeing enough, and more, to know Why.

Such seems the case, as I will it to be,
an open book of a face, it looks so like me;
what’s known to be so, needs no close attention
familiar sights require no minding, nor mention.

The eye is drawn at once to the stark and new,
and sent back to sleep by successful review.
Once we find evidence we feel we understand,
curiosity languishes, dismissed at command.

Ancient sages knew the insidious value of illusion,
preachers and pundits know the power of confusion.
Each pair of eyes contains its own point of reference,
each mind sets its own standards of preference.

Seeing is believing, for those who live in thrall,
accepting what is perceived is all they ever recall.
Unknown to them, reality follows another set of rules,
Deeper, more dangerous, and no place for fools.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

On the given date, this entry comprised two sections of the Daily Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, which, at that time, included five sections each day, each with one pearl under discussion…. These two followed the introduction, to which y’all were exposed above, in today’s intro section, as part of this mammoth archive Pearl, put together because I got stuck going through old stuff… I hope you enjoy it…though I know there’s a lot, it’s worth the time…. Well, I think so, or I wouldn’t have written it, now, would I? Nope…. Okay, so I would have, anyway…. It’s still not too shabby….

12/11/2011:

“The pursuit of power is the quest for the unattainable by the unphilosophical though the tactics of the unspeakable.” — Smart Bee

“If Jesus came back today, and saw what was going on in his name, he’d never stop throwing up.” — Max Von Sydow’s character in Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters

There are two taglines here, placed next to each other to form a picture in the mind. Now, I don’t know about y’all, but the political scene in this country in the last couple of months has been a delightfully chaotic circus, a veritable fountain of idiotic proclamations, deliberate (and inadvertent!) expressions of absolute ignorance, and scary predictions of what would change, should any of the currently frenzied candidates make it to the Presidency.

It makes it very easy to come up with stuff to write about, but as it progresses, my sense of sadness, and dismay, grow ever stronger. These people keep saying and doing things that make it perfectly clear that if they were elected, this country would be hastened down the destructive path we’ve been on at an even faster rate of deterioration than is already taking place.

Just recently we’ve been informed that one of the women candidates feels it is just fine & dandy to separate children from their parents, who happen to be illegal immigrants, who have been in this country for 25 years, doing the jobs no American will take, by forcibly sending the parents back to Mexico, or from wherever they came. Another one wants to get rid of my Social Security retirement benefits, so they can put more money into the pockets of the big drug companies and health management organizations. Another one thinks it is okay to raise the taxes on the poverty level and middle classes, while ensuring a large tax break for the rich.

As part of the package, all of them are spouting bald-faced lies on a daily basis, all documented in the media, and all ignored by the ignorant fools who support these power-hungry sycophants, who will say anything to achieve their ends, because they know that no one will call them on it. It seems to escape the public in general, but we have created a society where our leaders lie to us continuously.

Why? Because there are no consequences for lying. The lies are ignored, or at most commented upon regarding their strategic effects. It pisses me off, big time…..so I’d better go on to the next Pearl, before I start another rant…..easy to do in this atmosphere…..
___________________________________

“Ignorance is never out of style. It was in fashion yesterday, it is the rage today, and it will set the pace tomorrow.”– Franklin K. Dane

When I first decided to include this little truism, I didn’t realize that the previous Pearl would end up discussing the same subject. It would not be terribly difficult to comment again, as I see this as the single greatest factor in determining whether or not our species is going to survive. Probably only a few scientists know how grim the situation really is, and they keep putting that message out for public consumption to the best of their abilities.

The problem is, it is the ignorant who are already in charge. The leaders of not just our country, but most of the countries in the world, are under the control of people who have no interest whatsoever in confronting the issues of climate change, global warming, air pollution, or destruction of the food chain. They refuse to place any credence in what they’ve been told, because none of it will help them in meeting their goals of continued domination of the lower classes, and increased wealth for the privileged few.

It’s not a pretty picture, but it isn’t going to change until those in society who are NOT ignorant find the courage to confront the powers that be, and force them to change their ways…..I don’t see it happening, unfortunately, but I can always hope, can’t I?……

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

It’s early yet, & I’m done…. but, that’s what happens when I use all archived material, I guess…. It will give me more time to fret and worry over stuff I can’t change, which, in turn, will drive me up the wall, so, I suppose I’d best get on with it, so I can clean up afterward…. none of which makes any sense to you, I’m sure, but, that’s okay, it doesn’t make any sense to me, either, so, we’re even, and good to go…. Lucky think, too, because, look, here we are at the end….. 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

gigoid

Ned Moore, aka gigoid, is a 70 year-old, (!!!… When did that happen?….), retired dilettante, who would rather read than eat, most days. His first blog, "gigoid’s folly", has been emailed out to folks he knows for about 18 years now. He still considers it his best defense against angst, and the ever-present specter of sheer insanity..... Due to rigorous curmudgeon training requirements, he has discontinued his Facebook presence, but still indulges in the occasional Twitter session... In essence, he's socialized, but, not overly sociable; all labels and stereotypes are forbidden in his presence... and he doesn't care what anyone thinks about that..... In fact, he doesn't want to talk anymore.... If you feel you MUST contact gigoid, his email address is: alphagigoid@gmail.com You can go read now.... Go on, beat it.... gigoid, the dubious

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