Where to run is another question. In fact, it’s both a rhetorical, and a moot question this morning, as I managed to complete this Pearl yesterday, but for this opening section, and a few words at the end. Not bad for an old fart who can’t sit for long. Got a few mini-rants in over at my friend’s site, too, mitigated in effect by having found an excellent archived piece, a combination rant and old-school indictment, first thing, as a treat for today’s post. Since I also received a shipment of the proper treatment for some of my pain, it was a productive day, all in all.

So productive, I’m bound & determined to keep this to a reasonable size, so we can get right into the mess for today. As a matter of fact, it would probably be best to just end this now, just as if I’d planned it that way. Hell, nobody will know for sure whether I did, or not; for that matter, I’m not even sure if I did. There are some vague memories in there, but, I don’t want to take credit where credit isn’t due. Aw, crap. I’m losing it again, aren’t I? These damn threads of consistency are tough to maintain in the early morning, even WITH a half-cup of almost pure caffeine on board. To make it seem like it WAS a plan, we’ll use this switch right here to get us gone, before anyone notices. Watch your step, please…..

Shall we Pearl?….

For about 11 months, I worked the night shift, during which time, as might be expected, it got pretty quiet, as none of these individuals could speak. To keep from going completely batty from the relative silence, I played music that would not disturb their sleep, of which, naturally, this piece was foremost in my regard, for its excellence, and that timeless quality that allows one to hear it time after time, and find new joy in each hearing. I defy anyone with any wit or heart to not enjoy this…. In this case, I think the correct admonition is, Abondanza!….

From 9/2/2014:

Whew!… Okay, I feel a little better… Sorry to have shouted at you, or, in your apparent direction; it was never aimed at y’all, or anyone I’ve ever called “ffolkes”… No, my anger and outrage is confined to the bloody idiots, such as the one in the article who said, and I quote, directly from the article, “Obviously, when hiring someone who will serve as a public servant in law enforcement we do a thorough background check,” Corney said. “We turn over every stone. … Even now, it’s not a perfect system. So why would we want to restrict it?”

Do you hear it? The subtext in what he states here? “why would we want to restrict it?” Well, maybe, I thought immediately,  because the law says you are supposed to?. Or, maybe, your “interpretation” of the law makes the (unwarranted) assumption that police forces shouldn’t be restricted by the same laws as the rest of the populace is required to follow?… Perhaps he feels they are ‘entitled’ to not be restricted in their efforts to…. what? To know everything there is to know about everyone? It seems to me, if they were really concerned about the relative trustworthiness of their job applicants, they would have them examined, thoroughly, by a psychologist, or even a psychiatrist, to determine their reliability, their moral and ethical strengths and weaknesses, and the suitability of their persona for this kind of important work…

A psyche evaluation makes much more sense to me; it gives them the information they SHOULD be considering in their candidates, not just their weak, stupid moments, but their tendencies, their decision-making skills, their flexibility, their courage, etc…. All of that, and more, would be much clearer, without having to invade their privacy, which still should be sacrosanct….

If all those who wished to be police officers at ANY level were required to undergo psyche evaluation, I think we would see a much different, much more intelligent, more efficient, and less violent institution, whose members would, once again, be viewed as they were in the past, as the best examples of integrity, honesty, courage, and, compassion for their fellow man, that our society can produce…. Instead, in today’s society, most police are seen, by the people they are supposed to protect, as examples of arrogant, entitled bullies, flaunting their immunity from the same laws they enforce upon a fearful populace, teeming in poverty, in so many inner city communities across this nation….

Unfortunately, in the minds of today’s modern police, and the mentality of most of those who end up in that field, the laws being enforced should not have to apply to them, or anyone in their position as the “guardians” of society…. In short, the field tends to attract those who need to be regarded as special, and important, just for doing the job they’ve chosen to do, no matter their motivation, or their talent for the job…. Being large, aggressive, and able to follow orders is more highly prized than compassion, judgment, or intelligence, in today’s culture of militarization, a process affecting of all of society….

I gotta take a break…. On Memorial Day, (today) this was the first news item that drew my attention, after finishing all the steps in posting the Pearl for the holiday (as per policy, and practice, I don’t recall mentioning it at all… I never do remember it IS holiday, until I’m done… Well, most of the time, if not never….)… When I read it, and saw the incredibly asinine quote you see excerpted above, I felt like a cherry bomb firecracker going off… I damn near fell out my chair, literally, when I read those words “why would we… etc.”; I was so astounded my whole body gave a big jerk, throwing me off balance, and almost out of the chair…

Any who, break-time…. I’ve been writing straight for twenty minutes, in a rage, and need to settle….  As Arnold said, playing the Terminator “I’ll be….”, well, you know what he said….

I am. Back. But, you knew that, didn’t you? I can always count on y’all to see what is necessary…. Now that I’m back, I’ll tell you…. I’m still mad as hell, and find myself wishing very badly I could justify typing the word “fuck” a few times more, just because it releases the anger so well. But, I also typed so much on this already, my thumb is screaming, so, instead, I’ll inform you that I went to look for some pearls to go with this diatribe… One for the top, one for here, in the middle, to solidify the concepts under discussion, and provide the impetus for the remainder of the rant that is just waiting to burst out onto the screen…

“Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom.” — Ancient Sage Bee

“A good word is an easy obligation, but not to speak ill, requires only our silence, which costs us nothing.” — Tillotson

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the  black flag, and begin slitting throats.” — H. L. Mencken

“Great tranquility of heart is his who cares for neither praise nor blame.” — Thomas A Kempis

“At times the wolves howl and the moon is silent.” — Mystical Bee

“It takes a very long time to become young.” — Pablo Picasso

“Some actions have an end but no beginning; some begin but do not end. It all depends upon where the observer is standing.” — Frank Herbert

“Life is cruel? Compared to what?” — Edward Abbey

“At any price that I can pay, let me own myself. And the price is worth  paying if you keep what you have bought… A man may apply his independence to what is called worldly advantage, and discover too late that he  laboriously has made himself dependent on a mass of external conditions for the maintenance of which he has sacrificed himself. So he may be  festooned with the whole haberdashery of success, and go to his grave a castaway. Some men hold that the risk is worth taking. Others do not. It is to those that I have spoken.” — Rudyard Kipling, speech at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, 1923, — quoted in _Kipling’s Science Fiction_ edited by John Brunner

********************************

Okay, ffolkes. I did it. Big surprise, right? Okay, right, sarcasm noted and ignored, check. Since I can’t seem to find much of anything other than tricks and traps to write here, perhaps I’ll take my leave, and try again tomorrow. Yeah, that’s the ticket. I’ll see y’all in about 24 or so hours, ffolkes. The universe seems to approve, at least to the extent of allowing me to continue, which I shall do until something makes it impossible to do so. In light of that, see y’all on the flip side…