Tag Archives: Albert Einstein

Stealing a reflective moment….

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Ffolkes,

“For my part, I had rather be the first man among these fellows than the second man in Rome.”

~~ Plutarch ~~

 Life of Caesar

look

    Given the degree of dignity so obvious in the above photo, I think a group of fellows such as he would be a fine bunch with whom to consort, as stated in the quote…. with which I have to agree completely….. In fact, I would choose almost any animal at all, other than Man, to be my constant companion and friend, and feel the same way as Plutarch…. To me, the face in the picture (found in another Daily Telegraph photo feature on animals; attribution is in the corner) is one of great spirit, showing in the eyes the depth of intelligence, humor, compassion, and dignity….

Some might say that is anthropomorphizing, and to that I would say, so what? It doesn’t make it any less true… Besides, if a gorilla doesn’t have those characteristics, and we are evolved from them, how can we expect to have them, eh?…. As Mama Gump said, “Stupid is as stupid does.”, and, as far as I can see by the visual evidence, mankind shows a lot more stupidity than any of the gorillas I’ve observed…. by a LOT…..

At this moment in time, even though in the midst of what could be an excellent discussion, I have to interrupt to issue some necessary information about today’s effort…. Yesterday, as Murphy’s gift, he gave me an episode of arthritic hip and back pain that pretty much curtailed the major portion of my semi-annual visit with my grandson; I had to give up walking around with my son and his four-year old, as I just couldn’t keep up, and the pain became debilitating…. I ended up sitting and watching for a bit, but, only managed a couple of pix, and a few seconds of video, then Murphy handed me the second part of the gift, a dead camera battery….

So, this morning, though I have pix, I also have more pain, plus, the bonus round, a toothache, as one of my teeth scheduled for extraction next week decided it didn’t wish to wait, and is demanding to come out very soon, or it will, no doubt, make my life a living hell for a while…. I do wish I knew why this part of my life is turning into a pitched battle with my own body….

Perhaps it’s all payback for how hard I pushed it for so many years…. I have to admit, I did work it hard there, from the time I was 12, until my early forties, what with baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, Judo, Karate, Kung Fu, golf, biking, hiking, and all the other physical stuff I used to do…. and, I still miss being able to do all of it (except maybe the golf…. fun, but it will drive you absolutely nuts, trying to get it right….)

Ah well, I’m getting into TMI, so, let is suffice to say that, I hurt again today, and will be shortcutting here in the Pearl wherever I can, to save time…. I’m also up late, almost an hour later than usual, so, there is that, as well…. So, be prepared for some cheating, ffolkes, which will begin right here, with an abrupt exit from this intro….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” — Albert Einstein

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

So, for section one, I am putting below three headlines from yesterday’s news…. All four speak about separate incidents of police misbehavior, which, unfortunately, though it sounds innocuous (‘misbehavior’, indeed….), when police act out, people tend to die…. Yet, for some reason, no court ever seems to find them guilty of any crime, and, in fact, many never even get charged, as they are usually cleared of any wrongdoing by internal investigations, or one by the local “lawyers” who work hand in hand with them…. a fact of corruption, almost incestuous in its nature, as the cops, and the investigating offices of district attorneys, are almost siblings, in the relationship they share in ‘fighting crime’….

But, even the media ignores that little oddity…. I’m putting these here because, since I won’t have time to rant about it, at least I can have you read the articles, and get angry right along with me, thus providing your own private little rant, in the privacy of your own head…. Here, read these, weep a little, then enjoy the pearls which I’ll throw together to drive the points home…. See y’all in section two….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/NAACP-Feds-should-investigate-black-teen-s-death-5679684.php#photo-6707581

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Jury-to-decide-if-Huntington-Beach-police-wrongly-5675811.php

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Group-protests-at-Wal-Mart-where-man-fatally-shot-5679694.php

“The first rule of gun fighting is — bring a gun.” — Smart Bee

(But, the law says the police are the only ones who are supposed to use guns…. or, it will, as soon as they finish their war on the Second Amendment…. Think about that one, ffolkes…. Are the people you read about above the ones you want to have as the ONLY armed people around? I certainly don’t think I want to be in a place where I am not allowed to have my own defense against THEM, as I don’t see many of them who are worthy of that kind of trust….)

(Okay, I’ll just let the pearls talk now… If I keep commenting, it will turn into a real rant, and take too much time…so, I’ll quit now…. It just irks me SO MUCH…..)

“The rights of one are as sacred as the rights of a million.” — Eugene V. Debs, US labor leader.

(Note: Debs received one million votes in 1920 as candidate for US President, while serving a 10-year jail sentence for having said in June 1918: “Wars throughout history have been waged for conquest and plunder…the master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.”)

“The better the state is established, the fainter is humanity.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“Liberty means responsibility.  That is why most men dread it.” — George Bernard Shaw

“Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend’s forehead.” — Chinese Proverb

“The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism.” — Smart Bee

Was there a time when dancers with their fiddles
In children’s circuses could stay their troubles?
There was a time they could cry over books,
But time has set its maggot on their track.
Under the arc of the sky they are unsafe.
What’s never known is safest in this life.
Under the skysigns they who have no arms
Have cleanest hands, and, as the heartless ghost
Alone’s unhurt, so the blind man sees best.

~~ Dylan Thomas ~~

“Was There A Time”

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

As noted, I don’t have time to search out a poem, so, one of mine will have to do…. I’ll try to make it one we haven’t seen in a while…. Okay, so, here we have one I haven’t used since I wrote it, in December of 2012…. which speaks to what I spoke about in the intro, to wit: my old friends, Jim, and Jack…. or, as they are known to those closest to them, James and John…. I’m reproducing it in the original format used to post it….

“Poetry is what gets lost in translation.” — Robert Frost

Placidly falling in amber waves: old friends

Whiskey, oh, whiskey, I’d forgotten thy balm,
thy loving spread of lassitude, and nature’s own calm.
Misery and pain flee in squalid disorganization,
leaving mirth, happily embraced, in just consolation.

James, old friend, thou has not abandoned me at all,
steadfast and loyal, ever ready to answer my softest call.
Ephemeral illusions of normality come at your instigation
blessed moments of peaceful joy, sans vilification.

Gasps of coherence pound at the door to conscious thought,
muffled explosive memories of battles already fought.
Malleable as the changeable airs of time and circumstance
plaintive calls to reason stand not a single, honest chance.

Sober again, reality’s cold reign brings a new day
ringing in old changes in a new-fashioned way.
To know true freedom’s release from our everyday pain
Is worth a bit of headache, even in the cold, pouring rain.

~~ gigoid, two sheets to the wind, and back ~~

“You will find poetry nowhere, unless you bring some with you.” — Joseph Joubert


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

I promised you I wouldn’t rant today, but, I didn’t promise not to include any rants…. Here is a religirant from a couple of years back, that still hits the nail on the head…..

From 5/18/2012:

“God is more interested in your future and your relationships than you are.” — Billy Graham

First, let me apologize…. I hadn’t meant to go into a rant this morning, especially about religion; sitting down is as difficult as standing up or walking, so the time it takes to express the outrage necessary to produce a rant is more than I wanted to take. But then this popped up in front of me….

After I had picked myself up from the floor and recovered my breath, I still could barely stop chuckling and giggling long enough to use the mouse to cut and paste it to this page. Now I find myself almost speechless at the sheer arrogance, the complete lack of respect shown for humanity at large by this astounding statement.

In one short phrase, this deeply disturbed man has attempted to manipulate his listeners into a complete subjugation of their will, and in doing so, implies that they are not only unworthy in a moral sense, but are not smart enough to be allowed to think for themselves. I’m surprised he didn’t ask for money in the same sentence…. You can bet he did so before he got to the end of the speech….

I remember seeing Billy Graham when I was quite young, speaking on TV to a football stadium full of enthusiastically cheering, excited, identical clones in white cotton dresses, with skirts below the knees, and blue suits, with white shirts, no vests, and thin ties. Even at the tender age of 11 or so when I saw it, my first impression of him was of a used-car salesman, with a smarmy-looking smile at inappropriate moments, and a smooth, fawning manner of speaking that ranged from sly confidences to outraged proclamations of evil and sin, in very obviously scripted stages.

The words and phrases he used, straight out of the King James Bible, mostly, seemed to promote love and tolerance, but the underlying message was one of elitism and divisiveness, as indicated by the insistence that only those who accepted JC according to their rules would be allowed into heaven…. The rest of us would be doomed, consigned to everlasting hell for having the audacity to think differently…. It was pretty over-the-top, as far as I was concerned, though entertaining in a circus sort of way….

It is now 50 years since I saw that particular revival meeting, and Mr. Graham has continued to spew his particular brand of ignorance for that entire time. He is indeed one of the men of whom St. Francis of Assisi warned us to beware, a man of one book. And the above statement, to me, is proof of just how little he thinks of the general run of human beings. His basic message is, “You are a miserable sinner, and have no right to exist, other than at the mercy of God. You are not smart enough to keep from sinning on your own, so just shut up and listen, and do what you are told….”

It is certainly proof, I guess, that the world takes all kinds, for there are millions of folks out there who regard what Billy Graham says as just as much gospel as what is in the Bible…. but then in for a penny, in for a pound, I suppose…. Me, I’d rather listen to a ball game…..

Note from 2014:

“The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.” — H.L. Mencken

Aha! Well…. that explains that….

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

Well, I did it…. I’ve put together a Pearl, under trying circumstances, in jig time (whatever THAT means….)…. Rather than push my luck, I’m going to go post this now, and be done with it for the day…. Hell, since I’m going to be taking a LOT of extra drugs, maybe later I’ll go surfing for a little while, when I get to a point where I can think past the haze of pain…. I hope so… it would be nice to be able to see another web site than just my own, and the news…. Any who, I’ll see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; this pain has to ease off a bit some time…..

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

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No glue, Ignatius, but, lots of duct tape…

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Ffolkes,

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal

with the intent of throwing it at someone else;

you are the one who gets burned.”

~~ Buddha ~~

August 1 2014 051

“All anger arises from obstructed desire.” — Bhagavad Gita


If, in the interests of full and complete examination, these two ideas may be considered to both be true, we find ourselves, in at least one very real sense, in possession of a key ingredient of real happiness, and true inner peace, or peace of mind, however one wishes to describe it. I find it interesting to note that, even though both of these ideas come from different religious doctrines, at different times in history,  while from basically the same relative part of the world…. Yet, history itself, given the violent nature of most of it, seems to indicate that practically no one pays any attention to either of them, at least, not on the world stage….

Oh, I know what you’re thinking, that there are millions of good people out there in the world, smart, compassionate people, who try to live good lives, to be productive, and happy…. But, there is another part of humanity, who pays no attention at all to any sort of compassion, acting at all times in such a way as to manipulate & control others, to achieve their own agendas for happiness, which do not take anyone else into consideration at all. These people have no compunction about lying, or cheating, or resorting to violence to achieve those ends, especially when they can do so with societal sanction, such as in a police force, or in the army, where the science of killing is refined, ever to be at the command of those in positions of power….

I’m not sure exactly why the beautiful flower I found on my walk the other day should stimulate such a depressing philosophical discussion first thing, even though it IS the day before today, meaning I started this yesterday afternoon, when the ideas occurred to me…. I intended at first to approach the two quotes, which speak of anger from two directions, according to how they applied to myself, and how I deal with anger….

I’ve known the quote from the Bhagavad Gita, spoken by Krishna to Arjuna, since I was quite young; it played a significant part in molding my personality, as I took it to heart, as a way to control my own temper, which has always been, and remains, in a word, fierce…. Until I learned to handle it, there were a lot of occasions when it got away from me… Learning this concept, and the implication (to wit: anger can be controlled by simply changing what you want, without keeping any emotional attachment to the discarded desire….), helped me to become a better person, in my own mind; the other quote, from the Buddha, describes what anger that is NOT controlled can do….

That is another point the Buddha’s quote acknowledges, which is that anger will always be with us, part of us as humans; I can attest, there are times when knowing how to control the anger doesn’t get rid of it, entirely.  It’s simply too powerful an emotion sometimes to dismiss out of hand, and must be consciously addressed to keep from bursting out on the rest of reality, an effect which, as we all know, can have disastrous effects…. I know this…. in my youth, there were times I failed to fully keep my anger inside, which caused a distinct and sudden spike in the number of casualties flooding emergency rooms all over town…

Not really…. I’m not really an ogre, but, I can be a nasty boy when aroused, and don’t like myself much whenever it happens…. So, I’ve always tried to avoid getting close to the edge when it comes to anger…. It just hurts others, and then I feel bad… and why? Because I was afraid I wouldn’t have a desire met? Not good, karma-wise, I should think…. Better, and easier, as I discovered when I first heard the idea, to just CHANGE WHAT YOU WANT…. If we don’t get overly attached to those wants, it doesn’t bother us as much when they’re not met, and life becomes much more pleasant, all the way around…

Pretty simple, eh? Simple enough, one might think even the slowest among us could learn to use the technique, to be able to change what they want, to something they are able, or at least, more likely to be able to achieve at some time…. And, if not, well, we aren’t so attached to having our own way we need to get upset about it…. Easy peasy, but, will anyone do it? Nope, not that I’ve seen….

This simple idea, of how to avoid anger, must be too complicated for anyone whose mind is capable of studying law, or needs to get elected, or becomes a grifter, er, preacher, in order to foist upon society a set of persistent delusions about supernatural forces controlling our lives, thus dividing humans from each other with dogma…. because none of them seem to get it. None of these people seem to get the simple fact of reality, that keeps hitting us in the face, whenever we try to ignore it…

We are responsible for what we do… all of it. The good, the bad, the ugly, all of it is on us, but, most people not only don’t believe that, they actively work to pretend it isn’t so, refusing to listen to any arguments against what they believe, or look at any evidence that disputes their contentions…. In short, most people are…. well, I’m not sure just WHAT they are…. There are elements in our species of ignorance, of stupidity, of cowardice, of actual evil, in a great many people…. But, it is also true that right alongside all of these qualities, there exists so much beauty, created by the hand and mind of Man, it can make our hearts ache just to see it….

Unless ALL of us take responsibility for our actions, Reality is going to exact a price, for allowing the darker sides of our nature gain precedence over that which connects us to the whole of the universe. There is a lot to be said for the Star Wars vision of a universal Force, that connects all living, and non-living parts of Reality, which is there to be utilized, if only we can perceive it…. I suppose the trick is to figure out whether or not the vision can be made real enough to save our asses before it is too late…. No way to tell at this point, but, it doesn’t look good, ffolkes, not at the moment…..

Well, hell…. This turned out to be enough for three entire Pearls, and we haven’t even worked our way out of the intro section…. Huh…. Imagine that…. Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to take things as they come, and deal…. Let’s go see what other damage I can do today, right?….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.  And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.” — Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm (1844-1900)

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

I believe the rant in the intro might give people the wrong impression, so, here is a piece from the archives which might make things a bit clearer….. Don’t fret, it’s not too long…. I know I got carried away above, but, I’ll try to keep it efficiently sized from this point onward…. Enjoy!….

From 5/18/2012:

“It may be irrational of me, but human beings are quite my favorite species.” — Doctor Who, Ark in Space

It probably seems to most folks reading this blog that I don’t like people very much. I tend to spend a lot of time finding and pointing out the things I see in them that I don’t like, and discussing them at nearly interminable length, which would seem to indicate a lack of affection for the species as a whole. In reality, the opposite is true…. I love people… I love watching them, listening to them, thinking about them, writing about them…. they afford me no end of intellectual stimulation, entertaining comedic genius, and fertile fields of thought and endeavor to explore, virtually and actually.

Human society and culture is an incredibly beautiful, complex tapestry of emotion and creativity; nobility, cruelty, heroes, villains, puppies, cats, love, hate, and all the rest of the things that make people what they are unfolds before us every day, growing and adding length and breadth to that tapestry of existence. I can’t think of anything more interesting than the drama/comedy that is human history in the making….

I might wish it to be a more compassionate world, with less tyranny and oppression, without slavery and starvation. I might wish that my life would not be so complicated by ignorance and intolerance, and I might wish that the small percentage of humanity that holds the remainder in the grip of their own avarice would die horrible deaths worthy of their own evil natures.

But, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Nor would I say that any of these changes are particularly apt to happen without many more people in the world taking an interest in them; most folks just go through life trying to get by, and not be bothered with anything more complicated, and one can’t really blame them, bless their cowardly little hearts…. My own method of dealing with how much I’d like to see reality change is to write about what I see, and what I think can be different, with the right set of attitudes.

This desire to see the changes arises out of my love for my fellow man, not from indignation or outrage, though they are present. But what I write, and what I’m trying to accomplish, is to help folks deal with life in a way that allows them more freedom, of whatever kind they wish to have, whether monetary, intellectual, religious, or physical; my motivation is to share the strength and freedom of thought that I have sought so hard to achieve… Mankind has much more potential than we are exhibiting, and I would love to see more of it fulfilled, rather than stifled, as in current society…. we can be so much more…..

“Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.” — Albert Einstein

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

It could be said that Emily Dickinson’s entire life was spent exploring the power and nuance of metaphor, without sounding too idiotic…. I think her work, all those little pieces of truth in different words, are a constant attempt by her mind to impose some kind of an order upon the universe, according to her own artistic perception of it…. However one chooses to describe what she wrote, it remains exactly what it is, and what it has always been…. bloody brilliant….

A narrow fellow in the grass
Occasionally rides;
You may have met him,–did you not,
His notice sudden is.

The grass divides as with a comb,
A spotted shaft is seen;
And then it closes at your feet
And opens further on.

He likes a boggy acre,
A floor too cool for corn.
Yet when a child, and barefoot,
I more than once, at morn,

Have passed, I thought, a whip-lash
Unbraiding in the sun,–
When, stooping to secure it,
It wrinkled, and was gone.

Several of nature’s people
I know, and they know me;
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality;

But never met this fellow,
Attended or alone,
Without a tighter breathing,
And zero at the bone.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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

“If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.” — Mark Twain

http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/08/05/dianne-feinstein-says-cia-trying-to-hide-facts-in-torture-report/

http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/GOP-millionaire-Munger-behind-Dem-vs-Dem-smear-5669862.php#photo-3650012

http://blog.sfgate.com/fiore/2014/08/06/camp-do-nuttin-recess-for-congress/

Originally, I had collected these articles in order to rant on them…. but, I fell into the introductory rant…. Now, I don’t need these to provide me with any outrage, though each of them, in their own way, is infuriating, as one more example of how egregiously asinine are those who are now infesting our government…. I like that word, infesting…. it seems perfectly appropriate for describing how the pundits and talking heads all run around D.C. flapping their mouths and pointing their fingers, making enough noise to scare the dead, all while never getting any closer to the truth, or reality, than they feel they must…. about as useful as a handful of fleas….

It may seem as if I am ranting, but, this is merely the explanation of how it is going to go…. I’m leaving the links, as I think you should go ahead and read the articles…. Doing so may start your own rant, or, perhaps just the urge to do so…. Together, these articles, which are, sadly, representations of what is real in this world, make a statement that clearly gives a picture of today’s society, and how UGLY it has become…. I need to go find me some beauty, just to counteract the effect of all this on me this morning…. Before I do that, here is a group of fresh pearls, taking some shots at my favorite targets…. politicians, preachers, and the Asininnies at large…..

“Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance.”~~ G. K. Chesterton,The Speaker, 12/15/00

“Sensors show a moron in this sector, Captain.” — Spock, after running sensors on the White House….

“When one rows, it is not the rowing which moves the ship. Rowing is only a magical ceremony by means of which, one compels a demon to move the ship.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

(Gee…. this sounds just like that press conference when Obama told us how the NSA was NOT spying on US citizens….)

“Has there ever been a society which has died of dissent? Several have died of conformity in our lifetime.” — Jacob Bronowski “The Sense of Human Dignity,”

“Paranoia is only the leading edge of the discovery that everything in the world is connected.” — Smart Bee

“To tell a falsehood is like the cut of a saber; for though the wound may heal, the scar of it will remain.” — Saadi (1184-1291)

(I can see your scars, and I can show you mine….)

“Imagine, if you will, that I am an idiot. Then, imagine that I am also a Congressman. But, alas, I repeat myself.” — Mark Twain

I love ending a pearl with one such as that one from Sam, which might just be the most perfect of all American political pokes…. Twain was, indeed, a master of the subtle jab to the ribs, especially when the target was an elected official…. Not bad for such a crowded morning….

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Well…. In the last few weeks, I’ve written a lot; some of these Pearls are breaking over 3500 words. Some of it has been some pretty good work, too, from what I can tell…. SIGH…. Now, if I could get, oh, say, a couple hundred THOUSAND more ffolkes to drop in to read it, we might just get this message out to some of the people who need to see and/or hear it…. That, unfortunately, isn’t going to happen, not right away, so, I may as well just get on with my day…. Today has some potential, so, I’m going to go meet it, head on….. See y’all tomorrow, 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

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I’ll see your platitudes, & raise you a euphemism….

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6

Ffolkes,

“Wisdom and good sense guard life from harm.” — Smart Bee

August 1 2014 026

    The aphorism above the picture of the owl is mostly true, in the sense that it is ages old wisdom, time-tested, part of the legacy of such ideas that are passed down from generation to generation, throughout all of our common history as humans…. I use the term “mostly true” because, in spite of the good things that happen when one pays attention to the truth (wisdom), and uses that to try to avoid mischance in life, (good sense), there are times when nothing will protect us from the hardships that life can dump on us without any warning…. All of us, no matter how stable, intelligent, and careful we are, step in a pile of crap we failed to note, now and again….

In a very real, and yet, foolish sense, the presence of the owl is an attempt by someone to acknowledge the truth of the aphorism, and to try to utilize the information…. but, in a different way, that fails to recognize their own part in maintaining a state of being where wisdom is useful, and welcome, and good sense is merely a matter of paying attention to what is real. In short, they hope, that by having the owl (a SYMBOL of wisdom, not the real thing….) outside their home, it will provide the shield that good sense would otherwise engender, thus making the home a sanctuary from reality’s demands….

Thinking is too hard, so, the owl is supposed to prevent the necessity from arising for these folks, a concept far too common for my taste, and, to my way of thinking, a big part of why things are so messed up in our world….. But, that’s a topic for another section, since this is only supposed to be a warm-up…. It does, as a matter of course, often grow out of that mold, but, I do try to keep it within reason…. Whether or not that actually happens is somewhat of a risky proposition, much of the time, so, I tend to take it the way it comes, then go with the flow….. whatever that means, or entails….

What it shouldn’t entail is a complete new beginning….. Somehow, since penning the above opening paragraphs, my brain dropped into hibernation, or some sort of frozen state that began to affect my typing….. I almost started to apologize for using a picture of my own, but, caught myself before I would have needed to resort to any sort of force. I’m thinking, though…. at this point, some sort of forceful tactic may be necessary, as there doesn’t seem to be a lot of movement in there yet, that I can see…. but, then what I expect to see when peering into my own frozen brain, I couldn’t say…

Perhaps I should try to….. Nah. Last time I tried that, I had to carry out three unconscious Gentle Readers myself, and almost ended up in bed for a week. Maybe we should…. nope. Better not. That one almost exploded, last time I broke it out. It seems just about ALL of our emergency intro-killing methodologies have either been over-used, or, as we used to say down at the rodeo, they’ve been rode hard, and put away wet, thereby making them all but useless for our purposes….

Shoot, that means we have to use #4 again, and I just got over the last time…. Oh well, such is life in the fast lane, I suppose…. Okay, stand back….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“There is much pleasure to be gained in useless knowledge.” — Bertrand Russell

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Albert Einstein was a late talker as a child. His parents were understandably worried. finally at the supper table one evening, He broke his silence to say, The soup is too hot. Greatly relieved, his parents asked why he never said a word before. Young Albert replied, “Because up to now everything was in order.” — From ‘The Little, Brown Book Of Anecdotes’ by Clifton Fadiman

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-presidency-and-the-press-20140804?utm_source=regular&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&email=alphagigoid@gmail.com

“Even before Obama and his new politics burst onto the scene in 2008, we knew we lived in a country that is evenly but drastically split in its worldview. Now that the opposition can rewrite the news as it’s happening, the two sides can essentially live in separate realities – which is perhaps what we’ve always wanted. It’s becoming clear, though, that two casualties of this new order are efficacious, fact-based governing and an independent, fact-based press.

Amid the barrage of criticism, as Obama strains to respond to every new crisis, the White House’s moves begin to look like guesses, or even shrugs. “When you don’t know what you can plan for,” Gibbs says, “then you’re watching and reacting. And in this town, if you’re just watching and reacting, it never ends well.”” — excerpted from the above article

Okay…. So, I bet, at this point in the post, you’re preparing yourself for a rant, which, I know you know, requires some rather extensive preparation in order to be able to fully appreciate all the nuances of the arguments presented…. You gotta be able to suspend belief in what is often held to be true, which can be frightening for some…. that’s why we offer the Valium before heading out…. Today, however, I’ve decided to forgo the usual diatribe, in favor of another old school pearl that will accomplish the same poking and prodding, but with less effort….

The above article was interesting, if a bit on the pollyanna-ish side…. but, then, what could be expected by someone who is a former presidential press secretary…. He does provide a rather cogent insider’s viewpoint of the issue of political coverage by the media, and in the process, manages to give a pretty clear picture of some of the issues and problems we have observed in the relationship between the media and the administration of all previous presidents…. It’s a situation that, as is pointed out here, has been deteriorating for many years, and is now at a point where neither side is able to trust the other….

That’s fine with me, as that way, we don’t have to pretend to believe any of it…. so, for now, let’s take some shots at the bozos who play in that particular game of bones….

“The extravagance of government rhetoric is inversely proportional to the seriousness of the act involved.” — Smart Bee

“It is only the ignorant who despise education.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 571

“Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

“I don’t vote.  It just encourages them.” — A Maine woman

“If good intentions are combined with stupidity, it is impossible to outthink them.” — Marion J. Levy, Jr.

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

“I got out of bed for *this*?” — Smart Bee

Perfect! Bracketed by SB, seven one-liners, all of which make a pointed criticism about those who engage in the disgusting practice of running for office, which, together, form an indictment, based on ample evidence of rampant cupidity….

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

Once again, I’m subjecting y’all to another of my older poems, mainly because I don’t feel much like either searching out something worthwhile, or opening a vein to write a new one…. So be it, gigoid has spoken… Here’s one of the older ones, from October of 2012…..

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 ~~

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

“Know thyself”? If I knew myself, I’d run away.” — Goethe

Some might accuse me of a level of laziness beyond the boundaries of acceptability, of setting a poor example for others to emulate; to them, I can only say, “well, there you go.” Everyone’s entitled to their opinions, right? If it makes them feel better to point out what I consider to be one of my finest qualities, with the apparent intent of convincing me it is a flaw, well, they’re welcome to speak their minds. It’s a free country, and last time I checked, we still had free speech…. not private, but, free… Of course, they’d also be welcome to do it somewhere else, which I usually will insist upon, even going so far as to provide them with a parting boot to the ass, as a token of my respect and esteem…

Having thus disposed of such petty annoyances, I can proceed to the reason for any such derogatory judgments, which, as you’ve probably guessed by now, is yet another pearl from the archives…. This one won’t be a burden, so much, as, A) it isn’t a rant, or a discussion…. and, B) it’s original intent was to be fun, or funny, or, at minimum, a reasonable facsimile of either one…. I think it hits that nail a couple of good whacks, but, then, I’m not the best judge of that, I’m thinking…. I might be the laziest judge, but, not the best, from more than one standpoint, and, I’m sure, legal position….

Now that I’ve blathered sufficiently, here is what I found for section three today…. Please enjoy it, or, what the good of wading through such a healthy dose of my best nonsense?…..

From 10/1/2012:

Life can be a confusing time, especially for those unequipped for its sense of whimsy….. It can make us look foolish, a lot, and easily, but think of how amusing that is for other people, eh? There are small benefits hidden in the most egregious tasks, if undertaken cheerfully…. Today, I find myself out of ranting mode, and into Pearling mode…. Thus, I present for your amusement and edification, the following group of pearls, and though all are of the stand-alone variety, they can be, and have been, woven together into an monumental idea of great stature, one that could conceivably make great changes happen in the life of anyone who takes it to heart….

It could also be ignored completely, and your life will not suffer at all for its loss…. That’s the magic of true pearls of virtual wisdom…. They are only good for what you use them, and nothing else…. It’s not exactly an efficient process, but one that satisfies…. So, enjoy this short trip through logic, past deduction, around wild fantasy, and onward even further, into relative meaning, though, sadly, with bells and whistles absent their traditional positions of honor…..

“Even for a wizard there will often come times when someone close to you, perhaps even your spouse, criticizes your habits by comparing them to those of animals. This is distinctly unfair to the animals, who have far better habits than we in many areas. When, for example, have you seen a frog collecting taxes or a squirrel running for electoral office? Present arguments like these to those people who criticize you. If they still do not see the wisdom of your ways, you may then feel free to bite them.” — The Teachings of Ebenezum, Vol. IX

“The interval between the decay of the old and the formation and establishment of the new constitutes a period of transition which must always necessarily be one of uncertainty, confusion, error, and wild and fierce fanaticism.” — John C. Calhoun (Careful, this one is real, and should not be treated without due care and respect, just as you would with any stinging insect…..)

DUMBO- sucked into the engine of a 747. — The TRUE fates of your favorite Disney characters (Sad, but true…..)

“The universe has fascinated mankind for many, many years, dating back to the very earliest episodes of Star Trek, when the brave crew of the Enterprise set out, wearing pajamas, to explore the boundless voids of space, which turned out to be as densely populated as Queens, New York. Virtually every planet they found was inhabited, usually by evil beings with cheap costumes and Russian accents, so finally the brave crew of the Enterprise returned to Earth to gain weight and make movies.” — Dave Barry

Anything free is worth what you pay for it. — Smart Bee (Caution: this one is also real…. ignore at your peril…..)

Death is only a state of mind.  Only it doesn’t leave you much time to think about anything else. — Smart Bee

And finally, as the perfect finish to such an entropically enhanced pearl…..

“You were s’posed to laugh!” — Zippy the Pinhead

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

“I don’t like talking to philosophers. I’m always worried that they might be laughing behind my back because they know I don’t exist.” — Smart Bee

I like being able to end the day’s work with a personal pearl; I like to smile, what can I say? This one is perfectly ME, as it makes me do what I do best, which is laugh at myself, and my pedantic, pathetic need to pretend I’m an intellectual, when what I really am is a hedonistic polymath with bozoid tendencies, and a large portion of chutzpah…. It works for me…. See y’all tomorrow, 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

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Flicking and swishing here, your grogginess….

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Ffolkes,

Spintharus, speaking in commendation of Epaminondas, says he scarce
ever met with any man who knew more and spoke less.

 ~~ Plutarch (46-120 AD) ~~ Of Hearing, 6

—————————————————————————-

True is suffering; this is true cause;
this is true cessation; this is the true path.

Know the sufferings; give up they causes;
attain the cessation of the suffering; follow the true paths.

Know the sufferings although there is nothing to know;
relinquish the causes of misery although there is nothing to relinquish;
be earnest in cessation although there is nothing to cease;
practice the means of cessation although there is nothing to practice.

~~ Buddha, The Four Noble Truths ~~

cats_17

    In case there is ANY question as to the meaning of any of the above…. The first quote is there to set the tone…. The next quote, from  the Buddha, is there to show how the Buddha understood Reality, which is to say, very well…. If you look at the picture of the three pals napping on the sidewalk, then consider the Four Noble Truths, you will see that each of these animals…. dog, cat, rat…. are all perfect examples of a creature who LIVES by those precepts…. They all know how hard life can be, but are content to have a serene moment of companionship, without becoming wrapped up in any species-oriented chauvinism…. I think it’s pretty cool myself…

It’s also a good thing it’s here, because I’m late again, and will have to rely on stuff that was either done ahead of time, or is very quick and easy to put in here, where it can do me some good…. Some bloggers would probably just re-blog an old blog, but, I like to at least put some effort into making something fresh each day, even if it is only a fresh reprint of an older piece…. I’m finding my rants from a couple of years ago are all still pretty valid, what with the crap that continues to plague us due to the shenanigans of the Asininnies, and their ilk….

Since I am so late, though, we’ll go with some of that older material, just to save the time…. At least I’m not using the old lame excuse of expediency, or doing this because of my own hidden agenda…. No, my agenda is right out there, and only has to do with getting done with this with a bit of dignity intact, not with ripping y’all off, or making sure I’m in control of your life…. which is what you can count on from your local politicians, and their myrmidons….

In that vein, I believe I may have reached a point where I can put an end to this intro section…. or, if that isn’t feasible, I can usually use one of the methods we’ve developed to help us in these moments of uncertainty….  Why, look, here’s one of them now! I believe it’s actually the method we call #4, the old standby…. It works like this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“It did not matter, after all. He was only one man. One man’s fate is not important.
If it is not, what is?
He could not endure those remembered words.”

— Ursula K. Le Guin, spoken by Gaverel Rocannon, Rocannon’s World

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

Since I am not going to rant this morning, I’m going to sublimate, in order to relieve some of the built-up angst, from the last couple of days of headline reading without producing a rant to release the worst of the pressure, I will create an old-school pearl, fresh and sharp, to poke some holes in the blanket of wool that the Asininnies are forever trying to pull over our eyes….

“If turkeys could fly Congress would be an airport…!” — Smart Bee

“As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government.  I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.” — George Washington

(Well…. So much for THAT idea!…..)

“The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking…the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind.  If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“I don’t care what is written about me so long as it isn’t true.” — Dorothy Parker

(A little known fact about this quote…. Dorothy was quoting Howard Taft….)

(That, of course, is a lie; I made it up…. but, it SOUNDS true, doesn’t it?…. By which, we see it may be defined as a “political truth”….)

“It is hard to free fools from the chains they revere.” — Voltaire

“If you have a weak candidate and a weak platform, wrap yourself up in the American flag and talk about the Constitution.” — Matthew S. Quay

“The reason that poverty and homelessness exist is not because capitalism is not working properly, but because that is the way it works.” — Smart Bee

Not bad, not bad at all for what it is…. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did….. I’m going to go clean up now…. Wait, first, I’ll try to make up for this, with one more pearl, that should help you feel a little better…. If not, well, there’s always aspirin in the first-aid kit if you want one….

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

I’m going with mine, to save time, and blame…. I hope you enjoy this one; it’s from December of 2012…..

Dreaming of Calliope

La belle dame sans merci speaks aloud through endless night,
torturing dreams, with powerful words and stentorian phrases.
Manifest visions bathed in unbearable grace and light,
destroying all direction, standing lost, in unfathomable mazes.

Fate plays a part, one that will never face denial,
as fear and courage eternally vie for ascendancy.
Conflict becomes valid, gifting strength in open trial,
but honest emotion wears no costume so fancy.

Blood, sweat, and tears stroll on avenues of gold,
unlikely heroines heralding as in ancient lore;
Sharp, competent knives cut through tales untold,
eternally shifting reality past the naked shore.

Drifting toward origin, bereft of mandate or cause,
finished, nay, abandoned, tied with a figurative bow.
No simple gift from muses to give comfort or pause,
save that all we need to know, we already know…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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

The following older pearl is one I’ve probably used many times, as it contains much of the wisdom I use personally to guide my actions through life…. It’s all stuff I learned, one way or another, from my Dad, the Master Sergeant…. All of this could be considered to be ACTUAL wisdom, I think; it’s much more valid, and useful, than most of what you’ll find masquerading as such, and is certainly more than merely virtual wisdom…. because it’s all been tested by time, and found to be true….

From 9/30/2012:

Here are some true pearls of virtual wisdom from the acknowledged Grand Master of Science Fiction…… arrogantly solipsistic, delightfully honest, absolutely moral according to whim, and eminently useful in pursuing a full life of honor and joy…..

“The only real sin is hurting others unnecessarily. All other sins are made up nonsense…. (Hurting yourself is not sinful, just stupid.)”  — Robert Heinlein

“A desire not to butt into other people’s business is at least eighty percent of all human wisdom… and the other twenty percent isn’t very important.”
“You butt into other people’s business.  All the time.”
“Who said I was wise?  I’m a professional bad example.  You can learn a lot by watching me.” –Dr. Jubal Harshaw — Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein

“Don’t store garlic near other victuals.” — from The Notebooks of Lazarus Long

“The two highest achievements of the human mind are the twin concepts of “loyalty” and “duty.” Whenever these twin concepts fall into disrepute — get out of there fast! You may possibly save yourself, but it is too late to save that society. It is doomed.” — from The Notebooks of Lazarus Long

“There is no conclusive evidence of life after death. But there is no evidence of any sort against it. Soon enough you will know. So why fret about it?” — Robert Heinlein

“The more you love, the more you can love — and the more intensely you love. Nor is there any limit on how many you can love. If a person had time enough, he could love all of that majority who are decent and just.” — Robert Heinlein

Lastly….. a statement that serves as an adjunct to Peruaosophy; indeed, it’s more that that, as it forms a critical part of the basic premises, upon which that philosophy was created…..

“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.
But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants “just a few minutes of your time, please — this won’t take long.” Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time — and squawk for more!
So learn to say No – and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you. (This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don’t do it because it is “expected” of you.) ” — Robert Heinlein

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

Today, as is sometimes the case when I arise late, and push a bit to get this done on time, I feel a bit scattered at the end…. which, I suppose, isn’t all that surprising, given the nature of what I’m doing….. It’s okay, really, because it means I’ve been focused, so the results should meet any of the loose standards to which I hold these Pearls…. If not, well, too bad, so sad, because, hey, it’s done, and we’re NOT going to do it over…. On that note, I should follow my own advice, and take my leave before it gets any riskier…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, provided the NSA leaves me be….

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

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Fear is both tool, and weapon; use them, or be used by them….

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Ffolkes,

“He had that rare weird electricity about him — that extremely wild and heavy presence that you only see in a person who has abandoned all hope of ever behaving “normally.””

— Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939), journalist — Fear and Loathing ’72

toiletman

    Look! It’s a plane! No! It’s a turd! Hooray! It’s Toilet Man!….. Enough! I can’t do it….  I am, as the theme above suggests, NOT normal. It’s okay, I never wanted to be, anyway, so, it’s not going to hurt my feelings to be accused of missing out on that particularly noisome state of mundanity. Me, I could never figure out why it was so attractive, or so important for people to feel they were either on their way to becoming normal, or were already considered to be one of the conformist crowd…. Sure, I like people, occasionally, but, I sure wouldn’t want to BE like any of them…. But, no matter how I feel about normal, I can’t take advantage of it that way….

That, of course, is just the curmudgeon in me talking, which I can’t seem to stop from happening, all too often. According to the training rules for us curmudgeons-to-be, we are supposed to USE our skills, but, we aren’t supposed to make other people feel bad thereby, necessarily, although it is acceptable under certain conditions, such as being accosted by one of the stupids, and needing to put them out of their misery. That’s okay, but, generally, we aren’t supposed to load our foul moods onto other ffolkes; only if they deserve it, for which there are strict requirements to fulfill, to ensure they are a deserving recipient of our ire….

At this point, I’d probably do well to mention that we are still quite a far piece from reality, so, you shouldn’t be taking any of this too seriously, or trying to figure out whether or not my tongue is in cheek, or somewhere less appropriate than that. This is also a good point to tell you, the picture is from SFGATE, from a photo feature a few days ago, highlighting signs around the world with funny or odd statements, such as the above, and the name of the photographer is on the picture (in VERY small letters…) …. I have actually seen a sign very similar to this, in Beijing, during a visit there in 2004. Such signs were a constant source of amusement, as many of the English translations in the advertisements on billboards were simply hilariously mashed up….

Of course, it’s important for me to remember…. this kind of opening, as fun as it may be, does have its own potential risks…. For example, here we are, a good three to four paragraphs down the pike, and we have yet to whine about being late, or how lazy I’m feeling (somewhat….), or any of my usual techniques to draw your attention away from the lack of any sort of elegance, not to mention the lack of any sort of visible evidence of intelligent life as we know it. The risk in this should be obvious, even to…. no, I won’t go there. I’m not going to be one of those bloggers who insults my readers, just to show I can, or some other misguided reason….

I am, however, going to have to call a halt to this, even though we’re just beginning to have some fun with it, and it’s starting to flow nicely…. Too bad I’m completely out of any more ideas as to what to put here…. In fact, my brain is emptying out so fast, I’m getting dizzy, and had best take a break…. You know what this means, so hang on….

Shall we Pearl?…..

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

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

In keeping with the theme which has thus far characterized today’s effort, let’s see what the headlines around the web have for us….

http://www.theonion.com/articles/exxonmobil-chevron-locked-in-bidding-war-to-acquir,36561/

Oh. My. Gosh….. Okay, well, so it doesn’t quite have the same impact, or cathartic release factor, as the usual blasphemy I could be expected to come out with in such cases, but, I think employing the use of such a mild epithet will, no doubt, save me some hate mail…. Of course. that would help, if I actually got any…. Nonetheless, expletive expressions notwithstanding, I was a bit surprised to see the above headline, which, since you can’t see it all, says, to wit:

“ExxonMobil, Chevron Locked In Bidding War To Acquire Lucrative Pennsylvania Senator”

Flabbergasted, flummoxed, flustered, and, just a little bit surprised, I was, when I first saw this….  Then, of course, I noticed where it was published, on The Onion, and, so realized it was only humor…. pointed, sharp humor that accurately skewers Reality in America, but, humor…. In this case, what needs to be noted is the source of the humorous nature of the piece, which is rooted in the fact that it is probably true, though not necessarily for the exact companies named here….. You may be certain, however, that the concept itself is NOT completely out of the realm of possibility in the US Senate…. not in THIS Reality…..

I’m almost certain my creative juices aren’t quite up to turning this into a rant; it’s just too ironic…. which, coming from me, is pretty ironic, as well…. True, though, so, I’m going to go with my instincts, and go with an old-school pearl, a collection of pointed sticks to jab in the eyes of all those in our Beloved Ruling Class who are so diligent in their efforts to screw the rest of us….. Enjoy!….

“Anyone who has had a bull by the tail knows five or six more things than someone who hasn’t.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than  a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

“I’m not against the police; I’m just afraid of them.” — Alfred Hitchcock

“A little truth helps the lie go down.” — A direct quote from the US Senate publication, “Communication Tips for New Senators”

“Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business.” — Tom Robbins

“Not all the conservative are stupid, but all the stupid are conservative.” — Benjamin Disraeli

(The oddest part of this quote? Disraeli, by modern standards, would call himself a conservative…. To me, it just goes to show, ALL of them need help…. and, by that, I mean professional help….)

“This sickness doth infect
The very life-blood of our enterprise.”

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

Well, there you have it, ffolkes…. I’m thinking I may have been a bit too eclectic; most of these wouldn’t be understood at all by any of the people it targets…. which rather eliminates part of the point, doesn’t it? Oh well, there’s always tomorrow; I don’t think they’re going to add on any IQ points overnight, so we’ll have another chance to make a dent in their intransigent stupidity….

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

I repost this poem at least once a year, just because it is one of my favorites, it goes so well with much of the material I end up producing…. and usually ends up saying what I was trying to say, better than I said it…. Enjoy, please…..

À Bas Ben Adhem
                   
My fellow man I do not care for.
I often ask me, What’s he there for?
The only answer I can find
Is, Reproduction of his kind.
If I’m supposed to swallow that,
Winnetka is my habitat.
Isn’t it time to carve Hic Jacet
Above that Reproduction racket?

To make the matter more succinct:
Suppose my fellow man extinct.
Why, who would not approve the plan
Save possibly my fellow man?
Yet with a politician’s voice
He names himself as Nature’s choice.

The finest of the human race
Are bad in figure, worse in face.
Yet just because they have two legs
And come from storks instead of eggs
They count the spacious firmament
As something to be charged and sent.

Though man created cross-town traffic,
The Daily Mirror, News and Graphic,
The pastoral fight and fighting pastor,
And Queen Marie and Lady Astor,
He hails himself with drum and fife
And bullies lower forms of life.

Not that I think much depends
On how we treat our feathered friends,
Or hold the wrinkled elephant
A nobler creature than my aunt.
It’s simply that I’m sure I can
Get on without my fellow man.
     
~~ Ogden Nash ~~

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

Y’all are getting the benefit of my laziness again today; a rant just doesn’t seem attractive right now…. I guess there’s only one thing to do, as I don’t have any goo Art to go with…. another old-school pearl, which will serve several purposes, at least three of which cannot be discussed in this venue without notifying certain officials, which we don’t wish to do…. so, those purposes shall remain secret, as long as y’all can keep quiet…. In fact, I insist…. Why don’t y’all have a seat right there, and listen up….

“Could you tell night from day?” “No, I regard all such distinctions as logically impossible.”  — Heraclitus

“Be ruled by time, the wisest counselor of all.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Pericles (B.C. 495-429)

“He who receives a good turn should never forget it; he who does one should never remember it.” — Charon

“The hardest part about gaining any new idea is sweeping out the false idea occupying that niche. As long as that niche is occupied, evidence and proof and logical demonstration get nowhere. But once the niche is emptied of the wrong idea that has been filling it – once you can honestly say, “I don’t know,” then it becomes possible to get at the truth.” — Robert A. Heinlein

“A free life cannot acquire many possessions, because this is not easy to do without servility to mobs or monarchs…” — Epicurus (341-270 B.C.)

“Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“If one studies too zealously, one easily loses his pants.” — Albert Einstein

Well…. This turned out quite well, thank you; balanced, sharp, and deep. Plus, a new quote from Albert that I’d never seen…. I’m happy there are still a few left in Smart Bee for me to find…. especially when they’re like this, and help to create a fine pearl…

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

Wow… I got so jazzed about the potential to be finished, I forgot to close it out…. Now I haven’t a clue as to what to say here; two minutes ago I had it all planned out, but, after going back to edit, it went away, to whatever place in my mind where such ideas go to cry themselves to sleep…. Not a particularly rational image, but, poignant…. Any who, it’s done, such as it is, so, I’m outta here….. See y’all tomorrow, 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

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A burning desire for justice….

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Ffolkes,

“Nadie tiene mas imaginacion que la realidad.” — Miguel de Unamuno, “El Espejo de la Muerte”, 1941

better out than in

“Nothing has more imagination than reality.” — Miguel de Unamuno, “The Mirror of Death”, 1941


This picture, which I got on the web, somewhere ( I know, it calls for more accuracy than that…. I found it in a photo feature on the London Daily Telegraph web site…..), perfectly illustrates how I feel almost every day when I am trying to create these Pearls…. Because of who I am, such a task, having been assumed as a duty, requires that I give each one my best shot, in terms of using my mind for what it was intended, to wit: …….

Okay, I’m busted, again…. That long, echoing silence you heard was me, repeating to myself all the different thoughts that were NOT running through my mind, in response to the above attempt at intellectual levity, first thing, even before the coffee has hit the blood stream…. It’s a complete wash…. I CAN’T think, at all, but, especially not of what we are supposed to be using our minds for….. Whatever it is, doing this will either help me find out, or will make it so I will never, ever have any such luck…. Luck is probably my best bet, anyway, because sheer grit isn’t going to do it, and, obviously, my vaunted intelligence isn’t completely up to the task, at least, not to the perfectionist degree for which I’m asking….

Just look at the picture, and you’ll get a better idea, anyway, of what it feels like to try to create a Pearl, and get it out to the Universe….which makes the picture all that much more appropriate, as it appears that my Pearls, and the light from this guy’s exploding consciousness, seem to be about equal, in relation to how much the Universe will pay attention…. In short, neither one of us is liable to ever become rich, famous, or notorious, or even ridiculous, very much at all… In fact, he may be at the North Pole, or thereabout, but, he’s probably got as many followers as me….

Pity party all done…. I’m just screwing around, anyway, passing time until something more coherent, or more hilarious, or even more tasteful should come along… Of course, we all know there’s a “fat chance” of any of those happening anytime soon, don’t we? Of course we do…. And we don’t go off to cry ourselves to sleep at night, either….  Just kidding again, I’m actually sleeping well… some days I just tend to go for the cheap jokes right away, or, in truth, when they present themselves. What can I say, it’s a weakness….

The normal course of events would, at this point, find me frantically trying to figure out how to extract myself from the intro section; as is patently clear, today is no exception, with the only difference to be noted in my relative feeling of calm…. I’m not overly amped, or even awake, for that matter, so, even though I AM kind of stuck here, I’m not fretting over it. That’s because I have a secret…. What is it? Well, now, if I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret any more, now would it? Nope…. So, I’ll just show you…. watch closely…..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Every man is a divinity in disguise, a god playing the fool.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I’m in a rather strange frame of mind, even for me…. I couldn’t find any headlines that stimulated any anger, or angst, either, which is pretty new…. I’m also having trouble finding anything in my head that would potentially serve to create anything worthwhile for this section…. You know what that means, I’m sure…. Yep, a trip to the archives…. Here is a fairly short discussion, originally from November of 2012, which I think you might enjoy…. I hope so….

“He who dies a thousand deaths meets the final hour with the calmness of one who approaches a well remembered door.” — Heywood Brown

I almost passed this by when I first read it, then, after I thought a moment about it, it occurred to me that it sounds like a defense of cowardice, which is what we usually associate with the phrase “He who dies a thousand deaths”…. Upon further reflection, though, that phrase, though certainly appropriate for describing the state of uncontrolled fear that brings a human to react with cowardice, could also be used to describe some of my own experience in dealing with violence. To generalize that thought, it could be said that a person who faces situations where death is hovering nearby, always a threat to manifest its presence in reality, is also dying a death each time, because their imagination is always aware of the proximity of the possibility….

I once made the mistake of counting how many times I faced off with a person who wanted to rip my head off, and would have done so had I not acted to prevent that from becoming reality. Suffice it to say it was entirely too many times, though somewhat less than a thousand (not by much, but less….), those were enough to estimate a conclusive figure, showing how often my imagination was stimulated into conjuring visions of possible outcomes that included my own death…. which was each and every time.

Of course, the key to success in such situations is to be able to put aside, or ignore, those visions, in order to keep them from becoming real…. I learned very well to react very quickly in such situations, in a way that allowed me to control the outcome, rather than random chance or, worse, having the other party assume that control. Fortunately for all involved, I never lost…. at least, not in the sense of becoming physically injured, or dead. (Nobody else that I controlled was ever hurt or killed,  either, a fact I’m pretty proud of…. although, mental injuries are another story, entirely….)

The quote at the beginning of this entry is one I find to be a comfort to me as I get closer to the time when death will come to make my acquaintance in this lifetime. As a conscious being, I naturally have to believe that my mind, or soul, if you prefer, will not cease to exist; only a change that we do not understand will happen, one which no one has ever successfully explained with any degree of certainty. There is, of course, no evidence to support the belief that we do not merely stop existing, like the flame of a candle, when we die…. Nor any to support the idea that we will somehow “wake up” somewhere else, according to our particular set of preferences in such philosophies.

Nothing tangible can be produced, or has ever been produced, that makes such a belief a proven conclusion; contrarily, there is also no evidence available that it is not true. We each have a strong feeling that our soul is indestructible, like energy of any type, but no incontrovertible proof is available for either side of the issue. Thus, we can only hold on to our sense of spiritual connection to the universe, that part of us that knows that, like sunlight, or electricity, or heat, our conscious mind is a manifestation of energy, one which, like all the other kinds of energy we perceive, does not cease to exist, ever. It may change forms, or even types (as light can become electricity, or motion become heat….), but it does not leave the universe at all.

To me, and to certain philosophies, the qualities of water are a good example to use as a way of understanding this principle. Water cannot be destroyed. You can, by altering its temperature, cause it to change form, from ice, to water, to steam…. but it cannot be destroyed at all. Our minds, and thoughts, our spirits, if you will, can be thought of as water, ever flexible, ever changeable, yet never ceasing to exist in any way, and retaining within its being all the qualities that make it, and us, what we are…. another unique part of a beautifully complex and wonderful reality….

To me, that is, indeed, a comforting thought….

“If I am I because you are you, and if you are you because I am I, then I am not I, and you are not you” ~~ Hassidic rabbi

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Since I’ve gone off the rails with archived material, I thought I should put in a really good poem here…. Sadly, all I could find was one of my own…. sniffle, gasp, moan….

Dreaming, I wait….

In the most patient moments of rationality
kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,
fallow thoughts speed first from equality
to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.

Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law
shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,
intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,
falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.

Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,
it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,
foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,
alive, always eager, willing, and pale.

Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few
with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.
No solemn royal version may pass in review,
true love for man, never to remain unhidden.

Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,
calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,
With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,
swimming in the oceans of natural delight.

When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,
roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,
Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,
and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.

Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night
aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart
Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,
tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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I’m cheating again…. I found this while cruising the archives, and it is one of the best of the Pearls from the year it was created…. Since my head is achingly, heartbreakingly empty, this will make a nice replacement for what might have otherwise gone here…. This is better, trust me….

From 11/16/2011:

Ffolkes,

Good morrow to you…. let us begin as we mean to go on….

“Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” — Gene Fowler

This line is included today merely to give y’all an idea of what I go through every morning to produce this…. whatever it is. It is a pretty good description, actually, because when I’m done, I actually feel battered and bloody….. Actually, bloody well-used-up is what it is. Maybe it’s easier for other writers; I don’t know. But for me, to produce something that my standards will allow me to publish for others to read, is much like having a piece of my soul ripped out, taking a a kidney with it. The funny thing is, though it hurts a lot, I wouldn’t stop doing it, even if I could. The pain of creation, which. after all. requires destruction first, is a worthy payoff for the sense of accomplishment I get when I see one of my pieces online for all to see. Quite a rush actually….

“Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” — Aldous Huxley

This observation, as far as I can tell, is 100% accurate, and because it is, many of the problems society is facing are easily explained, if not easily resolved. For example, when was the last time you gave a thought to what else besides oxygen is in the air that you take into your lungs on the average of 15-20 times per minute.? When you last got a glass of water from the tap, did you stop to think about what was in the water you use to drink, cook with, and bathe in? As Mr. Huxley pointed out, most folks, yourselves included, seldom think about or appreciate such simple necessities, or what might happen if they were no longer available.

What will we do when the air is so full of carbon dioxide that the amount of oxygen in contains falls below the point where it will sustain life? Will we all have to wear breathing apparatus in order to brave the outside world? What will happen to all the other animals if there isn’t sufficient air? What will you do when the water you drink is no longer safe to consume? We need water as much as we need air; our chemical make-up is 90% water, and not having enough of it to replace what we lose is a sure path to the grave within a matter of days.

There are other issues connected to this subject; the consistent degradation of our planet’s ecosystem has a great many negative effects, small and unnoticeable at first, but growing larger over time until they are added to the list of processes that will eventually lead to extinction of ALL of this planet’s life forms.  Part of the problem is that it is a slow, insidious process, this degradation, and the deleterious outcomes are not evident until too late to reverse.

You must remember, the Universe doesn’t care, one way or the other, whether we survive or not; the rules are the rules, and fighting against the natural laws of our space-time continuum is a fool’s bet. Like it or not, we, as a species, are going to need to make some serious changes to the way we do things, if we are to survive at all. And we will need to do it starting yesterday….

“A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” — Albert Einstein

I really admire Albert Einstein, and not because he was a great scientist, as well as one of history’s shining examples of men and women who greatly advance human knowledge, and do so out of their love of mankind. Albert’s wisdom was not restricted to the principles of physics and math; he had a unique way of looking at the world, and the ability to share their deep insights into life and the universe for the benefit of others. He was an eternal optimist, and as the above quote demonstrates, had a firm grip on the concept of living with honor and dignity.

He believed in the inherent goodness of every man, and lived his life in a way that it stands as an example for the rest of us. I cannot wholly agree with what he states above, because I have a much darker view of what human nature is capable of, and less faith in mankind’s willingness to submit to natural law. But what he said does show with clarity where our salvation lies, and in his own inimitable manner, he shares his deeper knowledge with the rest of us in the hope it will inspire others to act honorably….

“To laugh often and love much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to give of oneself; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sing with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier: this is to have succeeded.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

From what I gather in my study of 19th century American writers, a lot of the best were what I would call masters of advanced curmudgeonry. Emerson, Walden, Thoreau,  were all libertarians living in compromise with a democracy, and spent much of their time either complaining about society, or hiding from it in their forest retreats. This is not to say that what they wrote was bad or mistaken in premise, necessarily, but if you read their work with this in mind, it becomes apparent that they didn’t much like other folks, or put much trust in their rationality.

But, as the included quote indicates, being a curmudgeon doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t understand humanity, or what it takes to make life complete. This paragraph from Mr. Emerson demonstrates this perfectly. One cannot argue with conviction that all of these attributes listed, and experiences from a long life, are positively rooted, and make perfect sense. Whether or not we actually have all of these characteristics is unimportant; the list remains valid even if incomplete. And it provides anyone with a good map and directions that can be useful to us in our pursuit of happiness….

So much for another day…. Hopefully, you have consumed a fair portion of food for thought, and found it palatable enough. If not, feel free to let me know, and I’ll see if I can come up with something more savory…. in the meantime, y’all take care out there….

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Today’s Pearl is one of the reasons I go with my instincts a lot…. I was going to write fresh today, but, every time I turned around, a better alternative presented itself…. So, I went with the flow, and can only say I’m glad I did…. This came out pretty well…. Now, if I can get more than five or six ffolkes to read it, or even a few more folks than normally drop by,  I’ll be happy as a clam at high tide…. See y’all tomorrow, 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

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Practical methods simply won’t do…..

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Ffolkes,

“All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience.” — Goethe

July 20 2014 006    More often than not, sitting down to write in the morning becomes problematic, at least from a mental standpoint…. These days, the physical aspect of almost everything is complicated by the aging process, thus removing itself from the onus of discussion; I decided if I can’t feel 25 any more, at least I can show some dignity about it, and quit whining about it…. Sure, I wake up tired… doesn’t everybody this age do that? It sure has become more common over MY lifetime, so, I figure it must be one of those things they forgot to put in the manual, and one of those things we just have to deal with….

Fortunately, today’s physical outlook was greatly improved, by the application of a long-needed massage to this tired old wreck of a body…. Yep, I broke down, & spent the extra money to get a massage, and I feel at least 100% better for it….. The effects last for days, before the pain levels again get to the point of ridiculousness, and I have to drug myself into oblivion, so I’m cruising on good vibes now, left over from yesterday morning’s hedonistic, most welcome rubdown…. It also makes me realize I’m going to be doing it more often…. it’s just too damn good for me to ignore….

It’s pretty nice to wake up without the usual degree of stiffness & pain; one forgets what it is like to go without such morning gifts….. which probably explains the picture…. The flowers were arranged for maximum color effect, as part of the display at a Farmer’s Market, and appealed to my sense of artistic appreciation, as a form of art that creates itself, so to speak…. Looking at the picture makes me feel good…. it’s really just that simple, and that good feeling will, I can tell, get me through a lot of the day before it wears off….

I feel so good, I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to rant, even though there is a good headline to work with; sexual predators are one of my favorite targets for vituperation and/or vitriol, but, today, I won’t be vicious enough to do it justice….. Pedophiles, as a group, and individually, are one of my most hated categories of human perversity, right up there with pimps, politicians, bankers, and preachers…. If and/or when one of them appears before me, my hands tend to curl into claw-like appendages that I cannot prevent from reaching for their throat, to throttle them, and watch them die right in front of me, experiencing the fear and shame they give their victims, as they steal, and pervert their victims’ innocence….

I’m not sure what may happen at this point…. I’m going to take a break, then come back and decide how to proceed…. In the meantime, refresh your coffee, or your adult beverage of choice, and make sure you are well-fastened in, because the ride today could get a bit bumpy…. or, it could go as smooth as a baby’s bottom…. Let’s go see….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“You’re aware the boy failed my grade school math class, I take it?  And not that many years later he’s teaching college.  Now I ask you:  Is that the sorriest indictment of the American educational system you ever heard?  [pauses to light cigarette.]  No aptitude at all for long division, but never mind.  It’s him they ask to split the atom.  How he talked his way into the Nobel prize is beyond me.  But then, I suppose it’s like the man says, It’s not what you know…” — Karl Arbeiter: former teacher of Albert Einstein

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Below is the article I mentioned above, about the newest information from Britain, regarding the revelations of a pedophile ring in the Houses of Parliament, what they call “Westminster”, back in the 60’s and 70’s, a ring that included numerous peers of the realm, dukes, earls, and the like, and a number of Members of Parliament (MP’s), of both houses, all of whom used their positions of authority to hide their perversions…. I read it, and, can only say, one has to consider the source that printed it….

It’s pretty salacious, and depends a lot on hearsay…. but, it’s clear that, in spite of any lack of hard evidence at this point, the investigation is going to reveal a LOT of cover-ups and abuses of power…. In short, there will be more examples coming out, you can be sure…. Before they are done, I’m pretty sure that a large percentage of the British aristocracy, and a significant number of the political class, will have been taken down due to their part in the crimes being found out….

Count on it…. and that’s all I’ll say on the matter, for now…. Below the link, you’ll find a seven-star pearl, to drive home some of what I’m trying to say by not ranting…. whatever THAT means….

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/10978492/My-father-was-a-sexual-predator-like-Jimmy-Savile-says-son-of-former-Tory-MP.html

“America will tolerate the taking of a human life without giving it a second thought. But don’t misuse a household pet.” — Dick Gregory, The Shadow that Scares Me, 1968

“Wherever there is a crowd there is untruth.” — Soren Kierkegaard

“The ass is still an ass, e’en though he wears a lion’s hide.” — William Shakespeare

“We don’t pay taxes.  Only the little people pay taxes.” — Leona Helmsley, quoted in the NY Times, July 22, 1989

“Populus vult decipi.”  [The people like to be deceived.] — Some random Caesar

The Bible is true this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.

— Jordan Henderson

(A most perfect example of the term “ipse dixit”….)

“What kind of sordid business are you on now?  I mean, man, whither goest thou?  Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?” — Jack Kerouac

Hmm…. It came out a bit eclectic, but, I think you’ll get the picture…. Onward, he said, hopefully….

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To keep from spreading the blame around to those who don’t deserve it, we’re going with another of mine…. Enjoy, please….

Roses for Noses

I have a bozoid personality, of the first degree;
 nobody, I mean nobody, knows that better than me.
I often wonder, as the world goes around, and around
 how many others have realized just what I’ve found….

I know for a fact, I’m not the only bozoid one;
 too many people laughing out there, having fun.
Is their laughter, though, at themselves first?
 Or is it some other impulse, like purple liverwurst”….

I’ve always loved to make others laugh and giggle,
 since my tender youth, when my ears began to wiggle.
 The world is full of humor,  but not always easy to find
  so laughing at myself I learned never to mind….

We bozos know each other, here, there, and everywhere
 there’s no hiding such joy, it just wouldn’t be fair.
We all have one feature, our great bulbous nose,
 and there’s no doubt at all, cuz it just grows….

There’s nothing like a good, big mistake, a disaster,
 to show us the folly of living life faster and faster.
Nothing in the world can ever take the place,
 of seeing in the mirror, a happy, smiling face….

Don’t be shy, just let it all hang out;
 we bozos have more fun, there’s no doubt.
Life’s too somber and gray if we let it get on top
 if we don’t stay loose, the pain won’t ever stop….

My advice to all of you, out there in the world,
 let noses grow round & red, keep hair tightly curled.
Find a way to let your spirit out often to play,
 you’ll never once regret any price you pay.

~~ gigoid ~~

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I’m running late, having slept too well, and too long….. So, sue me….. Here, then, as a time-saver, is a discussion from last year, a “retrospective” that is actually pretty okay…. Enjoy….

From 11/30/2013:

A man who can fool chiefs, and even gods, must still face the monsters he himself created.” — Old Maori saying

Introspection has always been a hobby of mine, but, since turning the ripe old age of 63, it seems to have become even more of a time-consuming process for me than has been true for most of my life….

I can remember lying on my bed in the state of Washington, when my father was stationed there at Fort Lewis…. I would stare at the bottom of my brother’s upper bunk, and imagine all manner of things, including about myself, and my place in the universe…. Even at the tender age of 8 or 9, as the son of an Army sergeant, I had been many places, and seen more of the world than is usual for anyone other than Army brats…. our proud designation for ourselves…. The quest to maintain one’s personality in the face of all the changes going on around us gave me the impetus to perpetually be aware of more than is the norm for kids of that age; at least, it always seemed so, from what I can tell from my knowledge of others of that age….

Now that I’ve reached an age that completely got skipped in my earlier musings of what life would be like, I seem to be thinking back and forth more often, making connections with the past that explain certain elements of my own persona as they manifest today…. My hair, for example…. (I know, I know, my hair isn’t generally the subject of a rant, but, that’s not really what this is…. this is more of a…. a retrospective, yeah, that’s it…. a retrospective…. so, calm down, I’m not going to get all graphic, or gloomy, or pick at anyone in particular, other than myself…. ‘kay?…. ‘Kay!….)

So, I was looking at my picture on my About page, and can only say that, well, there I am…. My hair is even longer now, (a bit grayer, too….). as I see no particular reason to cut it…. which is the root thought that stimulated this entire subject today…. A little while ago, I was standing outside a moment, with my hair not yet tied back into the usual ponytail, and the wind was blowing it around a bit…. I started to get annoyed, then realized I could only blame myself for it getting in my face, because the solution to that problem is right over there in the drawer, where the scissors live…. I thought to myself, how many times has someone asked me, “why don’t you cut your hair?”, and realized I couldn’t count that high….

My own reaction to that particular query is to think, (again…), to myself, “Well, actually, the question that occurs to me to ask is, why don’t I NOT  cut my hair?”…. It seems to me, when I stop to consider the matter logically, and reasonably, that if the hair grows, as it has always done, it must have some sort of evolutionary purpose for doing so, right? It seems logical to me…. Therefore, it seems logical to ask, as well, “who am I to fuss with evolution?” This line of reasoning, naturally, tends to piss of most of the folks who make the original statement to me…. but, I figure that sort of anger is a personal problem, don’t you? I can’t go around taking the heat for what other people don’t like about me, when their anger is based on THEIR beliefs, not mine….

In a way, I suppose it’s the old hippie in me…. Aha, you say, now we’re getting to the meat of the matter! And, typically, I am supposed to say, at this point, “Just what do you mean by that? I don’t know what you’re talking about….”   Then, I smile, and get on with what I was doing, which is explaining why being a hippie is not what most people would think…. I mean, there were a lot of popular misconceptions floating around all during the 60’s (Believe me, it was a very confusing time…. I know, I was there….), when there were a lot of people who thought that there was something wrong, or even evil, about being described as one of those misunderstood knights of the sub-culture….

Yes, I said knights…. Jedi knights, before they were the iconic, eternal, peaceful warrior as made popular in later years…. Hippies were the knights of the 60’s and 70’s, diligently tilting at all the windmills we could find, poking our noses into the business of the military-industrial complex, which I now refer to as the BRC, until they were sick of the sight of anyone with long hair…. Back in the day, even the most rigid of conservative hawks understood that they were witnessing a change of culture, and there was nothing they could do to alter the course that history was taking…. The power of love, and compassion, and freedom swept through the entire world, as well as refreshing American society, with repercussions still being felt today….

One of the most important characteristics of hippies that I don’t think most people understood is that we were only interested in revolution in the sense that revolution means change; no hippie worth the name ever wished to violently overthrow anything that didn’t threaten violence first…. But, it is also true that real hippies have no objection to using violence to defend themselves, a fact which always comes as a big surprise to those who would try to oppress them. As with any tool, honor has to be the regulatory agency for determining which tool should be used, and how…. This, sadly, is a concept that those who prey on other people, who seek power over them, can never truly understand, as it is not a part of their perception of reality….

I see that I’ve reached a point where this must either get very pointed, or fade into the background for the time being…. I’m feeling mellow, due to re-connecting with the halcyon days of my youth, so I’ll show mercy here, and opt for the latter…. Besides, I’m all out of introspection for the nonce, and there’s no telling when it might drop back by…. I’ll leave y’all with one final pearl, to seal the deal….

“Oh, how we fear the metamorphoses through which we truly become fledged humans, real mensches of the species homo sapiens. Yet even if we do not willingly undergo them, changes pursue us just the same. The woman who never bears a child metamorphoses in different ways. We may dig in our heels and dare life never to change, but, all the same, it changes under our feet like sand under the feet of a sea gazer as the tide runs out. Life is forever undermining us. Life is forever washing away our castles, reminding us that they were, after all, only sand and sea water.” — Erica Jong: Parachutes and Kisses

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All things considered, it came out okay; that’s actually just a guess, but, I guess we’ll go with it, trusting to my basic skills to carry the day…. That may be ill-considered, but, what the hell…. It’s Monday, right? I can always blame it on that….. Tomorrow, it’ll be Tuesday, which means all bets are off, so, we may as well get started on getting there…. See y’all tomorrow, 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

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Tossing beans with butter, in a bowl….

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Ffolkes,

Late, again…. Fuck it, I’m not even going to worry about it a little bit; whatever happens, happens. I’m too bloody grumpy to care, so, it’s just as well I’m giving up right out of the gate…. I have the distinct feeling that if I made any attempt to be normal, not only would it fail, but, the Universe at large would enjoy a huge guffaw at my expense…. with which, I’m sorry to say, I’m becoming all too familiar…. Murphy’s myrmidons must get promoted by merit, because each bloody one of them laughs harder than the last one, whenever they’re around at those moments I try for normalcy…. Bloody assholes, every damn one of them….

There, now that I’ve whined enough, we can start the day with a different tenor…. How about a bit of fiction? Let’s see….

Harry couldn’t figure out if he should knock at the front, or go around to the back door, where all the servants entered the house…. He knew, as he’d been watching all morning, screwing up his courage to approach the magnificent edifice, standing in all it’s Victorian elegance on the corner of Harper and Main…. Harper House, home to the rich, powerful Harper family, the original settlers of the town, way back in colonial days, had stood on that corner since its construction in 1802, by Hiram Harper, the first white man to settle in the valley. It was 1797, when he walked over Harper Mountain, & got his first view of the valley below, spreading out to the south, trees covering the slopes, with leaves gilded from the sun, shining down with strong promises made to the future….

Well…. that was…. something. Not particularly gripping, but, not too bad…. It sets a stage, and paints a picture, but, I’m not sure I’m happy with the flow, or the elegance…. Oh well, for an early morning throw-away, it’s not bad…. and it did get us this far down the page…. Today, that’s a big help, as my brain isn’t cooperating…. I guess I’m a little excited (and when I say stuff like that, I feel six years old again, but, hey, old age is known to cause its victims to display a retreat to a younger time, when we could actually walk to another part of the house without having to make a plan for the return trip….), because my daughter is coming by today, and we’re going to go to dinner with my son, her brother, and hopefully, his new friend(s)….

Since I am so excited about this evening, I am in a quandary this morning, as I just can’t seem to get going on this…. Oh well, this calls for the immediate application of an emergency bail-out method, and, I’m thinking, #4 is always the most effective, so…. hang on, and we’ll apply that…. NOW….

Shall we Pearl?….

“My atheism, like that of Spinoza, is true piety towards the universe and denies only gods fashioned by men in their own image, to be servants of their human interests.” — George Santayana

(I’m encouraged now…. finding that quote so quickly gives me hope for the rest of this mess…. I hope it’s an indication that Murphy has taken his leave for now, and the rest of this will be left alone…. we can always hope, can’t we?…. Onward, with new bravery…. Huzzah!…..)

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

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Expert-witness-in-toy-gun-case-has-history-of-5614736.php

When I saw this, I became somewhat depressed…. It’s absolute truth; you can tell. This guy, this “expert witness” is nothing more than a shill, whom the courts and the police have been using to defend the indefensible for years….. In those instances where officers use their weapons, this guy has been set up as a final judge of the events that lead up to the incidents, whose word is the equivalent to law, in essence, as it is given more credence than even scientific evidence…. which is a crock, and they know it…. It’s a disturbing thing to find out, as it gives more evidence of how the courts, the police, and the government at large is ignoring or obstructing the issue of police militarization, one I see as a distinctly egregious problem, and one that really NEEDS to be watched….

In fact, this whole idea, of having such an obviously biased individual being given priority in court, makes me so angry, I’m having trouble organizing my arguments…. There are just SO MANY moral and ethical objections to such an event, I can’t decide where to begin…. So, instead, I’ll ask you to read the article, and make your own arguments…. It isn’t hard, particularly…. they are so fucking OBVIOUSLY prejudiced, you’ll find some objections, I’m sure…. Me, I’m going to raid the archives, for something that won’t make my stomach so damned upset, or at least, that won’t offend my sensibilities so badly….

Ah, here we go….. y’all enjoy this, ffolkes, I’m going to go calm down for a few minutes, before I try to deal with poetry…..

From 12/22/2012, a very numerological day…. It’s almost a poem, stated out loud…. One two, two two, two oh one two…. pretty cool, eh? Okay, I’ll stop now…. read on, ffolkes, it’s a fun one… (a Funyun?….):

“Unknowingly, we plow the dust of stars, blown about us by the wind, and drink the universe in a glass of rain.” — Ihab Hassan

What a beautiful line! I wasn’t sure when I saved it last night just what kind of pearl it would make, but it creates such a beautiful image in the mind, I couldn’t resist. I suppose it makes a fine contrast to how I feel just now, and as such, can be used to demonstrate how our attitudes are under our control, if we but choose to assume it…..

I feel like shit, emotionally, for various reasons, and that is reflected in my attitude toward the day; I don’t want to face it. I’d like to be able to just turn it all off, and go visit a friend somewhere far away. But, being stuck here, waiting for relief from my financial limitations, keeps me on the edge of depression, as well as keeping me in place…. If only for the time it takes to read, and contemplate this line, beauty takes over, and my thoughts and attitude undergo a marked change for the better. All it takes is a reminder of what we always have as creatures of this reality, our potential for grace.

“Grace”. Interesting word, that…. I like what it implies, the feeling of being connected to the universe, and enjoying that tie for the joy it can bring. To live in grace means to act rightly, surrounding oneself with beauty, increasing the joy in life by living it well, passionately, with compassion and humility. I can understand how religious folks would seek to receive such from the practice of their faith, though I can’t agree with them about exactly where grace comes from. They seem to believe that it is something given to them, as a reward for their faith, when in reality, it is something they have to learn to give, and can only be found inside themselves, because that is where it always is…. It just isn’t always free to let itself be known….

“The supreme irony of life is hardly anyone ever gets out of it alive.” — Robert Heinlein

Perspective…. the proper perspective can be hard to find, and it is good when such can be provided for us by a simple phrase, like this one, and the first one, above. The first phrase tells us to remember there are two sides to life, and only one side is inherently painful. This quote, from the Grand Master, is a reminder to SEEK perspective, and is one nobody should ever lose track of, as it is universally applicable. One may, at least temporarily, find ways to avoid paying taxes, but there is no avoiding death…. none.

Mere contemplation of our own death is a sure way to gain perspective. It may not always be the most amenable, or comfortable perspective, but it is the most truthful that can be acquired, without exception. Nothing will ground us better than thinking about our own demise, as there is no room for anything but truth when dealing with the whole concept. Anything less than the truth just fails to compute….. Not the most comforting line of thought, unless one has learned not to fear death, but, who is ever very successful at that? I mean, that’s why there are so many different religions out there, all offering their own way of dealing with that fear…. they’re just not very good at it. Well, not very truthful, anyway….

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” — W. W. Zeige

I’m not sure whether I can truthfully classify this as a pearl. The criteria for that decision  are pretty loose, all in all, so it will fit in that respect. But, I do rather like to make some valid point, and this one doesn’t seem to have one I can find offhand. We humans spend a lot of our mental energy on stuff like this, which may be a clue as to the whole problem of the inability of so many of us to cope with reality without some kind of crutch, or without letting someone else do our thinking for us. That isn’t a danger for me, thank goodness, but most of humanity seems to fall into that pattern, and that, in itself, presents me with perspective issues, as mine differs radically from most everyone in the mainstream of society.

Oh, there are a lot more ffolkes such as myself out there; WordPress is proof enough of that. But, the major percentage of the population of this country generally prefers not to have to exercise their mental muscles any more than is absolutely necessary. Whether the inertial momentum that is built up by such a large percentage is amenable to adjustment remains to be seen, and all we can do is our best, to spread the virus of rational thought as far as we can….. “You’re our only hope, Obi-wan!”……

“I feel better about world problems now!” — Zippy the Pinhead

And, so do I! Shall we move on?…..

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

I’m not sure yet what will go here, so, you’ll just have to wait…. Hey, I’m waiting, too!…. Okay, waiting done…. If you’ve been here with any regularity, you’ll know who I will pick, for, when there is any question about it, I always turn to her…. It’s Emily, of course…. writing on a subject very near, if not dear, to my heart….

The hallowing of pain

The hallowing of Pain
Like hallowing of Heaven,
Obtains at a corporeal cost —
The Summit is not given

To Him who strives severe
At middle of the Hill —
But He who has achieved the Top —
All — is the price of All —
     
~~Emily Dickinson ~~

emily icon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This old school pearl has been collected with parameters that should, hopefully, cause some fairly steady bleeding among our Beloved Ruling Class, should any of them happen to see it…. I found the first couple of pearls sitting here, having obviously been collected previously, with that in mind… Well, so be it…. I never block any of my impulses, if I can keep from doing so…. and this one will, no doubt, be a good one, pointed and sharp, just the way I like them…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. I intend to….. Oh, also…. this will be a rare pearl, a nine-star, just because, when I use nine, the pattern of the wounds makes such a lovely design on their bodies….

“Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.” — Samuel Johnson

(I know…. I said this pearl would be taking shots at the BRC, and asininnies in general…. But, read that line again, and tell me you don’t automatically think of politicians…. I know I do, because the phrase accurately describes no other segment of our society better, than it does those whom we have elected…. Sad, I know, but, all too true….)

“Most people seem to think that trampling individual rights is OK if it is “for the good of society as a whole.”  However, society is but a large number of individuals, and how can harming the individual parts better the whole?” — Andrew Ford, forda@agcs.com

“The First Amendment does not say that there is freedom of expression provided the talk is not `dangerous’. It does not say that there is freedom of expression provided the utterance has no tendency to subvert. It does not put free speech and freedom of the press in the category of housing, sanitation, hours of work, factory conditions, and the like, and make it subject to regulation for the public good. Nor does it permit legislative restraint of freedom of expression so long as the regulation does not offend due process. All notions of regulation or restraint by government are absent from the First Amendment. For it says in words that are unambiguous, `Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.'” — Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, 1958

“A politician will always tip off his true belief by stating the opposite at the beginning of the sentence.  For maximum comprehension, do not start listening until the first clause is concluded.  Begin instead at the word “but” which begins the second, or active, clause.  This is the way to tell a liberal from a conservative–before they tell you.  Thus: “I have always believed in a strong national defense, second to none, but … ” (a liberal, about to propose a $20 billion defense cut).” — Frank Mankiewicz

(Don’t worry about the labels here, ffolkes…. Mr. Mankiewicz seems to show a bit of bias toward conservatism…. but, it’s still true…. liberal, conservative, whatever…. they ALL do this….)

“Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism — how passionately I hate them!” — Albert Einstein

“If God wanted us to have a President, He would have sent us a candidate.” — Jerry Dreshfield

“A conservative is a man who wants the rules changed so no one can make a pile the way he did.” — Gregory Nunn

“Curse all his virtues! they’ve undone his country.” — Joseph Addison (1672-1719) — Cato, Act iv, Sc. 4

(I really do love irony…. and, its twin sister, sarcasm…. When both are used in conjunction with hyperbole, well…. awesome is the word that comes to mind for me…..)

“Do not speak of what men deserve.   For we each of us deserve everything, every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead Kings, and we each of us deserve nothing, not a mouthful of bread in hunger. Have we not eaten while another starved?  Will you punish us for that?  Will you reward us for  the virtue of starving while others ate?  No man earns punishment, no man earns reward.  Free your mind of the idea of *deserving*, of *earning*, and  you will begin to be able to think.” — Odo, The Prison Letters (Ursula LeGuin, _The Dispossessed_)

I probably don’t need to mention (to this crowd…) that, learning to think in this fashion makes it much simpler to perceive the lies and oppression that the BRC and Asininnies spread around like the clap…. with exactly the same effect on society as that dreaded bacteria has on an individual, if not treated…. sickness, isolation, loss of self and others, and eventual death, from either the disease itself, or the loneliness it can engender in its victims….. Sadly, most of society hasn’t even a clue they’ve been infected by their own leaders, so, no treatment is even considered necessary…. which, as noted, will eventually lead to…. what was that? Oh, yeah….. DEATH….

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

It may not be the best Pearl I’ve ever done, but, it has the one primary characteristic that makes it good enough…. it’s done. I can’t do any more damage to it; it’s already dead. So, I’m going to post the corpus, and hope for the best before it starts to deteriorate…. At least I know it won’t smell bad…. at least, not until the technology advances to the point of making what we see on our comps complete with information for the other senses…. i.e. “sensies”, Virtual Reality complete with smells, touch, sounds, sights, and tastes….. Boy, once that happens, we all will need to be more careful about what we leave lying around, won’t we?  Until then, this will do…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I’m not in jail….

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

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Provenance won’t impress the hungry….

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1

Ffolkes,

“Happiness is the only good, reason the only torch, justice the only worship, humanity the only religion, and love the only priest.” — Robert G. Ingersoll (American lawyer and orator)

Well, color me surprised, and more than a little amazed, that an American lawyer not only said this, but sounds as if he believes it…. Howdy, ffolkes, and don’t fret, this isn’t the beginning of a rant, though it could easily be one…. No, there’s plenty of that coming up later…. No, my comment was merely prompted by seeing the word lawyer in conjunction with the words, justice, humanity, reason, and love…. Typically, those qualities are missing from the list of those shown by lawyers, especially American lawyers…. and don’t try to make me guilty over picking at them again…. If they didn’t DO this stuff, it wouldn’t come back to haunt them….

I guess I’ll have to go look him up in Google, so I can see how he came to be….. It isn’t simple, or easy, I would imagine, to be able to hold on to such a powerful set of ethics and morals, when everything in one’s training, and society itself, is telling one to act in an opposite fashion, i.e. immorally, and unethically….

(Once again, don’t start….. I know ALL of them aren’t that way, but, if there weren’t a reason for them, lawyer jokes wouldn’t be necessary, now, would they?….). I’ll stop with the lawyer digs, and jokes, when ONE person can show me proof that 50% of the lawyers in practice have, all of a sudden, become caring, compassionate human beings…. Simple enough, eh? And, bloody impossible, as there aren’t that many honest lawyers out there….. there just aren’t….

Maybe I am ranting… what do you think? Is this a direct attack on lawyers at large? Maybe so…. In that case, let me take a short break, to see if I can find a way back to something more resembling an introduction…. Be right back, ffolkes…. time for a pain break anyway….

Hmm…. Okay, so, there isn’t much, ffolkes….. but, in the interests of full disclosure, I didn’t look real hard. I guess I’m just in a ranting mood, so, maybe you should consider donning the Kevlar vests, and the helmets provided for you as part of your entrance fee….. What? No fees are being collected? Again? Damn it all, where the hell’s Luigi? He’s supposed to be taking the admission gate…. Now I’ll have to take the time to find him, & see why he’s been so flaky of late….

In the meantime, perhaps it would be best to just forgo any further attempts at logic or reason…. I don’t think they’ll be of much use at this point…. Instead, we’ll just go on, and do the best we can with what is there to use….. Wish me luck….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“If I had my life to live over again, I’d be a plumber.” — Albert Einstein

Me? I’d have liked to have been a travel writer….. a job that combines my two favorite activities…. Hell, it may yet happen, who knows? Stranger things, as they say, have happened….

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I’ve avoided full out ranting for a while now, having reached a point where I felt I was repeating myself too often, without achieving any of the results that it would be nice to see for all my efforts (such as a world-wide revolution against the corporate masters who have oppressed society for millennia now…. I can dream, can’t I?….). In the last couple of days, I’ve seen a number of articles in various news sites detailing the latest news on several fronts worth ranting about…. Let’s see what’s up, eh?….


Only one comment is relevant in response to this: these people are out of control…. By “these people”, I’m referring in general to the NSA, and their cohorts, the CIA, FBI, and whatever other clandestine-oriented criminals masquerading as official entities who have jumped on the “let’s go fight terrorism” bandwagon, which offers them a perfect cover, and excuse, both of which augment and support their private agenda, which is, simply, to control and mislead the public, so they can continue their raping and pillaging of the public treasury, and blame the terrorists……

Then, of course, there is what has been discovered lately about what the NSA, the CIA, and the oxymoronic intelligence agencies that are part of the US pantheon of spies…. In the case below, in Germany, yet ANOTHER double agent was found to have been perverted by the CIA, this one working in one of the German defense departments…. As a result of this one, the article below shows the latest reaction by the German government….

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10959549/Germany-asks-CIA-station-chief-in-Berlin-to-leave-country-over-US-spying-row.html

Of course, all the politicians, in both countries, are just salivating, at all the opportunities they will have for political jockeying over these incidents…. The Republicans are happy because it gives them more ammunition against their nightmare, the Black President with Some Integrity, while, on the other side of the aisle, the Democrats are happy because it gives them a chance to get their own names out in the public eye, making statements, and looking concerned…. Neither one actually gives a shit about the issue, but, it’s one they like to see being played out, as it offers so many different ways to distract and obfuscate….

Then, of course, I saw this one…. I’ve been following a bit of this…. It seems that, back in the Thatcher days, the British equivalent to our Congress, their Houses of Parliament, there were a large number of child molesters in office, and they went so far as to use their power, and positions of authority, to further their sick, pedophiliac habits, covering up their crimes with ease, as they had the authority to tell the police to ignore issues, or sweep them under the table…. A member of the House of Commons collected evidence on it, then turned in his report to what should have been the proper authorities, over thirty years ago….

Naturally, that report was “lost” before any action on it’s contents could be formulated, and the whole issue was swept under the bureaucratic table…. Now, this whole episode is coming to light, and the politicians in Westminster are running around like a disturbed nest of ants…. It’s actually quite entertaining, if a bit sick-making, to watch all these psychopathic assholes try to figure out how this will affect them, or, in many cases, trying to decide whether to kill themselves now, or wait until after their trial…. Read it, then join me in a big raspberry to all the sick bastards who are involved, who may now get their just desserts….

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10959997/Westminster-whistleblower-told-to-back-off-over-paedophiles.html

Sick, sick people, that’s all I can say…. To finish off this bit of random ranting, below you’ll find a list of people who live in the SF Bay Area who are billionaires…. You know, those privileged elite who believe that, because they have all this money, they can pretty much do whatever they wish to do, without any consequences for their actions…. and, they’d pretty much be right about that….

When was the last time you heard about, or read about, some billionaire going to jail, or even to trial, when they have broken the law? That would right about NEVER, right? Hell, these people, when arrested, or even stopped for a traffic violation, never even have those incidents make it to the papers; you never even HEAR about any trouble they have, because it is all taken care of, hushed up and forgotten, before anyone in the public even knows it has taken place…. That is what money can buy, ffolkes, never doubt it…. Take a look at the list, and the amount of money these assholes are hoarding for their own use….

http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Who-are-the-richest-families-in-the-Bay-Area-5610052.php

545.9 BILLION DOLLARS! What an incredible number, describing 18 families in the Bay Area who have a net worth in the billions of dollars; the smallest number I saw was 1.2 billion, I believe, and the most disgusting, er, largest, was WalMart’s owners, the Waltons, at, get this, 152 billion. That number, by the way, is the kind of number the mind can’t really grasp, but, think of it this way…. This insanely small number of people have as much financial resource at their disposal as all but perhaps ten countries in the world…. The US Dept. of Housing budget, for any particular year, is not very much larger than this amount, I’m guessing, if at all….

Astounding, mind-blowing, and to me, reprehensible, that so few people can be not just allowed, by the system, and society, but actively  encouraged and directed into perversity by the forces of history, with results that reward such behavior…. All to often, the Powers That Be will aid and abet those who successfully hoard that much for themselves, as opposed to more of a moral attitude, which prioritizes such resources into using them to supply what society may have need for…. which, essentially, another way of saying that society, and the victims of such selfishness, is made to pay for the rotten effects of the corruption and indifference to morality shown by those who have hoarded the resources in the first place….

Okay, ffolkes, we’re about done…. Here, to finish this off with a bit of more positive energy, is another fine article from Mark Morford, this time pointing out some obvious bits of information that are generally ignored by critics of the Obama administration…. I mean, he IS a politician, so, as Mark points out, there are still some questionable issues Barry has raised with his spotty conservatism, and terrorist paranoia…. not to mention how he has catered and kowtowed to the financial community…. disgusting….

Nevertheless, in terms of getting things done that will actually HELP the average American, he has done quite well…. Read this, and try to pay attention… I know this is getting long, but, we’re almost done….

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2014/07/08/the-best-worst-president-ever/

As usual, Mark has put his finger on a point most people would miss altogether…It’s brilliant, funny, and all-too-accurate to miss…. Go ahead, I’ll wait…. There, now, don’t you feel a bit lighter? No? Okay, well, I tried…. We’re done here, so I’ll leave you with this final word, to try to bring this to its most efficient, effective ending….

“Rare gift! but oh what gift to fools avails!”

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Odyssey of Homer, Book x, Line 29

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I’m using my own poetry again today, simply because the above took so long, I don’t have any more time to go look for something appropriate by someone else…. and Smart Bee is being a bit of a bastard today, in re: giving me quotes I can actually USE…. Any who, to prevent further whining, here is one from the archives…. This one was written, and first posted, in October of 2012….

Penance, Made Simple

After all the dross is sent away
a celebration can begin,
time will face up to space, to stay
willing, to shine from within.

Anger and confusion come in to share
brushing reason aside,
eager to welcome all that is fair,
alert to danger, eyes wide.

Re-gift the wicked with their own pain
stand with the just;
fail to partake of the ill-gotten gain,
living in honor, the only must.

Standing fast in the face of wrong
is its own prize and reward.
Holding on to truth makes us strong,
well worth working toward.

Little is left to chance by fate
our lessons are never free of cost.
Seldom does reality make us wait
only when alone, are we lost.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

As you probably have guessed by now, this will be another random, harlequin, old-school pearl, because A) it’s fast, B) it’s cheap, and C) it’s what I can do without going off the rails completely…. in other words, I’m using the all-purpose, universal, time-tested American excuse…. Expedience! Enjoy!….

“What you see is from outside yourself, and may come, or not, but is beyond your control.  But your fear is yours, and yours alone, like your voice, or your fingers, or your memory, and therefore yours to control.  If you feel powerless over your fear, you have not yet admitted that it is yours, to do with as you will.” — Marion Zimmer Bradley, “Stormqueen”

“I once asked my history teacher how we were expected to learn anything useful from his subject, when it seemed to me to be nothing but a monotonous and sordid succession of robber baron scumbags devoid of any admirable human qualities. I failed history.” — Sting

“There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it with reluctance.” — Terence (185-159 BC)
— Heautontimoroumenos, Act iv, Sc. 6, 1, (805.)

“We become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions.” — Aristotle

“Until philosophers are kings … cities will never cease from ill, nor the human race.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.)

“Our care should not be to have lived long as to have lived enough.” — Seneca

“I’m pretending I’m pulling in a TROUT!  Am I doing it correctly?” — Zippy the Pinhead

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

For a Pearl that felt so choppy while in the process of creation, this didn’t come out too badly at all…. In order to keep from feeling like a complete liar, I’m going to go ahead an post it, without even going over it with a critical eye…. some proofing, and, as far as I am concerned, it’s good to go…. Call me Ishmael, or call me a fool…. just don’t call me late for dinner…. 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

Featured Image -- 2780

“Off to Mars Port? Safe journey, Pilot!”….

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5

Ffolkes,

July 5 2014 002

    What you see above is an example of pure shamelessness…. Oh, not the cat, though, when she is too hot, trying to cool off, as here in the picture, she’s not above getting into any pose at all, in the center of the coolest spot available in the house, no matter how ridiculous it may look to others…. That, though, isn’t shameless, it’s just being cat…. not “a” cat, but, cat; it’s as much of an attitude, describing a state of being, as it is a noun describing a mammal with fur, claws, and strong opinions…. They really, really don’t give a s–t about what anybody thinks…. It’s not their problem…. That is their bottom line, and would, without a single doubt, be their only response if we could ask them, “What do you think about, well, anything anyone thinks about you?”…..

No, I’m the shameless one here, for taking advantage of the ‘puir wee beastie’, snapping her picture, then holding it up for all to see, merely to say I have tried something new and different to get things going in the mornings… (I confess, the cuteness factor played into the decision…. She IS an animal, and cute….) Besides, she deserves a little embarrassment, if it is at all possible to make a cat feel any such emotion, for the way she used to wake me up, and wake up her mistress, and generally, for all the little PK (that’s psycho-kitty, for those who don’t know..), mad dashes, ripped papers, lost pens, stolen pictures, and otherwise annoying little habits she has developed over time….

She has her sweet moments, but, we tend to tolerate each other more than dote, I’m sorry to say. I love animals, but, just look at those eyes…. I suppose it’s from being raised feral for a couple of weeks before being adopted to a home with humans…. There is still has a strong streak of wild buried inside her, and she’s not afraid to let it out…. We have come to terms, though, and our toleration now has tinges of affection at times, so, it’s all good…

So, there you go…. How’s that for a change of pace? No nonsense, no heaviness, no fiction, no blather (Well, maybe some, but, DIRECTED blather, all on one subject….) (a subject EVERYONE can get behind, right?…), and most importantly for me, no confusion, no sweat, no searching, nor any of my usual fear of not having anything to start with…. WHEW! Works for me!….

Of course, this doesn’t take any of the possible challenges involved in adopting a whole new policy & procedure, complete with Art, and all its implications, into account, but, maybe I’ll wait to see just what they are, before I dismiss this technique out of hand…. In fact, maybe I’ll try it again tomorrow, & see what happens…. Something to look forward to, eh, what? It also segues very nicely into the end of the intro section, and, if you didn’t see that coming, well, so much the better…

Shall we Pearl?…..

“How you do anything is how you do everything.” — Zen proverb

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“Do you ever think about the end of the world as we know it?” — Calvin

One might think I’d have a rant on tap, but, they’d be wrong…. even if I don’t know exactly why that happens to be true…. I have the outrage, at all the crap that goes on every day, and the angst, that builds up with every headline that shouts out another lie…. What I don’t have is the actual specific subject upon which to rant…. I don’t know if that’s because I can’t decide among the many, many asininnies that are potentially available for abuse, or which of their shenanigans to expose, or if there just isn’t anything compelling enough to draw my immediate ire, as opposed to my constant disrespect for the morality they display…. or, more accurately, the LACK of morality they display….

SIGH…. Whatever the reason, I just don’t have it in me today…. But, from the archives, I DO have a quite fine ‘discussion’, a milder sort of rant, that touches on the root cause of many of the ills in society we see each day…. I hope you enjoy it; it’s a good rant, for it’s type….

From 4/13/2013:

“Custom does often reason overrule and only serves for reason to the fool.” — John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester

This aphorism is one that I think most people would accept as true, at least part of the time. It also points up what I see as a basic flaw in human nature, a characteristic that everyone possesses, and few overmaster. It has to do with our core beliefs, and the attitude we assume as our method of perception, the orientation of our world-view, as it were. We all perceive what is out there in the universe, but we are not capable, at this time, of understanding, or even noting, all that is there to be perceived, as we are limited to what we can see, hear, feel, touch, taste, or deduce, in our immediate vicinity…. We don’t yet know how to include the input of anything not in our physical presence, other than vicariously (via TV, radio, books, etc…..).

We do, however perceive what we are near, and what we do with those perceptions is what determines how the events of our lives will proceed. What is more, each one of us perceives all of this IN A DIFFERENT WAY…..  Two people can look at the same article, or event, and see two entirely different things; just ask them….. We use the same senses, the same KIND of brains to process the data, at the same time to observe the same event, yet the interpretation of those events will vary, by as many degrees as there are people perceiving them. This unique ability, to process data in a completely new and different way from anyone else’s method, is, as might be guessed, both a blessing, and a curse….. It is the latter that concerns me today…..

In order to coexist in the same place and time, people have learned to accept certain perceptions as being identical, for the purposes of communication, e.g., everyone knows what “fire” is, and knows not to touch it barehanded…. (Note: in a way, this blog is all about the process of such communications…. we explore the reality that is consensual, that we all agree to deal with as being the same for all of us…..) This is the blessing it gives, the opportunity to increase understanding, to allow people to work in tandem, making both much more capable, making two more than just one plus one….. This is a very useful tool in the real world, and has helped our species achieve the degree of civilization we now enjoy….

But, the other side of this characteristic has an equal part in our destiny, and may in fact be the more important of the two, in the ultimate sense….. You see, we are all herd animals, and desire the approval and company of our peers; without it, we suffer, much more than we even know. It is not “human” to remain alone too long…. Oh, there is nothing wrong with solitude, and much great thought is achieved when one is not distracted by others….. On the other hand, a human who is alone for too long becomes a pale imitation of his/her true self, without the presence of other minds to test his/her theories, to discuss and share their feelings and accomplishments, to vent their frustrations, to experience love….. Without these things, our spirits become small, and lose their moral compass, leaving us adrift in a reality that seems dark, and dangerous….

This dependence on custom (which I define as the total construct of human society, the set of rules and regulations, all unwritten, by which all of us shape our behavior in respect to each other…..) is so strong that, as the aphorism states, one becomes willing to set reason aside, in order to keep and maintain our feeling of having a place in society. We will assume whatever mask that society demands, at times, in order to not have to wear a mask of our own devising, one that we do not find comfortable…. This is the curse of which I spoke….

You see, there are a number of people who have no compunctions whatsoever in using this human characteristic to their own ends….. They don’t believe in any of the crap they spew, but will say or do anything to make sure that others do, because this is how they control the general populace… They spread their lies, fast and often, until they are believed…. these lies promulgate fear amongst the uneducated and timid, who then demand that “something be done!” by those in charge…. which is exactly what those people wanted, for they can now proceed to further fan the flames of fear, while surreptitiously looting the public treasury to make it seem as if they are doing something constructive…. “Hey, they’re stealing our oil! Let’s spend a few billion to bomb the crap out of them so we can keep driving our gas guzzling SUV’s, each one with 14 great cup holders!”

Oh well, I guess that’s all the rant I’ve got in me today…. It’s kind of mild I know, but I was trying to be scholarly, rather than controversial and accusatory…. I think I’ve succeeded in that, but, it doesn’t quite give the same thrill and/or release as a good, nasty rant, with some great name-calling… Well, I can always call them assholes, because, hey, it fits, and it’s easy to type…. Any who, I’ll stop now, right on the edge of illumination, and allow the Gentle Reader to follow the train of my thought to its obvious conclusion…. For those too busy, or too lazy to do so, I’ll summarize….

Don’t listen to what anyone else says, not about YOUR perceptions. And, for sure, kick the asses of anyone who tries to convince you of their integrity in an elected capacity, or any position of authority…. A lot of people, on every level of society, are just trying to control you for their own purposes, and deserve any ass-kicking that comes their way…. Be like a cat…. cats don’t give a SHIT what anybody thinks, they just are….. No apologies, no fuss, just leave me alone, because I’m busy being a cat….. This is good advice, so, listen up, I’m trying to do you a favor…..   😆

“We need very strong ears to hear ourselves judged frankly, and because there are few who can endure frank criticism without being stung by it, those who venture to criticize us perform a remarkable act of friendship, for to undertake to wound or offend a man for his own good is to have a healthy love for him.” — Michel Eyquem de Montaigne _Essays_, bk. III, ch. 11 [1595]

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This was written on 10/21/2012…. at least, that’s what Windows tells me in the Properties tab for the document file…. I wrote quite a few that year, breaking free of a 35 plus year hiatus from writing poems…. I like it, & that’s all that matters…. Hey, it DOES rhyme, you know? It helps…. Also, full disclosure…. I did change ONE word today…. and, got rid of two….  which also helped…. I hope you like it, too….

Choosing a Theme

Powerful words playing hide and seek in my mind,
teasing with subtle cruelty, pretending to be kind.
Grand visions and flowery verses of beauty and truth
evaded my inner eye all through the days of my youth.

Affable interludes interspersed with allegorical wit
softened the crimes, against all reason, to finally acquit.
Time became at once an enemy, and an ally
Never once compelled to provide an answer why.

Giving gifts of simple kindness are their own pay,
spreading ripples of compassion are felt far and away.
Love given freely is precious, we are ever told,
increasing love received, more than a hundred fold.

Living long, with passion, has centered my soul,
allowing me room, and time, to choose my own goal.
Now I’ve lived past any need to pretend
I love everything in life, even knowing it will end.

~~ gigoid ~~


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Okay, so, since I didn’t do much of anything fresh today, beyond a couple of pearls to fill in what was still needed, after producing most of today’s post yesterday afternoon, during a random energy burst…. and some serendipitous archive-searching…. At least the major portion of this group was picked out this morning, so, here is a little bit of fresh, mixed in with the stuff I found yesterday, while performing the blogging equivalent of dumpster diving….

It’s a strange group, mostly good for giving one’s self periodic pep talks, or, possibly, moral guidance during those moments when reality challenges us to act…. Or, you could read them just for fun….. your choice, as always….

“He who thinks he is raising a mound may only in reality be digging a pit.” — Ernest Bramah

“Fate is a river; free will is a paddle.” — Smart Bee

“Forgiveness is better than revenge, for forgiveness is the sign of a gentle nature, but revenge is the sign of a savage nature.” — Epictetus

“Action is the proper fruit of knowledge.” — Thomas Fuller

“Never fear shadows.  They simply indicate there’s a light shining close by.” — Smart Bee

“Our minds possess by nature an insatiable desire to know the truth.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC)

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” — Albert Einstein

Boy, that last one says it all, don’t it?….

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In spite of the good sleep I managed last night, I’m still tired from my trip on Sunday with the young cone; kids will tire you out trying to keep up, for sure…. Any who, this is done, and that’s all I need to know at this point…. I’m outta here, ffolkes…. I’ll leave you as I greeted you, with a picture of cute…. This one was found on several news sites, so it must be fairly universal in attribution by now…. You gotta love the matching expressions here…. Both of them appear bemused and a little unsure, but, willing to pose together…. amazing synchronicity, I think…. See y’all tomorrow…..
1 for now

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

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