Ffolkes,
~~ Bob Geldorf, “Is That It?” ~~
London Street Scenes ~ Kensington
Buenos dias, amigos…. I thought, perhaps, if I said it in Spanish, it might be more believable…. Es claro, nos entran el pais de fantasía, verdad? But, as we’re fond of saying here on ECR, oh, well. We’ve been here before, though not, perhaps, in such dire straits, re: connection to reality. I guess we’ll just have to wait to see how it all turns out; that’s what experiments are for, they say. You know them, though; they’ll say damn near anything.
Hmm…. Even for me, that’s a bit out there. I think today it will probably be best if we just forgo any further attempts at coherency, in favor of getting our sorry asses out of here, and off to the oyster beds. I recognize this situation; it’s happened before, and, the ONLY way to get out of it is to go with an emergency exit from the intro. Otherwise, we’d be stuck here for hours, just trying find a phrase coherent enough to point the way back. The hell with that; Luigi, take it away…. Hang on, ffolkes; and, please be patient; beverage service will begin AFTER we’ve achieved cruising altitude, not before….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.” — Muhammad Ali
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No ups, no extras, no worries; just our default position for your morning reading/listening enjoyment…. This one got chosen simply because it had the nicest picture on the page…..
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~~ Thomas Jefferson ~~
Today’s rant may wander a bit; such an opening naturally will require some rather flexible direction. Not to worry, though, because the ending pearl will, if I do this right, bring you to exactly the point you need to be, somewhere in the vicinity of Sussman. And, don’t worry if THAT doesn’t compute; it will….
I think, if I had to label my political stance, it would be as a Jeffersonian. Of all our founding fathers, save perhaps George Mason and Thomas Paine, his thoughts and ideas seem to mirror my own most closely, as they have developed over the past 60 years of observing the political scene here in America. Each of those men realized, and appreciated, the necessity for people to guard their own liberties, as they had lived to see in their own time.
The difference I see now is the lack of like-minded people in any position of influence, either in government, business, media, or almost any other category of culture one might pick to examine. In those fields, the lure of power, and, thus, corruption of the principles on which this country was founded, has seen the halls of Government, and Business, and Society at Large filled with self-serving, avaricious, sociopathic thieves, who have no compunction at causing untold suffering, as long as they get what they desire….
American society is sick, as sick as the people who have usurped its direction for their own purposes, which have NOTHING to do with making life better for anyone but themselves. Profit has become the American God, with insane oligarchs stirring the political pot to keep nations at each other’s throats, so they can sell their arms and ammunition for insane profits, at the expense of those who are sent to fight, i.e., the young and ignorant. The average person can no more get ahead in today’s world than can a dog; society is structured to only allow those with resources to succeed. The medical industry does not try to keep us healthy; they can’t sell chemicals to people who aren’t sick, and Big Pharma is just as jealous of their profit margin as are the arms dealers….
Thomas Jefferson would be appalled at what has taken place in this country, for he gave us specific warnings against the bankers and the preachers, their sycophantic arm of education, keeping the masses distracted with promises of immortality in exchange for obedience. Hell, my own father would be appalled; he had begun the process of becoming disillusioned before he succumbed to cancer, having been given a run-around by his own government when he, a veteran, asked them questions about their illegal actions in Vietnam. It only angers me more to know he might yet be alive, had the government not LIED to the public in 1974, when they found out that there IS a cure for cancer, and suppressed its publication.
Sadly, the American people no longer have the will to be free; they’ve been hypnotized into believing all the lies they’re told, and still fully believe their leaders are telling them the truth (an event which has NOT happened AT ALL since about 1943…. If you don’t believe that assertion, just go back & read the headlines from then until now; compare what we were told with what happened, and it will be clear…. Just check it out, if you don’t believe me…. I was there for most of that time, and can assure you, we haven’t been hearing anything remotely true for my entire life….). The ignorance which Jefferson and Paine argued against so strongly has been achieved by the oligarchy; they have a nation of clueless, cowardly wimps, whose main purpose in life is to get ten thousand followers on Twitter….
Tom told us, ffolkes, but, too many of us didn’t listen. Now, we will have to face the consequences. It would help if the rest of the country would do all of us a favor, and OPEN THEIR FUCKING EYES AND MINDS….. Without that, we’re all doomed to a life of slavery, watching the world burn as the oligarchs laugh, and laugh, and laugh….
“In the days when Sussman was a novice Minsky once came to him as he sat hacking at the PDP-6. “What are you doing?”, asked Minsky. “I am training a randomly wired neural net to play Tic-Tac-Toe.” “Why is the net wired randomly?”, asked Minsky. “I do not want it to have any preconceptions of how to play” Minsky shut his eyes, “Why do you close your eyes?”, Sussman asked his teacher. “So that the room will be empty.” At that moment, Sussman was enlightened.” — AI koan
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No brigadier throughout the year
So civic as the jay.
A neighbor and a warrior too,
With shrill felicity
Pursuing winds that censure us
A February day,
The brother of the universe
Was never blown away.
The snow and he are intimate;
I ‘ve often seen them play
When heaven looked upon us all
With such severity,
I felt apology were due
To an insulted sky,
Whose pompous frown was nutriment
To their temerity.
The pillow of this daring head
Is pungent evergreens;
His larder — terse and militant —
Unknown, refreshing things;
His character a tonic,
His future a dispute;
Unfair an immortality
That leaves this neighbor out.
~~ Emily Dickinson ~~
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I keep telling y’all, it’s in the wrist…. Yes it’s another pearl about Life at Large, literally packed with good stuff, most of which will, no doubt, be on the Quiz. It’s my guess the time to take it isn’t far off, ffolkes; perhaps you might want to be ready….
“I take a simple view of life: keep your eyes open and get on with it.” — Laurence Olivier
“We do not walk on our legs, but on our Will.” — Sufi proverb
“I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.” — Aldous Huxley
“A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.” — Nelson Mandela
“Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae fuit.” There is no great genius without a tincture of madness. — Seneca, De Tranquillitate Animi, 17
“A person is not given integrity. It results from the relentless pursuit of honesty at all times.”– Smart Bee
“There are no dangerous thoughts; thinking itself is dangerous.” — Hannah Arendt
“Things don’t change. You change your way of looking, that’s all.” — Carlos Castaneda
“If you get confused, listen to the music play.” — Robert Hunter
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So much for another snapshot of life at gigoid’s place. It’s almost my birthday (day after day after tomorrow….), so, got stuff to do to get ready…. not to mention the mundanes to defend (both from and for…), the soulless corporations to battle, or, the pain to deal with, all of which are on my plate today. Somewhere in there, I’ll try to keep the cat from drawing blood or destroying property. Sounds like a full day; better get started…. See y’all, ffolkes, hopefully soon….
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
gigoid, the dubious
The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.
PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.
“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch
À bientôt, mon cherí….
gigoid 