Dancing in Wilhelmina’s shoes….

Posted on May 12, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Ask of friends only what is honorable.”

~~ Marcus Tullius Cicero ~~

Oregon Wine Country

Hajime…. Once again, I ain’t got it. Some might ask, “What ain’t you got?”, but, they’re just jealous. Others may query, “So what?” They, too, can go take a hike. What I ain’t got today isn’t defined by simple words, so, I’m not going to try. But, to know it’s so is often useful, especially since we all must deal with it. Me, I’m going to fade back 10 yards, and punt. I’ve lost too much ground already to do anything else.

What this means, of course, is today’s Pearl will be chopped up into pieces, and recycled where possible. Where not possible, I’ll either cheat, or bail. Otherwise, there won’t be a Pearl, unless I re-blog an older one, which isn’t happening today. Why? Don’t ask, I won’t have to use the Metaphorse, which, as we all know, can get completely out of hand in a heartbeat. Perhaps, by the end of this paragraph, I’ll have some sort of sense of direction, which will take us where we ought to be by now.

Or, not….. Oh, well, so much for that. Instead, I believe I’ll just forget all the tricks, and distractions, and get on with whatever will happen. I don’t know how this will go, so, wish me luck. I have a distinct feeling I’ll need it…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“Belief is the death of intelligence.”

~~ Robert Anton Wilson ~~

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Camille Saint-Saëns

Okay. I have my direction, such as it is, so, here is what I’ll be listening to while I’m taking it. Y’all enjoy; this is what I listen to when my PTSD is raging, and I am on the edge of tumbling into the abyss. It keeps me from going over, as long as it plays…. You’ll understand, once you’re engaged in listening…. Enjoy!….

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Camille Saint-Saëns

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https://youtu.be/eIZpyoKHhXo

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Since I’ve got nothing, here’s a rant from early last year, sometime during my descent into my personal Hell…. Enjoy, ffolkes; it’s rather pointed…. and delightfully nasty in spots….

From 1/29/2015:

“A power has risen up in the government greater than the people themselves, consisting of many and various and powerful interests, combined into one mass, and held together by the cohesive power of the vast surplus in the banks.” — Johann L. Uhland (1787-1862) — Speech, May 27, 1836

Zowie! Eureka! I knew I’d heard this somewhere before, but, couldn’t remember the author’s name. In stating this observation, made not long after the US government was formed, the author takes the hand of Thomas Jefferson, who expressed his fear of exactly this happenstance, in numerous letters to friends before, and after, the signing of the Constitution. He recognized the overpowering ambition and thirst for power so obvious in those who embrace it, attempting to warn his fellow citizens, many times….

As is plain to see, nobody paid the slightest attention, whereupon the bankers, in close conjunction with their myrmidons, i.e., the pundits and lawyers, continued to pursue their evil intent, to secure their hold over government, and, thus, society…. They’ve been so successful, we see in today’s world, they control every level of the national scene; witness the number of Republican presidential candidates who have been sucking up to the Koch brothers, and the Citizens United PAC, with their unlimited pile of money, in use in today’s world buying the loyalty of every single politician they can pervert to their insane desire to make the world over in their own image…. It doesn’t seem to matter at all to them that image is a clear, crisp photograph of the worst HELL imaginable, or that it would entail oppressing 99% of the human race….

Why are many scientists using lawyers for medical experiments instead of rats?

a) There are more lawyers than rats.

b) The scientist’s don’t become as emotionally attached to them.

c) There are some things that even rats won’t do for money.

~~ Smart Bee ~~

Gee, do ya think I’ve lost some of my respect for lawyers, and their second-slimiest clients, the bankers? (First place in my hell is reserved for pimps, and those who abuse women, children, or animals…. which, of course, lawyers and bankers do by proxy, with their usual complete indifference to the suffering of others….) Why no, of course not. I’ve lost ALL of it, with what I consider damn good reason, based on 64 years of observing the human drama, along with my own personal experience with both categories of asshole…. The only respect for any of them I have, is for those who actually HELP people, without considering what they can get out of it, other than their own satisfaction for helping people find justice, and a reasonable fee for that help, whether the fee is taken in pies & chickens, eternal gratitude, or simply cash….

In keeping with today’s theme of picking on lawyers and bankers, and, to save energy for my upcoming battle, I decided to pick out an old school pearl, aimed at the former, as they’re an easier target, all in all…. They’re just SO…… weaselly! Well, there are some are exceptions, sure, but, the others infest the world so prominently, the good ones are hard to find…. Ah well, here are some observations about them, from Smart Bee, and a number of other people who feel the same as most everybody else, about those lawyers who use their skills to benefit themselves, showing complete indifference as to whether it benefits anyone else….

Liar, n.: A lawyer with a roving commission. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“A group of white South Africans recently killed a black lawyer because he was black. That was wrong. They should have killed him because he was a lawyer.” — A. Whitney Brown

“Always take a lawyer with you, and bring another lawyer to watch him.” — Bo Diddly’s Observation on the Law

“Fleas can be taught nearly everything a lawyer can.” — Smart Bee

“Here’s an amazing story. A man in Orlando, Florida, was hit by eight cars in a row and only one stopped. The first seven drivers thought he was a lawyer. The eighth was a lawyer.” — Jay Leno

“If a lawyer and an IRS agent were both drowning, and you could only save one of them, would you go to lunch or read the paper?” — Smart Bee

“In a man’s world…simian aptitudes are rated high, and so not too many women get in. To succeed as a lawyer, for example, a woman would have to throttle two of her chief attributes: her disdain for the petty accumulations of useless knowledge, and her sharp feeling for the truth. What men in their imbecility consistently mistake for a deficiency of intelligence in women is merely an incapacity for mastering small and trivial tricks.” — H. L. Mencken, Chicago _Sunday Tribune_, January 8, 1928

“In the Norse mythology Loki originally was on the side of the rest of the gods, helping them once or twice using particularly nasty forms of trickery. He was a cunning negotiator with a talent for technicalities. He was sort of the Norse equivalent of a lawyer, no doubt the reason they tied him down in a pit dripping acidic venom on him.” — Martin Terman

“How many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb? You won’t find a lawyer who can change a light bulb. Now, if you’re looking for a lawyer to screw a light bulb… ” — Smart Bee

LAWYER: A professional advocate hired to bend the law on behalf of a paying client; for this reason considered the most suitable background for entry into politics. — Definition from “THE CYNIC’S DICTIONARY”

Needless to say, I could do this forever, no sweat, or guilt; there are already nine pearls, and I’ve only used three of the ten pages of quotes I’ve collected on the subject. But, I suppose there ARE more productive things we could all be doing. This is pretty cool, but, as with all good things, it can’t last forever…. Onward, into the day….

Oh, hell…. Naturally, AFTER I’ve finished, I find the PERFECT pearl for this group. Since we’ve already completed it, I’ll just tack it here on the end, where it will enjoy its highlighted position; I call it perfect because it takes a shot at two categories at once, both of which are current players in my personal drama…. This one tells it like it is, for sure and for certain….

“Doctors are the same as lawyers; the only difference is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you too.” — Anton Chekhov

gigoid has spoken…

So be it.

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In the past couple weeks, you may have noted my less than stellar condition; if not, I can congratulate myself for keeping it quiet, mostly. The fact is, I’ve been experiencing a lot of arthritic pain, all over, as the barometer bounces up & down with our spring time weather. It’s kept me in a rotten mood, which has affected these Pearls rather significantly. Here is a poem I wrote about this sort of time, some time ago, that may give y’all an idea of what I’m dealing with…. Of course, it doesn’t speak of the effects of the PTSD, which sort of adds its own flavor, but, that can be for another time….

Elemental, dear Watson….

Don’t worry,
it’s not
me
you hear
screaming.

It is
only
my bones,
giving in,
to
cowardly,
pathologically,
repetitive,
fucking,’
complaints
of
past abuse,
and
all the fun
we had.
playing,
hard.

I don’t mind
too much;
I can spend my
TIME
in another space
in my head,
pretending
my bones
don’t
exist….

It
is,
indeed,
a shame
they
always
come
back….

Fuck.

It
hurts.

More proof,
I guess,
either
God isn’t,
or,
He is.

He isn’t?
Oh,
Well….

Ante up.
Deal.

He is?
Then,
I don’t fucking care
who
doesn’t like it,

I say,

He
is
a bully,
a coward,
a hypocrite,
and,
truly,
an enormous asshole.

I suppose,
God
is
what comes,
to,
and
from,
People,

because

they
feel
a need,
for
someone
to
blame,
for
a
Universe
they
cannot
understand
or
accept.

I
will
take the complaints.

After all,
they
are
my bones.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

In order to get this done in nearly a timely fashion, I’m going back to the archives. Go figure….

From 7/28/2012:

Caution: Old School Pearl Ahead. Gird Your Grids For A Big One…..

“Two babies were born on the same day at the same hospital. They lay there and looked at each other. Their families came and took them away. Eighty years later, by a bizarre coincidence, they lay in the same hospital, on their deathbeds, next to each other. One of them looked at the other and said, “So. What did you think?” — Steven Wright

A monk said to Joshu, “I have just entered this monastery. Please teach me.”
“Have you eaten your breakfast?” Joshu asked.
“Yes, I have,” replied the student.
“Then you had better wash your bowl.”
— Smart Buddhist Bee

“TAPPING? You POLITICIANS! Don’t you realize that the END of the “Wash Cycle” is a TREASURED MOMENT for most people?!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!” — Wicked Witch of the East

“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

There, that should do it…. I’ve made this as clear as mud, obviously…. Don’t worry, though, it won’t be on the test…. In fact, it won’t even count toward graduation, not that we care about stuff like that…. But, it does make a good point, yes? Nod your head…..

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

It’s done; that’s the best I can say of this one. I’ll probably be back tomorrow, as I don’t seem able to keep from doing so. I will, however, try to make it somewhat fresher than this one, thought that remains only a possibility at this point. Let’s just say, I’ll be here, come what may, & leave it at that, okay? Okay….. See y’all then, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Intimate moments of inane prattle….

Posted on May 4, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Life, as we know it, does not exist.”

~~ Subtle Bee ~~

Spring, springing….

Hajime…. My morning routines are evolving again. I’ve had to set the deadline for getting the Pearls done in the morning an hour or two ahead, as I’m now able to sleep, and not up every morning about 3 AM. Yay, me…. In addition, it’s good to know my age is not keeping me from undergoing changes needed to keep on a balanced, steady course. Once we lose the ability to change, our time here is done, pretty much, for only the dead do not change. Well, as pointed out to me once, they do rot, which is change, but, it no longer concerns them, does it now? Right.

Hmm…. I can’t say that’s the most gripping, or compelling opening I’ve done, but, I can say it’s not even close to being either one. I’d delete it & start again, but, I’m already later than I’d hoped to be this morning, so we’ll just pretend it’s fine, and get on with it. I still have three sections to complete, & we won’t get there if I keep waffling. Of course, the question as to whether or not ‘getting there’ is a worthwhile pastime is one we won’t bother to justify with a response. That would be both self-serving, and inefficient, and we do try to avoid both of those, when we can…. Today, that’s looking a bit iffy….

Ah, well, so much for vaulting ambition; I think even moderate ambition, or modest, will also be out of our purview, so, let’s not even go there, okay? Instead, I’ll stop fooling around with this, & get on with it. After all, it’s only a matter of time until none of much anything will really matter to us, so, really, what’s the point, eh? Of course, that’s giving in to despair, but, we’re getting rather adept at that, so…. I think, most likely, this would be a good time for me to push this button, which will take us where we need to be, without any further idiocy from the author, who has completely lost his way, and is now stuck speaking in a completely different person. Damn it…. Fuck it, I’m pushing it now….

Shall we Pearl?….

“To find a fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.”

~~ Plutarch ~~

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I couldn’t think of anything new and different, and we just did classical yesterday. So, today, I’ll please myself. Here is my favorite female artist. Red hair, hot guitar licks, and a voice that can send chills up your spine…. The video I chose was the latest I could find, from 2013 BBC sessions she preformed…. Enjoy, ffolkes; I will, for sure….

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Bonnie Raitt Live

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https://youtu.be/o7L5Q_LSpQU

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“The only way to combat criminals is by not voting for them.”

~~ Dayton Allen ~~

In the past couple weeks, I’ve avoided ranting extensively here. I’ve been putting most of that angst into comments on other blogs, so there hasn’t been enough left here to stimulate my outrage, even though there is more than enough in the news to do so. What I see there only convinces me my bad feelings about what may happen in the next few years are not unjustified….. In fact, the above quote mirrors much of my thought process, for I’ve come to the conclusion that that longer we encourage the idiots who are ostensibly in charge of society, by voting, by paying taxes, by allowing their lies to be truth, the longer the trouble we face will be with us, eventually leading us inexorably to our extinction.

Rather than try to force out all that is in there, boiling over, I’ll throw out some pearls, from which you can build your own rant in your mind. Oh, it’s not hard; don’t be afraid. Just follow the bouncing ideas, and you’ll see how much fun it can be to take the Asininnies for a spin down Insult Lane…. Here, then, for your viewing pleasure are today’s pearls, to string together & throw at the Beloved Ruling Class, the Dogma Dogs, the Faceless Mrymidons, and all the other Asininnies we have come to know and, hate so well….

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

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to William S. Smith, Paris, Nov. 13, 1787

“Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.” — Laurence J. Peter

“Lysander said that the law spoke too softly to be heard in such a noise of war.” — Plutarch — Life of Caius Marius

” When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl!” [When cryptography is outlawed, only outlaws will have privacy!”, ROT-13 encrypted] — Brad Templeton of ClariNet

“We fear things in proportion to our ignorance of them.” — Titus Livius

“Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction.” — New Testament — Matthew vii, 13

Lions in the street and roaming,
Dogs in heat, rabid, foaming,
A beast caged in the heart of the city.
The body of his mother lying in the summer ground,
He fled the town.
Went down south across the border,
Left the chaos and disorder
Back there, over his shoulder.
One morning he awoke in a green hotel,
A strange creature groaning beside him.
Sweat oozed from its shiny skin.
Is everybody in? The ceremony is about to begin.

~~ Jim Morrison, “Celebration of the Lizard” ~~

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

I’ve been feeling as if there’s a poem in me, percolating, but, it has not yet reached the stage where I can open a vein to let it out. Here, instead, is the last one I wrote, not so long ago…. I hope you enjoy it…..

Augmentation: Inner Aye

Distant, peals of thunder, vividly.
Closer, a patter of rain, falling gravidly.
Between the light and the darkness of fear
find merely the remnants of one lonely tear.

Do not hate us, though we have not sinned;
eager for courage, upon whom all hope is pinned.
Tales of insolence, hatred, or fallen virtue
fill us up, not down, in such pristine foreign venue.

Capable hands severed, able hands tied;
the future is angry, all but now denied.
Multiple times, warnings sounded across the pale
nobody heard, nobody came to tell the tale.

Gifted by time, salience fails in epic rhyme;
watchmakers watching, each a separate crime.
Logical solutions refuse to emulsify
forever pretending to cruelly crucify.

Blood will fly alongside pertinent composure,
never seeking, never finding tea, or closure.
Falsely laid trails on mountains of gold
imply no happy endings, no fortunes told.

Ages past have no time for repetition;
further chances only lead to perdition.
Destiny feels a shameful portion of guilt,
for a thousand sand castles, never built.

~~ gigoid ~~

3/2/2016

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Naked Pearls

Dragon Bookends/Random Thoughts

*********

“Safety is on the shore, but the pearl is in the ocean.”

~~ Chinese Proverb ~~

*********

“When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.”

~~ George Bernard Shaw ~~

*********

“Clouds come floating into my life,
no longer to carry rain or usher storm
but to add color to my sunset sky.”

~~ Rabindranath Tagore ~~

*********

“Art has an obligation to offend.”

~~ Edward Albee ~~

*********

“When I was a lark, I sang; when I was a worm, I devoured.”

~~ Theodore Roethke ~~

*********

“Man needs, for his happiness,
not only the enjoyment of this or that,
but hope and enterprise and change.”

~~ Bertrand Russell ~~

*********

“No falsehood lingers into old age.”

~~ Sophocles ~~

*********

“If you can, help others. If you can’t, at least don’t hurt others.”

~~ the Dalai Lama ~~

*********
“Enjoy yourself–it’s later than you think.”

~~ Chinese Proverb ~~

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

Well, I beat the odds, though slowly. It’s all fresh though, except for the poem, which is about as fresh as I can do. Regardless of aught else we might say, it’s done, so, I’ll be nice, and end it here, and now. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless somebody comes up with a better plan….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

If not four, maybe seven….

Posted on April 26, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Grain grows best in shit.”

~~ Ursula K. LeGuin ~~

Life is persistent….

Hajime…. Life is change, it is said, but, do we listen? Not much, for even when we do, it changes anyway, in ways we cannot predict. Fortunately for me, I’m getting fairly used to it by now, save for those days our old nemesis, Murphy, steps in to lend a hand to Fate, with his own ironic twists to the changes we think we expect. SIGH…. since there isn’t a damn thing to be done about it, the necessity for adapting, as it always does, rests with me, to do with as I please. Of course, if what I please isn’t in line with reality, well, too bad for me. Ah, well, I suppose we all have things in life which can disappoint us; this, for some reason, is mine….

Boy, that was pretty useless, wasn’t it? When I began, I was trying to be helpful, or at least compellingly sincere. But, it worked its way right into something else, insidiously, in the manner of Murphy himself, hiding the end result until too late to do anything about it. Funny how our own unconscious processes mirror the way reality works, isn’t it? And, so much for putting together the brilliant, gripping introduction that was my original intended start to today’s Pearl, eh, what? I’d say it was yet another small lesson in the hazards of engaging in vaulting ambition, I suppose, if I were in the mood to be pious, or even more ridiculous, morally instructive. Fortunately for all of us, I’m not, nor do I often fall into that absurdity. Lucky you.

Okay, we are quickly losing our way, so, perhaps it would be best to get on with the show for today. I find that’s usually the best way to preserve at least a modicum of dignity, even if we never actually display any at all. Oh, well, such is life in the blogosphere, ffolkes. You can never quite tell just what you’ll come across on any given day. I guess that just goes to show the nuances of human nature, which embeds itself in everything we do; in this case, it will allow us to escape into the wilds of the inner blog, without really even trying. In fact, we’ll just fake the whole process today, and do it like this…. Watch closely, or you’ll miss the change….

Shall we Pearl?….

“It is good
to have an end to journey toward,
but it is the journey that matters in the end.”

~~ Ursula K. LeGuin ~~

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royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573

I’ve been sleeping better lately, which sometimes means I get up a bit late to make my self-imposed deadline for posting each day. This, naturally, means we cheat, and go with our default musical choice, to wit: classical…. As always, the mix chosen was simply the most compelling picture I saw when perusing the choices….. Enjoy!….

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Classical Music

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https://youtu.be/AXrxCDeEkj4

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I really wanted to have the rant on which I’ve been working ready for today; my fatigue yesterday prevented that, and arising late today finished off any chance of getting it done this morning, as it’s still evolving on me. So be it. Here is a discussion of virtue from late in 2012, not too long, to fill in quite nicely for today…. I figure, in today’s world, a discussion of virtue can never be out of place….

From 12/16/2012:

“Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.” — Buddha (B.C. 568-488)

This statement strikes a deep chord within me…. It comes to me upon reflection that there are basically two kinds of people in the world; there are those who will see a statement such as this, read it, think about it, and either accept it, or reject it, though it hardly seems possible to do the latter, given its degree of demonstrable truth. The other kind of person will start to read this, then give up after a few words, because the words have no meaning for them, beyond the word ‘treasure’. Once these folks discover that the ‘treasure’ isn’t jewels or gold, they stop all thought on the subject, and turn to anything else that will serve their self-interest.

In one sense, this dichotomy of nature is indicative of what is happening in the world at large today. On one hand we observe the people who reject the above statement, and live according to rules that are pathologically oriented to themselves, those who also believe in “do unto others before they can do unto you….”. Sadly, this group is the same one that the major percentage of elected officials and members of our beloved ruling class come from, along with all of those who spend their lives playing with money, i.e., the bankers. All of these folks refuse to acknowledge the veracity of any of the sentiments expressed by the Buddha above, and in many cases, do so with pride and arrogance…

Another group of folks lend their support to those in power, though they spend a lot of time trying to convince everyone that they are acting out of altruistic motivation rather than monetary. I call these folks preachers, for lack of a better word, and the group, in my mind, includes priests, pastors, vicars, sadhu, imams, Elders, or anyone else who considers themselves a holy man, with the right to interpret the words of gods for the rest of us. They want us to believe they are acting according to what Buddha has expressed above, but in reality, what they do bears no resemblance at all to virtue. They merely use the words to assume the authority by proxy. In fact, their very insistence that they are acting in the interests of others, or are at all inspired to virtue, to me, is a foul lie, and worthy of their own judgment…..

I could rant for a long time on this subject, as I regard it as the most critical problem in human nature, the root cause of our current dangerous position as a species threatened with extinction. The callousness and self-aggrandizement that characterizes those among us who wish power over others will, in the long run, kill us all, if we don’t put a stop to it. Unfortunately, that would require making decisions, and taking actions, that would challenge our own virtue, and place us at risk of becoming that which we are trying to destroy…. a conundrum, for certain. Time will give us the answer, and I, for one, fear to hear it…..

“It’s too bad ignorance isn’t painful.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

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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 ~~

12/13/2012

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This, ffolkes, is one damned odd pearl. It put itself together, with little assistance from me, beyond formatting. One or two were out of place, so I moved them where they made sense. Other than that, it’s a self-created pearl, with a message that SEEMS to be that life is strange, and these are things you should remember about it to make it through with some aplomb. Of course, you should already know what ‘aplomb’ is, before attempting to achieve it…. Always good to remember things like that; they save embarrassment later….. Enjoy! If naught else, it’s all good advice, from one viewpoint, or another….

*********

“The best way out is always through.”

~~ Robert Frost ~~

*********

“What most people need to learn in life
is how to love people and use things
instead of using people and loving things.”

~~ Zelda Fitzgerald ~~

*********

“Old age is no place for sissies.”

~~ Bette Davis ~~

*********

“The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”

~~ Chinese proverb ~~

*********

“If life must not be taken too seriously, then so neither must death.”

~~ Samuel Butler ~~

*********

“Ears are what keep your feet from getting in your mouth.”

~~ Anonym+us ~~

*********

“If attacked by a lion thrust your arm down his throat.
This takes some practice.”

~~ Cyril Connolly ~~

*********

“The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

*********

“Flowers are words which even a baby can understand.”

~~ Arthur C. Coxe ~~

*********

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable,
but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”

~~ George Bernard Shaw ~~

*********

“Imagine there’s no heaven… it’s easy if you try.”

~~ John Lennon, “Imagine” ~~

*********

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

Having completed my chosen duty for today, I can take a break, well-earned. Leelu will be happy about that; she gets antsy in the mornings, waiting for me to finish. She’s become an excellent companion, (not that she was ever anything else), and we are learning to adjust to each other’s habits fairly well. Now we’ve filled the standard requirement for chatty blather, which seems to have gone missing above, we may legally, and morally, take out leave, sans guilt (not that we ever feel THAT useless emotion…). As is our wont to comment on such occasion, so be it. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes. Just try & stop me….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Brokering unvalidated envelopes for charity….

Posted on April 17, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“It is not the one with many possessions who is rich,
but the one who has no needs.”

~~ Philoxenos ~~

gigoid and Charlie C. in Portobello Road, London

Hajime…. I’ve decided sleep is a good thing again. For some time, it’s been rather a hit or miss proposition, leaning heavily toward the ‘miss’, so I had placed it in one of the less accessible files where I put such stuff so it doesn’t clutter up my RAM. But, with persistent perseverance (is there another kind?), I’ve finally ascertained the proper material to consume at the appropriate hour, to both improve my overall pain levels, and, help me get drowsy enough to fall out. I’ve now enjoyed five straight days with six hours or more sleep, which has improved everything. So, yay me, and we can now get on with other stuff I find more compelling.

Shoot. I’ve left myself high and dry again; maybe I should have extended the chat time for a while. This vast, featureless plain which now inhabits my creative imagination is somewhat daunting in its scarcity of intelligible offerings I might use; all I see are a couple of semi-transparent circles, and a couple of tricks. Not what I was hoping, to be sure. I think, instead, we’ll use the new brevity button I had installed in the Tardis (yes, we have alteration permission, as long as we avoid anachronistic designs, or incompatible fittings…..). It’s pretty cool; watch what happens when I push it, like this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“I fill MY industrial waste containers
with old copies of the “WATCHTOWER”
and then add HAWAIIAN PUNCH to the top…
They look NICE in the yard–“

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

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

Young Dubliners

Image from http://www.ocweekly.com via Google Images

When I went to pick music for today, I was feeling a bit Irish. Since I’ve enjoyed this band for a while, they were a natural choice. I hope you enjoy this live cut of a cover of a traditional Irish tune. The sound quality isn’t the best, but, live cuts on YT often are not; there are any number of similar choices at the end of this cut, which may provide a better sound…. Let the ceili begin….

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

Young Dubliners
Foggy Dew

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

https://youtu.be/lRUOi3MGLQ0

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

Since I slept later than usual, the rant I am working on didn’t get finished in time. Here, instead, is a discussion of matters with which we frequently concern ourselves here at ECR, about issues that need attention if we are to survive with any dignity, or virtue, as a species….

From 124/2012:

“Free enterprise ended in the United States a good many years ago. Big oil, big steel, big agriculture avoid the open marketplace. Big corporations fix prices among themselves and drive out the small entrepreneur. In their conglomerate forms, the huge corporations have begun to challenge the legitimacy of the state.” — Gore Vidal

In his book, “Friday”, Robert Heinlein details a society of humanity’s possible future, one in which corporations have continued to grow beyond the boundaries of mere countries, until their interests become paramount even over that of the state, as observed by Mr. Vidal. We, of the society here on Earth in the early 21st century are witnessing that growth, as I write, and as you read…..

The small enterprise markets still exist, but only on the fringes of the economy, the major portion of which is busy manipulating the population into serving the economic trends that the corporations control, in the essential markets that cover everyone… In other words, the corporations monopolize most of the economy, allowing the fringe markets to exist to provide exotic, alternative toys and entertainments for the working classes.

Mr. Heinlein’s character, a young woman with designer genes, genius IQ, and Heinlein’s innate sardonicism, as part of an assignment, is required to perform a research and analysis of how the corporations affected the political and economic scenes of their society, obliquely referring, of course, to the one we have now. It is a very interesting part of a very good book, and well worth a read, not only for its perspicacity in explaining the piracy we are seeing today, but because Heinlein was a master storyteller, who created fascinating characters in fantastic situations, making it all seem perfectly normal and real.

“The phenomenality of organic, conscious existence should, could have made impossible the sadism, the unending hurt of our ways. The impotent fury, the guilt that master and surpass my identity carry with them the working hypothesis, the ‘working metaphor’, if you will, of ‘original sin’. To this expression, I am unable to attach any reasoned, let alone historical substance. On the pragmatic-narratological plane, stories of some initial crime and inherited culpability are universal fables — uncannily profound and lasting. Nothing more. Yet in the presence of the beaten, raped child, of the horse or mule flogged across its eyes, I am possessed, as by a midnight clarity, by the intuition of the Fall.” — Rudolf Steiner, Errata: An examined life, Phoenix — (a division of Orion Books), London, 1998), p. 169

At first, this quote may not seem to be related to the first. However, it is this “original sin” of which he speaks that is the root cause of the problems with corporations in society. Those humans who reject commonality with the rest of humanity are the villains in this play that passes for modern culture, for they do not accept their debt to the rest of the species, and have determined that they will use whatever means they need to become ascendant over the rest of us. Greed is only the most obvious of the ills that this group has subjected our culture to, with cruelty, dishonesty, and lack of compassion as side attractions. Through the actions of their corporate entities, they work to maintain their power and control of others, all for the sake of their own aggrandizement….

These are the men who run the trade in human trafficking, abducting and abusing children and women, for sex and slavery. These are the men who run the brothels, and the underground casinos, and the money-lending, and the protection rackets, and the drug dealing rings. What many folks don’t realize is that they are also the men who run for political office, or become preachers/priests, and the bankers, and the CEO’s, and other corporate officers, who make their decisions based on self-interest, never on altruism. They seem, and act like, they are the leaders of society, when, in fact, they are the very reason our society is headed for extinction….

Unfortunately, these men (and they are almost ALL men….) will not give up their power and control without a fight. They will not respond to reason, giving up all their wealth and perceived power, to benefit the rest of mankind. They will not suddenly see the light, and give it all back. They will have to be rooted out like weeds, tough, hardy weeds, and destroyed, if we are to have any chance of survival…. It is unfortunate, but no other method will work, and it brings with it the danger of falling into the same kind of behavior by which they operate. But, I can see no other way to solve the issue, since they will not cooperate with the rest of us for the benefit of all….

1. If you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting.

2. What you settle for is what you end up with.

3. If you think that worrying about a problem is the same thing as solving it,
then you must live in some other universe where different laws pertain.

~~ Smart Bee~~

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

Seeing is Conducive to Belief

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

10/11/2012

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

Naked Pearls

All you need to know….

*********

“You cannot give away kindness, it always comes back to you.”

~~ Zen Bee ~~

*********

“The best laid plans of mice and men are usually about equal.”

~~Blair’s Observation ~~

*********

“Sports do not build character. They reveal it.”

~~ Heywood Brown, journalist ~~

*********

“Vision without action is a daydream.
Action without vision is a nightmare.”

~~ Japanese proverb ~~

*********

“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.”

~~ Herman Melville ~~

*********

“Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others, can not keep it from themselves.”

~~ Irish blessing ~~

*********

“Anything is possible, but nothing is easy.”

~~ Bill Gray ~~

*********

“To be “matter of fact” about the world is to blunder into fantasy….
and dull fantasy at that,
as the real world is strange and wonderful.”

~~ Robert A. Heinlein ~~

*********

“Here. Have a jelly baby.”

~~ Doctor Who ~~

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

Today’s effort is one I can use in the future, as a reminder this process will stand up to the test of time. I’m beginning to think there is something to this evolution stuff. On that cryptic note, I shall leave you until the morrow, when you will find me here, spouting off, once more. I don’t think there is any way to stop me now…. Bwahahahahaha!…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. Fair warning….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Abrogating moral rectitude in mufti….

Posted on April 15, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Since it is Reason which shapes and regulates all other things,
it ought not itself to be left in disorder.”

~~ Epictetus — Discourses, Chap. xvii

Prophetic Globe

Trinity College, Dublin

Hajime…. Little did he know just how little he knew; in this he joins hands with most of humanity…..

Good morrow, ffolkes. No, I’m not sure where that came from. It just sort of flowed out when I began to type, and, voilá! Instant aphorism on human nature, a fascinating subject which continues to elude the understanding of mankind, despite centuries of trying to come to terms with it. An objective view of the way our species has approached the quest to find themselves does not inspire much confidence; most of our history shows a firm intention on the part of most people to deny all which makes us human, in favor of fulfilling their base desires for power and control over their peers, in order to assuage their innate fear of their own inadequacy.

Now, I know it’s not a good policy to rant in the intro, but, hey, I’m human, so, back off, mate. As such, I do what FEELS best, and then try to repeat the feeling as often as possible, regardless of how it affects anyone else. This particularly human trait is, as far as I can see, the fatal flaw in that nature, one which can, and, obviously IS, leading us on a path to self-destruction, through the denial of our own capabilities, and the abrogation of virtue in favor of comfort. This, to me, is clear, yet, for most of mankind, it is an issue of which they seldom, if ever, even contemplate.

SIGH…. At this point in the narrative, it becomes clear this is going not much of anywhere useful for our purpose, which is to post a Pearl of Virtual Wisdom. If I continue this discussion, we may never even get to the music, so, to keep things on an even keel, and moving, we’ll go on now, leaving this subject for discussion below. Perhaps this will save some time, and, if nothing else, makes it seem as if we are sure of what we are doing. The cat seems to agree, even if she would rather I threw some paper for her….

We’re going to go now, and, I’d suggest you hang on; Luigi’s at the helm, so, things can get a bit rambunctious. It won’t take long, though; just remember to breathe through it…. Here we go….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Education is not a preparation for life;
Education is life itself.”

~~ John Dewey ~~

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

Playing For Change

Today’s musical selection comes again from the Playing For Change playlist. This one is a recording of 75 Cubans from around the world playing and singing the song that means ‘home’ to them, whether they are in Cuba, or anywhere in the world….. This is for Mari, whose family had to flee Cuba in the latter part of the twentieth century, when she was just a child. She now writes some of the most powerful poetry I’ve ever read, and still dreams of returning one day…. Enjoy, and then go donate to the cause, for it’s a good one, making peace through music….

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

Guantanamera

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

https://youtu.be/blUSVALW_Z4

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

“A rich man has no need of character.”

~~ Hebrew proverb ~~

There is just so much wrong with this statement, it is difficult to know where to begin. To my way of thinking, this piece of folk ‘wisdom’ can be viewed as the single most destructive idea mankind has come up with in our entire cultural history. If one embraces this idea, individually, or as a society, the resulting culture would be, and, to be honest, has become, a parody of human nature, bringing out the very worst of our fears and inadequacies, using them to lie, to cheat, and, live a life of conflict and trouble. To assume this attitude is to deny the connection to all other life, demanding reality conform to the shape of our most degrading fears, with no attempt to reconcile these with any other entity. In short, it gives every person alive the clear permission to act like an asshole.

I see this attitude as a root cause of all the wars mankind has engaged in through history; it fosters divisiveness, bigotry, racism, and discrimination, with no attempt to define justice for anyone at all. To anyone embracing such a position, the needs and rights of others become immaterial; to them, the only thing that is important is their own desires. This, to my mind, is not merely stupid, but, inhuman; those who act without virtue do not belong to the same species as do I; they have abrogated their humanity.

I had originally planned to rant about this for a long time; there is a lot with which to take umbrage in those who live to take advantage of others as a matter of policy. But, I find myself unwilling just now to put myself through the wringer; this subject tends to stimulate my adrenal gland, and I’m not going there today. Instead, I have put together a pretty good seven star pearl to take my shots for me. It’s not a rant, but, it will do for an indictment…. The people who buy into the statement at the top of the section are, in my mind, the root cause of all of the other issues with which humanity is currently engaged; the war, the racism, the injustice, all can be traced to this attitude on the part of one segment of humanity, which decided many thousands of years ago they were better than everyone else, and have maintained that insane delusion, at the expense of the rest of mankind, for all that time….

Here then are some comments on how to spot them, how to look at them, and, hopefully, how to bury them, once and for all….

“Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.” — Nietzsche, “Thus Spake Zarathustra”

“I see little divinity about them or you. You talk to me of Christianity when you are in the act of hanging your enemies. Was there ever such blasphemous nonsense!” — George Bernard Shaw, The Devil’s Disciple

“I know of no book which has been a source of brutality and sadistic conduct, both public and private, that can compare with the Bible.” — Lord Paget

(Need an example? “When Yahweh your gods has settled you in the land you’re about to occupy, and driven out many infidels before you…you’re to cut them down and exterminate them. You’re to make no compromise with them or show them any mercy.” — Deuteronomy 7:1 (KJV) There’s more, even worse insanity in that one short chapter, but, that gives the flavor…)

“Collective responsibility brings a lowering of moral standards.” — Freeman Dyson

“A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.” — Eric Hoffer

“Without civic morality communities perish; without personal morality their survival has no value.” — Bertrand Russell

“Between those who use their neighbors, and those who use a cane.
Between those in constant power, and those in constant pain.
Between those who run to evil, and those who cannot run.
Tell me which ones are the cripples, and which ones touch the sun.”

~~ Ceili’s Muse “What you do with what you’ve got”~~

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

I Must Have Wanton Poets

MUST have wanton poets, pleasant wits,
Musicians, that with touching of a string
May draw the pliant king which way I please:
Music and poetry is his delight;
Therefore I’ll have Italian masks by night,
Sweet speeches, comedies, and pleasing shows;
And in the day, when he shall walk abroad,
Like sylvan nymphs my pages shall be clad;
My men, like satyrs grazing on the lawns,
Shall with their goat-feet dance the antic hay;
Sometime a lovely boy in Dian’s shape,
With hair that gilds the water as it glides,
Crownets of pearl about his naked arms,
And in his sportful hands an olive-tree,
To hide those parts which men delight to see,
Shall bathe him in a spring; and there, hard by,
One like Actæon, peeping through the grove,
Shall by the angry goddess be transform’d,
And running in the likeness of an hart,
By yelping hounds pull’d down, shall seem to die:
Such things as these best please his majesty.

~~ Christopher Marlowe (1563 – 1594) ~~

~~ Edward II, Act 1, Scene One ~~

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

Our final pearl is a simple, random collection that talks about Life at Large. Any conclusions not made obvious are the responsibility of the Gentle Reader, just like in the real world….

“All is flux, nothing stays still.” — Heraclitus (540?-480? B.C.)

“Just as there are laws of Conservation of Matter and Energy, so there are in fact Laws of Conservation of Pain and Joy. Neither can ever be created or destroyed. But one can be converted into the other.” — Spider Robinson

“…the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor. It is the one thing that cannot be learned from others; and it is also a sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies an intuitive perception of the similarity in dissimilars.” — Aristotle, _Poetics_, 22, 1459a 5-7

“The questions remain the same. The answers are eternally variable.” — Subtle Bee

“The great mountains of the world are a great remedy if men but did know it against our modern discontent and ambitions. In the hills is wisdom’s fount. They are deep in time.” — E. R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros

“And it is not our part here to take thought only for a season, or for a few lives of Men, or for a passing age of the world.” — Gandalf

“Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” — Albert Einstein

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

Well, it’s done. Since I was only half-conscious for much of it, I shan’t comment on its quality, or even its quantity. I will however, make another attempt at coherence tomorrow, if all goes as planned. But, then, y’all know what they say about plans. Regardless, I’ll be here; fair warning.

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Prized for their marshmallow sculptures…

Posted on April 12, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Remember this,–that very little is needed to make a happy life.”

~~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, vii, 67 ~~

Choosing the next species of prey….

Hajime…. I shan’t apologize for today’s mess, but, I will say this; it’s a mess. Oh, from an objective standpoint, it probably will seem to be fairly normal, for a Pearl of Virtual Wisdom. But, don’t let that fool you; it’s not normal. But, then, I suppose one could say that about this blog in general, without fear of contradiction, so, we’ll just pretend none of it makes any difference, (which it doesn’t, really…) and be done with it, for the nonce. A nonce, by the way, is middle English for ‘don’t ask’….

Perhaps that was a bit brusque. Yes? Well, so be it; neither we, nor the gods, can change the past, even with a software editor. If you couldn’t tell, my muse is still missing in action; I’m sort of wandering around here in the intro, looking for something to say, or, alternately, to not say, which might make the difference, pulling this pathetic attempt at coherence back from the edge, into the realm of literature worth reading. What? Oh, I think that’s a little harsh, don’t you? Yeah? Wanna step outside & say that?….

Whoa…. Sorry, I didn’t realize we had a hothead in the group today. I’ll have to be more careful from here on. In fact, since that sort of used up all I had to put here, perhaps we’ll just be on our way down the page, to see what sort of other trouble we can get into. Hmm…. I think, even THAT may be more than we’re capable of today, but, what the hell? The insurance is currently paid up, for a change, so, we’ll take a chance. If y’all would kindly resume your seats, and place your adult beverages in the holders provided, we can get this slow on the toad…. Ready or not, here we go…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“The bird of paradise alights only upon the hand that does not grasp.”

~~ John Berry ~~

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

It’s been a week or so since I last played any of this organization’s music. Since it is all music from some of the finest ‘unknown’ street artists in the world, playing together, sometimes in a studio, sometimes out of doors, and always with more musicians doing the same song, elsewhere in the world. Some of the best cuts of covered songs I’ve heard in my life have been produced, with more old, and new material coming all the time. Here is one of their most excellent Live Outside series; the rest may be found on You Tube, by checking the choices offered at the end of this video…. Enjoy!…. Then go donate some cash; they’re doing good work, at all the schools for music they’ve opened around the world, and operate solely by donation and sales of music.

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

Playing For Change
Live Outside Series

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

https://youtu.be/Mn3hBgYNATA

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

One might think since I had a day off, there would be a fresh rant. So much for expectations, eh? I do have one I am working on, but, it’s not done, and I’m not done with it. To fill in today, here is a pretty decent, fairly short little indictment of the Asininnies and Mundanes from the second day of 2014…. I hope you enjoy it….

From 1/2/2014:

Above, in the intro section, I referred to an idea that occurred to me while I sat in the morning air, engaging in my favorite pastime, random thinking about Stuff…. This idea is a delicate one, and needs to be explored a bit more deeply on my part before I bring it out into the light of day…. I’ll just say this: it has to do with the Internet, the Asininnies, and You/Me(Us)…. and it’s a bit disturbing….. In case you don’t recall, Asininnies are those humans on planet Earth who live by the code of Me First, regardless of what other people or animals may have to say about it…

They are the Beloved Ruling Class, those professional politicians (parasites) who claim to lead, but more accurately, crave power; the Shadowy Corporate Masters, those bankers and old money warmongers who buy and sell the world at their whim, including the loyalty of the BRC, and those others who are also Asinine by nature…. There are more… The entitled Police and Military Goons, The Athlete Rock Stupid Role Models, The Media Cowards, who unconsciously help the Asininnies accomplish their manipulations by parroting their lies without complaint, or exposure….

Most heinously, which adjective I use deliberately, these Asininnies are all supported by the efforts of the last group in the category…. the Priestly Hierarchies, those deliberately delusional fanatics who live by faith rather than reason (though they would claim the opposite….) By encouraging their constituencies to follow their lead, and accept all that the worldly authorities tell them to do in their lives, they teach the people how to obey, both by example, and by designed application of guilt over original sin….

What a scam! Convince people they are bad because of what some original member of the tribe did, which may or may not have happened in truth, then, use the ensuing manufactured sense of guilt to cause behavioral changes at direction…. Willing mental slaves, all for the price of a good story line…. gotta love those early Christians and Muslims, eh? They knew human nature, with its susceptibility to the lie, and its gullibility to the apparent truth….. What ticks me off is that it continues unabated after thousands of years…. It goes a long way toward proving Robert Heinlein’s statement on the subject, to wit: “Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.”

That, then, is the current scenario we have in the world today, as I pointed out above…. Internet, Asininnies, and Us…. In the near future, I’ll expand on the idea that occurred to me, but, I’ve taken enough time and energy this morning to make sure all the players are known, and clearly…. I don’t want any confusion about any of that after I begin my rant, whenever that may be…..

For now, I’ll just put together a short five-star pearl, which, hopefully, will give y’all a preview of the rant that is to be…. Let’s see what SB can do about that…..

“I do not distinguish by the eye, but by the mind, which is the proper judge of the man.” — Seneca (8 BC) — On a Happy Life, 2, (L’Estrange’s Abstract, Chap, i.)

“Now that the government is going to balance the budget, it is up to the rest of us to budget the balance. Some folks think we are getting too much government these days. They should be very happy that we are not getting all of the stuff we are paying for.” — Smart Bee

“The devil knew not what he did when he made man politic.” — William Shakespeare

“We are locked into a system of “fouling our own nest,” so long as we behave as independent, rational free-enterprisers.” — Garrett Hardin

“Know yourself. Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.” — Ann Landers

Perfect…. Good enough to go on, for sure…..

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

Stray Cats

The veils that billow and fold
between dreams and reality
may sometimes part,
showing the visions of one to the other,
blending, bleeding as one,
only to bring us up short,
closely jammed against immovable fate.

Still, we keep our watch,
seeking to find the vision
that brings with it the mark of reality’s regard,
a humble mind, and a compassionate heart.

Events of broad impact draw us away again,
distracting with shiny glitter and tinny music,
leaving our feelings raw and bruised,
the victim of universal disregard.

Now, in the twilight of years, the music is fading,
and the glitter has all gone….
yet the memory of visions remains sharp and clear,
melancholy reminders of reality’s promises,
unkept…..

~~gigoid~~

4/12/2013

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

Yep. It’s another random, harlequin pearl that speaks about Life at Large; this one mostly talks about how to live it with some boldness and style….Or, maybe that’s just me; y’all can decide for yourselves….

“Confront a child, a puppy, and a kitten with a sudden danger; the child will turn instinctively for more assistance, the puppy will grovel in abject submission, the kitten will brace its tiny body for a frantic resistance.” — H. H. Munro

“Keep your fears to yourself; share your courage with others.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

“I am the shadow my words cast.” — Octavio Paz

“Arouse the mind without resting it on anything.” — Diamond Sutra

“Courage is the greatest of all the virtues. You cannot consistently practice any other virtues without being courageous.” — Maya Angelou

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

“It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.” — ee cummings

“For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can’t readily accept the God formula, the big answers don’t remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command or faith a dictum. I am my own God.
We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.” — Charles Bukowski

“Do not go gentle into that good night
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light”

~~ Dylan Thomas ~~

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

Well, it’s done. As noted in the intro, it’s a mess, but, it’s my mess, so, back off. Just kidding, of course. I do that sort of thing when I’m trying to distract y’all from thinking about the relative quality of our output…. Is it working? Oh. Okay, then, we’ll just go, and try again tomorrow. Provided I am still alive, (good odds on that), and still crazy, (even better odds there….) I’ll be here, with new stuff to throw at y’all…. See y’all then, for sure and for certain….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Fluffy pieces of hydrated carbon steel….

Posted on March 12, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I know but one freedom, and that is the freedom of the mind.”

~~ Antoine de Saint Exupery ~~

By any other name…

Hajime…. Well, I’m here. It’s been a tough week here at ECR, and in Northern Cali, as the rain continues to move in and out, bouncing the barometer around like a super-ball, keeping me in the throes of inflamed arthritic joints for hours & days on end…. Ah, well, such is life for us old farts, at times; it’s a good thing we’ve had lots of practice by now, or nothing would get done at all. But, I digress, as usual…. I’ve been working on a discussion for the rant section, but, it’s grown so epic it’ll need to wait, so, you’ll see an older pearl there today. Otherwise, it’s all as normal as we get around here, and pleasant as white bread toast.

Naturally, having begun today’s mess with a chatty, informative tone, we’ll need to find a different direction to take, to get us toward the oyster beds we prefer to inhabit during our time together. Y’all wouldn’t have any ideas, would you? No. Okay, well, let’s see. Oh, I suppose I could…. no, just did that. Hmm, how about this one? Nope, look, it’s broken. Well, I guess I’ll just have to use the Tardis, and have it washed tonight. Yeah, that’s the ticket….

Okay, if y’all will just file out of the cabin, and head over into the Tardis, we’ll get this slow on the toad for the day. I appreciate your flexibility, and your patience in waiting for me to get my act together enough to put one of these things together. C’est marvellieux! As a thank you, I have entered all your names in our contest, for a chance to win a chance to stay behind next time. Bonus! Okay, I’m done…. Well, I can’t think of any more nonsense, so, that’s the same thing…. Look, what’s that?…. Duck! No, goose!…. Ah, hell with it; Luigi, throw that switch….

Shall we Pearl?

“Thoughts are mightier than strength of hand.”

~~ Sophocles — Phaedra, Frag. 854 ~~

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

Playing For Change

I discovered this organization a few months ago, and have been nearly obsessed with taking part in their quest, as it fits in perfectly with my own views of how we can possibly achieve some kind of harmony in the world at large. Laughter, music, and love are the answer to all our problems, if freely felt, and given without regard for any delusions that demean humanity, such as religion, politics, or the seriously negative concept of money. None of them are necessary for people to live, as long as we live, as we always need to, in the shelter of each other….

As I listened yesterday to the first couple videos, which I got when I joined the organization as one of their contributing Ambassadors, my resolve to follow this path was strengthened, especially when I chose to listen first to Imagine, John Lennon’s summary of human wisdom, and then One Love, Bob Marley’s matching manifesto, two of the PFC’s iconic statements of purpose, in song…. The film’s participants exhibit such joy, such freedom of spirit, I weep, every time I watch, as musicians from all around the world join to play the tunes, together… I suggest listening to as many as you can, then, join, begin to share the music, and the love it creates….. Enjoy!….

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

Playing For Change

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

https://youtu.be/iBnoBetIk1w

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

Here is a discussion of the principles of personal security, from 2014. It’s a bit long, but, pretty good in spots; I hope you enjoy it….

From 5/5/2014:

I found these two articles yesterday, after posting the Pearl…. As you’ll see, they provide the perfect jumping point for what follows…. I suppose that, as always, ‘perfect’ is a question-begging word to use, but, hey, I calls ’em as I sees ’em…. when I can find my glasses….

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/03/everyone-is-under-surveillance-now-says-whistleblower-edward-snowden

I had originally intended to have some words regarding this article, as it speaks to some rather important points…. but, then, I saw the following article, and my angst went right through the roof, stimulating the rest…. Now, read this one…. & just include it all together; it’s all of a piece, anyway….

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/18/cia-torture-architect-enhanced-interrogation

Here, then, is an excellent example of the definition of ‘gigo’, (garbage in-garbage out), from the psychologist responsible for the design and codification of many of the torture methods, including “water boarding”, used by the CIA at Guantanamo Bay, and elsewhere around the world….. His comments, which I will examine below, are so egregiously INSANE, I had to read the article in pieces, as I found myself shouting at him, every time he opened his mouth to make one of the reported statements…

I cannot BELIEVE this man was found to be an adequate psychologist, passing his tests and arguing his doctoral thesis, without having at least the basic innate ability to display even an ounce of compassion; I also don’t understand, at all, how he could be considered anything other than the US’s version of the Nazi scientist, the one at Auschwitz, who sent the Jews into the ovens….

Ah, yes, Josef Mengele…. the infamous, iconic mad doctor, the real version, the model for what all the comics use as the ultimate villain so often, whose insanity threatens the entire world, and everyone in it…. I tell you, ffolkes, those people in Washington, D.C. are totally out of control…. I’m not kidding; the current crop of elected officials, as well as the appointees put in place by those (I stared at this point for a long time, and still cannot, for the life of me, think of an expletive that it harsh enough…, so we’ll go with a classic….) assholes, all exhibit every single symptom of the violently insane, who believe their own twisted version of reality is the only real one, who hold on to their paranoid delusions so tightly, nothing, and nobody, can tell them differently….

Hell, I don’t even need, in this case, to resort to my special knowledge and experience, of working with the violently insane as a therapist for over 20 years…. These guys lay it out so clearly, right out in public, there’s no need for me to have to explain…. Their own words convict them whenever they condescend to open their mouths about what they truly believe….

Here, let me show you a couple of examples from the second article listed… The comments in quotes are by the protagonist in this drama, James Mitchell, (Piled High and Deep), Ph.D., formerly of the CIA, the psychologist regarded as the architect of the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation” program…. a description taken straight from the article…. You’ll be able to recognize my comments by the anger and vulgarity the statements produce in me….

“The people on the ground did the best they could with the way they understood the law at the time,” he said. “You can’t ask someone to put their life on the line and think and make a decision without the benefit of hindsight and then eviscerate them in the press 10 years later.”

You can’t? Why not? These people were in no danger; there is no danger, no life on the line, when someone tortures another; only the one being tortured is in danger. And if you do something so obviously WRONG, it doesn’t fucking matter a bit how long it is, you SHOULD be vilified in the press. There is no reason on this Earth why anyone shouldn’t KNOW torturing another human being, for ANY FUCKING REASON AT ALL, is NOT morally defensible. This principle is true even in cases where the ultimate goal is considered good; you’ve no doubt heard the saying, “the end does not justify the means.”

If they didn’t know it was wrong, why didn’t they do it out in the open, where everyone could see what they were doing? Fucking assholes think that their own parafuckingnoia should excuse anything they do….

“Everything you know is wrong.” — The Firesign Theater

“I’m skeptical about the Senate report, because I do not believe that every analyst whose jobs and promotions depended upon it, who were professional intelligence experts, all them lied to protect a program? All of them were wrong? All of these [CIA] directors were wrong? All of the people who were using the intel to go get people were wrong? And 10 years later a Senate staffer was able to put it together and finally there’s clarity? I am just highly skeptical that that’s the truth.”

This one’s easy….and so obvious, I again shouted this at the screen, hoping the asshole would hear me, “Why, yes, you bloody idiot, they CAN, and WERE, all wrong…. and every damn one of them WOULD lie to protect a program, which, in their minds, equals money, or influence….” Then, of course, I realized I was shouting at my computer, so, I sat, tried to calm down, & began to type, to try to release some of the venom and bile that collected so quickly in the face of such evil insanity…. It started when the assbite used the phrase, “Senate staffer” as if that position was held only by persons of dubious character…

When you start from a premise that is wrong, there is no way to make it come out right, and every damn one of those directors started with the idea that whatever they did, right or wrong, shouldn’t be made public knowledge, and that such clandestine prevarication is justified by their goal (which they refuse to consider as anything other than right…. perfect “ipse dixit” logic….)

“If you get the first one in the wrong hole, you’ll never get all buttoned up right.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This, of course, is completely contrary to the values upon which our nation was supposedly founded; thus, any acts that indulge in that sort of paranoia, which were made on the basis of that idea, are, from the start, WRONG…. It really is that simple ffolkes, and I don’t understand quite WHY the public doesn’t get that, when listening to these lying, insane fools who pursue their delusional fantasies at the expense of the rest of us….

I reiterate…. “Everything you know is wrong.” — The Firesign Theater

Bloody fucking assholes, every damn one of them…..

“If I had a large amount of money I should found a hospital for those whose grip upon the world is so tenuous that they can be severely offended by words and phrases yet remain all unoffended by the injustice, violence and oppression that howls daily about our ears.” — Stephen Fry

I’d say the good doctor Mitchell would be one of the first admissions…. I’ll leave you to consider the following, which pretty much sums up what I see happening in the world today, just about everywhere I look…..

“It is okay to be ignorant in some areas, but some people abuse the privilege.” — Smart Bee

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

Momentary Terror

Absently casual, memories pester endlessly
leaving only bleeding remnants, amiable and loving.
Coming awake, I cry to still the pain, shamelessly.

Elsewhen, time gives surcease, if only to live,
shoring broken pilings, worn and gray.
Passing on, I laugh at the pain, accept all it will give.

Time will build a shelter, warm and ever safe
save for Fate’s busy hands.
Enduring, I follow the pain, knowing it will chafe.

Fixed against a darkened sky of starry black
such beauty brings us to our knees.
Entranced, I welcome the pain, ’tis all I lack…..

~~ gigoid ~~

12/27/2013

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

Naked Pearls

Esoterica

*********

“Books aren’t written to be believed in, but to be questioned.”

~~ Umberto Eco ~~

*********

“If a man take no thought about what is distant,
he will find sorrow near at hand.”

~~ Confucius ~~

*********

“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”

~~ Sir Edmund Hillary ~~

*********

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

~~ Fearless Bee ~~

*********

“I can handle reality in small doses,
but as a lifestyle it’s much too confining.”

~~ Lily Tomlin ~~

*********

“Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

*********

“Where pain predominates, agony can be a valued teacher.”

~~ Frank Herbert ~~

*********

“Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do.”

~~ Voltaire ~~

*********

“OVER the underpass!
UNDER the overpass!
Around the FUTURE and BEYOND REPAIR!!”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

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

I did it. I had my doubts, as is my wont, but, it’s done, with some minor cheating. I hope y’all enjoyed today’s effort, which, believe me, was an effort. I shall make another attempt at this tomorrow, if all goes well. If not, well, you’ll hear from me….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Pike staffs with curlicues….

Posted on January 4, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Bravery is being the only one who knows you’re afraid.”

~~ Franklin P. Jones ~~

Luna, 12/25/2015

Image found at https://europasicewolf.wordpress.com/author/europasicewolf/

Hajime…. I’m unsure as to why eight hours sleep results in awakening if a foul mood; it’s foul enough I don’t give a shit. Everybody ELSE in the world, today, will just have to deal with it, because, I don’t intend to. For some reason, I woke up with absolutely no patience; not for foolishness, not for rudeness, not even for cat nonsense. Moreover, this time, I am NOT going to be the one making any fucking adjustments. Whoever crosses my path will act with perfect rationality, or they WILL pay a price for not doing so in my presence….

That out of the way, I’ll note today’s effort won’t be much of one, anyway…. I spent much of yesterday working on the no-doubt excessively wordy rant you’ll see today, but, it’s a pretty important one, to me, so, read it anyway, ‘kay? I worked on it pretty hard, even so far as to re-blog another bloggers most excellent piece as part of the lead-in to our subject matter today…. I guess the theme ended up being “how to fix things, or not” which is about as murky and unclear as I can make it… Sorry, not in a mood to be anything but straight-line. In fact, I’m done here; let’s get to it….

Shall we Pearl?….

Cat: Ethereal music wreathed in mystery.

~~ Bastet Bee ~~

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

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

I’m in a rotten space, as I’ve noted. One of the few pieces of music tolerable at all are these two symphonies, by the man I consider the most talented musical genius mankind has produced, thus far. Don’t care if anyone feels otherwise; in this mood, this is the only thing that can bring me any peace, so, if you don’t appreciate classical music, you may move on to the ranting section, where you will be encouraged to use the mind you possess for its intended purpose…. See you there, if I can manage not to get arrested before I get there….

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

Mozart
Symphonies 40 & 41

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

https://youtu.be/X5ZS8jCrnh4

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

Le Penseur ~ The Thinker

August Rodin

“Never frighten a little man.
He’ll kill you.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

~~ from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love” ~~

At first look, this short, pithy assertion about human nature by The Eldest may not seem particularly apt, nor deep enough to warrant a picture of Le Penseur to begin an examination of such a complex subject…. No worries, mates; it’s much, much deeper than it appears, and, I’m about to explain why…. (For those readers who don’t know why I call Lazarus by that title, ask in a comment, & I’ll explain)

Since the first of our species, long ago, before any modern human can even comprehend, first picked up a rock or stick, to defend itself against an attack by a predator, or, even, another of its own relatively peaceful species when not aroused to violence, (all of which, after all, is a natural function of life on Earth before technology…,), and, by virtue of possessing a weapon, killed his/her antagonist, the human imagination has turned its power to the improvement of the stick, and/or the rock, as a weapon, and, to the various methods of killing other creatures, whether predator or prey, upon which it fastened, as our primary means of fulfilling its natural function, of creation…

We have spent the intervening millenia in creation, mostly along those lines, improving both our weapons of death, and, the use of our imagination, to give free rein to the most vicious side of our animal nature… We became the planet’s most efficient predator, so much more of a killing machine than any other, almost NONE of our competitors are left, but for the power of Nature itself, which our imagination continues to attempt to control, to turn the very nature of Reality to its own vicious purposes, to the detriment of not only all the other animals and other life forms here, but, to the entire ecosystem, of which we are only a part… In short, we are so intent on the achievement of our own foolish desires, we are killing ourselves…. Stupid is as stupid does, it seems, is a truer representation of Reality than we knew….

If we are capable of viewing our species’ history in this light, the above statement takes on new meaning; the most dangerous human is one who fears…. There have been many sages throughout our history who, in contrast to those who pursue predation as their means of survival, have pointed out the folly of such avarice based upon ignorance and fear, and, of the necessity of learning about the universe, rather than fearing it, as we do…. Most people, because of the fear they feel, are given little chance to ever USE the mind with which we are equipped; from birth, they are taught to fear… to fear God, to fear other people, to fear reprisal of any kind….

The other side of that counterfeit coin is the promise of reward (i.e., the removal of fear), as well as the promise of ‘immortality’, which is, as is eminently clear, merely the province of the Universe as a whole… All of the individual PARTS of that Universe, in Reality, die, and change form into something else…. They, and everything that exists in Reality, ‘die’, and are ‘born’ again, as a different type of energy/matter…. Matter becomes energy, energy becomes matter, in a duet, a dance of Life and Death, through all of Eternity. Or, as much as we can perceive in this form.

That much is plainly visible to the simplest mind, as the proof is visible, in plain sight, in everything we witness in this consciousness we call Life…. This means, of course, the reward promised is fake, for each and every person is already immortal, as a part of the Eternal NOW, in motion through time, moving without cease, until it is destroyed, thus changing form….

One of the worst factors of this approach to Life the majority of our species has chosen, whether consciously, or not, is the sense of false entitlement, and, assumption of superiority which is characteristic of those who ascribe to any such philosophy…. It is particularly egregious, as well as culturally embedded, in the male members of humanity, who have, for all the time since we first became a species of killer apes, have abused their naturally greater physical strength to abuse and intimidate the female of the species, believing ‘might makes right’, no matter the resulting pain, or death, it may cause to others…. Only the wishes and desires of the strong, in their minds, have any validity….

I’ve often used the following meme, from ex-President Carter, to illustrate one of the ways this attitude has manifested throughout history, and, in truth, before we started keeping it in written form. It is a very clear summary of the issue, from the point of view of an intelligent, well-educated man, who was NOT one of those men who feel as most others do….

Before finishing this post, I had decided to re-blog the piece of work located at the link you see just below…. I’d like my Gentle Readers here today to take a few moments to read it, if they haven’t already, before resuming this narrative…. In my opinion, the story this woman has conceived is, absolutely, the most powerful, and, the most logically likely scenario for the familiar tale to have occurred, in true Reality, as opposed to what everyone today has been taught to believe…. In my mind, this is, most probably, the actual way Mary became known as the Mother of God…..

Be warned; it is a powerful tale, and not to be taken lightly; if you cannot disengage from your feelings while reading, you WILL weep before you are done…..

http://bellejar.ca/2015/12/29/blessed-art-thou/

Ffolkes, this has to stop. The men of the human race are killing each other, and all of us; raping women, and children; and, are, in general, strutting around the planet acting as if they are the only ones who matter at all…. They are not only dead wrong, but, they, in their extreme ignorance, blinded by the lust for power, and control over others, (which exists only to assuage their own fears of inadequacy), are in the process of killing us all; a species which does not act in concert to survive, will never do so… That particular rule of existence is written right in the basic roots of Universal Reality in this plane of existence….

Kindness, compassion, love, and honor are what characterizes my view of a Man; I see very few of our species living up to that standard…. The most painful irony, and, most painful truth is, most of the men alive on this planet are too ignorant, too weak, too afraid, and too wrapped in themselves to ever realize it….. The man of honor is no longer the majority, in this country, or, in the entire world, I’m afraid. Instead, they exist, only, as a rarity….

Pathetic is what they are; I guess it’s almost time for me to go hunting….

gigoid has spoken.

So be it.

It seems gigoid has more to say….

Yesterday, after writing the above, I read a blog, written by a Palestinian woman I regard as one of the most intelligent humans on the planet; she is burdened by not being free to use her full intelligence, simply by being born in a place that places little regard in women, at all, and, are actively repressive to any who display such power of mind, in public, and mostly, in private….

Moreover, she is trapped in a country which is occupied by another, and must survive, protect her family, and keep herself safe in what is, essentially, a war zone, called Palestine, in Gaza, next to the zone occupied by the Israelis, at whose bloody hands the city has become a festering cauldron of murder, repression, and, quite simply, inhuman atrocity, against an entire culture…. all in the Name of God.

She wrote a long piece in her native language, which Google could only HOPE to come close to translating. However, it was clear enough to me she had written her usual brilliant analysis, with her own reactions, of a recent meeting with a man and woman she considers as mentors in rational Islamic thought. While trying to make sense of the translation, it occurred to me, she was also trapped by the same trap as every other woman, man, and child on Earth, to wit: she has been labeled…..

All of us bear labels; it is human nature to assign a word to another, in order to place them into the proper slot in their mind’s world view… We get so wrapped up in labels, we confuse our real selves with what we have been labeled as being, though it may not have any real relevance to what is in our hearts and minds….

Names, places, religions, skin colors, genders, hair/clothing/body/life styles; we all receive them, and, usually, accept them as true without thinking about it, since it fits into our preconceived notions of self, or others….

And, it’s all another fucking illusion, ffolkes…. To comment on her post, I wrote a more prosaic, somewhat shorter version of the following, which I have decided to entitle….

Manifesto

I was born in the USA;
it is a place on the Earth.

I am not an American.

I am a human.

If I MUST be labeled an American,
then,
I must also consider myself
to be :

Palestinian,
Egyptian,
Israeli,
Chinese,
Russian,
Irish,
Belgian,
Kenyan,
Tibetan,
Afghani,
AND,
every other country
in the world.

If I am anything,
I am a citizen of Earth,
of Terra,
our Home.

As long as humans regard themselves any other way,
as citizens of different countries,
as proponents of different religions,
as possessors of different colored skins,
or different genders,
or,
as ANYTHING other than a human being,
FIRST and LAST,
we will never learn to make peace with each other.

Applying a label, of any sort, to a human,
is to place limits
on what they can be, or think, or do….

Accepting such labels
as truth
leads only
to death,
without honor,
without hope,
without peace.

Freedom,
true freedom,
has no limits;
there are no labels
among the free.

Humans don’t need
a creator,
money,
fear,
or,
violence.

Humans need
compassion,
kindness,
love,
honor,
and,
each other.

Simple logic,
and absolute truth
about human nature.

You won’t find it
in any version of a Bible,
or of the Quran,
or any other book.

You can only find
this absolute truth
in your own
heart and mind.

~~ gigoid ~~

1/3/2016

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

Future Shocked:

Weeping, I wake;
waking, I weep, I weep.
I weep for the ages to be lost,
for the children never to be born.

Time comes calling, strident and spare,
nudging us toward the future with bony hands.
No pausing, no waiting, always away,
Frantic hearts unseen, unheard.

Spirits are dark, afraid.
And the Beast hunts, hungry and cruel,
seeking out the weak, and the foolish.

We all weep now…..

~~ gigoid ~~

7/22/2013

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

Naked Pearls

Life at Large, Redux

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

“It’s amazing how much one person can do,
little by little,
over time.”

~~ Worker Bee ~~

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

“There are no mistakes.
The events we bring upon ourselves,
no matter how unpleasant,
are necessary
in order to learn what we need to learn;
whatever steps we take,
they’re necessary
to reach the places we’ve chosen to go.”

~~ Richard Bach, The Bridge Across Forever ~~

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

“The chief cause of human error
is to be found in prejudices picked up in childhood.”

~~ René Descartes ~~

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

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”

~~ Flannery O’Connor ~~

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

“A lotta cats copy the Mona Lisa,
but people still line up to see the original.”

~~ Louis Armstrong ~~

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

“I do not believe in the creed professed
by the Jewish church,
by the Roman church,
by the Greek church,
by the Turkish church,
by the Protestant church,
nor by any church that I know of.
My own mind is my own church.”

~~ Thomas Paine ~~

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

“Children are remarkable
for their intelligence and ardour,
for their curiosity,
their intolerance of shams,
the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision.”

~~ Aldous Huxley ~~

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

“If I were to wish for anything,
I should not wish for wealth and power,
but for the passionate sense of potential;
for the eye which,
ever young and ardent, sees the possible.
Pleasure disappoints; possibility never.”

~~ Soren Kierkegaard ~~

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

“Fortune rarely accompanies anyone to the door.”

~~ Balthasar Gracian ~~

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

It’s done, & I’m still in a foul mood…. I’m gonna go play with Leelu, & see if I can find a bit of peace inside…. See y’all tomorrow; I’m pretty sure, if I can keep myself from going out into the BBR, I’ll still be here to do so…. Time will tell, the tattletale….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

A facility for gasping at flaws….

Posted on January 3, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Just by choosing where you stand,
You alter your destiny.”

~~ Deng Ming-Dao ~~

Home

Image from a Tweet by @LimaChely

Hajime…. Finding our natural rhythm, once lost under the sands of time and circumstance, can take time, even if one is treading the proper path. The damage done by neglect over time is just as deep as that incurred quickly, adding to the frustrations that come with any such effortful task. But, small steps get one to the same place as long strides, thus taking the time needed to make sure one remains on the correct path. Or, as is commonly stated by those wise ones on the streets, “Keep on truckin’!….

All that said, it merely means I’m late again; different reason, but, the rhythm remains the same. The result is, I’m again sitting here, with nothing really done for this Pearl, beyond picking a picture for the top, and a couple quotes to go with it. Such is the life of a blogger, I suppose, meaning I’d best get to it….

Some will be fresh, but, some will be either archived, or, someone else’s work that fits in with today’s theme, whatever it is…. I’m not the person to ask, because I couldn’t tell you until it’s nearly done; I never know until then, as the process demands a certain degree of unconsciously directed thought and choices…. Trust me; I’ve been doing this a while now; it’s best not to fuck with the process, lest it fall apart at the seam…. Only the one, so, we try to be careful….

Sure we do….. Regardless of any near-untruths we may use here in the intro, we/I do try to avoid it altogether; if seen here, one may regard it as a necessary nod to expediency, and forgive us our trespass…. Or, not; we/I care not…. Just trying to be like the universe….. Innovative, unpredictable Change, often more rapid than we can believe, or handle, is the Norm, so, we/I do try to keep up in that respect. To do so today, and, in the interests of maintaining the small degree of efficiency so far displayed this year, I’ll get us over to the oyster beds the most efficient way, with my mind, and the power of the Metaphorse…. Watch closely….

Shall we Pearl?….

“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence.
When mindfulness embraces those we love
they will bloom like flowers.”

~~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~~

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

Eric Clapton

Image from http://www.last.fm via Google Images

I feel like some of the Best this morning; for me, as a guitar playing singing fool, there’s only one guitarist who can claim that title today…. There may be someone better than Eric, but, I’ve never heard them, or seen them, so….. he’ll do for today…. Enjoy, ffolkes; this is as good as it gets…. Oh, turn it up….. All the way…..

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

Eric Clapton Unplugged

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

https://youtu.be/xGavzOvTMjY

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

Lao Tzu, Laughing

I didn’t have time to rant, so, here is an old-school pearl of nine gems, beginning and ending with some appropriate comments from Shakespeare, on the subject of the Decline and Fall of the American Dream….

***********

The devil hath power
To assume a pleasing shape.

~~ William Shakespeare — Hamlet, Act ii, Sc. 2 ~~

“There are those who claim that magic is like the tide; that it swells and fades over the surface of the earth, collecting in concentrated pools here and there, almost disappearing from other spots, leaving them parched for wonder. There are also those who believe that if you stick your fingers up your nose and blow, it will increase your intelligence.” — “The Teachings of Ebenezum, Volume VII”

“Blood is a cleansing and sanctifying thing, and the nation that regards it as the final horror has lost its manhood … there are many things more horrible than bloodshed, and slavery is one of them.” — Padraic Pearse

“Courses of action which run only to be justified in terms of practicality ultimately prove destructive and impractical.” — Mark B. Cohen

“Democracy is a form of government that substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few. In democracy, what you get generally is bad government by a bully, tempered by the pen of several newspaper editors.” — George Bernard Shaw — Man and Superman (1903) Maxims for Revolutionists: Democracy

“If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.” — Isaac Asimov

“A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer.” — Robert Frost

“Bill Clinton’s tax-and-spend policies will create a recession in America.” — Vice President Dan Quayle in New Jersey, 10/19/92. — He did not go on to distinguish between the predicted Clinton recession and the current Bush recession. — (reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/20/92)

“He must needs go that the devil drives.”

~~William Shakespeare, All ‘s Well that Ends Well, Act i, Sc. 3 ~~

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

INCOMPOSSIBLE, adj. Unable to exist if something else exists. Two things are incompossible when the world of being has scope enough for one of them, but not enough for both — as Walt Whitman’s poetry and God’s mercy to man. Incompossibility, it will be seen, is only incompatibility let loose. Instead of such low language as “Go heel yourself — I mean to kill you on sight,” the words, “Sir, we are incompossible,” would convey an equally significant intimation and in stately courtesy are altogether superior.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

So, after the quote, you expected someone else?…. Enjoy, ffolkes; definitely one of the treasures of humanity, right here on the page you see….

Election Day, November, 1884

If I should need to name, O Western World, your powerfulest scene and show,
‘Twould not be you, Niagara—nor you, ye limitless prairies—nor your huge rifts of canyons, Colorado,
Nor you, Yosemite—nor Yellowstone, with all its spasmic geyser-loops ascending to the skies, appearing
and disappearing,
Nor Oregon’s white cones—nor Huron’s belt of mighty lakes—nor Mississippi’s stream:
—This seething hemisphere’s humanity, as now, I’d name—the still small voice vibrating—America’s
choosing day,
(The heart of it not in the chosen—the act itself the main, the quadriennial choosing,)
The stretch of North and South arous’d—sea-board and inland—Texas to Maine—the Prairie States—Vermont,
Virginia, California,
The final ballot-shower from East to West—the paradox and conflict,
The countless snow-flakes falling—(a swordless conflict,
Yet more than all Rome’s wars of old, or modern Napoleon’s:) the peaceful choice of all,
Or good or ill humanity—welcoming the darker odds, the dross:
—Foams and ferments the wine? it serves to purify—while the heart pants, life glows:
These stormy gusts and winds waft precious ships,
Swell’d Washington’s, Jefferson’s, Lincoln’s sails.

~~Walt Whitman~~

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

Naked Pearls

Short Shots on Life at Large

**********

“O, well,
you win some, you lose some,
but you gotta get dressed for ’em all.”

~~ Susan Kenney ~~

**********

“A Lie is still a Lie, even if you believe it.”

~~ Honest Bee ~~

**********

“Never let yesterday use up today.”

~~ Wise Bee ~~

**********

“What is defeat?
Nothing but education,
nothing but the first step toward something better.”

~~ Wendell Phillips ~~

**********

“When you are content to be simply yourself
and don’t compare or compete,
everybody will respect you.”
–
~~ Lao-Tzu ~~

**********

“But where shall I start?
The world is so fast, I shall start with the country I know best, my own.
But my country is so very large,
I had better start with my town.
But my town, too, is large.
I had best start with my street.
No, my home.
No, my family.
Never mind, I shall start with myself.”

~~ Elie Wiesel ~~

**********

“Give more than take.”

~~ Anthony J. D’Angelo, The College Blue Book ~~

**********

When all is done, human life is,
at the greatest and the best,
but like a froward child,
that must be played with and humoured a little
to keep it quiet till it falls asleep,
and then the care is over.

~~ Sir William Temple — Miscellanea, Part ii, Of Poetry ~~

**********

“Where does it go when you flush?”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

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

Whew! I wasn’t sure I could do it, but, as usual, trusting the process, and, maintaining an unconscious direction, saved the day. So to speak.

What the hell? It’s done; in the final analysis, who gives a crap what else happened? We cannot afford such weakness; hence, this offering. I do hope you enjoy it, or, if nothing else, it pisses you off; any reaction will do…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as the world keeps spinning along….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Reigned in with some reluctance….

Posted on January 2, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Democritus said, words are but the shadows of actions.”

~~ Plutarch — Of the Training of Children ~~

Beginning/Ending

Hajime…. I’ve been taking the words of Democritus more seriously of late; walking more & sitting less at the computer. Yesterday’s rant makes it hard to walk, but, the sky is still blue, & it’s pretty easy for us humans to ignore reality, so, I’ll keep it up, as it seems to be helping me regain some of the stamina and overall healthy status I once enjoyed. It has, oddly enough, also regularized my circadian rhythm; I’m sleeping at least 8 hours each night, often 10. That, however, is playing hell with my morning habit of being up early to finish each day’s post…. Now, I have to get done the day before, or, rush in the morning to do so….

So, you’ll find some shortcuts today; my regular readers realize this means some of the Pearl will be from the archives, where, in the last four-plus years, I’ve written about eight million words upon which to draw…. Bonus! It also means I’ll be cutting some of the crap out of this section, in order to get on down the page where I can make things right, with either fresh material, or, an archived piece….. In fact, you’ve already seen how that works, which is exactly like this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“I don’t think I’m ever more “aware” than I am right after I hit my thumb with a hammer.” — Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

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

Image from beatchronic.com via Google Images

Today’s music is from the same organization I wrote of yesterday, Playing For Change, which you can find here: https://playingforchange.com/. I receive an email notice when they publish a new song, and this one was so happy, and full of so much human spirit, it was irresistible to include today…. Enjoy, ffolkes, and, consider helping them out with a donation…. It’s well worth it….

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

Pemba Lake
Playing for Change

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

https://youtu.be/f8IZnTgQWu0

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

Today’s ranting material comes from the archives; I started one, but, didn’t have time to finish it…. Hence, this blast from the not so distant past…. Enjoy, such as it was…..

From 2/5/2014:

Robert Heinlein called the latter half of the twentieth century, “The Crazy Years”, with good reason…. I have reason to believe that the period of US history to which he SHOULD have applied the term might better be placed in the beginning of the current century, instead…. As proof of that, below, I offer five links, to articles on ONE news site, all of which give a pretty good estimation of the depth of the problems we have in society today…. It’s a pretty good overview of some of the issues, but one should remember to remember the irony of having to read the words they’ve written, at all…. My comments will follow each link, in parentheses to avoid confusion….

“Two rules we should always have ready,–that there is nothing good or evil save in the will; and that we are not to lead events, but to follow them.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — In what Manner we ought to bear Sickness, — Discourses, Book iii, Chap. x

http://www.sfgate.com/raiders/article/2nd-Raiderette-joins-suit-over-wages-expenses-5203869.php

(In sooth, this one isn’t so crazy as sad…. In the massive pyramid scam that comprises the structure of the NFL, the bosses make billions, the players, basically a bunch of grown up kids, make millions, the lackeys (like cheerleaders, equipment managers, beer vendors, stadium workers, and all the other mundane drones working in the business somewhere…) make a few thousands, while the fans, who are paying in all of that gelt, pretty much get screwed… but, then, what would you expect of a business that engenders billions of dollars of revenue each year, while engaging in what is essentially a complicated game of tic-tac-toe, with live x’s and o’s….. Actually, the whole NFL scenario reminds me of the whole Religion scenario…. same scam, different clothes… Robes and collars in one, uniforms and helmets in the other….)

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Sochi-city-hall-orders-killing-of-stray-dogs-5200318.php

(We all knew the Russian government was crazy, as often proven by their chief crazy, Vlad, the Bad boy, Putin….. and this little exhibition of the power of expediency over compassion is a perfect example of how the leaders of society take nothing but their own agenda into account when making decisions, regardless of how those decisions may affect another living creature, canine, or simian….. They don’t give a shit for anything but themselves, in essence, and this is more proof of it, to my way of seeing things….)

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Senate-sends-farm-bill-to-Obama-5202152.php

(You know which farm bill this is, right? I’m pretty sure this is what they call the Farm Subsidy Bill, the one that distributes the BILLIONS of dollars, stolen by the government from taxpayers, to various American farmers, to supplement their income by paying them NOT to grow things…. Farmers, being PAID to NOT GROW food…. now, if that isn’t crazy, then I don’t know what the word means….)

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/television/article/Bill-Nye-defends-evolution-in-Kentucky-debate-5202990.php

(You know we’re in trouble, as a species, when a scientific theory that has been proven beyond all doubt is STILL being questioned in public…. The fact that the debate here is taking place in a Creation Museum is one of the more ironic parts of this….. Here, in one spot, is gathered all of the major points of ignorance that are held as true by Creationists, who believe the world was created 6,000 years ago, reportedly by some aged, white-haired, Caucasian Supernatural Being, with serious busybody tendencies, (whom nobody saw, other than a few minor prophets, where they had been in the desert, happily having visions from dehydration, and experiencing beautiful, inspiring visions from consuming the desert plants…), with the aid and collusion of some of history’s most accomplished con men, in support on the ground…. The mere fact that the matter under discussion here is still being questioned, by ANYONE, is the most ironic, and the saddest part of this one….)

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Slain-Napa-girl-kept-in-suitcase-freezer-police-5204040.php

(I’m pretty certain I don’t need to comment at all here, though I will; this story is infused with craziness…. The sheer insanity of this couple’s journey into methamphetamine hell, turned them from being human, into monsters…. I lay the blame for this death squarely at the feet of the BRC, as more proof of the failure of their “War on Drugs”….. Hell, from what I can see, everything the BRC has ever done to fight drugs has only worsened the problems that produce the drug use in the first place…. The drug use that is endemic in the lower reaches of the financial scale in our society is a direct result of the widening gap between the rich and the poor…. The sense of futility and hopelessness that goes with living in poverty, (and I know it’s real, having been there….) leads to despair, and drugs often seem like the only way to forget it all for a while….. Deal with THAT issue, the financial gap, and there MIGHT be some improvement in that area of societal behavior…. It’s obvious by the last 50 years that the current attempts to deal with drug use is NOT working….)

There you go ffolkes, a compendium of evidence that goes to prove how insane society has become…. I wish us all the best of luck in the coming years…. We are going to need it, badly….

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

Intelligent Crimes

The value of wit is often said to cause harm,
for those who think, such is its greatest charm.
The new and the bold cannot be fulfilled
if innovation and change is left unwilled.

Society behaves at its base as a mob
conformity and submission its primary job.
Any sign of rebellion against the mob’s rule
is met with resentment, naming such rebel the fool.

Intellect and talent are looked at askance,
expressing artistry stands nary a chance.
To stand out from the rest of mankind
is fraught with danger, for body and mind.

Often I stand to watch in solemn dismay
as beauty and joy are left by the way,
ignored and reviled by the unwashed masses
who prefer darkness, and acting like asses.

With shouts of derision the normals make known
their fear of intelligence, greater than their own.
They hope to stop all semblance of progress;
for thoughts and ideas, they couldn’t care less.

The world struggles on in spite of all opposition,
managing to maintain its advanced position.
Pulling the foolish along in spite of reluctance,
helping each to learn the survival dance.

Hard though it may be to keep up with the future
genius manages its plans to develop and nurture.
In the final analysis, those who live by reason
enjoy life the most, season to season.

~~ gigoid ~~

10/7/2012

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

“Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines,
but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes.”

~~ Buddha ~~

**********

“If what Proust says is true,
that happiness is the absence of fever,
then I will never know happiness.
For I am possessed by a fever
for knowledge, experience, and creation.”

~~ Anais Nin ~~

**********

“You will know unexpected happiness.
You will know the sorrow
of seeing what is dearest to you cut down before your eyes.
Accept that
That is the nature of human existence,
and you have no time to buffer this fact
with fairy tales and illogical explanations.”

~~ Deng Ming-Dao ~~

**********

“I always look outside myself for strength and confidence,
but it comes from within. It is there all the time.”

~~ Anna Freud ~~

**********

“All virtue is summed up in dealing justly.”

~~ Aristotle ~~

**********

“A good laugh is sunshine in a house.”

~~ William Makepeace Thackeray ~~

**********

“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”

~~ William Shakespeare ~~

**********

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

~~ Anais Nin ~~

**********

“I don’t have all the answers, just those that count.”

~~ gigoid bee ~~

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

In spite of the natural and unnatural handicaps with which the morning has burdened our existence, this Pearl is done. I can only say hallelujah, and, be grateful it isn’t any worse than it is…. Not that it’s bad, necessarily, but, I don’t think we’ll need to notify the Pulitzer committee to convene any time soon…. On that deprecatory note, I shall bid thee adieu for another 24 or so hours…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; there doesn’t seem to be any choice in the matter for me….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

gigoid

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

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