For now, I’m just holding as still as possible, to prevent the dizziness…. and hoping I can hold it together long enough to get this done…. Fortunately, I had completed a good deal of it yesterday, during the breaks between sleeping to catch up, and battling the bones, which took up much of the day…. In at least one way, all this is a good thing for y’all, as it means the total amount to read will be much less than usual, and, minus any fresh ranting, as I am just not up to that now….

That being said, I’m going to also cut this intro to a degree unprecedented in previous Pearls…. In fact, we will be leaving this section very shortly, and going on to what is below… In actual fact, that is happening NOW….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“A man makes no noise over a good deed, but passes on to another as a vine to bear grapes again in season.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, v, 6

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Today, it is here to show just one of the meeting places of the Beloved Ruling Class, this time in England, where that particular group of running dog lackeys has been shape-shifting, or, in their natural state, writhing sinuously around and through British culture, always managing to keep themselves in positions of authority and entitlement, for many thousands of years…. Many of them came to America in the early days, where they’ve been insinuating themselves into the US government since soon after its inception….

But, for centuries, aided by the natural Celtic tendency toward gullibility when confronted with claims of supernatural mandate, combined with an inherent national characteristic, or, if you will, curse, of possessing the emotional range of a teaspoon, and, an unbelievable stubbornness about ever admitting to being led by the nose, these latter-day Wizards of Oz continue to hide in plain sight, allowing their subjects to have complete (apparent) freedom, while, in truth, carrying out the same agenda as the elitists in this country have adopted, though for a shorter time, to wit: the long term con involved in converting the democratic forms of government, (call them Republican Democracies, or Democratic Republics, or, even, Constitutional Monarchies…. all same-same….) supposedly in place in both countries, into open Oligarchies, or the rule of the rich….

Now, I’m depressed again…. I’ll be back….

Obviously, I had planned to finish this today, after getting up…. Since my brain/body had different ideas for how I would start my day, I’ll have to leave it as is…. In looking it over, it is actually done enough; the point was made, and y’all will just have to do without the usual following verification/augmentation of the supporting evidence for my contentions…. I do see that I managed to put together an old-school version of a pearl, to act as a closing to this section…. so, we’ll take advantage of my forethought, and use it, here and now…. trusting to my instincts to see that it all flows together without any major welding required….

Whatever comes previously to this paragraph in this section, in the way of a rant, or discussion, or outburst of frustration and angst, sans rationale, or, whatever has tickled my fancy at that point, the following pearls will be included…. This group put itself together, at SB’s behest, apparently, as a means of poking some fun and sharp sticks at our alleged leaders in society…. Most of them are either obvious statements of how politicos think, if what they do can be so named, subtle indictments of their character, advice on how to deal with them, or Smart Bee’s take on what they want from y’all….

Also included, however, are two quotes from Thomas Jefferson…. One is included, patently, to provide contrast, and to demonstrate how the current crop of elected asininnies does NOT live by the same rules as did Jefferson…. The other is one of the warnings, or predictions, Jefferson issued to the people of this country who followed him, in his usual vein, which tells us to protect what they left to us…. His words have been preserved very well; the freedoms to which most of them referred? Not so well…..

“Vote Republican. It’s easier than thinking.” — Smart Bee

“A bone to the dog is not charity.  Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.” — Jack London

“It is not honorable to take mere legal advantage, when it happens to be contrary to justice.” — Thomas Jefferson, POTUS III

“It had all the earmarks of a CIA operation; the bomb killed everybody in the room except the intended target.” — William F. Buckley

” We should declare war on North Vietnam.  We could pave the whole country and put parking strips on it, and still be home by Christmas.” — Ronald W. Reagan

“A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose both, and deserve neither.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Vote Democrat. It’s easier than thinking.” — Smart Bee

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Yesterday, over the course of an hour or so, I was able to put down the following poem, ripped out of me whilst in the middle of an episode of intense pain from arthritis, in my hands, shoulders, hips, and UNIVERSE…. It may not be a traditionally formatted poem, and, as far as I know, it doesn’t rhyme, as I wasn’t thinking at all about that sort of expression… This bled out at a pace at which I was challenged to keep up, complicated by having to write in short spurts, as the hands were the worst…. Any who, I don’t care if anyone enjoys this, or not; I had to write it, or go mad, with no visible path on which to return from the trip…..

Of course, there will be some folks, and even, possibly, some folks, who will automatically place me into the “unsaved, and incorrigible” category, which is fine; it’s exactly where I prefer to be, if I must be in a category at all…. I forget who once said, “Not all poets are mad, but, it helps.”…..
Though I don’t remember who said it, I do tend to agree….

“For full indeed is earth of woes, and full the sea; and in the day as well as night diseases unbidden haunt mankind, silently bearing ills to men, for all-wise Zeus hath taken from them their voice. So utterly impossible is it to escape the will of Zeus.” — Hesiod (c. 700 BC) — Works and Days, Line 101

Sorry, but, I’ll still take the complaints….

~~ gigoid

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“Any ordinary man can surround himself with two thousand books and thenceforth have at least one place in the world in which it is possible to be happy.” — Augustine Birrell

This section is the only one incomplete as I begin today’s post…. I’m going with my gut on this, and will put some additional pearls, to accompany the rather fine sentiment above, and to finish off this post, one of the more fractured Pearls to ever come down the pike…

“The long historian of my country’s woes.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Odyssey of Homer, Book iii, Line 142

“Gort, klaatu nikto barada.” — The Day the Earth Stood Still

“Nothing can be produced out of nothing.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Diogenes of Apollonia, ii

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

“Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.” — H.L. Mencken

“The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences.” — Seng Ts’an, Third Zen Patriarch, — from Hsin Hsin Ming, Verses on the Faith Mind

“…and I get on my knees and pray we don’t get fooled again.” — Pete Townshend

Wow…. SB is being really nice today…. Those seven pearls came one after another, with only two extraneous and useless quotes mixed in with them… Most excellent, as it went really quickly, as hoped…. Now, we’re done…. yay!….

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“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.” — Bob Dylan

I get the feeling I am not the only one who feels like Bob…. But, all that is for another day. I’m done, and I’m outta here, to go hold still, and think of how to get through another day, with this added complication to adjust to…. SIGH…. Life is grand, isn’t it? See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…..