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?….

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….

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…..

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….

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….

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….