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This bear’s brain has been softened!….

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Ffolkes,

“We have met the enemy and they are us and you are me and we are all together”

~~ Walt Kelly, Lennon, and the Beatles ~~

Alaska Grand Adventure 013

    Given the state of affairs in which most of us exist, it seems pointless to bother explaining my own particular brand of insanity; nobody would blink, or wail, or fall down in shock and awe. Of course, if my own oddities don’t cause any sort of public display of astonishment, beyond the occasional snort of disdain, or the random chortle at my discomfiture, (only present, I assure you, because it’s too damn early in the day for such philosophical discussions)…. well, then, I wouldn’t expect to astound my audience with tales of strange behavior on the part of our Beloved Ruling Class, or that of my own particular nemesis, the dogma dogs….

When I think of the centuries of progress we have lost by listening to these fools, it depresses me, deeply; no other human activity plays such a large part in holding us back, as does the delusion of a supernatural force at large in the universe that, according to those who buy into that sort of thing, has some sort of obsession with having us worship them, bend our will to them, and otherwise surrender much of our humanity in order to make this delusion happy…. Now, if you were offered that as a deal for a used car, would you take it? Would you make that deal? I don’t think so; we all know how much used car salesman have OUR interests at heart…. Tricky Dicky taught us that….

I’ve done it again, haven’t I? Ranting before I even wake up, it seems, as I am, just now, finally awake enough to take note of what my fingers have been up to the last few minutes…. It seems my sub-conscious mind is chewing on the subject of dogma dogs, and their deleterious effects on human culture, since first gaining popularity back in the early days of our civilization’s rise from living in caves to living in cities built of metal and brick… Not that this “rise” has taught most people to think any more efficiently than when their most complex need was where to find another animal to kill. Hell, most of the folks alive today wouldn’t last ten minutes if they had to feed themselves, if there was no Burger King nearby….

Ah well, I suppose it’s only natural for me to complain; I am, after all, a human, with the same faults and prejudices most of us fall prey to, with, perhaps, just a few less delusions than is usually the case. Some of us humans have learned to pay attention to that little voice that whispers to us when we are told something that challenges our understanding; most people give that up to avoid having to think, or make decisions for themselves about what to believe. Those of us who have decided not to engage in such weakness, unfortunately, don’t seem to be able to convince the rest of the world of how little they actually see, or understand…. Instead, the world trudges on toward its doom, blithely blind to their own danger, or their own part in creating that danger.

Having now completely lost all track of where we might be in this process, I think I’ll abandon all hope, and just go on with the rest of today’s Pearl…. There doesn’t seem to be much point in belaboring this point any further; I’m mostly preaching to the choir, anyway, I think; most of my Gentle Readers, I find, are of that part of humanity that doesn’t buy into the bullshit being tossed around by the BRC; it might be more effective if anyone who actually needed to know this stuff would stop in to read…. But, that probably wouldn’t work, anyway, as they’d just bail the first time I asked them to think, or to answer a question they don’t understand…. SIGH….

But, we’ve managed to get far enough down the page to allow me to get us out of here without further claptrap (wonderful word, that….), so, I’ll just turn this little wheel here, push this lever down, press this button, and, voilá, we’re outta here!…. Hold on to your loose packages, ffolkes, the turn here is a bit sharp….

Shall we Pearl?

“In the handbook, it says that most people ignore the strange and unusual;  while I myself *am*… strange and unusual.” — BEETLEJUICE

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I feel like a bit of political satire, with a dash of impropriety, and some well-earned snark…. in other words, let’s see what our old friend Russell Brand has been up to of late, shall we?….. He is one of the few people in the public eye who is actively proposing world-wide revolution against those who would kill us all in achieving their own ends…. Here is his interview on Letterman last month, with a number of other available videos listed at the You Tube page where the link leads…. Listen up, ffolkes, he’s telling it straight….


Russell Brand on David Letterman – October 13th 2014 – Full Interview

 

 


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“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live.  It is asking other people to live as one wishes to live.” — Oscar Wilde

I’ve ranted already, filling up a great deal of the intro with my usual diatribe against organized religion, and the dogma dogs who would have us believe all that nonsense, so, I’ll spare you another one today, and proceed with an old-school pearl to serve the same purpose…. This one is, obviously, aimed at those foolish, but dangerous predators who prey upon the weak and gullible among us…. a group which sadly includes the greater portion of humanity….

Note, please. the first entry, which attempted to warn people against these liars and manipulators, is part of a work written long before the birth of Jesus Christ, the dogma dogs’ most frequent choice for their insane machinations….

“Some foolish men declare that a Creator made the world.  The doctrine that the world was created is ill-advised, and should be rejected.  If God created the world, where was He before creation?  How could God have made the world without any raw material?  If you say He made this first, and then the world, you are faced with an endless regression … Know that the world is uncreated, as time itself is, without beginning and end.” — The Mahapurana, Jinasena

“The Church hates a thinker like a criminal hates the police.” — Smart Bee

“To certain individuals of small minds and overweening ambition, there is no greater insult than to be proved wrong.” — Thomas H Dyer 1984

“People in general are equally horrified at hearing the Christian religion doubted, and at seeing it practiced.” — Samuel Butler, in “Samuel Butler’s Notebooks”

“Worship the gods, listen to their advice, but don’t lend them money.”– Smart Bee

“Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others.” — Oscar Wilde  “Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young”

“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Smart Bee is a bit testy this morning; these are the best I could find…. So, I’ll leave you with a short statement of my own advice when confronted with someone trying to get you to swallow their hook, line, and sinker…. to wit:

“Get a taste of religion. Bite a preacher!” — Smart Bee, with gigoid’s full agreement

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Some poems, and poets, need no introduction, nor adornment…. Enjoy!

I Speak Not

I speak not, I trace not, I breathe not thy name;
There is grief in the sound, there is guilt in the fame;
But the tear that now burns on my cheek may impart
The deep thoughts that dwell in that silence of heart.
Too brief for our passion, too long for our peace,
Were those hours – can their joy or their bitterness cease?
We repent, we abjure, we will break from our chain, –
We will part, we will fly to – unite it again!
Oh! thine be the gladness, and mine be the guilt!
Forgive me, adored one! – forsake if thou wilt;
But the heart which is thine shall expire undebased,
And man shall not break it – whatever thou may’st.
And stern to the haughty, but humble to thee,
This soul in its bitterest blackness shall be;
And our days seem as swift, and our moments more sweet,
With thee at my side, than with worlds at our feet.
One sigh of thy sorrow, one look of thy love,
Shall turn me or fix, shall reward or reprove.
And the heartless may wonder at all I resign –
Thy lips shall reply, not to them, but to mine.

~~ George Gordon, Lord Byron  ~~


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Since Smart Bee is a bit out of sorts, we’ll go with a choice from the archives…. This pearl was first posted on 7/13/2012, though, to look at it, you’d think it was made to go with the rant section above….
——————-

Here then is an old-school pearl…. Strung together, each of these distinct ideas blend to become one scathing exposé of society today…. Just what that exposé consists of is, of course, left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…..

“And it came to pass that in the hands of the ignorant, the words of the bible were used to beat plowshares into swords…” — Alan Watts

“Religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they shall think.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

“What do you mean, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch?” *YOU* are the free lunch!” — Solomon Short

On a sidewalk near Portland State University someone wrote `Trust Jesus’, and someone else wrote `But Cut the Cards’. — Smart Bee

Those Jesus Freaks
Well, they’re friendly but
The shit they believe
Has got their minds all shut.

~~ Frank Zappa, “The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing” ~~


“Honesty isn’t any policy at all; it’s a state of mind or it isn’t honesty.” — Eugene L’Hote

“Apes evolved from Creationists!” — Smart Bee

Well, there you have it…. perhaps a bit less scathing than sardonic, but attractively presented, if nothing else, eh? Don’t forget to offer a cut to the player on your right before you deal the cards ….

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Well, I’ve done it again, Ollie…. There’s no going back now, and, since I never intended to do that, anyway, we can proceed to close this out with only minor guilt, which, I’m happy to say, I gave up years ago…. We all need a hobby, right? Right…. On that note, I’m outta here, ffolkes…. See y’all tomorrow….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Such scintillating sartorial services seem simply swell….

			
						

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Ffolkes,

Blast and damn! Waking up to such ill-favored language isn’t my idea of paradise, to say the least. Not that I’m offended by vulgarity or profanity; far from it, I’ve been known to curse the air blue a time or two myself. But. to have to overhear other folks’ domestic arguments first thing, before even having the small protection that coffee affords in such situations, is not on my list of favorite morning activities….. nor do I expect it ever will be. I suppose this is the problem with living in an apartment rather than a house; the neighbors are practically in your lap….


Ah well, soon enough, I’ll be able to move into a better place, once my benefits have actually begun, and I can find a place to move into that fits my needs for space and quiet…. Hopefully, I’ll be able to persuade a certain someone to come with me, but, if nothing else, I need to find a place where there isn’t someone living in my pocket… It’s an inherently dangerous situation, in that one of my neighbors is clueless, and places himself in severe danger at times due to his ignorance….. Not that it is my responsibility to protect him from his idiocy, but, when it spills over into my life, I have a tendency to react unfavorably; hence, he’s come close to dying three times now, and never even knew it…. Probably better all around, I’d think….


S’okay, though, the issue seems to have been resolved, at least to the point where he is only ragging on his wife, and not his neighbors…. I just wish he wouldn’t do it so early in the morning…. She could show some sense, too, and kick his ass occasionally, if only verbally, but, hey, to each their own, right? I have no interest in their issues, and just wish they didn’t spill over into their neighbor’s hearing….


Well, my little discussion of societal issues on a small scale has taken up the intro section, mostly. There isn’t enough room left to start anything poetic or fictional without getting all mixed up, and it’s too late to fall back into nonsense. Ranting is out, unless I want to lose everyone even more rapidly…. Hell, now what am I going to do? I haven’t a clue as to where this should either go, or do, or even if it should be continued…. it may be unsalvageable at this point…. hard to say, what with all the blood leaking out now…. Kinda makes it hard to see what’s what….


I’m going to resort to Emergency Procedure #1, which is the oldest, and simplest of the procedures I keep to fix things around here…. it merely involves a big dose of denial…. I declare the above to be a full and complete introductory section of a Pearl, and proclaim it “done”, as far as modern literary science can determine. No further attempts at levity, or rationality, will be needed, or allowed. Please move along to the next section, and thank you for your patience, and your patronage….. Or, more simply put…..  Shall we Pearl?…..

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“Mother Theresa epitomizes for me the blinkered charitableness upon which we pride ourselves and for which we expect reward in this world and the next. There is very little on earth that I hate more than that.” — Feminist Germaine Greer


I’ve been saving this one up for a few days, letting my outrage and angst build up, so that I can rant on this subject with the proper degree of vitriol and meanness…. This woman (Mother Teresa, that is…. Germaine’s an ass, mostly, but she is honest, at least….) deserves every bit of hard language and disdain that I, or anyone else, can summon, as I consider her to be one of the most delusional, most obsessively crazed, and most viciously hypocritical women who ever walked this planet. I kid you not…. The picture that everyone paints of her shows her as a modern day saint, full of sweetness and light, and filled with the grace of God’s love…. and I say, bullshit!….


From all I can tell, this woman has spent her entire life pushing her beliefs on everyone around her, in places all over the world that have no desire for her to be there (I’ve always wondered why the Vatican allowed her to travel around so many places like they do, but figured out they wanted her out of Italy, mostly, and didn’t care what she did anywhere else….as long as she wasn’t bothering them, they don’t care…), and who would just as soon she took her bleating, sheep-like religion somewhere else. She purports to spend her time helping the poor, sick, downtrodden victims of the world, but in reality spends all her time lording it over those weaker than herself, and making sure they are kept in the poverty where she finds them, fulfilling their enforced image as victims….


From all reports, this woman is both tireless and relentless in her fight against poverty, but, in truth, what she is, is totally invested in the vision of her own rightness, and, in my view, she spends a great deal of her time making sure that she is seen as a saint, pointing up the differences between herself, and those she purports to help. Then she will make some off-the-wall platitude, or sappy statement, about love for one’s fellow man, but will never, ever issue any statement against those who keep so many of their fellow man in the state of being victims, or against any of the priests in her own church, who prey on the weak and vulnerable of their own flocks…. She is NOT interested in anything that does not serve her own interests, much like another group of self-centered individuals I know of….


Of course, the BRC loves people like Mother Teresa; she does a lot to keep them in power, without them ever having to pay her at all…. Her constant harping at the middle class to help out, by giving to charities that support her work, provides them with consistent, effective advertising for the maintenance of the system that creates the poor in the first place, without them ever having to address the issue at all. She does it all for them, by her complicit acceptance of their right to rule; it’s a common practice among the religious institutions to encourage their constituents to obey worldly authority, or temporal rule, or whatever words one uses to describe the Beloved Ruling Class.


Without the complicity shown by the priestly hierarchies to the true corporate rulers of society, their place at the top of the heap would be much more difficult to maintain…. Without the priests and preachers constantly telling their followers to obey the rule of law, it would be much more difficult for those who are victimizing the rest of us to carry out their deceptive practices. It would seem to me to be the place of religion to PROTECT their flocks from the degradations of the ruling class, but the fact is that they are in collusion with that same group, with the unspoken but strong agreement on both parts to keep the rest of society in a state of confused fear, making them manipulable, and easily controlled….


Mother Teresa is one of the worst of the lot, in my mind, for the very reason that Ms. Greer points out in the initial pearl, as well as for her blatant hypocrisy, and her evil spirit, which KNOWS exactly what she is doing. She is obviously an intelligent woman; one couldn’t be so successful at anything without some basic mental advantages…. To me, that is her worst crime. She knows what she does is wrong; she knows just how hypocritical it is for her to speak of compassion for the weak, when her entire persona uses that same vulnerability to promote her own agenda. She is the worst sort of predator on the planet, preying on the weak and helpless of her own species, and demanding respect for doing so….


“Be one heart full of love in the hearth of Jesus through Mary. God bless you.” — Mother Teresa, Apr. 17, 1984


See? Is this delusional, or what? I’d bet the tone of voice used in these would be a dead giveaway; “God bless you” probably comes out sounding more like “God damn you!”, I’d wager…..  If you’ve ever seen the movie “Sister Act”, think of the scene near the end, when the police are hauling away the criminal, who shouts at Whoopi Goldberg’s character, Sister Mary Clarence, “You’re nothing!”, whereupon she replies, “Vince…. Bless you!”, with the emphasis on the ‘bless’, giving it the exact same emotional tone of “fuck you”…. brilliant! I would dearly love the opportunity to say that to Terry….


If I ever get a chance to meet her face to face, (and I hope like hell I do….) I WILL tell her what I think of her hypocrisy, right to her face, and see how well she can refute my arguments…. I would expect her to fall back on her supporters, though, and to pretend to ignore what I say, as I doubt seriously she would have the courage to try to refute what I say to my face….  If she did, it would be her only hope of convincing me that what I’ve related here is not correct. I might be persuaded to listen to what she has to say, if she would say it to my face…. but, since she will probably never hear of me, I doubt it will ever happen….


And that’s okay with me, too, because, I don’t really enjoy confrontations any more…. Too much chance of random squirts of adrenaline, and it’s so often a futile undertaking, as the general run of opponents for such battles of wit aren’t very well armed, as a rule. I think I’d enjoy going a round or two with Terry, myself; if nothing else, it would be a memorable opportunity to take a saint down a few pegs…. I’d enjoy that, a lot…. Nothing much worse than a mealy-mouthed hypocrite to put a bad taste in your mouth….


“Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proven innocent.” — George Orwell


Eurybiades lifting up his staff as if he were going to strike, Themistocles said, “Strike, if you will; but hear. — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Themistocles

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Occasionally, ranting will stimulate poetry, and today is one of those occasions, apparently…. I wrote the following in about 20 minutes flat, within moments of finishing the above religirant, so I would have to assume that the two are connected in some way. Any other assumption, I believe, would be mistaken…. Since I’m too close to it, maybe y’all could let me know how you like it…. or not…. I do like the last stanza, particularly, so, it’s worth it, if only for that…. I hope you enjoy it, controversial as it may be in content…. It’s all quite real, and immediate, to me…..


Rejection


“Jesus loves me, this I know,

For the Bible tells me so…”

I’d be crying a river, I thought

if ever such crap I bought.


Sorry if it hurts your sense of style,

but, hypocrisy always gives me bile.

Being lied to accidentally is okay,

but, deliberate lies make me angry, and fey.


Oh, God, hear what I pray!

Keep me from your followers today.

Having to listen to so much that is wrong

makes me puke, before it makes me strong.


I don’t know why it isn’t clear to other folks,

which is alright, you know, different strokes.

But, why should that mean that they must

force me to believe, or fail in trust?


Spare me the lies, and the make-believe,

fairy tales are easier to hear, and to weave.

They give us a lesson which we can feel

but don’t pretend at all to be real.


Reality can scare us, that’s a given fact,

still, met with care it will leave us mostly intact.

Met without fear, standing tall and alone

Life will allow us to make it our own.


Folly beckons, and so many follow

mass delusions seem to me most hollow.

I’ll have to stick to my own chosen way

while so many go so sadly astray.


It’s lonely at times, it may seem sad,

but really isn’t, and I’m quite glad,

that knowledge is always stronger than fear,

year after year, tear after tear…..


~~ gigoid

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There is no other choice but to go old-school here…. another rant seems like overkill. So, here is another harlequin pearl for your perusal, and intended pleasure…. Abondanza!


“A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”– James Madison


“If you can’t elucidate, obfuscate.” — Smart Bee


“Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth.  When perfect sincerity is expected, perfect freedom must be allowed; nor has anyone who is apt to be angry when he hears the truth, any cause to wonder that he does not hear it.” — Tacitus


“Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for lost faith in ourselves.” — Eric Hoffer


“In the handbook, it says that most people ignore the strange and unusual; while I myself *am*… strange and unusual.” — BEETLEJUICE (aka, gigoid… You hadn’t guessed I was the inspiration for this character?…..)


Me, too! Me, too!….. Oh, sorry, got carried away with enthusiasm there for a second… let’s see what Smart Bee has for a couple of closers for today…. to finish the too-obvious point we’ve got going here….


“Among the rich you will never find a really generous man even by accident. They may give their money away, but they will never give themselves away; they are egotistic, secretive, dry as old bones. To be smart enough to get all that money you must be dull enough to want it.” — G. K. Chesterton, A Miscellany of Men


“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson


Perfect!…. For extra credit, you may leave the conclusion in the comment section for others to laugh at, er, admire….. Or, you may just go on, like the rest of us….  😆

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Well, that went smoothly enough; let’s see how it flows…. or, if….. Well, I’m not certain that the word, “flow” is the right one, but, we’ll go with it for now…. I like it. But, then, I DID write it, so that’s probably a good thing, all in all. Whether or not y’all feel the same, well, I hope so, but, I’m not gonna hold my breath…. I’m too much aware of my own shortcomings, and my own relative importance…. fortunately. If nothing else, I hope it gives y’all a chuckle or two, or maybe causes a moment of outrage or other real emotion…. I’ll settle for that…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..


—

Sometimes I sits and thinks,

and sometimes

I just sits.gigoid


dozer3