That said, with tears flowing, it might be best to just get on with this. I completed much of yesterday, and filled in the rest this morning, so, it is probably a bit choppy in its structure, and may not flow like usual. But, I really like the video selection today; I feel strongly about how music may be our one remaining chance to bring the masses of humanity together to fight the oligarchy, so as to sustain humanity as a whole species, one with any chance to survive the next century. The ranting section is from the archives, and isn’t too hard on the reader, and the poem is one of my favorites….. The final section, naturally, takes care of itself….

I guess that covers all that an intro section requires; it did get us three paragraphs in without much struggle. To carry on in the same efficient fashion, I’ll forgo any further literary tricks or, well, fillers, and just get on with it. We’ll use the Tardis, and a couple of the toys it comes with, and won’t need any of the usual crap to get us going…. See, that works like this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“…common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large…” — H. P. Lovecraft

I’ve seen, and dealt with a lot of violence in my life, on a personal level, as a specialist in managing assaultive behavior in humans, during their loss of control during active psychosis, or other mental disorder. In short, I’ve had my fill, and plenty more, of hand-to-hand combat. I didn’t go to war; having been raised in the Army, by a Master Sergeant, I was already quite familiar with the whole idea, as well as the knowledge and skills taught to the child of any soldier. I understood the principles of politics in deciding where the Army was sent; having moved every couple years until the age of 10, it was clear personal choices were not an issue…..

So, I decided to avoid the whole Vietnam issue; I registered as a C.O,  & eventually beat the draft. This meant I went to work in mental hospitals, where I spent 11.5 years, approximately, engaging in over 750 serious incidents of interpersonal violence (i.e., fighting hand-to-hand),in order to keep someone from hurting another person, or, destroying property, or, often enough, making a serious attempt to rip my head off….

In all those incidents, I was efficient enough to only get hurt once, & accidentally hurt only one person (a teenager who rushed me…. I was holding the one who attacked him on the floor when he attacked me; I had to take him down quickly, & couldn’t be as careful as usual…. He hit the floor a bit hard….)…. but, mostly, just got sicker and sicker of seeing people lose control, without ever learning why it happened to them….

Kinda like the average person in society…. and, in a larger sense, exactly like what the entities called ‘governments’ have always used as their primary method of interacting, to wit; they fight, and squabble, and act like little children having their toys taken away….

When the war in Vietnam began, I, like the American I was raised to be, informed myself as to the reasons for engaging our troops in S. E. Asia. It was clear to me at 17, the ONLY reason we were there was to protect the business interests of the heroin trade. (As an aside, Safeway, and a small number of companies made a literal fortune in Vietnam, supplying all the food & supplies for the armed forces there….)  The BS being fed to the public at the time, about the Red Menace, and how it would be on our shores in California if we didn’t stop it first, was, to my mind, the purest sort of shit imaginable…. Japan had already tried that, and look how well that went for them….

All that said, I’ve watched our country, and the arms dealers who run it, for the most part, engage our young, impressionable teens and young adult males in seemingly endless, viciously destructive, illegal wars, all completely without any Constitutional consent, nor any rational, or even true reason stated, for 65 years now. ALL of our engagements since WWII have been solely to protect business…. period. Anyone who believes differently just hasn’t been paying attention, and, seemingly would believe a politician if they told them their own asshole was a threat was to society….

Hmph….. and, these fucking idiots think they’re Americans…. What they are is a huge group of ignorant slaves to illusion….

So, here’s this organization, Playing for Change, (https://playingforchange.com/), made up of musicians, both professional and amateur, as well as regular, average people, from around the entire world, who make songs, and send them out as a message to the world’s people, of the need to stand up and fight back, to take our planet, and our lives, back from the hands of the oligarchs, who have forsaken all their humanity for the sake of Ego driven desire…. I wept all the way through the first one I heard (also the first one here), a Grateful Dead tune called Ripple, from the late 1960’s. Some absolutely fantastic singers, musicians, and regular folks from all over the world sing together, in their own words at times, to spread the message needed to unite the people in a spirit of humanity, rather than in fear, so desired by those would be kings…

Listen, and join in the songs, ffolkes…. It’s time for revolution, which, after all, just means change…. and, nobody can stop change…..

From 9/12/2012:

This is an old school pearl for your reading pleasure, or nearest approximation of same…. a bit different, with some internal comments from yours truly (in parentheses for your convenience….), to give directional hints that may or may not lead you to the point being developed…. but, funny, at least, as much as I can make them….

“… But when he [the people’s champion] has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.), “The Republic”

(When I read this, or sentiments like it, I always get a picture in my head of the two Bushes…. GW and GHW, otherwise known as the Senior Shrub and the Junior Shrub, or vice versa…. The national mourning that took place yesterday is the best example of their work in this arena….)

“My first American ancestor, gentlemen, was an Indian-an early Indian.  Your ancestors skinned him alive, and I am an orphan.  All those Salem witches were ancestors of mine.  Your people made it tropical for them…. The first slave brought into New England out of Africa was an ancestor of mine-for I am a mixed breed, an infinitely shaded and exquisite Mongrel.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

(Me too! I loved this when I first saw it, back in High School, a VERY LONG time ago… so long ago, it was hot off the press…… The best part is, every one of those folks who believe themselves to be blue-blooded Americans are exactly the same make-up… There are very few real pure-bloods left anywhere in the world, and certainly not in a country with the diverse population we have….. we’re all, technically speaking, close to being “mutts”, every one of us…..)

“Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” — Galbraith’s Law

(I am reminded of those folks who are busy trying to convince everyone that they aren’t against Obama because he’s black, and then turn around and support R&R, who have all but guaranteed to return racism and bigotry to government….. Hell, just look at one of their primary talking point slogans, the key part of which is, and I quote, “…we’ll take America back….” Take it back? From whom? From other Americans? Does this mean the current government aren’t real Americans? That sounds suspiciously of both racism, AND treason, to me…..)

“The clinching proof of my reasoning is that I will cut anyone who argues further into dog meat.” — Sir Geoffery de Tourneville (ca. 1350)

(Ah, the good old days…. sometimes, I wish we would see someone in the House, or the Senate, say this at the end of a speech, just to see if anyone is paying attention…)

“Somewhere in suburban Honolulu, an unemployed bellhop is whipping up a batch of illegal psilocybin chop suey!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

(Okay, I admit it… this one isn’t part of the message inherent in the other quotes…. I just like it….. Though, now that I think about it, the fact that it is entirely possible this is true, does say something about the subject at hand, to wit: society and government thereof…. What it says could be paraphrased as “If God is in charge here, I am angry; if He is not, I am frightened….” — Smart Bee)

No one ever made laws keeping people from making fools of themselves. — Smart Bee

(This is a wonderful end point for this discussion, or at least, it is such an ending for the discussion going on in my head….. I think this is very, very true, sadly…. Moreover, I believe that the laws we do pass actually are the proof of the pudding, in terms of people making fools of themselves…. especially when we try to legislate morality…..)

That’s enough mental torture for one day….. I hope the conclusion these quotes led to is clear…. if not, well, that’s okay, because I never hold quizzes…. and hopefully, you got a chuckle or two from reading it…. and if not, well, console yourself with the fact that it is done…..

Well, it’s done. Leelu isn’t happy with me, as I had to ignore her for a time; ignoring doesn’t sit well with any cat; they consider it their sole provenance. But, in spite of the new bite and scratch marks, I’m reasonably content this won’t hurt anyone. Offend, perhaps, but, that is fine; that’s part of what I’m shooting for, anyway. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can stop this bleeding in time…. Leelu isn’t happy right now…. No worries. A bit of tuna, and some crumpled up paper, and we’ll be fine….