These weren’t buffed OR polished!…..

Posted on June 20, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

It was a beautiful morning…. The bright, friendly sun was shining brightly out of a deep blue sky, dotted here and there with a few puffy cotton ball clouds. From where I lay in the hills above the town’s main thoroughfare, I could see the entire valley where it lay spread out before me, looking just like one of those advertisements in a travel magazine, offering 3 nights & 2 days in a beautiful country setting…. To look, one might think nothing could disturb the bucolic serenity that lay over the whole scene, covering all that lay before one’s eyes, like a haze of smoke from distant fires….

Little did the peaceful residents know of the horror that would soon be unleashed; the dark shadow of fate fell upon them without notice, or heraldry, allowing this little time of peace before all hell broke loose…. With a small sigh of regret for the peace about to be shattered, I reached down, gave the all-clear signal, and began preparations to move…. In a few short hours, the scene below would change drastically, and the beauty and grace that once lived here would be gone forever, blasted into the depths of memory by the march of time…. and a few well-placed artillery shells….. It was a shame, really, but, nobody can stop time…

Okay, enough…. I’m tired of that one already, which is unsurprising, to say the least…. I have to admit, it ISN’T one of my best….. It’s funny how my mind turns almost automatically to this sort of fictional opening…. A lot of them that I’ve done all seem to focus on the same sort of scenario, which is the beginning of some sort of military action, or spy mission, or assassination, or some other sort of situation in which guns, bombs, or other war-like implements play a major role, or act as a silent, unseen threat…. I suppose that is just an unconscious expression of human nature, falling into the habit of violence, and/or war…. Our species has a long history of involvement with such issues, he said with an ironic smirk….

Once again, though, the creation of such common tales from human experience, even though completely fabricated, has brought us this far down the page, where we (I) have a better chance of moving this along toward the day’s offering, such as it is…. I can only say this; it seems to work for me, and, although I really don’t feel like I have this process under control, it does get me somewhere close to where I need to be to get this done…. The usual obstructions are have been set aside, for the moment at least, and I’m thinking we might just as well take what we’ve got, and make a break for the border…. Hey, it can’t possibly get any more absurd, can it? No, I didn’t think so….

Shall we Pearl?…..

Take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind
down the foggy ruins of time
far past the frozen leaves
the haunted frightened trees
out to the windy beach
far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Ah, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
silhouetted by the sea
circled by the circus sands
with all memory and fate
driven deep beneath the waves
let me forget about today until tomorrow.

— Bob Dylan —

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I’m afraid today is going to be one of those days around here…. A lot of reasons come to mind, none of which make for a good story, so, y’all will just have to suffer, and wonder…. However, to ease the pain, here is a rant, from early in 2013…. It’s been used before, and may be familiar to some of my more regular readers, at least, those who have been coming by for a while…. It’s also one of my best, all in all, which is why I use it so much…. Enjoy, please, and more importantly, pay attention, & pass the word, right after you pass the salt, please…. These hard-boiled eggs are just too bland without it….

Originally posted in January, 2013:

“Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when he is called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.” — Oscar Wilde

One may always trust Oscar Wilde to be both elegantly witty and intelligently insightful, though, to be sure, many of his most closely held views were somewhat divergent with what was commonly held to be true, philosophically. This divergence was, I believe, mostly deliberate on his part, as he tended to mock that which he did not respect, and he never had much respect for…. well, anything to do with human nature vs. reason and rationality. He mistrusted most people to act morally, and was unafraid of saying so; this, of course, made him both famous, and infamous….. His infamy, I’m sure, ultimately was his undoing, much to society’s loss; as is said so often about our brightest minds, “only the good die young….”

I often wonder, (well, maybe not so often, as much as I’m wondering now…) what the world today would be like, if somehow, some of those bright stars in history had lived to an age where their accomplishments, in relation to the advancement of human thought, and the betterment of the human condition, had a broader, and more lasting effect than their absence has left us. What if Keats had written poetry until he was 85? How many more inventions would have come to us from Nicolas Tesla, had he lived long enough for the rest of the scientific world to catch up to him, instead of hounding him to an early grave? How much more good music, and art, and literature would be available to all of us, if not for this tendency for the best of us to live as a burning meteor, flaming brightly through the sky, until burned out and lifeless?

It is a sad commentary for society to know that it is often the very brilliance of these people that brings about their downfall, at the hands of the ignorant, and the avaricious…. What is even sadder, to me, is that this demonstrates another part of human nature that is responsible for almost every issue in human history, and current society, that causes people to suffer pain, oppression, perpetual struggle, and will most certainly ultimately lead to the extinction of our species, on this planet, at minimum, if not completely…..

That piece of our nature is the unfortunate characteristic, in a number of humans, to be able to put aside all conscience, and act solely in their own self interest. All of us, of course, possess this to some degree; it is an outgrowth of having a will to survive. To these few others, it is their primary modus operandi; they simply do not take other people, or their concerns, into account when deciding what they are going to do, and are not hampered by the consideration of any suffering they may cause other people, animals, or things.

As is patently obvious, to my mind, every elected official, every high level preacher, every corporate magnate, and a great many lawyers, are all of this ilk, and have, for nearly 230 years now, been quietly and efficiently plundering the pockets and rights of the American people (and those of every other country in the world, for that matter…. it is a HUMAN condition, not just American…. Ours are just some of the most obvious about it….), while simultaneously lying, cheating, and otherwise acting to secure their stranglehold on society.

Anyone who disagrees with this assessment, quite simply, isn’t paying enough attention to the world around them….. Sorry to be so blunt, but the facts are all laid out, right there, almost every day in the news media, if one knows how to look at the larger picture it presents, rather than the individual facets of that picture. Focusing on the little shit is just what those in power wish for people to do…. it keeps them busy not noticing other, more incriminating stuff they are carrying out, in the darkness where they mostly live….

“… change depends on individual acts of courage and commitment. Most such acts are private, invisible, and uncelebrated. But some find a place in the public spotlight; and their influence goes far beyond mere example.” — Arthur C. Clarke & Michael Kube-McDowell, The Trigger, 1999

Each and every one of us, in the face of what we know about reality, is responsible in some way, and to some degree, for both the way things are, and the way they will be in the future. If you don’t believe that, well, discussion is, for you, probably useless, and little hope remains. For anyone with moderate insight, however, this is plain, clear truth, and we all need to accept it before any significant progress can be expected against those who are sociopathic, which I define, and hereby name, as homo suicidus, those who would kill us all…. But, it is imperative that we act soon, for the damage we have done, and continue to do to our world, is at a point where the effects are nearly irreversible, and even if we manage to wrest control from the beloved ruling class,it may be too late to save our lives….

“In regard to disagreeable and formidable things, prudence does not consist in evasion, or in flight, but in courage. He who wishes to walk in the most peaceful parts of life with any serenity must screw himself up to resolution. Let him front the object of his worst apprehension, and his stoutness will commonly make his fear groundless.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, _Essays_, Prudence

It is my hope, small and pale though it be, that we WILL speak up, that the rational among us will rise up, and take back the control of our destiny from the hands of those who would see us all die, rather than give up their own control. It will only happen when men of courage, as defined by Mr. Emerson, stand up to those who would render us all impotent, for their own benefit. The only hope that exists for the rest of us lies in enough of us showing this kind of courage, and overcoming the fear that keeps us in thrall…..

“I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat.” — John Milton (1608-1674) — Areopagitica

Myself, I don’t want to die ignominiously, gasping for breath, because I didn’t have the courage to speak up, and to fight back against the immoral, avaricious assholes who dominate society….. Instead, let’s create a whole new world, without a beloved ruling class, at all….. Who knows? We might just find out that anarchy works!….. Worth a try, I think….. And, if it doesn’t work, well, we can always try a technocracy, which we have yet to do in history….. With a bit of foresight and planning, it might just be what we need to survive our own foolishness… Maybe, Richard Brautigan had the truest prophetic vision, when he wrote “All watched over, by machines of loving grace….”

“Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.” — Pablo Picasso

History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, but if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.

— Maya Angelou, “On the Pulse of Morning”

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Once again, to save the reputation of anyone else who might be associated with any of this, here is one of my older poems….

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 ~~

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I was up a little late today, which probably shows in the intro section; it gets that way when I feel rushed….. Also, I tend to go to the archives more often, though, in today’s case, that’s not a bad thing, given the state of creative juices this morning…. To prevent feeling like I completely abandoned all routine, I’ll put together a fresh random, harlequin pearl, just so I can say some of today’s piece is fresh….. Boy, the things we put ourselves through to maintain our own good graces…. Try to enjoy it anyway, ffolkes…..

“The earth hath skin, and the skin hath diseases. One of these…is called man.” — Nietzsche

“There is, nevertheless, a certain respect and a general duty of humanity that ties us, not only to beasts that have life and sense, but even to trees and plants.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book ii, Chap. xi, Of Cruelty

“Every public action which is not customary, either is wrong, or, if it is right, is a dangerous precedent. It follows that nothing should ever be done for the first time.” — Francis Cornford (1908)

“The happiness and unhappiness of the rational, social animal depends not on what he feels but on what he does; just as his virtue and vice consist not in feeling but in doing.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 16

“Even very young children need to be informed about dying. Explain the concept of death very carefully to your child. This will make threatening him with it much more effective.” — P. J. O’Rourke

“Democracy is based on the assumption that a million men are wiser than one man. How’s that again? I missed something.” — Robert A. Heinlein

“Reality is what bumps into you when you stand still with your eyes open.” — Solomon Short

Hmm…. a bit esoteric, but, nice….. I like it, so, it stays…..

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Some of y’all were probably hoping for a new episode of the Life and Times of Wise Old Pine Cone…. We actually DID get some pix taken, but, I didn’t have time to get them organized, so, it will have to wait until tomorrow…. Deal with it, you’re all adults…. I’m smiling, to take off some of the curmudgeonly crossness of that statement…. can you see it? It’s a big, happy smile….. Honest, trust me…. Well, if you’re going to be like that, I’m outta here…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

Building rapport by flapping gums, Mambo-style….

Posted on June 19, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Zip….

Zilch….

Nada…. which translates as “Not a damn thing”….

Nothing….

Nope, not yet….

Hmm…. huh? Oh, sorry, no, nothing yet…

Hell, at this rate, I may as well go back to bed….

That’s it, I give up….

I was waiting for inspiration to strike, but, it seems to have taken the day off, along with Calliope, or whichever muse is involved with the written word, outside of poetry…. Calliope probably has more to do with music, by the sound of her name, and it really doesn’t matter a damn bit, because none of them are here, or are willing to help today, so, fuck ’em…. We can’t wait any longer, and I’m just getting more p.o.’d by the moment…. I should have know better than to take one of them at their word; they may be iconic forces of nature, but, they ARE female….

Before you get all pissy at me for being sexist, I’m not…. Well, maybe a little…. I have one (a sex, that is…), so, it’s natural to have a bit of an attitude that sees the issue from that perspective…. With that in mind, it remains my opinion, based on my experience, that it is the nature of women, as a separate entity from men, to be less than truthful, if they have a reason to believe the truth would not serve their purposes.

I’m not saying men are any better at it than women, sadly, but, our code of honor (at least, for those of us who have one…) will cause us to at least CONSIDER telling the truth SOME of the time…. From what I can tell from a lifetime of observation, the truth, to women, is something they use at whim, to suit their purpose…. I have yet to find ONE who is completely honest, at least when it comes to what they tell men…. Sorry, but, that is the truth, ffolkes, and you can call me whatever you like, but, it remains the truth….

I don’t hold it against them, most of the time; it’s part of their nature, one dictated by Mother Nature as part of their role as the primary care giver for children….. A woman must think FIRST of survival, of herself, and of her children; this is natural law, and not subject to change at this late date in our development…. Thus, it is clearly not in their interest to consider telling the truth, if it won’t help them survive, or protect their young…. The truth, to women, is primarily a tool, one they use to meet their needs, but, not something they consider written in stone…. which is fine, from an evolutionary standpoint….

On a personal level, however, since women are really no more ethical or moral than men, and possibly less, given this characteristic, this tendency on the part of the fairer sex has caused me no end of hurt over the course of my life…. Of course, the answer to the whole issue is clear, anyway…. All one needs to do to protect themselves against the kind of problems that untruthfulness creates is to cultivate the ability to NOT expect to be told the truth…. that’s it.

If one doesn’t expect the truth, it isn’t a disappointment when one is lied to…. It’s still a bother, and a mild pain, but, at least it doesn’t take one by surprise, which is usually what causes the worst of any reaction to such prevarication…. In other words, don’t expect women to be anything other than what they are…. human, and flawed, just like men… Once one sees the whole picture from this perspective, it becomes possible to appreciate the opposite sex in full, for what they actually are, not what we fantasize them to be…..

Okay, well, that was interesting, if a bit risky to my health & well-being…. I’m not sure, exactly, how we got off into THAT particular subject, but, I think we’ll drop it there, as it is one that tends to create more controversy than it warrants…. The ongoing war between the sexes, to my mind, is fabricated by the media, and those in society who spend more time thinking about other folk’s behavior than they do monitoring their own…. along with all the gullible fools who buy into that sort of nonsense to begin with….

It’s all a bunch of BS, anyway, as I’ve found, after many years of trying to disengage from the battle, the primary key to successful relationships is honest communication, something both sides of the human species need to work on, especially when dealing with each other…. An attitude of appreciative acceptance of the true nature of the beast, on BOTH sides of the issue, is the key to successful relations with the opposite gender….

Why, look, though! It seems my blathering, even if it’s about a real, honest-to-goodness issue from reality, has once again brought us sufficiently far down the page to call this a legal introduction…. Of course, it does nothing to introduce anything, other than as a sort of separating line between the silence, and the cacophony which now ensues…. but, then, around here, we don’t expect it to do that, nor would we know what to do if it did….

Besides, it’s becoming increasingly apparent to me that if I ever do figure out how to do this section easily, it may just be the death knell of this whole process…. and we wouldn’t want that, now, would we? Would we? Hey, aren’t you going to answer that?….. Ah hell, never mind…. let’s get on with this….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Jo Jo was a man who thought he was a woman…” — Lennon & McCartney

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having gone completely off the rails in the intro section (not to mention risking my male neck with a discussion of the ongoing battle between the sexes….) I think we’ll start today with an old-school pearl, just to sort of clear the pipes, or the air, or other such euphemisms for getting on with it…. Let’s see what SB has for us today….

“Life without learning is death.” — Cicero

“When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.” — Thomas Paine “Common Sense”

“All forms of government are pernicious, including good government.” — Edward Abbey

“The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.” — J. K. Galbraith

“To the intelligent man or woman, life appears infinitely mysterious. But the stupid have an answer for every question.” — Edward Abbey

“If you work on your mind with your mind, how can you avoid an immense confusion?” — Seng-Ts’an

In a message announcing victory in the naval battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812, Oliver Hazard Perry informed the American land armies, “We have met the enemy, and they are ours.”

In one of the earliest expressions of ecological concern, Walt Kelley’s cartoon characters stood in their polluted swampland home, where Pogo sadly informed his companions, “We have met the enemy, and they are us.”

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I’ve searched for some time now, and can’t make up my mind on a poem for today…. To save time, and because I can’t find anything more appropriate to today’s tenuous theme, here is a poem I wrote during the National Poetry Writing Challenge in April of 2013…. such as it is….

Rhyming is better than lying….

It’s all too, too much, he cried
I can take no more!
It’s all crazy, my brain is fried,
battered, bloody, and sore.

Talking heads shout out hatred and fear
jam for my morning toast.
Pointing fingers far, middle, and near
enemies everywhere, almost.

Women, gays, and seniors fall prey,
easy targets, slow and weak.
Convenient fools, wanting only to play,
used, and abused, even as we speak.

It enough to drive me floridly insane,
or want to buy a gun.
I may end up in jail, or in massive pain,
but, oh, it would be fun….

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Believe me! The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously!” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900)

This section was originally scheduled for another episode of the Life and Times of Wise Old Pine Cone, but, the Wise One has been busy with his new student, and he wasn’t able to let me get enough pictures to make an entry…. but, we’re working on it…. For today, I DO have a couple of pictures that I got one day last week…. We were talking about advanced techniques of meditation, and the Old Cone revealed his power by demonstrating the art of disappearing…. Look closely at these photos, and you’ll see an amazing feat of martial artistry, and the power of the mind….

The two photos below were taken in the space of two seconds, which is enough to show the effect, though not the actual disappearance, which is too fast for even a digital camera…. Watch….

Here is the master, seated on his meditation stool….

Now, two seconds later, the same stool….

Amazing, isn’t it? Next, in the picture below, we see the master, almost naturally hidden by his own natural camouflage, standing by a bush….

Without moving the camera, two seconds later, this is what it saw…..

Absolutely incredible, eh? That would be a handy little trick, if one was involved with say, a group of NSA myrmidons, who want to discuss my politics, at THEIR house…. Being able to leave whenever I wish could be a good thing…. Regardless of my paranoia, though, it’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?

I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next!…..

“The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.” — Lao Tzu

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It seems I’m done…. which, given my lack of mental organization today, is not just a surprise, it’s a moral victory…. Hell, I would have laid even money today’s post would end up mostly from the archives; since it didn’t, I figure it’s got to be counted on the positive side of the scale…. But, then, I do tend to foster delusional beliefs in my own free time, so, I suppose we’d best take that, and just play it as it lies…. All of which means, of course, that I can now bring this to a close, which will greatly please my thumb, throbbing with each keystroke as it is…. It’ll be fine tomorrow, most likely, so, see ya, ffolkes…..

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

We’ll need more coffee for this…..

Posted on June 18, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I don’t know about y’all, but, I’m tired of staring at this blank screen…. Since that’s all I’ve done for the last 20 minutes or more, I’m guessing my creative juices have yet to become unblocked this morning…. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb, and guess that not only am I blocked, I’m impacted, in its truest sense…. In fact, the only blockage consistent with my mind’s right now is one I should be hesitant to discuss in public…

(Hmm…. I just noticed that word, ‘discuss’…. it’s very close, one letter off, of being the word ‘discus’, which is also something that gets tossed around…. sorry, got distracted…. t’was the only shiny object to be seen, in the vast featureless plain that is my mind in its current bloated state….)

Okay, I’d best take a vote here…. Do you think that paragraph is too much? I mean, is it too, too fractured, too flipped? I need to know, before I go much further in this direction…. Any voters out there? Well, it seems nobody wishes to give me any help yet (It IS early yet, not yet 5 AM….), so I’m on my own, as per usual…. I’m at a handicap here today, I think, between my foggy brain, my lack of preparation, and the usual degree of incipient terror I’m experiencing in the back of my mind, as my subconscious does it’s terrified child routine ahead of my dental visit later this morning….

I am an adult, and have learned to endure my visits to the dentist, as, intellectually, I know it is best for me; I have experienced the worst pain possible, an impacted molar, infected and throbbing just inches away from the brain….and know that visits to the dentist only help prevent that….

But, that knowledge has never been enough to completely overcome my experience as a six year old, when some gigantic Army dentist about scared me out of my skin, on a visit to have a tooth pulled…. The dentist, back in 1956 or so, was a huge, surly man, not pleased to be looking into the mouths of Army brats and soldiers, instead of his private rich folks, and his callousness and indifference to my fear managed to frighten me out of my wits…

To make a long story short, here it is, 58 years later, and I still get the serious yips before a visit…. even though my dentist now is a very talented, beautiful young woman, who has the gentlest hands I’ve ever known…. She has this trick she learned in dental school, where she does this little manipulation of the cheek while giving a shot, that, somehow, completely negates the pain of getting the needle inserted, which brings down the anxiety level like a charm…. But, no matter how often I tell myself it will be fine, I still get this rush of adrenaline, starting about six hours prior to whatever time I must be there for my torture session….

I had hoped the process of Pearling would alleviate some of my anxiety, but, it doesn’t seem to be working very well…. It’s a hard thing, to be this age, and still be suffering unreasonable fears rooted in childhood… but, it’s like those damn bees….

“YES! Living in today’s complex world of the future IS much like having a hive of bees live in your head! But…. there they are!” — Firesign Theater, “I think we’re all Bozos on this bus!”….

Since there isn’t anything I can do to remove the bees just now, I guess I’ll just ignore them, or put out some flowers as a distraction, and get on with the rest of this mess….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Remember what Simonides said,–that he never repented that he had held his tongue, but often that he had spoken.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Rules for the Preservation of Health, 7

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“… so long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men.” — Voltarine de Cleyre

The Wise Old Pine Cone is off somewhere today with his Paduan, doing whatever they do at these times…. This, of course, means I’m supposed to rant here, if I’m going to stick with what we usually do…. I can do that; there is plenty of stuff to get worked up over in the news, although most would say its rather a slow news time, in some respects…. At least, nothing is going on domestically at the moment; we seem to be in a limbo between random shootings….

Oh, there is plenty of other stuff going on I could talk about, if I was so inclined…. For example, because of the latest round of violence in Iraq, the potUS, Barry the Obama, is sending some of our military personnel back there, although I’m not sure exactly what 275 soldiers, even Special Forces, and a contingent of the ever-so-powerful ‘consultants’, can do in the face of the extent of the insurgency going on there…. But, then, we aren’t expected to be able to count, I guess, or be allowed to know exactly what is going on…… We’re supposed to accept whatever they tell us, no matter how suspiciously dumb, or egregiously immoral/unethical….

I think what frightens and annoys me the most is what is NOT being written or talked about much… The NSA, and all the other agencies that get data from them, continue to carry out their illegal, unethical, obscenely paranoid surveillance of the world’s population, ( I don’t think they are limiting themselves to just us….), without any sort of oversight, and without any restraint by any outside regulatory agencies…. much less Congressional, judicial or (gasp!) public oversight…. They haven’t stopped, or slowed their vacuuming up of every bit of data they can access; if you think they have, or have any evidence thereof, please, tell me…. I’d LOVE to hear of ANYTHING anyone might be doing to try to curb their insanity…. but, I don’t think you can, because they haven’t stopped at all….

They just keep coming up with new, outrageous justifications for doing what they plan to do anyway, in court, and in the public eye…. For example, the link below, from the UK Guardian (the same news outlet that first published the Eric Snowden revelations….), tells us about the latest bit of justifying bullshit being put out by the British spy agencies, to try to convince the public that a) they aren’t doing anything wrong, and b) they’re legally allowed to do wrong anyway…. For me, the most telling point is the sheer bold effrontery that gives them the chutzpah to even SAY this stuff… It’s all so outrageously DUMB, not to mention self-serving, reeking of false entitlement, and, essentially, giving the finger to the public….

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/17/mass-surveillance-social-media-permitted-uk-law-charles-farr

Another part of this that bothers me is the lack of any coverage at all in the US news media; to find this kind of stuff, I have to go to overseas web sites, like the Guardian, to find out what my own government is up to, even if it’s only what they’re up to in England, by handing over all kinds of British metadata to their spy compatriots, and egging them on in their war against their own citizens….

A week or two ago, here in the USA, there were one or two articles, about some piece of legislation that passed the Senate, that was SUPPOSED to be the law designed to put the reins on the NSA…. Of course, the actual wording of the bill they passed does nothing of the sort; it didn’t even address about HALF the issues involved, and did NOTHING to halt any of the data collection… Mostly, it just dealt with what is to be done with the data once collected, none of which was actually restrictive to their activities….

Bah! Humbug! It all pisses me off, and what with the adrenaline already coursing through my system, I’ll be jacked up for hours now…. I’m going to halt this rant here… Y’all know it pisses me off, so I won’t dwell on it any more today…. I will, however, find a pearl or two to finish off what I’m trying to say, which essentially boils down to this….

Ffolkes, the government is lying to us, you know it, I know it, and so do they…. The only question remaining is, what are we going to do about it? I’ll leave that question hanging for the moment, to see if it garners any responses… and, in the meantime, go find a pearl or three to close the issue for the day….

“A statesman is a politician who places himself at the service of the nation. A politician is a statesman who places the nation at his service.” — Georges Pompidou

“Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the sun; it shines everywhere.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Twelfth Night — Act iii, Sc.

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I’m in this mood, only one poem will do, and it’s mine…

Geezer to Congress, with Love

Politicos don’t care much ’bout seniors and their ilk,
except for their money, I thinks;
Though they talk as if they’d cozen them in silk,
what they actually do, it stinks.

“The banks are failing, we can’t allow that!”,
steal from the aged, that’s their plan.
“Their life’s ending, that’s plainly where they’re at,”
lie shamelessly, because they can.

Maybe just once, if we all act together,
it couldn’t miss.
Right on their shoes, no matter the weather,
take careful aim, and piss.

Why the hell not?
It’s worth a shot!

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y’all know what comes now….. I’m in a hurry now; my adrenaline level is rising, and I need to get up and going, to work some of it off…. If I don’t, I’m going to have to take the option at the dentist to have them put me completely under, if I hope to get anything done in my mouth…. At the moment, sitting still is NOT an option…. So, here’s the quickest, random pearl I can put together…. Wish me luck….

“Wit that can creep, and pride that licks the dust.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, Prologue to the Satires, Line 333

“One who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.” — Lao-tzu, _Tao Te Ching_

“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” — Marcus Aurelius

“If you are a host to your guest, be a host to his dog also.” — Russian Proverb

“Everything may happen. [Omnia fieri possunt.]” — Seneca, Epistulae ad Lucilium, Epis. LXX, 9

“Never be boastful; someone may come along who knew you as a child.” — Chinese Proverb

“For after all what is man in nature? A nothing in relation to infinity, all in relation to nothing, a central point between nothing and all and infinitely far from understanding either. The ends of things and their beginnings are impregnably concealed from him in an impenetrable secret. He is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness out of which he was drawn and the infinite in which he is engulfed.” — Blaise Pascal

Well!…. That went extremely well; quick, with an elegant, sturdy result…. I like it…..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Heisenberg was wrong, I know exactly where I am and where I’m going.” — Einstein

Sadly, me, too…. and, it’s somewhere I DON’T want to go…. But, I’m a big boy, and I can’t afford another cancellation fee, like the last three times I bailed at the last minute…. Star, unreasoning feelings of panic, when rooted in events over 50 years old, make for a fearsome challenge, which I tend to fail to meet as often as not…. SIGH…. But, I’ll make it today, and, hopefully, be back tomorrow, in less of an internal mess….. See ya….

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

In the final analysis, partial hydrogenation was a key factor….

Posted on June 17, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Do not be angry with me if I tell you the truth.” — Socrates (470?-399 B.C.)

I used this tagline yesterday, as an apology, sort of…. In retrospect, I’m thinking this may just be something I could have tattooed on my forehead, as it seems to be one of the most common phrases I use, in a figurative sense…. This entire blog demands that I express some sort of explanatory excuse quite frequently, just by the nature of my chosen subject matter, and my chosen manner of discussion…. Well, in my world, it demands an explanation, anyway; just because other folks don’t live by what my daddy taught me gives me NO reason to do so. In fact, a big part of what he taught me is the concept of Duty, which precludes any sort of shirking, or abrogation of responsibility for our words and actions…..

In conjunction with that thought, came another…. It had to do with something else my father said to me one time, a piece of wisdom that, as it does at one point or another in every father’s life, occurred to him, and prompted him to share with me; I have since shared it with my own children, as part and parcel with the other important lessons I felt they should be taught, as I was…. He said to me, in so many words, “I have taught you all that you know; I have not taught you everything I know.” He smiled as he said it, to take some of the pain from its delivery, but, he couldn’t hide the truth of it, which often causes pain to those who insist on having it, straight up with no ice….

That being said, I have, at least in one respect, tried to do a bit more for my own children, as I am aware of my own failures as a father (we all have them…. we just try not to dwell on them….), and can’t hope to emulate the example he set, in some respects…. But, I have left a legacy for my two kids my father never had time to create, if he so desired…. and that is this blog, along with all the years of Pearls of Virtual Wisdom I created before 2011…. a history that goes back to 1997, when I was first in computer school, and chose my user name, gigoid…. The first Pearls came out, via email, a year or so later, when I got my first computer & Internet hook-up, slow as it was….

The rest, of course, is history, sans any editing by the winners/losers of any societal issues that may determine whose version lasts any length of time…. In the past three years alone, in putting out the Pearls for this version of the Follies, I’ve written well over two million words, all in my own inimitable, irritable style…. These words, and those yet to come, are what I leave my children as my legacy…. With these words, I am trying to transmit to them all the things I’ve never had the time to relate to them, thus giving the lie to that old saw about not teaching all I know….

It may not be the most lucrative legacy ever left, but, it’s what I’ve got, and it ain’t bad…. To further the process, I’d say I’ve wandered around this idea long enough for one day, and now decree it is time to get on with today’s business…. I’ve been working on this one for a while now, as the idea for the first section today struck me solidly in the forehead about two days ago, and I’ve been trying to find periods of time without major spasming to work on it….. my walk around the pirate conclave on Sunday was a bit more draining than I had first imagined…. I’ll live, but, it’s been a bit of a struggle to keep wanting to do so….

Ah, the hell with it; if I don’t get on with it, it’s going to explode, or dissolve in its own tears…. Shall we Pearl?….

“Language is the apparel in which your thoughts parade before the public. Never clothe them in vulgar or shoddy attire.” — George Crane

Oops! Now what?…. Oh well, we’ll just go on, as if we hadn’t seen this at all….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome, gentle readers, to another episode of the Life and Times of the Wise Old Pine Cone…. Like me, you’ve probably heard stories all your life, telling happy tales with magical, happy endings, filled with anecdotes and descriptions of the Old Cone, and how his wisdom and understanding of The Way, and the Force, as well as the Metaphorse, helps him, and all who hear of him….

I know, I didn’t expect to find him here, in this somewhat bedraggled excuse for a city, either, but, I was waiting for a bus one day, and, there he was, just hanging out, waiting to catch the same bus…. We got to talking, and one thing led to another…. He came home with me, to continue our conversation, and further explore how he could help me, and I could help him, to leave a record of his words, and actions, for generations to follow…. Of course, I was humbled, and honored, agreeing at once…. We tried a couple of forays out into the BRC last week, and now are heading out for another walk, just to stretch a bit after the Pirate Festival I attended, and ended up walking A LOT more than is normal….

First, here is the Wise Old Pine Cone himself…. basking in the morning sun, looking forward to the day….. For all I know, he was meditating, as well, on some esoteric point of philosophy beyond my comprehension…. or not…. He looks content, though, doesn’t he?….

As we walked, we came across some of his friends from the tree, a married couple, the Burleycones, (I know, they’re HUGE, aren’t they? The WOPC tells me they’re examples of a certain strain of cones, who are all much larger than the rest of them…. kind of like a whole sub-species of giant sized cones….), who apparently had something very serious to discuss with him, to which I was not privy…. All I know is the Old Cone was a bit withdrawn for a while, kind of thoughtful…. Here he is talking with the two towering Cones….

You can see from the Wise Old Pine Cone’s expression, he’s got a lot on his mind…. He sat on this bench, staring at a small congress of crows, for over a half-hour before we set off for home….

When we got back to the house, I found out we’d been followed…. by a young pine cone I’d never seen before…. It seems the Burleycones have a son, and the Wise Old Pine Cone agreed, after much inner turmoil, to take the youngster on as his new paduan learner cone…. It’s a big job, for both of them, from what I know of the tradition…. As well, knowing what I do about the Wise Old One, it promises to be a very long, arduous, involved, and challenging time for the young cone…. He looks pretty sturdy, though, and seems to have an intelligent look about him…. We’ll see how he fares, at the Art of learning the Way…..

Here we see the Wise Old Pine Cone giving the Paduan his first reading assignment…. It’s a book written by a blogging friend of mine, Jeremiah Stephen, titled, “Sphere(s)” (as you see below….)….. Jeremiah’s blog, where you can find a link to purchase the book, (I did, and consider it well under-priced for the value of its work, and the worth of its contents, which is virtually incalculable….), is located here…. http://knowthesphere.wordpress.com/

Having read portions of it, (thus far; I’ve only had it a couple of weeks, and Jeremiah’s work is DEEP…..), I know that the young learner has his work cut out for him; it’s a challenging book, excellently written, full of solidly based, well-thought-out, and eloquently presented points of philosophy, all using a metaphor connected to spheres, which allows him to display his deep insight into reality…. He does all this in a fresh, innovative style of writing that engages the reader without becoming overwhelming….. Heavy praise, I know, but, which doesn’t even mention the accuracy and sheer, instinctive rightness of the conclusions he presents, as the logical, and meta-logical, results of his arguments. It will be interesting to see what our young paduan makes of it….

Here we see the young pine cone meeting Guan Yin, the Chinese goddess, aka the Empress of Heaven…. The Wise Old Pine Cone, in his wisdom, knows there are many things the young paduan can learn from her, things only she can teach him…. If you don’t know what they are, you don’t want to know, or it would do you more harm than good, thus negating the purpose of sharing the knowledge…. Trust me, the WOPC knows what he is doing, and so does Guan Yin….

Below you see the paduan meeting another of his teachers…. The Wise Old Pine Cone, having learned long ago to not try to do it all himself, assigns much of his paduan’s learning to other teachers, to provide more than just one point of view of the same material…. and, since Buddhism is an inherent part of what he teaches, why not go directly to the source to obtain the needed instruction?…. Wise, indeed….

In the picture below, we see the young paduan learner being introduced to a peer, one of the students of the Buddha…. Scrappy-Doo found out about the school, and figured out he would benefit from the calming effect the teachings have…. You see, Scrappy has entered puberty, and would like to meet some girls…. but, his aggressiveness and scruffy manner puts them off. So, he’s trying a bunch of different things to improve his chances of meeting a girl…. which, when you think about it, isn’t stupid….

Here you see the two famous teachers relaxing with an adult beverage, (or, perhaps, two or three of them….. they’re adults, after all….)….

The kids are tucked in bed, & Guan Yin doesn’t drink, so the two enlightened Ones have the place to themselves…. I hope they don’t go overboard, like they did last month…. The school had to shut down for three days until they recovered…. Oh well, we’re all bozos on this bus…. or, so I have come to understand…. which means that everyone, even the driver, gets more than just one chance…. After all, we are all bozos, right? Right….

I hope you enjoyed today’s little foray into silliness… I did…..

“A little nonsense, now and then, is cherished, by the wisest men.” — Willie Wonka

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since we’re being silly today, here’s a poet who does silly better than most anybody…. Enjoy!….

A Boy Named Sue

Well, my daddy left home when I was three,
and he didn’t leave much to Ma and me,
just this old guitar and a bottle of booze.
Now I don’t blame him because he run and hid,
but the meanest thing that he ever did was
before he left he went and named me Sue.

Well, he must have thought it was quite a joke,
and it got lots of laughs from a lot of folks,
it seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I’d get red
and some guy would laugh and I’d bust his head,
I tell you, life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue.

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean.
My fist got hard and my wits got keen.
Roamed from town to town to hide my shame,
but I made me a vow to the moon and the stars,
I’d search the honky tonks and bars and kill
that man that gave me that awful name.

But it was Gatlinburg in mid July and I had
just hit town and my throat was dry.
I’d thought i’d stop and have myself a brew.
At an old saloon in a street of mud
and at a table dealing stud sat the dirty,
mangy dog that named me Sue.

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
from a worn-out picture that my mother had
and I knew the scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
He was big and bent and gray and old
and I looked at him and my blood ran cold,
and I said, ‘My name is Sue. How do you do?
Now you’re gonna die.’ Yeah, that’s what I told him.

Well, I hit him right between the eyes and he went down
but to my surprise he came up with a knife
and cut off a piece of my ear. But I busted a chair
right across his teeth. And we crashed through
the wall and into the street kicking and a-gouging
in the mud and the blood and the beer.

I tell you I’ve fought tougher men but I really can’t remember when.
He kicked like a mule and bit like a crocodile.
I heard him laughin’ and then I heard him cussin’,
he went for his gun and I pulled mine first.
He stood there looking at me and I saw him smile.

And he said, ‘Son, this world is rough and if
a man’s gonna make it, he’s gotta be tough
and I knew I wouldn’t be there to help you along.
So I gave you that name and I said ‘Goodbye’.
I knew you’d have to get tough or die. And it’s
that name that helped to make you strong.’

Yeah, he said, ‘Now you have just fought one
helluva fight, and I know you hate me and you’ve
got the right to kill me now and I wouldn’t blame you
if you do. But you ought to thank me
before I die for the gravel in your guts and the spit
in your eye because I’m the guy that named you Sue.’
Yeah, what could I do? What could I do?

I got all choked up and I threw down my gun,
called him pa and he called me a son,
and I came away with a different point of view
and I think about him now and then.
Every time I tried, every time I win and if I
ever have a son I think I am gonna name him
Bill or George – anything but Sue.

~~ Sheldon Allan Silverstein ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, it’s been a productive morning…. We’ll finish off today with, of course, an old-school pearl, just as if we had it all planned out that way….. which, of course, we didn’t…. but, serendipity is our friend around here….

“I spent hours trying to come up with the perfect tagline. This isn’t it.” — Smart Bee

“After things have gone from bad to worse, the cycle will repeat itself.” — Farnsdick’s Corollary to the 5th Corollary

26. Read more books and watch less TV. — Instructions for life

O! If I were a fish
I’d lay hap’ly on my dish.
Yes, that’s my one and only wish —
To be a fish!

For fish don’t ever mish;
They needn’t flush after they pish!
Yes, and life’s just swish, swish, swish,
For all the fish!!!

— found in Smart Bee with no attribution, other than the essential quality needed, to wit: it’s damn silly….

“Facts are stubborn little bastards, be careful with them.” — Smart Bee

“One useless man can be called a disgrace. Two really useless men can be called a law firm. When you get more than these together, you have all the essential ingredients for a committee. And after the committee has made one or two criminal errors which are against the law, you have all that is deemed necessary for the formation of a congress. Our country has two separate bodies of these people, no one room being quite large enough to contain them all. And then there is the executive branch, but we shall discuss this later under the heading: “Extreme Absurdities You Would Not Believe!””– parts attributed to John Adams (though I suspect the last sentence or two were added sometime after the new millennium began….)

“Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.” — Langston Hughes, Dreams

“Therefore, be ye lamps unto yourselves, be a refuge to yourselves. Hold fast to Truth as a lamp; hold fast to the truth as a refuge. Look not for a refuge in anyone beside yourselves. And those, who shall be a lamp unto themselves, shall betake themselves to no external refuge, but holding fast to the Truth as their lamp, and holding fast to the Truth as their refuge, they shall reach the topmost height.” — Buddha

“In dealing with the State, we ought to remember that its institutions are not aboriginal, though they existed before we were born: that they are not superior to the citizen: that every one of them was once the act of a single man: every law and usage was a man’s expedient to meet a particular case: that they all are imitable, all alterable; we may make as good; we may make better.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1802-1882)

This is an unusual pearl, ffolkes, but, that fits right in with today’s essential theme…. This one went from silly to sublime, in nine (mostly) short steps…. I hope you enjoyed it….

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Ffolkes, I just don’t see how I can do this any better than this…. and, if so, I’m not sure I want to…. The best part is, I get to try again tomorrow… Well, that’s the best part for me…. y’all have to take your chances, as we all do when surfing…. I’ll make it worth your while, though, you can be sure of that…. Until then, stay silly, ffolkes, it’s a good excuse….

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

The White Rabbit’s waistcoat won’t fit….

Posted on June 16, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

As I closed my front door early this morning, on the way out to drive to work, a large white rabbit, dressed, oddly enough, in a gentleman’s morning attire, complete with, waistcoat, pince nez, and a huge watch chain hanging from the pocket, ran quickly past me, muttering what sounded like imprecations indicative of great agitation…. Well, being familiar with Lewis Carroll, and his pederasty fantasy child, I DIDN’T give chase, not having the time, or the slightest inclination to attend any tea parties, experiment with mushrooms, or wage any battles of wit with a Cat, especially one as curmudgeonly as the Cheshire who gave Alice all that lip and grief….

Nor, as I’m sure you are aware, did I really see any rabbits this morning…. The first clue it was all fiction was in the first line, when I said I was driving to work…. which is, as you may know, something I no longer do for anyone but myself…. The second was the waistcoat, which, as you may have noted, was mentioned in today’s title, and as such, was NOT expected to be in the body of work today…. There are times, and this is one of them, when I suspect this process is not entirely under my control…. which begs the question, who’s driving this bus of bozos?….

The answer, of course, is that NOBODY is driving the bus, ffolkes…. I’ve given up, and nobody else can be persuaded to take up the gauntlet; I’ve even tried employment agencies, but, after a few stories from the few they’ve sent over got back to them, it’s been hard to find anyone willing to take it on…. I mean, it’s not like it’s a HARD job; it’s just the strangeness that gets to them, I suppose…. Well, that, and the uniforms; I shouldn’t have gone for the one with the epaulets on the shoulder; everyone thinks they look ridiculous, and hates to wear them….

Of course, I’ve had to let everyone go anyway, what with the recession and all. Even though the economy is on the mend, or so they say, (I think they really have no clue about what will actually happen; they just play the odds and guess…. like we all do since Cassandra died….), if I try to pay a living wage, it eats into my meager profits…. which are also non-existent…. All of which is why it’s a dead giveaway for me to say I’m about to drive off to work…. Hard to do with no car, and no job…

All of the above, of course, is just another distraction, a load of bilge-water, best if left to its own devices lest the smell get into your clothing…. I’m up quite late, for me, and suffering again from the usual complement of painful joints, hips, and the concomitant deleterious effect on my energy, and motivation…. I have to bust through the reluctance to move at all, in order to get past the point where it holds me down, or up, whichever direction I’m going at the time…. Then, well, let’s not get any more into that; it’s just encouraging me to whine….

Instead, I’m going to get on with what we have in store for today, whatever that might be…. Once again, your guess is as good as mine, as to what that may be, or look like…. So, we’ll use trusty method #4, and get on with it….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Acquittal of the guilty damns the judge.” — Horace

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Do not be angry with me if I tell you the truth.” — Socrates (470?-399 B.C.)

Yarrr! Avast, ye land lubbers! Stand your ground, and pay heed!….

The pirate phenomenon came to my town this weekend, in the format of a festival…. A consumer’s delight, where about a hundred or so craft, food, & beverage vendors, singing and musical groups, stage production companies, and otherwise normal folks get together dressed up like pirates, talking like pirates, and generally celebrating the pirate culture, such as it was….. It’s all pretty romanticized, considering the whole scenario of piracy as a way of life; all of the cool, frosty stuff is kept, and all the pain, misery, abuse, and poverty that went along with most of it is ignored….

The historical period when piracy on the high seas was popular, back a few hundred years, was a lot more brutal on the general public than most folks realize, but, hey, that’s America for you…. just look at the parts you want to see, and ignore what you don’t…. They did have their priorities straight, though…. The ATM machines were quite prominent, in three locations for the consumer’s convenience, set up by the food & beer area, and in the first row of craft & clothing vendors….

This all sounds a bit curmudgeonly, of course, which is a result of my thoughts AFTER attending…. I actually had a good time, without spending a fortune, and had some decent noms (food, for those of you not current on slang….)….. I had a sausage roll, Scottish style, just as greasy as the one I had in Scotland, and the shepherd’s pie looked pretty good, too…. Sadly, the only liquor available, other than beer, was rum, which does NOT agree with me at all, due to an unfortunate incident in college, where a quart of rum and I had some issues…. I still can’t smell the stuff without a nose curl….

“And here you thought your money was going to waste. Well, a Federal Appeals Court has ordered the FDA to determine whether drugs proposed for Lethal Injection executions are “safe and effective!” — Smart Bee

The festival is one of those uniquely American deals, a consumer celebration designed to bring tourist dollars into a town that is suffering badly from the economic shenanigans of the corporate elite, who have been busily raping the American economy since the days of Ronald Raygun and his band of banker, ex-USC grad buddies, who managed to spew so much BS around, people began to think it didn’t stink…..

I mean, how else can you explain any reasonable, rational person falling for the “trickle down” theory of economics, otherwise known as Reaganomics, a not-so-hidden attempt at outright theft by the government, if ever one was seen? Only sheer, bald-faced lying could have carried that one off…. But, then, remember some of Ronnie’s OTHER moments of truth?…. Such as….

“Trees make more smog than cars.” — R. Reagan

Any who, that’s all over now, except, of course, for the hundred or so years it will take to recover from it…. In the meantime, we have these kinds of distractions to keep us busy, and having fun doing stuff that makes no reasonable sense at all, spending massive amounts of time and money to pursue a lifestyle so hard and so insane, it no longer exists anywhere but Hollywood…. But, as the pictures show, it’s fun, for all ages, and there are a lot of interesting things to see and do….. Here are some pictures that will give an idea of the day…. Enjoy!….

“Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops.” — Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

“Somewhere between real and real real.” — Senator Dan Quayle pinpointing their location to reporters — aboard the Quayle campaign plane. — (reported in Wall Street Journal, 10/21/88)

Just WHAT is that octopus doing with that mast?…..

Spare change, anyone?…..

“Oh, God, look at that!”…..

A little tough to romanticize this….. though one does wonder how the bear fits into the story, eh?….

Some people have WAY too much time, and money, on their hands….

An indicator of how strange and perverted the human race is…. This lovely character was the most popular costumed figure wandering the festival grounds, with just about every other person encountered wanting their picture taken with him….

Well there you have it ffolkes, my day hanging out with a segment of America’s most gullible consumers….. It must be the cynic in me that sees not only the romantic side of the whole phenomenon, but, its uglier, less acknowledged economic factors….. But, hey, I found a great deal on a really good dirk, in case I ever want to wear my kilt and heraldry badges….

“Cynicism is disillusioned idealism.” — Harry Kemelman

Let’s go on, shall we?….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The perfect poem to go along with the odd little rant in section one, here is the first stanza of T.S. Eliot’s epic poem, The Waste Land…. I have provided a link to a site where you can read the rest of the poem, which is quite long, but well worth the time and effort to peruse…. Enjoy!….

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176735

The Waste Land

FOR EZRA POUND
IL MIGLIOR FABBRO

I. The Burial of the Dead

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
Bin gar keine Russin, stamm’ aus Litauen, echt deutsch.
And when we were children, staying at the arch-duke’s,
My cousin’s, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.

~~ T. S. Eliot ~~

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Okay, I’ve made it this far, which is a surprise to me…. Soon after beginning, some severe arthritic hip pain began to throb in my lower back, and has resisted all attempts to curtail its advance…. Hence, this will be old-school, and just about as quick a pearl as ever was…. I hope….

“I might repeat to myself, slowly and soothingly, a list of quotations beautiful from minds profound; if I can remember any of the damn things.” — Dorothy Parker, The Portable, 1944

It is the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance.
It is the dream afraid of waking
that never takes a chance.
It is the one who won’t be taken
who cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dying
that never learns to live.

— Bette Midler, The Rose

“Be of good cheer,” said Diogenes; “I see land.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Diogenes, vi

“If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.” — Mark Twain

Teach him how to live,
And, oh still harder lesson! how to die.

— Beilby Porteus (1731-1808) — Death, Line 316

“If you would know a man, observe how your cat treats him.” — Smart Bee

“If you can see a thing whole… it seems that it’s always beautiful. Planets, lives…But close up, a world’s all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life’s a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern. You need distance, interval. The way to see how beautiful the earth is, is to see it as the moon. The way to see how beautiful a life is, is to see it from the vantage point of death.” — Ursula K. Le Guin, Dispossessed

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There it is, such as it is…. I’m going to go consume massive quantities of mind-numbing, obliviating drugs, & then take another look at the day in a few hours, once my attitude has been adjusted…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if they don’t catch me….

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

Even duct tape won’t help now….

Posted on June 15, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Staring into the abyss is not easy without coffee, but, that’s what I’ve been asked to do today…. Well, perhaps that’s a bit dramatic, but, it does give you the “look and feel” I was trying for, if you’ll pardon the retreat into Appledom…. I’m pretty sure, since that phrase has been legally identified by some court or another, it’s okay to use it in general speech….

If not, well, screw ’em, because it’s already done, and I’m not about to start again, just because Apple doesn’t like me using their words….. As we’ve been known to say on previous occasions, when just such a complaint has arisen, fuck them if they can’t take a joke…. hard, or soft, your choice, I don’t care….

There, the first nonsensical paragraphs are done, now we get to the plain speech paragraph, which is MUCH easier, believe me…. When I come up with an easy-peasy kind of subject, which talking about Apple always makes so simple, producing such literary flotsam becomes almost automatic…. But, then, by now, just about anything at all wouldn’t surprise MY readers in this space….

In spite of the difficulties we face each day (Damn! There’s another of those royal “we”‘s! Gotta watch that….) to get this intro done in a timely fashion, without it becoming an ordeal beyond all endurance, I think I’ve managed to endow my audience with more than just a few formats and/or incarnations, if you will, of this introductory section, enough so that they’ve learned not to expect anything in particular, but just wait to see whatever manifests on any given day…. It’s also safer that way, in a physical sense…. less chance of explosions….

Even the explosions have reached the point of becoming mundanely routine, I suppose…. That’s what happens after the first several hundred of them….. I don’t know if it is normal to be so blasé about such volatile material, but, it’s certainly normal around here, and I’m not about to start justifying or explaining at this point…. Nobody but a regular here would understand anyway, so, it’s all moot…. Of course, if we ever get to the point where the blog is starting to get some more attention from a wider audience, I suppose I’ll have to consider a few changes, to meet the demands of the public eye….

Don’t hold your breath on that one, though, because I’m pretty stubborn, and not about to make too many changes, just to suit readers…. My curmudgeon training wouldn’t allow that anyway, as it is catering to the wishes of others, and that sort of pandering is NOT going to happen on my watch…. People are responsible for their OWN minds, and beliefs, and I don’t allow any BS in that respect….

I am responsible for what I say, and what I believe, but, not for anyone else’s words, or their ideas….. and trying to blame me for what someone else may think, even about my own words, is not only NOT going to alter my behavior, it could conceivably piss me off…. Whomever THAT happens to fall upon may just end up regretting they ever spoke…. or, for that matter, regretting they were ever born….

Hmm…. I see that I’m beginning to show symptomology of a need to rant, which isn’t surprising, as I’ve not indulged myself in that respect for a week or more, not in any detailed, fresh sense…. Soon, I’m sure…. For now, though, I’m going to go with my impulses today, which are random, and not well understood, even by me…. In fact, I really don’t know, at this juncture, just WHAT will happen from now on…. I have deliberately avoided thinking about it…. So, whatever occurs below will be as much of a surprise for me, as it is for you….. The only thing I know for sure is that the Wise Old Pine Cone took another day off, having overindulged himself radically at the ball game a couple of nights ago; he’ll be back in a day or so, with new pictures of new adventures to share…. For now, though….

Shall we Pearl?….. In fact, let’s begin with a two-fer….

“Zen Buddhists do it because they don’t want to do it because they want to do it.” — Smart Bee, showing off

“We had the sky, up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made, or only just happened.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910), Huckleberry Finn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In lieu of a fresh rant, which is not imminently forthcoming (Don’t ask why; the answer would be TMI…. I say that just as if we had not already reached a point of no return in that regard….), here is an older rant, from some time in 2012, on a typical issue, i.e., the BRC and their shenanigans…..

“He who imitates evil always goes beyond the limits of the example, whereas he who imitates what is good, always falls short.” — Confucius

Perfect! If ever a quote could be applied to fit one group of people, this one would; it fits the folks who occupy elected office in this country like the proverbial glove.

Ooh! Ooh! Here’s another one…

“Ignorance: When you don’t know something and somebody finds it out.” — Jethro Burns

Okay, that’s a good start…. Now, we all know that politicians lie to us…. It’s what we’ve taught them to do, by our calm acceptance of all the other lies they’ve told, from the very beginning. We expect them to lie… then, when we catch them at it, there is this huge public outcry, as if it had never happened before. Sometimes, the behavior of the American public toward the political beast reminds me of a shark…. to wit: no memory of the past to slow down their willingness to rush into dangerous situations….. For millions of years, sharks and dolphins have lived together in the oceans. For just about all that time, whenever a shark attacks a dolphin, it gets killed, unless the dolphin is injured in some way, or, it is a baby inadvertently left alone. Always, if things are even, the shark dies, because the dolphins are faster swimmers, but, more importantly, they’re smarter.

After millions of years, you would think the sharks might learn to let them alone, but, they don’t, which is evidence of their lack of ability to learn. The American voting public has the same problem…. they never learn to expect to be lied to, and always seem surprised to learn that their elected officials are, shall we say, less than perfectly honest? It, quite frankly, drives me nuts…. What is it about people that does that to them? Why are they so UNwilling to use the mind that (presumably) sits between their ears, rather than just carrying it around from toilet to toilet, which is all most folks seem to do with it? (Almost forgot it was a question….) I wish I knew….

“There is one way to find out if a man is honest–ask him. If he says yes, you know he is crooked.” — Groucho Marx

I’m starting to feel a bit of anger, actually, (Surprise!) and I have a hard time not letting it out on the voting public, the idiots. But, it really isn’t all their fault, as the people who run for office are the ones who are actively imitating evil, and, obviously, exceeding the limits of their example. And the voting public can’t help never being able to quite reach the good for which they reach. This is why I get angry about it…. The folks who run for office tell the public they are going to work for the people when they are elected; we all know they are lying, but we elect them anyway. Now, how stupid is that? Pretty stupid, in my book…..

On the one hand, the stupidity displayed by the politicians is deliberate, in its adherence to principles of theft and prevarication; on the other hand, the stupidity displayed by the voting public is, perhaps, not deliberate, but at minimum, misguided, and, ultimately, just as evil, in placing its trust in evil people. In the dispassionate view held by the universe, stupid is as stupid does, and the sentence of death is the same for both types of stupidity, deliberate and unconscious. It (the universe…) doesn’t care about why, it only looks at results….

What can be done about this? Not a damn thing…. Not only do I find that most people are unconsciously stupid, but they are stubborn about it, even when it is clear how being stupid is hurting them. Rather than use their minds to find a new way of dealing with these issues, they retreat into platitudes and dogma, and run right back out to vote for another idiot who promises them manna from heaven, or, more accurately, from Washington D.C. If confronted with their idiocy, they become even more stubborn, as they are unwilling to accept they might have been wrong, usually refusing to either examine any evidence of being wrong, or, denying its existence altogether.

The politicians, who choose to live in stupidity, by lying and cheating and stealing from their own people, don’t even WANT to choose otherwise. Why should they? They’ve got it easy, with a ready supply of host bodies on which to practice their symbiotic parasitism, a body that not only accepts all their lies, but encourages them to even further depredations with their complete acquiescence with whatever the politicos want. All the politicians have to say is that the public is in danger, from this, that, or the other…. The public will then allow them to do whatever they choose, as long as they’re fooled into feeling safe from whatever fictional fantasy they have been told is dangerous…..

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift; the rational mind is faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” — Albert Einstein

It’s an interesting spectacle to observe from the sidelines, but it arouses in me a strong feeling of sadness, with the anger underlying, as I watch, day after day, as so many millions of foolish people get taken advantage of by a few assholes. It definitely makes me want to buy a gun, even though I would only use it if pressed; I have a feeling I may get pressed some day, if I continue to make noise about all this.

I’m fairly well protected thus far by a lack of notoriety; the BRC and the PTB aren’t going to worry about me until I have an audience a lot larger than a couple of hundred folks, of which perhaps fifty regularly read my work. If what I am saying began to gain popularity, and was being read by millions, I’d be in danger; until then, I’m as safe as I can make myself with the tools at hand… which, if I say so myself, are not entirely inconsequential…. If I said any more, I’d be giving away my precautions, and that wouldn’t do, so, just rest assured… I am ready to deal with anything short of assault weapons, with what I have on hand…..

“Many, if not all, of my presidential opponents are certifiable idiots.” — Miriam Defensor Santiago — The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1993

See? I’m not completely alone! Actually, if you pay close attention, you will note this was uttered by a politician, about their peers, so it really doesn’t count as support of what I’m saying here. What, exactly am I saying here? Hmm, okay, since I’ve already written about 1200 words or so on this, it’s a good place to wind it up…. so, here goes…

Ffolkes, you are being lied to, daily, and hourly, by those who have been elected to office to look out for your interests. I hate to tell you, but those folks never intended to do anything of the sort. So, it would be a good thing if everybody in this country would OPEN THEIR FUCKING EYES AND GET A DAMN CLUE!!!!!….. I don’t think I can say it any clearer than that….. That’s all, for now…..

“Ignorance kills daily. “– Smart Bee

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s been a while since I posted this poem by Emily D….. It is one of my favorites of hers, though I’m not sure exactly why…. Maybe it’s the length, which is about four times her usual measure….. with Emily, the more, the better, in my book….

I measure every grief I meet

I measure every grief I meet
With analytic eyes;
I wonder if it weighs like mine,
Or has an easier size.

I wonder if they bore it long,
Or did it just begin?
I could not tell the date of mine,
It feels so old a pain.

I wonder if it hurts to live,
And if they have to try,
And whether, could they choose between,
They would not rather die.

I wonder if when years have piled–
Some thousands–on the cause
Of early hurt, if such a lapse
Could give them any pause;

Or would they go on aching still
Through centuries above,
Enlightened to a larger pain
By contrast with the love.

The grieved are many, I am told;
The reason deeper lies,–
Death is but one and comes but once
And only nails the eyes.

There’s grief of want, and grief of cold,–
A sort they call ‘despair,’
There’s banishment from native eyes,
In sight of native air.

And though I may not guess the kind
Correctly yet to me
A piercing comfort it affords
In passing Calvary,

To note the fashions of the cross
Of those that stand alone
Still fascinated to presume
That some are like my own.

~~ Emily Dickinson

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had not originally planned, when I got up today, to go with older material… It just sort of worked out that way. To forestall any whining from the peanut gallery about cheating, here is a fresh old-school pearl, randomly chosen, for no good reason at all, at all…

“In the beginning was the word. But by the time the second word was added to it, there was trouble. For with it came syntax…” — John Simon

“I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.” — Alan Watts

“It is a difficult task, O citizens, to make speeches to the belly, which has no ears.”– Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Marcus Cato

“Ignorance is no excuse.” — Smart Bee

“It is hard to free fools from the chains they revere.” — Voltaire

“Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before,” Bokonon tells us. “He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way.” — Kurt Vonnegut, “Cat’s Cradle”

What though the field be lost?
All is not lost; th’ unconquerable will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield.

— John Milton (1608-1674) — Paradise Lost, Book i, Line 105

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All things considered, this will do…. Of course, one must remember, this is the place where Peruaosophy comes from, where the very first axiom gives the root/core idea that, to me, MUST be understood, if one wishes to get through all this with a minimum of fuss, to wit: “Axiom #1 — I think I am. That’s close enough.”

For today, it certainly is….. See ya, ffolkes….. More pictures tomorrow, I promise…. which I don’t do lightly….

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

Full page translations are our specialty….

Posted on June 10, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I am frequently (adjective TBA) (Okay, we’ll use “bemused” for wont of anything more accurate….) bemused to learn something new about people, especially myself….. In the process of checking my bank account online, to see if my SS allowance had been deposited, I became aware of the power of certain feelings, engendered by the mere presence, or absence of resources… In essence, just the mere fact of having a significantly useful amount of money to use is enough to stimulate feelings of extreme relief, almost a giddy joy, which is probably a reaction to NOT feeling the stressful worry that goes along with NOT having enough resources on hand….

In today’s world, most of us are only one or two months worth of paychecks from living on the streets, so when our bank account gets too small, it’s a source of constant stress….. Especially when food becomes scarce…. Of course, only the middle and lower classes of society are subject to this process, but, hey, that’s you and me, ffolkes, so it’s not as if you don’t know whereof I speak….

The most difficult feeling with which to cope, for me, is the one that comes to me when I realize that our BRC, our beloved rulers, and their corporate masters, along with their counterparts in the priestly hierarchies, don’t ever have to feel any of that…. They are already rich enough to have passed beyond the level where a month or two of income reduction, or shall we say, reduced profit, because that’s closer to the truth of the matter, won’t have any significant effect on their lives, and certainly wouldn’t cause them to lose their place of residence. In point of fact, they’re rich enough that they don’t have to even THINK about that issue at all…. I would guess that is a very powerful feeling in itself….

Now, I know you’re thinking to yourselves, “there he goes again, ranting in the intro…”, and, you’d no doubt be right. I didn’t intend to start off this way, but, having gone to look at my account, it struck me pretty hard how wide the gap has grown between the rich, and the rest of humanity…. The income differential grows larger each minute, as the system of thievery of the middle classes, and the parasitic assholes who reap the rewards of that theft, continue their pillaging of society without ever slackening pace…. rushing us all along the road to extinction with gleeful madness…

Such ranting has become less than profitable for me, and seems to keep some folks away, which is part of the reason why I’m looking around for new ways to interest my readers…. I hate feeling this crap, and hate the fact that the world is set up in such a way as to allow the rich and powerful to do pretty much whatever they want, and the rest of us suck hind teat…. SIGH….

It just makes me want to go out & buy that gun I keep promising to obtain…. But, I know that soon after doing so, I’d have to keep one of the first rules of gun ownership, to wit: If you are going to keep your gun loaded, then only pick it up when you are prepared to fire it….. My only problem with that is the difficulty in CHOOSING a target; there are a LOT of them out there that are worth one of my bullets…. It’s all the more attractive as I think about how GOOD I’d feel after taking down a couple of those assholes who have more money than morals…. tempting, indeed…

For now, though, I’ll content myself with that, and get on with today’s business, such as it is…. At least this will keep me from SPENDING all that money for a few hours….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“If a person is to get the meaning of life he must learn to like the facts about himself — ugly as they may seem to his sentimental vanity — before he can learn the truth behind the facts. And the truth is never ugly.” — Eugene O’Neill

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am beginning to enjoy creating these pictorial pearls; both the processes involved are fun, and good for me in more than one respect. It’s a total win/win issue, in my book, so, I’ll keep at it, as it seems to keep getting a bit better each time…. Let’s see what happens today…. I’ve got a seven-star group of pictures, five mine, one stolen from somewhere on the net that is terminally cute, and one from the London Daily Mail, I believe, with a papal picture, which, if it isn’t, should be in the public domain, and you’ll see why below, when you see it….

I’m trying a new technique with this pearl…. there will be a quote after each picture, but, no comments, unless necessary to comply with legal or ethical considerations… whatever that means…. Enjoy!…..

“Facts cannot prevail against faith, or adamant folly.”– Smart Bee

“Who is it that can tell me who I am?” — William Shakespeare, King Lear

Okay, one comment…. I like this Pope; as popes go, he’s pretty inoffensive, which is more than can be said of most of them. This one, at least, seems to be a true Christian, and seems sincere in his commitment to live his live after the manner of Jesus Christ, that misunderstood social reformer…. This picture gives a good impression of his nature, which to me seems to be one that is close to nature, and to joy, which is why his expression here is so infectious; he’s completely happy to be playing around, and is obviously enjoying his moment with the athletes…. It’s also a good picture to show off some diversity, with four different skin tones in the picture….

“Well, I used to look like this when I was young, and now I still do.” — Yogi Berra

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

“All societies are based on rules to protect pregnant women and young children. All else is surplusage, excrescence, adornment, luxury, or folly which can – and must – be dumped in emergency to preserve this prime function. As racial survival is the only universal morality, no other basic is possible. Attempts to formulate a “perfect society” on any other foundation other than “Women and children first!” is not only witless, it is automatically genocidal. Nevertheless, starry-eyed idealists (all of them male) have tried endlessly- and no doubt will keep on trying.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“You can best serve civilization by being against what usually passes for it.” — Wendell Berry

“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” — Buddha, The Dharmapada

Well, there you have it…. If nothing else worthwhile happens, you can still say you’ve seen the picture above, of the little girl and her monstrously huge dog…. My eyes fill up just looking at this; you can tell by his whole demeanor, expression, stance, that dog would KILL for that little girl, and she knows it…. You can see the love on her face, and her determination to take care of him….. I keep this picture on my desktop, so I can open it up occasionally, and absorb the absolute love from both of them…. I AM a sucker for dogs & kids, that’s for sure….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, this poem is mine, because I’m tired, my brain is revolting, (No, no, not THAT way!…. it’s being recalcitrant, that’s all….), and I am a huge egotist… or something like that…. I hope you enjoy it; it’s one of my own favorites..

After the odyssey….

Portraits of iconic symbols, crashing, singing, forgotten;
evolving into mature innovation, as yet pale, and rotten.
Still water justly breeds, impenetrable primal verses resound;
unholy moments tarry, emotion swirls in passion unbound

Spiritual ovulation precedes each pregnant pause;
gravid, time moves on, following destiny’s cause.
Cast adrift on waves of confusion, to a final, damp landing;
salvation beckons sweetly, fed well on understanding.

Dreams directly fall, in night’s grey bower, unbidden;
lingering flavors in simple taste, lovingly, cleverly hidden.
Childish laughter sounds, joyful, bright, and clear;
no need ever to hide, no more monsters to fear.

Temper most foul arrives under unregistered mail;
forgotten taunts live on, lashed by an ancient flail.
Plain dealing delivers such lasting specks of honest hate;
savage in retrospect, never hasty, always running late.

Forever, cries an ambient lover of the pending night;
his pale, weak issue forms its own failing light.
Still, fortune favors such as those who apprehend;
Sweet love of Gaia, let it never end.

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m getting fatigued, as mentioned; this has taken a lot of time and energy so far, and I’m not done…. Some of the following pearls came up while I was looking for a few of them for the above picture pearl…. The rest came now, or, will, as soon as I get to it…. Since I’m feeling this way, and have a lot to do today, to go spend a bunch of this money, I’ll forgo the Q&A session planned for here, and get on with collecting the rest of the pearls for this one…. Let’s see if SB can finish strongly….

“If a Nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be … If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.” — Thomas Jefferson

I’ll drink your health; share your wealth;
run your life; steal your wife …
… you can call this song ‘The United States Blues’.

— The Grateful Dead

“It may be bad manners to talk with your mouth full, but it isn’t too good either if you speak when your head is empty.” — Smart Bee

“Solitude makes a wonderful mistress but a terrible wife.’ — Emerson

“A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900)

“Everything is in a state of metamorphosis. Thou thyself art in everlasting change and in corruption to correspond; so is the whole universe.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 19

“We can do noble acts without ruling earth and sea.” — Aristotle

Not too shabby, I think….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whew! Done. So done, I’m just gonna proof, and then poof…. See ya, ffolkes….

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

A line in the sand is often indelible….

Posted on June 9, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

It’s one of those Heyoka days, as the Sioux used to say…. I think it was the Sioux, or one of the other tribes from the Midwest plains, who had the Heyoka concept in their pantheon of beliefs…. Heyoka most easily translates as “opposite” or “contrary to an extreme”…. A Heyoka woman, in their tribe, would always say yes, when she meant no, & no when she meant yes; she would walk backwards, talks backwards, and generally behave in a manner that was completely reversed from normal…. As can be imagined, it made for some interesting times around the old tipi….

I’m up at the usual time, but, so is everyone else, which isn’t all THAT unusual, just odd… The cat is happy, anyway, to have all her human toys awake and available to torment play with; for her, it’s cat heaven. I’m unused to having anyone around while I’m writing, so it’s a bit distracting, but not too much so…. just enough to complain about, as is my custom when presented with a glitch in reality’s normal facade…. I’m not a whiner, as such; I merely believe, as do cats, that it doesn’t hurt to let the universe know what you feel and think about things, with the bonus of getting it OUT of my head, and into the ether, where any negativity clinging to it can be dissipated….

This morning, though, everything seems to be a bit chaotic, somehow… or, perhaps a better word would be “unsettled”…. That’s probably closer to the actual “look and feel” of today (No worries about any suit from Apple on this, we didn’t get anywhere near THEIR “look and feel”…. HAH!….). The upshot of all this has been to take a big bite out of my motivation… In fact, I almost feel like going back to bed, and may just do that after getting this posted….

In fact, since I’m suffering from this motivational mini-crisis, I think I’ll resort to a very early use of method #4, to get this ball rolling down the appropriate hill…. Hmm, I’m guessing, though, it will probably more resemble a the annual Rolling Cheese Chase in England, where all the crazy fools go running down a big hill, chasing after a rolling wheel of cheddar cheese (I THINK it’s cheddar….), in essence to see who is the fastest fool down the hill; the one who reaches bottom first gets the cheese as the prize….. But, it’s okay, I’m not proud, at least not in that respect, so…. just hang on, or sit down & strap in, ‘kay?….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.” — David Star Jordan, The Philosophy of Despair

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m a bit lazy today, as noted above; the coffee doesn’t seem to be quite getting me to where I need to go…. But, I found this older pearl, which is clearly one of the finest pearls I’ve ever done…. and THAT makes it an excellent one to recycle…. Enjoy!….

From 6/4/2012:

To make a long story short: Once upon a time….It was a dark and stormy night……..and they lived happily ever after. — Smart Bee

And I oft have heard defended,
–Little said is soonest mended.

— George Wither (1588-1667) — The Shepherd’s Hunting

As he sat staring into the screen at the last two seemingly unconnected pearls, he began to laugh, slowly at first, then rising in pitch and volume, until the walls rang with the maniacal cacophony. “Madness!”, he thinks, “madness is here, and owns my wretched soul!” Caught in the maelstrom of his own inner conflict, he felt as if he were a drift of snow, blowing away in the howling winds, scattering to all parts of creation, never to be connected, or whole, again….

Yet, even more terrifyingly, Murphy’s henchman, the unthinkable terror of dissolution, holds him prisoner here, refusing to yield the pleasure of devouring every last bit of agony that can be dragged screaming from his beleaguered existence, keeping him anchored to the endless Now, with fear and loathing. Tears flow freely, long undefended by social convention, tears of grief for the lost possibilities, and tears of sadness for the loss of the years gone past.

Yet all things must pass….Remembering at last that the existence of pain is only confirmed by an equal amount of joy, the scale tips, and the duality of reality severs the hold of entropy on his emotions. The clouds disperse, and Murphy, well-pleased, slips laughing into the remaining mists….. Shattered and bloody, he sits, and thinks….

There you go…. long story short….

As long as we’re going insane, we might as well go the whole way. A mere shred of sanity is of no value. — Smart Bee

“Insanity destroys reason, but not wit.” — Nathaniel Emmons

I believe the word you’re looking for is ‘AAAUUGHHH’.

(Note from 2014: Obviously, I found the word I was looking for….)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, to avoid the possibility of anyone else catching blame for any of this, here is one of my older poems….

Savory

Blown across steppes of imagination, a spore
finds a niche, takes root,
tries to live longer than now, before
chaos/peace descends, and desire is moot.

Feathered into fecundity, another possibility
builds a nest, hatches kin,
aims at immortality, sans responsibility,
chance manifests, as it does, again.

Leading toward peril, entropy saves creativity,
making tools, and lazy time;
solid signs imply such simple nativity,
as another snitch drops his dime.

Subtle compassion billows, passion to unfold,
covering hearts bloodied by time,
burning flesh made valid, unwaveringly bold,
turning love to brilliant rhyme.

Years weigh lightly, supported by youth,
gaining weight with each year,
only the old men know the actual truth,
peace comes only when we lose our fear.

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday, I walked further than I’ve been able to walk for, literally, years…. Slowly, but with dogged perseverance, I walked all the way from my house, to the library, and back…. I had decided I needed to take more pictures, so I took my camera, a book to go back to the library, and headed out into the day, at about 0730, while it was still relatively cool….

It got up to the mid-90’s here yesterday, with the threat of that kind of heat again today…. In response, we already have all the doors & windows open, while cool, to keep it that way…. Later, when the sun comes up, we’ll shut it up, to keep that coolness inside for as long as possible…. We may not deal well with heat, but, between us, we’ve got enough years of experience to know how to deal with it as best we may….

Plus, yesterday, I got a bunch of pretty good shots, of which you’ll find five included below, each with a pearl, and a comment…. Enjoy, please….

“Anyone who isn’t confused really doesn’t understand the situation.” — Edward R. Murrow

Mr. Murrow has been around for most of my life; I seem to remember hearing his name on TV as a very young child, in the 1950’s, which is a fairly long time ago now…. This statement of his has also been around as long as I remember, accepted by almost all as gospel truth, and a pretty good indication of how most people feel about both the world at large, and their own lives…. I would like to point out, with some reluctance, that our beloved ruling class KNOWS this, and likes us to feel this way…. People who are uncertain, and a little afraid, are much easier to control, than those who feel a sense of confidence and hope.

I won’t rant on this, not now; plus, I’ve ranted on this often in the past, so my views are well-known, at least, around here…. Just be sure, if you’re feeling confused at what is going on in the real world, you’re not alone, and you are experiencing the same as most other folks in society…. just the way our beloved rulers like…. Hell, they probably feel a large sense of satisfaction, knowing the majority of mankind is so easily manipulated and controlled…. ‘Nuff said….

“It is important to do what you don’t know how to do. It is important to see your skills as keeping you from learning what is deepest and most mysterious. If you know how to focus, unfocus. If your tendency is to make sense out of chaos, start chaos.” — Carlos Casteñeda

This is really an important lesson, and one that many in the Western world have trouble assimilating fully. It is well worth anyone’s consideration, as it is truer than most will believe on first sight; such is the value of serendipity in life. Beauty, like wisdom, can be found in the most unlikely of places, often when least expected…. As I walked home yesterday, I didn’t expect to see this little sphere, sitting on top of a metal pole, next to a building on the street where I walked…. The overall effect of the weather and time on the surface, of both the pole, and the sphere, turned it into a vision of exquisite beauty; it looks like an artist’s rendition of the mega-planet recently discovered by the Hubble telescope.

I can just see that sphere, just as it appears here, majestically swinging through space around another star, with its own civilization of people, who, hopefully, have a better grasp of virtue and responsibility that we do here on Earth….. Maybe, if we listen to our sages, such as Carlos, we’d have a chance to learn those values, to our benefit, rather than killing ourselves, as a result of the depths of our stupidity and contrary natures….

“As a net is made up of a series of ties, so everything in this world is connected by a series of ties. If anyone thinks that this mesh of a net is an independent, isolated thing, he is mistaken. It is called a net because it is made up of a series of interconnected meshes, and each mesh has its place and responsibility in relation to other meshes.” — Buddha

This small park in the downtown area shows perfectly how this works in the real world…. What? You mean you DON’T see the meshed net, with all its connections, all through this picture? Ah, then, I see now how life has become unknown to you…. Look again, ffolkes, the connections of which the Buddha spoke are all over this picture… Hint: one of them is the connection that society has to its members, which prompts the creation of inner city park areas, where people can gather, thus giving meaning to the word, “community”… That’s how it works, which, unfortunately for all of us, is NOT commonly understood… which is most likely why the park is empty….

“It is not every question that deserves an answer.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 581

What more perfect quote could go with this? Obviously, the parasol needs no excuses, nor any explanations…. Such boldness deserves whatever kudos it can garner, and no one alive could possibly say this is NOT special…. I’m hoping it is still there when I go back to buy it; it’s perfect for my daughter for Christmas…. and, yes, I’m a sucker for the romantic era…. But, since I never question any of the qualities of romance in life, I never run up against the issues implied in this statement from Publius Syrus…. I don’t NEED any answers about that….

“There await men after they are dead things which they do not expect or imagine.” — Heraclitus

“What is inconceivable about the universe is that it is at all conceivable.” — Albert Einstein

The picture you see here is the first of many to come; I call it Pine/Fire/Cone/Hydrant, for lack of anything more original. On my camera safari yesterday, I found a pine cone, conveniently waiting for me underneath a pine tree on the street where I walked. I had the idea to use it as a picture prop, so, I will…. I’ll be seeking out different items and/or places to pose the pine cone (or, it’s smaller clone, which is easier to carry…. and will give y’all something to look for, to see which cone is up for the day….), with the basic intent to create images that will lend themselves to the process of pearling….

I think it’s going to work out very well; this one is so compelling an image for me, I decided it was worthy of a two-fer, and, it seems I was right, as these two are perfectly suited to the image, in my estimation…. See, now, there’s another unintended, but valuable, facet of this; you also get to see just how strange and, well, tuned in to entropy, my mind is on any particular day, as the pearls I pick for the pictures will provide you with very accurate clues…. This one is no exception, even if what it says about me is a little critical, or shall we say, it pulls to many covers? Sure, why not….

Any who, I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s little trip through the vast, empty landscape, that comprises the bulk of my imagination when pearling…. Maybe that’s not the best image with which to leave you, but, hey, gotta call ’em as I see ’em…. To prevent any further madness, I declare this pearl complete….

“Go into yourself and see how deep the place is from which your life flows.” — Rainer Maria Rilke in Letters to a Young Poet

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some days, this process works better than others, a truism I’ve noted previously, but, which has no real bearing on whether or not it gets done. I suppose the effect it has lies in the quality of whatever comes out of my head during the morning’s leakage; when it goes smoothly, the Pearls seem a bit more coherent. It matters little in the final analysis, as it will get posted either way, to go along with our basic philosophy of “better out than in”….

Since there isn’t anything more I can damage, or, for that matter, repair, I will now go do what I can to prepare to get through today’s continuing heat wave…. It SAYS it’s only going to be 86, but, it’s only a bit after 6 AM, & there’s no fog…. That usually means it will get up to at least 90…. Now, where did I put that coma-inducing book I was saving for just this occasion?….. The coma state is the ONLY way to get through such days…. I know, I’m a native Californian…. I’ve got priors…. See ya, tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can keep from melting…..

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

Wait a second! Is that a connecting bolt in your pocket?…

Posted on June 6, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Yep…. I’m definitely losing it…. and not just it, either, but, almost all of it…..Pretty sweeping statement so early, but, for me, it isn’t….. early, that is. It’s well after 5 AM, & I’m just now getting up…. The coffee isn’t ready, so I had to make it, and wait for it…. As you might guess, this does very little, if not nothing, to improve my mood, or my condition, of which I am afraid to even speak…. I’m coffee-free as yet, so there’s really no telling what might come out of my head, or my mouth, both of which tend to end up on screen…. Oh, man…. I hear the coffee machine finishing…. Hang on, I’ll be back, hopefully before I’ve murdered anyone….

I made it through the ordeal of procuring coffee, but, I’m still not sure about the rest of today…. To say I’m in a curmudgeonly mood would be far short of the actual degree of grumpiness I’m currently experiencing; homicidal, or perhaps, genocidal, might be more accurate…. Of course, being the moral/ethical creature I am, if I went for genocide today, you could at least trust me to confine my targeted group of intended victims to the BRC and the monied elite….

I wouldn’t go after any normal ffolkes, only those who make a habit of preying on the rest of humanity…. Hmm, I suppose, if one were wishing to be entirely accurate, picking on the people on this planet who deserve to die for their treatment of others, that would be more like a pest control guy, right? So, I’m committing insecticide on them, rather than genocide…. I can live with that….

Gosh, ffolkes, it seems that my anger, which is mostly directed at my own physical condition, wants to get directed into ranting…. I suppose that’s a natural outlet for me, one I’ve been allowing myself to use for about three years now, ever since starting this blog, and making the decision to discontinue my lifelong habit of silence on public issues…. Ranting comes pretty naturally to a curmudgeon, and I was already considered that BEFORE I retired, and actually joined the organization to receive the training…. So, letting out my angst on the appropriate targets has been my habit, and my pleasure, for that time….

Of late, I’ve been trying to rant less, as I was concerned it was driving readers away; I’m fully aware that my subject matter is controversial, and my opinions somewhat radical, but, I try to keep my writing in such a state that it won’t alienate people…. unless, of course, they identify too closely with the folks of which I’m making fun, or antagonizing, by pulling the cover on their lies.

Then, of course, they become offended, which is fine with me; I have no problem with people being offended by what I say, as long as they do so with politeness…. You can curse someone out thoroughly without ever becoming rude, though it takes a bit of effort…. Me, I tend to forget the polite part at times, so, I try to allow a bit of leeway for commenters, as well…

But, I don’t get a lot of argument with my issues…. I figure there are two reasons for that…. First, most of the people who read this are what I’d call members of the choir, in that they agree, if not wholeheartedly, at least in principle, with what I’ve said about the ruling classes, or the priestly hierarchies, or the faceless myrmidons who do their bidding…. This makes for not a lot of commenting, on what we all know to be true….

On the other hand, I also try to present arguments with the evidence, which I have used to make my conclusions, included in the argument, or, at minimum, easily accessed by anyone wishing to examine it….. Once anyone has viewed the argument, with evidence, then disagreement becomes somewhat out of place, since what I’ve stated is generally so obviously correct…. in essence, there’s nothing on which they can hang any disagreement….

As you can see by this example, I tend to ramble and blather when I’m in pain, and don’t have anything specific about which to rant…. which is exactly today’s position…. I’ve now semi-ranted for the entire intro section, without ever getting anywhere significant, or worthy of follow-up…. Ah well, at least it got us far enough down the page to call this a legal entry, so, I suppose that’s something positive…. To maintain that positive feeling, I’ll end this here, using method #4, as it is the quickest, most efficient method, if the most risky in terms of possible injury…. We’ve been lucky in that respect, so, for now, we’ll trust our luck…

Shall we Pearl?….

“In a mad world, only the mad are sane.” — Akiro Kurosawa

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since I am so late today, and my pain level is not cooperating very well (I even made the requisition for this day off from major pain two days ago…. I can show you the paperwork!….), we’re going old school… I’ve been picking from the archives too much lately, so, we’ll go fresh, but with the kind of pearl that takes the least amount of time to produce…. Here is a random grouping, set with parameters to find pearls that take a poke at lawyers, politicians, preachers, pundits, or police myrmidons. those wonderful folks who enforce the will of the corporate assholes who own everything…

“There is no better way to exercise the imagination than the study of the law. No artist ever interpreted nature as freely as a lawyer interprets the truth.” — Jean Giraudoux

“Commonly we say a judgment falls upon a man for something in him we cannot abide.” — John Selden (1584-1654) — Judgments

“Anything labeled “NEW” and/or “IMPROVED” isn’t. The label means the price went up. The label “ALL NEW”, “COMPLETELY NEW”, or “GREAT NEW” means the price went way up.” — Hershiser’s Rules

“The very purpose of existence is to reconcile the glowing opinion we hold of ourselves with the appalling things that other people think about us.” — Quentin Crisp

“Agesilaus being invited once to hear a man who admirably imitated the nightingale, he declined, saying he had heard the nightingale itself.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Agesilaus II

“Do you call yourself free? I want to hear your ruling idea, and not that you have escaped from a yoke.” — Nietzsche, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”

“All educational organizations worthy of the name have always recognized what be the ultimate and significant principle of pedagogy: namely the absolute mandate, the iron bond, discipline, sacrifice, the renunciation of the ego, the curbing of the personality.” –Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain

A bit scattered, but, fairy pointed in spots…. it will do….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Again, to avoid spreading blame for today’s Pearl, here is an older poem of my own, from early last year…. Enjoy, please….

Notes of process and program…

Poems, alas, don’t chase through my head,
bumping and pushing each other like brothers at dinner.
They’re more ripped out of my innards, instead.
Time and circumstance reveal no ultimate winner.

Simmering and bubbling near my unconscious mind
these maddening rhymes blind me sans glimmer.
Building until bursting as if to be dined and wined,
the remaining denizens appear much slimmer.

Fiery visions retain such glorious fatal dimension,
in retrospect, yet fail to leave a permanent scar,
until blessed, or cursed, with focused attention,
singing, crying, bleeding, fast as a movie star.

Pretty soon can’t be soon enough, she said
to a chameleon colored thief bathed in moonlight.
Fancy candles in stripes of blue, gold, and red
foster honest dreams in shades of white.

Passage to daylight is problematic, at best:
beastly ghosts of insomniacs cast no shadow.
Even judges with robes can pass the wrong test
while the rest of us go with what we know.

~~ gigoid ~~

“A poet is a kind of liar who always speaks the truth.” — Jean Cocteau

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

witzelsucht (vit’sel-zoocht) [Ger.] “A mental condition characteristic of frontal lobe lesions and marked by the making of poor jokes and puns and the telling of pointless stories, at which the patient himself is intensely amused.” — Standard Dictionary

Having been accused in the past of exhibiting the perfect set of symptoms for this disorder, I can relate to how it feels…. which is mostly lonely, as the rest of humanity has a hard time sitting still for puns, OR for pointless stories…. Nonetheless, I like the idea that this condition is one that MAY be treatable…. it gives me hope for the remainder of my life as a blogger…. or maybe that’s just my fantasy gene kicking in…. who knows? Let’s find some more pearls, shall we?….

“Everybody is going somewhere!! It’s probably a garage sale or a disaster Movie!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“The way I see it, it doesn’t matter what you believe just so you’re sincere.” — Charles Schulz

“It is not a fish until it is on the bank.” — Irish Proverb

“In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all – security, comfort and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.” — Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter 29

“When a person can no longer laugh at himself, it is time for others to laugh at him.” — Thomas Szasz, The Second Sin, 1973

“The only act of revolution left in a collective world is thinking for yourself.” — Bob Geldof, “Is That It?”

“One can imagine a sane, healthy, cheerful human society based on no more than the principles of common sense, as validated each day by work, play, and living experience. But this remains the most Utopian and fantastic of ideals.” — Edward Abbey

Now, THAT’s what I’m talkin’ about!…..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s a Pearl, ffolkes…. of that, there is NO doubt…. Fresh, too, or, as much so as I could make it…. The fact that I was able to complete it, fresh as it is, is, to me, rather impressive, in re: will power…. but, that’s all done now…. I’m going to go whimper now, and wait for the drugs to hit me…. See ya….

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

Failing that, we’ll go subterranean….

Posted on May 30, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I find myself in a position all too familiar, yet strangely, it doesn’t SEEM to resemble the past I remember closely. That probably sounds as confused as I feel, which, obviously, is considerably befuddled. Of course, befuddlement is also a somewhat common state for me, ever since my teens, when I started to question why what I had always been told about the world, and life, was pretty much all wrong….

I mean, can you BELIEVE this? They told me, when I was just a little kid, that I could trust policemen, that they would never harm me, or hurt anyone…. They told me my money would be safest in a bank, and would earn me the most if I let the bankers invest it for me….They told me that merchants and vendors were honest people, just trying to make a living, not trying to cheat me with shoddy products or hidden charges…They told me that the leaders of our country were honest, forthright men and women, who would never lie to the public (George Washington and the cherry tree are often brought out at that point….)….. And, they told me that God loves people, meaning me, and will make sure I live forever, if I just give enough money at church….

Do I have to give the evidence? Is it necessary for me to show y’all exactly how NONE of those things, that we ALL were told when young, are true…. nor have they been true for most of my life…. The world does NOT match the crap that we were all told, and to think it does, in any fashion, is just feeding into the hands of those who would keep us all in the slave’s collar, if they thought they could get away with it….

You watch, some day soon, wearing a slave’s collar will be described as “the latest fashion”, and people will fall all over themselves to get one in a leopard print…. We all may as well face the facts, ffolkes….. You, and I, and every other fool, whether we buy into the crap that the current leaders of society are putting out, or not, are nothing more than pathetic, economic slaves, and there isn’t a damn thing we can do about it, not any more…. If you don’t believe you are a slave to their form of economics, or that you really have any CHOICE in the matter, well, you are, quite simply, deluded, and all-the-more-perfect fodder for their pillaging….

They’ve got it all tied up, in a nice pretty bow, and nothing we do can cause any real changes to happen, if they don’t want them…. and change is NOT what they want…. Maintaining the status quo is JOB ONE for any politician; how else will the money keep flowing into their pockets?

And what the hell am I doing?….

I’m barely into the intro section, and find myself in a full-on rant…. It all stems from the article I read yesterday, which I’ve included below in section one; not the one about Eric Snowden’s interview, but the response by that prominent fat cat, Dianne Feinstein, which, I note, didn’t come out until well AFTER the interview….

I guess it took some time for Obama, Feinstein, McConnell, and the other players in this drama to confer, and decide who was going to lead off, with whatever lies they’ve prepared to answer Snowden’s latest attempts to communicate with the American people, to try to undermine anything he might say, as being the words of a traitor…. Since DiFi led off the barrage, I imagine today we’ll hear from someone at the NSA (maybe…) or McConnell, or Obama…. all of whom will try to convince the public that Snowden is the liar, not them…. Since there are many of them, and only one of him, they think they have the advantage, and they’re right…. Besides which, they’re all PROFESSIONAL liars, not just your average prevaricators….

I’ll finish this discussion in section one; if I continue here, we may never get there…. Damn it! I had hoped to not have to rant, at all, so I could create one of the new style pearls, with pictures, but, this just HAS to be addressed, or they’ll have the floor with nobody else to speak back, to show how they are the liars….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured.” — Tacitus (54-119 AD) — Agricola, 42

Ah!….. Well, that explains it…. It’s no wonder the politicians, the preachers, the bankers, et al, hate us all….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is an article regarding the interview of Eric Snowden on NBC a night or two ago…. In it, Mr. Snowden brings out several points which go a long way to helping understand why the government is so inflexible in going after him, and why they are so determined to prove him wrong… (Hint: in their eyes, it justifies their own illegal activities)…. Read the articles, especially the second one, with the egregiously STUPID remarks by someone I had thought was smarter….. not that I’ve ever trusted her, but, I always thought DiFi was smarter than the average Senator…. Apparently not, if this issue is any indication….

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/six-memorable-quotes-from-edward-snowdens-nbc-interview-20140529?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

http://www.sfgate.com/nation/article/Feinstein-Snowden-never-voiced-NSA-concerns-5514604.php

I’ve decided NOT to rant. I’m just going to say these few comments, then I’ll put together an old-school pearl to make my point…. DiFi makes one obvious error in her statements to the public on this matter…. She claims that Snowden didn’t really blow any whistles to the NSA, he just stole the documents, without ever trying to do what they consider the right thing, which is to ask the lying spies to tell the truth…. Such BS….

Any who, she says E. S. never said anything to his supervisors about his concerns….. and how does she know this?…. Well, ffolkes, that’s easy…. because the NSA told her so…. Sure, Dianne, lets believe a bunch of spies when we ask them what they’ve been up to…. This is the same woman who accused the CIA of hacking into her investigation of them; furthermore, she accused them of obstructing the process of investigation, and lying to her and her staff…. Now, she expects us to believe this OTHER group of spies are NOT lying to us, or to her; she wants us to believe they won’t lie when she asks them if he said anything to them…. Is that STUPID, or not? If you said ‘not’, then, I feel for you, living in a world where cotton candy passes for brains….

Oh, plus, she says that the NSA has no documentation that Mr. Snowden ever wrote anything to them to point out any of the reservations he was having…. Well, of COURSE they don’t…. Silly woman… What does she think they’ve been doing ever since his actions were revealed? Looking for things he wrote, to save them? If they looked for any written notes from him, they did so during their interior auditing process, after discovering the leaks, to look for what they needed to delete and/or destroy…. They’ve had over a year since then to clean up anything that might prove his contentions, and I’m positive they didn’t waste a minute of it SAVING his documents…. just the reverse…. They can lie about this without fear of exposure, because they KNOW they’ve already destroyed all he DID write….

Okay, that’s it, end of rant…. But, ffolkes, if any of y’all are buying into this crap the government is spewing about this issue, then, you are living in the land of the blind, and deaf, and more than just dumb…. Here are some aphorisms that may help you to realize how badly the BRC, and the rest of the Asininnies, wants us to believe their lies, and how important it is for them to have our blind trust and obedience…. Without it, they are sunk…. Well, that’s our hope, I suppose…

“Want a taste of religion? Bite a minister!” — Smart Bee

“By trying, we can easily learn to endure adversity — another man’s, I mean.” — Mark Twain

” — Bother! said Pooh, these people are evil.” — NOT Christopher Robin, & NOT A.A. Milne (In fact, your guess is as good as mine…. It SOUNDS very Carlinesque….)

“The First Amendment is often inconvenient. But that is besides the point. Inconvenience does not absolve the government of its obligation to tolerate speech.” — Justice Anthony Kennedy, in 91-155

“Is there a Lemon Law for Presidents too?’ — Smart Bee

“And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight…Then he [the Lord!] said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.” — Ezek. 4:12-15 (KJV)

(Just so you know…. That’s disgusting, in every way….. but, typical of the lessons taught by the Bible….)

Lastly, to round off this strange collection of insults and oddly phrased indictments of the BRC, et al…..

“God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent- it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks, please. Cash, and in small bills.” — Lazarus Long

Some of you may wonder how religious figures and churches got lumped into the group being vilified today…. That’s just me…. In my world, I tend to lump politicians, preachers, police, bankers, and sexual predators all into the same group, of humans who are either evil by choice and nature, or completely misguided fools, victims of the same propaganda under which we all labor in life, but, worse, because they ENJOY being assholes about stuff…. Any who, the last pearl says it all…. anyone who buys into their BS gets EXACTLY what they deserve…..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since I’m in full curmudgeon mode, and have fallen back into my old ways today, here is one of my favorite political poems…. It’s kinda silly, but, it fits my mood….

Geezer to Congress, with Love

Politicos don’t care much ’bout seniors and their ilk,
except for their money, I thinks;
Though they talk as if they’d cozen them in silk,
what they actually do, it stinks.“The banks are failing, we can’t allow that!”,
steal from the aged, that’s their plan.
“Their life’s ending, that’s plainly where they’re at,”
lie shamelessly, because they can.Maybe just once, if we all act together,
it couldn’t miss.
Right on their shoes, no matter the weather,
take careful aim, and piss.Why the hell not?
It’s worth a shot!

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the very olden days, when I first began to post here on WP, the POVW had a different format. It was simpler, merely an intro, followed by a five- or seven-star pearl, and maybe one closing line….. which is the format you see below…. I’m late, and tired, and want to go start taking pictures for tomorrow’s new-style Pearl; since I intend to use my own pix, I’d best start collecting some appropriate pictures to use…. Any who, all excuses and rationalizations aside, this is a good example of how Pearls used to look every day…. They were a lot shorter then, as you will notice….

From 9/25/2011:

Ffolkes,
It is once again Sunday, and it looks as if we’ll get some rain. And talking about the weather is pretty much a useless pastime, but it’s all I’ve got today. I am, for some reason, exhausted, and I just got up. I believe I know the reason for that, though, and will have to take care of it some day very soon. Meanwhile, I’m going to just give you the Pearls today, and they can stand on their own. I’ll write tomorrow, I promise….

“A good many dramatic situations begin with screaming.” — Barbarella

“Communication is next to impossible with someone who has no doubts.” — Limon

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

— Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken

“Each has his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by his heart, and his friends can only read the title.” — Virginia Woolf

“Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.” — Smart Bee

“On the other hand, life can be an endless parade of TRANSSEXUAL QUILTING BEES aboard a cruise ship to DISNEYWORLD if only we let it!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Yes, if only we will let it, life can be what it is…..y’all take care out there….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lest my habit of accepting the blame for all of this be abrogated, I think I’d best just be done with it, and begone from this place…. I DO have a lot to do today…. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it…. See ya tomorrow, ffolkes…. I’m hoping, anyway….

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.

<big>gigoid the dubious<big>

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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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Buddha

These weren’t buffed OR polished!…..

Building rapport by flapping gums, Mambo-style….

We’ll need more coffee for this…..

In the final analysis, partial hydrogenation was a key factor….

The White Rabbit’s waistcoat won’t fit….

Even duct tape won’t help now….

Full page translations are our specialty….

A line in the sand is often indelible….

Wait a second! Is that a connecting bolt in your pocket?…

Failing that, we’ll go subterranean….

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