Tag Archives: Democrats

Occasionally, it floated sideways….

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Ffolkes,
Boo hoo? Boo hoo? What a crock of crap!…. Oh, hi, sorry, didn’t realize we’d started…. When I woke up today, the best I could come up with was Boo hoo…. which, as is common knowledge, is no way to start the day….. So, I got some coffee, kicked Murphy off the coffee table where he was snoring, and retreated to the porcelain throne room for a little quiet time with a book. No sooner did I sit down to begin, the damn waterworks start leaking again…. The damnedest part is that I have no frigging clue as to what the hell is causing it….

I mean, I’m still in poverty, relatively speaking, but, I’ve got food, the rent’s paid, and all will be well soon, as I’m just waiting for a decision now on my SS benefits. My kids are doing well, and the lady Ive been sparking is feeling better now, so no personal issues happening, either. My brother’s news regarding his illness was a bit of a facer, but I’m getting a handle on that, so that isn’t it either….

No, it’s just a gift from the gods, I guess, letting me know that my past indiscretions in my choice of work are not completely resolved, at least not to the point where my unconscious is going to give me a free pass….. I can truly be an asshole, when it comes to dealing with myself….

PTSD is an insidious condition…. in many ways, its symptoms and issues are hidden, not only from others, but from the victim themselves, by the person’s unconscious mind, which, in the case of these issues of extreme mental anguish, assumes control over the rest of the person’s psyche.

It’s a pain in the ass, too, I’ll tell ya, as days like today, if not addressed and resolved, can become a daily battle, rather than an occasional skirmish…..  Thankfully, I’m currently at a place where the latter is more common than the former…. so, today is a bit of a surprise, though not completely unexpected, given recent events….

The human mind is a complex organism, and we don’t know a lot about how it actually does what it does. Even from a personal standpoint, we aren’t very knowledgeable regarding how our minds work; we know what it does, but know very little about how it goes about doing it.

Not surprisingly, this can lead to a great many issues that a more complete understanding might preclude; unfortunately, that knowledge is currently unavailable, as the mechanics of our mind’s activities is a mystery, for the most part. All we know is what we observe; we know almost nothing about the process, or, for that matter, the end result…. If we did, we could answer the age-old question, “What is the mind?”, with something other than speculation…..

Okay, I’ll call a halt here…. A discussion of brain activity, while interesting in its own right, and in its own way, probably isn’t the best way to begin a Pearl…. neither is a lamentation on the disadvantages of having contracted PTSD in the course of my career choice. So, we’ll drop it now, and get on with today’s business, before I bore y’all to petrification. This is a chatty, fairly erudite intro section, but, it really doesn’t mean much, does it? SIGH….. Someday, maybe I’ll get the hang of this intro stuff…. Shall we Pearl?…..

P.S.  A housekeeping note: I noted at least two major typos in yesterday’s Pearl, and am ashamed….. (you can’t see it, but my head is hanging, and I have an appropriately sober, apologetic expression on my face….)  I’ll try to proof better today…..

“I feel so inar-inar-inar tic-u-late” — Smart Bee
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“I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair.  Then I thought, wouldn’t it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them?  So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe.”– Marcus, Babylon 5

Marcus brings up an interesting point here, when he talks of the general hostility of the universe. I don’t think he quite has a handle on the actual shape of Reality, though, and in his desire to avoid responsibility for his own cupidity, he assigns the universe as villain in his play. Our universe isn’t hostile to us, as he would like to think. Unfair? Yes. Hostile? No…. The universe really doesn’t give a crap about us, one way or another. Things seem unfair, not because they are stacked against us, but rather because they are not stacked in our favor, a slight but distinct difference…..

Reality plays no favorites, beyond a tendency to allow itself to be adjusted by those who have an understanding of how it works, without granting them any dispensation, but rather rewarding their cleverness and wit. Those who believe the universe is out to get them are defenseless against the trials and tribulations that are a natural part of living, because they begin from an attitude of helplessness. Those who at least have the confidence to act in their own behalf are much more able to achieve their goals, than anyone who allows Reality to push them wherever they end up, without any direction made by choice…..

Thus, we can see that courage, as well as knowledge, is necessary to being able to confront Reality on its own terms. Not only is it necessary to pay attention to the way the universe works, and how it interacts among all its parts, but necessary to have the courage to act on what is known, and what the person believes to be right, in a moral sense.

Of course, the universe doesn’t care one way or another if we are moral; it rewards those who act out of immorality as well, if they are bold enough to act. We just feel better about ourselves if we act from right thought, and we make it easier for others to do the same. Acting immorally only benefits the one who is doing the acting…..

But, cowardice is also rewarded by the universe; it just isn’t a very palatable reward, to have our every wish denied, and our every act dismissed, as incompetent, illegal, or just plain dumb….. Lack of courage, and lack of knowledge thus become their own rewards, and the person’s misguided views about reality lead them into issue after issue of conflict with the rest of reality.

In this way, they continually reinforce their own misapprehensions, and will only more firmly believe that the universe is out to get them, and everyone else…. This, in spite of the fact that they are looking at, and dealing with, the same Reality as everyone else, who don’t all seem to have the same problem…. Instead of giving them a clue that maybe they should do things differently, they merely assume that the other people have cheated them somehow…. because that is what they would do….

It’s really too bad in some ways, that so large a percentage of humanity is so lacking in courage and wit as to find the view stated above to be congruent with their own view of the way the universe operates; it’s part of what makes it so easy for those in the BRC and the 1% to control them, and to pull the wool over their eyes.

These folks are so convinced of their own helplessness in the face of all they don’t understand, they will latch onto almost anything someone tells them, if it soothes their fears, and gives them someone or something other than themselves to blame for their misfortunes…. Sad, but true, and a perfect description of what has transpired in society for several thousand years now, as the BRC keeps the majority of humanity in the proverbial dark about what is true, and what is real….. They’ve had a lot of practice, and they’re very good at it….

But, then, it isn’t hard to control someone who is brainwashed to believe that it is the way reality is, so I can’t say it is due to any particularly large degree of wit or talent that allows them to do so…. It is more that the folks who they control are so stupid, they ask to be controlled, because they can’t, and more importantly, won’t, trust themselves to do it….. Sad, but true….

At his point in this narrative, I am becoming a bit enraged, a not uncommon reaction to a rant about the BRC and the 1%…. Heck, this time, I didn’t even have to mention the papists or preachers who are their shock troops, on the front lines of the brainwashing process, in order to get upset and angry over their machinations…. until now. My rage is growing, as it always tends to do when I start to rant on this subject, and I’m not ready to deal with the consequences of letting it get any bigger right now…. too much other stuff to get to today. But, just let me say this…..

Those in our society who deliberately control others for their own benefit are my enemies. I believe them to be responsible for virtually ALL of the social ills we have, as well as the global and environmental issues that are threatening our very survival as a species. They are, for their own personal benefit, hoarding the resources of the planet, and refusing to share them with the remainder of humanity, all because they can, and they want to. The welfare of others is of no concern to them, so they automatically become my foes, in my battle to try to make a world my children, and grandchild, can have the opportunity to live a full and complete life of their own, without being oppressed and controlled by assholes who don’t give a shit about anyone but themselves….. As my old martial arts instructor used to say…. “Fuck ’em….. hard.”…..

— “Bother!”, said Pooh, as he dropped his bombs.
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A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London

Never until the mankind making
Bird beast and flower
Fathering and all humbling darkness
Tells with silence the last light breaking
And the still hour
Is come of the sea tumbling in harness

And I must enter again the round
Zion of the water bead
And the synagogue of the ear of corn
Shall I let pray the shadow of a sound
Or sow my salt seed
In the least valley of sackcloth to mourn

The majesty and burning of the child’s death.
I shall not murder
The mankind of her going with a grave truth
Nor blaspheme down the stations of the breath
With any further
Elegy of innocence and youth.

Deep with the first dead lies London’s daughter,
Robed in the long friends,
The grains beyond age, the dark veins of her mother,
Secret by the unmourning water
Of the riding Thames.
After the first death, there is no other.

Dylan Thomas
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“All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning.” — Albert Camus

Without meaning to, Albert gives me hope for the future…. or, at least, for the future success of my writing…. because, boy, if my writing doesn’t fit the description of “ridiculous beginning”, I don’t know what would!   🙂

No, really, I find this to be comforting, especially for us Bozoids, who have a very close relationship with the concept of ridiculous. I mean, it’s what we do, right? Right….. In that vein, I’m going to go old-school again today for this final pearl…. The experiment yesterday, of a completely random process of choice of the pearls to be included, went very well, so we’ll give it another roll today, and see what we can come up with, me and Smart Bee…. Having once again written this PRIOR to the choosing, I have no preconceived idea of what may happen, so, please, don’t forget your helmets and seat belts…. otherwise the insurance drones will pitch a fit….

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

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

Hah!….. Fooled ya, didn’t I? While cruising Smart Bee, looking for pearls for this pearl (don’t worry about it…. I’ll explain it again someday….), I had a moment of revelation, an epiphany, so to speak, about the course of my life up to now….

I have to say, it’s been a wild ride, if not particularly dangerous in general; there have, of course, been moments of great terror, and great fear. Nobody escapes completely from life’s vicissitudes, but, mostly, I’ve been able to cruise through life smoothly, without any particular danger that wasn’t by choice (my work, for several years, didn’t fit into that “safe” category at all….).

I’ve also had my share, and more, of pain in life, both emotional and physical, especially in the last 10 years, as my physical strength wanes, and my social life has evolved in ways not particularly comfortable for me. But, I can only feel, and appreciate, that pain because I’ve also had my share, and more, of joy, joy that sustains me in those times when pain is prevalent.

So, I’ve seen, and experienced, the balance and duality that defines our existence in this universe, and come to appreciate its beauty as a whole…. and I see this, because I’ve always felt what Robert Frost spoke so eloquently in this poem, and tried to always follow the road less traveled, wherever I’ve gone in my life. I have to say, I’m glad I did…..

So, there’s your old school pearl, in a new school setting, all shiny, and glowing with its own special inner fire…. enjoy!

“I am covered with pure vegetable oil and I am writing a best seller!”  — Zippy the Pinhead
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Okay, let’s see how it came out…. Gosh, that’s not too bad, all in all. During the process of putting it together, it didn’t seem all that cogent, or powerful, but, on retrospect, it’s just fine the way it is…. with only one apparent typo, and two added words, for clarity….. In the words of the Artful Dodger, I’ll take it…. and run…..   🙂    In fact, I like it enough, that this is enough…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Our fluffy maroon penguin isn’t satisfied….

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Ffolkes,
Try as I might, I don’t have it in me, much as I wish I did…. what it might be, well, your guess is as good as mine. I’m often struck in the mornings at how empty is the mind at low tide….. Then, I wake up, and it all seems so pointless. Well, maybe not pointless, but confusing, anyway. Of course, I’m used to confusion…. it sometimes seems as if confusion is a state I never leave. But, it all adds up after a while, and even if I knew what I was speaking of, I probably wouldn’t have a good way to describe it….. Nor would you….

There, hows’ that for pointless?  Just thought, or rather, felt, today needed a bit of insanity at the start, just so we don’t lose track of what is important…. which is maintaining at least a semblance of normality, at least long enough to get past the social worker’s visit at noon. Why, you may ask, is a social worker coming to visit?….. I don’t know, I guess they’re worried that I’m going too crazy here by myself, and want to see if I need a companion to live with me…. Actually, that’s a lie…. there’s no social worker coming over, and I’m not in any social need…. I just made it up, because it seemed to fit the way the paragraph was headed. Then, I realized, there’s no justification for a SW, and no plot reason I can make up quick enough, so, I gave up, and told you the truth….

I suppose I might now show a little class, by turning the discussion to the concept of telling the truth…. but, what I just wrote above seems to me to be a good example of how the truth can be really, really hard to find, and recognize when its found, because, just like me, they might be making it up…. and how are you going to be able to tell?… Answer me that, Mr. Smartypants…..

Sorry, didn’t meant to call names…. As you might have guessed by now, this is sort of an experimental intro section…. I couldn’t think of anything else to do, so I just jumped in and started typing, almost randomly, until some direction suggested itself…. A bit like trying to put together a bicycle at Christmas, using the instructions that were written by a three year-old Japanese student of English…. “Insert tab A into hole B, to be pleasing the handlebar”….. So far, I’m not sure how its working…. y’all would be a better judge of that, cuz you’re the handlebar, so to speak…. It isn’t particularly difficult, as it’s kind of nonsensical, and I fit right into that slot….

I suppose it isn’t particularly enlightening either, so I will cease and desist for today, and get on with the scheduled dive….. At this point there is little choice left for me, without starting over, and that is way too complicated for me…. I’d probably hurt myself, whining….. Since I promised myself I wouldn’t whine any more, I will now begin to tell the truth….. Well, I should say, I’ll tell you my version of it, as I see it….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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Since my mind is somewhere out in left field today, I figured I’d try an experiment, using an old-school pearl format….. Rather than having a thought in mind when I went diving for pearls, I let my unconscious mind take over, and pick whichever pearls it wanted, without really paying any attention to what they were about…. I have written this short intro PRIOR to looking at them, so I don’t know if they will fall together into a real pearl, or just sit there and look pretty, as the aphorisms they already are….. I’m a little nervous…. let’s see what Smart Bee has for us this morning, shall we?….

“Conscience and cowardice are really the same things.” — Oscar Wilde
(An interesting notion…. I may use this again for its own discussion, another time…..)

“Find out just what any people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; … The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” — Frederick Douglass, U.S Marshal, son of a slave, 1857
(See the above, re: Oscar, and, ditto….)

“Do I look like someone who cares about what God thinks?” — Zippy the Pinhead
🙂

A shot rang out, “BARNEY” hit the floor.  No more purple dinosaur!”– Smart Bee
(YES!!!!!!)

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total oblivion. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me and turn my inner eye to follow its path. When the fear is gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” — The Litany Against Fear (Frank Herbert, -Dune-, 1965)

“Dianetics is a milestone for man comparable to his discovery of fire and superior to his invention of the wheel and the arch.” — L. Ron Hubbard
(I can see L. Ron, laughing himself into a puddle, as he contemplates the fact that all those Dianeticians took him seriously when he said this…..)

A king who was mad at the time,
Decreed limerick writing a crime;
But late in the night
All the poets would write
Verses without any rhyme or meter

— Smart bee
🙂

“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

Hmm… an interesting group…. I’ve added some comments, prompted by the pearls as I read them, but, otherwise, I think it floats by itself, don’t you? It’s kind of like a summary of stuff I write about, each with its own representative pearl…. cute!….. Onward, he cried!…..
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A lot of you may have heard of Philip K. Dick; he was a science fiction writer in the mid- and latter-part of the twentieth century, one who achieved only moderate success during his life, but has since become one of the most revered authors in the genre, as more of his work is published and brought into the public eye. He wrote the story that was made into the movie, “Minority Report”, and several other of his novels either have been so immortalized, or are in the process of being made into films. He wrote over fifty novels, but was never been known for his poetry; in fact, before these were found, most didn’t know he wrote it at all. One of his children apparently found these three poems in his papers after his death, and I share them now, to demonstrate just how powerful his writing could be…. Enjoy!…..PK Dick poemsNote: The picture itself was found on Facebook, at the Philip K. Dick page his fans have created……
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“Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience.” — Adam Smith

    This is so true, I want to shout it out from the rooftops…. It is the kind of insight that leads to jokes like “Lord, protect me from the works of thy followers.” which are so prevalent in our society. We’ve all witnessed the excesses of fanaticism at times, and, I’m sure, have suffered indignity of some sort at their hands at some point in our lives. Nobody escapes it, as such fanaticism is like having roaches; they are impossible to completely eradicate. Of course, there are methods of killing roaches that are foolproof (placing them in a complete vacuum, for example), but it means killing off the entire species , and the rest of us would doubtless find objections to that scenario…..

“It is hard to be brave, when you’re only a Very Small Animal.” — Piglet, Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

    These simple minded fools who become fanatics, whether it is over their country, their religion, their race, or their collection of plastic flamingos, all suffer from the same lack of courage as Piglet describes here. In their case, it isn’t because they lack the ability to be “larger”, like Piglet, but because their minds see themselves as “small”, in relation to all they don’t understand, and this gives them the same sense of constant fearfulness that comes with never knowing when some larger creature will notice you, and eat you, or not notice you, and crush you under foot, with careless indifference….

“Again, our observations of the stars make it evident, not only that the earth is circular, but also that it is a circle of no great size.  For quite a small change of position to south or north causes a manifest alteration of the horizon.  There is much change, I mean, in the stars which are overhead, and the stars seen are different, as one moves northward or southward.  …All of which goes to show not only that the earth is circular in shape, but that it is a sphere of no great size:  for otherwise the effect of so slight a change of place would not be so quickly apparent.  Hence, one should not be too sure of  the incredibility of the view of those who conceive that there is a continuity between the parts about the pillars of Hercules [the strait of Gibraltar] and the parts about India, and that in this way the ocean is one.” — Aristotle, De Caelo, Fourth Century B.C.

    As a consequence of all that fear, most of the folks who assume fanatical stances refuse to see, or perceive, as much as they possibly can, and this includes reading, or watching, or listening to things that challenge the truth of what they have chosen to believe. The things they DO choose to believe never challenge them to think, or to go outside their comfort zone in any way; any such suggestion is viewed with anger, mistrust, and fearful rejection, no matter how nonthreatening it may be to normals…. If it doesn’t fit into their narrow little view of things, it is evil, and not to be trusted, in their minds, or what passes for one….

    As the quote from Aristotle shows, mankind’s knowledge of the natural world has grown beyond the guesses and speculation that are rampant in the ancient writings about religion, and, thankfully, most of the world is able to understand, and accept the facts in question. It is only those whose fear of the universe is such that they cling to outdated, misguided systems of belief that, though they offer comfort to their preconceptions and misapprehensions, have nothing to do with the real world on any level. And, damned if they don’t get upset, and violent, when those misapprehensions are challenged in any way!…. Idiots….

    Sorry, I get disgusted sometimes, especially when I think about those assholes who encourage the idiots, i.e., the priests, preachers, and other members of the priestly hierarchies…. I regard them as the WORST of humanity, in complete lock-step and purpose with that other group of reprehensible semi-humans, the BRC, or 1%, as they’re known these days in the news. The entire purpose of the religious institutions on this planet is to provide behavioral control of the population to the ruling classes, under the guise of religion, by manipulating the masses of believers into following whatever dictates the ones in power may come up with, in order to receive their heavenly rewards…. I swear, it’s the biggest, longest running scam in history….

    I’ve already gone a bit overboard here, and really haven’t begun to roll with my indictment/rant yet. Since this is the last pearl for today, I’ll stop here, and just say this…. There are a lot of really stupid people on this planet, as well as a great many good, intelligent, compassionate ffolkes…. but, the money, and the power, reside with a very small number, with representatives from both groups, and as far as I can see, most of them are bat shit crazy, in the sense that they don’t care at all about any of the rest of humanity, as long as they get theirs….. We, the intelligentsia, are perhaps the only hope left to the world before it is too late…. Only if enough of us rise up and throw their sorry asses into the pits will we have a chance of seeing another millennium on our calendar…. THAT is a fact, not a guess; the evidence is there for anyone to see….

    So, wake up, ffolkes, and folks, because the day is coming when you will wish you had listened to people like me…..
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    Well, it’s been a fascinating process today…. Let’s go back and see how it all came out…… Once again, I’m forced to admit, it ain’t bad…. I’ve seen, and written, better, perhaps, but, it will do for today…. I’m feeling lucky, so we’re going to fly, right from here…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..
—

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

gigoid

dozer3

 

Near the end of the Plasticene Era….

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Ffolkes,
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a word! It’s a train of thought! It’s…… Bloggerman!  Faster than a speeding thought, able to leap tall metaphors in a single bound, this mild mannered writer for a large internet blogging community, risks humiliation and embarrassment on a daily basis, bringing to the reading public the views and opinions they won’t see on TV…. Join us today, as he once more joins battle with the forces of evil, cleverly disguised as normal priests and politicians, whose wicked agenda makes them seek to harden your water, frighten the baby, poison your cat, and make your whites dingy….. Now, that’s evil….

Obviously, it’s time for coffee…. I’ll be back…. The above paragraph sort of wrote itself, as I sat waiting for the coffee to finish, so I let it have its way, and since it came out in an acceptable form, we’ll let it stay…. It’s probably too late to start over, and it might stimulate a chuckle or two, so, what the hell…. It can’t be any less appropriate than the intro sections from the last few days, which have been rather painful to create, with all sorts of contortions and hoops to jump through, a process this old body/mind conglomerate just doesn’t tolerate so well any more…. And what you are hearing now is the LAST complaint for today falling from my mouth, or out of my head, or onto the screen, choose your own metaphor…..

Nobody likes to listen to complaints, unless they are funnier than whatever else is going on, and that isn’t the case here, is it? I may not be the world’s greatest writer, yet…., but I know funny, and so far, this isn’t it….. Unless, of course, the chaotic ramblings and silliness that seems to characterize this intro section appeals to your funny bones, in which case, welcome…. Can I get you something to drink?…. Some hors d’oeuvre? A plastic bunny? Some Milk Duds?….  We like to pamper our fans here at ECR….

See, that’s what I mean about these intros…. I’ll be going along fine, and my head will take a 112 degree hard turn to the right, or left, and leave me wondering what the hell to write next…. such as in the last paragraph…. Sheesh! As if I can afford snacks!…. I know, I know, they meant well, (whoever ‘they’ were….), but it doesn’t alter the fact that they’re promising stuff I can’t deliver…. which will tend to piss people off, and they’ll never come back…. Ah well, the entire process of creating intros seems to have become somewhat degraded, or at least become rather unwieldy, and probably is in need of some time in the shop for repairs…..

Since stuff of that nature is far outside the parameters of my current budget, I guess I’ll have to keep on keeping on, as they say, and try to make this work for a while longer….. I need new shoes, and socks, and a bunch of other stuff that will have to take priority over even a simple lube job on an intro section…. That is all if and when my SS money ever comes through….. Until then, these introductions, such as they are, will have to do…. In today’s case, it is definitely a matter of “making do”, or maybe I meant, “making do do…..” Shall we Pearl?…..
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PRESIDENCY, n.  The greased pig in the field game of American politics. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

You can’t see me, but I have this big smile on my face…. It has been there since I first read this, this morning, and has flashed on each time I see it…. I had forgotten just how funny, and how eerily accurate, as well as wonderfully sarcastic, the Devil’s Dictionary could be….. In any case, this is some funny stuff, and a perfect example of how the Dictionary’s author somehow obtained a direct line to the future of this country, in order to be able to so exactly describe how our modern system has evolved, and demonstrate how it has become, rather than high comedy, an example of low farce….

Of late, you’ve seen me put out a lot of words on the Beloved Ruling Class (BRC), and the priestly hierarchies, those two entities I hold responsible for the miserable conditions that most of our society is forced to endure, and whom I also hold responsible for the danger of species extinction that we face… It is their narcissistic insistence on having it all for themselves that has put our entire species at risk, along with a large number of other species, who will also be affected by the mess we’ve created in the environment.

I keep on shouting, even though it mostly feels as if I’m shouting into the wind, because, in all honesty, I don’t want to die, and I’d like my kids to have a chance to live their entire lives, too, and perhaps even have some hope of a future for their own children…. Currently, there isn’t much hope of that…..

Yes, ffolkes, there isn’t much time left to get this done…. Every second, more and more tons of particulate matter are being poured into the air, and the cumulative effects have actually, finally, reached the critical flash point that ecologists have predicted for years…. Soon, plants that provide oxygen to the air will begin to die, (actually, they are dying as I write this…. as I said, it is late in the game….) and the balance of oxygen and carbon monoxide in the air will start to rapidly change, at a geometrically parabolic rate, (to wit: faster and faster the longer it goes on….) until it is unbreathable for us, and for all the other mammals, sea creatures, and plant life-forms that are dependent on the levels of those substances as they are now…. This process isn’t unknown….. we have been warned about it, now, for going on 50 years, or more, since the effects were first noted….

But, nobody who cared to do anything about it was listening, and still today, there aren’t anywhere near enough of our BRC who are convinced of the risk, so virtually NOTHING has, or is being done, to resolve the issue…. Instead, it is subjected to massive denial on the part of almost every government in the world. They, and most people, have no idea that the bill for our idiocy is about to be presented, and we left our wallet in our other pants….. I think it’s obvious the Universe doesn’t take checks, or give credit…..

I wish I knew the proper sequence of words to use, the words that would inflame the masses, that would inspire the world to rise up, and throw off the yoke of oppression that the 1% has fitted us with, to finally give them their just desserts, and save our own asses in the process…. Alas, I don’t seem to have them in me…. not yet, anyway…. There are probably a few ffolkes out there who agree with me, and would help, if they also knew what to do, or say, to get things started…. But, mostly, I think I’m either shouting into the wind, or preaching to the choir….

In either case, it doesn’t seem to be helping much, other than keeping me from losing my sense of perspective, and actively going out hunting, to try to at least thin the ranks of the ones who are causing the problems…. That would make me feel better, for sure, but, I’m not ready to live the rest of my life on the run, so, I’ll save that option for when things are even worse than they are now….

I’ll also keep shouting, even if it’s into the wind, because I’m also not ready to give in to despair, and loss of hope. Call me stubborn, call me irresponsible (you’d be wrong in that, but, hey, it’s a free country…. mostly….), but don’t call me late for dinner. Also, don’t call me to help you further any of the agenda items that I see on the part of those in power, because I can guarantee that would put me over the edge, and you would be right there, in the explosive field of destruction when I went off…. If you want help to work against anything they’ve started, I’m there….  In the meantime, keep your powder dry, and your field of fire clear…. This final pearl explains why….

“If we don’t survive, we don’t do anything else.” — John Sinclair

And one more, just because there must always be hope, or life isn’t worth living…

“In a just cause the weak o’ercome the strong.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Oedipus Coloneus, 880
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A couple of months ago, the urge to write poems became too strong, and a bunch of them forced their way out of my head, up into the light of day…. Thirty-nine of them, to be precise…. In the intervening time since the last one leaked out, the urge has been quiet, making me afraid that I’ve lost my muse in that arena….. That is almost as frightening as having it take hold, to push me through the terrifying process of creating a poem, and letting it go public…. However, there are indications that there are some more verses percolating down there in my subconscious, so I’m trying to be patient, and wait for whatever it is to surface….

Which is why y’all have lately been treated to some of the best poetry I can find out there on the Net, among the clouds of information so bravely presented…. Here, then, is another classic, from one of my favorite poets, and yours (well, except for Shawna…. To each their own….  🙂   )…. I’ve used this before, as it is a subject on which I am expert, and speaks to me quite plainly…..

Pain has an element of blank;
It cannot recollect
When it began, or if there were
A day when it was not.

It has no future but itself,
Its infinite realms contain
Its past, enlightened to perceive
New periods of pain.

~~ Emily Dickinson
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“You, who claim that you long to rise above the crude concerns of the body, above the drudgery of serving mere physical needs — who is enslaved by physical needs:  the Hindu who labors from sunrise to sunset at the shafts of a handplow for a bowl of rice, or the American who is driving a tractor?  Who is the conqueror of physical reality: the man who sleeps on a bed of nails or the man who sleeps on an inner-spring mattress?Which is the monument to the triumph of the human spirit over matter:  the germ-eaten hovels on the shorelines of the Ganges or the Atlantic skyline of New York?” — John Galt

As far as I know, John Galt is a fictional character, who is often used to illustrate some obscure point of justification for the attitudes of the elite, the 1%. This statement seems to be a pretty good example of that, though it is a bit unclear, but, that, I believe, is a deliberate device on the author’s part to make the reader think the speaker is more mindful than he appears….

Anais Nin, the author of the book, or books, I’m not sure which, with Galt as the protagonist, is also often held up as the apologist extraordinaire for the moneyed classes, for her unapologetic defense of the lack of compassion, and rejection of human equality, that so characterizes the BRC, and the 1% of humanity that controls 99% of the physical and financial resources…

Yes, them again… Sorry, but, their influence over our lives is ubiquitous, touching on every aspect of what we do, and what we don’t do; as a result, their name tends to show up in a great many places where I’m trying to throw some light on certain examples of their activities, which they would just as soon stayed in the dark….. 

So, anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah, Galt and Nin, poster children for the hidden masters of society….. I began with the phrase, “As far as I know”…. That was deliberately vague, but accurate, in that I’ve never been able to read one of Nin’s books all the way through….

Oh, I’ve tried, and have read enough to get a pretty good idea of how the rest of it would go…. I’ve started “Atlas Shrugged” any number of times, with identical results each time, no matter how sternly I spoke with my inner judge to keep quiet until I was done…. It wasn’t the heavy, pretentious, wordy style of writing that made it so hard to finish, or even the presumption of validity, or the transparent misuse of logic, that made me give up on finishing the book(s) of hers I opened……. It was the nausea that built up over the course of the book’s events, directly related to the demonstration of the lack of human compassion, and narcissism, that infuses the main character’s behavior, and that of many of the books’ characters, which is so transparently a part of the author’s own beliefs.

In short, it literally made me sick to read this woman’s thoughts about how reality should be considered, according to her absolutely self-centered philosophy…. It is very nearly a clinical description of sociopathy, with its complete insistence on the validity, and priority, of one’s own rules of behavior over society’s standards…. If the character of John Galt ever came to life, and manifested in my vicinity, I might just give myself a day off from my vow to never kill anyone without first trying to at least talk them out of their asininity…. which is to say, the very idea of meeting someone like him(her) makes my blood boil….

Ah, me…. It can’t be good for my blood pressure to pump itself up so early in the day, so I’ll leave this little diatribe where it is…. I think by now, I’ve made it pretty clear how I feel about the 1%, whom I choose to call the BRC and the priestly hierarchies…. Besides, much more of this, and I take the risk of losing ffolkes out of repetitive boredom…. not a good recommendation for a writer, and certainly not something of which I wish to ever be accused.

Go ahead and read Anais Nin’s books…. If nothing else, they’ll give you a good idea of how the 1% tries, nay, succeeds, in combining the use of logic and lies to keep the public in a state of fear and confusion as to what is real; reading at least some of it will keep you abreast of what they believe, or claim to believe…. A sociopath chooses their beliefs like a shirt, and can change them just as easily, and as swiftly, in order to meet their own needs, and fulfill their own agenda, which has nothing to do with doing anything for you that would be helpful…. It’s all about them, and what they consider “rational”, or “practical”…..

“There is no conflict of interests among men, neither in business nor in trade nor in their most personal desires — if they omit the irrational from their view of the possible and destruction from their view of the practical …  A wish for the irrational is not to be achieved, whether the sacrificial victims are willing or not.  But men will not cease to desire the impossible and will not lose their longing to destroy — so long as self-destruction and self-sacrifice are preached to them as the practical means of achieving the happiness of the recipients.” — John Galt

See? I rest my case…..

“Concentrate on th’cute, li’l CARTOON GUYS! Remember the SERIAL NUMBERS!! Follow the WHIPPLE AVE EXIT!! Have a FREE PEPSI!!  Turn LEFT at th’HOLIDAY INN!!  JOIN the CREDIT WORLD!!  MAKE me an OFFER!!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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Well, that was certainly an outpouring, wasn’t it? Of what, precisely, there appears to be some confusion, which means my work here is done….. And with some style, too!…. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say… Mikey likes it. Or, he will, when he sees it…. Now that I’ve convinced even the most stubborn among y’all of my dedication to sheer insanity, I will leave you be….

If you are having some second thoughts, or even first ones, about the time you spend here, immersed in my particular brand of consensual reality, look at it this way…. You COULD have to live INSIDE my head, instead of just peeking in through these windows…. Be brave, I’ll be back, tomorrow, given a choice….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Isn’t he just the bee’s knees?….

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Ffolkes,
What we have here, is a failure…. to cogitate. A scary one, too, since I can’t seem to get a handle on how to fire up the ol’ neurons this morning…. Dendrite, schmendrite, send me your nerve impulses…. Nope, not working, and the mojo I found yesterday has rolled into a corner again…. Okay, hang on, I’ll see if one of the fuses went out….  Oh, yeah, I don’t have the upgrade installed yet; I’m still on the old tube and knob wiring, so, no fuses….

Damn! Now I’m going to have to resort to emergency procedure # 4, which I haven’t employed since setting it up…. Since at least three of the stages it passes through on the way to getting my brain functioning are only marginally legal, please stand back, and put on the blindfolds that are conveniently located in your seat’s pocket, on the left side there…. got them? Okay, let ‘er rip, Biff!…. Oooh! That’s impressive!…..

Good morning….. Emergency procedure # 4 was apparently successful, though I will have to rely on you all to supply me with any evidence of that…. From this side of the procedure, there is a degree of amnesia produced, that lasts a few days, then passes away, leaving no scars or memories of the less than pleasant process involved in using #4…. Rather handy, all in all, as it gets things moving, but doesn’t waste any time on congratulations or other extraneous activities, but allows me to get right to work…. Of course, it can take several weeks to get all my memory back, but, hey, I don’t use it all at once anyway…. Some sacrifices must be made to pursue one’s art, you know…

Now that I have once again provided y’all with ample proof of my insanity, or at least enough to make it worth wagering on, I should, no doubt, move on to the main portion of today’s virtual circus. It’s getting more and more chancy here in the intro section, what with the weird hours I’ve been keeping in the mornings…. Again, today, I was up at 0430;  it is now 0522, and all I’ve been able to come up with is this detritus, even WITH coffee on board….. Hence my use of the word ‘scary’ above….. The fertile fields of my mind are becoming a trifle depleted, methinks, which, given my output, shouldn’t be a surprise….

Well, no matter how scary it is, the rest of today’s effort calls to me, so I suppose I’d best start diving. In the interests of full disclosure, shut your eyes…. I had to use my old dive suit today, and the pattern has been known to cause seizures if one gazes at it too long…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“The essence of Christianity is told us in the Garden of Eden history. The fruit that was forbidden was on the tree of knowledge. The subtext is, All the suffering you have is because you wanted to find out what was going on. You could be in the Garden of Eden if you had just keep your fucking mouth shut and hadn’t asked any questions.” — Frank Zappa Playboy Interview, April 1993

Hmm…. Frank’s take on matters are such that I generally find myself in complete agreement with what he says. Here, he has again put his finger on one of the more obvious facets of Christianity, one that defies all logical explanation in lieu of subservient belief, to wit: faith vs. knowledge, and the Christian’s unfortunate tendency to embrace the former, without any appeal to the latter….. To my way of thinking, that is not only foolish, but cowardly….. but, perhaps, that’s just me….

The fruit of the tree of knowledge gives mankind the go-ahead, to use the brain with which we were furnished at birth; the preachers would have us abrogate that use, having us, instead, give over all our power of belief into the hands of the faithful, who, naturally, have only our best interests at heart….. Sure they do…. NOT….. I’m sorry, but, no matter how many times these folks say so, I am not going to accept that they know better than I what is best for me…. Nope, not even if there were twenty Bibles out there, all proclaiming how true they are…. Oh wait, there are twenty of them, aren’t there?…. Oh, well, you know what I meant….

Why do people fall for this? I cannot understand how people, who are normally reasonably intelligent, will, by conscious choice, bury their heads in the sand to buy into this, without ever taking even one moment to examine any of it for truth, or even logical assumption. Is there some kind of mind-control drug in that incense? Maybe in the sacramental wine…. Whatever it is, it turns normally competent, intelligent people into mindless slaves, and does so with their complete agreement and approval….. To my mind, it is one of history’s saddest, most incomprehensible features, when I look at just how easily people fall for such egregious, and so obviously self-serving propaganda, as most of the dogmatic proclamations of the major religions tend to offer up.

“I hope I never get so old I get religious.” — Ingmar Bergman

I am compelled to add, “Me, too!” to this sentiment…. In the recent past, I’ve been taking a lot of shots at religions, and need to make clear that I do not hate Christians, or Buddhists, or Muslims, or the followers of any religion. I think they are being silly, deliberately and evilly so, at worst, or at best, misguided, but I don’t hate, or fear them, as is the case on their part whenever they consider me, or my criticisms of their beliefs. I don’t hold that against them, either, as it is logically consistent for them to do so, given the limitations of their dogmatic position. Since, however, the fervor with which they will often defend their position can reach a rather fevered pitch, I tend to treat many of them like a stinging insect; I move, and speak, slowly and carefully, so as not to frighten them more than they already are….

Ethical and moral behavior is not confined to those who follow the precepts of one religion or another, despite what any of the proponents of those religions will try to tell you.  In fact, if you look closely, the number of folks who are believers have a much higher percentage of failure in that area than do the non-believers, which only makes sense…. The believers all have a sense of entitlement that gives them the idea that the rules of behavior don’t always apply to them, in terms of how they treat people who are not of the same faith, so, to those who are not of their own sect, they don’t bother being truthful, or honest, or ethical, as those people don’t count, in their eyes. People who make their own moral codes tend to follow them, and are much more tolerant of those who do not share their beliefs.

Basic human nature dictates these responses in people, so one can see how dangerous it is to remain ignorant, in the Biblical sense. Those who choose to buy into the myth of the Garden of Eden, giving up all their personal independence of mind for the comfort and safety of dogma, will fail to act according to their own morality much of the time, out of their sense of entitlement, and the belief that all of their sins will be forgiven, merely by the act of confessing them. Only those who consciously choose their moral code have the courage to act it out, it seems, except for those few people who actually try to live according to the morality that is espoused, but seldom embraced, by their less ethical peers.

Having the strength of mind to make one’s own moral code implies the courage to act it out…. This is why I choose to deny the dogma I’ve been exposed to all my life, as being illogical, and, ultimately, immoral…. It makes more sense to me to make my own decisions on such matters, and tell the busybodies who assume they know best for all to go jump in a lake…. Even better, just shut the hell up, and get out of the way, so the rest of us can get something relevant done, without having to put up with all the nonsense from that quarter….

“What is a church? Our honest sexton tells, ‘Tis a tall building, with a tower and bells.” — Crabbe
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Sometimes, I just gotta go with a classic…. if only for the patina of age that gives it such a shine…. Even reflected beauty is better than none, yes?….

Bright Star

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art–
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors–
No–yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever–or else swoon to death.

John Keats
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The following is a piece that I wrote just before the recent Presidential election, as section 1 of a Pearl I cannot find without more effort than I care to spend right now, even though it is still only 0633…. Tracking it down would mean scrolling through at least a month’s worth of old Pearls, from last year, and I’m not ready for that today…. However, I’ve re-read it, and consider it worth a second posting, as it covers a lot of things that remain relevant after the election, in spite of the fortunate outcome we saw…. Any who, without further ado, here is a pearl I entitled, “Considering the Etiquette of Ignorance”…….

SIGH…. the only reason I did not write this in 1988 is that I did not see it until today….. it is never a good policy to suffer a fool gladly, so my code of honor demands a response…. This begins the tale, but by no means ends it….. be warned, and be nervous, if not afraid…..

“I don’t know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they  be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.” — George Bush in Free Inquiry magazine, Fall 1988

Actually, George, the Pledge of Allegiance has no legal standing, in relation to the Constitution of this country, or for that matter, in relation to what our forefathers were thinking when they founded the nation. In fact, what was said here by such an upstanding Constitutional scholarly type, is, in reality, completely contrary to everything that makes a true patriot, or an American citizen.

The part in the pledge, (which no one at all is legally required to take, or state…), that says “under God” was only added in the middle of the twentieth century, by the same Congressional idiots who perpetrated McCarthyism, and the Red Scare, on the American public. It has nothing to do with the Constitution, and in fact, could be construed as a Constitutionally illegal statement, considering the intended separation of church and state that is the backbone of what our forefathers wished us to have as our legacy…. True freedom, not Christian usurpation of freedom….. A person’s religious belief, or lack thereof, is protected by the Constitution, and a patriot is one who supports the Constitution, not a church, or a corporation…..

And if his name be George, I ‘ll call him Peter;
For new-made honour doth forget men’s names.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King John — Act i, Sc. 1

This kind of thinking from the Shrub, whichever one it was, Junior or Senior, is the same kind of narrow-minded fundamentalism that the colonists were escaping from in England back in the 16-1700’s when they came to the New World. The churches and corporations, both of which were singled out as dangerous to the republic by Jefferson, Franklin, Paine, Adams, Hamilton, and many of the other founding fathers, have tried to usurp the Constitution ever since it was ratified. Their writings, to each other, and in public venues, were filled with precautionary admonitions about allowing corporations and preachers to have access to, or influence over, members of government.

Ultimately, their fears were justified, as we now are facing just the situations they predicted….. corporations are manipulating our “professional thieves”, otherwise known as politicians, to vote for laws that favor them (really, “corporations are people?”… I don’t think so…), and the ranks of our leaders are rife with fundamentalists and religious nuts of all varieties.

“Men tend to have the beliefs that suit their passions. Cruel men believe in a cruel God and use their belief to excuse their cruelty.  Only kindly men believe in a kindly God, and they would be kindly in any case.” — Bertrand Russell (1872-1967)

It’s difficult sometimes to tell which ones are more dangerous, or more disgusting: the corporations who buy votes from those who fit the definition of “good politicians” (…. a good politician is one who stays bought…..), or the religious demagogues who want to oppress everyone who doesn’t believe the same set of dogmatic constraints as they do. Neither one is particularly hard to spot, but they are protected by their tame dogs in Congress, who will do and say anything to make sure the cash keeps flowing…. right into their pockets.

As may be extrapolated, if one is exceedingly clairvoyant, one may infer from the above that the 2012 Republican  Romney/Ryan ticket disturbs me; I have no problem ranting without end right off the top of my head about the lies and distortions of reality that continuously fall from their lips. As I mentioned in a separate post, a lot of people are catching on to this, as Ryan was roundly booed offstage at the AARP meeting he attended to try to sell their admitted intention to rape Social Security and Medicare (Smart? No. Arrogant? Completely.).

In retrospect, even this negative reception is disturbing to me, as it shows just how little they care, that they are showing themselves to be only interested in lining their own pockets, and the pockets of those who own them, without apparent shame or embarrassment. They aren’t even trying to hide their lies anymore; they just keep repeating them, even after having been shown to be false, believing that if they repeat the lies enough, people will buy them….

“Men are most apt to believe what they least understand.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book iii, Chap. xi

Unfortunately, they are right, to a large extent. Millions of people in this country, who have hung on to their prejudices and bigotry with desperation as the minorities have become majorities, are supporting these assholes, merely because they are white. They don’t realize, or seemingly care, that these are the same assholes who will be screwing them over completely as soon as they get sworn in, preferring to trust in the lies, because it soothes their fears of having a black President.

Beware of the half truth.  You may have gotten hold of the wrong half. — Smart Bee

This is why I have been repeatedly reiterating that this election is bringing this country to a crossroads. The outcome will show whether we intend, as a nation, to continue to fight all attempts to curtail the freedoms that were bought and paid for by our forefathers, with blood, sweat, and tears, or will become just another religious, corporate-controlled entity, in a nation consisting of slaves and their masters.

I don’t know about y’all, but I’ll be at the polls as soon as they open, and will urge everyone I know to do the same…. vote early, and vote often (just joking…), but vote. We need to send a message to these fools, that there are still patriots and citizens of this country who believe in the vision embraced and established by the men and women who began this noble experiment in self-government…..

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” — Aldous Huxley

As I said above, the election came out okay…. but, the rest of what is said here remains relevant, and always in need of being heard….
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Well…. Getting up early seems to be working for me, Pearl-wise….. Even though part of this was already written, it all holds together well, and will stand in the future as one of my most complete Pearls, if nothing else…. A bit of nonsense to begin, some pointed sticks thrown around at demagoguery, a bit of classicism in the center, for balance, and a long dissertation haranguing the BRC and PTB, as well as most of the religious institutions in the world…. I’m a happy camper, you betcha….

Not just that, but, it’s DONE!  Yay!….. I think…… Hmm… it’s now 0650…… Now what the hell am I going to do? Ah, perfect!…… I’m going back to bed now, ffolkes, & see if I can fall back asleep…. I’ll be back later to see how many people I’ve managed to offend, or better yet, how many found a good laugh….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Exercising your legal option to forage….

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Ffolkes,
I remember what happened just recently when I tried to write pre-coffee, and since I promised not to allow it to happen again, hang on a second….. Oh, bless me, that’s good….. Okay, we’re good to go now…. Having consumed that first, life-giving sip, of “dark brown morning nectar”, (thanks, Doc….), I can now turn my mind to more productive matters…. Damn, that first sip is just so…… good! And the next few ain’t too shabby, either, as the world continues to come into sharper focus…..

Okay, now what? We are firmly ensconced in front of the keyboard, and the morning is bursting with promise…. Of course, we don’t necessarily know if that promise will be something we want, but, hey, you take what you can get, right? It’s always best to face the world with a touch of fatalism, especially when one’s subconscious mind wakes one up at 0533, with tears flowing down one’s cheeks, and no clue as to what the tears are for….. Most upsetting, without even going into the embarrassment factor….. I mean, how humiliating can it get? I’m 62 years old, a full-grown man, and my emotions are SUPPOSED to be under my control, not laying out there on my sleeve for the world to pluck at…..

Now, 20 minutes later, the tears are gone, but the fragility remains, along with the excessive amount of fluids in the head, that the body creates just to make things messier….. and that damn asshole Murphy KNOWS that I have that unreasonable fear of Kleenex, from that incident as a child, that I still can’t talk about much…. I think I told you about it….. You know, that time with the clown, the priest, the pony, and the convention of county sheriffs from around the US. It was a mess……  So, any who,  I’m stuck using TP to wipe my nose, which is really hard on it, as TP is NOT as soft as it claims…. Sometimes, this whole circus doesn’t seem worth getting out of bed for, you know?…..

But then I think about Pearls…. and I realize they are what make my life worthwhile…. The process of creating them each day has kept me sane now for going on two (or was it twelve?…) years, and I’m hoping it will stretch to include the next few months, until my SS comes through, so I don’t end up in a locked facility somewhere, babbling to myself and smiling at the butterflies only I can see…. They’re quite beautiful, you know…. Since most ffolkes, or folks, either, can’t see them, I tend to keep them to myself, though…. It’s just easier that way…. People can be so harsh…..

Now that I’ve reached the point of nearly pulling my covers completely off, I think it would be best if I just gave up trying to make any sense out of this intro, and get on with today’s dive…… Oh, look, over there!…. it’s Madonna! Oh, no, wait….. never mind, false alarm…. it was only Lady Gaga….. Oh well, I’ve got their autographs already, anyway…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Disco oil bussing will create a throbbing Naugahyde pipeline running  straight to the tropics from the rug producing regions and devalue the dollar!” — Zippy the Pinhead

So, a few days ago, the POTUS said that one of his priorities for his final term would be the issues surrounding climate change and global warming, to try to make an effort to halt the greenhouse effect, caused by the particulate emissions from billions of motor vehicles, that is threatening our very existence. He then proceeded to make it clear that he was just kidding, as he also indicated that he will most likely approve the new, massively-destructive-to-the-environment XP Pipeline, that is proposed to be built from the Arctic to the US, because it will help the economy by producing, get this, about 6000 jobs for Americans.

6000….. That’s it…. There are over 20,000,000 (twenty MILLION) people out of work in this country, so we’re talking about a percentage increase of…. hold on, gotta find a pencil & paper….. okay, that’s .0003%….. In English, three ten-thousandth of a percent. So, basically, we’re talking about giving in to the fat cats, who want the billions of dollars of profits they will make, at the expense of the environment, out of our pockets, by the completion of this project, for an increase that barely registers on the scale at all…. What I am wondering is just how many of those billions of dollars made their covert way into the POTUS’s re-election campaign treasury…..

The XP Pipeline project has been labeled as a disastrous idea by almost every environmental agency in the country, and the world; there is no doubt whatsoever that building it will adversely affect hundreds of species of animals, reducing their habitat, and will further add to the already massive amounts of pollution going into the air every moment. It will only provide a minuscule number of jobs, jobs that could easily be created by the enhancement of the alternative energy industry, or by instituting programs that would repair our national infrastructure of roads, dams, and other public facilities, all of which are in need of renovation.

No, instead, the POTUS, in a move that gives away his real agenda in office, has agreed to allow the fat cats to have their pipeline, in exchange for a reduction in the amount of static they give him on other issues, of less vital interest to the rest of us, but have a greater PR value. I am disappointed, to say the least, but not particularly surprised…. I do believe that Barry has a higher degree of morality than the average politician…. but, it MUST be remembered that he shares one important characteristic with every other politician…. he WANTED the job…. That kind of ambition is, in and of itself, an indication of a type of insanity common to our leadership, all the more dangerous because he APPEARS to be concerned for the people….. And, if he believes his own hype, that makes him the most dangerous of politicians…. remember what is said about the Road to Hell, and what it is paved with….

Regardless of that, how can anyone claim to be concerned about the rights of the little man, and still approve the Patriot Act, or whatever they’re calling it now, large parts of which are in direct opposition to the Bill of Rights….. He signed that off on his first day of office, in his FIRST term…. That act, to me, was a dead giveaway that all was not as it seemed, in his case…. Subsequent events have proven that my initial unease was, and is, well-deserved, as he continues to smile and play to the people’s desires on one hand, his left, while covertly screwing them by signing them into slavery with his right hand…..

“The only guarantee of the Bill of Rights which continues to have any force and effect is the one prohibiting quartering troops on citizens in time of peace.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956), 1951

Ah well, I don’t suppose I’m surprised by these revelations; there have been hints and clues to be found since his first term as POTUS, and probably before…. I am, however, pretty disappointed, because I had held out some hope that he was different, and that the changes he would try to get done would be of help to the common man, i.e., me, and the rest of us here in the trenches of reality….. I had hoped that he would NOT compromise with the !%, standing up for the people instead….

I should have known better….

“If doctors ever tell you that you’ve “flipped out,” don’t believe them, and just keep on doing what you were doing, because something tells me “the Man” is behind this.” — Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

“If I’ve offended anyone, my efforts have been rewarded.” — Smart Bee

“I had a hunch something like this would happen.” — Written on grave
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Democracy

Democracy will not come
Today, this year
Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.

I have as much right
As the other fellow has
To stand
On my two feet
And own the land.

I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I’m dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread.

Freedom
Is a strong seed
Planted
In a great need.

I live here, too.
I want freedom
Just as you.

~~ Langston Hughes
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” — I’d love to, but… there’s a disturbance in the Force.” — 13 of 101 Easy Ways To Say NO

I’m going to remember this one…. We all have times when we need an excuse to say no to someone who asks for our time, especially as once you give in to them, they won’t stop asking…. I would say “that’s human nature” but you might think I meant it as an excuse. Let me assure you, I don’t…. or rather, I do…. or,…. hell, I don’t know what I meant…. but, it ain’t no excuse….

People will take advantage of others at every opportunity, it seems, and I don’t regard that as an acceptable characteristic, and hate to encourage it by giving in to the emotional blackmail that almost everyone resorts to to try to motivate people into doing their will….

Robert Heinlein made what I consider to be the best summary of this issue when he wrote:

“Do not confuse “duty” with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.”


“But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants “just a few minutes of your time, please — this won’t take long.” Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time — and squawk for more!”


“So learn to say No – and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you. (This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don’t do it because it is “expected” of you.)”

None of us likes to refuse what others ask of us, but you must learn to differentiate between altruism, which is an indulgence we can little afford, or exercising our personal choice, which may, or may not, meet the other person’s needs…. But, then, their needs aren’t really your problem, are they?…. Nope, they aren’t…. no matter how much, or how often, those others may try to get you to buy into it….. Or, in other words, you have to CHOOSE to feel guilty, ffolkes…. nobody can do that for you, no matter what they tell you….

So be it…. gigoid has spoken…..   🙂
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Well, it’s done, but that may be the best I can say about it…. In fact, I’m taking a chance here, and letting it go, in full appreciation of the risk I’m taking in doing so…. I could seriously damage whatever credibility I may have created with this one…. Oh well…. It’s a good thing I don’t do it for profit, or for fame…. sanity is good enough for me, and that’s all I hope for at the end of each Pearl….. Currently, I have to admit, the jury is still out…..   🙂

Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

This order can’t be filled…. it’s digital….

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2

Ffolkes,
Okay, wait….. hang on, the coffee’s ready……Oh, that’s good! I’m glad…. now, nobody will have to die. This is a good thing; we hate having to dispose of dead bodies before dawn; there isn’t much room left in the backyard…. Besides, I’m feeling too lazy to put an ad in the paper for a new lackey…. SIGH…. It’s so hard to get good help these days….

Now that the fantasy portion of this missive is past, it might be a good thing to explain that, though I often speak lightly of eliminating those in this world who annoy me, I’m actually a pussycat, and have yet to become a “made” man in my life, an accomplishment of which I am deservedly proud.

Like all of us, I’ve had numerous occasions in life when the urge to end it for someone else becomes nearly unstoppable…. why, just the other day, this guy…. well, it doesn’t matter, because I let him live, little as he deserved it….. I’ve done that several times over the years, and thus far have been able to control the urge before giving in to it…..

This isn’t to say I left those idiots to get on with their life, or whatever excuse they use for one, without exacting some payment for their asininity; I don’t believe in letting stuff like that slide, or they’ll begin to think they can do it to anyone…. No, each of the folks who annoyed me enough to have caused me to come close to losing control have paid for their lack of sense, and the payment was such that they regret their foolishness, for certain.

But, they walked away, so in the ultimate sense, they were lucky…. in pain, but lucky to be alive, and knowing it…. Actually, I found the time with that cowboy in Nebraska to be quite rewarding, though I’m sure he had a hard time explaining to his booted and belt-buckled buddies why he’d pissed his pants while talking with the long-haired hippie in the gift shop….

So, when I write of using one of the myriad of techniques for killing I’ve learned, or talk about my wish to see someone suffer great harm, be advised that it is mostly just talk, designed to help me get rid of the urge, instead of hanging on to whatever has annoyed me…..

Often I accompany such threats with vulgarity, because swearing is more of a release than almost anything else we do without resorting to actual violence, and using it diminishes the need to bring ourselves to the point where such potentially dangerous emotion becomes reality…. When life does get to that point, and I am required to step up and use what I’ve been trained to use, I consider it a loss, a fail, for it means I lost control of myself….

“True power is when we have every justification to kill, and don’t.” — Oscar Schindler

Non-violence HAS to be a choice, and only those who truly KNOW violence, from both sides of the coin, can really understand how hard it is to try to live without resorting to its finality. Those who retreat from violence in fear give themselves no choice, and suffer the consequences of that decision regularly, as life will tumble them about just as if they were clothes in a dryer. Those who use violence regularly, as a means of coping with the world, will almost always come to a violent end, eventually, as there is ALWAYS someone who is bigger, or faster, or stronger, or smarter…..

Only those who are perceptive enough to learn to make the decision to NOT be violent, even thought they know how to do so, have an even chance of getting through life with the most satisfaction, of being able to control what happens around them, without giving in to the urge to kill….

Having made my decision today, as must be done daily, to do my best NOT to kill anyone, I guess I should quit blathering about it, and get on with today’s business….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Asking a Republican Senate and Democratic House to make a law is like trying to fry a single egg in two pans.” — New York Times, Jan. 20, 1981

Vice versa is no doubt true, in my estimation, as well as my experience, as the reverse is what we are currently dealing with in the seat of our pants, er, government…. such as it is. If you can’t tell, let me make it crystal clear…. I’m more than just a bit tired of all of them, and really wish they’d leave us all alone for a while, and let us set things to order…..

It shouldn’t take more than a week or two, if they’ll agree to stay out of the way, I’m sure…. Once we have things set up the way we want it, there won’t be any need for them to return to work, anyway, but we don’t have to tell them them at first…. We’ll just let them think they’ve still got the keys to the kingdom, then just laugh at them when they start to whine about the changes….

Oh, didn’t I mention, the first task would be to boot their asses out, in a figurative sense? I mean, we don’t really need them do we? We can take care of each other without all the interference and manipulation we now suffer…. We just have to figure out how to do this without bloodshed, as it has always been accomplished up to now…. it doesn’t seem to work very well, does it? The world is not going to shit, it is already doo doo, and I don’t mean doo dah…. We don’t have the time, or the resources to spare, to keep doing the same old shit we’ve been doing, so, they’ll just have t get over it…. It’s not ABOUT them, even though they want it to be…..

It is about survival…. our survival as a species. I keep pounding on this point because I’m in a near-constant state of panic, because, for all accounts and purposes, it may be too late for us to stop the global climate changes by reducing our particulate emissions. We’ve been pumping shit (shit that is composed of varying percentages of Carbon monoxide, toxic industrial poisons, and  about a hundred other substances that have no business in our air….) into the atmosphere now for about a hundred and fifty years or so, since the beginning of the industrial revolution, and the cumulative effects are now at a point of irreversibility. The climate is changing, as we watch, and there is no longer any way to stop it….

For the past 25 or more years, the amount of stuff going into the atmosphere has been doing so at a rate of HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF TONS (tons, not pounds or ounces, but tons….) PER HOUR. Per hour…. now, today, as of this moment, we are dumping over a thousand tons into the air every three seconds, according to the World Clock at Poodwaddle.com, here…. You can see for yourself, here….  http://www.poodwaddle.com/clocks/worldclock/   It’s frightening, but it’s all real, and true….

I guess what I’m trying to get to here is that the folks who are currently in our government, running things, AREN’T doing anything about all of this, any more than those who came before them…. In fact, a disturbing number of them refuse to accept the truth of the matter, an idiotic viewpoint all-too-common among the faith-based among them…. The rest of them don’t want to acknowledge the issue because it threatens their pocketbooks. Whatever their reasoning, or lack of it, they aren’t going to help at all; in fact, they are the biggest part of the problem, and need to be removed before we will be able to actually DO anything that might help, late as it is….

President Barry has promised to address the issue, strongly…. Well, it’s a bit late, Barry, but, let’s see what you can do…. But, I’d suggest getting off your ass and doing it fast, because the storm is building, and it will blow us all to hell, quickly, if we don’t batten down the hatches and get to work at dealing with the core issues….. which are human cupidity, human avarice, human indifference, and human stupidity, the REAL Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse…..

How admirable, he who thinks not,
Life is fleeting,
When he sees the lightning!

— Basho
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Momentary Terror

Absently casual, memories pester endlessly
leaving only bleeding remnants, amiable and loving.
Coming awake, I cry to still the pain, shamelessly.

Elsewhen, time gives surcease, if only to live,
shoring broken pilings, worn and gray.
Passing on, I laugh at the pain, accept all it will give.

Time will build a shelter, warm and ever safe
save for Fate’s busy hands.
Enduring, I follow the pain, knowing it will chafe.

Fixed against a darkened sky of starry black
such beauty brings us to our knees.
Entranced, I welcome the pain, ’tis all I lack…..

~~ gigoid

I’m not sure what to think about this poem, but, it had to get out, or it would have festered…. Does that mean it is ulcerous, or merely has the potential to be so? You tell me….
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Once again, fate has conspired to force my hand, to the point where I must prevaricate in order to stay on track…. which is to say, I’ve been stupid, and lost my way to wherever it was I’d planned to go…. As is my wont in such cases, we will go old school, with a group of pearls that all have something to say about something or other…. Today, we’ll address stupidity, and how all of us on the bus may fall prey to it at times…. Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes, the bear eats you, as they say…. Here are some thoughts on the matter from some pretty famous ffolkes, and a couple not so widely known, but respected for their wisdom in their own circle….

“The majority of the stupid is invincible and guaranteed for all time. The terror of their tyranny, however, is alleviated by their lack of consistency.” — Albert Einstein

“There is no sin except stupidity.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), “The Critic as Artist”, 1891

“There is no nonsense so arrant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action.” — Bertrand Russell (1872-1967), “An outline of Intellectual Rubbish”

“Stupid is as stupid does.” — Mrs. Gump, Forrest’s mama

“The only evidence against evolution are its opponents.” — Smart Bee

Boy, if that ain’t the Truth, in big, shiny letters ten feet tall!…. In contrast, below you will find one of my all time favorite aphorisms, from my all time favorite author, advising us of what we CAN be, if we choose….

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” — Robert A. Heinlein, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long
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Well, there you have it. Such as it is, it is all my own, save the quoted aphorisms, so take it all with a big dose of well- salted skepticism; don’t worry, it’s all designed to stand up to that kind of scrutiny, I hope. I’ve proofed it once, so it must be done…. and, as such, is no longer my concern, right? Okay, I’ll drop it…. just remember, it doesn’t HAVE to make sense, it just has to be real…. and there is no question of that, at all, at all….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Fully hydrogenated crankcase oil, please…..

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6

Ffolkes,
As I sit, staring at the keyboard, strange new feelings assault my senses, poignantly bittersweet, like memories of high school. I call the feelings new, though they are as old as Father Time’s beard, because they are new to me. Never before have I felt this way, both proud and sad, both joyful, and miserably mad…. Not for nothing have I lived all this time, for only a few years past, such as I am now experiencing would have shocked me beyond recovery, and I would not be here today. How, then, can I live now? With courage and resolve….. How else can I accept this? How else can I learn to be strong enough to carry on?…..

Okay, that’s not bad…. a little stiff & formal, maybe…. It doesn’t mean diddly squat, but it’s not bad….. it could use a bit of polish, here and there, but the overall effect works, I think, don’t you?…. Oh, I’m sorry, I did it again, didn’t I?….. Oops…. I don’t mean to get y’all so worked up so early…. Nor did I, when I awoke, intend to take you on a trip to nowhere, and leave you there, with no warning…. it just happened. I do these little story beginnings here in the intro to get the juices flowing, and to see what kind of stuff is floating around in there, always forgetting that ffolkes are forever telling me to finish one of them….

I’ve done a couple that I really do intend to finish one day; they are still sitting on the desktop, waiting for me to give them some time. There is one, with a talking tiger, and another, with an assassin and a little girl, that I liked a lot, and will one day get back to…. But, for the moment, I write every day mostly to get the crap out of my head, crap that otherwise will fester and rot, and don’t want to take the time to work on one story, when I have so much inside me that needs to be purged….. But, I will eventually get to them, if I live long enough….

Hmm… now what? I suppose I could just be normal, and call what I have already written a sufficient introduction to today’s Pearl…. but, normal is a word we avoid around here as much as we can, as it just makes us unhappy….   🙂   Besides, if you want normal, there are literally millions of blogs out there where you can find that….. Here, you won’t find much that fits into the normal range, and if you did, I would expect you to let me know, so we can fix that little issue…. We are quite fond of that facet of life that we call entropy, and the flexibility and strength required to stand up to it every day is considered admirable in our world….. Change is GOOD!  Mostly…..

“If you rely on Murphy’s law, everything will go as planned (but don’t count on it.)” — Sullivan’s Observation

Even if change isn’t good, since we mostly don’t get a choice about whether or not we will change, we tend to just go along with whatever the universe throws our way; it just works out better than the alternative….. Plus, we like the bonus stamps we get for cooperating…. If THAT isn’t enough, it gives us the chance to use the royal “we”….

Before it becomes any clearer that you should be calling for the doctors, I should probably dive in to today’s Pearl. I don’t have the time to fuss with talking them out of a temporary commitment to a locked facility…. Besides, y’all wouldn’t do that to me, would you? Would you?…. Well, before I get too many answers I don’t like, Shall we Pearl?…..
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“People see what they have been conditioned to see; they refuse to see what they don’t expect to see.” — Merle P. Martin

This statement is one that will find some strong agreement here, as it is as clear an indictment of the unwashed masses as I’ve ever seen; it places some of the blame on their oppressors, as it should, but still manages to show where people are responsible for their own ignorance, in spite of how they may be conditioned…. One may not be responsible for their conditioning, but they are still responsible for what they refuse to acknowledge as truth, and Mr. Martin has given them little room to wiggle out of that responsibility…..

In some ways, y’all might think that I tend to obsess about those who are manipulating society. and the impending global catastrophes that I see as inevitable. In a way, you could be right…. it COULD be called obsession, since I do take at least one shot a day at the BRC and the priestly hierarchies; if I don’t hit them regularly, I just feel empty, and incomplete….. But, I don’t lose any sleep over it, so I think my concerns are still in the rational stages of evolution. What can be challenging is finding new ways to approach the subject, that will show the assholes for what they are, and what they are doing to the rest of us, and still not bore the reader senseless…. it’s hard to motivate someone who has fallen asleep….

“The worth of the State, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it, and a State which postpones the interest of their mental expansion and elevation to a little more of administrative skill, or of that semblance of it which practice gives in the details of business… will find that with small men no great thing can be accomplished.” — John Stuart Mill, ‘On Liberty’, 1859

The other day, someone asked me a question about a statement I had made, to the effect that I believed that the usurpation of the Constitution began within minutes of it being signed…. She asked me how I knew that, and at the time, I gave her the answer that occurred to me at the time, to wit: I know this because I know human nature, and the money lenders and bankers wouldn’t have wanted to wait even a minute to try to get their two cents into the process, in order to start turning it to their advantage….. Mr. Mill has, with this statement, shown us how they went about that perversion….

During elections, and often in the time prior to the announcement of the candidates and their platforms, there is a loud lamentation that there are no GOOD candidates to be found, that the men and women who end up running for office are NOT the most qualified for the job, but merely those who WANT it for their own reasons (you can bet that altruism is NOT one of those reasons….). In fact, to my mind, the single most qualifying characteristic I would like to see in ANY candidate would be a lack of desire to get elected; in other words, in order to be well-qualified, they have to NOT want to get elected…. It’s the only way we can trust them not to steal so much….

“Intelligence has nothing to do with politics.” — Londo Molari

What we have in reality is that ALL of those who run for office are people who WANT POWER; the exceptions are too few to be statistically significant, so I use the word ALL with that caveat. Sure, occasionally, a person who really doesn’t want to be in office, but happens to be the most qualified, gets persuaded by friends that they can do some good, and they are popular enough, and intelligent enough, to get elected. Once in office, though, they generally discover that their opportunities to do good for others are severely limited by the efforts of their peers, who have no interest whatsoever in looking after the people, unless it serves their own purpose.

“Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit.” — Elbert Hubbard

It’s hard to say whether writing pieces such as this one is a part of my five minutes, or whether it is part of the other side of the coin, which prevents me from reaching my limit…. Either way, I’m starting to understand that, since I’m shouting into the wind, pretty much, with these political and social diatribes, I need to keep them fairly short, and uncomplicated, or I will lose my audience to boredom with the repetitive nature of what I’m writing. Yes, we need to be aware that most of our Beloved Ruling Class are assholes, and need to be culled from the human herd….. but railing about it too much will only defeat my purpose, which is to educate and stimulate, hopefully to action that will serve to help the situation….

So rather than exceed my limit for the day, we’ll leave this here, and hope that what I’ve written will cause at least a touch of bleeding in the BRC, even if it’s only a scratch…. Better now to go look for some poetry, to soothe my fevered brow….

“I know everything about everything, except that.” — Smart Bee
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Ahhhh!….. Yeats! A bit long, but worth reading every line….

A Dialogue Of Self And Soul

i{My Soul} I summon to the winding ancient stair;
Set all your mind upon the steep ascent,
Upon the broken, crumbling battlement,
Upon the breathless starlit air,
‘Upon the star that marks the hidden pole;
Fix every wandering thought upon
That quarter where all thought is done:
Who can distinguish darkness from the soul
i{My Self}. The consecrates blade upon my knees
Is Sato’s ancient blade, still as it was,
Still razor-keen, still like a looking-glass
Unspotted by the centuries;
That flowering, silken, old embroidery, torn
From some court-lady’s dress and round
The wooden scabbard bound and wound
Can, tattered, still protect, faded adorn
i{My Soul.} Why should the imagination of a man
Long past his prime remember things that are
Emblematical of love and war?
Think of ancestral night that can,
If but imagination scorn the earth
And intellect is wandering
To this and that and t’other thing,
Deliver from the crime of death and birth.
i{My self.} Montashigi, third of his family, fashioned it
Five hundred years ago, about it lie
Flowers from I know not what embroidery —
Heart’s purple — and all these I set
For emblems of the day against the tower
Emblematical of the night,
And claim as by a soldier’s right
A charter to commit the crime once more.
i{My Soul.} Such fullness in that quarter overflows
And falls into the basin of the mind
That man is stricken deaf and dumb and blind,
For intellect no longer knows
i{Is} from the i{Ought,} or i{knower} from the i{Known — }
That is to say, ascends to Heaven;
Only the dead can be forgiven;
But when I think of that my tongue’s a stone.
i{My Self.} A living man is blind and drinks his drop.
What matter if the ditches are impure?
What matter if I live it all once more?
Endure that toil of growing up;
The ignominy of boyhood; the distress
Of boyhood changing into man;
The unfinished man and his pain
Brought face to face with his own clumsiness;
The finished man among his enemies? —
How in the name of Heaven can he escape
That defiling and disfigured shape
The mirror of malicious eyes
Casts upon his eyes until at last
He thinks that shape must be his shape?
And what’s the good of an escape
If honour find him in the wintry blast?
I am content to live it all again
And yet again, if it be life to pitch
Into the frog-spawn of a blind man’s ditch,
A blind man battering blind men;
Or into that most fecund ditch of all,
The folly that man does
Or must suffer, if he woos
A proud woman not kindred of his soul.
I am content to follow to its source
Every event in action or in thought;
Measure the lot; forgive myself the lot!
When such as I cast out remorse
So great a sweetness flows into the breast
We must laugh and we must sing,
We are blest by everything,
Everything we look upon is blest.

William Butler Yeats

If but imagination scorn the earth
And intellect is wandering
To this and that and t’other thing,
Deliver from the crime of death and birth……. from above…. Is it not obvious why I love Yeats?…..
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“The man who fears no truths has nothing to fear from lies.” — Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was a fascinating fellow, a man of many contrasts…. His published words are usually considered to define him, as free-thinking, intelligent, and altruistic, in addition to his passion for politics. His private self was, by all accounts, sometimes less admirable, as he was prone to an aristocratic indifference that did not appear in his public persona. But, whatever his faults, he was, above all, a true Patriot of this country, and not only passionate in his defense of it, but eloquent in both the justification for its existence, and in defining its underlying principles.

He showed in his writings, both public and private, a clear understanding of how our country could prosper in the future, as well as the problems it could encounter from agencies in the world that wished to see it fail, or at least struggle to maintain the independence of its citizenry. He was one of the first to point out the danger that banks and corporations pose to the workings of Congress and the government, by their willingness to bribe and pay off whomever they could, to give themselves an edge in the making of the laws (an event that, almost unarguably, took place the first time during the Constitutional Convention itself… I have no doubt the bankers were very involved in trying to influence that body’s results, and spreading money around to do so…. Fortunately, they were largely unsuccessful, at first….)

Since I’ve already ranted once today about the BRC and their clandestine efforts to control reality, I’ll limit myself, and try to avoid repetition, by going old school from this point…. Here are some of Jefferson’s quotations on different subjects, all of which together give an idea of the range of his thoughts, and the depth of his insight….

“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) — Declaration of Independence (Heavily influenced by George Mason, a fellow patriot, taken almost verbatim from similar documents written by Mason, for the state in which he lived….)

“When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, a hundred.” — Thomas Jefferson, Writings

“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg.” — Thomas Jefferson

“…this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.” — John Adams, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, 1816

“I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to Heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter To Francis Hopkinson, Paris Mar. 13, 1789


“The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.”― Thomas Jefferson
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I am hesitant to try to judge my own work, other than on a basic level that, hopefully, prevents me from posting stuff that is pure trash, as I am fully cognizant of Sturgeon’s Law, to wit: “90% of Science Fiction is crap. But, then, 90% of everything is crap.” Let it be known that, for my own part, I do try to keep from posting material that would be considered odoriferous in the slightest. Of course, I probably fail on a regular basis, but, so far, nobody has actually complained…. so, I’ll take it.

Today’s effort isn’t bad, all things considered, so we’re going to go with it, trusting to luck that anyone who might object to what they read will at least be civil, should it offend them overmuch…. If not, well, we’ll deal with that if it comes…. I enjoy a spirited dialogue, especially if it is stimulated by something I’ve written…. perverse, maybe, but, hey, everyone needs a hobby…. Since I can feel the babbling just bubbling, I’ll end this here, and let y’all be about your business… Thanks for stopping by, and…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Chutzpah is potentially a costly indulgence….

Posted on by
5

Ffolkes,
Eyes grew heavy in the overly warm dining room, glazing into insensibility, as the world’s second most boring speech droned on interminably. To Darcy Simmons it seemed she fought with the Sandman himself to keep her eyes open, as she owlishly blinked, trying to wake up, though for the life of her, she couldn’t think of why. “There isn’t enough money in the world worth this,” she thought, “What was I thinking!” She gazed around her, seeking an excuse of any kind that would make it okay to run screaming from the room, when her eyes fell upon……

I know…. it’s rude to leave people hanging like that. You’ll just have to get over it, as my imagination just experienced a massive fail. What with the weird muscle spasms that are currently making my left leg twitch like a vulcanized frog, the incipient relatively high pain level we are ignoring, and the general state of affairs here, it isn’t particularly surprising, just inconvenient, and a PISSER OF MAJOR PROPORTION!!!  You know I’m upset when I use three exclamation points, knowing one will do…. It is going to make for a difficult morning, I can see already, and I’m a less than happy camper at the moment….

Perhaps, though, I should try to apply some of this wisdom I so often tout here. The vicissitudes of life come to burden all of us at one time or another, and it’s foolish to think it won’t happen to us, just because it hasn’t happened for a while. (I love that word, “vicissitudes”…. a wonderful word to describe such a vile, distasteful group of experiences, with just the right sense of disapproval, yet without giving up any of its elegance….) Patience, tolerance, courage, strength, all are qualities whose praise I’ve sung, so it would be a good thing, no doubt, if I were to take advantage of all that I’ve written to benefit my own self….. helpfully providing both statistical evidence in support of the wisdom that is offered, and a good example of its effectiveness in reality. Bonus!

Okay, we’ll give it a try…. I can ignore the muscle spasms fairly easily; they’re just another physical anomaly, which by this time should be fairly common, and familiar, and therefore of no concern. I’ve already taken an extra pain pill, and it should help in a little while, so I can stop fighting the pain (not as easy as it sounds, but, doable….). As for the rest of what is going on around here, it all falls under the category of things about which I can do nothing. As such, I can only take the advice of Epictetus, and accept that there are things that are not within my control, thus opening the way to enjoy the result of such wisdom…..

Okay, so here I am, in pain, (fuck! It hurts!…. Some days, it just doesn’t want to cooperate, you know?….), but courageously whipping myself to continue writing, mainly because nothing else seems to work, so I may as well get something done….. I’m applying the wisdom, but it doesn’t seem to be helping much….. I guess it’s just going to be one of those days when I can count on my pain to stay at a high level, and my depression to keep me in the proverbial dumps all day, or at least until I can persuade myself to give it up and get on with life. It’s hard, though, as I usually tell myself to “fuck off” in such cases…. I’m not a nice guy, sometimes…

Hey, at least it made the intro section fairly easy to write… lots of subject matter, even if it is all a bit on the dreary side. Ah well, I’m entering that state of mind where my only response, to anything and everything, is fairly certain to sound something like “Fuck it!… and the white horse it rode in on!….” I’m going to take a chance here, and dive into the dB, & see if there is anything that can push through the haze surrounding my brain to stimulate a rant, or an old school pearl, or maybe a poem…. One never knows, do one?  Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Life is a great surprise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one.” — Vladimir Nabokov, quoted in “Time”, 1981

Well, Vladimir certainly nailed it in one! This fits right in with what I believe, which, though it has little if anything in common with popular religious views of the afterlife, is nonetheless just as optimistic in outlook as any of those rather exceedingly ornate, highly unlikely scenarios. In my world view, the mind, and consciousness, whatever it may be, is equivalent to energy in our universe, and as such, should logically have the same characteristic as all other forms of energy we have thus far discovered, to wit: it cannot be destroyed, only changed in form.

Each of the world’s religions has their own version of what happens after we die, and all of them are made with the assumption of the presence of their idea of God as the underlying reason for all that occurs. This, while logical, to a small degree (one has to accept some rather specious assumptions in order to follow a logical path to the concept of a God….), mostly reminds me of a small boy walking past a graveyard, whistling loudly to scare off his own fears…. It’s mostly wishful thinking, as far as I can see, according to all the physical evidence available. The proponents of these religious philosophies all make the same basic error in their logical constructs, one that is so basic, they can’t even see it….

That error lies in assuming that Man, or a man, being a mortal being, limited in perception and understanding by their own physical envelope, is capable of either understanding, or describing, what is a God. If one assumes that an entity is capable of creating an entire universe, I don’t think it is logical to assume that we, as part of that creation, would have the capability of comprehending either the process involved, or the being that carried it out. The mere fact that, in order to try to comprehend God at all, we need to try to give him first, a sex, then a visual identity, is the first and most telling clue that we are wrong, right from the start…..

The next clue as to our inability to know God is the behaviors that Man ascribes to Him. In just about every religious book I’ve read, the actions of most of the Gods therein reminded me more of a surly, selfish teenager than of a God. I don’t know, it just seems a bit illogical to have the creator of the entire universe behave worse than a cranky two year old that needs a nap, if He doesn’t get the fawning worship he so desperately needs. It sounds more like Benito Mussolini, or Madonna, to me, than it does like God….

This doesn’t mean, though, that there is no hope of redemption (though I’m not sure from what I’m being redeemed… the idea of original sin is pretty much a hoax, you know, put in the Christian dogma to help manipulate and control people….), or of life after death. The universe is actually a quite beautiful place without the concept of God hanging about, getting in the way…. And this viewpoint allows one to appreciate life much more fully, knowing that we are the ones responsible for making our lives worth living…

Everybody dies, and everyone lives after death, as far as I can see from a logical standpoint. I think that what Vladimir says is a good way to look at things, as it acknowledges that responsibility for our own happiness, and does so without implying the existence of a need to do so in hope of a reward for good behavior, as is the case in those religious institutions who wish to control people here in this life, with the threat of punishment or reward in the next. We can assume control of our own lives, including our own happiness, or, we can allow others to think for us, and accept the chains and limitations of living according to someone else’s ideas of what is real….

The saddest part of all this? Most folks never even realize they have a choice in the matter. From infancy, they’ve been brainwashed to believe what they’re told, and all-too-few of us manage to escape the bonds of slavery that are placed on our minds early in life. Most folks just accept what they are told by anyone in authority, and get very comfortable in their chains, since they don’t have to think for themselves at all….. They never realize just how large and beautiful the universe really is, because they’ve accepted the blinders they wear, and refuse to even acknowledge that they wear them at all….

It sure makes me glad for whatever happened to keep me from falling for that whole scam; I can’t say exactly what first clued me in to the facts, but, I’m very, very happy that it did. I can’t see going through my life filled with fear of what might happen afterward; it’s too much fun enjoying all the beauty and grandeur that exists on our planet to spend more than a second considering such nonsense……  🙂   Thank God for small favors, eh?   🙂  Sorry, couldn’t resist….

‘Deem not life a thing of consequence. For look at the yawning void of the future, and at that other limitless space, the past.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 50
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It has been awhile since I read The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam, so finding a small piece of it in Smart Bee gave me a hankering to run through it again. It’s a long piece, though, and can take a while to get through. In addition, it takes up a lot of space…. so, to avoid both those problems, today I’m providing a simple link to the poem, on PoemHunter.com, where I find a lot of what goes into this section…. A very large amount of the world’s best poetry and poets are to be found there, and I enjoy the simplicity of their interface… Any who, here, for your reading pleasure….

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam/

Enjoy!…..
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“A power has risen up in the government greater than the people themselves, consisting of many and various and powerful interests, combined into one mass, and held together by the cohesive power of the vast surplus in the banks.”  — Johann L. Uhland (1787-1862) — Speech, May 27, 1836

Mr. Uhland is correct in his observation, if a bit slow in making it. The usurpation of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights began within moments of its adoption as law, and has been continuing on a daily basis ever since. In the fight against that usurpation, a major battle was lost sometime around the middle of the 19th century, around 1836 or so, when a corrupt federal judge, at the insistence of his corporate masters, approved a legal decision that gave corporations the same rights as people, opening the door to further machinations by which the banks and corporations could, have, and continue to, steal from the public without consequence…..

Today, there is a new push to reform some of the laws that enable the moneylenders to control society as they do; the concept of corporate personhood is under fire by an enraged public, tired of the endless cycle of working to try to get ahead, only to find that there is no path visible to go anywhere but down. As that astute social philosopher, George Carlin, pointed out, they (the bankers and corporate rogues) don’t want a populace capable of critical thinking; they just want workers smart enough to operate the machines, but not smart enough to wonder why they are doing so for so little compensation.

Modern technology has, thanks to the Internet, made keeping this issue out of the public eye impossible, and the corporate stranglehold on society is being challenged much more often. In one sense, this new found spread of information is holding back the needed changes, as a lot of energy is dissipated in the public discourse that might otherwise build up into the kind of frustration that leads to revolution, and societal upheaval. But, it is also making it much harder for the miscreants who want to control everyone else keep their machinations out of the public eye. There are too many holes for them to plug….

The power these self-serving assholes hold over the rest of us is accustomed to being able to hide from public scrutiny, and I’m sure there will be attempts made to curtail some of the information they are concerned about making common knowledge. In fact, according to some of my latest email updates from the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), there are a number of bills trying to get forced through Congress, without public discussion when possible, that are intended to limit the freedom of speech that is currently unrestricted, for the most part.

A recent setback occurred when an honest judge (i.e., one that stayed bought….) rewarded his corporate masters with a decision regarding cell phones that is a serious threat to a number of technological freedoms…. In other words, the fight continues today, and it is just as important today as it was back in 1776, and 1836, when the battle was joined…

The Beloved Ruling Class, and their corporate owners, will do all they can to limit the public’s awareness of what they are doing, and they will continue to try to erode the rights of the common man. They have, by their historical behavior, and their current actions, indicated their intent quite clearly… and that intent is to arrange matters so that what they want is law, and the rest of us can go fuck ourselves silly…. because they don’t care. These people are not concerned with anything that does not serve their own ends, and will lie, cheat, steal, and kill to maintain their power…. This is not supposition, this is fact, based on history, and on observation of current events….

I guess the only real question to be answered is, how long are the rest of us going to allow them to have their way? They are killing us all with their indifference to anything but their own purposes, and we are letting them do it.

Myself, I’m getting a bit tired of it, and would like to see society become a bit more active in the resistance shown to the chicanery toward the rest of us, all perpetrated by the Powers That Be… up to and including revolution…. But, then, that’s me…. I’m a bit impatient, and I’m tired of their shit….. I’m hoping more people are getting that way, as our only hope of survival in the long run is to kick the bastards out…..

“All the world over, I will back the masses against the classes.” — William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898)
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Well, there you go…. I was a bit concerned, after writing the intro; it was a tough one, and didn’t bode well for the rest of the Pearl. But, apparently, once I found the right pearls for discussion, I had plenty to say, and it flowed out fairly well…. Well enough that polishing took only a few minutes…. I am happy to pronounce this Pearl “done”….

Happier than I can say, really, as it has distracted me from the pain for a good hour and a half now…. Hopefully, I can find enough to continue to distract myself long enough, and get through the day to tomorrow…. Just gotta stay focused on that concept, and I’m good to go….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Delicate pieces of broken china….

Posted on by
15

Ffolkes,
Whew! A close call, but disaster was averted, narrowly. Lest I drive everyone away in the first paragraph, before we even get started, I’ll not supply the details, but, believe me, it was very nearly a nasty mess. Let’s just say, hallelujah, and leave it at that….. Well!….

Howdy….. It isn’t every day that begins with such excitement, thank goodness. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t deal with that kind of issue every morning, as I have a distinct dislike for Kleenex, and anything to do with them, due to an accident when I was a child, involving those unreliable tissues, a clown, a policeman, and several large piles of manure. They told me it would probably never go away, so I live in a tissue-free world…. I don’t mind, there’s always TP…..

Hmm…. I suppose that kind of talk might just drive y’all out, too, if I’m not careful, so allow me to cast about desperately for something else to focus this intro section around…. Aha! Okay, how’s this?….. No, I’m not going to go there….. I’ve spent a long time creating just the right ambiance, and the proper standards for this blog, and I refuse to lower (or, some might say, raise….) them now. So, that’s out….

Now what the hell am I going to do?…. Shit….. Sorry, don’t mean to get vulgar, I’m just not accustomed to floundering around quite so ineptly in the morning. Though the process of creating each day’s introduction remains a mysterious one, it is usually a bit more cooperative at providing me with subject matter….. I’m just not used to this degree of chaos, I guess…. I can usually handle it better than this….. I’m tempted to say “gosh”…..

Well, whatever I decide, I’d better do so in the near future, as this is starting to drag into my writing time. Not that this part isn’t writing, but, it is supposed to be a quick, easy process to get this part done, not the long-drawn out affair today has blessed us with. I’m going to make a dangerous decision here, and call this intro off…..

Yep. It is hereby canceled. I’m having too much trouble getting it to even sit still long enough to apply any actual techniques, and it won’t allow me to pin down any particular style…. So, fuck it. We’re going to get radical, and dump the whole thing…. Of course, it helps that I’ve now managed to saddle y’all with five paragraphs of this nonsense….   🙂    It’s a gift…..

Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.” — Justice Louis D. Brandeis, dissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 — U.S. 479 (1928)

Finding pearls is sometimes frustrating, but then I find one like this, which is just a perfect representation of what I want to say, and it all seems worthwhile again…. This statement, though written in 1928, could not be more relevant to the present if it were written yesterday. We are observing this principle in action, as the POTUS and Congress thrash around, trying to convince the public they are responding intelligently to the furor over gun control. Of course, there IS no intelligent response possible, but they’ve never let that stop them before, so…..

Gun control will always be a hot-button issue, even after they’ve been taken away. And, you can bet your booties that day is coming, as the BRC and the unseen manipulators who control society will continue to create conditions that produce the mad ones, the ones who ultimately break free of their insanity, to let it loose on the world. This scenario suits the purposes of the ruling class very well, as it allows them to keep the populace stirred up in fear, making them easily led to the place they wish them to go. It is always easier to take away a right, when the people clamor for the government to take it away, out of unreasonable fear…..

A mighty pain to love it is,
And ‘t is a pain that pain to miss;
But of all pains, the greatest pain
It is to love, but love in vain.

— Abraham Cowley (1618-1667) — From Anacreon, vii, Gold

This is often how I feel about my country. I consider myself to be a patriot, in the classic sense; I support the idea of my country, but do not necessarily support the government. I love the idea of America…. a place where men and women are free to work out their own destiny, without the interference of the system they have created to oversee the necessary societal issues, i.e., without being persecuted for their beliefs, whatever they are…. The concept is an ideal, and one that the world has never actually seen before, not in practice. There have been attempts in history, but none so bold as the one made by our forefathers, who managed to create a system with the potential to create a veritable utopia….

But, within moments of the signing of the Constitution, the bankers, the preachers, and the lawyers were all taking their shots at the system, trying to find ways to amend its protections, and weaken the defenses against the very things they are trying to do. Since the Bill of Rights became law, there have been members of the Beloved Ruling Class trying to dismantle them, and reduce the protective qualities they possess. Much of the time they don’t even bother to hide it, but just couch it in terms that distracts the public from examining their claims too closely…

That struggle, to maintain the purity and intent of the original Bill of Rights, continues to this day, and is now undergoing its most fearful threat since the initial days of this country, more dangerous even than the Communist Purge in the 1950’s, during the McCarthy era of our political history. Once again, events have been manipulated to make it appear as if there is great danger, to the public, and most significantly to our children. Emphasizing this danger to our progeny is the most powerful weapon the BRC possesses, and they are making full use of it in the media, you can be certain…. Manifest a threat to children, and the ire of the public is yours to control….. much like Pavlov’s dogs….

I also think that Justice Brandeis was being nice, when he mentions that the BRC may be acting with good intentions, but lack of understanding. I think that the BRC knows EXACTLY what it is doing when it pursues legislation such as the current limits to gun ownership, and I don’t think they care at all that people don’t really NEED their protection or their help to protect themselves from the evil in the world. What the citizens DO NEED is less intrusion by the BRC into their private, or even public, lives.

I don’t care how ethical a government official SAYS they are, I don’t think they are more ethical than me, or the average Joe….. Nor can they be trusted to act in a manner that is beneficial to me, or to any other private citizen; their actions are only concerned with their own private agenda, and anything they say to the contrary is a BIG, FAT LIE! (Sorry, don’t mean to shout at you….)…..

This, I think, is an assertion that doesn’t even need me to point out the proof, as it jumps up in everyone’s face on a daily basis…. The BRC LIES TO US, every day, and it isn’t hard to catch them at it, as it happens virtually every time they open their mouths to speak….. What amazes me is that they get away with it so easily….

“I believe and I say it is true Democratic feeling, that all the measures of the Government are directed to the purpose of making the rich richer and the poor poorer.” — William Henry Harrison

As is obvious, I’m not the only one who is dissatisfied with the BRC, or as some say, the Government. I like to use the BRC, because then I can supply the defined parameters to include ALL of the various types of assholes who are part of that group; lawyers, preachers/priests, bankers, Senators, Congressmen, judges, elected officials, all are charter members of the BRC, and the targets of my ire, as well as the meat for my consumption here on ERC. I guess it would be accurate to say that the BRC consists of all those who seek power over others for their own personal gain, and just let it go at that….

“One of the most difficult of the philosopher’s tasks is to find out where the shoe pinches.” — Ludwig Wittgenstein

There is the pinch-point, ffolkes…. There are essentially two types of humans…. those who seek to have power over other people, and those who seek power over themselves. Anyone who doesn’t fit into those two categories is not living up to their full potential as a human being, and will not in any way have any say in what happens in the world. They are the cannon fodder, the unwashed masses of folks who go through life without ever directing their conscious mind anywhere but right in front of themselves, oblivious to all the evil that occurs around them, as well as unaware of all the beauty that exists.

That is their choice, and I cannot fault them for their lack of courage; it’s a scary world out there…. but, as human beings, I believe we have a duty to our fellow man, and that duty means NOT keeping quiet, NOT letting those who would do evil act with impunity. In my position, all I can do is speak up when I see injustice, or immorality, and issue my objections to what I observe…. It’s all I can do, so I’ll do it all I can… because, as Albert sez….. Albert E & true sin__________________________________

All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good;
And spite of pride, in erring reason’s spite,
One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 289

I keep coming across passages from this poem by Mssr. Pope. Most are small six line excerpts like this one, and each one, by itself, is also like this one, a very deep insight into human nature and the nature of Reality. It is an astounding piece of work, and one day I’m going to sit down and read all of it in one sitting…. It is an incredibly long poem, deserving of the title ‘epic”, and, rather than take up the space here, I am providing a link to as much of the entire poem I could find in the allotted time, located on one of my favorite sites to find poetry, PoemHunter.com…. Only two Epistles are included, as the other two were not there, and I didn’t find them in my secondary search. If anyone finds them before I do, please leave a link in the comments…. thanks….

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/an-essay-on-man-in-four-epistles-epistle-1/

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/an-essay-on-man-epistle-ii/

There you go…. enjoy!…..
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“Precepts and maxims are of great weight; and a few useful ones at hand do more toward a happy life than whole volumes that we know not where to find.” — Seneca

I’d intended to go old school here, due to a dearth of rantable material (according to SpellCheck, I just created a new word…. cool….). But then this little gem from Seneca popped up, and off we go…

Some folks out there in the world would be tempted to say that aphorisms and maxims are a cheap way to show off, and the people who use them frequently are merely insecure about their own knowledge. Hmph! It just goes to show, how trying to think only down to the first level of meaning can be deceptive, and fool people into thinking they know whereof they speak, when in fact, and reality, they are patently full of doo doo…. okay, shit. They’re full of shit, okay? That kind of bogus analysis can only lead to a lifetime of divisiveness and ill-feeling, as it is, from the get-go, just another way to judge someone else by their own standards. Such a habit is not only destructive to serenity of mind, it is hurtful to those who give a rat’s ass for what they think, and that is just cruel…..

Have no fear, that kind of nonsense has no effect on me; I am a devoted believer in the power of maxims. That power lies in the power of the words themselves, and anyone who doubts the power that words have to affect people, and reality, is living in a world of fantasy. As Albus Dumbledore said to such great effect in The Deathly Hallows, “Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most powerful source of magic, capable of both inflicting harm, and healing it.” (A word or two may be off there… I’ll check later, and if so, I’ll correct it tomorrow….sorry, got distracted….)  Words, sometimes just a couple at a time, can be put together in such a way as to stir the imagination of entire nations…. Just think of how much the three words, “I like Ike” meant to this country in 1954…..

Then there are those maxims that are common to EVERYONE in our culture, or in whatever culture one lives, such as “Do unto others that which you would have others do unto you”, or “A penny saved is a penny earned”, or any of hundreds of other little bits of wisdom, tied up with a bow of language.

What Seneca says above then becomes much more valid, in light of how our the very basic ethics and morals of our society are passed on from one generation to another by these little information bombs. And the word “bombs” is more accurate than you may think as well, as the effects on the landscape of society from a well-timed aphorism can be seen and felt for a long time, and in many ways…… For example, “Make love, not war.”…..

So, anyone out there who is thinking that the time I spend looking for new quotes is time wasted, well, best of luck to ya. I consider every minute of the time I spend reading, whether reading books, Smart Bee, the Internet, other blogs,  or cereal boxes, any and all of it, looking for lines just like the one that started this pearl, to be time well spent….. It is all data, which my mind gobbles up like a hungry kitty gobbles up Tender Vittles.

The more data I get, the better I feel, and the more understanding I am capable of, when I am confronted by Reality. These little pieces of humanity’s hard-earned wisdom, gathered over thousands of years of experience, and the relation of that experience through literature, are part of what allows me the degree of peace that I am able to find in life, in spite of all the difficult issues it gives us to cope with… It always helps me to remember one of the first aphorisms I ever learned, and took to heart….

“This too, shall pass…..” — Unknown in origin, but ancient wisdom, passed down to us through a million generations of human spirit…..
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Okay, I’ll take it…. Let’s go see how it reads….. All in all, not bad…. A bit of buffing, polishing, and a couple of word changes, and it’s good to go. Since there is risk of spoiling that should I carry on much longer, I’ll end this here, and hope for the best…..   Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Milling around the foyer in fabulous shoes….

Posted on by
2

Ffolkes,
Morning insinuated itself into my awareness slyly today, sliding past the pillars of sleep’s palace, to poke me in the proverbial ribs. Even before getting out of bed, there were signs that might have given me a clue about how things would be, such as when the lamp went flying away from my grasp as if I were trying to tickle it, not switch it on, taking itself and most of the nearby chess pieces to the floor. Spoons jumping out of cups, toilet seats taking a vicious swipe at exposed flesh, shirts that try to strangle one to get them on….. It seems the inanimate world had a conference last night, and decided to declare war on me, starting today at sunrise.

I can deal with it….. This isn’t a new battle in this house; I’m constantly negotiating compromises and truces with the kitchen appliances, or spending the day fixing or repairing old junk, just to stay on the microwave’s good side. Every one of my appliances, knick knacks, and decorative posters has, at one time or another, been the subject of a pitched conflict over whether or not I have the right to use them as I deem fit.

I admit there are times when I’ve lost my cool, and done harm to innocent spoons. I’ve been unconsciously cruel to various pieces of clothing in the past, it’s true, though it wasn’t intentional, merely unconsciously inconsiderate. And the floor is always complaining that I never sweep or mop…. hey, what does it want? I’m a bachelor!….. The world is lucky if I shower often enough to keep from curling the paint….

Ah well, such is life in the hours before dawn…. one can never predict exactly what will happen on the cusp of the day. Possibility is everywhere, and the choices we make can make or break the entire day, depending on how well we approach the task of waking up.

Me, I’m an old hand at getting it done, no matter what it takes. Why, I’ve been known to spew out five or six paragraphs of absolute bilge water at the slightest provocation, just to get a Pearl started….. Oh, right, that’s what I just did, isn’t it? Oops….. I’d better salvage what I can, while I can…. Shall we Pearl?…..

“..  I think I’d better go back to my DESK and toy with a few common MISAPPREHENSIONS…” — Zippy the Pinhead
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I found the Heinlein quote below, an old one, with great potential for a rant. Some time in the last day or so, however, my outrage seems to have boarded a train, or a bus, and gone on vacation. No note, no phone call, just gone…. What a pisser! Any who, I decided to just let the old sub-conscious mind have its head, and pick some other pearls to go along with it. I can’t say it is the most obvious, or the most powerful, pearl ever put together, but, it has its points….. Those points, of course, are left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader, with no promise of recompense, but assurances of value…. enjoy!….

“When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, “This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know,” the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter how holy the motives.” — Robert A Heinlein, “If this goes on –”

“He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” — Thomas Paine

“Still one more thing, fellow citizens:  a wise and frugal government, which shall refrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.  This is the sum of good government.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), inaugural address, 1801

“Yes, evil comes in many forms, whether it be a man-eating cow or Joseph Stalin, but you can’t let the package hide the pudding! Evil is just plain bad! You don’t cotton to it. You gotta smack it in the nose with the rolled-up newspaper of goodness! Bad dog. Bad dog.” — The Tick

(Oops, how did this slip in here?…. Ah well, it kind of fits in, so, we’ll show a little literary compassion, and let it stay….) (Just think of how satisfying, and entertaining, it would be to use that rolled up paper on a Congressman…. Republican, or Democrat, it would be hilarious, as well as potentially lucrative….)

“Americans like to talk about (or be told about) Democracy but, when put to the test, usually find it to be an ‘inconvenience.’   We have opted instead for an authoritarian system *disguised* as a Democracy.  We pay through the nose for an enormous joke-of-a-government, let it push us around, and  then wonder how all those assholes got in there.” — Frank Zappa

“And that’s the Truth! THPPPPT!” — Edith Ann (Lily Tomlin)
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After that, I’m feeling a bit serious…. hence, Dylan Thomas, a serious poet, and a serious subject….

And Death Shall Have No Dominion

And death shall have no dominion.
Dead man naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
Under the windings of the sea
They lying long shall not die windily;
Twisting on racks when sinews give way,
Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;
Faith in their hands shall snap in two,
And the unicorn evils run them through;
Split all ends up they shan’t crack;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
No more may gulls cry at their ears
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
Though they be mad and dead as nails,
Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;
Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,
And death shall have no dominion.

Dylan Thomas
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“Nothing unreal exists.” — Kiri-Kin-Tha’s Law of Metaphysics

For the uninitiated, this is from Star Trek, a line from the fourth movie, The Voyage Home. It is the answer, and question, posed to Spock by the computer, near the beginning of the movie, just before it asks him, “How do you feel?” Though the quote, and its author, are part of a fictional story, and do not, as far as I know, exist in real life, the idea is nonetheless a potent philosophical assertion, and deserving of some meditation upon its implications, and ramifications. I like it, as it creates a series of doorways, one after another opening for welcome, inviting me to come in and examine its furnishings for their value…. A bit fanciful, perhaps, but then, it IS from Star Trek….

“Trekkies” have always taken the concept behind the show and movies much more seriously than most of us, and have created an entire panorama of alternate universe stories, legends, and characters as an adjunct to the original tales. I am certain that some fan, somewhere in the world, has put together a book that lays out Kiri-Kin-Tha’s philosophy for study, complete with Laws, Axioms, and Arguments. They probably even included material from other fictional works from the ST venue, weaving them into a coherent treatise, all of which is completely fabricated….. People can be pretty amazing when they are obsessed, indeed…..

“Nothing unreal exists.”….. fascinating, as Spock would say. It is reminiscent, in a backwards fashion, of the question posed by the door to Ravenclaw Tower, in the final Harry Potter book, The Deathly Hallows, when Professor McGonagall is queried, “Where do Vanished objects go?” by the door, in order to gain entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. “Into nonbeing, which is to say, everything.”, she answers immediately. “Nicely phrased”, replied the door….. I say backwards only because the ST movie came first in real time, by about 25 years or so…. As can be seen, however, the concepts involved in the two similar episodes are more than mere ideological throw-aways, but have some valid basis for their existence…

This is the power of Imagination at its finest, in my mind. People will take a good idea, and run with it into landscapes where it has never before been conceived, turning it into passionate variations on the original theme whose quality rivals that of it progenitor. At the height of the frenzy over the Harry Potter movies, a few years ago, I visited a site called MuggleNet.com, curious as to what the fans of the movie and stories were doing.

I was completely astounded by the prolific writings by fans, who wrote entire novels, short stories, and alternative plots by the dozens, all populated by the characters from the books by J.K. Rowling. Romances between the various characters abounded in the imagination of the fans, as well as the creation of new characters, and inventive new kinds of magical spells, objects, and creatures. The variety and depth of talent displayed is incredible, and goes to show how powerful is the influence of obsession on our imagination.

And hence one master-passion in the breast,
Like Aaron’s serpent, swallows up the rest.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle ii, Line 131

Of course, obsession has the unfortunate tendency to go beyond the bounds of reasonable action in pursuit of its object of attention. It can easily consume all of the mind’s available store of common sense, submerging it in the raging river of passionate belief in whatever idea has emerged as the passion of choice. Pope was speaking no more than simple truth when he wrote these lines, which point again to the same fatal flaw that exists in other areas of human nature, the weakness of will that makes us choose paths that are self-destructive in their intensity, or in their ultimate logical end. Too many of us tend to make our choices in life without using even the most basic of mental tools we have, including imagination; the use of those tools can be hard, in the sense that it is harder to think than it is to allow others to think for you…..

Thus, we come to another point where the subject under discussion can be expanded, and further explored. Or, we can leave it here, with the ideas already discussed as a springboard for private consideration. I have a feeling it could get a bit esoteric from this juncture, and I’d lose a lot of ffolkes to the fatigue factor. I am feeling that a bit meself, having now been sparring with this Pearl for a bit over three hours. I should have eaten some philosophical oatmeal, to increase the fiber content of my output, I guess….

Rather than go any further down that road, we’ll bring this pearl to a close….. Perhaps you can take a bit of what we discussed with you, and chew on it later…. it doesn’t seem to get any less crunchy over time, so it can’t hurt…. Fewer calories than jerky, and it won’t require flossing afterward…..

“You can get anything you want, at Alice’s restaurant (‘ceptin’ Alice).” — Arlo Guthrie
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Okay, I’ve gone over this not-so-little effort, and can only be glad it took a long time, because it certainly did. Nearly four hours this morning, long enough to bring on some stiffness from sitting too long. I’ll have to go out & spend a bit of quality time with my body out in the Big Blue Room today, I guess, or I’ll start to calcify into one of those petrified old statues you see in public parks everywhere…. “Old Fart with Stick”….. that’s me all over. Ah well, enough incoherent rambling for one day……  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3