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Wanna help bury some dead platitudes?….

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Ffolkes,

Long ago, or, maybe yesterday, I forget, I made the decision to write, in order to clear my head of all the dross and drivel that had accumulated in there over the years…. which dross and drivel, uncommonly erudite as it was, had caused me untold hours of emotional turbulence, due to the uncomfortable contrast it shows to a significant number of the various perceptible parts of reality…. I decided it would do better out of my head; in the process, it would afford me some relief from having to carry it around, and, at the same time, put some of it where it might do some good, into my ranting….

I know my rants are generally a bit strident, at least in their criticism of the BRC, and the rest of the assholes who have made our world such a bloody fucking mess, but, I’ve always TRIED to be humorously light-hearted, if somewhat cranky, in the course of taking all my shots at our beloved leaders. I also know they get a bit long for a morning blog; that has to do with the strength of the emotions that are driving the rant, and, with my PTSD still lurking about in my head somewhere, they tend to be fairly strong….

All of this is just more of what might be termed faddle, or maybe, fiddle, which is, of course, the other side of faddle…. both of which, naturally, are words I just made up, on the spot, to confuse and irritate…. Oh, not you… me…. I figure I haven’t tried that yet, so, what the heck…. It can’t produce anything worse than what usually passes for an intro around here, and just might be the long-term answer for which I have so frantically searched for so long…. One would THINK that after this much time, I might have come up with SOMETHING worthwhile to use every day, but, NOOOOO, not me, I’ve got to spend YEARS pissing around with the same old crap, buying time until we can get a bit further down the page….

I’ve even gotten to the point of modifying paragraph structure, and/or making grammatical observations, just to trick readers into thinking this crap means something, when all it really means is that, once again, I can’t think of a damn thing to write about…. so, I just jump in, with both hands flying across the keyboard, filling in what might have otherwise passed as decently composed literature, knowing that we only have a few moments left to carry this off…

If anyone figures out the scam before I can finish, the resulting tears in the fabric of the literary cloth I’ve woven can send us into a dangerous tailspin,  which is not merely dangerous, as well as too early to contemplate, in my state of mind today, but can actually cause real physical harm…. which my insurance guy is getting a bit tired of…..

So, we’ll make our way to the first section, again, where I have prepared for you an older rant, a politirant that, like most of them that I write, is as valid today as it was when written…. I think, maybe, that’s because I usually talk about crap that isn’t going to ever go away, sadly…. not until the Universe has carried out the judgment against us for our crimes against Nature, which is bound to be happening any old time now…. In the meantime….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Man is the measure of all things, of things that are that they are, and of things that are not that they are not.” — Protagoras of Adera (481-411 B.C.)?

Got that? Good….. let’s move on….

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Here is a rant posted on 6/8/13, for the second time, a pretty good politirant from 2012…. It speaks about the election of that year, but the points addressed are still relevant, as you’ll see….

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I am running late, a bit, since I got up at a completely reasonable hour, and have been dawdling over getting this done, letting my mind wake up at its own pace…. and now, I don’t have the time, or the energy, to rant, not effectively…. Once again, though, the archives will come to the rescue…. Here is a politirant I wrote on 7/14/2012, a little less than a year ago, during the run-up to the Presidential election in November of that year….

I remember it quite well, and consider it one of my better rants, especially as it continued through two sections of what then were the longer, five section pearls of the old format…. At that length, it’s a bit long, but it’s all quite accurate, and still pretty relevant, given that the political scenery hasn’t altered significantly since it was written… But, then, political scenery never does really change anything but the faces of the people at the top, does it?….. Enjoy, ffolkes, this one is pretty good, and on the mark….
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“Ignore the man behind the screen.” — The All Seeing, All Powerful, Wonderful Wizard of Oz

As the time passes and we draw ever nearer to the election this year, this becomes increasingly relevant. It is important to remember that ALL the political candidates are guilty of using the art of prestidigitation in their communications with the public. Of course, Mitt the Twitt and the GOP are showing particularly egregious new heights to which they are willing to take the art; they have paraded a series of lies before the public that are not even hidden, or palmed like cards; they’re just out there, proven as lies, but ignored. They don’t seem to care; they just deny, ignore, and issue their next false accusation or made up statistics….

‘Shit Happens’ according to… Denialism:      What shit? — Smart Bee

The Democrats aren’t completely free of this syndrome, either; if you believe they are, then you have entered the Twilight Zone, and may have trouble finding your way back to the real world. I admire Obama, much the same way I did Carter; they are both basically decent men trying to do an impossible job, while constantly having to contend with an entire segment of those who are supposed to support him who, instead, are attempting to thwart his every reform, simply for the sake of divisiveness. In their fight to get ANYTHING done, they have had to resort to chicanery of their own. I figure they, at least, feel a bit of guilt about it, whereas I can see no such reaction from Mitt or any of the GOP spokes bozos…. They just deny and ignore any such suggestions of wrong-doing….

Let’s consider Mitt the Twitt for a moment. Here is a man who admits to being rich as Croesus, yet finds it necessary to hide at least half of his real worth, as if it would tarnish his image of someone who can relate to the common man. I think the common man, to Mitt, is someone who only has $50,000 worth of investments, to go along with the house they own, their three cars, and the vacation home in Maine. In contrast to EVERY OTHER candidate’s policy of publishing their taxes, he continues to refuse to release any returns beyond the last one; there are inconsistencies and red flag items of interest to the public in that one, too, but he refuses to discuss any of it…

This is the same man who tied his dog to a kennel on the roof of a car, driving obliviously off on vacation, without ever thinking of how terrified the dog might be, barreling along at 80 mph, with the wind blowing straight through the kennel. He laughs about it, and turns questions about it to other subjects, refusing to even comment on it. This is the same man who, when asked about a serious incident of bullying and gay bashing during his last year in high school, shrugged it off as “youthful pranks and high spirits”…..

This is the same man who…. well, never mind. I could go on most of the day, and not get to all the little incidents from just the last few months that indicate the Twitt’s complete disregard for the majority of Americans, all of which show clearly how entrenched he is in the 1%, and how committed he is to solidifying the stranglehold that the banks and corporations have on the rest of American society.

Romney’s total focus is on the agenda of the rich, to the detriment of the poor, which is why I am totally astounded, at just how many lower-income fundie conservative IDIOTS are out there in this country, blindly supporting him, in the mistaken belief that he gives a shit about them…. All they know, or  really care about, is that he is WHITE, not black….

No politician is acting in the best interests of the people they govern. None of them. But people continue to act as if they do, and it is driving me crazy! Normal, intelligent people are backing this asshole, thinking that he isn’t going to screw them over. It is incomprehensible to me how people can blind themselves to the obvious so completely that they would fall for this shit….  I will say it one more time, and I hope they can understand it….

“And then shall many be offended,…” — Matthew 24:10

You are being lied to, by every politician who is currently seeking office, and by every one currently in office. If you don’t see that, if you don’t believe that, then you are deliberately fucking yourself in the place it will most hurt, and apparently, enjoying it…. The man, the party, and 99% of everyone you see on TV is LYING TO YOU!!!!! They are doing so every day, every hour, every minute, and you are accepting it like you are a starving sheep and what they are saying is manna from heaven.

WAKE UP!…..  I’m stopping here, my blood pressure is spiking. That’s how worked up I get when I think of how deliberately stupid people can be…. I don’t so much mind the stupid part, but the fact that they have to CHOOSE to not see what is right in front of their face just sets me off…. and so much indignation, righteous or not, is giving me indigestion….. Stay alert, ffolkes, the politicians are coming, and they’re dangerous when unregulated….

End of rant…. for now….

Not bad…. as far as I can see, this rant remains as accurate in its description of our BRC’s habit of lying as it was the day I wrote it, two years ago…. I put this here today, because I’ve been having a bit of pain recently, and can’t spend enough time in the chair to keep my train of thought going…. which is too bad, because I wanted to rant about the following articles…. For now, I am including them so y’all can see just how things are going out there in the Big Blue Room, in the political arena….

As time progresses, it appears to me, events have transpired just about how I expected; in fact, what has happened is very much akin to how I predicted it would go, at least, in the continuing saga of the NSA, and this administration’s cover-up of what they have been doing, and continue to do, to spy on their own citizenry…..

The first two articles make it clear to me that the lies are still flying out of the NSA spokesperson’s mouth, so fast she’s probably having to deal with blisters…. The third article is some pretty good reasoning, and adds fuel to my predictions of impending social crisis in the world at large….

The last article is merely another report on all of the idiots in the Republican Party who are working themselves into a frenzy over the next election, thinking they can gain back the majority they believe they have…. a foolish notion, at best, since they have LOST the physical majority they believed in….. They’re having a hard time believing the FACT now true about the United States, which is the plain and simple truth, as shown by numbers that cannot be denied….. To their absolute horror, white Christians are no longer the largest ethnic group in this country ffolkes, and the Republicans aren’t ready to acknowledge that….

No further ranting today, just go ahead and read…. it will be scary enough….

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/12/us-government-nsa-denies-aware-heartbleed-internet-bug

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/12/the-nsas-heartbleed-problem-is-the-problem-with-the-nsa

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/12/capitalism-isnt-working-thomas-piketty

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/12/republican-presidential-hopefuls-healthcare-new-hampshire

“Anybody who wants the presidency so much that he’ll spend two years organizing and campaigning for it is not to be trusted with the office.” — David Broder

This statement, as far as I have been able to determine by asking around, is fairly common knowledge; when I’ve related it to people, most folks, and/or ffolkes, just nod their heads & say “yep”…. However, these are the SAME people who then go out and vote for the same idiots in every election, convincing me once again the average American can’t be trusted to find the toilet without supervision, since it is obvious they can’t find their own dick with both hands and a flashlight…. Don’t mean to be vulgar (yes, I do…) but, hey, a spade’s a spade ffolkes; calling it a club or a diamond ain’t going to win very many hands…. in bridge, poker, OR canasta….

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“Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door.” — Emily Dickinson

Timeless elegance, deepest meaning, and simple genius…. any more such praise, though deserved, would be gushing, which would be just ugly…. Without further silliness, I give you…. the mistress of metaphor, the princess of poetry, the spirit that haunts…. I believe Emily to be the true poet laureate of the American people…. To my mind any other candidate pales in significance, coming up short in any comparison to her body of work, short as her life may have been…. And this….. this is a really good one….

I dreaded that first robin so,
But he is mastered now,
And I’m accustomed to him grown,–
He hurts a little, though.

I thought if I could only live
Till that first shout got by,
Not all pianos in the woods
Had power to mangle me.

I dared not meet the daffodils,
For fear their yellow gown
Would pierce me with a fashion
So foreign to my own.

I wished the grass would hurry,
So when ‘t was time to see,
He’d be too tall, the tallest one
Could stretch to look at me.

I could not bear the bees should come,
I wished they’d stay away
In those dim countries where they go:
What word had they for me?

They’re here, though; not a creature failed,
No blossom stayed away
In gentle deference to me,
The Queen of Calvary.

Each one salutes me as he goes,
And I my childish plumes
Lift, in bereaved acknowledgment
Of their unthinking drums.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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The nature of humor…. is to soothe the human spirit…. or so I’ve always believed…. The Irish tend to agree, as they’re fond of saying, “A long sleep and a good laugh are the two best cures for anything.” I try to find a bit of humor even in the darkest subject matter, though I do forget sometimes to bring it out, even if I’m aware of it…. I do tend to become wrapped up in my ranting…. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t remember how to laugh, especially at meself, and me own bozoid nature…. As you can see, just thinking about it brings out me brogue….

So, to finish up today, after the serious rant and depressing news articles in section one, here is an old school pearl, whose only parameter was set to include anything that made me smile, and feel better…. These SHOULD be able to do the same for y’all… If not, let me know, and I’ll send over a humor packet, complete with a big red nose, and a number of suggested places (geographical places, not body parts…. sheesh, get your mind out of the gutter….) to wear it, any of which will make you feel better…. For now, enjoy!…..

“In India, cold weather is merely a conventional phrase and has come into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish between weather which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which will only make it mushy.” — Mark Twain

“As a professional humorist, I often get letters from readers who are interested in the basic nature of humor.  “What kind of a sick perverted disgusting person are you,” these letters typically ask, “that you make jokes about setting fire to a goat?” …  — Dave Barry, “Why Humor is Funny”

“Invertebrate Punster–Spinelessly unable to resist a pun–So slug me!

“Don’t steal; thou’lt never thus compete successfully in business. Cheat.” — Ambrose Bierce

Do you know what floccinaucinihilipilification means?  Why yes, yes I do…. It means: “the estimation of something as valueless (encountered mainly as an example of one of the longest words in the English language).” Origin: 1735-45;  < Latin flocci  + nauci  + nihili  + pili  all meaning “of little or no value, trifling” + -fication

(Okay, so maybe it’s only funny to me….. it still stays….)

“If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.” — Bix Bender

“A guy calls 911, and in a panicked voice, says to the operator, “My buddy and I are in the woods hunting, & he accidentally shot himself! He looks dead… What should I do?” The operator, accustomed to people in a panic, says, “Calm down, sir. The first thing you should do is to make sure he’s really dead.” The guy bursts out, “Okay!…” The operator hears him put the phone down, then some steps, and some metallic noises…. then she hears a gunshot. The guy’s voice comes back on the phone & says, “Okay, he’s dead. Now what?” — Winner, America’s funniest joke, 2005 survey in a magazine

And there you have it…. another fine mess, straight from the twisted hallways of the labyrinth that exists in my head…. I don’t know about y’all, but, I feel better…. I will leave you with one final thought, from Steven Wright, who asks, with appropriate querulousness, “Of course you can’t have everything. Where would you put it all?”…..

Ta then….

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Getting ahead of myself here…. I’ve provided a rant, though not a fresh one; for freshness, read the articles you find at the link addresses included above. I’ve praised Emily, and laughed a little (in some cases, a lot…). I’m good to go, and not terribly displeased with the results, so, y’all will just have to deal with it…. or, as we used to say out on the links, play it as it lies…. If nothing else, both of us managed to stay out of serious, indictable trouble for the time spent here, so, that’s something…. See you when I see you, or not, as the case may or may not be, theoretically…. For now, just go on to your next appointment, and all will be well…..

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

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

Which is Why….

dozer3

One of our nuclear clothespins is missing….

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Ffolkes,

Don’t tell the monitors, but I think we’re going to have to cut back on the number of virgins we are sacrificing to the gods so they’ll smile upon this blog…. It’s not for any other reason than the fact we are beginning to run into the old Roman firewood conundrum, from back in the days when wood, wind, and water were the only energy sources we had as humans….

Rome, that ancient city, in time grew so large that it became problematic for the Romans to find firewood in the hills above and around the city. After several centuries of population growth, trees became scarce near the city, and the men who worked to gather it, who were called ‘carbonara’, eventually had to make week-long, or longer, forays into the mountains, and further into the countryside, in order to find a source of wood sizable enough to suit their needs.

During these trips, the men would take with them the food and supplies they needed to live for the time they were gone…. As Italians, their foods ran to the simple, but savory, with pasta, bread, and wine as the staples…. all of which travels well, meaning they could take the ingredients with them to use while on the trip…. Dried pasta, dried vegetables (peas, mushrooms, etc.), onions, garlic, pancetta, bread, wine, and cream, for example, in the form of a cow that they herded along the road with them as they went to look for their wood….

Any chefs in the audience may have noted that ingredients listed are those needed to produce the classic Italian dish, Pasta Carbonara, named after the men who kept the fireplaces of ancient Rome supplied with wood during the winter…. I can testify as to its deliciousness, and, in fact, it is my favorite of all the Italian dishes I make, save perhaps Pasta Vongolé, which is made with fresh clams, garlic, white wine, and cream, if desired…. I do both dishes superbly, if I do say so myself….

How does this silly but interesting history relate to this pearl? Well, I’ll tell ya, if you’ll hang on a moment…. Remember what I said about cutting back on our virginal sacrifices? Well, we’re having the same issue finding virgins as the Romans had with their firewood…. It’s taking longer and longer to FIND one that is willing to be sacrificed; last week I had to go all the way to hills above Bakersfield, to harvest one from a junior high school up near Yosemite, which is a good four or five hour drive…. This meant I had to listen to the babble of a 13 year old virgin all the way home, unless I felt like being mean, & sedating him….

Now, I’ll bet y’all are wondering what we do with our virgins after we use them…. which is something you’ll just have to wonder about for a long time, because I have neither the time, the inclination, nor the legal requirement to tell you….. Suffice it to say they are NOT killed, but are placed into an environment where their virginity will not cause them any further harm, and allowed to live out their lives in ignorance of the service they perform for society…. It would only confuse them, and make them less valuable as a trained consumer for the corporate masters..

Okay, I’m done now…. That was quite a mouthful for a relatively poor joke…. If it was a scam, we’d have to call it a long-con, and wait up to a year for the punchline to hit home….. But, since this is a daily blog, we can just call it what it is, which is, of course, nonsense and drivel, fresh from my fevered brain, all for the purpose of filling up space in this section, solely designed to bring us to the point where I can say, without any fear of retribution or heckling beyond the norm….

Shall we Pearl?….

“There is nothing so awkward as courting a woman whilst she is making sausages.” — Laurence Sterne

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Today’s first section will be a Newsy Pearl, with articles ripped from the world’s news, and comments on those articles by gigoid the dubious at his angst-filled sarcastic best (hopefully…)…. Abondanza!….

First, a public service announcement…. A Swedish cyber-security group has found a flaw in the secure internet protocol that two-thirds of the servers on the Internet use, a flaw which provides a route for hackers to exploit, enabling them to obtain data and information from many different commercial and non-commercial sources on the web…. They also found that this flaw has been present, unknown to any but a few, for over two years, and MAY already have been exploited by hackers to steal millions upon millions of passwords and information about people…. It’s called Heartbleed, and, apparently, there is no way to tell how much data has already been compromised….

The authorities have decided to finally let the public know about this, and suggest that ALL users who use the internet change ALL their passwords, advising all those users to also take other steps to further protect and secure their data…. Nice of them to let us know, eh?…. Any who, pass it on, because we ALL need to pay attention to this one…. They’ve been to the barn, but left the door open…. you may want to close it, as best you can….

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Online-security-flaw-exposes-millions-of-passwords-5386933.php

Now we’ll go on to the “Cuban Twitter” issue, that brilliantly programed distraction from Barry’s house, wherein the administration is working like mad to keep us from paying too close attention to what they are NOT doing to reform the NDAA and the NSA’s rabid, out-of-control spying…. While all the hullabaloo about this latest piece of stupidity plays itself out on the public stage, discussing the ins and outs of A PROGRAM THAT NOT ONLY FAILED BUT IS NO LONGER IN PLACE, the NSA quietly continues to mine the metadata on phones and computers all over the world, including right here in the USA…..

Yep, this issue, along with the loud, idiotic feud currently being played out between the Senate and the CIA, is the perfect subject to pull attention away from the NSA, as it gives the media, and their dupes, the general public, something on which to focus their ire, instead of having it focused solely on the Department of Cybersecurity, or whatever it’s called…. 

You know, that well-known organization that coordinates all of our spying with the NSA, (Homeland Security now includes the NSA, CIA, FBI, and whatever clandestine organizations in other departments, such as the branches of the military, all sharing information to keep their paranoia fresh), in their avowed search for terrorists, which includes their continuing joint abuse of the American people’s personal meta data….

Go ahead, read the following, and I’ll see you on the other side…. The initial comments you will see were written yesterday, prior to writing this, and may repeat certain portions, for effect….. sort of a reverse time warp, you see…..

“Hain’t we got all the fools in town on our side?  And hain’t that a big enough majority in any town?” — Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Angry-exchange-on-Capitol-Hill-over-Cuban-Twitter-5387870.php

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/US-penned-political-satire-in-secret-Cuban-Twitter-5387849.php

Here’s the latest on the Cuban Twitter smoke screen… which is obscuring the other smoke screen, the Saga of DiFi and the CIA, both of which are distracting the public’s attention from what is actually happening NOW…. which is the same old shit/stuff these stories are blathering over, to wit: the out-of-control spying and lying that is going on in Washington, and all over the world, all of which gives me the distinct impression the BRC  seems to be  is waging a war of attrition against its own citizens.

The techniques of information manipulation, to misdirect the attention of the enemy to where it cannot see the actual events that transpire behind the scenes; the lies told bare-faced, claiming innocence with bloody hands…. Well, you get the picture…. The people who are in charge of our nation, ffolkes, are NOT very nice people, and are waging a war against YOU, ME, and everyone who doesn’t fall in line with their insane view of the world….

If you think I’m judging them harshly, well, you may be correct…. But, guess what? They are supposed to be MY public servants, not the other way around, and I’m not going to act as if they have any right to do any of what they are up to, not as long as that is true….. I don’t buy into the sense of entitlement they assume, and happen to believe that they are not only NOT the best of us, rising to the top like cream in milk, but, in fact, I see them as more like the scum that rises to the top of any polluted stream…. It fits them much better, in terms of both visual aspect, as well as their, shall we say, less than flowery odor….

This whole issue, making a big fuss over something that is over and done, and was a mistake to begin with, is just another way to distract the public, keeping them from thinking about the stuff that Edward Snowden revealed, all of which IS STILL GOING ON.

That is what they don’t want us to know, ffolkes, and they’ll do anything to keep us focused somewhere else, even if that means giving up some poor bureaucrats who were only doing what they were told, serving them up as scapegoats to hide their own actions, allowing the press and public to judge these poor fools, to let Congress crucify THEM for having stupidly done a poor job, at what was never anything but a stupid idea…. If it keeps us from looking at what the NSA is doing, all the better, in their view….

I said above that I see our own government perpetrating what I see as acts of war against the American people; I consider that to be gospel truth…. The Beloved Ruling Class, at least, the one I’VE been watching, has been using Sun Tzu’s Art of War to carry on a campaign of disinformation and manipulation of attitudes for many years now….. If you’ve ever read it, it is very clear how the government’s actions and statements are designed to use the principles outlined therein to confuse and misdirect the public’s minds….

With this latest administration, that campaign has reached new levels of intrusion into people’s lives, stealing from them not only their money, with outrageous tax structures and an economic system designed to steal even more of what they earn, but, has also made serious inroads into eliminating the Bill of Rights, taking away liberty after liberty, all in the name of “Homeland Security”, an oxymoron if I ever heard one… Now, they aren’t even waiting for us to spend the money, but are using our own computers and phones to increase their level of control over our fates….

Bah, humbug…. I’m pissed again, and it’s still early…. I’m going to stop now, and go on to the next section, where I hope the poem I’ll choose will have a calming effect on me…. I am not looking forward to carrying this around all day….. and, I’m sure y’all are as tired of hearing about all this, as I am about having to write about it…. Believe me, I wish there wasn’t so damn much wrong in today’s world…. Maybe if there was a bit less, I’d feel as if I could afford to turn my head toward a subject somewhat less critical, but much more amiable to my spirit….

SIGH…. Such is life, and we have to take it the way it comes…. In doing so, however, it would be wise to remember…..  despite any desires or wishes YOU may have, you are at war, ffolkes….. and the enemy lives very close at hand….

I’m gonna go Pearl now….

“Most essential qualification for a politician: The ability to foretell what will happen tomorrow, next month, and next year- and to explain afterward why it did not happen.” — Sir Winston Churchill

“Nothing is more admirable than the fortitude with which millionaires tolerate the disadvantages of their wealth.” — Nero Wolfe, Rex Stout (1866-1975)

“He whose pride oppresses the humble may, perhaps, be humbled, but will never be humble.” — Lavater

“Diplomats are just as essential to starting a war as soldiers are for finishing it … You take diplomacy out of war, and the thing would fall flat in a week.” — Will Rogers

“Firmness in politics is called obstinacy anywhere else.” — Smart Bee

“No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.” — Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

“If you want the present to be different from the past, study the past.” — Spinoza (1632-1677)

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Maybe it’s just me, but I think this poem is beautiful…. so much so it is one of the best ever written, in my somewhat less than humble opinion….

Part of its charm, for me, comes from the sheer symmetry of the rhyming pattern Wordsworth used… Four lines with alternating ending rhymes, followed by a couplet that also rhymed perfectly…. Twenty-four lines, four stanzas, and a visual aspect as sharp as a photograph, in describing the flowers, and in the way it appears on screen, or paper…. Just look at it…. centered, balanced, complete within itself….

Carrying the pattern through to the ending verse, for me, creates a visual aspect that matches the sheer beauty of the experience he is sharing with the reader…. It assumes an almost mathematically precise symmetry for me, displaying the sheer beauty of nature in all its undisciplined magnificence….. One of my all-time favorite poems, for sure…. and always guaranteed to soothe the spirit…. I defy ANYONE to say they don’t feel better after reading this…..

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed–and gazed–but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

~~ William Wordsworth ~~


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Having completed the obligatory ranting for the day…. (hell, given what I wrote yesterday, I could consider myself done for the week….) I don’t feel compelled to do so any further, and in fact, plan to finish up as quickly as I can, & go take a nap….. As a retired dilettante,  I have that right, and I exercise it frequently, to keep it supple…. Moreover, I like it, so, there…..

I think, given the apparent direction my mood is taking, on the evidence of that last sentence, it intends to go somewhere none of us particularly want to go, so, I’m going to go pearling again, with no particular parameters to guide my hand, only a vague sense of nonsense…. whatever THAT might be….

Pluralitas non ponenda est sine necessitate.  (Multiplicity is not to be asserted when it is unnecessary.) — William of Occam [Occam’s Razor]

“There is a time for thinking and a time for NOT thinking.  And THIS isn’t one of them.” — Paul the Samurai

“A gleekzorp without a tornpee is like a quop without a fertsneet (sort of).” — Smart Bee

“Real glory springs from the silent conquest of ourselves.” — Joseph P. Thompson

“I put aside my copy of “BOWLING WORLD” and think about GUN CONTROL legislation..” — Zippy the Pinhead

“As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.” — Albert Einstein

“Trouble rather the tiger in his lair than the sage amongst his books. For to you Kingdoms and their armies are things mighty and enduring, but to him they are but toys of the moment, to be overturned by the flicking of a finger.” — Chinese proverb

Hmm…. an eclectic little group, eh? In looking at the whole pearl, I think I would suggest shuffling them around a bit, to see if a different configuration will shake it down to a point where it’s a bit more transparent, or at least organized into a sequential thought pattern…. Or, not….

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Having dutifully proofed, edited, and polished, I consider this done…. Moreover, after carefully performing the appropriate calculations, I am convinced there really isn’t any more damage I can do…. That means it would be a good idea to end this now, and get on with the rest of the day….

Oh…. Okay, that means me…. Very well…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, provided the BRC hasn’t found me yet….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Post-adenoidal adolescent fantasies for sale or trade….

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Ffolkes,

I like to think that I’m a tolerant man in many ways, though there are a number of human behaviors that test that tolerance on a regular basis. Take, for example, being lied to…. When someone lies to me, my first reaction is akin to emotional pain, a sense of betrayal that hits me in my most vulnerable area, my sense of trust. Like everyone else, I’ve been lied to in my life; I’ve been fairly lucky in some respects with that, but, the very nature of trust is such that one cannot stop trusting, just because that trust is betrayed…. The result is wariness, and a lessening of the impulse to trust on faith….

“Appearances to the mind are of four kinds. Things either are what they appear to be; or they neither are, nor appear to be; or they are, and do not appear to be; or they are not, and yet appear to be. Rightly to aim in all these cases is the wise man’s task.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap. xxvii

Epictetus seems to have covered all the bases with this statement, showing perfectly the choices we must make in order to trust, once we’ve had a taste of lies…. which, if my case is any indication, started at about the age of 3 or 4 years, when I first had occasion to deal with the world at large, outside family. I can’t recall if I was exposed to any significant lying before that; I must have been, for siblings are competitive, if nothing else, and will not always tell the truth when confronted with their misbehaviors….Those occasions were overseen by parents, and resolved according to their parameters, giving us the lesson of truth amongst ourselves…. But, out in the real world, even at that tender age, I learned very quickly that not everyone had my dad’s commitment to honesty….

I remember going to church one Sunday, and listening to the preacher’s sermon about something or other, and even though I was only about 5, I remember thinking to myself, “That CAN’T be true!”, when he made some statement or another about God, or the Devil, or some such fantasy…. I guess my “crap detector” was on full that day, because I distinctly remember the feeling of confusion, and even youthful anger, at some adult NOT telling the truth, while pretending they were…. It seemed obvious to me that the preacher didn’t totally believe all he was relating, and I thought it wrong to be telling people to believe stuff that he didn’t believe himself….

But, hey, that’s just me, and we all know how far off the beaten track I’ve wandered in my life…. Maybe learning the world is full of lies at age 5 is unusual, but, to my mind, I’m a lucky man, to have, first, been raised by a man, and woman, who believed in the power of honor, and honesty, and taught those qualities to me, and my sibs (though, to be candid, I’m not sure how well a couple of them took it; they always skated the edge on that….   😉  If any of them read this, they will know of whom I speak….), and second, to have, as a result, a sure-fire standard against which to measure the truthfulness of others, thereby protecting me from the worst effects of lies, and the pain of being lied to by those who would take advantage of my trust…..

SIGH…. I did it again, didn’t I? I jumped right into a rant, barely pausing long enough to suck down some coffee before sounding off…. I keep forgetting this is the intro section, and that the ranting should come later, when I’m more lucid, and not so emotionally charged as when I first get up. Of course, ranting this way DOES put a lot of words on the screen, which gets me through the introductory section in a hurry, but, I’m not sure what it is doing to the flow of it all…. Maybe one of y’all could let me know how it seems?…. I’d appreciate some feedback on that…. or not…. Whatever is clever, ffolkes…

I suppose, though, this means that I have no further excuses for not getting started on today’s outburst, which you can see, has already burst out…. Shall we Pearl?….

“If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got.” — W.L. Bateman

“The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.” — Jean-Paul Sartre

Sorry, both seemed appropriate, and I waffled on making a decision, so, rather than spend too much time over it, you get both…. consider it a bonus…..  😀
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In the past few days, I’ve put out a lot of words, ranting and railing against those fools in Washington, who are making such a display of idiocy that one can barely rationalize spending money to go to the circus, when the same show plays for free on all the network channels every day…. It’s kind of fun, actually, and easy, too, as those asinine fools just keep saying and doing the most outrageously stupid stuff, it’s like shooting ducks in a pond to find rantable material….

Apparently, as the above intro section indicates, I’m on full out rant mode these days, finding it very easy to take my shots at the public figures who so deserve all I can throw at them…. However, I’m going to be a nice guy today, and forgo another rant in this section, thereby relieving you of the need to gird your grid for another one. Instead, I’m going to refer you to another fine article penned by one of my favorite columnists, Mark Morford, who writes for the SF Chronicle website, SFGATE, as well as in the paper itself; he’s published a couple of books, and has put up a couple of websites that display his interests, which are, to be sure, esoteric, and a bit kinky, like his writing…

This article is one of the best I’ve ever seen, from him, or from anyone else…. and, if you know how much I read, you’ll know that is saying a LOT…. I mean it, though, because this one is special…. In it, you will find the Secret of Life…. Oh, I know, you’ve heard that claim before, and it never turns out to be quite what you expected, or hoped for…. This, however, is the real deal…. The article speaks about, and clearly states, a principle of living that anyone can adopt, and by doing so, can achieve the serenity and inner peace that are so deservedly touted by the sages of the ages…. S’truth, for sure, ffolkes… Read it, and you’ll see what I’m talking about…. I won’t prejudice your minds any further, or try to convince you, but, it’s all true, so, READ IT….

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2013/10/08/how-to-get-lucky/

See? What did I tell you?….
_____________________________

I’m feeling more than a little lazy today, so lazy I don’t even want to spend the energy to Google… which means we’ll be going with one of my own poems today…. I can feel a new one percolating; it’s been simmering now for several days, but, apparently, isn’t ready to come out to play yet… This one, though not the most elegant of my work, is one of my true favorites, just because it’s so real, and so true…. I hope you enjoy it….

Ah Ain’t Sho, but Mebbe So….

Fried eggs got nuthin’ on me
Ah’m not even sure of mah name,
or how Ah come to be;
Ah got no idea from where Ah came.

Ah does like a mystery tho’,
puzzlin’ things out so’s Ah knows,
good from bad fo sho,
Ah sho don’t want no rock pillows.

If’n Ah cain’t figure out what’s best,
Ah just falls back on mah Daddy’s words,
seems he knowed just whut’d stand the test,
‘n how to gentle the scaredest birds.

‘Course, he’d lived a good long time,
‘n saw lots of stuff go on by;
Went to a war, n’ lost a piece or two,
never once used it fer an alibi.

He tol’ me once Ah’d best learn to learn,
school’s only cool if ya ain’t already a fool.
Yer own good measure you can earn,
by startin’ yer learnin’ with the Golden Rule.

Always seemed to me as Ah growed up,
he mostly only spoke if it wuz true,
‘n by doin’ that clued me to what’s up,
kept me from stuff that’d a made me blue.

Without ever sayin’ the word itself,
Ah learned ’bout honor, ‘n helpin’ others
not some fake stuff from some shelf,
but, knowin’ whut’s right, ‘n that we’re all brothers.

Ah’ve been around long enough now, Ah think
to get around the block at least two times.
I s’pose long as my head don’t shrink
Ah’ll keep on doin’ right, ‘n makin’ these rhymes…..

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

Since I’m the one who put it here, I suppose this was in the back of my mind when I wrote today’s introduction, about lies… This article, to which I’ve supplied the link below, discusses the shutdown of a secure email client by the NSA, in response to their persecution. The article is a very complete, and erudite, examination of a complex issue the government is doing their best to cover up, or at least keep from the public awareness as much as possible.

The information contained herein is completely scary, in its implications of just how far the spying on the public has become a part of the governments usual order of business…. It is also frightening in that it shows clearly the extent to which the BRC will go to protect its soft underbelly of clandestine operations, none of which we are supposed to see, or hear of…

The extent to which the government is pursuing the whistle blowers who are revealing their hidden agendas, and the campaign against both the people who are supporting and aiding those whistle blowers, and against the public, who wants to know about all this, has reached what I consider to be not just immoral, but illegal, and ultimately, treasonous behavior against the citizens of this country….

The US government, by all that is implied in this article, has declared war on the unwashed masses of the American public sector, using the same techniques of spying and clandestine operations that are being perpetrated in wartime, against our country’s sworn enemies. The quest for complete access to the communications of terrorists has led the agencies involved to treat their own people as the enemy, and gather all the information possible to monitor the public’s private communications, ostensibly to catch terrorists, but, in reality, to look for reasons to prosecute, and persecute, normal, honest citizens, who just “happen” to disagree with that government, and have the temerity to say so in public…

I could go on for days on this, as there are now far too many examples of their chicanery for them to hide; many of those acts are detailed herein…. What disturbs me more than most of it is the way the government is using the Patriot Act to ignore the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, in their blundering about in search of the bad guys, which, of course, only they can see, and which, according to them, only they can find, and only if they are allowed do whatever they want….

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/10/how-lavabit-edward-snowden-email-service-melted-down.html

Pretty scary stuff, eh? Did you know that the government not only has access to your private email, but can, if they so desire, prosecute you for what you write in it, all without ever letting anyone else know about it? Yep…. It hasn’t quite come to it yet, but, if they ever get their greedy, grasping hands on Ed Snowden, you will see just how little they care about what the public thinks, as they will use all the power of the law at their disposal to bury him, and, if possible, will never even tell the public they’ve done so… If the CIA, or the NSA, or any other of our acronymical clandestine agencies, should ever find him, they will spirit him away from the public eye, and he will never be seen again…. Mark my words, this is not a guess, ffolkes, this is what they’ll do, if they can….

“The price of liberty is, always has been, and always will be blood: the person who is not willing to die for his liberty has already lost it to the first scoundrel who is willing to risk dying to violate that person’s liberty. Are you free?” — Andrew Ford

Eric Snowden is free, for the moment…. how long he stays free is up to us, I think….

The government, which is essentially under the control of corporate masters whose names you’ll never know, are getting bolder all the time in their continuing efforts to reduce the number and extent of our basic rights; we already have lost at least half of the Bill of Rights, and they’re working on eliminating the rest as fast as can be…. The whole time, they smile, and smile, and tell us they’re doing it all for our benefit…. What a load of crap!….

In the intro section, I mentioned my “crap detector”, which all humans have installed; many just never learn to use it, or are too lazy to listen to it. Mine tells me that we are being lied to more each day, as more of what is being done under cover is brought to light; it also tells me to be careful, because, if they can, these assholes are going to kill themselves with their deliberate ignorance, and their delusional belief that they are immune to the laws of nature. Not only are they doing so, but, they’re trying to drag the rest of us down into oblivion with them…

I, for one, don’t plan on making it easy for them….. To round this off, here is a five star pearl to drive these points home…. or, at least, toss them up into the face of the nearest NSA analyst…. bless their little black hearts….

“Our contemporary Tories (sub: politicians, or talking heads… gigoid…) prefer the term “ordered liberty” to “freedom”. The word “freedom” scares them; it has too much of a paleolithic ring to it.” — Edward Abbey

“Hatred is the coward’s revenge for being intimidated” — George Bernard Shaw

“Your own safety is at stake when your neighbor’s house is in flames.” — Horace

“A criminal is a person with predatory instincts who has not sufficient capital to form a corporation.” — Howard Scott, Economist

“But it’s a sad reminder when your organ grinder has to come to you for the rent, and all you’ve got to give him is the use of your sideshow tent.” — Mark Knopfler
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Well, here we have another rambling, loosely coherent entry into the archives of nearly wasted words that makes up the Pearls of Virtual Wisdom library… let’s see how it came out, from an objective standpoint, should one be available….

I have to admit, I never seem to run out of stuff to say, do I? Oh well, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone (who doesn’t deserve it…), and as long as I stick to the truth of any matter I discuss, I’ll keep on saying it, because I can, and because I think it needs to be said…. Y’all will just have to take your chances along with the rest of us as to how that goes over…. Whatever that end result may be, or may not be, this one is done, and for that, we can all be thankful, yes?…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3