Tag Archives: Franklin K. Dane

We have uncoded messages for the Betelgeuse delegation….

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Ffolkes,

I don’t care what anyone else says, I like this intro, so, here ’tis again…..

from 12/11/2011:

Ffolkes,
So, I was walking down the street the other day, quietly minding my own, when I came to a point where the street, and all the trees and houses that stood on each side, began to rapidly and silently fade away. All around me, a grey, swirling fog began to collect, shimmering in the air, cloaking the whole visible world with an insubstantial veil, until nothing at all could be seen, in any direction. The wind had died, and all was silent as the grave.

Behind me, veiled in the mist, I heard a slow, eerie, almost liquid scraping noise, as if a large slug were crawling down the sidewalk. I turned slowly, straining my eyes into the fog, trying to make out what was coming out of the mist. As I gazed, a shape began to take form, materializing before me as if created from the very air. The form slowly took shape, seeming to almost dissolve, then firmed, and became clear….. It had happened….. Our world would never be the same, for the prophecy had been true.

At last, in the very Nick of Time, our Blessed Day had come…… Forever more, the world will know the grace that flows endlessly from the healing hands of the Quirky Demon of Happiness, and All Good Shit, that underworld superstar known to all and sundry as Phil, the Frigging Awesome, half-brother (same father, different mother) of Alice, the Wiseacre,  patroness and protector of short-order cooks, waitresses and tarbenders, er, bartenders…..

What you need to understand about the previous three paragraphs ….. ( Oh, yeah, wait…. sorry. This is now… I mean, it’s me… Well, shit, can I screw this up any worse? (Or, should that be “better”?….) It’s me, gigoid, and it’s now May 27th or 28th (I’m a little foggy just now, if you couldn’t tell….) in mid-2014…. just so you are on the same page…. of the calendar…. the hell with it… back to the intro….) is that I was suffering, at the time, from as close to boredom as I ever have been, in spite of the time of year….. Allow me to explain…

Well, maybe I’ll wait to explain…. Of course, waiting for an explanation is kind of like waiting for a campaign promise to be fulfilled…. Watch close, and it will never happen at all…. Why, no, I didn’t promise not to rant here in the intro, why do you…. oh, the campaign promise line….

No worries, ffolkes, it isn’t a rant, just an insult to all politicians, which is perfectly legal, and even encouraged on this site. I’ve been thinking of late that particular characteristic may have driven off a lot of old timers around here…. I DO have a tendency to run on and on about the BRC, Pimps, Priestly Hierarchies, and the ever-popular Corporate Snakeheads….

But, since THAT isn’t going to stop, until those particular groups have been either disbanded, eliminated from our culture, or otherwise brought into their own personal extinction, y’all may as well get used to it…. I’m retired from working, and as long as the assholes don’t carry out the constant threat to take away my Social Security money, I’ll have the wherewithal to keep after them for all the shit they pull on the rest of us, and I’ll keep posting these diatribes against them…..

They deserve every bit of my ire, and as much attention I can spare to rag on them, for all the shit they’ve already put us through, in the name of ‘security’….. just as if the word has ANY meaning at all, in a world where THEY live, only existing, as they do, to carry out their habitual predation upon the weaker members of reality….

Okay, that’s enough for now…. I’m ranting again, already, and it’s only the intro….. Once again, this calls for emergency extraction method #4, so, watch your step, and if seated, please make sure your seat belt is fastened….

Shall we Pearl?….

“I readily relapse into my reflections on the uselessness of our education. Its aim has been to make us not good and wise, but learned; and in this it has succeeded. It has not taught us to follow and embrace virtue and wisdom, but has imprinted their derivations and etymologies on our minds. We are able to decline ‘virtue’ even if we are unable to love it; if we do not know what wisdom is in fact and by experience, we are familiar with it as a jargon learned by heart.” — Michel de Montaigne, Essays

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I’m in relatively high-level pain mode today, so we’re again going with a lot of archived material, because it’s better than anything I could currently come up with for your perusal…. It’s been a while since I took any shots at the churches, bless their pointy little heads, so, here is one of my better salvos, from a year or so ago, good enough it was also used in January of this year…. Enjoy, or, at minimum, pay attention please, there is stuff in here that can actually improve your life, should you choose to accept it….

From 1/16/2014:

This religirant is a bit more pointed than the one above (in another Pearl…. gigoid in 2014) that spoke about the battle in society for the minds of the people; the battle here is the same, but the methods used by the Priestly Hierarchies, and people of the same ilk as Billy Graham, are different than those used by the BRC, though no less demeaning, and no more honest…. This rant is one of my more potent, and very clear as to the targeted group’s identity….. which, as always in anything to do with humans, includes just about everyone….

From 1/29/13:

Delusional material, very dangerous…. Read carefully….

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;
I was made weak, that I may learn humbly to obey.

I asked God for health, that I may do greater things;
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I may be happy;
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life,
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing I asked for but everything I hoped for.
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

– unattributed, even by Smart Bee (I can assign no blame to anyone, for not wanting to take credit for this….)

From the time we are small, our minds are programmed with the ideas and beliefs our parents and families held as truth, regardless of whether or not there is any actual truth to be found in them. We have little, or no, defense against these ideas, as we are naturally inclined to believe what our care givers tell us. While I can understand the way it works, it seems to me to be a shame, that we don’t come with a built in truth detector, to protect us before we are able to reason for ourselves. Until our minds have been trained, we tend to accept whatever someone in a position of authority tells us, which may keep us safe, in a physical sense, when we are small and vulnerable, but, is a dangerous habit to keep when grown.

The above is an example of how churches and the priestly hierarchies attempt to befuddle people into obedience and acceptance of their credos, aimed at those adults who have carried over their trust in authority into their adult views. On the surface, the statements seem to imply a certain morality, one of patience, compassion, and beneficence; but, underneath, they are merely designed to reinforce the ideas they wish to espouse, of obedience, humility, and subservience to authority.

If one is to believe the priestly hierarchies, we humans don’t really stand a chance against the universe…. In their minds, God has it all worked out, and it isn’t our place to question any of His prerogatives; we are here only to do His (translates as: their….) will, and to sing His praises (keeps us busy NOT thinking….). We are weak, bumbling, foolish creatures whose only claim to fame is that God loves us…. according to dogma. It occurs to me to ask, whenever I hear such nonsense, “So, which one of y’all is the one to whom God spoke, when he laid down all this specious crap? Also, when y’all talked with God, how long had it been since you last took a dose of your medication?”

I know, I know, not very friendly approach, but, sheesh, give me a break…. I mean, these people are responsible for a great deal of the suffering and trouble mankind has endured over the last 5000 years or so, and don’t even have the courtesy to take credit, or apologize. In their minds, all that stuff they do to maintain their status quo is justified by their holiness, or whatever it is they claim makes them special. And, all the time, in reality, everything they do is designed, ultimately, to bring coins to their purses, and food to their tables, at the expense of the ignorant mass of believers….

I feel a nasty rant coming on…. Sometimes, when I write one of these rips at religion, I just get SO ANGRY…. I’m mad at the preachers and priests, and those who support them, for their willingness to prey on the public, using the pretension of religious fervor and worship to justify their narcissism, and for the thousands of years of suffering that mankind has endured at their hands.

I am also angry at those people who buy into their bullshit, for not having the courage to use their minds, for blithely accept anything told to them by an authority figure, never even considering that there might be more to life than they are seeing…. It is all such a waste, and my anger knows no bounds….

“Civilization is fun!  Anyway, it keeps me busy!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Well, it would keep me busy if I could find any…. I had to include this little side-trip from Zippy in order to bring my anger level down. I was feeling the urge to let out ALL of the vulgar curses I could think of, to express how I feel about all the assholes who perpetrate this entire fallacy on the rest of humanity, knowing how gullible they are, and how little effort it takes to fool them into believing the most incredible bullshit.

I mean, how hard can it be to fool someone who would believe, even for a minute, that the recent spate of cold weather means that global warming is a myth? How hard is it to fool someone who will gladly trade their freedom in this life for the promised reward in the next life? It’s so damn easy that the fools actually come asking for it, to be made into puppets, just so they can believe they are beloved of God, and guaranteed a spot in Heaven…. I often wonder just how fit to survive our species really is, when we can’t even come to terms with our own sense of self, or learn to accept the responsibility for our own actions….

Most folks are so scared to think for themselves that they gladly surrender that chore to the priests and politicians, apparently not even caring how often they lie to them. Even when the lies are exposed, proved false beyond any doubt, people will hang on to their prejudices, and to the belief in supernatural beings that control our every move; they are quite unwilling to let go of what they’ve bought into all their lives, even when it’s clear that none of it is true. Most of the time, they are unwilling to even look at any arguments against what they hold to be true, preferring the solid comfort of their ignorance. Makes me want to puke, it does…. on THEIR shoes….

Ah well, I’ve spilled enough bile and venom for one morning. It would probably be best to move on, and let this one die a natural death. If nothing else, I got some angst and pressure relieved, for the time being. It is almost a comfort to know that the politicians and preachers will be providing more ammunition in the coming days, as they continue their campaign of oppression against the people of the Earth; that means I’ll always have plenty about which to rant…. Happy Days!….

“Those who won’t think will have it done for them.” –  Smart Bee

Back to the future:  We’ll bring this fine set of indictments to a close with this final note, along the same lines…..

“It’s all good, and, if they can’t take a joke, fuck ’em!” — gigoid, the dubious, in a curmudgeonly mood….

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About ten months after writing the religirant in section one, I wrote this poem, which is a comment on that group, as well as the BRC and their corporate masters, all of whom are in the habit of lying to the public for their own ends…. I think this is one of my better efforts, relying only softly on metaphor, so, please enjoy….. To my mind, the final stanza is about as powerful an idea as I can put into poetic format….

From 10/11/2012:

Seeing is Conducive to Belief

Folly sits so comfortably upon my fevered brow
one would easily believe that I would know how
to look at Life with a jaded, weary eye
seeing enough, and more, to know Why.

Such seems the case, as I will it to be,
an open book of a face, it looks so like me;
what’s known to be so, needs no close attention
familiar sights require no minding, nor mention.

The eye is drawn at once to the stark and new,
and sent back to sleep by successful review.
Once we find evidence we feel we understand,
curiosity languishes, dismissed at command.

Ancient sages knew the insidious value of illusion,
preachers and pundits know the power of confusion.
Each pair of eyes contains its own point of reference,
each mind sets its own standards of preference.

Seeing is believing, for those who live in thrall,
accepting what is perceived is all they ever recall.
Unknown to them, reality follows another set of rules,
Deeper, more dangerous, and no place for fools.

~~ gigoid ~~

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On the given date, this entry comprised two sections of the Daily Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, which, at that time, included five sections each day, each with one pearl under discussion…. These two followed the introduction, to which y’all were exposed above, in today’s intro section, as part of this mammoth archive Pearl, put together because I got stuck going through old stuff… I hope you enjoy it…though I know there’s a lot, it’s worth the time…. Well, I think so, or I wouldn’t have written it, now, would I? Nope…. Okay, so I would have, anyway…. It’s still not too shabby….

12/11/2011:

“The pursuit of power is the quest for the unattainable by the unphilosophical though the tactics of the unspeakable.” — Smart Bee

“If Jesus came back today, and saw what was going on in his name, he’d never stop throwing up.” — Max Von Sydow’s character in Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters

There are two taglines here, placed next to each other to form a picture in the mind. Now, I don’t know about y’all, but the political scene in this country in the last couple of months has been a delightfully chaotic circus, a veritable fountain of idiotic proclamations, deliberate (and inadvertent!) expressions of absolute ignorance, and scary predictions of what would change, should any of the currently frenzied candidates make it to the Presidency.

It makes it very easy to come up with stuff to write about, but as it progresses, my sense of sadness, and dismay, grow ever stronger. These people keep saying and doing things that make it perfectly clear that if they were elected, this country would be hastened down the destructive path we’ve been on at an even faster rate of deterioration than is already taking place.

Just recently we’ve been informed that one of the women candidates feels it is just fine & dandy to separate children from their parents, who happen to be illegal immigrants, who have been in this country for 25 years, doing the jobs no American will take, by forcibly  sending the parents back to Mexico, or from wherever they came. Another one wants to get rid of my Social Security retirement benefits, so they can put more money into the pockets of the big drug companies and health management organizations. Another one thinks it is okay to raise the taxes on the poverty level and middle classes, while ensuring a large tax break for the rich.

As part of the package, all of them are spouting bald-faced lies on a daily basis, all documented in the media, and all ignored by the ignorant fools who support these power-hungry sycophants, who will say anything to achieve their ends, because they know that no one will call them on it. It seems to escape the public in general, but we have created a society where our leaders lie to us continuously.

Why? Because there are no consequences for lying. The lies are ignored, or at most commented upon regarding their strategic effects. It pisses me off, big time…..so I’d better go on to the next Pearl, before I start another rant…..easy to do in this atmosphere…..
___________________________________

“Ignorance is never out of style.  It was in fashion yesterday, it is the rage today, and it will set the pace tomorrow.”– Franklin K. Dane

When I first decided to include this little truism, I didn’t realize that the previous Pearl would end up discussing the same subject. It would not be terribly difficult to comment again, as I see this as the single greatest factor in determining whether or not our species is going to survive.  Probably only a few scientists know how grim the situation really is, and they keep putting that message out for public consumption to the best of their abilities.

The problem is, it is the ignorant who are already in charge. The leaders of not just our country, but most of the countries in the world, are under the control of people who have no interest whatsoever in confronting the issues of climate change, global warming, air pollution, or destruction of the food chain. They refuse to place any credence in what they’ve been told, because none of it will help them in meeting their goals of continued domination of the lower classes, and increased wealth for the privileged few.

It’s not a pretty picture, but it isn’t going to change until those in society who are NOT ignorant find the courage to confront the powers that be, and force them to change their ways…..I don’t see it happening, unfortunately, but I can always hope, can’t I?……

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

It’s early yet, & I’m done…. but, that’s what happens when I use all archived material, I guess…. It will give me  more time to fret and worry over stuff I can’t change, which, in turn, will drive me up the wall, so, I suppose I’d best get on with it, so I can clean up afterward…. none of which makes any sense to you, I’m sure, but, that’s okay, it doesn’t make any sense to me, either, so, we’re even, and good to go…. Lucky think, too, because, look, here we are at the end….. See ya, ffolkes…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

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Bursting with possibility, the newest day dawns, as ever, in shades of grey….

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Ffolkes,

I’m certain, if not completely unsure, I’ve never experienced such a long-term tweak…. Usually, it takes a day, maybe two to get the ol’ back to calm down enough to return to relative normalcy…. This time, it keeps relapsing, so to speak, with each morning’s level of pain in the lower part competing to see which day will get the prize…. which means, given that my back and its pain are NOT being nice, NONE of the prior six or seven days will ever be called a winner…. No prizes will be awarded, unless I get one for not killing anyone, in spite of numerous episodes of encountering people who gave every impression of WANTING to become martyrs at the throne of stupid….

The above paragraph, however, is all the whining you’ll see…. (Trust me…) I’ve decided that today’s Pearl WILL be fresh, even if somebody must die…. Well, not me, of course; if I die, who’ll write the Pearl? But, if anyone gets in my way, or even in my vicinity, I’m taking them down, and that’s a promise…. I’m tired of Mr. Nice Guy…. Whether it’s me, or somebody else assuming that guise, I’m done with it….

That being said, there will be no rant, unless you consider this ill-mannered outburst as such….. There WILL be two old-school pearls, and a poem…. but, that’s ALL there will be today, and hell, if I find something better looking than what I feel SB can do today, then what you get will be from the archives…. Deal with it….

That is all I have today, ffolkes…. I’m not even sure I can follow my own rules today, and play nice with others…. We’ll see, I guess… In the meantime….

Shall we Pearl?….

“I’m PROUD to be a CARBON-BASED life form!”– gigoid, asb SB

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I have yet to begin searching through Smart Bee for some appropriate aphorisms, because I wanted to issue a warning, to both Smart Bee, and to y’all, to protect your sensibilities…. To SB, I say this…. DO NOT FUCK WITH ME TODAY. That’s it….. and, it had better be enough….

Oh, and, Smart Bee? If I were you, today, I would pay close attention to that warning, too…. To the Gentle Reader, my warning is this… if SB doesn’t behave, I will ask you to please avert your eyes; nobody should HAVE to see what I will do to the damn thing, as it will be guaranteed to cause nightmares, in both the recipient of the thrashing, and in anyone careless enough to watch…. Otherwise, enjoy, yes?…..

“Don’t overestimate the decency of the human race.” — H.L. Mencken

“Every event that one would master must be mounted on the run, and no one ever caught the reins of a thought except as it galloped past.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough.” — Smart Bee

“In real life, unlike in Shakespeare, the sweetness of the rose depends upon the name it bears.  Things are not only what they are.  They are, in very important respects, what they seem to be.” — Hubert H. Humphrey (1911-78)

“As a computer, I find your faith in technology amusing!” — Arthur, my laptop

“Humility is a virtue all preach, none practice, and yet everybody is content to hear. The master thinks it good doctrine for his servant, the laity for the clergy, and the clergy for the laity.” — John Selden (1584-1654) — Humility

“Anything that is good and useful is made of chocolate.” — Smart Bee

Okay, well, I like it….

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

To avoid any accusations (or worse, litigation…) of cruelty to a poet, here is another one of mine, so nobody else gets blamed for this… I wrote this some time in the latter half of 2012…. It’s about Pearling, or, Life as We Know It….

When life calls, ready or not….

Memories are all we have sometimes
to keep our sanity intact,
with learned phrases and subtle rhymes
lessening life’s vicious, vibrant impact.

Presently all seems composed and intent
in stark contrast to hollow day,
forlorn patchwork emotions of unheralded bent,
fill up night’s bower, leaving hell to pay.

Such vigorous and elevated temper
brings us rare moments to ponder,
filled with lessons all need to remember
lest base perception lose valued wonder.

Laugh loud when entropy sticks fast
leaving shameless anger in its wake.
Let bygones pass quietly into the past
reaping only what is left to take.

Final words of wise imagination
tell us living well’s the best revenge, it appears
ever eluding choirs and congregations
finally finding home, never buried in tears.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Not too shabby so far; nobody’s dead, and no injuries requiring stitches…. bonus! In keeping with today’s pattern of insanity, here is another old-school pearl, fresh from SB’s database of virtual wisdom, hacker-style….. This one may be a bit loose, so don’t try to hang on to any of it too tight; just an easy grip, enough to allow you to follow it to where it leads….

“Happiness is the only good, reason the only torch, justice the only worship, humanity the only religion, and love the only priest.” — Robert G. Ingersoll (American lawyer and orator)

“The land of the free!  This is the land of the free!  Why, if I say anything that displeases them, the free mob will lynch me, and that’s my freedom.  Free?  Why I have never been in any country where the individual has such an abject fear of his fellow countrymen.  Because, as I say, they are free to lynch him the moment he shows he is not one of them.” — D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930)

“Ignorance is never out of style.  It was in fashion yesterday, it is the rage today, and it will set the pace tomorrow.” — Franklin K. Dane

“How do you know that electrons are political? Because you can never determine their exact position.” — Smart Bee

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

“An it harm none,
Do what ye will.”  — This is the core belief in Wicca, upon which all the rest of their philosophy of life is based….

“Unknowingly, we plow the dust of stars, blown about us by the wind, and drink the universe in a glass of rain.” — Ihab Hassan

Ooh, nice finish! There you have it, ffolkes…. THIS is a pearl of virtual wisdom, clearly….

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I did it…. In the interests of not hurting myself, though, I don’t think I’ll pat myself on the back just yet…. Instead, I’ll just trust in my instincts, and put this out for consumption, sans further attention or editing…. See you tomorrow, ffolkes, most likely…. Considering my record, the odds are good….

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

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They want that oil FULLY hydrogenated….

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Ffolkes,

Thanks to the Word Press bot monkeys, who blithely collect and display all of our site stats, posting them where we can see them, if we are brave enough, I know that there were a total of four views of my blog yesterday…. That’s pathetic, even though the people who DID come by are not …. I know them both… the other two visits were from me, as I checked the site during the day…..

People, not even folks, much less ffolkes, but, people at large, are, as I’ve heard said so elegantly, “staying away in droves”, and I’m pretty sure I know why…. It’s the subject matter, and the ranting, that is making it hard for people to get into my writing, I think…. I tend to rant a lot, and my subject matter, while sometimes of interest to all, more often probably just gets old…..

Since it’s been around forever, I can’t see the poetry I include as the most likely cause for the absence of readers…. and, the old-school pearls, while perhaps obscure at times, generally have enough good quotes in them to make them worthwhile to read…. as well as more often containing a modicum of humor…. Levity always plays better than angst…. They’re shorter, too, as a rule…

That leaves the ranting as the major reason people might avoid reading this material…. It’s generally longer than most folks want to read, and I do tend to get a bit vitriolic, I know, in describing some of the public figures that many people admire…. This may tend to cause some ire, as well, because, as I’m aware of, people don’t like to have their icons attacked, especially in ways that show them to be less than admirable people, thus taking away some of the shine that goes with being one of their admirers…..

To this handicap, add also that I tend to repeat my subject matter frequently, according to whatever articles in the news have arisen to stimulate one of my outbursts of outrage…. Considering these factors, one can see why many people might get tired of reading about the same old stuff, even if the insults are fresh, and my complaints are, at minimum, justifiable only in my own eyes… In addition, the mere fact of the truth of what I may say doesn’t seem to matter to some folks, as they don’t want to hear it anyway…. Them, I don’t really give much of a shit about, since they’re already dead, in regards their ability to reason….

But, the people who do come by who NEED to see what I write aren’t going to stay long, once they’ve been exposed to my style of expressing my outrage, as I tend to be rather forceful in my insults of a number of conservative, and liberal, iconic heroes, who, to me, are all the more villainous for their apparent harmlessness…. Their image as smart, caring individuals, with the interests of the common man at the forefront of their concerns, (which is what they WANT folks to believe about them….), gets punctured rather quickly around here, and their avaricious, self-serving, dishonest NASTINESS is exposed, by unassailable evidence (often out of their own mouths….), to show them as the selfish assholes they really are, behind the smarmy smiles, and mouths full of lies….

Ah well…. As I’ve said before, I write this mostly for my own benefit…. If I leave all this angst-filled frustration inside my head, it rots, or percolates into a mishmash of thoughts and ideas that would make anyone ill….. Instead, I write, & get all of it off my chest, into the public marketplace of ideas, the human cloud of common experience, if you will, where there is at least a small chance that someone will see it, & be thereby inspired to think…. It’s a bit frustrating at times, to know that so few are seeing it, especially since I KNOW FOR A FACT there are MILLIONS of ignorant fools out there who NEED to see the information I share every day….

But, I can live with the frustration, because I know that getting this OUT of my head is doing me more good than I could ever get from psychotherapy, or from trying to live the lie so many people fall for…. I know THAT for a FACT….. So, if folks want to keep ignoring what I write, that’s okay…. Maybe a few more of the over 440 ffolkes who signed up to follow my blog will stop in to read, be inspired, and share it around the web…. If even a few people see my words, it could conceivably make a small difference…. and, in the final analysis, isn’t that what we all want?….

Shall we Pearl?

“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.” — Max Planck, 1858-1947

“And waste their music on the savage race.” — Edward Young (1684-1765) — Love of Fame, Satire v, Line 228
_____________________________

As is often the case, you’ll need to at least skim these articles to get the full effect of the following material…. Don’t worry, I’ll wait….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/medical/article/Arkansas-court-tosses-1-2B-judgment-against-J-J-5334330.php

http://www.sfgate.com/raiders/article/Feds-end-Raiderette-wage-probe-with-no-action-5332287.php

P. What riches give us let us then inquire: Meat, fire, and clothes.
B. What more?
P. Meat, fine clothes, and fire.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Moral Essays, Epistle iii, Line 79

Is there any doubt left, in anyone’s mind, that in this country, if not the entire world, the courts, and the federal government in general, are completely under the control and influence of corporate entities? There is none left in mine, let me assure you, not a dram, nor even a drop….. The links above lead to articles of note on the subject, both of which are merely the reports of two more instances of corporate influence on legislation, just a small piece of a long list of occasions throughout history, where the corporate interests of a large company were protected by a court decision, or, as in the second case, by federal lawyers (?….!!!) from the Attorney General’s office of investigation…. What a crock!

In the case of the Raiders cheerleaders vs. the NFL bullies, what do you want to wager that the law, regarding “seasonal” businesses being “exempt” from the laws the rest of us must follow, was already very familiar to the company before drawing up the contracts for anyone they might hire, such as the cheerleaders, thus saving themselves, literally, hundreds of millions of dollars in operating expenses, from not having to pay for such operational items as oh, say, a living wage for the people who work for the company? (By a living wage, I refer to an amount of money earned that one could actually LIVE on, not what some shark of a CEO thinks is “reasonable”, an amount that is generally minuscule, compared to even the minimum wage now in place; thus, it becomes a figure which protects the bottom line….)

Not only was the company probably aware of the law, I would also wager serious money the lobbyists for the NFL in Congress were instrumental in setting the regulations that are part of the law, when the law was first written…. There is no safer way to protect one’s interests than to be able to say what goes into a law that one’s company will have to obey…. Why not write the law the way they want it in the first place?…. It’s a simple matter of paying ONE, or perhaps a few corrupt politicians in the present, thus saving millions of dollars of future costs….. This, of course, enables the corporation to pocket those millions, since all that money won’t be going to the cheerleaders, or back to the consumers…

As for the J&J decision, well, I guess that one got fixed way back in the mid-eighteen hundreds, when corporations were awarded their “personhood”…. In this case, that protects them from being confused with a “medical facility”, you see, thus making them, once again, “exempt” from any of the laws pertaining to what they actually do as a business…. They are free to do pretty much whatever they want, as long as they remember to set aside enough of what they’ve stolen to pay their lawyers, and the occasional congress person, or judge…. Easy money, from where they’re sitting, wouldn’t you say?…..

(Note: after finishing, a thought…. How many of the lawyers involved in all of the cases in the two articles went to the same law school? Bet it’s more than just a couple…. Between the judges, & their lackeys, lawyers on both sides of the issues, and the politicians, who are what lawyers become after they leave the larval stage, I’d bet one could find a LOT of collusive interactions from past involvements by the players…. but, who’s going to notice, or question that sort of thing, besides ffolkes like me?….)

I began this rant yesterday, when I first read the two articles…. Actually, it only took the first one to piss me off; the second article just made the rant imperative, while adding more fuel to my outrage…. The NFL corporation(s) (along with other massive conglomerates of assholes who exploit games theory, such as the NCAA, the NBA, the NHL, the NTA, and MLB, WBF, WWF, just to name some of those in THIS country…. In the rest of the world, think Rugby, Cricket, Soccer/Futbol, tennis, etc…. Oh, right, and some for the richest gamesmen, sailing races…. Think, literally (look it up…. I did….) billions upon billions of dollars of income from EACH sport, for EACH of those corporations, EACH year….. not counting TV income….) has to be one of the most egregious examples in modern society of how corrupt our government has become, and how that corruption extends into all reaches of Society At Large….

Here is a corporation whose sole purpose is to provide the public with a whole range of time- and money-consuming activities/pastimes that involve the participation and, more importantly, the focus, attention, and MONEY, of literally hundreds of millions of fools, who are thus kept from using a large part of their brain for thinking…. Of course, these are the brains occupying the middle and lower end of the human bell curve of intelligence, but, hey, there are a LOT of these people out there, who provide the massive inertia that makes society so hard to change…. Why? Because everyone is busy watching a GAME, or betting on a game, or waiting for a game to start…..

In addition, and perhaps more significantly, it encourages those millions of people to spend a large part of their income (and thus, the time and energy spent to obtain that money….) in paying for the ‘privilege’ of watching these GAMES, and to buy any number of otherwise USELESS articles that show how engaged they are in supporting their vicarious heroic icons…. Add to this all the other sports leagues in the world, each one controlled by some VERY RICH assholes with no concern for anyone who can’t do something for them, and we see just one of the numerous ways in which the shadowy corporate masters of society have asserted their control over the ignorant, and the greedy….

Billions and billions of dollars are spent each year by the public, to watch their icons bang into each other, or toss around a ball, or in some way compete in such a way as to arouse the same vicarious feelings in the watchers that they felt when personally engaging in those activities, when they were young…. In short, it’s a drug, which soothes the public mind by allowing them to repeat good feelings as many times as they wish, thereby giving up all their individuality, their time, their money, and all of their self-respect (in my mind….), just so they can be part of a crowd of others, all with the same goal of wasting precious time watching other people PLAY A FUCKING GAME!….

I think, if I was asked to do so, I could come up with at least a dozen other ways to spend all that time and money, any one of which would help the world find its way to a better place than we are in now…. and so could you. Almost anyone could…. But, it will never happen, because the Powers That Be like things just as they are, where they have the control over society to do exactly as they wish, and the major portion of humanity will never even know they are being enslaved…. not as long as the Forty-Niners play on Sunday, or the Giants are in the World Series….

Basta…. Everything I’ve said here is true…. y’all KNOW it is…. All the evidence for all these assertions I’ve made is right there in the headlines of the news, every day, if one is alert enough, and clever enough to see it…. The masters of society have enslaved mankind for over five thousand years now, from shortly after the time they convinced everyone else that money was a better thing to use than barter, (It’s not, for a number of reasons, but, that’s a talk for another time….), while the rest of us have the choice to ignore our enslavement, go along with it, with or without ill-grace, or, to know about it, hate it, & complain, loudly, even eloquently, but, to little or no effect (I’m doubtless guilty of the latter….) (…. guilty of complaining to little effect, not of doing so with eloquence….)

At this point, unless there are enough concerned people to band together to expose this issue, which would doubtlessly prompt everyone else to DO something to stop them (they WON’T stop on their own, count on that…), then, by golly, ffolkes, we’re all going to pay the price for THEIR ignorance, when the planet steps in to cleanse itself of all the crap we’ve thrown around during our short tenancy….. Won’t THAT be fun?…. Well, you’re probably right, it won’t be….

“The truth cannot be tidied up.” — Hugh Prather
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It’s a long rant today, I know…. Sorry, but, that had all been building up a while, & needed to be lanced before it got infected, or festered, as we like to say on colloquial side of the street…. Besides, it’s all true, and needs to be told, so, I’m not going to apologize for doing what I consider to be my duty as a citizen of this country, one who is free, educated, and patriotic, without being blinded by sentiment, or faith-based nonsense.

That being said, I would normally use one of my own poems here, so all of this doesn’t sully the name of some other poet by people’s unfortunate tendency to form associations that aren’t real, merely due to circumstantial presence, rather than any similarity of thought…. But, I decided that I wasn’t going to give in to that sort of ignorance today, because I WANT something good here, and my own stuff can’t necessarily be judged so, not without giving up all objectivity….

So, in order to indulge myself, I’m going with a classic poet, whose reputation is such that mere association with MY work could never adversely affect HIS reputation…. It’s been too long in place, and is too accurate, to ever change…. Society will always admire this man, in spite of himself…. In a race of creatures whose one major claim to fame is that each is a unique individual, this man stands out, and always has…. Enjoy! I intend to do so….

My Voice

Within this restless, hurried, modern world
We took our hearts’ full pleasure–You and I,
And now the white sails of our ship are furled,
And spent the lading of our argosy.

Wherefore my cheeks before their time are wan,
For very weeping is my gladness fled,
Sorrow hath paled my lip’s vermilion,
And Ruin draws the curtains of my bed.

But all this crowded life has been to thee
No more than lyre, or lute, or subtle spell
Of viols, or the music of the sea
That sleeps, a mimic echo, in the shell.

~~ Oscar Wilde ~~

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Oh boy…. I can relax now, and have a bit of fun…. I’ve been so focused this morning, on getting the rant just right, as well as, I admit, making a complete mess of the intro, that I lost track of the fun button, so my blood level is running a bit low….. Since I’m so sober, I’ll try to bring a bit of balance to the Metaphorse, and use a simple, single parameter for the following pearl, to wit: the following quotes have all been determined to display the essence of bozoid tendencies in some fashion, to be determined at the time of consumption…. Enjoy them, please…. if you don’t, I’ve failed, again….

😳

“I think a good gift for the president would be a chocolate revolver.  And since  he’s so busy, you’d probably have to run up to him and hand it to him.” — Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

“Ignorance is never out of style.  It was in fashion yesterday, it is the rage today, and it will set the pace tomorrow.” — Franklin K. Dane

Born Again Christian = “I guess I myth’d again.” — Smart Bee

“Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing, right in your ear.” — Dave Barry

— How many Canadians does it take to change a light bulb?  Twelve. Four to form a Parliamentary study committee to decide how to solve the problem, one Francophone to complain that I didn’t translate this joke into French, one Native Canadian to protest that the interests of Native Canadians have been overlooked, one woman from the National Action Committee On the Status Of Women to say that women have been underrepresented in the process, one to go over the border to the Niagara Falls Factory Outlet Mall and buy a new bulb and not pay duty on it on the way back, one to actually screw it in, one to collect taxes on the whole procedure so the government can afford it, one to buy a case of Molson for everybody to drink, and one to drop the puck.” — Smart Bee, eh?

“If people did not sometimes do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.” — Wittgenstein

“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

Oops! Sorry…. it took a kind of radical turn at the end there, didn’t it? Oh well, it kind of works, and I have a special contract with Marcus Aurelius…. his quotes ALWAYS stay, no matter what the parameters, just because, for being over 1800 years old, they are consistently the most correct, insightful, and relevant statements that can be found…. Seriously, he never seemed to miss, not if it got written down…. and, if you do stop to think about it a little, it even fits into the group it is part of, as a sort of closing, summarization sort of thing…. sort of…. Hey, even if not, it’s still a brilliant thought, right? How can you lose?…. Right…. you can’t…. Even the darkest cloud can have a silver lining…..
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Well, that took forever, it seems….. a feeling the clock confirms, as I’m two entire hours later than usual getting this done…. That might have something to do with not getting up until almost 0500, which has to do with consuming massive quantities of sleep aids in various manifestations, so it isn’t necessarily surprising, or alarming….. just different, I suppose one could say, and be correct….

There, a quick hundred words or so to say a bit more NOTHING, and we can bring this mess to a close….. I tried several new techniques today, behind the scenes, & I’ll let y’all know how they worked another time…. For now, I suppose I’ve held you captive to my whim long enough, and should let y’all be on your way into the day…. SIGH…. Okay, but, this power over others stuff is addictive, y’know….. See ya tomorrow….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Having risen, the Phoenix grabs a taxi…..

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Ffolkes,
So, I was walking down the street the other day, and I came to a point where the street began to fade away. All around me, fog began to collect, swirling and hazing the air, cloaking the trees, fences, and houses with an insubstantial veil, until they disappeared altogether. The wind had died, and all was silent as the grave. Behind me, I heard a slow, eerie, almost liquid scraping noise, as if a large slug were crawling down the sidewalk. I turned slowly, straining my eyes into the fog, trying to make out what was coming out of the mist. As I gazed, a shape began to take form, materializing before me as if created from the very air. The form slowly took shape, and then firmed, and became clear….. it had happened. Our world would never be the same, for the prophecy had been true. At last, it had come……and forever more the world would know know the grace that flows from the healing hands of the Quirky Demon of Happiness, that underworld superstar known to all and sundry as Phil, the half-brother (same father, different mother) of Alice, patroness and protector of short-order cooks and tarbenders, er, bartenders…….
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The pursuit of power is the quest for the unattainable by the unphilosophical though the tactics of the unspeakable.

“If Jesus came back today, and saw what was going on in his name, he’d never stop throwing up.” — Max Von Sydow’s character in Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters

There are two taglines here, placed next to each other to form a picture in the mind. Now, I don’t know about y’all, but the political scene in this country in the last couple of months has been a delightfully chaotic circus, a veritable fountain of idiotic proclamations, deliberate (and inadvertent) expressions of absolute ignorance, and scary predictions of what would change, should any of the currently frenzied candidates make it to the Presidency. It makes it very easy to come up with stuff to write about, but as it progresses, my sense of sadness, and dismay, grow ever stronger. These people keep saying and doing things that make it perfectly clear that if they were elected, this country would be hastened down the destructive path we’ve been on at an even faster rate of deterioration than is already taking place.

Just recently we’ve been informed that one of the women candidates feels it is just fine & dandy to separate children from their parents, who happen to be illegal immigrants, who have been in this country for 25 years, doing the jobs no American will take, by forcibly  sending the parents back to Mexico, or to wherever they came from. Another one wants to get rid of my Social Security retirement benefits, so they can put more money into the pockets of the big drug companies and health management organizations. Another one thinks it is okay to raise the taxes on the poverty level and middle classes, while ensuring a large tax break for the rich. And all of them are spouting bald-faced lies on a daily basis, all documented in the media, and all ignored by the ignorant fools who support these power-hungry sycophants, who will say anything to achieve their ends, because they know that no one will call them on it.

It seems to escape the public in general, but we have created a society where our leaders lie to us continuously. Why? Because there are no consequences for lying. The lies are ignored, or at most commented upon regarding their strategic effects. It pisses me off, big time…..so I’d better go on to the next Pearl, before I start another rant…..easy to do in this atmosphere…..
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“Ignorance is never out of style.  It was in fashion yesterday, it is the rage today, and it will set the pace tomorrow.”– Franklin K. Dane

When I first decided to include this little truism, I didn’t realize that the previous Pearl would end up discussing the same subject. It would not be terribly difficult to comment again, as I see this as the single greatest factor in determining whether or not our species is going to survive. 

Probably only a few scientists know how grim the situation really is, and they keep putting that message out for public consumption to the best of their abilities. The problem is, it is the ignorant who are already in charge. The leaders of not just our country, but most of the countries in the world, are under the control of people who have no interest whatsoever in confronting the issues of climate change, global warming, air pollution, or destruction of the food chain.

They refuse to place any credence in what they’ve been told, because none of it will help them in meeting their goals of continued domination of the lower classes, and increased wealth for the privileged few. It’s not a pretty picture, but it isn’t going to change until those in society who are NOT ignorant find the courage to confront the powers that be, and force them to change their ways…..I don’t see it happening, unfortunately, but I can always hope, can’t I?……
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“There is timing in the whole life of the warrior, in his thriving and declining, in his harmony and discord. Similarly, there is timing in the Way of the merchant, in the rise and fall of capital. All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this.” — Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645)

In other literary works, I have heard this concept expressed in different ways, but the essential message is the same, to wit: Timing is Everything. Knowing when to strike, or when to block, when to move, and when to be still, are essential pieces of knowledge, critical to the smooth operation of any activity. The warrior needs a strong sense of timing, for the correct application of skill at the correct time preserves life, and protects from injury. Timing a block incorrectly can lead to pain, injury, or death. For the business person, knowing when to sell, and when to buy, can determine whether a business thrives or fails. To a chef, it is extremely important to be able to distinguish the correct timing. For example, when pan frying shellfish, it is essential to know when to remove the item from the heat. If it is cooked one second too long, it becomes rubbery, difficult to chew, and devoid of flavor. If removed too soon, the fish are also tough, and have little flavor. The window of opportunity is only open for less than a minute, so one must be alert and focused to achieve the desired result. I guess it’s just one more lesson from Mother Nature about staying awake, and paying attention to what is happening around you…..
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I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you- Nobody- Too?
Then there’s a pair of us?
Don’t tell! they’d advertise-you know!
How dreary-to be- Somebody!
How public-like a Frog-
To tell one’s name-the livelong June-
To an admiring Bog!
— Emily Dickinson

Yesterday, the 10th of December, was Emily Dickinson’s birthday. I wouldn’t have known that offhand, but it was all over the Net. One article I read was by an English professor, who has traveled all over the world to share and discuss her knowledge and insight into this amazing woman. In her travels, she has found that this poem had preceded her to a great many places. The message of the poem, and the insight into human nature, had caught the minds and imagination of anyone who read it. Even when translated, people can understand the power of what she wrote to express her own inner thoughts, feelings, and fears. They seem to identify with the poem very closely, and it becomes clear that this desire for independence, for personal conviction, the need to be Somebody, is universal to the human spirit. She was able to tap into the common thread of experience, and the commonality of the human spirit, and express it so that anyone can understand. Sheer genius, to my way of thinking……Happy Birthday, Emily!…..thanks for being…..
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Women are great! Every man should own one!!!!!

Before you go off, ranting and railing at how sexist I am, let me explain why this is here…..I found it in my tagline data base, and was struck at how incongruous it seemed next to the relatively common sense wisdom of the other entries. I am happy to say that when I saw it, I didn’t smile, even though the structure of the joke makes it hard not to, no matter what entity name is placed into the sentence. But I realized also just how sick it really is; it indicates an attitude, a set of personal rules that are anything but well-considered.

An attitude like this is usually passed on by a parent, or parents, before a man has the ability to reason; it poisons the child’s mindset before they have any defense against it, and they never feel any need to take the belief out and examine it for its relative merit. Hell, most of the folks who would live by this concept don’t think at all; they just operate on auto-pilot, letting all the stupid shit they were taught as a kid dictate how they behave.

Which brings me finally to the point. People who would laugh at this kind of humor are people to be avoided, for the most part; either that or shot. Unfortunately, shooting them creates too much confusion, and can conceivably lead to undesired outcomes. (a better way to say “might end up in a world of shit!”) Besides, shooting them gets added to YOUR Karmic burden, and you could end up in your next life as a frog……one that would not turn into a prince, no matter how many times it got kissed by a princess….
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It’s a good thing I started putting in these lines to separate each discussion; I think if they weren’t there, I would tend to just keep on going, typing away without a care in the world, blithely ignoring the frantic gestures from the rest of the world to try to get me to cease and desist. But since I did, I’ll stop here….. y’all take care out there……

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

gigoid

Dozer at play..

Kowabunga!