Dodge those taxes with dignity and aplomb….

Posted on February 9, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Nature abhors a vacuum, but not as much as cats do.”

~~ Lee Entrekin ~~

Turn it off. Now.

Photo stolen from Wolfie, at:

https://europasicewolf.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/mewling-the-blues-to-the-ancient-mythological-cat-goddesses/

**********************

Anyone who has lived with a cat knows the opening quote to be an exact statement of truth. I have never met, or observed any cat, in my entire life, who did not absolutely resent the mere presence of a vacuum, even if not operating, with every fiber of their being. If even one of them ever acquired a set of tools to suit their paws, I suspect, one morning, we would all find our loud, offensive-to-the-nature-of-CAT cleaning appliances in a small neat pile of metal pieces, covered over lightly with dirt, somewhere outside the house…. That one cat would destroy all he found in his neighborhood, then pass the tools and skills on to the first cat he met, until every vacuum in the world was useless…. If they could use computers, it would happen all that much faster…. probably in a matter of hours after booting up….

Yet, still, in the quiet moments between heartbeats, the soft, lyrical sound of simple peace may steal through the rear window of each person’s mind, to fill the air with the almost-painfully somber melody of broken dreams. Nighttime brings panic and fear, not slumber; terror rules the hours until light. Light brings its own baggage, weighting down each one it touches, bearing them down, down, to the pitted earth, never again to rise with any degree of hope….

Boy, that turned a little dark corner there, didn’t it. I have no idea how what I started as a lyrical fantasy, grounded in peace and beauty, to the nightmare of the fight with inner demons…. I suppose I need to watch the road signs more closely; the turn I took was NOT into the street I thought I was headed for, by a long shot….. Of course, by logical concatenation, since the street signs are put up by the government, they could conceivably be a lie….

Okay, sorry…. I know it’s too early for such a drastically rude shot to the head of a pundit, but, I’ve never been one to pass up a good opportunity like that one. I promise, no more ranting in this section, for today, at least. Naturally, this leaves us once more in the clutches of the dreaded “What the fuck do we do now?” beast, with its slavering jaws of death, smellier than the filthiest asshole in creation. Whew! Powerful stuff! I think I’m going to make an executive decision; this intro has gone completely off the wire, and out of the dimension. There’s no hope now of ever getting back on any reasonable track down the page without some sort of drastic intervention…. Hang on, ffolkes, I’m pulling the switch on #4…..

Shall we Pearl?

“It’s a bit hard to bullshit the ocean.

It’s not listening, you know what I mean?”

~~ David Crosby ~~

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

One can never watch too many cartoons, I say. We all need regular doses of fantasy to balance out the extreme levels of bullshit that permeates almost every level of our lives in this sad old world…. Besides, it’s always good to spend time with old friends….

*********************

Heckle and Jeckle

*********************

http://youtu.be/0Yvdxk9jxOQ

*********************

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

Truths would you teach, or save a sinking land?

All fear, none aid you, and few understand.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ Essay on Man, Epistle iv, Line 261~~

Pearls of Virtual Wisdom, as a blog, continues to evolve, along with me, as I become more competent at formatting the text and pictures, learning to take advantage of how they can work together to strengthen whatever points I’m trying to get through to people. Today, rather than a rant, I’m going to use the principle of “a picture is worth a thousand words”, to deliver my usual indictment of the Asininnies, those who have perverted human culture for their own aggrandizement. You’ve seen all of these before on this site; I seem to have collected enough of them to form a pictorial old-school pearl, filled with my entire pantheon of issues about which to rant….. I don’t think I’ll need to say anything more; from this point on, it’s pretty self-explanatory…

Enjoy, ffolkes; it will be a nice break from the 2-3000 words I could have used to speak to all these pictures, each of which highlights part of the problems we face today, threatened with extinction as a species by the ignorant, cruel, selfishly self-centered actions of a precious few extreme assholes, disguised as human beings….. I might add, all of these pictures are taken from REALITY; there’s no speculation involved in any of these issues…. Remember that, next time you hear one of the Asininnies speak about “conspiracy theories”, or, try to deny culpability for all of their chicanery…. It isn’t a fantasy if it comes straight from reality, to slap you in your very real face….. or, shoot you in your very real heart…..

Flulaval-vaccine-insert-no-controlled-trials-640

There you go, ffolkes. The first ever fully-pictorial pearl. Not too shabby, and, it certainly saved y’all a shit load of reading, didn’t it? I kind of like it, but, it’s going to take a while now to collect enough pointed bamboo sticks to create another punji pit, placing some nice atropine on the points of the sticks, to provide that extra touch of agony to their deaths… Then, we’ll need to find a good spot to put it, where it can catch any stray Asininnies passing by, concealed well enough to ensure they take their final fall, about 12 feet down, to meet their chosen fate.

I find it to be only justice to consider such a cruel method of eliminating these human vermin, justice provided by most efficient bamboo stakes, tipped with a poison to paralyze the diaphragm, adding a touch of terror to their agony, hopefully for a good long while, until the numerous holes in their body bleed sufficiently to allow them to die the death they so richly deserve…. This has the added advantage of reducing the number of targets left to destroy in future revolutionary outbreaks, which I consider a pretty sure thing, given today’s state of world affairs…. It’s always a good policy to get a running start on unpleasant tasks, such as vermin control….

Gee! Do ya think I’m a little pissed off? Well…. you may be right…

gigoid, not speaking much, but, enough….

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

After such a compelling graphic rant, only one poem of mine will do….

Geezer to Congress, with Love

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

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

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

Why the hell not?
It’s worth a shot!

~~ gigoid ~~

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

I suppose the only proper way to describe what follows would be to call it a tongue-in-cheek pearl. Each one, which SB gave up in its inimitable style, isn’t actually as shallow as it may seem at first, once one gets past the flippancy, or in some cases, the simplicity…. No matter, they’re fun, and there are plenty of them, so, enjoy…. or not. I like to give everyone a choice, as you know….

“Sinners can repent, but stupid is forever.” — Smart Bee

“Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do.” — Bertrand Russell (1872-1967)

“What is becoming is honest, and whatever is honest must always be becoming.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)

“Anything may be divided into as many parts as you please.” Commentary: In this case, ‘everything’ may be viewed as a subset of ‘anything.'” — Law of Arbitrary Distinction

“A closed mouth gathers no feet.” — Finster’s Law

“Ah say, son, you’re about as sharp as a bowlin’ ball.” — Foghorn Leghorn

“Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing can ever be made.” — Immanuel Kant

“Immanuel doesn’t pun, he Kant.” — Smart Bee

Doh! Sorry, ffolkes, I couldn’t help myself. SB threw them out there, & I fell right into the trap…. Okay, here is the correct final pearl for this particular group…

“Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances.” — Mark Twain

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

Thankfully, most of this got done yesterday; getting it all done this morning would have been impossible, given the state of affairs in my body. Though my refusal to submit to any further med reduction has finally reached a point where I am able to get some sleep, I still awake in more pain than I’ve had to deal with for over seven years. Any thanks I may feel for this gift can be delivered directly to the door of a large soulless corporation, care of two doctors/slaves who are carrying out their draconian policy of punishing anyone who may not wish to submit to wearing a collar.

However, rather than continue to rant here in the closing section, I’ll make a 90 degree turn, and merely say, “See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, when we’ll fire off another round of shots, at those insane fools who would kill us all in their cowardly, insane quest for power….”

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

What happens AFTER it melts?….

Posted on January 24, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“He who dies with the most toys, is, nonetheless, still dead.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

NASA Travel Posters

Okay, ffolkes. We’re in serious trouble now. It’s relatively late, I’m clueless, and I have nothing. Literally, and, figuratively, nothing. SIGH….

Not only do I have nothing floating around in my head, nothing is done from yesterday, another tough one, wherein I spent much of the day slathering magic cream on those parts of me I can still reach, interspersed with the occasional self-induced pity party, and a number of episodes of TD…. Since we refuse to countenance the former, and would just as soon forget the latter, as far as we are able, neither is a suitable subject for our needs just now…. In point of fact, nothing seems to be suitable for that, as A) we don’t have any idea as to what we need, and, B) there’s that word “nothing” again…

See? In my world, and on this occasion, nothing isn’t merely a small amount, it’s NOTHING….. Hell, I’ve got that down, so far as it goes. It’s only natural, since I end up in its embrace so frequently; even an old dog finds a new bone now and again. (I THINK that’s how that aphorism goes; I could be wrong…. Even if I’m right, though, I still don’t know what the hell it means…. or, how it applies to this…. But, it LOOKS good up there, doesn’t it?….) I don’t believe I’ve ever, in all my vast experience with nothing, seen this much nothing all in one place and time…. Usually, even Murphy is a nice enough guy to spread it around a bit…. This, though, is a pile of nothing such as the world has never seen….

I’m not sure just how to use it, even with all my experience with it. Usually I’m trying to ignore it, or shove it in a closet, or dump it somewhere. With this much of it, I should be able to figure out how to use at least the fringes of it for something, or, at the minimum, find a buyer who hasn’t seen such a big one before, and sell it before they wake up…. Of course, that assumes I can find anyone that stupid; even stupidity may not be that stupid, I’m guessing….

I think, upon looking back over the last paragraph, we’d better use one of the old emergency endings for these opening sections; if we continue trying to milk water out of this stone statue, I think I’ll hurt myself…. and, that’s if nobody catches on. If anyone should notice just what I’ve been doing here this morning, I could be open to all sorts of litigation, not to mention what it would do to the sales of my non-existent books….

Okay, I’ve got it…. here’s what we’ll do….

Nothing….

Shall we Pearl?

“Y’know, every once in a while, when you look off into the distance, you can see a shimmering in the atmosphere’s coefficient of refraction, as someone, someone small and slow on the horizon, gets a clue.” — Blair Houghton, who’s yet to get one

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

Since the theme for today’s Pearl is such an amorphous entity, we’ll simply provide some traveling music, and be done with this section for today…. Here is an artist, a singer/songwriter, whose work never reached the level of popularity I think it deserves…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

Phoebe Snow live

http://youtu.be/QVX_rPpxtIU

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

“All great truths begin as blasphemies.”

~~ George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), “Annajanska” ~~

What a wonderful opening for a rant of gargantuan proportion! Fortunately for y’all, and, in this case, for me, we have already established the level of resources I have at my disposal today, to wit: nothing; this means, naturally, you won’t be subjected to a fresh rant, even though this quote could be applied to almost any of our usual categories for discussion. Instead, we’ll go with one from the archives, chosen mostly for its expedience… What this means in real-time is, it will be the first one I find that I think will do…. Here it is, whatever it is; I haven’t chosen it yet. No worries, I’m in a pretty easy mood, so, it won’t be too heavy….

Ah, here is a good one. It’s a bit long, but, it won’t tax anyone’s already over-burdened head to any large degree…. It does, however, fulfill my need to proselytize in favor of reason, versus living life by rules that make no sense to me…. Whatever…. Enjoy, ffolkes, it’s not bad…. and, remember what it cost you to get in….

From 2/2/2013:

“I can handle reality in small doses, but as a lifestyle it’s much too confining.” — Lily Tomlin

This is one of many statements of its type, some from Miss Lily, some from other comedians and social philosophers, all of whom are special to me…. They are special because they poke fun at society in the mildest way, but with clarity that is belied by their apparent simplicity and obvious humor. It is easy for a lot of folks to dismiss little gems like this, as being unimportant, or less than serious, just because it speaks with tongue in cheek… Nothing could be further from the truth, as this statement is absolute gospel to a large percentage of the adult population of this country….

“Reality is for those people who can’t handle drugs.” — George Carlin

(My attribution here might be incorrect, but, George inspired the line, if he didn’t write it himself….)

Here is another line from the revolution that happened back in the 60’s and 70’s, and it points up a very definitive difference between those folks who spend their time in the mainstream of society, and those who exist at the extremes, in this case, in what is generally conceived to be on the Left end of the scale…. Those who inhabit the other end of the political spectrum tend to rely on alcohol to blunt the effects of Reality on the brain, rather than what are dismissed by them as recreational drugs, such as marijuana, psilocybin, mescaline, etc. In some ways, you can get a good idea of the philosophies themselves by looking at how they approach the subject of drugs and alcohol, and by the differing methods of enhancing life with them….

Those who rely on alcohol are those who prefer to NOT know the truth, about anything. It seems to me that the physical effects of alcohol parallel exactly the way these folks look at life…. When under the influence of alcohol, one’s senses are depressed, and it is much harder to see the truth than at other times…. and that is the way they like it…. With consumption of alcohol, the hearing decreases, judgment is impaired, vision blurs, sense of touch is lessened, and fine muscle control is compromised, pretty much in that order of occurrence. It is the same each time, but with continued regular consumption, a certain tolerance is developed, a tolerance that slightly mitigates the effects, but certainly does not keep them from happening.

Those who use drugs to enhance or adjust their view don’t deny the truth, but they want it to be all prettied up for them in some way, so it isn’t so harsh and ugly…. Most of the effects of the drugs are in the mind, with some notable exceptions; the perceptions of all the senses are not depressed, but altered in some way, usually personal to the user, in physical response to the chemical in the drug that causes the cognitive alterations. Either way, whether with drugs, or with alcohol, perception of the truth is what ultimately suffers, which is what the proponents of both ends of the spectrum tend to forget, or deny….

“Have you ever wondered if taxation without representation was cheaper?” — Smart Bee

I have…. It is and it isn’t, and we are witnessing that phenomenon right now….. This may be why many people have such a hard time with reality; when one becomes aware of just how screwed up things are, and how much lying, cheating, and stealing is going on right before our eyes, it is rather daunting to take in all at once, so people do as they’ve always done, and slip into massive denial of the truth, preferring to just ignore the evidence that is slapping them upside the head…. One time, I actually sat down to do the math on the above question, and what I found was surprising…. Neither way works…. There just isn’t any logical way to govern people, and make it either profitable, or even reasonably cheap…. Well, not as long as the lying, cheating, and stealing is part of the equation, anyway….

“The word “dog” does not bite,” — William James

Boy, if that isn’t the truth…. but, try to convince the general public of that….. It is one of the basic issues to be considered when speaking to the public, one that the BRC and PTB members all know very well, as it is their chief weapon in controlling the populace…. Most folks don’t think…. when they do, it causes them pain, so they tend to let someone else do it for them, and just go along in blissful ignorance, accepting whatever they’re told without a clue. They never consider that the word itself is not the thing it describes; even worse, they don’t care to know….. It is the simplest thing in the world for the Beloved Ruling Class to fool the public, because they actively participate, with apparent glee, in their own debasement….

“As a matter of cold fact, a lot of people have no use for you because they can’t use you.” — Smart Bee

Sometimes, I’m not sure which disgusts me more…. the callous disregard for others that is the defining characteristic of all politicians and preachers, or the deliberately blind, fawning ignorance of those who refuse to become fully human, use their minds, and take responsibility for their own life…. To my way of thinking, both are deserving of every bit of trouble that reality can give them, just for their intransigence…. otherwise known as rampant stubbornness, or more simply, massive stupidity….

I’m being deliberately offensive this morning, as I’m sick and tired of how the general public refuses to wake up and smell the gunpowder, and I don’t really care if it hurts someone’s feelings. Anyone who disagrees with my assessment is free to offer up their own take on the matter, and I’ll give it equal time for discussion…. but, if what I’ve said hurts feelings, then apparently what I’ve said strikes just a little too close to the truth for comfort, and I would suggest that the person take a look at that before setting themselves up for embarrassment, by trying to argue without a leg upon which to stand….

In the past year and a half, I’ve written thousands and thousands of words trying to wake people up to how much they are giving away by refusing to think. It is my greatest hope that what I have to say may have some small effect on the world, an effect that might in some way contribute to our chances of surviving our own foolishness. I’m afraid my hope is, sadly, rather slim, but, I am not ready to quit my campaign, nor to change tactics. I’ll keep on poking at the BRC, and the priestly hierarchies, and every other enemy of mankind (for that is how I see them….) for as long as I can, and hope for the best….

“One of the greatest advantages in the world is enjoyed by the person who says and insists that they are telling the truth, when in fact, they are telling the truth.” — Smart Bee

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

A new poem is almost ready to leak, but, not today…. To sublimate, I’ll use one from the archives, so nobody else gets any of the blame for this post…. I’m afraid, the way it is progressing at this point, I could conceivably find it necessary to call a lawyer before the end of the day…. Ah, well, I won’t worry about that now…. which is, I know, a typically human, mundane sort of reaction to anything we don’t want to face….

Elemental, dear Watson….

Don’t worry,
it’s not
me
you hear
screaming.

It is
only
my bones,
giving in,
to
cowardly,
pathologically,
repetitive,
fucking,’
complaints
of
past abuse,
and
all the fun
we had.
playing,
hard.

I don’t mind
too much;
I can spend my
TIME
in another space
in my head,
pretending
my bones
don’t
exist….

It
is,
indeed,
a shame
they
always
come
back….

Fuck.

It
hurts.

More proof,
I guess,
either
God isn’t,
or,
He is.

He isn’t?
Oh,
Well….

Ante up.
Deal.

He is?
Then,
I don’t fucking care
who
doesn’t like it,

I say,

He
is
a bully,
a coward,
a hypocrite,
and,
truly,
an enormous asshole.

I suppose,
God
is
what comes,
to,
and
from,
People,

because

they
feel
a need,
for
someone
to
blame,
for
a
Universe
they
cannot
understand
or
accept.

I
will
take the complaints.

After all,
they
are
my bones.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Finally he released the young man, and waded back to dry land. Then Socrates questioned the man. `What did you most want just now?’ The young man replied, `Air.’ `When you want knowledge as much as you just wanted air, you shall have it.’

I don’t remember how old I was when I first heard this short piece of history. It is a scene so often related in human experience, I’m sure nobody even knows when it first appeared, though obviously it came shortly AFTER the death of Socrates. I do know I was younger than 10; I remember, too, the effect the story had on me when I heard it, which was a feeling of dejá vu, in a way, a feeling I had just heard something I’d always known….

I took the aphorism to heart, letting it guide my thoughts in everything I did, at least in terms of the training of my mind…. Throughout the remainder of my life, I have collected many such short statements, each of which gives us a condensed lesson, in how to life a life one may be proud to have lived…. Each of these pearls you’ll see is a lesson I’ve learned, at one point or another, with varying degrees of reluctance, like all humans….

Here, then, for your kind consideration, is a pearl composed of as many of them as I could find this morning in the allotted space of time; the natural number one would expect, of course, is exactly what I found, to wit, as grokked by the Old Ones of Mars, 3 filled, or, as you see…. a nine-star pearl…. As is appropriate, we start with some wisdom as old as humanity, as interpreted by our old friend, Smart Bee…..Enjoy!….

“Whenever doubt can be called into question, do so.” — Smart Bee

“A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.” — Paul Simon

“Cease to be ruled by dogmas and authorities; look at the world!” — H.G. Wells paraphrase of Roger Bacon’s works

“You don’t learn anything the second time you’re kicked by a mule.” — Smart Bee

“The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.” — George Eliot

“The wisest men follow their own directions.” — Euripides

“To see what is right and not to do it is cowardice.” — Cervantes

“Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble.” — Yun-Men

That just about says it all, doesn’t it? Don’t wobble, ffolkes….

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

Well, damn! I did it! It was touch and go there for a while, but, I managed, somehow, to do this, almost as if I had something, rather than the nothing I know is the case. Well, whatever it is, it’s got long legs, a glossy coat, a mane, and a fondness for alfalfa, so, it must be a gift horse…. we’ll leave its mouth alone, and be on our way to bigger and better things, which I’m sure I’ll find somewhere out there in the Big Blue Room, where I hope to be up to spending some time today…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Flawed versions of twisted Reality….

Posted on January 22, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty.

The obedient must be slaves.”

~~ Henry David Thoreau ~~

Those of my Gentle Readers who stop by regularly will, perhaps, at this moment, experience a feeling of dejá vu, as they begin today’s post. DO NOT ADJUST YOUR BRAIN! There is good reason for your discomfort. Unfortunately, for y’all, I’m not going to tell you why; you’re on your own…. No worries, though, it’s not toxic, merely odd, and there won’t be any side-, or, after-effects. (Well, the label SAID there wouldn’t be, anyway….) If no one figures it out, it will become plain by tomorrow’s post….

As I said, not to worry, ffolkes. It’s merely a pop quiz, to see which of y’all are paying attention, as well as a means of establishing a pecking order, in terms of who will receive the Grand Prize, which we will be awarding at the end of this blogging year. We’ve been fortunate, in that our sponsor, Reality, has gifted us with a really elegant trophy, to be awarded to the Gentle Reader who visits most often, and makes the most comments…. Easy enough, as long as you can plow through the nearly a million words I write each year….. and the prize is well worth it, too…

What, you may ask, is it? Well, I’d like to be able to tell you, but, Smart Bee was given the task of picking it out, and hasn’t reported back yet regarding the choice it made, from the prizes offered by Reality’s liaison, some dude named Loki….. I’m hoping we end up giving away the car, but, some of the other staff prefer the yacht….. I don’t know, the yacht, to me, seems a bit over the top, but, to each his/her/its own, I suppose….

Now we have left all sense in the dust, perhaps we should go on, to the rest of today’s Pearl. We don’t often get a morning like this, where the intro actually flowed right out, with a proper subject for a beginning discussion. No doubt, Murphy is biding his time, waiting for just the right moment to present me with today’s bit of tom foolery. I really HATE when he does that, but, whattyagonnado with an iconic force of nature who insists on never growing up? Nothing, that’s what, but slap him down when we can, and clean up after the latest episode of his childish need to fuck around with people….

Since we seem to be removing ourselves further away from Reality with each paragraph, I think this one should be the last for today, at least, in this section…. Besides, my hands are now done with typing for the time being, and would just as soon I shut the hell up, and got on with it…. So, we’ll do as they are insisting, as we could start seeing nothing but gibberish, if the lk oijo;lnili;lnz;lknadf;oinvad;nd;ihbz;kjna;oihads ertp9jd’fg;okjapro a;Dhmg AZPdogkb sdpgf]hns:oemhg ;a[odmgp[apkr

Uh oh. I believe we have just been told to leave this area, by the only entities which can enforce their demands…. Unless I want the rest of this to resemble graffiti, we’d best go now….. Buckle up, and I’ll tell the pilot to get us out of here, quickly…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Most people can’t think, most of the remainder won’t think, the small fraction who do think mostly can’t do it very well.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

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

Yesterday, we saw this man in some of the funniest moments they had together…. Here is an example of Robin Williams, doing what he always did best…. improvise…. Enjoy, ffolkes, it’s hard to feel down after a show like this….

Robin Williams – Live At The Met

http://youtu.be/ueDu_gZ_1ZA

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

“Since we cannot know all that is to be known of everything, we ought to know a little about everything.” — Blaise Pascal

I do try, but, today, I got nothin’…. My brain is fagged out, simply exhausted from fighting pain, EPS, and a large, soulless corporation’s intransigent idiocy for the past five weeks, since having my medication forcibly reduced. As is obvious from that sentence, I have plenty of energetic angst, and sheer anger, to rant for quite a while…. but, my body won’t cooperate by allowing me the peace to do so…. the typing today is making my hands go numb every couple minutes, making this process, shall we say, difficult? Yes, that will do nicely, as it doesn’t give away any of the absolute RAGE I am actually keeping buried, so it doesn’t explode on somebody, including me….

This, of course, means we will be going to the archives, to pick out something suitable for today….. I think I’ll let it be a surprise, as much as I can make it so…. Enjoy, ffolkes, and think of this…. at least it isn’t 1500 fresh words about stuff that just depresses us all…. It’s almost that many, on an equally dark subject, but, the patina of age it shows should make it a bit more palatable, or, at least, a bit easier to chew….

From 7/28/2013:

“A heart is not judged by how much you love but by how much you are loved by others.” — The Wizard of Oz

I spend a lot of time addressing what I call a flaw in human nature, without ever completely putting my finger exactly on the point I’m seeking to grasp, or to have y’all grasp, whatever… The point is, this flaw is one of choice, one that each person must decide within themselves, about how they will view life, and how they will approach living, especially concerning how they live with others, including animals, and our planet at large, which needs to be considered in any question of survival as a species. I see the flaw as most obvious in those people who end up in positions of authority, but it is a flaw that all of us have, to some degree, that concerns me, because it is the one that will ultimately seal our fate, as individuals, and as a species….

The above quote can be considered as the diametric opposite of the flaw, as it manifests in us. If one holds the above as true, then acting in a manner that will cause any loss or pain to another would be acting against that belief. In order to take advantage of another person, or thing, a human must first view that person, or thing, as being less important than they themselves consider themselves to be, by whatever standards are applied. By doing so, it objectifies the person, or animal, making it easier to detach emotions from anything done to them… In short, these people, who exhibit the flaw of choosing self over not-self, in all situations, consciously and deliberately decide to cause harm to others in order to achieve their own ends, and don’t feel any compunction, or guilt, about doing so, as they feel justified, by whatever rationalizations they have adopted….

This ability to disconnect from others is one of the most common features one observes in those people who make politics a career…. It is also commonly seen in certain professions, which, because of the key importance to people who need their services, tend to attract this type of personality, as such jobs offer many opportunities to take advantage of other people’s misery and trouble…. professions such as lawyer, preacher, doctor, judge, or any other areas that provide key services to people, that deal with situations that affect their lives and well-being…. These professions all provide sociopathic personalities with ample opportunities to carry out their agendas in life, which are focused on increasing their own control of resources, and power over other people….

Over time, these folks have gotten very good at what they do, and the whole world is now organized in such a way that almost everyone accepts the idea that there is no other better way to do things than the way they are being done… Any ideas to the contrary are either buried by those in positions of authority, or are ignored, or made superfluous by the construction of imaginary enemies…. Every time I hear from a government official that I should be afraid of someone who wants to kill us, or take away our rights and homes, I start to wonder just what it is they are trying to distract me from thinking about, or paying attention to….

You see, I make the automatic assumption, when ANY government source speaks, whether an elected official, or an official spokesperson, that that person is lying to me…. If the lies are not directly untrue material, then the lie is in what is NOT said, or in what is behind whatever they are speaking of, which, I always assume, means little or nothing beyond its intent to distract or befuddle me. Once that assumption is made, that the truth is not being told, then it becomes much easier to determine just what it is they are trying to do…. and, I find that what I see is never to the advantage of the public….

“DON’T STEAL – The government hates competition.” — Smart Bee

Actually, this sounds as if George Carlin might have said it; I know he had a short comment on why one couldn’t have the Ten Commandments displayed in courthouses; he believed it was because you couldn’t have all those exhortations against lying, cheating, and stealing around so many politicians and lawyers, as it would make for an uncomfortable work environment…. He saw exactly what I am talking about in society, and pointed it out clearly, and with sublime sarcasm, for all of us to see…..

Unfortunately, most folks don’t realize how close to the truth all of his assertions were, any more than most people know that the government lies to them on a regular basis, often, it seems, just to keep in practice. For those of us who DO see what is going on, it gets to be a challenge not to go around just slapping people left and right…. but, that doesn’t make any friends, and can lead to jail time if one isn’t careful…. Besides, nobody listens anyway, and even a two-by-four won’t make someone listen, if they don’t want to…..

I guess the Firesign Theater had it right, when they claimed we are all Bozos on this Bus….. It’s too bad that only clowns and comedians are the ones who seem to know what is going on in the world, because nobody votes for the clowns…. Hmm…. maybe we could get some of the comedians to run for office?…. It’s worth a shot…..

“He who laughs, lasts.” — Mary Pettibone Poole

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In searching out the material for the above section, I came across this old poetry section, from a couple days after the above was posted…. It’s a good one, so, rather than waste a lot of time with something else, that may not be as good, here is one I know I, if nobody else, will enjoy…. You can try, though…. it’s not too shabby, if I do say so meself….

“Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.” — G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

This observation, fortunately, includes myself…. as will be seen by the following two poems of mine. The haiku was written during the poetry challenge earlier this year, in April; the other is from sometime in 2012…..

Haiku II

An inner light glows
shining out of open eyes;
madness or wisdom?

~~ gigoid ~~

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Raging at Aging

As old as you feel, we are told, is old as you are,
custom assures such vision will carry us far.
Reality begs to differ, may it be so bold
it is really quite painful, and very, very cold.

The power and strength felt in our halcyon youth
desert us with age, yet another unwelcome truth.
Irony rules our time here on this bountiful earth
as we reflect the changes over time since our birth.

As physical powers fade from this fragile shell,
we learn our mind can serve us quite as well.
The strength that once filled our bones and hearts
is now applied by our will, to more arcane arts.

Life’s greatest gift is our freedom of choice
no matter how often we forget, we still get a voice.
Energy, or apathy, by our will we may choose,
failing to do so, our only way to lose.

Each of us lives in the grip of time and space,
always seeking our balance, our own chosen place.
One must accept reality, for it is true at the core,
all we can do, is all we can do, and nothing more.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Hmm…. Perhaps it would be to my advantage to create old school pearls this way from now on…. Yesterday, in a moment of peace (pain level 4-5, golf ball quiescent, if present, no cramps, and my leg isn’t pounding the bass drum to Bolero….) I sat to compose a pearl for today’s post. I had no notion at all of what I might want, but, Smart Bee apparently has a direct connection to my unconscious mind, for the following pearls, in a different order you see here, all appeared in the space of about eight minutes. It took a couple of minutes to format them, then, shuffle them into the order that makes the most sense to me…. The following is the result, which seems to be a somewhat harsh, but fair assessment of my life and times thus far…. in a manner of speaking, one could say…. Enjoy, ffolkes, if naught else, it’s a nice little side trip….

“I often have long conversations all by myself, and I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word I am saying.” — Oscar Wilde

“He used to define justice as “a virtue of the soul distributing that which each person deserved.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Aristotle, xi

“Who is ever secure? Every one of us searches for security. We seek it from our family, from our friends, from our pets, from strangers and from “God.” Once in a while we experience it, only to discover that it was merely an illusion. And yet we never learn that security is an impossibility. For we are only human beings.” — Chen-It Ong

“To be innocent is to be not guilty; but to be virtuous is to overcome our evil inclinations.” — William Penn (1614-1718)

“Among what he called his precepts were such as these: Do not stir the fire with a sword. Do not sit down on a bushel. Do not devour thy heart.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Pythagoras, xvii

“1) You can’t win; 2) You can’t break even; 3) You can’t even quit the game.” — Ginsberg’s Theorems

“Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.” — Kahlil Gibran

Get it? Good…. it’s good practice, even if it won’t be on the Final Quiz….

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In the wonderful words of Hazim, the character in the movie Robin Hood, played my Morgan Freeman, “I have fulfilled my vow.” Plus, it’s done. That means I can go do something to try to mitigate the deleterious effects of my ongoing battle with the forces of CORPORATE EVIL, preferably something in the way of traveling to somewhere I’ve never been before…. Wherever I end up, I’ll have my computer, so, I’ll see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, for as long as civilization keeps producing electricity, and my hands allow me to type….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Use a little filigree for the nose….

Posted on January 17, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

A monk said to Joshu, “Your stone bridge is widely renowned, but coming here I find only a heap of rocks.”

Joshu said, “You see only the stones and not the bridge.”

The monk said, “What is the bridge?”

Joshu said, “What do you think we are walking on?”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

“Zensense: The Wisdom of Joshu”

Today’s picture, which seems to go so well with the entry from the Wisdom of Joshu, is, truthfully, one of my own, taken on a train trip in 2013, when I visited a friend in Oregon…. I took the picture though the train window, while crammed into my tiny little cubicle, laughingly referred to as a luxury compartment by the thieves who run the trains…. I know, the bitterness kind of takes away from the peace and tranquility implied in the photo…. Still, it came out rather well, don’t you think? I do, but, then, I do have some investment to say so….

All that aside. I like the koan from Smart Bee’s stash of the sayings of Joshu; the title, “Zensense, The Wisdom of Joshu” is my own fictional contribution, which I made up because I thought it was an appropriate word…. I may have coined the word ‘Zensense’, but, I’m not sure, and I’m not going to claim it without knowing for sure; it’s pretty neat, all in all, in more ways than one, a good word to describe the category of ideas we get from Zen koans, or other examples of Zen Buddhist philosophy…. and, it should make it much more convenient to talk about the category, just as if it were lumped into one of the concomitant categories, like Nonsense, or Common sense, etc…. Bonus!

Now I’ve established that, for what it was worth, (I’d guess about $2.95, retail, with a drop to $2.00 on EBay….), we can, legally, go on to our regularly scheduled nonsense. What do we have on tap for today? Your guess is, naturally, as good as mine; this process is fully randomized. I have little to no idea of where we’ll end up, until shortly after I begin writing.

Even then, it’s always a hit and miss issue, as to whether we end up anywhere worthwhile. I try to make it, at minimum, interesting, or funny, but, as with any human endeavor, I frequently fall short, often, spectacularly enough to make me question why I do this at all…. Fortunately, I also possess the quite human ability to deny reality at the drop of a cliche, so, it all works out in end…. or, somewhere near the end….

On that note, with visions of endings cluttering our viewscreen, I think we should probably get on with the business for which we came today…. Once I get the memo telling me what that might be, we’ll get right on it. In the meantime, I think we’ll take advantage of that little hole in the barrier I see just ahead, and dive into the unknown, unguessed future that awaits us in the pearl beds…. See, that one right over…. wait for it….. THERE! Dive, dive, dive…..

Shall we Pearl?

AGE, n. That period of life in which we compound for the vices that we still cherish by reviling those that we have no longer the enterprise to commit. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

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All the recent rants you’ve seen here on ECR in the last few days have been generally involved with calling out the lies our Beloved Ruling Class tells us on a daily basis. I try to be fairly light in my treatment, always including what I would term a joke of two, usually at the expense of one of the more vulnerable pundits, such as one of the Shrubs, or Tony Blair, or Dickless Cheney; you know, the assholes. Any who, I figured today, I would shoot for even more comedy, by going with the man who always did it best…. Here is someone’s compilation of his funniest work, all pointed in one direction…. Enjoy, ffolkes, George tells jokes, but, every damn one of them rings with the full volume of TRUTH….

The Best of George Carlin: Exposing our government and fall of humanity one joke at a time

http://youtu.be/6_zwB6GLpo4

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“Everything that deceives may be said to enchant.”

~~ Plato, The Republic ~~

Today, I plan to avoid any undue unkindness in my writing. Therefore, I’ve decided for today to NOT compose a fresh rant, as I am, oddly enough, not dubious about how it would turn out. Without going into too much, or, for that matter, any detail, allow me to say I’d either be arrested, or at minimum, receive my first hate mail, a fate I have somehow managed to avoid, in spite of publishing my email address for the entire web to find… I consider that to be merely a chance happenstance; it’s less depressing than to think I’ve never offended anyone… It’s also better than assuming nobody who isn’t already in the choir ever comes by to read what is here….

When I’m being truthful with myself, I admit to the probability of the latter being the correct case. But, right now, I’m lying to myself, and pretending it’s nice of me not to subject y’all to any of what is currently running through my head…. I am of the firm opinion, for the first time, better in than out….

That doesn’t mean I can’t at least make an indictment, if only by using the Metaphorse, that powerful tool of literary nature which saves us closet activists from complete obscurity…. Here, then, is an old-school pearl with a series of comments on our beloved ruling class, and the sham of a government we have inherited, thanks to the inattention of the general public, and the inhumanity of the oligarchs…. Enjoy!

“de-moc-ra-cy (di mok’ ra see) n. Three wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner.” — Smart Bee

“There is but one element of government, and that is THE PEOPLE. From this element spring all governments. “For a nation to be free, it is only necessary that she wills it.” For a nation to be slave, it is only necessary that she wills it.” — John Adams (1735-1826), Letter to John Taylor, 1814

“We lie about the truth, that’s what ruins us here. And do you know why we lie about the truth? Not because we like to, but because we are scared to death of it. If we looked the truth in the eye nine out of ten of us would run to the graveyard and demand to be buried at once.” — Babbaluche the cobbler

“Don’t ever tell anyone they ain’t free, ‘cos they’re gonna get real busy killin’ and maimin’ just to prove they are.” — Terry Southern (script for Easy Rider)

“If you attack Stupidity you attack an entrenched interest with friends in government and every walk of public life.” — Robertson Davies

“If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost.” — Aristotle

“I hope in the future Americans are thought of as a warlike, vicious people, because I bet a lot of high schools would pick “Americans” as their mascot.” — Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey

“During his 1956 presidential campaign, a woman called out to Adlai E. Stevenson “Senator, you have the vote of every thinking person!” Stevenson called back “That’s not enough, madam, we need a majority!” — Smart Bee

Oops! Did you see that? It seems one of the pearls included is NOT part of the indictment, but, rather, an expression of how it all got the way it did, in a fashion…. Can you guess which one of them gives us a clue to both the cause of our current state, and the way to correct it? I can, but, then, I did write it…. Feel free to leave your answer in the comments…. or not…. I’m betting most of y’all will ignore this part, and rush on to the poem…. but, I’m a cynic, so, what do I know?….

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Here is one of mine, from a couple of years ago, written soon after breaking my long hiatus; it’s a few thoughts and impressions about, as we call it around here, LAL, or, Life At Large….

Choosing a Theme

Powerful words playing hide and seek in my mind,
teasing with subtle cruelty, pretending to be kind.
Grand visions and flowery verses of beauty and truth
evaded my inner eye all through the days of my youth.

Affable interludes interspersed with allegorical wit
softened the crimes, against all reason, to finally acquit.
Time became at once an enemy, and an ally
Never once compelled to provide an answer why.

Giving gifts of simple kindness are their own pay,
spreading ripples of compassion are felt far and away.
Love given freely is precious, we are ever told,
increasing love received, more than a hundred fold.

Living long and with passion has centered my soul,
allowing me room, and time, to choose my own goal.
Now that I’ve gone past any need to pretend
I love everything in life, even knowing it will end.

~~ gigoid ~~

10/21/2012

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This pearl, for reasons unknown to modern science, or, for that matter, to me, is damn near perfect! Go figure….. Enjoy!….

Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,–
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
Another race the following spring supplies:
They fall successive, and successive rise.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ The Iliad of Homer, Book vi, Line 181 ~~

“As for life, it is a battle and a sojourning in a strange land; but the fame that comes after is oblivion.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ii, 17

“Let us be thankful for the fools; but for them the rest of us could not succeed.” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910)

“Life is full of little surprises” — Pandora

“After I’m dead I’d rather have people ask why I have no monument than why I have one.” — Cato the Elder (234-149 B.C.)

“In handling a stinging insect, move very slowly.” — Lazurus Long

“In his private heart no man much respects himself.” — Mark Twain

“Remember that man’s life lies all within this present, as ‘t were but a hair’s-breadth of time; as for the rest, the past is gone, the future yet unseen. Short, therefore, is man’s life, and narrow is the corner of the earth wherein he dwells.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iii, 10

Oh, sons of earth! attempt ye still to rise,
By mountains pil’d on mountains to the skies?
Heaven still with laughter the vain toil surveys,
And buries madmen in the heaps they raise.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

See? All in the wrist….

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Today’s Pearl is brought to you by…. the wonders of modern technology. Obviously. Since I don’t have any piece of whatever advertising you may see here, none of that part of it concerns us. All we know is what I write, which isn’t either predictable, or kosher, (hell, it’s barely classifiable at all….), though we do make it without any of the proscribed ingredients…. Well, okay, we don’t put any faith in there, but, all the rest of it is part of the recipe. We leave faith to those who require the panacea of its embrace…. Me, I’ll take my reason, and doubt, any day….

Which statement brings us, fortunately, to our closing for the day…. I hope you enjoyed today’s nonsense and angst; if not, well, just remember what you paid for it….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

With music playing in the background….

Posted on December 22, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“When Thales was asked what was difficult, he said, “To know one’s self.”

And what was easy, “To advise another.”

~~ Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Thales, ix ~~

I suppose bass ackwards is as good as our normal format. Due to the constraints placed upon me by the loss of function in my hands for much of the day, these Pearls have been going through a series of changes in how they are constructed….. The new technique involves a break, to rest my hands, or shoulder, or back, or hip, until it stops complaining, about every five to ten minutes…. Even now, as I type this, my left arm is growing numb, thus forcing an adjustment in content and structure….

From your viewpoint, this is probably a good thing, as it keeps my ranting to a minimum, thus shortening these Pearls by a significant margin. That’s okay by me, they’ve been growing too large for even my taste, and I’ve been looking for ways to cut it all back a bit…. I didn’t, however, think that would be accomplished by forcing me to experience enough pain to alter my habits…. So much for my vaunted intelligence, eh, what?….

Ah well, such is life, and it goes on, and on, and on, regardless of our reaction to it…. Whining about it won’t help, so, I’ll stop right here, resolving to, instead, jump right into today’s effort, just to see if there is any way to get it done in this frame of mind…. I’m all about new adventures, though I think I’d prefer a bit less pain involved in whatever happens…. just a personal preference, which, I’m sure, Murphy and his myrmidons will be happy to ignore….

That’s it…. that’s all I’ve got, ffolkes…. This, choppy and sparse as it may be, is all there is going to be in the intro today…. I’m giving in, after a fashion, to expediency, just like a well-trained consumer should do at this time of year, during the annual commercial frenzy held each year’s end to stimulate the economy, so all the corporate entities can start off the new year with a solid profit margin….

Yawn…. there he goes again…. Never mind, ffolkes, let’s get on with it, okay?….

Shall we Pearl?

“Don’t be confused by surfaces; in the depths everything becomes law. What is necessary, after all, is only this: solitude, vast inner solitude. Walk inside yourself and meet no one for hours–that is what you must be able to attain.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

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Today’s video offering is a lead-in for the rant to follow, in section three of today’s post. This will give y’all a solid batch of supporting evidence, as well as a taste of the proper attitude to assume when speaking of our beloved ruling classes, to wit: disdain, bordering on disgust….. At least George was able to make us laugh about it; I suppose it’s better than crying, which would be just as appropriate, under the circumstances….

GEORGE CARLIN – Upper Class Pays No Taxes

http://youtu.be/Ko35qhKnRXs

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“It seems a little silly now, but this country was founded as a protest against taxation.” — Smart Bee

This rant has been percolating for some time; the quotes you will see scattered throughout the text were collected over the course of several days, during Smart Bee sessions looking for other material to support different sections. These all had some connection to the same politireligirant, the same one I’ve been working on so long, my spell checker doesn’t even blink at the word any more….

The pertinence of the opening quote struck me with considerable force, as it coincided with receiving a bill from one of the huge corporate entities so familiar to us all today; the logo of this particular fake person closely resembles the Death Star, strangely enough, which is probably enough for you to identify it…. In this bill, I noted that the figures quoted to me, as pertaining to a service I ordered, had been inflated in the final tally by a number of taxes, from local, state, and federal agencies, none of which had been mentioned as part of the price…. This didn’t count the “surcharges”, or the mandatory “monthly equipment rental fee”, also added on to the price without mention.

I once read a blog post by another person which tallied up all the different taxes to which we, as American citizens, are required to pay at one time or another during our lives…. There were well over a HUNDRED taxes listed, such as Death taxes, (we get taxed for dying?….), Inheritance taxes, (a tax on the survivors of those who have died….), Sales taxes, Use taxes, from every level of government, and a host of others, some of which I’d never heard of, but, are on the books…. It’s astounding to see how we Americans have BECOME the very people our ancestors warned us against becoming, to wit: slaves of the corporations and churches….

“… men say the gods have a king because they themselves either are or were in ancient times under the rule of a king, For they imagine not only the form of the gods, but their ways of life to be like their own.” — Aristotle, Politics

Here we see, perhaps, part of the reason for the apathy most Americans display regarding the responsibility for governing their own lives; it is easier for them to just accept all the lies. Finding truth can be a difficult task, which most people learn to avoid early in life, thus giving control of those lives into the hands of any who will manipulate them…. Plus, there is a large percentage of our species who not only don’t like to think, but, spend a large portion of their time on this planet ensuring that nobody else does so, either….

“A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.” — Eric Hoffer

For the most part, though, people just don’t care, because they don’t have the time or energy to spare for anything other than the bare essentials of living; finding shelter, food, and companionship takes up 99% of their minds and attention, leaving little time to wonder about whether or not any of what they do is helpful, or will actually do anything to make their lives better…. So, they listen to anyone who will tell them what they want to hear, who will fulfill that need to have someone else do the worrying about the future…. This, of course, only gives the predators more control….

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

I’ve been pounding this point for a couple years now, with little effect, beyond the release I feel for getting it out of my head. That’s a big help to me, but, it isn’t having much of an effect on the overall picture, nor will it, until human nature itself undergoes some radical changes…. If I weren’t such a realist, I’d hold out some hope for that, but, quite frankly, I don’t see it happening….

I’ve run out of steam; the combination of futility plus pain plus dying hope makes any further comments I might relate completely superfluous…. not that they were ever critical in any sense…. other than in their essential truthfulness. But, this is already long enough, so, I’ll just dump y’all right here, and finish off the rant with a short set of pearls to drive the point home…. IF it strikes y’all, feel free to spread the point around… It can’t hurt, and it just might help. One never knows, do one?….

“Everybody in this room is wearing a uniform, so don’t kid yourself…’ — Frank Zappa

“A statesman is what politicians call themselves.” — Smart Bee

“No matter how often a lie is shown to be false, there will remain a percentage of people who believe it is true.” — Law of the Lie

“Will Rogers never met Rush Limbaugh.”– Smart Bee

“When you choose the lesser of two evils, always remember that it is still an evil.” — Max Lerner

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My life is light, waiting for the death wind,
Like a feather on the back of my hand.”

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

I’m not sure, but, it seems to me that I’ve seen more little phrases like this one, perfect in almost every way, with T.S. Eliot’s name appended to them, than I have seen from just about any other poet I know. It demonstrates the kind of beauty, power, and simplicity of expression I strive to achieve, whenever I open up one of my veins to allow a poem to leak out of my imagination…. Here is one wherein I came somewhat closer, than in most of what I write….

From August of 2012:

Dreaming, I wait…

In the most patient moments of rationality
kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,
fallow thoughts speed first from equality
to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.

Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law
shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,
intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,
falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.

Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,
it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,
foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,
alive, always eager, willing, and pale.

Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few
with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.
No solemn royal version may pass in review,
true love for man, never to remain unhidden.

Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,
calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,
With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,
swimming in the oceans of natural delight.

When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,
roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,
Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,
and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.

Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night
aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart
Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,
tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Life sure does seem like a crap game sometimes, doesn’t it? This pearl took almost an entire day of wrangling with SB, who, for some reason, has been reluctant to cooperate very much of late…. Ah well, it’s done, and came out fairly well…. Enjoy…. or not. Your choice, as always….

“We never reflect how pleasant it is to ask for nothing.” — Seneca

“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” — Socrates

“Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth. When perfect sincerity is expected, perfect freedom must be allowed; nor has anyone who is apt
to be angry when he hears the truth, any cause to wonder that he does not hear it.” — Tacitus

“Think of your ancestors and your posterity.” — Tacitus (54-119 AD) — Agricola, 32

“Believe me, a thousand friends suffice thee not; In a single enemy thou hast more than enough.” — Ali Ben Abi Taleb

“What is man’s chief enemy? Each man is his own.” — Anacharsis (f1. c. 600 B.C.), Scythian philosopher — Quoted in Stobaeus, Flor., II, 43

Ain’t no time to hate
— barely time to wait.
Whoa ho, what I want to know:
— where does the time go?

~~ Robert Hunter ~~

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

If I didn’t know better, I’d suspect myself of cheating…. Nonetheless, it’s done, and just in time for me to explode into inaction…. On that cryptic note, I shall leave you for another day…. According to the plan, as it now exists, I will see y’all tomorrow…. Keep in mind, however, what ‘they’ always say about the best laid plans…. Oh, boy, ffolkes, NOW I’m scared….

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

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Why, it’s homemade acorn brandy!….

Posted on December 20, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Illegitimus non carborundum!”

(Don’t let the bastards wear you down!)

~~ Latin for Everyday Occasions ~~

Sitka Slim, Singing in Ketchikan

‘Twas not so long ago, in cosmic terms, I could type for hours, without ever reaching a point where pain kept me from continuing…. The past few weeks, since the advent here in NorCal of an actual winter pattern of weather, have necessitated a new policy, to wit: I type until I can’t, about five minutes, max, then I must rest my hands for a while, in order to continue. It makes the composition process somewhat choppy, as I’m only able to discuss any particular idea for about one paragraph before taking a break…

As you may imagine, this is less than an optimum method of composing. It is, however, reality, and, thus, there’s no getting around it. So, I type, I rest, I type some more, all the while fighting off any drowsiness from the extra meds I take…. At this point, it will occur to you to ask WHY am I relating all this to y’all? The answer is simple…. it’s all I could think of…. again.

You see, I’ve been doing this so long now, I’m also running out of ideas for this intro (well, that actually happened long ago, but, the effect is getting worse all the time….), which makes each morning a new fight to find a way to open up with something that will draw readers in, not turn them away from the over-abundance of sharing of personal information, which nobody probably cares much about…. It’s gotten so bad, I’m not even trying to hide it behind nonsense, or ranting, as has been my habit in the past….

Ah well, I suppose there’s nothing that can be done about it; the conditions which have created the issue are not going away, so, it will manifest itself, no matter what I do…. In today’s case, we’ll just have to take what we have, and run with it…. not that we’ll be running far, as I can’t type for shit today…. These four paragraphs have taken five breaks, and over twenty minutes, and there is NOTHING in it…. SIGH….

So much for compelling literature for today…. I guess I’ll just have to try to make the rest of the Pearl somewhat more elegant, or, at the very least, somewhat more entertaining…. You’ll note I say that just as if it happened here regularly…. Nonetheless, I see we are now in reach of one of our escape routes, so, if y’all will kindly tighten up your belts, we’ll dive in for the day….. Hang on, ffolkes….

Shall we Pearl?

“Experience is one thing you can’t get for nothing.” — Oscar Wilde

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

Since I cannot type enough to rant, and, my mood is such that humor is well out of reach, here is a large bite of both, from the sharpest mind of the twentieth century…. (IMHO…) Enjoy!….

Geogre Carlin – It’s Bad For Ya – Full Comedy 2014

http://youtu.be/DvBszBw1iyk

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

Here is one of my most powerful rants, first posted in August of 2012…..

“If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.” — James Madison

The Anti-trafficking Movement Needs Survivor Voices: Why Are We Ignored?

From all I can tell from here, this has already happened. When? Why, the very day that the Two Towers were brought down by terrorists, using our own complacency as a weapon. Within hours of that event, politicians of all varieties were screaming for revenge, and the groundwork was laid for the true purpose behind those attacks….. That purpose had nothing to do with what the terrorists want. I am of the opinion that the entire charade was perpetrated by elements of the CIA, at the behest of their former chief, GWB the First. I’m sorry if that sounds unpatriotic, but I believe it to be true; if it is, it kinda makes them the bad guy, now, doesn’t it?…..

The timing of the attacks are what always bothered me. The day before, September 10th, you may recall, there was an effort to bring to light the voter suppression and vote manipulation in Florida during the election, which had the votes from that state changing from supporting Gore to being in favor of GWB the Junior. There was evidence of mischief in the handling of the votes, and the idea of an investigation into the election was gaining strength, as it should. But, that whole idea was forgotten in the heat of the moment when the terrorists struck….

Funny, isn’t it, how that event changed the face of American politics, putting the fear of “others” into the populace? That fire was immediately stoked until white hot, and the people were made afraid. Of precisely what was never made very clear, but we were supposed to be afraid, at least according to all our brave pundits in Washington. And what was the end result of all that hooraw? The Homeland Security Act, which was the first blatant, and successful attempt to abridge the civil rights guaranteed to us by the Bill of Rights.

Searches, seizures, snooping, all without warrant or cause, were made legal, and the rest of the Bill of Rights were restricted. The public not only did not object, they supported this abrogation of duty, all from the fear engendered on 9/11. The right to assemble in peaceful protest was severely restricted, and the forces of evil, in the guise of police, were given carte blanche to roust the citizenry of this country, without having to answer to anyone, even if they proved to be wrong. And did we hear any complaints from the public? None that were publicized….

Which brings us to the other culprits in this whole charade; the media. The media has jumped right onto the fear bandwagon, reporting the terrorist acts in the harshest, screaming headlines they could manage, whipping up the public’s fears with stories of horror and vicious inhumanity. Any voices that objected to the abridgment of rights, or questioned the reactions of the political pundits, were labeled as unpatriotic, and drowned out in the fear-mongering and public paroxysms of terror that blared from the papers and televisions.

“The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth.” — Edith Sitwell

People tend to forget that the media outlets are all owned by members of the 1%, and are not really interested in presenting unbiased, informational stories. Those don’t sell very well, and they don’t feed into the fear that the beloved ruling class wants the public to feel when they think of other countries. The pundits keep telling the public that the rest of the Third World is jealous, and are out to get us, and by their actions, they are making absolutely sure that is true. The media does NOT present a fair and unbiased version of ANYTHING, much less of the political scene, and people need to remember that…. Just because someone on TV, wearing a nice tie, an American flag pinned to the lapel of their $1000 suit, and an ingratiating smirk, tells you that someone from another country is evil, doesn’t make it so…..

The opinion I expressed above regarding who is actually responsible for the mess we are in is so far unchallenged by anyone with any direct evidence. But then, nobody wants to hear that they’ve been fooled again by the powers that be; it’s embarrassing, if one considers themselves to be a free man. to realize that they are actually an ignorant slave of the beloved ruling class. Most folks will pretend that they agree with whatever comes out of the mouths of the pundits, just so they don’t have to look at how stupid they are really being, and how far from reality they actually reside. Nobody likes to feel like a fool. But, to my way of thinking, I’d rather feel the fool, than feel my freedom slip away, all because some asshole in a suit decided his son needed some help to nail down his theft of the election….

“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.” — Oscar Wilde, “Oscariana”

So be it….. feel free to comment on this theory, should the urge strike…..

“It does no harm just once in a while to acknowledge that the whole country isn’t in flames, that there are people in the country besides politicians, entertainers, and criminals.” — Charles Kuralt

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

“A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow in the morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.”

~~ T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land ~~

There are times writing reveals itself as a daunting prospect, given the quality of what has already been written; the above excerpt from T.S. Eliot’s classic is a perfect demonstration of this principle. It takes a fair bit of ego, and some courage, to place one’s own work alongside such genius…. but, none of us here in the world of blogging would be doing this, unless we had a fair bit of ego in the first place, would we?…. Of course, it also takes a bit more than the average self-awareness, and honesty, to admit such, but, hey, if you’re going to play the game, it’s best to play by the rules…. or, so I’ve found, in my experience….

In spite of all that, here is a poem of my own…. I’m not comparing it with The Waste Land…. It just happens to be here, on a day when my powers of introspection are stronger than usual, enough so to force me into such brutal honesty…. Actually, it’s more like a bit of personal incentive, to push myself to connect more strongly with that spark inside, from which all poetry flows…. This one flowed out of me, from some vein or other, on the day I posted the rant in the section above; it is apparently a reaction to the rant…. It is also another poem I had missed in gathering my poems together, bringing the total to 81 poems in three years…. Not bad for an old fart with flat feet…. Enjoy!….

Premises, premises….

Tricked, I stumble, and I fall
dreaming, through an abandoned palace.
Frightened and wary, unheard my call
fading into memory, no cup, no argent chalice.

The people, crushed, cry out to be freed
asking only to take part, or travel.
Nascent oaths spotlight such bursting need
fed by treachery, deep from our well.

Only the wicked shall find their way blocked
justice seeks them, snug in their hole.
Faint praises never touched, but naked, stalked
singing no gospel, no soul, no rock and roll.

Only the promised will remember the way
from unforgiven trails of sorrow.
To live life, and give death no sway,
saving grace for our only tomorrow.

~~~ gigoid ~~

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

In recent times, Smart Bee has been acting funny, in the sense of repeating itself frequently, in spite of the depth and breadth of its database…. So, to gain some time, so as to tickle it back into a good mood, here is another old-school pearl from the archives…. In fact, it’s from the same post that produced another old-school pearl of great value…. It must have been a good day, relatively speaking…. Any who, here ’tis….

From 8/24/2012:

My search for pearls today keeps coming up with stuff more appropriate to the old style; nothing to rant about so far. But the following group of pearls does have a conclusion in mind, and for bonus points, you can tell me your thoughts on that in the comments section below…. good hunting!…. and don’t hurt yourself looking for the point; it won’t be on the quiz……

“I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” — Stephen Roberts

There is no ornament like virtue,
There is no misery like worry,
There is no protection like patience,
There is no friend equal to generosity.

~~ Nagarjuna (c. 100-200 A.D.) ~~

When an Agnostic dies, does he go to the Great Perhaps? — Smart Bee, in sardonic mode, tongue firmly planted in cheek….

The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise?
Then I said in my heart, that this is also vanity.
For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten.
And how dieth the wise man? As the fool. — Ecclesiastes 2:14-16

“Is this bullshit or fertilizer?”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

There you go….. hope you have as much fun with it as I did….. and, sorry, if my over-enthusiastic handling of the various parts has caused them to appear somewhat bedraggled…. they’ll fluff out in the sunshine….

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

I’ve probably used more shortcuts (also known as “cheating”, in some circles….) today than I’ve used in six previous Pearls…. which doesn’t concern y’all, at all…. I just thought I’d mention it, since we’re done, and there’s not going back now…. In fact, I’m not even going to proof today, just post it, and have faith…. Wait, that’s not right…. Okay, so, I’ll fulfill my duties…. Sheesh, a guy can’t even get lazy on his own blog…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I ever get done with this….

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

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Spam-tested for your protection….

Posted on December 1, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“What is food to one man may be fierce poison to others.”

~~ Lucretius (95-55 BC) — De Rerum Natura, iv, 637 ~~

The choice of whether to write about the opening quote, or the picture that comes below it, can be a true conundrum, one I generally ignore in favor of my own silliness, or the random blather that so often marks these introductions. Today, I will choose the picture, one of my own, because of the thought that occurred to me as I viewed it this morning….

That thought centered on the church in the picture, surrounded, as it is, by the seemingly limitless row houses, each with its complement of flats and apartments, and each of those filled with a number of low-income Irish folks, who probably work in or around the water, attending the church on Sunday. I am struck, each time I look at these pictures of Cobh, the port town near the city of Cork, in Ireland, at the sheer opulence of the church, as opposed to the shabby houses that dot the hills all around it…

It makes a perfect example of what is wrong in our world, a place where the minds and efforts of the general run of men are focused more on the rewards they expect in the next life, and not on the problems we have in this one…. It makes a perfect visual metaphor for how we continue to have the same issues dog us, year after year, century after century, while we insist there is nothing wrong at all. The Asininnies and the Dogma Dogs have the population of the Earth so bamboozled, they will believe almost anything told to them, if it has the proper provenance, and is uttered by a talking head, either at the podium in church, or on a TV with a national flag behind them….

Ah me, I’ve stumbled again, haven’t I? Ranting before my coffee has settled in my tummy…. With nary a joke, nor a helpful cliche to smooth the way, I’ve no doubt already driven half my potential readers to another blog, without ever getting out of the intro section…. I must be an idiot, which would put me right into the same category with everyone else in the world wouldn’t it? Oh well, at least we didn’t sustain any serious injuries (unless y’all aren’t sharing with us….), or, for that matter, leave a trail of body parts behind us…. not yet, anyway. Nor do we plan to do so, unless, of course, we can’t avoid it…. Sometimes, the sight of the vehicle can cause a bit of panic among the denizens, and they’ll riot, but, as long as we maintain altitude, it won’t bother us….

I’ve about gotten to the desired point; in fact, we’re here. Since we have become more ruthless in our approach to these intros, it has made it easier, mostly, to get us where we need to go…. Well, mostly it just keeps us from getting off the track so far, but, that helps, too. For now, it’s enough to know, and to say, here we are, so, please hang on, while we navigate this rather tricky turn, right around the herd of peacefully grazing metaphorical logic bombs…. A beautiful sight, eh, what?…. Oops, better duck, ffolkes, low bridge a’comin’!….

Shall we Pearl?

“But the only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.” — Arthur C. Clarke (1917- 2008) — Profiles of the Future (1962; rev. 1973) — “Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination”

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

Today’s video selection is another comic; this one is also a special kind of guy, like George Carlin. His approach is similar, but, entirely different, if you know what I mean…. If not, that’s okay. You’re gonna laugh anyway, because he’s funny as hell…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

Eddie Izzard – Dress to Kill

http://youtu.be/H8ItGMtTCuY

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

“Time has only a relative existence.” — Carlyle (1795-1881)

I’m afraid a fresh rant is out of the question today…. I spent most of yesterday, right up until arising today, buried in intermittent, damn-near=intolerable pain, mostly in my hands, and shoulder joints, with some help from the hips and lower back, just to keep it interesting for me, I guess… It pretty well shot the whole day, after posting in the morning, an event made more difficult by the pain, for sure…. The act of typing has become a struggle, to get my thoughts down on the screen, while nursing the fingers through the aching to get it done…. Not as easy to do as to say/type, trust me….

So, nothing fresh today, but, I have time, so I’ll try to find something not too long…. Ah, perfect…. ‘Tis not a rant, for sure. ‘Tis just an old-school pearl, actually a Pearl, taken whole from the post for the listed day….. This was the original format of the Pearls of Virtual Wisdom (they have gone through at least three format transformations over the three-plus years on this site…); what you see here was the entire post for the date…. It isn’t a rant but it’s not bad, and it takes up the appropriate amount of space and time…. so be it…

From 8/22/2011, entitled, “A Different Sort of Hermaphrodite“:

Ffolkes,

This is definitely a different sort….it floats. Of course if it didn’t we’d just have to find one, of fix one, that would show the same characteristics. It’s a dirty, lonely job, but, somebody has to hate it, so why not us? It’s not as if they aren’t paying us well, right?…..And if it was so bad we couldn’t take it, it would just fall to someone who didn’t know the right way to hold one. So let’s have no more nonsense; just get in there and grab it by the toe and start twisting…..right? Alrighty then…..

The foregoing was brought to you with support from a grant by a local drug dealer with delusions of adequacy. He’s trying to buy his way into respectable society; we don’t think he’ll ever be accepted, but that is no reason we can’t take his money, since we’re doing something about all the lost souls he creates. We turn them into body slaves for sick old men and women who have never been treated for their bipolar disorder. It’s just another public service that we don’t much talk about, because it’s embarrassing to have everyone fawning over us. People sometimes have no dignity…….

Okay, enough fooling around, let’s get down to some serious literature……well, I guess we would, if I could think of something serious. Somehow this morning my brain is refusing to wrap itself around anything too heavy; hence the above two short paragraphs of…….hmm, well of whatever they are. Can’t seem to come up with a description, which isn’t surprising; it’s pretty far out in left field. I suppose we should come in out of the cold now, so with no further ado, I give you today’s Pearls of Virtual Wisdom. Remember to wash up afterward…..

“I once wanted to save the world. Now I just want to leave the room with dignity.” — Lotus Weinstock (I can definitely relate…..)

“Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum — “I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“He who has a WHY to live for can bear with almost any HOW.” — F. Nietzsche

“Just as a cautious businessman avoids investing all his capital in one concern, so wisdom would probably admonish us also not to anticipate all our happiness from one quarter alone.” — Sigmund Freud

“Genius is not a possession of the limited few, but exists in some degree in everyone. Where there is natural growth, a full and free play of faculties, genius will manifest itself.” — Robert Henri

” — Bother!” said Pooh. “Eyeore, ready two photon torpedoes and lock phasers on the Heffalump; Piglet, meet me in transporter room three.” — Smart Bee

So, I’m going to end on that note, so I can head down to the transporter room to see them off. Y’all take care out there……

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

Once again, to avoid splashing on anyone else, here is one of my older poems…. Since it’s raining again today, we’ll go with this one…. It’s a bit early, since winter won’t officially begin for three more weeks, but, it’s appropriate to the day, and the way I feel about it…. or, hope to, at some point during the day….

An Old Man, Snoring….

Winter arrives with gusts of wind and rain,
clover spreads green amongst the hedges.
Urban gardens quiver, and dream of spring again,
gargoyles stoically crouch on corniced ledges.

Umbrellas sprout over heads shrouded and hatted,
dotting the sidewalks in colorful profusion.
Urban denizens pose sketches, framed and matted,
adding casual beauty to fill the illusion.

Hissing tires, swishing along with the wipers
join nature’s orchestra smoothly, as percussion.
Dripping gutters sound gong tones, true pipers,
a sudden roar of wind hushes all discussion.

Dreams of summer heat form the crux of desire
as winter chills our souls from without.
Sitting in warmth, gazing into an imaginary fire;
content to know spring will come, no doubt.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Sometimes, putting together a pearl of virtual wisdom becomes an exercise in patience, as well as a perfect real-time example of the old saw, that speaks of how the journey is often more illuminating, and/or satisfying, than the destination…. This took forfuckingever to get done; it’s fortunate that a) I’m retired, and b) I’m stubborn. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have come out as well as it did….

Of course, such a value judgments are perfectly useless, but, nonetheless remain inevitable; we’re all humans here, nothing of which we should be ashamed. In fact, that might just be a good summary of our destination today…. You tell me, if you feel you should; don’t let any subsequent guilt keep you from indulging yourself…. It’s all in good fun, right?…. Well, I’m having fun, so, y’all can do as you like… First, though, read this, and let yourself flow with it to its proper conclusion, whatever form that may take for you….

“To conduct great matters and never commit a fault is above the force of human nature.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Fabius

“Most people would rather give than get affection.” — Aristotle

“No man is rich enough to buy back his past.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

“What the meaning of human life may be I don’t know; I incline to suspect that it has none.” — H. L. Mencken

“Blessed are the forgetful: for they get the better even of their blunders.” — Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

FRIENDLESS, adj. Having no favors to bestow. Destitute of fortune. Addicted to utterance of truth and common sense. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“If possible, try to find a way to come downstairs that doesn’t involve going bump, bump, bump, on the back of your head.” — Pooh in Winnie the Pooh A.A. Milne, English author (1882-1956)

Well, there you go…. I don’t think I could have said it better myself…. But, then, how can one not admire a man who wrote both Winnie the Pooh, and the world’s first, and perhaps ultimately, best, murder mystery? (The Red House Mystery)…. He also was a playwright, and poet…. Gotta love those polymaths, eh?….

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

I think I’ll stop now; I don’t think I’ve got any more in me today. I will apologize in advance if I seem to disappear; I have a feeling I’ll be down and out much of the day, under the influence of copious quantities of pain relieving medicines…. SIGH…. Another day down the tubes, so to speak, though what the tubes may be, I haven’t a clue…. Ah well, that’s nothing new….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Bozoid personalities are natural fidgets….

Posted on November 27, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.”

~~ Buddha ~~

Today’s holiday, being celebrated here in the US of A, is one I’ve always enjoyed, and not merely for the traditional foods we eat to excess. I like the idea of celebrating those things in Life for which we are thankful. In this society, we tend to celebrate for all the wrong reasons, which, for the most part, involve avarice disguised as religious fervor, or nationalism, or to celebrate someone in our lives who should be thanked every day, rather than once a year (Mother’s Day, & Father’s Day, & Valentine’s Day come immediately to mind….). In fact, but, for TG, , and Christmas, when Christianity has usurped the month of December for its propagation of myth, all of the other holidays we celebrate were created by government decree, in months where the economy lags from lack of business….

Even this holiday is one where we see the beginning salvos in the Christmas shopping wars…. Hell, this year, not for the first time, they’re not even waiting until after Thanksgiving to begin the seasonal campaign for our dollars, inundating the TV world with commercials touting the latest popular gifts for the season, with Santa, the talking M&M’s, and Rudolph all making their initial TV appearances a full week before this holiday arrives. Four days ago, I saw the same M&M Christmas commercial as has been shown for 10 years running now, where two of the talking candies meet Santa, causing Santa and the green M to faint…. It’s cute, but, having seen it hundreds, perhaps thousands of times over the years, it’s become a bit scary….

Ah well, I’m up a bit late, and I don’t feel like ranting as yet, so, we’ll let the crass commercialism that marks this time of year go by without comment, for the time being…. I’m sure, before the actual arrival of the fated day, I’ll have a word or two to add to the public discussion on the season. I can feel it building up angst as I type this, so, it shouldn’t take long for it to boil over onto the screen… I’m kinda looking forward to it this year, what with all the other crap going on; it will provide a bit of relief from the same old crap being pulled by those who prey on society, to wit: the beloved ruling class and the dogma dogs….

I had my Thanksgiving meal with my kids last Saturday, so they can be with their Mom today, if they wish, or with their other extended families, so, I’ll be chilling out, & will perhaps catch a college football game or two, if any are on…. The professional games tend to bore me, of late, since they’re such a cash-cow for the owners; the game has become stilted and predictable…. Any more, I only watch the last couple of minutes of the pro games, as it is the only part that really matters…. College games, however, remain unpredictable, due to the effects of enthusiasm on the players, which can seriously affect a game’s outcome, as one team may display a degree of will power and expertise beyond their normal levels, because they are so pumped up with team spirit….

The rest of today’s Pearl may be either short, or taken from the archives to save time; I’m being slow today, and it’s getting late…. Ah well, it’ll all come out in the wash, and tomorrow’s another day, n’est pas? For today, I think we’ll do this….

Shall we Pearl?

“One would like to stroke and caress human beings, but one dares not do so, because they bite.” — Vladimir Lenin

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

It’s a day for comedy, I think, and, who better to combine humor and poking fun at society, than this man?…. The link provided will take you to a You Tube page where many more of his shows can be seen…. Enjoy, ffolkes, we’ll never see his like again….

George Carlin – National Press Club

http://youtu.be/Pc0ZHsoHAlE

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

“Heaven and earth were created all together in the same instant, on October 23rd, 4004 B.C. at nine o’clock in the morning.” — Dr. John Lightfoot, — Vice-chancellor of Cambridge University

I’ve seen this quote before, and always felt like it would be a great start for a rant against the dogma dogs, as it establishes, and pretty well, the sheer, deliberately obstinate refusal to use their own brain, such as they possess, by those who engage in religious zealotry. However, it’s a day to be thankful, rather than vituperative, so, I’ll pick a milder rant from the archives to fill in today…. We’ll get back to taking our shots at them in real-time in a day or two…. For now, here is one from the past, which will serve the purpose nicely….

From 3/6/2013:

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. {2} If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. {3} If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. {4} Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. {5} It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. {6} Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. {7} It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. {8} Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. {9} For we know in part and we prophesy in part, {10} but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. {11} When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. {12} Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. {13} And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” — 1 Corinthians 13 NIV

It is such a shame that the Bible has to be regarded as divinely inspired, in my mind. There are a number of passages in the various books by different authors that display a deep insight into human nature, and, like the one above, beautifully give to man words of such truth they can form the basis of one’s entire world-view. Insisting that such ideas are only possible to God, to me, isn’t realistic, nor is it true. I’ve known a number of people I would consider very wise, who have never even heard of the Christian God…. so, where does that fit into the picture?….

No, from what I can tell from reading it, most, or, okay, I’ll be fair, much, of what is written, most especially those parts intended as dogmatic proclamations, are more human in origin, obviously, than they are divinely inspired. The premises all favor the church over the individual, and submission of each individual to dogma is required of the faithful; that much is apparent in every statement that asserts God’s authority over Man as Creator. It’s obvious to me, anyway…. I could never figure out why God, who could make universes, needed me to fall down on my knees and humble myself….. What kind of sick thrill does he get from that? I know that anyone who acts in a subservient manner to me makes me uncomfortable, and feel like I want to kick them, and tell them to stand up and show some pride…. or at least some dignity….

Any who, in the Bible, there is all this good advice, and good ideas, like the one above…. but, in order to find them, one must wade through all the nonsensical stuff that the priestly hierarchies would have us believe is “written by the hand of God”…. Much more likely t’was the hand of Guido, or Antonio, I would think, at the insistence of assholes like Paul, and Peter, those evil men who barely waited until Jesus was underground to start perverting his teachings…. I’ll bet they were a bit surprised to have to wait until after he rose, and left again, before getting down to the business of altering texts, twisting meanings, and generally setting things up to suit themselves, all with the convenient authority he so trustingly gave them….

Not for nothing is it said that Jesus was an innocent…. He believed he could trust his disciples, forgetting entirely they are human, and will act out of self-interest FIRST, every time, when it comes to morality…. Hell, soon after he died, all twelve of the disciples went their own ways, and began the task of creating the thousand and one different sects based on the teachings of Christ that exist today…. or at least, setting the stage for their creation…. There WERE only twelve of them to start with…. Even with that, it takes a while to split it all up to the point we now see today, with thousands of separate churches, all based on one or another of the basic core principles Jesus left behind as legacy, and all interpreted through the lenses of each person’s glasses, colored in self-interest….

Ah well, at least if one has the patience to look, some good things can be found in the Bible…. I just wish that people would learn not to take it so seriously… because, I’m sorry to have to tell them this, but, God doesn’t publish books, nor does He (as I understand the concept of Him….) use ghost writers….. In fact, I should think that, if such an entity had something to tell us, He might make it pretty obvious where the message came from, and what it meant…. otherwise, what would be the point? If nothing else, I would expect a God to be, at minimum, logical…..

Okay, I’m done….

“Due to intense mind fog all thoughts have been grounded.” — Smart Bee

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Once more, I’m reduced to using my own poetry; time constraints, don’t y’know?….

A Dubiously Soft Morning

Idiosyncratic images, clamoring for regard,
fill up the white, white screen on which I view
my life, never seeing, nor invited to sup
ambrosial remnants of anything new.

Still, yet almost in motion, allegory sails away
bobbing gently, quick and easy to find,
signs of one happy child, seriously at play,
blissfully immersed, focused joy in mind.

Formidable cries of outraged simple justice
echo plaintive relevance, in half the time.
Maladaptive infants, destined for hospice
salvage an only child, daring to sing in rhyme.

Creativity equals unquestioning farce,
often reaching for absurdity, brazenly afire.
Instead, a blow is felt that no joy will soften,
accepting the price, added to the cost of desire.

~~ gigoid ~~

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I’m still late, even with using all the short-cuts I could make or find, but, we’ve made up a little bit of time, so, let’s see if SB can fill in the rest of today’s effort with some fresh pearls for our perusal….

“Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.” — Lauren Bacall

“Were it possible for us to see further than our knowledge reaches, and yet a little way beyond the outworks of our divination, perhaps we would then endure our sorrows with greater confidence than our joys. For they are the moments when something new has entered us, something unknown; our feelings grow mute in shy perplexity, everything in us withdraws, a stillness comes, and the new, which no one knows, stands in the midst of it and is silent.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

“It is not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that make horseraces.” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), from Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar(1894)

“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.” — Helen Keller

“All kings is mostly rapscallions.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“A great many people mistake opinions for thoughts.”– Herbert Prochnow

“Do not turn back when you are just at the goal.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 580

Not too shabby, not too shabby at all, methinks. It can stay, even if it IS a bit vague; that will just make y’all think harder about it….

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Okay, I did it, in spite of my own lack of organization today; just lucky, I guess…. So lucky, I’m going to take the advice of my lawyers, and stop talking now…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as no charges get filed before then….

Oh, by the way…. Today’s PATT (picture at the top, of course…) is internally attributed; look closely at the right lower corner to see the photographer’s name; I found it on the London Daily Telegraph, a great example of good timing, with a meteor, the Big Dipper, and Northern Lights in the same photo…. Ta, then, luvs…..

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

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Ten superlative reasons to cease and desist….

Posted on November 4, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Be not diverted from your duty by any idle reflections the silly world may make upon you,

for their censures are not in your power,

and consequently should not be any part of your concern.”

~~ Epictetus ~~

A Moon of Saturn Throws Its Shadow on the Great Red Spot

Life’s a funny business, isn’t it? We humans have a cultural icon, whom we have named Murphy. This force of nature, representing the power of Entropy in our lives, is common to all cultures on our planet, as a result of our perceptions, which are based on the the principle of the symmetrical balance of force that exists throughout reality; in short, everything exists as part of a universe in which every action has a reaction, every dark a light, every down an up, every yes a no. Our very organs of perception are designed to notice those differences in the substances we perceive, to give us information from the surrounding environs which will enable us to survive…. That is the intent, anyway….

Bit, given the power of stupidity that rules most people’s lives, most of them not only never realize how their senses work… much less what their perceptions MEAN. They also haven’t a clue as to what that might MEAN to them, in a larger sense, as applied to how their own actions affect that universe in which we all reside. This lack of understanding leads to a number of issues that have conspired to delay human advancement over the centuries, especially in terms of the development of the human mind, and cultural advancement…. In truth, we haven’t really gone too far from our origins, as savages, huddling in the cold around a fire we found by accident…

Truth be told, most of the people alive today would be perfectly comfortable living in a cave, with a fire for light and heat, wearing the skins of dead animals to cover them in the cold; those same people are uncomfortable living in today’s world, which asks them to actually USE their brain, rather than just following along behind it, scratching their ass and mumbling about being late for dinner…. Emotionally, we react to the world much the same as those cave dwellers, becoming angry to cover our fear, living with superstitions and delusions as to how the big, scary world out there is so incomprehensible…. So, we make up these supernatural entities who are responsible for all that stuff, and we don’t have to think about it….

I am NOT ranting. I’m not. It may SOUND as if I am, but, let me assure you, I am not…. That will come later, in section two…. I am laying out a premise, which, if reflected upon for a time, can be of use to us…. You don’t have to take it, and put it to use, but, it CAN help in dealing with others, to understand that, most of the people you meet in the world are clueless, and afraid, all the time… They don’t understand why they have to work so hard, just to get by, and never really get anywhere…. They don’t understand the stuff going on around them, so, TV becomes their source for all their opinions, or thoughts of any kind beyond what comprises their next meal…

You may think this discussion shows me as one who does not like people much; in that you’d be perfectly wrong. I love everyone; I also realize most of them don’t have the wit to understand much of what is happening in the world; what is more, some of them are plainly assholes. Those two groups generally end up in conflict, as the assholes try to take all the others have, and push them around unmercifully, while the group being bullied isn’t even aware they are operating in a Stygian darkness, out of which they will never climb to see the light…..

Ah well, that’s life, as they say…. I’m not sure just WHO says it, but, I’ve heard it said, so, that will have to do…. I see I’ve managed to wander around in my own head long enough to call this an intro, so, I’m going to take the money and run…. (What money? Oh, ffolkes, do I really have to explain?…. Sheesh….) Any who, I’d suggest you grab the closest stanchion, or other method of securing your position, because we’re going in, and it could get bumpy….

Shall we Pearl?

“I reject that philosophy. The impossible often has a kind of integrity which the merely improbable lacks.” — Douglas Adams through Dirk Gently

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Today, or, rather, yesterday, while working ahead on this Pearl, I was feeling a bit curmudgeonly, with a side of sardonicism…. hence, the rant you see below, about the current circus on the public stage around the Ebola virus outbreak…. To counter the sobriety of the piece, while simultaneously providing supportive argumentation for the rant, here is a video that should bring a smile to your face…. Well, unless you have no sense of humor at all, it will…. Plus, if you aren’t careful, this guy will also make you think….

The Best of George Carlin: Exposing our government and fall of humanity one joke at a time

http://youtu.be/6_zwB6GLpo4

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“Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.”

~~ from The Notebooks of Lazarus Long ~~

http://time.com/3554336/ebola-poll-quarantine-health-workers/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Ftopstories+%28TIME%3A+Top+Stories%29

The article I wish you to read today, which you may find by following the above link, concerns a poll taken regarding the subject of the Ebola virus, and its visible effects on the American psyche…. Quite simply, I was surprised, nay, astounded beyond belief, at the quantity of SHEER FUCKING STUPIDITY displayed by the American public in this poll… Seven out of ten IDIOTS in this country believe that healthcare workers should have their rights taken away, just because they had the compassion to go to Africa, to help protect THOSE SAME FUCKING IDIOTS from the disease, by treating it there….

As a reward for their compassion, patriotism, and selflessness, seventy-one percent of the Americans polled thought it was okay to confine the workers in quarantine for 21 days, EVEN IF THEY WERE TESTED, AND WERE NOT CARRYING THE VIRUS! This number clearly indicates how the average American mistrusts science, (because they refuse to spend the energy to understand any of it….), and will do, or agree to ANYTHING, no matter how it affects anyone else, in order to feel safe behind the massive wall of their ignorance….

“In our civilization, and under our republican form of government, intelligence is so highly honored that it is rewarded by exemption from the cares of office.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

The dreaded sea-change, so feared by our founding fathers, has happened…. The American public has been brainwashed to a degree where they will surrender every right they used to have, if only they don’t have to think, or take responsibility for the consequences of their STUPIDITY!

“Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one. Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise.” — Tom Paine

The Ebola virus, as I have determined (How? Oh, it wasn’t hard; there is a shitload of information already on file on the ‘Net….), by the evidence we have, is no more dangerous to us than is the virus that causes the common cold, or the yearly flu strains we all are encouraged to be afraid of….as if it were someone else’s planet we live on…. Sure, it’s a nasty little bug, and, it can kill, but, so can a cold, or the flu, if not treated, and allowed to take over the body’s systems, to its detriment…. But, with treatment, the victim has a very good chance of survival, as medical technology has advanced to a point where most people, no matter how ill they become with a viral or bacterial disease, can at least be supported enough to be able to survive, if uncomfortably during the course of the treatment….

But, comparing the number of people who catch it, and those who die, reveals a mortality rate no more disturbing than that of those who have contracted the AIDS virus… which we have learned to fight to a draw in many cases, with hope for future breakthroughs in treatment. This Ebola virus is made more dangerous than it actually is by the reaction of the political leaders of the “civilized” world, who look at the issue as a tool to use to solidify their hold on power, a perfect opportunity for Public Relations posturing; by the media, who use the issue to sell more papers & ads; and by the public, who are too stupid to investigate on their own, allowing the government and media flunkies to blow their fears completely out of proportion, so they can more easily be manipulated…

“How come you never see a politician laugh? Because they know what they’re getting away with, and if they started laughing, they’d never stop.” — Smart Bee

I was extremely proud of that nurse, Kaci Hickox, who has so courageously flipped the finger to all of those stupid people who would, if they could, turn her into another victim, this time at the hands of HER OWN PEOPLE…. The very people for whom she braved the wilds of Africa, to fight their battles at the front line of defense…. For this, that stupid lot of bloody gits turns on her, taking her rights, and trying to make her the victim of their fears and ignorance…. Good on her!….

That’s enough; y’all get the point…. Don’t listen to the idiots, ffolkes…. Let the doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals deal with it, and tell the Beloved Ruling Class, the Preachers, Priests, Imams, and all the other Asininnies who would live their lives in the darkness, if only they can feel safe and protected, without the need to think, or show courage, or, live with any dignity….. well, just tell them to go fuck themselves, hard, in the most inconvenient orifice they possess…. No lubricants allowed….

Now I’ve been vulgar, it must be time to draw to a close…. I’ll leave you with this final thought, with the caveat that you use it as intended….

“Whatever you would make habitual, practice it; and if you would not make a thing habitual, do not practice it, but habituate yourself to something else.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — How the Semblances of Things are to be combated, — Discourses, Book ii, Chap. xviii

Obviously, too many people assumed Epictetus was speaking of “thinking”, and decided to habituate themselves to something else…. In which case, they would do well to remember the following, and apply it, instead, to their approach….

Step with care and great tact
And remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

~~ Dr. Suess, Oh, the Places You’ll Go ~~

In short….THINK!

So be it….

gigoid has spoken.

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It’s an Emily day….. In fact, let’s do double-duty; they’re small…. at least, if all one considers is the number of words…. The images and ideas thereby produced can hardly be judged by the same standard….

Delight becomes pictorial
When viewed through pain,–
More fair, because impossible
That any gain.

The mountain at a given distance
In amber lies;
Approached, the amber flits a little,–
And that’s the skies!

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~
—————————————————————-

I died for beauty but was scarce
Adjusted in the tomb,
When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room.

He questioned softly why I failed?
“For beauty,” I replied.
“And I for truth,–the two are one;
We brethren are,” he said.

And so, as kinsmen met a night,
We talked between the rooms,
Until the moss had reached our lips,
And covered up our names.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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Today’s fresh, old-school pearl was compiled mostly by Smart Bee…. I am a bit distracted, all in all, (no, I don’t know why, and don’t have the time or inclination to worry about it right now….), but, I think it came out okay, as long as one has a healthy tolerance for nonsense, and/or, implied sardonicism…. That may be so because, for the most part, they are comments about common human behaviors, to some degree… In any case, I should think that virtually anyone can find a chuckle or two in the grouping, and, if lucky, possibly even a chortle….

Col Mustard: “How many husbands have you had?”
Mrs White: “Mine, or others?”

— Clue —

Apparently heard at a public lecture by the famous C. Northcote Parkinson at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras: Government’s handling of a difficult matter by appointing a Commission of Enquiry is just like a person going to the toilet — there is a sitting, a report, and then the matter is dropped. — Smart Bee

“I was born by Caesarian section…but not so you’d notice. It’s just that when I leave a house, I go out through the window.” — Steven Wright

“If you use a waffle iron for a pillow, be sure it is unplugged.” — Gary Owens

“Any man, in the right situation, is capable of murder. But not any man is capable of being a good camper. So, murder and camping are not as similar as you might think.” — Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey

“I love to go down to the schoolyard and watch all the little children jump up and down and run around yelling and screaming…They don’t know I’m only using blanks.” — Emo Phillips

Worth makes the man, and want of it the fellow;
The rest is all but leather or prunello.

~~- Alexander Pope — Essay on Man, Epistle iv, Line 203 ~~

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For a morning rife with reasons for things to go badly, today’s effort went well…. I guess that’s karma in action for ya; one never knows how one’s karmic balance stands, do one? Sometimes, I think it’s a bit difficult, because it never seems to match my figures…. I suppose that means that our karma is like a checkbook…. hard to keep in balance…. On that singularly silly note, I’m outta here…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

It’s only a bastardized version; there’s no glaze….

Posted on October 28, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Time is like money; the less we have of it to spare, the further we make it go.”

~~ Josh Billings ~~

I love this picture; I don’t think I even need to say why, as it’s pretty self-explanatory. It was taken from the London Daily Telegraph, from their Animal Pictures of the Week feature last week. They always post a lot of good pix, so, what the hell? It gets us started right?….. Right….

That said, I had a long day yesterday, with more exercise than I am used to; my plan to diet and exercise more is going pretty well. It did, however, leave me rather tired and sore today, meaning I’ll need to go walk off the stiffness, so it conditions the muscles, rather than just collapsing, and letting the good I managed go to waste…. What that means for y’all is a shorter Pearl, and less wandering blather here in the intro section….

In fact, I am going to employ my newly developed ruthlessness in this regard, and send us on to the next section without further delay. Look, see? There is our opening, right there…. Hold on, ffolkes….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Imagination creates reality.” — (Wilhelm) Richard Wagner

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

Picture: Colonists on Mars, from Space.com’s article on the company proposing to colonize Mars by 2026. Artist’s rendition.

“The challenge of space exploration and particularly of landing men on the moon represents the greatest challenge which has ever faced the human race. Even if there were no clear scientific or other arguments for proceeding with this task, the whole history of our civilization would still impel men toward the goal. In fact, the assembly of the scientific and military with these human arguments creates such an overwhelming case that in can be ignored only by those who are blind to the teachings of history, or who wish to suspend the development of civilization at its moment of greatest opportunity and drama.” — Sir Bernard Lovell, 1962, in “The History of Manned Space Flight”

A very astute observation; if it not for other factors, apparently unseen, or, perhaps, uncredited, by Sir Bernard, this would be true…. He forgets to mention, however, that, even should we accept the challenge of achieving manned space flight in the near future, it will have to be made on an emergency basis, with us being FORCED to retreat into space, because we have made this planet unlivable for any species with our physical requirements for life. If we DON’T make it into space, there is a very good chance we won’t survive, as a species, at all….

I have come to the conclusion lately that we have little hope of saving this planet; if we wish to survive as a species, space is our destiny. I am thinking that this whole environmental crisis that has evolved may just be a stimulus, an unconsciously directed push, by our species’ gestalt, to get us to grow the fuck up, and start doing what we were always meant to do; our real destiny lies in travelling to the stars…. The first step toward achieving that destiny is to colonize this solar system, thus removing extinction from our menu of choices, should we fail to save the planet from our foolishness over the past 5000 years….

Here then, for today’s video, an educational video from NASA, a look at this beautiful home of ours, from space…. Think of this as pictures from Home, as we travel the wormholes to the stars…. Provided,of courser, we can stop killing ourselves long enough to build the ships we need….

NASA | Vital Signs: Taking the Pulse of Our Planet

http://youtu.be/mrnBdcdM4UM

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I’m going to be a nice guy again; it’s not natural, I know, and doesn’t fit with the image I generally try to create, but, I’ve been ranting so much, I figure y’all could use a break….. However, in keeping with the spirit of this section, today’s ranting will be provided, free of charge, by the world’s current most influential comic/social commentator, one Russell Brand, a self-made intellectual and societal critic, a self-styled revolutionary who has recently called for a world-wide revolution against our corporate masters….

The video I’ve embedded today will show you a good example of his style, and the link I’ve put in will connect you to Mr. Brand’s own You Tube page, where he posts a video almost daily, commenting, in his unique style, on the daily events of note around the world…. I enjoy the hell out of him; from all I can tell, most of what he says, minus the hyperbole, is pretty right on…. See for yourself, ffolkes…, and, enjoy, please…. perhaps tomorrow, you’ll find another of my rants here, depending, of course, upon my mood at the time… See ya…

Russell Brand Destroys MSNBC Talk Show Host – Discusses Bradley Manning And Edward Snowden

http://youtu.be/ynUjo99Gzbk

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Here is a poem of mine; it is here simply because I haven’t been out of town farther than about 35 miles for almost a year now; I’m getting restless to be on the road…. When I do get there, one of the places I intend to go first lies to the east, across the big pond we call the Atlantic Ocean, a beautiful green island, which one may trip over on the way to London…. I speak, of course, of the home of a large number of my ancestors, the Emerald Isle…. It isn’t my best effort, but, is one of my favorites, because it’s also my most sincere pieces, for certain….

Days and Nights of Eire

Comforting, a dream creeps oft into my mind
On the elven hills of Eire lives the vision I find.
Elegant, gracious, everlastingly draped in beauty
Just payment of simple homage lives as joyous duty.

Fairies and druids walk abroad in ghostly parade
Gracing each hearth with its own welcoming shade.
Castles and heroes yet live in tale and song
Proving love for the land in each heart strong.

From cold of winter into glorious young spring
Brown, and gray, to emerald green songs to sing
Soft rains always follow winter’s great tempest
Eire dons its emerald coat from east to west.

Old and strong, connections call out in dreams
Nothing that was known remains as it seems.
Immersion in ancient runes and battle hymns
Offering sanity in place of grievous whims.

Time and place can tell a much different tale
Judgment should never be a final sale.
Yet something solid and real calls me to go see
Where dreams of loving beauty may actually be….

~~ gigoid ~~

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

This is a very special pearl, ffolkes…. I had collected a few of the included pearls before beginning this morning, but, when I sat to complete it, Smart Bee came up with the remainder in under one minute, possibly a new record, with only one rejected offering…. It is one of the finest indictments of the political AND religious beasts I’ve ever seen, bracketed with comments on human nature which explain/justify the others…. Solidly, it kicks them right in the ass, with sufficient force to drive their assholes right up onto their face…. Enjoy! I sure did…..

“Liberals, in that they are required to love entire groups, lose their rights to hate individuals within those groups. Racists, in that they are required to hate entire groups, lose their rights to love individuals within the groups they have to hate. I am neither a liberal or a racist and reserve the right to call a son of a bitch a son of a bitch regardless of race, creed or color, one son of a bitch at a time.” — Smart Bee (Google says so….)

“I’m completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.” — George Carlin

“God created sex. Priests created marriage.” — Voltaire

“Any government will work if authority and responsibility are equal and coordinate. This does not insure “good” government; it simply insures that it will work. But such governments are rare–most people want to run things but want no part of the blame. This used to be called the “backseat-driver syndrome.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

Do you know Presidents talk to the country the way men talk to women? They say, Trust me, go all the way with me, and everything will be all right. And what happens? Nine months later, you’re in trouble!” — Murphy’s Discovery

“Bourgeois morality is largely a system of making cheap virtues a cloak for expensive vices.” — George Bernard Shaw

:Whoever invented the eraser had the human race pretty well sized up.” — Smart Bee

See? If there were any politicians in the room, they would be bleeding from a dozen wounds….

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

Rather than tempt Fate any further, I’m going to do a quick proof, then get this posted, before Murphy wakes up…. I’ll see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, provided we are all still here…..

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

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

gigoid

Ned Moore, aka gigoid, is a 70 year-old, (!!!… When did that happen?….), retired dilettante, who would rather read than eat, most days. His first blog, "gigoid’s folly", has been emailed out to folks he knows for about 18 years now. He still considers it his best defense against angst, and the ever-present specter of sheer insanity..... Due to rigorous curmudgeon training requirements, he has discontinued his Facebook presence, but still indulges in the occasional Twitter session... In essence, he's socialized, but, not overly sociable; all labels and stereotypes are forbidden in his presence... and he doesn't care what anyone thinks about that..... In fact, he doesn't want to talk anymore.... If you feel you MUST contact gigoid, his email address is: alphagigoid@gmail.com You can go read now.... Go on, beat it.... gigoid, the dubious

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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: George Carlin

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