Tag Archives: George Washington

The full gamut, from ho to hum….

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Ffolkes,

Yesterday, I dropped out…. I’ve been considering this for some time, especially so since the revelations by Mr. Snowden that proved the government hasn’t merely been spying on terrorists, but on its own citizens. After these insights were brought to light, several of the social media and large tech companies like Google,Twitter, Facebook, and others, revealed that the government had also forced them to release data about their users, including those of American citizens…. which includes me….

This information, naturally, concerns me, and, as an American citizen, disturbs me greatly; to think that my own government, founded upon the principles of freedom, and the right to be secure in my home, EVEN FROM THAT GOVERNMENT, is spying on me for no good reason, other than their own paranoia and ambitious avarice, is completely, unequivocally unacceptable….

As a firm critic of those policies of internal spying, and of the people who engage in that form of domestic terrorism on their own countrymen, I found myself even more concerned by what was revealed in the process of public discussion…. Facebook, in particular, has been gathering data about me ever since I first signed up for it, and has now given all that data, on me and every other user, to the NSA, which means it is now in the possession of every branch of the clandestine world, as, for a spy agency, those idiots in the NSA don’t seem to be very good at keeping their mouths shut…..

These criminals ( Yes, criminals…. they’re denying my Constitutional rights…. ) got stuff from Facebook about my likes, dislikes, as well as information about all of my friends (fortunately, I never did use it heavily, so I only had about 115 of them…. hmm…. I’m reminded of Aristotle, I believe, who said something about “a friend to all is a friend to none”, or something like that…)

Any who, to make an already too-long story shorter, I deactivated my FB account yesterday…. I hadn’t been using it a lot for quite a while anyway, since I didn’t want to give Facebook any more data on me than was absolutely necessary, and I never was real comfortable with having my ENTIRE life online…. I give up enough to write this blog each day, and there was no need to post my every act on Facebook for the entire world to see…. Oh, you ask, what about the Privacy Settings they use? Well, honey, if you believe everything you read online, especially about privacy policies, then have I got some deals for you…. cash only, please, no checks….

I may lose even more readers (???) over this, though, right now, I don’t see how that is possible, as I’m down as far as I’ve ever seen it in two-plus-years, as far as I can tell. But, I don’t care… I don’t intend to make it any easier for the assholes in the NSA, or the FBI, or any other police or government agency to gather data about me…. I use the most secure protocols I can, and I try to limit my traffic online to what is needed, and not give away too much of it without some kind of payoff for me…. However, I’m well aware of how easy it is for anyone with minimal skills to hack around on the internet for data, mining it for whatever they can that will turn a profit…. It only makes good sense these days to keep one’s online presence to a minimum, as far as possible, so as not to make it too easy for them….

In truth, I feel a greater feeling of relief than of any regret at leaving Facebook; I’m not sanguine about the fact that they already have more information on me than is comfortable, and I don’t really believe, or expect, them to destroy it…. Information is, of course, their business…. But, I’m not giving them any more of it for free; if they want it, they’ll have to get it here, or do without…. I hope. And, hopefully, it will throw a small wrench into the works for the assholes who try to steal it for the Beloved Ruling Class, and their corporate masters….

Shall we Pearl?…..

Scott: “Shut the deuterium from the main cryo pump to the auxiliary tank.”
LaForge: “The tank can’t withstand that kind of pressure.”
Scott: “Where’d you get that idea?!”
LaForge: “What do you where’d I get that idea?  It’s in the impulse engine specifications.”
Scott: “Regulation 42/15?  Pressure variances on the IRC Tank storage?”
LaForge: “Yeah!”
Scott: “Forget it.  I wrote it.  A good engineer is always a *wee* bit conservative, at least on paper.”

— “Relics”, Stardate Unknown

Or, as my dad taught me, and I taught my son, “Two ideas can be considered essential knowledge….. First, remember that just because I taught you all you know, I didn’t necessarily teach you all I  know; never show all your cards until the bet is called….. Second, always cut the cards….”
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I’m pretty certain that I could build a relatively decent rant today, but, I didn’t sleep well, and don’t think my mind is quite stable enough for that…. I was up and down all night long, unable to doze off…. only got about 1 or 2 solid hours of sleep, and that not deeply…. I am certainly in the right kind of mood for one, and intend to take out some of my angst and frustration on some innocent shopkeepers later on, but, for now, I think I’d best stick to an old-school version, to avoid the pitfalls of trying to sound reasonable when feeling rather vicious…. I might say something I’d regret later….. (Though I don’t know how I could think that, given what I’ve already said in this blog in the past….. I mean, how many blogs have you read recently that accused all three branches of the government of high treason?…. )

For now, though, unless something occurs to me that breaks through my initial reluctance, we’ll go with this…. a directed pearl, looking for ways to poke fun, even derisive fun, at the BRC, their corporate masters, and their myrmidons, the courts, churches, police, and armed forces…. may they all suffer from painful warts on their private parts!….

Words are like leaves; and where they most abound,
Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Criticism, Part ii, Line 109

“History is never written by the losers.” — Smart Bee

“If peace… only had the music and pageantry of war, there’d be no more wars.” — Sophie Kerr

“A bureaucrat is a Democrat who holds some office that a Republican wants.” — Alben W. Barkley

“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master.  Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.” — George Washington

“Grow your own dope. Plant a politician”– Smart Bee

“The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.” — M. Gandhi

I think this is a fine group of pearls, if a bit esoteric for some; it’s the best I can do when I’m so angry at them (the politicians, et al, not the pearls….)
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When I am in a mood such as this, with not a single good thought to be found anywhere in my mind, I turn to the classic poets, allowing the beauty of it bring me back into a more affable state of mind…. because it ALWAYS works….

A Faery Song

{Sung by the people of Faery over Diarmuid and Grania, in their bridal sleep under a Cromlech.}

WE who are old, old and gay,
O so old!
Thousands of years, thousands of years,
If all were told:
Give to these children, new from the world,
Silence and love;
And the long dew-dropping hours of the night,
And the stars above:
Give to these children, new from the world,
Rest far from men.
Is anything better, anything better?
Tell us it then:
Us who are old, old and gay,
O so old!
Thousands of years, thousands of years,
If all were told.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

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I’m breathing hard, but nowhere near the finish line…. Ranting is still out of the question, even though I took a break to go read the headlines…. I’m more pissed of than ever, but, still don’t have the mental energy, after two hours of sleep, to do justice to a rant of that import…. Y’all know what THAT means, don’t you? Don’t tell me that you haven’t figured out by now that in these cases, I ALWAYS retreat to my default position? Please, please, don’t tell me that….. But, in case you do, here is the answer to the implied question….

“What happens to your fist when you open your hand?” — Zen Buddhism

“If it were possible to heal sorrow by weeping and to raise the dead with tears, gold were less prized than grief.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Scyrii, Frag. 510

“Everything has been figured out, except how to live.” — Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

“A desire not to butt into other people’s business is at least eighty percent of all human wisdom… and the other twenty percent isn’t very important.”
“You butt into other people’s business.  All the time.”
“Who said I was wise?  I’m a professional bad example.  You can learn a lot by watching me.”

— Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein

“Je me presse de rire de tout, de peur d’etre oblige de’en pleurer.” – (I make myself laugh at everything, in case I should have to weep.) — Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais (1732-1799)

“We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“A man should not allow himself to hate even his enemies, because if you indulge this passion on some occasions, it will rise of itself in others; if you hate your enemies, you will contract such a vicious habit of mind, as by degrees will break out upon those who are your friends, or those who are indifferent to you.” — Plutarch
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I have a lot to do today out in the BBR, so, I’m glad this is nearly done…. I’ve been at it for close to three hours now, and need to be done so I don’t run out of fuel before getting to the important stuff…. Let’s take a look at it…. Well, it will have to do…. I’ve got too much on my plate to go back & start over…. I’ll just leave you today with one final pearl of a hopeful, and hopefully inspirational nature..

“One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am – a reluctant enthusiast… a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure.  It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can.  While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lurid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in you head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise  you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those deskbound people with their hearts in a safety deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators.  I promise you this:  You will outlive the bastards.” — Edward Abbey

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Save that lanolin, we’ll use it on the new busboy….

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Ffolkes,
I know, now, how the White Rabbit felt, as he hurried down the rabbit hole to Wonderland, “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date…”  Even though the only thing I’m late for is posting this Pearl, I feel the same sense of panic and hurry as did he….. No reason, really. I did sleep a bit late, and had to spend the first twenty minutes repairing and reloading Smart Bee…. it pulled its bi-monthly corrupted file trick, which requires a quick delete and re-load of the entire program, plus a re-start of the computer…. No big deal, but time consuming…. which brings us to the present moment….

Egad, what a mess…. I’ve managed to completely screw up my transaction record, so I have no idea of exactly how much is in my account, and it’s time to pay bills for the month. I’m going to have to pay everything, then stop using the cards at all until it all catches up, and I can reconcile the record with reality…. SIGH…. I never was very good with money; it comes from never having much of it to deal with, along with a hearty disregard for the concept itself… “If you want a life of trouble, fill your house with treasures.”  I first heard this, and took it to heart, when I was about 11 years old, and made a conscious decision at that time to never try to get rich…. I’ve done that, quite well, actually…..

That’s all Big Blue Room stuff, though, and has no place here in ECR…. though it IS reality, I question the relevance for anyone reading this missive, so we’ll leave that behind, and find some other way to lead into today’s post…. That will be quite a trick, as I haven’t a clue as to what will happen today. I left the entire template blank, other than the usual suspects, intending to let myself go into an artistic trance, just typing away until my fingers wore out, and then seeing what was worth keeping…. much like I write a poem, in truth. But, my left wrist hurts from too much typing anyway, and I can’t seem to find a trance-state anywhere, in my head, or out. So much for that idea….

But, look, we’ve got three paragraphs again, just chock full of irrelevant BS, about rabbits, corrupted files, checkbooks, and mysticism colored by whimsy. Perhaps it isn’t exactly Hemingway-esque, but it’s certainly better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, and it does allow us to move on to something that MIGHT be instructive, if not entertaining. We often blur the two around here, so it’s best not to ask which it is supposed to be…. we don’t always know, and hate to be embarrassed…… Shall we Pearl?…..
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“I can’t keep from fooling around with our irrefutable certainties.  It is, for example, a pleasure knowingly to mix up two and three dimensionalities, flat and spatial, and to make fun of gravity.” — M. C. Escher

If you’ve seen Escher’s work, you’ll know that what he says here is truth, a truth graphically demonstrated by the visions he transfers to each  canvas. Though I doubt I’ll ever be hailed as such a genius as he, I like to think that what I write attempts to do the same, but rather than with dimensions of space, I play with the elements of belief that we humans hold, regarding certain aspects of society. In other words, it is a pleasure to knowingly point out the lies and the truths that people hold as certainties, and to make fun of how seriously the lies are taken, which we can equate to the force of gravity…. believing these lies is what holds us back from our potential, just as gravity holds us bound to the surface of the Earth…..

Just as Escher’s paintings release us from the laws of space and time, and of how to perceive them, our imaginations can release us from the repression heaped on us by the BRC and the 1%. When we stop believing the lies we are told, we can stop being puppets of the power of custom. Just because a lot of people believe something doesn’t make it true; only the facts of the matter can do that. In the act of accepting the lies we are told by those in authority, we become party to their chicanery, accessories, before and after the fact, to the crimes being perpetrated on society, and on the Earth as a whole….

“It happened that a fire broke out backstage in a theater.  The clown came out to inform the public.  They thought it was just a jest and applauded.  He repeated his warning, they shouted even louder.  So I think the world will come to an end amid general applause from all the wits, who believe that it is a joke.” — Smart Bee

I think Smart Bee might have a point here….. Most people don’t look past the surface of what they perceive; they accept whatever they are told, as long as the one delivering the message is in the appropriate costume, or setting. Put a moderately good looking man in a suit, have him sit at a desk looking studious and concerned, and people will pretty much take whatever he says as gospel, even if it has absolutely no truth in it, or any connection to reality whatsoever….. The public’s reaction to the possibility of global warming resembles the above statement quite a lot. Same with the question of overpopulation, either of which issue will certainly lead to war and misery, as a minimum, or extinction as a species, eventually, as a maximum result….

Whenever I bring this up, though, I am met with a silence that is deafening, and which serves as proof of exactly what I am saying…. This is the kind of message that no one wants, to hear, or to believe is real…. So, they don’t. Or, they just ignore it, thinking it will go away if they look at it again in a few days…. Guess what, ffolkes….. It”s real, it’s not going away, and that is a FACT, not a supposition, or speculation, or misread data, or conspiracy, or anything else…. it’s a fact…. And the only way to change it, is for EVERYONE to decide to turn 180 degrees from the path we are on, even if it means getting rid of those among us who don’t want to go that way… because that way means DEATH…. for all of us, without exception…. Deal with it…..

“I used to be an idealist, but I got mugged by reality.” — Smart Bee
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Okay, no cheating today…. It’s the last day of the National Poetry Writing Month, so I’m going to do my best to come up with a fresh haiku, and a fresh poem…. We’ll see how it goes, eh?….. As every day this month, these are being included as part of the April National Poetry Writing Month Challenge, with the updates to be found here:  http://www.napowrimo.net/    I hope you enjoy them…..

Haiku XVIII

More beautiful days,
the weather is amazing.
Soaking up the sun.

Off the proverbial cuff…

I never meant to kill that period of time,
it didn’t give me any choice.
It tried to hem me in without reason, or rhyme,
refused me any vote, or any voice.

You have to admit, I buried it deep and fast,
just as if I cared.
I knew, though, it would never last,
or ever be fully repaired.

No news, no pictures can bring it back,
once is all we get.
No pleas of public good, or even public lack;
in stone the past is set.

Futuristic visions now occupy my dreams,
I’m ready to go on.
Look! It fills up the screen, and it gleams!
Where’s the moment I’m sitting on?

Now, I remembered, at long, long last,
is all we really can hold.
Every moment goes by so bloody fast,
we’d best fill them all with beauty, warm and bold.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Though today’s first section cannot be strictly considered as a rant, it was an indictment, so we’ll count it as one…. That gives me the excuse to go with an old-school pearl. Today we’ll go completely random, with Smart Bee as the only one deciding what should be included…. Let’s see what comes up from the depths today, shall we?…..

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

“Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire,–conscience.” — George Washington (1732-1799) — Rule from the Copy-book of Washington when a schoolboy

When asked, “If you find so much that is unworthy of reverence in the United States, then why do you live here?” Mencken replied, “Why do men go to zoos?”

“Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem. (Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity.)”  — William of Occam, Occam’s Razor

“It is impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“You know, of course, that the Tasmanians, who never committed adultery, are now extinct.” — W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

“UH-OH!!  We’re out of AUTOMOBILE PARTS and RUBBER GOODS!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Perhaps going TOTALLY random was a mistake; this is pretty inscrutable. So inscrutable, even I am not sure what the point is, other than to point a finger at Man, for….. something…. Maybe the finger should go up the nose, to remove any foreign bodies that may have been inadvertently ingested through the proboscis….. Oh, well, it isn’t bad, so just enjoy them individually, and I’ll leave them off the Quiz….
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Aye, very late indeed…. let’s see how it proofs….. Hmm…. it’s not responding; it may be dead…. Oh well, it’s done, so I’m not going to fuss with it any further…. Besides, I’m hungry….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Ten paces south from the gargoyle….

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Ffolkes,
I was warned, but I didn’t listen. Of course, I never believed it could actually happen, not to me….. Like every other fool in history, the admonition of my peers was lost on me, filled as I was to the brim with confidence, and pride in my skill. And, like every other fool in history, I failed, badly….. What is it about wet paint that makes men want to touch it, to find out if it is actually wet? What is it about a “Keep off the Grass” sign that makes our toes itch for the feel of the lawn? Why does a door that says, “No Admittance” make us want to see what is behind it?….. SIGH….. We’re all a bunch of little kids at heart, aren’t we?…. Just trying to find out what the world is made of, and getting told to watch our step…..

Hmm…. I’m not sure where that paragraph came from, nor am I certain at all of where it intended to get to, so, in retrospect, it’s probably just as well that I leave it right there, and not get into any further exploration of that train of thought. It sort of wanders around up there, spinning some light magic, but then fades away, as if unconvinced of its own purpose…. And there I go again, talking about my writing as if it had a will of its own…. Regardless of how out of control this blog may seem to be, the words don’t write themselves, but, I tend to get carried away with my anthropomorphism at times, so, please, bear with me….

Now where shall we go? I’m faced this morning with a totally blank Pearl template…. the only thing I had written ahead is the ending line. Although this is a good thing, it does leave me in fear, as any author would be, faced with such a bright, shiny vast plain of whiteness, just begging to be filled with words of wit and magic, while I cower in abject trepidation at the sheer folly of my ambition, and pray to my muse for salvation….. Since my muse seems to be mad at me again, I could have a long wait….

We’ve got trouble, ffolkes, right here in River City…. It starts with T, and ends with ubble, that’s Trouble, and we’ve got it right here. (Can you hear the trombones?) Once again, the intro section has gotten away from me, and wandered off into areas of my head that could conceivably alter the course of history, should they be brought into the light of day. Since the alterations may or may not be such that they would help, it would probably be best to just give up again, and get on with today’s Pearl. I’m going to have to rely solely on Smart Bee to pull this off, and hope that there are a number of good pearls to get me going…. Only one way to find out, I suppose, so…. Shall we Pearl?…..

“Everyone knows that dragons don’t exist.  But while this simplistic formulation may satisfy the layman, it does not suffice for the scientific mind. The School of Higher Neantical Nillity is in fact wholly unconcerned with what does exist.  Indeed, the banality of existence has been so amply demonstrated, there is no need for us to discuss it any further here.  The brilliant Cerebron, attacking the problem analytically, discovered three distinct kinds of dragon: the mythical, the chimerical, and the purely hypothetical.  They were all, one might say, nonexistent, but each nonexisted in an entirely different way …” — Stanislaw Lem, Cyberiad

Now, that sounds like it belongs here, doesn’t it?…. In a way, you COULD say that this blog nonexists in an entirely different way…..
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As is the case in many instances, when faced with a literary conundrum in the morning, I’m resorting to default, and firing up an old school pearl for your perusal and edification (if that can ever be said to be true of pearls….)…. The following seven pearls were, of course, chosen at random, and without conscious volition, but with an eventual destination in mind…. Today, we are fortunate to note that the destination is also random, as is the conclusion to which you will be led, willy-nilly…. That conclusion is, naturally, left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…..

“I am not young enough to know everything.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

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

“A heretic is a man who sees with his own eyes.” — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

If a cat spoke, it would say things like “Hey, I don’t see a problem here.” — Smart Bee

“Some people think only intellect counts:  knowing how to solve problems, knowing how to get by, knowing how to identify an advantage and seize it.  But the functions of intellect are insufficient without courage, love, friendship, compassion and empathy.” — Dean Koontz

“Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?” — Abraham Lincoln

“Do your Duty.  Honor the Truth.  Respect Life.  Share your Love.” ~~ Axiom #7, Peruaosophy

I know, I’m a strange puppy…. If it helps, I mean well….    🙂
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This is a poem I’ve used before…. I like it a lot, and it fits my mood, somehow…. Enjoy!

Shui Tiao Ko Tou

Will a moon so bright ever arise again?
Drink a cupful of wine and ask of the sky.
I don’t know where the palace gate of heaven is,
Or even the year in which tonight slips by.
I want to return riding the whirl-wind! But I
Feel afraid that this heaven of jasper and jade
Lets in the cold, its palaces rear so high.
I shall get up and dance with my own shadow.
From life endured among men how far a cry!

Round the red pavilion
Slanting through the lattices
Onto every wakeful eye,
Moon, why should you bear a grudge, O why
Insist in time of separation so th fill the sky?
Men know joy and sorow, parting and reunion;
The moon lacks lustre, brightly shines; is al, is less.
Perfection was never easily come by.
Though miles apart, could men but live for ever
Dreaming they shared this moonlight endlessly!

Su Tung-p’o
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The issue of gun control is currently a HOT BUTTON issue for a lot of people in this country…. At least, it is for those who enjoy over-reacting to all the violence reported in the news….. They seem to forget that there are now over 7 billion people on this planet, with more crowding on every second, and the increased violence we are seeing is a natural result of overpopulation combined with stupidity, both of which exist in ample supply in our society….

The following is a piece I wrote not long after one of the school shootings in 2012, which, to my mind, pretty well summarizes my objections to the foolish and unwarranted fear that has prompted the idiotic notion of repealing the Second Amendment altogether…. Here is my response to that notion….

“Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence…  From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to ensure peace, security, and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable….  The very atmosphere of firearms every- where restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.” — George Washington (bogus?)(who cares? I don’t, it doesn’t make it any less true if it was said by someone else…..)

I am constantly hearing people these days spouting off about gun control, and how guns should be outlawed. This is a viewpoint that I have never understood, because it makes a totally unwarranted assumption (more than one actually, but one that is most important….), i.e., guns cause violent behavior, and if people couldn’t legally own them, violence would stop.

This is naive, and unreasonable, given that there is absolutely no evidence to support such a contention. There is no evidence whatsoever that violence is NOT part of human nature; this is a psychological FACT, not subject to debate. People have violent tendencies, and violence is the primary response of a great many people who have never learned how to use their reason to control their emotions.

Though I’ve never owned or carried a gun, I am a firm believer in the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, in its most literal sense. Without the right to bear arms in our own defense, we, as citizens, would be at the mercy of whomever was in office at the time, and would have no recourse at all to any redress of grievance against those officials, since they could not be forced to comply with law.

I do NOT trust any elected official to act in MY best interests; human nature also decrees that they will act in their OWN interests first, with no compulsion to even consider anything else. Making it a law that only police and government lackeys could legally be armed is a sure way to guarantee that the average citizen would be at the mercy of these so-called leaders, mercy being a quality that they have never heretofore demonstrated in any fashion.

As I said, I don’t own or carry guns, yet. I’ve trained myself to be dangerous without the use of them, and feel no fear that I cannot deal with an armed man to my benefit; this is simply because it is the person holding the gun that is the danger, not the gun itself. Speed, power, and accuracy are the key elements to controlling a violent situation, along with some forethought and preparation, and the ability to keep a clear mind when under duress.

When a person is holding a gun, they feel ten feet tall and invincible, but they remain human, and humans can be controlled with superior strategy and tactics. It does no good to hold a gun, when the target won’t sit still, or even remain visible….. and in these cases, that sense of invulnerability becomes a liability to the gun-wielder.

However, most Americans do not have this sort of skill set, nor the state of mind that makes it work. In the hands of a skilled warrior, a gun becomes a dangerous weapon indeed, for it will be used to achieve the warrior’s goals, as any weapon would, and not employed to merely bully others into doing what is desired, which is the usual use of these kinds of weapons in the hands of the ignorant and deceitful. And politicians, by the very nature of their sociopathy, do get rather deceitful in the pursuit of their self-centered ends. The desire to be in public office, to me, is a sure sign of a sick mind, as a healthy one has no need to assume power over others, being content to be in control of themselves.

At this point in the narrative, I got a bit sarcastic, caustically so, directed at those shrill advocates of this kind of legal oppression, laws that attempt to legislate morality,  so I’ve stopped it here to avoid offending anyone unduly. I agree with the need to tighten the regulations regarding assault weapons, but not as far as is wanted by the fear-mongers.

I also think it is a good idea to keep guns out of the hands of children, and people who have demonstrated the lack of emotional control needed by a free citizen of this country, to own and use a gun appropriately, i.e. the mentally ill, who are characterized by a lack of impulse control…. Not a good characteristic for someone with a gun in their hands….

But, once again, I must caution people to examine any laws that do get passed closely, for going farther than intended, which the people in charge have a tendency to do, to slip stuff by the public….

I’ll try to wake up your precautionary instincts by asking this….. If the insane are not to be allowed full rights as a citizen, who is it that gets to decide who is insane?  The same issues of trust are present, or absent, in that idea, as in the assumption that the Beloved Ruling Class will act in our best interests….. They can be trusted to act in their own interests first, and we all would do well to keep that in mind…..

“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.” — Bob Dylan
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There are many here among us who are CERTAIN that life is but a joke, Bob, and today’s effort is simply further evidence in support of that conviction…. But, today’s Pearl is done, so, who cares? Not me….. Having cheated a bit, by reprinting a couple of items, I’ve got some time to kill…. But, rather than fill it by tormenting y’all any further, I’ll be a nice little blogger, and leave you in peace….

Happy Valentine’s Day, ffolkes….

May love and joy light your way,
and keep you warm this winter’s day….

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

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

gigoid

dozer3

Small piles of duvets sat in a corner…..

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4

Ffolkes,
Coffee is on the way, so I won’t have to shoot anybody before it is ready. Or even because it isn’t ready…. I hate cleaning up dead bodies before breakfast…. So tacky….. Not that I’ve ever had to kill anyone yet, not over coffee. (No, not over anything…. I’m a virgin in that respect, thankfully….) It’s always a fun thing to think about though, especially when one is still waiting for that first glorious sip to bring the universe into focus. I don’t CARE if it is addictive, or bad for me, or whatever; NOTHING is like that first sip of coffee in the AM, nothing….. It would take someone with some serious martial arts skills, or a large weapon drawn first, to keep me from that first cuppa in the morning….. and, they would lose, due to my superior motivation….

Ahhh….. Now that the first sip is down the hatch, all is well with the world, for the moment, at least, and we can get on with the day’s business. It’s kind of fun, actually, as I’m falling back into the routine I developed previous to moving here, wherein the Pearl is the focus of my day, rather than the trip to post it being the primary subject of attention. I’m up at a decent hour (0610), and already into the intro, coffee in hand, by 0624, just bursting with ideas and plans for pearls. Of course, I know that once I try to pin down a solitary idea to use, it will slither away, pretending to hide, just because they all work for Murphy….

I’ll bet you didn’t know that…. that all your best ideas are from Murphy, who keeps a workshop for that, to develop ideas that he can use to torture authors with…. You can tell which are his…. They catch your attention, as a brilliant idea, then sort of fade off into the background, avoiding any close examination…. a technique Murphy taught them to further frustrate the author, as he or she chases down an idea that keeps moving away….. Then, when caught, at last, one sees the idea isn’t as shiny as it seemed, but rather is a buffed up re-run of an old idea….. He is SUCH an asshole……

I only know this because he, Murphy, spends so much time messing with me, I’ve learned a lot of his secrets…. I can’t block, or fix, or even prevent any of his activities but, I know for sure when he’s been around, fucking with someone, ’cause it’s usually me….. I’m just lucky, I guess…..

Now, I could spend more time lamenting Murphy’s kind attentions, or I could find something else more Intro-appropriate for this space. Or, we could get on with it, and go find some pearls to write about….. which is, no doubt, the most intelligent thing to do. Though such are not our general course of choice, we’ll go with that, if only to provide some comic relief, right?….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere” — George Washington

Wouldn’t it be grand if everyone felt this way? George wasn’t the only advocate of hemp amongst the founding fathers; I’ve seen others who wrote in praise of its qualities, though I didn’t save the references. I’m sure that the plant they found in use among the Indians back then during the colonial days was being utilized in a number of ways, as it has some very useful qualities, aside from the mind-altering characteristics in the chemical make-up of the plant.

It makes the finest rope possible. (Western civilization was built with rope…. literally…..) It can be used to make paper, clothing of all kinds, including shoes, and hats, string, food items, and a host of other things that are useful as tools or household items. It has medicinal qualities that even modern medical science cannot dispute, all of which are beneficial to people; it has no toxic qualities, and cannot be overused…. Well, one could fall asleep and dream very colorfully if one consumed a LARGE amount of cannabis, or of the THC ( tetrahydracannabinol ) component responsible for the mind altering effects, but over-dosing to the point of physical harm is, as far as can be determined, impossible…..

Now, society will tell you, and provide what they call convincing evidence, of the bad effects that using marijuana can have on the human mind. And, if used improperly, at the wrong time of life, there CAN be some slight problems encountered with long-term use. But, these issues are easily avoided, and easily overcome, given the proper treatment, and the overall harmless nature of the plant is not compromised by such evidence, as it does not allow for alternative patterns of use that are NOT harmful, but concentrates only on the ONE way to use it that is less than helpful to the organism. In other words, yes, you can find a way to harm yourself, but a small application of common sense will fix the issue, and it need not ever become a problematic issue thereafter…..

No, what makes marijuana a social problem is Society’s reaction to it, not the drug itself. The reaction by those who do not understand its benefits is extreme, to say the least. The common reaction is to totally reject all evidence that shows the drug to be relatively harmless, and to focus on only the issues involved that show it as bad; denial is a common tool to those in charge of our culture. Hell, if the BRC didn’t wear blinders all the time, they wouldn’t get ANYTHING done, as they’d be cringing and cowering in fear of everything that happened around them. If our rulers were not allowed the use of denial, they wouldn’t have anything at all to say…. think about it….

We are told, by those who make such pronouncements, that using marijuana regularly will reduce one’s cognitive abilities, turning them into clones of the character played by Sean Penn in the old movie cult classic, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”, and similar to the character portrayed by George Carlin, Al Sleet, The Hippy-Dippy Weatherman….. And, if used as I described above, at the wrong time, by the wrong person, under the wrong circumstances, that can happen. But, from personal observation over 50 years now, I can attest that regular use does NOT have to affect cognition, nor does it necessarily turn one into a muddled, foolish caricature…. I’ve known too many ffolkes personally who use it on a daily basis, and there is no lasting negative effect on their intelligence, or their ability to think…. other than a slight difficulty making up their mind when confronted with more than one choice of food items….  🙂

SIGH…. I could offer even more compelling evidence, but that would entail revealing information that might conceivably turn on me, so it will have to suffice to say that I speak from personal knowledge of these events, having closely observed them, from the inside of the culture, for many years. That long period observation and information gathering has led to my understanding of the issue, an understanding much more complete than any on the other side of the fence, as they do not allow for any of the evidence I can present, whereas I can account for ALL of what they can bring forth.

It has always seemed obvious to me that the arguments presented against marijuana all tend to use the same, outdated information, collected with prejudice by those who already denied any value to the substance, and will deny, deny, deny, any and all new evidence, or any evidence that seems to contradict that old nonsense. Typical, actually, of the tactics used by the BRC (Beloved Ruling Class) to deal with ANY issue…. denial is their default position on any concept that is potentially negative to their chosen beliefs…. If denial doesn’t work, they generally resort to name-calling, of some sort….

It seems as if I could keep on this rant for some time; it is one I’ve not really explored deeply in past pearls. A matter of self-protection, as it were; it’s not an issue I want a lot of attention focused on in my life, as most folks fail to grasp any of the important aspects of the issue, and tend to get emotionally involved in any discussion of same. Many, many people react to things they don’t understand with vehemence that is entirely misplaced, due to the lies and misinformation they have received for most of their lives from the BRC and priestly hierarchies. So, it has always been a policy with me to not encourage forays into the subject, as it tends to become relatively fruitless in a short time. In other words, why beat my head against a brick wall, when I can just walk around it?…. Or, float around it, as the case may be….. you decide…. for you. I’ll decide for me….

“Hand me a pair of leather pants and a CASIO keyboard — I’m living for today!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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Tableau at Twilight

I sit in the dusk. I am all alone.
Enter a child and an ice-cream cone.

A parent is easily beguiled
By sight of this coniferous child.

The friendly embers warmer gleam,
The cone begins to drip ice cream.

Cones are composed of many a vitamin.
My lap is not the place to bitamin.

Although my raiment is not chinchilla,
I flinch to see it become vanilla.

Coniferous child, when vanilla melts
I’d rather it melted somewhere else.

Exit child with remains of cone.
I sit in the dusk. I am all alone,

Muttering spells like an angry Druid,
Alone, in the dusk, with the cleaning fluid.

Ogden Nash
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But thinks, admitted to that equal sky,
His faithful dog shall bear him company.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 111

Here is a line from Mr. Pope that raises a question whose answer is one I’m unsure of, and will need to ask someone who is more educated in dogma than me. I don’t know the answer to whether or not dogs go to heaven, according to Christian beliefs. It does strike me as a pretty good way to determine just how dogmatic a person is, to see how they answer the question (and yes, I see the irony of that…. dogma about dogs…. I get it…. I was trying to ignore it….). It seems to me that the answer they give would be a pretty clear indicator of how tolerant they are toward other species, and would tell one if they are worth knowing at all…. Someone who thinks that dogs shouldn’t be in heaven would definitely be the kind of person I would avoid, as they just don’t have the kind of outlook I can tolerate for long, without having to say something to them about it…..

In my less than humble opinion, any God, or god, who didn’t allow dogs into heaven, wouldn’t be worthy of the title of their supposed divinity. To imagine that humans are superior to dogs, in ANY way that matters, is to completely deny reality, and any philosophy that doesn’t account for that principle is one doomed to unreality, to my mind. Dogs, in so many ways, are superior to Man, in ethics, in morals, in instinctive rightness of spirit, and prove that every day. Man, too, proves his own inferiority the same way, as he torments, abuses, and kills these wonderful creatures, for sport, for cruelty, and just because they can….

I’ll take a dog over a man, any day, in almost any situation you can name, and will know for certain that the choice is one I won’t regret. Sure, you can find dogs who are mean, and vicious, to almost all who come close; those dogs have had their nature perverted, and were taught the behaviors they display. None of those kinds of behaviors are natural to dogs; they have to be taught to be bad. Their only purpose in life is to please us, and that simple characteristic is what makes them better than us, for we, as a species, have to force ourselves to act morally, to choose deliberately to forgo our impulses, and act rightly. For dogs, it comes naturally, and can only be perverted with effort…. or with ignorance….

I’m not going to carry this on further; a four paragraph rant about dogs versus humans is about right, I think, to cover the subject without going into depth. I’m of the firm opinion that dogs are far more deserving of entrance to heaven than any human would be, given the rules by which entrance is supposed to occur. So, if they AREN’T allowed there, why on Earth would I want to end up there? I can’t think of a single reason…..

“This is what I do for fun, can you imagine my job?” — Smart Bee
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I’m still liking it…. though I’m not yet used to it. I’m done with the Pearl for today, and I just realized, I can go email and post it online as soon as I wish. I don’t have to shower, get dressed, and go to the coffee shop or library. Another fine way to show that sometimes, it is what we DON’T have to do that is just as important as what we do have to do. Or, at the least, it is much more enjoyable to NOT have to do something…. ah, shoot, you get the idea…. I’ll quit belaboring the point now, and bid thee a fond adieu…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Quantum mechanics isn’t for sissies…..

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2

Ffolkes,
Time passes, as do tears…. at least this morning, depression is not the first thing that hit me upside the head. So far, the only bad thing I’ve had to deal with is the half & half that looks weird in the coffee because I had to freeze it to get it through the month. Well, that and the urge for a cigarette I don’t have, & can’t afford to buy…. okay, morning whine finished, I’ll go on to a more bracing set of ideas….. I found this whine to be lacking in body, and the bouquet sucked….

So, living with PTSD is fun, what? Between that and the general sense of hopelessness that is conjured in one by the ever-present poverty in which I’m existing, it gets hard to hold onto hope, or even just a resigned acceptance. There are times when I want to go back & exact revenge upon the person I hold responsible for my status, and those thoughts are sweet. But, my karmic adviser is always telling me that is not a good idea, and will end up hurting me more than her. This is not a valid argument, considering the amount of crap I go through. I can deal with it, and better, if I knew that some of it was falling upon her like a horde of Mongols entering Peking (now Beijing….. and the Mongols now come there as homeless beggars…..)  But, my plans for that are not completed yet anyway, they’re still maturing…..

I’d like to think I’ve gotten beyond what was done to me, but I see that I haven’t, and I guess I’ll have to do something about that….. soon, I promise. For now, it is these thoughts of revenge, intangible as they are, that get me through the worst of the moments when I’m hitting the bottom. And that is enough of this depressing subject…. I’m going to go look for some pearls to write about, and try to shake off the strangely adhesive feelings that have been dogging me since yesterday…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

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

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

Actually, George, the Pledge of Allegiance has no legal standing, in relation to the Constitution of this country, or for that matter, in relation to what our forefathers were thinking when they founded the nation. In fact, what was said here by such an upstanding Constitutional scholarly type, is, in reality, completely contrary to everything that makes a true patriot, or an American citizen. The part in the pledge, (which no one at all is legally required to take, or state…), that says “under God” was only added in the middle of the twentieth century, by the same Congressional idiots who perpetrated McCarthyism, and the Red Scare, on the American public. It has nothing to do with the Constitution, and in fact, could be construed as a Constitutionally illegal statement, considering the intended separation of church and state that is the backbone of what our forefathers wished us to have as our legacy…. True freedom, not Christian usurpation of freedom….. A person’s religious belief, or lack thereof, is protected by the Constitution, and a patriot is one who supports the Constitution, not a church, or a corporation…..

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

(I know, I don’t much like Will’s stuff, but, law of averages, remember?….. Give me a break, it was the only George quote I could find….)

This kind of thinking from the Shrub, whichever one it was, Junior or Senior, is the same kind of narrow-minded fundamentalism that the colonists were escaping from in England back in the 16-1700’s when they came to the New World. The churches and corporations, both of which were singled out as dangerous to the republic by Jefferson, Franklin, Paine, Adams, Hamilton, and many of the other founding fathers, have tried to usurp the Constitution ever since it was ratified. Their writings, to each other, and in public venues, were filled with precautionary admonitions about allowing corporations and preachers to have access to, or influence over, members of government. And, their fears were justified, as we now are facing just the situations they predicted….. corporations are manipulating our “professional thieves”, otherwise known as politicians, to vote for laws that favor them (really, “corporations are people?”… I don’t think so…), and the ranks of our leaders are rife with fundamentalists and religious nuts of all varieties.

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

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

As indicated by the almost 500 words yesterday, and again today, you can see that the Romney/Ryan ticket disturbs me; I have no problem ranting without end right off the top of my head about the lies and distortions of reality that continuously fall from their lips. As I mentioned yesterday, a lot of people are catching on to this, as Ryan was roundly booed offstage at the AARP meeting he attended to try to sell their rape of Social Security (Smart? No. Arrogant? Completely.). But, even this is disturbing to me, as it shows just how little they care, that they are showing themselves to be only interested in lining their own pockets, and the pockets of those who own them. They aren’t even trying to hide their lies anymore; they just keep repeating them, even after having been shown to be false, believing that if they repeat the lies enough, people will buy it….

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

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

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

This is why I keep reiterating that this election is bringing this country to a crossroads. The outcome will show whether we intend, as a nation, to continue to fight all attempts to curtail the freedoms that were bought and paid for by our forefathers, with blood, sweat, and tears, or will become just another religious, corporate-controlled entity, with a nation consisting of slaves and their masters. I don’t know about y’all, but I’ll be at the polls as soon as they open, and will urge everyone I know to do the same…. vote early, and vote often (just joking…), but vote. We need to send a message to these fools, that there are still patriots and citizens of this country who believe in the vision embraced and established by the men and women who began this noble experiment in self-government…..

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

Marking the days in elements of sad disarray
only holds me thrall, as I laugh while I may.
With cold, hard hands so impatient and cruel
pulling me to this vale of tears, a pathetic old fool.

Feelings sit silent, cast in shadows and light
breaking forth to implicate such vengeful might.
Just below the surface they patiently hide
to sally forth bravely, colors bright as they ride.

Tears and pain transform valued assets in hand
while comfort and serenity retreat to a far land.
Bold, bright patterns of hope garnish my ruinous state
until reality enters, full of disdainful portions of hate.

I sort out the illustrious measures of vision gone mild
only to find them transformed, now vicious and wild.
In my deepest desires I find myself calloused and cold
with faithless advocates whose souls have been sold.

My search finds little to support any hope of relief
far too much time has passed to bolster such belief.
The sad becomes real, and real becomes unfounded
until flights of such fancy are all dead, and grounded.

Nature has informed me of the newly hatched crime
that reality has boasted of proudly, time after time.
The last answer we think of is always the best
as we come to terms with fate, our hope at rest.

~~ gigoid

Now back to the normal confusion we count on around here…..
__________________________________

“Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence…  From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to ensure peace, security, and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable….  The very atmosphere of firearms every- where restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.” — George Washington (bogus?)(who cares? I don’t, it doesn’t make it any less true if it was said by someone else…..)

I am constantly hearing people these days spouting off about gun control, and how guns should be outlawed. This is a viewpoint that I have never understood, because it makes a totally unwarranted assumption (more than one actually, but one that is most important….), i.e., guns cause violent behavior, and if people couldn’t legally own them, violence would stop. This is naive, and unreasonable, given that there is absolutely no evidence to support such a contention. There is no evidence whatsoever that violence is NOT part of human nature; this is a psychological FACT, not subject to debate. People have violent tendencies, and violence is the primary response of a great many people who have never learned how to use their reason to control their emotions.

Though I’ve never owned or carried a gun, I am a firm believer in the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, in its most literal sense. Without the right to bear arms in our own defense, we, as citizens, would be at the mercy of whomever was in office at the time, and would have no recourse at all to any redress of grievance against those officials, since they could not be forced to comply with law. I do NOT trust any elected official to act in MY best interests; human nature also decrees that they will act in their OWN interests first, with no compulsion to even consider anything else. Making it a law that only police and government lackeys could legally be armed is a sure way to guarantee that the average citizen would be at the mercy of these so-called leaders, mercy being a quality that they have never heretofore demonstrated in any fashion.

As I said, I don’t own or carry guns, yet. I’ve trained myself to be dangerous without the use of them, and feel no fear that I cannot deal with an armed man to my benefit; this is simply because it is the person holding the gun that is the danger, not the gun itself. Speed, power, and accuracy are the key elements to controlling a violent situation, along with some forethought and preparation, and the ability to keep a clear mind when under duress. When a person is holding a gun, they feel ten feet tall and invincible, but they remain human, and humans can be controlled with superior strategy and tactics. It does no good to hold a gun, when the target won’t sit still, or even remain visible….. and in these cases, that sense of imperviousness becomes a liability to the gun-wielder.

However, most Americans do not have this sort of skill set, nor the state of mind that makes it work. In the hands of a skilled warrior, a gun becomes a dangerous weapon indeed, for it will be used to achieve the warrior’s goals, as any weapon would, and not employed to merely bully others into doing what is desired, which is the usual use of these kinds of weapons in the hands of the ignorant and deceitful. And politicians, by the very nature of their sociopathy, do get rather deceitful in the pursuit of their self-centered ends. The desire to be in public office, to me, is a sure sign of a sick mind, as a healthy one has no need to assume power over others, being content to be in control of themselves.

So, I would say to those who would get rid of or alter the intent of the Second Amendment, get a grip on reality, and shut the fuck up….. truly, your lack of sophistication and knowledge of human nature gives you no right or reason to speak……
__________________________________

Well, that turned into quite a little rant…. I guess I needed to get that out. In reading back over it, I have nothing to regret, for it is all the plain and simple truth. So, I’ll send it out there, with the ever-present invitation to come back at me with any thoughts you that may occur to you….. Arguments, for or against, are welcome and appreciated. Constructive criticism is also welcome, wherever it is deemed to be warranted; ignorance will be ignored if harmless, or ruthlessly exposed for what it is if not, at my discretion. But, please don’t get upset if I don’t answer a comment; I intend to answer all comments, and try to get to all of them, but my internet time just now is limited, and I’m probably missing some comments.

Flaming, or fanaticism, or personal attacks will be either cheerfully deleted, or prosecuted/persecuted, depending on the severity of the idiocy therein….   🙂   Oh, and keep always in mind that I pay little attention to my attempts at humor, other than as an artistic tool; making fun of it can only improve it, I’m sure…..   😉

Not your standard disclaimer, but I think it works….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

Dozer

Kowabunga!

These brass monkeys were stolen!….

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9

Ffolkes,
A shooting star flashed across the night sky, carving its bright path, until fading out near the horizon. Heartened by this hopeful sign, four silent figures moved quietly down the hillside, mere shadows moving through the night. With hours yet to first light, the forest through which they padded slept, unaware of the passage of the silent, nearly invisible group. No night birds sang their warning, only deep silence accompanied the group as they moved between the trees. As they reached the edge of the vast savanna which lay east of the forest, the group split, two finding cover on the ground, and two climbing swiftly up two trees overlooking the path leading back into the forest from the plain. They settled down to wait…..

Hmm… I kind of wonder what they are waiting for, or who they intend to ambush. But my curiosity is not so strong as to get me any further into the story, so we’ll just leave the group there, waiting, and go on to more dignified, if not more lucrative, pastimes…. whatever those may be…..

All things considered, it was a close call, but I’ve made it to the end of the month, alive, and that is definitely worth celebrating, given the effort it took to do so without committing mayhem, or biting someone, hard….. I think I’ll treat myself to breakfast, once I’ve tortured the language enough to put together a Pearl… It may or may not turn out well, only time will tell, and yes I rhymed on purpose…. I can’t help it, I’m a sick man….

Shall we Pearl?…..
___________________________________

“It’s wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope.” — Elrond

For those who don’t know, Elrond is the leader of the Elves of Rivendell, friend to Gandalf and hobbits, father of the elven beauty who becomes wife and queen of Aragon, King of Middle Earth. His age is unknown, but he remembers clearly the last time the Evil One, Sauron, made his bid for supremacy, thousands of years ago. How then, even if he is so wise, did he know how to best describe the state of American politics today?….. What he says above is what goes through my mind whenever I consider the possibility of Mitt the Twitt somehow being elected to the Presidency, as I make sure my rifle is clean and loaded, and my preparations complete for the upcoming target practice….

It’s kind of amusing actually. I have this image in my head, of how some true Americans might react if he is actually elected….. For example, when the Chief Justice tells the Twitt to put his hand on the Bible on Inauguration Day, 50 gunshots ring out, as the Marine color guards all open fire on the podium, with the first 50 rounds exploding Mitt’s head…. Then, when the confusion really starts, I’ll provide cover fire so the Marines can take off and get to their hiding spots, picked days before…..

I like either that scenario, or the other one, where, after the Marines put him down, the gathered crowd all surround the Marines, and pat them on the back, telling them , “good job.”  Whereupon the Sergeant in charge of the squad salutes and says, “No problem, ma’am, we are sworn to protect the country from all enemies, foreign or domestic”….. The crown applauds, they break up, and the country gets back to the business of reform…. Hey, we all have our fantasies, yes?….

It is unfortunate that these kinds of fantasies are necessary these days, to keep my blood pressure under control. It tends to spike whenever I think about the disastrous results should the Twitt get into the White House…. Of course, he’d probably live in one of his own houses…. the White House would be a a bit of a come-down for him, rich as he is…. No car elevator, or room for a dancing horse…. I suppose the Conservatory could be converted to a stable, and the rose garden could be taken out and turned into pasture….

You know, of course, how they teach those horses to do that dancing they do, right? They smack the horse on their forelegs to teach them to lift them up, then progress to both legs in sequence, producing the dancing motion…. which is actually a reaction to the pain of having a metal bat strike the shin, causing a short shot of agony…. I might pick my foot up, too, right before I planted it forcefully on the trainer’s nose… Nice folks, these Romneys….

Now, in most election years, I might not worry so much about an idiot in the White House. But, two factors have prompted me to keep plugging away at this subject…. One, Mitt Romney has clearly shown that should he be President, the United States would be in serious trouble. Every one of his stated goals is contrary to what I believe is needed, not just for stability in our country, but contrary to what is needed to keep us in the 21st century. Second, there are more racist, ignorant, frightened people in this country, who have been hoodwinked by this man’s lies and manipulations into giving him their support, and on election day, their votes, than I would have thought possible. Millions of them. It’s hard to swallow, I know, but it is true, nonetheless.

This is all a pretty long winded way to remind y’all to register and vote this November. You can bet that Romney’s supporters will be; they need to be notified, in no uncertain terms, that they are a minority in this country, and the rest of us will not sit by and watch this fool destroy all the progress we’ve made in the last twenty-five years…. Hell, for that matter, the last hundred and fifty years, because if he has his way, we all will be following the rules of his religion, in which the rights of women are completely ignored…. Believe it!
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A Bronze Head

HERE at right of the entrance this bronze head,
Human, superhuman, a bird’s round eye,
Everything else withered and mummy-dead.
What great tomb-haunter sweeps the distant sky
(Something may linger there though all else die;)
And finds there nothing to make its terror less
{Hysterica passio} of its own emptiness?

No dark tomb-haunter once; her form all full
As though with magnanimity of light,
Yet a most gentle woman; who can tell
Which of her forms has shown her substance right?
Or maybe substance can be composite,
profound McTaggart thought so, and in a breath
A mouthful held the extreme of life and death.

But even at the starting-post, all sleek and new,
I saw the wildness in her and I thought
A vision of terror that it must live through
Had shattered her soul. Propinquity had brought
Imagination to that pitch where it casts out
All that is not itself: I had grown wild
And wandered murmuring everywhere, ‘My child, my
child! ‘

Or else I thought her supernatural;
As though a sterner eye looked through her eye
On this foul world in its decline and fall;
On gangling stocks grown great, great stocks run dry,
Ancestral pearls all pitched into a sty,
Heroic reverie mocked by clown and knave,
And wondered what was left for massacre to save.

William Butler Yeats

After writing the mini-rant above, I was in need of some poetry to smooth my ruffled feathers. What I got was this, which is not soothing, particularly, but is nonetheless perfectly and surprisingly apt…. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did just now….
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“I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That “all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people…”  To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.” — Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1791

I had intended to write here a sober, reasoned discussion of the above from my second favorite Founding Father (okay, George Mason is my fave….), but decided first to search a bit more to see if I could find something to accompany this, to lighten it up a bit…. this is what I found…..

“History records no more gallant struggle than that of humanity against the truth.” — Smart Bee

Now, while I might suggest that the word “epic” is more apt, ‘gallant” still gives it an adequate emotional index rating. With either word, it rather goes beyond the statement by T. J., into the deeper issue of basic truth. Personally, I don’t understand the issue that most of humanity seems to have regarding the truth…. I’m not afraid of it, even though it is painful more often than not. Unfortunately, much of the rest of mankind seems to not have that sort of reaction to the pain it often brings, and will go to incredible lengths to avoid having to experience that pain, even if it means putting up with another, lesser pain in the process….

You can see, of course, the immediate similarity between those folks who avoid pain, and those folks who vote conservative, or are supporting the accomplished liar, Mitt the Twitt….. Sometimes, many times, in fact, the stuff that is coming out of the mouths of Romney and his supporters is a dead giveaway, one that shows their stark, malignant fear, fear that is rooted in their racism and bigotry. Their worst nightmare came true in 2008, and a BLACK MAN (gasp!) was elected President….

Without ever considering, or even looking at, his record while in office, these ignorant throwbacks will go to ANY lengths to elect ANYONE else, even if that person is actively trying to harm them, as is the case with Romney…. They don’t care, he’s white, so they’ll be more comfortable with him in office…. or so they think…. Should it happen, it will be a rude awakening when he starts his campaign to get the rest of any money they have left, and cheerfully squashes any hope of a better life that they might have retained…..

In reality, this discussion does relate back to Tom’s statement re: the rights of the people vs. the rights of the government. We, the people, have not tried hard enough to maintain the rights we were given, and those rights continue to be eroded. More and more, government is seizing control of various aspects of our lives that formerly were our own issues to deal with. The rights in the Bill of Rights are now amended, and every amendment is another nail in the coffin of freedom….

So, here is the truth, and painful or not, it would be wise to pay attention…. like Jerry Garcia said, “Choosing between two evils is still choosing evil.”  There are no heroes on the ballot. No matter which party is in office, they will continue their assault on the freedoms that Tom says are ours, not theirs. Go with what your reason tells you to do, and don’t be distracted by the lies. Put aside the fear, and the bigotry, and the cowardice. Only one of the two choices is making any effort toward transparency, and you don’t need me to point out which one. Nor would I be so rude as to suggest which you might choose; I just lay out the truth, and you pick….

The truth is Obama lies at times, for expediency, just like any politician. But, he also is genuinely invested in making reforms that will actually help the middle class, and as far as I can tell, has not overly abused his powers (there are anomalous blips on that radar screen, but another time for that….).

Romney lies all the time; time after time after time, it has been documented that he lies just about every time he opens his mouth in the public arena. In addition, he is unapologetic about the lies, and indifferent to any claims of his doing so; he lies again by denying his lies, even when they are laid out in front of him. He has made it abundantly clear that has no interest in making things better for anyone but his own core group of friends, the rich and powerful who occupy Wall Street offices, seats in Congress, and the religious right. The fact is, he is so out there, his own party is starting to get nervous….

These statements are truth. They can all be proven, if necessary, using documentation that is available to anyone in public archives. What you decide to do with that truth is up to you, as it always is…. What will you do with it?…..
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Hmm…. I guess I had some political angst built up in there, & needed to get it out. “Better out than in”, for sure…. Remember, ffolkes, the above is my stuff, and is not intended to mess with anybody else’s stuff…. Remember also what Albert said….

“I never thought that others would take them so much more seriously than I did.” — Albert Einstein, about his theories

I guess that will serve as an adequate disclaimer….. good enough for government work, anyway…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Tomato rice soup again?

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2

Ffolkes,
I took yesterday off. After writing the morning Pearl, and answering comments made overnight, I went to the library. When I got home, I read an entire book, and watched two Harry Potter movies (#2 & #4, if you’re curious…). That constituted my entire day. Not terribly exciting, but it kept my head busy, not thinking about choosing targets among the many from which I could pick. It may not have been productive, in at least two senses, but it was certainly safer than following impulse.

With that said, we come to today. I am once again in the mood to go hunting, and I don’t mean to hunt Horcruxes. But once again I will sublimate all my anger and angst into this morning’s Pearl, and those who have engendered my ire can walk around for another day or two before I figure out how to go about fulfilling my impulses rather than blocking them…. It’s not a complex strategy to formulate, but there are a lot of details that need to be addressed, if I am to succeed without unwanted attention….. the latter point is the most delicate, of course, as it is always a hard decision to decide whether witnesses should be avoided, kept away, encouraged, intimidated, or eliminated. SIGH, it’s always something!

Ah well, that will wait…. for now, I want to get this done, and catch up a bit to WordPress, which I neglected all day yesterday, in favor of burying my head in books and movies. T’was fun, but not as productive as I am used to, so I need to make it up somewhat today. In that spirit, let’s be off, shall we?  Kowabunga!…..
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“Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality the cost becomes prohibitive.” — William F. Buckley

Will Buckley imagined himself to be the poster boy for the conservative right in Amerika (I only spell it this way when I am referring to someone whose ideology most closely resembles that of 1939 Germany), and had the vocabulary to prove it. As a matter of fact, he was so impressed with himself and his intelligence, he was alleged in his own mind.  🙂 

I don’t listen much to his tripe anymore, but in my youth I found him to be an amusing way to spend some time, first to decipher his overblown language to find his intended context (the words he employs tend to obscure his meaning a LOT of the time; it is just TOO erudite for its own good….), then in chuckling over his use of logic to take his preposterous assumptions to their logically absurd conclusions….

Even in talking about him, other literary sources would become more convoluted in their word usage. When I Googled Bill’s name to research a bit (it’s been a long time since I paid him any attention) I found, as I remembered, that he had passed on in 2008. In the New York Times, the initial line reads: “Mr. Buckley marshaled a refined, perspicacious mind to elevate conservatism to the center of American political discourse.”  They couldn’t have just said, “Mr. Buckley was an educated man, and a vocal proponent of conservatism in this country.” Either is arguably true, but the second is a more accurate in a realistic sense, and still gets the same information across, but much less condescendingly.

Now, to be sure, I am not the most appropriate person to chide anyone for using too many words…. Goodness knows I have a hard enough time keeping myself under some small bit of control in that arena… I’m wordy, I know it…. But, I’m wordy in the attempt to clarify what is real, and what is true, not to obscure it, so that its meaning is clear, rather than placing the blame on the reader, for not understanding the oh-so-superior intelligence of the speaker….

I’m a fairly smart guy, but I don’t have to try to prove it by making my listeners or readers feel like I’m talking down to them. Unfortunately for all of us, Mr. Buckley made a habit of doing just that…. and sadly, he convinced a lot of people that his erroneous assumptions were in fact a true reflection of reality, when, in reality, they were mere reflections of his self-aggrandizement, displayed in the mirror of his words….

As to what he says above, well, it just ain’t so…. As a matter of fact, it is just the opposite of what is real, for the more people who are enthused with the ideal of something, the more talent is focused on it, and the benefits to society always far outweigh any costs of implementing the components of the idealistic concepts at issue. Simple logic, but from a different assumption…. Poor Bill….. He spent so much of his time lamenting what could never be, he missed out on what is….. He never could find the peace found as described in Buddha’s words….

“Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.” — Buddha
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“Every man’s life, liberty, and property are in danger when the Legislature is in session.” — Gideon J. Tucker

“A society that lacks the patience to read, and loses the ability to do so, is rendered defenseless against its most profound stupidities.  As an example, consider the ease with which Americans came to regard a president known for his inaccuracy and imprecision as the great communicator, and by the tendency of American elections to give victory to the candidate who can afford the greatest number of 30-second TV spots.” — Mike Schmoker

“George Washington said to his father, “If I never tell a lie, how can I get  to be President?” — Red Buttons

“War is the last refuge of incompetent statesmen.” — Smart Bee

“A lot of people voting for Pat Buchanan (or random name from this election) say they are doing so to send a message. Apparently that message is, Hey, look at me, I’m an idiot.” — Dennis Miller

It has been said that what a culture finds to be humorous says a lot about that culture. In today’s society, and for most of my life, political humor has been much like what I have posted above. What this says about society is clear…. we do not have any respect for the politicians who are the same people we keep electing. None. We EXPECT them to lie to us. We EXPECT them to cheat, to completely ignore what is best for society in favor of what is best for them and their rich friends. It is a form of stupidity that is so firmly entrenched in society that our only relief from the pain of knowing it is to laugh at jokes that vilify those people we revere in practice.

Ultimately, we are laughing at them because we do not wish to cry over our own failure to change anything…  My reaction to this, when I can bear to look at it at all, is to experience Rage. I want to kill, or maim, or somehow strike back physically at those assholes who have no connection to the humanity of which they are a part…. and I hate them all the more for that, for making me want to do that to any creature….

O’Brien: “The only people left alive were in an outlying district of the  settlement.  I was sent there with a squad to reinforce them.  Cardassians  were advancing on us.  Moving through the streets,  destroying, killing.  I was  with a group of women and children, and two Cardassian soldiers burst in.  I  stunned one of them…the other one jumped me.  We struggled.  One of the  women threw me a phaser, and I fired.  The phaser was set at maximum.  The man  just…just incinerated there before my eyes.  I’d never killed anything  before.  When I was a kid I’d, I’d worry about swatting a mosquito.  It’s not  you I hate, Cardassian.  I hate what I became because of you.” — “The Wounded”, Stardate 44429.6
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“Faith is much better than belief. Belief is when someone ELSE does the thinking.” — R. Buckminster Fuller

When I saw this I had to laugh…. loud….. and then I wondered what in the world was he thinking? Bucky Fuller normally had a very clear view of reality; this is made obvious by his invention of the triangular support design that allows us to build domes the size of small cities without fear of its collapse, unless by improper construction, or use of faulty materials. He also had a number of other ideas that were revolutionary in their approach to the way people think about reality, and many of his ideas have pushed the frontiers of human thought to new plateaus.

But with this statement, he misses a very important distinction when he fails to point out that, yes, believing what someone else had told us is a risky proposition at best, but, relying on faith is letting NOBODY do the thinking. … What someone else tells us is, at minimum, subject to some kind of fact checking, some verification. But faith disallows any such process, asking us to accept its premises without evidence.

Not a good idea….. at least, not in my experience. When others wish for us to believe them, solely upon their say-so, my experience is that they want me to allow them some sort of control over me. It’s not a pretty view to take of humanity, but, hey, the numbers don’t lie. How far, then, can I expect faith to provide me with some sort of defense against that sort of chicanery?

Not far, I can assure you, for I have never found that what I’ve been told by preachers, priests, or politicians to be remotely helpful to me; only they benefit from my acceptance of their information. I’m not expressing opinion here; this is what has actually occurred over the time I’ve been around on this planet.

So, let’s just give Bucky the benefit of the doubt, and say he just had a bad day when he said this…. I suppose it goes to show that everybody has off days…. just don’t forget to check what you hear against what you know, and all will turn out the way it should…. in that I have faith….  🙂

“Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom.” — Smart Bee
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Behold the child, by Nature’s kindly law,
Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw;
Some livelier plaything gives his youth delight,
A little louder, but as empty quite;
Scarfs, garters, gold, amuse his riper stage,
And beads and prayer-books are the toys of age.
Pleased with this bauble still, as that before,
Till tired he sleeps, and life’s poor play is o’er.
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle ii, Line 274

Ah, metaphor! How quaint and sharp thy wit, to give us a whole life of a man, in one graceful portion of language that supplies images in the mind’s eye to fill the gap of years. I imagine this poem has been the subject of term papers and essays by students of literature on more than one occasion, supplying the premises for hundreds of random interpretations from the various young minds that were tasked to examine its depths as part of their literary education. If not, well, a lot of teachers were missing out on a good lesson, for certain.

Have no fear, I’m not going to give you my take on this, beyond what I’ve already written above; I’m only auditing this course, and it won’t affect my GPA at all, so I won’t subject you to that. Besides, then you would have no reason to do so yourself, should you ever find yourself with a spare hour or two that needs to be filled up with something more constructive than painting your toenails again. Not that I don’t like painted toenails…. but more than once a day is overkill, isn’t it? I think so…. so, just enjoy it, and keep it for later if you wish…. it’s only a few bytes of memory…..
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    As a public service, and to provide some relief from the ongoing seriousness that is the common state of affairs here, I offer this delightful young pup in the throes of joie de vivre; I found the picture on Facebook, posted on my wall….. Would that we all could be as carefree as this!…. Just enjoy, ffolkes, that’s all it’s here for….   🙂
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It’s been a long road to this point this morning, but well worth it, to my mind. I hope y’all enjoyed the previous post, “Music Passion”, as well as this meander through my morning’s mindful muddle…. I’m going to stop pressing my luck, and end this here… it seems an appropriate place, sitting here at the end as it does, eh?  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you……

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!


Abrubtly, he mentioned his investments….

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Update: 0945, 3/13/2012…. This Pearl of Virtual Wisdom was completed and ready to post at 0720 this morning. Sadly, my ISP is experiencing network problems, conveniently caused by the recent extremely large solar flare from out star, Sol, the munificent, that reached Earth day before yesterday, and continues to excite the Northern and Southern Lights… at this hour, there is still no word as to when they will overcome the problem, and restore service… SIGH….. if no change, I will update in two hours, just so I can keep from screaming aloud…..

1145, 3/13/2012…. Well….it’s a bit early, only 1138, but I’m getting that blood pressure spike that tells me that either I go for a walk and look for an innocent victim for my displaced anger, scream loud enough to hurt my throat and have the neighbors calling 911 for an ambulance, or begin my written rant… so here I am. With no news forthcoming regarding a time frame for restoring service, a time to be henceforth referred to as the Much Desired and Greatly Anticipated Moment of Deliverance From A Conveniently Disguised Plot to Censor My Blog by The Combined Forces of Evil Incarnate, I can do nothing but speculate as to the next form this devious attempt to silence me, and stay vigilant….. more later on that…. Okay then, 1145, Network still down, I’m off to make lunch and ponder the plan for how to fill up my time, and try to not think about the close to a hundred emails I expect to flood my inbox once I’m back online…. SIGH….

1300 Back online….the MDAGDTCMBBTCFOEI has arrived, and evil is once more on the run…. Blessed Be!….

Ffolkes,
Some days, such as this one thus far, the universe seems to be making a determined effort to be rude and contrary. So far, my ISP informs me that the network degradation problems they were having last night (8 hours ago) are still happening, but they are “working diligently” to overcome the problem, which affects ONLY my type of modem on the network! Then I go to answer a comment in WordPress with the new drop down menu function, and it refuses to scroll down past the bottom of the page, so I have no idea if what I’m typing is being reproduced, or where I am in my sentence. Then the absolutely rudest piece of unwelcome news… the coffee isn’t ready….because it is the one clock I neglected to turn forward on Sunday….so I have to wait for my coffee. Which is why I am whining and bemoaning my fate, just as if it mattered at all…… I guess I should go Pearl, and forget the rest…..tough without coffee….grumble, grumble, hmph…..

Oh, BTW…..my ISP problem is making it hard to get to other folk’s sites, so here is a comment, directed to Cracked and Snaap…. Oh, you have kids? I love kids! But I don’t think I could eat a whole one….. so don’t go to any trouble for my sake…..  🙂
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Folly, thou conquerest, and I must yield!
Against stupidity the very gods
Themselves contend in vain. Exalted reason,
Resplendent daughter of the head divine,
Wise foundress of the system of the world,
Guide of the stars, who are thou then, if thou,
Bound to the tail of folly’s uncurb’d steed,
Must, vainly shrieking, with the drunken crowd,
Eyes open, plunge down headlong in the abyss.
— Johann Christian Friedrich von Schiller, The Maid of Orleans

This is one of my favorite verses, and the original source (I believe) for the sentiment “Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.” A paean to the power of reason, defiant in its resistance to ubiquitous Folly, it describes perfectly the anguish felt by all men of reason in the face of the unlimited power of human stupidity, to which I would add the unwholesome adjunct carried by most of the deliberately stupid, cupidity….. a word I use to describe how these unfortunates make a deliberate choice to be ignorant, rather than attempting the, to them, hellishly difficult task of trying to learn.

“There are two infinite things in the universe: hydrogen atoms and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the hydrogen atoms.” — Albert Einstein

These misguided and stubborn throwbacks to cave days will typically expend more effort fighting to preserve their lack of understanding than they will to change it, no matter how convincing the argument may be, and even if they are made to see that they would benefit from even the smallest lessons Life has to give them. They prefer their cocoon of soft cotton, covered by thick steel, that covers and protects their insistence on wearing blinders and sunshades to keep out any extraneous knowledge; ignorance must indeed be blissful, for those who have not the courage or the honor to seek growth instead of stagnancy will cling to it like an addict to his heroin…..

“Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.” — Lazarus Long
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Shakespeare is not our poet, but the world’s,–
Therefore on him no speech! And brief for thee,
Browning! Since Chaucer was alive and hale,
No man hath walk’d along our roads with steps
So active, so inquiring eye, or tongue
So varied in discourse.
— Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864) — To Robert Browning

Hmph! Poets, speaking to poets, about poets, in a poem… what were they thinking? Was it a literary challenge? A contest for prizes? Or just a temporary insanity, shared by more than one afflicted young sensitive dilettante? Maybe a virus, passed around by the English mail system, affecting only gullible poets of a certain age…. I don’t know, but it just seems a bit, well, cocky and indicative of an overweening pride, to my mind. Not the best poem, even for free verse; I expect more rhyming from a poet in the Romantic tradition, especially a contemporary of Browning, who couldn’t order breakfast without breaking into rhyme! Ah well, I suppose even Romantics have their bad days….. but I’m disappointed, to say the least……

Here ‘s to the maiden of bashful fifteen;
Here ‘s to the widow of fifty;
Here ‘s to the flaunting, extravagant queen,
And here ‘s to the housewife that ‘s thrifty!
Let the toast pass;
Drink to the lass;
I ‘ll warrant she ‘ll prove an excuse for the glass.
— Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816)  — School for Scandal, Act iii, Sc. 3

Now, that’s more like it! Rhymes that rhyme, structure, and a clever twist…. what more could a thirsty man ask for?…..
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“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.  True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.” — George Washington

I like this….it fits in well with how I’ve always perceived Washington to be; a slow, but deep and steady type of mind, that because of it’s deliberative nature, sees deeply into any question, and draws out the most pertinent and useful information as a response. I have a lifelong friend whose mind works like that; Chuck, if you read this today, I’m speaking of you. I’ve always admired the way your mind works; you took your own sweet time, but you always got to the correct destination, no matter what subject was under discussion. Sometimes it surprises folks who don’t know you, and think that because you speak and think deliberately, you aren’t very bright; it’s good camouflage, isn’t it? And, in addition, I would include you in those few people I call Friend; our relationship, though old and well-worn, is as strong and fresh as when we last saw each other; less than a year ago it was when we met and reconnected at dinner with George and Rick, after close to 45 years since we graduated….. and it was the same as if we had seen each other the week before….. I cherish these memories, as I cherish those few who I regard as my friends….. a very small list, all things considered…..
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“Courage can’t see around corners, but goes around them anyway.” — Mignon McLaughlin (The Neurotic’s Notebook)

When people think of those characteristics that are important for personal growth and living life honorably, courage is often overlooked, yet it is of primary importance, to each and every person who seeks to better their life and stature, or to help others do the same. All other virtues are of no use, if one has not the courage to act upon them; there is no honor, and no gain, in keeping silence in the face of oppression, nor will any of the less fortunate be helped, if we have not the courage to reach out to them.

There are innumerable instances every day when a lack of courage causes pain and hardship for those who have no power or resources to reject evil influences; rank cowardice it is, on the part of those who oppress, on the part of those who are oppressed, and most disappointing, on the part of any who witness such events. Everyone may give lip service to their disapproval of oppression, and tout their rejection of the forces of evil, but when confronted by the reality, the most common reaction is “am I, then, my brother’s keeper?”, and to look away, thus giving their consent by their silence….. One must find courage first, before any of their integrity or honorable intentions will have any relevance; evil is only fought with acts of honor, but one must act, and courage is essential to that process; just thinking about it won’t help anyone but the aggressor….
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“Human language is like a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, when all the time we are longing to move the stars to pity.” — Gustave Flaubert

Gus must have been a bit down in the mouth the day he wrote this, but he still managed to create a beautiful image, one that echoes the depths of the human condition, exposing the caverns of our collective soul. Sometimes I think that poetry manages to change the cracked kettle to a snare drum and brushes, rhythmic enough to have the bears dance a tango, or perhaps a waltz. Even prose, when well conceived, can make us howl at the moon and caper under the stars. And sometimes, we break the kettle, and get eaten by the bears….. I wish the last image was not so familiar as it feels….. but then, I’m no Flaubert, by any stretch of the imagination…… I’m closer to the level of say, the Marx Brothers…… Harpo was always my favorite, probably because he was a mime….. he had a natural understanding of what Harry Truman said, to wit: “I never have regretted anything I didn’t say….”   A pair of wise men…..
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We come sadly to the end of another day’s musings; endings are always a bit sad, aren’t they? But our sadness can be soothed by the knowledge that tomorrow will come, same as it does every day; that small assurance remains as one of our most reliable anchors to reality, for it has been found to be true for every day we have lived, and shows no inclination toward changing anytime soon. Comforting, don’t you think? I find it so….. but, I’m pretty easy to please, when it comes to reality…. it changes so often on me, I try not to anticipate events too far ahead; it seems to work out better for everybody that way….. Y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dreaming, the sleeper sleeps on….

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Ffolkes,
This could take awhile, as I have no pearls on tap, and must first go diving, and I never know how long it may take. So bear with me, as I sacrifice my comfy bed in exchange for a dip in the world wide ocean of facts and fantasies….. I hate to quote Arnie, but, I’ll be back…..
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“A professional politician is a professionally dishonorable man.  In order to get anywhere near high office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker.” — H.L. Mencken

To tell the truth, I’m getting a bit tired of harping on this subject. But, I’m also still filled with outrage and chronic disbelief at the sheer effrontery of the so aptly named professionally dishonorable men who are trying to gather enough blind people together to ensure their nomination for next year’s election.  Oops, wishful thinking I guess; I mean the election later this year. I have yet to encounter a day in the last few weeks where the news has no new comments or statements from one of the group of wannabe’s, and every one of those reported utterances is fuel for the fire of outrage merrily burning out of control in my brain.

Their statements are becoming more grandiose, more insipid, more personal, and more derogatory toward opponents with each passing day; one of the most desperate is so scared of losing he has begun a series of attacks of a personal nature on the President and his own Republican opponents for the nomination. No issues are being addressed now, it’s all a matter of who can paint the ugliest picture of the other guys in the remaining days before Super Tuesday (what a crock!). It will be interesting to me to see who does the best in these upcoming primaries on Tuesday; it will give me an idea of just how far down the road to perdition we’ve gone, and how far it is to get back to a normal world…. a long time, I’m afraid, but we’ll just see what happens……

“I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends…that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.” — Adlai Stevenson

….and just so you don’t think I pick on Republicans exclusively…..

“I looked up the word “politics” in the dictionary and it’s actually a  combination of two words; “poli,” which means many, and “tics,” which means bloodsuckers.” — Jay Leno
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“Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence…  From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to ensure peace, security, and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable….  The very atmosphere of firearms every- where restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.” — George Washington (bogus?)

Bogus or not, it’s true. If George didn’t say this, then Thomas Jefferson, or George Mason did say it, or something very close to it. I’ve read passages from Tom Jefferson’s letters that parallel this statement perfectly. I’ve included it today because I want to reiterate its importance in today’s society. It is becoming increasingly clear that the powers that be are trying to take away the basic freedoms that Tom and both George’s fought for so eloquently; the Bill of Rights is now abridged, and the next step is to make those abridgments permanent.

The federal government and politicians are always spouting off about gun control, trying to limit the public’s right to arm themselves, blaming it on the criminals who have no compunction against using their guns to achieve their own ends (funny how much that sounds like what the police do on a regular basis). They do this because they firmly believe that only they have the intelligence, integrity of purpose, and restraint to have guns, and can be trusted not use them inappropriately. Of course, they say that, but once all of our guns are gone, and they are the only ones who have them, tell me, what is there to keep them from using them on us? Honesty? Riiiiight. Do I even need to point out how often they lie to the public? Restraint? Sure, ask the Afghanis or the Iraqis how much restraint they have witnessed (ask their civilians, they’re the ones we were killing over there, a great many more than military casualties…..).

So, you may, if you so desire, sit there and buy into the bogus fears promoted by the beloved ruling class, and calmly watch while all of your former freedoms are sold into slavery. Or, like me, you can make sure you are well-armed, and hunker down to wait for the fools to come and try to take your guns away from you. Give me 10 seconds warning, and they will find out that a free man cannot be controlled; you might be able to kill him, but in my case, at least, they should be aware that I guarantee the price to be exacted will be much higher than expected…..
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If parts allure thee, think how Bacon shin’d,
The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind!
Or ravish’d with the whistling of a name,
See Cromwell, damn’d to everlasting fame!
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744)  — Essay on Man, Epistle iv, Line 281

I was talking yesterday with my old friend, Tom, and we got to talking about how much age is affecting us, in ways that now seem obvious as to cause, but which in former years we had no clue of their developing importance. An example of this is sleeping; our sleep habits now are much different than previously, due to age-related conditions such as BPH or hypertension. Other things assume higher priority as we age, and when younger, we had no clue that we would be even thinking about such subjects, nor that we would be spending inordinate amounts of time dealing with the ramifications. It’s all good, we weren’t bitching about it, just observing. But it brought other thoughts to mind, thoughts that didn’t have so much weight for the younger me…..

I’m talking about death, of course, and the legacy we leave behind, that which demonstrates best our raison d’etre, our purpose, our answer to the question, “What’s it all about, Alfie?”. In my younger days, thinking up new and funny lines to put on graves was, at best, an undertaking of no more than a couple of minutes of mild hilarity. Now it’s a matter for serious thought and internal debate; one never wants to be caught unprepared for death. It would embarrass me no end to not have my affairs straight before I submit my final post in the blog of Life, to have no memory of me survive past the temporary grief of my children and friends who might outlive me.

Our lives as humans on this plane of existence are short, and so being, they create in us a strong need to have some piece of us that is immortal, that does not give in to the laws of nature, and insists on persisting in a form other than flesh. If we can’t live forever, then we will settle for living in memory, preferably with some physical presence, such as a headstone, or a statue. But, even if it is only in memory, it is comforting to know that those we love will keep the best part of us with them, and that is the love we share; it acknowledges no barriers at all, not even that of death…..

Man will survive into eternity. He’s too stupid to know when he’s beaten. — Unknown, (one of the lesser-known Greek philosophers…)
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To see the world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
— William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence”

I tend to write about the parts of human nature and society that annoy me, or more often, outrage me; there’s plenty of stuff happening in the world that accomplishes either or both every day. As a result, it may seem like I’m a curmudgeon all the time, and firmly believe that we’re all going straight to my version of Hell, sometime in the next two weeks. And you’d be right in that estimation, for the most part.

But in reality, I am not so pessimistic as it may sound, and I find life to be all I could hope for as a human, full of beauty, grace, and loving kindness. I see these features every day, in almost every interaction I witness  between people. A great many people out there in Life At Large are decent, honorable folks, and they interact with others in that light. There are also many who are not so squeaky clean on a moral level, but who fight against their own nature to change themselves for the better.

There is human misery aplenty, but there is also human love unlimited, as the dance of balance that takes place every instant of existence spins gaily along the ribbon of Time. One need only open the eyes, the mind, and the heart to see beauty in every direction, and in every moment…… and the poem above from Blake, is a perfect example of that serendipity…..
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As I awoke this morning,
When all things sweet are born,
A robin perched upon my sill
To hail a happy morn.

He looked so young and fragile,
So sweetly did he sing,
That thoughts of joy and happiness
Into my heart did spring.

I smiled discreetly to myself
As I paused beside my bed,
Then quickly brought the window down,
And smashed his little head!

— another gem from Anonymous–

See? I do have a sense of humor…. I just find it to be more effective if I don’t let it out much. Better surprise factor…. and this poem by our old friend Anonymous has all the elements I admire…. perfect rhyming, cadence, and structure, grace, beauty, and in the last line, true to life. Admit it. You’ve had the same feeling, those homicidal (aviacidal?) tendencies toward an early bird bragging about his breakfast, now, haven’t you? I’m honest enough to admit to having succumbed to this attitude frequently in my youth, though in my case it was generally directed toward a rooster rather than a robin. In any case, it’s worth a moment’s giggle…..
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When I awoke this morning, almost two hours after my normal wake up, I was uncertain how today’s missive might turn out. I shouldn’t have worried; I’m happy with it, at least now that it’s over. Might just be the relief at that, but hey, I’ll take what I can get. Meantime, y’all take care out there……

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

Dozer

Kowabunga!

 

Playing with a crooked cue….

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Ffolkes,
I realized as I sat here this morning that it has now been a year, just a bit more, actually, since I started this particular series of Pearls of Virtual Wisdom. It originally started as a way to blow off steam built up by caring for Mom when she was so ill last January, and eventually morphed into what you see before you today. This constitutes, as near as I can figure, 365+ days straight of writing a Pearl. All of a sudden I’m exhausted…..:-) Let’s go have some fun…..
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“…and before I knew what I was doing, I had kicked the typewriter and threw it around the room and made it beg for mercy.  At this point the typewriter pleaded for me to dress him in feminine attire but instead I pressed his margin release over and over again until the typewriter lost consciousness. Presently, I regained consciousness and realized with shame what I had done.  My shame is gone and now I am looking for a submissive typewriter, any color, or model.  No electric typewriters please!” — Rick Kleiner

Often, after composing one of these morning Pearls, I can empathize with Mr. Kreiner very closely. I’ve been known to take myself right back to bed some mornings, as there is nowhere else soft to crawl to….writing every day in a creative manner is a much harder thing to do than it is to imagine. A lot more goes into the things we read online, or in a newspaper, or even on TV, than we know of, looking from the outside.

The writer must not only write creatively, but within certain guidelines that can, at times, limit the creative urge. Once it is done, then it must be edited for errors and syntax, for style, for clarity. After at least 3 edits, it will finally be in a form suitable to be published. This, of course, makes no mention of research beforehand, or searching for pictures, videos, or links that may go with the material. It is a lot more work than it looks like from the outside, for sure. This could be why so many give up trying to write; it’s more work than they wanted. I suppose one could say that’s a metaphor for life, eh?……
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“One must not be mean with the affections; what is spent of the fund is renewed in the spending itself.” — Sigmund Freud

Boy, you can sure tell Freud was a psychiatrist, and too-heavily influenced by his own reputation. What a long winded way of saying you can’t get or give too many hugs! Even that long-winded story about Warm Fuzzies I read about 40 years ago was easier to understand than this one sentence from Siggy.

And that, I think, points to the problem encountered by a lot of philosophers, or doctors, or any other well-educated people who share their thoughts with others when they write. They have read a lot, and thought about what they’ve read; to many of them, this is a source of pride, and they tend to use the language far too formally, constructing long, meandering sentences, with lots of commas and semi-colons, that take the reader on a walk through the dictionary (sort of like this sentence).

The difficulty with this is it tends to take away from the actual content of what is being read, focusing the reader’s attention on the words and how they are put together, rather than on what the words mean. Siggy’s sentence above is a perfect example of this; all he really needed to say is; Hugs feel good, and you can never run out of them……and that’s the truth, so there, thpppppt!…..
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“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master.  Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.” — George Washington

It makes perfect sense to me that the founding fathers of this country, Washington included, would be wary of a strong central government. After all, that is what they endured for many years leading up to the Revolutionary War. They had a profound distrust of a government that had unlimited power over the populace, and used that power to oppress; that distrust eventually brought them to the point of action.

We, however, the beneficiaries of their work and wisdom, have neglected to follow through with the responsibility they left us, i.e., to remain informed and alert to any wrong-doing by government officials. We didn’t pay close enough attention, and allowed their worn-out, frightful rhetoric to stampede us into abject fear, thereby allowing them (the government) to legislate our rights into dust. We have no one but ourselves to blame, and if society continues to allow the government to dictate to them what is right and wrong, then we deserve our chosen lot, i.e., slaves…….

“If Stupidity got us into this mess, then why can’t it get us out?” — Will Rogers (1879-1935)
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Terror at Constitution Hall

Standing quiet, waiting on hope’s bright wing,
a stranger heralds the gift of Time.
Lyrical, spherical melodies we sing,
yet with silence, as a mime.

If fortune favors the bold and free,
truth may be spoken with courage unveiled.
But fortune oft is capricious and cruel,
and truth is naught but cold, with freedom failed.

Humanity has rights, ’tis often said,
if courage and truth can prevail.
If fear and ignorance are the diet we’re fed,
Life without liberty will be the end to this tale.

gigoid

“I think that 95 percent of what passes for art in this world is complete and utter shit. And 4 of the other 5 percent is shit with an asterisk. But oh, that 1 percent makes you proud to be a human, doesn’t it?” — Dennis Miller

I feel humbled, yet human….. I think it’s worth an asterisk, at least….
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“If a word in the dictionary were misspelled, how would we know?” — Steven Wright, 1994

So that’s why the spell-checkers never work right!  Heisenberg sticks his nose in everywhere, eh? And if I need to explain that, well, I’m afraid you’ll be waiting a long time, because learning what I needed to know in order to make the reference took a long time, too, and would be inappropriate in this venue. Besides, I’m not entirely certain that I know, either. Just because I make a joke doesn’t mean it has to be funny, now does it? Of course not….but it is pretty funny, so I’d suggest you look up Heisenberg’s equations, and an explanation of what they imply….. here’s a clue…

— ‘Shit Happens’ according to… Heisenberg: Shit happened, we just don’t know where.
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Well, I think I’ve done enough damage for one morning. I’m gonna go play Whack the Mole for awhile (I pasted politicians’ faces on the moles), then go back to bed. A great start to a rainy day….. y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!