Crash test dummies don’t do it….

Posted on February 2, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I stood
Among them, but not of them; in a shroud
Of thoughts which were not their thoughts.

— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto iii, Stanza 113

This excerpt is one I’ve used previously, in a Pearl from long ago… Other than not knowing the title of that particular Pearl, or what was in the pearl in which this was used, I remember it very well, in that, the verse held the same meaning for me then, as it does now. In essence, this expresses how I feel a lot of the time, when I consider myself in relation to my fellow man….

Often, I feel as if I am seeing something in the what the world presents for our perception that they don’t, that I am perceiving more details than most people….These perceptions, because they are different, and more extensive in many cases, cause me to entertain thoughts and ideas that always seem to shock or surprise others, because of their dubiously exotic, yet obviously valid nature, which is, all to often, in direct contrast to their own perceptions and thoughts.

The most common reaction I get from folks when I offer an insight into an issue out in the BBR somewhere (in line in a store, in a restaurant, etc….) is a puzzled expression, and/or a question about either “why” or “how” I came to the conclusions I’ve offered…. In many cases, I’ve learned to just stay out of situations where I could possibly help, because people get upset when it is offered; I guess they think that accepting the offer of help is tantamount to giving up, or seeming incompetent, so they get all grumpy and sober, insisting on fixing whatever the problems without assistance.

This little behavioral fillip is one that most humans have, to one degree or another, when their own mental acuity is put into question, either by circumstance, by someone’s tactlessness or cruelty, or by the bozoid nature of their own efforts….

Me, I just keep tumbling along the road to freedom, wherever it may lead me, keeping my thoughts mostly to myself, as I’ve found the public doesn’t want to hear it, unless you’re wearing a power suit, a red tie, (with stripes is good…. blue, if you can get ’em….), and a flag pin, while talking on TV…. Now, dress up like that, get on TV, speak nicely to them in small words, and they’ll believe just about anything they’re told….

Tell them face to face, in words of more than two syllables, and they will slam shut the doors to their minds like the closing of a bank vault; at that point there is no reason, and no rhyme, they will ever allow in…. Change can be scary, you know; people are well aware that when they allow themselves to learn something, something always changes on them…. and they don’t like it….

Perhaps this is why I find this blogging experience to be cathartic…. It allows me to say what I have to say, that would otherwise sit inside me and cause trouble, without it getting to the point of being burdensome, while at the same time, offering to the world some of the diligently imprudent, yet occasionally wise thoughts that have passed through my head over the years…..

Some of it is pretty good stuff, very helpful in living a life well lived… Other parts of it may not be quite as useful, or particularly attractive to those who don’t enjoy using their minds for anything other than finding food and companionship, but, hopefully, what I create will entertain and/or amuse y’all as much to read as it does me to share….

And, if not, well, there’s always the pearls to get you through the day…. They’re pretty infallible in their wisdom, you see, having been around long enough to have withstood the test of time, having long since proved their worth, as good advice, or solid logic…. or, merely as beautiful…. Whichever it may be, these pearls, and the Pearls that they form, will be here long after I am, and I hope they give someone pleasure to read, as they do me to write…..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“All I kin say is when you finds yo’self wanderin’ in a peach orchard, ya don’t go lookin’ for rutabagas. — Kingfish
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A year ago, in January of 2013, my life was much different, in several ways, too numerous to mention now, obviously, or we’d never get anywhere…. However, if we use the following old pearl from a Pearl I posted early in that month as an indicator, one can see my thoughts haven’t traveled far in a different direction at all…. This sortofarant is one I wrote the second day of the month…. I was pleased with it back then, and am even more so now, for it saves me a shitload of work this morning, and my back, in its current state, thanks me…. I hope you enjoy it, too….
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From 1/2/2013:

“Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when he is called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.” — Oscar Wilde

One can always trust Oscar Wilde to display both elegant wit and intelligent insight, though, to be sure, many of his most closely held views were somewhat divergent with what was commonly held to be true, philosophically, by many in the mainstream of society. This divergence was, I believe, mostly deliberate on his part, as he tended to mock that which he did not respect, and he never had much respect for…. well, anything to do with human nature vs. reason and rationality. He mistrusted most people to act morally, and was unafraid to say so; this, of course, made him both famous, and infamous….. His infamy, I’m sure, ultimately was his undoing, much to society’s loss; as is said so often about our brightest minds, “only the good die young….”

I often wonder, (well, maybe not so often, so much as I’m wondering now…) what the world today would be like, if somehow, some of those bright stars in history had lived to an age where their accomplishments, in relation to the advancement of human thought, and the betterment of the human condition, had a broader, and more lasting effect than their absence has left us.

What if Keats had written poetry until he was 85? How many more inventions would have come to us from Nicolas Tesla, had he lived long enough for the rest of the scientific world to catch up to him, instead of hounding him to an early grave? How much more good music, and art, and literature would be available to all of us, if not for this tendency for the best of us to live as a burning meteor, flaming brightly through the sky, until burned out and lifeless?

It is a sad commentary for society to know that it is often the very brilliance of these people that brings about their downfall, at the hands of the ignorant, and the avaricious…. What is even sadder, to me, is that this demonstrates another part of human nature that is responsible for almost every painful issue in human history, and current society, the issues that cause people to suffer pain, oppression, perpetual struggle, and will most certainly ultimately lead to the extinction of our species, on this planet, at minimum….. I’m pretty sure we don’t have time to mount any significant exodus to another planet, to save at least some of the species, before our own stupidity catches up to us, in a fatal sense….

That piece of our nature is the unfortunate characteristic, in a number of humans, to be able to put aside all conscience, to act solely in their own self interest. All of us, of course, possess this quality to some degree; it is an outgrowth of having a will to survive. To these few others, it is their primary modus operandi; they simply do not take other people, or their concerns, into account when deciding what they are going to do, and are not hampered by the consideration of any suffering they may cause other people, animals, or things.

As is patently obvious, to my mind, every elected official, every high level preacher, every corporate magnate, and a great many lawyers, are all of this ilk, and have, for nearly 230 years now, been quietly and efficiently plundering the pockets and rights of the American people (and those of every other country in the world, for that matter…. it is a HUMAN condition, not just American…. Ours are just some of the most obvious about it….), while simultaneously lying, cheating, and otherwise acting to secure their stranglehold on society.

(Note from 2014: In fairness, let’s add those criminals in the world who prey on the weak and poor, like the mafia, the drug cartels, etc…. We’ll include anyone who involves themselves in prostitution or the sex trade in any way, or otherwise abuses women and/or children out of their own misogyny and greed…. A lot of the poor, who are resentful at the treatment at the hands of those in the same category, who disguise their evil behind the public face of politics or religion, become of the same nature, losing the connection to their own humanity, using violence, and physical power over others to survive in the world created by the corporate masters, and their dupes and myrmidons, in the established powers that be….)

Anyone who disagrees with this assessment, quite simply, isn’t paying enough attention to the world around them….. Sorry to be so blunt, but the facts are all laid out, right there, almost every day in the news media, if one knows how to look at the larger picture it presents, rather than the individual facets of that picture. Focusing on the little shit is just what those in power wish for people to do…. It keeps them busy not noticing other, more incriminating stuff they are carrying out, in the darkness where they mostly live….

“… change depends on individual acts of courage and commitment. Most such acts are private, invisible, and uncelebrated. But some find a place in the public spotlight; and their influence goes far beyond mere example.” — Arthur C. Clarke & Michael Kube-McDowell, The Trigger, 1999

Each and every one of us, in the face of what we know about reality, is responsible in some way, and to some degree, for both the way things are, and the way they will be in the future. If you don’t believe that, well, discussion is, for you, probably useless, and little hope remains. For anyone with moderate insight, however, this is plain, clear truth, and we all need to accept it before any significant progress can be expected against those who are sociopathic, which I define, and hereby name, as homo suicidus, those who would kill us all…. But, it is imperative that we act soon, for the damage we have done, and continue to do to our world, is at a point where the effects are nearly irreversible, and even if we manage to wrest control from the beloved ruling class, we may find it is too late to save our lives….

“In regard to disagreeable and formidable things, prudence does not consist in evasion, or in flight, but in courage. He who wishes to walk in the most peaceful parts of life with any serenity must screw himself up to resolution. Let him front the object of his worst apprehension, and his stoutness will commonly make his fear groundless.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, _Essays_, Prudence

It is my hope, small and pale though it be, that we WILL speak up, that the rational among us will rise up, and take back the control of our destiny from the hands of those who would see us all die, rather than give up their own control. It will only happen when men of courage, as defined by Mr. Emerson, stand up to those who would render us all impotent, for their own benefit. The only hope that exists for the rest of us lies in enough of us showing this kind of courage, and overcoming the fear that keeps us in thrall…..

“I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat.” — John Milton (1608-1674) — Areopagitica

Myself, I don’t want to die ignominiously, gasping for breath, because I didn’t have the courage to speak up, and to fight back against the immoral, avaricious assholes who dominate society….. Instead, let’s create a whole new world, without a beloved ruling class, at all….. Who knows? We might just find out that anarchy works!….. Worth a try, I think…..

And, if it doesn’t work, well, we can always try a technocracy, which we have yet to do in history….. With a bit of foresight and planning, it might just be what we need to survive our own foolishness… Maybe, Richard Brautigan had the truest prophetic vision, when he wrote “All watched over, by machines of loving grace….”

“Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.” — Pablo Picasso

History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, but if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.

— Maya Angelou, “On the Pulse of Morning”
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Again, to maintain integrity, rather than shuffle off any of the blame for today on anyone else, here’s another of my old poems, one that talks about the chronic pain, and the emotional lability that PTSD brings, that I live with…. a poem which, in its own sardonic way, expresses the joy those bring….. NOT… I’m pretty sure I wrote this when I’d forgotten to take any meds for too long, and was feeling the result of that….Or, it could have been a day when the meds weren’t working very well, or the pain was too much for it…. Either way, it’s real….. or, rather, it was real when written, a reality that remains, as it always will, a threatening potentiality….

Pieces of broken spirit….

Deep within the inner abyss, tears lay in wait
Ever on the verge, tending to infuriate.
Real moments of sadness cracking our need
Swift, deadly waves of appalling terror freed.

Memory hurts badly when visiting now
Leaving me alone, forgetting even how
Killing the sunshine still pouring over all
Darkening all spirit, holding it in thrall.

Knowing no blame seems almost to heal
Yet healing is blunted, plainly not real.
Innocence is pointless compared with pain
On the soul it tattoos an indelible stain.

Hours become days, days turn to a year
Serving up only a compendium of fear.
Blind groping for light finds only dark
In caverns of terror, angry and stark.

Trails of endless sorrow fill up the nights
Confounded at last by unfathomable sights.
No hope can find its way to the fore
Never to sail safely, lost forever more.

~~ gigoid ~~

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For some unknown reason, today, my mind keeps finding reasons NOT to compose…. I suppose it might have something to do with the fact it’s Sunday…. Nah, that doesn’t make sense, as I often don’t know what day it is until after noon, when I look at my calendar, or happen to notice when I look at my phone…. Ah, I know, more coffee…. Hold on….

Okay, well, better, but still no burst of creative urges billowing up from my subconscious mind…. I guess we’ll have to settle here for an old-school pearl, or we’ll never get done…. (You KNEW that was coming, didn’t you?….) Let’s see what Smart Bee has for us today, shall we?…. Hey, cut the complaints! It’s this, or you’ll be sitting through a half-baked, ill-considered, badly written rant, to no particular purpose, which I will make sure to take AT LEAST two more hours to write…. So, settle down, or I won’t distribute the Valium until we’re in the air…

“It is ridiculous to suppose that the great head of things, whatever it be, pays any regard to human affairs.” — Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) — Natural History, Book ii, Sect. 20

“I don’t pretend to understand the universe–it’s much bigger than I am.” — Einstein

“If Shaw and Einstein couldn’t beat death, what chance have I got? Practically none.” — Mel Brooks

“Nobody ever complains that you are treating them like a child when you listen to their stories, encourage their dreams, and tell them how special they are.” — Callan Williams

“To certain individuals of small minds and overweening ambition, there is no greater insult than to be proved wrong.” — Thomas H Dyer 1984

“The most virtuous of all men is he that contents himself with being virtuous without seeking to appear so.” — Plato (B.C. 427?-347?)

And taste
The melancholy joy of evils past:
For he who much has suffer’d, much will know.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Odyssey of Homer, Book xv, Line 434

Well, who knew? A comment on Life at Large, its ever-present counterpart, Death, and, how to cope with both… Not bad for off the cuff…
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In spite of factors that have precluded much fresh material today, I think this is probably done, anyway. Oh, right, we’re here at the ass-end of section three, so it HAS to be done…. because I’m not going back to do it over now…. With that little piece of deliberately factoidal wordplay as my excuse, I’ll just slip out this door over here… See ya…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

Destiny won’t manifest on demand…..

Posted on February 1, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

As further proof of the universal nature of bozoid tendencies, I offer up my own sweet self, for spouting off in a most bozo-like fashion a couple of weeks or so ago, talking completely through my ass, to make statements that, while not exactly stupid, were based on a false assumption, thereby guaranteeing they were wrong from the start…. As a result, naturally, my nose began to grow round and bulbous, and take on a deeper red shade…. Most embarrassing, or, would be, if it didn’t happen all the damn time…. I must be getting accustomed to all the funny looks and pitying expressions….

SIGH… It was really dumb, too, but, to save face, I am choosing to believe to be the result of an eye hitch…. I said that in a few days I’d be posting my 1000th blog here on Exploring Consensual Reality, having reached 997 on the count…. Well, it’s going to be a while yet until I hit that high a number, because what my eye saw as 997 was actually 937, a matter of a mere 60 Pearls difference…. about 8 WEEKS difference, not an inconsiderable number….

Oh well, sorry ’bout that…. scratch anything I said earlier, and forget it altogether if you wish…. I’m going to, right up to the time it actually happens…. THEN, I’ll worry about it… That way, no more embarrassing need to admit to my own bozoid nature, any more than I already do as a matter of course….

Since even I don’t want to go there, not without severe need, we’ll try to change direction here, to see if there is anywhere more interesting to hang…. Hmm, how ’bout them Warriors, eh? Oh, right, nobody cares about basketball until the playoffs…. I think, any more, a lot of people do that with almost every sport, which is to say, not follow it closely until the end of the season, when it becomes clearer who will be in the championship games…..

For me, most sports, even baseball, are becoming difficult to sit through; it’s easier to tune in about in the last quarter, or the last few innings, and see who wins…. Usually, in that amount of time, most of the broadcast teams will summarize the rest of the game anyway, complete with video replays, so it’s like seeing only the highlights of the game, without sitting through the whole thing….

There, that was just about as boring a subject that I could possibly have thought of to discuss…. That makes it a perfect paragraph for one of these intros, even if I did, nearly, put everyone right into a self-induced coma, in a frantic attempt to protect themselves from the sheer boredom threatening to overcome their senses…. I think it’s a masterpiece of distraction, completely charming in both its apparent, but false connection to reality, and for its sheer effrontery….. Who else do you know who would make you think about that kind of thing so early in the day? Nobody, I’m guessing…

Plus, after a paragraph THAT unsettling, the law allows me to forgo any further attempts to maintain control; I can let this puppy off the leash now, since I’ve already let it get out of hand. That’s a new law here in 2014… If you screw up badly enough in the introduction of a blog, you’re allowed to remove all restrictions from the rest of the blog, in regards to how it is expected to behave…

In other words, I can let it go wherever it wants, and y’all don’t have any choice but to get dragged along, once you’re strapped into your seat…. Therefore, since the future is set in stone….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“If God hadn’t wanted me to be paranoid, He wouldn’t have given me such a vivid imagination.” — Smart Bee
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“I wouldn’t recommend sex, drugs or insanity for everyone, but they’ve always worked for me.” — Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939), journalist

So, this is going to be fun…. I think. I have no idea what to put here today. I’m not ready to rant; besides which, there’s nothing particularly rantable on tap… Oh, there’s stuff to talk about, silly stuff, bad stuff, even some good stuff…. but, none of it tickles my rant bone…. So, I’m just going to use some links to subject matter, as well as links to today’s headlines, to make short, hopefully pithy comments, infused with with and wisdom, (well, insofar as I am capable of doing so…you can never tell just how that will work out….), thereby defusing the otherwise potentially explosive possibilities that arise when I don’t rant….

First, one of my gentle readers left me a link yesterday, that led to some rather interesting information, about a concept that, oddly enough, I’d never before encountered in all my reading…. though, come to think of it now, I did read the book in which the the first appearance of the idea appeared, according to the article, a tome by Philip K. Dick…. I must have passed over the concept as part of the book’s plot, because it is a deep one, and deserves some thought….

Pronoia.… the belief that there is a conspiracy on the part of the universe to make my life better…. It is the exact reverse state of mind of paranoia, the belief in a conspiracy by reality to do us harm; as such, the concept offers the best sort of contrast to that, contrast that outlines and reveals the true state of mind we need, in order to see ALL the picture that Reality presents to us… The state of mind that shows us how to be aware of the true nature of Reality, that of duality….

It’s also a very nice way to think about living, as one of the natural results of following this train of thought is to become more compassionate, and more tolerant of others…. more able to love, and be loved… If you need an example of someone who displays the characteristics of a pronoiac, think of Elwood P. Dowd, the character played by Jimmy Stewart in the movie, “Harvey”….. Elwood believed in acting just as if the world was a place that had no other purpose than to give him different opportunities to find happiness, and, as a result of his beliefs, he found it, everywhere he looked….

Read the article, ffolkes, it will give you something to think about other than the gloom and doom that is our usual fare, if nothing else….

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronoia_%28psychology%29

In another example of how frigging CRAZY this world is, and just how little respect for the public the BRC has, I offer the following, which, though it appears to be encouraging, is actually quite scary, and I’ll tell you why…. after you read what he said….

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Obama-I-care-deeply-about-net-neutrality-5193864.php

While Barry claims to value net neutrality, his minions at the NSA and the US Cyber Security Forces are actively pursuing complete CONTROL of that internet, seeking to find ways to be able to access ANY computer ANYWHERE on the planet, as long as it is connected to the Net. When he was first elected, I sent an email to the White House, in answer to a call for opinions on some subject or another…. My hope, though small, was that someone would actually READ what I sent, and possibly, a response from an actual person would be elicited….

No such luck… I never have received anything from them via this contact other than obvious form letters, asking for donations, telling me I should join this movement, or support the president in some project or another…. Since sending that ONE email, I have been inundated with two, and sometimes three or four emails a day from the White House…. That’s every day, since 2009…. I get begging letters, letters to try to engage me enough to click on links to send me to places where they can present more attempts to brainwash me…. This administration has embrace the internet, social media, and email as marketing tools of the highest order, and obviously, have learned a lot from the spam industry about how to use email as a marketing tool…

Not only that, they are definitely mining me for whatever data they can find…. They know my name, and that I’ve never responded, because I keep getting emails from them telling me my name isn’t on their list as a supporter or a donor…. I would opt out of getting them, but, I believe in the old adage about keeping one’s enemies close enough to know what they’re up to, at least on the surface….

Immediately upon emailing the WH, I also got new, begging-type emails from a number of liberal causes, all of whom are big supporters of the pOTUS’s agenda…. Even Al Franken, a smart comedian turned Senator, started hitting me up for donations, along with the Human Rights Commission, MoveOn.org, Causes, Greenpeace, etc….. all are dunning me to get my spare dollars, and put my name, and computer address, into their database….

No, thanks…. I’ll keep accepting the emails, because it gives me a fair idea of what’s up in those arenas, but, I won’t ever respond again to them, even though I have no fear of the delete button, and can get rid of them without mercy, or regret…. which I do, every day…. But, damn, I wish I was a good enough hacker to be able to send back an email bomb, that would explode their database when my data got entered…. That would be too cool for words….

I see this statement by the president as a self-serving one, designed to make people believe he has the same concerns they have; but, at the same time, he is actively working to make the internet completely his to control…. and THAT’s dangerous, because, people are BELIEVING him….

Lastly today, here is an article which I am including, even though I won’t read it…. If this project gets passed, it will be a significant victory for the Asininnies in the fight to save the Arctic (Oh, yeah, I get emails about that, too…) from the oil companies’ limitless avarice. I have a feeling, though, even if passed, it will never get built, due to eco-terrorist sabotage…..Though not one of them, per se, I know there are a LOT of people out there who are VERY committed to stopping this pipeline, and won’t give up….

Seems to me, though I’ve never studied those particular warfare techniques in great detail, it wouldn’t be all that difficult to stop the pipeline from being built, considering the vulnerability of the areas through which it must pass…..Time will tell, but, I think the shadowy corporate masters may have bitten off a bite from a very bitter apple, which may end up being more than they can chew, this time….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/texas/article/Keystone-XL-oil-pipeline-clears-significant-hurdle-5193660.php

Such articles tend to depress me, so I’m going to give this a rest now…. This will have to suffice as today’s rant, because, ffolkes, that’s all I’ve got in me today…. I’m pretty sure that most ffolkes would say it’s enough…. I’ll finish up with this short, five-star pearl, which seems appropriate to the above discussions….

“According to Descartes, Rush Limbaugh doesn’t exist.” — Smart Bee

“If good intentions are combined with stupidity, it is impossible to outthink them.” — Marion J. Levy, Jr.

“Prefer loss to the wealth of dishonest gain; the former vexes you for a time; the latter will bring you lasting remorse.” — Chilo

“Remember: it’s only American television.” — David Letterman

“Life, as we know it, does not exist.” — Smart Bee
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Again, to avoid splashing any of the blame over onto any other entity, I am posting one of my older poems, this one a nod to my current opinion of the BRC and this administration, in light of the failure of hope that has been laid upon our doorstep….

Geezer to Congress, with Love

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

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

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

Why the hell not?
It’s worth a shot!

~~ gigoid ~~

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Oh boy! Now, it’s MY turn…. Well, I suppose you could say that it’s always my turn here, but, that’s okay, I like to show my enthusiasm now and again, and, it would be really rude of me to shut myself off when I’m trying to be so positive…. Besides, now I get to let Smart Bee pick out some pearls, the kind I can use to create a pearl of great wisdom and beauty….

I probably should say, though, that it’s a distinct possibility we’ll just get whatever we get…. We’ll like it, or we’ll lump it, and Smart Bee won’t give a rat’s ass one way or the other…. It can be an asshole that way, sometimes, but, I don’t think we’ll have that issue today…. it seems in a good space…. Let’s get on with it, shall we?….

“There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method.” — Herman Melville, Moby Dick

— Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road? Ernest Hemingway: “To die. In the rain.”

“Pompey bade Sylla recollect that more worshiped the rising than the setting sun.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Pompey

“Can there be a republic that does not slump under the weight of so much human desire?” — Michael Scully

“Above all, we must abolish hope in the heart of man. A calm despair, without angry convulsions, without reproaches to Heaven, is the essence of wisdom.” — Alfred Victor Vigny

“I don’t feel it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become something else that you were not in the beginning. If you knew when you began a book what you would say at the end, do you think you would have the courage to write it? What is true for writing and for a love relationship is also true for life. The game is worthwhile insofar as we don’t know what will be the end.” — Michel Foucault, interviewed by Rux Martin

“Go softly, for you tread on my dreams.” — Yeats
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Ffolkes, THIS is a Pearl…. I won’t make a value judgment as to its quality, but, I’ll say this… It’s done, it’s all fresh, and, it’s all the truth, as far as I can tell…. I’ve been known to be wrong, but, not this time, I think…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

Stable the horses, first, then we’ll emote…

Posted on January 31, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Now, here is something that doesn’t occur every day…. Here I am, up, fairly clear-headed, coffee poured and sampled, with all sorts of energy and rantable angst on hand…. and I can’t decide what to rant about….. There are just so many lovely topics from which to choose, I’m having the worst time, trying to pick one…. They’re all so critical, and attractive, especially to one who wants to bite somebody. I suppose when one wakes up with the urge to bite, it’s best to give in to that urge; it keeps me from biting myself, or, milady….. She gets so MAD when I do that!….

I don’t blame her… I’m down to one tooth in front, so the biting process for me involves some ripping, in order to obtain the proper chunk of flesh, without which any true bite is not complete…. Since I’m sure that is painful, I can see why she gets upset at me…. Of course, I always allow her a bite in return, so, the playing field stays level, and nobody’s feelings get permanently bruised…. All in all, it’s a win-lose situation, which is just the way I like it, and so does Murphy…

With all that said, what shall we talk about today, ffolkes? Since I can’t make up my mind, I might just have to dip into the archives again to find a suitable rant…. unless, of course, I decide to go ahead and work with the few article links I have to build a case against the BRC or the Asininnies…. That’s always fun….. It’s also quite easy, and subject to the whims of serendipity as to whether or not I have something new and fresh to point at while I’m ranting…. I guess we’ll just have to wait, and see how it goes later on down the page….

I wouldn’t want to start planning things out TOO drastically, or too efficiently…. One, or more, of my own myrmidons wouldn’t know how to deal with that much organization…. Most of them are trained ferals, you know, so they’re a bit skittish about that sort of thing…. They don’t like things too well ordered, or they get all antsy and anxious, which can cause them to ignore some of their training in a crisis, or even in times of normal activity, if they’re sufficiently spooked….. They feel stifled, and locked in…. Since they work for almost nothing, (just a meal, a bed, and a book most days….) I like to keep them happy….

Shh…. don’t tell the Feds that I’m using undocumented feral imaginary myrmidons to do my dirty work, okay? They’d most likely want me to get health insurance for them…. or make them get legally documented, or make me pay them a minimum wage, just like they were real Americans…. If I do that, making the SUV and boat payments is going to get tough…. Gee, I’m starting to sound a bit like a Romneyite, aren’t I?…. Sorry, couldn’t resist…. nobody’s taken a shot at that idiot in months, and we wouldn’t want him to feel neglected, now, would we?…. No, we’re far too compassionate for that….

Ah fuck it…. If I keep this up, we’ll never get to what we’re supposed to be doing here….. Shall we Pearl?….

“Bleem miserable venchit, Bleem forever mestinglish asunder frapt. gashee morphosite thou expungiest quopisk. fripping lyshus wimbgunts awilst moongrovenly kormzibs Gerond withoutitude form into formless bloit, why not then? moose.” — The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
_____________________________

Okay, rather than ranting, which today would be a project beyond the capabilities we have on hand (trust me….), I’m going to allow y’all to find your own level of angst, through the application of some links that will provide you with plenty of motivation for outrage…. I’ll also cheat a bit, and use each link as a platform for a comment or two on the article’s subject matter…..

As is patently clear, this is a new technique for me, somewhat, though I’ve tried something similar…. Let’s see how it goes, shall we?….

http://blog.sfgate.com/fiore/2014/01/29/goodbye-net-neutrality-hello-gilded-age-internet/

In this brilliant video, Mr. Fiore again turns his wicked sense of humor on the one specific group of Asininnies, this time on the shadowy corporate masters, who have once again bribed and bought the right judges in the federal court system, to obtain a ruling that allows them to take over control of the internet…. The ruling, which most American won’t know about until it’s far too late to change, will allow big network companies, such as Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, etc. to charge whatever they wish for people to obtain access to the internet, since the court awarded them that right as “corporate persons”….

Yep, now those with more money will be able to buy faster speeds for their internet connections, while those who have less will not have the same opportunity…. Once again, the government, this time in the guise of the courts, has screwed the public, BIG TIME, in favor of the corporate special interests who pay them to do so…. and, once again, we let them do it to us, without any opposition…. Of course, they didn’t bother to TELL us what was up, but, hey, can we expect them to turn themselves in for this kind of stuff? No, of course we can’t, because, hey, they won’t, and we can’t make them….

You know all that internet speed you’ve been enjoying for some time now, ffolkes? Well, kiss it goodbye, unless you’ve got a stash of cash somewhere to keep it flowing…..

http://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/Tom-Perkins-trickle-down-defense-of-the-1-has-5186878.php

This article is pretty good, though it’s a bit hard to find any humor in such asininity…. But, the article’s author makes some good points, and rightly makes this jerk-face look just like what he is…. an asshole, with a sense of his own worth that is blown COMPLETELY out of proportion…. But, then, for some reason, money seems to do that to whomever falls under its spell….

http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Leaked-docs-NSA-uses-Candy-Crush-Angry-5186801.php

This one is here just to let y’all know the administration continues to pursue their goals, all of which are based on their ultimate goal, to be able to hack into ANY computer, ANYWHERE in the world, if it is connected to ANY network…. Yep, ffolkes, it’s true…. they want them ALL. The NSA’s ultimate goal is to have the ability to look into, and take over the control of, any computer in the world….

Now, normally, I’d say that such a statement indicates some paranoia in whomever made it, even ME….. But, in this case, it isn’t at all paranoid, given the evidence in hand, as supplied by that American hero, Eric S….. I am absolutely positive that what I just stated above is the absolute truth; those people, the NSA, the CIA, and Homeland Security, with Obama in full collusion, want to control every other computer in the world, or, at minimum, have access to those same computers in order to obtain the information they require to meet their own paranoid delusional needs. They aren’t going to stop working toward that until they feel they have that control….

This has become patently obvious…. Look at the recent outbreak of news on the issue…. Tightly controlled by the White House, the news articles stated what THEY wanted to put out, then they shut up, and let that percolate, ignoring any other references to the situation, giving the State of the Union as an excuse…. Then, after two powerful congressional pundits put out supportive statements, the president then completely ignores the issue in the SOU, allowing ONE sentence on it to pass his lips…. It was obvious to me, given the nature of the embarrassment that the exposure of their illegal activities already outed, they weren’t going to bring it up any more than necessary, so they wouldn’t have to furnish more lies that could be exposed…

Now, we find them hacking into our phones (gee, didn’t the president assure us that wasn’t happening? Why yes, I do believe he did say that they weren’t listening to our phone calls, or reading our emails…. Gosh, you mean, he lied? No, really? Snort….)…. using the software in some of the games people play to access email and address information in the phones…. No intrusiveness there, no sirree bob…. Do you think, maybe, they’re lying to us about other stuff, too? I think it just MIGHT be so…

Okay, that’s enough for one day…. Recent statistics for this site show a drop off in readership, though I’m still gaining new followers…. This tells me my material is too heavy, and keeping people away, in trepidation of having so much to read to keep up…. Oh well, c’est la vie! I can’t seem to shut up, so, deal with it…. I have to, and so do you…. Besides, I’m now offering discounts….

Of course, a discount off of zero is still zero, so, I may as well cut this off here, because I’ve lost all chance at regaining my flow… Oh hell, I’d better shut this off quickly now, before it floods the whole place with nonsense and drivel….

Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow–
You are not wrong who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream

— Edgar Allan Poe, A Dream Within A Dream

_____________________________

Here is another of my older works, from 2012…. I kind of like it, myself…

Vague Glimpses of a Rainbow

All the sad notions of propriety had fled,
Screaming their anger for pausing in song,
Until late came the rabid fog, colored in red,
As serenity cried, unafraid to live so strong.

Fallow fields in faithful patience set free,
Dragged from birth, by their own nature cast
Saving each moment against fear yet to be,
Carved into silence, by ignorance held fast.

Historical forces plod slowly ’tis often said
Anxieties streaming stiffly, one epoch to the next.
Cultural mania stands nonchalant in its stead
No sadder epitaph has such bittersweet context.

Patterned bags of forgotten virtue lie in wait
Blessed by reminders whose souls value affinity
Frozen webs surround the fields in gravid state
Grasping passionately within obvious opportunity.

Passage to future realities isn’t guaranteed
Small favors for deities was left off the menu
No roses, nor manna, nor gallant aerial steed
Left traces of fatal, yet originally gracious venue.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

On days when I don’t officially rant, I get a bit of dross build up in my head, which is never a good thing…. The next-day results, after 24 hours of decay while sitting in there in the damp, dark corner where it gets shoved on such occasions, to get it out of the way, have been known to cause traffic delays three counties away, just from backlash over the stench….

To avoid any such happenstance today, I’m going to attempt a new pearling technique…. First, here is an old rant, from January of last year, on gun control; it’s part of a Pearl I wrote then, which you can find in section three of the Pearl connected to this link: https://gigoid.me/2013/01/17/artichoke-juice-is-an-efficient-lubricant/?relatedposts_exclude=2544

Now that I have provided a rant, even if it is one from last year, I feel that I’ve done my part to improve the traffic flow in the Bay Area, and I can now go on to the rest of this new endeavor, wherein I furnish you with a thrilling, seven-star pearl, sans parameter, to finalize what I’ve begun here today…. It may not finish whatever this is, but it WILL finalize it…. whatever THAT means….

Do you ever get feelings of Deja Vu?

“Nations and empires flourish and decay,
By turns command, and in their turns obey.

— Ovid ~~

“The only justification for our concepts and systems of concepts is that they serve to represent the complex of our experiences; beyond this they have not legitimacy.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“If we tried to sink the past beneath our feet, be sure the future will not stand.” — Elizabeth Barrett Browning

“Besides, it is clearly a bunny rabbit” — Data

“Most of us lead lives of chaotic improvisation from day to day, bawling for peace while plunging grimly into fresh disorders.” — Edward Abbey

“I don’t vote. It just encourages them.” — A Maine woman

Before enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood.
After enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood.

— Zen Proverb ~~

Do you ever get feelings of Deja Vu?

_____________________________

I rather like the format of that third section… The pearl, that I found to have created itself, (since I set no parameters, it set its own…), was one of such balance and beauty, I just had to centrally justify it, because it looked as if it was perfectly composed for such a balanced display….

It seems I was correct in that assessment, because, hey, look at it! It’s perfectly designed, and the pearls themselves are so powerful, it’s like a pillar, one that could be used to base an entire semester of study at some metaphysical college or another…. Or, maybe not… Maybe I should just go now…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

I’d like to be made fully cognizant, please….

Posted on January 30, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“After all,” he said, with a small, sardonic smile, “it’s only a matter of time.”

“Of course it is,” she replied, smiling back in her sultry way, “but, whose time will tell the tale?”

Have you ever seen one of those big old, shuffling bears, with a red vest, and a silly top hat, that rides around on a unicycle, playing a squeeze box? No? Neither have I…. But, that’s probably alright, because I HAVE seen one of the other kind of bears, the kind that shits in the woods whenever the Pope’s existence gets confused with his own… Playground games have more solid effect on Reality than you knew, you know…. No soap, radio!…..

Now that we have established the proper tone for this morning’s episode of fun and frolic, otherwise known as pearling for dollars, not that we ever see any….. at least, not for this…. But, I do like to start with some nice, thick, obscure nonsense; it just gives something special to enhance the tenor of whatever comes out of my head, sort of like adding streusel to schnitzel. Plus, it makes for a better, more healthful start to the day, as all of what we’ve been so fortunate to offer up thus far has been organic in nature….

Yep, nothing but pure, 100%, government certified organic materials were used to construct the pearls you’ll see today…. It’s our newest product line, brought in to try to corner a piece of the vegan market, though the reason “why” escapes me completely. It has something to do with the diversification program the top management wants to put us through, to try to bring the bottom line up from 0, to some number that resides outside the negative realms where it typically stays…. I keep telling them, nobody will buy it, especially not here, but, hey, they’re committed to it…. probably, one of them married a vegan, and can’t get any at home unless he does this…

Now that we’ve prevaricated shamelessly (Silly readers, there’s no top management here at ECR…. there’s just ME!!….), I wonder what other kind of mischief I can get into before getting to the meat today…. I’m feeling a bit whimsical, as well as feeling like I want to bite someone (not sure as to WHY on that one…. just woke up with a stick in my ass, and SOMEBODY’s got to pay for that, right?….), or maybe dance a few steps of the Assholio on somebody’s head…. You know, the Assholio, those classic mambo-like moves guaranteed to take the skin off anyone… All I know is SOMEBODY is going to get an earful, before the day is done….

Shall we Pearl?…..

And through the spaces of the dark
Midnight shakes the memory
As a madman shakes a dead geranium

— T.S. Eliot
_____________________________

“Gentlemen, listen to me slowly.” — Samuel Goldwyn

On first attempt this morning to fill in this section, I wrote what is now residing in section three…. My intended material, presumably located somewhere in the semi-intelligent haze of thoughts that hovers around in my head at all times, which concerned the recent SOU by our beloved POTUS, apparently got lost in the shuffle….

In truth, it’s just as well, because, from what I could gather on first impression, the State of the Union he described in his speech had very little to do with the actual Reality of that State, or, for that matter, that Union, since he managed to leave out some rather important issues altogether, concentrating only on what he wants people to focus on….

This technique is common among prestidigitators, showing a shiny, squirmy object, in one hand, with some kind of feathers, metaphoric, or real, (real is good, they never fail to pull in the eye….), that draws the attention, while the other hand is hiding the actual important issues, perhaps even off stage, never referring to them, so as to not plant any unwanted ideas….

Now, I have yet to peruse the content of the entire speech, but, I’ve seen a couple of articles that touched on his high points, and there were … are a couple of what I think should be called glaring omissions…. For example…. no, can’t do it… I’d better go research the speech fully before I pick at a specific…. Be back in a bit….

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obamas-2014-state-of-the-union-address-full-text/

Well…. That was educational, to be sure…. Yes, I just read the text of the whole speech; you can, too, using the link just above…. go ahead, I’ll wait….

In the speech, there were, as I mentioned, a couple of important issues that received only minimal mention, in passing…. (I know, I said they were omitted… I was wrong, they were merely minimized, and hidden in plain sight….). There was only one paragraph on gun control, wherein he promises to “try” to “stop more tragedies”, with one quick reference to Sandy Hook (gotta get those talking points in!… Shootings at elementary schools always bring out the tearful emotions, which is the intention…. such emotions are much more easily manipulated….).

This is an issue that has gripped the public attention all year, but, isn’t worth mentioning, except in passing…. Instead, the POTUS will deal with this “on his own”, through the use of the concept of the “Executive Order”, to limit assault weapon accessibility, along with other issues on his agenda, in which he is being blocked by Congress, or the Constitution….

There is also only one short, vague paragraph mentioning the issue of spying, prefaced, of course, by mentioning the illegal war in Afghanistan, reassuring us the number of troops there is decreasing, (We’re all gone from Iraq, he says….. Sure, sure we are….)…. while simultaneously fanning the embers of fear, by then stating “For while our relationship with Afghanistan will change, one thing will not: our resolve that terrorists do not launch attacks against our country……The fact is, that danger remains. ”

This, of course, is the justification for the following complete wash on the clandestine spying issue that has been in the forefront of the news all year; he makes a passing, one-sentence statement on that…. ( The pertinent statement is in bold, and italicized….) ….”That’s why I’ve imposed prudent limits on the use of drones – for we will not be safer if people abroad believe we strike within their countries without regard for the consequence. That’s why, working with this Congress, I will reform our surveillance programs – because the vital work of our intelligence community depends on public confidence, here and abroad, that the privacy of ordinary people is not being violated.”

That’s it…. That’s the sum total of what he had to say about the single most reported and discussed issue in the public arena in the entire year of 2013…. ONE sentence. Oh, the drones, too… They are another seriously disturbing factor in the clandestine activities they AREN’T talking about…. but, they’re nowhere near as critical for the public as the spying that continues to take place, in spite of the “welcome public debate” created by the actions that exposed the chicanery by the administration….

Oh, also, was that a crushing silence I heard on the subject of Eric Snowden, probably the most important character, definitely the most important of the last year in America, to enter the stage in the morality play that is our government? Why, yes, yes it was a crushing silence…. Maybe the president was still in shock; perhaps due to learning that Mr. Snowden had received his first nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday?…. That must be it….

His statements on climate change and global warming, while pointed in the right direction, still show no better willingness to face the true issues involved, as he said nothing that would disturb the bottom line of the corporate masters listening closely…. The entire speech, as far as I could see, had a very imbalanced viewpoint of Reality, much different, obviously, from a politician’s point of view than it is for the general public at large, and for me specifically…. His viewpoint paints a much rosier picture, of the past, the present, and the future, than the one I see, all without really making a single promise, or offering up a single detailed plan of action.

I guess I should have expected as much, seeing as this POTUS is one who is adept at painting pictures with words…. Unfortunately, the pictures he paints really don’t reflect Reality…. They’re very romanticized, vague, idealized, and lacking in clarity….. which, I believe, is a deliberate technique, designed to soothe the eyes and minds of the public at whom it is directed, distracting them from the harshness of the Reality that they can see whenever they look away from his pretty pictures…. Can’t have the natives getting too restless, now, can we?….

I think, given the evidence of this speech, along with some of the other issues that I’ve seen the POTUS take up, this is a far more dangerous individual than I had imagined, not because he is promoting reform, but, because he is using that pose, of being a reform politician, to cover up his much more egregiously oppressive policies, such as in the areas of intelligence, and executive power….. He has expanded the power of the office of the Presidency to an extent heretofore unseen, writing Executive Order after Executive Order, at times when Congress is out of session, or just to circumvent their blockage of what he is trying to accomplish….

This administration has brought suit against more journalists, for publishing leaked material, than any previous administration, by a factor of 10; they have aggressively and ruthlessly pursued any and all attempts by the media to obtain his vaunted, and non-existent “transparency”, which he so glibly promised in his first campaign for the office…

There are times I don’t blame him for some of it, because of all the actual, real reforms he, and every other president in the last 60 years, has tried to get past a divided Congress, and had blocked by their intransigent ignorance, and partisanship…. Except, that’s not how the Constitution says it is supposed to work….

He is writing LAWS, which is an act reserved for Congress…. He has issued orders on gun control that, according to the Second Amendment, he has no right to issue, for they restrict the public’s access to weapons of certain types altogether…. Not, I will admit, that they’re weapons they NEED, but, the Second Amendment doesn’t allow for any distinctions as to type or quantity of guns; change part of that, and it all changes, of that there can be no doubt…..

So, yes, I guess you could say that, once again, I’m disappointed in this POTUS’s assessment of Consensual Reality, or, at least, of his stated assessment, as well as in his lack of transparency, and willingness to lie to the public…. Oh, yes, ffolkes, lying by omission is still lying; just because he didn’t say anything about an issue, doesn’t mean he isn’t DOING anything illegal in that area… it just means he doesn’t want us to know about it…. You can be sure of that…. He’s already proven that transparency is just a word to him, one he is very glib and confident in using, but, one he has no intention of ever actually providing to the public….

In looking at the entire speech as a whole, what I see is a long, manipulative set of words and phrases designed to get the public, and his cronies, thinking about just those issues he wants to address, without giving any real information on any of it, beyond the necessary key phrases that identify his talking points.

He uses a lot of examples of what he calls typical Americans from the middle classes to illustrate his points, shamelessly using emotional stimuli to direct the people to the attitudes he desires to create in support of his agenda. In truth, he’s an adept, efficient speaker, never confusing the issues with facts, preferring to use insinuation and/or vague references to factoids….Sadly, none of what he said had any solid connection to what is actually real….. Ah well, I’m forced to admit, I wasn’t expecting to see anything better, and, I didn’t….

“Never be angry when a fool acts like a fool. It’s better when fools identify themselves…it removes so much uncertainty.” — Lord Peace
_____________________________

Once again, I’m putting in one of my own poems, to maintain the level of personal responsibility that must be assumed for whatever one may call this entire mess…. So be it…

Unheralded Sagacity…

To many, who will not see beyond their nose
the world becomes a dangerous place,
a bullet in every gun, a thorn with every rose,
no magic comes to save us, reality leaves no trace.

Minds closed, wrapped tight in manufactured fears,
men become clay, easily molded into complacent form.
No chains needed, held in thrall for years,
lies become gospel, when dishonesty is the norm.

Shed the chains you wear in durance, in kind;
Oh, ye of little faith, and much doubt
Strength is found in an unfettered mind,
Cry “freedom” with a great shout.

No help from any gods can hinder so much
as our own lack of confidence;
finding the light within, knowing it as such
confirms us, becoming consequence.

Illumination…..

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

“We’re not into science fiction because it’s _good literature_, we’re into it because it’s _weird_. Follow your weird, ladies and gentlemen. Forget trying to pass for normal. Follow your geekdom. Embrace your nerditude. In the immortal words of Lafcadio Hearn, a geek of incredible obscurity whose work is still in print after a hundred years, “woo the muse of the odd”.” — Bruce Sterling, addressing a convention of SF writers

A few days ago, I experienced an epiphany regarding the solutions we need to find to the issues of global warming and climate change…. This statement is one that, though not exactly what I’m talking about, is in the right ballpark…. Finding answers to what is happening in the real world has been part of what science fiction writers have done, peripherally, for many years, in the sense that the stories they write explore the concepts involved in ways that demonstrate the questions, and can, hopefully, point the way to finding the answers we now need…

There have been many, many stories…. full length novels, novellas, short stories… all written over the last two hundred years or so, that talk about the most critical issue we now face, to wit: the climate changes produced by our insane pollution of the atmosphere. There has also been a lot of speculation and talk among the people who do the writing, and those who write about them, all discussing possible scenarios for possible futures….. Somewhere among all that talk and discussion, there MUST be an idea that we can use to turn the tide that we have so foolishly turned against us…..

In other words, in a metaphorical sense, we need to go out into the realms of fantasy and imagination, to find the elves, so we can benefit from the wisdom of their counsel…. Even though I already know what they will tell us…. The elves always give the same counsel…. we will need to find a Hero, who can step forward to assume the Quest to save mankind from the folly of his own greed and ambition…. Metaphorically, this is absolutely correct…. what it will translate to in real terms is yet to be seen, but, something needs to be done to find an answer, and soon, for the time we have to accomplish anything that will work is growing smaller rapidly….

“There is something inside all of us that yearns not for reason but for mystery… not for penetrating clear thought but for the whisperings of the irrational… not for science but for wizardry disguised as science.. not for rationally founded influence but for magic.” — Karl Jaspers

In the meantime, rather than ranting at you to get out there and try to find an elf, who can then lead us to his where his people have gone, far over the Western Sea,…. I’ll put together an old-school pearl, with some good advice and/or some snarky comments about the assholes who got us to this point in the first place….

“For me, all I can do is spit in the eye of my fears by living each day with as much passion and commitment as possible to what truly counts, such as love and justice. To give the into the fear and hopelessness would be to declare defeat, something I am not ready to do while there is still the will to struggle.” — Lawrence Paradis

“You shouldn’t think about *how* we’re doing this. You should ask yourself, ‘why?'” — Penn Jillette

“To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” — Agatha Christie

“A little folly is desirable in him that will not be guilty of stupidity.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Book iii, Chap. ix

“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” — Oscar Wilde (1856-1900)

“Must not all things at the last be swallowed up in death?” — Plato

See? There is a perfect example of why I seldom make precognitive assumptions about a particular pearl, especially BEFORE it is constructed…. This is a grand pearl, but, no snarky comments to be seen…. ‘S’okay, it doesn’t need them….
_____________________________

All things considered, this didn’t turn out so badly as I had feared…. As I said above, so be it…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

Bump the aardvarks to the second seating….

Posted on January 28, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

So much for planning…. It seems that I will have to wage war with my HMO to be able to live with any dignity; so be it. They’re the ones who are refusing to be flexible, or to make honest decisions based on rational reasons. So, I’ll take them to the court of public opinion over the next few months, and see how THEY like being raked over the coals of societal anger….. If I can get society on my side against them, it might work…. That being said, just as obscurely as I could, we can go on to bigger and better things….

Epiphany is, I find, an experience I’m finding hard to pin down to actual codification. No worries, though, as they don’t disappear, even if not immediately acted upon, as they usually insist upon; they come complete with enthusiasm, and their own sort of energy, created by the sheer exuberance of the manifestation experience. The one I had the other night, when conversing with my old friends, is shifting in outline the more I examine it, with the only clear issue coming to light being what I’m going to call The Search for Innovation….

Normally, I’d start ranting right there, detailing the idea I’m presenting, and taking a few well-earned shots at the Asininnies I hold as responsible for our plight today. Since, however, I’m not normal, I’m going to put that particular piece aside for a time, and let it percolate, because it doesn’t feel as if it’s quite done yet…. needs a few days more to cook in there.

Not only is it unwise to use food before it is well cooked, it is also unwise to use ideas before they are fully developed, lest they turn on us, and become toxic in themselves, just like a slab of meat we leave out too long…. No, I’m going to allow this epiphany to bake at the correct temperature, for a sufficient time to allow it to get done, all the way to the center….. Nobody likes a gooey center, do they?…. Not in a robust, world-saving concept they don’t…. They want it done all the way to the middle…

Now that I’ve completely mixed all the metaphors I could find, just to tell you we’re NOT ranting first off, and NOT yet detailing the inner workings of my recent ideas, but, rather, trundling along with no real direction or purpose, I am authorized to tell you we are nearing the end of today’s intro section, oddly enough, and will be heading off into the wilds of ECR in just a few moments….

Any hopes, dreams, or obsessive desires you may have acquired upon this short journey are completely your responsibility, and the management can not be held liable for any that are not fulfilled. Please leave the 3D glasses in the seat back in front of you, and exit to the rear when we come to a complete stop…. We hope you’ve enjoyed this small detour through the lobby, and hope you enjoy the rest of your day with us….

Shall we pearl?….

“…only here did the human soul in a higher sense acquire depth and become evil – and these are the two basic respects in which man has hitherto been superior to other beasts!” — Friedrich Nietzsche
_____________________________

Unbeknownst to you, or me before I began today, my work space is operating with a handicap. The overhead light has burnt out, and, since I have worn out over half of the keys on my keyboard, to the point where the letters are no longer visible, it’s getting really hard to see which letter I’m hitting…. Now, of course, if I were a typist of classical excellence, it wouldn’t matter, because my hands would always be in the correct position to strike the appropriate keys…. but, I’m not, in the ultimate sense… I do type well, and classically, most of the time, but, when composing, it’s a different matter, as there are pauses to think, or edit, or fix typos, which can break up the smooth flow of the words onto the screen…

So, here we are, a large paragraph later, a hundred words or more, simply to tell you that I’m not going to rant in this section, but will instead fill this one up with an old-school pearl, of unknown, and heretofore unseen, parameters…. Enjoy!….

— Bother! said Pooh, as he kicked Piglet’s ass. — Smart Bee

“Not only is life a bitch, it has puppies.” — Adrienne E. Gusoff

“Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.” — Hermann Hesse

The Eternal is empty (like a bowl),
It may be used but its capacity is never exhausted.
It is bottomless, perhaps the ancestor of all things.
It unties its tangles,
It softens its light.
It becomes one with the dusty world.
Deep and still, it appears to exist forever.
I do not know whose son it is.
It seems to have existed before the Lord.

— Lao-Tzu (fl. B.C. 600)

Chiefs who no more in bloody fights engage,
But wise through time, and narrative with age,
In summer-days like grasshoppers rejoice,–
A bloodless race, that send a feeble voice.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Iliad of Homer, Book iii, Line 199

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

“God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of his own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players, to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a dealer who won’t tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.” — Gaiman and Pratchett, Good Omens
_____________________________

I’m in an odd frame of mind today, all things considered…. There is only one poet to whom I turn, on days such as this….

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

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

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

_____________________________

Below the line under this short paragraph, you will find a relatively ancient Pearl…. from October of 2011, it is in the format I used at the time, which consisted of an introduction section, where any comments, or ranting, I had on tap were placed, followed by a group of pearls forming another pearl, with a short closing…. This structure, in this exact form, is how the Daily Pearls looked back then….. Today, it is saving me the effort of searching out another old-school pearl, since, hey, here’s one right here…. Enjoy!….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From 10/7/11:

Ffolkes,

The nature of Reality is a fascinating subject, due in part, I believe, to that part of its nature that is amorphous, ever-changing and unpredictable. It is also hard, uncompromisingly immutable, and always the same. In these two facets, it is much like us, coexisting on the edge of light/dark, sharp/dull, sweet/sour, pleasure/pain. As we feel, so our view of what is real changes to suit those feelings. But though our view of it will alter to fit our whim, reality itself is immune to such manipulation. Its nature is to provide the truth that our illusions keep us from seeing, not to change at our direction. But it too will change, for entropy is the rule for which exceptions exist (see below), and entropy cannot be denied.

Thus even though our nature is but a mirror of Reality, it is not Reality itself, wish as hard as we might that it would be so. We are left with only our reasoning mind to cope with the dichotomy. And that is fine, for we are also dichotomous by nature; all of our senses obtain their information from the universe by registering presence/absence of substance (touch), molecules (smell), air waves (hearing), more molecules (taste), and photons (sight). So dichotomy is something with which our minds are comfortable.

But, though we can be comfortable with perceiving Reality, we still must be cautious, because danger, by its nature, is duplicitous, and can hide right out in the seemingly open. Our perceptions require us to review their veracity on a regular basis, lest surprises occur. Surprises, while nice coming from one’s boy- or girl-friend, can be rather unwelcome coming from Reality.

Especially those little conundrums that Life always seems to hand us that have their roots in the past; old debts, old friends, old enemies, all have a tendency to show up in our lives just when they are least welcome. Goes to show, I guess, that the old saw about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure makes a lot of sense when considered in that respect. Leading us back to another old saw…..be alert! The world needs more lerts. And so do we…..

“I went in search of my art, often in danger of my life. I have not been ashamed to learn those things which to me have seemed useful — even from vagabonds, barbers, and executioners. For we know how a lover will go a long way to meet the woman that he loves. How much the more, then, will the lover of wisdom be tempted to go in search of his divine mistress!” — Paracelsus

“The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears.” — John Vance Cheney

“I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We’ve created life in our own image.” — Stephen Hawking

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

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

“To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.” — Sun Tzu (fl. c. BC 500)

“If for every rule there is an exception, then we have established that there is an exception to every rule. If we accept “For every rule there is an exception” as a rule, then we must concede that there may not be an exception after all, since the rule states that there is always the possibility of exception, and if we follow it to its logical end we must agree that there can be an exception to the rule that for every rule there is an exception.” — Bill Boquist

Well! I don’t know about y’all, but I feel MUCH better!…… y’all take care out there…..
_____________________________

I’d say, more or less, this Pearl is pretty much typical for the breed…. Why I’d say that, I don’t know for sure, but, it FEELS true, so, we’ll go with it, and pretend it is, even if it isn’t…. Isn’t it amazing, how I can pull so many words out of an insane, completely useless piece of introspective nonsense?…. Well, I think so….

As long as nobody shoots me, or hauls me away to some dingy, freezing, rat-infested back room in some fleabag hotel, to beat me with a rubber hose, in a vain, forlorn attempt to force me to retract my strong words, against the BRC and the churches, bless their little black hearts and souls, well, I’ll be back tomorrow…. Okay, so, MAYBE I’ll get struck by an attack of common sense, or perhaps extreme embarrassment, but, otherwise…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

13 Simple Steps to A Newer, Cleaner Planetary Unit!

Posted on January 27, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

May seventeen foul demons from the deepest hells of Mordor make fun of your face! There, take that! I guess THAT will teach you!…. Back, foul fiends, begone with you!….

Huh? Oh, sorry, forgot it was time for that….. Half a second, let me just….. ugh! Okay…. last one dispatched…..Come on in, I was just putting away these old attitudes, and they didn’t want to go. I have new ones ordered up & delivered every few years, just to make sure the ones I have aren’t getting too inflexible, or unable to adapt to changing conditions…. Nowadays, what with the new, forced adaptations we’re going to be going through, it’s a good idea to rotate out the old ones regularly, lest one be caught with one’s spiritual pants down, so to speak… While the new ones are always cool, the service that delivers them doesn’t haul away the old ones, so, that part is up to me, & I thought I’d get a head-start on that this morning, since I was up at four in the AM….

Today, I’ll be creating a different sort of Pearl….. and I’m not even going to tell you how, or even why….. How, you may ask, am I able to show you such a fine example of showmanship, and still keep the inner workings of the process to yourself? You say I can’t ever seem to shut myself up, so how do I expect to do it now? Simple…. Oatmeal, dried into a crust, burnt, and shoved down my nose…. Then, we prop up my stiff carcass at the keyboard, boot up the computer, and hope for the best…. Seems to work pretty well, so far, every time…

Disgusting, yes? I hope so, that’s what I was shooting for…. I wouldn’t even have minded a case or too of spew, as long as y’all remembered to use the bags provided in the seat back in front of you. Oh, jeez, Harry, did you have to use the one with the hole in it? I told that flunky not to recycle them, but, do they listen? Of course not…. Well, sorry, I guess you can use the old towels in the corner there, and, if you need it, there’s some Windex in the cabinet under the bathroom sink…. go ahead and use that, if you think it will help…. Thanks for trying….

Well, now that the excitement is, hopefully, over with for one morning, (I’m not sure I want to encourage this much hilarity again; we’ve used up a pretty fair supply of paper towels, and we’re only done with four paragraphs or so….), WHERE shall we begin?…. Oh, I just have so many things I want to tell you…. I’ve been so busy, thinking, and…. oh, shit…. I’ve been thinking again, but, as usual, I forgot to fire up the backup server, so there’s no extra copy if I forge…… well, shit, again…. If I forget, is what I was saying, when it struck me forcefully that, hey, I already forgot!…. Damn…

Okay, new plan…. First we wobble, then we Pearl…. and since, by the evidence presented above, we’ve wobbled aplenty, we’ll now be going on to the meat of this sandwich, or, whatever may come next in this plane of Reality, such as we find it…. a bit worn, but still willing to play the game…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of our men and women. Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.” — Thomas Paine
_____________________________

Yesterday, part of the ranting portion of the program spoke about lawyers…. Serendipitously, one of the old pearls that I went to read, upon the suggestion of the WP suggestion bots, who put their ideas at the bottom of my posts, had a wonderful rant about lawyers, specifically, from way back in November of 2012…. Here ’tis, to finish off my remarks on those oh-so-despised members of our Asininny class…..

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

“He who dies a thousand deaths meets the final hour with the calmness of one who approaches a well remembered door.” — Heywood Brown

I almost passed this by when I first read it, then I thought a moment about it, and it occurred to me that it sounds like a defense of cowardice, which is what we usually associate with the phrase “He who dies a thousand deaths”…. Upon further reflection, though, that phrase, though certainly appropriate for describing the state of uncontrolled fear that brings a human to react with cowardice, could also be used to describe some of my own experience in dealing with violence. To generalize that thought, it could be said that a person who faces situations where death is hovering nearby, always a threat to manifest its presence in reality, is also dying a death each time, because their imagination is always aware of that proximity of possibility….

I made the mistake once of counting how many times I faced off with a person who wanted to rip my head off, and would have done so had I not acted to prevent that from becoming reality. Suffice it to say it was entirely too many times, though somewhat less than a thousand (not by much, but less….), and my imagination was stimulated into conjuring visions of possible outcomes that included my own death, each and every time.

Of course, the key to success in such situations is to be able to put aside, or ignore, those visions, in order to keep them from becoming real, and I learned very well to react very quickly in a way that allowed me to control the outcome, rather than random chance or, worse, having the other party assume that control. Fortunately for all involved, I never lost…. at least, not in the sense of becoming physically injured, or dead. (Nobody else that I controlled was ever hurt or killed, either, a fact I’m pretty proud of…. and mental injuries are another story, entirely….)

The quote above is one that I find to be a comfort to me as I get closer to the time when death will come to make my acquaintance in this lifetime. As a conscious being, I naturally have to believe that my mind, or soul, if you prefer, will not cease to exist; only a change that we do not understand will happen, one which no one has ever successfully explained with any degree of certainty. There is, of course, no evidence to support the belief that we do not merely stop existing, like the flame of a candle, when we die, that we will somehow “wake up” somewhere else, according to our particular set of preferences in such philosophies.

Nothing tangible can be produced, or has ever been produced, that makes such a belief a conclusion; contrarily, there is also no evidence available that it is not true. We each have a strong feeling that our soul is indestructible, like energy of any type, but no incontrovertible proof is available for either side of the issue.

Thus, we can only hold on to our sense of spiritual connection to the universe, that part of us that knows that, like sunlight, or electricity, or heat, our conscious mind is a manifestation of energy, one that, like all the other kinds of energy we perceive, does not cease to exist, ever. It may change forms, or even types (as light can become electricity, or motion become heat….), but it does not leave the universe at all.

To me, and to certain philosophies, the qualities of water are a good example to use as a way of understanding this principle. Water cannot be destroyed. You can, by altering its temperature, cause it to change form, from ice, to water, to steam…. but it cannot be destroyed at all. Our minds, and thoughts, can be thought of as water, ever flexible, ever changeable, yet never ceasing to exist in any way, and retaining within its being all the qualities that make it, and us, what we are…. another unique part of a beautifully complex and wonderful reality….

To me, that is, indeed, a comforting thought….

“If I am I because you are you, and if you are you because I am I, then I am not I, and you are not you” ~~ Hassidic rabbi
_____________________________

Again, it seems serendipity is guiding my attention…. In searching this morning for a poem a bit off my usual track, I came across this one, from William Blake…. In light of my recent rants on how America is, well, heading for the toilet, and not to enjoy a soothing episode of relief, but, to get flushed…. Perhaps, my imagery isn’t exactly the most elegant for its intended purpose, but, you get the drift….

Any who, I thought it was interesting to see how someone from another country viewed ours, from the vantage point of the past…. Blake was an interesting man, to say the least…. A poet of little renown in his own time, he is now considered one of the most seminal Romantic poets; in addition, he painted, and one contemporary critic was moved to remark of his work in no small way, when he described Blake as, “far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced” (Information from Poemhunter.com).

America, A Prophecy

The shadowy Daughter of Urthona stood before red Orc,
When fourteen suns had faintly journey’d o’er his dark abode:
His food she brought in iron baskets, his drink in cups of iron:
Crown’d with a helmet and dark hair the nameless female stood;
A quiver with its burning stores, a bow like that of night,
When pestilence is shot from heaven: no other arms she need!
Invulnerable though naked, save where clouds roll round her loins
Their awful folds in the dark air: silent she stood as night;
For never from her iron tongue could voice or sound arise,
But dumb till that dread day when Orc assay’d his fierce embrace.
‘Dark Virgin,’ said the hairy youth, ‘thy father stern, abhorr’d,
Rivets my tenfold chains while still on high my spirit soars;
Sometimes an Eagle screaming in the sky, sometimes a Lion
Stalking upon the mountains, and sometimes a Whale, I lash
The raging fathomless abyss; anon a Serpent folding
Around the pillars of Urthona, and round thy dark limbs
On the Canadian wilds I fold; feeble my spirit folds,
For chain’d beneath I rend these caverns: when thou bringest food
I howl my joy, and my red eyes seek to behold thy face–
In vain! these clouds roll to and fro, and hide thee from my sight.’

Silent as despairing love, and strong as jealousy,
The hairy shoulders rend the links; free are the wrists of fire;
Round the terrific loins he seiz’d the panting, struggling womb;
It joy’d: she put aside her clouds and smiled her first-born smile,
As when a black cloud shews its lightnings to the silent deep.

Soon as she saw the terrible boy, then burst the virgin cry:

‘I know thee, I have found thee, and I will not let thee go:
Thou art the image of God who dwells in darkness of Africa,
And thou art fall’n to give me life in regions of dark death.
On my American plains I feel the struggling afflictions
Endur’d by roots that writhe their arms into the nether deep.
I see a Serpent in Canada who courts me to his love,
In Mexico an Eagle, and a Lion in Peru;
I see a Whale in the south-sea, drinking my soul away.
O what limb-rending pains I feel! thy fire and my frost
Mingle in howling pains, in furrows by thy lightnings rent.
This is eternal death, and this the torment long foretold.’

~~ William Blake ~~

_____________________________

Now you see the nefarious genius of my plan…. I’ve created an entire pearl, using primarily work I accomplished over two years ago…. Pretty slick, eh? Now I have time to prepare myself mentally for the important event I have on my plate for a couple hours from now…. What happens at that time will play a big part in determining the physical AND emotional tenor of a lot of the next few months, (or, alternately, it could have little effect at all, which is okay, as long as one particular issue is resolved to my satisfaction….)…. so, I’m looking forward to the challenge of making things come out the way I intend…. SIGH….. Shaping Reality to suit our needs and purposes can be exhausting…. So, here is my third cheat of the day…. but, I think you’ll agree with me that it couldn’t be any better if it was fresh….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11/16/11
Ffolkes,

Good morrow to you…. let us begin as we mean to go on….

“Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” — Gene Fowler

This line is included today merely to give y’all an idea of what I go through every morning to produce this…. whatever it is. It is a pretty good description, actually, because when I’m done, I actually feel battered and bloody….. Actually, bloody well-used-up is what it is. Maybe it’s easier for other writers; I don’t know. But for me, to produce something that my standards will allow me to publish for others to read, is much like having a piece of my soul ripped out, taking a a kidney with it.

The funny thing is, though it hurts a lot, I wouldn’t stop doing it, even if I could. The pain of creation, which. after all. requires destruction first, is a worthy payoff for the sense of accomplishment I get when I see one of my pieces online for all to see. Quite a rush actually….

“Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” — Aldous Huxley

This observation, as far as I can tell, is 100% accurate, and because it is, many of the problems society is facing are easily explained, if not easily resolved. For example, when was the last time you gave a thought to what else besides oxygen is in the air that you take into your lungs on the average of 15-20 times per minute.? When you last got a glass of water from the tap, did you stop to think about what was in the water you use to drink, cook with, and bathe in? As Mr. Huxley pointed out, most folks, yourselves included, seldom think about or appreciate such simple necessities, or what might happen if they were no longer available.

What will we do when the air is so full of carbon dioxide that the amount of oxygen in it is decreased below the point where it will sustain life? Will we all have to wear breathing apparatus in order to brave the outside world? What will happen to all the other animals if there isn’t sufficient air? What will you do when the water you drink is no longer safe to consume? We need water as much as we need air; our chemical make-up is 90% water, and not having enough of it to replace what we lose is a sure path to the grave within a matter of days.

There are other issues connected to this subject; the consistent degradation of our planet’s ecosystem has a great many negative effects, small and unnoticeable at first, but growing larger over time until they are added to the list of processes that will eventually lead to extinction of all of this planet’s life forms. Part of the problem is that it is a slow, insidious process, this degradation, and the deleterious outcomes are not evident until too late to reverse.

You must remember, the Universe doesn’t care, one way or the other, whether we survive or not; the rules are the rules, and fighting against the natural laws of our space-time continuum is a fool’s bet. Like it or not, we, as a species, are going to need to make some serious changes to the way we do things, if we are to survive at all. And we will need to do it starting yesterday….

“A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” — Albert Einstein

I really admire Albert Einstein, and not because he was a great scientist, as well as one of history’s shining examples of men and women who greatly advance human knowledge, purely out of their love of mankind. I also admire that Albert’s wisdom was not restricted to the principles of physics and math; he had a unique way of looking at the world, spiritually, and physically, in a simplistic fashion, and had the ability to share his deep insights into life and the universe, for the benefit of others. He was an eternal optimist, and as the above quote demonstrates, had a firm grip on the concept of living with honor and dignity.

He believed in the inherent goodness of every man, living his life in a way that stands as an example for the rest of us, of how to live well. I cannot wholly agree with what he states above, because I have a much darker view of what human nature is capable of, and less faith in mankind’s willingness to submit to natural law. But what he said does show with clarity where our salvation lies, and in his own inimitable manner, he shares his deeper knowledge with the rest of us in the hope it will inspire others to act honorably….

“To laugh often and love much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to give of oneself; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sing with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier: this is to have succeeded.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

From what I gather in my study of 19th century American writers, a lot of the best were what I would call masters of advanced curmudgeonry. Emerson, Walden, Thoreau, were all libertarians living in compromise with a democracy, and spent much of their time either complaining about society, or hiding from it in their forest retreats. This is not to say that what they wrote was bad or mistaken in premise, necessarily, but if you read their work with this in mind, it becomes apparent that they didn’t much like other folks, or put much trust in their rationality.

But, as the included quote indicates, being a curmudgeon doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t understand humanity, or what it takes to make life complete. This paragraph from Mr. Emerson demonstrates this perfectly. One cannot argue with conviction that all of these attributes listed, and experiences from a long life, are positively rooted, and make perfect sense. Whether or not we actually have all of these characteristics is unimportant; the list remains valid, even if incomplete. And, it provides anyone with a good map and directions that can be useful to us in our pursuit of happiness….

So much for another day…. Hopefully, you have consumed a fair portion of food for thought, and found it palatable enough. If not, feel free to let me know, and I’ll see if I can come up with something more savory…. in the meantime, y’all take care out there….
_____________________________

So much for the sanctity of the mind, eh? We’ve put the lie to that one rather well today, haven’t we? If nothing else, I’m pretty sure I felt the foundations of Reality tremble in fear for a few moments, and we can’t hope for any better than that….. See ya…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

Moustachioed cheerleaders have feelings, too….

Posted on January 25, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Saved by the WalrusEpisode I

In Which The Author Abandons All Pretense of Consensual Exploration of Reality in Light of Current Events, Acknowledges the Failure of The Current Model of Society, and Prepares the World to Save Itself.
Sort of.

Did you hear that? I did…. It’s the delicate “ding” that sounds at the precise moment an epiphany makes itself known to us, generally accompanied by a slap of the hand to the forehead, and a loud exclamation, that sounds suspiciously like, “Doh!”….. . It’s also a monumental instance of the triumph of reason and hope over despair, in addition to whatever other benefits may manifest themselves.

This evening, in close consultation with Jim, and our old friend John, I believe I may have solved the entire set of problems with which mankind is plagued at this juncture in time…. I’m not certain yet, but, I’m pretty positive that the idea(s) that stormed through my mind tonight will, if nothing else, give me hope….. If, however, I can make them at all real, they COULD even give us a small chance of prevailing against our own stupidity…. Just possibly, they may help us to survive the impending environmental meltdown the we are slated to experience at this point….

I know that’s a bit obscure, but, I don’t want to issue a complete spoiler…. let it be enough to say that I’ve discovered a way that we MIGHT just be able to utilize the fringe talents of humanity to save the great unwashed masses of the rest of us…. Zen Taoism. Peruaosophy. You tube. The Internet. Witches. Empaths. Telepathy. Chemistry. Physics. Asininnies. Ffolkes. Folks. Crystals. Plants. Insects. Animals….. All of these, and more, will be of use, if what I’ve envisioned can be realized in the real world, in a more imaginative and creative way than has been heretofore the case….

Life, Hope, Love, Compassion, Art, Music, Poetry, all the finer, more beautiful aspects of our nature, and our world today, will be preserved, if what has come to me can be accomplished. I am, as yet, unsure, but, what I see as a possible course for reality to take, with the proper application of the inherent abilities we have to inflict our own will to change reality, is one that just might save us from our own ignorance….

We have tried the way to approach life as evidenced in recorded history, which has, by all accounts, always relied upon brute force, ambition, and self-interest as the primary factors that influence the direction of our species’ development, in both a physical, and a spiritual sense…. We see now the result of that direction chosen, which leads inevitably, and, irrevocably, to a long time period of severe travail for the entire world of living creatures on this planet, likely ending in the death of all living species, with the only hope for life the chance to start over, in a biological sense….

This path also means a period of time for humanity, BEFORE we all pass into history, when we will suffer terror, despair, and depredations of hardship previously unknown, as the weather changes, along with our ability to adapt, and, verily, the planet itself, begins to cleanse itself of the pollutants and chemical catalysts, pumped into the air by our insistence on a profitable bottom line…..

This is a process that, as scientific evidence has already proved, includes the certainty, over time, of unalterable chemical changes, that will eventually turn our atmosphere into a completely foreign composition, compared to what we now know, until we are no longer able to breathe it; it will have become poisonous to us…. There are a hundred reasons I could present you to try to demonstrate just how bad the situation is, but, they all lead to one conclusion, and that is that our time will be over on this plane of reality very much sooner than anyone had thought, or realized, unless something VERY drastic occurs to change what is now taking place, in both a physical, and a spiritual sense….

You see, the next evolutionary stage for humanity is one that not all of us will be taking…. I know that is a hard thing to think about, especially if it must be applied personally…. Not even those of us comfortable with what may happen after we die are completely easy with the whole idea of dying…. It remains a pretty scary unknown, all in all….

In addition, none of us like to think about the death of our loved ones, or our descendants… After all, our entire purpose as a species is to try to ensure the continuance of that species, so, thinking about the almost-certain end of that is, to say the least, a bit difficult to accept as real….

Which brings me back to the epiphany…. Reality is capable of changing under the influence of the human will… This is, perhaps, an assertion without full proof in hand, but, in light of my own experience, and of the many instances in recorded history in which the human will played a large part in how the final picture appeared, I think it can be used as a working theory, if nothing else, for the purposes of this discussion…. which, I see, has already grown far beyond my original intent when I began…. This, after all is just the beginning… If my epiphany is not a drug induced fantasy, it may just change the course of human events, and alter reality as we know it in ways that even I cannot imagine…..

If that isn’t an intro, hell, I don’t know what is….. and, a hell of an intro it is….

Shall we Pearl?….

“The problem … is that we have run out of dinosaurs to form oil with. Scientists working for the Department of Energy have tried to form oil using other animals; they’ve piled thousands of tons of sand and Middle Eastern countries on top of cows, raccoons, haddock, laboratory rats, etc., but so far all they have managed to do is run up an enormous bulldozer-rental bill and anger a lot of Middle Eastern persons. None of the animals turned into oil, although most of the laboratory rats developed cancer.” — Dave Barry, Postpetroleum Guzzler
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“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes–and ships–and sealing-wax–
Of cabbages–and kings–
And why the sea is boiling hot–
And whether pigs have wings.”

~~ Lewis Carroll ~~
from Through The Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872

When I close my eyes, sometimes, I can hear it…. Maybe you can, too. I hope so, The more of us who can, gives me hope for those who don’t….

I can hear the murmuring voices, too soft to make out any words or sense, but, always there, in the background of my mind’s attention to what I perceive…. It takes a bit of concentration to hear it, at first, but, with time, it becomes more of a real perception, and thus, subject to both reason, and will….

What do I hear? I hear mankind, suffering in silence. I hear everyone’s inner self, alone, crying out for company, and the comfort of simple touch, in a terrifying universe full of indifferent powers we don’t understand, desperate to know there is another mind out there that feels, that is afraid, that wants more….. I hear the cries of innocents, and the screams of the oppressed and abused. I hear the bombs and guns singing their song of death and destruction. I hear the hissing grunts as the bankers count their gelt…. I hear my own voice, telling me, time and time again, how hopeless it all is, that it’s too late…. And it hurts to know it’s true….

Yet, what I hear is possibly our salvation, as well….. Mankind exists on a bell curve; I’ve said this before, and it remains true. Much of human progress has always been accomplished according to the efforts of those on the curve who live at the ends, whether they are very, very smart and/or with extraordinary abilities, or very, very simple, with other types of abilities, not always appreciated, but there, nonetheless… I believe that the key to our survival as a species is now dependent upon how well we can learn to utilize those fringe abilities to our advantage….

Mankind has many mental strengths which we seldom use; this is patently obvious, given the state of affairs in the world. Reality has proven to be malleable to the human will, when it is applied in the correct manner; used poorly, the universe just plows on under its own power, and will flatten anyone getting in its way like the proverbial pancake. But, when we learn to use our will in the manner in which it works best, then we can accomplish amazing things, altering Reality according to our desires and/or needs….

The key to utilizing the untapped power we have to change reality is not to be found if we continue, as a species, and culture (as amorphous as it may be with so many different parts to that culture world-wide….), to put our physical and personal wants and needs ahead of our spiritual and communal needs. We need to acknowledge that allowing self-interest to guide the decision making process can only lead to the horrors we are now facing. It is now not merely desirable, but, imperative that Mankind develop a connection to the inner spirit which we possess, but, not with the delusional submission of that spirit to an imaginary supernatural friend, but, with clear, open eyes and compassionate intent for all guiding both our perceptive capabilities, and our actions….

In other words, we need to look inward, and connect with those others in our species who are similarly inclined, to search for, and, hopefully to find, a way to unleash the power of the mind on the problems we face, even though the immediacy of those problems will not make it easy….. As I see it right now, we don’t have many options at all, and if placing some hope on the human talents that are now hidden, or poorly understood will cause change, any change, in what people are DOING, then, I’ll do all I can to promote that campaign… Hell, as I said, and, as I see it, we don’t have much choice, so, why the hell not?….. Let’s go find some magic, and some telepaths, and a dragon or two, to help us turn the tide against the forces of stupidity that have ruled our society since the beginning of our history….

So, that’s what I’m going to do as my new project, out in the Big Blue Room, and here on the internet…. I’m going to look for the fringe elements of our society and culture, those that have a connection to the true nature of reality, and have shown it in the past. I figure at least one or two of them ought to have an idea, if only of where to look next, and if it helps me find and pull together the resources that are necessary, then, it’s worth a shot, in my mind…. and, it will give me something to do other than worry about how much time is left to get it done…..

Wish me luck…. If I’m right, and succeed, at all, there is hope…. If I don’t, well, nothing will change, and we all know how that story is going to end, don’t we?…..

“Until the pain of remaining the same hurts more than the pain of change, most people prefer to remain the same.” — Richard D. Dobbins

“A process which led from amoeba to man appeared to the philosophers to be obviously progress – though whether the amoeba would agree with this opinion is not known.” — Bertrand Russell

Those oft are stratagems which errors seem,
Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Criticism, Part i, Line 177

I won’t say I’m sorry, because, hey, I’m not…. but, the 3-star pearl finish is just because I really like all three, and, upon inspection as a whole, fit the above rather nicely…. “Onward”, he said, with obvious delight at the serendipity….

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Only one poem will do today, and if I have to say what it is, I’ve slipped somewhere in the assessment of my Gentle Readers…. so, here ’tis, with no ado at all…. Oh, well, okay, one ado…. It’s a link, and a short excerpt consisting of the first four stanzas, because the entire piece is too long to put in here, and still expect everybody to get to the rest of today’s effort…. Most have read it at one time or another, so, just remember, please, it’s a great read, and, just now, seems to be more than just a bit of scary in it’s apparent power of prediction, or premonition, in a metaphorical sense, if not literal…. If the stanza above doesn’t EXACTLY describe Reality in 2014, then I’ll be looking for the letter, from the government, offering to hire me to train the pigs…. Enjoy, ffolkes!….. As you know already, this is genius at work….

The Walrus and The Carpenter

The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright–
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done–
“It’s very rude of him,” she said,
“To come and spoil the fun!”

The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying overhead–
There were no birds to fly.

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
“If this were only cleared away,”
They said, “it would be grand!”

~~ Lewis Carrol ~~

http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/walrus.html

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I wouldn’t say my work above is a rant, particularly, but, it’s long enough for one, and has some juice to it, so, we’ll count it as one…. Besides, this way, I get to put out an old-school pearl, which, for me, is much simpler to produce, given my restrictions as to time spent in a chair….. Don’t fret, no whining, just lustrous, gorgeous, well, unknown, pearls, whose single unifying characteristic, today, is that they all are there, in the group…. That’s it…. they’re there….

“If there are self-made purgatories, then we all have to live in them.” — Spock, “This Side of Paradise,” stardate 3417.7.

“It has been said that there are two theories of history: conspiracy and blunder. If there is some truth to that, it is surely equally true that blunder seldom receives all the credit due it as an explanation of complex events.” — Michael Scully

“Not die here in a rage, like a poisoned rat in a hole. — Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) — Letter to Bolingbroke, March 21, 1729

“… and the first lesson is: Never lose the alternative way out of sight.” — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

“Blessed is he who has learned to laugh at himself, for he shall never cease to be entertained.” — John Powell

“A man may fulfill the object of his existence by asking a question he cannot answer, and attempting a task he cannot achieve.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes

“You cannot learn to fly by flying. First you must learn to walk, to run, to climb, to dance.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

At this point, this is a very fine seven-star pearl, of excellent luster…. but, the following just insists on being included, and I didn’t have the heart to say no….

“For my own part I have never had a thought which I could not set down in words with even more distinctness than which I conceived it. There is however a class of fancies of exquisite delicacy which are not thoughts and to which as yet I have found it absolutely impossible to adapt to language. These fancies arise in the soul, alas how rarely, only at epics of most intense tranquility when the bodily and mental health are in perfection, and those mere points of time when the confines of the waking world blend with the world of dreams. And so I captured this fancy where all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream….” — Edgar Allan Poe
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Having not looked at the entire piece yet, I don’t know how long this came out…. probably quite…. ‘S okay, though, cuz it’s all real, and all fresh, even counting what I wrote last evening, after my conversation with James and John. The poem, of course, is not fresh, but, it may yet be again, who’s to say? Not me…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

Never to forgive, no time to forget….

Posted on January 23, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Today’s Pearl is going to be a difficult one to write…. not because of the complexity or subtlety that is needed, nor for any great amounts of humor that I’ll be trying to infuse in it, though I’m sure humor won’t be out of place…. it just won’t have much effect. In order not to drive anyone away right off the bat, I’ll try to hold off any further spoiler remarks until its time for the actual event to unfold….. and, I’ll try not to drip tears on the keyboard as I type, a frequent problem with this sort of material….

In fact, the upcoming rant, and Pearl, could be considered as unique, beyond any reasons that already may apply for a blog such as this…. First, the title…. It actually has something to do with the content today; what it says refers directly to the rant that will go below, on global warming and climate change. This is unprecedented here on ECR; the one time it happened previously was an accident, when I forgot to do the title beforehand, and having written the Pearl already, the title ended up as a comment on it, after a fashion….. Other than that one instance, the title has never before directly referred to what is included in the Pearl itself….

Second, the content today will be not merely curmudgeonly, and my emotions regarding what is written about are much, much stronger than for most rants, because this is the BIG ONE, ffolkes. This one speaks to the End Times that we have brought upon ourselves with our massive stupidity, and lack of simple intelligent behavior. We’ve fouled our nest beyond redemption, and it is NOT an easy task to try to discuss it without involving my own feelings about the assholes who are to blame….

I am usually the kind of person who tries to fix the problem, rather than fixing blame… But, in this case, the problem is one I can’t fix…. nobody can, it’s too late. The physical processes involved in global warming have reached the stage where we not only don’t have the technology, or the smarts to know how to stop the process, but we don’t have enough TIME to figure it out…. The processes involved have already reached a point of no return, so the only option left for us is to adapt the best we can, which doesn’t appear to give us much time at all, as there is no adaptation we can make to learn how to breathe methane gas….

That’s enough of a preview in the intro section… I’d best leave some of my angst out for the actual rant. I’ve managed to blather about it long enough to cover the basic requirements, so, we’re good to go in that respect…. I only hope I can keep up the anger, and let go of the sadness and disappointment long enough to make this a good rant…. There’s certainly enough supporting material to prove my points….. Any who, I think I’ve been as clear, and as obscure as I could be in one short section, so….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Only the good die young. Note the average age in Congress.” — Smart Bee
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Do you remember what the First American Revolution was about? I mean, really about? In school, we are given a dual message as to the motivation for the rebellion, with the message the BRC WANTS you to believe on the top, and the real reason as the subtext, gone over quickly and then dismissed…. This is how you control and manipulate people, by controlling their perceptions, and what they are allowed to see and hear; it’s a technique that has been applied to the American people, as well as most of the people in the world, ever since the ink dried on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights…..

You see, the subtext of the message about the Revolution was this, (and I’m sure you’ve heard it….)…. “No taxation without representation.” You see, ffolkes, it’s all about the money, and it always has been….. We are told about how we fought this war with England for our freedom… freedom of religion, and freedom of government…. This was the idea used by the colonists who owned the land, and the plantations, to convince the laborer classes, the small merchants, and small land holders, the rest of the folks living here, to join in the revolution with them, promising virtually unlimited freedoms (compared to what they had known all their lives….), and never once letting on that protecting their money was the underlying reason….

You see, what was really wanted by our forefathers was freedom to keep their money for themselves, rather than having it taxed by a king they never saw, for public services they also never saw…. Not being particularly fond of sending their money off to the king, and never getting anything for it, the aristocrats among the colonists fooled the rest of them into joining the fight, while they sat comfortably at home, paying for it…. thus, the scam and charade began, and has been going strong ever since….

“A politician,… one that would circumvent God.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act v, Sc. 1

Now, it’s 2014, and our culture has been evolving under the auspices of this charade for over 200 years. We have reached the point where certain of our societal habits and fillips are becoming significantly dangerous, in a very real, physical sense….. One of our ingrained societal habits is that of entitlement, that particularly human characteristic that gives people the false impression they are adequate as moral beings, just because they’ve agreed to the delusional claims of the religious hierarchies, or sociopathic, power seeking politicians, or, worst of all, the amoral financiers who live for self-interest, giving them carte blanche to assume their own prominence at the top of the food chain….

I mean, one of the religious books these fools pay so much attention to says it right up front, “Man was given dominion over all the other animals, made master of all the world, in God’s name….” I know, that’s not an accurate quote, but the meaning is clear, and is exactly what they teach their constituency to believe….. This entitlement is what has led us to destroy our own nest, fouling the air and water to the point where we have outstripped our ability to adapt, either technologically, or biologically….

The article just below this paragraph is by one of my favorite authors, to give you another perception of what I’m seeing, and talking about today; I found some of the other links in his article, which will take y’all to material that will help understand the depth and severity of the problem we face now…. Please, take a few moments now to read it…. I’ll wait right here…..

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2014/01/21/fine-weather-for-creepy-melancholia/

The two links below are to other articles that contain some of the research facts that have brought this knowledge to the forefront of the news… The first is a summary of the current California drought, the second an assessment by experts about drought conditions world-wide in the upcoming year…. All of it is pretty grim, and pretty convincing, since none of it can be denied…. This stuff isn’t theory, it isn’t speculation, ffolkes, these are the FACTS…..

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/01/california-drought-scary-facts-snowpack

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/expert_assessment/sdo_summary.html

The link below this paragraph is perhaps the scariest of these documents, as it is a discussion by the leading US government scientists in the appropriate fields, who have gotten together to file this report…. The opening lines are astoundingly frightening…. They paint a grim picture of WHATEVER future is in store for the US, with its immediate focus being on how the American people are now going to have to accept the FACT that what is happening is because of our own foolishness…. Go ahead, read the first page or two, then come on back here to finish this diatribe, as you can get back to the rest of that report later, should you wish to inundate yourself in evidence….

http://ncadac.globalchange.gov/download/NCAJan11-2013-publicreviewdraft-fulldraft.pdf

An old adage in writing talks about always leaving one’s audience wanting more…. I’d love to do so, but, that’s all there is, ffolkes. It’s too late for anything else, so all I can do is deliver the message, as clearly and as convincingly as I can, and, well, I almost said pray, or hope, that a miracle of some kind will happen, but, neither one of those looks like it will do much good…. We’ve already broken all the supposed laws that God might have given us, had He existed outside our own minds, a statement I make in complete confidence that there isn’t a priest, preacher, or Pope alive who would admit otherwise, by their own standards, if they were tasked to be honest….

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

~~ Emily Dickinson

Hope? Hope never dies, does it? As convinced as I am of our impending doom as a species, there is still a small, admittedly VERY small, piece of me that retains some hope that my assessment is incorrect….. But, even the power of Emily’s brand of unfounded, unasked-for hope, it is now getting very hard to retain any belief in it….

I WANT to believe there IS a feasible scientific or otherwise practical solution to the physical issues concerning the climate, with all its unknown, perilous changes, to which we will have to learn to adapt in a very short period of time…. or die. I want to, but, I don’t….. I cannot say I will welcome Death if it comes before I think it is my time, even though I have little fear of it…. Welcome or not, it is an issue I believe I WILL have to confront….

Dramatic? Yes. True? Yes. Don’t take my word for it, go read the articles, listen to the experts; they’ll all tell you the same thing, ffolkes. We have ignored Axiom #2** of Peruaosophy, and we are all about to become victims of our own ignorance. The change that is coming isn’t a matter of trying to decide on a new paint color, or even whether or not a politician is lying to us…. It is real, innovative, unpredictable in scope, if not direction, and is in our faces NOW….

**Axiom #2: The Nature of the Universe is Change. Unpredictable, innovative transformation of Reality is the Norm. If you have a problem with this, you’re in for a rough ride in Life.”

Addendum: You might ask, how did we ignore Axiom #2, as a culture? Perhaps the primary characteristic of those in power is their fear of change, and their insane need to maintain the status quo at all costs…. To me, this is simple logic, unassailable in its clarity, and its truth as a conclusion of both deductive and inductive reasoning…. If you doubt either assertion, perhaps this will help…. Proof of their fear of change? Ask a politician their opinion on term limits…. or, ask a banker their opinion of the Second amendment… Inductively, it seems obvious to me that only a very great fear of the unknown could account for the need for entitlement, or the desire to even possess power over others…. It isn’t sane, and nobody can tell me it is….

I will leave this gloomy discussion right there, with only the following three-star pearl as a final comment….

“The case has, in some respects, been not entirely devoid of interest.” — Sherlock Holmes [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]

“While hunting in Africa, I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How an elephant got into my pajamas I’ll never know.” — Groucho Marx

“Most of all, I’ve learned that a good time to laugh is anytime you can.” — Linda Ellerbee
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” . . .those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded . . . Sad, indeed, is it to see how men occupy themselves with trivialities, and are indifferent to the grandest phenomena– care not to understand the architecture of the heavens, but are deeply interested in some contemptible controversy about the intrigues of Mary Queen of Scots!” — Herbert Spencer

http://www.bartleby.com/201/1.html

The link above will take you to a copy, with annotations, of T.S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland”….. for some reason, my sense of irony demanded I include it today, in spite of the several hundred verses one must wend through to reach the end, and all the meaning…. Rather than take up your time further with it here, I am providing the link so you may peruse it at your leisure, little as we may have of that left to us…. Sorry, no more doom & gloom now…. we’re going on to have some fun, if I have to hurt myself….
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I am bound and determined (what a clunky, awkward phrase! How did it ever survive in the English language for so long?….)… Any who, I am firmly invested in having a laugh or two now, even if I have to resort to picking on my own bozoid tendencies…. There are certainly enough of those to go around, which any of my exes would be happy to tell you….

Bozoid tendencies? What are those? Well, really, ffolkes, do you really feel the need for me to explain that? The very words are pretty self-explanatory…. but, I guess it’s been awhile since I expounded on my version** of this theory, so, to answer, quickly….

Bozoid tendencies are those human characteristics that are embedded in our species’ persona, hard-wired, as it were, into our psyches, that can only be described as being “clownish”, and cannot be suppressed, no matter how dignified or stuffy one tries to be…. It can be best expressed vocally by the phrase, “I came, I saw, I screwed up.”…..

At some point in life, each and every one of us will do something really stupid, right in front of the most embarrassing group of people possible, such as family, or an entire stadium of excitable fans, or a restaurant full of strangers…. Often it is something as simple as forgetting a wife’s birthday, or forgetting to close a zipper, ensuring a wardrobe failure at the wrong time, or it could be as compelling a moment as running the wrong direction in a Super Bowl…. but, we all do it at one time in our lives, without exception…. Hence, the theory of Bozoid Tendencies….

** Inspired by the metaphoric brilliance of the Firesign Theater’s audio improvisational album, “I Think We’re All Bozo’s On This Bus!”, the Theory of Bozoid Tendencies was first discussed and codified in Berkeley in 1969….

This is the period when gigoid (that’s me….) spent a lot of time in such discussions with other burgeoning social philosophers, all UCB students of various vintages, in various dark, smoky venues, in various stages of mindfulness due to either extreme use of sober imagination and logic, to the often brilliant scintillation of drug induced excitement of the imagination, whether the drug was wine, beer, MJ, or something more exotic, if infrequent.

Having obviously survived the experiences intact, the Theory has been shown to be valid in many, many instances over the years, in myself, and in the world at large…. with most of such proof provided in the daily news…. when not in the mirror….

With all of that in mind, we’ll now search for some pearls that can make me laugh…. you’re on your own, this one will be according to MY sense of what is funny, and what isn’t…. So there…. I TOLD you we all have a sense of entitlement, didn’t I?….. Besides, if nothing else, YOU can laugh at MY sense of entitlement, or my humorous standards, if you so desire, and I can laugh at myself (I’m easily amused….)…. just for making the effort, which goes to the evidence folder for the theory’s validity….

“A guinea pig is not from Guinea but a rodent from South America. A firefly is not a fly, but a beetle. A giant panda bear is really a member of the raccoon family. A black panther is really a leopard that has a solid black coat rather then a spotted one. Peanuts are not really nuts. The majority of nuts grow on trees while peanuts grow underground. They are classified as a legume-part of the pea family. A cucumber is not a vegetable but a fruit. — Smart Bee

(Just a few of the reasons I love the English language…. and the English mind, which is completely twisted…..)

“I think you ought to know I’m feeling terribly depressed.” — Douglas Adams — The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Marvin

(And I think I have very good reason to be depressed, don’t you?….. So much so, I have to laugh, so I don’t cry….)

“The education of a man is never completed until he dies.” — Robert E. Lee

(Don’t know exactly why, but this, to me, is funny…. perhaps more funny, strange, because of the irony, than funny ha ha, but, funny….)

“Life isn’t fair.” — L.J. Smith

(This reminds me of my favorite line to use to try to gently remind someone they are whining for no reason; simply ask, “Who was the one who lied to you?” “Who was who?” “The one who told you life would be fair.”…. First heard from my father, at a young age….)

(Okay, so, I’m not funny today…. I’ll quit with the comments, and find a solid final threesome of pearls for ya….)

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read.
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

— Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), “Ozymandias” (1819)

“Everything that goes up must come down. But there comes a time when not everything that’s down can come up.” — George Burns (1896-1996)

You know it’s going to be a bad day, when you find a note on your door that says, “Knocked, you weren’t in. — Opportunity” — Smart Bee

You may well ask yourself why I felt compelled to include the excerpt by Shelley in there, but, I, being the curmudgeon that I am, will only say that I know that my Gentle Readers will be able to look at that, in juxtaposition with everything else I wrote today, and see why I fell over laughing when I saw it come up on the screen, and why it’s a particularly funny joke right now…. The others, well, as I said, you’re on your own…. I laughed….

😆
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“Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves.” — Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

Either this means I should never have started, but kept silent, or, it means I spent a lot of time in silence, fashioning a great Pearl. I’ll have to leave that particular judgment up to others, but, I gotta admit, I like this one quite a bit…. Long as it may be, I had fun, and I said what I had to say…. Now, I can go finish the day in good spirits, having completed what I now consider as my duty, or, at least, the initial one of the day…. See ya tomorrow, for now…..

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

Breaking News!… Christie, Obama both wear paisley pants to give State of Union: film at 11….

Posted on January 22, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I still find some of my humor, and a great deal of wonder, at the beauty and majesty of the universe, right here inside my head….. which, if you stop to think about it, is a good place for it to be. 😉 Today, I’m struck by how little terror the empty screen holds for me, in contrast to the last couple of days, when it seemed as if I was to be forever destined to look at my writing in the Hunter S. Thompson manner, which is to say, with fear and loathing well established as our starting point… In essence, it’s a living-on-the-edge, damn-the-torpedoes, full-speed-ahead, let-Chaos-rule sort of viewpoint, complete with bloodshot, weary eyes, no shave, and a grim outlook on people, and life at large….

On the other hand, it’s morning again, and thanks to our resident furry alarm clock, I’m up and typing, coffee in hand, (it’s harder than it sounds….), wondering where my whimsy will lead us today…. I’ve got a lot to do out in the BBR today, so I want to be done with this in a timely fashion…. Since I’m also feeling like I should keep it all fresh today, I’d best not fool around too long here in the intro, and just get into the meat of today’s effort….

I’m a huge carnivore, (never understood why people fight against evolution….), and, Leonardo da Vinci’s patent vegetarianism notwithstanding, don’t believe ANY of the hype I hear from the rabbits who follow that belief….. Sorry, ffolkes, a good steak just makes my whole persona feel right, so I have no intention of spending half my life hungry, wondering if I should kill and eat the nearest, handy vegan….

Hmm…. I’m not sure just what happened there, or how we got to that particular point in my craziness….. The mere mention of meat shouldn’t be sufficient stimulus for that sort of outbreak of curmudgeonry, especially when used in a metaphoric sense. It must have been one of those psychosomatic anomalies that occasionally strike all of us, sort of a crossing of wires in the brain that causes the meanings of words to turn from one meaning to another, without warning or intent…. I suppose we could name it a form of literary epilepsy, whose seizure activity is characterized in this manner, with shifts in mental paradigm, often without warning…..

Fortunately for all of us, I DO know what paradigms are, so we won’t have any problems with the grammar police, or the dictionary nerds. Plus, I have one of those discount cards, that gives us permission to use any and all such terms without penalty, even if used incorrectly (which doesn’t happen here, of course….). Besides, we’re almost to the end here, and I can pretty much do as I wish at this point: it won’t affect the final scoring at all…. Of course, y’all know what this means, don’t you? Yep…. It’s time to dive….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Down with ignurance!” — Smart Bee
_____________________________

“I have formed a very clear conception of patriotism. I have generally found it thrust into the foreground by some fellow who has something to hide in the background. I have seen a great deal of patriotism; and I have generally found it the last refuge of the scoundrel.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Judgement of Dr. Johnson, Act III

This, of course, is a perfect lead-in for a righteous rant about the Beloved Ruling Class, and all the other Asininnies who make our world such a difficult place to live. I have the outrage, I have the vocabulary, and I have the target…. What I don’t have today is an issue…. I just went over to peruse the headlines at a news site, and nothing strikes me as anything more egregious than usual…. Wells Fargo is complaining about something affecting their bottom line…. California officials are complaining that solar energy is making it hard for utilities to make any money…. Another mass shooting, this time at a university, and a case of one police officer shooting another, so, I COULD, I guess rant on gun control again….

But, I don’t FEEL like gun control today…. It would be a fairly easy one, as we have another crazy person running around shooting at innocents at Princeton (OMG, it’s someone who hates future Ivy League lawyers!….. I wondered where my brother went….), as well as another case of a policeman using his weapon to demonstrate my contention perfectly, that the police are no more able to use them with any intelligence than is anyone else…. I haven’t read the article yet, just saw the headline, but, no matter why this man shot his partner, it was obviously NOT an example of them acting as if they had any real sense, or integrity…. Unless, of course, he shot the guy to protect someone else, in which case there MIGHT be some excuse for his actions, depending on other factors as well…

I could get back into my rants from the last couple of days; there is still plenty to explore in the spying issue, but, nobody put anything newsworthy up yet today on that subject, so I’ll wait for the next round of lies to come out of the White House before commenting again…. Seems only fair to let them throw out their best shots, so I can shoot them down as they come, rather than spending my time poking at them before they’ve spoken…. They’re too easy a target at that point, and I like a bit more of a challenge in my ranting…..

So, what we’ll do here, to soothe my spirit from NOT having the release of a good rant to help out this morning, is to go to Smart Bee, where we’ll look for some of what I like to call “indictment” pearls, to take some well-deserved shots at the BRC, along with whomever else in the group of Asininnies I can find ammunition for…. Shall we Pearl?….

“If we applied government standards for determining the amount of salt in food to the question of how much matter there is in the universe, we would conclude that the universe is matter-free.” — Kolak & Martin, Wisdom without Answers

“Why is it that there are so many more horses’ asses than there are horses?” — G. Gordon Liddy

“Honesty isn’t any policy at all; it’s a state of mind or it isn’t honesty.” — Eugene L’Hote

“In America, you can go on the air and kid the politicians, and the politicians can go on the air and kid the people.” — Groucho Marx

De la peau de lion l’ane s’etant vetu, Etoit craint partout a la ronde. (Dressed in the lion’s skin, the ass spread terror far and wide.) — Jean de la Fontaine (1621-1695)

An Elementary-School student’s comment on politics: “Some of our presidents never did much else and are famous only because they became president.” — Smart Bee

“Fetch the holy hand grenade …” — Monty Python

Okay, so, I guess I have to confess…. No, I don’t always know what a pearl will do, or say, when it comes down to it…. But, it always seems to work out, so, having worked for the government myself in various capacities for quite some time, close enough is good enough for me….
_____________________________

The Dalai Lama has told us “We were put on this world to be of help to others, and if you can’t be of help, at least do no harm.” To honor that good advice, as well as the compassion behind it, here is one of my own poems, from some time in 2012, about the process of writing, as it occurs in me….

Painful candor

I sit, and ponder, then try to write…
seeking always to keep from sounding trite.
My record so far is less than grand;
we’ll not be striking up the hometown band.

Poems come to me, with cadence and rhyme,
that’s the easy part, every time.
Finding words of wisdom herein to include,
makes short shrift, however, of my attitude.

Still the words keep floating up in my head,
harbingers of danger, of wisdom, of dread.
Challenge is issued, in the weight of persuasion
Fey shadows of intent for any bright occasion.

Following along becomes habit and routine,
which naturally tells us where we have been.
New vistas beckon just out of sight
Pulling me forward, from day into night……

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

I’ve already given you more than enough justification for me to avoid ranting today; I have the distinct feeling that it wouldn’t work out well, for me, or for the universe at large, so, I’m going to continue the current policy of NOT getting too involved in reality today, beyond the issues that already have priority appointments with my attention-span.

That said, I’ll put together another old-school pearl for this section, hoping that Smart Bee is in the mood to help out a little with the selection process…. Only time will tell, so, we may as well be getting on with it…. After you…. Oh, and keep that safety harness snapped to the life-line, okay? The insurance folks get all hot and bothered when we forget to remind y’all…. Don’t know why, they’d just raise the rates if anyone dared make a claim…. as is their standard policy…. Hmm, maybe there IS a rant in there…. Nah!….

“I have seen the future and it is just like the present, only longer.” — Kehlog Albran, The Profit

(Hah! See, now, you KNOW this one isn’t real, because, hey, future, longer? Boy, is that one backwards!…. If anything, our future is shorter, by several millennia….)

“Now and then an innocent man is sent to the legislature.” — Frank McKinney Hubbard (1868-1930), “Abe Martin’s Broadcast”, 1930

(Innocence never lasts long there, though, as we all know their primary function is the rape of the public treasury, so, I’m sure any innocents who end up in the legislature lose it fairly rapidly…. and, sorry, I got distracted…. This will be the last comment, lest I begin to rant inadvertently…..)

“If a person wants to be atheistic it’s his God-given right to be an atheist” — Michael Patton

“Authority has every reason to fear the skeptic, for authority can rarely survive in the face of doubt.” — Robert Lindner

“Truth is sacred; and if you tell the truth too often nobody will believe it.” — G. K. Chesterton, ILN, 2/24/06

“And yet, seasons must be taken with a grain of salt, for they too have a sense of humor, as does history. Corn stalks comedy, comedy stalks tragedy, and this too is historic. And yet, still, when corn meets tragedy face to face, we have politics. — Dalglish, Larsen and Sutherland, “Root Crops and Ground Cover”

“A fool and his words are soon parted.” — William Shenstone

This one almost got away from me, but, on that final note, we’ll call our battle with coherency a draw, and leave it at that…..
_____________________________

The video on the screen shows a small room, looking at the corner, where, in front of two windows, one on each wall, a desk sits, laptop open in a position of prominence, with a healthy-looking printer on a pedestal, and shredder next to the desk, by the table to the right, on the floor. In the old, ratty 1950’s style office chair in front of the desk sits a grizzled character, medium height, thick build, sporting a long ponytail, held back by two bands, folding the receding remnants of salt and pepper hair, that would otherwise have stretched nearly to his hips, down his back into a disciplined work mode…. Typing madly, brow furrowed in concentration, he pauses to move his torso in an odd fashion, apparently stretching the muscles in the back… As he does, he winces, as obvious pain strikes somewhere, then, setting his face again, he attacks the keyboard….

Mumbling to himself, he bursts out suddenly, “Assholes!”, then types madly for a long period…. All of a sudden, he stops, stares at the screen, laughs quietly, then, rubbing his hands over his face, takes a sip of the tall coffee cup at the end of the table…. He gazes at the screen, reading, makes a few small edits, then uses the mouse for a few moments…. Again, he gets up, and leaves the room, and is gone for ten or more minutes…. Upon returning, he sits, clicks the mouse once, turns around, suddenly looking directly into the camera…. “Surprise!”, he says, “it’s all just a dream, and you aren’t REAL!”….. With that, he turns to the keyboard, and ignoring the camera, begins to type again…..

I thought it might be fun to do a bit of fantasy fictional writing, to practice my descriptive skills….. In case those skills aren’t as powerful as I would have liked them to be, I’ll just break down and verify that, Yes, that was a picture of me, in gigoid mode, constructing a Pearl, and, No, I won’t be doing it again…. I just thought it worked here, and, since I was right, I’m not going to worry about whether or not it A) makes any sense, or B) makes any difference, in anything…. See, karmic neutrality, and literary integrity, all in one swell foop…. I, having done ALL the possible damage I can do, am outta here…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

One final set of twins to discombobulate….

Posted on January 19, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I’ve still to come to terms with Reality today; this is a particularly trying issue just now, as it hits right at a very critical function…. Our argument began the moment my eyes opened, at about 0430 or so…. It seems Murphy, or some other iconic force of nature with similar asshole tendencies, wanted me to arise earlier, but, in my blissful ignorance, so blessedly bestowed upon me last night by the gods of sleep, with the aid of some beaudacious drugs, I completely blew him off, from about 3:15 until I finally arose….

He was pissed, (a minor piece of enjoyment for me….) but I was only mildly amused by that, since he didn’t fire off any of his usual fireworks upon my upheaval…. (I think that’s a good word to describe my process of getting out of bed these days…. between the stiff hips, back, generally painful movement, and the usual degree of morning lethargy, the act of arising can turn into quite a little ordeal these days…)

Any who, having gone to ground early last night, with some major pain from a minor back tweak, I wouldn’t have minded too much, but, damn, it sure felt good….. Not only to get to sleep easily, but to be able to turn over and go BACK to sleep as I wished…. The latter is a particularly nice bonus, as that is the worst part of being old and in pain, the not being able to sleep comfortably, or consistently, part….. Not sleeping well, or easily, or often, only adds to all the other difficulties involved in aging, sort of like how synergy flows, and builds up with resonant feedback…. Oh, damn! What’s the word I’m looking for? Aha! Heterodyne!…. That’s it…. not sleeping causes a heterodyne effect in other problematic issues, making them bigger, and harder to deal with….

Okay, then!…. Now that the morning medical issues chat is out of the way, and I’m thoroughly embarrassed by my own inadvertent release of TMI, I suppose I should look for some other, less revealing way to get on with today’s business… It is, after all, my purpose in being here at all…. I hadn’t actually thought about how to open up today at all, and this diving right in, though it seems to have produced a sufficient amount of material, also seems a bit too much like the usual method of getting the intro done, i.e., mindless rambling around the back hallways in my head, until we find our way out into the light of the day….. Not that those intro sections aren’t legal, but, they’re still not what I’d prefer to see here every day…. Until I can figure out some sort of feasible method, though, it’ll have to do….

Oh, goodie…. Look! It’s happened again! Four to five completely worthless paragraphs, chock full of stuff that doesn’t mean anything to anybody…. Well, it could POSSIBLY mean something to me, but, I don’t wouldn’t have it with a warranty…. Any who, it’s street legal, obviously, so we’re going to bail on this whole intro thing, and get on with today’s dive and/or rant…. It can’t be any more difficult than this has proven to be, to be sure….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened.” — Terry Pratchett.
_____________________________

Today, the order of events has undergone some alterations, and the old-school pearl will be in this section…. No particular reason, other than I pasted the necessary rantable material in the other section without looking first, and I’m too lazy to move it now….. Here, then, for your delectation and elucidation, a harlequin, randomly chosen pearl of lustrous quality, complete with burgeoning hints of wisdom…. Enjoy!….

Better stop short than fill to the brim.
Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt.
Amass a store of gold and jade, and no one can protect it.
Claim wealth and titles, and disaster will follow.
Retire when the work is done.
This is the way of heaven.

— Tao Te Ching

“Consider well what your strength is equal to, and what exceeds your ability.” — Horace

“After the battle in Pharsalia, when Pompey was fled, one Nonius said they had seven eagles left still, and advised to try what they would do. “Your advice,” said Cicero, “were good if we were to fight jackdaws.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Cicero

“You take the lies out of him, and he’ll shrink to the size of your hat; you take the malice out of him, and he’ll disappear.” — Mark Twain

“With the neutron bomb, which destroys life but not property, capitalism has found the weapon of its dreams.” — Edward Abbey

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

“While the gentleman cherishes benign rule, the small man cherishes his native land. While the gentleman cherishes a respect for the law, the small man cherishes generous treatment.” — Confucius, Analects, IV.11

Wow…. I guess today’s theme got into Smart Bee’s head, and turned that pearl in a direction that causes it to fit right in with today’s rant, below in section three…. If it isn’t clear, when reading the above pearls, think Beloved Ruling Class, and the antidote for society’s ills, to wit: Reason….
_____________________________

I love it when serendipity becomes subject to the influence of a good plan… I received this poem via email, from a poetry web site… Though I’ve read quite a few of this man’s poems, this is one I’d missed, or not gotten to yet…. My jaw dropped, and I was struck momentarily dumb as a statue, at the sheer, unadulterated power of metaphor (Metaphorse?) displayed, in this poem, and by the author…. one of a long line of crazy Irishmen…

A Coat

I MADE my song a coat
Covered with embroideries
Out of old mythologies
From heel to throat;
But the fools caught it,
Wore it in the world’s eyes
As though they’d wrought it.
Song, let them take it,
For there’s more enterprise
In walking naked.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

_____________________________

So, below here, you’ll find a bit of art, which I fell would help to show the point I’m going to attempt to make today…. The first photo goes hand in hand with the first link, which is an article that gives us the patina of lies from Senator Feinstein’s office, a statement that fully supports the mealy-mouthed lies and distortions put out by the President yesterday, in his oh-so-highly-anticipated, and oh-so-disappointingly-asinine speech regarding the leak of information by Eric Snowden that exposed the spying being done by the NSA….

The speech itself was a masterful litany of garbage, from all I can tell, a political masterpiece for its obscurity and ability to ignore completely any real sense of being in the wrong…. He never once admitted any wrongdoing, either by the agency, or his administration, and made no concessions toward any clemency for the whistleblower who began the debate, by making this information so distressingly (distressing for the administration, for having been caught, both in the spying, and in the lies they told about it….) public.

The constraints the president (no capital on purpose; remember, he’s got to EARN it….) recommends do not even go as far as his own self-appointed committee recommended, and, in reality, do absolutely NOTHING to put any REAL restraints on the spying that the NSA is doing, nor on what they PLAN on doing, which is to gain access to every computer on the planet…. Mrs. Feinstein (who happens to be the wealthiest Senator on record, with a net worth of about a half a BILLION dollars….), who is the co-chairman (with the other stone-faced pundit in the photo below…) of the Senate Committee on Intelligence, in her own speech, managed to blow off every bit of public opinion her constituency has shown her, and backed the president right down the line…..

Here, read the articles for yourself…..
(Suggested caption: ” Dianne, I’m a power-crazed psychopath – I don’t WANT inner peace!!!!” )

http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/01/17/dianne-feinstein-praises-prez-on-nsa/

The photo below is one of the congressional members who sat to listen to the president’s speech yesterday…. Have you ever seen a group of more self-satisfied, sleekly rapacious, avaricious political pundits anywhere? Not to mention how well it points out how the majority of the Beloved Ruling Class is made up of older RICH, MISOGYNISTIC WHITE MALES, who are, by far, the largest demographic represented in Washington, D.C., even though this country no longer reflects that demographic in any way….

What amazes me about the article below, in some ways, is the media’s straight-faced reporting of this speech, as if it really had any meaning…. The title of the article itself implies that some sort of restraints are to be applied, but, if one really looks at what he has proposed, there really aren’t any changes being made…. Oh, they’re making it LOOK as if there are, but, the system in place is not going to be shut down, or altered in any way from its current format…. they’re only making what appears to be a cosmetic change in the way the paperwork gets done, with no mention at all of any of the real concerns the public has, in spite of anything Feinstein, or anyone else said….

They all look pretty happy about all this, don’t they? That’s because they all know that they’re exempt, (as far as they know….) from being treated like one of the public…. These men, and a few misguided, broken women who join them in the BRC, believe they’re different than the public, and are not being spied upon as we are….. HAH! Let them think so…. Do they really believe that these agencies will stop at spying on just the public?….. If so, they’re even stupider than they look….
(Suggested caption: ” Dianne, I’m a power-crazed psychopath – I don’t WANT inner peace!!!!” )

(P.S. Both captions are the same, deliberately…. think about it….)

(Both photos are from the SFGATE website….)

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Obama-tightens-reins-on-surveillance-programs-5151532.php

Once again, as I have at almost every turn for the last six years, I am disappointed in the president’s response to this issue. Every time I build up some hope that just once, someone in the political arena will show some real intelligence, instead of continuing to maintain the standard government policies of entitlement in their attitudes toward the public, ignorance and denial of the actual wishes of the public, and prevarication as their method for communicating with that public…. In essence, I wish the public would WAKE THE FUCK UP, and get on with the business of throwing these idiots back into the gene pool….

Sorry, didn’t mean to shout at y’all…. I get pretty frustrated at times, looking out at the world, and watching it slowly, inexorably exploding…. A study recently showed that those films of buildings that are demolished by explosions are one of mankind’s most fascinating visions, harder to pull away from watching than pornography…. I guess there’s a reason for that, as watching that complete destruction probably gives our unconscious minds the feeling of observing one’s own future….

The asininnies you see in the picture above have already placed the dynamite in all of the points required to bring down the building in which we all live, ffolkes….. you can bet your bottom dollar that is true. Oh, they have no clue as to what they’ve done, or continue to do…. Evil doesn’t think of itself as evil…. They just refuse to listen to, or look at, any sort of evidence that what they think may not be true…. One can only learn when one admits to not knowing, and they’ll never admit they’re wrong at all…

But, their ignorance and denial doesn’t alter the FACT of global warming…. Of the people you see in that picture, most of whom are involved in running this country, approximately half don’t believe it is real; that belief, or lack of belief, still doesn’t alter the FACT that the temperature of the planet continues to rise, and that the planet’s entire supply of permafrost, a naturally occurring substance that lies in the Arctic, and Antarctic, in conjunction with the ice, and under the oceans, on the sea beds, which contains the most lethal gas we know, is rapidly melting, releasing that methane gas into the air at a rate that will kill them, and us, in a shorter time than any of us want to believe….

I’m tired…. This subject is one I’ve been ranting about for what seems like ages, but, in actuality, is only a couple of years, at least, in print…. I’ve been talking about this for many years, to mostly deaf ears…. Nobody WANTS to hear such bad tidings, so, their solution is denial, and/or avoidance…. Well, so be it…. I hate to say it, ffolkes, but, if that particularly human habit, of hiding from reality when it gets unpalatable, continues, well, then, we are all going to die much sooner than anyone thinks…. plain and simple…..

Whereas: Since our primary source of cultural advice and supposedly wise actions is seen by most people to reside in the churches and religions of the world…., and,

Whereas: no church or religion will admit to global warming, or evolution, or any other scientific FACT that questions dogma…., and

Whereas: almost everyone believes the churches….

Whereas: the churches tell people to respect the government’s authority…., and

Whereas: as explained above, governments are worse than the churches when it comes to ignorance, denial, and prevarication…., then

Conclusion: You may as well just bend over, and kiss your sorry ass goodbye…..

“I’m RELIGIOUS!! I love a man with a HAIRPIECE!! Equip me with MISSILES!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
_____________________________

Well, ffolkes, this one’s got a bit of it all! Links, art, research, rant, old-school, classic poetry, innuendo, nonsense, and, for a kicker, some down and dirty depression….. What more could one ask for, I ask you? Oh, really…. hmm…. Well, I’ll think about that, and let you know…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

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

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