Tag Archives: Global Warming

Buried alive in faint praise…..

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13

Ffolkes,
Intro, intro, who’s got an intro?…. Fuck it… I’m not in the mood for this…. Since I can’t think of anything to put here to draw you in, I’ll just have to dive right in, without any intro…. We all have to learn to live with disappointment, don’t we? Me, I’ve learned to not expect to either get up, or get through a day, without pain. You, well, you’ll have to live without today’s intro…. Feel lucky, that it isn’t doing without something you actually need….. shall we Pearl?….
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“Everything has been figured out, except how to live.” — Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

Hunger… real hunger. Hunger you can feel, in your empty belly, in the trembling in your arms and hands, in your light head, in your absolute focus on figuring out how to make it go away…..

How long has it been since you last felt that feeling? Or, if you did, how long did it last? How long did it take for you to assuage your hunger pangs? An hour? A day? More? Less?…. If you are in America, the most likely answer you will give would be the last. We are fortunate that the quality of life lived by the majority of people in this country allows them to be able to never feel the kind of hunger that lasts more than an hour or so…….

This month has been one with some unforeseen financial events, and my supply of food here in the last 10 days of the month is getting a bit slim. Oh, I’m in no danger of starving, by any means; just dying of boredom from eating the same stuff every day.  I do have more resources than many, many people who are less well off than I. But, if I don’t discipline myself, I will surely be stretching my imagination the last few days to scrape up enough carbs to fill me up sufficiently to avoid prolonged hunger pangs. It sounds bad, but really isn’t too much so, due to some thoughts I had today while I was busy and couldn’t get around to eating, until I was pretty hungry…..

I thought about my hunger pangs…. They don’t hurt, at first, they are merely there, in the forefront of one’s attention, insistent and unrelenting in letting one know that the body is short of fuel. Occupying oneself with anything remotely interesting is enough to drive it out of the front of the mind, and just hang around in the back until you aren’t busy, whereupon it surges forth again, to let you know it isn’t happy.  After a while, one has to decide whether to find something to continue to distract the attention, or do something about eating. Fortunately for me, it was just a matter of getting home from the pharmacy, and I could eat…..

In stark contrast, there are many people out there in this country, and the world, who can’t do anything at all about their hunger pangs, except endure them, for days at a time…. I wish I had an answer to this issue…. Well, I do, but it is the same answer as the solution to global warming, overpopulation, and the other issues about which I’ve previously ranted.

That answer lies in making changes to human nature, changes in the attitudes of the beloved ruling class, and all those ignoramuses who support them. Without those changes, the necessary changes to society will not happen, and we won’t have to worry too much longer about getting hungry….. breathing will have assumed primary importance by that time….

“Any fully matured science of ecology will have to grapple with the fact that from the ecological point of view, man is one of those animals which is in danger from its too successful participation in the struggle for existence.” — Joseph Wood Krutch
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A Dying Tiger—moaned for Drink—
I hunted all the Sand—
I caught the Dripping of a Rock
And bore it in my Hand—

His Mighty Balls—in death were thick—
But searching—I could see
A Vision on the Retina
Of Water—and of me—

‘Twas not my blame—who sped too slow—
‘Twas not his blame—who died
While I was reaching him—
But ’twas—the fact that He was dead—

Emily Dickinson

I don’t know about y’all, but when I was reading this poem from Emily, the face of the lawyer I dislike the most kept floating over the face of the tiger…. strange, but not particularly mysterious, considering…… enjoy!
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If a lawyer and an IRS agent were both drowning, and you could only save one of them, would you go to lunch or read the paper? — Smart Bee

Now, THAT’S funny! Some folks think that making fun of lawyers and those of the same ilk, (self-serving, avaricious, completely without compassion….) isn’t nice. They believe that lawyers and IRS agents are sincerely trying to help people with their problems. These are the same people who go to church on Sunday, listen to a sermon about the starving children in third world countries, and go home to sit down to a table full of food with no feelings of guilt. The same people who rant and complain about illegal immigrants, but won’t deign to work in the fields to harvest the food they eat, or will pay one of those illegal immigrants less than minimum wage to clean their house.

I say, FUCK THEM!!! Fuck the lawyers who use the misery of others to line their own pockets. Fuck the IRS agent who sweats some poor slob for thousands of penalty dollars because he made an inappropriate exemption claim on his form, so he could maybe get a dollar or two back on his return, instead of paying twice as much, percentage-wise, as any millionaire. Fuck the 1%, too, those greedy assbites.

Fuck the preacher/priest, who doesn’t pay any fucking taxes at all, and counsels obedience to worldly authority. And fuck the fucking politicians, who have set up and continue to take advantage of a system that keeps the honest, hard-working citizen on his knees, and rewards lying, cheating, bullying, and stealing from the public treasury….. Fuck them all, hard, in the place it will hurt the worst….

Sorry about the vulgarity; all of a sudden, the anger I feel at the world’s situation these days built up beyond my ability to contain, and it needed to come out somewhere….. this was handy. Anger, I know, is often counter-productive, but in this case its underlying cause, the desire of mine that is denied, can be laid directly at the feet of those I mentioned above.

What I want is for everyone to have a fair chance to be happy. That’s all, and that would be enough. That is what our Constitution was supposed to provide, but those perverted assholes who actually run things have done all they could to see that purpose is not fulfilled. The average Joe today doesn’t have a chance, unless he is willing to give up all of his humanity in the search for wealth and power. IT FUCKING MAKES ME CRAZY!

Okay, that’s enough on that for one day. I could easily write another five or six paragraphs giving examples of the egregious lying, cheating, and stealing going on in front of us, but that would no doubt end up boring us both. Instead I’ll ask you to go register to vote, to make sure that, for this election at least, there is a chance to push back the forces of ignorance that once again threaten our way of life…..Register, and make sure to vote……
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Well, I feel better, if not altogether good. I always find a good bit of ranting to be cathartic, and actually helps keep me from biting some other innocent fool later in the day…..  🙂   Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

An Elite Cadre of Irrelevant Nouns….

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6

Ffolkes,
Twisting and turning, Reality struggles to evade my grasp, changing shape before my eyes. The effort to hold on brings sweat to my brow, running into my eyes and stinging. With a mighty shove at my chest, Reality surges out of my arms, and breaks for the door outside, laughing over his shoulder, taunting me.

As I race toward the door, I see him fly through it, without bothering to open it, cheating again by using magic. I stop then, sure that if I open the door to follow, I’ll spend the entire day searching without ever finding him. Once again, I will have to just start the day without the benefit of Reality….

Nothing new there, of course. I lose track of it all the time, and to be honest, I’m getting rather used to it. It is difficult sometimes, when knowing the state of things might be helpful, but I find I can usually fake it without causing too much damage or chaos. Most folks don’t pay close attention to it anyway, so that part is easy.

It’s just that it makes it harder to see Murphy, should he decide to grace me with his benevolent attention; hell, he’s been known to bribe Reality to shift directions on me in mid-stride. But, all in all, I find that not being in touch with Reality can be quite advantageous, especially when denial is called for…

In our society, denial is a valuable ally. If I were to pay attention to ALL of the evidence available, I probably would be so frightened and angry, I’d never get anything done but for ranting. There is just too much of it to make denial practical on a constant basis, so I use it when I can, just to be able to get anything done.

Being able to “tune out” of Reality is, in fact, a skill that all humans use, mostly unconsciously, and it has been both a blessing and a curse for all of our history. While it is valuable to be able to distract ourselves from the negativity so ubiquitous in Reality, it is also dangerous, for the negatives are those things we need most to look at, and to change. It’s a conundrum we’ve never solved satisfactorily, and the opportunity to do so may not last much longer….

Softly sweet, in Lydian measures,
Soon he sooth’d his soul to pleasures.
War, he sung, is toil and trouble;
Honour but an empty bubble;
Never ending, still beginning,
Fighting still, and still destroying.
If all the world be worth the winning,
Think, oh think it worth enjoying:
Lovely Thais sits beside thee,
Take the good the gods provide thee.
— John Dryden (1631-1700) — Alexander’s Feast, Line 97

Well, I could most likely meander around this issue for a while longer, but this isn’t getting any pearls on the page; Reality is a big subject, with a lot of different viewpoints to discuss. We will therefore leave Reality wherever he got off to, and proceed with our normal, or at least regularly scheduled, activities for the morning…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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Climate ‘Tipping Point’ Nearing

http://www.poodwaddle.com/clocks/worldclock/

Here are two links, that comprise together the first pearl for today. As mentioned above, the time we have, as humans, to save our pathetic asses from extinction by our own hand, continues to grow shorter, even as I type, and as you read. The article relates news about the latest report by a panel of climate scientists who have studied the available evidence, and have concluded that the planet’s ecological equilibrium is nearing a “tipping point”, a point of no return, as it were, for the process of environmental destruction.

April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory out of desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in a forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
— T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land

Of course, as a well-balanced article, the author includes a reaction from a scientist who is prominent for his criticism of such theories, having decided on his own that the evidence is either misinterpreted, or falsely erroneous (or, erroneously false, your pick…). He labels their warnings as “extremely unlikely” and “highly implausible”. Of course, I don’t think he has actually read the article, but hey, he’s entitled to his opinion, isn’t he?…. Right….

    Regardless of how much denial is thrown at studies such as this one, their veracity is not affected. It’s all true. The scientists don’t try to predict exactly how long it will take, only that the evidence shows that it will happen sooner than we would like to think.

It’s kind of like Creationism vs. Evolution, in that disproving one does not prove the other; nonetheless, one remains true, and it isn’t the one based on imaginary events for which there is no clear evidence. Sorry, but even one such as myself, whose grasp of Reality is tenuous at best, cannot deny such evidence; it isn’t going to go away just because I don’t believe it….

I’m not going to rant forever this morning on this point. The second link above is to a World Clock at poodwaddle.com. This clock shows a number of different areas that are affecting the environment of the planet, showing the rates at which various processes, such as population growth, and pollution being pumped into the atmosphere, are taking place in real time. The figures being presented are clearly supportive of the ideas expressed by the group of scientists in their report, and if you can comprehend the figures, as I do, then you will see just how scary the situation has become…..

So, don’t take my word for it. Go check out the article, and the Clock. And if you don’t get a bit frightened, well, then you’re not really paying attention…. Stay alert, my friends, and keep your eyes and ears open…. The value of Denial is coming to an end….
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Written on a Summer Evening

The church bells toll a melancholy round,
Calling the people to some other prayers,
Some other gloominess, more dreadful cares,
More harkening to the sermon’s horrid sound.
Surely the mind of man is closely bound
In some blind spell: seeing that each one tears
Himself from fireside joys and Lydian airs,
And converse high of those with glory crowned.
Still, still they toll, and I should feel a damp,
A chill as from a tomb, did I not know
That they are dying like an outburnt lamp, –
That ’tis their sighing, wailing, ere they go
Into oblivion -that fresh flowers will grow,
And many glories of immortal stamp.

John Keats

I needed a beauty break, after such dark beginnings. This poem, while a bit dark itself, still brings me a sense of peace, if only from the beauty of the words themselves…. and the ending gives hope, so….
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Some professors asked a monk to lecture to them on spiritual matters. The monk ascended a podium, struck it once with his stick, and descended. The academics were dumb- founded.  The monk asked them, “Do you understand what I have told you?”  One professor said, “I do not understand.” The monk said, “I have concluded my lecture.” — Smart Bee

This sounds like any number of Zen koans I’ve heard or read over the years. It is appropriately obscure, yet so simple it gives its own answer within its boundaries. Now, to a mind trained in Western modes of thought, the point of the monk’s lecture will be as densely concealed as London in one of its famous fogs. To anyone who has made a study of Buddhism, or Zen, or even Taoism, the monk answered the question himself, quite clearly…..

The monk could have made his point, even to the academicians, with a few more words, giving them a direction in which to point their reasoning powers. But, keeping to the character of the lesson, he used the fewest words he could to drive the lesson home.

Since one of my purposes in this blog is to try to show where the two modes of thought may mingle and blend, I will not leave the answer as an exercise for the Gentle Reader. Most simply put, the monk told the professors that spiritual matters are not understood; they are merely real, like the podium, and no matter how hard you strike it, it remains unchanged.

The lesson is deeper than it appears to be, as with most lessons of this nature. It implies a lot about self, and reality, and how our viewpoint of each can determine the direction and tenor of our spiritual experiences. It implies the most important piece of understanding, which says that it is not necessary to understand everything in order to have an appreciation of it, or to be able to deal with it successfully.

It is only necessary to be those things a human can be…. honest, clear-thinking, clever, compassionate, kind…. and Life will proceed as well as can be expected. It actually makes life much more pleasant when one is able to stop fighting against reality, and learn to “go with the flow”…. It’s much easier than trying to change everything to suit our own preferences, a habit doomed to failure, for sure and for certain…
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SIGH…. By now, one would think I’d be accustomed to the effort it takes some days to get this done. It all started out well, then took a deep dip into molasses, which, as we all know, is slow…. It doesn’t taste very good either, by itself; it’s okay as an ingredient in other items, like cookies, but, by itself, is pretty disgusting. Hard to clean up, too…. Such is life here in gigoid land, and there isn’t anything I can do about it at this late stage, so it will have to fly as it is…. again.  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

 

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

Kowabunga!

How much for a self-portrait?

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6

Ffolkes,
If the weather here in California this spring is any indication, global warming is developing nicely. Rain, a couple days of sunshine, clouds, now more rain… the pattern is nothing like what I’ve seen in this state for the last 60 some years that I’ve lived here…. Oh, I’ve been elsewhere, all over the US in fact, but I’ve never lived elsewhere for long without returning to the left coast.

There are just too many advantages, both in terms of weather, and in terms of availability of whatever climate or land configuration one wishes. Mountains, seacoast, desert, valleys, rivers, urban, rural, rain forest, oak forest, any type of geographic formation one could wish for is all within four hours drive from anywhere in the state.

So, I’ve always come back here to stay, even though I love seeing far-away places, and learning about the people who live there. It is one of the reasons I want to travel now that I’m retired, and as soon as I can secure my full retirement from the Feds (bless their pointy little heads), I’ll be off. But, for the nonce, I am stuck here, and the weather is NOT acting normally. Usually by mid- to late-April, the weather is so gorgeous one wonders that the entire world doesn’t move here to enjoy it.

Global warming is real. No matter who you listen to, or what statistics you may see that say otherwise, (and those statistics would either be missing important pieces, or made up of fantasy numbers straight out of someone’s head) it is a process that began some years ago, and is being continuously augmented and strengthened by society’s refusal to stop pumping crap into the air.

In one of my earliest blogs I published a link to a site called “World Clock”. On this site is simply a counting program, that counts several key factors in the overpopulation and pollution arenas. One face shows the population of the world, counting off how many are born each second; one can get dizzy very quickly by watching how fast the numbers change. Another face shows how much CO2 is being pumped into the air each second by the industrial sources and by automobiles. It is astounding how many TONS of carbon dioxide is going into the air, as I type.

If you wish to see it, here is the link:   

http://www.poodwaddle.com/applets/worldclock.swf

So, any who, the point of all this was not to get into a rant on global warming, though it is easy for me to do; it was merely to point out that once again, I’ll be stuck indoors on what would normally be a great day at this time of the year. But, thanks to the effects of global warming and over-population, I’ll be right here, typing and reading away, and wishing I could go for a walk without freezing…. in April, in California…. it’s disheartening to say the least…. Ah well, let us Pearl…..
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“Perhaps we are wiser, less selfish and more far-seeing than we were two hundred years ago. But we are still imperfectly all these good things, and since the turn of the century it has been remarked that neither wisdom nor virtue have increased as rapidly as the need for both.” — Joseph Wood Krutch

Mr. Pollyanna Krutch makes a really dumb statement first, but redeems himself with the last line. To make the assertion that today’s society is morally or ethically advanced over what we have been in the past is absurd, and that is being kind. If he sees any such thing in society, it is only a result of having so many more people wandering around butting into everything that it SEEMS like there is more tolerance and more ethical behavior amongst the common members of our culture. The percentage of such folks certainly has NOT grown over the past, nor could he quote any source of data to support that idea (I know, I’ve looked for it…).

Nonetheless, he turns his gaffe around by making the last statement, which is perfectly true. Neither wisdom nor virtue in society has grown, at all, at all…. in fact, the number of incidents that hit the news every day would indicate quite the opposite, to anyone viewing it dispassionately. In fact, in light of the proven theory of how society is becoming LESS intelligent over time (proven mathematically, in previous Pearls, so please don’t make me go through that proof again… it’s just arithmetic, and anyone can perform the basic computation of the data), it would seem to be rather obvious that the amount of wisdom and virtue has decreased over time, and in the case of society today, both of them seem to be absent entirely.

At this point I could start providing examples of how I come to this conclusion, but I’d rather go on to the next pearl, so I will merely refer the Gentle Reader to today’s headlines, where I am sure ample evidence of my supposition is provided, gratis. It shouldn’t take too long, and is probably a more convincing argument than any I could write.

Tell you what…. you go check out the news today, and if you find some evidence that society is getting wiser, or more ethical or virtuous, bring it up in the comments section below, and we can discuss the matter further….. meantime, we will be going on to the next egregious societal anomaly….. which usually isn’t hard to find…..
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A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow in the morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
— T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land

This poem really doesn’t need much discussion. In and of itself, it is a classic work of art, and few intelligent people would argue the fact. I have included it not only for that reason, but because it fit so well with what is written just above. Eliot’s vision here is incredibly prophetic, in my mind, and whenever I read it, pictures flash across my inner eye, of nuclear wasteland (photos of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are prominent), of foamy lake waters with dead fish floating around the rocks, of the yellow air so common in Los Angeles. He saw it all coming, and brought us fear, in a handful of dust…..
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“Power, like the diamond, dazzles the beholder, and also the wearer; it dignifies meanness; to what is contemptible, it gives authority; to what is low, exaltation.” — unattributed in Smart Bee

I wish I knew who wrote this, and I may google it later to try to find out. For now, it serves to address what struck me when I read it. First, it is absolutely true, especially if speaking of power over other people, and there are far too many obvious examples for me to bother listing them all, as you can see them all over the news. What struck me is the realization that all of these people who seek, and assume, power over others, do so out of their deepest fears, and their unwillingness to deal with that fear, which is also known as cowardice.

That is correct. Cowardice and fear are what motivate our leaders, every damn one of them, and I don’t care how often you may point out how much courage it takes to put oneself at the apex, because that is just a bullshit lie told to you by those self-same cowards to cover up their gratuitous lack of morals or ethics.

It takes courage to face one’s fear. It doesn’t take courage to pull the wool over the eyes of people who hand them the woolen cap to use. Only a person who fears that much could ever bring themselves to even contemplate the actions of those in power; and only cowardice could explain how such people carry out the dishonorable acts that are listed every day in the news.

“We create an environment where it is alright to hate, to steal, to cheat, and to lie if we dress it up with symbols of respectability, dignity and love.” — Whitney Moore, Jr.

I find it ironic to consider the degree to which people will go to NOT look at this concept, at how hard they will squirm and struggle to find some reason to trust these cowardly assholes who are actively ripping off the public. Instead, society marches on, happily content to ignore all the signs that the folks to whom they are entrusting the keys to the public treasury are bending them over and taking them from behind at every opportunity. I mean, it’s hard to believe, since I’ve never seen any Vaseline used in these rapes…. but, I guess the denial being employed extends even to their pain….

“I think the next four years we should try it with no President.” — Dana Fradon
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“Strange, because they are so frankly and hysterically insane — like all dreams: a God who could make good children as easily as bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who could have made every one of them happy, yet never made a single happy one; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stingily cut it short; who gave his angels eternal happiness unearned, yet required his other children to earn it; who gave his angels painless lives, yet cursed his other children with biting miseries and maladies of mind and body; who mouths justice and invented hell — mouths mercy and invented hell — mouths Golden Rules, and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who frowns
upon crimes, yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man’s acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites this poor, abused slave to worship him!” — Mark Twain, _The Mysterious Stranger_

No discussion needed here…. I’ll just point out the author, and fade into the background so his words speak for themselves…… My only comment is, “Damn straight!”  I never could figure out why an omnipotent entity would even WANT to be worshiped…. I certainly wouldn’t, and I’m not even partially omnipotent….
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“Beware the fury of a patient man.” — John Dryden (1631-1700) — Absalom and Achitophel, Part i, Line 1005

I’m not sure why I was compelled to include this pearl today. Originally I had intended it to be an ending quote for a pearl of a different nature, but then I thought I’d use it like this….

I would suggest to those who are in power today in this country, and, for that matter, around the world, that they should probably pay close attention to what they may perpetrate on the mostly unsuspecting public in the near future. I give this suggestion only in the spirit of fairness, one which they are not particularly invested in displaying on a regular basis. Nonetheless, I am informing them that not all of the public is unaware of their chicanery, and the patience of these folks is wearing pretty thin.

I can say this because I am one of them, and I am just about done putting up with all the bullshit they are perpetrating on the rest of us, and very close to doing something about it myself. What shape those actions may take is as yet undetermined, but they may rest assured, they will not like it at all….  Just sayin’……

Fair warning……
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Well, this turned out to be an interesting group…. as always, I never know when I begin exactly where I’ll end up, and today is no exception. But, as it is said, the journey is more important than the destination, so I am content, for the journey was fun… for me, anyway. Only you can judge your take on that…. So, with today’s Pearl a fait accompli, I now bid thee a good day, and hope that all will be well in your little corner of reality, at least for the day…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you……

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Fast Pan Soft Toe Shoe Affairs….

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42

Ffolkes,
Legal requirements are such that I must inform you that today’s Pearl may exceed the normal limits on acceptable behavior for blogs whose content consists primarily of personal observations and opinions. I got eight hours sleep last night, if the clock isn’t lying to me, and I don’t know just what effect that will have on what goes in here. So, I figure I’d best give y’all a head’s up….

HEY! LOOK OUT!  Reading this may be hazardous. Not to you health, per se, but to your state of mind, which, it is acknowledged, MAY affect one’s health. But, there is really no worries, mates….. if you take a few basic precautions, you’ll be just fine.

First, try to suspend your beliefs for a bit…. I know, it’s hard, and they complain so much. But, if they aren’t lending their usual degree of panicky, tearful insecurity nonsense to the mix, you will be able to enjoy the show more.

Second, I’m afraid you’ll need to leave your prejudices outside the theater; you can leave them in your car, if you wish, Security officers are on patrol (somewhere…. not near your car, but somewhere…). In the rarefied atmosphere that today’s missive is likely to produce, they would constitute a severe moral hazard, and I cannot allow other patrons to be at risk for anyone’s misguided preconceptions of that nature. So, just leave them in the trunk of your car, please, for everyone’s safety, including your own.

Last, and most importantly, remember that this is all a process of finding and creating Pearls of VIRTUAL Wisdom…  Virtual. Not solid, not tangible. Not necessarily real, though at times they appear identical to actual wisdom. Maintaining a certain degree of disbelief will come in handy for you in absorbing and processing the material with which you will be presented during the festivities this morning. In short, have a little Doubt handy in case you are having trouble with what you are reading….. a little doubt is a powerful tool for sanity, believe me….. now, shall we Pearl?…. Let’s do that…..
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“We, the people, are not free.  Our democracy is but a name.  We vote? What does that mean?  We choose between Tweedledum and Tweedledee.” — Helen Keller

Odd, don’t you think, that the most insightful views of society are often presented by those who have no sight at all? Helen Keller was, obviously, an intelligent woman; no matter how patient the teacher, a stupid person could not have become the woman Ms. Keller became, without at least a modicum of basic ability to think. To think well, one must learn to observe well, and she has definitely got that down, for in no other way could this statement have been made. And that, to me, is the point. She is(was) a smart woman, and if this observation can be considered to be true, (differences of opinion on that point may be presented, and welcome, but for another discussion…. for now, lets discuss this….) why isn’t anyone else saying or doing anything to address the issue?

Well, I’ll tell ya, pardner, it’s like this…. Tweedledum and Tweedledee already fixed the election, and nobody noticed. Yup. It’s true. I would say that the voting process in this country has been a sham for oh, about 49 years, give or take a month or two. It got shot to hell, right about the same moment the rifle bullet struck the back of Jack Kennedy’s neck on that fateful day in 1963 when he was assassinated, and the last hope of the American people died with him……

When LBJ took office, it was the end of democracy as we know it. From that time to now, there has been NO candidate for the Presidency of this country who would have been, or ever again will be,  allowed to run, if the true rulers of the nation did not, or do not approve.

Our true rulers have been underground, in the background, for a long time; they don’t like the public’s eye turned upon them, for they know that if the light falls on them, it won’t take long for all their evil to start to show. These men (there are no women in the group, other than those who become even more male than their counterparts, in their vicious disregard for the rest of humanity) have been in effective control of the political process for even longer; it just became more obvious at the time of Kennedy’s demise, and has been harder to cover up ever since.

I find it disturbing to see Mitt Romney out there, seemingly with their approval, as he is far too close to what one of their inner circle looks like, and they aren’t shutting him up. This implies they no longer care if anyone sees their manipulations, and that they believe they don’t need to hide as much as before, because there is NOTHING anyone can do to change the outcome that they have already decided on. Or, it could be a sort of sleight of hand…. present Romney for people to watch, then get Obama safely elected, and settle right back into the process of eliminating the Bill of Rights, a project they’ve been working on for some time now.

I feel I must point out to all the folks out there who believe our current President to be a new hope, that this is the same man who signed the National Defense Authorization Act into effect on New Year’s Eve, while the American public was busy drinking and celebrating the new year, completely unaware that their oh-so-liberal president had just handed the Bill of Rights over to the National Security Agency, and its myrmidons, to do with as it pleased….. If you doubt me on this, check the news from that day…. it’s a fact, it happened, and it is now too late…. officially.

The first and middle rounds are done folks. It is now the final rounds, and we are now officially at war, at least at the ballot box,  with our own government, by their own decree. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m stocking up on ammunition, food, water, and body armor…… because the day of the final showdown is not far away. One of these days, and it is not far off, the gloves are going to come off all the way, and you will see the government of this country firing weapons at its own citizens, in the name of “public security”….

I’d think about this, if I were y’all, and think seriously. Try not to believe whatever they tell you, just because a guy on TV said it; examine everything with a critical eye, and speak up. But, be ready to duck, because I have a feeling they are no longer going to even give a warning shot, or yell, before they fire at us….. If you look at them, you will see that the ‘executive orders’ in the NDAA say they are not required to do so….

Don’t be distracted, folks, by all the yammering going on about taxes, or healthcare, or racism, or any of the other bullshite that is currently touted as “what the American people care about”, and being spewed out of every media orifice in the land.  I care about my rights. I care about being able to live my life as I choose. I care about human dignity, and freedom, and compassion for others. But this election isn’t about any of those things, it’s not what is in the papers, and it’s not what is in the people’s hearts. It is about control over society, and money. That’s it.

It has been about that for a long time now. Unless the American public comes to its senses, it isn’t going to change, either, until Mama Nature steps in, and sends us all back to the drawing board as another failed biological experiment. That is Reality folks, and is not subject to our manipulation. We can control what we see of Reality, but we can’t change its nature, and it will end us as surely as the sun comes up every morning, if we don’t make some drastic changes. And, unfortunately, none of those changes will be allowed by the beloved ruling class, so….. end game…… Deal with it….

Once you’ve tried to change the world you find it’s a whole bunch easier to change your mind. — Smart Bee
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Morality is learned, not legislated. — Smart Bee

This will be a very short section. The above is something I believe to have the force of natural law behind it; as such it is not susceptible to our ability or desire to change it. It’s just the way it is. And I wish, for all of our sakes, that all the idiots in government, liberals, conservatives, libertarians, independents, and the churches in this country, of ALL denominations, would get this into their heads, and learn to accept the fact that there is NOTHING THEY CAN DO TO CHANGE THIS….. no matter how strongly they wish it weren’t so, it is so.

No matter how many laws they make and/or pass to try to legislate what they believe to be moral into law, each and every one of them will fail. History has proved this beyond any shadow of possible doubt,  literally thousands and thousands of times, and it is no longer a subject for serious debate. It hasn’t been for three thousand years, though people seem to act differently, and continue to complain, and try to “make it so”…..

So, please, those of you who wish that the rest of society would just be like you, forget it. Not going to happen, and you can’t pass a law to make it so…. Get over it…….please. All the noise and crap you subject the rest of us to is getting tiresome….

Horatio: O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!
Hamlet: And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
There are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
— W. Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I, Scene V

(I know, it’s from Willie, but when it fits, I use it, no matter whose it is…..)
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“A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” — Ronald Reagan

I’m a fair person; it says so right here on the label, and I think an examination of my record in that arena would indicate the truth of that statement. So, when I find myself to be in the wrong about something, I am willing to admit it, if for no other reason, so we can just get on with things. So, mostly, when I’m wrong, I say I’m wrong. After finding and reading the above, though it galls me no end, I have to admit to being wrong about Ronald Reagan. Yes, I know, a shocking thought isn’t it?

Well, calm yourselves, it isn’t what you may think. In toto, I still think that Ronnie was perhaps the absolute worst President this country has seen in its 200+ year history. We are still, as a society, trying to crawl out of the hole his Reaganomics dug for us, and his war-mongering, rich fat cat, elitist sycophants and admirers are still entrenched throughout the legislative system and the Supreme Court, causing no end of problems with their conservative lack of compassion for the common man. No, no, I’m no fool, and the evidence of his sheer evil intent remains just as valid as it ever was.

But, the above statement, if he actually said it, and actually believed it, must be acknowledged as being not just true, but as eminently sensible. In that case, it deserves mention, if only for the fact that, for once in his life, he made a statement that indicates there might be a tiny little part of him that thinks about other people and what might be good for them.

More likely, however, given his prior track record, he believes that because of the danger to HIMSELF, the risk is too great; he doesn’t like for things to not yield to his control. I would have a hard time accepting that, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, he grew a conscience…. Not bloody likely…… I don’t like to resort to calling names, when English suits itself so well to cursing and vilifying without depending on their no-doubt cathartic use, but I’m afraid Ronnie was an elitist asshole, plain and simple.

Have you taunted a Conservative today?– Smart Bee

(Smarter than usual, too… Cute….. Conservatives, just like Liberals, turn all sorts of neat colors when you question their basic beliefs, or show disrespect for their heroes, especially Saint Ronnie the Raygun…. or, Bishop Barry, the New Hope….NOT!)

(Sorry, but, I think, therefore I am… dangerous, that is… it’s a gift…..)
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“In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble.” — Yun-Men

This is good advice. Think about it a while. It will grow on you….. and grow…. and grow…. and grow….. then you can stop. And wobble no more…
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“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality.” — Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)

Though I’m not entirely convinced of physical reality of the entire Heaven/Hell scenario, I do like to believe that some sort of Universal justice is carried out, and after death is certainly a good time for it. When I let myself imagine such fine examples of that justice promised by almost every religion in the afterlife, my tendency is to agree fully with the above. But, I would also like to add that I like to believe that there are quite a few little doors on the lowest levels of Hell (if it’s as bad as it should be, it should be capitalized), and each leads to a room for a number of folks who absolutely deserve to be there for all eternity…..

There would be, in my version of Hell, a room for those who deliberately abuse women, children, animals of any kind, or any form of life at all; it is a genetic defect and the species would be better off without them altogether. This room is a good response by Reality, if we MUST suffer their existence.

Another room would be reserved for those who seek power over other people, for any reason. Those in that category who use that power to harm, abuse, and kill others in the search for that power will be given priority admission.

A fourth room would welcome those who engaged in human trafficking of any type. All of them. Every single fucking one of them. And the tortures and pain waiting for them in that room would be the cruelest, most agonizing that the Master Torturer’s demons could think up for them.

Right next door to this room would be those who dealt drugs for profit and power, dealing directly with, as both cause and effect, the despair and weakness of human poverty, and the vulnerability caused by that, by illness, or by developmental challenges. In short, those who made money trading in human misery.

I think that’s all the doors I would need; but, humans are inventive, and I like to think that there are still doors available, for any other crimes that humans can think up to perpetrate on one another that I may have inadvertently passed over…. I’m sure, as a professional, Beelzebub has learned to plan for the future, and for unseen contingencies…..

Well, even if it’s all a fantasy, which I have to admit is quite likely (even my most optimistic side will only admit to a 50/50 chance of this resembling reality, much as I’d like it to happen this way…..), it’s fun to think about, for our own sanity…..
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As I suspected when I awoke this morning, after eight unexpected but thoroughly welcome and appreciated hours of sleep, today’s content got rather…. expansive is a good word, I guess. I thought it might; getting that much rest tends to give me a boost of energy, which will naturally end up in what I write, as it is the first real call for it during the day. I don’t, however, always know just what may be produced by all that energy; if it taps into my outrage, it can tie me to the keyboard for a long time, ranting. Or, it can turn to fantasy, and get a bit strange even for me. No way to tell ahead of time, what with the way I carry out this process…..

All seems to have gone well today, though, so, no worries…. the Helen Keller rant gave me a thousand words that I’ll probably trim to post as an article on Triond or somewhere, so that’s a good thing. And it all looks solid to me, cognitively speaking. So, I’m going to let if fly on its own, and let the consequences begin; I seem to have been indiscriminate in my choice of targets, and didn’t leave out very many……. Y’all take care out there……

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

May we cauterize now, milady?

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6

Ffolkes,
No time for fooling around this morning. Up a bit late, thanks to an extra hour of sleep my body insisted on taking (thanks for small favors!….), and stuff to do. I’m starting the day exhausted, with a sore right forearm and wrist. This is because of the unnatural activity I forced the arm into yesterday, when I went through over 300 emails that had exploded in my inbox, like some kind of replicating virus. I almost wore out my delete button, and read about 150 blogs (very, very quickly, I might add), at least 30% of which demanded a comment. It was a monumental task, and I’m glad it’s done; so is my mouse, I believe…..

That said, I will now proceed to head out into the hinterlands, to dive for pearls, which, for expediency’s sake I hope are not going to hide or be difficult to harvest today. Oysters can be hard to intimidate, and are not known for their quick thinking or pleasant dispositions, so if they’re not in a good place, it can turn on me quickly. In that case, I usually settle for those on the outer perimeter of the oyster beds, and call it a day. We’ll see, I guess, when I get down a few fathoms…. see ya in a while….

Ooh, ooh, here’s my first find; couldn’t wait to share it, trekkie that I am….  

— SMILEY   =-O~~~   The Enterprise firing phasers…

Is that genius, or what?  Well, I like it…..  Okay, the dive is going slowly…. currents are a bit tricky today.  Hang in there….

Still diving, but it’s moving along…. we’ll save a bit of time here, and bring this intro to a close, so we can get on with the regular business of pearling…. Shall we dance, then?….. Perhaps not…. well, let’s go Pearling then, if that is what you really want…..
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” … for these truths hold good for everything that is, and not for some special genus apart from others.  And all men use them, because they are true of being qua being …  For a principle which everyone must have to understand anything that is, is not a hypothesis …  Evidently then, such a principle is the most certain of all; which principle this is, let us proceed to say. It is, that the same attribute cannot at the same time belong and not belong to the subject in the same respect.” — Aristotle

I’ve run this through the filters in my head, and thought about it, studied it from all angles, even rinsed it off, shook it out, and let it air-dry…. I still can’t figure out what the FUCK Ari is talking about here….. The most reasonable idea I could come up with is that, while he was out walking through his garden, contemplating some esoteric line of reasoning, somebody came up and asked him where the nearest toilet could be found….. otherwise, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever…. especially the last line. A true tautology, to my mind, that is both proof and disproof of its own, well, silliness…. and I wonder how in hell it got included with the rest of his work that has come down to us through the intervening years…. if it were mine, I’d have deleted it long before it reached the printer, er, scribe for transcription….
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“As great scientists have said and as all children know, it is above all by the imagination that we achieve perception, and compassion, and hope.” — Ursula K. LeGuin

I think that everyone can agree with the above statement; it would be hard to think of an argument that would have any kind of negative effect on this concept, as it is about as true as true can be. Arguing with this would be akin to trying to describe the contents of a room with no lights or windows, from outside the room, with the door and your eyes closed, and no moving around or touching allowed…. Having thus identified the importance of imagination in human existence, we can move on to a discussion of how powerful a tool it can be when applied to the mechanics of living.

As humans, we use imagination in every aspect of life; whenever we encounter a new situation, whether problematic or merely interesting, it is our imagination that we use to inspect the characteristics of the event, and to judge its relative size, shape, and degree of difficulty. It is our imagination we use to discover a course of action that will enable us to deal with the situation to our best advantage, or not, depending on our own skill at using it. And in those situations where a clear course of action is unclear, our imagination can provide us with entirely new ways to approach and cope with what we have encountered.

Of late, I have been reading a lot of articles written by women who have survived and exited, by their own efforts, the atrociously cruel life of those trapped in the human sex-trafficking industry. These articles are perfect examples of the power of imagination, from women who have experienced, and survived, the most degrading, debilitating, indifferently cruel treatment known to humanity.

That life, or living death, more like, was the lot of these enslaved women, and children, until they were able, by virtue of their strength of will and imagination, to free themselves.  For every single one of them, their imagination was both friend and foe, first as fuel to the fire of their very real fears for their lives, but ultimately, the force that enabled them to see the path they would need to walk to take back their life. Without it, they would be doomed to death, ultimately, for the insane, perverted misogynists who control this deadly trade have no compassion, and no compunctions about silencing those who would defy their will…..

But, happily, for these as yet all-too-few amazingly strong, imaginative women, a path to freedom was found, and now, they are all determined not only to live out their own lives according to their own standards, but to support each other, and to speak out against those who would continue the madness from which they fled, to do whatever is needed to give aid to the women and children who are still enslaved by these indifferently cruel masters of evil…. and one of the forms that aid can take, is to stimulate imagination in the victims, so they to may come to an understanding of how it can help even the most despairing soul to fight for freedom….. understanding like this…..

After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul,
And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning and company doesn’t mean security,
And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts and presents aren’t promises,
And you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open, with the grace of an adult, not the grief of a child,
And you learn to build all your roads on today because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans.
After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much.
So plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure… that you really are strong,
And you really do have worth.
— Unknown, but brilliant….

And that is what it is all about, to me. Once these unfortunates realize that they do indeed have worth in the eyes of the Universe, a whole new vista of possibility opens for them, each one with the promise of freedom shining brightly, to show the way…..

For life, with all it yields of joy and woe,
And hope and fear (believe the aged friend),
Is just our chance o’ the prize of learning love,–
How love might be, hath been indeed, and is.
— Robert Browning (1812-1890) — A Death in the Desert
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A poet is someone who is astonished by everything. — Smart Bee (Anonymous’ new user name…..)

O Music! sphere-descended maid,
Friend of Pleasure, Wisdom’s aid!
— William Collins (1720-1756) — The Passions, Line 95

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that ‘s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow’d to that tender light
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.
— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Hebrew Melodies, She walks in Beauty

Jove lifts the golden balances that show
The fates of mortal men, and things below.
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Iliad of Homer, Book xxii, Line 271

I have touched the highest point of all my greatness;
And from that full meridian of my glory
I haste now to my setting: I shall fall
Like a bright exhalation in the evening,
And no man see me more.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry VIII — Act iii, Sc. 2

Life let us cherish, while yet the taper glows,
And the fresh flow’ret pluck ere it close;
Why are we fond of toil and care?
Why choose the rankling thorn to wear?
— J. M. Usteri (1763-1827) — Life let us cherish

Knowledgeable waitrons, maitres d’hotel, chefs, etc., all know that in presentation of food as visual art, odd numbers, 3, 5, 7, etc., make a more compelling and, oddly enough, more balanced, more artful picture than do even numbers. Go figure…. but in this case, exhibition of classical poetry, I think 5 is just right, even if one cannot chew it. No lessons here, unless it is a lesson on how to enjoy beauty…..
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“God is more interested in your future and your relationships than you are.” — Billy Graham

Now, if that isn’t a scary thought, I know nothing of fear; however, I assure you, fear is an old friend, with whom I am quite familiar, in all its guises. Now, to give credit where it is due, I suppose it must be noted that, from the standpoint of someone of Mr. Graham’s ilk, this is a very powerful statement of belief; it has all the proper elements for that particular delusional thought process (if one may stretch the definition of ‘thought process’ just a bit).

It is based purely on assumption, with no hint of anything resembling direct, tangible evidence. It implies omnipotence, displays immeasurable deified arrogance, identifies a source for guilt, and encourages a fear of death. Its vagueness allows the moral ambiguity necessary for the complete abrogation of personal responsibility for one’s actions. And, like all such proclamations of this nature, its very words indicate a complete and utter dislike for humans, both individually and as a species.

My immediate and forceful response to this was “If you truly believe that, then you, and God, seriously need to get a Life! If y’all have nothing better to do in your copious free time than to try to shove this kind of crap into people’s minds, then you need to find a new activities director for the imaginary cruise you are on…. or find some better drugs.”  But, that’s just me…..
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Conscious is when you are aware of something and conscience is when you wish you weren’t. — Smart Bee (Anonymous, by any other name, smells as sweet…)

Insane politicians (is there another kind?). Human trafficking of various kinds. Rampant racism. Ubiquitous bigotry. Child abuse. Spousal abuse. Slavery. Crack cocaine, heroin, morphine, or other drug abuse. War on crime. War on women. Televangelists. Fundamentalist zealots. National Security Agency. FBI. CIA. Untold trillions of dollars of national debt. Threat of world-wide economic collapse. Genetically modified food. Military Industrial Complex (yep, it hasn’t gone anywhere). The 1%/99% Society. Taxes. Global warming. Air pollution. The oceans are dying. Terrorism. Nuclear accidents. Massive global weather changes. Ozone depletion. Ice caps shrinking. Overpopulation. AIDS. SARS. Mutating viruses. The Bohemian Club. The Tri-Lateral Society. Reaganomics. Nationalism. Elitism. Illuminati Conspiracy. Women’s reproductive rights. Bill of Rights (or rather, loss of same). War on the US Constitution.  Rampant ignorance. Lawyers. Priests. Rabbis. Imams. Pastors. Popes.  Puppy mills. Wall Street. Corporate personhood. The IRS. Insane politicians. (Did I say that already? Well, it deserves mentioning twice….)  Rising incidence of halitosis.

Except for the last, which is more of a personal foible, I’d say that’s a fairly extensive, and reasonably complete, list of stuff I am aware of that I wish I weren’t; and it all came right off the top of my head, no research.  It certainly keeps my sense of outrage in good shape….. which is why we all need to practice the following sentiment at every opportunity…. otherwise, we are all going to be up Shit Creek without a paddle, proverbial or otherwise…..

“Speak out. You’ve got to speak out against the madness.” — Steven Stills
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Having thus spoken my share, and possibly a bit more, against the madness, I reach the end of another day’s Pearl of Virtual Wisdom. This one took some effort; late start, reluctant oysters, tricky currents, my own intra-cranial  oddity, all have served to increase the difficulty points to overcome to get to this point in the game. Thanks to a good pot of strong coffee,  with real half and half, and a bit of perseverance (no telling where that came from), what we have here is a “fait acompli”, and boy, am I glad for that!

Thus, I can enter the portal leading to the remainder of the day with a reasonable degree of contentment, if nothing else. Y’all take care out there…. and Blessed Be…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Don’t tease the aardvark, Barnaby. It might moult….

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2

Ffolkes,
Hard times require hard measures…. not sure what that means, but that’s what came out when I started to type, even though I intended to type something else. I wonder who’s hijacking my fingers now…..oh well, that one little incident seems to have been it. I guess I have a poltergeist with a problem finishing what they start; a few neuroses in a ghost are to be expected. It’s got to be a hard existence, what with all the moaning, and manifesting to scare children. It can’t be easy for a delicate sort, as some seem to be. I mean, look at what happened to Carrie!…..maybe we won’t go there….. let’s just get on with it, shall we?…..
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“There are hidden contradictions in the minds of people who “love Nature” while deploring the “artificialities” with which “Man has spoiled ‘Nature.'” The obvious contradiction lies in their choice of words, which imply that Man and his artifacts are _not_ part of “Nature”– but beavers and their dams _are_.” — Robert A. Heinlein — Time Enough For Love

True, but some of Man’s artifacts are somewhat destructive to the rest of Nature; this was not as apparent when Heinlein wrote this as it is today. In the 40 or more years since this book was first published, a lot more evidence has been gathered that shows just how destructive we humans can be. When the book first came out, there was a strong belief in society that science would be able to overcome the problematic toxicity of our machines and their fuels; this has not proved to be true.

Oh, it could be true; there are scientific solutions available for the problems we have engendered. Unfortunately, no one has figured out how to make it profitable, so the beloved ruling class, who are unwilling to share any of their income, or lessen their profits, have blocked and/or buried any research that showed any promise of being able to replace the internal combustion engine, and its dependence on a limited supply of fuel.

Ensign Heinlein had a strong belief in Science, educated as he was at Annapolis, the US Naval Academy, where he attended at the same time as L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. During his lifetime, mankind had gone from the first tentative flights through the air to the development of nuclear power, and culminating in the first lunar landing, the first time a man had walked on another world. This panorama of scientific endeavor gave him a very strong confidence in the power of science; no problem cannot be solved using the scientific method of inquiry, in his mind.

What he failed to account for in his calculations was that mankind would come to ignore science, and the warnings of planetary pollution that scientists have been giving out for years. The avaricious powers-that-be cannot bestir themselves to care what happens after they are gone, or what may happen to anyone else at all. As long as they have their creature comforts, and the power to keep the rest of humanity in thrall, then there will be no scientific effort to solve any problems. All there will be, in the final analysis, is a world empty of life, cold and barren…..

“As for courage and will – we cannot measure how much of each lies within us, we can only trust there will be sufficient to carry through trials which may lie ahead.” — Andre Norton
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My guard stood hard when abstract threats too noble to neglect
deceived me into thinking I had something to protect.
Good and bad I defined these terms, quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then; I’m younger than that now.
— Bob Dylan

I was happy to come across this little poem from the song of the same name; I had forgotten just how powerful Bob’s poetry can be. The poetry he wrote at times got overlooked by the music that he composed to display it; it made a good song, but that detracted somewhat from the message of the verses. It must have been hard for Dylan, to become so popular, but for what to him was the wrong reason, as people gushed over his songwriting, but not his message.

I remember an anecdote from an article I read on Dylan…. Perry Como was taping a special for television, but had a little problem with the studio piano player assigned to the taping. The musician kept adding arpeggios and other esoteric musical techniques to the sheet music, making it fuller and more interesting, jazzing it up, so to speak. But, it was driving Como crazy, as he tended to be rather straightforward and bland in his music. He said to the player, “You’d better quit adding all that stuff to the music. You’re never going to amount to anything in this business!” The player, of course, was a young Robert Zimmerman, aka Bob Dylan, destined to become one of the seminal forces for change in modern music, a man who is considered responsible for much of the originality of rock and roll, R&B, and jazz, by leading the way into the future with the power of his poetry, and his music……
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“In comparison with heaven and earth, man is like a mayfly. But compared to the great Way, heaven and earth, too, are like a bubble and a shadow. Only the primal spirit and the true nature overcome time and space.” — Lu Yen (fl. 800 A.D.)

I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating: there were a lot of folks back in the days before the world got distracted by the alleged Christian messiah; folks who thought with great clarity, who were in touch with, and sought answers to the deepest mysteries of the universe. This statement is very close to the idea of the conservation of energy, which is commonly accepted to be a fact of natural law; this merely approaches the concept through the back door, instead of the front.

It makes me wonder sometimes just how accurate the pictures we have come to accept about cultures that existed long ago; the philosophers of the time seem to have had ample leisure time to formulate the ornate, complex philosophies that we have as legacy from those days. I had always thought that people who lived then needed to spend a lot of time securing the basics, such as food, clothing, and shelter. I can see now, though, that my impression was erroneous, at least for those who lived in the urban centers of the time. I’m glad I was wrong; the legacy left us from those days is deep and precious; we would not have the level of culture we have without the wisdom of the ancients…..
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Roses are red,
Violets are blue
Some poems rhyme
But this one doesn’t.

A perfect example of the kind of poetry that I write. Short but stupid, yet with a certain charm for all that. Actually, I can write poetry okay, especially haiku, but it never comes up to scratch, not in my mind. I don’t always know good art, but I know what I like, and my poems mostly don’t cut it. C’est la vie! One can’t excel at everything; I just wish poetry was one area of expertise that I could master, at least better than I do. But, I’m okay with it; I’d much rather try to emulate Hemingway than Shakespeare. Just more my type of guy…..whatever that means…..
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After enlightenment, do the laundry. — Zen proverb

Now, that’s what I’m talkin’ about! Sheer genius! Sheer poetry! Four words, a mountain of meaning. This is the kind of koan that is almost guaranteed to take one down into the deepest part of the mind, and keep you there until you reach enlightenment. Layer after layer of meaning; my kind of Pearl! Today, I’m feeling a bit lazy, so I will leave the actual proof of this proposition as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…. treat it with respect; true wisdom can bite if angered…. we all know this, because it’s one of those experiences that everyone has to go through in life; how we react to that can determine the direction of one’s entire future, so it becomes a matter of survival to honor truth…. and don’t forget to take the soap with you to the laundromat…..
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Thus we come to the end of another day’s work. Of course, the day is yet to really start; it’s only around 0730. But, with the messed up schedule my brain has settled on, I’m up at 5, ready to rock, so that has become the part of the day when I write the most. It seems to work out fairly well, it’s just a little strange to be ready for a nap at 10:00 am. Ah well, so be it; it’s not like I have to be anywhere important. I can truthfully say, as a now experienced retiree, that retirement certainly has its advantages, as well as disadvantages. But the power over my schedule rests solely in my hands, and that is indeed a dizzying power. And hey, if you’re sleepy, go to sleep, I always say. Really, I do; ask anybody…… y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Just the fax, ma’am……

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2

Ffolkes,
Learning to trust people can be a frustrating pastime, especially when it sometimes seems as if people don’t want to be trusted. Ah me, I sometimes forget my own name, so it’s not surprising that I would occasionally forget my own philosophy. This is actually an unwritten corollary to Peruaosophy which states: People should receive the trust they earn, but for those who are not trustworthy, nothing but the back of me hand is enough.

I do try to give folks I meet the benefit of doubt, and will trust them to a point; I find that most folks will give reason to trust them without much thought or effort, as most folks are fairly honest. But a significant number are not honest, and it doesn’t take long for their first lie to be put out there to see if anyone bites. I’ve been known to bite at times, for the lies they tell are often attractive, and have all the appearance of truth.

But, I can truthfully say that once I’ve seen through the lies, and I always do, well, lets just say that they don’t walk away whistling and counting their money. They tend to get carried away, and if they walk, they are hurrying to be elsewhere quickly. My father was a very patient man, and I’m the same; but you really don’t want to be around when our patience snaps; it isn’t pretty, and is often ugly; the Brits would call it a bloody send-up, I believe…..

“There’s none deceived but he that trusts.” — Ben Franklin

Now, if you would, just sit back and join me in a delightfully insane state of mind.
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Audrey Hepburn: This was written when asked to share her “beauty tips.” It was read at her funeral years later.

“For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.  For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.  For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.  For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.  For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.  People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.  Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.  As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.”

This needs no adornment, Audrey never does…..other than to add that, IMHO, she was the most beautiful actress who ever trod the boards, and this tells you why…..
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“A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.” — Eric Hoffer

This particular observation is both insightful, and demonstrably true. This characteristic may possibly end up as the primary reason that our species reaches its evolutionary end in the next few generations. It is a trait so destructive of self that the person who is thus afflicted never even knows he is ill, that his own fears are what are keeping him from overcoming his own destructive tendencies. It is the direct antithesis of our only saving characteristic, imagination, and when held onto dearly, completely overrides and ignores any logical or rational attempts to act in a way that will benefit themselves.

No reason, no fact, no natural law can overcome this fanaticism, for its proponents close their minds to any idea that challenges their fear- and faith-based beliefs, no matter how far from reality they are. It’s a damn shame really, because a lot of nice people are being dragged into the mud along with them, and none of them deserve it….. but then, when did the Universe care whether it’s deserved or not?…..

There is no point in getting angry, but there is a stupid malignity to all this that does try one’s patience.–Anonymous

“It is not possible to convey sarcasm to certain members of the net without using a 2×4.  The smiley face merely reminds them of why their head is being dented.” — John Woods
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“The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it.  Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are the constitutional rights secure.” — Albert Einstein

Albert has once again put his finger directly on the pulse of American culture, and on the root cause for many of the problems we face today. A vast majority of Americans cannot tell you what the Constitution is, beyond a vague idea that it has something to do with “liberty” and “freedom”. An equally large number, who may even have read parts of it, grabs onto random phrases in the document, attaches them to a piece of religious dogma, and proceeds to try to take away everyone else’s rights because they don’t have the same imaginary friend.

Of the few of us left who have actually read the entire document, along with the Bill of Rights and the 11th – 27th Amendments, only a small percentage seem to have the guts to speak up in its defense. It may be that they don’t have the wherewithal, the inherent inner-strength that is required to hold onto what is right; instead they wast their time dealing with all the petty BS in their lives, and lamenting the state of things.

Then we come to our “beloved ruling class”; let no one say we don’t get what we deserve, for each and every politician currently sitting in Washington D.C. was fairly elected, after a pre-election orgy of lies and promises from the candidates competing, to see which party or person will have the privilege of ripping off society with complete immunity to prosecution for their crimes. These people know the Constitution well; they just choose to ignore it, or spin it to support their own agenda.

Having watched this process happen time and time again for over 60 years, I can tell you that nobody who has voted in that time has any excuse. We have elected proven liars into positions of high office repeatedly, despite the investigations and revelations of skulduggery that are constantly surfacing in the news.

I suppose it’s just another example of how, regardless of how much we would like to think it isn’t so, the laws of evolution are inexorable, and our species is destined to join a myriad of other failed organisms on the extinction list….. we ARE responsible, not only for what we do or don’t do, but also for what happens to us.

It is a subtle point of the principles of Karma, but being subtle makes it no less true. So quit complaining, and start fighting for your rights. We only have those rights we can defend, and we can no longer afford to have anyone else take the responsibility; they’re not going to fulfill it, so it remains our own duty…..

“I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.” — H. L. Mencken
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“I have known noble ones who lost their highest hope, and then they disparaged all high hopes. They lived shamelessly in temporary pleasures, and hardly had an aim beyond the day. “Spirit is also voluptuousness,” they said. Then they broke the wings of their spirit; it now creeps about, and defiles whatever it gnaws at. Once they thought of becoming heroes, but they have become sensualists. A trouble and a terror is the hero to them. By my love and hope, I implore you: do not cast away the hero in your soul. Maintain holy your highest hope. Thus spoke Zarathustra.” — Friedrich Nietzsche, _Thus Spoke Zarathustra_

I first attempted to read this book when I was in high school; I made it about 10 pages in, and put it down for a long time. It was too hard to read and think at the same time then (it does take some practice), so I put it off. I picked it up again when I was about 25, and fared much better. But it was still a difficult read, as it demands that one use all of their focus and attention in order to discern the meaning of what is written.

Though difficult, it is well worth the effort, and though it took me about two months to finish, I got a lot of useful information, as well as new ways to look at that information, and new ways to fit it all into reality. I had to read only a couple or three pages at a sitting; this could take upwards of an hour of intense thought, as it seemed as if every other line brought up some new idea, or a new way to look at old ideas, and those ideas had to be examined closely to determine their validity. But, at the end, I had a strong feeling of accomplishment, and another world-view to add to my abstruse collection…..
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Kardivilliwarrakurrakurrieapparlandoo — name of a lake in Northern Australia

I am once again amazed at how the human mind, and therefore computers, operate. I typed in the above lake’s name into Google, and hit enter. The first ten finds were all different websites, but all had listed the exact same information on the name: each of them gave the name, and followed it with, “name of a lake in Northern Australia.”  All of them. Apparently there is a lake in Northern Australia with that name, but no one has ever tried to find out more about it; what is known is considered enough, I guess.

I dunno, it seems to me that just a little more information would be welcome, even if it was merely “Don’t go there.” As it is, how is one to know if it is a piece of knowledge worth keeping in recent memory, or if it is special merely because of the length of its name? Also, the name itself is not translated, and I would tend to believe that the word, being the aboriginal word for the lake, has a quite complex meaning, as most of the words they used were practical descriptions of their world that helped them deal with its vicissitudes. Oh well, I suppose I’ll have to dig a bit deeper to find out any more….oh goody, another mystery to solve!……see, it’s easy to amuse oneself, if one just tries…..
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This is going to be a challenge to get into blog format, and probably email as well, so I’d best be getting to it…. Y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Penguins are never quite sober……

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2

Ffolkes,
From a purely subjective viewpoint (which, if you think about it, is all we really have) I am not a crook…..no, wait, that’s for another group. Okay, try this….from a purely subjective viewpoint, people suck major waste. They create major waste, too, but it doesn’t fit the image I’m creating. No, really, I mean, how hard can it be to be nice to each other? But, noooooo, people have to piss all over each other on a regular basis, as if they didn’t know any better.

That’s what really gets me about most of what goes on in the world at large; people do know what is right, and they just refuse to do it. They would rather lie, cheat, and steal from their fellow man, just because they think they can. It’s enough to make a strong man turn to drink, and send a weak one to the grave. There are days when I am glad I’m currently stuck here at home a lot; it keeps me from having to go out and deal with the great unwashed masses too often. Such interactions tend to be bloody, and I don’t need to get summoned to court to answer why I was beating that young man to death with his own leg…… I’d best dive in before I commit perjury or something…..
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Creation sleeps! ‘T is as the general pulse
Of life stood still, and Nature made a pause,–
An awful pause! prophetic of her end.
— Edward Young (1684-1765) — Night Thoughts, Night i, Line 23

Mr. Young seems to have been feeling a bit prophetic himself. If we consider this to have been written halfway through his life, then it was created somewhere around 1720, just the very beginning of the Industrial Age, when mankind first left the path of sustainability. The sky was still unrelieved blue, the waters were clean, and the sunsets were still the same colors they had been for a million years.

By the end of the century, London, and a few other cities of its size around the world, were beginning to see the first effects of pollution, with a rise in such diseases as TB, cancer, and respiratory complications, and the disappearance of a multitude of water-living creatures due to the poisons being dumped into the Thames.  Between the fireplace in every house, the trains, and the factories now blotting the horizon in all directions, the air in London was practically unbreathable at times, until Mother Nature took pity and sent some higher winds or rain to give them a break. One of the most lucrative of employments was that of window-washer, as it only took a day or two for a window to gather so much dirt and smoke as to be impenetrable to light or sight.

This phenomenon was not confined to London, and by the end of the next century, in 1900, the planet was starting to reel under the assault of particulate matter being pumped into the environment by the industrious little parasites crawling over its surface, still reproducing without restraint, oblivious to the harm they cause, merely by being born. The pollution not only continued, but increased by factors of 10 regularly, until, at the end of the twentieth century, we have reached a point of no-return.

The planet’s capability of dealing with what is poured into it is reaching a critical flash point; within the next century, it is a certainty that major environmental events will occur, as the planet begins to slough off the poisons we have created. The polar ice caps are melting and shrinking, at a rate which will only grow faster exponentially; as time goes on, it will increase at an ever-increasing rate, a rate that will effectively halt any more pollution by us, as we will be busy trying to survive the earthquakes, floods, famine, wars over food and clean water, unpredictable extreme weather, and other phenomena we cannot predict. These are merely the ones we KNOW will happen.

So, how do we survive? We don’t. As far as I can see, it’s too late; not enough time left for us to fix what we’ve broken.  Deal with it. Mankind has signed its own death warrant, and there is no court of appeal. We will join the dodo, the saber-tooth tiger, and T-Rex in the ranks of evolutionary dead-ends, another failed experiment.

The only way that this won’t happen, is if one of two things happens, soon, like yesterday: 1) The beloved ruling class comes to its senses, and stops trying to control everything to their own benefit, immediately begins to take steps to discontinue the destructive mind-set they have, and learns to share, or 2) The rest of us rise up and force them to do that, in spite of their stupidity and greed. I suppose those two things are actually one, but the point is that nothing else will work. There is no other way to survive. The people in charge MUST make these changes, or we are all going to die, not with a bang, but with a whimper and a cry of despair……
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“Emily Dickinson didn’t even publish books, she just wrote these demented little poems with a quill pen and hid them in her desk, but they still fought their way into the world, and lasted on and on and on. It’s damned hard to get rid of Emily Dickinson, she hangs on like a tick in a dog’s ear. And everybody who writes from then on in some sense has to measure up to this woman. In the art of book-writing the classics are still living competition, they tend to elevate the entire art-form by their persistent presence.” — Bruce Sterling

Mr. Sterling makes a valid point here. I have noted this feeling in myself, particularly after reading some Oscar Wilde, or Hemingway, or Poe, some Mark Twain, or Dorothy L. Sayers, Bob Heinlein, or Arthur C. Clark (yes, I know, very eclectic. I prefer to call it psychotic…) Just a couple days ago, I commented on this over a phrase from the pen of Mr. Wilde, of such great beauty it beckons like a lighthouse in a dark, moonless night at sea. I can only hope that my attempts at emulating the luminaries, like Emily and Oscar, elevate my art to a level approaching theirs……
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In the worlds before monkey, primal chaos reigned.   Heaven sought order, but the Phoenix can fly only when its feathers are grown.  The four lands formed again and yet again, as endless eons wheeled and passed.  The wind, time and later (??) all worked upon a certain rock, old as creation, and it became magically fertile.  That first egg was called ‘thought.’  Tagahatha (??) Buddha, the Father Buddha says, ‘with our thoughts, we make the world.’  Elemental forces caused the egg to hatch.  From it came a stone monkey.  The nature of monkey was IRREPRESSIBLE!

I found this gem without attribution, so I don’t know who to thank for it; it’s delightful, if only for its sense of fun. Irrepressible indeed! Plus, in certain ways, it is as logical and plausible as the claims made by some of the other religions floating around out there, isn’t it? The logical procession it displays is almost believable, and the mixing of myth, magic, and reality shows a mastery of both logic and its antithesis, intuition.

Living as I do in California, I could say with complete confidence that there is most likely one or more alleged “churches” in Southern California whose tenets of faith resemble this paragraph quite closely. Probably one with a fast-growing congregation, all of whom drive BMW’s or VW beetles. Those who don’t ride donkeys, that is…..
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Calvin: People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don’t realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world. Hobbes: Isn’t your pants’ zipper supposed to be in the front?  — Calvin (Bill Watterson, “Calvin and Hobbes”)

A fine example of how all of us are our own best source for laughter. As a matter of fact, it reminds me of several occasions in my own life in which I held this conversation in my own head, with myself playing both parts. SIGH….. gotta say, though, Calvin and Hobbes is the best cartoon to come along in a long time; sometimes it seems as if Doonesbury is the only really witty one left. Ah, for the days of Pogo, and Odds Bodkins!  Bloom County was also great, but way too short-lived. Hopefully, we will always have at least one cartoonist to help us stay sane when reading the news…..

“Creation is a mighty joke, but the laugh is at my own expense.” — Meher Baba
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“The basis of action is lack of imagination. It is the last resource of those who know not how to dream.” — Oscar Wilde

Sometimes Oscar cracks me up…..this, for example, produced a quick sardonic grin on my face, immediately followed by the thought “that sounds like something W.C. Fields might have said when he was soused”, which was most of the time, if one can believe of him what he so arduously sought to have others believe. Maybe that tenuous self-confidence, that almost shyness, made so obvious in the outer persona of each of them, by the very volume of the oddness, or uniqueness they espoused as a public figure, is what reminds me one of the other.

Both tried very hard to have others believe of them more than they thought of themselves; it seems to me that is what gave them purpose, for without it, the darker, depressive sides of their nature tended to drag them into emotional bogs. Probably why one drank so much, and one chose a more convoluted path to self-destruction, both men’s wit and imagination, and inner-terror, acting as methods of coping with a world that would never really understand them…..
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Whew….that took awhile; close to three hours this morning, and haven’t even looked at email yet; I’m falling further behind as I type, but what are ya gonna do when it flows? Go with it, obviously….. any who, let’s go see what the rest of the world is up to, shall we?….Y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Splendid specimens, sir….do they wiggle?

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3

Ffolkes,
We go now, in search of cognitive dissonance… heavily armed with oodles of insouciance, and eager to wage war with words. Let us then take a foray into the day, spreading the contagious joy of living……

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
— Henry W. Longfellow (1807-1882) — A Psalm of Life

Alrighty then, let’s have at it……
___________________________________

“With the first link, a chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably.” — Picard, ST:TNG, quoting a fictional judge, The Drumhead

One doesn’t often find profundity in Picard’s words, though he has one of the best voices for delivering such gems. This one seems timely, considering that we Americans just watched quietly as Congress passed another version of the Anti-Bill of Rights (aka, the Homeland Security Act), abridging even more of our Constitutionally guaranteed liberties. I find it reprehensible that the fear of terrorism that followed the attacks on 9/11 was used to justify an attack on the Constitution, and even fanned into flames, by the very people who are supposed to protect the liberties outlined in the Bill of Rights.

We no longer have the right to freely assemble to protest, unless we meet stringent regulations. Our telephone conversations are being monitored, both land-line and cell, for key phrases that would indicate terrorist activity. This law alone has caused a number of illegal arrests, which were made possible by the easing of the restrictions on police when performing searches. They now have the right to invade your home, just because they “suspect” terrorist activity. Racial and cultural profiling is rampant, and long-time citizens of this country are being harassed and vilified, just because they are Muslim, or “appear to be” Muslim.

What I’m saying here isn’t paranoia speaking. The incidents I’ve mentioned are all documented in the news. What disturbs me the most about the whole situation is that the American public isn’t protesting at all, not about what is important. Yes, it is the 99% who are perpetrating all these incidents of oppression, but that is normal; they’ve always done whatever they could get away with in their single-minded pursuit of most of the money in our pockets. The real danger lies in what they are doing to our basic liberties as outlined in the Bill of Rights. 

They are accomplishing all this without censure, without oversight, and without conscience. I can only hope that enough people like me can shout it out loudly enough, and often enough, that the sheep out there masquerading as adult humans will become afraid of the correct enemy, to wit: those attempting to erode our rights. These are not necessarily the rich, though they are paying for it; these are the hired gunslingers of the rich, placed in power by virtue of the almighty dollar and their gift of Lies…….

“If a lie is repeated often enough all the dumb jackasses in the world not only get to believe it, they even swear by it.” — B.B. Franklin

“There is in human nature generally more of the fool than of the wise.” — Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

and, lastly…..

“Any hack can safely rail away at foreign powers beyond the sea; but a good writer is a critic of the society he lives in.” — Edward Abbey
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Hmph! Seriousness.  Hmph! Sobriety.  A Jedi craves them not.

A limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical.
But the good ones I’ve seen
So seldom are clean,
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.

If humanity has any hope at all, it rests in those parts of our nature that are often only seen in times of crisis. Courage. Loyalty. Compassion. Love. Creativity. Imagination. Introspection. Will. These are our finest qualities, the parts of us that are always in in harmony with the universe, and represent  possibly our final hope for redemption.

In today’s complex world of the future, (thanks, Firesign Theater) we are bearing witness to the increasingly obvious symptoms of decay and dissolution exhibited by modern culture. Divisiveness in public affairs. Imminent economic turmoil caused by severe inequity across the board. Global warming and severe climatological changes caused by pollution of the air, land, and sea. Erosion of human rights. Threatening species extinctions occurring continuously. Damage to the bottom of the food chain, which will have effects that ripple and spread all the way to the top of the pyramid, ie., us.

The evidence for all of this is overwhelming, and the theoretical conclusions are approaching certainty; this planet, and the species that exist today, are what we like to call “one sick puppy”, and the prognosis for recovery is guarded and uncertain; death is very nearly certain without treatment of the causes, not the symptoms. At this point, its not a good bet…..

I’ll bet when you started on this little section, you thought it would be funny. Just goes to show how far you can trust words, doesn’t it? Even when the one speaking is on your side, as I am, you can never tell from outward appearances just what may lie hidden under the surface. It could be, as it is here, with the intent of contrasting and illuminating a desired point, a lesson, as it were. Or it could be that all that is going on here is another attempt to fool you into doing something you don’t necessarily agree with; this too, should be a familiar experience, as that is the most commonplace gift we receive from our beloved ruling class. What I’d like you to take from this, is a renewed attitude of personal responsibility for what we say and do; none of us will be free, if we do not free ourselves…….okay, here’s a little humor…..

“Truth … never comes into the world, but like a Bastard, to the ignominy of him that brought her forth.” — John Milton (1608-1674) (which throws light on the tradition of killing the messenger….)
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“Being frustrated is disagreeable, but the real disasters in life begin when you get what you want.” — Irving Kristol

This being the case, it points out another disturbing issue regarding our political choices today. Obviously, it is our preference (what we want) that only those who are the most skillful liars are allowed the opportunity to lie to the public at large, a privilege befitting their exalted position as a member of the beloved ruling class. After all, we vote for them, don’t we? Every time there is an election, both parties sally forth with their distorted truths and distractions, all cleverly designed to deflect attention from what is actually happening, which is a contest to see whose particular set of untruths is given precedence until the next election. Then we get to do it all again, whether anything good or bad has happened, or not happened.

It all seems a bit silly, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it make you feel just the slightest bit of embarrassment at not only bending over, but for willingly supplying the lubricant for the perversions to which these…people… are subjecting us? Sometimes, I get so ashamed, I refuse to even leave the house on election day, for fear I’ll snap, and start haranguing prospective voters as they wander in to cast their programmed responses, telling them they were all going to hell in a handbasket, just as if I were a preacher, or a politician, or someone of that ilk…..
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“If any man can convince me and bring home to me that I do not think or act aright, gladly will I change; for I search after truth, by which man never yet was harmed. But he is harmed who abideth on still in his deception and ignorance.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, vi, 21

It may have come to your attention that this seems to be a recurring theme here at Gigoid’s Folly. And you would be right in that. I’m scared, folks, and I don’t care who knows it (it just makes me more dangerous, not less). I’m scared to death that the degree of ignorance at work today in society is going to push us all into the path of the bulldozer of Extinction. I didn’t have children because I wanted to see them die, wallowing in the filth with which we have fouled our nest, choking on the air that is becoming thicker and more foul with each passing second. (Don’t believe me? follow this link to see just how fast we are killing ourselves….  http://www.poodwaddle.com/clocks/worldclock/ ) It’s getting to the point where I can see the muck in the air; look across a valley sometime, and see how much detail you can see across the way. In most of the world today, you would be lucky to be able to determine colors, but not shapes.

I reiterate. I’m scared. And I am monumentally pissed off, as well! Deliberately ignorant assholes are constantly filling the airwaves with the most egregious bullshite I’ve ever heard, and as an American who has witnessed election politics all my life, that is some pretty fancy doo doo.  What right do these ignoramuses have that allows them to spew their fear and loathing all over the rest of us? And how long is the general public going to allow this kind of self-destructive behavior in the people who are supposed to be protecting and nurturing our growth? It’s already gone on far too long, and I sense that change is in the air…..kind of smells like gunpowder in the morning air, doesn’t it?……
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How happy is he born or taught,
That serveth not another’s will;
Whose armour is his honest thought,
And simple truth his utmost skill!
— Sir Henry Wotton (1568-1639) — The Character of a Happy Life

Eureka! I have found the epitaph for my headstone, should I ever need one. This is me all over……this is not to say I’m perfect, far from it. But this is my picture of the ideal me, the prototypical me, from which all other possible me’s take their substance. It’s the kind of person I strive to be, even when I’m not. Even though I cannot yet spend all my time comfortably ensconced in the contented glow of this state of mind, I find it to be a most worthwhile goal for me to pursue. I shall go now and do so……
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That went well, I think. It would no doubt be best now for me to stop doing this, and go do something else. One nice thing about both retirement, and freelance writing, and that is getting to make your own schedule, without having to worry about anyone or anything other than one’s own whimsy. We all could use a bit more whimsy in Life, wouldn’t you say?  Y’all take care out there…..

P.S.  I’m once again writing for Examiner.com, as the Oakland Examiner for Social Issues. You can find all my articles for them by following this link. Page hits and clicks on advertisements are how I get paid, so feel free to come back often. I hope you enjoy reading my work there as much as I enjoy creating it…..

http://www.examiner.com/social-issues-in-oakland/ned-moore 

Thanks again, and carpe that old diem!…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Righting controversial wrongs…..

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Ffolkes,
Failing to summon inspiration is fairly common for me in the morning. Sometimes it takes a full cuppa and a session in the shower before I’m fully cognizant. It isn’t usually a problem, unless, like today, I sit down to write before I’m fully engaged. So, like any other sneaky-pants, I’ll just talk about it long enough to call it an intro, and head on down the road…..btw, the artwork worked out okay, but not as well as I’d hoped, so I’m going to put a hold on that until I can figure out an efficient way to include it…..
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“[E]lections amount to little more than choosing between the scum that floats to the top of the barrel and the dregs that settle to the bottom.” — L. Neil Smith

There are at least two facets of this gem that disturb me, aside from its obvious veracity, and I can’t decide which is the more unsettling. First, the fact that it is funny is a sad commentary on our political scene; we always laugh at what hurts the most, and having to laugh about the choices we have in the political arena hurts a great deal. I’m not particularly happy about it when I have to make a choice between the lesser of two evils; no matter which is chosen, it’s still evil. 

Even more disturbing to me, however, is the failure of courage this implies on the part of the general populace. Continually forced to make poor choices, the people have become resigned to low-quality leadership, and haven’t the heart to demand changes. The mere fact of existence for this ‘joke’ indicates that we, as a society, have given up, and are apathetic about which particular member of our beloved ruling class is currently stealing from us. We are so used to being bent over and violated, we walk around with no belt, and a jar of Vaseline, so it hurts less, and ends sooner……
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“Anyone can be a barbarian; it requires a terrible effort to remain a civilized man.” — Leonard Sidney Woolf

The number of barbarians in society keeps climbing, with no sign of stopping soon. It’s a proven mathematical fact that as human population grows, the average IQ of the species grows smaller. No way around it, it’s just mathematical reality. This means that as time goes on, we are slowly but steadily losing our capacity to use the only evolutionary advantage we possess, and as a side-effect, the ability to devise a strategy to overcome this process grows ever weaker.

To reach a civilized state requires the ability to learn, and the inclination to do so. It’s hard work, and as time goes by, fewer and fewer people are invested in making the required effort. This issue remains an insidious threat to our survival as a species, one that 99% of the population have not the wit to even perceive. One can only hope that the segment of society who remain capable of rational thought will be able to use their imagination and creativity well enough to thrive, or even just survive, in the future. At this point, the odds are not in our favor…..

“Must the hunger become anger and the anger fury before anything will be done?” — John Steinbeck (1902-1968)
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A limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical.
But the good ones I’ve seen
So seldom are clean,
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.

Limerick response;
small beauty creates
haiku forged in empathy.

Not too shabby. The limerick isn’t mine; I found it while diving for Pearls, and it is just so perfectly balanced, and witty, I had to include it. The moment I pasted it into this document, the urge to haiku struck, with a vengeance. Subsequently, the haiku itself almost wrote itself; it took less than two minutes to get it down and done. Unusual for me, to say the least, though if I am adept at any sort of poetry at all, it would be haiku. I like the way large pieces of reality can be crammed into merely a few syllables; just makes my little heart go all soft and gooey in appreciation. Now isn’t that a strange mental image to saddle you with on a Monday morning? Why, yes, I believe it is…..
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Where does it go?  It doesn’t matter.  Flush it.

Ugly, ugly, ugly…..this attitude, this arrogant entitlement that pays no heed to anything outside its own narrow little world-view, is a succinct demonstration of what will kill us all, most likely sooner than later. I know I’ve said it before, and I’m sorry if it sounds like I’m being redundant, but this message is one that will not wait for anyone’s sensibilities to evolve. This is what the CIA calls a ‘real and present danger’.  Our planet’s ecosystem is on the verge of collapsing; the very bottom of the food chain, plankton, is very near extinction. When it dies, all the other sea life will perish, followed in short order with the rest of the living creatures on this poor little ball of mud.

All of this is not merely theory, it is established, proven scientific fact. And what is the response of the beloved ruling class? Complete denial. Those few in positions of power who believe this, and consistently work toward a solution, have all of their efforts blocked, delayed, ridiculed, and otherwise fully opposed by the vast majority of our class of legal thieves. They, and their ilk, who flush indiscriminately, heedless of its subsequent effects, use every effort to keep any useful changes from ever becoming reality, because for them, the bottom line says simply, “there’s no profit in it for me”………never realizing they are dragging the rest of down with them on their headlong rush to meet the grim reaper……
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We’ll end today on a relatively light note. These are just a few randoms, part of which I found, and part of which was my response to my discoveries……

The following statement is true.
The preceding statement is false.

Quick Quiz Question: what is the next logical statement needed to complete the concept?

QQQ answer: And everything I say is a lie…….

“Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The trouble with common sense is that it is so uncommon.

Ain’t logic grand?

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Somehow, I feel like I missed something…..I can’t put my finger on it, but duty calls, and this effort will have to suffice. It’s not too bad, all things considered. I shall go henceforth into the day, and fear it not…… y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!