Tag Archives: Helen Keller

Frankly blank, she pondered swiftly….

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Ffolkes,
With reluctance, I approach my keyboard, shaking and nervous. There is something hidden in there, I know it. I can feel it, desperately poised to leap out and grab my fingers, making them form words from I know not where. If I give in, where will we go? How will I know if what is written will fly, or even walk? Will there be poetry? There is no way to tell, and the time is come to decide, for good or ill. I am afraid…. I am very afraid…..

Okay, now that is out of my head, we can get on with this morning’s normal business, or as close to normal as we ever get around here….. Sorry about the first paragraph; that stuff comes out and jumps onto the screen before I can get my head together. I think it is probably some part of me that wants badly to be paid for writing, as opposed to most of me, who just wants it outside the boundaries of my head, and I don’t care whether it’s rewarded in that respect at all. All I want is a bunch of “Likes” from my friends, and I’m good to go…. Considering how much I write, nobody’s going to want to pay me by the word, that’s for sure; they’d go broke in no time….

It’s all moot, though, so we’ll just get on with the daily Pearl…. always best to let the stuff that first comes out fly freely away, and get itself out of the way. It’s best not to mix that stuff with real pearls…. shall we dive?…..
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“We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.” — Helen Keller

Coming from anyone else, this would have less meaning; from Ms. Keller it assumes the aspect of eternal truth. If there is anyone in the world who suffered more to achieve self-hood, I have never heard of them, in all of my long years of reading and learning.

Having experience in working with the deaf, though never when combined with blindness, I can say without fear of contradiction that it takes a strong will and perseverance of unusual depth to be successful. Those who face the world with only three of the usual five senses of perception face a much more difficult path than those of us who can see and hear, and those who succeed, as did Ms. Keller, have indeed learned to be both brave and patient, in the finest sense of those words…..

Nothing more needs to be said about this, really. It is a powerful truth, given to us by someone who paid the full, complete price to learn that truth, and as such, it behooves us to listen, and to pay attention….
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“His ignorance covers the world like a blanket, and there’s scarcely a hole in it anywhere.” — Mark Twain

This year’s presidential election promises to be, if nothing else, an interesting spectacle. I am completely amazed at how the Republican nomination process has shaken down; the winnowing process was filled with ignorance, misguided appeals to fringe conservative groups, in-fighting, and all the usual nonsense that all the pundits go through during these events. In the end, they came up with….. Mitt Romney?

Yep…. perhaps the most dishonest politician ever to partake of the banquet of money the public payroll provides ( he has used his elected positions unmercifully to increase his own private wealth, taking advantage of insider knowledge and the “good-old-boy” circuit to the maximum) to come down the pike in many years. Well, not so many years, I suppose…. we did have an ex-CIA chief in the POTUS office not too long ago, and we all know how honest those folks are….

But, Romney? I’m sorry, it’s almost as if they have given up, and have acknowledged that there is NO ONE in the mainstream of the Republican pantheon of potential candidates who has any real connection to the American people. Romney is firmly entrenched in the 1%, and no matter how often he says otherwise, nobody is buying his assertion that he is not.

Not only have the rest of the party’s pundits given in, they seem to be letting him continue his policy of shooting himself in the foot every other day, by uttering some new lie. His repeated attempts to perform damage control are necessary, as he doesn’t seem to be able to speak without making something up. I know of two websites whose sole purpose consists of identifying each one of them, as they fact-check what he says every day, and every day find new instances of deliberate untruths…. It’s amazing, and would be amusing, if it wasn’t so scary….

It’s scary because, in spite of all his lying, in spite of his flip-flopping on policies according to whatever audience he is addressing, and in spite of his obvious lack of qualifications to BE president, his political machine keeps right on trundling down the public path to the Republican Convention, where his status as the latest incarnation of “The Great White Hope” will be formalized. The Democratic Party is, no doubt, celebrating almost every night, as he is doing their work for them…. They don’t have to say a word, just smile and point to Romney’s latest gaffes, of which there are legion…. Easy money, as far as I can see….

Now, as long as he doesn’t manage to fool enough of the voting public to make it close, we’ll be fine, and come December, all of this will be a memory of just another bad dream…. and if not, well, we can always call Al….

“He probably just wants to take over my CELLS and then EXPLODE  inside me like a BARREL of runny CHOPPED LIVER!  Or maybe he’d like to PSYCHOLOGICALLY TERRORIZE ME until I have no objection to a RIGHT-WING MILITARY TAKEOVER of my apartment!!  I guess I should call AL PACINO!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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“Just remember–when you think all is lost, the future remains.” — Robert Goddard

This is one of those pearls whose depth of meaning and relevance are not apparent at first glimpse. But, in examining it further, I have come to believe that this is something I hope that I gave to my own children, as it is an idea that can save one’s sanity, and one’s hope, in the face of whatever challenges life may present to us. Nothing that happens, no matter how all-encompassing it may be, can ever take away this simple fact; the future remains.

It is often the case that we spend a lot of useless time lamenting those events in our lives that set us back on our road to our goals, or in trying to fix whatever has gone wrong. When we are in that state, we are not looking at the entire picture that is there to be seen; we are focused on just what we are doing. It becomes easy to forget that by acknowledging the future, and its possibility for change, we limit our effectiveness at what we are trying to do, thus increasing our own difficulty.

By accepting the presence and power of change, we can use it as an aid to our progress, rather than as an obstacle to be overcome. Simple, like most deep truth, and effective…. the greatest gifts come in the smallest packages, it is said, and in this case, it is perfectly true…..
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“I have tried lately to read Shakespeare, and found it so intolerably dull that it nauseated me.” — Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

It seems I’m not as alone as I had thought in my lack of enthusiasm for Shakespeare. It’s heartening to know that someone with such a logical mind sees, as do I, Shakespeare’s deliberate obscurity as a vice rather, than the virtue it is made out to be in so many quarters.  I freely admit that some of what he wrote is wonderful, in spots, but 80% is crap, plain and simple, and I can only hope that he wrote it on deadline, and didn’t get paid much for it…. That would explain a lot…..

“The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.” — Bertrand Russell, Marriage and Morals

I offer in proof of my assertion the following excerpts from various works of his; if you can explain to me either their relevance, meaning, or artistic merit, please do so… I am listening…

“I will show myself highly fed and lowly taught.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), All ‘s Well that Ends Well — Act ii, Sc. 2

“One draught above heat makes him a fool; the second mads him; and a third drowns him.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Twelfth Night — Act i, Sc. 5

“All his successors gone before him have done ‘t; and all his ancestors that come after him may.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Merry Wives of Windsor  — Act i, Sc. 1

“A mad fellow met me on the way and told me I had unloaded all the gibbets and pressed the dead bodies. No eye hath seen such scarecrows. I ‘ll not march through Coventry with them, that ‘s flat: nay, and the villains march wide betwixt the legs, as if they had gyves on; for indeed I had the most of them out of prison. There ‘s but a shirt and a half in all my company; and the half-shirt is two napkins tacked together and thrown over the shoulders like an herald’s coat without sleeves.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act iv, Sc. 2

“Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall shine,
His honour and the greatness of his name
Shall be, and make new nations.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry VIII — Act v, Sc. 5

That’s probably enough… pile too many of these in the same place and the odor is incredible!  Besides, more proof can be found almost anywhere…. there’s a lot of this kind of crap floating around the pool…. My invitation stands, by the way; if you can show me how this stuff is any good, please do so! Otherwise, thanks for listening to my gripes….  🙂
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Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.

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

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

— Emily Dickinson

I needed this…. While searching for something else, I came across this…. I’ve used it before, months ago, but it never pales. I don’t really have any comments, except…. thank you, Emily…..
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What an odd Pearl! I am sure of only one thing after this…. I’m done with it. Beyond that, I will make no prognostication. Probably a good thing, all in all….

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!

Clueless Bob gets trundled away….

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15

Ffolkes,
A lot of literature has been written throughout history on how much difference a day can make. It has also been noted that one day can make very little difference, especially for physical ailments of a chronic nature. Let me tell you, one day in the life of someone in pain is much more than just a day; there are hours within such days that last for months, and waiting for a pill to take effect (if it is going to….) can take decades, subjectively speaking…..

Having spent much of yesterday in such a state, I’ll vouch for the fact that it is no fun. But, it is life; as such, must be accepted and dealt with one way or another, and I refuse to spend all my time either worrying about it, or giving in to it. So, I am up, and determined to put as much of it aside as I can, so I can do the things that I need to do to improve my lot. Having to experience the pain while doing so is just going to have to be part of the picture for now, as the pain just isn’t going to go away for the time being, and there is nothing more I can do to change that….

First, let me say a big THANK YOU to those of my followers (a goodly number of them…) who stopped by the blog and expressed their sympathy for my condition yesterday. I really appreciate it, and only wish I could have gotten up from bed to see, and respond to, the comments before this morning. After yesterday’s Pearl was posted, I went back to bed, and spent much of the day there…. so this morning is the first I’ve seen them… so a big Thanks! to all of y’all…. I’m hoping today will be better…. so far, so good, we’re only at about level four and holding, so we might be okay…..time will tell.

And since time may be limited, let’s dive in and get this show on the road, eh?  Let’s Pearl, ffolkes, like we did last summer……
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“To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust. It is to solve the problems of life not only theoretically, but practically.”
— Henry David Thoreau

This is the road less traveled….. From an early age, my mind turned toward philosophy for its focus. Most of my peers were fully engaged in the social and personal tasks involved in growing up, putting their energy and mental efforts into learning how to get along in school, which at the time is Life. But I turned to books, instead, and spent a lot of time by myself, reading what the sages had said about Life, and trying to see how that knowledge was applicable.

It was, at times, lonely and hard, and not without its hazards, as one’s peers don’t always act nicely to those they don’t understand, and that is putting it nicely. Being different is not generally well-accepted in socially intense environments such as high school; teens are no more tolerant than their parents, after all, and our society is rife with examples of intolerance for any who are different.

But, it has always been worth it to me, because it has always worked. The things that I learned when I read were truths, and truth is useful in ALL situations, more so than social cues or habits, and in a lot of ways, what I learned from my studies of philosophy helped me to navigate the uncharted waters of my teen years with much less difficulty than what I observed in my peers. And that road less traveled continues to serve me well, even thought it is less populated….
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“A lizard ran out on a rock and looked up, listening no doubt to the sounding of the spheres. And what a dandy fellow! the right toss of a chin for you and swirl of a tail! If men were as much men as lizards are lizards they’d be worth looking at.” — D. H. Lawrence (1928)

Don’t know why, I just like it…. and it fits in with how I’m feeling today, so, here it is…. I’ve nothing to add either….it’s just fine the way it is….
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That’s all folks…. I am going to have to face up to reality. I can’t sit long enough to find pearls, and without pearls, I have nothing about which to write, unless I go into total weird mode, and I’m not ready for that just now…. I’m going to have to take an entire day off, I think, to get my back to a point where I can do things a bit more normally. If nothing else, I need to be able to sit long enough to search my dB, then to write about what I find, and right now, that is impossible….

I’ll leave you with a couple of good pearls, and will be back in a day or so…. I’m hoping to get into good enough condition by tomorrow, as I haven’t missed a day in over 300 posts, since August of last year, and I’d hate to break that run…. but, we’ll see how it goes… meantime, y’all take care…. and in the words of the Guvernator….. I’ll be back….
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“Again, our observations of the stars make it evident, not only that the earth is circular, but also that it is a circle of no great size.  For quite a small change of position to south or north causes a manifest alteration of the horizon.  There is much change, I mean, in the stars which are overhead, and the stars seen are different, as one moves northward or southward.  …All of which goes to show not only that the earth is circular in shape, but that it is a sphere of no great size:  for otherwise the effect of so slight a change of place would not be so quickly apparent.  Hence, one should not be too sure of the incredibility of the view of those who conceive that there is a continuity between the parts about the pillars of Hercules [the strait of Gibraltar] and the parts about India, and that in this way the ocean is one.” — Aristotle, De Caelo, Fourth Century B.C.

An example of the correct use of logic…..
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“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.” — Helen Keller

A good ending note….
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Okay, that’s all ffolkes…. Once again, sorry ’bout that, but I’m giving in to my age today… I’ll be back when I’m younger…. or at least feel that way…. 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!

C’mon, it’s only twins! Bonus time….

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27

Ffolkes,
I’ve tried to play nice. I like to think I’m a patient man, and I’m probably wrong, most of the time. But not this time; I have been patient. Since my first outburst of anger and disbelief, over a week and a half ago, I haven’t even mentioned it, except in passing. As said, I’ve been patient, but I’m done with that now…..

Close to two weeks ago, I contacted WordPress Support, to report that I was having difficulty accessing certain blog sites around WP, a problem that sometimes included not being able to access my own site, unless viewing it as a visitor; when signed in, I was blocked from my site, and a number of others. Each attempt to access those sites, usually from a link in the notification emails I get when one of the blogs I follow posts a new article or poem, sends me to a blank error page, and the path to get there involves a remote login location, different each time.

It wouldn’t be so bad, I suppose, if the sites I couldn’t get to were some that I was not too familiar with, or wasn’t that into (though I haven’t found any of those). But, they’re not…. they are all favorites, sites I’ve been following daily since I found them. I’m still trying to stay convinced that it isn’t deliberate, or a conspiracy, because of the sites blocked, at least four of them are rather pointed in their posts, the point generally pointed in the direction of the PTB in the USA, and very vocal in their support of their politics, and critical of the politics of their opposite numbers in society.

But, whatever the content, I can’t get to them to read, or comment on their work….. it’s been very frustrating. If any of the following are reading today, please forgive me for not being around; I can’t do anything about it right now; but I won’t stop complaining, either…. the sites I cannot get access to include:  Jueseppi’s at the Obamacrat; allaboutlemon, Dolly’s site, including the Art Game; Vina Kent’s site; 3chicspolitico, can’t get there: starsrainsunmoon.com, Mari Cayuso’s poetry & photos site; Cauldrons & Cupcakes; Tony’s blog, Finding Subjects; and a few others I don’t remember offhand…..

So, if I don’t hear from WordPress today, which I have come to believe is not going to happen, (they have been ignoring me now for well over a week), then tomorrow I will begin my siege….. I will flood the Support section with emails and support requests (though I have already sent seven such requests, only one of which received any response at all). I will again post about the problems here on this blog. And, I will request that everyone else join me in a big raspberry for the Support department, which has been strangely silent throughout this entire ordeal.

If I still get no response, I will ask for my money back, for the domain name I am supposed to own and control, but which I cannot even consistently view. And I won’t stop there…. there are more damaging places to post such complaints, PR-wise, and I guarantee, I’ll find them…. I don’t like being ignored, and I’m more than just a little pissed off about this.  Mostly it’s the lack of response that gets me; I just don’t understand why communicating with me is such a hard thing to do. It’s not like I’m hiding or anything; I’m right here every day….. and the posts are here to prove it…..

Enough!…. this nonsense has taken up enough time and energy, that could be better spent elsewhere…. and now will be. Shall we Pearl?….. I think so….
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One of the most perverse things about the universe is that it doesn’t care what you believe. – Anonymous, our old friend….

Due primarily to that aspect of human nature called the Talent of Reality Denial, this is a hard concept for many Americans to comprehend, especially those hampered by a Christian upbringing, an unfortunately large figure. Christians are taught from an early age that the universe DOES care what they believe; they are desperate for that to be true (because if it isn’t, then they are not special, or privileged by birth; there is nothing concrete to indicate in any way that they are intrinsically better than anything else on this planet….), so, by their belief, they make it so, for them.

For these folks, entitlement, and its concomitant arrogance, come naturally, as a side-effect of considering themselves to be “chosen” by God, that it is their destiny to be His favored children. This belief bestows on them a heavenly mandate to utilize all the earth’s resources, animal, plant, mineral, water, etc., solely for their own benefit (which they generally interpret as permission to rape and pillage the rest of creation, because, by God, the Bible tells them it is their right, and their just reward for their faith). Looked at from a rational point of view, this is, of course, poodwaddle of the highest degree (I don’t think I made up that word; I’m sure I’ve seen it elsewhere….. sure fits, doesn’t it?…)

So, it becomes clear why so much time and energy is spent on divisive arguments over morality, and in public debate over the advisability of following the completely self-destructive policies of these self-styled Lords of Creation, right up to the point of extinction. It can’t be otherwise, when those who regard themselves as having heavenly mandate refuse to give up their privileged status, and are unwilling to even consider any other options. In the tiny little black holes they call their minds, any hint of such a rational viewpoint is automatically and viciously rejected out of hand as being a danger to their way of life.

It’s odd, really, that there are so many things in the universe that are a danger to their way of looking at things; it’s like they have no faith at all in their faith, or in each other, and suspect themselves of giving in to temptation at every turn. Makes one wonder just how much faith and belief they really feel about their dogma, if they are so fearful it will be forsaken at first opportunity…..

I think it would be a sad and fearful way to go through life, never feeling comfortable about the universe, always expecting it to try to turn me into my worst nightmare…. a thinking, rational being…..  and regardless of whether these folks believe it, or not, the universe just doesn’t give a shit…. at all….. massive, immutable indifference is the best we can expect…. thank you, Universe!…….

“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?” — Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), Sign of Four
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EXCERPTS FROM LIFE’S LITTLE INSTRUCTION BOOK, VOLUMES I AND II

35. Plant a tree on your birthday.
47. Don’t waste time learning the “tricks of the trade.” Instead, learn the trade.
53. Vote.
68. Be brave. Even if you’re not, pretend to be. No one can tell the difference.
100. Read the Bill of Rights.
198. Feed a stranger’s expired parking meter.
209. Observe the speed limit.*
267. Lie on your back and look at the stars.
271. When facing a difficult task, act as though it is impossible to fail. If you’re going after Moby Dick, take along the tartar sauce.
322. Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Theresa*, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas  Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.
393. Learn how to operate a Macintosh computer.*
513. Never laugh at anyone’s dreams.
558. Never betray a confidence.
595. Be the first to fight for a just cause.
817. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
939. Never be ashamed of your patriotism.
— H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

I’ve seen some of these on previous dives, but never found so many in one batch before….. Most of the ones I’ve seen are like these…. pretty good advice, all in all. In this list, my only hesitancy involves # 209, which obviously needs a qualifier statement, #322, a list from which I would delete Mother Theresa (she already has enough time in her day; she doesn’t need any more time to fuck with anybody else, adding to all the smarmy, self-serving false piety she already gets away with…..) and # 393, which is just sick…. no, not sick, just foolishly naive…. the rest of them are stuff that I can get behind, and would even consider pushing, if stalled….
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Here are a few historical observations on our preferred form of public entertainment……

“Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.” — Plato, The Republic. Book VIII. 558

“Democracy is more cruel than wars or tyrants.” — Seneca, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium CIV, c. 63

“Termiter’s argument that God is His own grandmother generated a surprising amount of controversy among Church leaders, who on the one hand considered the argument unsupported by scripture but on the other hand were unwilling to risk offending God’s grandmother.” — Len Cool, American Pie  (Okay, it’s not political, but, hey, funny, right?….) (and kind of appropriate, if I stop to think about it…..) (kind of sounds similar to, and no more believable than, the current controversy over creationism and evolution….)

“I contemplate with sovereign reverence the act of the whole American people  which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and state.” — Thomas Jefferson, to the Danbury (Connecticut) Baptist Association in 1802  (Whoops! How’d he get in here?….)

“Man is a religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion – several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn’t straight.” — Mark Twain — The Damned Human Race  (Okay, okay…. busted!  Religion and politics seem to have merged in my mind this morning…. funny how that happens…. but it still fits the category, so, deal….)

and, on a final note, let’s combine the two previously revealed (reviled?) culprits in one fine, almost-a-limerick plea for mercy….

Dear Lord, observe this bended knee
This visage meek and humble,
And hear this confidential plea
Voiced in reverent mumble:
Give me Shylock, give me Fagin
But O God spare me Ronald Reagan!
— Ansel Adams

If God is omnipotent, why does he need my money?  (Sorry, couldn’t resist…. I’m done for now…..)
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Haiku

A muse long absent
panicky fear consuming
creativity.

Shameless, isn’t it, what we will do, when nothing else will do?….. But all things considered, not too shabby….
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Statistics and their use allow one to jump from an unwarranted assumption to a preconceived conclusion without so much as even a slight hesitation. The use of such condensed information allows that compendious information may be sufficiently reduced to facilitate discussion among experts who can interpret the findings without any relation whatsoever to reality. — Anonymous, dammit….

It is frustrating, to say the least, to find a beautifully reasoned, perfectly clear statement of the obvious such as this, and not be able to congratulate or praise the author. It sounds like something Dave Barry would have said, if a bit more slangly than this seems to be. Or, possibly, Mark Twain, though he also tended to simplify his writing to more resemble actual speech. But, whoever wrote this is someone with whom I’d enjoy spending time, drinking wine and dissecting the rest of humanity’s foibles and incredible diversity…. I think I’d enjoy it a lot….
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I find myself this morning to be completely discombobulated…. Now, this may seem to be a rather radical claim, considering the relatively well-organized material I’ve just produced, despite its tendency to skip from one concept to the next with little or no warning or preparation. Nonetheless, it is true…. and here is why…..

It is now 0512, military time…. that’s a touch after 5 AM to the rest of us in this time zone on the west coast of the US, which means I’ve been at this for just over three hours now, having arisen at a few minutes after 2 AM, abandoning all my futile attempts to shut off my mind and return to dreamland. Not that I ever got very far into that fabled place; it’s tough to do so when one must get every other hour or so to deal with either pain, muscle spasms, or just plain restlessness.

SIGH…. life is tough, n’est pas? This too shall pass, I’m sure… when I’m tired enough, I’ll sleep. But, meantime, it gets my schedule all turned around… company coming today, around 1130 or so, and by then I’ll be approaching zombie status…. it could be worse; it could be someone I don’t want to see who is coming, so I’ll just suck it up, put a period on this, and get on with it…. just gotta figure out what to do now, and for the next six hours until my friend arrives…. piece o’cake….. Y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

In Kokopelli’s parlor of illusion….

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Ffolkes,
It all began to run together in his mind as he started to type.  Common sense dictated that an outline would be helpful, but organized structuring of material is anathema to his soul, so he kept on typing, pushing through the self-induced confusion to the calm below, from whence came the well of words that filled his fevered mind. As time wore on, the typing slowed, until finally, the keys fell silent, numb from the assault. “Hmph!”, he thought to himself, “that was certainly a crock!” Time began again…..

Most people make sense, at least some of the time. I’m not one of them; I only do it when goaded into it.  Needless to say, when I do make sense, I’m probably either speaking from my own experience, or I’m lying. Very little middle ground there; I’m pretty opinionated, even for a Scorpio….. Nor do I at any time feel any compulsion to make an attempt to make sense; I figure that is an exercise for the reader anyway…..
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“Once Chuang Chou dreamt he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn’t know he was Chuang Chou. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Chuang Chou. But he didn’t know if he was Chuang Chou who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Chuang Chou.” — Chuang Tzu

I had this feeling when I woke up this morning, that momentary confusion of two realities that comes on the edge of consciousness between sleeping and waking. It’s not a bad feeling, actually, and I for one always have a yearning to believe that I am the butterfly, dreaming of being me. Reality is, for me, already a slippery slope, and I tend to spend a lot of time sliding from one to another, and enjoying the contrasts that are inherent in changing at will. Being adept at adjusting to new realities is a good skill to have; it allows one the emotional distance and control that may be lacking in those who resist change. I’ve found its better to have some familiarity with the process, by exploring its procedural parameters on a regular basis. This way I’m not caught unawares so often by the capricious changes reality goes through all on its own…..
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“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.” — Edward Abbey

Too many Americans have either forgotten what it means to be an American, or were left to try to deduce it on their own. And we all know what that means! It means giving up the only effective defense liberty has against oppression, an educated populace. Today’s society in the US is populated by an increasingly large number of young people who not only have no knowledge of American history, but actively resent any attempts to engage them in learning it. This is partly because schools don’t teach kids how to learn, but rather how to be good consumers. The government likes it that way, as an ignorant populace is much easier to control than one that is constantly challenging authority to justify itself. And now, thanks to the NDAA, brought to you in stealth by collusion of the three branches of our supposedly self-regulating government, ignorance has won the day in this country, and very few people at all are even paying attention. Those of us who are, are very, very afraid……

“Under current law, it is a crime for a private citizen to lie to a government official, but not for the government official to lie to the people.” — Donald M. Fraser
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“You can lead a yak to water but you can’t teach an old dog to make a silk purse out of a pig in a poke.” — Opus

You’ve got to love Opus, even though he is no longer with us on this plane of reality. Only a polymathic penguin could be so…..lovably erudite. It is now 7:45 AM, and I have been searching for something new or interesting to write about since 4:03 AM. This is what I’ve come up with, so it will have to do. Spending time in nonsensical pursuits is good for the soul, some say, and who am I to question some? I am beginning to think that I have written myself right into a self-imposed state of high dudgeon, and will now be compelled to spend some unknown amount of time wallowing in inconsistency and howling at the moon. I’ve lost touch with the funny bone of reality, and though I don’t relish the quick, agonizing pain of having it stimulated (generally by meeting unexpectedly with a sharp corner of satire), it’s the only way to get back to my center, where head and heart are balanced. I’ve spent so much time in my head of late, my heart is suffering atrophy; laughter will fix it in jig time though, and all I need to do for that is go look in a mirror….. 🙂
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It has been said, and not without evidence, that humor can indicate how a society looks at life. Jokes tell us what things hurt the most, for we laugh to kill the pain of living. And this is never truer when applied to how society looks at its leaders…..here are few examples of how people feel about politics in this country…..and not just today….

What’s the difference between a politician and a hooker? There are some things a hooker won’t do for money.

“Our congressmen are the finest body of men money can buy.” — Morey Amsterdam (written for Will Rogers)

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

He’s not a politician.  He’s just ethically challenged.

“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

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that it really isn’t funny any longer. We have lost trust in government, and thus have lost trust in ourselves. It’s another way of saying, the joke is on us…..

“Authority has always attracted the lowest elements in the human race. All through history, mankind has been bullied by scum. Those who lord it over their fellows and toss commands in every direction and would boss the grass in the meadow about which way to bend in the wind are the most depraved kind of prostitutes. They will submit to any indignity, perform any vile act, do anything to achieve power. The worst off-sloughings of the planet are the ingredients of sovereignty. Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy the whores are us.” — P.J. O’Rourke, _Parliament of Whores_
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When they turn the pages of history
When these days have passed long ago,
Will they read of us with sadness
For the seeds that we let grow?
— Rush, A Farewell to Kings

The answer to that would be Yes……
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Would that I had within me the strength to go on; though the day dawns, my spirit flags, mired in obscure beauty, afflicted by sober gravity. To reach an ending will be a fit beginning, to another day among the damned and the unwilling ghosts of regret. Fare thee well in this thy birth of a new day, and walk not the path of evil….. y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Just Dozer

Kowabunga!

Connotations of rainbows….

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Ffolkes,
I think it’s safe to say we all get pretty tired of the political circus as played out here in the USA; it all seems so pointless, until you realize it is directly affecting your own life, then it just gets irritating. Everyone I know has beliefs and convictions, with their own methods of dealing with the world, and their own methods of how to treat other people. Mostly they all get along just fine. Then I look at what is being said in the arena of public discourse, and there doesn’t seem to be any correlation, no connection with what I know is real for most folks. The avaricious ones, the ones who seek public office, have an entirely different view of reality than most of the Americans I know. Even the conservatives I talk to think differently than the politicians, except for those few who allow the politicians to do their thinking for them, and merely parrot those talking points currently in fashion. It’s unfortunate that there are a LOT of the last category, which is part of the reason why the talking heads are able to maintain their death-grip on the almighty profit margin.


Since the whole point of the above is how sick I am of hearing the nonsense in the news, I won’t rant any further today on that subject. Don’t really feel like ranting anyway; it’s already been a tough morning, and I’d rather turn in a more positive direction. It took over 25 minutes on the phone, but I was able to complete a necessary task this A.M., and I’m using that to act as the driver for the rest of today’s tasks. All of this is just a long, convoluted and obfuscatory way to say, enjoy!……

“Confront them with annihilation, and they will survive; plunge them in a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory.” — Sun Tzu

Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance,
I have not winced nor cried aloud
Under the bludgeoning of chance;
My head is bloody but unbowed.
It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll;
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
— Henley

I know you think that you understood what you thought I said, but I am not  all that sure that you understand that I seldom say what I think and even less often do I mean what I say.

Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.

If you think women are moody and bossy – get a cat.

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.
— William Butler Yeats, “The Stolen Child”

There you go; a little whimsy is good for the soul…..so is epiphany. Y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!