Hajime…. As our opening quote from Lazarus signals, today’s Pearl might get a bit rambunctious. I seem to have entered a time bubble, or, perhaps, slipped through a worm-hole into an alternate universe. Whatever it may be, for four days, almost, I’ve been getting closer to a sort of balance, between all the hard places, and the soft. Not to imply it’s nearly so simplistic, but, let it suffice for now as a fairly close approach to my personal reality, and get on with the fun….
Yes, fun. I decided we/I don’t do fun enough; in fact, I remembered one can’t overdo fun, at all. So, today’s post has some whimsy, some grit, some entertainment, and a bunch of verbiage otherwise known as filler. What can I say? It’s a gift. Or, well, a talent, anyway. Still, it might be worse, you know…. I might have decided to rant again. Not only is there no new, fresh rant over which to fret, the one I chose to include, from the archives, is an abbreviated version, mostly old-school, with only a smidgen of necessary neuronic involvement. Afterward, of course, there’s a poem to ease y’all into the old-school section for our finale today…. Don’t forget, the price is right, right?….
What with all the tasks and events presented to me by Reality yesterday/today, I’m not sure how, but, what follows is a complete Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, with four complete sections. That, and the other tasks are done, and I’m glad…. I think I’ll go eat some worms…. Or, not. Perhaps, instead, we’ll do this….
Shall we pearl?….
“What happens to the wide-eyed observer
when the window between reality and unreality breaks
and the glass begins to fly?”
~~ Subtle Bee ~~
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In the interests of efficiency and elegance, today’s musical selection finds us with a collection of classical pieces, for study or relaxation. Since both are handy when reading here at ECR, you get them both, for we are nothing if not accommodating, eh?…. Enjoy, ffolkes; it’s all good stuff, and makes the reading go nice and smooth….
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From 7/20/2014:
I cannot tell a lie…. Well, that isn’t true. I can, but, I have a hard time justifying it to myself, so, I keep it to a minimum; mostly, I succeed… It’s not usual, I know, for people to even think about it, more’s the pity, but, that’s just the way I am…. So, since I can’t, I’ll tell you right now, I don’t have the wherewithal to rant any more this morning…. The intro took most of my angst away; the emotional power just isn’t there now, so, anything I did write would be a bit frail; I like my rants to be robust, if nothing else….
So, we’re going to do this…. Below is a link, to yet another example of A) how egregiously the governments of the world, ours, the Brits, and all of them, are bumbling around, spying on you, me, and each other, while the public sits and watches as they try to justify their insane paranoia by telling the public it’s all for their own good…. It’s bullshit, of course, but, that’s their story, and they are sticking to it….and B) how the lies aren’t even being addressed by those who are telling them, but, rather, are being labeled as legal, by the passing of legislation making it so….
Since I’m NOT going to rant about it, I’ll follow the link with a seven-star pearl that takes aim at those who are involved in the whole ugly mess at the top of the heap, which, in my mind, is beginning to resemble one of those snake pits we hear so much about…. Hiss, hiss, wriggle…..
Enjoy the pearls, ffolkes, and try not to let the article depress you any more than necessary…. If you must, you can be glad this is the BRITISH government that is being exposed in this article…. at least it’s not our own….. THIS time, anyway…. Of course, ours is busy with its own illegal spying programs, none of which have been shut down, or even restrained, in spite of all the hullabaloo over it…. Ah well, see you in the poetry section, ffolkes….
“This message has been personally tested and certified by Big Brother Bill, Senator Exon, and the Religious Right to be PC, containing only the best of family values, and Safe For The Children ™. Disclaimer: The caffeine made me do it.” — Smart Bee
“The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes and fears rather than with their minds.” — Will Durant
“Americans used to roar for Liberty, now they bleat for Security.” — Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
“Money will buy a pretty good dog, but it won’t buy the wag of his tail.” — Josh Billings (pseudonym of Henry Wheeler Shaw (1818-1885))
” — I’d love to, but…the President said he might drop in.” — 4 of 101 Easy Ways To Say NO
“It does take a perverse form of optimism to have any faith in the news media when almost every time they cover something you _know_ about, they get it wrong. Maybe they’re wrong that often covering subjects in which I’m not an expert? Naw, it just couldn’t be.” — Grant Edwards
“It ain’t me; it ain’t me; I ain’t no senator’s son!” — (Creedence Clearwater Revival) The Fortunate Son
Yep…. As I’ve noted previously, it’s all in the wrist….
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Unbidden, treasure unfolded…
Taken by surprise, Psyche sits numb
Amidst tall phrases worn of elder time
Seeking a not-new place from which to come
No shiny new horizon, nor altered paradigm.
Sudden regrets shape dreams as times maintain
Shades of memories bring poignant clear sight
Visions of duty, each chosen wild campaign
Shouts echoing clamors to enfold the night.
Arisen from less than eternal havens of sleep
Facing moments created in torment and pain
Destiny weighs upon those chosen to keep
As the sparrow flies now to sever the twain.
Faded pathways lead away, hazy and long
Burned out verges, so long unknown
Images of yesterday, clear and strong
Bleed into today, though t’is but my own……
~~ gigoid ~~
9/6/2012
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Naked Pearls
Ha, ha, ha….
*******
“Nothing unreal exists.”
~~ Kiri-Kin-Tha’s Law of Metaphysics ~~
*******
“Eternity is a mere moment, just long enough for a joke.”
~~ Hermann Hesse ~~
*******
“When the situation is desperate,
it is too late to be serious.
Be playful.”
~~ Edward Abbey ~~
*******
“A little nonsense now and then,
is cherished by the wisest men.”
~~ Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ~~
*******
“As for myself,
I always willingly acknowledge my own self
as the principal cause of every good and of every evil
which may befall me;
therefore I have always found myself
capable of being my own pupil,
and ready to love my teacher.”
~~ Giacomo Casanova ~~
*******
A monk said to Joshu,
“Your stone bridge is widely renowned,
but coming here I find only a heap of rocks.”
Joshu said,
“You see only the stones and not the bridge.”
The monk said,
“What is the bridge?”
Joshu said,
“What do you think we are walking on?”
~~ Zen Bee ~~
*******
“To see the world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.”
~~ William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence” ~~
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Having completed my chosen duty, with some degree of efficiency, I shall take my leave without any more pathetic attempts at humor. In fact, I’ll be completely serious, and reiterate my intention to return tomorrow, to torment, er, challenge y’all again. See ya, ffolkes; be strange, it’s cool out there….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“The shoe that fits one person pinches another;
there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.”
~~ Carl Jung ~~
221B Baker Street, London
Hajime…. I am not certain exactly when, but, I’m coming up on five years here at WordPress, sometime in July, or August, I think. I should check. At any rate, it’s been a while. I’ve attempted to post every day, at least once; though I haven’t quite made that goal, I’ve come pretty damn close, with well over 1500 posts to my credit. While I can regard that as a satisfying accomplishment, I must be honest enough to say, not all of it is what might be called fresh, as I’ve recycled a fair amount of what I’ve written for new posts. I call it cheating, though, with the caveat I’m only stealing from myself. So be it.
Today, I’m still busy, and without my usual sense of unease with not making the deadline I’ve set for myself each day. This has allowed me to fall completely into cheat mode. Below you’ll find a fresh pearl, composed of material previously posted, including my longest-ever rant. It’s all fairly standard stuff, for around here, so, no surprises there. I’ll even go so far as to let it speak for itself from this point on, as I intend to cut this short, Moreover, I’m doing that now, before I lose my nerve. I’ll just push this button, right here, and….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Education is about the only thing lying around loose the world, and it’s about the only thing a fellow can have as much of as he’s willing to haul away.” — George Lorimer
George needs no introduction; quite simply, he was the best. Ever. You can argue if you like, but, that would not be a stellar use of time…. Instead, just listen to the proof…..
One of my Gentle Readers complained of no rant yesterday, so, today, I’m making up for all the rants I’ve missed the past week or so. This may be the longest rant I’ve done, though that’s a guess. It is pretty long, and, though written early in 2014, it all remains perfectly valid, as far as I can see…. I hope you read it all, and pay attention, because it’s all about stuff that affects you directly…. Enjoy!….
From 10/18/2014:
“He must needes goe whom the devill doth drive.” ~~ John Heywood (c. 1565) — Proverbes, Part ii, Chap. vii ~~
“As you know, I planned a trip out there for some time, so it fits in very nicely.” ~~ president George Bush, on his trip to LA after the riots ~~
“Nobody goes to bed hungry in America” — R. Reagan
“Politicians aren’t born, they are excreted.” — Cicero
“That it should come to this!” ~~ William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act i, Sc. 2 ~~
The above five-star pearl is a lead-in group, mostly aimed at those with whom the following discussion is concerned. Below you’ll find two links to articles discussing two separate, but related issues from the news yesterday, found in the UK Guardian’s US edition online. They are both in-depth pieces, with a bit of egregiously egotistic back patting in the first one, but, both are more involved, in-depth, and in tune with the truth than any news organization from the US I can find, with the most important issues made clear, the culpability of the responsible parties made obvious, and the downright evil prevarication by the FBI director laid out for all to see….
After those first two articles, I’ve also included an excellent column on the same subject by one of the Guardian’s staff opinion writers, named Trevor Timm. He gives a good summary of the exact points I wish to cover in his opening paragraph, which I’ve included as an excerpt, below the link. After that, I’ll have a few comments, and we’ll see how it goes from there…. Hitch up your belts, & make sure your backpacks are secured ffolkes, this could take a while…. but, as Lord Peter has been known to say, “This ain’t a joke, Charles! It’s important. Damn important!”…..
“Whisper acknowledged that it researches the location of specific users it believes are posting newsworthy information, but emphasised it typically uses GPS data.
Whisper stressed the IP location data it uses for people who have asked not to be followed is rough and unreliable.
“We occasionally look at user IP addresses internally to determine very approximate location,” the company said. “User IP addresses may allow very coarse location to be determined to the city, state or country level.”
It added: “Whisper does not request or store any personally identifiable information from users, therefore there is never a breach of anonymity. From time to time, when a user makes a claim of a newsworthy nature, we review the user’s past activity to help determine veracity.”
The company strongly rejected any assertion of wrongdoing. “The Guardian’s assumptions that Whisper is gathering information about users and violating user’s privacy are false,” it said. “The privacy of our users is not violated in any of the circumstances suggested in the Guardian story.”
Four days later, Whisper rewrote large sections of its terms of service and introduced an entirely new privacy policy.
Whereas the previous terms and conditions described all of Whisper’s tracking of user location as “voluntary”, the new terms now warn users to “bear in mind that, even if you have disabled location services, we may still determine your city, state, and country location”.
Since becoming aware that the Guardian planned to publish its story, the anonymous app has also inserted a new line into its privacy policy.
It now warns users that turning on the app’s geolocation feature may “allow others, over time, to make a determination as to your identity”.
“…he recognised their embrace of encryption responded to “perceive[d]” market pressures in the wake of Snowden’s disclosures. But Comey suggested that end-to-end mobile device encryption amounted to a safe haven for criminals.
“Are we no longer a country that is passionate both about the rule of law and about their being no zones in this country beyond the reach of that rule of law? Have we become so mistrustful of government and law enforcement in particular that we are willing to let bad guys walk away, willing to leave victims in search of justice?” he said.
Comey acknowledged that the Snowden disclosures caused “justifiable surprise” among the public about the breadth of government surveillance, but hoped to mitigate it through greater transparency and advocacy.
Yet the FBI keeps significant aspects of its surveillance reach hidden even from government oversight bodies. Intelligence officials said in a June letter to a US senator that the FBI does not tally how often it searches through NSA’s vast hoards of international communications, without warrants, for Americans’ identifying information.
Comey frequently described himself as being technologically unprepared to offer specific solutions, and said he meant to begin a conversation, even at the risk of putting American tech companies at a competitive disadvantage.
“Where we may get is to a place where the US, through its Congress, says, ‘You know what, we need to force this on American companies,’ and maybe they’ll take a hit. Someone in some other country will say, ‘Ah, we sell a phone that even with lawful authority people can’t get into.’ But that we as a society are willing to have American companies take that hit. That’s why we have to have this conversation,” Comey said
“FBI director James Comey wants a US government-mandated backdoor into your iPhone and your Google account. But Comey doesn’t want to call his proposed privacy invasion a backdoor. He doesn’t understand how it would work. And he expects everyone who has been horrified by the NSA’s mass surveillance to just sit back, weaken their personal security and trust that the government will never abuse it.
Comey also claimed on Thursday that the “Post-Snowden pendulum” needs to swing back in favor of the government, neglecting to mention Congress has passed literally zero laws reigning in government surveillance. In fact, the main reason the major tech companies are pushing forward with encryption is because the government refuses to follow the will of the people and curtail the NSA’s powers at all. If Comey wanted a careful debate about the right balance of privacy and security before decisions like Apple’s are made, like he also said on Thursday night, maybe he should’ve advocated for that when the NSA was massively expanding their powers for years in complete secrecy.
Twitter tweet October 16, 2014: “Comey’s right: Deployment of strong crypto should be preceded by thoughtful debate. Which we had & correctly resolved 15 years ago.— Julian Sanchez (@normative)
So while we break out the world’s smallest violin as Jim Comey complains about the “Post-Snowden pendulum”, remember: the US government, through its own secret actions, brought this on themselves.”
“Who’s the more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows him?” — Obi-Wan Kenobi, “Star Wars”
I can’t say, with any degree of accuracy, but, I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard such a load of pure bullshit, straight from the bull’s butt, in a very, very long time…. When Richard Nixon raised his peace sign fingers, and stated, “I am not a crook.”, was probably the last time…. I swear, this man, this Comey, who heads up the FBI, obviously has the lowest opinion of the American public’s intelligence of almost anyone I’ve ever seen…. The demon-spawn from hell, Newt Gargoyle, or Gribble, or Grinch, Grngich, or whatever his weird-ass name was, came close on a regular basis, as did that ghoul, Dick Cheney, but, this Über-cop, this gestapo at the head of our nation’s largest domestic police force has, I believe. taken the cake….
Moreover, he implies that anyone who doesn’t support his, and the government’s, grab for power over every aspect of our lives is unpatriotic, a cowardly enemy of American principles, which, according to HIM, start (and, by implication, end…) with submissive respect for the “rule of law”, suggesting that the American public should feel privileged to allow them to have access to ALL of their private information…. Of course, the implied insult here is that only criminals and other unsavory characters should have something to hide from them, and their oh-so-perfect moral position….
What a crock of shit! I can’t say it any plainer than that…. and, I’ve probably said enough by now, anyway…. I’ll leave you with one last wake-up pearl, to think about when you’re assigning blame for what is happening in today’s world….. The FBI director, in his remarks, asks what he considers a rhetorical question, to wit:
“Have we become so mistrustful of government and law enforcement in particular that we are willing to let bad guys walk away, willing to leave victims in search of justice?”
I can only answer with a resounding “Yes, we have! We have lost ALL trust in the police. and the government, with good reason. I wouldn’t trust you to tell me the correct time!”
Well, I might not say that last part to his face, maybe, but, I can assure you, I’d want to, very badly, and would have to exert significant effort of will to refrain from doing so…. though, why I would bother, I don’t know…..
“Who’s the more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows him?” — Obi-Wan Kenobi, “Star Wars”
I was going to leave it at that, but, as I finished, I received an email from EFF, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit activism organization made up of people, like me, and, hopefully, y’all, who are concerned with keeping the internet free of corporate influence and government oppression, to guarantee the open, free interchange of ideas and communication that characterizes how it is supposed to be, as intended by those who created it…. They are one of the entities who brought suit against the government about this issue, in a suit which is now about to be heard by the Supreme Court, along with several others they have supported, or helped to organize…
Below, I have included three links to articles on their home site, which speak to the information and issues of which we spoke above in this section. Each article clearly explains how the government and other entities are trying to subvert the internet, making it a tool for oppression, rather than a tool for expanding human knowledge and culture…. These explain how the government, and their myrmidons, the police, are working to take away the usefulness of having such a means to spread knowledge, wanting instead to keep it for their own use, which involves the control over our lives they so desperately desire….
Good info, ffolkes, well researched and written, very clearly presented…. I’ve donated to this one, which I don’t do, as a rule, but, they’re working hard to protect US, that is, YOU and ME, so, they deserve my support…. If nothing else, it will give you an idea of how the situation stands today….
“The best way to lose freedom is not to do anything.” — Smart Bee
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A Dubiously Soft Morning
Idiosyncratic images, clamoring for regard,
fill up the white, white screen on which I view
my life, never seeing, nor invited to sup
ambrosial remnants of anything new.
Still, yet almost in motion, allegory sails away
bobbing gently, quick and easy to find,
signs of one happy child, seriously at play,
blissfully immersed, focused joy in mind.
Formidable cries of outraged simple justice
echo plaintive relevance, in half the time.
Maladaptive infants, destined for hospice
salvage an only child, daring to sing in rhyme.
Creativity equals unquestioning farce,
often reaching for absurdity, brazenly afire.
Instead, a blow is felt no joy will ever soften,
accepting the price, added to the cost of desire.
~~ gigoid ~~
7/26/2013
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Since we’re cheating full out today, here is an old, old-school pearl, with a rather ironic beginning, just to keep things confusing, as if today’s effort here weren’t enough. It’s a good one, though, so, enjoy!….
From 9/18/2014:
In order to say there is at least one fresh section today, I offer for your consideration the following old-school pearl, a random, harlequin style, with no obvious parameters…. often, these turn out to be the very best kind, so, we can hope…..
“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I do not believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they cannot find them, make them.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
“Forgive me my nonsense as I also forgive the nonsense of those who think they talk sense.” — Robert Frost
“You can’t make up anything anymore. The world itself is a satire. All you’re doing is recording it.” — Art Buchwald
“Certum est quia impossibile est.” [It is certain because it is impossible.] — Tertullian (160-240 AD) — De Carne Christi, c. 5
“One truth stands firm. All that happens in world history rests on something spiritual. If the spiritual is strong, it creates world history. If it is weak, it suffers world history.” — Albert Schweitzer
“Destiny is but a phrase of the weak human heart – the dark apology for every error. The strong and virtuous admit no destiny. On earth conscience guides; in heaven God watches. And destiny is but the phantom we invoke to silence the one and dethrone the other.” — Edward Bulwer-Lytton
“He declared that he knew nothing, except the fact of his ignorance.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Socrates, xvi
Works every time…..
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‘T is done, and, done to death, I’d say. I’ll skip the usual witty repartee, if such as this can be so labeled, and leave you to the rest of your day. I hope you enjoyed this little journey through the past. I’ll be back tomorrow, most likely, but, hopefully, with some material a bit fresher than today. In any case, we’re outta here, and now…. See ya, ffolkes. Count on it…..
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“I know but one freedom, and that is the freedom of the mind.”
~~ Antoine de Saint Exupery ~~
By any other name…
Hajime…. Well, I’m here. It’s been a tough week here at ECR, and in Northern Cali, as the rain continues to move in and out, bouncing the barometer around like a super-ball, keeping me in the throes of inflamed arthritic joints for hours & days on end…. Ah, well, such is life for us old farts, at times; it’s a good thing we’ve had lots of practice by now, or nothing would get done at all. But, I digress, as usual…. I’ve been working on a discussion for the rant section, but, it’s grown so epic it’ll need to wait, so, you’ll see an older pearl there today. Otherwise, it’s all as normal as we get around here, and pleasant as white bread toast.
Naturally, having begun today’s mess with a chatty, informative tone, we’ll need to find a different direction to take, to get us toward the oyster beds we prefer to inhabit during our time together. Y’all wouldn’t have any ideas, would you? No. Okay, well, let’s see. Oh, I suppose I could…. no, just did that. Hmm, how about this one? Nope, look, it’s broken. Well, I guess I’ll just have to use the Tardis, and have it washed tonight. Yeah, that’s the ticket….
Okay, if y’all will just file out of the cabin, and head over into the Tardis, we’ll get this slow on the toad for the day. I appreciate your flexibility, and your patience in waiting for me to get my act together enough to put one of these things together. C’est marvellieux! As a thank you, I have entered all your names in our contest, for a chance to win a chance to stay behind next time. Bonus! Okay, I’m done…. Well, I can’t think of any more nonsense, so, that’s the same thing…. Look, what’s that?…. Duck! No, goose!…. Ah, hell with it; Luigi, throw that switch….
Shall we Pearl?
“Thoughts are mightier than strength of hand.”
~~ Sophocles — Phaedra, Frag. 854 ~~
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Playing For Change
I discovered this organization a few months ago, and have been nearly obsessed with taking part in their quest, as it fits in perfectly with my own views of how we can possibly achieve some kind of harmony in the world at large. Laughter, music, and love are the answer to all our problems, if freely felt, and given without regard for any delusions that demean humanity, such as religion, politics, or the seriously negative concept of money. None of them are necessary for people to live, as long as we live, as we always need to, in the shelter of each other….
As I listened yesterday to the first couple videos, which I got when I joined the organization as one of their contributing Ambassadors, my resolve to follow this path was strengthened, especially when I chose to listen first to Imagine, John Lennon’s summary of human wisdom, and then One Love, Bob Marley’s matching manifesto, two of the PFC’s iconic statements of purpose, in song…. The film’s participants exhibit such joy, such freedom of spirit, I weep, every time I watch, as musicians from all around the world join to play the tunes, together… I suggest listening to as many as you can, then, join, begin to share the music, and the love it creates….. Enjoy!….
Here is a discussion of the principles of personal security, from 2014. It’s a bit long, but, pretty good in spots; I hope you enjoy it….
From 5/5/2014:
I found these two articles yesterday, after posting the Pearl…. As you’ll see, they provide the perfect jumping point for what follows…. I suppose that, as always, ‘perfect’ is a question-begging word to use, but, hey, I calls ’em as I sees ’em…. when I can find my glasses….
I had originally intended to have some words regarding this article, as it speaks to some rather important points…. but, then, I saw the following article, and my angst went right through the roof, stimulating the rest…. Now, read this one…. & just include it all together; it’s all of a piece, anyway….
Here, then, is an excellent example of the definition of ‘gigo’, (garbage in-garbage out), from the psychologist responsible for the design and codification of many of the torture methods, including “water boarding”, used by the CIA at Guantanamo Bay, and elsewhere around the world….. His comments, which I will examine below, are so egregiously INSANE, I had to read the article in pieces, as I found myself shouting at him, every time he opened his mouth to make one of the reported statements…
I cannot BELIEVE this man was found to be an adequate psychologist, passing his tests and arguing his doctoral thesis, without having at least the basic innate ability to display even an ounce of compassion; I also don’t understand, at all, how he could be considered anything other than the US’s version of the Nazi scientist, the one at Auschwitz, who sent the Jews into the ovens….
Ah, yes, Josef Mengele…. the infamous, iconic mad doctor, the real version, the model for what all the comics use as the ultimate villain so often, whose insanity threatens the entire world, and everyone in it…. I tell you, ffolkes, those people in Washington, D.C. are totally out of control…. I’m not kidding; the current crop of elected officials, as well as the appointees put in place by those (I stared at this point for a long time, and still cannot, for the life of me, think of an expletive that it harsh enough…, so we’ll go with a classic….) assholes, all exhibit every single symptom of the violently insane, who believe their own twisted version of reality is the only real one, who hold on to their paranoid delusions so tightly, nothing, and nobody, can tell them differently….
Hell, I don’t even need, in this case, to resort to my special knowledge and experience, of working with the violently insane as a therapist for over 20 years…. These guys lay it out so clearly, right out in public, there’s no need for me to have to explain…. Their own words convict them whenever they condescend to open their mouths about what they truly believe….
Here, let me show you a couple of examples from the second article listed… The comments in quotes are by the protagonist in this drama, James Mitchell, (Piled High and Deep), Ph.D., formerly of the CIA, the psychologist regarded as the architect of the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation” program…. a description taken straight from the article…. You’ll be able to recognize my comments by the anger and vulgarity the statements produce in me….
“The people on the ground did the best they could with the way they understood the law at the time,” he said. “You can’t ask someone to put their life on the line and think and make a decision without the benefit of hindsight and then eviscerate them in the press 10 years later.”
You can’t? Why not? These people were in no danger; there is no danger, no life on the line, when someone tortures another; only the one being tortured is in danger. And if you do something so obviously WRONG, it doesn’t fucking matter a bit how long it is, you SHOULD be vilified in the press. There is no reason on this Earth why anyone shouldn’t KNOW torturing another human being, for ANY FUCKING REASON AT ALL, is NOT morally defensible. This principle is true even in cases where the ultimate goal is considered good; you’ve no doubt heard the saying, “the end does not justify the means.”
If they didn’t know it was wrong, why didn’t they do it out in the open, where everyone could see what they were doing? Fucking assholes think that their own parafuckingnoia should excuse anything they do….
“Everything you know is wrong.” — The Firesign Theater
“I’m skeptical about the Senate report, because I do not believe that every analyst whose jobs and promotions depended upon it, who were professional intelligence experts, all them lied to protect a program? All of them were wrong? All of these [CIA] directors were wrong? All of the people who were using the intel to go get people were wrong? And 10 years later a Senate staffer was able to put it together and finally there’s clarity? I am just highly skeptical that that’s the truth.”
This one’s easy….and so obvious, I again shouted this at the screen, hoping the asshole would hear me, “Why, yes, you bloody idiot, they CAN, and WERE, all wrong…. and every damn one of them WOULD lie to protect a program, which, in their minds, equals money, or influence….” Then, of course, I realized I was shouting at my computer, so, I sat, tried to calm down, & began to type, to try to release some of the venom and bile that collected so quickly in the face of such evil insanity…. It started when the assbite used the phrase, “Senate staffer” as if that position was held only by persons of dubious character…
When you start from a premise that is wrong, there is no way to make it come out right, and every damn one of those directors started with the idea that whatever they did, right or wrong, shouldn’t be made public knowledge, and that such clandestine prevarication is justified by their goal (which they refuse to consider as anything other than right…. perfect “ipse dixit” logic….)
“If you get the first one in the wrong hole, you’ll never get all buttoned up right.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
This, of course, is completely contrary to the values upon which our nation was supposedly founded; thus, any acts that indulge in that sort of paranoia, which were made on the basis of that idea, are, from the start, WRONG…. It really is that simple ffolkes, and I don’t understand quite WHY the public doesn’t get that, when listening to these lying, insane fools who pursue their delusional fantasies at the expense of the rest of us….
I reiterate…. “Everything you know is wrong.” — The Firesign Theater
Bloody fucking assholes, every damn one of them…..
“If I had a large amount of money I should found a hospital for those whose grip upon the world is so tenuous that they can be severely offended by words and phrases yet remain all unoffended by the injustice, violence and oppression that howls daily about our ears.” — Stephen Fry
I’d say the good doctor Mitchell would be one of the first admissions…. I’ll leave you to consider the following, which pretty much sums up what I see happening in the world today, just about everywhere I look…..
“It is okay to be ignorant in some areas, but some people abuse the privilege.” — Smart Bee
********************************
Momentary Terror
Absently casual, memories pester endlessly
leaving only bleeding remnants, amiable and loving.
Coming awake, I cry to still the pain, shamelessly.
Elsewhen, time gives surcease, if only to live,
shoring broken pilings, worn and gray.
Passing on, I laugh at the pain, accept all it will give.
Time will build a shelter, warm and ever safe
save for Fate’s busy hands.
Enduring, I follow the pain, knowing it will chafe.
Fixed against a darkened sky of starry black
such beauty brings us to our knees.
Entranced, I welcome the pain, ’tis all I lack…..
~~ gigoid ~~
12/27/2013
********************************
Naked Pearls
Esoterica
*********
“Books aren’t written to be believed in, but to be questioned.”
~~ Umberto Eco ~~
*********
“If a man take no thought about what is distant,
he will find sorrow near at hand.”
~~ Confucius ~~
*********
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”
~~ Sir Edmund Hillary ~~
*********
“Never fear shadows.
They simply indicate there’s a light shining close by.”
~~ Fearless Bee ~~
*********
“I can handle reality in small doses,
but as a lifestyle it’s much too confining.”
~~ Lily Tomlin ~~
*********
“Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.”
~~ Mark Twain ~~
*********
“Where pain predominates, agony can be a valued teacher.”
~~ Frank Herbert ~~
*********
“Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do.”
~~ Voltaire ~~
*********
“OVER the underpass!
UNDER the overpass!
Around the FUTURE and BEYOND REPAIR!!”
~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~
********************************
I did it. I had my doubts, as is my wont, but, it’s done, with some minor cheating. I hope y’all enjoyed today’s effort, which, believe me, was an effort. I shall make another attempt at this tomorrow, if all goes well. If not, well, you’ll hear from me….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Good morning…. Thanks to the machinations of the machine, which we laughingly call modern society, I’m up, even though it’s not actually anywhere near morning. Technically, I suppose, I have to call it that, as we are an hour and a half into the new day. Somehow, I find it insulting to actually think of this hour as the hour to arise from bed, theoretically, and literally full of piss & vinegar, ready and eager to face the day…. Being force to get up due to twitching, and/or hurting, doesn’t quite fit the picture I had in mind when I thought of retirement….
SIGH…. Okay, enough obscure whining. I’m up, though I don’t really want to be; I’m dealing. I’m as awake as possible at this hour, I’m typing, I’m getting pissed off….. Slow down, there, big fella…. We’ve got lots of time; no need to get worked up right out of the gate…. Breathe, sip, breathe….
I’ll say this…. By the time I get to Ireland, and back, I’m gonna be as tough as an old boot…. maybe tougher. Enough on that….
In fact, since I have been recorded as having vowed I shan’t rant in the intro, (lovely phrase, what?…. It’s almost alliteration….”shan’t rant….” Hah!….), I’ll use this opportunity to tell Luigi we can head right over to the oyster beds, without the usual side-trip for the purposes of distraction…. Ooh, I shouldn’t have said that, should I?….
Oh, well, so much for artistic license….
Shall we Pearl?….
“If the cats could figure out how to work the can opener, they would have the locks changed while we were out.” –Smart Bee
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Image from YouTube.com via Google Images
Ffolkes who grew up during the same years as I did will remember this lady’s music very well; she was one of the most popular artists of her time. I will add my own opinion, to wit: her fame was well-deserved. I give you one of the legends of Rock and Roll, from the earliest days…. Miss Brenda Lee, the four-foot, ten-inch package of dynamite….
Okay, so here’s the deal…. The last section is a rantish old-school pearl, and today’s poem is as fresh as it gets, meaning I’m experiencing a degree of temporary weakness due to blood loss. Therefore, to prevent the occurrence of untoward results, I won’t even attempt to create a fresh rant…. Instead, here is a pretty decent little politirant/indictment of our BRC, complete with an old-school pearl as an integral part of the piece…. Enjoy, such as you may, or wish….
From 8/14/2013:
Today’s format got somewhat disrupted, due to the first section’s departure from normal activity…. Well, as normal as it ever gets around here…. Any who, in this space, fashion would dictate I rant, and, I actually have the proper subject for same in hand. Actually, it’s a subject that isn’t going to go away, and will continue to remain in the forefront of the news for some time to come, as the solution is one the BRC is unwilling to permit.
I’m speaking of the current flap over the surveillance of the phone records and other data being compiled by the NSA and other clandestine spying agencies….. I would have said “intelligence agencies”, but, I’m not in the habit of using oxymorons, as a rule….
I COULD rant, as I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on the issue, but, yesterday, I read one of the most complete, perfectly written and researched articles on the subject that I’ve seen thus far. It is written by Jennifer Hoelzer, who was formerly the chief of staff for Oregon Congressman R. Wyden, the most outspoken critic in Congress of the spying by the administration. In responding to the President’s formation of an independent committee to examine the surveillance guidelines, in order to address “public concerns”, she outlines her part, and the parts played by all the participants, in a clear, effective manner, calling all the responsible parties to task for creating the issue in the first place.
It’s a great piece, and a must-read for anyone who wishes to have a thorough understanding of all the important major points, including an accurate timeline of the significant events….. I offer these two articles, one reporting on the President’s announcement, and the piece by Ms. Hoelzer herself. Please read them, and you’ll see what I am saying is truth….
As compensation, to me, for not ranting about this today, I offer these pearls, to speak to the issue in my own unique manner….
“Nationalism is an infantile sickness. It is the measles of the human race.” — Albert Einstein
“A state which seeks to subordinate the citizen wholly to itself and merges the person into an impersonal mass, commits a collective murder.” — C. C. Martindale, _The Catholic Bedside Book_, 1953
“A Sept 13 1987 Boston Globe story indicated polls show almost half of Americans think the phrase ‘From each according to his ability, to each according to his need’ comes from the US Constitution.” — Chomsky’s Necessary Illusions
“Say what will convince, not what you believe.” — Bureaucrat’s Law #2
DIPLOMACY, n. The patriotic art of lying for one’s country. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”
“Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other, and scarcely in that; for it is true, we may give advice, but we cannot give conduct. Remember this: They that will not be counseled cannot be helped. If you do not hear reason she will rap you over the knuckles.” — Benjamin Franklin(1706-1790)– Maxims prefixed to Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1757
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” — Rom 3:10
Yes, the last one was used recently in another pearl, but, I do that sometimes, when it is a perfect fit…. If all this doesn’t convince you of how serious the situation here on Earth is becoming, well, all I can say is, either you didn’t read it all, or you have more resistance to the truth than is good for you…. Any comments are welcome, even encouraged, and will be answered ASAP, back pain permitting….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This poem is the result of the last three of four days of no sleep…. Gee, do ya think it could be any darker?…. Go figure…. Try to enjoy it anyway, okay?…. Thanks; it bled a lot….
Mad Dogs at Bay
Wicked, angry red scenes of imminent demise
haunt my dreams each night.
Fearful visions of destructive surprise
leave me sweating in terror, as well they might.
Small, mean, ugly, with beady little eyes,
pundits gather like maggots, bloated and vile,
grunting, snuffling, mumbling outlandish lies,
enslaving the ignorant with patience and guile.
Society’s denizens exist as volunteer slaves.
Living and dying by script, completely blind.
Never allowing any resentment, no making waves.
Never knowing joy, nor any peace of mind.
Free men will not be controlled, ’tis said;
No coercion, no illusion can cloud their sight.
No threats, no pain, no fear they dread;
their only duty to keep to the right.
Dreams are mere reflections of our inner fears,
whispering, close against doors shut fast.
Mocking our mostly irrelevant tears,
clearly marking the future as our sordid past.
~~ gigoid ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No, the logo is correct; today’s final old-school pearl is a seven star series of comments about a subject of current interest to all of us, to wit: the ever-widening wealth gap in the world at large…. Here is what I found that seemed to make some sort of sense about it all…. It’s a bit abstruse in spots, but, it gives one a feeling for the reality of the issue…. Well, I think so, and that’s what counts around here, right?….
“Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.”
~~ Thomas Jefferson ~~
“The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.” — Chinese Proverb
“It did not matter, after all. He was only one man. One man’s fate is not important. If it is not, what is? He could not endure those remembered words.” — Ursula K. Le Guin, spoken by Gaverel Rocannon, Rocannon’s World
“If you wish a life of trouble, fill your house with treasures.” — Chinese Proverb
“A monied aristocracy in our country … has already set the government at defiance.” — Thomas Jefferson
RICHES, n.
*** ” A gift from Heaven signifying, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” — John D. Rockefeller
*** “The reward of toil and virtue.” — J.P. Morgan
*** “The savings of many in the hands of one.” — Eugene Debs
To these excellent definitions the inspired lexicographer feels that he can add nothing of value. — Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary….
“With virtue you cannot be entirely poor…,
Without it you cannot be really rich.”
~~ Chinese Proverb ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh. My. Golly. (Sorry…. My lawyer told me to stop using the word ‘God’….) It’s done. I’m, well, not flabbergasted, because. hey, who would be at 3:33 am on a Wednesday in July? No matter who one might, or, might not be, it’s too frigging early for flabber, or gasting, anyway, I don’t care what anybody says. Moreover, I think it’s probably illegal in this state. What state? The state of Confusion, naturally…. I’m afraid it must be time to go roast that chicken. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, provided I can find a small piece of my sanity somewhere; I had it right here when I went to bed….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Good morning…. or, so it says here on the label…. Why don’t we take it at its word, and get on with this?….
Shall we Pearl?
“The world has taken on a thickness of vulgarity that raises a spiritual man’s contempt to the violence of a passion.” — Charles Baudelaire
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Only one band sounded like them; no other will ever reach their level of expertise, or passion for the music they made together….. I’ve used this concert in a previous post, but, it bears repetition very well…. Ffolkes, this is music of which you’ll never hear the like again; one of the band members passed away in 2014…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. the best rock band ever….
I’m not late, and, I’ve got plenty of angst…. I am, however, also lazy, and not in the right mood to rant…. Here’s a good one, though, from the archives, to keep the pressure on the BRC…. Can’t let them think they’re getting any breaks, you know….
From 8/16/2013:
“I put aside my copy of “BOWLING WORLD” and think about GUN CONTROL legislation..” — Zippy the Pinhead
You know, the most amazing thing, to me, about this whole issue with the spying on our telephone and computer data by the government? It is the absolute genuine surprise on the part of the administration at how upset everyone (i.e. the public, or, more simply, “us”…) is over this issue. It’s as if they can’t believe that people are actually upset that the government is collecting all of our phone conversations, and all of our email correspondence, in order to, according to them, “defeat terrorism”.
They, in their absolute confidence in their own rightness, are having a hard time with the fact that NONE of the rest of the populace, at least, none of those outside of the government itself, agrees with them….. For some unknown reason (well, you know it, and I know it, but, they don’t….), they think they can do whatever they want in the pursuit of their imaginary demons, and we’re all supposed to fall right in line with that…. In truth, it makes me feel a little better about things when I think about the reaction by the public; I had almost given up on them ever caring at all what the BRC did to them….
I’m not going to rant again today about this; it’s all over the news, and many people are presenting some well-thought-out, and well-researched and -written articles on the subject, probably much better than I could do. I like to think I’d be funnier, but, that isn’t necessarily of importance to such pieces, so, for now, I’m leaving it to them to distribute the information people need to be clear on the issue. Clarity is necessary, because this is one of the best opportunities we, as the public, have had in some time to bring light to bear on the clandestine activities being perpetrated on us by our supposed leaders….. I think it is important NOT to let them off the hook on this, and bring all the pressure we can to make reforms, at least in this one area….
Rather than rant, I will put together another pearl on this subject, because I believe that the more we hold the BRC up for examination, whether that regard is focused on humor, their (absent) virtue, their chicanery, or just their displays of idiocy, it’s a good thing to keep to keep the light focused on them as long as possible. If we don’t hold our leaders, such as they are, up for our criticism of their acts against us, then, who will? They certainly aren’t going to be pulling their own covers, or showing off their latest theft from us; it’s in their best interests to keep as much of that away from our attention as they are able to do. So, I’ll keep on making fun of them, just as long as they keep lying to us….
Therefore, here is another seven-star pearl, with the clear intent of either making fun of, or bringing unwanted exposure to, our Beloved Ruling Class, and all of their myrmidons…. (a great word, go ahead, look it up….) (No, I’m serious, you need to look it up, or the first quote won’t make any sense to you….) (Of course, none of it MAY make any sense, but, I do what I can, and no more….) (Ah, the hell with it, it means, essentially, “faceless minions in vast numbers, set to do their bidding”….)
The Bible is true this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
~~ Jordan Henderson ~~
“Do not needlessly endanger your lives until I give you the signal.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
(One of the first recorded instances of a President using computer programming techniques on the public….)
“An election year is the time politicians want to help us out of all the trouble they got us into in the first place.” — Smart Bee
“Disco oil bussing will create a throbbing Naugahyde pipeline running straight to the tropics from the rug producing regions and devalue the dollar!” — Zippy the Pinhead
“Muddy water let stand becomes clear.” — Lao Tse
“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
“If life is merely a joke, the question still remains: For whose amusement?” — Smart Bee
Well, there you have it…. I can’t make it any clearer than that….. Well, perhaps I can…. we’ll try later…..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dreaming, I wait….
In the most patient moments of rationality
kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,
fallow thoughts speed first from equality
to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.
Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law
shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,
intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,
falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.
Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,
it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,
foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,
alive, always eager, willing, and pale.
Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few
with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.
No solemn royal version may pass in review,
true love for man, never to remain unhidden.
Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,
calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,
With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,
swimming in the oceans of natural delight.
When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,
roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,
Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,
and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.
Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night
aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart
Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,
tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art.
~~ gigoid ~~
Written 8/18/2013.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Whenever a pearl like this comes to pass, you’ll see the laughing Buddha, because I often feel as if that is what is happening…. It’s all good stuff, comments on Life, and how to live it, but, it’s a little weird in spots…. You’ll see…. The Buddha knows, you see, about us…. and, he doesn’t mind…. He told me so….
“There is no sin but ignorance.’ — Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)
“He does not seem to me to be a free man who does not sometimes do nothing.” — Cicero
“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
Cuando sabes a donde vas, el mundo entero se aparta para abrirte paso. (When you know where you’re going, the whole world will assist you on your way…) — Spanish proverb
“The happiness and unhappiness of the rational, social animal depends not on what he feels but on what he does; just as his virtue and vice consist not in feeling but in doing.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 16
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)
“Therefore with the same necessity with which the stone falls to earth, the hungry wolf buries its fangs in the flesh of its prey without the possibility of the knowledge that it itself is the destroyed as well as the destroyer.” — Schopenhauer
There! See? Didn’t I tell you? Ah well, it’s all good…. cuz we’re done….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ah, yes…. We are, indeed, done. ‘Tis a fortunate thing, too, as I’m completely out of stuff to say…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, most likely….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Not to be cheered by praise,
Not to be grieved by blame,
But to know thoroughly ones own virtues or powers
Are the characteristics of an excellent man.~~ Saskya Pandita (1182-1251) ~~
Photo of Mars Terrain by NASA’s Curiosity Rover
Once again late, I have no choice but to ruthlessly trim all the dross and drivel from whatever happens here today. It would be nice to be able to find a routine again, but, since I don’t seem able to do so, I’ll continue to find some way to cope on a daily basis. Of late, this has required some rather extensive trimming of the amount of nonsense I’m using; not easy when it falls so naturally from my mind to the screen. But, it’s working, so, I’ll keep at it….
All that being said, as usual, to little purpose, I’ll use my new-found ruthlessness to make the executive, and therefore, least compassionate decision to yank the plug on this intro, regardless of how it may seem to those who don’t do this sort of thing on a regular basis. Or, for that matter, to anyone at all. It’s not personal; it’s bidness…. Don’t take it amiss, but, you all should DUCK! NOW!….. Whew, sorry, got a little close that time…. Never mind, we’re done, and now, we’re gone….
Shall we Pearl?
“I once wanted to save the world. Now I just want to leave the room with dignity.” — Lotus Weinstock
I’m late, and the video section covered the rant, so, here is an old politirant from 2013, to use the Churchill method of bringing a point home…. This is the tremendous whack, by those lights…. Probably falls a bit short, in that respect, but, it ain’t bad, and I like the words I coined for the political parties, too…. Enjoy!….
From 9/19/2013:
“A lie would have no sense unless the truth were felt as dangerous.” — Alfred Alder
So, I was going to forgo a rant today, giving my back, and your brains, a bit of a break, but, when I went to peruse the news, I saw the latest discussion of what is happening in the House of Idiots in Washington, D.C., regarding the budget resolutions being discussed, wherein the possibility of a shutdown is threatened, if the Retardicans and Demobutts can’t come to some kind of compromise. It seems the Retardicans are still upset about Obamacare, and the notion of helping the middle class, as well as the lower classes (gasp!), to obtain medical insurance coverage at a reasonable cost. This idea, of being fair and ethical, seems to have struck them in the wrong place, and they have been whining and complaining ever since it became law, frantically searching for ways to undermine the whole program, with the ultimate goal being to stop it altogether….
The entire issue, of course, is just smoke, to cover up the simple racism that these assholes won’t cop to…. It is STILL stuck in their craw that they somehow allowed a BLACK MAN to get elected to the highest public office. They have looked for, and desperately latched onto, every possible way they could find to block every piece of legislation the White House has espoused, no matter how much such legislation would help the public, ever since Obama was first elected. The publicly stated goal of the Retardican Party in 2008, right after the election, was to make Obama a one-term President; having failed at that, their new goal became the eradication of ANY laws, or any beneficial reforms, that were accomplished during his administration…. Hence, the campaign against healthcare reform, which, ultimately, is not in their best interests, but, hey, who needs common sense?….
I’m almost too disgusted with the entire bunch of them, Retardicans and Demobutts both, to even continue this rant….The right wing continues to shoot itself, and the public, in the foot with their intransigent inflexibility, and their unreasoning paranoia about the POTUS, while the left side continues to wander around letting whatever the administration says or does go without question or review, as if somehow a man who was politician enough to get elected to the Senate, then the Presidency, all of a sudden became the world’s most truthful man…. Sorry, folks, it just doesn’t follow….. such trust in ANYONE who is an elected official in this country is plain silly, and doesn’t show much real common sense….
I see NO ONE in the public venue whom I would trust to make decisions for me, on ANY subject, much less those that can affect my life, and the quality of same…. Sorry, I just don’t see ANYONE who seems to be honestly interested in anything beyond their own agenda, and those agendas have nothing to do with mine, or what I see as beneficial for everyone…. They just don’t…..
I also, unfortunately, don’t have any viable solutions, which is why my rants often are short…. I mean, I do know what would help, and that is for everyone in the world who does have common sense to get together, join forces, and tell the assholes to stop…. But, they have guns, which they are practiced in using to get their way, whereas, most of US aren’t willing to contest matters on that level, so, that probably isn’t ever going to happen….
Not until more of our side are willing to use force to get our way, just as they have always done…. Since I don’t see it happening, we may as well just kiss our asses goodbye, because the eventual outcome of such idiocy is death, and I don’t mean individually, but rather, as a species…. Stupid is as stupid does, as somebody once said, and when I look around the world these days, stupid is pretty much all I see…..
Hell is the place of those who have denied;
They find there what they planted and what dug,
A Lake of Spaces, and a Wood of Nothing,
And wander there and drift, and never cease
Wailing for substance.~~ William Butler Yeats ~~
~~ Responsibilities and Other Poems (1916).The Hour-Glass ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time for a bit of T.S…..
Sweeney Among The Nightingales
Apeneck Sweeney spreads his knees
Letting his arms hang down to laugh,
The zebra stripes along his jaw
Swelling to maculate giraffe.
The circles of the stormy moon
Slide westward toward the River Plate,
Death and the Raven drift above
And Sweeney guards the horned gate.
Gloomy Orion and the Dog
Are veiled; and hushed the shrunken seas;
The person in the Spanish cape
Tries to sit on Sweeney’s knees
Slips and pulls the table cloth
Overturns a coffee-cup,
Reorganized upon the floor
She yawns and draws a stocking up;
The silent man in mocha brown
Sprawls at the window-sill and gapes;
The waiter brings in oranges
Bananas figs and hothouse grapes;
The silent vertebrate in brown
Contracts and concentrates, withdraws;
Rachel née Rabinovitch
Tears at the grapes with murderous paws;
She and the lady in the cape
Are suspect, thought to be in league;
Therefore the man with heavy eyes
Declines the gambit, shows fatigue,
Leaves the room and reappears
Outside the window, leaning in,
Branches of wisteria
Circumscribe a golden grin;
The host with someone indistinct
Converses at the door apart,
The nightingales are singing near
The Convent of the Sacred Heart,
And sang within the bloody wood
When Agamemnon cried aloud,
And let their liquid droppings fall
To stain the stiff dishonoured shroud.
~~ T.S. Eliot ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since Smart Bee is still on strike, I’ve dipped into the archives again, for a pretty good old-school pearl…. Enjoy, ffolkes….
From 9/20/2013:
Oh boy! I’ve ranted, approximately, and found a really great poem, so, at this point, I get to go old-school, which just makes my day…. I love this process, as it makes me use my head just the way I like, with both discipline and randomness, all in a good cause…. Well, it’s a cause, anyway…. good and bad are distinctions I prefer to avoid, as they tend to rope one into certain positions, and I don’t like to let myself get trapped like that…. Any who, whatever the rationalization used, this one should come out well, as I’m going to use very loose reins, and allow Smart Bee to do most of the work…. What better way to start the day, as long as one has sufficient coffee as a prophylaxis against any undue conceptual manipulation.?… Let’s see what that little devil has going today, shall we?…..
In pride, in reasoning pride, our error lies;
All quit their sphere, and rush into the skies.
Pride still is aiming at the blest abodes:
Men would be angels, angels would be gods.
Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell,
Aspiring to be angels, men rebel.~~ Alexander Pope ~~
~~ Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 123 ~~
“Everybody gets free BORSCHT!” — Zippy the Pinhead
Don’t lose your head to gain a minute.
You need your head, your brains are in it.
— Burma Shave
“Nothing is fool-proof to a sufficiently talented fool.” — Smart Bee
“When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.” — A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner
In looking back at this group, I see it would be possible, perhaps, even, advisable, to stop here, and use this as a five-star pearl, with a pretty good point to it, if one is slick enough to trip over it…. But, it just doesn’t feel done to me, so we’ll see what more SB can come up with to bring this to its full potential….
“No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.” — Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592)
“He is able who thinks he is able.” — Buddha
There you go….
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Well, it FEELS okay; it also seems a bit catch-penny, if I have that phrase correctly used, to mean choppy and ill-favored…. Ah well, it fulfills the primary characteristic we’re looking for; it’s done. So, I’m gonna fly, while I can…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
It is with some trepidation I sit today to begin; I’m late, I feel like shit warmed over, and I pretty much hate the world. This does not bode well for the remainder of the day, since it is now almost a full hour since I arose, an hour spent trying to piece together the shreds of my contentment, so brutally shattered by the soulless corporate interests which have enslaved 99% of the world’s population. Of that number, 99% of THEM haven’t even the remotest idea they are slaves, living their lives according to the narrow set of strictures allowed by the overlords, thinking they have some kind of freedom of choice…
The sign you see above, which I stole from my friend Lou at Tales From The Conspiratum (I don’t know where he got it…. so much for attribution, eh?), says it quite appropriately, I think. If anyone wants even the slightest chance at surviving the coming apocalyptic collapse, predicted by too many sober, official agencies to ignore, they will need to throw aside the veil through which they have chosen to view life, and look directly into the evil faces of those who would see us all die, rather than given up the riches and power they have ripped from the rest of humanity. If they do not, they will go down to extinction, sinking into their graves without a whimper of protest, or even awareness of their own lack of courage, without any of the dignity which is congruent with such virtue.
I’m in just about the shittiest mood I think I’ve ever been in. My recent struggles with those corporate ghosts, who hide behind their money and power, afraid to show their true faces to the world, have put me here, for better or worse. I, for one, refuse to submit to their slavish demands for obedience to the norms they have decreed. I will not be a number, I will not be a slave, or a faceless bovine, shuffling through the fences they have built to keep the cattle penned, allowing them to dictate to me what they believe is in my interests, a complete lie they foster to keep the natives from becoming restless. I am a free man; they can try to control me, but, the only thing they will ever have the power to do, if they can, is to kill me, for I will NOT give in to their evil intent, which contains no possible benefit for anyone but themselves….. NOT going to happen….
Now I’ve convinced everyone I have slipped off the deep end, I think we’ll go on. In my current state, I would suggest no one attempt to touch me, or address me with anything other than cautious respect. The consequences are, shall we say, hard to predict, other than to say it would NOT be a pretty sight, and, when finished, NOBODY, myself included, would be happy about what had taken place. With that cautionary disclaimer fresh in your minds, let us be on our way to the oyster beds….
Shall we Pearl?
“You see things, and you say “WHY?” But I dream things that never were, and I say “WHY NOT?” — George Bernard Shaw, “Back to Methuselah”
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Given the state of my mood, I think it would be good to find something to soothe a fevered brow…. Ah, this will do…. If I can’t calm down in 10 hours, it just ain’t gonna happen….
Today’s rant will be a pearl of a different shade…. It will probably wander all over the map, taking pot shots at the AMA, FDA, Big Pharm, Big HMO’s, pundits, dogma dogs, corporate assholes, the 1%, and anyone else whose diseased minds are engaged in preying on the rest of humanity for the sake of their avarice and sociopathy, seeking ever more power and control over everyone else…. Which ever of them comes into my sight will be included for dissection, and hopefully, conviction…. Let’s see what we’ve got going on out in the Big Blue Room, shall we?…..
“A quick search within the PubMed National Library of Medicine database for ‘marijuana’ turns up a host of studies, highlighting every aspect imaginable regarding the plant in its many forms. Some advocacy websites have even compiled hundreds of studies in an easy-to-read format surrounding marijuana, which has led numerous journalists to ask the obvious question: “why are we spending so much time researching an illegal drug for its numerous benefits while stamping side-effect-riddled drugs with the FDA stamp of approval with far less research?”
“An analysis of 200 FDA-backed pharmaceutical drugs even found that almost 33% of approved drugs were granted the approval over a single piece of clinical study”
gigoid says: Again, and it bears repeating, OF COURSE he did! Did anyone expect the chief of the biggest collection of spies in the world to tell them anything else? If so, they deserve exactly what they are getting….
Bah, humbug! I’m not in the mood, it seems, to rant, either. My anger and rage at the machine is so great today, I think it would be best to confine any further remarks to any pearls I can find to express the nature of my passion….. If I can do so, you’ll find them below…. If not, all you may find are pieces of my shattered mind, whimpering piteously as they writhe in the pain of futility…. Let’s see if I can save my sanity for at least a few more hours….. Here are nine pearls, which either comment on those who prey on their brothers and sisters, or, advise how to deal with the fact of their existence…. sort of…
“I have formed a very clear conception of patriotism. I have generally found it thrust into the foreground by some fellow who has something to hide in the background. I have seen a great deal of patriotism; and I have generally found it the last refuge of the scoundrel.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Judgment of Dr. Johnson, Act III
“Independent self-reliant people (would be) a counterproductive anachronism in the collective society of the future […] (where) people will be defined by their associations.” — John Dewey (1859-1953), educational philosopher, — proponent of modern public schools. 1896 — “The Tyranny of Government Schooling”, John Gatto, 1992
“Of course the US Constitution isn’t perfect; but it’s a lot better than what we have now.” — Eric Sheppard
“All warfare is based on deception. Therefore, when capable, feign incapacity; when active, inactivity. When near, make it appear that you are far away; when far away, that you are near. Offer the enemy a bait to lure him, feign disorder and strike him. When he concentrates, prepare against him; where he is strong avoid him. Anger his general and confuse him. Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance. Keep him under strain and wear him down. When he is united, divide him. Attack where he is unprepared; sally out when he does not expect you. These are the strategist’s keys to victory. It is not possible to discuss them beforehand.” — Sun Tzu, The Art Of War
“A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900)
“When Thales was asked what was difficult, he said, “To know one’s self.” And what was easy, “To advise another.”” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD)
— Thales, ix
“When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), “Caesar and Cleopatra”, Act III
“Every day should be passed as if it were to be our last.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 633
“Every man is free to rise as far as he is able or willing, but it’s only the degree to which he thinks that determines the degree to which he’ll rise.” — Smart Bee
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Here is an older poem of mine; it isn’t about the weather, despite what the title implies….
November Dreams of Spring
Crass and cold, the beggar finds me swollen, so frail and fat
with painful stepping motions, running, like a Republicrat.
Building with straw and spittle, should artists come aground,
we all pay heavily, a billion for a bloody pound.
Too desperate, too ashamed to play such a part
We ask for belief, and sweet liberty, dressing up so smart.
It falls between the simple cracks, always in a hurry
To find a shrunken ego, ashen, swift, and full of worry.
Never there was a more penitent group, such a sterling way
To fast in luxury, making sure the guilty enter, but do not stay.
Forgotten gods can find their diffident suitors tonight
With dream-fitted convention, and a natural sense of delight.
For all the silken babies cried, to see the broken dreams of power
forgiven moments of certitude serve, filling up the maiden’s bower.
All the patient, loving veterans of ancient foreign time,
give up their first impressions, dying, dying for a rhyme.
~~ gigoid ~~
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Today’s final offering is a collection of pearls….. Well, since my mind is not sure of anything just now, I guess I won’t try to tell you what they all mean, either individually, or, as a group…. The only desirable characteristic I insisted upon was to have them all say SOMETHING useful…. Wish me luck….
“…and I get on my knees and pray we don’t get fooled again.” — Pete Townshend
“For a real long time, scholars debated whether the Earth revolves around the sun, or, if it was actually the center of the universe. I offer the question: Who really cares?” — John Young, AP Earth Science
“Never to have changed – what a pitiable thing of which to boast!” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“The only really decent thing to do behind a person’s back is pat it.” — Smart Bee
“History is a lie commonly agreed upon.” — Nietzsche
“Do not speak of what men deserve. For we each of us deserve everything, every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead Kings, and we each of us deserve nothing, not a mouthful of bread in hunger. Have we not eaten while another starved? Will you punish us for that? Will you reward us for the virtue of starving while others ate? No man earns punishment, no man earns reward. Free your mind of the idea of *deserving*, of *earning*, and you will begin to be able to think.” — Odo, The Prison Letters (Ursula LeGuin, _The Dispossessed_)
“The gods too are fond of a joke.” — Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)
Well… there you go. I don’t think I could have done better if I’d tried…. so be it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having thus discharged what I have chosen as duty, I’ll take my leave now. Today’s effort was just that; an effort. It’s done, though, so, I can get on with the rest of today, with whatever new challenges the universe has for me to deal with, to accept, or deny. Maybe I’ll go back to bed…. Either way, if I can make it that far, I’ll see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…..
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
I saw Eternity the other night,
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright;
And round beneath it,
Time in hours, days, years,
Driv’n by the spheres
Like a vast shadow mov’d; in which the world
And all her train were hurl’d.
~~ Henry Vaughan ~~
~~ The World ~~
Self Portrait of Curiosity, the Mars Rover, on its search for signs of life on The Red Planet
Down here in The Holler, we been havin’ some fowl weather…. Now, before y’all go & figure I’m just some iggorant hick, let me explain…. Most places, they get some hard rains, they say it’s been rainin’ cats & dogs, right? Well, t’other night, it was rainin’ hard all right, but, ’tweren’t no cats nor dogs comin’ down…. It was chickens! Actually, chicken gizzards! Beautiful, juicy, chicken livers, hearts, necks, & kidneys. Not only was they fallin’, right out o’the sky, but, they was fully cooked! Boy, we was havin’ a BALL that night, nukin’ ’em up in the microwave with some spicy BBQ….. beaudacious! Them necks boiled down just fine, for a big ol’ pot o’ chicken & dumplin’s…. We’re hopin’ next week maybe it’ll rain some beef ribs, and we kin have us a real party!….
Okay, enuff, er, enough of the hillbilly crap. I couldn’t think of anything else, and now, I’m really sorry…. But, it’s done, and we can just forget it. Please?
Sadly, that does leave us here, halfway started, but, nowhere to go. I could go in just about any direction now; the smooth start part of this is already been ditched for the nonsense above. Now I find myself reading over it, and actually editing, to give it more of a hick sound, as if it needed it… I must have had too much sleep. I don’t believe I’ve had this much sleep, three days in a row, for years. An average of five hours a night for those nights, has cleared my head quite a bit, though the effect on the pain itself is minimal; only the strength to fight it is replenished…. But, that is indeed better than the alternative, and I’ll take it….
It almost makes me wish I didn’t have so much of today’s post already done; it would be cool to see how well I could rant, with all this energy…. But, it’s already done, during my little pieces of peace during the day, when I am able to distract myself enough to sit and write. Oh well, I can spend that time proofing & editing, to buff and polish this until it shines…. Well, as much as they ever do so….
I think, before I wander into an area of discussion from which we can’t remove ourselves, we’ll bring this to a close…. Ah, there’s the signal from the pilot, anyway…. I’ve managed to blather long enough today to actually reach one of the scheduled entry points, where there is plenty of room to maneuver, and no danger of any ambush by the locals; it makes for a smoother dive, all around. So, if y’all would kindly hang on, we’ll be going in in just a moment…. Enjoy the dive, ffolkes, I did my best today to make if fun, and/or stimulating…. and, if not, well, at least it’s better than Good Morning, America, right?…. Well, I think so….
Shall we Pearl?
“Diogenes said once to a person who was showing him a dial, “It is a very useful thing to save a man from being too late for supper.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Menedemus, iii
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few years ago, while surfing the web, I saw a video, which showed a cat and an owl, playing together. They had obviously, by the evidence of the video, been friends for years; watching the video is an excellent lesson in how easy it is for creatures to learn to get along, a lesson far too many people in this world never learn…. Here is that video, or, in this case, videos, as the one that plays first should go right into the next, showing a record of how they met, became friends, and learned how to live in harmony…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this is one of those GOOD stories, that make up, a little, for all the crap we have to see every day….
“Americans like to talk about (or be told about) Democracy but, when put to the test, usually find it to be an ‘inconvenience.’ We have opted instead for an authoritarian system *disguised* as a Democracy. We pay through the nose for an enormous joke-of-a-government, let it push us around, and then wonder how all those assholes got in there.” — Frank Zappa
For a few days now, I’ve been moving this link down the list of material to be covered in a rant. Patently, I found it on my friend Lou’s site, where one may always find a new, and/or different take on the subjects one sees in the mainstream news, with a heavy leaning toward the latest in conspiracy theories, UFO sightings, spiritualism, Zen Buddhism, science, myth, and any number of other subjects, all of interest, especially to someone with my expansive list of interests, all of which is/are found at one time or another on his site…. (Pardon the “is/are”, I couldn’t, and still can’t seem to figure out which of the pronouns the verb should agree with…. SIGH, another clue I need to SIMPLIFY….)
“It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are willing to search for it.” — Goethe
It took me a long time to find the real truth about the current President. He is one of the most skilled politicians (liars) ever to hold that august office, so skilled, he is hard to pin down on those occasions when he does make the error of getting caught at lying, either saying what he didn’t mean to say, or, being exposed, and having to respond. Otherwise, he has developed the incredibly subtle skill, discussed in works by Twain, Heinlein, and, I’m sure, many others, of being able to hide his lies behind the actual truth. The skill lies in being able to shut up at the correct moment, then not speaking again, to allow the listeners to make their own (erroneous) assumptions about what was NOT said…. In other words, he tells a small part of the truth, in a way that leaves room to make excuses later, then shuts up….
But, we see now, since the exposition by Edward Snowden of the scope of what is NOT being told to the American public, it is patently clear how he has maintained the public’s belief in his essential truthfulness, which is a COMPLETE lie. His administration has prosecuted more journalists and private citizens for leaking information they consider secret than any other in our nation’s history, by a factor of 10…. This is not speculation, or information new to me; I saw this in print many months ago in the mainstream press…. though, in a small article, with no follow-up, ever….
The author of the above article shows clearly how this applies to current life on this planet, and gives us a fairly accurate idea, I think, of the scope of the problem…. He also uses what I would call an old school pearl to illustrate his points, most excellently, using a number of pearls used previously on this blog…. It is, I admit, as good a pearl as any I’ve ever done…. I won’t try to match his group; it was nearly perfect, as far as I could see. But, I will end with one last illustration of how it all strikes me….
“Politicians aren’t born, they are excreted.” — Cicero
Trust me. I know. Thousand don’t, and look at them now….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is one of mine we haven’t seen for a while… It’s not bad, all things considered. I hope you enjoy it….
Off the proverbial cuff….
I never meant to kill that period of time,
it didn’t give me any choice.
It tried to hem me in without reason, or rhyme,
refused me any vote, or any voice.
You have to admit, I buried it deep and fast,
just as if I cared.
I knew, though, it would never last,
or ever be fully repaired.
No news, no pictures can bring it back,
once is all we get.
No pleas of public good, or even public lack;
in stone the past is set.
Futuristic visions now occupy my dreams,
I’m ready to go on.
Look! It fills up the screen, and it gleams!
Where’s the moment I’m sitting on?
Now, I remembered, at long, long last,
is all we really can hold.
Every moment goes by so bloody fast,
we’d best fill them all with beauty, warm and bold.
~~ gigoid ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a very special pearl; it’s too long a story for this section, which is already long enough, but, take my word, they don’t often come out like this…. Too bad, too… Just follow the bouncing ideas, ffolkes, and you’ll get to a nice, warm fuzzy, strangely enough….
For age is opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress.
And as the evening twilight fades away,
The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.
It is never too late to start doing what is right.
Never.
~~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~~
“In the arena of human life the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action.” — Aristotle, Nicomachen Ethics (4th c. BC)
“We write our own destiny: we become what we do.” — Madame Chiang Kai-Shek
“Without followers, evil cannot spread.” — Spock, “And The Children Shall Lead”, stardate 5029.5
“He who hurries can not walk with dignity.’ — Chinese Proverb
“There is nothing so arrogant as ignorance.” — Erasmus
“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.)
“Cato requested old men not to add the disgrace of wickedness to old age, which was accompanied with many other evils.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Roman Apophthegms, Cato the Elder
“One who is to enjoy the purity of both body and mind walks the path to enlightenment, breaking the net of selfish, impure thoughts and evil desires. He who is calm in mind acquires peacefulness and thus is able to cultivate his mind day and night with more diligence.” — Buddha (B.C. 568-488)
“A wide-eyed, innocent UNICORN, poised delicately in a MEADOW filled with LILACS, LOLLIPOPS & small CHILDREN at the HUSH of twilight??” — Zippy the Pinhead
“It is in the shelter of each other that people live.”
~~ Irish proverb ~~
Oops! Sorry, Zippy slipped his restraints again…. But, you know, it almost fits; he tries hard, bless his pointy little head…. (Well, okay it’s a pointy BIG head, but we don’t want to hurt his feelings, do we? No….) I think we’ll let it stay, and just finish with a proper ending quote, if SB is willing to cooperate once more… Ah, yes, this will do nicely; so nicely, I believe I’ll center it, to create a bit of symmetry, and move this paragraph out of the way…. Or, as they would say in the nearest bureaucratic institution, see the above….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Captain! That’s all she’s got! The warp engines canno’ take no more!” — Commander Montgomery Scott, Stardate 2695.2, 2243.5, 2350.0, and a host of other dates….
At this point in today’s narrative, I know exactly how Mr. Scott feels; fortunately, the strain on our warp engines may now cease, and Mr. Scott and the engine crew can stand down, because, we’re done. Lest y’all think this is merely a shallow boast, intended to tease you into thinking we are finished, allow me to say this…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if the world lasts that long…. It’s looking a bit chancy out there in the BBR…..
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened.”
~~ Thomas Jefferson, “Writings” Vol. XVI ~~
One wouldn’t think so, but, the quote from Jefferson, above, is perfectly appropriate for the picture…. which is shot of the flower I picked, and brought to leave at the grave side of my friend Carol, when two other classmates of mine went with me to visit her, at her final resting place, at the Templeton town cemetery (Templeton is the small farming town in Central CA where we all grew up….)…. and, I should have know better than to try to start the day with a reminiscence….. Now, I am leaking copious amounts of salty fluids out of my eyes, making it difficult to see what I’ve typed; damn this frigging PTSD!….
I suppose there is nothing actually wrong about crying; under the proper circumstances, it can be quite cathartic, and may even release tension and/or built up feelings of guilt, or loss, or whatever emotion assails us, when we get to the point where we must cry, or burst…. But, this is different…. Any time I feel ANY damn strong emotion, whether happy, or sad, or in any way poignant, my tears begin to flow, almost as if I were a child of two or three, with no emotional control over my feelings at all. For a man of my age, and capabilities, it is not merely embarrassing to have it strike as it does, willy-nilly, with no warning or pattern I can find, it is demeaning, as well…..
How we got into this emotional morass is simple, and my mistake…. I should know better than to start of talking of Carol; it brings out my strong emotion every time, as she is sorely missed. Carol was the kind of person we all know some time in our lives; she’s the one who always had a smile for you, no matter how she felt herself; one of those people whose presence makes others feel happy. She baked, and, I am positive, though I was not there, that her house was the one all her children’s friends hung out at, because there were always cookies, or a cupcake, and a warm smile from Mom… I envy her husband, for all the years he was allowed to have with her; we grew close in the last couple of years before she died, and I am glad, for she was one of the BEST people I have ever known…. and I say that, even though I never even ate one of her cookies…
It is fortunate, for me especially, that writing a blog is not a form of performance art, at least not in the sense of having a camera on us, recording us as we pound away at the keyboard…. though, in my case, it would be, if nothing else, NOT boring, as I never sit still for very long; I am up and down from the chair every few minutes to ease some painful bone or another, with these movements interspersed with periods of absolute stillness, as I compose in my head, then mad, desperate typing, as I try to get it down before it fades away, into that limbo we authors fear the most, where our best ideas get lost, never to be seen again….
Okay, well, that was something…. I’m not really certain just how to view the above…. it’s done, so, it stays, naturally. But, I am pretty sure I’ve never done anything quite like it…. In addition, I must say, I’m glad for that, and I hope never to go through this particular opening process again, as it hurt, in a lot of different ways, not all physical…. I’m STILL trying to clear out my sinuses from the crying jag I’ve already gone through, THRICE…. I’s okay, though; it got us this far down the page, so, silver lining, I guess…. Whatever the method, we’re here, so….
Shall we Pearl?…..
“I leapt headlong into the sea,and thereby have become better acquainted with the soundings, the quicksands, and the rocks, than if I had stayed upon the green shore, and piped a silly song, and took tea and comfortable advice.” — John Keats
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Having fulfilled my promise to pre-screen any more video movies, I can honestly say, this show, a long running BBC series, is NOT one of the reasons I stopped watching TV…. This, in spite of being on TV, and, no doubt, chopped to pieces by commercial interruptions, is excellent…. Fortunately, in this format, on You Tube, one need no longer put up with those ads, so, the story unfolds seamlessly, without the jolting stops and starts…. Moreover, it is one of the best of the Holmes stories, well adapted to the screen, with a wonderful cast of very strong actors…. Enjoy!….
“The last vestiges of the old Republic have been swept away.”
~~ Governor Tarkin ~~
Governor Tarkin’s words from Star Wars, Episode 5, The Empire Strikes Back, assume an eerie precognitive accuracy in today’s world. Our country, which began, perhaps, as the world’s first truly democratic republic, has been so completely taken over by corporate interests, who hold private, dangerously delusional ambitions, which, over time, has prompted them to establish and maintain a world order according to their own avaricious agenda, one which has effectively altered the way the government operates, to the point we can no longer call it anything other than what it is in reality, an oligarchy…. government by, and for, the rich….
Absolute control of virtually all the monetary and physical resources of the nation (and, really, the whole planet…) is, and has been for some time, firmly under the control of a very small number of very rich assholes. (Well, the last word isn’t part of the actual definition, but, is most certainly my own opinion…). That control now extends to define every domestic and foreign policy carried out…. by ANY administration…. Even the makeup of those government administrations is controlled by those with money; they’ve paid the courts enough to ensure the laws will favor anything they wish to do to maintain that control, by putting their own stooges in a position to make the laws they need, and to judge those laws the way they wish….
“At this point, it’s becoming hard to believe anything Obama says about torture. The New York Times’ Charlie Savage reported Sunday that this administration is considering reinstating the Bush administration’s absurd interpretation of the United Nations treaty against torture, signed by the US decades ago, so that the US can claim the UN actually meant that any torture happening outside one’s own country essentially, you know, doesn’t count. Military and intelligence lawyers “say they need more time to study whether it would have operational impacts.” Really? I thought we stopped torturing people five years ago.”
“If Obama were to adopt this radical interpretation, sure, it would contradict all of his promises as he came into office, but as legal professor David Lubon describes, it would also directly violate US law.”
— excerpted from the above article
“Extreme avarice is always mistaken; there is no passion which is oftener further away from its mark, nor upon which the present has so much power to the prejudice of the future.” — La Rochefoucauld
It has become obvious, at least, to me, the unseen, shadowy masters of society no longer particularly care so much about keeping their agenda hidden…. The future La Rochefoucauld predicted is NOW…. The current collection of Obamadrones, who inhabit the White House, originally promised, as part of the pre-election set of lies the public wished to hear, ( Specifically designed, very effectively, as it turns out, to convince voters to put them in office….), to be the “most transparent administration ever”, along with murmurs about closing Guantanamo, and getting us out of Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East wars….
But, what has actually happened? Guantanamo is still operative, and, as the article shows, isn’t going anywhere soon, in spite of all the controversy; the torture continues, too, despite the insistence it does not…. just another lie, as it turns out. This administration is responsible for continuing the illegal spying done by the NSA, as well, having never even bothered to deny anything…. They just keep taking journalists and potential whistle blowers to court, for having given away their secrets, with charges based solely on provisions of that most evil document, the Homeland Security Act, a poorly disguised euphemism for Big Brother’s Mandate, a document that abrogates virtually every one of the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution…..
Yet, we still have troops on the ground all over the world, and, we are STILL bombing a number of foreign countries in our search to kill “terrorists”, with planes, AND with robot drones…. It’s said we spend $75 million/day for that bombing; I wonder who’s getting that money? Arms dealers, ya think?….
In order to distract critics, a fair amount of reform has been accomplished in the healthcare field; but, a close look at the resulting structural changes shows that, in essence, once again, the major winners are not the people, but, rather, the insurance companies, the HMO’s, the pharmaceutical companies, and all those other nice folks who charge the little people up the ass for their medical care, which, when one thinks about it, should be the right of every citizen, regardless of their position, or financial status….
What is society for, if not to share common knowledge (i.e., medical expertise and accumulated knowledge which is the legacy of the species, not the doctors, or the government…), to provide a clearing house for such skills so that all members of that society have access to them, to obtain the benefits of living in the group? If not for this, what is it for?
Perhaps I am not the most qualified judge, but, I know for certain, the legacy of the species does NOT belong exclusively to those who possess them, or to those who control them… They belong to us all, and it is only human avarice, and the predatory nature of man, with its unfortunate tendency to fall into evil, that precludes such a boon… As long as the corporate masters have their way, somebody will have to pay them to get what is actually theirs by right….
On that subject, here is a good article, with some excellent points of reason, which, by contrast, sound out cleanly and clearly amongst all the crap one generally finds in the mainstream media….
Given what is in this article, I am not certain of how to continue; to my mind, there is little hope of changing human nature, especially at this late hour…. In spite of all the technological advances and civilization we have built up over the last millennia, we are STILL just a weak, frightened hairless ape, with the same set of emotional and reasoning patterns and responses we carried with us when we still were huddling in caves, cold, naked, and afraid of the dark…. Seriously, I am often amazed at how our species STILL acts according to the same primitive emotions, and even more primitive attitudes, of aggression, theft, and violence that characterized those creatures, living in the wild, struggling to make sense of the mass of perceptions their too-massive brains took in…
We are still just hairless apes, no more civilized than those poor, ignorant savages; we just dress better, and have learned a few tricks since our cave days…. Our emotions, and the cult of ignorance adopted by society, haven’t changed a whit….
This is long enough, and I don’t have any viable solutions to offer…. so, we’ll call this a rant, and be on our way to the poetry section, where we MAY find a small piece of what DOES make us different from the other creatures with whom we share this globe, and, one of the FEW characteristics about mankind that I find to be of any redeeming value….. poetry…..
“Give them an opposable thumb, and they think they’re special.” — Smart Bee
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In my opinion, Charles is cool…. I say that, knowing full well the use of that word will date me…. I still think he’s cool….
Be Kind
are always asked
to understand the other person’s
viewpoint
no matter how
out-dated
foolish or
obnoxious.
one is asked
to view
their total error
their life-waste
with
kindliness,
especially if they are
aged.
but age is the total of
our doing.
they have aged
badly
because they have
lived
out of focus,
they have refused to
see.
not their fault?
whose fault?
mine?
I am asked to hide
my viewpoint
from them
for fear of their
fear.
age is no crime
but the shame
of a deliberately
wasted
life
among so many
deliberately
wasted
lives
is.
~~ Charles Bukowski ~~
Powerful stuff, eh?….
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Here is an old school pearl of vintage variety; moreover, I let Smart Bee pick out most of it, only intervening to format each quote’s position in the pearl at large…. Let’s see how it came out….
F = MA;
Things fall down;
You can’t push a rope.
~~ The three laws of physics ~~
“Never promise more than you can perform.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 528
“Remember: Silly is a state of Mind, Stupid is a way of Life.” — Dave Butler
“Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe. And what do we teach our children in school? We teach them that two and two make four and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are?” — Smart Bee**
“Life is the sum of all your choices.’ — Albert Camus
“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can read.” — Mark Twain
I ‘m weary of conjectures,–this must end ’em.
Thus am I doubly armed: my death and life,
My bane and antidote, are both before me:
This in a moment brings me to an end;
But this informs me I shall never die.
The soul, secured in her existence, smiles
At the drawn dagger, and defies its point.
The stars shall fade away, the sun himself
Grow dim with age, and Nature sink in years;
But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amidst the war of elements,
The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds.
** (According to Dean Hannotte, a collector of quotes, with a web site here: http://www.hannotte.com/Quotes.htm, this was as quoted on page 8 of Richard Kehl’s 1990 quotation anthology entitled Further Departures ….. but, he didn’t say with whom it originated…. Hence, SB gets the credit for today…..)
There you go, ffolkes; not too shabby for one with so little direction provided at the outset…. sort of a series of comments on Reality, and our place in it, so to speak…. It’ll do to finish, quite nicely….
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Due to circumstances completely within my control, I’m very late getting up to finish and post this mess… but, it’s done, so I’m not going to either belabor the circumstances, of bemoan my choice to not assume the necessary control of events…. In short, I don’t care, it’s done…. Moreover, I’m outta here, having done all the damage I can do…. so to speak…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…..
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Of all the gods, Death only craves not gifts:
Nor sacrifice, nor yet drink-offering poured
Avails; no altars hath he, nor is soothed
By hymns of praise. From him alone of all
The powers of heaven Persuasion holds aloof.
~~ Aeschylus (525-456 BC) ~~
— Frag. 146 (trans. by Plumptre) —
To look at these flowers, bright, plentiful, full of life, one might think it did not fit with the quote from Aeschylus, but, one would be wrong, wouldn’t one? Death comes to all of us, no matter how alive we feel at the time of its arrival…. nor does it care how blue we are, nor how bright…. And, as the poem says, it takes no excuses, no delays, and no arguments; when it is time, one has no choice but to go with Death, wherever it may lead us….
A bit of a grim outlook, unless one is confident of what happens afterward, it would seem, unless, and until, one considers Life, and consciousness as a form of energy…. Since energy cannot be destroyed, only altered in form (as water is…. wonderful synchronicity there….), the only question to be answered is WHERE does that consciousness GO? I’m afraid there isn’t any evidence available to tell us, other than the fantasies made up by a number of religiously minded folks; those, however, do not place their faith in their guesses as to what happens after we die based on evidence that can be seen, felt, or otherwise acknowledged as real, but, rather, on a set of assumptions with no basis in the real world, only in their imagination….
Me, I prefer the outlook taken by Robert Heinlein, who advised us that we will know soon enough what happens, so why fret about it? Nothing we do here and now has any effect on what happens after we die; furthermore, there is nothing in the universe we can see to give us any indication that little fact isn’t true. If it isn’t true in THIS universe, why should it be true in another? I never did see any sense in trying to make people behave themselves in this world, to ensure our place in the next; that’s just bribery, and not a good way to stimulate behavior, or to build a morality inside someone….
Morality, and ethics, must come from within us, by choice, or they mean NOTHING. Choices, and behaviors that arise in us out of the hope of a reward are not how real humans become ethical creatures; we do that by learning to choose the right action, then, make that our duty, our CHOICE, not made in response to a bribe, or, even worse, in response to a threat of punishment for wrong behavior….. That only teaches people to become sycophants, always seeking someone’s favor by performing unethical acts, justified by their own delusions of adequacy….
SIGH…. Damn! I did it again, didn’t I? I sat down, and led myself by the nose right into a rant…. Boy, in looking back over it, I’m amazed…. I didn’t think even I could start into it that quickly, or that seamlessly…. it just sort of flowed out, as I started to type… and, now look at it…. Four bloody paragraphs, of pretty decent ranting, but, chock full of the deitrus left in my head after a night’s dreaming, and way too early in the process…. I may have driven off any newbies in the intro with this little diatribe….. can’t have that….. I guess I’ll have to use the rip-stop method, and get us out of here the hard way, before this gets any worse….
Shall we Pearl?…..
“I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.” — ee cummings
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“Only the educated are free.” — Epictetus
If we are to believe Epictetus, it is our duty as free men and women to educate ourselves… In view of that, here are some articles from the recent past, taken from several different news sources… Some of you may note the absence of material from SFGATE, which I formerly used extensively….. I’m sorry to say, the folks who run that site have gone bonkers; they’ve altered the look and feel of it until it now resembles the National Enquirer for sleaze level of the covered material, and increased even further the use of auto-play videos, advertisements, and just plain BS until my computer seized up while trying to load it…. So, I gave up on it, and confine myself to other sources on the Net, of which there is no lack…
That said, the articles today mostly focus on the lies being told to us by the Obama Administration, which are merely a continuation of the same line of bullshit they’ve been doling out for close to seven years now. Despite having made the promise, twice, to display transparency in his administration, this president has pursued a course of lies, secrecy, and clandestine spying on not only the rest of the world, but, on his own people. When confronted about any of it, they become obtuse, and even more lies come out of their mouths, which, given the previous events, is quite astonishing in its volume, and degree of chutzpah, otherwise known as unmitigated gall….
The revelations by Edward Snowden are being confirmed and justified at every turn…. Below, you will find one article which speaks to the extent of the spying, and how we, the people, can, and are, learning to show exactly how they are spying on us, and on everyone, graphically and accurately…. I’ve included a nine minute video describing the responsible artists vision, with accompanying links to the review, and to the You Tube site where other videos of the same nature may be found….
Stay alert, ffolkes, the Asininnies are doing everything in their power to shut us all down; nothing would make them happier than to completely take over the Internet from public control, so, we need to stay on top of what they are up to, in order to at least offer a token resistance… if not outright revolution, an alternative much of the world is seemingly finding increasingly attractive….
With each article, I’ve included, below the link, a pertinent excerpt from the article’s text, or a short comment, to give a notion of the material upon which to focus your attention…. At the end, you’ll find another old-school pearl, to deliver the final blows for this section, hopefully to good effect…. Okay, ffolkes, dig in!….. Remember! An educated voter is a danger to all politicians, so, educate yourselves!…. http://www.examiner.com/article/nsa-document-supports-whistleblower-claim-of-alien-ufo-communication-program
“…the US National Security Agency headquarters in Maryland, the National Reconnaissance Office in Virginia and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in Virginia. These agencies, which respectively lead national security, run spy satellites and manage mapping intelligence, had a combined budget request of more than $25bn in 2013”
More proof of the lack of White House transparency; this project has been running for Obama’s ENTIRE TERM OF OFFICE, with only occasional, small, buried articles like this one, with no hard information, and no admissions or comments from the White House, or military officials, as to just WHAT they are hoping to accomplish with these missions…. Again, not a bit of transparency that I can see…. http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/oct/13/st-louis-protests-religious-leaders-messages-anger-ferguson-activists
“In the early hours of Sunday morning, dozens of activists attempted to occupy a convenience store in support of Myers. The police arrested 17 people for unlawful assembly”
Okay, the last one is a different subject, but, you’ll note the italicized phrase at the end…. I thought the Constitution made assembly for protest lawful…. How is it possible to make laws that abrogate that? Just wondering….. Okay, here’s the pearls, which I hope makes them bleed profusely from numerous serious wounds about the neck and shoulders…. those portions, conveniently enough, they always show on TV, when they assume their “talking head” personae…. Oh, and just for fun (well, fun for ME….) I have placed two extra pearls at the end, which take a couple shots at the other side of that coin, the religious dogmatists who support the talking heads with their preaching….
“I don’t pick on politicians. They ain’t done nothin’.” — Red Skelton
“If you’re facing the richest and most disgusting conspiracy in history, you have to do more than stick up two fingers and say “peace”. — Ben Elton, Stark
“The maxim that “Honesty is the best policy” is one which, perhaps, no one is ever habitually guided by in practice. An honest man is always before it, and a knave is generally behind it.” — Richard Whately, Archbishop of Dublin
“An accommodating vice is better than an obstinate virtue.” — Motto engraved over the entrance to the chambers of the Supreme Court of the United States
“Them that has, gets.” — Iron Law of Distribution
“The louder he talked of his honour, the faster we counted our spoons.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), “Worship”
“A plague of all cowards, I say.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act ii, Sc. 4
——————-
“No creo en Dios, pero le tengo miedo.” [I don’t believe in God, but I’m afraid of Him.] — Gabriel Garcia Marquez, — “El Amor en los Tiempos de Colera”, 1985
“The church is actually patronized by the social order as a means of stabilizing and perpetuating the existing system.” — C. C. Morrison
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Though it’s out of order, the poetry section remains the anchor for all the rest; today, we’ll go for a classic author, one whose reputation is beyond any harm I can cause by association….
All Is Truth
O ME, man of slack faith so long!
Standing aloof–denying portions so long;
Only aware to-day of compact, all-diffused truth;
Discovering to-day there is no lie, or form of lie, and can be none,
but grows as inevitably upon itself as the truth does upon
itself,
Or as any law of the earth, or any natural production of the earth
does.
(This is curious, and may not be realized immediately–But it must be
realized;
I feel in myself that I represent falsehoods equally with the rest,
And that the universe does.)
Where has fail’d a perfect return, indifferent of lies or the truth?
Is it upon the ground, or in water or fire? or in the spirit of man?
or in the meat and blood? 10
Meditating among liars, and retreating sternly into myself, I see
that there are really no liars or lies after all,
And that nothing fails its perfect return–And that what are called
lies are perfect returns,
And that each thing exactly represents itself, and what has preceded
it,
And that the truth includes all, and is compact, just as much as
space is compact,
And that there is no flaw or vacuum in the amount of the truth–but
that all is truth without exception;
And henceforth I will go celebrate anything I see or am,
And sing and laugh, and deny nothing.
~~ Walt Whitman ~~
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Shameless, aren’t I? Today’s video section is devoted to CUTE…. and what is cuter than puppies? Nothing, but, perhaps, kittens (See tomorrow’s Pearl…. Never say I don’t give ffolkes what they want….)
In just a few minutes yesterday, Smart Bee offered up these seven pearls, grouped just as they are…. Obviously, they comprise a comment SB decided was either important, or at minimum, helpfully relevant, on human nature, and the process of deciding what sort of human we wish to be…. After the seven-star pearl is a separate pearl, which stands alone, but, makes a very cogent, as well as hilarious observation as to the proper perspective in which to hold our personal world-view….
Well, maybe that’s a bit high-minded, but, it did make me laugh, loud and long, with a strong sense of sardonic resignation… or, perhaps, it was irony I felt, along with a strong sense of wonder, at the depths of human ignorance; the wonder arises from the astonishing fact of our survival for this length of time….
“He is never less at leisure than when at leisure.” — Cicero (106-43 BC) — De Officiis, iii, 1
“A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword.” — Richard Burton (1577-1640)
I slept and drempt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was duty.
I acted and beheld that duty was joy.
— Rabindranath Tagore
“If you don’t know where you’re going, when you get there you’ll be lost.” — Yogi Berra, Baseball Hall of Famer, NY Yankees
“It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.” — Albert Einstein –
“Time is a great teacher but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.” — Hector Berlioz (1803-69), French composer
Ode to an Indispensable Man
Sometime, when you’re feeling important,
Sometime, when your ego’s in bloom,
Sometime, when you take it for granted
You’re the best qualified in the room;
Sometime when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow this simple instruction
And see how it humbles your soul.
Take a bucket and fill it with water;
Put your hand in it, up to the wrist.
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining
Is the measure of how you’ll be missed.
You may splash all you please when you enter,
You can stir up the water galore,
But stop, and you’ll find in a minute
That it looks the same as before.
The moral in this quaint example
Is to do the best that you can.
Be proud of yourself, but remember –
There is no indispensable man.
~~ Saxon White Kessinger ~~
As the final note, mentioned above:
“A priest was walking along the cliffs at Dover when he came upon two locals pulling another man ashore on the end of a rope. “That’s what I like to see”, said the priest, “A man helping his fellow man”. As he was walking away, one local remarked to the other, “Well, he sure doesn’t know the first thing about shark fishing.” — Smart Bee
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Okay, it’s a lot, so, I’ll keep this short…. Today’s Pearl has been brought to you by….. wait a minute! We have no corporate sponsors here! Get that out of here!…. Okay, whew, sorry…. didn’t see the little bugger until he jumped up & tried to give his pitch…. Any who, I’m done, and I think we can all get behind that today, right? Right….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
gigoid 