Never argue with a spoon….

Posted on August 16, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Anyone who has got a book collection/library and a garden wants for nothing.”

~~ Cicero ~~

The Survivor Bonsai ~ 100+ years old, survived Hiroshima Atomic Blast

Image from UK Telegraph on the 60th Anniversary of the Bombing of Hiroshima

Good morning…. The rather simple title for today’s Pearl took me an inordinate amount of time to create; although there are no set parameters for the title, nothing suitable floated up in my mind, for what seemed like forever. I finally settled on the simple vagueness you see, simply because it was the first one close to acceptable. In a way, it reflects perfectly how this whole deal will progress today, as I just don’t seem to be able to pull it together….

Ah, well, we’ve been here before, haven’t we? Well, I have, anyway. And, I don’t much like it here, so, I’m going to again go with our most ruthless intro technique, wherein I just give up in the middle, dumping us down the page. I hate to use it, but, it’s obvious we’ll never get anywhere unless I do…. I’ll ask y’all to kindly tighten up those restraining belts; Luigi hates to do it this way…. Hang on, we’re going in….

Shall we Pearl?….

“…there are periods of history when the visions of madmen and dope fiends are a better guide to reality than the common-sense interpretation of data available to the so-called normal mind. This is one such period, if you haven’t noticed already.” — The Illuminatus! Trilogy

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royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573

You may ask, but, I can’t tell you, because I’m not paying attention. All I know is, it’s classical music, designed for children to listen to, for relaxation and fun. No, I don’t know why I picked it, but, yes, it’s pretty good…. I hope you enjoy it, non sequitor as it may be….

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Classical Music for Children

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https://youtu.be/pd4j9osCNT4

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“IDIOT, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot’s activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but “pervades and regulates the whole.” He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions and opinion of taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

A most perfect opening for a rant on today’s world, wouldn’t you say? Naturally, it presents itself on a day when my brain is incapable of handling it with any aplomb. Rather than waste it completely, I’ll merely add an archived rant, which will, if nothing else, justify its use…. It speaks to the very issue outlined by our friend Ambrose, in a way…. Close enough for our purposes, anyway…. It’s a little long, but, hey, y’all don’t have anything better to do, right?….

From January 9, 2013:

“Is this an out-take from the “BRADY BUNCH”?” — Zippy the Pinhead

I’m rather hoping it is, in sooth…. if not, we all are in serious trouble, up the proverbial creek without a hint of a paddle. Not that it should be anything new or unfamiliar, as most of our history has been spent thus occupied. Of course, previous centuries didn’t have the distinct advantage of having either the Brady’s, or Zippy, in all his insane wisdom, as cultural icons, as well as ethical touchstones….. They had to make do with Socrates, and Plato, and stuffy old guys like that….. Aristotle was practically a rock star in his day, and remains a pretty smart dude, by all evidence, but I still prefer Carlin, I think, for the most cogent philosophy for modern times….

“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.” — The Constitution of the United States of America Amendment 6, 1791

For a moment, I wondered what my unconscious mind was thinking when it made me copy and paste this amendment into the pearl, as a pearl…. especially as it seems to be in conjunction with the Zippy quote…. Here I am, five minutes later, still wondering what the hell I was thinking…. It happens that way sometimes…. just give me a few moments here, and I’ll come up with it…. Aha! Got it! Naturally, I only needed to go back to basics…. The answer to the question of how the two quotes are related is…. Reality….

Aye, that’s right, reality. It’s what we do here, explore reality, and all its implications, ramifications, and delineations. Also, it’s temperature. Well, perhaps that isn’t the right word, but…. Reality, as is clear and obvious to the most casual observer, exists in varying degrees (hence: temperature…. see?). The degree of reality that is included in an out-take from the Brady Bunch is clearly not the same degree of reality that is implied in the Sixth Amendment. I’d say, the Amendment would hit around 8 or 9 on the real scale, with 10 being the Reality of Amber, where all roads lead. (See Roger Zelazny’s book, The Courts of Amber…..), whereas the highest the Brady’s could hope for would be a 2 or a 3 on that same scale. They’re too oppositional in nature to be rated otherwise, as well as being on opposite ends of the scale of Relative Importance to ME and YOU…..

Now we get to the meat of this matter…. Of late, there has been a lot of public discourse regarding gun control, as a result of the media’s steadfast love of gore and manipulation. Another school shooting took place a few weeks ago, wherein some crazy idiot got hold of some firearms and used them in an insane manner. This, of course, all morality aside, is still a reprehensible act, and, IMHO, most easily solved by just taking one of his own guns and using it on him, at the time of his crime. Bang, problem solved, and since he’s standing there over the bodies he has made, no question of guilt. In such cases, the why of his guilt should not matter; whatever it is, it is reason enough to put him down, in defense of humanity. The other questions can be answered after the children have been defended….

Sadly, there are two segments of humanity who don’t agree with this logical outcome. One segment is what I term the humanitarians, a misleading term, since it usually involves the denial of much of human nature. The other, of course, is our old nemesis, the BRC…. our Beloved Ruling Class…. Neither of these groups will agree that allowing people to have guns should be allowed, or that killing the killers is a proper solution for the issue. In both of these positions, they are dead wrong, and, more, they know they are. This serves to make their arguments more shrill, more emotionally based, and, in their eyes, more valid, in some strange form of weird logic….

“Everybody in this room is wearing a uniform, so don’t kid yourself…” — Frank Zappa

One of the most edifying parts of this discussion, for me, is how it makes it so easy to identify those who are wearing the uniforms, and from what camp they are from, according to their colors and insignia. You can tell the humanitarians, they’re the ones wearing the faux-camouflage pants, in support of the troops, they’ll assure you; they want the police to be the only ones who carry guns, believing, for some unknown reason, that police are somehow more moral or ethical than other people. (Of course, they also would have trouble if you asked them to define the words, “moral”, or “ethical”, in any other terms than those used in a philosophy paper they memorized in college, or in seminary….)

The BRC are always easy to spot, as their sense of entitlement provides them with all the armor against opinion, or law, they ever need. They want guns to be only held by the militia, (which they control), or the police (whom they also control), because it makes them nervous as hell to know there are guns out in the land, in the hands of people who would use them, for certain, if they attempt to perform their illegal lying, cheating, and stealing anywhere in their presence. It also makes them nervous knowing that they would be in danger for real, if the truth about what they do is ever made public with enough evidence to convince the masses to act…. They don’t want to have to worry they will be over-matched in firepower when that day comes along….

SIGH…. I’ve opened a can of worms, again, I know it….. I’m not going to claim to have all the right answers to the situation we find ourselves in today. Though it is a different world, technologically and culturally, from the time when the Second Amendment was written, deciding to abandon its precepts on that basis is not, and should never be, enough to justify any change in a law that is so important to the common man, the very people for whom the laws were created, to protect them from the self-same usurpation that is now being attempted. Once the law is amended, and weakened, the term “slippery slope” becomes very real, and a valid fear for those people.

To put a cap on it for now, I’ll say this…. Quite simply, I do not trust those who would take the right to bear arms from the people. I have seen NO evidence, in history, or in recent current events, that ANY governing body, or ANY group, or ANY single person, of ANY persuasion can be trusted to have guns, and use them solely for the benefit of the people, without turning them to their own purposes, first. NONE. You can’t show me any, either…. Go ahead, I’m listening….

I have studied people every day of my life, and I know too much of human nature to ever believe what I’m told of another person’s intentions; even the best intentions can change in mid-stream, turning its back completely on any commitments made previously. People lie, they cheat, they break in their minds, and they can’t, as a whole, ever be trusted to act rationally on a consistent basis….. at least, not any more rationally than can I myself….

“In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.” — Oscar Wilde

Such being the case, I’d rather keep my guns, thanks. I’ll accept the risks that go with that freedom, which includes the risk of bad people getting their hands on guns, and doing bad things to others. Don’t worry, if they do it in front of me, I’ll help…. and not by running away and hiding…. Life is dangerous, ffolkes, and one either learns to get along with that idea, or one spends a lot of time worrying about shit that can’t be changed…. A very unhappy state of affairs, to my way of thinking, and not very realistic in the long run….

“When the panorama of human existence becomes chaotic and confused, it is quite soothing to watch the sun rise in the East.” ~~ gigoid

Note from the future (today, 8/16/2015): I’ll leave you with a quote I find to be a very good way to explain to people just why I do this at all….

“Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. It is better to know even if the knowledge endures only for the moment that comes before destruction than to gain eternal life at the price of a dull and swinish lack of comprehension of a universe that swirls unseen before us in all its wonder. That was the choice of Achilles, and it is mine, too.” — Isaac Asimov, The New Hugo Winners

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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 ~~

Written 4/30/2013.

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I was going to try to create a fresh, old-school pearl for this section, but, Smart Bee doesn’t wish to cooperate today. I did manage to pull out the following pearl though, which, due to its nature, and construction, is capable of acting as a solitary pearl, of the same weight and value of an entire seven-star necklace… I’d say, Mr. Futagil has the proper credentials to make his words of value to all of us…. Enjoy!….

Eat less and chew well.
Ride less and walk often.
Have fewer clothes and launder often.
Worry less and work harder.
Waste less time, and continue to learn.
Talk less and listen more.
Frown less and laugh often.
Speak less and act more.
Blame less and praise others.
Take less and give a hundred times over.

~~ Kenzo Futagil, describing the secrets of life. ~~

~~ He lived well over a hundred years. ~~

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Today’s Pearl is one of those I’m happy to have completed; the internal cost of such days approaches the red zone on the spreadsheet of Life, so, I’m always glad when it’s done…. Now all I have to do is get through the rest of today, dealing with the nonsense and idiocy so commonly found outside the room where my computer lives…. I suppose, given how the day began, I’d best get started, before Time itself comes to a complete halt…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; I’ve come to realize there’s no choice…. not for 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.

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Still dubious after all these years….

Posted on June 22, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“It is in changing that things find repose”

~~ Heraclitus ~~

A Case in Point for Heraclitus

Good morrow, by all reports…. We’ll try to keep it that way…. In fact, we’ll do that now….

Shall we Pearl?

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

~~ Confucius ~~

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You might think the logo for today’s video section is an error; it is not. I am doubtful (what else is new?) I will find a rant in me today, as I got much of my built up angst out with yesterday’s outburst…. To sublimate, today’s video will be our rant for today, with an indictment from our friend John Oliver against the most hated organization in our government, bar none, save perhaps the assholes we personally elected….

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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

The IRS

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https://youtu.be/Nn_Zln_4pA8

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Yesterday, I ranted quite a bit against the machine, so to speak; as the following proves, this is not the first time I’ve explored the particular aspect of current events under discussion there. Back in 2012, prior to the presidential election, I wrote a politirant in a very similar vein, which, in some respects, goes even further toward explaining the issue clearly…. Here then, to continue the discussion began yesterday, from a bit less than three years ago….. (SIGH…. not much progress has been made, has it?….)….

From 7/31/2012:

“I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That “all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people…” To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.” — Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1791

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

These statements are truth. They can all be proven, if necessary, using documentation that is available to anyone in public archives. What you decide to do with that truth is up to you, as it always is…. What will you do with it?…..

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While looking for the rant you see above, I found the following poem, by one of my absolute favorite poets, which works very well in tandem with the material today…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

A Bronze Head

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

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

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

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

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

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Today’s final pearl is a classic. Full of good advice on living Life at Large, and living it with honor and serenity…. It also came together in two short sessions with SB, so, hallelujah!…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this pearl is one for the ages…

“Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.” — Zen koan

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“The psychic task which a person can and must set for himself is not to feel secure, but to be able to tolerate insecurity.” — Erich Fromm

“Believing ourselves to be possessors of absolute truth degrades us: we regard every person whose way of thinking is different from ours as a monster and a threat and by so doing turn our own selves into monsters and threats to our fellows.” — Octavio Paz

“Always take the short cut; and that is the rational one. Therefore say and do everything according to soundest reason.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 51

“Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.” — H. G. Wells

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It’s probably a good thing today’s effort went as smoothly as it did; even now, being done, I feel on edge, as if the world is ready to shatter at the slightest bit of turmoil…. Ah well, probably just my subconscious, telling me to stay alert; the trumpets heralding Armageddon could conceivably blow any moment…. But, if we manage to make it through another day without committing species suicide, well, then, you’ll see me here tomorrow, delivering another load of nonsense, vitriol, and an occasional bit of rhyme…. See y’all then, ffolkes, if my luck holds….

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.

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Off with their Keds!….

Posted on June 20, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Cat philosophy: When in doubt, cop an attitude.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Your will is my will….

Good morning…. For someone such as myself, deeply connected to the power of the Metaphorse, the feeling with which I awoke today is terrifying…. I can’t seem to find any understanding of metaphor anywhere; my mind sits and stares blankly, just trying to make some sense of the simple, uncomplicated expressions with which I am presented, such as the fine statement of confusion, below, from our old pal Zippy…. Anyone with the most simple understanding of such matters would realize Zippy was just looking for condiments; he was probably holding a Polish Dog, so he was temporarily overcome by the olfactory stimuli…. He has such a sensitive proboscis, after all…

Nonetheless, we have a job to do…. It’s a tough job, cleaning out a mind like gigoid’s every day, but, it has to be done, or the Space/Time Continuum would take a severe beating, and nobody wants that…. So, rather than whine any more, let’s just get on with it, hoping against all hope that Smart Bee isn’t in the mood for bullshit…. I’m afraid, if that’s the case, it could get a little messy before we’re done…. Oh, well, no choice, so, let’s get on with it….

Shall we Pearl?

“Is a tattoo real, like a curb or a battleship? Or are we suffering in Safeway?” — Zippy the Pinhead

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Groucho & Carmen

Image from Pinterest.com via Google Images

Since we began the day with silly, it behooves us to continue in the vein…. What could be sillier than Groucho?….

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Copacabana

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https://youtu.be/JgaaBYchKcc

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In February of this year, I created a pearl of good quality, which I ended up giving a title, an extremely unusual event, to be sure. It seems to be the right choice for today’s ranting section, simply to avoid any conflict with the tone of the rest of today’s effort…. In short, it seemed like the right thing to do, so, deal with it…. Really, it’ll be fine….

From 2/12/2014:

I’ve never gone for titling Pearls of Virtual Wisdom, or pearls, either, for that matter. For this one, though, if I were asked to give it a title, it would have to be:

The Rise and Fall of Homo Erectus

We shall never cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

~~ T. S. Eliot ~~

“Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.” — Isaac Asimov

“Everything is simpler than you think and at the same time more complex than you imagine.” — Goethe

“Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true.” — Demosthenes

“Expedients are for the hour; principles for the ages.” — Henry Ward Beecher

“If a man could pass through Paradise in a dream, and have a flower presented to him as a pledge that his soul had been there, and if he found that flower in his hand when he awoke – Aye, and what then?” — Coleridge, “Anima Poetae”

Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,–
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
Another race the following spring supplies:
They fall successive, and successive rise.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ The Iliad of Homer, Book vi, Line 181 ~~

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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 ~~

“Poetry–even bad poetry–may be our final hope.” — Edward Abbey

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Okay, that does it…. This is the last time I give SB, or anyone, for that matter, free rein to pick out their own pearls…. The following nine-star group of gems (for lack of a better word) has to be the strangest damn pearl I’ve ever seen…. But, it all hangs together, and, damn it all if it doesn’t make a weird kind of sense…. You tell me….

“You can lead a yak to water but you can’t teach an old dog to make a silk purse out of a pig in a poke.” — Opus

“Happiness is inward, and not outward; and so, it does not depend on what we have, but on what we are.” — Henry Van Dyke

“To say yes, you have to sweat and roll up your sleeves and plunge both hands into life up to the elbows. It’s easy to say no, even if it means dying.” — Jean Anouilh

“While all things have their opposites, it is also true that in each the spirit of the opposite exists. — Hazrat Inayat Khan, Sufi writer

“I reject that philosophy. The impossible often has a kind of integrity which the merely improbable lacks.” — Douglas Adams through Dirk Gently

“Clay is moulded to make a vessel, but the utility of the vessel lies in the space where there is nothing. … Thus, taking advantage of what is, we recognize the utility of what is not.” — Lao Tzu

“If a camel flies, no one laughs if it doesn’t get very far.” — Paul White

“So, this doesn’t mean anything, but at least it’s not obvious nonsense.” — Hugh Young

“‘Scuze me while I kiss the sky…” — Jimi Hendrix, Purple Haze

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I think, maybe, tomorrow, I will take a bit more interest in what takes place here…. Today’s effort, such as it is, was brought to you by the number 13, and through the kind auspices of that fine old philanthropic institution, Bones For Bozos; fortunately, for them AND us, they didn’t know anything about it. I’ll be back tomorrow, to see if some sort of amends can be made to all who were offended by today’s nonsense…. We’ve got a slush fund that may be able to help any who suffered DNA damage…. As long as I’m not incarcerated at some undisclosed location, 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.

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

There arose a great tumult….

Posted on May 17, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

He said that there was one only good, namely, knowledge;

and one only evil, namely, ignorance.”

~~ Diogenes Laertius — Socrates, xiv ~~

Image by Manish Mamtani from Space.com

http://www.manishmamtani.com/

Good morning…. It’s a good thing I came up with the new method for these intros; on days such as this, when my mind is a vast, blank plain, without even the smallest of shiny objects, anywhere to be seen…. Instead of worrying over it, we’ll merely go on to the next section, knowing we’re covered…. See ya down the page, ffolkes….

Shall we Pearl?

“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.” — Mark Twain

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yakko__wakko__and_dot_by_slomoto-d5qotz9

Image from slowmoto at deviantart.com via Google Free Images

Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, the Warner Brothers (and Sister), are the only modern cartoon I like; they hearken back to a crazier age…. Just my cuppa tea, so to speak…. Here’s a playlist with a LOT of their cartoons…. Enjoy!….

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Yakko, Wakko, & Dot

The Animaniacs

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https://youtu.be/DVyo7FuU4pU?list=PLorl-IXETJHEfkP2oSc0tNvFtRlaXBmrL

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“Do you ever think about the end of the world as we know it?”

~~ Calvin ~~

I do…. It can be a rather daunting task to carry any such examinations to a final conclusion, for, most of the time, my calculations put us humans much closer to our own moment of truth, as a species, than anyone cares to either admit, or address, without panicking, laying blame, or, attempting to minimize the truth, to make it more palatable. From what I see happening in today’s world, both on the environmental, and the psychosocial/political/cultural fronts, it isn’t going to be long at all before we are faced with a number of severe crises, all of which will threaten our very survival as a species, or, as a civilized culture, should we be fortunate enough to survive at all….

In a general sense, I’m not certain we deserve to survive. Human history is little more than a long litany of sorrow, pain, death, and abuse of our fellow creatures, including the weakest members of our own species. Wars, political chicanery, more wars…. history is rife with Man’s inhumanity to Man, and to the other creatures with whom we share the planet. We have killed whenever we felt like it, for as little reason as the desire for power, a sickness afflicting a significant portion of the male half of the species. Nothing more than personal wants are considered sufficient reason for some to take and take and take, never considering the effects of their actions on any other living thing, nor caring….

Yet, there is good in life. A great many people are compassionate, and live to serve others, at least to the extent they love. There are a great many intelligent people, who have plumbed the secrets of the physical universe, bringing the advantages of the power of imagination to ease the lives of many others, as well as to help provide the species with the time to explore the limits of that imagination…. Art, Philosophy, Medicine, Music, all the finer characteristics of an advancing civilization have been created by the same creatures who kill for fun…. We are, for certain, a creature of great contrast; Our nature, quite naturally, mirrors the nature of reality, to wit: both good and evil coexist, as two sides of one coin, at the very core of both…

This leads, patently, to some confusion, especially in those members of our species whose power of imagination, and basic wit, are not sufficient to allow them to fully understand this concept. (Yes, I just called a lot of people “stupid”. I was trying to be nice….) This, of course, leads to a basic misunderstanding of their own nature; some people have a lot of trouble with the ambiguity that naturally exists in nature. It frightens them, as does anything they do not understand…. This fatal flaw allows them to be manipulated by any other person they have learned to trust, accepting the thoughts of others as their reality, rather than learning to face their fear, to learn what they do not know. Learning is hard; faith is easy…

“The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind.” — H. L. Mencken

I admire H. L. Mencken; he wrote at the turn of the twentieth century, some time after the time called the Industrial Revolution had come to pass, solidifying technology as the primary focus of society in its advance, while simultaneously witnessing the usurpation of our democracy by the corruption of the Judicial Branch, which, bribed almost openly by corporate interests, passed laws cementing the control of the oligarchs, who now had the reins of government, industry, and the economy firmly grasped in their fat, avaricious fingers….. H. L. was fearless in pointing this out to the society of the time…. Did anyone listen? Apparently, not much….

“Government, today, is growing too strong to be safe. There are no longer any citizens in the world; there are only subjects. They work day in and day out for their masters; they are bound to die for their masters at call. Out of this working and dying they tend to get less and less.” — H.L. Mencken

Sound familiar? George Orwell’s novel, “1984”, detailing the horrors of the possible future of mankind, should the current cultural trends continue, was published in the mid-twentieth century, in 1949, many years after Mencken’s comments. Today, society does not look much different from the one proposed by Orwell; it’s been said that, of the more than one hundred predictions made in the book regarding society, ALL of them have come to pass…. I can believe it; anyone who doesn’t can just read the news headlines for a couple days to find graphic proof of how true it is….

“If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.” — Isaac Asimov

As far as I can tell, this is obvious. Yet, we continue to use the same old methods of problem solving so poorly used for millennia; sometimes I think the whole species is insane, for it doesn’t make any sense to keep using ideas and actions that don’t work…. SIGH…. It’s really frustrating to think of how stupid people act a lot of the time, especially when I know that stupidity is a choice….

Oh well…. such is life, they say. I’m tired of hearing it, but, what can ya do? Not much. In fact, for right now, I’m so damn depressed over the state of the world, I’m going to STOP ranting, and go do something more fun… You should do the same…

Go on… Find something constructive to do, ffolkes…. Go on, I mean it….. We’re done here…..

“He was a man, which, as Plato saith, is a very inconstant creature.”

~~ Plutarch ~~

~~ On the Tranquility of the Mind ~~

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As noted, I’ve had quite a bit of pain lately; s’okay. We’ve become old friends, me & my pain…. Here’s a poem I wrote another time I felt this way for a while….

Elemental, dear Watson….

Don’t worry,
it’s not
me
you hear
screaming.

It is
only
my bones,
giving in,
to
cowardly,
pathologically,
repetitive,
fucking,’
complaints
of
past abuse,
and
all the fun
we had.
playing,
hard.

I don’t mind
too much;
I can spend my
TIME
in another space
in my head,
pretending
my bones
don’t
exist….

It
is,
indeed,
a shame
they
always
come
back….

Fuck.

It
hurts.

More proof,
I guess,
either
God isn’t,
or,
He is.

He isn’t?
Oh,
Well….

Ante up.
Deal.

He is?
Then,
I don’t fucking care
who
doesn’t like it,

I say,

He
is
a bully,
a coward,
a hypocrite,
and,
truly,
an enormous asshole.

I suppose,
God
is
what comes,
to,
and
from,
People,

because

they
feel
a need,
for
someone
to
blame,
for
a
Universe
they
cannot
understand
or
accept.

I
will
take the complaints.

After all,
they
are
my bones.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 9/14/2014.

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Today’s old-school pearl speaks very simply of life, and some of the rules, and/or ideas to remember, to help us to live it well….

“Do every act of your life as if it were your last.” — Marcus Aurelius

“Custom does often reason overrule and only serves for reason to the fool.” — John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester

“Often when he was looking on at auctions he would say, “How many things there are which I do not need!” — Diogenes Laertius — Socrates, x

“Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of happiness.” — Lao-Tzu

“Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.” — Clive James

“You live and learn. Or you don’t live long.” — Lazarus Long

“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.” — Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

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What an ordeal!…. Actually, it went fairly smoothly, even if Smart Bee was in a snit…. None of it matters now, of course, as we’re done. Having done all the damage I can do for one day, I’ll take my leave, to gather my resources so I can try again tomorrow, to fulfill my never-ending quest to create the perfect Pearl of Virtual Wisdom…. As today’s episode indicates clearly, we have a ways to go…. 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.

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Portraits of affable wallet accessories….

Posted on May 8, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“In the dark time will there also be singing?”

“Yes, there will be singing about the dark time.”

~~ Bertolt Brecht

Artist’s rendition of proposed EUSA Lunar Base

Image from Space.com

Good morning, ffolkes…. The new, minimalist method I’ve developed for the intro section seems to have worked out fairly well… If I have aught to say, well, I can…. If not, such as today, it’s perfect…. Let’s let it do its thing, okay?….

Shall we Pearl?

“Passive activity income does not include the following: Income for an activity that is not a passive activity.” — IRS form 8583, Passive Activity Loss Limitation

And, don’t you forget it!….

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Image from wikipedia via Google free images

This little guy was my childhood hero; I never missed one of his cartoons on Saturday, for as long as I can remember…. Enjoy!….

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Mighty Mouse

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https://youtu.be/lxUPYqQ1Lrs

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“Written laws are like spiders’ webs, and will like them only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful easily break through them.”
— Anacharsis (f1. c. 600 B.C.), Scythian philosopher — Quoted in Plutarch, the Lives of the Nobel Grecians and Romans, Solon

I decided NOT to produce a fresh rant, though I certainly could; there’s plenty of stuff going on out in the BBR at which to pick…. But, I found this older piece that works just fine with the above stimulus quote, from a few years back…. It’s actually two pearls from the Pearl posted in March of 2012. Enjoy, ffolkes! It’s all real, not to mention still relevant….

From 3/27/2012:

“And it came to pass that in the hands of the ignorant, the words of the bible were used to beat plowshares into swords…” — Alan Watts

“…You don’t have many suspects who are innocent of a crime. That’s contradictory. If a person is innocent of a crime, then he is not suspected.” — Edwin Meese

Viewed in light of the first quote, if one may assume its veracity, even temporarily, for the sake of argument, the second quote, while disappointing in the extreme, is not as surprising as it might otherwise have been seen. Oh, where to begin a response to such an outrageous display of ignorance and bigotry? I count only 26 words here, and can think of at least 14 ways this is just wrong, just off the top of my head. It piles one false assumption on top of another until any glimmer of possible relation to the truth, or reality, is completely obscured. Unfortunate as it is, this mind-set is still all-too-common, especially amongst the political pundit review currently on parade.

As a matter of fact, this mind-boggling distortion of our actual laws on the subject, reminds me very strongly of three of our esteemed Republican candidates being followed avidly by the news-mongers, especially Mitt the Twitt…. in the last week alone (post Etch-A-Sketch), he has made, (and I, along with a fairly large number of bloggers & citizens keeping track, counted), at minimum, 19 apparently deliberate lies that involved vague accusations of impropriety by the current administration. Each and every one of these statements, when checked against reality, or what was reported in other media sources, was obviously made up on the spot, or completely in reverse of what actually occurred. He is so desperate to appear to be confident and forceful, he is completely oblivious to the fact that no one is buying into his nonsense any more; in response his lies get more and more removed from any connection to reality or truth. His two closest challengers are no better; they make a habit of making statements that have absolutely no bearing on the subject under discussion, or accuse the media of playing favorites to distract the audience from whatever question they attempting to avoid answering by doing so.

All of these men have lost touch with reality in a lot of areas, and their denial of this fact serves as further evidence of that loss. Their belief, that they have their finger on the pulse of the American people, is so far removed from the truth it approaches the realm of delusion. They have completely lost track of, or denied, any connection they may have once had to the rest of their countrymen, insisting that their out-dated, ignorant policies, that didn’t work 45 years ago, or 90 years ago, will nonetheless work in today’s changing face of global politics, while completely ignoring the mountain of evidence to the contrary. They have assumed the mantle of the fanatic, a segment of the population that has previously been clearly identified as those folks who, when they have lost sight of their goal, redouble their efforts. Sad, and a terrible waste of everyone else’s time and energy to have to even listen to such nonsense. They have given up their place in the human tribe, and don’t even know it…… Pathetic, if you ask me…..

Mi taku oyasin. (We are all related.) — Lakota belief
___________________________________

There are times when the pearls I find that stimulate me to want to write about them are found in clusters. Several at once, all closely related, or similarly themed, just throw themselves at me, clamoring for inclusion. On these occasions I’ve learned to let them have their way. It is just as effective a lesson as my comments usually can claim to be, and has the added bonus of requiring less actual work on my part; the authors I choose have all done my thinking, and expressing for me, and usually much better than my discussions. Below are some observations on politics, patriotism, and the price of liberty, from some pretty well-respected political observers……

“In a state-run society the government promises you security. But it’s a false promise predicated on the idea that the opposite of security in risk. Nothing could be further from the truth. The opposite of security is insecurity, and the only way to overcome insecurity is to take risks. The gentle government that promises to hold your hand as you cross the street refuses to let go on the other side.” — Theodore Forstmann

“My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one’s country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.” — Thomas Jefferson to A. Stuart, 1791

“I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.” — H. L. Mencken

“I don’t pick on politicians. They ain’t done nothin’.”– Red Skelton

“Don’t knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn’t start a conversation if it didn’t change once in a while.” — Kin Hubbard

(Don’t ask…. it just fit, that’s all…)

and finally….

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever,–
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never.

~~ William Shakespeare

~~Much Ado about Nothing — Act ii, Sc. 3~~

(Will was obviously channeling George Carlin…)

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Since I haven’t had it in me to rant much of late, here’s a poem about ranting….

A Few Words of Note

In place of ranting and raving about assholes every day
maybe I’ll try something more fun.
Rather than throwing words at all the assholes on public pay
I’ll switch to shooting at them, with a gun….

Should I actually hit one, purely by mistake,
maybe it would wake them up.
Maybe, if they had to think, or actually cut us a break,
we’d see a chance to win at life, to take a step up.

Our nation, such as it is today, was founded by men who told the truth;
that morality disappeared long ago.
Simple ethical strength so bright, so prevalent in our country’s youth
was soon corrupted, corporate interests now run the show.

Nothing would please me more than to fire off some rounds,
if only to gain their attention.
But, I can no longer run, I’ve gained too many pounds;
so, my keyboard and intellect must serve to fulfill my intention.

I won’t stop, of that you may be sure
I love my freedoms, and the philosophy from which it springs.
Tom, and Ben, and John, and Pat, those patriots pure
gave me their example, and the inner peace it brings.

If bullets won’t persuade our elected liars to toe the ethical line,
I’ll throw my most powerful words…..
If nothing else, it will make them wriggle to escape, or voice their pitiful whine,
thus exposing themselves for what they are…. plain and simple turds.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Ffolkes, THIS is a pearl; in might even be called a prototypical pearl. It’s a wonderful nine-star collection of some of Life’s lesser known lessons, couched in less than ordinary terminology, wrapped tightly in extreme metaphor, yet, each one with a valuable piece of information, each essential to getting the whole picture of Reality as it is, not as we guess it might be… Most are stuff you either already know, or, ought to; if not, well, there’s still time to learn, even for slow-learners…. not that I’d ever suggest any of MY Gentle Readers could be such…. All of them, I’m sure, will chuckle right to the end, then just go, “yep…” Well, the polite ones will…

“Ah said, pay attention, boy!”

~~ Foghorn Leghorn ~~

“If possible, try to find a way to come downstairs that doesn’t involve going bump, bump, bump, on the back of your head.” — Pooh, in Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne

“Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.” — Isaac Asimov

“It is folly for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.” — The Vatican Sayings, Epicurus

“It ain’t loafing unless they can prove it.” — Dick Brown

“I only took the regular course.” “What was that?” inquired Alice. “Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with,” the Mock Turtle replied; “and then the different branches of Arithmetic — Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.” “What else had you to learn?” “Well, there was Mystery,” the Mock Turtle replied, counting off the subjects on his flippers, — “Mystery, ancient and modern, with Seaography: then Drawling — the Drawling-master was an old conger-eel, that used to come once a week: HE taught us Drawling, Stretching and Fainting in Coils. I never went to the Classical master, though. He taught Laughing and Grief, they used to say.” — Lewis Carroll, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”

“If only we’d stop trying to be happy we’d have a pretty good time.” — Edith Wharton

“Nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’, but it’s free.” — Kris Kristofferson

“You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?”

~~ Steven Wright ~~

See. ffolkes? I’ve always told you, it’s all in the wrist….

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Yet another day’s duty done; it’s not a bad feeling. In fact, it’s so good, I’m taking it, and my leave…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, provided the Apocalypse isn’t scheduled for tomorrow….

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.

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

No response to palliative measures….

Posted on April 9, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Ask of friends only what is honorable.”

~~ Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.) ~~

Mineral Veins on Mars

Photo by NASA’s Curiosity Rover

I know it won’t work, but, still, I must make the effort…. Ah, well, much of humanity’s existence has been spent pursuing lives of futility, banging heads with Reality, all the while, casting desperately about to find someone, or something to blame for their hardships…. Finally, they discovered gods, and the die was cast…. Here, in religious delusion, men of weak will and small imagination found the perfect fall guy for all their fearful misconceptions of what happened around them, which they could not understand….

Now, several thousands of years later, we are suffering the consequences of basing one’s life on pushing blame onto others; the world, which we have abused and mistreated with severe ignorant ferocity, will soon be evicting us, in favor of ANYTHING else…. Not that I blame the Earth; we haven’t been the best of tenants, to be sure. It’s just a little frustrating for those of us who’d rather find a way to survive, and have no interest in blaming anything on anyone….

But, I suppose that’s a bit heavy for an intro section, eh? Bad habit of mine; one of these days, I’ll need to do something about that. Meanwhile, since I discovered my error, happily ceasing and desisting, we can use this opportunity to get the hell out of here, and on with the day’s nonsense and drivel production… I’m feeling a bit odd today, so, y’all might want to stay alert; no telling when something wet and wobbly will come flying around the corner…

In fact, I suggest you DUCK!!….. Okay, it missed, so, no worries…. And, look, it’s our exit, right over there, by the old cigar-store Indian with the Burma Shave haircut…. Let’s get out of here while we can….

Shall we Pearl?

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

~~ Lao-Tzu (fl. B.C. 600) ~~

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Daffy Duck by Captain Jack Harkness

For the mood I’m in, nothing else will do but a bit of Daffy….

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Daffy Duck

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https://youtu.be/DrOPSzW2flg

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Le Penseur ~~ August Rodin

It seems I’m unable to rant again; can’t seem to find enough angst in there to get started…. Here, then, is a piece I wrote on 10/6/2012, a rather long discussion of a number of topics, all related…. Enjoy, ffolkes, it’s a walk through my mind, such as it is….

From 10/6/2012:

It’s not every day I’m compelled to write about religion, politics, philosophy, and the Unified Field Theory, unless in separate pearls…. Taking them all on together might seem a bit egocentric of me, but I’ve never been one to dismiss a challenge, unless it was one that didn’t interest me… this one definitely hits all the high points of my particular bent, or bents, so what the hell, let’s see what happens…..

“Each religion, by the help of more or less myth which it takes more or less seriously, proposes some method of fortifying the human soul and enabling it to make its peace with its destiny.” — George Santayana

This idea is one that makes it possible for me to get through a lot of days without becoming homicidal toward a lot of people who bandy their religious beliefs about as if I were at all interested in them. I am aware that there have been a lot of good people throughout history, including current times, who are devout believers in one religion or another, and are sincere in their beliefs, and in their efforts to live their lives according to the precepts of their religions.

Some of them are even preachers, or priests of one sort or another, but the percentage in those categories of sincere belief is most certainly smaller than in the general public…. Let’s face it, most of those who go into the business do it because they aren’t any good at anything else, and the work is pretty easy…. Being a preacher is only hard if it gets taken seriously enough to try to help other folks, but most of the ones I’ve met are more concerned with convincing everyone of their piety to worry about actually helping…. and to most of them, the process of proving their own piety is accomplished by challenging everyone else’s beliefs, and sticking their noses into other people’s business….

One of the most insidious attractions of religion to many people, sad to say, is that it provides such a convenient vehicle for going through life without ever having to come up with an original thought or feeling. Every system of religious dogma, from no matter what cult, or division, or schism, or whatever it maybe called, is designed to give people answers to their questions about life and all the things that happen that they don’t understand, thus creating a sense of dependency. This is very convenient for political pundits, who manage to take advantage every time the preachers pull another scam on the public….

Unfortunately, those answers, comforting as they may be, seldom reflect reality very well, but are based rather on how that particular sect views the issue at hand…. and you can rest assured that those answers are designed to benefit the sect, and the preacher, in rather more ways than they will benefit the person with the questions…. But, I’m sure it is very comforting to know that if you just go along with what they say, you are somehow guaranteed something….. I never could understand that part very well, as there was nobody who could tell me just what was being promised…. other than I’d have to wait until I was dead in order to see it…. (The politicians like this one as well, because it gets people used to being told something, i.e. campaign promises, then having those promises unfulfilled…. )

“There are so many ways that we sabotage our own divinity, our own possibilities. and the mythologies of race and gender may well head the list.” — Callan Williams

Ah yes, the mythologies of race and gender…. Consider this…. each of us who are of the genus homo sapiens is a unique individual, no matter what color our skin, or whether we are male or female. Unique in our own right, beginning with the pattern of DNA that dictates and defines the characteristics of the organism that is each one of us. Unique. This is indisputable scientific fact. And yet, there are still people who choose to believe that there are characteristics shared by certain groups of homo sapiens that make them somehow superior or inferior to another group. Which of those characteristics they claim as exclusive is always based on articles of faith, and never on any physical evidence. The basis for these articles of faith are outlined in the myths, myths that ignorance breeds, born out of fear of the unknown….

These fears are pretty formless, as the people who have them don’t like to think about them. First, because then they feel uncomfortable, and being comfortable is preferable to thinking, no matter how much it may alleviate the fear. Second, it is also hard to clearly define something that one rejects all evidence of knowing about; the fear is a known factor, and knowledge is not. These behaviors are a very childish reaction to serious adult issues, but then, a large number of people never learn to deal with life after a certain age; the techniques of denial and avoidance that children rely on are hard for some to give up, especially in matters of emotional or psychological import.

“The ability to accept responsibility is the measure of the man.” — Roy L. Smith

This is very true, and actually would be claimed as their own by many folks who make a habit of refusing to even consider being responsible for anything outside their own little world. The flaw in their world-view is that they firmly hold that what they perceive is the only true way that the world CAN be perceived; they seem to be constitutionally unable to entertain any idea to the contrary. It makes compromise with them somewhat of a difficult proposition, as their belief in their own rightness gives them a feeling of entitlement, of believing that they can lie and cheat others without consequence, because the “others” are, as unbelievers, not worthy of honorable treatment. (Hmm, I can’t decide if this sounds more like a fundamentalist Christian, a ruthless business man, or a politician….. since it fits all three, I guess it fits Romney like a second skin…..)

“It is a great advantage for a system of philosophy to be substantially true.” — George Santayana

This second quote from Mssr. Santayana points out another flaw in the philosophy held by those who follow many religions, under their own interpretations of the scriptures that are used by them. This flaw is obviously based on the relatively inarguable fact that all of them are faith-based philosophies…. grand, well considered, beautifully constructed philosophies, whose basic premise is an entity whose existence cannot be evidenced in the physical world.

There are innumerable thoughtful and elegant “proofs” of the existence of these entities, all of which, again, are constructed entirely of words and ideas. Some use logic, some history, some use hope, some use delusion, and some use an amorphous idea that cannot be pinned down…. none of them have actual pieces of physical evidence that incontrovertibly points to the existence of such an entity. If anyone knows of one, or two, or more, please let me know of it/them; I would be very interested in the information, and its provenance, to be sure….

I have wandered far afield indeed in the realms of human thought today, and I’ll bet you thought I’d forget about the Unified Field Theory…. For those unfamiliar with the phrase, let me explain as succinctly as I can; this has gone on a long time, and I’m sure we all have better stuff to do, but, hey, I’m here, you’re here, so…. Any who, the Unified Field theory is a mathematical model of the universe that, in essence, explains and describes all the different types of energy that we know to exist in the Universe; Gravitational energy, Magnetic energy, Electric energy, Electromagnetic energy, Kinetic energy, Biochemical energy, life energy…. all are known to us, but we do not understand, even minimally, how they all interact, and how they are all inter-related as part of the Universe at large…. hence the unified theory. It hasn’t been written yet; it is still just a concept for the future of scientific endeavor, though Stephen Hawking is said to be working on coming up with one before he dies…. if anyone can, it is him.

In short, one theory to explain how it all works…. There are many, including Mr. Hawking, who believe that knowing this can possibly lead us to a closer idea of the answer to the Why it all works the way it does…. by design, or by chance? Did God lose a bet, or win one? Or is there some as yet unknown reason beyond our current ability to understand? Being able to SEE and KNOW how it all works can only give us clues about the origins of it all. Even if it doesn’t give us all the answers we seek, we will have a better understanding of the Universe, and ourselves, and thus, perhaps, a better idea of our true place in all of what we see…..

Whew! If you made it to here, you are indeed worthy…. and probably tired, confused, and a bit troubled with doubts as to my sanity. S’okay, I understand…. and I don’t blame you. I should have handed out warning notices at the beginning…. Ah well, t’was fun for me, and that will do….. Stop me, please, I can’t seem to shut up….. wait, don’t pull that pl……

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

I’m not late, but, I am lazy, so, here is a poem I wrote in January of this year…..

gigoid’s lament

Not a bit of all the pain I feel
is worse than all I see;
all worldly truth, solid and real,
has faded away, never to be free.

Honor stripped of all regard,
while compassion simply fails;
Ignorance , powerful, hard,
crows as reason wails.

Crushing resistance, mandating the vote,
selling illusion, smiling all the while.
Pundits, speaking purely by rote,
arrange all the lies in a tidy pile.

Stupidity ’tis said, is a risky choice;
the price is always the same.
Reality has no pity, no warning ever voiced,
only a gravestone, carved with, our name.
,
~~ gigoid ~~

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

From 2/12/2015:

The Rise and Fall of Homo Erectus

We shall never cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

~~ T. S. Eliot ~~

“Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.” — Isaac Asimov

“Everything is simpler than you think and at the same time more complex than you imagine.” — Goethe

“Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true.” — Demosthenes

“Expedients are for the hour; principles for the ages.” — Henry Ward Beecher

Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,–
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
Another race the following spring supplies:
They fall successive, and successive rise.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ The Iliad of Homer, Book vi, Line 181 ~~

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

Having reined myself in, finally, I’ll bring this to a rapid close…. It’s a bit choppy, but, it’s done; that’s all that counts around here at this time of day. To avoid any uncomfortable questions, however, I’ll take my leave rapidly, stage left…. 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.

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

What? You expected Yeats?….

Posted on February 26, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.”

~~ Buddha ~~

Celtic Castle, Ireland

One might think getting enough sleep would be a good thing, if only it didn’t play such havoc with routine. Having actually slept for a full eight hours, I feel relatively good, compared to most days. Being up so late, however, brings with it a small sense of panic, for leaving this Pearl to the last minute. SIGH…. Is it any wonder I drive myself crazy on a regular basis? I don’t guess it is….

It does mean, however, we are free to apply the most efficient form of introductory section, to wit; this kind, which has no other task but to get us down the page and on our way to watching the video for the day. Since today’s video is one I think everyone should enjoy, we’ll not use any tricks, or nonsense, or any of our usual methods of distracting y’all from the process….. which, ultimately, should be a good thing, if I can pull this off…. Here’s how it works…. Hang on tight, ffolkes, if this works, it’ll get a little rough….

Shall we Pearl?

“Somewhere, just out of sight, the unicorns are gathering.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

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

Yesterday’s video choice was such fun, we’ll go with another fine TV show from the same era…. This one wasn’t quite as sophisticated as The Addams Family, but, was just as popular, if only for the show’s primary star, Herman Munster, everyone’s favorite Frankenstein, in the style of The Stooges….

***********************

The Munsters S01E30 Country Club Munsters (Full Episode)

***********************

http://youtu.be/YFOA2xfPamo?list=PLjB1oGzn24fyd1xPbdHfOH5vlPdOaE-vQ

***********************

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

“Methinks I’m gonna, spew.”

~~ Smart Bee, in a poor imitation of Shakespeare ~~

From 9/24/2012:

It is time, the Walrus said, to speak of many things…… or at least one…..

“Shakespeare was an intellectual ocean, whose waves touched all the shores of thought; within which were all the tides and waves of destiny and will; over which swept all the storms of fate, ambition and revenge; upon which fell the gloom and darkness of despair and death and all the sunlight of content and love, and within which was the inverted sky lit with the eternal stars — an intellectual ocean — toward which all rivers ran, and from which now the isles and continents of thought receive their dew and rain.” — Robert G. Ingersoll (American lawyer and orator)

Now, to look at this, one might think that this Ingersoll person was a smart fella, having obviously read a lot of Shakespeare. I am forced to point out, however, that being able to read does not necessarily mean one can think, or that one is entitled to an opinion. There are clues within this statement that reveal its weaknesses, the foremost of which is that it is a large load of bullshit……

I, too, have read a lot of Shakespeare, though not by entirely by choice. At first, I read him because it was assigned in school by some ignorant English teacher who had fallen under the normal delusion taught in most schools about Will, i.e., his stuff was good…. when in reality, most of what he wrote is just a pile of shit piled really high, hidden in masses of flowery, obfuscatory language…. Afterward, I read him to find further examples of his failings to show people in proof of my assertion, to wit: he is the most over-rated, and most egregiously pandered-to author of all time….

Oh, he was prolific enough; as well, he wrote a lot of stuff that, by any standard, is fairly good…. However, given the massive PILE of stuff he wrote, the good stuff merely proves the law of averages. For the most part, what he wrote is too wordy by half, obscure in meaning that clouds the story, or has no connection to the story at all, tending to a flowery saccharine flavor by the choice of his words.

Will achieved a large popularity in his own time, either due to good press, or the normal bad taste of the public; I don’t really care. In today’s world, his story lines would be considered trite, sticking as he did to common themes, treated by virtually every author. In addition, his use of slang went completely overboard, turning what may have been decent rap, in his day, into such tripe it sounds like random noise, similar to the common run of rap today…. I’m often amazed at how many bad musicians there are in the world…. but, that’s a subject for another rant….

In order to demonstrate for you the absolute nonsense that flowed from his pen, I’ve included some samples of his work below…. they pretty much speak for themselves….. badly…… so I’ve added my comments in parentheses…..

O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon ‘t,
A brother’s murder.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act iii, Sc. 3

(Ooooh, such tension and horror….. NOT…. merely mundane, as far as I can tell…..)

“The venom clamors of a jealous woman poison more deadly than a mad dog’s tooth.” — William Shakespeare

(I’ll bet Will was real popular with the women of his time….. NOT)

Where the bee sucks, there suck I;
In a cowslip’s bell I lie.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Tempest — Act v, Sc. 1

(Huh? What? Is this part of the play?…..Which part?…. Which play?)

O, that he were here to write me down an ass!
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Much Ado about Nothing — Act iv, Sc. 2

(Don’t worry, Will, I’m here…..)

A plague of sighing and grief! It blows a man up like a bladder.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act ii, Sc. 4

(I suppose, if your society doesn’t yet have rubber, or balloons, a bladder is the best you have…..)

Most forcible Feeble.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act iii, Sc. 2

(Oh, aye, what a handy turn of phrase…. NOT… What does this mean?….)

They fool me to the top of my bent.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act iii, Sc. 2

(Uh, to where? I think more likely, he’s the one trying to fool…. the audience….)

O, never say hereafter
But I am truest speaker. You call’d me brother
When I was but your sister.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Cymbeline — Act v, Sc. 5

(Honestly, this sounds like something I’d write when really, really drunk, thinking it was hilarious…..)

Okay, that’s probably enough for one day…. I’ve got well over four pages full of stuff of his like these, so there is a lot to choose from…. Just doing what I can to spread the truth, as I see it…… and this truth needs telling, to get society away from this ridiculous celebrity worship when it comes to him, and to artists like him, who rely on public opinion more than Art to determine the value of their material…. Call me Ishmael, if you must…. just don’t forget to call me…..

Note from 2015: Just to show you I still feel the same as I did when I penned this little ditty, here is one I found when looking for a pearl to open this section…. You tell ME what it means, and I’ll give you a prize….

And be these juggling fiends no more believ’d,
That palter with us in a double sense:
That keep the word of promise to our ear
And break it to our hope.

~~ William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Macbeth, Act v, Sc. 8 ~~

(Anyone who can explain this to me satisfactorily will win the following grand prize…. I’ll send you all of these quotes from Willie S., personally recorded, verbally, in a Scottish accent, (Macbeth, get it?)…. on a CD, so you can play it all day and night, should you so choose to thus display your insanity…. Hey, I never said you’d LIKE the prize, did I?…. Nope….)

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

Over the last few days, I’ve felt a poem building up in my mind. Yesterday, after finally gaining some space from the pain that’s been dogging me for three days now (cold weather reaction by my arthritis, I think… ), I opened up a vein, and it leaked out onto the screen. Here ’tis, such as it is…. I’m not sure yet how I feel about it; the wound is too fresh…. I hope you like it, though…. Don’t ask me what any of it means, either; I’m not sure I could tell you…

Dead Hands,Typing…

Puzzled anew by anomalous blocks of pain
caught, bemused, chained to routine, insane.
Stilled within breathless beauty
Engaging epiphany, insistent, called to duty.

Knees bent in lieu of a faithful rendition
suffuses, confuses, locked into stale perdition.
Clearing corrosion with hands encased in stone
Singular frozen follicles, masked by bone.

Partial focus brings unfiltered flavors to light
coloring each particle in simple delight.
Forlorn, novel conceptual artists singing in tune
nine notes in harmony, soft as the moon.

Honed blades of carbon steel flash in rhyme,
filling sensual receptors well past closing time.
Borrowed from neighbors in a week-old game
still bloody, without a proper name.

No flooded memories can justify such cost
no simple stationery, bilious, afraid, lost.
Ten times ten will never be enough
To fill so empty a stolen trough.

Bartering simplicity takes well into the night
solidly temporary pillars turned bright.
Unknown to all the pretty children who came
none were called, none had any remaining flame.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

All I can say about this old-school pearl is, it’s done…. Not bad, either, for such a chunky collection; it actually does have a good, valid comment to make about the number 42…. with all that implies…. Go ahead, trust me. If you don’t, well, simply don’t inhale…. You probably won’t get it, but, you’ll live through it okay. Just don’t cancel that long-term insurance; you’ll most likely end up needing it some day….

Halfway down the stairs
Is a stair
Where I sit.
There isn’t any
Other stair
Quite like
It.
I’m not at the bottom,
I’m not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop.

~~ A.A. Milne ~~

“The highest compact we can make with our fellow is- “Let there be truth between us forevermore.”” — Emerson

“Bronze is the mirror of the form; wine, of the heart.” — Aeschylus (525-456 BC) — Frag. 384

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

“You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need.” — Vernon Howard

“Any idiot can face a crisis. It’s this day-to-day living that wears you out.” — Anton Checkov

“No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be…. — Isaac Asimov

“Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

The fastest draw is when the sword never leaves the scabbard.
The strongest way to block is never to provoke a blow.
And the cleanest cut is the one withheld.

~~ “Kensho”, by Dennis Schmidt ~~

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

All things considered, not too shabby….. It’s done, anyway, and I can go post it, post haste. Rather than torture y’all any further today, I’ll simply wave my hand (see?), type these last words, and be off into the day…. 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.

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Piled Deeper and Higher, on toast….

Posted on February 25, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I’m not paranoid – just a student of history.”

~~ gigoid, the dubious, stealing from Smart Bee ~~

I could rant, right here. ‘Twould be a simple task, given the picture above, taken in mid-winter in Northern California. But, having already been up for an hour, I don’t think I want to start ranting yet, in spite of having good reason. Three a.m. is too early in the day to start that kind of build-up of angst; the process becomes polluted with too much extra emotional force, supplied by anger at myself, for bozoid tendencies allowed to go rogue… The resultant mess takes me hours to clean up, even if it’s only in my head….

This getting old stuff is, well, getting old. Rather than complain about it, which we’ve all heard before, let’s try this…. Wait. No, better not. I remember last time…. Okay, how about this…. Hmm…. looks a little bedraggled. Maybe we’d best let that one rest a bit longer…. Alright, this is absurd. Wait here a minute, I’m going to go get a box from the closet….

Well, that’s a bummer. The box is gone; it must have gotten moved into storage…. Damn. Okay, at this point, rather than continue to wander around, clueless, I’m going to make another executive type decision, and hope nobody gets injured in the process…. We are now going to evacuate this introduction, in good order, single-file, right through the doorway in the rear of the vehicle. Your money won’t be refunded, but, it will be tormented. You won’t require a refund, as we are going directly into the water; you’ll be busy trying to breathe, and won’t have time to worry about it….

Now, if you will please begin filing through the doorway, the proctors will break your fall at the bottom…. Have fun, and tell the chief I’ll be by tomorrow to deliver his cut of the profits for today, would you? Thanks…. Okay, Jim, they’re off-boarded! Let’s get home before they figure out the combination to the chains….

Shall we Pearl?

“I don’t want to panic, but my alphabet soup says, “Forget about me … just try to save yourself.” — Tom Wilson (“Ziggy”)

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

Today’s video again takes us on a trip into the past, when TV didn’t pretend so much to be what it was not, showing no particular connection to reality beyond the natural drama ensuing when fantasy meets the real world, such as in Episode One, below …. In my mind, nobody ever played Gomez Addams better than John Astin…. Perfectly insane!…. Well, okay, Raul Julia was pretty fantastic in the movie version, playing opposite the best ever Morticia, Anjelica Huston…. Together, she and Raul made sparks fly, darkly, with joy and hilarity…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this be some funny shit….

***********************

The Addams Family (60 s TV Series): Season 2, Episode 21

***********************

http://youtu.be/RhaOaxaDd1c

***********************

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

“Hairy fishnuts!?”

~~ Opus ~~

I’ve decided to be generous today, by NOT ranting at y’all…. This doesn’t mean we get the day off; there is still too much out there in the Big Blue Room, of an evil nature, to keep from saying ANYTHING…. But, I’ll let someone more polished, in a modern, television-oriented sort of manner, to bring us our daily dose of crap, served up by Reality, as is its habit, regardless of how any of us feels about it…. Here, then, is another diatribe from John Oliver, from his HBO show, Last Week with J.O….. Enjoy, ffolkes, if you can ignore the message prompting the rant….

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

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Elected Judges (HBO)

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

http://youtu.be/poL7l-Uk3I8

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

Just to keep the ball rolling, here is an excellent piece from our old friend Lou, at TalesFromTheConspriatum, with another fine article, if a bit snarky, by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger…. Included in Mike’s article is list with a large number of links, to alternative news sites, where you’ll find numerous proofs, with lots of evidence showing how often the mainstream media lies to all of us on TV, radio, the Internet, through every news outlet who will print their lies, just as if they were true….

https://talesfromthelou.wordpress.com/2015/02/24/35-things-the-media-reported-as-facts-that-were-later-found-to-be-total-lies/

http://www.naturalnews.com/048714_mainstream_media_propaganda_lies.html

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

“They [La Prensa] accused us of suppressing freedom of expression. This was a lie and we could not let them publish it.” — Nelba Blandon, Interior Ministry Director of Censorship, — quoted in The New York Times, 1984

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

“Poetry isn’t obscene, it’s per verse.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

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

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 ~~

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

Wowee zowee, ffolkes! Eleven pearls, all connected, collected in two minutes flat, with only five other quotes even offered for review, none of which took more than a nanosecond to dismiss…. I’ll take it, as a nearly perfect statement of how to live Life well, with dignity, honor, and truth as one’s foremost pillars of belief…. Okay, so, that’s a little grandiose… it’s still all good thinking on the part of the ffolkes being quoted; you could do worse than to make these part of your philosophy of life….

“Do not settle for less than the best your own excellence can command.’ — Anne McCaffrey

“It is not honorable to take mere legal advantage, when it happens to be contrary to justice.” — Thomas Jefferson [Third United State President]

“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.), The Republic

“Man is not disturbed about things, but by his opinion about things.” — Epictetus

“Goodness does not consist in greatness, but greatness in goodness.” — Athenaeus (c. 200 AD) — The Deipnosophists, xiv, 6

“Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do.” — Voltaire

“Fear not, provided you fear; but if you fear not, then fear.” — Blaise Pascal

“The only lifelong, reliable motivations are those that come from within, and one of the strongest of those is the joy and pride that grow from knowing that you’ve just done something as well as you can do it.” — Lloyd Dobens and Clare Crawford-Mason, Thinking About Quality

“It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety.” — Salvor Hardin, in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” — Ambrose Redmoon

“Be honorable with yourself if you wish to associate with honorable people.” — Welsh Proverb

To the programmer/code author(s) of Smart Bee…. I salute you! Thanks, for the quickest, all-around finest-kind pearl ever…. This one is da kine, as they’d say on Molokai…. Probably not on Maui, though; too many McDonald’s….

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

Today’s Pearl is done. That seems to be all I can focus on just now. The mere fact of its completion is, perhaps, the only task I’ll accomplish today, given the condition in which I’m starting the day. It is now 4 a.m., just, & I’ve been up for almost three hours; not a good beginning, I think. But, we’ll play it as it lies, just like it says in the rule book. Of course, I haven’t been able to find the rule book for years, but, I like to pretend…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should the Fates decree a holiday….

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.

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Contrary to all the research, it squeaks….

Posted on February 12, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Doing it the hard way is always easier.”

~~ Murphy’s Paradox ~~

“Oh, you said Tokyo! My bad…”

If the picture I took, above, is any indication, in the field of aerotechnology, the human race has made some startling advances since I last checked. The airplane, or jet, or whatever it was, to make a trail like that, had to be moving at least 2-300 mph. I was not aware we possessed the technology to make 90º turn at that speed. Oh, perhaps we have drones that will do it, but, the forces involved would make it hard for a flesh and blood entity to remain conscious, or alive, at the end of the turn. Kinda makes me wonder what we aren’t being told…. again.

Ah well, the intro isn’t the place for such conjecture, I suppose. I just keep stumbling across little pieces of evidence like this, which indicate there are a LOT of things those in charge are keeping from the public. A small item like this, when added to the visit from officialdom I received a couple of days ago, tells me a lot. Sometimes, to hear the music, one must pay close attention to the silences between the notes…. This is not something the mundanes of the world will ever realize, or, even consider, so, it becomes the DUTY of those of us who CAN make out the melody to make sure the orchestra is playing the tune on the program, and not one of their own choosing….

With that said, I will go on to bigger and, well, different things, with the full realization that very few people will ever see this, or even know they are clueless. SIGH…. It makes me want to cry, in sorrow, for all the folks out there who are being ushered down a path to their own destruction, never even knowing they are drawing closer to the edge of a bottomless pit with each step…. Hell, most of them aren’t even aware they are up and moving! They sit and watch their 60 inch TV, thinking what they see is Reality, when all it is would best be described as the mental equivalent of cotton candy, which they continue to stuff into their obese mouths, only to feel what they’ve eaten disappear into thin air, much like their dreams of a life worth living….

It’s a sad, sad world these days, ffolkes, and there are only a few people who are even aware that we are all in trouble, because, nobody in charge WANTS to know (there’s no profit in letting the public know….), and nobody who is going to die thinks it is real…. Some days, such as today, I’m convinced our species is not worthy of surviving…. not if we allow a few idiots to send the rest of us to hell right along with them, as they pursue their insane dreams of power and madness…

I think I’m depressing myself. I’m going to stop now, and go write something else, hopefully not as much of a downer. It will be hard, though, as almost everything I perceive these days, out there in the Big Blue Room, is enough to depress a clown on Prozac….

Shall we Pearl?

“A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the world’s torrent.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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

It might be a futile attempt, but, if this doesn’t improve your mood, or mine, well, it’s too damn late for us…. Enjoy, ffolkes. This is what life COULD be like, if not for all the assholes in the world….

***********************

Cute Dogs And Adorable Babies: Compilation

***********************

http://youtu.be/ilMzs1UHEmw

***********************

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

It is entirely possible I will rant no more…. Ffolkes, it’s all gone. Whatever it was that held this world together is broken; we have gone completely and irrevocably insane, as a species, a culture, and, mostly, as individual human beings, a term that, from what I can tell, really has no meaning in a very real sense. Not for long, anyway. I am now convinced, even if a way IS found, to save our sorry asses from killing ourselves, and everything else here, or, at minimum, turning the world into a real life version of Dante’s Inferno’s vision of Hell, nobody would even turn off the TV to listen….

I tried to read the news today, oh, boy…. Ten thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire, it said…. along with a slew of other headlines, each displaying as much sense as these classic lines from the Beatle’s epic song, A Day in the Life. I sometimes use a news reader program that collects news articles from hundreds of sources, so I can pick and choose what to read by perusing the headlines in each category. I’ve been avoiding it, using just the articles and news I pick up in the little time I can spend each day on the blogs of my friends, and the email notifications I subscribe to from my most favored sources.

Well, there are also the emails I subscribe to from the people I feel need watching, like the White House, etc. “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.” is an aphorism all warriors are taught in the cradle. (Well, this warrior was, anyway. If not, they probably would have been better off if they had…) Not that the folks in the White House are necessarily my enemy, but, I certainly don’t trust them to look after MY interests very well. They’ve already proved, on too many occasions, no such intention exists in their world view; not if the emails I’ve received from them in the past seven years are any indication. As a matter of long-standing policy, I accept a lot of what I consider spam, just so I can see what they’re saying to all those who support them blindly…. Good intel, in my book…

As for ranting, daily doses don’t seem to get me much of anywhere that can actually help, other than to a place where I am not so pissed off all the time, simply as a result of the catharsis of writing. Plus, I have had some recent clues come to my attention which have made me reconsider my openness to a small degree. I expect you’ll note a few minor changes in what you see here, beyond the usual lack of regular structure to be expected in a place where we play with reality as if it were playdough, or even better, magic slime. Yeah, that’s the ticket, reality as magic slime…. Hey, anything would be better than the reality in which we all are currently trapped, right? Right….

Oops. I guess that could be considered ranting; I’d best be careful, as I’m not yet used to my new paradigm. Hell, I haven’t even named it yet; can’t change your paradigm unless you have a name for the new one. It just doesn’t work, they are like a vector in mathematics; the direction is required for it to have any real meaning…. Same with a paradigm; you gotta know its true name, or the magic won’t work….

So much for logic, eh? But, logic won’t hold up under the inundation of insanity, greed for power, and general loss of all sense of proportion, or dignity I saw in just a little part of today’s mainstream news…. You see, I only got half-way through ONE news site before I was overcome by a sense of utter futility. Every other article I stopped to read stimulated either amazed disbelief, or tears, from feeling both sorrow, and laughter, when confounded by reports of the antics of the latest form of cosmic vermin, we naked apes, as we caper about the planet, pretending we have a clue….

There are only two things left to say on this subject; consider them well. They MAY be the last of their kind….

“America!! I saw it all!! Vomiting! Waving!

JERRY FALWELLING into your void tube of UHF oblivion!!

SAFEWAY of the mind –”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

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

“Inside, I’m already SOBBING!”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

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

I have a new poem, but, it isn’t quite ready for me to cut a vein open, and let it leak out. We’ll have to go with another of mine from the archives, to keep from spreading the blame for this…. Here is one I wrote back in 2013, that seems to go right along with the ranting section for today…. Enjoy, please, and remember, ffolkes… Metaphor is my thing….

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 that no joy will soften,
accepting the price, added to the cost of desire.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

I’ve never gone for titling Pearls, or pearls, either. But, for this one, if I were asked to give it a title, it would have to be, “The Rise and Fall of Homo Erectus”

We shall never cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

~~ T. S. Eliot ~~

“Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.” — Isaac Asimov

“Everything is simpler than you think and at the same time more complex than you imagine.” — Goethe

“Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true.” — Demosthenes

“Expedients are for the hour; principles for the ages.” — Henry Ward Beecher

Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,–
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
Another race the following spring supplies:
They fall successive, and successive rise.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ The Iliad of Homer, Book vi, Line 181 ~~

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

If I didn’t know, for sure and for certain, I’d say this was getting easier. But, since I do know, I’ll use the gift horse technique, and merely say I am glad it’s done, & be done with it. Not for nothing have I achieved such an advanced age, one none of us ever really considers, until it smacks us dead in the face…. On that uplifting thought, I think it would be best if I leave now. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, provided the powers of evil have not yet discovered my hiding place…. Be alert. The world needs all the lerts we can find….

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.

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

No worries! ‘Tis only a phlippin’ phantasy….

Posted on February 1, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.”

~~ H. G. Wells ~~

3D Art by Odeith

Listen up, ffolkes. Here’s the deal. I write, you read. Got it? Good. Let’s get on with it….

I’m very late today, as my body recovers from the release of two months worth of built up stress and anguish, all in a one hour period two days ago. I realized last night, as I wandered the apartment in a daze, after my three hour nap, my body was exhausted, with the kind of bone deep tiredness one can only get by long-term suppression of strong emotions, followed by an almost instant release…. It’s a similar feeling to the evening of the third day of football practice, back in high school, when the severe conditioning required to throw off the lethargy of summer vacation begins to catch up to even the best-conditioned young athlete… I didn’t run or sweat, but, two months of inner raging has the same effect, over time.

All that is probably more detail than necessary, but, we don’t worry about such petty shit here in the intro. If it takes up space, it’s good enough for us. This policy has evolved over the past three plus years of searching for the right opening, a search thus far unsuccessful to any significant degree. I still spend half the morning, it seems, just trying to pull this section together, to the detriment of my advancing arthritis. For example, right now I’m typing with three of the fingers on my left hand actively becoming numb from the circulation obstruction caused by the swelling, arthritic tissue undergoing the stress of movement.

Having again had my overtired, over-stimulated brain keep me up late, then sleeping so hard I missed a pain pill dose, I’m up later than my recent past habit. This makes me nervous, as I bump up against the edge of my self-imposed deadline for posting the daily Pearl. In fact, I’m writing wicked fast, to try to make up some of my lost time. In fact, I’m starting to feel panicked, never a good thing this time of day, hours before the world can supply me with any targets…. they’re all asleep, or getting ready for work….. It’s rude to bite people who haven’t even had their coffee yet….

But, I’ll do my best to get this out in a timely fashion. In keeping with that intent, I’ll even cut this intro short, again, to scoot us down the page into the video section. I think a bit of applied ruthlessness, and our old, familiar emergency method #4, ever useful in these situations, will serve our needs quite nicely. Just in time, too…. my left hand is now fully numb, and typing will be suspended until I can feel it again…. Hang on, we’ll be right back to get us out of here……

There is an old saying among the blogging community, which helps us to realize how important the whole thing is. It’s a grand statement of purpose, in a way, and, if I had any clue what it was, I might feel better. Since I don’t, let’s just remove the packaging from this odd little box, marked with a big 4, & see what happens next…..

Shall we Pearl?

“What a poor appearance the tales of poets make when stripped of the colours which music puts upon them, and recited in simple prose.” — Plato, The Republic. Book X. 601B

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

When I was a kid, cartoons were big, with me, and in mainstream entertainment at large. One of my favorites, as I remember, was Crusader Rabbit, a cartoon character from the early 1950’s, usually shown on the Sheriff John Show, a local program near Ft. Lewis, Washington, where my dad was stationed for four years leading up to when I was 10. I was going to include a number of those cartoons, but, after watching a few minutes of them, I realized, they were really bad, not what I remembered, but, not entirely unexpected…. The networks had barely been formed, and the slick, polished programs you see now weren’t yet developed….

Instead, we’ll go with over an hour of cartoons from a pair, or more accurately, a duck and a pair, who always were my Disney faves…. Donald because of his ranting, of course (I must have known even then what I would be when I grew up….); Chip and Dale, just because they were cute, always using teamwork to beat the bad guys, whomever they were…. I didn’t realize they were the first gay couple, but, hey, I was only a kid…. Enjoy, ffolkes, there’s a lot of good cartoons in this one…. Well, ‘good’ is the best word to use, I should say, without going into a lot of detail over why…. Think, progress in social mores, in one direction, anyway….

Donald Duck & Chip and Dale

*******************

http://youtu.be/siaA_JqR4fc

********************

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

Regular Gentle Readers will recognize the picture, and may simply skip to the poetry section now, but, the following politirant, from early in 2013, while I was still living in poverty, relatively speaking, is quite good. It’s succinct, though long, presenting good arguments with precision and honesty, along with a fair amount of biting wit, if I do say so myself. (I DID do some minor editing, merely fine tuning and proofing to eliminate stuff I missed before…)

It’s one of the best rants I’ve written, all in all, well worth a second read, even for those who’ve been around a while. For newbies, brace yourselves, you are about to learn some new ways to look at stuff you’ve really always known, if you can persuade yourself to admit your wish to learn…. What is, perhaps, the first new item of note, is the certainty of the simple following fact: the only way to fulfill that wish is to realize how much larger is our ignorance than our knowledge…. Listen well, young paduans, as I tell you a true tale….

From 3/2/2013:

“He who imitates evil always goes beyond the limits of the example, whereas he who imitates what is good, always falls short.” — Confucius

Perfect! If ever a quote could be applied to fit one group of people, this one would; it fits the folks who occupy elected office in this country like the proverbial glove. Ooh! Ooh! Here’s another one…

“Ignorance: When you don’t know something and somebody finds it out.” — Jethro Burns

Okay, that’s a good start…. Now, we all know that politicians lie to us…. Please, don’t tell me you haven’t noticed…. It’s what we’ve all taught them to do, by our calm acceptance, thus, our tacit approval, of all the other lies they’ve told, from the very beginning. We expect them to lie… then, when we catch them at it, there is this huge public outcry, as if it had never happened before.

Sometimes, the behavior of the American public toward the political beast reminds me of a shark…. to wit: no memory of the past to slow down their willingness to rush into dangerous situations….. For millions of years, sharks and dolphins have lived together in the oceans. For just about all that time, whenever a shark attacks a dolphin, it gets killed, unless the dolphin is injured in some way, or, it is a baby inadvertently left alone. Always, if things are even, the shark dies, because the dolphins are smarter, and faster swimmers.

Yet, after millions of years, you would think the sharks might learn to let them alone…. They don’t, which is clear evidence of their lack of ability to learn, to remember the past, and generalize future behavior according to its effect. The American voting public has the same problem…. they never learn to expect to be lied to, always seemingly flabbergasted to learn their elected officials are, shall we say, less than perfectly honest?

Quite frankly, the whole process drives me nuts, absolutely bonkers, having witnessed the self-same reaction by the public, thousands upon thousands of times in my life…. What is it about people that does that to them? Why are they so unwilling to use the mind that sits between their ears, rather than just carrying it around from toilet to toilet, which is all most folks seem to do with it? (Almost forgot it was a question….) Perhaps, what some random cynic once observed about people really is true, to wit: “Human beings are merely nature’s finest example of portable plumbing”, or something of that sort…. I wish I knew….

“There is one way to find out if a man is honest–ask him. If he says yes, you know he is crooked.” — Groucho Marx

I’m starting to feel a bit of anger, actually, and I have a hard time not letting it out on the voting public, the idiots. But, it really isn’t all their fault, as the people who run for office are the ones who are actively imitating evil, obviously, exceeding the limits of their example. The voting public can’t help never being able to quite reach the good for which they reach, either. This is why I get angry about it…. The folks who run for office tell the public they are going to work for the people when they are elected; we all know they are lying, but we elect them anyway. Now, how stupid is that? Pretty stupid, in my book…..

On the one hand, the stupidity displayed by the politicians is deliberate, in its adherence to principles of theft and prevarication; on the other hand, the stupidity displayed by the voting public is, perhaps, not deliberate, but is still, at minimum, misguided, and, ultimately, just as evil, in placing its trust in evil people. In the dispassionate view held by the universe, stupid is as stupid does; the sentence of death is the same for both types of stupidity, deliberate, or unconscious. Reality doesn’t care about why; only results have relevance….

What can be done about this? Not a damn thing…. Not only do I find most people are unconsciously stupid, they are stubborn about it, to boot, even when it is clear how the act of being stupid is hurting them. Rather than use their minds to find a new way of dealing with these issues, they retreat into platitudes and dogma, running right back out to vote for yet another slick-talking idiot, who promises them manna from heaven, or, more accurately, from Washington D.C. Confronted with clear evidence of their idiocy, they become even more stubborn, as they are unwilling to accept they might be wrong, making it acceptable to refuse to examine any evidence of being wrong, or, more often, simply denying its existence altogether.

Politicians, who choose to live in stupidity, by lying and cheating and stealing from their own people, don’t even WANT to choose otherwise. Why should they? They’ve got it easy, with a ready supply of host bodies on which to practice their symbiotic parasitism, a body that not only accepts all their lies, but, by their silent, tacit approval, encourage even further depredations with their complete acquiescence whatever the politicos want, no matter how outrageous, or harmful to their own interests. All the politicians have to say is, the public is in danger, (Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!….), from this, that, or the other, whereupon the public allows them to do whatever the pundits choose, so long as the public can feel safe, from whatever fictional fantasy was constructed, using a lot of smoke and mirrors, convincing them to panic in fear…..

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift; the rational mind is faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” — Albert Einstein

It’s an interesting spectacle to observe from the sidelines, but it arouses in me a strong feeling of sadness, with anger underlying, as I watch, day after day, as so many millions of foolish people get taken advantage of by a few assholes. It definitely makes me want to buy a gun, even though I would only use it if pressed; I have a feeling I may get pressed some day in the not-too-distant future, if I continue to make noise about all this.

I’m fairly well protected thus far by a lack of notoriety; the BRC and the PTB aren’t going to worry about me until I have an audience a lot larger than a few hundred folks, of which perhaps fifty regularly read my work. If what I am saying began to gain popularity, was being read by millions, I’d be in danger; until then, I’m as safe as I can make myself with the tools at hand… which, if I say so myself, are not entirely inconsequential…. If I said any more, I’d be giving away my precautions, which simply wouldn’t do. Rest assured… I’m perfectly capable of, and, ready to, deal with anything short of assault weapons, with what I have at hand….. After all, I do have one advantage that won’t go away, to wit:

“Many, if not all, of my presidential opponents are certifiable idiots.” — Miriam Defensor Santiago — The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1993

See? I’m not completely alone! Actually, if you pay close attention, you will note this was uttered by a politician, about their peers, so it really doesn’t count as support of what I’m saying here. What, exactly am I saying here? Hmm, okay, since I’ve already written about 1200 words or so on this, it’s a good place to wind it up…. so, here goes…

Ffolkes, you are being lied to, daily, and hourly, by those who were elected, supposedly to look out for your interests. I hate to tell you, but, those folks never intended to do anything of the sort. So, it would be a good thing if everybody in this country would OPEN THEIR FUCKING EYES AND GET A DAMN CLUE!!!!!….. I don’t think I can say it any clearer than that….. That’s all, for now…..

“Ignorance kills daily. “– Smart Bee
__________________________________

Well, maybe it’s not Hemingway-esque, but, it’s certainly gigoidal….

Note from 2015: See? Not bad, eh? Even the final comment, ripped from the closing section the same day as the rant, is perfectly fitting. I think I’ll keep this one….

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

:Blue Screen of Death: n. [common] This term is closely related to the older {Black Screen of Death} but much more common (many non-hackers have picked it up). Due to the extreme fragility and bugginess of Microsoft Windows misbehaving applications can readily crash the OS (and the OS sometimes crashes itself spontaneously). The Blue Screen of Death, sometimes decorated with hex error codes, is what you get when this happens. (Commonly abbreviated {BSOD}.)

The following entry from the Salon Haiku Contest (http://www.salonmagazine.com/21st/chal/1998/02/10chal2.html), seems to have predated popular use of the term:

Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death
No one hears your screams.

~~ from The on-line Hacker Jargon File V423 ~~

No big message is implied by including the above; I just liked the haiku. I did find a pretty good poem of mine, from a couple of years ago, which I had almost completely forgotten…. Enjoy, please….

Playing by the Rules

All my days I looked for love,
And found it everywhere I looked.
The years were joyous and fully booked
Seemingly by command from Above.

In return for all of the beauty in Life I found
I played life by the Rules that we all know,
It was from my father I learned the how,
Honest love, given freely, hand-fasted, gladly bound.

It seemed a while as if it were all real,
that fulfillment and contentment could be
as real as the children given us to oversee,
to teach them of Life and Love, and how to feel.

Then, storm clouds of grievous change arrived, unbidden
Insidious, deceitful, three steps forward, one back.
Tearing holes in our beautiful cloth, hearts heard to crack,
Gleeful demons eating life’s bounty, fangs dirty, and hidden.

Pain and sorrow grew, in defiance of all I tried,
Sanctuary turned into a reluctant scene of ritual battle,
Love still lives, but is herded like doomed and pitiful cattle,
While the keening of my soul sounds as if I’d cried.

Betrayal in love is, allow me to assure, no small pain to take.
Time has no power to reduce its place in my heart or soul.
My truest love became a stranger, a powerfully sharp toll,
Solitude has become my lot, no killing time for necessity’s sake.

Love yet surrounds me, everywhere; I’m not one of those fools…
Children are forgiving, I’m glad to be able to say,
They show me life’s solid purpose, the old, right way,
I guess don’t know any other way, than to Play it by the Rules.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

The pearl below is an odd one, a statement anyone who knows me indicates a truly exceptional occurrence, since ‘odd’ could be used to describe everything happening here. First, all of them came up quickly, in the order you see; second, the message created by their congruent directional characteristics is one of great wisdom. Most telling, the quote supplied by Smart Bee, exactly in the center position, which seems like it is a tongue-in-cheek observation, is much more apt than it might appear at first glance. If you stop to think of it, the event described, i.e. changing over to a new concept of service, IS, or WAS, perhaps, a very telling sign. It was one of the first AUDIBLE shots fired by the 1%, in the ages old war being waged between them, and the rest of humanity.

It was almost as if those who run the world were now sure of their hold over society, no longer needing to hide themselves, or their intentions, from those they have oppressed for so long; I remember having a similar thought when I first saw a gas station advertising the policy, thinking to myself, “Well, so much for the concept of customer service. Somebody noticed they could make more money by making the customers supply their own.” Those elite assholes who necessarily hide from their brethren, for their own protection, notified the world they no longer cared about hiding their intentions, though they continue to hide their location in space…. with good reason…. Any who, it all makes this a very special pearl….

“Few men make themselves masters of the things they write or speak.– John Selden (1584-1654) — Learning

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” — Soren Kierkegaard

“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.” — Isaac Asimov — Salvor Hardin, “Foundation”

“The real erosion of civilization as we knew it started with the popularity of the self-service gas pump.” — Smart Bee

“It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), Notes on Virginia

When he was in great prosperity, and courted by many, seeing himself splendidly served at his table, he turned to his children and said: “Children, we had been undone, if we had not been undone.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Themistocles

“A good reputation is more valuable than money.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 108

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

Well, it’s done. Since I haven’t the slightest clue how I did it, I’m going to post it, and be done with it. My brain is officially done, as soon as I hit send on the email to the Pearl Drops, which goes out immediately after posting online (gotta have the IP address for the post to put in the email. See? Not completely disorganized…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as I can remember how to type….

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.

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

gigoid

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

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