All that hard work & no braised felafel in sight….

Posted on June 16, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~

Caribbean Sea from the International Space Station

Image by NASA Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti

Good morning…. A glance at the clock instantly sends him into White Rabbit mode….. “I’m late. I’m late….”

Okay, okay, so, I’ll deal with it…. Somehow….

Shall we Pearl?

“Hope is the denial of reality. It is the carrot dangled before the draft horse to keep him plodding along in a vain attempt to reach it. I say we remove the carrot and walk forward with open eyes.” — Raistlin Majere, Dragonlance Chronicles Vol. 1

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

Being late around here means one thing, if naught else; we go with our defaults whenever possible…. Here, in the video section, it’s possible….

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The Best of Mozart

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https://youtu.be/gTEn6SRVAE4

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No way in hell am I going to be able to produce a fresh rant today, even with the proper inducement. Y’all know what that means, don’t you?….

From 5/5/2013:

The thorns which I have reap’d are of the tree
I planted; they have torn me, and I bleed.
I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed.

~~ Lord Byron — Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto iv, Stanza 10 ~~

Here, in a three line verse, Lord Byron has explained the flaw that exists in human nature, a flaw that will one day drive the species to extinction, if we don’t find a way to alter its effect on us, as a species. This flaw doesn’t manifest in every human, only in a certain percentage, not particularly large, but full of the people who affect society the most, i.e., the leaders, the politicians, the aristocracy (the rich, or as I call them, the bankers….), and the preachers, all of whom are supposed to be ordering society to benefit ALL of its members.

Instead, these individuals, who have this fatal flaw, have ordered events to suit themselves, hoarding the largest part of the available resources, showing absolutely no compassion or willingness to share, and dismissing as unimportant all of the pain and suffering their actions cause to other people…. This selfishness gene will eventually kill us all, because the BRC, or Beloved Ruling Class, are so focused on their goals, and so unwilling to entertain the idea that their actions are wrong, they cannot comprehend the danger they have created by their pathology, to themselves as well as to the rest of us….

That is the unfortunate thing about any mental aberration; it’s very presence tends to limit what the victim can understand, because they are unwilling to look at the evidence….. No one wants to believe they are mentally off; it doesn’t fit in with our self-image as a competent human being. These folks never understand at all that the way they are leading their lives is a threat to the rest of us; they will only accept evidence that supports their unrealistic view of reality.

Unfortunately for the rest of us, these people are also the ones who are the most willing to use violence, and weapons, to enforce their will, and they already have control of more force than the rest of the public can possibly contend with to force a change. It is a very complex, delicate problem, with no solution that I can see as practical, or with any large chance for success….

The time we have to make the necessary changes to society is growing shorter every hour, as more and more millions of tons of CO (carbon monoxide) is pumped into the air, along with other particulate pollutants. This material in our atmosphere has almost completely destroyed the ozone layer, and the amount of heat reaching the planet from the Sun has raised the ambient temperature of the planet a full two degrees…

Two degrees may not seem like much, but, the fact that the change has taken place in less than a hundred years is a clear indicator that it is quite enough, as it continues to change the climate of the planet drastically. The polar ice is melting more rapidly than ever before, and at a geometrically increasing rate. The amount of oxygen in the air is decreasing in relation to other substances; if it changes two percentage points, there won’t be enough of it for our lungs to breathe; we will suffocate ourselves if it continues. The weather is changing all over the world, as the water from the polar ice melts, and changes the chemical balance of the air everywhere…. As plants die, the process will accelerate, and it will be a toss-up to see what will kill us first….

“Whenever I see a photograph of some sportsman grinning over his kill, I am always impressed by the striking moral and aesthetic superiority of the dead animal to the live one.” — Edward Abbey

Not a pretty picture, is it? Unless, of course, you are one of the power elite, the BRC; then, you’re the one with the gun…. I’m sorry to have to bring doom and gloom into the morning, but, this is a subject that won’t go away, so I pound on it whenever I can…. The quote above, from Lord Byron, stimulated my sense of outrage at the sheer selfishness of the 1% (yet another name for those with the flaw of extreme self-interest….), so I ranted, if mildly. What bothers me the most is that what I’m saying here is absolute truth, and the people who read it are NOT the ones who need to change…. Of course, those folks wouldn’t believe it if they did read it, so it’s rather a thankless task, and relatively futile, to boot…..

“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good.” — Anne Frank

I think Anne was a better person than I am, because I have lost my belief in what she says here…. I do believe that the majority of mankind is good, or at least tries to be good; I just don’t believe that those ffolkes are the ones that matter to our future, as much as the folks who are NOT basically good, for as long as the innocents allow the harm their leaders continue to cause to the environment in which we all have to live. I don’t know of a solution, other than the obvious one of becoming violent myself, and doing to them what they want to do to me, but doing it first….. But, then I become like them, and I’d have to kill myself, because I’d never be able to look in a mirror again….. I guess there’s only one thing left to do…..

Petition me no petitions, sir, to-day;
Let other hours be set apart for business.
To-day it is our pleasure to be drunk;
And this our queen shall be as drunk as we.

~~ Henry Fielding — Tom Thumb the Great, Act i, Sc. 2 ~~

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Penance, Made Simple

After all the dross is sent away
a celebration can begin,
time will face up to space, to stay
willing, to shine from within.

Anger and confusion come in to share
brushing reason aside,
eager to welcome all that is fair,
alert to danger, eyes wide.

Re-gift the wicked with their own pain
stand with the just;
fail to partake of the ill-gotten gain,
living in honor, the only must.

Standing fast in the face of wrong
is its own prize and reward.
Holding on to truth makes us strong,
well worth working toward.

Little is left to chance by fate
our lessons are never free of cost.
Seldom does reality make us wait
only when alone, are we lost.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 10/23/2012.

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I’m afraid today’s final pearl for the old-school section isn’t very mysterious, or esoteric, or hard to figure out at all…. Hell, just follow the bouncing thought balls (Hmm… That doesn’t sound quite right, does it?…. Oh, well….), you’ll get the idea, such as it is…. Actually, it’s a pretty good idea, it’s just silly, by nature of its…. well, nature, quite obviously both sublime AND ridiculous….

Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum — “I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“Acquittal of the guilty damns the judge.” — Horace

“How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.” — Marcus Aurelius

“The wise learn many things from their foes.” — Aristophanes — The Birds (414 B.C.), line 375

“Live before you die.” — Smart Bee

“All cats are NOT gray after midnight. Endless variety …” — Lazarus Long, “Time Enough For Love” by Robert Heinlein

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” — W. Edwards Deming

“It is a bad plan that admits of no modification.” — Publius Syrus — Maxim 469

“In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble.” — Yun-Men

There you go, ffolkes. The best summary of the proper functioning of the human animal I’ve ever seen…. Above all, don’t wobble…..

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Having long since lost all sense of propriety, I’m going to go ahead and post this, sans proofing, of either content or intent… In short, I don’t care today; it’s done, & that’s all that’s important…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless this one breaks the camel’s back….

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….

It’s June; we’ll use the shaved version….

Posted on June 8, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“For a man needs only to be turned around not once with his eyes shut in this world to be lost….

Not ’til we are lost…. do we begin to find ourselves.”

~~ Henry David Thoreau, “Walden” ~~

Rock Spire on Mars

Image by NASA’s Rover Opportunity

Good morning…. I love pictures taken by the Mars Rovers, Opportunity, and Curiosity; it always gives me a little thrill to realize the picture I’m looking at was taken, not long ago, on a planet more than 50 million miles from Earth…. THIS, ffolkes, this is what we humans were made for. Anyone who doesn’t understand that, really, is not in touch with their own humanity. Nothing fascinates us more than wondering what is up there, and nothing, in my mind, will stop us from going there, unless it is ourselves, and our own flaws…. If anything in this Universe exists which can be called a destiny, for any living creature, it is my belief the destiny of humanity is to go to the stars…. Not to conquer, not to control, but, to understand, to wonder, to find out…. Maybe, when we get there, we’ll find what we’ve always been looking for, which we cannot even name….

Those among my Gentle Readers with sharp eyes and memories will note the first, opening pearl today is the same one with which yesterday’s final pearl ended. I seldom resort to such tactics, but, the chance to carry on an idea like that was too hard to resist…. It’s a perfect pearl; short, pithy, to the point, and versatile, so, why not use it?…. But, then, much of “Walden” is like that, isn’t it?….

Any who, that’s all for now, just had to get that out…. I’ll be courteous today, by not subjecting y’all to any further attempts at humor, or even ill-conceived and executed attempts at coherence here in the intro; instead, we’ll use those newly-acquired, useful, ruthlessness and executive decision-making skills to get us on down the page….

Shall we Pearl?

“Belief is not the beginning but the end of all knowledge.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Image from hulu.com via Google Images

From about 1957 to 1968, until I left for college, my family spent every Sunday evening in front of the TV, with much of the rest of the country, to watch this show. Although today I wouldn’t be caught dead listening to accordion music, I still have a fondness for good big bands…. Larry brought good music to people who otherwise would have had NONE in their life, even if they didn’t really appreciate it much…. And, he’s got such a smarmy smile, he’s cute, as well as, patently, harmless….

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Lawrence Welk and his Champagne Music

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https://youtu.be/ezvPBINJcAY

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“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” — C. S. Lewis

I find C.S. Lewis an interesting character…. He lived during the mid-twentieth century, in England. His works include a number of fantasies, including the Narnia series, a thinly disguised series of stories with a heavily Christian world-view, composed as morality tales for the modern world, in almost complete euphemist style…. But, he had, in my mind, one of the more inventive philosophical bents of many of the modern thinkers, producing a number of very excellent observations about life, politics, religion, and how they all interact, such as the one with which we’ve begun today’s discussion….

I had intended to speak about that entire set of combined subjects today, but, while researching one bit, I found the following rant from last year, which immediately proved to be serendipitous, as it speaks to the subject at hand perfectly…. Below this paragraph, you’ll find what I consider my finest rant EVER. I read it for the first time since writing and posting it yesterday, & realized it fit in exactly with today’s discussion…. So, to get to the point I’ve been circling for a while now, here is a pretty complete summary of how I view today’s modern world of the future, and, my opinion as to its most likely outcome….

From 9/3/2014:

“It is up with you; all is over; you are ruined.”

~~ Terence — Act i, Sc. 1, 9, (54.) ~~

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/US-military-targets-Islamic-extremists-in-Somalia-5727512.php

Oh… why, look there! It’s us, bombing people again, without a declaration of war from Congress. I don’t know about you, but, I’m getting more than just a little perturbed, not to say infuriated, by the American public’s acceptance of these completely illegal (under our own laws….), immoral, unethical, and fucking useless in any humanitarian, or practical respect, completely unwarranted attacks, on whomever we decide is a threat to our…… our what? What were these, no doubt, evil people doing that threatened us, here in our big houses, across the big ocean, with our big airplanes ready to bomb anyone foolish enough to annoy our corporate masters?….

Oh, right, didn’t I mention? I have no doubt whatsoever that, whomever we’re bombing now, if we examine the expressed reasoning closely, we will find that, somehow, in some way, these people were disrupting the smooth flow of money into the coffers of one, or more, of our corporate masters, er, patriotic businesses… It wouldn’t be supportive of the government to NOT protect the interests of those paying for the bombs, now would it? Of course not…. Naturally, since it costs about $75 million/day to bomb them, at least the arms makers are showing a good profit, yes?….

Did you detect a smidgeon of smarmy disdain in the above? If you did, you got it; if not, you’re not paying attention… Not unsurprising, given the brainwashing from which most Americans suffer; the media has helped the Beloved Ruling Class, and their employers, the corporate snakeheads, to spread their manipulations and distractions… oh, hell, let’s just call them what they are…. the lies they use on a regular basis, to distract the public from examining any true facts of what they’re up to, to manipulate the public and the media into believing those lies, as well as believing the other lies they tell, just because they can’t help themselves… just as if it were true, or legal, or had anything to do with helping the common man….

“I wish everybody would have to have an electric thing implanted in our heads that gave us a shock whenever we did something to disobey the president. Then somehow I get myself elected president.” — Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

Hmm… the New American Dream, I’d say…. already half-true….

You may be certain of this… whatever spun-sugar the administration, which (who?) ordered and carried out this bombing, (An act which, again, was initiated without informing either Congress, or the public, anything about it beforehand….), in their Olympian fashion, deigns to tell us in this instance, about why we must bomb the Somalians, whatever THEY are up to, (oh, right… the article explains, they are “extremists”…), will NOT be anything resembling the actual truth, or anything that would help to resolve any real issues…. It will merely be whatever their information spin doctors have told them will fool the public into backing them, and fool the media into reporting all of it as if it were legitimate in any respect…. Count on it….

“The NY Times is read by the people who run the country. The Washington Post is read by the people who think they run the country. The National Enquirer is read by the people who think Elvis is alive and running the country…” — Robert J Woodhead

You may also count on the fact that, most likely, this is all about somebody’s profit line, and protecting a small group of “corporate persons”, aka “the men who would be kings”, who tend to feel that the money flowing into their pockets is theirs by right of entitlement; they firmly believe they are entitled to make a profit, no matter the cost to anyone else… Accept that, believe that, and you’ll have made a start, at finding out the actual truth behind most of what our government does, in any situation that comes to the attention of the public, and the media…. It’s all about covering the corporate ass, you betcha….

Now, you may think I’m being an obsessive conspiracy-monger, but, I doubt that, seriously. I don’t think it is a conspiracy; it’s simply the way it is…. The assholes to whom I refer are the same assholes who have had this country, and, for that matter, the world, in a stranglehold since the dawn of the concept of money…. They are just men, canny, strongly self-centered, and completely amoral, who have made it their habit, and lifestyle, for millennia, to take advantage of the way the system works, which is exactly how they have arranged it to work, with them as the only people in a position to control the whole shebang, from the shadows, where they are safe from those upon whom they prey….

Now, the system has grown to be so ponderous, so huge and unmanageable, that, while still protecting their identities by the very size of the system, it’s getting away from them a bit; a lot of information is now floating around out there on the Web they would rather stuff back into the box…But, sadly, not enough, yet, to make a difference in how things work, or, to change where we are headed, as a direct result of the insane machinations of mankind’s most amoral members… It may be too late altogether, to prevent their deliberate perpetration of the inequities they’ve built into our culture from leading all of us, them included, down that path followed already by so many failed species that have lived, and died, on this ball of mud over the last few epochs, since life began here on Earth….

I have a suspicion that we Humans won’t make much more of a splash, or have any more effect on reality, than did the passing of the Dodo, when Homo horriblus’s (our) voracious appetite for destructive insanity, and our failure to live up to our potential , led us to killing the last of the defenseless birds, just a couple hundred, or so, years ago…. When we have, in our turn, passed into memory, the Earth will, with a resigned sigh, in sorrow for the potential beauty that will never be, shrug its mountainous shoulders, shift around some basic elements, and begin the long slow process of healing the wounds we will have left behind us, in the final cataclysmic throes of our death-song…..

“As Caesar was at supper the discourse was of death, -which sort was the best. “That,” said he, “which is unexpected.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Caesar

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Final note from 2015: Though I really don’t have anything more to say, Zippy does, in re: the ultimate meaning of being human…. Well, TRYING to be human in an insane world, anyway….

“America!! I saw it all!! Vomiting! Waving! JERRY FALWELLING into your void tube of UHF oblivion!! SAFEWAY of the mind –” — Zippy the Pinhead

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Emily, if y’all hadn’t noticed, is my favorite poet, and, some days, she is necessary for my sanity to maintain any semblance of normalcy…. Today is one of those days…. Fortunately, her work isn’t hard to find….

The duties of the Wind are few

The duties of the Wind are few,
To cast the ships, at Sea,
Establish March, the Floods escort,
And usher Liberty.

The pleasures of the Wind are broad,
To dwell Extent among,
Remain, or wander,
Speculate, or Forests entertain.

The kinsmen of the Wind are Peaks
Azof – the Equinox,
Also with Bird and Asteroid
A bowing intercourse.

The limitations of the Wind
Do he exist, or die,
Too wise he seems for Wakelessness,
However, know not i.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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Today’s final, old-school pearl is one of those tough ones; persuading Smart Bee to give up anything useful can be a challenge of major proportions, and, today was no less so than it ever has been…. I’m actually sweating from the effort…. Since I can’t shower off until I’m done, I suppose I’d best get it posted, so there won’t be any further guilt amassed for no good reason…. The pearl itself is a collection of comments on how to approach certain aspects of Life at Large, should you desire something more than a slavish, miserable period of time on this planet…. Take heed, ffolkes, it’s all good stuff, if a bit murky….

“Cease to be ruled by dogmas and authorities; look at the world!” — H.G. Wells paraphrase of Roger Bacon’s works

“History is a lie commonly agreed upon.” — Nietzsche

“Sincerity and truth are the basis of every virtue.” — Confucius

“There’s more to living than not dying.” — Smart Bee

“The laugh of a child will make the holiest day more sacred still.” — Robert G. Ingersoll

“It is not length of life, but depth of life.’ — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“When one burns one’s bridges, what a very nice fire it makes.’ — Dylan Thomas

“I prefer tongue-tied knowledge to ignorant loquacity.” — Cicero, De Oratore

“You may not, cannot, appropriate beauty. It is the wealth of the eye, and a cat may gaze upon the king.” — Theodore Parker

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Well, there you go…. Today’s Pearl has been brought to you by sheer stubborn obsessiveness, with a side of confusion. But, don’t worry, neither is toxic, merely inconveniently wearisome. We’ll all get over it. That being the case, I can take my leave without further rigmarole, in the full belief in our own rightness, or, at minimum, sheer effrontery…. Whatever, as they say downtown…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, so long as nobody catches on….

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….

Using kosher kibbles as ballast….

Posted on May 31, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Rub her feet.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

I’m hungry, mama!

Image of Wild Love from UK Guardian Animal Pictures of the Week

Good morn…. ah, hell. Who am I trying to kid? It isn’t anywhere within shouting distance of morning; I don’t believe calling 1:17 AM morning quite fits the bill, do you? Oh, technically, I suppose it is morning, but, approximately five hours before sunrise isn’t exactly what most would say is their customary time for beginning the day; would you?

I guess five hours sleep will have to do…. Rather than complain about it, though, let’s just get on with what we have to do, thus showing a bit of courage, or, at least, common sense. It doesn’t happen all that often around here, so, we’ll take advantage of the impulse while we may….

Shall we Pearl?

“It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” — Noel Coward

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Alison Balsom

Image from classicfm.com via Google Images

There is something about the sound of a trumpet that burrows straight into the human soul, to lift it up from its mundane existence into higher realms of spirit. Other instruments, in the same way, can also achieve this connection, but, there is good reason the Archangel Michael will blow the Last Trump with the same kind of instrument as employed with such brilliance by Ms. Balsom…. It hasn’t hurt her career to be gorgeous, but, like many of the fans of her music, my fondness for her talent was established before I ever saw what she looked like…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this music will definitely give you goose bumps….

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Alison Balsom

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https://youtu.be/Z0uknBJc8NI

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“The militia of these free commonwealths, entitled and accustomed to their arms, when compared with any possible army, must be _tremendous and irresistible_. Who are the militia? _are they not ourselves_. Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms _each man against his own bosom_. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are _the birth-right of an American_…the unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the _federal or state governments_, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, _in the hands of the people_.” — Tench Coxe 20 Feb. 1788

It’s funny…. funny odd, not funny, ha ha….. I wrote the following rant in 2012, after one of the spate of school shootings that took place that year. It’s funny how the mainstream media constantly plays up such incidents as the worst tragedies our nation faces, always prompting a huge outcry amongst the more manipulable amongst the public, demanding the government do SOMETHING to stop the violence…. Yet, nobody ever mentions all the research that has shown the shootings can only be the natural result of the overcrowding of the planet we humans are pursuing, in our mad rush to extinction at our own hands….

It’s also funny, halfway between odd and ha ha, I can still use this rant without changing a single word, unless I now know better than to use it. Everything I said in this is still true, and relevant to the situation in our society…. Go figure…. Any who, it’s a subject I believe in strongly, which is why my opinion hasn’t altered a whit in three years….

Last posted2/14/2013; first written in 2012:

The issue of gun control is currently a HOT BUTTON issue for a lot of people in this country…. At least, it is for those who enjoy over-reacting to all the violence reported in the news….. They seem to forget that there are now over 7 billion people on this planet, with more crowding on every second, and the increased violence we are seeing is a natural result of overpopulation combined with stupidity, both of which exist in ample supply in our society…. The following is a piece I wrote not long after one of the school shootings in 2012, which, to my mind, pretty well summarizes my objections to the foolish and unwarranted fear that has prompted the idiotic notion of repealing the Second Amendment altogether…. Here is my response to that notion..

“Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence… From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to ensure peace, security, and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable…. The very atmosphere of firearms every- where restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.” — George Washington (bogus?)(who cares? I don’t, it doesn’t make it any less true if it was said by someone else…..)

I constantly hear people these days spouting off about gun control, practically screaming how guns should be outlawed. This is a viewpoint that I have never understood, because it makes a totally unwarranted assumption (more than one actually, but one that is most important….), i.e., guns cause violent behavior; it goes on to insist if people couldn’t legally own them, violence would stop. This is naive, and unreasonable, given there is absolutely no evidence to support such a contention. There is no evidence whatsoever violence is NOT part of human nature; this is a psychological FACT, not subject to debate. People have violent tendencies, and violence is the primary response of a great many people who have never learned how to use their reason to control their emotions.

Though I’ve never owned or carried a gun, I am a firm believer in the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, in its most literal sense. Without the right to bear arms in our own defense, we, as citizens, would be at the mercy of whomever was in office at the time, with no recourse at all to any redress of grievance against those officials, since they could not be forced to comply with law. I do NOT trust any elected official to act in MY best interests; human nature also decrees that they will act in their OWN interests first, with no compulsion to even consider anything else. Making it law only police and government lackeys could legally be armed is a sure way to guarantee the average citizen would be at the mercy of these so-called leaders, mercy being a quality they have never, heretofore, demonstrated in any fashion.

As I said, I don’t own or carry guns….. yet. I’ve trained myself to be dangerous without the use of them; I feel no fear I cannot deal with an armed man to my benefit; this is simply because it is the person holding the gun that is the danger, not the gun itself. Speed, power, and accuracy are the key elements to controlling a violent situation, along with forethought, preparation, and the ability to keep a clear mind when under duress. When a person is holding a gun, they feel ten feet tall and invincible, but they remain human, and humans can be controlled with superior strategy and tactics. It does no good to hold a gun, when the target won’t sit still, or even remain visible….. and in these cases, that sense of imperviousness becomes a liability to the gun-wielder.

However, most Americans do not have this sort of skill set, nor the state of mind that makes it work. In the hands of a skilled warrior, a gun becomes a dangerous weapon indeed, for it will be used to achieve the warrior’s goals, as any weapon would, and not employed to merely bully others into doing what is desired, which is the usual use of these kinds of weapons in the hands of the ignorant and deceitful. Politicians, by the very nature of their sociopathy, do get rather deceitful in the pursuit of their self-centered ends. The desire to be in public office, to me, is a sure sign of a sick mind, as a healthy one has no need to assume power over others, being content to be in control of themselves.

At this point in the narrative, I got a bit sarcastic, caustically so, directed at those shrill advocates of this kind of legal oppression, laws that attempt to legislate morality, so I’ve stopped it here to avoid offending anyone unduly. (Hah!) I agree with the need to tighten the regulations regarding assault weapons, but not as far as is wanted by the fear-mongers. I also think it is a good idea to keep guns out of the hands of children, and people who have demonstrated the lack of emotional control needed by a free citizen of this country, to own and use a gun appropriately, i.e. the mentally ill, who are characterized by a lack of impulse control…. Not a good characteristic for someone with a gun in their hands….

But, once again, I must caution people to examine any laws that do get passed closely, for going farther than the minimum necessary, which people in charge have a tendency to do, to slip stuff by the public…. I’ll try to wake up your precautionary instincts by asking this….. If the insane are not to be allowed full rights as a citizen, who is it that gets to decide who is insane? The same issues of trust are present, or absent, in that idea, as in the assumption that the Beloved Ruling Class will act in our best interests….. They can ONLY be trusted to act in their own interests, first, and we all would do well to keep that in mind…..

“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.”

~~ Bob Dylan ~~

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Just because I can….

Random Visions/Coloring Between the Lines of Grief

Everywhere is dark, and shining,
with points in dissonant pain.
Sharp, senses dull past divining,
tears burn, a torrential rain.

Escape! Flee within to cower,
find an unconscious cave.
Call on Morpheus’ power
deny reality’s beckoning wave.

Light breaks, drawing the inner eye,
leading to the slippery slope.
Risk is critical, we may only sigh,
yet welcome, for bringing hope.

Sanity seems far out of reach
Insanity’s a stronger friend.
Decisions made will merely teach
our way toward Death to wend.

Lost, while still on familiar ground,
the future yet undesigned.
Making way on paths unfound,
to Now, as yet undefined.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 2/22/2013

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Inner strength. Learning & Teaching. Kindness. Change. Honor. Happiness. Friendship. Virtue. Life. Death. Humor. Pride…. Any pearl that includes a word on each of these, if that word is anywhere near the truth (of the included pearls, ALL of them ARE truth…. I checked, according to every known test of logic, and experience….),…. well, let’s just say I don’t think we can go wrong…. What do you think?…. Well, okay, then, if you insist, you don’t have to…. But, I’m betting if you pay attention, it will work out better than just passing it over…. Wow, did we just make another metaphor for living? I guess so…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

“Once, I read that a man be never stronger than when he truly realizes how weak he is.” — Jim Starlin, “Captain Marvel #31”

“No one can teach on an empty spirit.” — William Perky

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can read.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

“It is not necessary that whilst I live I live happily; but it is necessary that so long as I live I should live honourably.” — Immanuel Kant

“Friendship should be more than biting time can sever.” — T. S. Eliot

“The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” — Socrates

“I had a hunch something like this would happen.” — Written on grave

Ode to an Indispensable Man

Sometime, when you’re feeling important,
Sometime, when your ego’s in bloom,
Sometime, when you take it for granted
You’re the best qualified in the room;
Sometime when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow this simple instruction
And see how it humbles your soul.
Take a bucket and fill it with water;
Put your hand in it, up to the wrist.
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining
Is the measure of how you’ll be missed.
You may splash all you please when you enter,
You can stir up the water galore,
But stop, and you’ll find in a minute
That it looks the same as before.
The moral in this quaint example
Is to do the best that you can.
Be proud of yourself, but remember –
There is no indispensable man.

~~ Saxon White Kessinger ~~

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We’ll continue our policy of not whining, in spite of the hour at which we are finishing today’s effort…. Why, I haven’t a clue. I suppose it’s for the best; nobody likes to hear grown men cry. I also haven’t a clue what I’ll do now, to pass the time until the sun rises, and the rest of this part of the world comes to life…. Ah well, I can always…. well, perhaps I’d better just keep that to myself…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should fortune favor this sad old fool….

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….

No tango tonight for you, Mortimer….

Posted on May 26, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A man’s happiness, — to do the things proper to man.”

— Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ~~

~~ Meditations, viii, 26 ~~

Just as if they had been dotted on top of the myriads of glowing suns in the Milky Way, this image depicts some of the brightest stars of the southern sky: on the right, in a rhomboidal shape reminding that of a kite, are the four stars of the constellation Crux, the Southern cross; in the lower left part, instead, shine the two most brilliant stars of the constellation Centaurus, the Centaur.

The Southern Cross

Image from Space.com

Good morning…. It’s a big world out there, and our last outpost of sanity is under continuous attack, by the forces of Entropy and Chaos…. This…. whatever this is, keeps them at bay in my little corner of Space/Time, as it has for close to four years now…. Join me now, as I once again take up the gauntlet, to do battle with every ounce of reason and rationality I can find…. Often it isn’t much, as is patently obvious…. But, we, or rather I, persevere, though there are times when we wonder why I bother….

Then, I look in the mirror, and see the dregs of sanity lurking there, and I am content…. It’s still a long road before me, so, I’d best get started…. As you might be able to tell from the state of this introductory section, it could be rather an uphill journey today…. Luigi, tell the tower we’re taking off, and not to worry about the fighter escort today. I’m feeling MEAN….

Shall we Pearl?

“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.” — C. G. Jung

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

Image from radiofreeamsterdam.com via Google Images

Yesterday we visited the days of old; today we’re returning to the same era, to listen to another all-time great…. Fats was the MAN, when I was young…. Nobody did it quite the same…. Enjoy, ffolkes; Fats is another cultural icon worth remembering….

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

Fats Domino

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https://youtu.be/Z4vbSKOw-0g

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Last year, in 2014, I came up with some pretty decent rants…. Here is one from August of that year, simply because I can, and I’m lazy today….(Whattyamean, today?….)(Oh, hush…) Enjoy, ffolkes….

From 8/31/2014:

“Stupid is as stupid does.” — Mama Gump

Yesterday, during a rant in section one of the Daily Pearl, I made a comment, wherein I accused Bill Clinton of being an idiot, and a husband, in the same breath…. While his persona exhibits elements of both adjectives, neither one fits completely comfortably; if it was a suit, you’d think it was poorly tailored. He IS an idiot of course; letting one’s lust control their actions while in the White House as the President, is kind of a give-away on that…. and he IS a husband; it says so right on the license available for anyone to see somewhere in what, oh, yeah, Arkansas, or Alabama, or wherever it was they got married… Who knows, maybe it was in D.C. after they left Little Rock, or whatever… But, obviously, he isn’t terribly good at either one….

Any who, I wanted to clarify that, while also acknowledging that, in truth, Bill is a VERY smart guy…. I don’t care who you are, you don’t get to be a Rhodes Scholar if you don’t have a few neurons to bump together… He also plays a pretty mean sax, which is also an indicator of superior, or at least multi-talented, intelligence…. All of which goes to prove that intelligence alone has little, if any, survival value. Possessing a high IQ does not give one the ability, necessarily, to USE it in a way that helps one advance, in any respect….

Ethically, morally, or in terms of worldly success, as in being rich, famous, or celebrated in some fashion, smart guys don’t always win against the mundanes, simply because they are often not paying attention to what is important to those with less on their minds… In Bill’s case, he tried to take his multi-tasking to a new level, and failed, miserably…. Common sense often escapes the most intelligent members of this species; they tend to be a little less balanced out on the fringes of the bell curve…. too much going on in their heads, that ends up distracting them from what they’re doing in the real world, and that they are being watched, always…

That’s all…. just sayin’….. Smart don’t mean smart, if you know what I mean…. Sometimes, a little bit of street cred, a little low animal cunning, as it were, can go a long way to being more useful than having a degree, or being able to quote poetry…. Unfortunately, when someone like that learns the law, then turns to politics, there is no end to the harm they can cause…. Witness just about every president in my lifetime…. Most of them weren’t the most intelligent, though smart enough to get through law school; they are definitely the most corrupt, and the most vicious sociopaths, that is for sure and for certain, but, overly intelligent, they were NOT…..

Sorry, but, I just calls ’em as I sees ’em, ffolkes, and that’s the way it’s been for my life; I can count, on fewer than the fingers on only ONE of my hands, the number of presidents I respect, at all, and only one of those is still alive…. That one will go down in history as an ineffective president, because he had the unfortunate quality of possessing both intelligence, and integrity, not to mention compassion…. which are three qualities that no other president since 1962 has possessed. to any appreciable degree, and definitely not together in the same man, other than the one…. If you disagree, fine…. comment, and tell me why, so we can discuss it…. But, please, make it worth my time, because there isn’t a lot of evidence I’m aware of for you to choose from..

Any who, that’s it…. just wanted to make clear why I thought Bill was an idiot husband…. I’ll avoid any comments as to WHY he is uncomfortable as a husband, married to a woman who is just as sociopathic as he is…. a woman completely lacking any sort of real compassion for others, because it is subsumed in the vast furnace of their ambition….

There is no room for compassion in one who wishes to lead a nation, especially one with the power and resources of this one, along with the historically traditional imperative, and true national pastime, of proselytizing democracy, and our twisted versions of Christianity, on anyone in the world who doesn’t have them…. whether they want them, or not….

Sometimes, that interference in the lives and interests of other nations in the world in the guise of business, to spread our capitalist markets, which require constant expansion to prevent collapsing under their own weight…. Or, our insistence on playing busybody is justified with the pretense of humanitarianism, with rationalizations ranging from saving them from godless communism, to fighting the evil of “muslim extremists, and/or rebel insurgents” who are fighting terrorist civil wars, “killing their own people, including, gasp, children and old people!”

These wars, though being fought over what seem to me to be all-too-familiar sounding, minute, yet firmly idiotic differences of interpretation of scripture, are still CIVIL wars, even if religiously motivated …. I won’t comment on this scripture, allegedly also “divine” in origin, in the book of collected dogmatic delusions that were left to guide them by their version of a mortal, yet, somehow, also immortal, and, thus, divine, (by the time-tested use of “ipse dixit” reasoning) prophet of the ONLY god, or Allah, or Baha’u’lah, or whomever they worship/idolize/follow/are enslaved by…. Well, I wasn’t planning to comment, but, I suppose I just did….

However, my point remains valid, despite my opinion of Islam, or Christianity, or Hinduism, or Buddhism, or any other religion…. As far as I’m concerned, they are ALL the possessors of a SMALL piece of the Truth about Reality in this Universe, but, they have erroneously chosen to misinterpret the meaning of their piece, and have beaten their dead horses, killed by that error, into a sad, bloody pulp, unrecognizable, and useless for anything other than making everyone’s life more difficult, and divisive…. I can’t say it much clearer than that, about religion, or politics, either….

Instead I’ll say that it’s a shame there is probably no one to run against Hillary who can win, because she’ll be, unfortunately, as cruelly self-serving, as dishonest as, well, a politician, as unaware of, and as little concerned with the plight of the common man, and as falsely “transparent” in their actions and words, as any man who has ever held the office…. including Tricky Dicky and LBJ, who were about as underhanded, and corrupt as any politician who ever lived….

The scary part of that, if not the scariest part of the whole shebang we call the future? If there IS anyone who can win against her, things in this sad old country, and, no doubt, the rest of this sad, old world, will go from bad, to very much worse, in a very short time…. Think about it….

Just watch…. I hate being right in these cases, but, my track record is, sadly, practically unblemished, as I have called just about every election at the national level, for all those years of repetitive foolishness I’ve witnessed….

“It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” — Noel Coward

“…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 — Robert Anton Wilson

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Three final notes on this subject from 2015, as it becomes more relevant each day:

“If you ever see me getting beaten by the police, put down the video camera and come help me.” — Bobcat Goldthwait

“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. — Douglas Adams, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” — Edmund Burke (1729-1797), in a letter to William Smith

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As noted in the previous section, I’m feeling a bit lazy today; hence this antiquated poem from the archives…. Enjoy, for what it’s worth… Written sometime in 2013, it’s one of my favorites, such as they are….

Accentuated Lessons

Bold statements of calculated intent
Become common rule of the malcontent.
Avarice assumes such attractive wear
Beguiling deception, illusory and fair.

Grasping and pulling with ghostly hands
Legally proper in all the signatory lands.
Seeking and finding each vulnerable soul
Anguish as payment for exacting the toll.

Wraiths of commerce’s invisible dead guards
Still haunt the dreams left in sad empty yards.
While absentee nobles sit in stiffly elegant splendor
Served by sad-faced detainees in abject surrender.

Escape from reality is illusory at best
Often we falter and fail its daily test.
Only when focused on inner strength
Does peace stay with us for any length.

Peace lies within, always…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Today’s final old-school pearl is a tricky one…. All of the following are observations on Life at Large, in a manner of speaking…. At least one of them is a trick pearl…. It looks okay, and sounds okay, but, when one stops to look more closely at the concept, it turns silly on you…. which, somehow, doesn’t detract from its rightness…. Go figure, and, of course, which pearl that may be is left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…. You should KNOW you never get out of here without having to use at least three neurons!…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

“Fear always springs from ignorance.” — Smart Bee, paraphrasing the Bhagavad Gita

“Cato said the best way to keep good acts in memory was to refresh them with new.” — Francis Bacon (1561-1626) — Apothegms, No, 247

“It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are willing to search for it.” — Goethe

“With two hearts do people live; a small one of deep softness, the other of steel. And kindness is too often a shield, generosity too often a sword.” — Kahlil Gibran

“I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there.” — Richard Feynman

“You’re never too old to learn something stupid.” — Smart Bee

“The best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost

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Today’s process of creation felt a little choppy, but, hey…. we’re done. Y’all know what that means right? You’re on you own again…. Go do something constructive, or, at minimum, patently explainable in small words, of three or fewer syllables. Wouldn’t want to confuse anyone, now, would you? No, of course not…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can dodge the bullets….

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….

Betting on a busted flush….

Posted on May 13, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Speech is a mirror of the soul: as a man speaks, so is he.”

~~ Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 1073 ~~

~~ A perfect picture of the relationship between Dogs and Man ~~

(Not to mention the power of Love, and the power of Cute….)

Picture stolen from Facebook, ages ago….

Good morrow, ffolkes….

If today’s Pearl gets done anywhere near the usual time, it will be a major victory for the forces of good…. Without getting into details which would indubitably sound like whining, I’ll just say it’s not a good morning here at ECR, and let it go at that. Should you, and/or I, get to the end, well, I’ll have earned the title of “tough old fart”…..

Shall we Pearl?

“I found one day in school a boy of medium size ill-treating a smaller boy. I expostulated, but he replied: ‘The bigs hit me, so I hit the babies; that’s fair.’ In these words he epitomized the history of the human race.” — Bertrand Russell, Education and the Social Order

Ouch! Boy, if THAT isn’t the truth, I don’t know truth. And, believe me, I know truth, especially when it hits me in the face as hard as that does. If it doesn’t hit you as hard, well, all I can say is, read a bit of history, and think about it again…. End of mini-rant, on with the slow…. no typos allowed, ffolkes….

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

Image from rollingstone.com via Google Images

C’mon, ffolkes… If you know me at all, you’d have known today’s video would be this band, after the last two days…. Sheesh…. Enjoy!

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The Who

Live at the Isle of Wight Festival, 1970

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https://youtu.be/YMS47w8hAZ8

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I’m pretty late, but, if I use an old rant from the archives, I can make up most of the time…. Here is a pretty decent little discussion from the occasion of my son’s last birthday…. Apparently, I found an even older piece, from 2013, a reflection on a reasonably esoteric subject, to wit: Life and Death, or Mortality… Enjoy!…

Last posted 12/17/2014; written 3/3/2013:

“As a draft-animal is yoked in a wagon, even so the spirit is yoked in this body.” — Upanishads (c. B.C. 800)

Each of us is faced at times with the consciousness of our own approaching encounter with Death, that moment in time when our yoke is removed, and our spirit is freed, once more joining the rest of the conscious minds in the universe, in roaming through realms of Reality we cannot see in this form. This Reality we cannot see is much larger, in one sense, than the one we can now perceive; it has to be, to be able to accommodate all the souls that have gone before, and all that are now present on Earth, that will someday join the rest of them, when they die…..

Every human being alive must face their own Death (I am capitalizing the word to give it the proper respect, as one of the most important concepts we have as humans….); this is a truism no one can deny, or refute. Many people have banded together, to assume the belief that our universe was created this way by a supernatural being, who, for some unknown, and unknowable (self-explanatory, I think….) reason, decided that we are “special”, giving us, and only us, the knowledge we have, and our very lives. This, of course, is rather hard to believe, as it doesn’t really account for much of what is observable truth in Reality…. In truth, it is, patently, complete speculation, devoid of any concrete evidence to support it…..

“There is no conclusive evidence that there is life after death. There is also no real evidence to the contrary. Soon enough, you will know. So, why fret about it?” — Lazarus Long, aka Robert A. Heinlein

I first read this aphorism when I was in my early teens; it codified, and made succinct, what I had already concluded about the major religions of the world, i.e., they’re a collection of unwarranted, and unproven, assumptions. What’s more, they are all highly unlikely, given the observable parameters of the real world. It became obvious to me, as it is to many, that what the religious folks were trying to get me to believe was intended merely to soften my mind, making it more amenable to suggestion, of which they have an endless supply. Preachers, priests, imams, nuns, all are quite willing to give other people advice and suggestions on how they should live, in exhaustive detail, for as long as they are allowed to do so….

Since I had very little desire to have other people decide for me how I should think, or live my life, I rejected the dogma they tried to force into my head, turning instead to other sources of thought about Life, Death, and Reality. I found an endless supply of folks who had thought long and deeply about all of these ideas, and gladly did I read all I could of everything I could find on the subject. In addition, I read science fiction, during the years when its popularity had just begun to climb to the heights it now occupies; sci-fi has always been literature that explored, and continues to explore, the very limits of thought, both in the real world, and the world of the mind.

As is seen by the first pearl above, these thoughts and ideas are not new with me; mankind has been thinking about these concepts since we first sat around the campfires, wondering at the beauty of the heavens we saw above our heads, and all around us. In all that time, no conclusions have been reached that seem to cover ALL of the questions we have about the universe. We still don’t have a clue as to “what is the mind”, or “what is thought”…. and if we cannot understand ourselves, what chance do we have of unraveling the secrets of the universe around us? Not much, would be my guess…

That, fortunately, does not mean it is impossible to know the truth, nor does it mean we are condemned to die in ignorance and fear…. I know this because I have learned in my time that our fear is a direct outgrowth of our ignorance; we fear what we do not understand. Now, if I were a God, why would I make people that way, unless for some ulterior motive, having to do with motivations that are human, not divine? No, it just doesn’t make sense to me to assume that we were put here with a deliberate handicap, just to see how we dealt with it; that seems more like an evil scientist at work than a compassionate deity.

“One must marry one’s feelings to one’s beliefs and ideas. That is probably the only way to achieve a measure of harmony in one’s life.” — Etty Hilsum

Since I believe firmly in the Law of Conservation of Energy (proven true in this universe, to all our knowledge), I must, logically, also believe that our minds/souls are a form of energy we currently don’t fully understand, and cannot perceive directly. Thus, we see the concept of Death is nothing to fear, as it merely means that my current state of energy will be replaced with another state, one I don’t currently have the ability to perceive. What that state may be like may be unknown, but that doesn’t mean it is something of which I should be afraid…. I prefer to look at it as the next great adventure….

When my father died, I asked him to leave me some trail-sign, to let me know how to find him in the next reality; he smiled at me, and said he would do that… and I was much comforted by that, knowing that our connection as family can never be severed, and that, someday, I would once more have the pleasure, and comfort, of his presence…. Now that’s something to look forward to, don’t you think?…. Much better than worrying that what I do now is going to determine what happens to me after I die, a silly proposition, at best……

“Do not think that man is but flesh, skin, bones and veins; far from it! What really makes man is his soul; and the things we call skin, flesh, bones and veins are but a garment, a cloak; they do not constitute man. When man departs this earth, he divests himself of all the veils that conceal him.” — Zohar

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While I’m still waiting for the poem in my head to leak out, here is one of my latest poems, from last year….

A dream, weeping….

“Never a dull moment to spare”, he said
with a crooked grin, and a broad wink.
“Can’t keep Reality hanging by a thread….
what would Chaos, or Entropy think?”

So, we plucked up our dreams of old,
to carry us on, in dutiful, strong arms,
stuffed a candle in the remaining fold,
for luck, and perfect proof against charms.

Storms follow the sun, but, never stay;
lessons round every corner, all free.
Past fleeting doubts, in a sad disarray,
the journey becomes the reason to be.

Simple kindness manifests untold riches,
in defiance of common cause’s demise.
Bold courage, hanging in stitches,
mends wounds that come as no surprise.

Still, waters run deep, ’tis said by many.
Too much pain cannot apprehend
the salient, sharp points of epiphany,
nor, plainly, to wisdom aspire to pretend.

Folly dogs even the simplest truth,
fumes of toxic ignorance and bile,
alienated as a loose rotten tooth;
it often hides itself, for a long while.

Sought after eons ago, we cried out,
to believe, to suffer no more doubt.
But found instead good reason,
for love, and truth, from season, to season.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 8/30/2014.

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Yep…. It’s an old-school pearl. I let the cat pick them…. It’s a cat; I’m not even going to try to guess what it means….

If of all words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are, `It might have been,’
More sad are these we daily see:
`It is, but hadn’t ought to be.’

~~ Francis Brett Harte ~~

“A cock has great influence on his own dunghill.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 357

“Simplicity is always a virtue. One kid on a riverbank working out a Stephen Foster tune on his new harmonica heard from the correct aesthetic distance projects more magic and power than the entire Vienna Philharmonic and Chorus laboring (once again) through the Mozart Requiem or Bach’s B Minor Mass.” — Edward Abbey

“It is not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we have to do, that makes life blessed.” — Goethe

“The man who fears no truths has nothing to fear from lies.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.” — Henry David Thoreau

“As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery, “Wisdom of the Sands”

“Every day should be passed as if it were to be our last.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 633

“Let us treat men and women well;
Treat them as if they were real;
Perhaps they are.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

Hmm…. Not too shabby at all…. I think the only thing to add at this point is, “meow….” Or, maybe, “Brrrt?”….. You tell me….

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It’s a wrap, thank goodness…. You may officially consider me a tough old fart. On that elegant note, I’ll take my leave, while I’m still able to remain at large…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can get a grip….

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….

To Whee or not to Whee….

Posted on May 4, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“HELLO, everybody, I’m a HUMAN!!”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

Black Hole ~~ Chandra Deep Space Observatory

http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/01/supermassive-black-holes-quasar-chandra/?ncid=rss_truncated

Good morning, ffolkes.

Shall we Pearl?

“Cheshire-Puss,” she began, “would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t care much where–” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re quite sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”

~~ Lewis Carroll, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” ~~

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Image from youngdubliners.com via Google Images

http://youngdubliners.com/index2.shtml

I first heard this band about 20 years ago; I’ve been listening ever since….. Solid, honest, and Irish rock and roll…. Long live rock!….

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Young Dubliners

Saints & Sinners

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https://youtu.be/V4idmqqGDW0

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Yesterday’s sublimated rant, which magically turned into an old-school pearl, which seemed to work out rather well. Today, let’s try the same method on another of our traditional targeted groups, those delusional sycophants who are the strongest supporters and loyal slaves of the Beloved Ruling Class, to wit: Preachers, priests, pastors, imams, ayatollahs, or any other odd little title people choose to cover up their sheer evil ignorance, and lack of courage….

How much does it take to stand up to the universe in which you were born?…. Too much for most people, it seems; they’d rather blame it all on some supernatural fall guy…. Awfully convenient way to justify one’s own stupidity and greed…. Any who, here are seven pearls which indicate fairly well how I feel and think about it…. How can I lose, beginning and ending with Frankie Z?….

“Anybody who wants religion is welcome to it, as far as I’m concerned — I support your right to enjoy it. However, I would appreciate it if you exhibited more respect for the rights of those people who do not wish to share your dogma, rapture or necrodestination.” — Frank Zappa, “The Real Frank Zappa Book”

“Everything has been figured out, except how to live.” — Jean-Paul Sartre

“Faith: not wanting to know what is true.” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Acceptance without proof is the fundamental characteristic of Western religion, Rejection without proof is the fundamental characteristic of Western science.” — Gary Zukav, “The Dancing Wu Li Masters”

“Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.” — Mark Twain

“During almost fifteen centuries the legal establishment of Christianity has been upon trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry, and persecution.” — James Madison

Do what you wanna, do what you will;
Just don’t mess up your neighbor’s thrill.
And when you pay the bill, kindly leave a little tip
To help the next poor sucker on his one-way trip.

~~ Frank Zappa, You Are What You Is ~~

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Two years ago today, I wrote a poem. This is it…. Enjoy, please, such as it is…..

Funny Bones

Dreaming the way home, lost, unseen,
from the dance, where
he felt so free, and clean.
Sorrow couldn’t find him there.

Waiting, filling up the hours, hoping,
some connection can be found
keeping busy as bees, coping.
Love creeps in, without a sound.

Fat days, skinny nights, passionate
visions of semi-conscious entities,
cannot seem to fully illuminate
or hide our innermost frailties.

Resolute, find the perfect sense, codify
simple rules with every breath
never waiting, anxious to modify.
fear nothing in life, not even Death.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Smart Bee is still being fractious, so, I take what I can get, which, in today’s case, seems to be a fairly good description of what is needed for a Life, Well Lived….

“If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.” — Confucius (B.C. 551-479)

“There is in us a tendency to locate the shaping forces of our existence outside ourselves. Success and failure are unavoidably related in our minds with the state of things around us. Hence it is that people with a sense of fulfillment think it is a good world and would like to preserve it as it is, while the frustrated favor radical change. The tendency to look for all causes outside ourselves persists even when it is clear that our state of being is the product of personal qualities such as ability, character, appearance, health and so on.” — Eric Hoffer

“Few people have the imagination for reality.” — Goethe

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” — T. S. Eliot

“If there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life.” — Albert Camus

“The privilege of absurdity; to which no living creature is subject but man only.” — Thomas Hobbes

“Today is a good day to die.” — Apache warrior proverb

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Good enough. Hell, I don’t work for the government any more, so, it’s clearly good enough. Well, okay, let’s just not go there, okay? It’s done, how’s that? Yeah, that’s the ticket…. it’s done, and there’s nothing more any of us can do. We may as well be logical, and just take our leave, like good little bozoids…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should I end up anywhere close to reality by then….

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….

Bluffing on a busted flush….

Posted on May 1, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“He is able who thinks he is able.”

~~ Buddha ~~

Road Trip

Image stolen from unknown Internet site.

Unburdened by the rigors of coherent thought, I sit to begin another Pearl. I sincerely wish, too, I could claim credit for the opening sentence; sadly, I stole part of it. Beautiful, though, isn’t it? The part before the comma is the part I stole, which is why I wish I’d said it; it is, in almost every sense, a perfect expression of my state of being almost every day as I start this process. Process it is, too, beginning with will power sufficient to arise from bed, (always a challenging exercise, these days….), stumble to the coffee machine to turn it on, then, walk to the computer to attempt to find the tiny button to turn it on….

About ten minutes later, having somehow waited to get the coffee into my system, (often performing completely unconscious physical actions to do so…. I seldom remember FIXING the coffee, only consuming it…), I look at the screen to see if, maybe, I wrote something worth keeping while in my semi-conscious state. At least THAT is consistent…. it’s never there…

Today, the process is complicated even further by the vertigo I’ve been gifted with of late. In case you’ve never experienced it, let me assure you, it’s no picnic. Any sort of motion seems to stimulate it, which makes the process of writing somewhat problematic, as the head makes natural movements while thinking about them…. To be honest, it’s getting to be a bit of a bother…. and, yes, that’s sarcasm….

But. I got some of this done yesterday, so, I’ll push through, pretending I’m tough. I really did used to be tough; I just need to remember how to go about it…. Shouldn’t be too hard; I’ve played with pain, or other issues, all my life…. I’m not going to let it keep me from doing what I need to do now…..

Fuck Murphy….. and the fucking white horse he thinks he rode in on….

Shall we Pearl?

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total oblivion. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me and turn my inner eye to follow its path. When the fear is gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” — The Litany Against Fear (Frank Herbert, -Dune-, 1965)

Good timing on that one…. it’ll come in handy today….

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Image from scotsman.com via Google images

I am NOT an opera fan, at all. However…. I AM a big fan of the human voice; I learned to play guitar so I could sing along. This isn’t to say I’ve the world’s best baritone; in fact I’d say any one of these three gentlemen are much better, without any fear of disagreement, from anyone but my dog, which I don’t have. And, they’re tenors, not baritones, which goes to show you how good I might be…. When all three of them are hitting a top note, it is, literally, spine-tingling…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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The Three Tenors In Paris ~~ 1998

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https://youtu.be/4IUcm3_aVTU

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As might be surmised, a fresh rant is out of the question, unless I want to start in on Kaiser, HMO’s, and Big Pharm; I think I’ve built up enough angst over them to rant for a week with stopping…. For now, this little exercise will do….

From 9/2/2013:

“The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshall replied, In that case, there is no time to lose; plant it this very afternoon.” — John F. Kennedy

What a great little anecdote! I love to see a great life lesson told in a few short words…. Here is a perfect description of the attitude one requires to achieve happiness…. Yes, happiness, an old word, one bandied about much by the uninformed, and the unhappy…. Happy people never need to use the word itself, as they are just…. there. There is little need to think about being happy, when you are, and in fact, not thinking about it is one of the keys to holding it, once found…. But, it is a rare person in today’s world who can maintain any long periods where they feel happy the entire time; the world intrudes too much into our lives to give us leave to be happy, unless we know the secret…..

Yes, there’s a secret….. Of course, it’s the kind of secret that is hidden right in plain sight, like Poe’s Purloined Letter. It only requires that one be willing to accept it, and to allow it to enter into one’s spirit, suffusing the world in the less harsh light of contentment, rather than the cold, hard light of resentment. People tend to be like the gardener, blocking their own happiness by finding all kinds of reasons to NOT allow it entry into their world. As humans, we are taught at young age to view reality with stoicism, and mute, unquestioning acceptance of our lot; we are shown all the ways to look ahead, to see the worst of what can happen, in order to be prepared….

But, there is another way to approach the matter, one little known, and therefore little taught…Reality is a tough go, for sure, but, with a little bit of mental effort, much easier than the alternative, one can be in control of how it (Reality) affects one’s life. In short, Life treats us all like shit; what determines how much of it gets in our sandwich depends solely on us, and how we react to that shit…. We can slap the shit between two slices of bread, and choke it down…. or, we can use it as fertilizer, to grow some rather nice weed…. potent, and good for you….

Whatever one decides, the choice remains, as long as one is aware of the options. The problem with most folks is, they don’t see the options, or they don’t believe they will work, as their attitudes keep them from even trying a lot of new ways to do things. I won’t say it is this way for all people, but the greatest majority of people I see in the world are unhappy, without ever realizing that a) they don’t have to be unhappy, and b) being happy is within their power to choose…. It’s too bad, really, because that unhappiness is part of what makes people go wonky, losing integrity, honor, and any sense of morality, in order to reach for an illusion, an illusion of happiness that, even if grasped, will drift away and vanish, like smoke in a breeze….

This little mini-diatribe was intended to be more…. more clear, more inspiring, more helpful in getting people to think in different ways…. However, I seem to have lost that thread, and it’s getting a bit obscure, and thick…. So, I’m going to switch to old-school, and politely ask Smart Bee to give me the right words to accomplish that intent, without having to subject y’all to another thousand words of pedantic persuasion…. Well, that’s how it’s supposed to work, anyway…. If not, at least it will have been more palatable, with more chocolate chips….

“Going to bed with a woman never hurt a ballplayer. It’s staying up all night looking for them that does you in.” — Casey Stengel

“Pizza is a lot like sex. When it’s good, it’s really good. When it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.” — Smart Bee

“Beware of the “Black Swan” fallacy. Deductive logic is tautological; there is no way to get a new truth out of it, and it manipulates false statements as
readily as true ones. If you fail to remember this, it can trip you – with perfect logic. The designers of the earliest computers called this the “Gigo Law”, i.e. “garbage in, garbage out”. Inductive logic is MUCH more difficult – but can produce new truths.” — Lazarus Long

“Man errs as long as he strives.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust

“‘T is but a part we see, and not a whole.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 60

“If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.” — Mark Twain

“Eternity is a mere moment, just long enough for a joke.” — Hermann Hesse

Okay, so, that works, sort of….. My apologies…. It’s not as clear as I’d hoped, though it’s quite good, in its own small way…. Not bad directions, if one is accustomed to pearls…. I’ve got it! Here is an example of how happiness works, and is available for use by anyone who wishes to use it….

I’m happy now…. I’m done….

(That’s it…. that’s the secret….. No? Not clear yet? Ah, well…. Well, we’ll try again later, ffolkes…. just remember, you CAN be happy, any time you wish…. It’s all a matter of choice…. Bonus? Nobody can take the choice away from you….)

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Retrospective, defined in folly….

Yesterday
I wrote a poem.

It bled out of my head,
like I’d been struck with
an axe,
right through the artery,
in the neck,
spraying blood around
everywhere,
like a pulsing garden hose….

It hurt, at first,
then came the feeling,

of quick relief,
of timeless beauty,

of pain avenged,
of lust aroused,

of outrage aflame,
of deep compassion,

of endless empathy,
of truest love….

Now it’s gone, cast away
like pearls before twine.

(Grin…)

You thought
I was going to call you
a pig,
didn’t you?

Hah!

Well, you’re not.
You’re a person.

I know, because
you’re reading this poem…
if that’s what it is.
I think it is,
so,
maybe it is.

Or, maybe,
it will be,
someday, when it
grows up,
and learns to rhyme.
Whew…
Just in time…..

That’s all.
Reality often sucks wind,
y’know?

S’okay, though….
It keeps us busy,
and out of some of the
mischief,
so much part
of our
nature.

We all can do
only what we
do.

Or, don’t.

Two sides, one coin.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 8/31/2014

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

Today’s old-school pearl is pretty simple; it’s made up of good advice on how to live your life in a manner of your own choosing…. In short, it’s mostly stuff you already know, for peace is ALWAYS there inside all of us, just waiting for us to realize we are connected to the Universe at all times, if only we can remember….

“Nobody has so many friends that he can afford to lose one.” — Edward Abbey

“It is the edge and temper of the blade that make a good sword, not the richness of the scabbard; and so it is not money or possessions that make man considerable, but his virtue.” — Seneca

“. . is to attempt seeing Truth without knowing Falsehood. It is the attempt to see the Light without knowing Darkness. It cannot be.” — Frank Herbert, Dune

“Think all you speak, but speak not all you think.” — Smart Bee

“You can’t get wet from the word ‘water’.” — Alan Watts

“It is impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“We must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose.” — Indira Gandhi

“When I was born, death kissed me. I kissed it back.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

“The whole life of man is but a point of time; let us enjoy it, therefore, while it lasts, and not spend it to no purpose.” — Plutarch — Of the Training of Children

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There! Did it….. A great sense of relief infuses me; getting this done is almost made worthwhile by so feeling, I must say. Have said so, I’ll torment you no further, but, rather, take my leave, while the leaving is good…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; as can be seen, it will take a lot to stop me…. Let’s just hope the PTB continue to ignore my intransigence, chalking it up to insanity…. Yeah, that’s the ticket….

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….

Saving up for antediluvian pesto….

Posted on April 15, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“The world exists for its own sake, not for ours. Swallow *that* pill!”

~~ Edward Abbey ~~

Absent any routine, creating these Pearls every day has become somewhat choppy, at least from the inside. But, here I am again, bemused and befuddled, yet ready to display that fine sense of nonsense to which I’ve so generously accustomed y’all when you stop by…. Of course, this assumes I have a connection to said nonsense, a state which, normally, is quite accessible for us. Today, there might be some small obstacles to full use, and disclosure, as I’m sure you’ve deduced by now. We’re NOT going to allow that to stop us, no sir…. We’ll push through no matter HOW crazy I get….

Which could be pretty damn crazy; I’ve got priors…. Since I don’t wish to go into all that just now, I’m going to again use my executive powers as blog admin to authorize us to use the powers of a Time Lord, as is our wont in such instances…. Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt, though you might want to down one of those seasick pills; it can get a little rough getting through the entrance slots…. But, no worries, Luigi is a master at it, so, let’s be on our way, okay? Okay….

Shall we Pearl?

“It is impossible to get anywhere without sinning against reason.”

~~ Albert Einstein ~~

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

The Royal Isis

The “Actual” Ferry Cross The Mersey

Here’s the first bit of oddness for today. This song, and band, I’m sure, is one y’all haven’t heard, or thought about in at least thirty years…. Any bets? Ah well, so much for the budget…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this is an oldie, but, a goodie….

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GERRY & THE PACEMAKERS

FERRY ‘CROSS THE MERSEY

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https://youtu.be/os4_U3_L5nY

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“No people in the world ever did achieve their freedom by goody-goody talk and moral suasion: it being immutable law that all revolutions that will succeed, must begin in blood, whatever the answer afterward. If history teaches anything, it teaches that.” — Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889)

This short politirant is from 1/12/2012, describing issues we are still dealing with in today’s political world, only, now, they’re even worse….

The Bill of Rights is History

The gravest danger threatening society in this country has been realized. The United States Bill of Rights has been repealed by collusion of the U.S. Congress, the Supreme Court, and the President; it was signed into law on December 31, 2011, and takes immediate effect on January 1, 2012 (uh, yesterday). It is suggested you read this quote from the article, read the article, then return here for our discussion of its content….

The “Bill of Rights has come to a sudden and catastrophic end with the President’s signing of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a law that grants the U.S. military the “legal” right to conduct secret kidnappings of U.S. citizens, followed by indefinite detention, interrogation, torture and even murder. This is all conducted completely outside the protection of law, with no jury, no trial, no legal representation and not even any requirement that the government produce evidence against the accused.” –excerpted from the article

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034537_NDAA_Bill_of_Rights_Obama.html#ixzz1iKFhRgjN

The party is now over. Big Brother has assumed control, and the rest of us will be hard pressed to wrest control over our lives back from them without a fight of some kind. The introductory statement above, alluding to collusion amongst the separate branches of our government, is made clear by the very fact that, for this document to even be considered as legal according to the Constitution, the Judiciary Branch would have to be in tacit and written agreement with the two other parts of our three part system, thereby reneging on their duty to act as a check to the legislative and executive branches, to safeguard our Constitution, and Bill of Rights.

All of the first ten given rights in the Bill of Rights have been declared null and void, without any objection from the judiciary. It seems fairly obvious that this country is now in the hands of people who have no regard for human rights, unless it pertains to their own; anyone who disagrees out loud with their new regulations don’t deserve any rights, in their eyes. And according to this new legislation, foisted on society while it was busy being distracted once again by rhetoric and illusory holiday seasons, anyone who is even suspected of being against these laws may now be kidnapped in the dark of night, with never a word of justification of any sort to anyone; none is now required, there is no oversight at all.

Considering some of what has been written here, and in other places where the author’s work may be found, they will be coming for me very soon….oh excuse me, someones at the door…. be right back…..

Note from 2015: Well, they didn’t get me that time, obviously…. My only thought on this now can be expressed this way:

And the sentence you’re paying is too high priced
While you’re living beyond all your means
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he’s made on your dreams

~~ Traffic ~~

~~ The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys ~~

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

Premises, premises….

Tricked, I stumble, and I fall
dreaming, through an abandoned palace.
Frightened and wary, unheard my call
fading into memory, no cup, no argent chalice.

The people, crushed, cry out to be freed
asking only to take part, or travel.
Nascent oaths spotlight such bursting need
fed by treachery, deep from our well.

Only the wicked shall find their way blocked
justice seeks them, snug in their hole.
Faint praises never touched, but naked, stalked
singing no gospel, no soul, no rock and roll.

Only the promised will remember the way
from unforgiven trails of sorrow.
To live life, and give death no sway,
saving grace for our only tomorrow.

~~~ gigoid ~~

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

Today’s final old-school pearl had simple parameters for the search to find appropriate aphorisms…. Those parameters can best be stated thus: What is it like to be gigoid, the dubious? What does it MEAN! Let your mind flow with these nine stars, and you will know….

Into the silent land!
Ah, who shall lead us thither?

~~ J. G. Von Salis (1762-1834) — The Silent Land ~~

“Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon or star.” — Confucius

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle

“A closed mind gathers no thoughts.” — Smart Bee

“Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep insights can be winnowed from deep nonsense.” — Carl Sagan

“I love those who yearn for the impossible.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust

“Only the imagination is real; I have declared it time without end.” — William Carlos Williams

“He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.” — Confucius

“I joined Scientology at a garage sale!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

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Well…. I’m speechless, for which, I’m sure, you are eternally grateful. It’s done; y’all know what that means, right? Right. We’ll all have to deal with it as best we may. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…..

So be it….. gigoid has spoken.

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….

The politics of chicanery….

Posted on April 14, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

This space left blankish.

Faux Spring in February

Considering the state of affairs out in the Big Blue Room these days, it’s a wonder I can even think of writing. All my instincts are telling me to head for the hills, taking all that is important with me, to find a place to hole up until the events we are witnessing have reached a more stable configuration, one which won’t be such a danger to those of us who refuse to be slaves. No doubt, it will come sooner than we expect; that is the nature of such catastrophes…. If humans were smart enough to see such things coming, history would have looked much different, and we’d already have settled the entire solar system by now….

But, our own nature is not only holding us back from achieving our true potential, it is ensuring we will never make it off the planet, not before making it our only hope of survival…. But, as is plain, this is beginning to resemble a rant, which was NOT my intention; in fact, I’d hoped to make this a shorter intro than usual. That plan, of course, is now defunct, as I’ve already blathered and meandered twice as long as I’d thought to when I began…. It’s a gift….

However, today we will reject the gift, in favor of moving on. In fact, I’m applying good old #4 right now, without any planning, or warning…. This means we’ll need to supply y’all with some clothes to get home, but, we keep those on hand, so, no worries…. Don’t fret, you won’t LOSE them; we’ll just launder them for you, and you can pick them up tomorrow…. For now, I’d suggest you hold on to something, as we’re going in, hard and fast…. Luigi, take it away!…..

Shall we Pearl?

“All the troubles of man come from his not knowing how to sit still.” — Pascal

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

No need to introduce this artist; I don’t believe there is anyone in this country, or most others, for that matter, who doesn’t know who he is…. And, with good reason; this album, in my mind, is his best of his work…. Y’all may think otherwise, and that’s cool; he’s written enough to go around….

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

Bob Dylan
Blood On The Tracks

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

https://youtu.be/YwSZvHqf9qM?list=PLknidvzcLCRECQa02iFlqRGYeh2OgHOXK

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

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

Written 12/23/2011, published on Socyberty, via Triond:

Hope for Sale, as is….

Mit der Dummheit kaempfen Goetter selbst vergebens.

[Against stupidity the very gods fight in vain.]

~~Friedrich Schiller, The Maid of Orleans ~~

St. Thomas Aquinas is commonly accepted as being a pretty smart fella by those who know and care about such things….He was the Catholic priest of the Dominican Order (died 1274 A.D.) who is credited with the famous aphorism, “Beware the man of one book…” Indeed…..our society is ill, suffering horribly from D.I.S., Deliberate Ignorance Syndrome, and no cure is in sight….

It is a very sad commentary on the overall health of our society when the political scene, as charmingly reported in the world media, so obviously and consistently devolves into guerrilla tactics (surprise attacks & divisive propaganda). Ubiquitous, these tactics are perpetrated by one segment of the political scene upon another with the sole intent of obstructing the current administration’s activities and policies, with no regard given to whether the targeted concept or activity is beneficial in any respect. The daily headlines seem to proclaim the world’s events as a scene of unrelenting, sinister internecine warfare amongst the diverse segments of political society.

The forefathers of this country, from all indications, had a different view of how the political process should unfold, one where the parties that lost in each election would assume the role of “loyal opposition” rather than the current evolution of the model, which is mostly reminiscent of how children react when denied a wish; otherwise known as “playground politics.” From the moment the newly elected President takes the oath of office, the opposing party’s pundits begin their campaign of derision, sly inferences, and outright lies intended to besmirch the Presidential (or Senator, Representative, or other opposition Joe Bloe) reputation and position, attempting to stop any and all attempts to make any changes not in their own narrow, biased platform.

Both modern incarnations of the Republican and Democratic Parties (along with every other less influential but power hungry organization sending forth combatants into the public arena) seem to share this hateful agenda, though the tactical parameters seem to be somewhat less bloody on the left, if only physically. Those on the right of the political spectrum seem to have less of a sense of restraint, and consistently carry out a non-stop campaign after each lost election to find fault with every word the President (or the First Lady) utters, crying “shame!” at every small piece of dirt they can dig up. However, pundits of all these persuasions, pressed to justify their picayunity, will reluctantly admit to the faith-based nature of the platform upon which they stand. Men of one book, indeed!

In truth, it’s more than sad, it’s tragic. Democracy, as originally conceived by the men who began this country, is a concept that, applied fairly and rationally, offers some chance for all of society to achieve a dignified existence, free of hate and persecution. But the reality is that any real chance of achieving true democracy is being eradicated by human avarice and deliberate ignorance.

It doesn’t appear upon examination that there is any evidence at all that our species at large is going to make any of the physical, mental, and spiritual changes that just might prevent our planet from sending us down the path to extinction. Maybe, that isn’t so tragic after all…..

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

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 ~~

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

A classic old-school pearl…..

“The truth is always the strongest argument.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Phaedra, Frag. 737

“One who is plenteously provided for from within needs but little from without.” — Goethe

“An intelligent mind is a mind which is not satisfied with explanations, with conclusions; nor is it a mind that believes, because belief is again another form of conclusion. An intelligent mind is an inquiring mind, a mind that is watching, learning, studying.” — J. Krishnamuti

“You cannot believe in honor unless you have achieved it. Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.” — George Bernard Shaw

“A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. To live is to be slowly born.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.” — Buddha

Happily may I walk.
May it be beautiful before me.
May it be beautiful behind me.
May it be beautiful below me.
May it be beautiful above me.
May it be beautiful all around me.
In beauty it is finished.

~~ Navaho Night Chant ~~

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

Well…. I don’t know exactly how, but, it’s done, and I’m not going to fuss with it. In fact, I’m bailing, before anyone can catch me…. 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….

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) ~~

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

Daffy Duck by Captain Jack Harkness

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

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

Daffy Duck

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

https://youtu.be/DrOPSzW2flg

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

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

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

“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 ~~

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

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….

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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Betting on a busted flush….

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