Metaphoria is no longer a threat…. it’s Reality….

Posted on August 30, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A note of music gains significance from the silence on either side.” — Anne Morrow Lindberg

“When you’ve seen one non-sequitor, the price of tea in China.” — Smart Bee

“Remember – more than three shakes is a wank.” — Written on urinal

“Pulchritude possesses exclusively cutaneous profundity.” — Smart Bee

“A pearl of virtual wisdom gains significance from the ignorance of the bozo on either side.” — gigoid

Hmm…. it seems I’ve decided to start the day with a five star pearl, complete with graphics, to state the underlying premise of the pearl’s meaning/POV/relation to reality….. In this case, it’s all very real, and connected, or, if not, it wants to be… and should be…. We here at ECR are, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, not into the abuse of language, unless needed to ward off the forces of evil, or protect the innocent…. which, in our society, either happens all the fucking time, or seldom, and, never, with any real predictablilty…. I know, that’s just the way it is, but, I don’t have to like it, exactly, do I? No….

Fortunately, though, I do….. Like reality, and English, and, for that matter, any and all languages…. not that it’s ever done me any good. People still don’t understand me, but, that’s one of those, “been there, done that” sort of things, so we won’t go there in the intro; we’d never get anywhere if I start whining too early…. I do TRY to be an adult, even if it doesn’t always work…. Since I have now completely lost my way, with not a single clue as to what I meant to do when I started writing, I’d best begin the long, slow process of casting around for something to actually address…. SIGH…. You are SO strict!…..

Now, don’t you feel better? I know I do; getting that much nonsense out in just two paragraphs is quite a release…. Plus, it gets some of the administrative BS out of the way without letting anyone know it’s even happening, right in front of them…. I’m not even required to tell you what that means, or even costs, as it’s all covered in the forms you signed on the way in…. after, of course, we accessed your account for the entrance fees…. You knew about that part, right?….

No? Oh well, your signature says you did, so, we’re covered, and you’ll never notice the hidden fees, anyway; it’s working like planned, and that’s good. The revolutionary committee can use the funds…..

Let me caution you, though, and remind you; this is all a joke, right? Y’all didn’t sign anything, and I have no frigging idea who is even out there, unless they let me know by commenting, or hitting the Like button…. the Net is still THAT anonymous, anyway, though I’m sure the NSA has a way to know who is where, reading what…. That, after all, is what metadata is all about, and they’ve had over ten years to play around on our internet without most of us knowing anything about what they were doing…. not until Edward Snowden dropped his bombs, anyway….

Since it IS a joke, I’m going to pretend as if we actually had a punch line ready, to bring matters to a satisfactory close…. We don’t, of course, have anything of the sort, but, since we’re only pretending, I didn’t want to pay for a real punch line, so y’all will have to make do with what is in the bag over there…. You see it? Yeah, that’s it, the grimy yellow one with the nuclear material logo…. If you’d just hand in to me….. Thanks… Oh, my, it IS filthy, innit? Oh, but, look, here’s a #4 ending…. we can plug it in right here, and….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“A heart is not judged by how much you love but by how much you are loved by others.” — The Wizard of Oz

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“Why ask me? I’m just visiting reality.” — Smart Bee, channeling gigoid again….

Okay, ffolkes, your vacation is over….. Below is a fresh spate of ranting, with an old-school pearl at the end, comprised of quotes that jumped up for attention when looking for some enhancement for future pears, and for a specific type of quote for another section…. They fit in with what the headlines had stimulated me to write, I couldn’t resist, naturally, even though the ranting portion of what is here is ample for any section on its own….

I have, apparently, lost all sense of proportion when it comes to this sort of outrage, engendered in me when I observe the crap going on out there in the public arena, because it seems to be the only way to reduce the negative effect on me…. Well, it’s the one I’ve chosen, so, either way, here it is… Like reality, even if you’re only visiting, as I tend to do on occasion, you have to choose, and then deal with the consequences of your choice….

http://blog.sfgate.com/techchron/2014/08/28/cops-cuff-12-protesting-low-security-guard-wages-at-sf-apple-store/?cmpid=hp-hc-bustech

It occurred to me when I was perusing the headlines that, in the recent past, we’ve seen a LOT of headlines just like this one. Without reading the article first, I wanted to note the following thought/question that came to mind…. I was under the impression that, in the United States, protesting was protected by one of the amendments to the US Constitution, as part of the first 10, known generally as the Bill of Rights….

One of them, specifically the First Amendment, (indicating its importance in the minds of the men who created it as our guide to how we would have our government structured, and operated….), guarantees the right of any American citizen to peacefully assemble, to petition the government for a redress of grievances, by specifically stating that Congress, or the States, may not create and pass any laws to the contrary…..

In spite of this, how often do we see American citizens, not merely arrested for exercising their right to protest, but, abused, jailed, and prosecuted for it…. under the guise of “protecting the public order”, which has become more important to many than their freedom…. Okay, now I’ll go read the article, to see what the police and government have to say that justifies ignoring the First Amendment to the US Constitution…. After, I’ll most likely rant to beat the band, so, if you’re going to skip that, now would be the time to read the poem….

So, it seems to be an acceptable phenomenon, at least to the media, for the police in such instances to not even have to comment on why they made arrests, unless they do so with some sort of overreaction, or in an abusive manner than will grab headlines…. They just make strategic arrests of those they believe are the active leaders of the protest, with the intent, and usual effect, of both removing the direction the activists provide, and intimidating and distracting the remaining citizens, er, protesters…..

Hell, you can tell how the issue has progressed, or, if you will, evolved…. All you have to do is to listen to the police, on their radios, talking to each other…. Listen to the words they use to describe the citizenry…. mostly they are words that objectify the people, by calling them names that take away their humanity…. suspect, unsub, subject, male & female individuals, etc…. all are removed from any emotional content, and placed in the arena of battle language….

Enough on those fools…. Next we come to a governor of one of our fine states, his wife, and the corporate asshole who gave them money to give his business a boost…..

“As if the world and they were hand and glove.” — William Cowper (1731-1800) — Table Talk, Line 173

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Closing-arguments-set-in-former-Va-governor-trial-5720480.php?cmpid=hp-hc-nationworld

I can’t even write about this, ffolkes…. In this story, none of us come out looking very good…. Not the governor and his wife, not the man who bribed them, not the state, or the courts, and, most specifically, not the public, as the story unfolds without anyone commenting much, or even actually paying much attention (other than the few media hacks who keep dragging it back into the public eye whenever somebody in the court at their trial scratches an itch…. The media, on this story, seems to feel that if they keep shoving our faces in it, we’ll think they’re cool for kicking everybody when they’re down…. In truth, the whole issue disgusts me so much, we’ll go on….

http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Hillary-Clinton-on-Ferguson-We-are-better-than-5719406.php?cmpid=hp-hc-bayarea

Hillary is all about implications and subtext when she talks these days; she knows everything she says is looked at with a microscope decorated with the Presidential Seal…. she REALLY, REALLY wants to be president of this country. You can see it all over her face, especially in the picture adorning the page where you’ll find the article above….. She is shamelessly using the tragic events in Missouri to spread all the lies and innuendo she can, getting the public broken in, and used to hearing this sort of crap from her, all the while creating an image, showing herself as the thoughtful, compassionate woman, yet, one strong enough to run this superpower country, better than any man, especially her idiot of a husband….

Now, if anyone can point out anything…. anything at all, in what she says, or does, to alter that opinion, please, feel free to bring it up, along with any justification arguments you may wish to add…. I don’t expect much response, as there isn’t anything out there that fits that description, that I’ve been able to find, anyway, and I looked pretty hard…. Hillary is a politician, not a woman, or a man-like woman; she’s one of the psychopathic, mega-maniacal, arrogant assholes who want to control everything everybody else does, for their own aggrandizement and personal gain, not because they are altruistic at all, but, because they are possessed of overpowering ambition, and a complete lack of human connection, that allows them to sociopathically create their own set of rules, where everyone in the world loses, except for them….

Sorry, all you hopefuls out there, with the great desire to see a woman in such a position of power, wrongly thinking it will make any difference at all…. This is not, as I said, a woman, but, a politician, right down to her bones…. And, as per my personal experience over the last 50+ years of observing and analyzing presidential elections, and the candidates who run for that office, has shown me, there is not a single politician at that level of the game who tells the truth, at all, unless it somehow will benefit them, and help them achieve their goals…. It is the nature of the beast; a politician can no more keep from lying than they can keep from acting like an asshole…. which means, never…

And yes, it pisses me off, that they even have the chance to get their fingers in the public treasury, and direct this nation for a period of time it usually takes two decades to recover from, or longer….

Enough for now…. y’all can, no doubt, fill in your own ranting on these issues, so, here are a group of pearls to help keep the outrage simmering, or, at least, allow you to laugh about it….

And finds, with keen, discriminating sight,
Black ‘s not so black,–nor white so very white.

~~ George Canning ~~
(1770-1827)
— New Morality —

“Riches are the savings of many in the hands of one.” — Eugene Debs (1855-1926)

QUORUM, n. A sufficient number of members of a deliberative body to” have their own way and their own way of having it. In the United States Senate a quorum consists of the chairman of the Committee on Finance and a messenger from the White House; in the House of Representatives, of the Speaker and the devil.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

Blest paper-credit! last and best supply!
That lends corruption lighter wings to fly.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~
(1688-1744)
— Moral Essays, Epistle iii, Line 39 —

“Justice is itself the great standing policy of civil society; and any departure from it, under any circumstance, lies under the suspicion of being no policy at all.” — Edmund Burke

“Now we are going to set this pile of evil ablaze. But remember, because these are children’s toys, the fire will spread quite rapidly. So, please stand back and try not to inhale the toxic fumes.” — Minister in “Krusty Gets Busted”, from The Simpsons

What a great finish! Krusty knows how to stick it to the establishment, right in the eye with a sharp, filthy stick…. my kinda guy….

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In honor of the whiskey I consumed late last night, in a frantic, futile attempt to smother the pain long enough for the meds & chocolate to kick in, so I could sleep, here is one of the poems of the most famous poet of all time…. who never wrote a poem without being firmly drunk…. Enjoy!….

Alone And Drinking Under The Moon

Amongst the flowers I
am alone with my pot of wine
drinking by myself; then lifting
my cup I asked the moon
to drink with me, its reflection
and mine in the wine cup, just
the three of us; then I sigh
for the moon cannot drink,
and my shadow goes emptily along
with me never saying a word;
with no other friends here, I can
but use these two for company;
in the time of happiness, I
too must be happy with all
around me; I sit and sing
and it is as if the moon
accompanies me; then if I
dance, it is my shadow that
dances along with me; while
still not drunk, I am glad
to make the moon and my shadow
into friends, but then when
I have drunk too much, we
all part; yet these are
friends I can always count on
these who have no emotion
whatsoever; I hope that one day
we three will meet again,
deep in the Milky Way.

~~ Li Po ~~

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Above, you may have noted my use of the word ‘futile’ to describe my attempts at sleeping last night…. While forgoing any details, suffice it to say that very little of what I attempted had any success, and leave it at that…. So, what you get here, in the depths of my fatigue and liver-related misery, is the fastest sort of pearl I can create…. Let’s see what Smart Bee has in the way of items to ease me out of here with the least fuss, and noise…. Wish me luck….

“Even in mathematics, the sacred yoni appears in both the shape and substance of 0, the void, while the lingam appears in the shape and substance of 1, the creative lightning, and out of the union of the 0 and 1, all of the numbers of creation can be generated in binary notation.” — Robert Anton Wilson

“What the people believe is true.” — Native American Proverb (Anishinabe)

“Prize that which is best in the universe; and this is that which useth everything and ordereth everything.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, v, 21

“I never like to think of the future. It comes soon enough.” — Albert Einstein

“Remember, people will judge you by your actions, not your intentions. You may have a heart of gold — but so does a hard-boiled egg.” — Smart Bee

“Only ideas that we actually live by are of any value.” — Hermann Hesse

A truth that’s told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.
It is right it should be so;
Man was made for Joy and Woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro’ the World we safely go,
Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.

~~ William Blake ~~
(1757-1827)
Auguries of Innocence, 53

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Okay, not too shabby, considering the source, and the condition of the source….. Quality, or lack thereof, notwithstanding, it’s done, and nobody can make me do it over…. which is probably just as well…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

May I see your license to glean, sir?….

Posted on March 19, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I know it’s going to be a tough morning when I get up….. That’s it…. When I get up…. THAT is the point in time when I know I’m about to make a mistake, again…. Yet, each day, I drag my sorry ass out of my nice, warm, comfy bed to come out here and go through all this, just to clear out the excess of corrupted files in my head.

I mean, it’s not as if anyone is paying me some huge amount of money to do this, nor am I, apparently, taking the blog world by storm, as my site traffic still isn’t what I’d call heavy, or even moderate…. In fact, I’d say it was pathetic, but, the few ffolkes who DO make it by each day are anything BUT pathetic, so that wouldn’t be appropriate, by any means….

Nor, it seems, is yet another attempt at a chatty, intimate, conversational opening going to cut it for long; I can feel this going wonky at me as I type…. Too many assumptions of real-time connection, without any actual control modules being hooked in, thus preventing many of the really neat things we COULD be doing if they were….. like graphics, and many other artistic flourishes, that often go missing in what we see happening around here….. I suppose it would help if I possessed even a smidgen of real artistic talent, but, the best I’ve ever come up with is a stick figure and stick trees under a pale blue sky…. and that was using Photo Shop!

Now, I know y’all can tell when I’m being facetious…. the lights automatically dim three times before each planned occurrence (when it happens inadvertently, we’re all on our own….). But, even with that, I don’t think we’re going to be able to salvage much from the wreckage of this opening. It’s gone pretty well off the rails already, and we’re only three paragraphs in…. I’m fairly certain, if I try to continue to beat it much longer, this dead horse is going to rise up and turn zombie on me…. Y’all KNOW how much I dislike having to deal with zombies…. It reminds me too much of watching televised Congressional hearings…. sheer torture….

Before I get any weirder, or become even less comprehensible, I’m going to abandon this mess. I don’t know exactly what happened, nor do I care much….. It’s over, which, as far as I’m concerned, is all I need to know right now…. We’ll go on, just as if we’ve had a regular, chatty little opening conversation, just like we do every day, thus putting the lie to our insistence on having reality match our description; today, it ain’t gonna happen, so we may as well get used to that…. However, we do have one saving grace remaining to us….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.” — Mark Twain

A school board member, it should be noted, is the larval stage of a politician…. It’s the lowest, most local level of elected official in this country, and, as such, Mr. Twain’s description, labeling them as idiots, was far more accurate than he knew; to be an elected official, one must be, at minimum, a proven psychotic, so, as idiots, they fit right in….
_____________________________

My ranting skills, while not ‘faded and gone away’ for good, are most definitely not in evidence today; I’m actually pretty fatigued in my head, all in all, from the events of the past two days, during which I waged a moderately tough battle with pain, with a large portion of my time spent in a happily-drugged stupor…..

Now that the pain is receding a bit, I’m still feeling the aftereffects of the battle, which can be more extensive than might be surmised….. It’s a tough row to hoe getting past such episodes; they require some rather strong applications of will power to ignore the pain at times, until the drugs can take full effect, and fatigue builds up rapidly, after a certain amount of time spent exercising that will….

Thus, I’m using another rant from the archives today, just because I can… This is from the period AFTER the last presidential election, in 2012…. It was beginning to become clear that though we had chosen the LESSER of two evils at the polls, our choice was still evil, as more and more evidence of cover-ups and lies began to emerge, lies that decried Barry’s promises of “transparency” in his administration. That lack of transparency has now been confirmed as a huge lie, so, this becomes even more accurate in its generally non-specific accusations of chicanery among the ruling classes…. Enjoy!….

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From 12/30/12:

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

I often wonder how people in the future, (if we have one…), will view these times, it being a given that the fabric of our society is based primarily on lies and/or delusions.* Which ones will stand the test of time, and end up in the books as being the one everyone agrees upon? It has also been said that history is always written by the winners, and that seems to me to be fairly close to the real truth of the matter. It would be a bit more acceptable to me if it weren’t so bloody predictable, and that there was at least a small chance that the events we experience would be reported truthfully. Alas, I am not hopeful that will ever be the case…..

* (Note the use of the technique of the positively stated assertion, using the assumption of its truth as PROVEN, the very same technique of verbal argument used by ALL religious doctrines as the basis for their truth and relativity…. Just thought I’d make it clear at the outset, this is real, serious stuff, just like their stuff is….)

In all honesty, I’m not convinced that we, as a species, will HAVE much of a future. Given the current state of the environment, I can’t see us lasting more than a couple hundred years more, without some major changes to society, changes that are neither imminent, nor under consideration.

When I first started this blog, over a year ago, I posted a link, to what is called a World Clock, at Poodwaddle.com ( I love the human imagination!…..What a great word, eh? Poodwaddle…. I like to say it out loud; it’s even more exciting that way…..). You can find that clock here: http://www.poodwaddlecom/clocks/worldclock/

The clock has a number of faces, one of which shows exactly how much carbon-monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide (CO2), along with unnatural amounts of other toxic substances, are being pumped into the atmosphere every second, by industrial and manufacturing facilities, and by cars and other vehicles. Other faces give real time statistics on other subjects common to the theme of the site, to wit: environmental activism…

I am a scientist, first. I chose the path of the scientist in my youth, before my tenth birthday, even before setting my feet upon the warrior’s path I chose to include as part of my later life. In essence, scientists ARE warriors, and vice versa; battling the universe requires study in order for one to be effective in coping with whatever happens….

In addition, the acquisition of knowledge requires the curiosity and courage of a warrior, in order to find, and face, the Truth, in all its many guises. Each path complements the other, and, in my time, have combined to lead me on a journey of great beauty and wonder. My journey, though, is in danger of being ended before its time, by the mundane asininity of the human race….

There are some scientists who believe that humans do not have the power to harm the planet; nor do they believe the danger is as great as the evidence might indicate. In one respect, they are right…. I don’t think the planet ITSELF is in danger from what we are doing, though I’m sure it is suffering pain from the symptoms we’ve managed to saddle it with in our time. (Why WOULDN’T a planet have consciousness?… It’s large enough, and complex enough, and we don’t know, or perceive, all there is to know about the universe, or consciousness, for that matter…. Answer that first, before asking me why it would suffer pain….)

No, our activities, such as polluting the air and water, wasting resources, and indiscriminately killing the other creatures with whom we live, only endanger US, and the other life forms on the planet. Once we are gone, the planet will easily clean itself of the trash we deposited everywhere, and move on to the next evolutionary step in the parade of Time.

“Where man walks the earth hurts.” — Smart Bee

Many years ago, I used to believe in the ingenuity of scientists, to overcome the technological difficulties we’ve created, and find a way to keep us alive, perhaps by colonizing other planets in space, leaving the Earth behind. But, the figures don’t lie, and the figures say we don’t have the time to fool around waiting for space travel to solve the problems we have. By the time we could achieve any kind of significant progress there, we would be forced to live in domes, to wear protective gear to go outside, just to walk on the surface of our own world. That is, IF there are enough remaining resources to build the domes, and to power them sufficiently to survive.

Another, though less likely possible solution is for the ruling classes of our species to come to their senses, to reverse their moral compass, such that they start acting in the best interests of everyone, instead of just themselves. The entire problem with pollution we have today exists solely because the ruling classes, the people who control all the resources, don’t have any moral compass, or, choose to deliberately ignore its influence.

They choose, instead, to structure society in their own favor, so that they, and ONLY they, have the power, and the control over what society produces, while the rest of us try to survive on their leavings. It is the same picture that history has seen portrayed for all the millenia since we came out of the caves to live in cities; the 1% of mankind who are in control are not interested in helping anyone else, unless and until they have fulfilled their own desires….

Even the lies upon which we all agree, in all of our written history, show this to be true, so I don’t think there is a huge chance that we will see any significant changes before it is too late for them to matter. I just don’t see those in the beloved ruling class, all of a sudden, suffering a change of heart, reversing the entire course of the history they’ve chosen to write in their name; it is not in their nature to be altruistic to even a small degree. We are either going to have to rise up and throw them out on their asses, or suffer an ignominious death, when the air we can no longer breathe begins to choke us, as we walk down the street toward our destiny….. a destiny which, at this point, leads us straight to a coffin…..

“I can’t decide which WRONG TURN to make first!! I wonder if BOB GUCCIONE has these problems!” — Zippy the Pinhead
_____________________________

What often amazes me when I read poetry by one of the classical Chinese poets, such as Li Po, is how beautifully the translations were written…. It takes a high degree of insight to be able to not only create a poem in translation from one language to another, but to make the translation as beautiful to read, or to hear if read aloud, as was the original piece…. It makes me want to learn to speak Chinese, if only to gain some understanding of the process involved, in creating such beauty in either language…. Enjoy!….

Amidst The Flowers A Jug Of Wine

Amidst the flowers a jug of wine,
I pour alone lacking companionship.
So raising the cup I invite the Moon,
Then turn to my shadow which makes three of us.
Because the Moon does not know how to drink,
My shadow merely follows the movement of my body.
The moon has brought the shadow to keep me company a while,
The practice of mirth should keep pace with spring.
I start a song and the moon begins to reel,
I rise and dance and the shadow moves grotesquely.
While I’m still conscious let’s rejoice with one another,
After I’m drunk let each one go his way.
Let us bind ourselves for ever for passionless journeyings.
Let us swear to meet again far in the Milky Way.

~~ Li Po ~~

_____________________________

Oh, yay…. I am filled with enthusiasm and excitement…. NOT….. I am, however, mildly pleased (about as strong an emotion as I’m capable of just now, I think…) to have reached this final section, where I can lay down my insane need to appear normal, at least for long enough to put together an old-school pearl to finish off today’s effort…. which has, indeed, been an effort…. I’ll keep the parameters simple, as well as hidden, so the point of all of this may, or may not, be immediately obvious… So, what else is new?….

“Everybody likes and respects self-made men. It is a great deal better to be made in that way than not to be made at all.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) — The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, i

“Invincibility depends on one’s self; The enemy’s vulnerability on him.” — Sun Tzu

“My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world and exiles me from it.” — Ursula K. Le Guin

“You speak truth,” said Themistocles; “I should never have been famous if I had been of Seriphus;” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Themistocles

“What we do is as American as lynch mobs. America has always been a complex place.” — Jerry Garcia (1942-1995), Musician, the Grateful Dead — Rolling Stone magazine, (November 30, 1989).

“Kindness is the beginning of cruelty.” — Muad ‘Dib

“I’m a GENIUS! I want to dispute sentence structure with SUSAN SONTAG!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
_____________________________

I make no apologies, nor do I make excuses, even though the process of making them up can be a lot of fun…. (My dog pooped on my homework after he ate the cat…. you know, like that….). But, when one has taken on the creation of a daily Pearl of Virtual Wisdom as a personal Duty, in spite of all the advice and counseling, in spite of all the urgings of his family and friends, in spite of the obvious humiliation and embarrassment he causes to others, as well as himself, well…. there isn’t a lot of wiggle-room for getting out of it, so making either apology or excuse becomes undignified, as well as counter-productive in the sense of maintaining one’s self-esteem…. whatever THAT might be!….

In spite of the tone and tenor of the intro section, I’m a bit disappointed this is already done; I’ve had more fun than I thought would be possible when I began…. About half-way through getting this completed, my brain woke up for real; as a happy result, the latter half of this process has been much smoother than the first half could possibly have been, given the handicap with which I started the day…. I was pretty mushy-minded at first today…. Truthfully, I’m kind of pleased with myself for showing the grit to get this done the way I did…. Now that I’ve strained my shoulder, patting myself on the back, I’ll go put on some of my magic cream, so I can make breakfast…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

Only the finest of hydrogenated motor oils served here….

Posted on December 20, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Though my morning hours are becoming more regular, my brain is not, and the fear, unwelcome, unwanted, yet remains…. Paralyzing, unreasonable, it strikes me each day, as I gaze in terror at the blank screen, wondering how the hell I’ll come up with something new and fresh, when every thought in my brain feels old and wilted, like a three day old salad…. I probably resemble that remark more than I realize…. I’m not green, yet, though…. I’m guessing that’s something about which to be encouraged…

Encouragement seems to be the only positive to be found just now, so, we’ll take it and run with it…. I’ll just keep repeating this affirmation to myself, “I’m not green yet!”…. I’m not green yet!”…. I’ll say that over and over to myself, and somehow, about an hour from now, I’ll believe it… Of course, I’m going by what I’ve been told by some New Agers, followers of some guy named Jack Handey, who’s supposed to be the newest guru of the self-enlightenment crowd…. Having achieved my own enlightenment many years ago, while sitting under a baobab tree, I …. wait, that wasn’t me, that was the Buddha!…. What was I thinking?….

Hah! I guess I fooled you this time, didn’t I? You thought I was going to take credit for the Buddha’s enlightened words, didn’t you? Hah! So there! You can’t catch me like that! I’ve been boasting, er, sharing, yeah, sharing, that’s it…. sharing my knowledge of enlightenment, for many years now, and you won’t catch me so easily as that! You may as well go look for some other lightweight, sucker….

Where were we? Oh, yeah, enlightenment…. Yes, many years ago, I found inner peace. I was actually looking for some aliens I heard had landed near there, but found it laying under a rock…. I sold that batch to a guy on Forty-seventh Avenue for forty bucks, which bought me some very nice ganja uptown. The next time I found it, I couldn’t find a buyer (it was during the Bush recession, the first one….), so I just tossed it in the river, as it wasn’t doing me any good there on the streets….

Sometimes, I actually feel as if a lot of people in today’s world would react the same way as I did, if they did happen to accidentally find inner peace…. Hey, many of them most likely wouldn’t be able to recognize it anyway…. Today’s modern person lives under such pressure, with so many mental distractions from the internet, TV, radio, and now smart phones, they would find it hard, first, just to know they were in need of some inner peace, and second, what to do with it if they found it….. But, not me…. I happen to know there’s a good market for it on the street… the hard part is finding a sucker, and one of those comes along every few minutes, especially in the parts of town where I hang….

For now, though, shall we Pearl?….

“An infallible method of conciliating a tiger is to allow oneself to be devoured.” — Konrad Adenauer
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Today’s Pearl was partially constructed ahead of time, due to an irresistible need to rant that snuck (that’s my new/old replacement for the just-plain-silly “sneaked”…..) up and struck me, right upside the head, of all places, all of a sudden, yesterday, just after noon…. Since the rant that spewed out onto the page at that time inarguably fulfills any possible requirements for length, by a factor of about, oh, three or four, I’ll just put together a bit of an old-school pearl here, of the random, harlequin style, which I’ve found to be the set of parameters that best fits the need for a fresh, yet well-balanced pearl that we have here today…. Balance, as we know, is the key, as is timing…. hence, I give you this fine little grouping, freshly picked from only the finest of oysters…..

“There is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), “Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant”

“Truth and falsehood are both whatever, and simultaneously not so, rather than not.” — Tim Larkin, March 31, 1993

“Faith does not offer the least support for proof of truth.” — Nietzsche

“I am mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, the sale of a book can become a subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry too.” — Thomas Jefferson

“It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.” — Agnes Repplier

“We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.” — Albert Einstein

“There is the state religion of mindless consumerism, which is the real message of all advertisements. The state religion is more powerful than any other force; the wise person practices patience and stealth. The wise person creates images that can be unpacked to deliver other messages.” — Jon Carroll, S. F. Chronicle, March 7, 1996

Aha! I see that it turned out to be a Miss Manners pearl, giving advice on how to live with honor, dignity, and a bit of good, clean fun, taking pot shots at political and/or religious pundits at every opportunity….
_____________________________

There is just something charming and attractive to my mind about the image that Li Po presents, historically…. An amiable, brilliant, always drunk poet, wandering around the Chinese countryside, observing the world in his own inebriated way, composing poems from the depths of his genius, poems describing the beauty he saw, in all he saw, for the rest of us to enjoy…. which we have, for the past thirteen hundred years, or more…. Even if he lived a life completely different than the stories one hears, it wouldn’t matter, for his poetry is timeless….

Alone And Drinking Under The Moon

~~ Li Po ~~

_____________________________

I intended to write a rant about the following article (see link below….), about how the White House has been yanking the chain of the American people over this whole issue right from the start of the problem, when Eric Snowden first released the information he took from the NSA (an act of sublime courage, with full knowledge of how he was affecting his life, destined to be labeled a criminal by his own country, in turn itself engaged in criminal acts, on a much larger scale than his alleged theft……), thereby embarrassing the administration….. THAT is the offense for which they cannot forgive him, as it undermines their license to lie with impunity….

I like to follow up on any intentions that I believe to be righteous in nature, so, let’s rant….. Mr. Snowden’s release of information, reportedly taken from his former employer, the NSA, is, because of the nature of the information, in my mind, and the minds of many Americans, not an act of treason against the people of this country. Rather, it was an act I believe to have been one of high patriotism, based on his concern over what the government was doing to normal people like him…. I would love to see him get the civilian equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor, though I know it will never happen….

So, how does the administration respond when his act of courage brought on an outcry of indignation and anger, from the public, from Congress, from other countries and their leaders? They promised to form a committee, to “review the signals intelligence policies” that they have been using SINCE 2008! Ooh, boy, that’s going to resolve the issue, isn’t it? A committee…. Well, I suppose it COULD be considered a start toward a resolution… except that a committee, no matter what it finds, has no legal binding on the administration’s actions….

This committee was picked by that administration, no doubt with the intent of hearing a favorable report, but, instead, the group managed to come up with a report that showed, essentially, that A) they lied, and continue to lie B) they exceeded their authority and C) they need to consider stopping…. However, since the administration PICKED them, they aren’t bound by any law to follow their recommendations…. an event whose unlikeliness to have EVER occurred approaches the infinite…. Face it, ffolkes, they never meant to stop, or in any way discontinue what they’ve been doing without compunction for five years now….

Ffolkes, this administration, which promised to be the “most transparent ever” has been spying, much more than they want to admit, for the entire time they’ve been in office… This, despite the clear mandate by the American people that they wanted a “change” from the policies of clandestine activities and secrecy that characterized the previous administrations, run by a former CIA director, and his son….

Instead, they not only adopted the Bush policies on spying, they increased them tenfold, all by having the NDAA, the underlying authorizing document for the spying, signed as an executive order, on New Year’s Eve, with Congress recessed, and the nation drunk, at the behest of the retailers…. all without the authorization of Congress, or the courts, or the voters…. just the POTUS and the now unassailable, hidden commanders of the NSA, the Cyber Command, and the ever present CIA….

They won’t discuss any leniency or immunity for Snowden, not when they won’t even ADMIT they’ve done anything wrong…. see the language used by the White House yesterday, when it met with all the leaders of the tech giant companies who have been the biggest victims (in terms of amount of data stolen) of the spying…. There was no admission at all of any wrongdoing on their part, or that they may have gone too far…. none. They don’t intend to do anything but stonewall this, and hope the public will forget, as is the usual case…. Well, not this time, not if I can help it…. I’m really pissed off at all of this, and am really tired of having the people in whom I expect a high standard of behavior, as the recipient of my trust as indicated by my vote, essentially and regularly, piss on my trust….

By now, I suppose, I should know better than to place ANY trust in ANYONE running for an office, but, I had hopes during the last two elections, that perhaps things might just have a chance to change for the better…. I have to say, however, that hope has been pretty thoroughly dashed by the revelations of the past three or four years, more so by the reaction of the administration, than by any of the revelations themselves…. The denial, the refusal to accept responsibility, the repeated and ever-increasing lies, the stubborn refusal to see or accept the public’s displeasure and disgust at their actions, all of this has been more disturbing than the actual information presented…. because it is ALL making them look even guiltier than we know they are, yet they don’t seem to care….

There is a simple reason, ffolkes…. and I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell y’all…. It doesn’t matter… They will do what they will, and there isn’t a damn thing we can do about it, because WE ALREADY GAVE THEM THE POWER…. and, guess what? They won’t be giving it back, that’s for sure and for certain…. not without a severe struggle…..

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/White-House-task-force-urges-limit-on-NSA-snooping-5074958.php

If y’all don’t see, from the tone and words used by the White House, that they know they’ve got the upper hand, then, I encourage you to go back to wherever you have the little piece of sand, where you have the hole in which you prefer to hide your head in the presence of danger, and put your head in there for a good long while…. Things out here in the real world aren’t bound to change, except to follow the course away from liberty, as it has been doing for some time now, all with the approval of the most ignorant set of voters to ever grace a planet…..

Okay, so, today, you get a two-fer…. The above rant was based on the article, but, the thoughts and some of the evidence isn’t new; it’s old, like I’m getting to be, with some reluctance, but hopefully, some dignified acceptance for the process, if not the end results…. where was I? Oh, right…. the following rant is constructed upon the same base, but using the thoughts going through my head in July of this year…. I had intended to use them to support the article, but, that seems to have stimulated its own support, so, just view this as “more thoughts on the same subject”….

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

“One of the merits of democracy is quite obvious: it is perhaps the most charming form of government ever devised by man. The reason is not far to seek. It is based on propositions that are palpably not true — and what is not true, as everyone knows, is always immensely more fascinating and satisfying to the vast majority of men than what is true.” — H. L. Mencken

With this statement, Mr. Mencken has put his finger on the pulse of America, that is for certain. It goes a long way toward explaining why so many people in this country are so willing to believe the outright, egregious lies that are told to them every single day by the officials they elect every year at the polls that characterize our alleged republic…. They do lie, you know, with almost every statement that comes out of their mouths….

They begin with the most important lie they tell, from which all the others spring, and that is the lie they tell when they tell you that they want to be elected so they can work for YOU! Each and every politician learns early in their career, if they are at all to be successful, they MUST portray themselves as a public-spirited, honest, and tireless worker whose only purpose is to make life better for their constituents….

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth…. NONE of them are at all concerned with any of that nonsense; they are there to carry out their own agenda, which has very little to do with what is good for the general run of mankind…. No, they are there to serve the interests of the men and women who pay them, those lobbyists and special interest representatives who run the businesses of the corporate masters.

The people on the street cannot provide them with the perks, or the cash, that the clandestine rulers are able to come up with, other than peripherally, by electing them in the first place…. Once elected, their true colors come out into the light of day, and it can be easily seen how their actions are never congruent with what they have promised to the people who elected them….

It’s all about power and money to these folks, not service. In my entire life of observing politics around the world, I have yet to see a single elected official who could be shown to be honest, not at the national level. The one who came the closest was Jimmy Carter, and his presidency was marked by how little got done, because he was so honest that the true politicians in Congress blocked every reform he tried to institute during his time in office. His actions during that time showed him to be the exception to the usual rule for politicians, which is why, I believe, he was so ineffective as a legislator….

“Invest in America — Buy Japan!”– Smart Bee

Other than Carter, I have seen concrete proof that EVERY President of this country has lied to the American people, not just once or twice, but continuously, about nearly everything. Time and time again, public outcries are heard or seen in the news about some new revelation regarding something some politician lied about, just like it is breaking news or something, when it is actually the normal state of affairs….

I don’t know why it is, but if a man on a TV set, wearing a suit and tie, makes a statement to the public, the general public will believe it, sometimes fanatically, without ever examining it for whether or not it is true…. Then, when it turns out they were lied to, they get all upset and vocalize their displeasure, never once admitting it was their own cupidity that allowed the lie to occur in the first place…. It makes me wonder what happened to people in this country, to make them go soft in the head….

“Doctors are the same as lawyers; the only difference is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you too.” — Anton Chekhov

Did you ever notice how many politicians were lawyers, first? Most of them, as it turns out, for the simple reason that learning to be a lawyer gives a politician two advantageous types of training…. One advantage is that law school teaches the student how to lie in every imaginable way, in order to ascertain which kinds of lies are legal…. The other advantage is their primary motivation….

If asked, a very large percentage of lawyers will tell you their reason for becoming a barrister in the first place is that it is a good way to get rich, (without mentioning, of course, that this is true only as long as one doesn’t give a shit about other people, and what that might do to them). In other words, they make their money by taking advantage of people’s misery, holding them as hostages against their own destiny, in order to gain resources, i.e. money, and its sidekick, power….

Then the lawyers realize that their training is perfect for politics…. The ability to lie with facility comes in very handy to anyone who wants to be in the public eye, as that is how one gets elected in the first place…. Tell people what they want to hear, and they will vote for you, every time, coming back to the same trough to eat, even though they get screwed, time after time…. Having the facility to ignore what happens to others, due to their own actions, is the other skill so important to the political set, and the training one receives as a lawyer fits right into that category….

“Watching the democratic party in a presidential contest is like watching a washing machine with a defective bearing: It starts up smoothly enough, but soon, it begins to wobble and shake, jumping violently from place to place, until it tears itself to pieces, spewing dirty laundry all over the room.” – Smart Bee

Some people will say that there ARE some good lawyers out there, and I won’t argue that…. but, they’re still lawyers, not politicians, aren’t they? They’re doing what they can to help ffolkes find their way through the morass of our legal system to get what they need, even occasionally finding some justice…. But, they aren’t going further, and going into public service, are they? They’re still in place, where they can help, but, they are so few and far between, they are hard to find, and so are very busy, seldom having the time or resources to work against their less honest colleagues. Plus, they really are very few in number, as altruists seldom become lawyers in the first place….

I can see that this has evolved into a full scale rant, and we’ve just begun the day, so I’ll call a halt here. I often feel as if I’m preaching to the choir, anyway, when I go through this stuff again…. It’s all familiar material around here, so it isn’t as if I’m presenting new ideas for your examination…. No, this is all old stuff, and, sadly, doesn’t seem to ever create the outrage that I feel in very many other ffolkes…. which is too bad…. I forget who said that “if you keep on doing things the same ways as you always have, things will always be the way they’ve always been….”, but, they were absolutely correct…. We are on a path to our own destruction, clearly, but, nobody seems to care.

Nobody, that is, who seems able to DO anything about it, and they are the ones who will need to make the changes…. The people in authority over the rest of us are wearing blinders in this respect…. The idea that what they are doing is wrong, and will eventually kill us all, doesn’t fit into their world-view, so they won’t believe it, and will continue to refuse to make any of the changes needed to re-direct our steps onto a path less dangerous.

It is up to the rest of us to get it done, and that may entail overthrowing the current crop of rulers, either by the vote, or by the less agreeable option of using the necessary force, while making sure the new crop will act in OUR best interests, rather than their own…. If it does happen, it will be the first time in history, which is fine with me…. just as long as it is not the LAST time in history….

“… democracy is not something you believe in, or a place you hang your hat, but it’s something you do. You participate. If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles and falls apart.” — Abby Hoffman
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Well, I seem to have a problem with stopping, once I get started on a rant, don’t I?…. Today, I even extended the guilty piece with an even longer supporting piece, that, despite its length, is of such good fit, I can’t bring myself to leave it out…. it just makes the whole thing complete. I can see, though, that some ffolkes may not get all the way through it, which is okay, just this once…. Next time, it will ALL be on the quiz….

Besides, what I wrote today is of the category that people really need to think more about, because if they don’t start paying attention to what I’m saying, they’re going to reap the rewards of the inattention they’ve been putting into their lives, in regards their beloved ruling class, and the degree to which they allow them to victimize the public without consequence….

And there I go, right back into the rant…. Let’s go proof, and see if this is ready to fly…. One thing is for sure…. nobody can accuse me of not getting it all out…. which, as we know, is exactly WHY I do this…. Better out than in, I always say…. But, they also say, say what you have to say, then, shut up… so, I’ll do that now, so nobody can say I can’t take advice…. See ya….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

Fighting by the Duke’s rules….

Posted on November 2, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I am forced by law, and by custom, at this point, to give fair warning to all who stop in to read today….. Lack of inspiration, though it is a constant companion to me, troubling my existence every day, has yet to keep me from creating these Pearls, in spite of the fact I’ve yet to discover a logical, or, for that matter, an illogical reason why that should be…. Nonetheless, it won’t keep me from writing today, either, even if it IS the most daunting lack I’ve yet encountered, in the going-on-three-years I’ve been putting myself, and y’all, through this exhausting, yet completely enervating process, each and every morning (minus a handful…).

Such lack has never kept me from producing, (one could even say over-producing), episode after episode of Pearls of Virtual Wisdom, with nary a repeat among them, aside from the occasional trip to the archives that all blogs rely on in times of material shortages, or, perhaps, the sometimes redundant subject matter….. I’ve only had to resort to archive/dumpster-diving a couple of times, usually when I’m physically under the weather, so, I’m happy about that….

My warning is this…. on days like today, when the freshness of what I write is suspect, due to the absence of any kind of creative spark, you may literally see just about anything at all show up here, with or without taco sauce, and certainly without salsa. I mean, I COULD supply the salsa, but, the tomato crop this year was terrible…. I wouldn’t feel too badly about this, if I were you; there’s really no downside to it…. I don’t have to make salsa, or taco sauce, and y’all don’t have to put up with any of my usual boring blather…. Of course, you DO have to put up with THIS boring blather, but, hey, a guy’s got to live, right? Right….

So, with said warning delivered, thus making it no longer implied, but expressed, I could legally go on into the Pearl’s body, and start tattooing for all I’m worth. That is, if I could tattoo at all…. Sadly, the most complex drawing (sketching, painting, whatever, it’s all a mystery to me….) I can do involves a simple tree, from a distance, so there aren’t any particular details to supply, with some mountain shapes in the background, for perspective, as it were….. It’s pretty primitive, believe me; I’ll never get a job as a police artist, drawing faces…. All of my faces look like the smiley face we see everywhere these days…. just a round circle, with two dots for eyes, and a curved line for the nose and mouth. Maybe a couple of half-circles if I want ears, or a crown of squiggly lines for hair….. It looks a lot like Charlie Brown’s head, wearing a bowl of spaghetti, to be honest, but without the detail….

Wait a minute! What if I broke precedent, and started a piece here that is full of dignity, and decorum, with just the right amount of reasoned discourse, all pointing to a logical, beneficial idea that everyone can appreciate and enjoy, using the concepts to improve their lives, and the lives of others?…. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?…. Now, if I could only find some dignity, or decorum, or reasonable ideas, I’d be good to go. Instead, I’m reduced to this, just babbling away, putting down as many useless words as I do words that mean something, just to take up the space needed to call this a legal intro….

Which, you will please note, we have once again done, and done quite well…. I’ve managed to put out five entire paragraphs of inane, chatty, intimate, yet meaningless prose, full of bad jokes and worse analogies, all for the purpose of filling in space. What can I say? It’s a gift….

Shall we Pearl?…. Have no fear, we shall, we shall, indeed, pearl our little hearts out…… In fact, here is an excellent pearl to start the day….

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, Who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just some of us. It’s in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. as we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” — Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love — (widely mis-attributed to Nelson Mandela’s 1994 inaugural speech)

All true, but, remember, you are not a child of God…. Thou art God…. It all remains the same….
_____________________________

There are times, such as today, when a pearl will write itself, over all my objections…. When I began to collect this group, I saw right away it would be troublesome, from a logical, reasonable point of view. Then it really went south, but by that time, I could see where it was trying to go, so I let it have its head…. This is the resulting mess, for which I refuse to take full responsibility…. It’s not my fault! The dog ate my homework! The cat puked on my notes! I got married!…. Well, none of that actually happened, but, I’m not sure I want the responsibility for this one anyway…. Oh well, so be it… It’s really not bad, if you keep your eyes screwed up with the correct degree of silliness….

“Alexander [the Great] asked Diogenes if there was anything in the world he wanted. Diogenes, without looking up, replied: `Yes. Get out of my light.'” — Plutarch

“I am a traffic light, and Alan Ginzberg kidnapped my laundry in 1927!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“A State which dwarfs its men, in order that they may be more docile instruments in its hands — even for beneficial purposes — will find that with small men no great thing can really be accomplished.” — John Stuart Mill (1806 to 1873, English philosopher and reformer)

“Now the trumpet summons us again — not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need — not as a call to battle, though embattled we are — but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation” — a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.” — John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963)

“If you can’t fight and you can’t flee…FLOW” — Smart Bee

“Everybody has something to conceal.” — Humphrey Bogart

Who combats bravely is not therefore brave,
He dreads a death-bed like the meanest slave:
Who reasons wisely is not therefore wise,–
His pride in reasoning, not in acting lies.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Moral Essays, Epistle i, Line 115

See what I meant? Sheesh, it’s not as if we were TOTALLY obstreperous to the Pope, or to our Vatican chaperons…. and they got a good tip, didn’t they? They did, so you can’t blame me if it all fell apart….. I’m not sure, but, we may be nearing some sort of black hole in time and space…. I’m starting to feel a bit of cosmic twisting….
_____________________________

Whom to pick, in the face of cosmic upheaval?….. In such times, I enjoy the way this poet points me in the right direction, toward the center….

Alone Looking at the Mountain

All the birds have flown up and gone;
A lonely cloud floats leisurely by.
We never tire of looking at each other –
Only the mountain and I.

~~ Li Po ~~

_____________________________

According to my usual modus operandi, this section would, and may yet be, a rant of some nature. It’s been a while since I took any real shots at the churches, but, then, they are a bit less of a worthy target than are the politicians of the world.

Let us not even begin to think about how the shadowy master class of corporate vampires deserve all the disdain, vituperation, and vicious criticism we can heap upon their nasty little heads; whatever we do will never be enough to pay them back for the damage they’ve done to others, and to our world in general….

No, I’d say I have no real lack of usual targets for my critical regard…. What I have is a lack of angst and/or emotional drama to drive that big ol’ truck…. The one I’d like to flatten them with, as they cross my road to the future….

It would be simple to cruise over to a news site, and pick up a current headline or two to work with; there’s no lack of material there, for sure. Even that doesn’t attract my interest; I guess my birthday gave me a good enough chance to get a lot of that out, and there’s not enough left today to drive any further attempts at ranting….

Too bad, actually, as I did have some rather interesting introspective moments yesterday, as the import of my increasing age grew in my thoughts, taking on a deeper meaning than is usual for me during my day…. I love when that happens, though, even if the contentment and serenity it brings me is such that I don’t want to write about it…. It feels too good to talk about it…. Kind of how a joke is like a frog; if you take either one apart to try to figure it out, they both die….

Since I wouldn’t want anyone with the discrete sensibilities of my Gentle Readers to be confronted with that kind of issue, I’ll just fade back ten yards, and punt…. Here is another old-school pearl for your delectation…. Since I’m not ranting about anything today, I’ll let Smart Bee pick out which pearls it thinks should be included, with, possibly, a few comments of my own, in parentheses to avoid any further confusion….. Remember, ffolkes, this is VIRTUAL wisdom…. don’t try to use it as if it were real….

“If you dig a deep enough hole, someone will want to jump in.” — Smart Bee

(It’s always good to start off strong….)

“My indignation, like th’ imprisoned fire, pent in the troubled breast of Aetna, burnt deep and silent.” — Thomson

(SIGH…. if only it had, we’d have a rant today….. 😦 ) 😆

“The silence drew off, baring the pebbles and shells and all the tatty wreckage of my life. Then, at the rim of vision, it gathered itself, and in one sweeping tide, rushed me to sleep.” — Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar

(At first I thought this was here just because it’s so bloody brilliant, in both content and style of execution… Astounding imagery, and powerful yet simple language, expressed with such beauty, the heart aches with it….. It also stretches beyond that, into the outer reaches of credibility and connection, to form a tenuous bond with reality, right here in this pearl…. Amazing, isn’t it?….)

“When great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule the majority are wrong. The minority are right.” — Eugene V. Debs

(Mr. Debs, a political activist and reformer in the early twentieth century, had a lot of interesting things to say, many of them equally as true as this one…. If you have the time, look him up; smart guy…..)

“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

(Yep….)

“We would like to apologize for the way in which politicians are represented in this programme. It was never our intention to imply that politicians are weak-kneed, political time-servers who are more concerned with their personal vendettas and private power struggles than the problems of government, nor to suggest at any point that they sacrifice their credibility by denying free debate on vital matters in the mistaken impression that party unity comes before the well-being of the people they supposedly represent, nor to imply at any stage that they are squabbling little toadies without an ounce of concern for the vital social problems of today. Nor indeed do we intend that viewers should consider them as crabby ulcerous little self-seeking vermin with furry legs and an excessive addiction to alcohol and certain explicit sexual practices which some people might find offensive. We are sorry if this impression has come across.” — Monty Python

(Actually, this sums up my opinion of 99% of the politicians I see in public, with incredible accuracy….)

(No apology from me is, or ever will be, tendered for making these assertions, either…. fuck ’em all……)

(When I say, “fuck them all”, I’d like to be clear that I don’t intend that in any positive way at all…. What I mean is, FUCK THEM ALL!!!…. and the white horse they say they rode in on, too…..)

“And never, ever cut a deal with a dragon.” — Smart Bee

(I’m with SB on this one…. The last pearl brings all the rest together perfectly, while at the same time reminding us that we already know the important stuff… I mean, it’s just common sense, right? Any dragon master knows this…..)
_____________________________

What we have here, today, is living proof that age does NOT imply sanity, or vice versa…. Nor does it imply having enough sense to keep one’s mouth shut, once it has begun spewing…. Nevertheless, it’s finished…. let’s see if it’s done….

Boy, is it ever! I wouldn’t touch that with someone else’s hands, even with gloves…. Not toxic, I’d say, but definitely subversive, in its own little way…. Good enough for my loose standards, so, we’ll get on with the rest of the day now, and let this die a natural death…. See ya….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

Rooms full of attenuated pilgrims….

Posted on December 31, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Most blogs you’ll visit today will be talking about the day, since it is New Year’s Eve. There will be all sorts of lists, of course, of the most significant events, pictures, ideas, stories, etc. of the past year, as well as speculation and predictions about the upcoming one. Some folks will share their New Year’s resolutions with us, while some will give their reasons for not making them…. All quite predictable, ultimately, and typical of the human need to acknowledge the passage of time with celebratory festivities, and relatively useless discussion of things that can no longer be changed, because they are now in the past . Here at ECR, though, we laugh at such folly….. It’s just another day to us, and another opportunity for Murphy to show his ugly face….

Exploring consensual reality means more than just talking about what people see as real; it means being real, and learning to accept the reality of others, while at the same time rejecting all those realities that are harmful in some way. It means speaking up against all the cruelty and evil that we see, refusing to join the masses who try to ignore what they cannot understand, and therefore, fear. It means exposing those who live their lives without regard for anyone else. It means taking responsibility for one’s own actions, and insisting that others do the same. It means, to me, that even though there is little hope of changing human nature at this late date, a small chance exists that we can survive, provided we learn to embrace ALL of life with honest regard, and can find a way to bring out the best in human nature, rather than allowing the worst to run rampant…..

And that, pompous as it is, is ALL we will say about the future, or the past year, for the time being. Everyone else will, I’m sure, cover that adequately, and it would be a waste of my time to add to what is already a massive outpouring of material to read. I’d much rather provide something a bit different, and shall endeavor to do so, post haste….. Sorry, once pomposity sets in, it’s hard to put down…..

Today’s first pearl is a pretty big one, and fairly deep, in some respects; it’s been growing now for a couple of days, actually, since the first part occurred to me. It’s certainly not a typical article or subject, in that it is somewhat less than tolerant of moral weakness than some might say is warranted; no matter, I’m my own harshest critic, now that I’m not married anymore. If I start being easy on myself in this, it would just spread to other areas of my experience, and that’s not going to happen. Even though I don’t always agree with the logic of societal mores, there is something to be said about the old saw, about how taking the first step toward evil deeds can lead to more of the same, until one has lost the way back to decency. One has to draw the line somewhere….

Enough meandering…. I had intended to be much more artistic this morning…. Alas, though Frank and Earnest remain present, Art seems to have taken a leave of absence…. Ah well, such is life in paradise on a foggy, cold, final day of the year. It seems our only alternative is to begin the Beguine, in a manner of speaking…. Shall we Pearl?……
__________________________________

Forgiveness. How does a person without faith in a higher power obtain this boon? Certainly not from themselves…. I know, if I have done something for which I feel the need, or desire, to be forgiven, then I most likely don’t deserve it, and refuse to give in to self-indulgence. According to the preachers, God forgives all, but damn me if I can see any reason to do so, no matter how ‘merciful’ he/she/it might be. How can anyone expect moral behavior, if even our most grievous sins are forgiven? Because of the promise of reward for compliance, or threat of punishment for refusal to conform? I agree with Albert Einstein, that any such philosophy is not realistic, and certainly not moral…..

“In his private heart no man much respects himself.” — Mark Twain

All of us, without exception, have things we hide inside ourselves, secrets that nobody else will ever be told. Whether it is a memory of an act one is not proud of, or a bit of severe foolishness, or something so shameful that to share it would be to become a pariah, all of us humans have secrets. I would guess that almost all of them are akin to what is described in the first paragraph, to wit: acts that need forgiveness, but do not deserve it. I believe that this may be a method by which one can tell another person’s outlook on religion, for almost all religions are based on this principle, of divine forgiveness. Even though we may do things in life that are unforgivable, the gods, or God, for the monotheistic among us, are so merciful, that they will do so, if you but acknowledge their divinity, and admit they are your higher power…..

It’s a good deal, all in all, if one buys it. Myself, I’m a bit sanguine about it, since I only have the word of the preachers that it is so; there is no real evidence to be found that supports the theory, and the scientist in me wants at least a little bit of proof before accepting something as truth. I’m not going to buy anything just on someone else’s word, or assertion of truth; I’ve been alive long enough to know that doing things like that can only lead to losing something, if only the advantage of self-respect.

“His ignorance covers the world like a blanket, and there’s scarcely a hole in it anywhere.” — Mark Twain

Wait, I thought we were talking about religion, not the last Republican President….. Sorry, couldn’t resist…. Any who, it all comes back to the basic idea of how we view reality, in terms of the concept of God, or a power greater than ourselves, that is responsible somehow for everything that exists, and thus, for us. By giving away that responsibility, I think, we are showing our own cowardice; I’m not willing to do that, not without more compelling evidence than hearsay.

I’m not blind to the other evidence that many religionists claim as being proof of God and his will; I’ve burst into tears myself at the sight of a particularly vivid sunrise, without knowing why, other than the beauty of it was so arrestingly powerful. I’ve seen good things happen everywhere, in human interaction, and in Nature. I’ve witnessed what priests like to call “grace”, and will admit that such events are not explainable by ordinary means. I’ve also witnessed the other side of existence, where human nature turns dark and cruel, while Nature reveals its own complete indifference for human suffering, and cannot accept that the same entity would dare to assume, or want responsibility for such a wicked universe, even if the balance of good and evil is maintained by the presence of the other.

That assumption is purely human, and thus does not qualify, in my mind, as evidence of divinity in the form of God, by any of the visions held by any of the churches of Mankind. Unless, of course, one goes beyond doctrine, into philosophy, where the above contradictions do not apply, or can be explained by one further assumption. That assumption is a hard one for most humans, as it involves taking responsibility for EVERYTHING that they do, and for everything that happens to them. (Yep, that’s a paraphrase of the basic principle of Karma…) In other words, as Robert Heinlein put it so aptly in Stranger In a Strange Land, “Thou art God.” I know, it’s blasphemous, but, hey, been there, done that, let’s get past it…. It is the only explanation that fits ALL the facts in evidence, and even if a bit grandiose, really isn’t, because we are, after all, just a bunch of bozos on the bus.

Being God, though, would be a really boring job, the way the job descriptions in all the churches read, and I don’t think I want to take that on, particularly. It may be the only way I can find any forgiveness for those things I’ve done in my long life of which I am not proud, but, since I don’t feel that I SHOULD be forgiven for them, I think I’ll just accept the responsibility, along with the consequence, a certain lessening of my self-esteem, and try to act in the future in ways that won’t make me feel that way…. It really isn’t hard to be good, in reality, as long as you care…. The problem is, not enough people care, or even think about stuff like this….. Me, I can’t help myself…… Caring, to me, is what being human is about; those who don’t care aren’t fully human, and won’t be until they do…..

“I am covered with pure vegetable oil and I am writing a best seller!” — Zippy the Pinhead
__________________________________

A Mountain Revelry

To wash and rinse our souls of their age-old sorrows,
We drained a hundred jugs of wine.
A splendid night it was . . . .
In the clear moonlight we were loath to go to bed,
But at last drunkenness overtook us;
And we laid ourselves down on the empty mountain,
The earth for pillow, and the great heaven for coverlet.

Li Po
__________________________________

“William Shakespeare: Never did any author precipitate himself from such heights of thought to so low expressions, as he often does. He is the very Janus of poets; he wears, almost everywhere, two faces: and you have scarce begun to admire the one, e’er you despise the other.” — John Dryden

At last…. corroboration from an historical figure, one with quite a reputation for intelligence and clarity of thought and expression. It is heartening, and satisfying, to know that there are others in the world who share my opinion of the great majority of Shakespeare’s work. If you’ve been coming to this blog for long, you’ll have seen previous entries detailing how little enthusiasm I have for Will’s writing. He was damn prolific, for sure, and did write some nice stuff. Most of it, however, quite frankly should be shit-piled, as barely comprehensible nonsense, written by a man with an excellent advertising manager, and mediocre talent.

Since I insist on proof of any assertion, I give you the following quotes from various works by Will…. if you can make heads or tails of them, please let me know…. I have about four or five pages of quotes like these of his, all of which stretch the meaning of the word “obscure”….

I were better to be eaten to death with a rust than to be scoured to nothing with perpetual motion. — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act i, Sc. 2

“To the latter end of a fray and the beginning of a feast
Fits a dull fighter and a keen guest.”

— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act iv, Sc. 2

“My fate cries out,
And makes each petty artery in this body
As hardy as the Nemean lion’s nerve.”

— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act i, Sc. 4

“Thou troublest me; I am not in the vein.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Richard III — Act iv, Sc. 2

“Much is the force of heaven-bred poesy.” — William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Act III, scene ii

Even taking into account the Middle English, it’s all a crock, as far as I can see…. If y’all fell differently, feel free to comment…. My opinions are flexible, and able to be influenced by rational debate…. I hope…..
__________________________________

It will have to do…. It’s got a lot of work in it, or, at least, a lot of effort and thought, but, somehow, it seems incomplete. I have yet to pick a poem, but that isn’t it. I can’t quite focus on the reason why it feels like that…. Ah well, c’est la vie, n’est pas? I guess if that is all he can do, Murphy will settle for a bit of feeling unsettled for no good reason….. gotta love that ol’ unspecified diffuse anxiety, otherwise known as general malaise, and so familiar to all of us with PTSD. It seems to always be hovering, just out of sight, ready to slide in without us noticing, until we find ourselves looking through glasses that are not rose colored, but rather, lenses through which the world looks grey and dispirited…. I hope the sun comes out later….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Boxloads of bastards for sale or rent….

Posted on November 19, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
The veils that billow and fold between dreams and reality may sometimes part, showing the visions of one to the other, blending, bleeding as one, only to bring us up short, closely jammed against immovable fate. Still, we keep our watch, seeking to find the vision that brings with it the mark of reality’s regard, a humble mind, and a compassionate heart. Events of broad impact draw us away again, distracting with shiny glitter and tinny music, leaving our feelings raw and bruised, the victim of universal disregard. Now, in the twilight of years, the music is fading, and the glitter has all gone…. yet the memory of visions remains sharp and clear, melancholy reminders of reality’s promises, unkept…..

Hmm…. silly me. Words sometimes don’t flow from my head, through my fingers, and on to the screen…. they leak. Kind of like a small cut on the hand, that won’t quite close for a while because it keeps getting re-opened by movement. You think it’s closed, then a few minutes later, a small drop of intense red appears on whatever is in your view, and you know that Murphy has been hanging about somewhere, just waiting for you to pick up whatever important document you just bled on…. Any who, that’s kind of what it’s like to wake up with paragraphs like the above, waiting to get out of the way before any other, possibly intelligent, words can break past them into the light of day….. It’s not necessarily painful, but it is inconvenient, especially given that it is a personal problem, one that only I could conceivably fix…. Being too lazy to do so DOES have its advantages….

Of course, if I stop letting stuff like the first paragraph out before I write something more appropriate, there is no telling what it might do, just sitting around in my head, rotting and decomposing, until it makes everything else in there reek just as badly. Or, it will join forces with more trifling drivel of its own ilk, and force me to try to post it sometime, knowing full well that I’d have to commit hara-kiri immediately, should that ever happen. It would be the only honorable thing to do, in that sad case.

Since, however, I’m unwilling to carry out such an extreme measure at this point, I’m just as glad that it got out, and onto the screen at the beginning of a Pearl, where the damage it can cause is minimal. I mean, who reads that part with any expectations, right? I think I’ve given ample proof that when it comes to the opening of a Pearl, there is no telling what may pop up, so most ffolkes are prepared to that extent…. That should keep the injuries down today…. If anyone does incur any wear and tear, trying to get past today’s introductory words, well, you know where the first-aid kit is located, right?…. Just over there behind the archives…. Plenty of duct tape in there….

Now that we’ve established the proper tone of nonsense and whimsy, I think it would be best if we went for the morning dive, which, to some degree, took place last night…. Whether it survives in that state remains to be seen…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“If you can see a thing whole… it seems that it’s always beautiful. Planets, lives…But close up, a world’s all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life’s a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern. You need distance, interval. The way to see how beautiful the earth is, is to see it as the moon. The way to see how beautiful a life is, is to see it from the vantage point of death.” — Ursula K. Le Guin, Dispossessed

Whenever I come across a quote from Ursula Le Guin, for some strange reason, I am always taken by surprise at how deep a chord she strikes in me with her insight, into people, into writing, into beauty, and life. The surprise is because I already knew how good she is, yet her words show up here far too infrequently to entirely please me….. and I don’t know why I never remember to look for her when I’m searching, or need something specific….

It may be the depth of what she writes, and the skill with which she illuminates those depths…. The pieces that can be used for reasonably short discussions are rare, due to the very complex nature of her plots. The questions of life, and how we humans deal with it, that she raises in her stories, are more than just complex, they are also subtle, and often quite revolutionary in scope. The very nature of the worlds she creates can shock the most flexible of minds, yet the power of her imagery and vision is such that it makes the fantastic real, engendering understanding by showing how someone so completely different than normal, still remains their deepest humanity, through the power of love. The depths of the human spirit come to life in her books, with great power, and great beauty, and her artistry with words shows how that spirit can shine brightly from even the darkest depths, in the hands of a master.

As I approach death more closely in my own life, I find myself thinking more about it in ways such as suggested above by Ms. Le Guin. We all tend to get worn down by life, because we MUST view it close up; we spend our days right up against the skin of reality, having to peer at its pores, seeing, and feeling, every wrinkle that time carves into our faces with the unfelt knives of seconds, hours, and days. It is only when one stops, and stands next to death, that the beauty of the pattern of our lives is visible to our perception, and we can see just how much the trip has been worth the effort we’ve made.

It is easy, unfortunately, to lose that perceptive viewpoint, to fail to remember how it feels to know the contrast between what we feel and what we hope. The weight of everyday is mighty, indeed. But, we always have the choice, to take a moment, to take a step back, and look at the bigger picture, to gain the perspective, and the vision of hope for the future that lives inside us, if we only know where to look…. and know that we have such a choice available to us in need….

“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.” — George Bernard Shaw
__________________________________

Ancient Air

I climb up high and look on the four seas,
Heaven and earth spreading out so far.
Frost blankets all the stuff of autumn,
The wind blows with the great desert’s cold.
The eastward-flowing water is immense,
All the ten thousand things billow.
The white sun’s passing brightness fades,
Floating clouds seem to have no end.
Swallows and sparrows nest in the wutong tree,
Yuan and luan birds perch among jujube thorns.
Now it’s time to head on back again,
I flick my sword and sing Taking the Hard Road.

Li Po.
__________________________________

“In ecology, as in economics, TANSTAAFL (There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch) is intended to warn that every gain is won at some cost. Failure to recognize the no free lunch law causes the buffalo-hunter mentality syndrome — the unthinking assumption that there will always be plenty because there always has been plenty.” — Dr. Robert W. Prehoda

See? Now, this is what really ticks me off….. There it is, all laid out so an idiot can understand it, and nobody pays any damn attention. It is a statement that is self-fulfilling…. in which I mean that it has already come to pass, and our society has decided to act on the buffalo-hunter syndrome basis, and the ecological decisions being made are NOT in favor of the buffalo…. I defy anyone to tell me otherwise. Go ahead. Show me one piece of evidence that shows that we are, in any way, acting as if we are expecting a bill for lunch. I guarantee, the bill is for enough that we don’t have enough cash, or enough credit, to even come close to paying it….

“Humanity prefers comfort over truth.” ~~ Smart Bee

Since this is also true, nobody is paying any attention to this little conundrum. Ever notice how well the mocking campaign worked against Al Gore? Does anybody listen to his message anymore? Nope. Yet he is right. He spoke nothing but well-documented truths, yet the unwarranted lies that were spread about what he said, and the smear campaign over his unfortunate delivery style, turned what is the most important question facing our species in this century, and the last, into a joke, just so the people who are profiting from the sale of the buffalo meat can continue to live their fantasies at the expense of our reality….. As long as the cable reception isn’t interrupted, most folks won’t care one way or the other, sadly…

A monk said to Joshu, “Your stone bridge is widely renowned, but coming here I find only a heap of rocks.” Joshu said, “You see only the stones and not the bridge.” The monk said, “What is the bridge?” Joshu said, “What do you think we are walking on?” — Smart Bee

What the majority of people today don’t understand is that they are walking on the bridge, and do not realize that the bridge is being washed away, as they are walking, and will no longer be there to cross, once they have passed it (and IF they make it to the other side). There will be no turning back to the right path, because we will be paying our lunch bill….. and since we don’t have enough to pay for it, we will be removed from the field of play…. If you are not worried, and scared of how things are going, well, folks, you just aren’t paying attention…. Ah, the hell with it…. I’m gonna go take a nap….

On hot days, drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree. — Things We Can Learn From Dogs
__________________________________

Well, for a standard Pearl, it’s a bit foreshortened today, by an unforeseeable complication presented by my oh-so-creative petty side, to wit: fractured fairy-tales. Yes, they’ve been floating in and out of my head all morning, distracting me from following a train of thought, or even a local bus of thought. I call them fractured fairy tales, but all they are, are silly little epigrams and phrases that pop up into my head, never on subject, and always intended to send my mind down some heretofore unnoticed hallway in the dusty corners of the back towers of consciousness. Quite annoying, and, as can be seen, somewhat disruptive to routine.

They were bigger than me, Ma, but I beat ’em! It may not be Art, but it’s done, and nobody’s gonna make me put it all back; that’s like trying to get the toothpaste back in the tube once it’s out…. not terribly productive. Y’all will just have to take it the way it is…. not that you haven’t had to do that before…. but, I do like to give warning. I guess a warning isn’t too effective, is it, coming here at the end? Probably not…. ah well, all I can do is all I can do, you know….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,

and sometimes

I just sits.

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Unwrapping a silver cocoon under moonlight….

Posted on October 28, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
On some bright future day, I’ll wake up, and inspiration will smite me forcefully on the forehead, sending me reeling to my keyboard, where the profound thoughts that have been circulating behind the scenes in my mind will all come pouring forth, to impart beauty and wisdom to the masses in inimitable style…. The sheer brilliance and enlightenment of what I will write will become as a beacon of knowledge that shines into every corner of the darkness that holds society at risk, saving mankind from the consequences of our insensitivity and foolishness….. SIGH…. sadly, that day isn’t today….

Had some mildly disappointing news soon after getting up to start this morning’s Pearl; my grandson isn’t feeling well, and the visit originally set for today was put off to next week…. Since I’m not at top form today, that is alright with me, but I know it is much more disappointing for my son, who has to wait another week to see his boy, when he’d rather be taking care of him while he is sick…. Justice does not live in this country anymore, not with any consistency….. and, unfortunately, there are no requirements for motherhood regarding intelligence or benevolence of nature….

Yet the law thinks that…. ah shit, I’m not getting into it again…… The idiotic collection of nonsense that makes up family law in this state, and country, is a mess of major proportion, without any real connection to reality, as far as I can tell…. and is so entrenched in its own circular illogic, not only can’t I fix it, it can’t be fixed, so the entire subject just pisses me off…. as do so many things about modern society, and the way that it fails to act in the best interests of its children….

Rather than dwell on the legal and moral idiocy that prevails in this country, let’s go searching for dirt to throw at some of my favorite targets…. politicians, priests, and the foibles of human nature…. Shall we Pearl?
__________________________________

“I believed in the Constitution. I believed in Congress’ constitutional right to investigate the intelligence community; and I believed that, as head of that community, I was required by the Constitution to cooperate with the Congress. I also believed that any other approach just wouldn’t work.” — Said no head of the intelligence community, ever….

And, if one of them did say it, I would bet serious money he was lying through his teeth…. We all know that, first of all, military intelligence is an oxymoron. Even if it weren’t, the entire intelligence community, as it is named here, would, by necessity, and by definition, be based on Sun Tzu’s Art of War, which clearly states, “all warfare is based on deception.” (A direct, literal translation from the original Chinese….) Sun Tzu’s most valuable and respected form of warrior was the spy; he considered an accomplished spy worth more than whole armies, with good reason. One man, infiltrated and trusted by the enemy, can cause more damage, by spreading disinformation, than months of siege by massive numbers of troops, and will bring about success much more speedily….. Yet, this unknown head of the NSA, or the CIA, or whichever clandestine organization was under scrutiny, would have us believe that he was being entirely truthful in what he revealed of their activities to Congress…. Riiiiight….. and I’m the Queen of Sheba, reincarnated as an overweight, long-haired, overeducated, dyspeptic Caucasian male…. I guess it’s possible, but, not too likely….

“If the obstacles of bigotry and priestcraft can be surmounted, we may hope that common sense will suffice to do everything else.” — Thomas Jefferson

Tom made an error in judgment here, assuming, as is common, perhaps, that common sense is, well, common. Alas, such is not the case, and priestcraft, of which I regard warfare and politics to be mere offshoots, remains the greatest obstacle to maintaining the freedom and liberties that Tom and his mates secured for us in the 18th century. With the full support of corporate business, the other greatest enemy of freedom, churches and government officials have conspired to manipulate, obfuscate, and bamboozle the American public into allowing them to lie, cheat, steal, and control the legislature and courts, until the freedoms we were given as our legacy have all but disappeared…..

I read a number of articles today, in the newspaper, and on the internet, that spoke of a recent poll taken by some independent agency (i.e., not connected to any political parties…. at least not on paper….). Any who, this poll determined that the choices being made about who people were going to vote for in the 2012 Presidential election were not in any way being decided by any disagreement on issues. The votes were being made according to race….. period. Over 50% of the responders, if I recall the number correctly (it amazed me, and I consider myself to be pretty phlegmatic, so factor that in….), of those voting for Romney, said they had made their decision to vote for Romney simply because Obama is black…. Martin Luther King, no doubt, is crying, wherever he may be…. as are any number of true Americans, such as myself, who had hoped that our nation had gotten beyond that sort of bigotry manifesting itself in the mainstream of society.

“After all there is but one race – humanity.” — George Moore

Is it any wonder I was amazed? Though there has been constant evidence of the part that race has played thus far in the election campaign, I don’t think any of us expected the issue to be so polarizing as to reveal the vast number of cowardly, fearful, STUPID people who refuse to join the rest of the human race. They have apparently been hiding their ignorance, completely accepting on faith all the loud, flag-waving, faith-based slogans and fear-mongering, all designed to whip the peasants into a frenzy under the canopy of false patriotism, and to the cry of “Take back America”…. as if someone had snatched it away from them when they weren’t looking….

“The worst vice of the fanatic is his sincerity.” — Oscar Wilde

All of their noxious, bilious posturing is designed to ensure the racist, bigoted, ignorant cowards who buy into their lies will all come crawling out from under their rocks on election day, to cast their unwitting vote for the forces of Evil, never realizing they are signing their own warrants of economic doom, because they are only aware of their fear of the Black Bogie Man, and his liberal myrmidons…. a word they would have to look up, if they were in the habit of reading anything tougher than TV Guide…. (don’t worry, I had to look it up, too, when I first saw it, years ago, in a Sherlock Holmes story…. I love it, it is such a “precise” word….)

“Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.” — Smart Bee

Here is a piece of that common sense so prized by our forefathers…. Unfortunately, instead of changing the locks, we keep allowing the politicians to make copies, and don’t even change the locks after they leave. Have you ever heard about the retirement system that the federal government has given itself? All federal judges, and federal court officials, along with both the House of Representatives and the Senate, are guaranteed their salaries, and their most excellent healthcare coverage, EVEN AFTER THEY RETIRE, OR ARE NOT RE-ELECTED.

For life….. including a health care system, with coverage for life, that is much superior to MediCare, or anything available to the unwashed masses, i.e. the general citizenry of the country. All of it is paid for by our taxes… for life, for all of them…. and guess who voted all that stuff into existence? Why, they gave it to themselves, of course! As a reward, I guess, for having screwed us in the first place, and sort of as an ongoing pat on the back for the success of their lies….

“Ignorance is not bliss — it’s oblivion.” — Phillip Wylie

Once again, I seem to have tapped into a subject ripe for ranting, and we’re still ten days shy of the election. Let’s let this percolate for a bit, and see what else we can find in there on this path to perdition or profundity, your choice…. Me, I always go for the perdition…. more exciting, like when Mom drove on the freeway…. 🙂

Regardless of the truth or lie of any of the above, profundity has fled, no doubt concerned about its reputation, and further pearls along this line of thought are not forthcoming from Smart Bee…. it did, however, give me a couple of pretty good ending pearls, so I will go with the flow, and leave you with this final thought…..

Government is a necessary evil, and it makes sense to me that having to pick between the lesser of two evils, while distasteful, is nonetheless necessary, and in the case of this election, more than merely necessary…. It is essential in the current world that reason remain paramount, and the obvious decision here can be ascertained with one eye shut. If one is a woman, a senior, LGBT, or a supporter of gay marriage and human rights for trans gender individuals, a black, Latino, Asian, or anyone else who is not white, and who makes more than $250,000/year, then you will be voting to save your own civil rights, because it is for sure and for certain that if the Republican party gets into office, all of these categories of citizens will be in a new classification…. they will be known as victims…. Don’t trust me, read the papers, all of what I’ve just related is documented there…. So, get out there and vote, ffolkes, and for goodness sake, use your head about it!……

“If you don’t control your mind, someone else will.” — John Allston

“Hold the MAYO & pass the COSMIC AWARENESS…” — Zippy the Pinhead
__________________________________

Li Po, in my mind, is one of the five best poets who ever lived (no, I’m not going to pin myself down to the other four right now, so forget it….); indeed, his translator deserves a lot of credit, as well, for being able to indicate the simplicity, power, and depth of Li Po’s words from Chinese to English, no simple task, for certain….. We all know of the Taoist/Zen koan about the man dreaming of being a butterfly…. this is how a poet of genius first asked that universal question…..

Chuang Tzu And The Butterfly

Chuang Tzu in dream became a butterfly,
And the butterfly became Chuang Tzu at waking.
Which was the real—the butterfly or the man ?
Who can tell the end of the endless changes of things?
The water that flows into the depth of the distant sea
Returns anon to the shallows of a transparent stream.
The man, raising melons outside the green gate of the city,
Was once the Prince of the East Hill.
So must rank and riches vanish.
You know it, still you toil and toil,—what for?

Li Po

Indeed, for what do we toil? As for me, I’m still trying to find an answer…. asking the right question is only half the task…. Hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did…. 🙂
__________________________________

In keeping with the theme above, here is a group of pearls, collected old-school style, and put together to lead the gentle reader to more insightful ideas about human nature, and the importance of intelligence, or more accurately, the absence of same….

“In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that He did not also limit his stupidity.” — Konrad Adenauer

‘Man has made use of his intelligence, he invented stupidity.” — Remy De Gourmant

“A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs.” — Mark Twain

“The beauty of America is that the average person always thinks she is above average.” — Sam Levenson

“The problem with America is that the average person always thinks she is above average.” — Smart Bee

Cogito, ergo doleo. I think, therefore I am depressed. — Smart Bee

“In such a strait the wisest may well be perplexed and the boldest staggered.” — Edmund Burke (1729-1797) — Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontent, Vol. i, p. 516

“I can’t give you a brain, but I can give you a degree” — Wizard of Oz to the Scarecrow

In light of such wisdom, virtual or not, I rest my case……
__________________________________

Some days, as Mama said, there will be days like that…. and we all know she was right, don’t we? Logically, this means that some days it will be easier than others, to find, do, or be what we wish…. even if we know what that may be. If you aren’t confused now, then you haven’t been paying attention…. and my work here is done….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Night birds sing their own songs….

Posted on October 27, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Birthdays often lead to self-examination, as we are forced to acknowledge the passage of time with yet another celebration of an event that may or may not warrant such…. not that celebrating birth is bad, necessarily….. I’m just pointing out that not everyone feels as if their life is currently something worth celebrating….. Plus, there is the whole aging issue here; after 62 of these days over the course of my life, they lose a some of their “special” feeling, ya know? It’s hard to get excited over a day that mostly signifies the advent of further medical issues…..

I always kind of liked the way Hobbits dealt with birthdays in the Shire. On their birthday each year, they would throw a party, inviting all of their friends, and give each one of them a present to celebrate the day…. This, as J.R.R. Tolkien pointed out, meant that during a common year, hobbits only had to remember their own birthday, and buy a present for everyone then, one time a year. During the remainder of the year, they would be invited to many parties, getting a present each time, as their friends celebrated their special days. It always seemed a much more logical way to approach the whole subject than what we humans use….. less remembering of dates to accomplish, and presents and parties all year long…..

Ah well, one of the advantages of reaching an age like 62, (which is up next for me, this coming week….) is the foresight one is now accustomed to using. In this case, I’ll be using it to do my self-examination ahead of time, to get it out of the way, so to speak, so I can concentrate on enjoying that day without the angst thinking about it is sure to develop, given the current state of affairs around here. In fact, I’ll plan to do that introspective self-test tonight, just before bed, and it will be done, out of the way, and out of my mind….. Who knows? My mind might even buy it, and let it go that way…. if not, well, there’s nobody around anyway, to notice the difference, except for me, and I’m not going to tell…. hell, maybe I’ll get lucky, and won’t end up having to do it at all…. I could use the emotional break, for sure….

Of course, I’m saving up all that angst anyway, to dump on the poor psychiatrist who was unlucky enough to be assigned to examine me on November 8th; I intend that he/she will see EXACTLY how much my PTSD is affecting my life every day, complete with tears, rage, fear, regret, and thoroughly general malaise…. I only hope I can refrain from physical expression; I don’t wish to hurt them, just give them a good fright, which they deserve for involving themselves in the SS process….

I see that sort of service by doctors as sort of “copping in” to the establishment, sacrificing independence and insecurity for the security of consultations for the federal government…. It’s sort of the same impulse that those who seek public office have, to raid the public treasury with impunity…. and thus, I don’t have a lot of respect for them, as a rule. Besides, thanks to my lifelong habit of reading a book a day, I find I’m usually better educated than most of the doctors I meet, and they don’t much like that, as it tends to undermine the slavish obedience from their patients to which they are accustomed…. and will NEVER see from me, as I tend to question EVERYTHING they say….

I see that I am wandering, and threatening to fall into a rant, without ever picking a subject…. which means this intro section has gone on long enough…. If I don’t try to assume some control at this point, it can get away from me in a heartbeat…. so, Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“The incestuous relationship between government and big business thrives in the dark.” — Jack Anderson

“Have you noticed that many people who laugh at kids who believe in Santa Claus are the same people who believe in campaign promises?” — Smart Bee

My mind is in a very abstruse state this morning; I am seeing all kinds of tenuous meaning in different quotes, meaning that is certainly not obvious, and may even be illusion. Nonetheless, the meaning it implies is quite illuminating, so I’ll put these two quotes together, and see what happens…..

It may help in understanding to what I’m referring to know that the meaning I’m glimpsing has to do with the current election for POTUS here in this land we call, occasionally, home sweet home…. Each quote, of course, addresses a separate entity involved in the election process, and I will be scrupulously fair by not delineating my own guess as to who those entities might be…. hopefully, it is obvious, and I won’t have to beat around TOO many bushes to illustrate my points.

One of those points has to do with the first quote, and the quite obvious melding of the two entities in question, government and big business, that is so apparent in one of the candidates. This man is the perfect example of one who believes that he is entitled to be the POTUS because he is rich, and wants to have that power to solidify his status, along with the rest of his cronies. His disdain for the common man is written plainly in every one of his statements, even the lies, which are at least 50% of what comes out of his mouth. The opposition candidate isn’t completely innocent of such catering to the 1%, but he is at least attempting to equalize the playing field to some degree….

The most astounding thing I find in this election is the number of women who have, for whatever insane reasons they find, come out in support of the candidate who is on the right, merely because he is not the incumbent, whom they fear because of their own bigotry. Here is a man who has made it clear that he is a misogynist and a coward when it comes to women, and women’s rights, with almost every public statement he has made on the subject…..

He and his running mate, a mad dog if I’ve ever seen one, have both publicly stated they would support laws to make it illegal to have an abortion, even in cases of rape; moreover, they believe the rapist should have the rights of any father…. Yet these women won’t set aside their racism and brain-washing long enough to acknowledge these men’s campaign to have women’s rights totally controlled by men…. It is just plain incomprehensible to me, that any woman in her right mind would be able to stomach such a man, at all, much less allowing them to control their rights…. I’m not a woman, and it makes me want to slap them, repeatedly….

“The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.” — H.L. Mencken

This election campaign will, I believe, go down in the history books as one that provides absolutely incontrovertible evidence that Mr. Mencken had this idea nailed perfectly. That it would be so, is no end a frustration to me, as I believe the average American to be more ethical than that, and much more self-aware. But, I suppose that is merely the part of me that subscribes to groundless hope, because I also know that one can never afford to underestimate the power of human stupidity….. especially when it comes to politics…..

“Politics…. is poopadoodle….” ~~ Fred, the Bird, from “Odds Bodkins”, an iconic comic strip from the 60’s and early 70’s
__________________________________

“Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.” — D.H. Lawrence

Alone And Drinking Under The Moon

Li Po

“No poems can please nor live long which are written by water-drinkers.” — Horace (65-8 B.C.)
__________________________________

“I often have long conversations all by myself, and I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word I am saying.” — Oscar Wilde

AOL!….. LOL…. “AOL!” is hacker slang for “me, too!”, patterned after the typical AOL user’s response to a witty statement in a chat room…. In this case, I can honestly say that Oscar and I have this in common, especially the part about not understanding a word I’m saying….. I would say that puts me in some pretty good company, what?….

“The trouble with using experience as a guide is that the final exam often comes first and then the lesson.” — Smart Bee

Oscar once made a statement that ran parallel to this one, as well. It is a hard lesson for all of us to learn, but, it is one of those common pieces of natural law that affect all of us at one time or another in our lives. Life, like the physical universe, just doesn’t care whether or not we are ready for an experience, it just happens. It is our own reaction to that which determines whether or not we are able to cope with the experience, and learn from it, or whether it buries us…. an all-too-common fate. It’s a tough room, as the comedian said….

“If you’re smoking after sex then you’re going *WAY* too fast!” — Smart Bee

This is not a perfect segue into the next item for discussion, since I’m a) not sure what that was, and b) this wasn’t it, but it does exemplify what I like to call the “silly factor”, an offshoot effect of the natural bozoid tendencies that all of us humans possess as members of this silly species…. Murphy’s Law is merely an observation, but is one that could only be made by our species (even though I’ve noted that other species, that associate with us, can sometimes be pulled into Murphy’s influence, to do his bidding, and occasionally, to act as co-victims….), because he takes full advantage of our tendencies toward bozoid behavior, to set traps for us; traps that cannot, and never do, fail to catch us unawares.

“I sometimes think that God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Even if one considers that God did not exceed his capabilities when making Man, he certainly made a rush job of it, and left certain design characteristics out of the final production, facets that would have gone a long way toward making this world a lot more pleasant a place than it has turned out to be, with Man in his current foolish state. Ah well, it just goes to show that one shouldn’t depend on a notion like creationism to provide us with excuses for our behavior….. accepting that kind of indulgence, or even assuming it, has obviously led us to the state of affairs we now face in the world, as the great majority of people continue to behave just as if they had the right to use the universe as they choose, rather than as they should do as moral creatures….

“Instead of being born again, why not just grow up?” — Smart Bee

That about says it all, don’t you think? Mankind would be far better off if we all decided to act as grown-ups, rather than clinging to the ages-old fantasies that have put us in this position. Only a child acts without regard to consequences; our species has been refusing to grow beyond that avaricious stage for millennia now, and the world is showing the deleterious effects of that sense of entitlement. We cannot continue to treat this planet as our toy, to be used and discarded like it was some piece of manufactured plastic, or we will most certainly suffer the very real consequences of that foolish attitude.

“Morals today are corrupted by our worship of riches.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)

In spite of all the massive quantities of evidence that it is harmful, we continue to pump millions of tons of carbon monoxide into the atmosphere every minute of every day…. the effect of that on the balanced ecology of the planet is reaching a critical flash point, and may already be at a point from which there is no turning back…. This is FACT, not supposition….. but, the world carries on, certain that we may depend on the same old idea, that we are invulnerable, and not subject to the laws of nature…. a sincerely stupid idea at best…. It is almost enough to make one want to tear hair out and start shooting…. but, unfortunately, there isn’t enough ammunition to shoot all the folks who need to be shot, and it’s probably too late now, anyway….. Besides, who wants to be the one who has to decide who to shoot first? (I do! I do!…. which just proves that we humans can’t handle that sort of godly decisiveness….)

“All the secrets we may be able to keep from any and every god and human being do not in the least absolve us from the obligation to refrain from whatever actions are greedy, unjust, sensual, or otherwise immoderate.” — Cicero, On Duties

It’s really too bad that this idea never caught on…. Oh, many folks learned to use it, to lie to the rest of us, but, in reality, nobody ever really does this, they just say they do….. It kind of makes one wonder whether we deserve to keep living, doesn’t it? Well, it makes ME wonder…. with not a little bit of sadness, for our species holds such promise…. a promise we have never learned to keep….

“It is only the superficial qualities that last. Man’s deeper nature is soon found out.” — Oscar Wilde
__________________________________

Well, it took me about three hours, but it all came together eventually. Once again, it has reached that all-important stage…. it’s done. See, now I can use that as an excuse to stop, which can often be a problem here…. As you may have noted, I suffer from massive inertia when I write… once I’ve started the whole process of getting it to move, it becomes hard to bring it to a halt, due to the tendency of objects in motion to remain in motion, unless acted upon by an outside force…. (thank you Isaac Newton, and your Second Law of Motion….) I herewith activate said outside force…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

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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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Li Po

Metaphoria is no longer a threat…. it’s Reality….

May I see your license to glean, sir?….

Only the finest of hydrogenated motor oils served here….

Fighting by the Duke’s rules….

Rooms full of attenuated pilgrims….

Boxloads of bastards for sale or rent….

Unwrapping a silver cocoon under moonlight….

Night birds sing their own songs….

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