I love that picture…. It’s very old, I think. I found it on Facebook, a couple years ago, but I’m almost certain I saw this many years ago, either in a National Geographic magazine, or Life magazine, which often had pictures from around the world…. But, I do remember seeing it, somewhere; when I found it on FB, there was a strong feeling of “oh, there it is!”, sort of a welcoming back, right before I copied it to my computer…. The photographer who took it had an amazing bit of luck on the timing, but, then, perseverance is often accompanied by good luck…. I can only wish I could see whatever it is that caused the reaction in both of them….

Uh oh…. Now we have a problem….. Having discussed the picture, and the quote, my stimulation props are all used up, which puts us right back to the same difficulty we faced each morning BEFORE we started using them…. The pictures, with their accompanying quotes, have proved invaluable in this process, making me wonder why I hadn’t tried it previously…. Regardless, they’ve been very helpful in removing some of the awkwardness in the beginnings…. though not without trading it for other glitches. Those, however, are simple in comparison, involving only the difficulty in choosing a picture and/or a quote to use….

SIGH…. I suppose this means that I’m doomed…. Well, perhaps that’s a bit dramatic…. But, I’m definitely stuck with this, whatever it is, so, I suppose I’d best learn how to get along with whatever it requires of me…. After all, it’s my choice, right? Right….. Not that I have a lot of choices as to how to relieve all the shit that builds up in my head…. I could rob banks, I suppose, which would make for an even more comfortable lifestyle, but, what with my ethical upbringing, and all, I’d probably suffer a lot of guilt, so, no way…

I could try to sell my poetry….. Nope, not going there….

Ah, the hell with it, I’ll just go on with what I’m doing here, and hope for the best…. In the long run, that’s probably for the best, as I have a tendency to get even more curmudgeonly when I’m feeling guilty…. It doesn’t happen much, as I’m pretty guilt-resistant from a lifetime of blocking and rejecting it from Christians who attempt to lay it on everybody, but, when it does, it’s ugly….. and the bills I get for the property damage can get a bit high…. SIGH…. I sure feel better, though, after acing a couple of missionaries….. but, I don’t like to talk about that. At least, not until the statute of limitations has been reached….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“All time in all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all bugs in amber.” — Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Slaughter-House 5

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

Yesterday, the president (Yes, I know it isn’t capitalized; that is because I no longer have the required amount of respect for the office that I once had; I refuse to give him that, as he has been far too dishonest, and exposed himself as just another cheap politician, in the pocket of corporate interests and conservative hawks….) went on TV to initiate the next round of the spin cycle regarding the spying going on right under our noses….

If you will please note, in this press conference, there is no mention of the fact that the spying, torture, and illegal activities spawned by the 9/11 paroxysms of paranoia continues unabated, while the focus is taken off that, and placed on this issue, which should merely be turned over to the courts for prosecution of the guilty parties, including both Bushes, Cheney, Rove, and that entire pantheon of assholes who took us to Iraq and Afghanistan for their own agendas…. Gee, can you tell I’m still a little pissed off about that?….

Read the article ffolkes, but, I’d suggest putting on something that won’t mind the splashes from all the crap flying around….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Obama-says-after-9-11-US-tortured-some-folks-5662988.php

I’m surprised the president showed no signs of the dizziness he must have felt at this press conference, which sounds like it was more of a statement, without any questions that weren’t vetted or part of the show…. Indeed, generally, when one spends that much time spinning so fast, they tend to fall over, or at east list a bit when they walk…. He must have a really strong middle ear, or spend a lot of time on the ocean or something, to be able to turn in circles that fast for so long….

I’m sorry, I just can’t buy the low-key, let’s all be friends, and not get upset at what happened in the past attitude he takes on this subject, advising us to all avoid being “sanctimonious”. Sanctimonious my ass…. The fuckheads who tortured, on the fucking orders of the fucking president, who stole the fucking election in the first place, by waterboarding and torturing, along with that president, committed acts that are defined by law as  felonies, and the attacks, and casualties we suffered, are NOT a sufficient excuse for any of it….  No more than it is an excuse for invading Afghanistan, or Iraq, or killing hundreds of thousands of civilian innocents in our brutal thrashing about, chasing all over the world looking for someone to blame, while ignoring all that our own laws proscribe….

I believe the word sanctimonious would more accurately be applied to anyone making fucking excuses for such behavior, no matter what the circumstances…. If one’s morals and ethics are not held strongly in the face of actions such as we experienced as a nation, then those morals and/or ethics are useless…. Expediency, anger, who cares? If you won’t be honorable in the face of dishonor, when will you? Will you become the very people whom you seek to destroy? And, most frustratingly dishonorable of all, the current president wants us to believe he has brought it to a stop, when he won’t even allow any investigation of the culprits, instead, wanting us to “put it all behind us”….

Fuck that…. Those people are guilty of war crimes on innocent people, to a far greater degree than Al-Qaida was able to manage in their one moment of glory…. Yet, we still wonder why they hate us so much…. just because we kill them when they do what they consider is fighting back against our imperialism…. This isn’t the time to go into all of the reasons the other people of the world have to dislike Americans, though it is most certainly a huge factor in the ongoing, chronic nature of the conflict between cultures….

It should be remembered that, although we, as a nation, suffered a grievous wound  on 9/11/2001, our responses and actions since that day have been egregiously overbalanced, and have served only to provide the rest of the world with further reason to hate us, for having exacted our measure of justice to the tune of over a half million people, compared to the approximately 4,000 Americans who died in the attacks.

Not only that, the majority of those we have killed, in our numerous conflicts in other countries since that day of infamy at home, have been innocent non-combatants, just normal folks going about their business, and their lives, just like you, and me…. until our planes dropped tons of explosives on them from 40,000 feet, so high they never heard the planes at all….

We lost 4000 of our countrymen; in response, we have killed over half a million, most of whom were no more involved in warfare than were any of our people…. I suppose you could say we’ve had our revenge; the question remains, has there been any justice? Anywhere in any of this?

Worst of all, it continues to haunt our national culture, with episodes such as this one, which grew out of the paranoia that was fanned into flames by the events of that day…. a paranoia ruthlessly exploited by fanatics like those in the Bush administrations, and in the CIA, NSA, and other clandestine organizations that were involved in the aftermath of the attacks…. They all were crazy with fear, and made sure the public was even more afraid, so they could justify any and all of their illegal activities, without ever having to worry about suffering any consequences for them….

I’m going to change directions now; I’ve taken enough shots at the BRC for the moment…. We’ll go on to bigger, better things, leaving you with this short, five star pearl as a memento of our time together….

“The fields were fruitful, and starving men moved on the roads.  The granaries were full and the children of the poor grew up rachitic, and the pustules of pellagra swelled on their side.  The great companies did not know that the line between hunger and anger is a thin line.” — John Steinbeck (1902-1968) “The Grapes of Wrath”

“The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.” — Ayn Rand

“Respect cannot be learned, purchased, or acquired….  it can only be earned.” — Smart Bee

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

“In the United States…politics is purged of all menace, all sinister quality, all genuine significance, and stuffed with such gorgeous humors, such inordinate farce that one comes to the end of a campaign with one’s ribs loose, and ready for “King Lear,” or a hanging, or a course of medical journals.” — H. L. Mencken

Or, as in my own case, one ends each new campaign with a vague feeling of nausea…..

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There are times when nothing will soothe my spirit like a piece of classic poetry; this is one of those times…. It really doesn’t fit in with the theme for today, but, it does help to ease the turmoil created by the rant…. Well, for me, it does…. I hope you enjoy it as well….

Well, that went pretty well, all things considered….. In fact, I’m going to go with my instincts, and let it go the way it is, sans any editing at this point…. I suppose tomorrow I’ll know if that was a mistake, but, for now, it’s good enough for me…. See y’all around the campus, ffolkes….