Tag Archives: Mark Twain

Worshiping at the altar of self-mockery….

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Ffolkes,

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

10-9-2014 018

    I’m not altogether proud of this picture, obviously with good reason… It’s the best shot of the full moon I managed with my little Cool Pix camera, sitting on top of my walking stick to keep it steady as the moon rose over the trees…. It has kind of a hint of all that, the clouds, the trees, the moon… without ever quite bringing into enough clarity to make it compelling, other than as an exercise for the eye/brain imagery interface, to resolve the flaws when it gets into the brain, using our resident equivalent to Photoshop… sort of a Photoshop for the brain, so to speak… I suppose one could claim it is ‘mysterious’, but, that might imply one was TRYING to make it that way, which would be a lie….

According to Jefferson, then, I have naught to fear…. from truth, or lies…. Well, at least, in this instance, anyway….

Other than that, it serves only to anchor down the top of the page, after a very good quote, while, at the same time, yet, inadvertently, I assure you, providing material to fill the first paragraph…. SIGH…. I couldn’t have done it better if I’d actually tried, believe me or not. Oh, and, no worries if you don’t; believe me, that is….. I’m not very much offended by being misunderstood, even when that misunderstanding isn’t my fault, or doing; I just hit the miscreant with a brick, and go on about my business. So,as you see, as long as you put on the helmet we offered you at the door to the cabin, you’ll be fine. They (the helmets) are fully tested to be able to withstand much more than a mere brick wielded by an old man with arthritic hands & a grumpy disposition….

Golly, Wally, now what? The usual lack of creative material is currently holding sway in my brain, in spite of adequate morning ablution. This means it will get rantish later on (oops, I think I just coined another word, applicable to blogging…. rantish…. I like it…. It’s going in the dictionary….), but, it can’t be helped. I’m betting though, just the mere act of coining has distracted all of us enough we didn’t even notice how well the new word will fit well into a poem…. Spell Checker showed me several similar words that rhyme quite nicely, when I told it to add it to the list of acceptable words, one of which was an all-time favorite of mine, as it is another word that describes ME…. that word, of course, is dilettantish….

Okay, I’m going to be a nice guy…. I’ll stop here, without subjecting you to further early morning teasing. I know this hasn’t quite achieved the usual level of aggravation, to which y’all have become accustomed, but, we’ve got a ways to go, and I’m a bit tired this morning…. I guess opening that second bottle of John Daniel’s finest wasn’t a good idea, though, I must confess, it seemed like it at the time…. Of course, that was probably just the first bottle talking, but, hey, we listened, so, we have no excuses….. nor, are any offered, as my relationship with John is a private matter, between the two of us alone… and, I’m lying anyway, to prepare you for section one, where we will talk about our beloved ruling class; it’s best to give some warning, I think….

Of course, warning you gives you the chance to slip out, and just go on to the video section, but, hey, I’m required to make the attempt, if only for my own records, to cover my butt, which is hanging out quite attractively, don’t you think? I do…. But, whether or not the sight of my butt drives anyone away, we are going to go on with this, just because my dad taught me to finish whatever I start…. even the silly stuff….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Indecency, vulgarity, obscenity – these are strictly confined to man; he invented them. Among higher animals there is no trace of them. They hide nothing. They are not ashamed.” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910) — Letters from the Earth (1905-1909)

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REVOLUTION, n.  In politics, an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment.  Specifically, in American history, the substitution of the rule of an Administration for that of a Ministry, whereby the welfare and happiness of the people were advanced a full half-inch. Revolutions are usually accompanied by a considerable effusion of blood, but are accounted worth it — this appraisement being made by beneficiaries whose blood had not the mischance to be shed.  The French revolution is of incalculable value to the Socialist of to-day; when he pulls the string actuating its bones its gestures are inexpressibly terrifying to gory tyrants suspected of fomenting law and order. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/oct/11/russell-brand-revolution-alienation-despair

Perfect timing; Russell Brand, the British comedian/shock jock/social critic, just released a new book, entitled, “Revolution”. The above link leads, not to the book, but to a reporter’s review of it, including comments from the author as to his motivation for writing it, and for now espousing revolution in the world, for realio-trulio, no foolin’, no bullshit…. which, as you might imagine, is a concept I can get behind in a New York minute (which, as you may know, lasts about a nanosecond…)…. Can I call ’em, or what?

I’ve been saying for a couple years that the Asininnies were getting so egregious in their looting of society, they’re not bothering to hide as much, and that this would eventually lead to revolution… Of course, I was the one making the suggestion, but, I also knew, and stated, that society was going to mirror my own reactions, and the idea of revolution would become more real as time went by. It had to happen, as history provides us with many examples of following the same path in previous centuries…. This has all happened before, ffolkes; the names have been changed, not to protect the innocent, but, just because new assholes are born every minute…

“The United States has entered an anti-intellectual phase in its history,  perhaps most clearly seen in our virtually thought-free political life.” — David Baltimore

And, WHY are the Asininnies so able to lie to the public so successfully? Well, because people, for the most part, and in the greatest number, are fools, easily led by the nose, and perfectly susceptible to manipulation, due to their gullibility…. They, the pundits and talking heads who get elected, KNOW this about people, and are shameless, and ruthless, in applying it as often as they can…. which is all the damn time, every damn day…

“If a lie is repeated often enough all the dumb jackasses in the world not only get to believe it, they even swear by it.” — B.B. Franklin

I was glad to see that the movie about Edward Snowden is coming out; it will certainly add to the situation described above, i.e., it will provide that much more evidence of how the governments of this world have worked to subjugate and repress the general population, increase the wealth gap, and, steal as much as they can, while they can…. Below, you’ll find a link to a review of the film, a link to the trailer on You Tube, and a player to watch that trailer here, if you wish…. I hope everyone alive with two working neurons in their head will see this, for then, revolution would be assured….

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/11/citizenfour-review-snowden-vindicated-poitras-nsa-journalism

“He means well” is useless unless he does well.” — Plautus

As far as I can see, Mr. Snowden has done well….

At this point, I will show mercy…. I could easily rant for a while longer, but, to spare you further torment like that, I’ll finish off this section with a relatively short pearl, to take the rest of my shots at the Asininnies, wherever they might be….

“There is a great deal of human nature in people.” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910)

“The right to revolt has sources deep in our history.” — Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

“The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government.” — Franklin Delano Roosevelt

“And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” — Isaiah, Isaiah 2:4

(Gee, why does it NOT surprise me to see this, and to realize that, when it comes to government, they stopped paying attention to this sort of idea long ago?…. In fact, I’m fairly sure it has NEVER been tried….)

“Cops do it with nightsticks.” — Smart Bee

“The remedy in the United States is not less liberty but real liberty — an end to the brutal intolerance of churchly hooligans and flag-waving corporations and all the rest of the small but bloody despots who have made the word Americanism a synonym for coercion and legal crime.” — Archibald MacLeash (b. 1892)

“The price of liberty is, always has been, and always will be blood: the person who is not willing to die for his liberty has already lost it to the first scoundrel who is willing to risk dying to violate that person’s liberty. Are you free?” — Andrew Ford

That should do it….. So be it. gigoid has spoken….

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A great many people will never have heard of this artist, which is a shame, but, pretty much was the way he wanted it. Fred Neil was a legendary performer, not to the public, who only knew of him through two of his songs, which EVERYONE heard on the radio at one time…. Other than those, he produced only three albums, which never hit the mainstream….

But, among other artists, he was, and, is still regarded as one of the very best blues players/singers to ever live, with an incredibly creative talent on the guitar for making new melodies and riffs, and a voice that could rip out your heart with feeling…. The video is the best version of his most famous song, but, you can see more of his work, including all his albums, by following the link to the You Tube page…. Enjoy, ffolkes; if you haven’t heard him before, you are in for a huge treat… You especially must listen to his song, “The Dolphins”…. it is INCREDIBLE!…..

Fred Neil: Everybody’s Talkin’ At Me

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While searching for another poet, I came across this gem, which is new to me…. Since it also fits in with an ever-present theme here on ECR, I though it would go well, even if it’s a bit long…. It makes up for it with relevance….

Television

The most important thing we’ve learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set —
Or better still, just don’t install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we’ve been,
We’ve watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone’s place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they’re hypnotised by it,
Until they’re absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don’t climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink —
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK — HE ONLY SEES!
‘All right!’ you’ll cry. ‘All right!’ you’ll say,
‘But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!’
We’ll answer this by asking you,
‘What used the darling ones to do?
‘How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?’
Have you forgotten? Don’t you know?
We’ll say it very loud and slow:
THEY … USED … TO … READ! They’d READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching ’round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it’s Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There’s Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole-
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They’ll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start — oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They’ll grow so keen
They’ll wonder what they’d ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.

~~ Roald Dahl ~~


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To finish of today, Smart Bee came up with a seven-star pearl made up of some comments/observations regarding the bane of our existence as humans…. ourselves….

“And it shall some to pass that idiots shall roam the earth, and morons shall rule the masses.” — Smart Bee

“We learn from experience that men never learn anything from experience.” — George Bernard Shaw

“It’s not very pleasant in my corner of the world at three o’clock in the morning. But for people who like cold, wet, ugly bits it is something rather special.” — A.A. Milne’s Eyore

“When we talk of tomorrow, the gods laugh.” — Smart Bee

“The frightening thing is not dying, the frightening thing is not living.” — T-Bone Burnett

“Extinct is forever.” — A little reminder from Smart Bee

“A little learning is a dangerous thing but a lot of ignorance is just as bad.” — Bob Edwards

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Here is your homework for tomorrow, ffolkes; as determined by SB, this will give you the best chance of surviving the night with your insanity intact…. Write an Essay: “Describe the universe in 500 words or less and name 2 examples.” I thought it would be a good addition to also have you explore one of your two examples (not this one), with proof of completion to be provided by a video recording of your trip…. If you need a camera, the equipment desk has a number of Go-Pro models for you to check out for use….

There…. I don’t believe I can do any more, or cause any more confusion, so, I may as well get on with the rest of today…. I hope y’all enjoyed today’s Pearl; it took some effort and thought, both of which I am currently in short supply….. and, no comments from the peanut gallery about always being in short supply of those products…. Do I insult you? Well, not directly, anyway…. I think it would be best if I just go now…. 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.

Kowabunga!

À bientôt, mon cherí….

 

“She’s making her famous Cream of Kitten Soup!”, he cried….

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Ffolkes,

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

~~ Cicero ~~

August 1 2014 046

    This would probably be quicker, and quite possibly better, if I’d worked at In N Out® Burger at some point; since I didn’t, it won’t be anything of the sort. But, that’s okay, too, because, by now, I’m sure y’all are quite used to finding unusual statements here in the beginning…. It’s almost as if I were trying to manipulate your minds, to work them into the frame I wish it to inhabit for our time together… and, in truth, that is pretty much the way it actually is…. not to the degree used by your parents, or by the Asininnies, in their quest for ultimate mind-control of the populace, mind you….. No, more the way we all try to do with each other, in our weak, misguided attempts to interface with each other….

There, now, was that so bad? No, of course not. But, then, most blogs won’t tell you you’re part of an experiment in thought control, even though each and every blog out there is doing that very thing, one way or another, and to some degree…. We can’t help it, any more than we can help needing to use the toilet at regular intervals throughout the day…. it’s the way we’re built. We can, if we try, and learn certain forms of mental discipline, resist the impulse to control, but, we can’t change our inner nature, so it’s best to learn those disciplines, when one may, to afford one’s self the choice in doing so, at the very least…

So, where does all this get us? Nowhere particularly gratifying, I have to say…. We aren’t far enough down the page yet to call it a day, yet, I’ve only blathered & meandered this far because I started off talking process rather than principle, though, what any of THAT has to do with actual literary output, I haven’t a clue…. Maybe I can call this new style the “clueless” method; it seems appropriate, given how much it is leaving to chance, by performing an examination of fluff and stuff, rather than some specific sort of categorical assignation, or even a quizzical exploration of some more esoteric subject matter….

Hell, this stuff, so far, couldn’t even be called a faux–rant, because the only argument we’re having is to decide just how fucking long I can keep this up, when my hands are aching, & getting number by the moment….Oh, wait…. Okay, look, I know this isn’t even marginally legal, but, if we do it quickly, nobody will ever know…. I’m going to use the old emergency method #4 to get us out of here, okay…. Hold on….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Anybody can become angry — that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way — that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.” — Aristotle

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“Badness, look you, you may choose easily in a heap: level is the path, and right near it dwells. But before Virtue the immortal gods have put the sweat of man’s brow; and long and steep is the way to it, and rugged at the first.” — Hesiod (c. 700 BC) — Works and Days, Line 287

This little aphorism may be another of the key pieces to the puzzle that is human nature, and to solving all that is wrong in today’s world, before it is too late…. It seems to me that this nation has lost touch with the truth of the statement by Hesiod… Not in the populace, but, in those who would be called leaders, the rugged nature of the path to virtue in life calls for too much effort; they choose to abjure all virtue, simply because it is easier to be bad… In every animal alive, there exists a tendency to choose the path of least resistance; this reflects the nature of matter, which always seeks the lowest, most common level for all interactions between the parts of reality….

In the case of one interaction for us humans, to wit: humor, the lowest common denominator is pain, of the emotional sort, mostly, but, physical pain plays a large part as well… for it is our pain that makes us laugh, ultimately, when we are able to choose to see the irony of our situation, rather than merely the stark details, thus freeing us from the pressure, by laughing, rather than crying, which, while cathartic to an extent, solves no problems, nor answers any riddles…. The more balanced one becomes, the funnier life seems…. to observe how much of the world flails about, desperately seeking peace, without realizing it is right in their pocket…. or, some corner of their mind, long abandoned and dark….

“You have a mongrel perception of humor, nothing more; a multitude of you possess that.  This multitude see the comic side of a thousand low-grade and trivial things — broad incongruities, mainly; grotesqueries, absurdities, evokers of the horse-laugh.  The ten thousand high-grade comicalities which exist in the world are sealed from their dull vision.  Will a day come when the race will detect the funniness of these juvenilities and laugh at them — and by laughing at them destroy them?  For your race, in its poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon — laughter.  Power, money, persuasion, supplication, persecution — these can lift at a colossal humbug — push it a little — weaken it a little, century by century; but only laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast.  Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.  You are always fussing and fighting with your other weapons.  Do you ever use that one?  No; you leave it lying rusting.  As a race, do you ever use it at all?  No; you lack sense and the courage.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910), “The Mysterious Stranger”

“The things you can’t laugh at control you.” — Smart Bee

I had forgotten this for a time; my center is a place where I laugh, and laugh, and laugh still more, most often at the folly of humans, especially my own, and at the lives we live, as someone said, “of quiet desperation”, yearning for, often, what we do not even know…. until we laugh, and it all comes clear…. The Irish have a saying, that goes, “A long sleep and a good laugh are the two best cures for anything.” So, today, rather than ranting, let’s see if Smart Bee can make us laugh, or, if we cannot yet consistently chortle in glee, then, at least, find a chuckle or two hanging about….

“George Washington said to his father, “If I never tell a lie, how can I get to be President?” — Red Buttons

Death, as the Psalmist saith, is certain to all; all shall die. How a good yoke of bullocks at Stamford fair? — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act iii, Sc. 2

(Hey, don’t blame me if it isn’t funny… Shakespeare wrote it….)

“Luther Burbank crossed a potato with a sponge. He got something that tastes awful but it holds a lot of gravy.” — Doodles Weaver

“A democracy is a government in the hands of men of low birth, no property, and vulgar employments.” — Aristotle

(Only a true patriot of this country could say this with a straight face…. for more than three seconds, anyway…. But, then, Aristotle probably wasn’t trying to be funny; it’s just funny to me….)

(Okay, Smart Bee, you’ve got to do better… as Hazim the Moor said to Robin Hood, “Move faster!….)

PATRIOT, n.  One to whom the interests of a part seem superior to those of the whole.  The dupe of statesmen and the tool of conquerors. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

(Well, it IS funnier, but, it’s still too close to ranting….C’mon now, SB, let’s finish strong….)

——————— cut here ————————–


“Stress:   The confusion created when one’s mind overrides the body’s basic desire to choke the living daylights out of some jerk who desperately deserves it.” — Smart Bee

“I just forgot my whole philosophy of life!!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Okay, I’m done now. Zippy always manages to have the last word, doesn’t he? Now, to come to the point of all this, all you have to do is remember…..

“The young man who has not wept is a savage, and the old man who will not laugh is a fool.” — George Santayana (1863-1952)

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Not much needs to be said about this music; it pretty well speaks for itself, most of it having survived as popularly accepted masterworks for several hundred years…. By following the link to the You Tube site, you will find numerous other choices in the same genre…. Enjoy, please… I can attest to the value of listening to this while working, playing, or just relaxing…. It seems to work for all of it….

Music for reading – Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Debussy, Lizst, Schumann

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This will be fairly easy, since I’m using my own poetry; all I have to do is pick one…. easy for ME to say…. Ah, here’s a good one, just right for today’s apparent theme…. well, same ballpark, maybe…

Early Observations

Until I knew there was more,
I wanted to know God.
They said he was a nice guy,
and would let me live forever.

All I had to do, they said,
was live my life for Him,
always living by scripture
cleaving only to his Way.

But, everyone I saw in church,
acted different at home.
Living wild, cussin’ and fussin’,
nobody lived like they said.

Still, I tried to be like Jesus,
he was sort of cool.
He never hurt nobody
and walked on the right path.

‘Course they killed him for that,
they couldn’t stand his example.
Turned him into a martyr,
 hid his real words among their own.

Then I found the Buddha,
and met Lao Tzu at the gate.
They saw things real different,
showed me how to see straight.

Right thought, and right action
replace blind obedience and faith.
Reality becomes manageable,
fear retreats, the universe expands.

Brother John said it pretty well,
“Imagine there’s no heaven,
it’s easy if you try.”
Sounds like he knew why.

Day to day, life is grand,
we walk in eternal beauty.
Open your eyes and hearts,
find yourself already immortal.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Smart Bee decided to gift me with a pearl; it seems it has something to say, apparently about the eccentricities of the human spirit, and the vagaries of human behavior…. All of them, to my way of looking at it, seem pretty well on target, well worth remembering when dealing with other members of our most perplexing species….

AMNESIA: Condition that enables a woman who has gone through labor to make love again. — Parents Dictionary

“One of these days in your travels, a guy is going to come up to you and show you a nice, brand- new deck of cards on which the seal is not yet broken, and this guy is going to offer to bet you that he can make the jack of spades jump out of the deck and squirt cider in your ear. But, son, do not bet this man, for as sure as you stand there, you are going to wind up with an earful of cider.” — Damon Runyon

“It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta pawn it off on someone else.” — Smart Bee

“If today you can take a thing like evolution and make it a crime to teach in the public schools, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private schools and next year you can make it a crime to teach it to the hustings or in the church.  At the next session you may ban books and the newspapers… Ignorance and fanaticism are ever busy and need feeding. Always feeding and gloating for more. Today it is the public school teachers; tomorrow the private. The next day the preachers and the lecturers, the magazines, the books, the newspapers. After a while, Your Honor, it is the setting of man against man and creed against creed until with flying banners and beating drums we are marching backward to the glorious ages of the sixteenth century when bigots lighted fagots to burn the men who dared to bring any intelligence and enlightenment and culture to the human mind.” — Clarence S. Darrow (1857-1938), at the Scopes Monkey Trial

“The net effect of Clarence Darrow’s great speech yesterday seemed to be precisely the same as if he had bawled it up a rain spout in the interior of Afghanistan.”
— H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

“Things don’t bug you if you don’t think about them.” — Calvin

In 1883 Cambridge University played a  correspondence chess match with the Bedlam insane asylum.  Bedlam won. — Smart Bee

Calvin: People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don’t realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.
Hobbes: Isn’t your pants’ zipper supposed to be in the front?

— Calvin (Bill Watterson, “Calvin and Hobbes”)

“The human mind is a dangerous plaything, Boys.  When it’s used for Evil, watch out!  But when it’s used for Good, things are much… nicer.” — the Tick

‘Nuff said…

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Having done my duty, there is little point, at this point, in continuing my pattern of abuse upon the unsuspecting reading public…. Since that is as true as anything I’ve ever said in this blog, I’ll leave it at that….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if my luck holds….

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.

Kowabunga!

À bientôt, mon cherí….

 

We’d prefer a Mallard, but, the Muscovy will do…

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Ffolkes,

Here pigs will fly,

lightning will strike twice,

hell will freeze over,

and eventually,

things will get really interesting…

~~ gigoid’s promise to his readers ~~

potd-heart-wave_3046610k

    Great picture, ain’t it? Amazing what can happen with patience, and timing. The pic itself is from the London Daily Yell (the Telegraph), from one of their Day in Pictures features a few days ago…. It also lives up to the promise just above it, or, makes a determined effort, at the very least…. Me, I’m up late again, thanks to lorazepam’s sedative effects, but, have fortunately prepared much of today’s Pearl before getting up this morning…. It’s weird, feeling this rested; I haven’t had such regular, deep sleep since before I was married & had kids…. It’s almost scary, to think of what I’ve been missing, and how my life may have been made better for having slept more….

But, that’s whining, and wishing for things that cannot be changed, a foolish effort, at best…. So, we’ll forget about the past, and get on with finding out what the future may bring. Of course, given the state of the environment, thinking about our future may not be the best way to find ourselves in a good mood. All the evidence points to the opposite, in fact, and little can be said of a positive nature about that particular subject…. If’n we want to feel good, we’ll have to come up with something completely new and different….

It seems to me I’ve again written myself into a corner…. Can’t go on without an idea or two, yet, none are forthcoming…. Damn! I suppose I’m going to have to use the new technique again; it’s sure getting a workout since arriving here; I don’t think we’ve missed a day since that auspicious day…. which goes to show, I suppose, it is needed, and is being put to use per its nature. Oh, look, there ’tis now…. Doesn’t it look all grand & pretty in its new holiday outfit? Careful, though, don’t let that naive, innocent look fool you; it’s quite ruthless… In fact, it’s here, and as of now, there’s no way to keep it from performing its function, which means….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“For every human problem, there is a neat, simple solution; and it is always wrong.” — Mencken’s Metalaw — H. L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy

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“How many lawyer jokes are there? 3, the rest are true stories.” — Smart Bee

I had intended to find some more true stories to share with y’all about lawyers,  but, instead, let’s examine the creature as it exists in reality…. Now, I, personally, know a lawyer, and, since he no longer works as one, having recovered, in my mind, both his sanity, and his honor in the process (don’t tell him though, I get the impression he’s still a bit ambivalent/unsettled at how it came about, so, we don’t discuss it…), I feel absolutely no qualms whatsoever claiming him as a friend…. He’s gotten to the point he laughs at some of the jokes now….

He is an intelligent person, of course; no other kind would be my friend for so long (Over 30 years now…), or be able to put up with my own level of insanity…. In my case, of course, that was used to AVOID ever studying law, beyond what I felt necessary to know for my own protection…. I’ve always maintained there are only two kinds of lawyers who come out of law school, no matter which it may be.

The first kind intends to help people find their way through the maze of laws, allegedly designed to to allow them to live safely and with dignity; these lawyers, those with actual morals and ethics, serve justice, and the intent of the law…. Like my friend, they often end up leaving the field, or, sadly, at times, doing the Darth Vader, by turning to the dark side….

The other type is different sort of creature; their purpose for studying law is to find an angle to work, in order to further their own personal goals, which center around money, and power….. These lawyers may end up helping some people, but, at a cost those people can rarely afford comfortably. Mostly, this sort pad their bills with absurd charges, that puff up legal fees until the courts step in, to set regulations as to how much they can charge… whereupon, they merely find another method to get around the definition of “services rendered”….

Of this second type, a certain percentage actually, over time, become so enamored of the process of acquiring money and power, they figure out the only logical course to take, if they wish to continue their upward progress (in their eyes….). So, they mutate, and become politicians (an old Greek word, from “poly”, meaning “many”, and “tics”, meaning “small, dirty, bloodsucking parasites”….), because as legislators, they are allowed to vote themselves the keys to the treasury, calling their motivation “public spirit” and/or “the call to leadership”…. Often the mutation actually begins during school, as all the nutrient factors are present there, and a certain type of sociopathic personality takes to such things naturally, as it serves their purpose so well….

Excuse me a moment, I need to curse….

Okay, I’m back…. see, I can be nice, & not subject y’all to my forays into French colloquialisms…. However, in point of fact, they’re all (all the elected officials at the national level, to be specific….), fucking crazy, loony as a mass of mixed leopards, wolves, vipers, cobras, hyenas, rhinos, hippos, and, oh, a tiger or two, all slithering, strutting, blundering, screaming, locked in a confined space, each displaying the worst characteristics of their perverted, all-too-predatory natures…. And, all of whom are convinced of their own right to tell everyone else how things should be…. I mean, they should know, cuz Jesus told them so….

Yep…. Think about it, ffolkes, and, you, too, folks…. Of the 455 people at the top of the American political heap… (That’s 1 President, 1 VP, 12 Supremes, 100 Senators, 340 Reps at the House, & 1 Armed Forces COS….I think…. He isn’t elected, but, otherwise, I’m missing somebody….), (unless I lost track of how many Reps there are…. that changes at times…)…. Regardless… it’s a small number of persons, considering they make the decisions for so many…

So, ask yourself these questions…. How many of those are lawyers? How many are male? How many are white (Caucasian, or close)? How many are of a faith OTHER than Christian?…. I think you can see the point here…. no matter what the actual numbers may be, when counting the token women and persons of color they’ve allowed to join them, for the show of apparent diversity, it isn’t enough to make any difference in the real agenda that will be forged by those people…. It WILL be according to the white, male, Christian, legally trained (i.e., avariciously self-serving) point of view….

As another point of difference between them and the rest of the population: All of them, every single one, is a millionaire, or more (except perhaps for a few Reps, newbies not yet adept at playing the lobbyist’s for their treats and financial breaks….) Yet each and every one of the named politicians, less-than-500-people, with an average income over a million dollars a year, has better health care, better retirement arrangements, and better wages than anyone else in the country, all voted in by, who else, but, themselves….

Plus, just for good measure, for the great and glorious service they have done for the country, and all the sacrifices they must make to come to Washington, live like movie stars, and decide which lobbyist they should let take them to dinner tonight, why shouldn’t they get those benefits, not just while in office, but, for the rest of their lives?! Whether they are ever elected again or not…. Pretty good deal, eh?…. Wish I’d a thought of it….

And people wonder why I often talk about buying a gun….. I only have four things left to say about lawyers, and their mutated state, politicians….As usual, other people have said it better, so, as is my wont, I turn to them, with these final words upon which to meditate….

“If it weren’t for lawyers, I think we could have invented a universal symbolic representation of reality.”– Smart Bee

(technically, it’s not a joke; it’s merely an observation….)

“It’s possible to fight intolerance, stupidity, and fanaticism when they come separately.  When you get all three together it’s probably wiser to get out, if only to preserve one’s sanity.” — Adam Dalgliesh, in Devices and Desires, by P.D. James.

“The dread of evil is a much more forcible principle of human actions than the prospect of good.” — John Locke (1632-1704)

“The measure of a man’s life is the well spending of it, and not the length.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Consolation to Apollonius

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After that, I need some soothing music, and this will do quite nicely…. Enjoy! It’s only the best….

Best of Mozart : Overtures , Sonatas , Eine Kleine Nachtmusik , Concertos

http://youtu.be/eCB7c7RDmyU

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Today’s poem, appropriately enough, is from John Keats… The title of it is “Essay on Man”, an epic poem, containi perhaps the largest repository of excellent insight into Man’s true nature ever created, especially one that rhymes…. It’s a very long piece, with ten very long sections, or stanzas, each as brilliant as the one before, ending with what is called the “Argument of the Second Epistle. I have included that ending below, to give a taste of the entire piece…. but, I’d really recommend following the link, and taking the time to read the entire poem; it’s brilliance is so bright it will infuse your entire spirit, as well as, perhaps, giving you a deeper understanding of people, and why they are the way they are…. that’s the power of poetry….

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/essay-on-man/

Argument of the Second Epistle:

Of the Nature and State of Man, with respect to Himself, as an Individual. The business of Man not to pry into God, but to study himself.

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of Mankind is Man.
Plac’d on this isthmus of a middle state,(28)
A being darkly wise, and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic’s pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest,
In doubt to deem himself a God, or Beast;
In doubt his Mind or Body to prefer,
Born but to die, and reas’ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little, or too much:
Chaos of Thought and Passion, all confus’d;
Still by himself abus’d, or disabus’d;
Created half to rise, and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of Truth, in endless Error hurl’d:
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

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Pearls, pearls, who’s got pearls?….. Hmph! Such impertinence!…. But, who really cares, ultimately? SB is gonna give me what it will, no matter how I piss, moan, threaten, or complain… So, here, take this…. it’s what I’ve got….

“Here comes a pair of very strange beasts, which in all tongues are called fools.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), As You Like It — Act v, Sc. 4

“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority.  Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.” — Giordano Bruno (1548- burned at the stake, 1600)

“We achieve “active” mastery over illness and death by delegating all responsibility for their management to physicians, and by exiling the sick and the dying to hospitals. But hospitals serve the convenience of staff not patients: we cannot be properly ill in a hospital, nor die in one decently; we can do so only among those who love and value us. The result is the institutionalized dehumanization of the ill, characteristic of our age.” — Thomas Szasz, The Second Sin, “Personal Conduct” (1973).

“Liberty is the possibility of doubting, the possibility of making a mistake, the possibility of searching and experimenting, the possibility of saying No to any authority–literary, artistic, philosophic, religious, social and even political.” — Ignazio Silone, The God That Failed (1950)

“And it does matter.  An honest man or woman is an honest man or woman more because he or she is honest in the small, everyday things that “don’t matter” individually, but which make up a well-lived life, than because of some single great temptation that was passed.  A person who is concerned about individual rights or about individual dignity makes his or her difference not because of any sweeping great statement or action, but because of the accretion of small, individually seemingly insignificant acts that spread that dignity and confirm those rights through every action they take.  It matters because every action you take, and every action I take is an expression of the human spirit.” — William Oliver (oliver@uncmed.med.unc.edu)

“Everyone knows that dragons don’t exist.  But while this simplistic formulation may satisfy the layman, it does not suffice for the scientific mind.  The School of Higher Neantical Nillity is in fact wholly unconcerned with what does exist.  Indeed, the banality of existence has been so amply demonstrated, there is no need for us to discuss it any further here.  The brilliant Cerebron, attacking the problem analytically, discovered three distinct kinds of dragon: the mythical, the chimerical, and the purely hypothetical.  They were all, one might say, nonexistent, but each nonexisted in an entirely different way …” — Stanislaw Lem, Cyberiad

“How often we recall, with regret, that Napoleon once shot at a magazine editor and missed him and killed a publisher. But we remember with charity, that his intentions were good.” — Mark Twain

Don’t even ask…. SB did this one all by itself…. It’s cute, but, is it good? Only you can be the judge in this case; I must recuse myself….

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Like it or not, it’s done, so, I’m going to have to take it, as it is almost 8 AM, & I’m still just finishing the initial draft…. But, that’s done, so, all that remains is the process of posting… to free myself to go do so, I bid the a fond farewell, with the usual ending wishes…. see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, maybe even on time….

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

“The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.”

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí.

 

‘Tis easier to blame the indigenous population….

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Ffolkes,

“He who dies for virtue, does not perish.”

~~  Plautus ~~

(B.C. 254-184)

A fire approaches the shore of Bass Lake in California

    There is a fascinating sort of beauty to fires such as this; I’ve been to Bass Lake, where this was taken, perhaps even stood where the photographer stood to take this shot. It does look like a very familiar outline, one my mind remembers well, if only for its similarity to so many other places I’ve been in the mountains of California. The picture itself is one I saw all over the Net, released during the recent spate of wildfires in California this past summer, and, though beautiful, is also very saddening…..

But, we aren’t going to let that sadness keep us from our appointed rounds today; I’ve missed too many days already (one is too many in my book….), so, I don’t intend to miss any more…. Even if I must cheat to get them done…. I am still a bit stupefied by the meds I’m still using to combat vertigo (it’s passing, much better, but, still a bit of edginess running along that eye nerve, when I move the eyes too quickly…. but, much better), as it makes me sleep heavily, and long…. hence my late start today….

In fact, I’m so late, this intro is going to be truncated rather severely, immediately following this paragraph, else we’ll not get to the rest of this mess anywhere near soon enough…. In fact, I’ve hear a rumor we’ll be using an entirely new technique, one both effective, and ruthless…. I wonder what it looks like? It couldn’t be any worse than….. Wait. Who are you? What are you doing ther…….

Shall we Pearl?….

“As a net is made up of a series of ties, so everything in this world is connected by a series of ties. If anyone thinks that this mesh of a net is an independent, isolated thing, he is mistaken. It is called a net because it is made up of a series of interconnected meshes, and each mesh has its place and responsibility in relation to other meshes.” — Buddha

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The new intro-shortening technique seems to work rather well, wouldn’t you say? A bit of upset in the initial stage there, but, nothing too obvious; no tears, or blood, so, it must be okay. So much so, it’s put me in too good a mood to rant…. plus, I didn’t have time for any research…. so, easy money, we’ll just go old school for a change in this section, thus proving the old adage, that says…. well, I forget, but, I’m sure there is one to fit…. For the nonce, I have a perfect set of pearls for this space, one I’ve been saving for just such an occasion…. I give you then, the following pearl of pearls….

Hodge Podge, aka Oyster Stew


Ladies and gentlemen…. for some time now, I’ve collected pearls for use here on ECR, as part of the format, upon which we depend, to give us the structure that otherwise might never have shown its face. We’ll never really know, but, accept that there are certain things in life destined to remain mysterious…. and, we can’t chase all of them down to see which is which, now, can we? Of course not…. It’s much the same with pearls…. they work, for what they are needed for, or they don’t…. but, often, when they don’t, I find it hard to get rid of them, as they have something of their own, which I have found it can be worthwhile to consider, even without the direction provided by a set of parameters….. many of which are randomly chosen, themselves….

Any who, I end up with a lot of stuff that is pretty cool, but, doesn’t fit in anywhere with what I’m working on…. below you’ll find a rather extensive array of some of these random, extraneous, yet valuable pearls, collected, but not used as yet…. I don’t like to let them build up too far, as I then lose track of what is there…. even my memory has limits…. So, here are a bunch of them, just for fun, and maybe, who knows, a bit is virtual wisdom, to boot….. Abondanza!

“If you attack Stupidity you attack an entrenched interest with friends in government and every walk of public life.” — Robertson Davies

“For this invention [writing] will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practise their memory. Their trust in writing, produced by external characters which are no part of themselves, will discourage the use of their own memory within them. You have invented an elixir not of memory, but of reminding; and you offer your pupils the appearance of wisdom, not true wisdom, for they will read many things without instruction and will therefore seem to know many things, when they are for the most part ignorant and hard to get along with, since they are not wise, but only appear wise.” — Plato (274-275 BC) in Phaedrus

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

“Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear — kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor — with the cry of grave national emergency… Always there has been some terrible evil to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it   by furnishing the exorbitant sums demanded.  Yet, in retrospect, these disasters seem never to have happened, seem never to have been quite real.” — General Douglas MacArthur, 1957

“Lysander said that the law spoke too softly to be heard in such a noise of war.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Caius Marius

“The belief that words have a meaning of their own account is a relic of primitive word magic, and it is still a part of the air we breathe in nearly every discussion.” — Charles K. Ogden, The Meaning of Meaning

“Possibly the greatest threat to those who want to believe that everything in the Bible is true was advanced by an individual standing in wading boots in cool water up to his hind end, in fact, who revealed that most of the early witnesses to all that Jesus said and did were fishermen!” — Smart Bee

EXCERPTS FROM LIFE’S LITTLE INSTRUCTION BOOK, VOLUMES I AND II

35. Plant a tree on your birthday.
47. Don’t waste time learning the “tricks of the trade.” Instead, learn the trade.
53. Vote.
68. Be brave. Even if you’re not, pretend to be. No one can tell the difference.
100. Read the Bill of Rights.
198. Feed a stranger’s expired parking meter.
209. Observe the speed limit.
267. Lie on your back and look at the stars.
271. When facing a difficult task, act as though it is impossible to fail. If you’re going after Moby Dick, take along the tartar sauce.
322. Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.
393. Learn how to operate a Macintosh computer.
513. Never laugh at anyone’s dreams.
558. Never betray a confidence.
595. Be the first to fight for a just cause.
817. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
939. Never be ashamed of your patriotism.

— H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Just so’s you know…. I think #271 of Life’s Instructions is a really good one….. #558 is a solid truth, as well.

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Here is some rather esoteric rock, by one of the SF Bay Area most beloved local performers, Boz Scaggs, at a live concert benefiting the Bridge School, an alternative school in Marin…. Enjoy, please… it’s different than the usual fare you hear, for certain…..

Boz Scaggs, Live 2004:

 

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Any introduction for this poet is superfluous; you know who he is…. Now, enjoy one of his best….

Adventures Of Isabel

Isabel met an enormous bear,
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t care;
The bear was hungry, the bear was ravenous,
The bear’s big mouth was cruel and cavernous.
The bear said, Isabel, glad to meet you,
How do, Isabel, now I’ll eat you!
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry.
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She washed her hands and she straightened her hair up,
Then Isabel quietly ate the bear up.
Once in a night as black as pitch
Isabel met a wicked old witch.
the witch’s face was cross and wrinkled,
The witch’s gums with teeth were sprinkled.
Ho, ho, Isabel! the old witch crowed,
I’ll turn you into an ugly toad!
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry,
She showed no rage and she showed no rancor,
But she turned the witch into milk and drank her.
Isabel met a hideous giant,
Isabel continued self reliant.
The giant was hairy, the giant was horrid,
He had one eye in the middle of his forehead.
Good morning, Isabel, the giant said,
I’ll grind your bones to make my bread.
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She nibbled the zwieback that she always fed off,
And when it was gone, she cut the giant’s head off.
Isabel met a troublesome doctor,
He punched and he poked till he really shocked her.
The doctor’s talk was of coughs and chills
And the doctor’s satchel bulged with pills.
The doctor said unto Isabel,
Swallow this, it will make you well.
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She took those pills from the pill concocter,
And Isabel calmly cured the doctor.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~


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Here’s a pearl of indeterminate style, yet, somehow, seems to work… It may be the closing pearl that does it, bringing it all into focus, but, that may must be the drugs talking…. Y’all can take from this whatever you wish to take; it has more than enough to suit any taste…. Watch the ending, though, it’s kind of a rapid turn, & I’m not sure of the road’s ability to handle it at speed….

“Nothing endures but change.” — Heraclitus (540?-480? B.C.)

“A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depends on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the measure as I have received and am still receiving.” — Albert Einstein

“Whatever happens at all happens as it should; thou wilt find this true, if thou shouldst watch narrowly.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD)
— Meditations, iv, 10

“Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.” — Phillip Brooks

“Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of the colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. Each time a person stands up for an idea, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” — Robert F. Kennedy  Speech, South Africa, 1966

“Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), “Circles”

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

“The Stolen Child”


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Like the pagan said about the gospels; “Well, it was a long time ago, and we can hope it all wasn’t true.”….from Clouds of Witness…

On that note, I believe I can safely, and with some dignity intact, take my leave for yet another day….. Regardless of the legality, or any implied lack thereof, should it be heretofore challenged in a court of law, why, y’all can give ’em my statement, yes? That would be, uh, how you say in English?….Oh, yes…. Fuck you, asshole….

Oh, for goodness sake! Not y’all…… I’m talking to, and about, those myrmidons over there, across the street, watching the house, hoping I won’t see them, standing there with their little orders from the asininnies to take me in for questioning…. I’m afraid they’re doomed to disappointment; I’ve far too much to do on my own agenda to even consider allowing them to alter any of it for THEIR purposes….. But, then, they still believe that they have the right, and/or the means, to force me to comply….. silly wabbits…

See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, and don’t worry, they won’t be here again, nor will they ever find this batch….. Ta, then…..

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

“The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.”

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí.

 

Oh, that’s just ducky, Penelope…..

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Ffolkes,

~~  A wonderful poem by Audrey Hepburn  ~~

Written when asked to share her “beauty tips.”
It was read at her funeral years later.

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.  For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.  For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.  For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.  For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.  People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.  Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.  As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.

audrey h

    I’m hoping no one ever asks me where I got this, because I just don’t remember. I know when I found it, I made sure I had it saved in a way allowing me to eventually print it, but, that’s all. Just as well; I’m hard pressed at times to accept the ragging I get for being such a romantic. Being a romantic sort, though, doesn’t prevent me from recognizing truth, and beauty of spirit, and Ms. Hepburn, with this statement, proves she possessed both, in ample measure…. It’s also a good way to start today, with the subject matter in section one being somewhat appropriate to the sentiments expressed here, i.e. compassion, kindness, and love…..

On a personal note, I am in the throes of relieved joy; my vertigo has finally passed away, with no lingering background noise in the nerves, and no lingering dizziness. It has been said, “True relief is the release from pain.”, and I am here to testify, it also works on what may be called malaise, that pervasive sense of WRONGNESS that slithers along the nerves, like static on a phone line, keeping us a bit edgy & jumpy, without even knowing why we feel that way, a miserable condition most know from having a cold, or the flu, when that misery feels as if it has settled into our very bones….  That sort of nervous edge is exhausting, as we fight against it, muscles tensing & releasing in sympathetic fervor, until we are completely drained, without having exerted ourselves at all….

When it goes away, the relief is immense, seemingly leaving us joyful and elated, again with little obvious reason…. I have to say, it is quite a relief, which doesn’t make itself felt until the condition is no longer bothering us…. It also allowed me to get some actual, restful sleep, so, that’s something, right? Right…. I might even figure out a way to make this pearl better because of it…. NAH! Never happen, but, it’s nice to consider now and again…

Actually, I’m going to be a bit on the ruthless side this morning, as this will be the last of the intro paragraphs… not that I’m really concerned with making things better; I feel like I’ve hit my peak, at least writing-wise…. but, that doesn’t alter my mood, which is determined and resolute in its determination to make serious changes around here. I find myself, these last few days while my movements have been curtailed again by my physical condition, thinking a lot of what is going on with my body, with all the new and annoyingly repetitive breakdowns of my various bodily functions…. Pain, chronic fatigue, joint stiffness, vertigo complicated by old concussions (as I finally found out….), all are becoming far too familiar, and, essentially, are keeping me from doing what I WANT to be doing…. and, I say….. BASTA!

Enough! I’m done being a cripple, and an invalid. I’m tired of allowing my body to prevent me from doing what I want to do, and I’m not going to put up with it any longer…. I’ll be going into healing meditative trances, dieting (correctly), performing katas and forms,  and otherwise establishing a routine of physical maintenance the like of which I’ve avoided for about twenty years now, since learning of the first of the physical conditions that are plaguing me…. including, less time here at the computer, as sitting so much certainly is NOT helpful…. In the interests of encouraging the will power it will take to see myself through to the other side, I’ll end this intro now, so we can get on with the day…. as I mentioned, I believe, rather ruthlessly….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“A priest asked: What is Fate, Master?
And he answered: It is that which gives a beast of burden its reason for existence.  It is that which men in former times had to bear upon their backs.  It is that which has caused nations to build byways from City to City upon which carts and coaches pass, and alongside which inns have come to be built to stave off Hunger, Thirst and Weariness.
And that is Fate?  said the priest.
Fate … I thought you said Freight, responded the Master.
That’s all right, said the priest.  I wanted to know what Freight was too.”

— Kehlog Albran, The Profit

No, it means nothing…. or, possibly, even less than that….. I just thought it was funny…. which it is…. If y’all don’t think so, well…. Okay….. I do….

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“To be ignorant of what happened before you were born is to be ever a child.  For what is man’s lifetime unless the memory of past events is woven with those of earlier times?” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC), Orator

Our culture is sick. It has been so for millennia, though many would argue that point, being, as I’ve said before, asininnies at the core, and not able to admit they don’t know…. thus, they are perpetually unable to learn…. We live in a sick society, ffolkes, one that, in great part, is suicidally determined that we shall NOT survive as a species…. Only a species determined to die would allow one half of its members to continuously, and irrationally, abuse and oppress the other half of the two genders, as if the wildness of our nature holds complete sway over any ability to reason we may show…..

This pervasive abuse, of women, by men, is far too ubiquitous to ignore, or deny, yet, the largest portion of people alive today don’t even know they are fully trained and indoctrinated, minds controlled absolutely, by their acceptance, and belief in a set of delusions, that keep us from ever reaching the potential we may have as a species, as they forever keep the two sexes from understanding one another…. In the past, I’ve written a number of posts on this subject, which tends to get my juices flowing rather well…. Whenever I think of how some men treat women, it only strengthens my feelings of anger, and my desire to go buy a gun, to start eradicating at least a few of the problems…. or, rather, the physical manifestations of the problems, otherwise known as pimps, or snakeheads….

A couple of days ago, Emma Watson, the young woman who grew up playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies, gave a speech at the UN, addressing the delegates to announce the formation of a new organization, called HeforShe, at http://HeforShe.org/, dedicated to stopping the historical pattern of misogyny and abuse by men, calling on all men, (in my mind, all REAL men….) to join the fight to save their sisters, mothers, and lovers from the habitual sexism and unconscious patterns of abusive behavior and attitudes that have held us ALL back for so long…. Only when men are as aware of the issue as are women, can there be any hope of making the needed changes in society….

Below, I’ve placed four items to note…. the first is a copy of the text of the speech made by Ms. Watson at the UN, the official UN released copy…. also included is a link to the YouTube video of the speech, as well as a YouTube player, so you can watch the speech yourself, right here, if you wish…. All I ask is that you either read it, or watch it; it isn’t long, but, it is VERY IMPORTANT that everyone alive be aware of this issue….

So, please share this link with others, and help spread the word to the snakeheads and pimps…. their day is done, and the good people of society are coming to get them gone, or get them dead, whichever they prefer….. Listen up ffolkes, and pay heed….. This one is for real…. The fourth item, of course, is a pearl to finish the points to be made…..

“It is easy for men to talk one thing and think another.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 322

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“A man who carries a cat by the tail is getting experience that will always be helpful.  He isn’t likely to grow dim or doubtful.  Chances are, he isn’t likely to carry the cat that way again, either.  But if he wants to, I say let him!” — Mark Twain

“So many jerks, so little ammunition.” — Smart Bee

Well may your hearts believe the truths I tell:
‘T is virtue makes the bliss, where’er we dwell.

~~ William Collins  ~~

— (1720-1756) — Oriental Eclogues, 1, Line 5 —


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Today’s video is not musically oriented; instead, for your entertainment, a movie, in five parts, a BBC production of Dorothy L. Sayers’ novel, Clouds of Witness, with actor Ian Carmichael playing Lord Peter Wimsey, the Edwardian Age’s modernized version of Sherlock Holmes, the aristocrat detective, in a delightfully complex, dreadfully British, well-acted, authentic, drawing room comedy/murder mystery, worthy of its reputation as one of the detective novel genre’s most influential works, considered on a par with any of Agatha Christie’s stories….

In this case, we find Lord Peter and his man, Bunter, running about, feverishly, in the search to find evidence to clear his brother, the Duke of Denver, who has been  charged with murdering their sister’s fiancé, gathering the necessary facts from Paris, to New York, to Yorkshire, to London, all with a veneer of polished inanity covering a brilliant story…. Enjoy….

Oh, right, almost forgot….  you can find the next four installments by using the link, which takes you to the You Tube page of the first episode, where all of them are listed….

Lord Peter Wimsey, Clouds of witness, part 1 of 5: 

 

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In certain instances, my mood goes into some strange places…. when it does, I find one poet most often seems to have a poem that fits the mood I feel…. Emily Dickinson, of course…. Plus, this seems like one to go well with today’s message/theme, as it is one of Emily’s sadder pieces…. Well, it makes me sad, anyway…. but, it also makes me feel as her work always does….. human….

I cannot live with you,
It would be life,
And life is over there
Behind the shelf

The sexton keeps the key to,
Putting up
Our life, his porcelain,
Like a cup

Discarded of the housewife,
Quaint or broken;
A newer Sevres pleases,
Old ones crack.

I could not die with you,
For one must wait
To shut the other’s gaze down,–
You could not.

And I, could I stand by
And see you freeze,
Without my right of frost,
Death’s privilege?

Nor could I rise with you,
Because your face
Would put out Jesus’.
That new grace

Glow plain and foreign
On my homesick eye,
Except that you, than he
Shone closer by.

They’d judge us–how?
For you served Heaven, you know
Or sought to;
I could not,

Because you saturated sight,
And I had no more eyes
For sordid excellence
As Paradise.

And were you lost, I would be,
Though my name
Rang loudest
On the heavenly fame.

And were you saved,
And I condemned to be
Where you were not,
That self were hell to me.

So we must keep apart,
You there, I here,
With just the door ajar
That oceans are,
And prayer,
And that pale sustenance,
Despair!

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~


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Do not attempt to find any deeper meaning in this pearl than you may see on the surface; it is deliberately shallow, intended only as an example of mankind’s obvious tendency to engage in activities that range from the sublime to the ridiculous, not as a journey of one direction, either way, but, more like a bloody yo-yo, up and down, up and down, over and over again, just as if we had no memory at all…. Enjoy!….

“There is nothing that is meritorious but virtue and friendship; and indeed friendship itself is only a part of virtue.” — Pope (1688-1744)

“The purpose and function of government is not to preside over change but to prevent change. By political methods when unavoidable, by violence when
convenient.” — Edward Abbey

“I know the road, I know where it goes; that’s why I’m going so slow…” — Smart Bee

“Cogito, ergo sum. (I think, therefore I am)” — Rene Descartes

“Cogito sum. Circa de basta. (I think I am. That’s close enough.) — gigoid, Peruaosophy, axiom 1, 1986

“Now I’m concentrating on a specific tank battle toward  the end of World War II!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Hmph! Seriousness.  Hmph! Sobriety.  A Jedi craves them not.” — Yoda, Jedi master, a long, long, time ago, in a galaxy far away….

See? Even in the state I’m in, I can do this with my eyes closed…. and, probably should do so more often…..

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In spite of myself, I seem to have finished this Pearl…. huh. When I began, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do so….. I suppose I’m in a bit of a flutter, as it is raining (a complete, though welcome, surprise….), and I feel (relatively) good, both of which aren’t usual around here of late… I’m going to do the sensible thing, and go enjoy that, so, I’d best bring this to a close…. With no further ado, I declare this Pearl of Virtual Wisdom to be complete, and give y’all leave, to, well, leave…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. for now….

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

“The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.”

Kowabunga!

À bientôt, mon cherí.

 

Four plastic tug boats and a waffle iron….

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Ffolkes,

“Thoughts are mightier than strength of hand.”

~~ Sophocles ~~

 (496-406 BC)

 — Phaedra, Frag. 854 —

Artist’s concept of supermassive black hole within M60-UCD1

    Okay…. the quote? It’s a good one, but, hey, duh! As for the picture, you may have seen it; I’ve seen it two places on the web, just in the three days since it was released; this copy came from Space.com… It is a picture of an artist’s rendering of a massive black hole, found by astronomers in a dwarf galaxy near another larger galaxy it orbits, or, more accurately, is part of in a eons long dance of exchanging materials….. Just a little reminder of how small we actually are, in relation to the Universe…. Of course, when one speaks of the Universe, and the stars, one must also think of the music of the spheres, so real, yet invisible to any as-yet-known instrument, our Home rings with music, pouring out of everything that exists, with most only as silent witness…

Music….. It’s a huge part of me, which, for too long, I haven’t allowed to be as much a part of my life as I’d prefer, for a number of reasons… or, if I have let it in, it hasn’t been to the degree I’ve recently come to realize is important to my health, in more than merely a physical sense. How much it CAN be has yet to be determined, but, I’m going to give it more of a chance to fulfill the need in me, to listen to it, to play, to sing, to dance, even if only in a chair. It has always been around, it seems, but, not always at the times I, perhaps, needed it most…. which is a bit mysterious, as music is pretty readily available anytime, anywhere…. Fortunately for all of us, it will have to remain a mystery, as I don’t have time to go into long, sad stories, especially to start the day….

Ever since I managed to stumble onto the method for posting music videos here on the blog, I’ve been listening to some of the stuff that first got me involved in playing my own music, through the simplest expedient at the time, learning to play a guitar, singing the lyrics, and, quite simply, freeing my spirit…. which had not even realized there was a sky, much less that it could fly in it…. Since that time, making it, along with listening to it, has almost always been a part of my life; always, but for the last few years, at least, not to a degree I would like it to have been…. But, my passion for it remains, dormant for now, until the urge to play hits…. “Then I’ll pick up my guitar & play…” et cetera, et cetera, et cetera to paraphrase Pete, and Yul….

In addition to its power to affect each of us individually, music can be a powerful teacher, to all those who hear it…. Ideas (freedom, liberty), attitudes (patriotism, loyalty, community spirit), language (slogans, songs, poems), all are susceptible to modification under the magic auspices of music, affecting people on a society-wide basis, merely by a popular song, or a series of articles, or movies starring heroic actors….

Witness the US government movies prior to, and during WWII, and the Korean ‘conflict’…. (Do fewer people die in a conflict than in a war?…. Just wondering….) Many Hollywood musicians, singers, dancers, actors, and all the supporting people in the studios worked diligently to pass on the government’s key ideas and attitudes that would support the war efforts…. Very strong stuff, some of it, hidden in most excellent swing band style, complete with singing sisters…

See how easily I can fall into a rant…. Ah well, I am in too good a mood to worry about all that right now…. besides, I’m sure there is plenty of THAT going on down below…. For now, just know that I love music, and, most likely, so do you…. so, I’ll give you a tip, that may help you, or not…. Most of the videos I’ll be adding in the new second section, inserted after the intro (where I’ve decided the video pearls will live here on ECR….), if you let them run to the end, no matter how long, will offer you choices of similar videos, by the same, and other artists…. So, merely by stopping by to read, you can, if you wish, have the entire day’s play list right at your fingertips…. as long as there are more music choices you enjoy…. after each of which, more choices show up…. Cool, eh, what?….

We’re all about public service here at ECR, as y’all well know…. so, I’ll also take this moment to mention the Walk the Walk for Climate Change that is happening right NOW in NYC, and in cities all over the world, to tell the leaders there at a summit on that subject, that the people want to see real changes made, and no BS….. I’d be there if I could, but, since I can’t, I’m sending all my curmudgeonly outrage into the airwaves to them, and letting y’all know you can do the same…. Give the asininnies and the BRC a loud THPPT!, and tell them to get off their duffs, and get to work saving our asses before it’s too late….

I for one am probably too old to make it to the first Mars or asteroid colony, or even the second, if it works…. but, if that looks like our only hope, well, I’ll be pounding on the air lock door before they take off; hell, I’ll ride on the outside, if I have to…. Just give me a space-suit, a rope, and a strong magnet or two, and I’ll get there if I have to tie myself to the radio disc….

Probably enough fantasy for one morning, wouldn’t you say?…. Well, too bad; I would. No, just joking, fantasy is always in order, almost anywhere but on a space ship, where mathematics works better…. It did get us this far, though, which will do for our purposes…. In fact, we can just turn right here, and….

Shall we Pearl?….

“It may be true that my desk here is really “nothing but” a transient eddy of electrons in the flux of universal process. Nevertheless, I find that it continues to support my feet, my revolver, and my cigars all day long. What happens when my back is turned I don’t know. Or much care. That’s no concern of mine.” — Edward Abbey

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“Six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century:

Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others;
Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected;
  Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it;
  Refusing to set aside trivial preferences;
  Neglecting development and refinement of the mind;
  Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

~~ Marcus Tullius Cicero ~~


http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Officials-demand-criminal-probe-of-PG-amp-E-s-5767564.php

I had originally thought to put an older rant here, and shall do so, forthwith…. The above link is to a current article, from a day or so ago, talking about the most recent corruption shown by PG&E and the Public Utilities Commission, which is, ostensibly, a public entity charged with overseeing the utility company…. As the article shows, the relationship they’ve developed has gone beyond that, into a symbiotic state, showing quite well how businesses work to corrupt government agencies….

But, rather than rant on that today, I’ll give you an older rant, that deals with the same issue, to wit, lies, lies, and more damn lies from the people who are allegedly working for us, the people, but, who, in fact, have been looting the treasury, giving most of our money to the bankers and shadowy corporate interests (most significantly, the arms dealers who make such a profit on all the wars the governing assholes engage in….), who give not the slightest shit for anyone but themselves, for almost the entire history of this country….

Below, you will find a small temporal anomaly, but, as long as you don’t try to keep up with where in time you may be at any particular point in the piece, you’ll be fine… In other words, suspend your normal hold on reality, and just go with the flow…. believe me, you DON’T want to actually try to know when you are; it could cause problems in the space-time continuum that might get out of hand, potentially resulting in an explosion to rival the FIRST Big Bang…. It would be better, all around, if you just didn’t even bother to try….

From 6/3/2013:

I have a lot to do today, and need to get started early to get it all done,,, so, I’m cheating here, but in a good way. This is a Pearl from November of 2011… Much of it is apparently written around the same subject as discussed in section one of today’s effort, so I’m including it here, to save myself some time, and give y’all a bit of contrasting text to compare…. You can check for me to see if what I wrote then is consistent with what was done today, or if it was better, or worse…. Whatever it was, it’s a bit long, so, here it is, so you can get started….

11/16/11
Ffolkes,

Good morrow to you…. let us begin as we mean to go on….

“Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” — Gene Fowler

This line is included today merely to give y’all an idea of what I go through every morning to produce this…. whatever it is. It is a pretty good description, actually, because when I’m done, I actually feel battered and bloody. Bloody well used up is what it is. Maybe it’s easier for other writers; I don’t know. But for me, to produce something that my standards will allow me to publish for others to read, is much like having a piece of my soul ripped out. The funny thing is, though it hurts a lot, I wouldn’t stop doing it, even if I could. The pain of creation, which after all requires destruction first, is a worthy payoff for the sense of accomplishment I get when I see one of my pieces online for all to see. Quite a rush, actually….

“Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” — Aldous Huxley

This observation, as far as I can tell, is 100% accurate, and because it is, many of the problems society is facing are easily explained, if not easily resolved. For example, when was the last time you gave a thought to what else besides oxygen is in the air that you take into your lungs on the average of 15-20 times per minute.? When you last got a glass of water from the tap, did you stop to think about what was in the water you use to drink, cook with, and bathe in? As Mr. Huxley pointed out, most folks, yourselves included, seldom think about or appreciate such simple necessities, or what might happen if they were no longer available.

What will we do when the air is so full of carbon dioxide that the amount of oxygen in it is decreased below the point where it will sustain life? Will we all have to wear breathing apparatus in order to brave the outside world? What will happen to all the other animals if there isn’t sufficient air? What will you do when the water you drink is no longer safe to consume? We need water as much as we need air; our chemical make-up is 90% water, and not having enough of it to replace what we lose is a sure path to the grave within a matter of days.

There are other issues connected to this subject; the consistent degradation of our planet’s ecosystem has a great many negative effects, small and unnoticeable at first, but growing larger over time until they are added to the list of processes that will eventually lead to extinction of all of this planet’s life forms.  Part of the problem is that it is a slow, insidious process, this degradation, and the deleterious outcomes are not evident until too late to reverse.

Remember, the Universe doesn’t care, one way or the other, whether we survive or not; the rules are the rules, and fighting against the natural laws of our space-time continuum is a fool’s bet. Like it or not, we, as a species, are going to need to make some serious changes to the way we do things, if we are to survive at all. And we will need to do it starting yesterday….

“A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary.  Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” — Albert Einstein

I really admire Albert Einstein, and not because he was a great scientist, as well as one of history’s shining examples of men and women who greatly advance human knowledge, and do so out of their love of mankind. Albert’s wisdom was not restricted to the principles of physics and math; he had a unique way of looking at the world, and the ability to share their deep insights into life and the universe for the benefit of others. He was an eternal optimist, and as the above quote demonstrates, had a firm grip on the concept of living with honor and dignity.

He believed in the inherent goodness of every man, and lived his life in a way that it stands as an example for the rest of us. I cannot wholly agree with what he states above, because I have a much darker view of what human nature is capable of, and less faith in mankind’s willingness to submit to natural law. But what he said does show with clarity where our salvation lies, and in his own inimitable manner, he shares his deeper knowledge with the rest of us in the hope it will inspire others to act honorably….

“To laugh often and love much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to give of oneself; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sing with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier: this is to have succeeded.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

From what I gather in my study of 19th century American writers, a lot of the best were what I would call masters of advanced curmudgeonry. Emerson, Walden, Thoreau,  were all libertarians living in compromise with a democracy, and spent much of their time either complaining about society, or hiding from it in their forest retreats. This is not to say that what they wrote was bad or mistaken in premise, necessarily, but if you read their work with this in mind, it becomes apparent that they didn’t much like other folks, or put much trust in their rationality.

But, as the included quote indicates, being a curmudgeon doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t understand humanity, or what it takes to make life complete. This paragraph from Mr. Emerson demonstrates this perfectly. One cannot argue with conviction that all of these attributes listed, and experiences from a long life, are positively rooted, and make perfect sense. Whether or not we actually have all of these characteristics is unimportant; the list remains valid even if incomplete. And it provides anyone with a good map and directions that can be useful to us in our pursuit of happiness….

So much for another day…. Hopefully, you have consumed a fair portion of food for thought, and found it palatable enough. If not, feel free to let me know, and I’ll see if I can come up with something more savory…. in the meantime, y’all take care out there….

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Today’s music video will be classical, because I like it, and I’m feeling the need for something uplifting, to go with the change of pace….

Enjoy!…..

Classical Music for Spring : Vivaldi, Strauss, Schumann

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Today, I feel like one of the classical romanticists…. Ah, here’s a good one….

He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven

HAD I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~


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This section normally holds an old-school pearl, and, it shall… but, first, a bit of artwork that will drench your eyes in beauty….. The web site at Space.com held an astronomical photography, posting the winning photos here:  http://www.space.com/27197-astronomy-photo-contest-winners.html?cmpid=558274   The photo you see is the overall winner; I’ve included the link so you can go see the rest of them…. some are incredible, like this one….

Aurora over a glacier lagoon

    Gorgeous, yes? Now, here is the pearl that was originally to go here….    This one is DEFINITELY random….

“The most important thing in acting is honesty. If you can fake that, you’ve  got it made.” — George Burns

“If a person offend you and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures.   Simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick.” — Mark Twain, Advice to Youth Speech, 1882

“If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

“Give me a place to sit, and I’ll watch.” — friend of Archimedes

“You say you want a revolution, well you know, we all want to change the world.” — (Beatles) Revolution

“Now is the time for all good men to come to.” — Walt Kelly

“Do not try to live forever. You will not succeed.” — George Bernard Shaw

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It’s a bit of an epic, but, it’s done, and I’m not going to second-guess myself at this point….. In fact, I’ll be unusually brief, and merely say, 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

“The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.”

Kowabunga!

À bientôt, mon cherí.

 

Perhaps he’ll wait for the proper moment….

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Ffolkes,

“Whenever a thing changes and alters its nature, at that moment comes the death of what it was before.”

~~ Lucretius ~~

first-map-rosetta-comet-67p

    What you see above is a digital map, with colors added to provide clues as to the composition of the surface it represents… The surface in question is located on an asteroid, orbiting around the sun, off in another part of our solar system, in an orbit that will take it close to the sun in the next few months, before sending it out and away again, in its long elliptical orbit…. It’s name, given in hopes it will give us the same sort of history-changing  data as the original bearer of the name, is the Rosetta asteroid, as in the Rosetta Stone….

The European Space Agency, nearly, or, perhaps, even more than a year ago, launched an unmanned, automated probe rocket to catch up to the asteroid in its orbit, taking many months to do so, with the intention of establishing itself in orbit around the small planetoid object, to collect data from close by, and to eventually send a small probe, loaded with instruments for collecting samples and performing tests, down to land on the surface, where it will perform various scientific procedures to collect even more data about the asteroid’s composition and structure…

This data will tell us what is made of, how old it is, and many other pieces of information, all of which will advance our understanding of asteroids, and the solar system, in general, and specifically, in much greater detail than we could ever find out by just observing from afar…. In the process, unknown and unacknowledged, except by a very few people who can see the bigger picture, this mission is the first step in what may be the ONLY possible way for our species to survive into the future….

This landing on another piece of real estate in our solar system signals the advent of the true Age of Space for our species, and, with the rapidity of the coming environmental crisis here on Earth, colonizing the asteroids, and/or Mars, or, potentially, the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus, may be our only hope of keeping ANY of us alive…. I hate to be pessimistic, but, as far as I can see, this is not something that is debatable any longer…. our time is coming, and sooner than anyone wants to believe….

Yes, we’ve walked on the Moon, and we may yet also colonize that planetoid, as it is so close to Home…. but, the possibility of not being able to live on the surface of the Earth any longer is a distinct threat to our having any future at all…. We may be too late already to save the Earth from becoming toxic to our lungs and metabolism, not to mention the effects of the rising of the seas on our fresh water supplies, and ability to grow the foods we eat….

Our ONLY hope is, quite possibly, to establish colonies on the nearest bodies we can get to, as fast as we can muster the resources and technology to do so, then, when established as self-supporting,  spread from there into the rest of the system…..The material resources are there; the asteroids, many eons ago, were another planet, larger than Earth and Mars, that broke up to form the belt between Mars and Jupiter we see today.

These orbiting chunks of rock, some as large as some of our smaller continents, some as small as dust, are chock full of all the metals, minerals, and substances, including water, in the form of ice, we would conceivably need to keep civilization functioning (Saturn’s rings, for example, are supposedly made of ice..) Power is more than plentiful, in the form of sunlight, as well as nuclear fission (much safer to produce and handle in the vastness of space), or, nuclear fusion, if and when we discover its secrets, as well as the chemicals needed for rocket fuels, all are to be found, relatively easily, in the asteroids….

So, the map above, a digital image made from composites taken AT THE SITE, represents the first exploration into our solar system, beyond the Earth/Moon/Mars neighborhood, with the specific intent to explore the possible uses of the rest of the solar system in saving, and continuing human existence…. as such, it is much more significant, and important, than many people are aware of…. and, less aware than they NEED to be, if they want to secure a place in that future….

Unless, of course, y’all hang around here, where, you can be sure, I’ll be keeping a weather eye on all of it, and will let y’all know how the countdown is progressing, whether it means counting down to the time when Earth is no longer able to serve as our Home, or counting the time until we will need to be gone elsewhere, if we wish to make a new Home, in Space…. at all…… Count on that, for sure….

Gosh, look Ma! It’s an intro! Why, so it is Bubba! Let’s tell gigoid, so he can….. Never mind, I’ve got it…. Hold on, ffolkes…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“Any certainty is a delusion.” — Smart Bee, with gigoid’s full agreement

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

On a normal morning, I’d use the article below to begin a rant; today, that just isn’t going to happen. The above was done prior to getting up today, without knowing I’d wake up in a world of hurt at 1 AM, again, at 3 AM, with me, exhausted, but, giving up on sleep about a half hour ago…. Add some plumbing issues, first thing, and you’ve got an interesting morning shaping up….. Without descending into whining, let’s just say that this Pearl will be the fastest ever posted, start to finish, and leave it at that, without going any further into why I need to get done so fast…

This article actually is good news, as a Federal Court put aside a conviction of a citizen, because the military had used their technology and ability to hack into PRIVATE computer systems, in the homes of American citizens, justifying it by claiming they were looking for evidence of criminal (collection of child pornography, etc.) activity by naval personnel, and for evidence of terrorist activity, simply because they have a naval base in the state where it took place, to wit: Washington state….

Read the article, it gives a chilling account of how the government, and the military, is spying on its own citizens, without their knowledge, and, even more disturbing, have software already in place that allows them to access any computer, in anyone’s home, as long as it connects to the internet… I hate to say I told you so, but, I did…. they are spying on us, looking right into our homes to find out what we are doing…. because, quite simply, they can, and they feel they have that right, since nobody is stopping them….

This attitude has spread so deeply into the entire government of this nation, now, the president (note, no capital, as that would show more respect than he deserves….) thinks he has the power to wage war, whenever he feels it would politically expedient, such as now….. He wants to be remembered as the president who fought terrorism…. when what he is, is the president who pulled the covers off the charade being carried out by all of our branches of government, of turning this country, officially, and permanently, into the oligarchy it has actually been for many years…. Now, they aren’t even bothering to hide their disdain, and complete dominance of the American public…

I hurt, so, it’s natural to rant… but, it hurts so much, both physically, and emotionally, I can’t do it any more today…. This article makes note of a hopeful sign, but, also signals the advent of a time when the rich, powerful assholes in charge of the world’s governments are not going to bother to hide their control much longer…. Mark my words, they are going to have to assume tighter control soon, or the possibilities for revolution offered by the Internet will cause them to have to fight out in the open to maintain their position…. and, unfortunately, except in this country, THEY have most of the weapons in the world, and, if recent history is any indication, they won’t hesitate to use them on their own people…. witness Ferguson….

Enough, read, and weep…. then, I’d suggest you do what I plan to do, which is to stock up on ammunition, for ALL the weapons I possess…. I’ll add a few pearls afterward, to help soothe the angst that surely will follow….

http://blog.sfgate.com/crime/2014/09/12/porn-conviction-tossed-over-militarys-surveillance-role/?cmpid=hp-hc-bayarea

Mostly, the following ended up being stuff that our Beloved Ruling Class would believe, or, describes them, or is something one or more of them has actually stated at one time or another… or, in a couple of cases, shows what they would have said, if they were in the habit of telling the truth…..

“Why bother building any more nuclear warheads until we use the ones we have?” — overheard at the lunchroom mess in the Pentagon

“The Bible is an opiate to keep the beasts of burden patient.” — Pope Leo X

“The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.” — Sophocles

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

“After he got good at school boards, he finished up by making Congress.”– Mark Twain (found later, in his notes, as originally intended as part of the previous quote…) (Okay, I made it up…. if he’d thought of it, he would have….)

“It is our duty to make the best of our misfortunes, and not to suffer passion to interfere with our interest and public good.” — George Washington

“How dieth the wise man? As the fool.” — Smart Bee

Quick after-note: Look at the somewhat out-of-place-with-the-others quote by Georgie W., our first president. In response, I have two short questions….  First, can you think of a single national-level elected official in this country who could, or would make such a statement? I don’t think I have to answer that; you can do it yourself to find the only response, to wit: no way. Second, what the fuck happened?….. Where did they go wrong? Okay, that’s three, so, we’ll just go on, leaving this to fester….

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

Today, for reasons given, y’all will have to have one of mine, for the simple sake of speed…. I do hope you enjoy it…. Here is one I wrote on a morning much like this one, about three years ago….

Denial of Comfort

Baleful chairs become the enemy, heralded in red
seemingly welcome softness beckons with a smile,
waiting, content with slaughter, they are finally led
screaming in agony, deluged in venom all the while.

Desperate distraction becomes such a friendless fire
for all the patterns of autumn’s pale dismay,
leaving sincerely latent trails in spirals of twisted wire,
while memory insists, again, upon failure, palpably evil, and fey.

Fat, jaded tears would have fallen in good time,
if only the suitable suitor had scaled the garden’s wall.
Credence for discounted prices luckily in their prime
bring only fascinated eyes into such a hallowed hall.

Searching for answers is ever a clever portrayal
with studious accouterments to fulfill each common rule.
Arguably patient pictures of science and honest betrayal
shall evermore languish, in light of passion so elegantly cruel.

~~ gigoid ~~


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

The following pearl is an odd one, and I’m not sure exactly what point SB, or my subconscious was trying to make…. but, it’s not bad, if you look at it with the thought in mind, it is merely a series of comments on life, without expecting any of them to actually mean much in terms of how to live life, or what to expect from it…. It just sort of says, “Here, look at this for a minute… interesting, eh?”

Hey, they can’t ALL be perfect necklaces made up of gorgeously matched gems; some of them are the artificially induced sort of pearls, which, while beautiful in their way, and of value, when viewed with proper appreciation, are not going to have the same effect as the more compelling sort…. which, if you think about it, is just like life itself…. maybe they’re deeper than they seem…. Whatever, they work, so, here they are….

INTRODUCTION, n.  A social ceremony invented by the devil for the gratification of his servants and the plaguing of his enemies.  The introduction attains its most malevolent development in this century, being, indeed, closely related to our political system.  Every American being the equal of every other American, it follows that everybody has the right to know everybody else, which implies the right to introduce without request or permission.  The Declaration of Independence should have read thus:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident:  that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, and the right to make that of another miserable by thrusting upon him an incalculable quantity of acquaintances; liberty, particularly the liberty to introduce persons to one another without first ascertaining if they are not already acquainted as enemies; and the pursuit of another’s happiness with a running pack of strangers.”

— Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“While my BRAINPAN is being refused service in BURGER KING,  Jesuit priests are DATING CAREER DIPLOMATS!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“The emperor has no clothes.” — Michael, my former neighbor’s “odd” son, pointing at the POTUS (Obama, at the time….) on TV…. (It isn’t my label in that description…. Micheal, about 7 years old, is considered a “problem” child in school, for two of his behaviors they can’t understand…. First, he has little impulse control, and whatever he sees, or thinks, or does, or. or… he tells the nearest person about it, whether he knows them or not…Second, he is considered different because he “sees” things other people don’t, and can’t…. Some are of things far away, and patently outside his experience, that, somehow, always turn out to be true visions of future events, or just stuff he shouldn’t be aware of, logically, as it happened elsewhere in the world, a week after he shared it…. Spooky, but, damn fascinating, isn’t it? People are strange…. thank goodness…)

“Somebody has to do something, and it’s just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us.” — Jerry Garcia (1942-1995), Musician, the Grateful Dead

“The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.” — G. K. Chesterton, ILN, 7/16/10

“For the record, pot, like the “Reader’s Digest”, is not necessarily habit-forming, but both can lead to hard-core addiction: heroin, in one case, abridged bad books in the other.  Either way you look at it, a withdrawal from a meaningful life.” — Mordecai Richler, “Going Home Again”

“It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.” — Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey

For the life of me, I can’t do it…. Moreover, I’m going to ask y’all not to try, either, as it’s given me a headache just trying to follow that path…. The above pearl’s meaning, or directed train of thought(s), is, as far as I can figure out, completely inscrutable to the human mind, or, mine, anyway… and my subconscious ain’t talkin’, more’s the pity. Good thing it’s over…. and, please, don’t go back & read it again…. Once was probably enough for this one…. I guess it IS cute, though, with a smirk or two in it, in spots….

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

“As I grow older I find I don’t have to avoid temptation any longer–now temptation avoids me.” — not attributed in SB…. however, I can testify….

“The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth. To make a goal of comfort or happiness has never appealed to me; a system of ethics built on this basis would be sufficient only for a herd of cattle.” — Albert Einstein

“A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.” — Oscar Wilde

Well, ffolkes, I’ve done all the damage I can do for one day, especially today…. I’m outta here to go drug myself into insensibility…. Provided I wake up by then, I’ll see y’all tomorrow…..

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.

Kowabunga!

Sacre bleu! Houp la! À bientôt, mon petite cherí….

 

Bust it up, boys! It’s all gotta go!….

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Ffolkes,

“He who despairs over an event is a coward, but he who holds hopes for the human condition is a fool.”

 — Albert Camus

Orang love

    It’s really too bad I’m so late today; getting the little bit of extra sleep always does me good, but, then, upon arising, I must deal with the White Rabbit syndrome, which always afflicts me on these mornings…. My sense of duty is so strong, even letting myself get some extra Z’s will cause my inner critic to sound off, trying to flip me over into guilt, just because I had a tough day yesterday, and paid the price in sleep….. Oh well, nothing much I can do about either end of that, so, we’ll just pretend it isn’t happening at all, and go on to bigger & better things….. provided, of course, we can find anything like that around here….

It is now the usual time I post, and I’m just getting started; haven’t even been in to complete the day’s routines that come prior to starting. I hate to break routine like this, but, my skeleton insisted, so, what is done is done…. However, since I am late, I’ll try to keep this intro out of the usual ranting mode I fall into…. It shouldn’t be too hard, my mind is relatively blank this morning, anyway…. In fact, it’s so empty, maybe I’ll just forgo any sort of intro at all, and…. no, wait, too late, we’re already this far in…. Everything else would fall over in a heap, if I leave this right now…. gotta remember those weight-bearing walls stuff; the intro does more than just decorate the top of the page, y’know….

I realized, while completing some of this routine, I feel as if my life is on a cusp, that the decisions and directions I choose now will lead to a new, and important time in my life, and have been feeling so for some time now…. I’m not sure exactly what the feeling means, in terms of how to react, but, I know that caution is called for; I’m old enough to be a little leery of how snap decisions can affect us later in our lives…. But, I’ve always been one who tries to live like a tiger, who explores the world without fear, rather than a turtle, who remains whole, and alive, by pulling in their head, and ignoring the world, when danger threatens….

That said, I’m looking forward to the future, which, given my age, my understanding of reality, and my absolute agreement with what Camus said in today’s opening lines, is somewhat of a surprise…. There isn’t a lot of good news out there regarding our future; I suppose that goes to show, with us humans, our own little slice of reality is what concerns us the most, and, in the final analysis, the world’s events are less important to us, than those that affect us directly…..

That, my friends, is human nature, which, though we cannot change it to any real extent, we can learn to live with it, and adjust the way we allow that to control our decisions…. Right action doesn’t always, in fact, seldom, run parallel to what is true in reality; often, we must act in ways that go against the grain, if only to maintain our own dignity, and self-respect…

All of that being said, to little purpose beyond organizing my own thoughts, I see we’ve again come far enough to call this an intro, and get on with the rest of the daily mess…. I’m going to show some unusual flexibility in this regard, and go along with that assessment, thus freeing us to get on with it, such as we may…. Since we are in the exact position needed for this extraction, I’ll just throw this switch right here, and we’ll be gone, onward….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Wherever I go, there I am, Pooh mused.” — Found in Smart Bee, unattributed; possibly from “The Tao of Pooh”, in which we see Pooh as a metaphorical manifestation of the concept of the Uncarved Block, an elemental source of truth through simplicity.

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

“If you’re a circus clown, and you have a dog that you use in your act, I don’t think it’s a good idea to also dress the dog up like a clown, because people
see that and they think, “Forgive me, but that’s just too much.” — Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/michael-stipe-talks-freedom-towers-dark-nationalism-on-9-11-anniversary-20140911?utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=091214_1601&utm_medium=email&email=alphagigoid@gmail.com

“The Freedom Tower was meant to inspire patriotism and instead embodies the darker sides of nationalism,” Stipe wrote. “The 9/11 attacks and the Bush administration’s response, buoyed by the media, and our shock at having finally been direct victims of terrorism, paved the way for a whole new take on ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself.’ There was no longer any need to explain or publicly debate militaristic power, or the police state mindset. To do so was to be the opposite of a patriot.” — Michael Stipe, REM frontman, and NYC resident, who, on 9/11, lived just a few blocks from Ground Zero….

My first impression, upon reading the first few paragraphs of this article in Rolling Stone, was one of dejá vu, for every single thing Mr. Stipe is quoted as saying were thoughts that went through my head, at the time of which he is speaking, ie. the after-effects, and after-events of that day’s infamy….. He, too, as I do, holds the media at fault for egregiously fanning the flames of ignorance and fear, labeling all those who attempted to formulate a reasoned response to any, or all of it as being unpatriotic, even, treasonous….

The whole “French” thing that happened soon after the attacks, when France showed a moment of rationality before committing to war,  is a perfect example of how both the media and the government were complicit in making things worse than they already were, deliberately using this to modify pubic opinion, harping on the public’s fear and anger, thus manipulating them into adopting the attitudes they needed, in order to accomplish their goals…. which is, as is patently obvious, the tens of BILLIONS of dollars that have, since that time, poured into the coffers of the arms dealers, all over the world…..

If anyone out there believes that isn’t true, well, ffolkes, come on down & say so; make sure you bring some evidence ffolkes can see, and feel, and touch…. In short, REAL evidence, not opinions… These are opinions, backed by such evidence, which can be found in any news distribution site…. I predict nobody will do so, because, as they know, there is no evidence to support their position….

In the 13 years since that day, the only people in the world who have benefited, in any way, from any of the subsequent events in the world, have been those who make munitions, arms, and the other equipment/tools necessary to the waging of a modern war…. Everybody else is in worse shape, and we are ALL that much closer to the END GAME, coming in a much nearer future than anyone will admit, the day when Mama Gaia comes to collect the bill for our foolishness, having previously ignored all her warnings of our impending EVICTION from Earth….

Every act taken by this government, along with every other government around the world, along with the media, and any other of those who ostensibly are the leaders, the movers and shakers of society, since 9/11/01, has moved the date of our eviction closer, until now, it is so close, people are having to actively adopt positions of complete denial, in order to maintain their focus on the living their lives, so they too, can be one of the rich elite, who, in spite of what they believe, are also going to die, right along with the rest of us….

Okay, now that I’ve depressed myself, and anyone who read that…. let’s have a few pearls, to try to shake off the blues…. or, to at least, learn how to sing them with feeling…. Okay, I know what should do the trick…. All it will take is to set a specific parameter, and we’ll see some gems, that may even be pretty enough to take our minds off the coming horrors, as people begin to realize just what we’ve done to ourselves…. The “mash up” as I believe the Brits call it, that is coming to ALL of us here on Earth, is going to be ugly, and harsh, and no fun, at all…. Sorry, ffolkes, but, the evidence is all there, and, it doesn’t lie…

“The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.” — Mark Twain

“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for good people to remain silent.” — Thomas Jefferson

“No public man can be just a little crooked.” — Herbert Hoover

“I judge people by what is in their hearts–not by the color of their scales.” — overheard in a bar on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.

“In our country are evangelists and zealots of many different political, economic and religious persuasions whose fanatical conviction is that all thought is divinely classified into two kinds – that which is their own and that which is false and dangerous.” — Justice Robert H. Jackson

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man except one thing: the last of the human freedoms— to choose one`s own attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” — Victor Frankl

“It was a JOKE!!  Get it??  I was receiving messages  from DAVID LETTERMAN!!  YOW!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Note: the second quote in the above pearl, from Tom Jefferson, is one I’ve used before; this time it was found as part of an excellent blog post by another blogger, whom I consider a friend, also a published author, thanks to the help of HER (and my) friend, and blogger extraordinaire, Red Dwyer, whom you can find at her own site, below…. Thanks, Lizzie, for the reminder…

You can find that post, a good one, by Lizzie C, here: http://runningnakedwithscissors.com/2014/09/12/slo-patriotism-respect/#comment-11461

Red’s site, where you’ll always find a good post, can be found here: http://mommasmoneymatters.com/heart-vs-mind-4/comment-page-1/#comment-32626

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

In keeping with my new policy to seek brevity for these Pearls, and pearls, here is a short, very powerful poem, from a gritty realist from the 20th century, who, as a street poet, is, in my mind, one of the most powerful of social critics we have….

Cause And Effect

the best often die by their own hand
just to get away,
and those left behind
can never quite understand
why anybody
would ever want to
get away
from
them

~~ Charles Bukowski ~~


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

While sitting at the computer yesterday, (or. it may have been that Tuesday, back in ’98…. Ah well, no matter….), I brought up Smart Bee, to look for a quote to go with the picture for the day…. SB was in a mood, for sure; if I didn’t know better, I would have thought he’d been watching the public channel of the legislature again, and saw something that upset its sensibilities somehow…. but, the TV is not working, so, it had to be something else….

Regardless of the cause, in a very short burst, the following pearls came sliding out, requiring only organization into the most effective order, which is my job…. That’s done now, so, here they are, for your delectation…. Oh, yeah, I think the target, one of the usual suspects, as well as the parameters used to pick the oysters, will be obvious before too long…. Especially since it’s the same target we aimed for in section one, above….

“Lust of power is the most flagrant of all the passions.” — Tacitus (55?-120?)

An Elementary-School student’s comment on politics: Some of our presidents never did much else and are famous only because they became president. — Smart Bee

“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” — H.L. Mencken, “Little Book in C major”, 1916

BATTLE, n.  A method of untying with the teeth of a political knot that would not yield to the tongue. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“America may be unique in being a country which has leapt from barbarism to decadence without touching civilization.” — John O’Hara

“Giving power and money to the government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” — P.J. O’Rourke, former Gulf War correspondent, summing up what he learned during two years of research on how our government functions.

“Old men are dangerous; it does not matter to them what is going to happen to the world.” — George Bernard Shaw

On that final note, allow me to remind you the average age of a Senator in the US is…. well, it’s OLD; at least 70, if not higher, I’d wager…. Not only are those in charge of this nation dangerous men, as noted by Shaw, but, as millionaires (every one of them but, I think, two….), they are completely disconnected from the people whose interests they ostensibly serve….

In plain and simple truth, they are old, rich, white men, for the most part, whose only investment is in service to their OWN interests, first, and foremost…. Seriously, ffolkes, anyone who believes differently is clinically delusional, and would do well to think seriously about taking medication to help with that…. They have some now that work fairly well….

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

‘Tis fortunate, indeed, most of this was completed prior to getting up today; otherwise I’d have still been here at lunch time…. It’s done, though, and that’s the key point, so, I’m outta here, on a mission to get this posted…. See y’all tomorrow ffolkes, and keep your ears open for possible changes around here, if only in my personal location…. I’m getting itchy feet….

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

Kowabunga!


 

Paltry remnants of boldly patterned briefs….

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Ffolkes,

“I was not born for one corner. The whole world is my native land.”

~~ Seneca ~~

laniakea-galaxy-supercluster-art

    I obtained today’s picture on Space.com, from an article reporting the latest information regarding our universe, as compiled by astrophysicists working on mapping what we are able to see with the current technology, including the Hubble Deep Space telescope in orbit around the Earth. The red dot you see in the picture represents the Milky Way Galaxy, a part of a group of galaxies known as the Local Group, consisting of many thousands of CLUSTERS of galaxies, that are the closest to ours…. The rest of the picture is an artist’s view of how the rest of the universe is arranged, and each of the tiny little dots you see are galaxies, or galactic clusters, each one with millions of stars of their own….

Whew! Makes one get a feeling for the perspective of the BIG picture, and, the relative microscopic size of just our galaxy, in which our star, Sol, is but one of hundreds of millions of other stars, a great many larger, and brighter than our own…. We, as humans on the face of this planet, around that star, are, in comparison, many times smaller than viruses seem to be here on Earth… so small, we would rival molecules for tininess…. I mean, in relation to the whole universe, our mere existence, our oh-so-powerful civilization, and all its works, is but a nanosecond’s worth of a blink in history, and, just an insignificant afterthought to the apparently infinite nature of time, and space….

Kinda gets ya, right here, doesn’t it? I know it makes me get a grip, whenever I start to feel like I’m some sort of hot shit… I can only wish that more people, all of whom happen to….. wear blue suits, white shirts, red ties, a flag pin, spend too much time indoors, worry incessantly about their “image”, and make entirely too much money for doing not very much…. well, I wish they would have the same sort of reaction as I do, when confronted with such undeniable evidence of our insignificance in the Real World, and how “entitled” we should feel to call ourselves the “Lords of Creation”, when we are far less important in the scheme of things than we would like to be, and so far less than we THINK we are, it is silly to contemplate at all….

Maybe, just maybe, if they could cram their egos in a smaller container, and get rid of some of that smarmy sense of their own infallibility, they’d start to have a bit more care about how they act, and think…. Of course, history, even our very short one, has already given me ample evidence that no such thing will happen, nor will anyone to whom I refer ever respond to such information with anything other than instant, intractable denial…. Count on it….

Oops…. did it again, didn’t I? Turned a nice, simple picture, and a short lesson on astronomy, into a mini-rant, once again flipping the intro section ass over tea kettle, and causing the Gentle Reader to, no doubt, reach for the aspirin bottle…. Honest, when I started, I had no intention of firing off those shots; they just sort of went off on their own, before I even noticed what my fingers were doing…. That can happen this early in the morning, especially when it is the afternoon before….

If you caught that, you’re a better man than I, Gunga Din…. Not really, but, you do have a sharp eye, and a ready mind, which is somewhat gratifying. It means that someone is reading who has been here before, and knows enough to keep their wits about them…. I would, however, appreciate it if you didn’t pull my covers, as it is one of my best new devices, a direct result of the Time Lord training I received when I got my Tardis, and, I still haven’t even finished opening the rest of the new stuff they sent…. So, just chuckle softly to yourself, and let us get on down the road to the next item, which could, conceivably change the course of that history we are so familiar with, into a new, and better time-line…. if we get lucky, I’d say….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“HEY! There IS something more important than money…..it’s called breathing.” — Smart Bee

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

I had some time on my hands, but, wasn’t feeling strong enough to kill it quickly well enough to go surf, so, I did my dance with Smart Bee, getting lucky enough to come up with the following seven-star pearl, which hands out some damn fine advice, as well as some solidly useful thoughts on how to live, so well, so powerfully free, even Death weeps when you are done with Life….

” … you see, God — whatever anyone chooses to call God — is one’s highest conception of the highest possible.  And whoever places his highest conception above his own possibility thinks very little of himself and his life.  It’s a rare gift, you know, to feel reverence for your own life and to want the best, the greatest, the highest possible, here, now, for your very own.  To imagine a heaven and then not to dream of it, but to demand it.” — Kira Argounova

“All people smile in the same language.” — Smart Bee

“One who is to enjoy the purity of both body and mind walks the path to enlightenment, breaking the net of selfish, impure thoughts and evil desires. He who is calm in mind acquires peacefulness and thus is able to cultivate his mind day and night with more diligence.” — Buddha (B.C. 568-488)

“Life is best done awake.” — Smart Bee

“Therefore, be ye lamps unto yourselves, be a refuge to yourselves. Hold fast to Truth as a lamp; hold fast to the truth as a refuge. Look not for a refuge in anyone beside yourselves. And those, who shall be a lamp unto themselves, shall betake themselves to no external refuge, but holding fast to the Truth as their lamp, and holding fast to the Truth as their refuge, they shall reach the topmost height.” — Buddha

“Have the courage to live. Anyone can die.” — Robert Cody

“It is better to deserve honours and not have them than to have them and not to deserve them.” — Mark Twain

Though the concept it expresses is true as the day, I am compelled to comment after the last quote; can’t help myself sometimes…. Mark Twain, aka Sammie the C, definitely had a talent for the turn of a phrase, and, I’ve see him given credit for this one many times…. while every time, smiling and chuckling to myself, because I’ve also noted that this quote is a shameless paraphrasing of a quote by Plutarch…. and, Aristotle…. and, I believe, if I’m not mistaken, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, also had a word on this, that was very similar to the others…. but, then, Mark T was pretty shameless about all of his plagiarisms, usually recounting them in the preface, or in the introductions to his works….

Since all of them are men, it was probably Sappho, a woman poet, who pre-dated ALL of these men, who originally made the observation on the nature of honor, and humility…. That would be typical, and consistent with how men have treated women since the dawn of time…. even going so far, when making up the myths of creation so many of them seem to hold so dear, regarding that old saw about the Garden, and God, Adam, and, Eve, the poor fall guy, who had to take the rap, even though she was set up by God, and snitched out by Adam….

I find it telling, and typical, that the woman, representing ALL women, is made into the villain of the story, the one with the weak will, and the lack of honor…. when, to my way of thinking, (which I’ve thought since the age of four, after first hearing the story….) God was the one at fault, for setting up the system so both Eve, and Adam, had no other options, but to fail…. and, in the process, serving Eve up, as the one to bear the guilt of “original sin”…. Plus, you will note, please…. The very term, “original sin” is agreed to refer to taking a bite from the fruit of the tree of knowledge…. in other words, for thinking independently…. This is the concept, and the reality, religion tries to eliminate from the people who follow their line of reasoning…

And, that, too, is pretty telling, isn’t it? Things haven’t changed much since then, as far as I can see…. The churches don’t want us to think, so that the government can lie to us more easily, to convince us they are telling us the truth, when they actually are merely carrying on the traditions present in our culture from the inception of the whole idea of a supernatural power as being responsible for all that is real, a scam, to control the general public, with threats of hell, and promises of heaven, in the next life, if only they will submit to giving up their free will… Quite a bargain, you would think….. unless, of course, one actually knows how to think….

Just sayin’…..

gigoid has spoken…. so be it…..

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It is well known that I’m a wimp; since my PTSD reached a point where, mostly, it is under my control, the only real symptom I experience is that of bursting into tears at the slightest provocation…. Hallmark commercials, little kids hugging, or hugs of any kind, or any sort of emotionally touching issue will bring me to tears, without any say in whether or not I WISH to cry right then…. Whenever my old dog, Noah, comes to mind is one of those occasions, so I try to avoid stepping into such situations….

I had forgotten this poem, which, upon stumbling across it while looking for a specific piece of Pope’s Essay on Man, brought me instantly to the point of weeping…. and, has kept me weeping for this entire paragraph, in spite of not having anything wrong, with me, or with the universe at large…. SIGH…. I don’t mind being a romantic, but, sometimes, I wish I wasn’t such a wimp about it…. It IS a great poem, though, so, please, don’t mind all the salty water on the screen, (try not to weep yourself, at the last line, I DARE you!….) and, enjoy!….

Argus

When wise Ulysses, from his native coast
Long kept by wars, and long by tempests toss’d,
Arrived at last, poor, old, disguised, alone,
To all his friends, and ev’n his Queen unknown,
Changed as he was, with age, and toils, and cares,
Furrow’d his rev’rend face, and white his hairs,
In his own palace forc’d to ask his bread,
Scorn’d by those slaves his former bounty fed,
Forgot of all his own domestic crew,
The faithful Dog alone his rightful master knew!

Unfed, unhous’d, neglected, on the clay
Like an old servant now cashier’d, he lay;
Touch’d with resentment of ungrateful man,
And longing to behold his ancient lord again.
Him when he saw he rose, and crawl’d to meet,
(‘Twas all he could) and fawn’d and kiss’d his feet,
Seiz’d with dumb joy; then falling by his side,
Own’d his returning lord, look’d up, and died!

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

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I came across the following pearl, from 2011, not long after beginning to post on WordPress…. In those days, what you see below was an entire Pearl, but, today, with our new, improved format, it is an acceptable pearl for one section…. You should thank me for this…. it’s pretty funny, in spots, and, bonus, it ISN’T a rant….

😉

From 8/30/2011:

Ffolkes,

It may be harsh, but it must be said….Ben Franklin was a sanctimonious ass, and I mean that in its’ basest, most derogatory sense. Who else but an ass would say things like “Early to bed and early to rise,  make a man, etc….” or “The early bird gets the worm”?  As one of my favorite sci-fi authors, Bob Heinlein, said, approximately, “…. all the aphorism about the worm proves is that the worm should have stayed in bed.” And, early to bed, etc., is fine for those who fall asleep instantly, from having the benefit of no worldly problems, (or, like our friend Ben, no conscience…. Have you ever read about his love life?…. By what I could tell, from what I read, he was, quite simply, a lout, and a cur…. and, that’s being nice….); those who, once asleep, are able to remain asleep throughout the night, probably due to having no imagination, to speak of….

I’m 60 years old, and I can’t remember the last time I could count on falling asleep easily, without first consuming a significant amount of my adult beverage of choice, or, staying asleep for more than a couple of hours, before some one of several available physical prompts has me up and heading off to the bathroom, or just laying in bed, aching, wondering how long it will be until morning. As far as I’m concerned, Poor Richard can take his little Almanac, and his advice, and place them forcibly in one of his orifices, preferably, one where the sun don’t shine…..  just as it is NOT shining,  here in my little hole, at 0530, as I sit to compose this, having once more awakened at 0515 for no apparent reason.

Wise man, my dying ass…..

I dove for these Pearls yesterday as I was in the throes of extra-pyramidal side effects, due entirely to the asinine ordering requirements dictated by Kaiser Permanente for dealing with a controlled drug, an opiate. Thanks to those obscene regulations, I have spent much of the last three days with dyskinesia, malaise,  and an intermittent, splitting headache, just for good measure.

In case you are not a former PT, dyskinesia is that condition of muscular and nervous agitation that makes one’s muscles twitch and dance, constantly, combined with a feeling of restless dread, and diffuse anxiety, that makes the nerves hum like a redneck with a kazoo. Add in the headache, (of the ilk that blurs the vision, causing strong men to whimper, piteously), and, well, you can imagine how difficult it is, to not only refrain from biting myself, but to refrain from biting anyone who crosses my path.

All this, of course, is then complicated by trying to deal with people who have become bureaucrats, who have no conception of anything outside their own little sphere of inattention, and whose sole purpose is to keep anything from getting done. It’s enough to give one visions of mayhem and violent death for all bureaucrats, preferably by my own hand.

(Note from 2014; This is still true for me…. Does anyone else get mental images of the Russian revolution, as a film noir battle scene, in full color, though, filmed in Red Square showing huge mobs of starving peasants with scythes, Molotov cocktails, and rocks, attacking Imperial police, or in front of one of the Russian Imperial palaces, lit up by flames, with aristocrats screaming, smoke everywhere, explosions…. all playing in your(my) head, whenever they use the word “bureaucrat”? Is it just me who visualizes themselves as if in that movie, with a machine gun, firing away at a huddling, terrified group of clerks at a local federal office, or do others NOT get this kind of response, just thinking about those stultified cretins? Just wondered….)

Sorry about the above rant……well, actually, I’m not. I could actually care less right now what anyone thinks, about anything. Nonetheless, I do think that the following Pearls will strike some good chords in many folks, and even more in those ffolkes who are familiar with this process, and how it provides some fine rules for life, or at least for looking at life in a different way. Regardless, they are what they are, and I hope you enjoy them…..much as I can hope anything at all……

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

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a, star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a gray mist on the sea’s face and a gray dawn breaking.

— John Masefield, Sea Fever, first stanza.

Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow but a vision.  But Today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore to this Day. — Sanskrit proverb (I like this one a lot; it covers a lot of bases….)

“It’s not denial. I’m just very selective about what I accept as reality.” — Calvin (“Calvin and Hobbes”) (Calvin is actually a sociopathic idiot, but Hobbes, I firmly believe, will someday be considered one of the 20th and 21st centuries’ most cogent philosophers….)

“Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth, more than ruin, more even than death….Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.” — Bertrand Russell (1872-1967), “Selected Papers”

“So live that you can look any man in the eye and tell him to go to hell.” — Smart Bee

Well, there you have it. That’s the best I can do, under the circumstances that currently prevail. My greatest desire just now is that tomorrow will be different, if only I can survive until then without committing any acts that would land me in jail. Wish me luck…..and, y’all take care out there……

Again from the future…. Not too bad, eh? It showed some promise, which I’ve since seen evolve into something I can be happy with…. I’m still around to create them, so, I guess that makes it all worthwhile…. For me, anyway, and, hopefully, for y’all, too….

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It’s probably a good thing I got up late today; indeed, it’s just as well today’s Pearl was mostly done by last night, with only a poem to find today to finish up…. I say that because it’s true…. but, if I got into the reasons for it, it would be both TMI, and ill-conceived egotism, so, we’ll just leave it at that, and y’all can consider yourselves fortunate….

Besides, I’m done for the day now, so I can go on to my next task, to wit: surviving one day, until my portion of the dole, which I set aside for my golden years, arrives at my bank, from wherever our Beloved Ruling Class keeps the money they are “protecting” for us…. It’s also too late to start ranting, so, I’ll just say, “see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes”, & make my way to the door, with a big smile on my face…. Okay, so, it’s a grimace…. grimace fits better, anyway, right now….

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.

Kowabunga!

 

All those attending the apocalypse, board here….

Posted on by
3

Ffolkes,

“It is a waste of energy to be angry with a man who behaves badly, just as it is to be angry with a car that won’t go.”

~~ Bertrand Russell ~~

9-1-2014 005

    What vivid, beautiful morning glories! (Well, I THINK they’re morning glories; if not, can a gardener tell me what they are? I’m clueless about plant ID’s….) I’m happy with this shot, simple as it is, because of the colors that came through in the final result…. gorgeous plant, it was, and the only pictures I managed to get on that walk, were of it, and its flowers…. Out of the four or six shots I took, (shaky hands, couldn’t get one centered…. I was on my way to the magic cream shop, in dire need of their products….), this one, and a study of the whole plant, which was in a yard next to a store, were lovely enough to use for today, and tomorrow’s Pearl…. sufficient reward for the misery I had to endure to get to the store….

And, you are NOT going to believe this one…. Last night, I slept (yes, slept… Me, gigoid, sleeping….  quite a concept, eh?) for ten hours, straight and solid, with only two awakenings, to take the scheduled opiate…. I feel GREAT! (Well, I’m discounting the hips and shoulder, which are in their standard state, but, a bit of the ol’ magical topical cream, and I’m good to go…. You may have already noticed how my mood is at a level of, oh, I’d say, a good three steps from usual…. I really don’t know what to do with it; I haven’t suffered this much ‘good will toward men’ in ages…. Maybe I should go out tonight, & try my luck at meeting somebody new…. Nah, I’ll just enjoy the glow….

Besides, by 10 AM, if the world’s routine hasn’t altered significantly, my arthritis should be kicking in, and I’ll be back to the steeplechase, running as slowly as I can, chasing after the pain, trying to knock it down far enough to stop, if nothing else, the whimpering, which tend to embarrass me, even though nobody can hear me when I cry out…. SIGH…. It’s been a tough week, if you couldn’t tell….

Enough whining, though, I feel too good to be pessimistic about how long it will last… I’ll just take advantage of the moment, and enjoy feeling relatively normal, at least for a while…. Plus, look, it gave me enough to fill in this space, which means we can use one of the emergency release mechanisms we have in place, to get us out of here, and onward into the rest of today’s mess, er, missive… Whattyathink, eh? Shall we use #4? It IS sitting right there, ready…. Okay, we’ll do that….

Shall we Pearl?

” — I’d love to, but…  I have to study for a blood test.” — 79 of 101 Easy Ways To Say NO

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“Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.” — Nietzsche, “Thus Spake Zarathustra”

I’ve been writing a lot recently on this subject; one reason makes itself obvious today, or, more accurately, was demonstrated yesterday, as several stories in the news caught my attention, stories that demonstrate the ubiquitous seriousness of the issue, that of the militarization of the police, with the concomitant result, and motivating factor, of the elimination of the basic rights as covered in the original US Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the US Constitution…. If you think, even for a moment, that you have all those rights by law, in today’s world, then, ffolkes, and, folks….. y’all just aren’t paying close enough attention to what is happening, right in front of you….

In support of that obviously arguable contention, I offer the following discussion, with two appropriate expressions as a preface:

“No sheath shall hold what finds its home in flesh.” — Proverb

“The law hath not been dead, though it hath slept.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Measure for Measure — Act ii, Sc. 2

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Fast-food-protests-expected-in-push-for-higher-pay-5732532.php

Oh…. I get it now…. We, the citizens, are now allowed to protest, without fear of arrest by overzealous police forces, UNLESS we are “disruptive to traffic”, or refrain from “blocking streets”, as a way to express our grievances, to petition the government for redress of those grievances… Sounds to me like the same line of reasoning used by the large communication companies, such as Verizon, or AT&T, (as well as just about ALL companies these days…. they all saw how well it worked for the big guys, & jumped right on that wagon…), who make it impossible to even SPEAK to an actual live person, to try to address any issues of customer service….

They all say their primary goal is customer satisfaction, or, in the case of the police, the protection of the rights of the public, but, have arranged matters (i.e., passed laws…) that enable them to refuse to speak, or listen to anyone who wishes to obtain any such thing…. Same same attitude, in my book…. They don’t want to talk to us, and they don’t want to listen to any complaints about that, or about anything else…. so, they’ve made it damn near impossible to exercise the right we were allegedly guaranteed by the sacrifices of our ancestors….

“The simple rights, the civil liberties from generations of struggle must not be just fine words for patriotic holidays, words we subvert on weekdays, but living, honored rules of conduct amongst us…I’m glad the American Civil Liberties Union gets indignant, and I hope this will always be so.” — Senator Adlai E. Stevenson

(Obviously, by the evidence of this, and other quotes from the good Senator, and, because I was around to watch the rest of the established incumbent politicians of the era, who were, ostensibly, his peers, deliberately and ruthlessly destroy his credibility, and his reputation, with lies, innuendo, and political skulduggery, thus effectively shutting him up, and preventing him from causing any real harm to them, or their incumbency, it’s clear, to me, and to many others, Adlai was one of the rare exceptions to the established rule….)

http://blog.sfgate.com/crime/2014/09/03/black-oakland-firefighter-says-white-cop-held-him-at-gunpoint/?cmpid=hp-hc-bayarea

According to this one, the officer involved was acting “within policy”…. So, by that standard, it’s okay, policy-wise, to profile, to NOT call for backup, to use intimidation as a method of controlling a situation, and to assume that the officer saying, “Sorry” for being a total asshole, is sufficient reason to ‘overlook’ his behavior from the police’s obviously expert, objective viewpoint….. Right…..

“If our behavior is strict, we do not need fun!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Doesn’t this bother anyone else, but me? Why is it okay for the police to act like this, without any consequences at all for the officer involved, and the department that encourages this sort of asininity? Can ANYONE explain this to me, any way at all? I’m pretty smart, and will be able to understand just about anything that makes any sense, from any objective standpoint, based on a full understanding of the intent of the founders of the Constitution when they created that document, and a pretty extensive knowledge of human nature, so, any sort of evidence will do….

“Pluck out the heart of my mystery.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act iii, Sc. 2

I’m willing to bet, some serious money, that there is no one who will, or can, respond to those questions, at least, not in any way that will lessen the responsibility for immoral, unethical, and illegal actions of the policeman, and the department that echoes the WRONG attitudes of almost every other force in this country, and all over the world…. I say this because I’ve looked for any such evidence, already, many times, and have yet to find anything to alter the way I look at it, not by the analysis of the available FACTUAL evidence….

Ever since the middle of the nineteenth century, the government of this country, (and, by that, I am including all three branches, which are supposed to balance each other’s powers, thereby protecting us, the People….) has been under the influence and control of corporate interests, which translates as the monied elite, who have, and will protect viciously, all the “legal” rights they now possess, rights to the control of almost ALL the resources available to society…. With this influence, hard-won by the bribing of a major Federal Court judge in the mid-1800’s, some legal rulings were made, rulings that defined corporations as “persons”, with the legal rights of a person, and, more, providing a legal precedent for future flunkies, er, judges to fall back on….

PRECEDENT, n.  In Law, a previous decision, rule or practice which, in the absence of a definite statute, has whatever force and authority a Judge may choose to give it, thereby greatly simplifying his task of doing as he pleases.  As there are precedents for everything, he has only to ignore those that make against his interest and accentuate those in the line of his desire.  Invention of the precedent elevates the trial-at-law from the low estate of a fortuitous ordeal to the noble attitude of a dirigible arbitrament.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

This opened the door to other rulings, all of which, over the years, based on the original decision, and, all of which, essentially, give more and more of the rights we flesh and blood citizens have to those “corporate persons”, such that, now, corporations not only have MORE rights than any single citizen, composed of mere flesh and blood, but, have extended their control, using the same basic method of bribery, to the other two branches….. They did so in Congress, by convincing that august body to vote itself the right to make laws that were separate from those that were Constitutional, thereby making them not subject to the same restrictions that now define that document…. In other words, they voted themselves the keys to the treasury….

(Some time, if you get a chance, check out the health plan that the members of Congress, and other Federal government elected officials, are set up with when they get elected, along with their retirement plans…. You will be shocked at what they have given themselves over the years, all without even notifying any of the public what was going on…. Most of the American public is not even AWARE that a member of Congress, when they leave that august body, get to keep their health plan (much better than any available to the public, more extensive coverage, and free of any out of pocket cost to them….), AND their congressional salary, now in the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS range….. FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES….. even if only elected to one term…. Pretty good deal they’ve handed themselves, eh, what?….. If you are ANYTHING like me, it will convince you to go buy a gun, and to use it…..)

The Executive Branch, while attempting to maintain the appearance of independence and proper assumption of its Constitutional duty, fell in with those same shadowy corporate snakeheads on Wall Street, and came up with the simple concept of “Executive privilege”, giving themselves the power to make laws, bypassing Congress, and, thus, the people, altogether…. Cute, eh? And, clever, too, for making it all seem as if the White House, Congress, and the Courts, were, and are, all doing their jobs, providing balance to the powers of government…. when, in fact, the people of this country have NO ONE representing their interests, in any level, in any branch of our government….

There are 455 very rich, white men, (with a very few exceptions to that particular description….) who determine the course of life in this country…. add it up yourself. Their average income is over a million dollars…. the average, mind you… Many of them are multi-millionaires, many times over…. What do they know of the lives of the common man? How can anyone believe they would have the same set of interests to pursue, or that the agendas they hold are, in ANY way, concerned with making things better for anyone but themselves….

“Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.” — Mark Twain

As I said, there are a very few exceptions, who, basically, are powerless to change any part of the big picture…. too much money, power, and inertia working against them… Plus, every one of those at that level, who accidentally make it to the national stage, and are those who would work for the people, sincerely and honestly, are always isolated by the rest, to make them completely ineffective…. witness the only moral president of the last century, Jimmy Carter…. from the current crop of Congressmen with any honor at all, I’d say Al Franken comes closest, and he is under massive political assault, by the Republican Party, the Tea Party, AND the Koch Brother’s Super PAC, Citizens United….)

Ah yes, Citizens United…. that famous Supreme Court decision, which makes my contention, about the bought-and-paid for servile indenturing of the Supreme Court, not so very hard to believe, giving, as it did, the very clear message the Court’s belief in the sacred status of corporate personhood, and the inviolability of corporations to do whatever they must to protect and preserve their bottom line, which is the profit they make on all the predatory hoarding of resources, and the control that gives them over society and culture at large…. Anything at all that interferes with smooth flow of money into their coffers is not to be allowed….

There is a bill now in the Senate, awaiting a vote, that, if passed, will do away with the decision by the Court re: corporate donations to political campaigns; it is a Constitutional Amendment, which was the ONLY way to stop the decision from becoming the law of the land. It will prevent the corporations from having completely unlimited power to influence elections, by removing the restrictions they, as corporate persons, to political campaigns, effectively halting the formation and continued existence of Super-PAC’s, such as Citizens United….

You know, the one owned by the Koch brothers, ultra-conservative billionaires, with a sense of entitlement you have to see to believe…. incredible assholes, both of them…. Sorry, just can’t stand people like that, who have no compassion or “fellow-feeling”; in my estimation, they do not deserve to be called human, and, to be honest, I consider them to be a total waste of sperm….

This government, as it now exists, has NOTHING to do with the Constitution that allegedly forms the basis for its existence…. Almost every statement in the Constitution, especially in the amendments that make up the Bill of Rights, is no longer in force, essentially, and we can no longer count those rights as anything but a memory….

The experiment in government started by our founding fathers, who wanted a government that would protect and support the people, not oppress them, as every other government in history has done to its citizenry; once in power, every human being alive seems to fall prey to the urge to put aside all of their compassion, all of their integrity, and all their altruism, whereupon, they begin to make changes, that will ultimately server their ends, which are ONLY concerned with meeting their own needs, not those of the people…. It has happened EVERY TIME….

I challenge ANYONE to find an example, anywhere in the past 5000 years, of a government that demonstrated any appreciable degree of care for the people, ahead of what was important to the ruling class…. Just one will do, because even that will provide hope that it can be done….  but, I’m a pretty well-read guy, and I can’t think, or remember, any government in history who were considered to be any such thing as “compassionate” or that actually made life better for its citizenry….

As one of the Shrubs said one time, “Bring it on….”

I think that’s all…. I cant, at this point, think of anything more to add to this discussion, so, why don’t we give it up now, and move on….

“Sorry, my mind was on edible underwear today.” — Smart Bee, providing gigoid with an excuse for the above….

Whoops! How’d that get in here? Oh, I remember…. After the somber sobriety of the above politirant, I went to look for an appropriate pearl to close with, whereupon I found this, & couldn’t resist…. Okay, here is a proper thought with which to end this piece….

“May you have eyes like a hawk and a spouse with warts.” — Smart Bee, being a smart ass….

Sorry, I’m  not taking the rap for that one; it’s on SB…. It just showed up when I pasted the right pearl, I THOUGHT…. THIS is the proper ending I was looking for, when I was so rudely interrupted, by a bloody database!……

“A conqueror is always a lover of peace.” — Karl von Clausewitz (1780-1831)

~~ from “On war”; copied by Lenin in his notebook, with notation, “Ah, Ah, witty”. ~~

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Whew! Good thing the first half of that rant was already done, or I’d have been there forever this morning…. After that, I need something to cheer me up a little bit…. no, make that a LOT…. I know…. In this mood, some pure, cold, clean, powerful brilliance is just the ticket…. Since none of mine quite fit that bill, this one will do just fine….

Witch Burning

In the marketplace they are piling the dry sticks.
A thicket of shadows is a poor coat. I inhabit
The wax image of myself, a doll’s body.
Sickness begins here: I am the dartboard for witches.
Only the devil can eat the devil out.
In the month of red leaves I climb to a bed of fire.

It is easy to blame the dark: the mouth of a door,
The cellar’s belly. They’ve blown my sparkler out.
A black-sharded lady keeps me in parrot cage.
What large eyes the dead have!
I am intimate with a hairy spirit.
Smoke wheels from the beak of this empty jar.

If I am a little one, I can do no harm.
If I don’t move about, I’ll knock nothing over. So I said,
Sitting under a potlid, tiny and inert as a rice grain.
They are turning the burners up, ring after ring.
We are full of starch, my small white fellows. We grow.
It hurts at first. The red tongues will teach the truth.

Mother of beetles, only unclench your hand:
I’ll fly through the candle’s mouth like a singeless moth.
Give me back my shape. I am ready to construe the days
I coupled with dust in the shadow of a stone.
My ankles brighten. Brightness ascends my thighs.
I am lost, I am lost, in the robes of all this light.

~~ Sylvia Plath ~~

“Poetry is the eloquence of truth.” — Joseph Campbell


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Boy…. reading Sylvia is certainly a roller-coaster of an experience, isn’t it? I feel lots better now; all the lingering dregs of angst and resentment at the shenanigans of the BRC, and the rest of the asininnies,  have departed, forthwith, leaving me relatively normal, in re: all-around feelings of contentment with life…. Since I’m 63 years old, I know that won’t last forever, or even very long, so, I’m intent on enjoying every minute of it….

Do be, do be, doo….

Okay, that’s enough normal for me…. I’m going to do what I do, which is put together a fresh, random harlequin style pearl, with parameters set at the extreme end of SILLY, right smack up against the backside of INSANITY…. Should be fun!…. Let’s go annoy Smart Bee for a while, okay? Okay! Let’s go!….

“It is a mistake to think of all demons as being exactly alike. Some are short while others are tall; some are yellow, others are blue; some are nasty and others are extremely nasty. Some of the nastiest are quite fast as well. Should you encounter one of these, it is a mistake to think at all. Much more appropriate are such responses as running, screaming, and the very rapid formation of a last will and testament.” — The Teachings of Ebenezum, Vol. IX

“Reality does not exist – yet.” — Smart Bee

“If I kiss you, that is a psychological interaction.  On the other hand, if I hit you over the head with a brick, that is also a psychological interaction. The difference is that one is friendly and the other is not so friendly. The crucial point is if you can tell which is which.” — Dolph Sharp, I’m O.K., You’re Not So Hot

“Being normal is driving me crazy.” — Smart Bee (who obviously was listening all those times gigoid was talking to himself…. he thought….)

“The mind is everything,” wrote Proust. No doubt true, when you’re dead from the neck down.” — Edward Abbey

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

“For I never have seen, and never shall see, that the cessation of the evidence of existence is necessarily evidence of the cessation of existence.” — De Morgan (1839-1917)

— Bother! said Pooh,as he rolled over into the wet spot.

(Oops, sorry, that was supposed to go somewhere else…. oh, well, we’re on fun mode, so, I’ll let it stay….)

“The only very marked difference between the average civilized man and the average savage is that the one is gilded and the other is painted.” — Mark Twain

“Before you criticize people, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’ve got a mile-long head start. And you have their shoes.” — The Lion

“I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.” — ee cummings

“As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.” — Henry David Thoreau

When I was a little boy, I had but a little wit,
‘Tis a long time ago, and I have no more yet;
Nor ever ever shall, until that I die,
For the longer I live the more fool am I.

 — “Wit and Mirth, an Antidote against Melancholy” (1684)

Okay…. I know, I went a bit overboard, again; chalk it up to having so much energy, after my marathon sleep last night…. Bonus: You have, and I have, without realizing it, witnessed the creation of the very first 13-star pearl…. I have no clue as to how it happened, other than forgetting where I was while collecting…. The clipboard appends each quote, but, doesn’t allow me to look at it, to count, before pasting… It doesn’t matter, at all, really, because, in this case, it worked, just fine, which is a word we could easily use to describe this pearl… Without getting overly wordy, or overly long, these 13 ideas present us with some fine entertainment, and a few pokes in the conscience, as well as a good portion of silliness… I like it….

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So much for serendipity and planning…. In spite of the sleep, and, in spite of the plan my unseasonably clear mind came up with this morning, I’m running a little late…. this, even though over half the rant was already done… But, when I sat to go over it, it just got me going again…. Then, the long pearl in section three got going…. Happily, it’s done, and I’m not going to fuss with it…. I will see y’all tomorrow, with who knows what new and exciting ideas, given an entire day of relative clear-mindedness? Not me, certainly, though I’ve got as much chance as anyone of guessing…. But, where would be the fun in that?…. Bye, for now….

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.

Kowabunga!