My writing schedule is a real mess, now that I’m actually sleeping a relatively normal number of hours….. I’m not sure what to do with nine hours of sleep every day; I don’t remember the last time it happened, especially not three or four days in a row…. One might suspect me of cheating somehow, but, how does one do that? How do you cheat to get some sleep? It seems to me that whatever means one might resort to would be legal means, given the very personal, and very critical nature of the issue. Even if there were some kind of legal issues involved, I don’t think I, or anyone else who has the same issue, would waste any of my time caring about getting in trouble over it…. As I heard in a movie recently, bring it on….

Oh, wait, no that was a POTUS who said that, not a cheerleader in a movie…. Well, she said it too, but, ….. never mind…. It was a bit childish, yes, and completely inappropriate, coming from our nation’s highest elected official, especially given the assumed dignity that is supposed to go with the office of the presidency…. Unfortunately, it’s sad, but true, that particular POTUS really had no business ever becoming one anyway; it was only his dad’s extreme skills at clandestine cheating that got him elected, both times…. but, we’re not going to go there today….

That’s a rant of an entirely different color, and we don’t have any rainbow bridles on hand today…. Did you ever get that from him? Did he, you know, Shrub Jr., did he ever strike you as well, kind of gay? He always reminded me of one of those old guys on Polk and Turk in SF, new to the scene, but determined to make up for all the lost years in the closet….. He always had that look in his eye, you know, and that silly little grin? The shit-eating, good-old-boys grin, just among buddies, y’know?…. Like he’s always wanted to join the scene, but, daddy would never give him enough room to stray that way…. A prancer, he looks like a prancer, that’s what he is, one of those who would dance around, waving a champagne bottle, wearing nothing but his cowboy hat and boots, white briefs, and a big shit-eating grin….

Okay, side issue there, sorry…. but, it’s true…. He always did remind me of one of those guys, you know?…. Okay, onward…. Of course, now that we’ve decided to move on, that leaves the very important question of WHERE to move on unanswered in any real way….. Personally, I think we should go go the pirate route, but, there are always a number of injuries when we use that methodology, and I’m low on paper tape for bandages. We could go with the Bossa Nova style we just got delivered yesterday…. No, wait, it isn’t all unpacked yet, and my zoot suit isn’t pressed…. Hmm. Oh hell, I suppose we’re just going to have to resort to the tried and true number seven…. I didn’t want to have to do that, but, hey, parts is parts, right?….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Don’t follow in my footsteps. I think I stepped in something.” — Smart Bee
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Coming soon to a section near you!….. A grouping of pearls, especially designed and gathered for your personal delectation, with the intent, as always, to further increase your own growing collection of perspicacious elements of philosophical rationale, useful in many ways, for completing your homework, for filling the space in the front of your shoes, or for the bottom of that bird-cage… Created with you in mind, if not always in our hearts…Here now, from the makers of John Daniel’s finest breakfast products, happily if foolishly imbibed, then dutifully processed, by the organic, yet oddly technical, highly-trained consumer you see before you now… Your daily pearls of virtual wisdom, fresh from their own oysters…..

(No, I’m not really having Whiskey for Breakfast, though that IS an event known to have happened in the dim, dark past…. Just foolin’ around, in a sort of literary sense, Heyoka style… Never mind, it’ll never work now…. here, take the pearls, at least they won’t explode…. I think….)

“Fleas can be taught nearly anything that a congressperson can.” — Smart Bee

* Greatest number of citizens who have actually boarded a UFO
* Many newspapers feature “JUMBLE”
* Hourly motel rates
* Vast majority of Elvis movies made here
* Didn’t just give up right away during World War II like some countries we could mention
* Goatees & Van Dykes thought to be worn only by weenies
* Our well-behaved golf professionals
* Fabulous babes coast to coast

— David Letterman’s “Things we can be proud of as Americans”

“The basic fact about human existence is not that it is a tragedy, but that it is a bore.  It is not so much a war as an endless standing in line.” — H. L. Mencken

“Ideology…is an instrument of power;  a defense mechanism against information; a pretext for eluding moral constraints in doing or approving evil with a clean conscience; and finally, a way of banning the criterion of experience, that is, of completely eliminating or indefinitely postponing the pragmatic criteria of success and failure.” — Jean-Francois Revel

“Control of the dissemination of information (or misinformation) is one of the principal sources of political power. Political power is what the discussion of the Internet is really about, not home-made bombs or pornography.” — Michael Goldsby — Letter to Communications of the ACM, Nov 95

(Or, as gigoid put it, back in 1977, “True power is control of the routes of perception.”…. See “another rant, another time…” I’m sure I’ve talked about this before…. I know I have…. but, I haven’t a clue as to when that might have been…. SIGH…) Okay, two more to round this off so it won’t leave any scar tissue….

“In times like these, it is helpful to remember that there have always been times like these.” — Paul Harvey

“Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.” [Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound]. — Smart Bee

Perfect ending….
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“I have nothing to declare except my genius.” — Oscar had no qualms in doing so, either…. Fortunately for us all, he wasn’t wrong…..

One thing I can say about myself is that I’m fairly consistent, once I’ve made up my mind about something…. Below is a religirant, an old one, from more than a year ago, whilst I was still in the grip of the near-poverty level lifestyle with which I was familiar for a couple of years…. It’s all done now, but, as you can see from the following, I haven’t changed my mind about certain basic beliefs….

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From June 27, 2012:

“History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love (1972)

There are many folks out there who, when reading my material for the first time, might get the impression that I am an atheist, and an anarchist. The stuff I write would tend to give that impression, I have no doubt. But, it really isn’t the case, and just goes to show that not everything is always as it seems….

I’m not an atheist, at least not in a classical sense. I would more accurately be described as agnostic, as I believe strongly in a spiritual component in the universe. But, the very concept of omnipotence, and omniscience, implies that one cannot define God, or whatever entity one considers to be the ultimate authority. A finite mind cannot comprehend an infinite mind; anything we can imagine cannot, by definition, be accurate or complete, as our minds are not infinite in scope.

It could be said that our imagination IS infinite. We can, at the very least, comprehend the concept of infinity, even if we cannot touch it, or see it, or count that high. But, to actually think that what we imagine about God is the same as reality is not only arrogant, it is foolish. Yet a large percentage of the human race not only believes they know what God looks like (ironically, God always looks like the folks who are claiming Him as their deity….), but that they know what He wants. To my way of thinking, this is sheer self-aggrandizement, and unjustifiably arrogant….

I suppose it helps them in dealing with the everyday stresses of life to think that they are special. To think they are beloved of God, and what they do is important to Him. This sense of belonging is important to a lot of folks, due I think, to their own fears about their ability to deal with reality as it exists. It gives them a sense of entitlement, and justifies their actions, no matter how immoral or unethical they may be. It allows them to act upon their impulses without restraint, to lie, to cheat, to steal, all in the name of the Lord. And, if they should happen to feel a tiny shred of guilt about what they are doing to other folks, why, they just confess their sins to Jesus, and all is forgiven!….

Sorry, folks, but I could never buy into the whole scenario, from my earliest days. All of my experience, and all of my reasoning have led me to a different view of reality than what is described by any religion. I have observed the behavior of most people of a religious bent to be, as a rule, hypocritical, cruel, bigoted, racist, and, for the most part, unrelated to any moral or ethical system of any depth. The most religious in society go so far as to threaten violence toward anyone who disagrees with their beliefs, justified by their own self-proclaimed right to spew their hatred on anyone who differs.

I believe in compassion and kindness. I believe in love. I believe in protecting the vulnerable, and helping the less fortunate. I believe in beauty. And, I believe in reality, whatever that may be; it’s purely subjective for the most part. I DON’T believe in the divinity of Jesus, or Buddha, or Lao Tzu, or Mohammad, or any other religious prophet. I don’t believe there is some white haired, bearded old guy sitting on a throne of gold up in the sky somewhere, looking down and getting his pants in a bunch because I didn’t salute his graven image first thing after I got up.

That whole graven image thing, and the idea that God wants, or needs, our worship has always been a thorn in my side. I mean, can’t these zealots understand the irony of worshiping an image of Christ on the cross? Don’t they know that the cross is a graven image? And why would an omnipotent being need MY worship? It makes no sense. None. I cannot imagine of ANY reason for a God to care at all about such petty bullshit; I don’t care to be worshiped, why should He? Having someone act that way toward me makes me uncomfortable, so I can’t see why a God would even want to go there. What purpose does it serve?

Well, one of my computer alarms just went off, and made me realize I was ranting, which I had not started out to do. I think y’all can get the gist of my arguments by this time, and those who are in disagreement with what I’ve written aren’t going to be persuaded away from their long-held delusions by my words, so further soliloquy would be futile.

I’ll just finish by saying this…. until Mankind grows up enough to be able to put aside the crutch of religion, and learns to stand up to reality as it exists, without the delusional imaginary friend to intercede on their behalf with the universe, then our path to extinction will remain clear…. It’s too bad really, because our species shows a lot of promise…. it’s too bad we will never be allowed to explore our limits as an adult species, because we will have killed ourselves off before we ever got out of childhood….
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You’re right, I cheated a bit…. I’m an American, sue me…. I don’t currently have the angst and/or outrage necessary for good ranting, so, I went with the archives again…. It saves time proofing, too, as I’ve already been over the old stuff at least twice before it got posted…. Let’s see what kind of overall damage I’ve done today….

It’s a good thing the universe has a lot of hit points…. I hit back fairly hard today. Be that as it may, I think Reality will probably survive, so I’ll just be on my way, doing my part to shore up the dikes of reason against the tide of ignorance…. See ya….

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

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