Tag Archives: Mitt Romney

Broken vicars fixed while you wait….

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Ffolkes,
We don’t really fix the vicars, we just use a lot of duct tape to hold them together until they can get back up to the pulpit. The only real fix for them is a complete change of heart, and that is beyond my powers. Knowing my predilection for dissing preachers, you might wonder why I set up shop to fix them….Simple…. it’s easy money….

They break all the damn time, and the congregations will pay well to keep their blinders in place. I figured, since they give me such a pain all the time, I ought to get something out of having to deal with them. And duct tape is relatively cheap, compared to the time & energy it would take to perform any really effective brainwash, whether that wash is to clean it up & free it, or to increase control over it. Either way is harder than applying a layer of DT, and my travel fund gets fatter this way….  Our motto is, “If it’s not broke, let me take a crack at it”…..

So, if you know of any broken vicars, just have them sent over…. we’ll take care of them, and give them exactly what they need….. honest!….  Okay, silliness over….. The title line today kind of tickled me, and I thought I’d expand the idea a bit…. It’s a bit less pointedly cruel than I had hoped, but we need to get on with finding some pearls, so the duct tape treatment will have to suffice.

Perhaps a bit of water-boarding next time, just to assuage that blood thirst I know I get whenever I get a real live vicar in my shop…. Yeah, that’s the ticket, give them a taste of what they say is coming for us if we don’t toe the dogmatic line…. I like it, it is justice incarnate…. Mankind has a lot of sorrow and pain to pay them back for, to my way of thinking….

Well, before this turns into a rant instead of an intro, perhaps we’d best get our gear on and hit the water…. Shall we Pearl?….
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“Hateful to me as are the gates of hell, is he who, hiding one thing in his heart, utters another.” — Homer (c. 700 B.C.)

I was reminded of this line yesterday when I read how Mitt Romney had responded to President Obama’s announcement regarding the change in immigration policy, to stop deporting a certain class of people working to become citizens. His response, or more accurately, his lack of expected response, points out one of his secondary lines of defense against telling the truth, to wit, saying nothing when there is something that should be said….

The new policy means that young people who were brought to the US, and now are law-abiding, hard-working people who are merely unnaturalized legally, will NOT be deported, but instead will be assisted to achieve their naturalization as citizens. It is the only real humane way to deal with the situation, and is a good step in the direction of humane immigration policies.

In the past, Mr. Romney has repeatedly expressed his views on this issue, stating clearly that he disagreed with it, and would not approve of such changes…. he wants them all to be deported, and has said so in the past, in speaking to conservative groups of voters…..

“People who don’t Think probably don’t have Brains; rather, they have grey fluff that’s blown into their heads by mistake.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

Now that the POTUS has instituted this policy, which is strongly supported by a large percentage of the voting populace, Mitt has nothing to say against it. He merely stated he doesn’t agree, but would not commit himself so far as to say he would stop the program if he were elected…. In other words, he lied his bloody head off…..

“I’d like to ram a hunk of fried goat cheese straight up his ass.” — A wonderful line from MYSTIC PIZZA

Now that he has confirmed his position as the likely Republican candidate in November, to run against the POTUS, his handlers have instructed him to shut his flapping lips, not wanting to take the chance that any of his actual thoughts or opinions would get found out by the voters he is desperately trying to convince of his qualifications.

They don’t want him to prove the old saw about proving himself to be a fool by opening his mouth & removing all doubt….. Like any political entity, their response is to have him lie by omission, rather than his usual method, which consists generally of just making something up, no matter how unreal or absurdly false it may be…..

It’s going to be an interesting campaign, I think…. the trick will be to figure out which side is telling the lies that will help us the most, or more accurately, hurt us the least…. These days, that is about the best we can hope for, given the field of compulsive liars we have from which to choose….. After all,

It is difficult to legislate morality in the absence of moral legislators. — Smart Bee
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“Humanity has in the course of time had to endure from the hands of science two great outrages upon its naive self-love.  The first was when it realized that our earth was not the center of the universe, but only a speck in a world-system of a magnitude hardly conceivable…  The second was when biological research robbed man of his particular privilege of having been specially created, and relegated him to a descent from the animal world.” — Sigmund Freud

Dr. Freud was not always the most accurate of thinkers, as evidenced by the large number of practices and theories of psychiatry he developed that have been proven to be either completely false, or merely misguided. Modern psychiatry does owe him a large debt; not necessarily for the details of his theories, but for the scientific approach he took to the research into human behavior, and its motivations and workings. He helped psychiatry evolve from the level of shamanism to science.

This statement, however, is perfectly accurate, and a very insightful deduction as well. It goes far to explain a large number of the fringe elements of society, and the reaction they have given to the absolute verity of these two concepts. A very large percentage of mankind has never really gotten over the shock of discovering just how large the universe is, and in general, deal with that knowledge by ignoring it, never paying any attention to anything but their immediate surroundings. Even more of humanity resented learning that there is no evidence to support the idea of creationism, and the most common response to that has been, and in far too many cases continues to be, one of complete denial….

What is funny to me is that these folks who would deny evolution are the ones who benefit the most from its effects. Only the advances that mankind has made make it possible for them to survive at all. We are so far removed from living in caves, with no medical science, and all the other advances civilization has brought, that our intelligence level is no longer a factor in surviving. Thus, the ones who would normally not have lived long enough to reproduce, instead have large numbers of offspring, all just as lacking in reasoning ability as the next, continuing the legacy of ignorance that such denial indicates.

The irony of this is invisible to them; their very existence depends on what they deny, but they cannot see it…. and this lack of vision is what is killing them, and unfortunately, the rest of us as well….. It’s enough to make a person feel fatalistic….

“The flesh surrenders itself. Eternity takes back its own. Our bodies stirred these waters briefly, danced with a certain intoxication before the love of life and self, dealt with a few strange ideas, then submitted to the instruments of Time. What can we say of this? I occurred. I am not… yet I occurred.” — Frank Herbert, Dune Messiah
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There’s a certain slant of light,
On winter afternoons
That oppresses, like the weight
Of cathedral tunes.

Heavenly hurt it gives us;
We can find no scar,
But internal difference
Where the meanings, are.

None may teach it anything,
‘T is the seal, despair, —
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the air.

When it comes, the landscape listens,
Shadows hold their breath;
When it goes, ‘t is like the distance
On the look of death.

— Emily Dickinson

If you can’t tell, I’m feeling a bit dark today. This little piece of genius from Emily fits right in…. enjoy!
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It’s a Monday. I can tell, even without looking. Must be the 45 years of disciplining myself to go to work; a few unconscious habitual emotional states would naturally build up, enough to recognize a Monday anyway…. Fortunately, it only affects me, now, in that everybody else are the ones who have to be at work, and my only connection to that is if I need something from them…. another retirement perk they don’t tell you about. Gotta find your fun somewhere, eh? ……  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

A number of dastardly schemes on sale….

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Ffolkes,
Brave stories of epic battles and perilous quests are written every day, by authors all over the world. Visions drawn, songs sung, tales told, authors fill the Net with letters, words, phrases, and paragraphs, some noble, some rotten. Fantasy and real life, romance and mystery, light and dark, serious and fun, people give their self to their work, seeking to find that part within themselves that makes them what they are, that makes them feel not just the desire to write, but the need.

Each of those authors has their own routines, that they have worked out over time, that help them to write. These routines are sometimes rigid, written in stone; if the routine is disrupted, no writing gets done. Others’ patterns are more flexible, allowing the author some leeway before crashing the boat into the rocks of no inspiration. Each author’s routine is based, in part, on their own physical and mental characteristics, and is unique in that respect, just as we are…..

“Writing comes easy.  It’s just a matter of staring at a blank piece of paper until your forehead bleeds.” — Ring Lardner

None of those other authors, though, have an ass that hurts before it even gets sat upon. None of them are limited to only 10 minutes in the chair, before needing to get up to move and stretch….. Well, that isn’t true, I guess…. I know of at least one fellow author who also suffers from lower back pain, and she also has troubles with this…. But, it only verifies what I’m saying, and that is that it is getting hard to get these Pearls done, from a physical standpoint, and my routine will have to be adjusted to accommodate those physical limitations.

I’m going to have to alter my writing habits, to include longer, more frequent breaks, as my back is complaining more and more as time passes, and I’m starting to get pressure sores on my buttocks from sitting so long. This may have an effect on my writing; I can’t tell yet whether that effect will be positive or negative. I’m hoping against the latter of course, but expect it will, if nothing else, slow down the process quite a bit, in order to maintain the quality of what goes in here…..

All that being said, again to little purpose, we should no doubt get on with the scheduled activities, before we have to start all over…. Shall we Pearl?….
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“Few persons have sufficient wisdom to prefer censure which is useful to them, to praise which deceives them.” — La Rochefoucauld

Certain members of the French aristocracy occasionally had some pretty accurate insights into human nature, and this is certainly in that category. La Rochefoucauld gives us a very rational explanation for why our beloved ruling class finds it so easy to lie to the public, not only in this country, but in every country. One of a politician’s most basic skills is this ability to praise with deceit; since so many of those who end up in politics begin their journey toward Hell in law school, I suspect that there is a class that is given to law students that covers this principle, which would obviously also be a good skill for use on juries…..

People are lazy, and don’t want to have to think, if they can help it. If they hear something that tells them they are good people, or somehow they have been made special, just by being born white, or Christian, or ignorant, and are willing to buy into whatever they’re told by a person wearing a tie, why, they will follow that person straight to Hell itself, smiling all the way….

So, politicians learn at their mother’s knees to feed into this aspect of human nature, and pick up the skill of lying with a perfectly straight face at an early age. That skill has often been perfected by the time they reach mid-puberty…. which accounts for their tendency to marry and breed at a young age, thus making sure that there will always be more willing dunderheads available for brainwashing…. And people are much easier to fool when they’ve been programmed from an early age…. I think this is, to me, the most reprehensible part of the whole idea of controlling others, i.e., the abuse of children that is essential to the continuation of the process…..

Yes, abuse of children, that is what I said. To me, to deny knowledge is abuse, and to force ignorance upon a child is a most heinous crime. Denying a child the opportunity to learn and grow is even worse than merely lying to the public, to my mind, for it takes away that child’s entire life of possibilities, turning them into a robot, easily manipulated by more false information.

“I’ve been thinking, but it’s an accident I swear!” — Rush Limbaugh’s ex-script writer, now working for Mitt Romney as a speech writer….

One of the primary characteristics of anyone who desires to control other people is a total indifference to any suffering they may cause others. It doesn’t enter into their consciousness, or into their calculations, to worry about what might happen to anyone else; only what happens to them matters….. This isn’t news, just look at any of them on TV, and you can see it in their eyes…. no soul in there….

The Devil hath not, in all his quiver’s choice,
An arrow for the heart like a sweet voice.
— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Don Juan, Canto xv, Stanza 13

In fact, there are some of them who can’t keep from showing their disdain, especially in their eyes…. Note how Mr. Romney’s eyes  glitter and sparkle when he talks about denying rights to minority groups, or when he talks about war. You can see him doing an inner happy dance at the misfortune of those who would suffer from his policies, such as when he speaks of breaking up immigrant families. I think I would tend to worry about a President of this country who became sexually aroused at the thought of bombing little brown people; but look deep into Mitt’s eyes when he talks about that subject, and you’ll be convinced…. the man is certifiably insane, and he has millions of people backing him….

“Never before have I encountered such corrupt and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever considered a career in the Church?” —  Black Adder II (or in Politics?)

It’s time to make sure my ammunition is dry….. and my escape route is thoroughly planned and secured…. both may be needed sooner than I had hoped….
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Old school pearl here…. and the conclusion IS left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader……

Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom. — Smart Bee

“Somehow, in the midst of their horrid history, the best among the _gaijin_ learned a wonderful lesson.  They learned to distrust themselves, to doubt even what they were taught to believe or what their egos make them yearn to see.  To know that even truth must be scrutinized, it was a great discovery, almost as great as the treasure we of the East have to offer them in return, the gift of harmony.” — David Brin – Dr. Pak’s Preschool

“It is well for people who think to change their minds occasionally in order to keep them clean….For those who do not think, it is best at least to rearrange their prejudices once in a while.” — Luther Burbank (1849-1926)

“You can teach an elephant to dance, but the likelihood of its stepping on your toes is very high.” — Gary Moss

He was determined to discover the underlying logic behind the universe  Which was going to be hard, because there wasn’t one. — Terry Pratchett, “Mort”

Okay, that should be enough to get the idea across. Or through. Or around. Or whatever….. if not, well, no worries. It will be on the quiz, but the quiz doesn’t count toward the final grade…. mainly because this is Life, and you don’t get graded using that system; Life’s more of a “pass/fail” class….

These five pearls do have a point they ‘sort of’ lead up to, and the line of near-logic to follow there isn’t completely hidden. But, I’d take an aspirin first, if you plan to spend any significant time trying to fuddle it out. Like most things I put together, there is a humorous intent, but don’t get burned trying to find it…. not worth it, from the risk/gain aspect. And it might be a good idea to wash up after…..
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Where the map differs from the terrain, believe the terrain. — Swedish Army Manual

Wow! This is deep! The Swiss Army dude or dudette who wrote this little gem must have been an Uncarved Block, to have written such a universal rule, disguised as a simple reminder to a simple soldier….. This rule is applicable to everything. Everything. Next time you are listening to some pundit expounding their political theories, use this as a tool to analyze their remarks. Simply view what they say as a map, a map they are using to describe their version of reality, which is the terrain.

The map they describe always differs from the terrain that exists in reality, and using this analogy simplifies finding the differences, as one merely need to look at reality to see the truth. It is by far one of the handiest little tools I’ve ever seen for determining the distance the speaker is from actual truth….. The officers in the Swedish Army must have to be careful giving orders, as their soldiers are armed with more weapons than the ones they carry in their hands…..
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Well, this has certainly been an experience. The relative value of that experience is something I don’t believe I want to get into just now…. “Meandering” is a good word, I think, to describe the way my head worked this morning, but, at least I’ve meandered to an ending point…. I could just as easily fallen into a rant…. Plus, I just noticed that there is no poetry, to speak of, today, except for one little couplet from a longer poem. Ah well, so be it…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Delving into unusual matters of import….

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Ffolkes,
Composing these Pearls every day has become the central stanchion on which the rest of my day is built. No matter what time I now arise, sometime between 5 AM and 9 AM, the process defines the morning’s activities, with very little else happening until it is done. Only coffee, breaks from sitting, and restroom urges are part of the routine; no other activities are engaged in prior to publication of the morning’s effort. I’ve found this to be the best way to ensure that it happens each and every day, which has my goal for this blog since its inception on August 11 of 2011.

Unfortunately, this also means that I’m spending a lot of time sitting at the computer, and very little time out exercising my mind, or body, in the real world. Of course, as a retiree, my need to relate to the real world is diminished, to be sure; I have the choice as to whether or not I wish to go out and mingle, or stay home and polish my curmudgeon trophies. It’s nice having the choice for a change; for most of my life, the real world pretty much dictated my activities according to the needs of my family, or job, or something else other than my personal choice. I don’t think that is unusual, and that’s a bit sad, isn’t it?….

But, now that I can choose, I’ve chosen to “hermit up” a lot. This has a lot to do with the fact that living on the poverty line doesn’t allow much extra cash for entertainment purposes, and most activities that have to do with other folks involve at least a minimum of disposable income, in order to engage in going out to eat, or have a cocktail, or go to a ball game, etc. Very few things these days are free, and if they are, it takes some money to get to where they are… such as the beach. A lack of funds is a serious handicap to a player, for sure, not that I ever was one, but, hey, a guy can dream, right?

For now, though, until my income has settled at last into what I should have been making for the last two years, I am pursuing a life of “quiet desperation”, and generally doing so alone….. except for the wonderful friends I have found here on the internet, at WordPress. The interactions I am fortunate to have with the other authors here have been uniformly positive. People here show each other support, and compassion, and kindness, in such a free and easy manner that the Dalai Lama would be proud, indeed. It makes up a lot for the lack of face to face engagement that I lack in my life; the ffolkes I’ve met here are people I am proud to have as friends, and have helped me get through some pretty hard times lately, just by being there….

So, I write…. for me, for them, and for my kids, and grandkid (so far just one). I write to express the “stuff” inside me that has been storing up over the last 50 or so years, waiting for me to get done with the things I needed to do to take care of the family, until I could begin the journey toward becoming a writer, my lifelong dream. It’s kind of destiny-like, actually; books, and literature, have been the backbone of my life, and producing them seems like a logical outcome for my nature. So I am polishing my skills as a writer here on WordPress, ever hopeful that some editor will drop in one day, take a look at what I’ve written, and ask me to start writing for a larger audience, for pay…..

Having thus spent five hefty paragraphs discussing the very thing I’m doing, (good writing practice technique, don’t y’know?), I will cease this assault on your sensibilities, and go now in search of pearls with which to populate this page….. care to join me?  Let’s Pearl….
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Practice Acts of Random Kindness and Senseless Beauty. — Hippie Philosophy, circa 1968

“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Taken together, these two statements offer a possible treatment for what ails the world today. Albert’s words, spoken not long after he had helped to create the hydrogen atomic bomb, are clearly true. We, as a species, continue to display the same vicious, insensitive, violent nature that enabled us to struggle our way to the top of the food chain; the difference now is that we have the power to completely destroy an entire planet, should we give vent to that nature in our conflicts with one another….

Thus, the first statement, made common during the Peaceful Revolution in the Sixties, can be seen as a possible antidote to that nature, and to the danger it implies for mankind. It has been said, and truthfully, that the next evolutionary change that our species needs to make to survive is a change of the mind, of spiritual strength. Mankind needs to put aside our species’ natural response to conflict, which is generally to meet such tests with violence. Now that our ability to destroy ourselves is complete, we cannot afford to allow that part of our nature dictate our actions; that would be suicidal, for sure.

“The best portion of a good man’s life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.” — William Wordsworth

Instead, each of us needs to learn to acknowledge in us the connection we have to each other, to celebrate that connection, instead of trying to sever it. The world, and people, respond to kindness, and to beauty; that, too, is part of our nature, and may be our salvation. as well. We all need to help each other to develop responses to stress that act from a basis of compassion, that try to promote beauty in the world.

Change within ourselves is the only real, lasting effect we can have on Reality, and with the help of each other, I believe it is possible to effect the changes to the human spirit that are so obviously necessary if we are to survive…. If we all practice Acts of Random Kindness, and Senseless Beauty, then we may live to see another millennium…. if not, we’ll be fortunate to see the end of this century…..

“And if the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it.” — James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
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An American Fascist seeking power would not proclaim that he is a fascist.  Fascism always camouflages its plans and purposes. … Any fascist attempt made to gain power in America would not use the exact Hitler pattern.  It would work under the guise of “super-patriotism” and “super-Americanism”.  Fascist leaders are neither stupid nor naive. They know that they must hand out a line that “sells”.   Huey Long is said to have remarked that if Fascism came to America it would be on a program of “Americanism”. — U. S. Army (1945)

Interesting, no? To discover that the US Army was aware of this is not as surprising, or as disappointing, to me as the fact that no one listened. If one is to go by the description of fascism presented here, then it becomes clear that we have allowed this to happen, right here in the good ol’ USA…. I offer as proof of this assertion the latest batch of crap that has dribbled out of the Republican camp in the last couple of days. Mitt Romney spent some time to outline some of his ideas on foreign policy changes he would seek if he is elected.

I have yet to read the article for details of those policies, as I admit to a certain amount of trepidation, regarding just how crazy they may be. It was enough for me to see the headline of the article…. “Disturbing foreign policy changes outlined…”  If the FIRST take by the media on these ideas prompts the word “Disturbing” in the title, then they MUST be pretty outrageous, and I am sure they will become the subject of an upcoming rant, once I’ve read them through….

For now, I will merely point out that Mitt’s entire program is based on the words used above in the educational treatise from the Army. From the beginning of his campaign, Romney has painted himself as a “PATRIOT”, wrapping himself in the flag, depending on that to deflect any criticisms aimed at his sincerity. He has voiced completely ILLEGAL ideas of things he would change, ideas that fed into the fears of whatever particular fringe group to which he was speaking, not even bothering to hide the fact that what he proposed was not only against the law, but was in direct contradiction to what he had told another group the day before. More than one instance of this was reported in the news; I didn’t make it up. For goodness’ sake, the man has seriously proposed a law to make it illegal for a woman to get pregnant without being married! Pure Muslim Sharia Law, from the mouth of a Christian bigot…

“Can you say “Pervert?” I thought you could.” – Smart Bee

As I’ve noted, I’m not altogether certain that the current administration is overly concerned with what is in my best interests. They, too, are politicians, and sought the jobs they are holding, which, in my mind, classifies them as insane right from the get-go. But, what I’ve observed during this Democratic administration has been much less destructive toward me and the general public than ANY of the policies that Mitt has voiced.

He has made it perfectly clear in his speeches and programs that, if one is not white, Christian, rich, and bigoted, then he isn’t interested in doing anything but oppressing you, and making himself and his cronies more wealthy, and more powerful. THAT is his underlying goal, not any patriotic wish to make things better for the average American. He couldn’t describe an average American if one was standing in front of him, spitting in his face….
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An Extempore

When they were come into Faery’s Court
They rang — no one at home — all gone to sport
And dance and kiss and love as faerys do
For Faries be as human lovers true —
Amid the woods they were so lone and wild
Where even the Robin feels himself exil’d
And where the very books as if affraid
Hurry along to some less magic shade.
‘No one at home’! the fretful princess cry’d
‘And all for nothing such a dre[a]ry ride
And all for nothing my new diamond cross
No one to see my persian feathers toss
No one to see my Ape, my Dwarf, my Fool
Or how I pace my Otaheitan mule.
Ape, Dwarf and Fool why stand you gaping there
Burst the door open, quick — or I declare
I’ll switch you soundly and in pieces tear.’
The Dwarf began to tremble and the Ape
Star’d at the Fool, the Fool was all agape
The Princess grasp’d her switch but just in time
The Dwarf with piteous face began to rhyme.
‘O mighty Princess did you ne’er hear tell
What your poor servants know but too too well
Know you the three great crimes in faery land
The first alas! poor Dwarf I understand
I made a whipstock of a faery’s wand
The next is snoring in their company
The next the last the direst of the three
Is making free when they are not at home.
I was a Prince — a baby prince — my doom
You see, I made a whipstock of a wand
My top has henceforth slept in faery land.
He was a Prince the Fool, a grown up Prince
But he has never been a King’s son since
He fell a snoring at a faery Ball
Your poor Ape was a Prince and he poor thing
But ape — so pray your highness stay awhile
‘Tis sooth indeed we know it to our sorrow —
Persist and you may be an ape tomorrow —
While the Dwarf spake the Princess all for spite
Peal’d the brown hazel twig to lilly white
Clench’d her small teeth, and held her lips apart
Try’d to look unconcerned with beating heart.
They saw her highness had made up her mind
And quaver’d like the reeds before the wind
And they had had it, but O happy chance
The Ape for very fear began to dance
And grin’d as all his uglyness did ache–
She staid her vixen fingers for his sake
He was so very ugly: then she took
Her pocket mirror and began to look
First at herself and [then] at him and then
She smil’d at her own beauteous face again.
Yet for all this — for all her pretty face
She took it in her head to see the place.
Women gain little from experience
Either in Lovers, husbands or expense.
The more their beauty the more fortune too
Beauty before the wide world never knew.
So each fair reasons — tho’ it oft miscarries.
She thought her pretty face would please the fa[e]ries.
‘My darling Ape I wont whip you today
Give me the Picklock sirrah and go play.’
They all three wept but counsel was as vain
As crying cup biddy to drops of rain.
Yet lingeringly did the sad Ape forth draw
The Picklock from the Pocket in his Jaw.
The Princess took it and dismounting straight
Trip’d in blue silver’d slippers to the gate
And touch’d the wards, the Door full courteously
Opened — she enter’d with her servants three.
Again it clos’d and there was nothing seen
But the Mule grasing on the herbage green.
End of Canto xii.

Canto the xiii.
The Mule no sooner saw himself alone
Than he prick’d up his Ears — and said ‘well done!
At least unhappy Prince I may be free —
No more a Princess shall side saddle me
O King of Othaiete — tho’ a Mule
‘Aye every inch a King’ — tho’ ‘Fortune’s fool.’
Well done — for by what Mr. Dwarfy said
I would not give a sixpence for her head.’
Even as he spake he trotted in high glee
To the knotty side of an old Pollard tree
And rub’d his sides against the mossed bark
Till his Girths burst and left him naked stark
Except his Bridle — how get rid of that
Buckled and tied with many a twist and plait.
At last it struck him to pretend to sleep
And then the thievish Monkies down would creep
And filch the unpleasant trammels quite away.
No sooner thought of than adown he lay
Sham’d a good snore — the Monkey-men descended
And whom they thought to injure they befriended.
They hung his Bridle on a topmost bough
And of[f] he went run, trot, or anyhow–

John Keats

This is kind of long, but while reading it through this morning, I was struck by its dream-like quality. The act of reading it seemed to put me in a trance-like state, and the characters in the poem took on the faces in the news. It all made sense, too, at the time. Maybe it’s something in my coffee, or some old hippie mind tricks arising out of my sub-conscious memory…. or maybe I’m just strange.

No matter, the poem, long as it is, is the beauty break my head needed to finish the morning’s effort, so, deal with it….  🙂  And enjoy the trip through Keats’ dream…. It’s kind of fun to put the faces of Romney, Barack, Newt, Rush, and all the others who inhabit the front pages, on the characters in the poem, at some elegant non-partisan ball. ….  “And off I went run, or anyhow….”
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Somewhat late, but not a bad effort, all in all. As is often the case, whether it will do or not is a moot point; it’s done, and it’s now going to be published, before I have any second thoughts about it…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….
—

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Endless variations of spiral complexity….

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4

Ffolkes,
If I can convince one more neuron to wake up and smell the coffee, I’d have a functional synapse, and I could get started. Sadly, none of them seem to want to join the party, so I’ll need a few moments here to gather up some wherewithal before I jump all the way in…..be right back….

Well, I managed to find a few old, semi-retired neurons sitting around in the corner of my mind, and convinced them to put in a couple hours for me. My mind feels as if it is an old four-cylinder Ford, started with a crank, and sputtering & coughing like an old sow, but it’s running, so I’ll take it…. not much choice at this time in the morning….

“Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened.” — Terry Pratchett.

Now that I AM old, or at least nearly so, I am experiencing something I think everyone does at this age, to wit: surprise and dismay, both of which stem from the lack of material in the manual. You know, the manual we all are issued at birth, the one that tells us what we can expect at the various stages our lives go through. What manual?, you may ask….

Well, that’s another part of the problem here. Not only is the manual sadly lacking important information, but the process of issuing them is pretty hit and miss. I myself, like so many others, never did find the copy I was issued; it seems to have disappeared sometime before I learned to read. I’ve heard from others that the same is true for them; they never saw it. So, there is either a conspiracy, or the system has serious flaws.

I know I would have appreciated having a bit of advance knowledge of puberty; it might have made it seem less like unending purgatory. And a little notice of the trials and tribulations of male/female relationships would have come in very handy, too. Then, just when I get to an age where I begin to feel a little confidence in how much I know about life, age sets in, with all its glorious new physical challenges, mental strikes, functional failures, and internal issues. The whole bladder issue is one that nobody likes to talk about even when it is present; nobody gives any warning about it, that’s for sure…..

“Everything has been said before, but since nobody listens we have to keep going back and beginning all over again.” — Andre Gide, Le traite du Narcisse

Ah well, I suppose that if there actually were a manual, most folks wouldn’t read it anyway… If computers are any indicator of how little people use the manuals that come with them, then we wouldn’t have the acronym RTFM as a common complaint amongst the geeks who fix computers….( RTFM = read the f___ing manual! ).

However, I would use it, even if no one else did; being part geek has given me some respect for manuals, though little of that is for those who write them. Those guys seem to delight in emulating Will Shakespeare, trying to make their manual more difficult to read than everyone else’s. I think there is a school in Japan dedicated to teaching students to torture the English language for use in technical manuals…..

Well, enough of this…. it’s all just a roundabout way of minimizing my daily morning complaints, most of which are age-related. It’s probably time we got to today’s program, or it won’t get done at all…. Shall we Pearl? Off we go then….
___________________________________

In the 17th century, Kikaku, one of the ten disciples of the great Japanese poet Basho, composed a haiku:

Take a pair of wings
From a dragonfly, you would
Make a pepper-pod.

Basho told Kikaku: “That’s not a haiku. You kill the dragonfly.” Kikaku recomposed the lines:

Add a pair of wings
To a pepper-pod, you would
Make a dragonfly.

— Amal Naj, PEPPERS

I really don’t have any discussion here, except to say that I like the solution that Kikaku came up with to the criticism from Basho. I have to disagree slightly with his opinion as to what a haiku must be, but his genius lends power to that opinion, for sure. I like both of them, however…. and the contrast between the two is a clear indication of the power of words, and how they can express such different ideas using virtually the same words in a different pattern, changing only one word from one poem to the next…. exquisite!
___________________________________

Being But Men

Being but men, we walked into the trees
Afraid, letting our syllables be soft
For fear of waking the rooks,
For fear of coming
Noiselessly into a world of wings and cries.

If we were children we might climb,
Catch the rooks sleeping, and break no twig,
And, after the soft ascent,
Thrust out our heads above the branches
To wonder at the unfailing stars.

Out of confusion, as the way is,
And the wonder, that man knows,
Out of the chaos would come bliss.

That, then, is loveliness, we said,
Children in wonder watching the stars,
Is the aim and the end.

Being but men, we walked into the trees.

Dylan Thomas

I’ve always liked the work of Dylan Thomas, though I find it to be a bit heavy on the emotional scale. His feeling for modern culture was precise as well as broad, and his style of writing strips bare the bones of reality to display the truth that hides there. This poem is one of his more elevated pieces, and as such it appeals to that side of my nature.  🙂  It’s also a good way to cut down on how much I have to write, as my words are less essential than decorative in such cases…. lazy, but efficient, yes?….
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“All of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of reason and justice must be keenly aware how small an influence reason and honest good will exert upon events in the political field.” — Albert Einstein

I have a lot of respect for Albert Einstein. I consider his time on Earth to be a perfect example of a life well lived, as his every action was based on reason and good will, and his dedication to the betterment of mankind was both constant and sincere. This observation of his is one of many that indicated that good will, as well as being an accurate description of reality in the political arena. Today’s headlines bear ample proof of that….

I read today that Mitt Romney has secured enough delegates to sew up the Republican nomination for the Presidential election coming in November of this year. This, to me, is both heartening and dismaying….

It is heartening because I believe firmly that as long as he continues to speak in public, he will continue to alienate and essentially “piss off” enough people to ensure a Democratic victory for the incumbent. Unless something drastic happens, like a five month case of laryngitis, that keeps him from speaking at all, he is bound to spout enough outrageous nonsense to sink his own boat. That much is certain, given his track record….

But, it is also dismaying, in that I cannot believe that there are that many people in this country who believe the tripe that he has been serving up for consumption. His stands on women’s rights, LGBT rights, same sex marriage, immigration, economics, foreign policy, separation of church and state, and almost every other subject that has come up are so far to the right, they can’t see the middle. It is frightening to think that there are so many millions of people who buy into this crap.

In reality, I probably shouldn’t be surprised, as I firmly believe there is no limit to human stupidity, but it is unsettling to say the least, to know that there are that many folks out there who refuse to use the few functioning neurons they possess for anything other than procuring food, and, unfortunately, breeding….

I’m trying to have some faith in the American voting public, but it scares me nonetheless, as faith is so often disappointed by reality. If the election is anything other than a landslide in favor of Obama, then my faith will have been unfounded. I find it unacceptable in any way to contemplate Romney in the Oval Office; we would be involved in a war within days, and probably with our own citizens. Society will dissolve into its various parts, and conflict will be rife amongst all of those segments. Almost every word that escapes Mitt’s lips is divisive, elitist, and discriminatory against one part of society or another, and his administration would create that atmosphere with every ill-considered act.

I hope I’m wrong in my fears. I don’t think I am, but hope so, for if what I think could happen does happen, then the world will become a much more dangerous place to live. If the Republican party regains control of this country, I can see revolution not far off, as the underlying conflict between the forces of ignorance and those of reason will be facing each other on a daily basis, and that can only lead to conflict.

So, let’s pay attention ffolkes, and make sure to register, and to vote. Either way, I’ll be stocking up on ammunition, tightening my own security procedures, and hoping I never need to employ any of them….
___________________________________

Well, that was a polite little rant, wasn’t it? And I didn’t even call any names! Perhaps aging has mellowed me a bit…. Nah! No way…. Only one day to go to payday, so things are moving along nicely, and I can look forward to eating tomorrow….  🙂    Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

A strange trip, and long….

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Ffolkes,
Since retiring from my job on the last day of 2010, I’ve been writing a lot. For years, my need to write was sublimated at work, writing reports and evaluations according to set rules and formats, on specific subjects. All the dross that builds up in my head just kept sitting there, growing into a pile of emotionally charged opinions, radical political thoughts, religious heresies, and humorous observations on human nature that promised to bury me should it ever fall over. Fortunately for me, I was forced to retire, even though not fully prepared, and the chance to do something to reduce the pile presented itself…..

The human heart has hidden treasures, in secret kept, in silence sealed.” — Charlotte Bronte

In at least a therapeutic sense, it came at just the right time, as I had a lot of angst and anger built up over the way I was treated when I left work. All that anger was, of course, useless to me, other than as a stimulus to write. Once began, the dam burst, and what I’ve been keeping inside came tumbling out, in daily portions of anywhere from 500 to 2500 words. It has been extremely liberating on an intellectual level, as I don’t believe I’ve ever had the opportunity to write exactly how I feel about “life and all that stuff” to any great degree.

Now, since beginning my own blog, first on SFGATE, and now on WordPress, I have allowed myself to show the darkest stuff that I have in there, at least in the political and religious fields, and the feeling is one of stupendous relief. Being able to get all that stuff out of my head has helped me in a lot of ways not immediately apparent to the casual eye; I do believe it was beginning to fester in there…..

I’m not sure exactly what I’m trying to say here, except that I feel pretty grateful, all in all, for having been able to write like I have for the last year and some…. grateful for both the opportunity, and for the wherewithal. And I am especially grateful for all the ffolkes that have come to read my work, and comment, and generally show the kind of support that only true friends can show.

Without having met anyone face to face, I can truthfully say that I’ve met a large number of people here that I am very proud and happy to consider as friends, and my only regret is that there isn’t enough time in the day to be able to read as much of their work as I’d wish to get to. But it remains a very well-appreciated gift to have all of that available to read; I never have to worry about finding something entertaining or interesting, because every one of the blogs I follow has the power to give me both….

So, to all those who have come here to read, and those who comment, thanks very much for stopping in, and I hope that what I write continues to draw your interest. I can guarantee that what I write will not always be politically correct (thank goodness!), nor will it always be comfortable…. but it will always be real, and it will always be mine…. I think it’s time to go Pearl, don’t you? ……

“And here, poor fool, with all my lore I stand no wiser than before.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
___________________________________

Bright Star

Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art–
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors–
No–yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever–or else swoon to death.

John Keats

A Drinking Song

WINE comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That’s all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.

William Butler Yeats

Of late I find myself turning more often to poetry for recreational reading. Keats and Yeats, (and what are the odds of that similarity?), are two of my favorites, not surprisingly. Today I’ve put one of each of their pieces out for your perusal and enjoyment, and to assuage my practicality gene, which prompts me to make everything I write of some usefulness. So, this is your daily lesson in comparative literature; you won’t be awarded any points, but it will prepare you for the quiz that will come at the end of the week….. otherwise, just enjoy! It’s not every day you get two classic poets in one blog….
___________________________________

“Most people can’t think, most of the remainder won’t think, the small fraction who do think mostly can’t do it very well.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

Robert Heinlein was considered by his peers to be the Grand Master of Science Fiction, and with good reason. One of those reasons is his insight into human nature, a key element in creating the believable characters with which his books are populated. The above statement is a good indication of this insight, and is an idea that I’ve held as true for most of my adult life. It helps soothe the emotional turmoil that happens every time another bozoid member of the beloved ruling class opens their mouth to insert their foot…. It also keeps me from being disappointed when I face the daily proof of how dumb folks can be, said proof being presented on a regular basis online or in newspapers and TV shows.

Even though I consider myself to be a member of the last group mentioned, I am also realistic, and know that I am part of the majority of those who think, those who don’t always do it very well. If I did, I’d probably not be living in poverty. I’m perfectly aware that it was my own angry reaction to my employer’s rudeness that complicated the retirement process, and has placed me in this position of having to survive until all of my retirement resources have been garnered for use.

If I had paid more attention to my cosmic judo, I would have just let them push me out as disabled, gotten my State Disability Retirement, and would now be enjoying my Social Security. But, noooo, I had to spend six months arguing with the State to placate my pride. I won, in that I got what I wanted from them, but in the process, screwed myself…. typical human behavior, but nonetheless disappointing to know that my bozoid tendencies can still rule my behavior…..

Ah well, now I must use other parts of what I’ve learned over the years, to enable me to put aside my disappointment in myself, and move on to rectify the situation. I’m getting where I need to go, but having to keep myself under strict control to keep from banging my head against the nearest hard surface every time I am confronted with another delay. Sheesh! One more thing that they don’t tell you about in any of the retirement planning manuals….

The statement above doesn’t help me much in this situation, other than to make it clearer why things take so long to get done in the SS and federal bureaucracy. In fact, this insight is most useful for just that…. to help understand why the world is going along the way it is, limping and rushing toward extinction for our species. The inability to think, and worse, the reluctance that most folks have to think, is one of the root causes of why the world is going to shit…. and it’s getting worse all the time, as the forces of ignorance gain ever more of a foothold in society.

The current Presidential political scene that is developing ahead of the election in November is truly a frightening prospect to anyone with more than two functioning neurons between their ears….. I find it incomprehensible, if all-too-believable, that the race is as close as it appears to be. I’ve seen reports that, before even being officially picked as the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, or more accurately, the Republican platform, has more committed electoral votes than I would have believed possible.

I don’t think that there is much of a real chance that the incumbent won’t be re-elected; there is just too much time left until November, and I don’t think that Mitt will be able to keep his mouth shut long enough to keep from self-destructing. But, the tendency of the media to blow up anything they see to sell stories gives him far too much credence, and may complicate the matter. Time will tell, but it makes me nervous, as there are too many historical precedents of the idiocy of the voters to help me feel very relaxed about it…. and neither should you be…..    I predict that if Romney even gets close to being elected, there will be an upheaval that this country hasn’t seen in over 200 years, as the forces of ignorance contend with those among us, such as myself, who will be moved to act if the election results go south… and it won’t be a move toward compliance, or submission to a new order….

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”
___________________________________

I think I’ve rambled enough for one morning; reality is calling me to get on with the rest of the day. So, I’m going to cheat a little…. Below is a picture I found on Facebook; I titled it “The Last Will and Testament of Noah”, as it seemed to fit what I believe he would have said, if he could speak. He lived with me about 17 and a half years, passing away last August. I’ve spoken of him often here, and will no doubt do so again in the future. A short time after he passed away, I wrote a tribute to him and our life together. That piece “An Ode to Noah” can be found here:  http://therealowner.com/dogs/an-ode-to-noah/  This picture says it all, for me…. and yes, I know, I’m a softie at heart….___________________________________

Duty calls, and I must answer, so I will now be ruthless….as much as I ever do…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Old~new dogs~tricks…..

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5

Ffolkes,
Good morning, I hope…. let’s jump right in….

“This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly.  It should be thrown with great force.” — Dorothy Parker

Fortunately for all concerned at this point, I haven’t. Yet. Written a novel. I’ve written enough in the past 10 months to fill the pages of at least three of them, all about 400 pages, but, it’s not a novel, nor, as I think of it now, is it very novel…. sorry….. But, that right there, that pun, even though it wasn’t deliberate, is a good indicator of what I feel right now, in re: what Ms. Parker said above, if applied to my novel of Pearls over the last near-year. In looking over the previous efforts this month, I note a distinct decline in quality. You may not have noticed it, but it is there, to my eye….

Said decline may or may not be connected to the concomitant increase in the personal nature of what I’ve chosen to write; it’s hard to tell without a full introspective overhaul. Sometimes though, going with what is felt, without too much close examination, doesn’t seem such a bad choice upon which to base bending to change….

I mean, change will happen, no matter what choice I make, so it seems a good idea to be proactive, in a sense, and make some changes in myself, or in my approach to certain matters. After all, I’m the only one who can change me, and I am also the only thing in the universe I can change. May as well take advantage of those immutable principles….

Hence, I’m changing the face of the Pearls of Virtual Wisdom. Again. It isn’t the first time; over the 12 or 13 years I’ve been putting them together on a pretty much daily basis, first while at work,then from home, I’ve gone through several procedural and structural morphs.

It all started with one pearl, and one short comment a day, and has grown to an average of 1800 words a day, with five pearls as base material. I think I’ve reached the maximum benefit I can derive by making them so long each day, so I’m cutting back a bit, starting today, and will present only three pearls a day, and give them my best shot, whatever form that may take, prose or verse….

In addition, pearls will be expanded to include more pictures, some with text, some with, well, other stuff…. about which I will either say “Aww!”, or write a haiku, or a short essay, or a rant, or whatever strikes me (not a change, but a change in stimuli….)…. No harm in trying to add some color to my day, and yours…. So, Gentle Reader, settle back, and gird your grid for a new experience…. at least, new to this blog… Shall we explore consensual reality together?…. A’Pearling we shall go….
___________________________________    Friendship is a wonderful thing; saying so is pretty obvious and trite, but nonetheless true for that. And we all know that to have a friend, one must BE a friend. This attitude, of being open to the kind of things that friends do, is especially important when one is in a place far away from those friends, when they are not there to lean on, or to help…. In life we travel, we drift apart, we follow our own paths, but our friends are always with us, even if only in our hearts… And in those times we are alone, being open to friendship can save not only your sanity, but your life….    I have friends who would do all of the things listed under the real friends category; not just would do, but have…. It’s been a while since I was in a dog pile with them, and doing so now would probably put us all in traction, but the rest of it is all true and has happened in the not so distant past. It feels good to know that I am still in touch with at least five people who used to call my folks Mom and Dad…. Mitt Romney can keep his $250 million net worth; of the two of us, I am the truly wealthy one…..
___________________________________

“…it still remains true that as a set of cognitive beliefs about the existence of God in any recognizable sense continuous with the great systems of the past, religious doctrines constitute a speculative hypothesis of an extremely low order of probability.” — Sidney Hook

Mr. Hook gives us here a long-winded, Shakespearean statement about the existence of God that probably would better have been left at “Not bloody likely!”…. Both get the same point across, but the latter has more punch, as the listener doesn’t have to spend all that time trying to first figure out what the hell he said….

It is a very good statement, in its way; accurate, logical, and with a proper reservation of judgment, proclaiming the idiocy of buying into such an implausible story without being snide about it. But, as mentioned, it reminds me of a certain author, who shall now remain unnamed, who had the same habit when he wrote, to wit: “HEY! Lets cover up what this means with a bunch of extra words that will make the reader’s head spin with admiration….”.

Now, as one who writes (or types, anyway…. who’s to say whether it is writing?….), I tend to agree with Twain’s method of prose, which is spare, and attempts to pare down what is written to its barest bones, leaving nothing but meaning and style; as with golf, one is trying for the lowest score. Twain, Hemingway, Steinbeck, all believed that good writing should be accessible, and clear, without having to be translated, or put into simpler terms, and Mr. Hook would have done better, I think, to keep that in mind. The idea he is promulgating is one that does need to be spread around, and should stimulate discussion. In its present form, it will only do that amongst the few readers and folks who can easily make out what he is talking about in this over-blown statement….

The idea he is expressing here is one that is generally discouraged by those in leadership positions in modern religions. Discussing the veracity of the claims that religion makes is not encouraged by any of the sects I know of; in fact, doing so tends to produce some rather volatile reactions, to put it mildly. Most folks have a hard time maintaining their cool when their religious beliefs are challenged, due, I think, to the strong emotional connection they add to those beliefs.

Their feelings are so tied into those beliefs that, in their minds, questioning one is the same as attacking the other….. Not logical, but true nonetheless, and not a good thing to leave out of one’s calculations; I never discuss religion without being rather heavily armed…. and not only with knowledge….

Here’s the thing that bothers me about the whole concept of an omnipotent entity…. How can we, who are not omnipotent, claim to understand either the actual form of a God, or the motivation of such a being? How can we claim to be certain that this omnipotent entity, capable of creating an entire universe, not only looks just like us, but actually wants us to bow down and worship Him, or Her, or It? Even when I was five years old, nobody could, or would, answer that question, other than to say, “because it’s in the Bible.” Even then, I recognized when I was being put off, and it just made me wonder more….

Certainty is only a symptom of lack of imagination. — Smart Bee

Over time, as my knowledge of the world grew, I came to realize that the entire system is just another man-made institution, with the whole purpose of taking advantage of, and controlling, the general run of folks who are just trying to get by in life. I learned that the louder a person proclaims himself to be a Christian, the less like Christ they act. Being “safe in the arms of Jesus” is the perfect excuse to deny any responsibility for one’s own acts of immorality; Jesus forgives everything, right? Well, he does…. it says so right here in the New Testament, so it must be true….

“Our father who art in heaven..  I sincerely pray that SOMEBODY at this table will PAY for my SHREDDED WHAT and ENGLISH MUFFIN.. and also leave a GENEROUS TIP…” — Zippy the Pinhead

I don’t claim to know God. I don’t know how God looks. I don’t know what God thinks, or even if what that entity does can be called thinking at all. I’m not omnipotent, so I have no frame of reference from which to approach such a question. I do know this, though…. whatever anyone says about God is bound to be wrong. It has to be; there is no way for us to understand anything about such a creature, not if we are to assume they are truly gods. If they are gods, or God, then I refuse to believe that what is important to me as a human is important to them; it just doesn’t make any logical sense. None….

ZEUS, n.  The chief of Grecian gods, adored by the Romans as Jupiter and by the modern Americans as God, Gold, Mob and Dog.  Some explorers who have touched upon the shores of America, and one who professes to have penetrated a considerable distance to the interior, have thought that these four names stand for as many distinct deities, but in his monumental work on Surviving Faiths, Frump insists that the natives are monotheists, each having no other god than himself, whom he worships under many sacred names. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

Looking at a Universe without God doesn’t scare me…. I think it is quite beautiful, no matter how it came to exist. Knowing one way or another how it was created, or happened, or evolved, or whatever, isn’t important to me, in either the short, or the long run. Learning about it, experiencing its joys and trials, appreciating both its gifts and its penalties, these are much more important. Do your Duty. Honor the Truth. Respect Life. Share your Love. I don’t think that God needs my approval, or my worship in order for the universe to carry on…. it’s just fine the way it is…..

“There are no physicists in the hottest parts of hell, because the existence of a hottest part implies a temperature difference, and any marginally competent physicist would immediately use this to run a heat engine and make some other part of hell comfortably cool. This is obviously impossible.” — Richard Davidson
___________________________________

Okay, enough of being serious…. here we have another find from Facebook, where all of today’s images were found…. it needs no explanation….___________________________________

There you have it… the freshest Pearl you can find, just for you…. I love it when a plan comes together…. Well, sort of together…. it’s still over 1800 words….SIGH….Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!


Irrational numbers often resist emulsification….

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3

Ffolkes,
I’m giving up. Or, more accurately, I’m acknowledging that I’ve given up; the actual giving up part was accomplished some time ago, and I’m just now getting around to letting y’all know…. You may well ask “what are you babbling about now?”, and would be within your rights to do so. I’m talking about giving up some of my angst, just letting it go…. the part that I keep around to worry about whether this blog gets done by a certain time.

My sleeping pattern has achieved true randomness, I think; I can no longer tell when I might get sleepy at night. It seems to alternate between falling out at 6 PM on Monday, then being wide awake at midnight on Tuesday. Then Wednesday, I take a 3 hour nap, until 4 PM, and fall out again at 8. It’s absurd, and I can’t get a handle on it…..

I don’t know if this is a functional result of getting older, or if it is because of the medication I’m taking, (or not taking…. there are at least five things my doctor tells me to take that I can’t afford, so I don’t….), or just my PTSD throwing me mental curves and sliders. Whatever the cause, I can no longer count on being up by a certain time, so it makes no sense to get all worked up when I don’t get this Pearl done before 8 or 9 AM.

So, I won’t…. I may be a Bozo, but once I do figure something out, I’m not shy about implementing changes….. Just because one’s nose is big, red, and honks doesn’t mean one can’t be efficient…. We may all be Bozo’s on this bus, but the bus stops now and again, and one must get off and join the rest of the circus…..

That said, we can get on with the process of finding pearls. They may not get published as early as is usual, but they’ll get there. I’m just not going to sweat over it quite so freely….. Shall we Pearl?…..
___________________________________

“You can’t use tact with a congressman. A congressman is a hog. You must take a stick and hit him on the snout.” — Henry Adams

The political arena has been quiet of late; we are between elections leading up to the main one in November, and waiting for the National Conventions of each Party to take place. The Republican front runner, Mitt Romney, has placed a gag order on himself, having recently acknowledged that, thus far in his campaign, his greatest problems have occurred when he opened his mouth to speak. So, he has been watching what he says very carefully, and in the process, is saying nothing at all.

Well, that is, he’s saying nothing if one doesn’t count his normal quota of lies and made up statistics. Why, just two days ago I read where he told a group in the Midwest how Obama’s administration had increased some debt percentage “more than ANY previous administration”. This of course, is completely false, as the numbers show, in fact, that the particular statistical number to which he referred, has DECREASED more than any previous administration had been able to do….. typical.

So, this leaves me little to rant about. I guess I’ll have to go look through the news before writing these pearls, to find something to use as the latest evidence of the ongoing chicanery and yes, illegal activities being acted out on the public stage. Hang in there, I’ll be back in about twenty….

There, see? Nothing…. no outrageous statements, no news of new idiotic policies. Well, there was one story, about how Romney is now claiming that cutting spending will cause a depression (that’s Democratic cuts, not Republican cuts…. they’re different, you know… sure they are…. trust me….). Of course, he doesn’t bother to explain his reasoning for this claim; he just knows. I guess the information came in via radio, straight into this brain from the Cosmos… Hardly worth picking at, even for me….

Ah well, I’ll just wait. I am certain that it won’t take more than a day or two for the pressure to build up, and Mitt will have to blurt out some new idiotically absurd new statement that demonstrates his complete cluelessness. He’s been in the public eye now for several months, and if his history there is any indicator, it won’t be long before he opens up and inserts his size 10 loafers…. and I’ll be waiting….

“There are things worse than a public speaker with a three word thought, a three minute vocabulary and a three hour speech, but I have not been able to think of any over the last three days.” — Smart Bee
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“He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.” — Rafael Sabatini

A few days ago, I posted a quote from William Yeats, about making our words inevitable…. The above line is the opening line of the novel, “Scaramouche”, and is, in my not-so-humble opinion, one of the best opening lines ever written. With style and wit, and a strong sense of inevitability, it sets the tone for the entire book, and gives a taste of flavor from the feast to follow….. I would recommend the story to anyone who enjoys a well-told historical novel, rich in detail, and with engaging characters living in a time of great change.

The story is set in France, during the same period as Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities”, i.e. the period leading up to the Peasant’s Revolt, and the French Revolution, in the late 18th century. Love, hatred, political intrigue, revenge, all play their part to paint a beautifully detailed picture of the period, telling a story that holds one captive to the final page. I won’t bore you with a discussion of how it can be related to current times; you can see for yourself when you read it. But, even without any political overtones, the book remains a great read, and well worth a trip to the library…..
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The Day Is Done

The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.

I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o’er me
That my soul cannot resist:

A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.

Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.

Not from the grand old masters,
Not from the bards sublime,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors of Time.

For, like strains of martial music,
Their mighty thoughts suggest
Life’s endless toil and endeavor;
And to-night I long for rest.

Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start;

Who, through long days of labor,
And nights devoid of ease,
Still heard in his soul the music
Of wonderful melodies.

Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer.

Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhyme of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.

And the night shall be filled with music
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.

~~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Poetry break…. enjoy!
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“At once it struck me what quality went to form a man of achievement, especially in literature, and which Shakespeare possessed so enormously — I mean negative capability, that is, when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.” — John Keats (1795-1821)

I have previously given my opinion on Shakespeare, and won’t bore you again with more samples of his impenetrable verse; it always gives me a headache anyway…. But it is nice to find evidence that my less than enthusiastic take on Will is shared by others who are not afraid to state an unpopular opinion. The fact that the person who makes this statement is possibly the best poet who ever lived gives me a lot of satisfaction; if anyone is entitled to an opinion about Will’s work, John Keats is certainly one of them.

Keats is acknowledged as probably the most influential poet of all time, not merely during his own life. His work changed the face of the entire genre; one can only lament his early death, and grieve over all the genius that was lost…. And not just genius, but brave genius, to be honest enough to say what he thought about the most revered playwright of all time….

It’s tough to be right, when everyone one else believes you to be wrong…. but it’s well worth it, to my mind…. Especially if it means I don’t have to try to sit through another reading of Will’s nonsensical refuse, trying to find some way to puzzle out what he was trying to say with all the extra verbiage he piled on to his verse….
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“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.  Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.  Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.  Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.  Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.  But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” — Buddha

Obviously, this needs no adornment, nor comment from me, other than to say it is my idea of the correct path to a full and complete life, based on right action, compassion, and love…..
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I’ve said it before…. All you can do is all you can do…. hopefully, it is enough. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Which is the silliest objective?

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1

Ffolkes,
After a certain amount of time, reality becomes hard to hold on to with a sure grip. Stuff happens. (Don’t ask….)  And when that stuff is happening, our grasp of what we thought was unchangeable grows tenuous, at best. Most folks just breeze right through these moments, never realizing that their entire universe is mere seconds away from crashing about their ears. These are the fortunate ones. For those of us who regularly battle with reality to keep it in even a semblance of normalcy, these moments are terrifying challenges, fraught with the danger of imminent death of life and the universe as we know it, or at least, indigestion……

The brain is broken this morning. I tried to use it earlier, and got no response at all. Now, I sit down to write, and you see the result…. Pathetic. Indigestion, indeed. I’ll give me indigestion…. hell, I do that on a regular basis anyway, just by reading the news; it takes no special effort. Try to convince a broken brain of that though….

I’m not sure how to proceed. I’ve never really had to deal with a full break before; there have always been some peripheral functions that remained intact. But this seems to be a complete system-wide shut down, and I’m not sure if it is a hardware or software problem, so it makes trouble-shooting a bit of a facer, what?

Sorry, been watching English mini-series’ movies of Lord Peter Whimsy’s mysteries, and I’m still speaking in English drawing room comedy language…. quite the thing, don’t y’know? It’s so very…. British…. Such a wonderful vehicle for sarcasm and comedic facial expressions, and all of the characters are archetypal representations of the various English types…. to the manor born, the butler, or “gentleman’s gentleman”, the vicar, the blacksmith, the sexton, the farmer, etc.  And they all wear the most sensible shoes….

Well, as can be seen, things may wander a bit today, so I’d best start wending my way toward the end….. the beginning will have to cope on its own at this point; I can do no more for it, and will just let it die a natural death….. let’s go Pearl….
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Fate steals along with silent tread,
Found oftenest in what least we dread;
Frowns in the storm with angry brow,
But in the sunshine strikes the blow.
— Cowper

Writing about Murphy’s Law can be a delicate, tricky process, since the mere use of his name is generally enough to draw his attention, something all of us learn to avoid at an early age. At least, all of us who retain any sanity at all have learned to avoid his ministrations, except when forced to accept them. So, writing about his place in the scheme of things can take on the aspect of a nightmare, a terrifying one, one that not only wakes one up, but remains real when awake. The only possible way to avoid this is to make the piece you are writing as glowingly positive as you can….

One doesn’t write about how little Murphy’s presence is hated; we point out how his benign humor keeps us humble. We don’t tell how his latest escapade has put us back several years in our plans for life; we acknowledge his wisdom in keeping us with our nose to the grindstone. And we certainly don’t complain about how much of an asshole he is, or he will most certainly turn what we write into the biggest pile of crap that ever was assembled in one place.

Ah, fuck it. I hate the asshole. His perverted sense of humor has caused more heartache for humanity than Hitler. He thinks he is a celebrity, like Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny, but his degree of fame, or, more accurately, infamy, is more on the order of The Swamp Thing, or Freddy Kruger, without the advantage of their cultish chic.

If there were any part of reality as it exists that I would change, it would be to remove Murphy’s head from his shoulders, and consign him to one of the deepest parts of hell, where he would forever be subjected to just those kinds of incidents that he is so fond of perpetrating on the unsuspecting members of society…. Bloody prick…. I know that all cultures have their Murphy…. he may be called Loki, or Kokopelli, or some other name, and even may be counted as a god. But, fuck him anyway, he’s an asshole; I don’t have to like him…. and I don’t..

Popular consensus says that reality is based on popular consensus. — Smart Bee
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“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it… Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher.  But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings — that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” — Buddha

This idea is almost unknown in Western society, and if you require evidence, just look at the TV Guide for this week. Every minute of every day the airwaves are filled with blatant attempts to influence what people think about, what they buy, or should want to buy, how to relate to other people, or who they should vote for in the next election. I don’t think there are more than one person out of a hundred thousand who has an original thought in their head, one not generated by some excited announcer giving them the latest way to waste their time and money.

In addition to the wasteland that is TV, we have religion, always prepared to jump into people’s lives and tell them how they are doing it wrong, and how the only way to get to heaven is to buy into the product they are selling, thereby handing over the keys to their own minds, and checkbooks. If one looks at it objectively, it’s a pretty good gig, this preacher business.

All you have to do is be able to tell people what you think is true with a straight face, and stand back and watch the money pour in. Hell, anybody with the chutzpah and the patter can become a preacher; it doesn’t even require a license, though it does help to file the certificates and forms that make it so your church doesn’t have to pay taxes. That’s always a bonus item in favor among the truly religious.

“Writing science fiction for about a penny a word is no way to make a living, If you really want to make a million, the quickest way is to start your own religion.” — L. Ron Hubbard

L. Ron was as good as his word…. He was talking to Robert Heinlein one day (they were old friends, having attended Annapolis together in their youth….), and complaining about how his science fiction wasn’t selling as well as Bob’s. He made Bob a bet, that he could start a religion, one that had no basis in reality outside his head, and could become richer than Croesus without having to lift a finger…. Bob took the bet, and L. Ron wrote “Dianetics”, the book that is now the basis for the Church of Scientology.

This “religion” has become a reality, with millions of members worldwide, all of whom are firmly convinced of the truth of what is in their bible; in reality, their bible was a load of crap nonsense that came straight out of L. Ron’s head, and has no actual relation to anything in the real world…..Imagine, a religion based on Science, without a single number or equation to be found anywhere in its precepts. I find it to be one of history’s finest jokes, and the shenanigans of the constituents of the “church” provide me with endless entertainment…. Brilliant!…. And, of course, just desserts for those who have adopted such an asinine philosophy, all based on a joke bet….

“It’s hard to decide if T.V. makes morons out of everyone or if it mirrors Americans who really are morons to begin with.” — Martin Mull
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And God said: “Let there be cats!” and He was promptly ignored. — Smart Bee

I don’t often write about cats. I’m not sure why that is, because I love them just about as much as I love dogs. Mankind, in his history on this planet, has engaged the help and companionship of purpose (i.e., life…) of several of our mammalian relatives. Dogs, cats, horses, pigs, sheep, cattle, all have agreed, passively or actively, to join us in the struggle to exist here on Earth. We all provide different life skills that we possess to the mix, skills that complement each other, affording us the strength that arises from group effort. In essence, we have contracted with each other to provide services for actions that we cannot accomplish alone.

Each of those animals who chose to live with us, sharing our food and campfire, shelter and company, have their own motivations for doing so, not all of which are self-serving. In fact, I would say that the reason that dogs and cats often appear to have for their continued relationships with us can mostly be attributed to love. People develop very close, affectionate relationships with those two types of creatures, and the love we feel for them is obviously returned. No other explanation makes sense for explaining why a dog or cat will save a human’s life, by warning of a fire, by attacking an aggressor, or why they will come to us and offer comfort in times of sadness and pain.

Cats are perhaps more independent in their relations with us, but their love is continuously demonstrated, even in those actions that apparently are rude, such as their ability to ignore us when they so desire. I see those times as being the moments when they are defining the limits of their personal space, their need to maintain dignity at all cost. It’s a cat thing. Sometimes their love only shows in the fact that they continue to stay with us, and deign to accept our attentions. After all, in ancient Egypt, cats were worshiped as gods, and I don’t think they’ve ever forgotten…. Bless their pointy little ears…..

I can’t imagine living without dogs and cats. I prefer to have both as companions; often the relationship that develops between the two diametrically opposed species is deep and caring, and observing how they learn to get along with each other is a constant lesson that our political “experts” would benefit from learning.

Before I was summarily dismissed from my last relationship, Noah and I lived with a cat who firmly believed that Noah was his big brother. The cat, named Tony, would follow Noah around, play with him, and preferred to sleep with him at night (I have pictures….). He knew Noah was old, and took care to treat him gently (he was a big, powerful cat…. about 17 lbs, and no fat….). When Noah was struggling to walk upstairs, Tony would walk behind him, swatting at his tail end, spurring him to get up the steps….

It broke my heart when Noah and I were told to move, never to see Tony again. Noah would often wander around the new house, looking for something, then come and look at me as if to ask where Tony was…. it was tough, believe me, and still hurts…. Which goes to show,I like animals much more than I like most humans…. and for good reason….
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“One can’t complain. I have my friends. Someone spoke to me only yesterday.” — A.A. Milne’s Eeyore

Aye, indeed, one can’t complain. Though I live a life of solitude, I am not often lonely. I have my friends, who, though they live elsewhere, are ever as close as the phone. These are the kind of friends of whom I know that even if they call me at 3 AM, or if I would call them at such an hour, they wouldn’t say, “Why are you calling so late?”, but rather, “What do you need?” I count at least 8 people among those I know who fit that definition, and that is wealth indeed….

One of them called me yesterday, just to chat. In turn, I called one of them, who was celebrating her birthday (quietly, as those at our age are wont to do….). Both calls were enough human contact for me. I don’t miss work, or having to deal with the general run of human interaction at a high level; I have to admit, this whole retirement thing fits right in with my preferred style of living. I get to decide how much I deal with people, and that is another form of wealth that is seldom counted…. a true freedom, the freedom to say “no”…. We first learn the power of “no” around age two, but we seldom actually think about how powerful a word it is….

“No, I don’t want to do that…” now has much more meaning and strength when I say it, because I know that it is all my decision. Of course, this makes me fully responsible for what happens, but that is true anyway, and can thus be discounted as a motivating factor. It just helps me to be more careful in the decision-making process. “No, I won’t….” No, you can’t…” All of these options now have more force in my life, and it is a heady sort of power. It isn’t surprising that so many folks, as they get older, take more and more advantage of this power; it is perhaps their first time at feeling in control of their lives….. Unfortunately, this often leads them into becoming negative in their outlook, which causes other problems….

But, for me at least, it’s nice to be able to tell the world to go take a hike now and again. And it sure makes practicing to be a curmudgeon easier!….. No, no, no, I won’t!…..   🙂
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It’s only cheating when you get caught! — Smart Bee

One never knows when a rant will strike…. I almost cruised past this, as I have innumerable times when I’ve seen it before. But then I stopped for a moment and thought about it…. and got angrier and angrier the more I considered it.

My anger arises from my obstructed desire, of course, which, in this case, is the desire to see the morality of mankind become, shall we say, less self-serving, and leave it at that? I’d like to see more honesty in the world, as I see the lack of it, or worse, the active denial of it, as the worst affliction society suffers. The willingness of the wicked to lie and cheat, and the willingness of the general populace to condone it by their indifference to those lies, is the root of almost all the other problems facing our species.

This idea, that it is okay to cheat if nobody is looking, has been adopted as truth by most people. Even the most apparently incorruptible people will cheat to achieve their ends, using the rationality, or the charity, or the innate rightness of their goals as justifiable reasons for the dishonesty in action. It’s called fighting fire with fire, and while it may work when dealing with conflagrations in a forest, the analogy does not translate accurately to the raging fires in human society.

The acceptance of this concept, of the inherent value of cheating, is based on a concept from martial arts, the practice of deception, of movement, of strategy, of information. In a war, or battle, being able to misinform one’s opponent of one’s true disposition and plan is invaluable as a strategy. Control of information is vital in war. Those who do not learn this practice can never be successful in battle, for they have lost before beginning.

Modern politics, the art of war against the people by their rulers, is rife with this strategy. Politicians routinely lie, not just to the people over whom they wish to rule, but to those who rule with them. The entire system of political strategy in this country is based on who can get the voters to believe the lies they are handing out, while simultaneously accusing their opponents of using the self-same tactics. Whichever one convinces the most fools wins the chance to loot the public treasury for the next few years, when we are again subjected to the cycle of lies and cheating….

Ah hell…. it’s a nice looking day outside, and here I am ranting about assholes who aren’t going to change anyway…. something wrong with that picture, so I guess I’ll go do something more constructively fun than this… though I have to admit I feel better…. It always helps me to call Mitt Romney an asshole…. makes my whole morning….
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This turned on me a bit…. it became something of a small ordeal, but, I won…. I’ve fought through to the end of another morning’s ramblings, and it looks like a pretty far-ranging ramble indeed…. Well, such as it is, here it is…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

A fight for four pies….

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1

Ffolkes,
Blood poured down my face from the gash above the eye, annoying but not yet blinding. I slapped a surgiskin patch on it to keep it clean, and keep the blood out of my visor, and wondered how I would live down giving myself the only injury in a live engagement…. I spied a helmet peeking over the fence across the courtyard of the abandoned building, and squeezed off a couple of quick rounds in the general area to let them know I wasn’t asleep.

Now I’m really mad; listening to the DI dress me down for banging my own head on the lander door wasn’t what I had anticipated for my return to quarters after the exercise. I had hoped to catch some extra Z’s, as I’d been boning for the psych strategy test tomorrow, but my clumsiness had ensured a visit to a smarmy, sarcastic medic, followed by the opportunity to hear the dulcet tones of Sergeant O’Brien in full chewing mode……

Enough…. I’m tired of O’Brien, and he hasn’t opened his mouth yet…. Goes to show I shouldn’t let myself write before going to bed…. it always comes out strange when I look at it in the morning…. Either that, or I need to finish one of these little stories when I write it. Oh, I hate when I get all logical on myself….. I’ve had fun before. This isn’t it.

This is getting me nowhere, so I’m going to just get on with this morning’s dive…. Pearling sounds safer than anything else I can think of right now, so…. off we go, then…..
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“Evolution is as much a fact as the earth turning on its axis and going around the sun.  At one time this was called the Copernican theory; but, when evidence for a theory becomes so overwhelming that no informed person can doubt it, it is customary for scientists to call it a fact.  That all present life descended from earlier forms, over vast stretches of geologic time, is as firmly established as Copernican cosmology.  Biologists differ only with respect to theories about how the process operates.” — Martin Gardner, “Irving Kristol and the Facts of Life”, — The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. XII No. 2, ppg. 128-131

Although this is a very clear, concise statement of facts, it fails to account for one piece of evidence that, while seemingly contradictory, actually is proof of its overall relevance. This is the mathematical certainty that the average intelligence of the species is declining over time; I’ve presented this proof previously, and so will not go over it in its entirety now. But, like with the evidence of the Copernican theory, it has been firmly established, so we must, as a species, find some way to overcome our own intransigence.

Our own competence at killing other life forms has propelled our species to the top of the food chain, at least by all appearances. In doing so, we have removed many of the challenges to our survival that had been a check on how fast we increased our numbers. The removal of these limiting factors has allowed us to breed without restraint, which is why we have negated the normal laws, and applied the special laws of peripheral relevance that are dumbing us down.

We breed so fast that reality can’t kill us fast enough for us to get smarter; the number of lower intelligence members of the species has grown to the point where the number of births far outstrips the number of deaths, and the process continues to spiral down, down, down, toward the bottom of the gene pool….

So, if it seems to you that things are getting crazier, and that more stupid stuff keeps happening all the time, don’t panic…. you are right. It IS much crazier than before, and stupid stuff will continue to happen, right up until our species’ name gets called to board the train for extinction… the same train we have sent thousands of other species on to their demise…. SIGH…..

“No matter how cynical you get, it’s impossible to keep up.” — Lily Tomlin
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Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand. — Mark Twain

One of Mark Twain’s most attractive features as a writer was his grasp of common sense. Here is an idea that all of us know instinctively is true; all of us have observed, at one time or another in our lives, just how powerful laughter can be when used against evil.

This is knowledge so ubiquitous that it has been overlooked in today’s political world, and is not used nearly enough to suit me. I think we should, instead of criticizing and degrading folks like Mitt, and Newt, and others of their political ilk, we should just greet everything they say with a burst of sheer delighted laughter, and just point a finger while howling and holding our stomach. I think it would do wonders….

Imagine, if you would, a large room full of average American folks, in their everyday dress, sitting quietly in their chairs,waiting for their hero to come smile and talk to them, just as if they mattered. Instead of hecklers, placed throughout the crowd at strategic points, are people with a well-developed sense of humor, who will proceed to laugh uproariously whenever the candidate makes some outrageous statement, which usually doesn’t take long….

I think, with good timing and the right lines, we could eliminate quite a few of these bozos, embarrassing them so heavily they’ll never show their face in public again…. Well, we can hope, can’t we?  And if nothing else, laughter is good for the soul, so they say…. Let’s see if it can’t be useful in creating a new political landscape, shall we? Personally, I look forward to applying this technique in the coming months leading up to November…..
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Inner State

Bereft, mind empty
none remains real or true
The page is alone.

gigoid

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The text above is from “Dune” by Frank Herbert; the image was found on Facebook. If you try repeating this to yourself when afraid, you will find that it is quite effective, not in reducing fear, but in getting past the fear. I speak from experience in this, having first read this when I was in my teens, and then used it innumerable times in my work with the mentally ill…. Most simply put, it works….
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If you are not the poet, perhaps you can be the poem. — Smart Bee

It has happened…. I couldn’t find a suitable pearl, in just under two hours of searching. I was thorough, I think. I visited two different websites, and checked out a number of categories at each, all to no avail. I’ve developed a callous on my index finger from hitting the “next” button on my database of quotes, and keep seeing the ones I’ve used in the last few days. Naturally, since I used Shakespeare as a subject just yesterday, a good 40% of what I was forced to go through was more crap from his quill…. Murphy at work….

So, we have an unprecedented event today… I’m giving up until tomorrow…. What I have already done will have to do….. Disgusted I am, but resigned as well….
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So be it. I’m not going to consider this a loss; I’m going to think of it as an evolution. That way it will be a challenge, and I can approach it just like any other logical problem. Of course, that’s no guarantee of success, but will serve for the nonce to get on with the day. Considering how the first four hours have gone, it promises to be interesting, in all the senses of the word…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Frankly blank, she pondered swiftly….

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4

Ffolkes,
With reluctance, I approach my keyboard, shaking and nervous. There is something hidden in there, I know it. I can feel it, desperately poised to leap out and grab my fingers, making them form words from I know not where. If I give in, where will we go? How will I know if what is written will fly, or even walk? Will there be poetry? There is no way to tell, and the time is come to decide, for good or ill. I am afraid…. I am very afraid…..

Okay, now that is out of my head, we can get on with this morning’s normal business, or as close to normal as we ever get around here….. Sorry about the first paragraph; that stuff comes out and jumps onto the screen before I can get my head together. I think it is probably some part of me that wants badly to be paid for writing, as opposed to most of me, who just wants it outside the boundaries of my head, and I don’t care whether it’s rewarded in that respect at all. All I want is a bunch of “Likes” from my friends, and I’m good to go…. Considering how much I write, nobody’s going to want to pay me by the word, that’s for sure; they’d go broke in no time….

It’s all moot, though, so we’ll just get on with the daily Pearl…. always best to let the stuff that first comes out fly freely away, and get itself out of the way. It’s best not to mix that stuff with real pearls…. shall we dive?…..
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“We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.” — Helen Keller

Coming from anyone else, this would have less meaning; from Ms. Keller it assumes the aspect of eternal truth. If there is anyone in the world who suffered more to achieve self-hood, I have never heard of them, in all of my long years of reading and learning.

Having experience in working with the deaf, though never when combined with blindness, I can say without fear of contradiction that it takes a strong will and perseverance of unusual depth to be successful. Those who face the world with only three of the usual five senses of perception face a much more difficult path than those of us who can see and hear, and those who succeed, as did Ms. Keller, have indeed learned to be both brave and patient, in the finest sense of those words…..

Nothing more needs to be said about this, really. It is a powerful truth, given to us by someone who paid the full, complete price to learn that truth, and as such, it behooves us to listen, and to pay attention….
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“His ignorance covers the world like a blanket, and there’s scarcely a hole in it anywhere.” — Mark Twain

This year’s presidential election promises to be, if nothing else, an interesting spectacle. I am completely amazed at how the Republican nomination process has shaken down; the winnowing process was filled with ignorance, misguided appeals to fringe conservative groups, in-fighting, and all the usual nonsense that all the pundits go through during these events. In the end, they came up with….. Mitt Romney?

Yep…. perhaps the most dishonest politician ever to partake of the banquet of money the public payroll provides ( he has used his elected positions unmercifully to increase his own private wealth, taking advantage of insider knowledge and the “good-old-boy” circuit to the maximum) to come down the pike in many years. Well, not so many years, I suppose…. we did have an ex-CIA chief in the POTUS office not too long ago, and we all know how honest those folks are….

But, Romney? I’m sorry, it’s almost as if they have given up, and have acknowledged that there is NO ONE in the mainstream of the Republican pantheon of potential candidates who has any real connection to the American people. Romney is firmly entrenched in the 1%, and no matter how often he says otherwise, nobody is buying his assertion that he is not.

Not only have the rest of the party’s pundits given in, they seem to be letting him continue his policy of shooting himself in the foot every other day, by uttering some new lie. His repeated attempts to perform damage control are necessary, as he doesn’t seem to be able to speak without making something up. I know of two websites whose sole purpose consists of identifying each one of them, as they fact-check what he says every day, and every day find new instances of deliberate untruths…. It’s amazing, and would be amusing, if it wasn’t so scary….

It’s scary because, in spite of all his lying, in spite of his flip-flopping on policies according to whatever audience he is addressing, and in spite of his obvious lack of qualifications to BE president, his political machine keeps right on trundling down the public path to the Republican Convention, where his status as the latest incarnation of “The Great White Hope” will be formalized. The Democratic Party is, no doubt, celebrating almost every night, as he is doing their work for them…. They don’t have to say a word, just smile and point to Romney’s latest gaffes, of which there are legion…. Easy money, as far as I can see….

Now, as long as he doesn’t manage to fool enough of the voting public to make it close, we’ll be fine, and come December, all of this will be a memory of just another bad dream…. and if not, well, we can always call Al….

“He probably just wants to take over my CELLS and then EXPLODE  inside me like a BARREL of runny CHOPPED LIVER!  Or maybe he’d like to PSYCHOLOGICALLY TERRORIZE ME until I have no objection to a RIGHT-WING MILITARY TAKEOVER of my apartment!!  I guess I should call AL PACINO!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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“Just remember–when you think all is lost, the future remains.” — Robert Goddard

This is one of those pearls whose depth of meaning and relevance are not apparent at first glimpse. But, in examining it further, I have come to believe that this is something I hope that I gave to my own children, as it is an idea that can save one’s sanity, and one’s hope, in the face of whatever challenges life may present to us. Nothing that happens, no matter how all-encompassing it may be, can ever take away this simple fact; the future remains.

It is often the case that we spend a lot of useless time lamenting those events in our lives that set us back on our road to our goals, or in trying to fix whatever has gone wrong. When we are in that state, we are not looking at the entire picture that is there to be seen; we are focused on just what we are doing. It becomes easy to forget that by acknowledging the future, and its possibility for change, we limit our effectiveness at what we are trying to do, thus increasing our own difficulty.

By accepting the presence and power of change, we can use it as an aid to our progress, rather than as an obstacle to be overcome. Simple, like most deep truth, and effective…. the greatest gifts come in the smallest packages, it is said, and in this case, it is perfectly true…..
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“I have tried lately to read Shakespeare, and found it so intolerably dull that it nauseated me.” — Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

It seems I’m not as alone as I had thought in my lack of enthusiasm for Shakespeare. It’s heartening to know that someone with such a logical mind sees, as do I, Shakespeare’s deliberate obscurity as a vice rather, than the virtue it is made out to be in so many quarters.  I freely admit that some of what he wrote is wonderful, in spots, but 80% is crap, plain and simple, and I can only hope that he wrote it on deadline, and didn’t get paid much for it…. That would explain a lot…..

“The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.” — Bertrand Russell, Marriage and Morals

I offer in proof of my assertion the following excerpts from various works of his; if you can explain to me either their relevance, meaning, or artistic merit, please do so… I am listening…

“I will show myself highly fed and lowly taught.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), All ‘s Well that Ends Well — Act ii, Sc. 2

“One draught above heat makes him a fool; the second mads him; and a third drowns him.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Twelfth Night — Act i, Sc. 5

“All his successors gone before him have done ‘t; and all his ancestors that come after him may.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Merry Wives of Windsor  — Act i, Sc. 1

“A mad fellow met me on the way and told me I had unloaded all the gibbets and pressed the dead bodies. No eye hath seen such scarecrows. I ‘ll not march through Coventry with them, that ‘s flat: nay, and the villains march wide betwixt the legs, as if they had gyves on; for indeed I had the most of them out of prison. There ‘s but a shirt and a half in all my company; and the half-shirt is two napkins tacked together and thrown over the shoulders like an herald’s coat without sleeves.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act iv, Sc. 2

“Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall shine,
His honour and the greatness of his name
Shall be, and make new nations.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry VIII — Act v, Sc. 5

That’s probably enough… pile too many of these in the same place and the odor is incredible!  Besides, more proof can be found almost anywhere…. there’s a lot of this kind of crap floating around the pool…. My invitation stands, by the way; if you can show me how this stuff is any good, please do so! Otherwise, thanks for listening to my gripes….  🙂
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Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea,
Yet never in extremity
It asked a crumb of me.

— Emily Dickinson

I needed this…. While searching for something else, I came across this…. I’ve used it before, months ago, but it never pales. I don’t really have any comments, except…. thank you, Emily…..
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What an odd Pearl! I am sure of only one thing after this…. I’m done with it. Beyond that, I will make no prognostication. Probably a good thing, all in all….

Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!