Tag Archives: Mitt Romney

Literally speaking, it’s figurative…..

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Ffolkes,
Another fine night in Paradise, eh? I don’t know if I can stand all this happy, happy…. It was hard, but I think I’ve made the turn successfully…. time will tell. When I awoke this morning at 0245 (that’s A.M.), with (not) happy tears running down my face, I decided that it was time to turn this misplaced but real sorrow I feel into sardonicism, which, though no more productive, is nonetheless more empowering, and more pleasant to experience. I know exactly why I’m up at this hour; having to go to a psychiatrist appointment this morning has been eating at me ever since I found out I had to do so, as a requirement for my disability claim to be processed. The addition of this requirement at this late stage is typically callous, completely unnecessary from a realistic viewpoint, and totally infuriating, as it adds at least another month or two to the whole process, which has dragged on now for almost two years….

I also HATE the way this makes me whine with resentment. I’m a pretty tolerant person, about some things, but I really, really object to being ass-fucked by bureaucracies, just because they can. The case worker who ordered this requirement is a typical bureaucrat, obviously, as his number one response to anything he doesn’t immediately grasp is to slow down and add time to the process, never considering what effect that is having on the person who is seeking assistance. They don’t care; all they are concerned about is “doing the job right”, completing the paperwork, and meeting all the regulations set up by people who have never had to use the system, thus having no clue as to what their regulations do to people….

The only positive note in all of this is that, the longer they stall at awarding me the money THAT IS MINE, the larger the check for back payments will be. Unfortunately, knowing that doesn’t help now to make me feel any better; that money is still “pie in the sky”, until it hits my bank account. And, no matter how large it is, it doesn’t pay me for all the traumatic contortions that I’m being put through, just to obtain money that is mine to begin with…..

Well, it’s now almost 0330, so I should cease my whiny bullshit and try to turn to sardonic, instead of apoplectic, as I was upon awakening, and as I got when writing the above. This may be filling up space, but it isn’t very appealing to me, and probably not to y’all, either. The good news is that all of this angst and drama pulled another poem out of my head, without blood, but definitely with tears….. It’s a bit raw and feels like it could be refined a bit more, but, it’s going out the way it is, just because I don’t feel like fussing with it…. It’s pretty clear as it is….

Since I don’t have anything else to do right now, I guess I’ll go for a dive, look for some oysters with an appropriate pearl or two. It seems like the right thing to do, given the time and the situation….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Who, being loved, is poor?” — Oscar Wilde

Hmm…. While I happen to agree with this little gem from Oscar, I’m afraid I’m just not in the correct mood to do it justice…. I’ll have to try again…..

“If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.” — Jimmy Buffet

That’s better….. This is a perfect quote for today, since it both points out the problem, and the solution in one lyrical phrase. Jimmy’s good at that kind of turning of a phrase, being an excellent songwriter. Now, if only I could find something, anything, that I found amusing enough to laugh about. At the moment, the only thing that seems to work is letting myself picture the SS caseworker undergoing the pleasures of a stint in deepest HELL! When I envisioned some devilish figure poking him with a pitchfork, I have to admit, I chortled. And when the devil then picked him up with the blade and tossed him into a lake of fire, I guffawed…. and felt much better. Shoulda thought of it a long time ago….

“Baby, after considerable thought I’ve reached the conclusion that the only conceivable legitimate answer to the Universe as constituted is a peal of hysterical laughter.” — Keith Laumer, _Night of Delusions_

Yet more proof of this theorem…. I’ve heard it said all my life that the reason people laugh is so they don’t have to cry, and found it to be absolutely correct. I’ve also heard it said, by those who believe in Him, that if God had wanted us to be sober, He wouldn’t have given us a sense of humor….. While I can’t necessarily agree with the idea of God, I can see what they’re getting at, and agree wholeheartedly. (Hey! Look! Something a Christian and I can agree on!…. Who’d a thunk it?….) I mean, why else would a platypus exist at all?….

“It is ridiculous to suppose that the great head of things, whatever it be, pays any regard to human affairs.” — Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) — Natural History, Book ii, Sect. 20

This sounds a lot more reasonable than supposing that God is the sort of weak, spineless entity that requires worship and obedience from His creations. I mean, if you’re going to have a God, then why give him all the worst characteristics of a fool? The only people I know of who demand that sort of obeisance are pretty psychopathic, and take medications for their delusions; or, in some cases, elected officials will get this way. I just can’t see an entity who is capable of creating a universe even spending one second worrying about being worshiped; it just doesn’t make any sense at all, and, quite frankly, I can’t understand how anyone in their right mind could ever buy into that idea. Such worship would make me feel uncomfortable, at best, and I just can’t see a God worrying about it overlong…. If such a God were to worry about anything, it would be wondering how He had screwed up in making such idiots in the first place…. and, in figuring out what asshole even gave them the idea….

“A long tradition has regarded low self-esteem as a powerful and dangerous cause of violence. Our review has indicated, however, that it is threatened egotism rather than low self-esteem that leads to violence.” — Case Western Reserve University psychology study as quoted in Thomas C. Palmer, Jr.’s Boston Globe article (3-31-96),” Self-Esteem Self-Threatening?”

Here is a clue, though, as to how it all came to this….. As noted previously, Christianity, as with any other religion, gives its followers a sense of entitlement, and an opinion of their importance all out of proportion to reality. It is this sense of elitism that leads to a lot of the violence in the world, rather than low self-esteem; when one argues with a believer, their anger is immediately brought out as a defense against having to consider any validity in the arguments presented, and they will often resort to violence to try to force their beliefs on the unwilling. In fact, I’d say that 90% or more of all violence between humans is a result of a challenge to the pride one feels in their beliefs, or to the preeminence of their religious mania. Yes, greed enters into this equation, but greed is just another form of that same feeling of entitlement, so it doesn’t alter the facts at all; it supports them…..

The trouble with reality, is that it’s taken much too seriously. — Smart Bee

Smart Bee once again comes through…. it has faithfully supplied the proper quotes for this discussion, and here provides the perfect quote to bring this now over-long treatise to a close. We humans have a talent of screwing things up pretty radically, just because we can; it’s a gift. And then, of course, one must factor in that bloody Irish demi-god, Murphy, whose kind attentions are unwelcome by all. I once saw a pearl that said “God created the world in seven days, and then said, “I’m going on vacation…. Murphy, you’re in charge!”, and I knew…. the Universe is just one big joke, and because of our nature, the joke is on us…. so we may as well learn to laugh, and enjoy it the best we can….

“With YOU, I can be MYSELF..  We don’t NEED Dan Rather..”– Zippy the Pinhead
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Pieces of broken spirit….

Deep within the inner abyss, tears lay in wait
Ever on the verge, poised always to infuriate.
Real moments of sadness cracking our need
Swift, deadly waves of appalling terror freed.

Memory hurts badly when visiting now
Leaving me alone, forgetting even how
Killing the sunshine still pouring over all
Darkening all spirit, holding it in thrall.

Knowing no blame seems almost to heal
Yet healing is blunted, plainly not real.
Innocence is pointless compared with pain
On the soul it tattoos an indelible stain.

Hours become days, days turn to a year
Serving up only a compendium of fear.
Blind groping for light finds only dark
In caverns of terror, angry and stark.

Trails of endless sorrow fill up the nights
Confounded at last by unfathomable sights.
No hope can find its way to the fore
Never to sail safely, lost forever more.

~~ gigoid
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“I find that the further I go back, the better things were, whether they happened or not.” — Mark Twain

Sam makes a deeply insightful point here regarding human nature, and any honest man can apply this to himself. A dishonest man, of course, would never admit to such prevarication. But, the rest of us wouldn’t have any problem coming up with a couple of ways to show this to be true. It seems to be a human trait to color the past with our desire to see it as positive, and I think all of us tend to minimize any problems we had in the past, preferring to think that the bad stuff either didn’t happen, or wasn’t as bad as we thought. I’m pretty certain that this tendency arises from the same part of our nature that will deny the present in order to believe in a more hopeful future, up to and including direct denial of what is staring us in the face….. and that is our fear of the unknown, or rather, our fear of our own inability to deal with that unknown….

People under the influence of fear will do amazing things. We’ve all heard about mothers throwing cars off their trapped children, or men racing into a fire to save a loved one…. even this kind of bravery is motivated by the fear of losing those who we care about, as much as it is by any more elevating purpose, like nobility or integrity. Those can also prompt us to perform extraordinary feats, but I believe the original trigger for those qualities remains our fear. Fear is our strongest and best teacher, even though our least favorite; we always remember the lessons it teaches…..

But, there is another side to fear, and that one is not brave at all. It is the part of us that cringes at what we do not know, the one that shies away from the dark, the side of us that stammers when we meet someone new and imposing, the side of us that retreats from what is real into what is not, to save ourselves from experiencing that fear….. It is also an unfortunate fact that too many people allow this feeling to control not only their reaction to many types of uncertainty, but let it color and control one’s whole outlook on life….. This is the kind of fear that breeds racism, and bigotry, and other such societal plagues, as the people who give in to these fears are in full denial of reality, and, what’s more, refuse to even consider any possibility of learning differently. Their fear could easily be eliminated by knowledge of what they fear, but they generally refuse to even look at whatever evidence may be presented to them…..

So, with this in mind, it becomes clearer how over 57 million people in this country voted for an obviously unqualified and dangerously ignorant candidate, merely because they fear the person he faced as his opponent. This number, to me, is very depressing, because it indicates that we still have a long way to go in our society to root our the basic problems of ignorance, bigotry, racism, and fear….. There is still a huge number of people out there who are in denial of reality, and refuse to look at any possibility of change….

Funny thing is, we know exactly who they are now, because they identified themselves at the polls….. About 92% (that is a guess, but an educated one..) of the people who voted for Romney were white, and while it surprises me not at all, it does make me sad, being white myself, because more of the folks who share my ancestry are part of that ignorant, racist group than makes me comfortable. It also may make others believe that ALL of us Caucasians are like that, which is just too bad, as it just isn’t true. Those fearful cowards are NOT the majority of whites, they are in the minority…. to believe otherwise is to give up all hope of change, and I’m not willing to go there.

Ah well, we did win, so that is something positive to which I can cling. It is just a sad situation to me, to realize that there is still a long road to real equality in this nation, and it won’t be any less bumpy than it has up to now. These people are not going to give up their prejudices easily, and it may be necessary to just continue to educate as many of their children as we can, and wait for the rest of them to die off, taking their fear, their racism, and their deliberate ignorance with them to wherever the soul goes after death…..

“How is a man like the weather? Nothing can be done to change either one of them. “– Smart Bee
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Well, not too bad, considering I’ve been up half the night writing it…. The poem was ripped out of me last night, but most of the rest was written starting this morning before 0300, so I’m quite content to let it go as is…. Besides, now I’m too damn tired to do it over, and I have to get ready for the bloody appointment with the shrink…. Ah me, I’ve done all I can do, and you know the rest…..  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!

Poorly constructed fuzzy bears sold here….

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Ffolkes,
Provided the reports I heard last night are true, the election proved to be just what I’d hoped… a solid victory in the name of Reason. As of 9:00 PM, the report I got from a friend with a TV, said that Obama had won the election, with enough electoral votes to secure the win, and ample extra to provide a mandate from the people. I am hopeful the final count of the popular vote is equally weighted, and that a significant majority of the people who voted gave the mandate to the President, to continue trying to repair the damage done by the last 25 years of Republican piracy.

Even if the vote is closer than I hope to see, I imagine the attempted fraud on the part of the Republicans will be unearthed (I understand there is already some video proof circulating on Facebook of voting machine tampering on their part in Pennsylvania….), and hopefully, prosecuted to the full extent of the law. One can hope…. but, I’ll be satisfied with just knowing the danger, if not past entirely, is at least mitigated for another four years….

I’ve now read the morning papers, and feel a bit better. Obama’s victory is confirmed, and the immediate danger is past. However, I was appalled at the sheer number of IDIOTS in this country who voted for Romney; it is clear that if the whites in this country were not now in the minority, the story might have been different. Fortunately, they are not in the majority any longer….

It was also appalling to learn that there were actually small percentages of blacks and Latinos who actually voted for the Republican liar; I can’t imagine WHAT they were thinking, when he made it so obvious that he hates and fears both groups. I also have a hard time understanding why a single woman would vote for a man who so obviously hates them….. I guess it just goes to show the depths to which human stupidity can take someone who makes no effort to determine the truth, or is in denial of that truth….

If 150,000 people do something really stupid………it’s still stupid. — Smart Bee

Or, in the case of yesterday, right around 50,000,000 (fifty million) people provided proof positive of their stupidity…..So be it…. The Republicans somehow managed to maintain their majority in the House, so we can look forward to another four years of them blocking every attempt to make any progress in easing the burdens of the middle and lower classes, and placing a fairer share of those burdens on the people who can afford them, i.e. the 1%….. Only time will tell if any of the attempts to curtail their blatant elitism, and mitigate the damages that catering to them has caused over time, have been at all effective. For us bloggers, it promises to provide a wealth of material over the next few years, as the ongoing battle between the classes continues to wage….

For now, though, some of the tension is released, and I feel better knowing that this particular issue, of the forces of evil threatening to usurp the White House, is now on hold for another four years. So much better, I think it must be time to go for a dive, and see what we can come up with for an interesting discussion today…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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Originally this morning, I had intended to write something less controversial here…. but, Smart Bee is being a bit recalcitrant this morning in coming up with suitable stuff…. so, I’m going ahead with this discussion of religious thought, even though I was trying not to be so sober today….SIGH…. “The best laid plans of mice and men, etc….”  Such are the mysterious ways of Smart Bee….

I believe in god, I just don’t like him. — Smart Bee

Now, here is a concept I can get behind…. I am often unsure of how to express my own beliefs about the idea of a God, or god,  capitalization depending, I suppose, on one’s sense of reverence regarding same. All the twaddle I was taught in Sunday School was an obvious pack of lies; even at age 5 I was unconvinced of the stories they told me. None of them seemed any more real, or plausible, than the cartoons I watched on Saturday morning, and there was certainly no bloodshed in the cartoons…. mayhem, yes, bloodshed, no…. But, the story of the crucifixion is enough to give even the most ghoulish of child nightmares, for sure and for certain…. What were they thinking?….

But, the statement above goes along better with what I would like to believe (which is no more, and no less, than any other human…. believing what we’d LIKE to believe is always more attractive than what MIGHT be true…. neither of which necessarily has anything to do with what is actually REAL….), because most of the stories and lessons we heard as children about God make him out to be a petty, narcissistic, vindictive asshole, to be quite frank. Well, there is that, plus, most of the preachers, to me, seemed to me to be much more interested in other people’s business than their own, with many of the same characteristics of their ignoble so-called creator. None of them were much of a recommendation to me as proper examples of what a good man should be, and none of what I heard about god, or God, put (H)him in that category, either.

“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.” — Jesus Christ (Gnostic Gospel Of Thomas, Saying 70)

Or, better out than in…. so to speak. Which, as you know if you’ve been reading here previously, is something I believe in wholeheartedly….. Jesus, for me, falls into a similar category for me as God, or preachers…. kind of in limbo regarding all the stuff that was, and is, said about him. He was obviously a real historical figure, and not a mythical supernatural being, and as such his words and actions were recorded for posterity. The accuracy of what was written is, to say the least, questionable, if for no other reason that he spoke Aramaic as his primary language…. that is pretty well established.

What many fail to consider is this…. in order for us to hear his words, we have to hear what was translated through at least four or five languages, from the original Aramaic, which is a language no longer spoken anywhere. First, it would have been translated to Latin, or possibly another middle eastern dialect of the time, then into Latin. Then it was translated to probably Italian, French, and Spanish; then into German and, possibly, its first change into English, back when it was still considered to be Middle English…. the first King James version didn’t occur until well after the Renaissance period.

So, my question is this…. how much of the original meaning of his words came through into the English translation? It’s funny, but when, as a teen, I asked this of my pastor, all I could get from him was that, because the words were inspired by God, then the meaning would have been accurately translated by all those different people, as they were doing God’s work…. which, even then, made me go, “Hmm? Could you explain that again, in English, with something, anything, that approaches an answer?” (This was before I spoke Spanish, or German, or anything else but English….)

That seems to be a problem with preachers/priests… they tend to lump everything into the same mold, and expect us to believe that what they say is true, even though there is no direct evidence to support any such twaddle. “The Bible says God said it, I believe it, and that’s the end of it!” seems to be their logical train of deduction, even though there is no logic, or deduction, to it. I wasn’t born in Missouri, but, you’ve got to SHOW ME the evidence before I’ll waste my time trying to place any belief into such grandiose ideas. When one of the church minions asks me, sarcastically, if I expect God to send me a telegram, I usually reply, “Well, that WOULD be more persuasive than expecting me to take it on your word, now, wouldn’t it?”  Idiots….

“God is the immemorial refuge of the incompetent, the helpless, the miserable. They find not only sanctuary in His arms, but also a kind of superiority, soothing to their macerated egos; He will set them above their betters.” — H.L. Mencken

This attitude, the elitist idea that those who believe are somehow superior to those who do not, is one of the root causes of most of the trouble our species is having today. The insane attitude that this planet, and all the other creatures on it, was placed here specifically for our benefit and use, is responsible for all of the pollution that continues to pump into the ecosystem, for all the abuse and chauvinism against the other life forms who live here, and for a great number of the social issues, such as poverty, racism, misogyny, and violence, that plague us as a culture.  We are not only NOT the masters of creation, we are not even qualified to be our own masters; we cause ourselves as much trouble as we do the rest of creation, if not more, all because religionists insist that those who believe them are good, and everyone else is bad…. a stupid idea at best.

“God made Man to his image and likeness, and Man, being a gentleman, returned the compliment.” — Voltaire

Hence, my lack of faith in the nonsensical claptrap that the various religions attempt to pass off as truth. Reality, to me, is scary enough, without the idea of some insane supernatural creature, sitting up in some fanciful Utopia, looking down and giving a rat’s ass about what I’m doing with my life. It just doesn’t make any sense to me to try to visualize a god…. by the very definition of the beast, they cannot be imagined by a creature of lesser scope…. and telling me that you have a direct line to God, and know what he wants me to do with my life, only makes me wish I could order your new medications personally…. Oh, didn’t I mention it? We now have medications that will keep people from believing delusional material, or at least keep them from acting on those beliefs before thinking about them at least a bit….. but, who’s going to give it to a priest, when the doctor believes the same bilge?

Now that I’ve alienated any number of true believers out there, I guess I’ll let this discussion die a natural death. I could obviously continue indefinitely, but, the rest of the day calls, and I should get to it…. If you have any thoughts on these conclusions of mine, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below…. and remember, please, the rules of engagement prohibit outright flaming on this site…. Confine name-calling to short, impersonal epithets, and please, include some logical thought in your responses, as neglecting to do so wastes my time, and everyone else’s…. I don’t mind being called a fool, but, as I said, let’s see your evidence….

“I find your lack of faith in the Force disturbing….” — Darth Vader (Star Wars)
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The Little Boy and the Old Man

Said the little boy, “Sometimes I drop my spoon.”
Said the old man, “I do that too.”
The little boy whispered, “I wet my pants.”
“I do that too,” laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy, “I often cry.”
The old man nodded, “So do I.”
“But worst of all,” said the boy, “it seems
Grown-ups don’t pay attention to me.”
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
“I know what you mean,” said the little old man.

~~  Shel Silverstein
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“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.  I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.  Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me.  It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” — George Bernard Shaw

Now, THAT is a good attitude toward living! Carpe diem, and all that, don’t y’know? I like to think that I approach life in much this same manner, even though I have my moments spent in depression and despair; those moments I consider to be anomalous, and not fully representative of my take on life in general. Many people may not feel this way, and I cannot disparage them for that, as living often requires more of our attention that can be spared to make sure we are positively motivated; it’s not easy to get by in this world, and maintaining a positive outlook can become secondary to just having the wherewithal to do anything at all.

But, George points out a pretty good way to think about it, even if one hasn’t the time or resources to fully appreciate, or apply, the principle as given….. As such, it joins a number of other viewpoints of famous historical figures, all of whom had advice to give to people about how to live well…. below you will find several of these suggestions for living life as well as one is able to live….

“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

“Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.” — Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)

“Honor has not to be won; it must only not be lost.” — Arthur Schopenhauer, Parerga and Paralipomena

In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don’t try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.
— Tao Te Ching

“A wise man first determines what is within his control; all else is then irrelevant.” — Epictetus

Well, there you go…. now, all you have to do is put all of this into practice…. sounds like fun, eh?….
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Another day, another post…. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was getting pretty good at this…. We all need to have our little illusions in life, so, remember what has been said so often, in so many ways…. It’s all good….  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 matter of beating the battery….

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Ffolkes,
O frabjous day! O happy times! At last, at last, the day is here…. and we will no longer have to put up with all the crap political ads, on the air and through the mails, both e- and snail-….. At least not for another four years. We only have to put up with whatever choices are made today…. I hope it all comes out okay…. If there are any more shenanigans on the part of the Republican Party in suppressing votes, or voting machines failing, I swear I will make it a personal campaign to drive that group into the grave, and I’m a literal sort of guy. Same goes for anyone else, Democrat, Libertarian, or whatever. I’m tired of all the lies I’ve had to listen to, and I’m tired of lying, cheating assholes who only want the keys to the treasury trying to convince me they are trustworthy, when I know for a damn fact that NONE of them come anywhere near that word….

Can you tell I’m glad this will be over? I am so tired of being lied to, and not having anything done about it. That is the part of this whole deal that gets to me the most. The idea that public figures can go on a public stage, make outrageous claims that are proven false, and never get called on it, or pinned down about it, just pisses me off royally. That fucker still hasn’t released any taxes, so how did he ever get so many idiots to support him, unless it was based on racism? Bah, humbug! I’m sick of the whole scene, and cannot wait until tomorrow, to see all the garbage that will be printed, and all the weird stuff that will be said, in victory and in defeat, by all the pundits. That part of this show is fun, if the results don’t depress you…. that is a risk….. If we have to spend another four years with the Republicans in power in the House, it’s going to get ugly, I assure you…. and that asshole Mitt the Lying Twitt in the White House would be a disaster for ALL of us….

Ah me, I guess I should have saved some of that angst and emotion for ranting below…. but, not necessary. I spent some time last night ranting about such stuff, so there is no lack of material this morning…. just a need to organize and get it all down…. GASP!…… I just realized that the material on this blog may be changing radically after today. If the incumbent is re-elected to office, as is right and proper, then the reforms being worked on should continue (and if the Dems win back the House, there may actually be some of them able to get past there, and into reality…..), and the material I have to pick from will be reduced a lot. I mean who wants to hear me rant about how cool things are? A rant, by definition, needs something about which to rant, and positive events don’t make the grade…. Ah well, I’ll take the trade-off, and gladly…. I can find more to write about, but I can’t afford to have those fools in the White House….

“People who have nothing to say often do and take a good long time doing it. People who have something to say, often do not. People who are unsure, often go ahead and say it anyway, thus putting them into the first category.” — Smart Bee (I’m pretty sure I don’t land in any of the given categories…. which makes this somewhat superfluous here, though ’tis true of many who write….)

The tone has been set for today, so I’d best get on with it… At this stage, I know not what sort of poem will be used, so you’ll have to take potluck there…. If I come up with an original piece, it should be a doozy…. but, if one doesn’t leak out, the rest is on me, such as it is…. Hopefully, something I write today will stimulate a laugh, or a groan, or a sense of outrage…. and if nothing else, will fill up a space of time you would have otherwise spent on something less fruitful, like another political ad….. rather than go through any of that again, Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Americans have the right and advantage of being armed – unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” — James Madison

I found this yesterday; I’d seen it before, and it seemed serendipitous that it showed up just in time for the event today (psst!…. go vote!….). In my mind, a good standard for figuring out if a person is a true patriot is to get their take on the Second Amendment, and the idea of gun control by the government. As I’ve stated before, I believe the risk of letting the government restrict our rights in this regard, IN ANY WAY, can only lead to the eventual loss of the right altogether, and that is an event that is completely unacceptable to me. Yes, it means that the world will be a dangerous place, but, guess what, ffolkes, that is something that happened a long time before guns. Taking them away from the general populace is not going to stop mass killings, or unjust, insane use of guns against innocent people. That occurs on a daily basis, anyway, but with the guns in the hands of police officers; that is a fact….. So, don’t tell me that the government is more qualified to use guns than I am, because that is just stupid….

Now that I’ve insulted many of you, we’ll try to go on to the election…. didn’t mean to get off into a rant on that, but, wanted to get it out of the way, so that the discussion may go on to other ways that the government is, quite simply, fucking us left and right…. George Carlin had a lot of good points about the corporate masters and their lackeys, the beloved ruling classes, and the priestly hierarchies. He often pointed out that the world has turned into a massive corporate conglomerate, with all the world governments at the mercy of those few individuals who actually control all the resources, and money. Those are people you never hear about, or see in the news, unless it is by intent…. they don’t allow accidents like that to happen…. But rest assured, they exist, and are perfectly content to let the world believe whatever it wants, as long as their profits, their power, and their control over others continues to grow….

“The rifle and handgun are “equalizers”–the weapons of a democracy. Tanks and bombers represent dictatorship.” — Edward Abbey

But, the invisible rulers don’t like the Second Amendment…. it leaves too much chance for independence in the hands of the people, and in case the people ever find out what they have been up to, they want to be able to know where all the guns are that might threaten them….. Having the general populace of this country continue to have access to any significant firepower is not in their best interests, so they work behind the scenes to get people to believe the nonsense about gun control, and how keeping guns from the hands of the citizenry will make life safer…. which is just so much bullshit… plain and simple.  Ultimately, the only real effect of making guns illegal will be to make a large percentage of the American people outlaws, because I don’t think any of us will give them up without resistance, whether overt, or covert…..

“The right to buy weapons is the right to be free.” — A. E. Van Vogt, The Weapon Shops, — in Astounding Science Fiction, December 1942

How, you may ask, does this relate to the election? Well, it doesn’t, directly…. it’s just a pet peeve of mine, and an example of another of our basic rights that are being eroded by politicians, preachers, and those who ignorantly buy into their lies. I don’t trust the Democrats any more than I do the Republicans; perhaps even less, because the Republicans seem to be far more open about their lack of concern with the rights of the people. In that sense, they are easier to spot, and to resist. The Dems are being more subtle, but that doesn’t make them trustworthy; they do, after all, seek that power over others as well. There just seem to be more of them who are motivated to do so out of some community feeling, and concern for others, and those are trying to encompass reforms that are sorely needed.

“A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman, of the next generation.” — James Clarke

The difference between the two parties that have the only chance at the seats of power is extreme in this election; very seldom has the choice that needs to be made been clearer. One can choose to move forward into a future of change, or one can try to return society to the middle ages, with all of its injustice, and misery. It is that simple, and anyone who wishes to argue with that is welcome to present their views…. I’ll knock them down easily, with headlines from the daily news that, although not exactly unbiased or always true, are nonetheless balanced out by the outrageousness of each side’s contributions.

“Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.” — H.L. Mencken

The facts are all our there to see, and they clearly show one candidate whose only interest is in increasing his own power and wealth, and protecting his cronies on Wall Street, his cultish church, and the ruling class; he cares noting about the common man, and makes his disdain obvious. The other is, well, definitely the lesser of two evils…. on the apparent surface he is a dedicated, honest man, seeking reform and change, but, there are indications of less than stellar activity in his administration, too.  But, he obviously cares about the common man much more than his opponent, and since the common man is the one who will be affected the most by what happens this time, the choice is clear. If you don’t want to have to take up regular use of Vaseline and Preparation H, then vote the incumbent…. If you really want to get a good screwing in the nether regions, then vote the opposition…. it is that simple ffolkes…..

“There is but one element of government, and that is THE PEOPLE.  From this element spring all governments.  “For a nation to be free, it is only necessary that she wills it.”  For a nation to be slave, it is only necessary that she wills it.” — John Adams (1735-1826), Letter to John Taylor, 1814
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I Must Have Wanton Poets

MUST have wanton poets, pleasant wits,
Musicians, that with touching of a string
May draw the pliant king which way I please:
Music and poetry is his delight;
Therefore I’ll have Italian masks by night,
Sweet speeches, comedies, and pleasing shows;
And in the day, when he shall walk abroad,
Like sylvan nymphs my pages shall be clad;
My men, like satyrs grazing on the lawns,
Shall with their goat-feet dance the antic hay;
Sometime a lovely boy in Dian’s shape,
With hair that gilds the water as it glides,
Crownets of pearl about his naked arms,
And in his sportful hands an olive-tree,
To hide those parts which men delight to see,
Shall bathe him in a spring; and there, hard by,
One like Actæon, peeping through the grove,
Shall by the angry goddess be transform’d,
And running in the likeness of an hart,
By yelping hounds pull’d down, shall seem to die:
Such things as these best please his majesty.

Christopher Marlowe
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50% of all people are below average….– Shocking Truth

This truth, which is mathematically indisputable, is quite a shock to many people. Oddly enough, human nature is such that nobody at all is constitutionally able to conceive of themselves being part of that 50% that makes up the lower half of the whole. If you ask anyone at all where they would place themselves on a scale of human intelligence, I would wager good money that not a single one would place themselves on that part of the curve. (It’s a bell curve…. Humanity, in all it’s measurable traits, exists on a bell curve….Trust me…..) Yet, the simple fact remains that SOMEBODY has to make up that part of the whole, and the chances that anyone at all is in the lower 50% are exactly even….

This is one of the hardest things for any human to accept, and the power of their denial is in direct proportion to how far below the average they fall. Myself, I would not trade being well above the average for anything…. It can be a pain, for sure, but the perks are very persuasive…. However, there is a lot to be said for the ability to absolutely refute the facts of reality… I think it’s been said before that “ignorance is bliss”, and this is the reason why that is true. Human beings have an incredibly strong sense of denial when it comes to reality, in spite of the obvious drawbacks (I guess if they were able to see the drawbacks, it would be different, but what is, is….), and probably nothing else in our make-up causes more problems for us than that single trait.

This ability to ignore what reality is saying to us can easily be shown to be responsible for the entire concept of global warming and climate change, two subjects that are now forcing their way into our awareness in the most dramatic fashion…. I really can’t recall a November in my 62 years where I was forced to turn on the air conditioning during the day, to combat the 85-90 degree temperatures that are currently par-boiling Northern California. It’s not as if fall hasn’t been nice before, but this is ridiculous. To have summer-like weather this far into fall, even here where the seasons tend to run together in similarity, seems to be to be pretty incontrovertible proof of the weather changes that are happening…. especially if one factors in all the OTHER places in the world where extreme weather is becoming normal.

No, global warming and climate change are FACTS, ffolkes. The evidence is right there for anyone to see…. but, most of the people who are responsible for much of it happening are in complete denial of those facts, so the problem just continues to worsen as time goes on. I suppose when the super-storms start hitting New York and Washington D.C. in mid-summer, flooding out the stock market and congress again, maybe they’ll start admitting to some of it…. Given the history of the power of ignorance and denial, though, I rather think it won’t happen until it’s too late to do much about it. I just hope by then, I’ve figured out how to emigrate to another planet, where, as a natural result of having weeded out the stupid, the more intelligent settlers of new worlds will perhaps learn to live without falling into the process of fouling our own nest…. SIGH…. A pipe dream, I know, but mine own….. and, I can’t see much else that will work, so in that respect, I’m asserting my own form of denial…..
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Well, that was a strange Pearl, to be sure. Smart Bee was playing with me, and ended up forcing that last section out of me without my actual approval. It’s just that after two and a half hours of being unable to hit on a good quote to write about, I had to make do with what Smart Bee insisted upon…. It worked out okay, I guess, but I feel used and abused by my software….. Tomorrow, I swear it will be different, and more humor will find its way into the pearls….It’s election day, so I guess I felt a need for sobriety, to indicate my sense of purpose, I suppose…. Hell, who cares? It’s done, and now I can go vote myself….   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!

Plainly, it’s a case of diet reality….

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5

Ffolkes,
As the moon looked down with massive disdain, several large specimens of domestic droid came rolling down the street. Each the size of a large dog, the droids bristled with cleaning arms and brushes, rolling on a strange assortment of wheels that looked like rubber balls on racks. One by one, they peeled off from the street to move toward houses on each side of the street, most rolling around to the back to enter. The spare shadows from the moon’s pale light gave the scene a soft, romantic air, as if the droids were off to visit their own true loves. But, even in this, a deep winter night in 2088, droids didn’t yet have girlfriends, and the man watching the parade of mechanicals was not interested in fanciful thoughts of droids in love. He only had one thought, and that thought was murder…..

Well, J.D. Robb could probably use it as a start to another novel about Eve Dallas and Roarke, but who knows if Lt. Dallas will still be a cop in 2088?…. She would only be in her late fifties to early sixties, and given the state of medical science, most likely would still be on the job. But, maybe Roarke will have convinced her to retire with him to another planet, where they’ll raise exotic food plants and little Roarkes and Eves…. Just as well, as this intro paragraph is well away from her usual opening chapters, which generally start after the murder is done…. But, it got that stuff out of my head, and that is all that really matters at this point….

Today will be another oddly constructed pearl, as I still haven’t finished the poem, and no other material has surfaced as yet….. Thus, we must begin the day searching for something about which to write. With the election so close, it might be time for a rant on politics, to drive home the need for everyone to make sure to get out there to cast their opinion, wrong-headed though it may be…. Just let me ask each of you heading to the polls to use your noggin to make you choices, not your fears or bigotry, should you be saddled with such.

Use that brain for something other than sitting on, and make the logical choice to vote for the incumbent. No President, good or bad, ever gets much done in just four years, and this one deserves more time to continue with the positive changes that he’s been able to accomplish, in spite of all the partisan opposition he has suffered due to the Republican party’s stated racist platform….. Don’t blame me, just go read what it says, and the racism is obvious…. even their own pundits are getting disgusted with it, as one of them so lucidly stated the other day…

Okay, wrong place to start ranting…. I’ll leave it for later, if that is what comes up in this morning’s dive…. I’ll quit fooling around now, and get on with the program…. Shall we Pearl?…..

Were I so tall to reach the pole,
Or grasp the ocean with my span,
I must be measured by my soul:
The mind ‘s the standard of the man.
— Isaac Watts (1674-1748) — Horae Lyricae, Book ii, False Greatness
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“Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves?  Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. It is better to know even if the knowledge endures only for the moment that comes before destruction than to gain eternal life at the price of a dull and swinish lack of comprehension of a universe that swirls unseen before us in all its wonder. That was the choice of Achilles, and it is mine, too.” — Isaac Asimov, The New Hugo Winners

In the intro section above, I started a rant, which mentioned the four years that the current President has had to try to accomplish his reforms. In that short rant, I mentioned the partisan opposition he has suffered at the hands of the Republican party. What Mr. Asimov states above may be considered as a large part of the reason that the Republicans have been so dead set against allowing him to make any progress. Bigotry and racism are a direct outgrowth of ignorance; this is not something disputable, or subject to debate. It is fact…. and bigotry and racism are the real reasons that these people are so set on defeating Obama. They don’t care at all about how he is doing, or whether or not his policies are good for the country or not…. they don’t even attempt to address those issues, other than to create great outcries at every little issue that comes up in the news, when it suits them to make noise about it.

The Republican party has spent four years blocking all legislation proposed by the White House. This is legislation that would have created millions of jobs, and gone a long way to repairing the damage that eight years of Bush’s unlimited spending and economic disaster caused, but, his opponents have blocked all of it, in spite of the millions of Americans who might have benefited from the bills. Their stated purpose, as outlined four years ago, right after the election in 2008, was to make Obama a one-term president, AT ANY COST, and using any means, including lying. Especially lying…. they’ve reduced that particular act to a science, and are not afraid to use it to their purpose at all. In pursuit of their ignorant, racist agenda, they have absolutely no shame…. It’s quite disgusting, actually, to those of us with more than two functioning brain cells….

“The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions.” — James Russell Lowell

I have been noticing the people on Facebook who are posting political articles for others to read, and have noted a distinct difference in the two styles each side has shown. The liberals who support the incumbent post videos, mostly, that show the Republican candidates stating one of their asinine, dishonest attacks on the President, or an inspirational message from a supporter of the President. In addition, there have been a lot of videos of Republican candidates around the country who have bee voicing their party’s war on women lately, with these idiotic statements about rape, which, quite simply, is something to which they are not even entitled to an opinion, much less policy making powers. Any who, the liberals post this kind of stuff about half the time, along with another half that is supportive stuff that shows off the progress made by Obama, with a message of unity and hope for the future….

None of the Republican supporters I see have come out with anything at all on the “rape” issues…. no comments at all. It’s like they are in total denial, and think that if they ignore it (hmm… wonder what ignoring leads to?…. could it be…. ignorance?) it won’t be true, or will go away. I also see no ads that show Romney, or Ryan, as doing ANYTHING. Period. They have stopped talking to the public, and refuse to talk to reporters. They don’t want to make any more mistakes, as almost every time they’ve opened their mouths, it has benefited the liberals, because of the depth of stupidity shown every time. There are no admiring ads touting how wonderful a leader Mitt the Twitt would be…. There are no detailed explanations of his proposed policies, because every detailed study of those policies has shown them to be totally inadequate, lacking in any understanding of the issues involved, and in some cases, pure lies…. These were independent studies, by the way, not funded by the liberals.

No, the only things the Republicans are posting are negative attack ads on Obama, for all kinds of little BS, from the recent terrorist attack in Bhengazi, to birther nonsense (yes, it STILL gets thrown out there….), to thinly disguised references to his skin color, which just goes to show their real fear…. These people are scared to death because a BLACK man is President, and they will do literally ANYTHING to get him out of that position…. One of the most highly recognizable pundits from the Republican party recently came out to express his dismay at the outright racism and bigotry of the Republican campaign, and to acknowledge the despicable nature of the ignorance that is being displayed.

Yet, the polls (which I regard as purely fictional, and merely another attempt by the media to assert their own form of mind control….. I am of the firm opinion that publishing a poll before the election should be illegal…. let us go to the polls without any precognition…. which is how it is supposed to work, now, isn’t it?…)…. the polls say that the race is close, and that it may be decided in the electoral college, rather than at the polls themselves. Which is, to me, another opportunity for the Republicans to try to work their manipulation and voter suppression techniques to try to affect the outcome in their favor…. They did it successfully with GW Bush, twice, so it’s not like it hasn’t already been tested as a viable method of winning elections. It’s just that in this case, there is a distinct danger of the entire country falling back into the middle ages, should their cheating ways prevail again….

So, what I am suggesting, to all those out there with any shred of common sense and intelligence,  is that we remove that issue, by going to the polls in such numbers as to make their ignorance and bigotry immaterial. Let us show them that there are more of us than they think there are, and we are not going to allow them to drag us back over a hundred years, eliminating all the progress in social issues that we have struggled so hard to obtain in that time. The fate of millions of seniors, women, people of color, gays, and just about anyone who isn’t a rich white male will be seriously threatened by a Republican win in three days…. so let us remove their chances of winning, by going out to vote for Obama in record numbers everywhere, and make the electoral college  a matter of form. (Then we can start the process to get rid of the college altogether…. should’ve happened fifty years ago… it’s a relic of the past, and should stay there….)

Go vote, ffolkes, and please, get it right!…..
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Days and Nights of Eire

Wondrously comforting, a dream creeps oft into my mind
On the elven hills of Eire lives the vision I will find.
Elegant, gracious, everlastingly draped in beauty
Just payment of simple homage lives as joyous duty.

Fairies and druids walk abroad in ghostly parade
Gracing each hearth with its own welcoming shade.
Castles and heroes still live in tale and song
Proving love for the land in each heart strong.

From cold of winter into glorious young spring
Brown, and gray, to emerald green songs to sing
Soft rains always follow winter’s great tempest
As Eire dons an emerald coat from east to west.

Old and strong, connections call out in dreams
Nothing that was known remains as it seems.
Immersion in ancient runes and battle hymns
Offering sanity in place of grievous whims.

Time and place can tell a much different tale
Judgment should never be a final sale.
Yet something solid and real calls me to go see
Where dreams of loving beauty may actually be….

~~ gigoid

Whew! Finally…. Well, there you go… I hope it was worth the wait…. Actually, it may grow again; it’s okay, but feels not quite done, somehow… ah well, time will tell….
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:GIGO: /gi:’goh/ [acronym] 1. `Garbage In, Garbage Out’ — usually said in response to {luser}s who complain that a program didn’t “do the right thing” when given imperfect input or otherwise mistreated in some way.  Also commonly used to describe failures in human decision making due to faulty, incomplete, or imprecise data.  2. `Garbage In, Gospel Out’: this more recent expansion is a sardonic comment on the tendency human beings have to put excessive trust in `computerized’ data. — from The on-line Hacker Jargon File V423

Many years ago, I adopted the user name gigoid, taking it from the above definition, and adding an “id” for, of course, identification purposes; with that suffix, I am assured of human status, i.e. hominid, humanoid, etc.  I chose this acronym because it is the perfect reminder of the basic integrity that is built into all computers, i.e., they can only do what we tell them to do, and cannot lie. Thus, if our results are wrong, the error lies in our input, not in the computer; this automatically cuts in half the number of places to look for the problem. I like to think that my awareness of this principle characteristic of how computers work is what has allowed me to use computers without suffering many of the common difficulties such as crashes, freezes, and blue screens of death. Only once have I ever encountered one of those on my own computer, and that was the result of a virus my defenses missed… my fault, of course, I hadn’t updated soon enough…

Oh, I’ve encountered that famous blue screen before, when I worked as a computer tech back in the late 90’s, setting up LAN’s and office systems for H&R Block…. a significant percentage of machines were dead soon after coming out of the factory box. But, on my own computers, I am very careful never to break any of the basic rules that govern those kinds of mishaps…. and I owe it all to a wise choice of user name…. Well, it’s fun to think about it that way anyway….

So, who is gigoid? Well, if you’ve hung about this blog site for long, I’ve certainly given y’all enough of my inner workings to look at, in my rants, and in my old school pearls, as well as in my poetry, which is quite revealing, to me….. but, then, if it wasn’t, I most likely couldn’t write it…. Any who, to give the short answer to that question, I’ll post below some pearls that give insight into what I believe to be true, and how I try to live…. Like any weak human, I don’t always succeed at being as moral or ethical as I can be, but, I do try, and I do feel pangs of regret when I don’t, so cut me some slack, eh? Just kidding…. What I am is all what I am, though I’m not Popeye…. and these pearls are what I see in the mirror…..

“They are able because they think they are able.” — Virgil

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.  We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly.  We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” — Aristotle

“An epigram often flashes light into regions where reason shines but dimly.” — E. P. Whipple

It is my firm belief that it is a mistake to hold firm beliefs. — Smart Bee

Computers can never replace human stupidity. — Smart Bee

“Do not confuse “duty” with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.
But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants “just a few minutes of your time, please — this won’t take long.” Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time — and squawk for more!
So learn to say No – and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you. (This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don’t do it because it is “expected” of you.) ” — Lazarus Long, from Time Enough for Love, by Robert Heinlein

“Do I look like someone who cares about what God thinks?” — Zippy the Pinhead

Well, that’s enough about me…. Hope this helps clear up any confusion, and if not, well, hey, life goes on…. all we can do is all we can do, and no more….
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Odd, indeed…. and long, too. I wasn’t sure the poem was going to make it, and it may not be all the way done, but, it’s out, and will stand as is for now…. I’m not sure about it right now, I’m too close to it to judge impartially…. so, I’ll take a chance, and let it go out as it is. I’m brave, sometimes…. but,then, what can happen, besides somebody hating it? I can handle that okay, so…. any who, enough of my rambling for one day…. I see that I have possibly gone a bit overboard in that respect today. Such is life, or as the French would say, literally, c’est la vie…. 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 good deal in a truck school….

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2

Ffolkes,

“I’m confused – more than usual, that is.” — Smart Bee

I am considering using this as the opening line for this blog every day, much like the sig file I use at the end (“Sometimes I sits and….”)…. It certainly fits my usual state of mind when I sit down to write in the mornings. In fact, it occurs so often, it could be considered a ritualistic behavior, designed to mitigate the overall impact of having to wake up and get moving. I have learned enough in my years to make sure that I own a programmable coffee maker, that has my coffee ready for me when I get up. But, I still have to get up, stir in the condiments I use, then go stare at the computer while it boots up…. by the time I’ve sipped a few ounces down, and I’m beginning to be able to focus my vision on the screen, well, that is when the confusion becomes a factor…. right when, of course, it is of the least use to me…. See what I mean about Murphy?…..

I promised y’all, however, that I wouldn’t whine, so I won’t. I will merely note the state of confusion, and let it go at that, allowing you to snicker behind your hankies and roll your eyes at your discretion…. Let it never be said that I tried to limit your choices here, loud as I do tend to get sometimes in my enthusiasm for what I’m saying…. just chalk it up to the passion that goes along with being a triple Scorpio, and it will suffice, even if it doesn’t make any more sense. Remember, reality has no provisions listed that require ANYTHING to make sense, much less me….

You may be glad to know that most of the confusion has cleared, and been replaced by anger, or more accurately, frustration with my own body. Just when I had thought that things might start moving in a better direction, my lack of dietary balance rises up to cause other problems. I swear I don’t know whether to spit or whistle, not that either would help much, nor, in this case, make me feel much better….. not much will do so, in this instance. But, damn it, I’m not going to let this get me…… I am repeating that phrase to myself, over and over, in the hopes that my body will be persuaded to stop what it has begun…. I won’t, I won’t, I won’t….

Silly creatures, aren’t we? Apply a bit of pressure, and we retreat back to childhood in our reactions. I’m an adult, of this there is no further doubt…. whether I want to be or not. Responding to physical discomfort by chanting the mantra of all two-year olds is, as the years have impressed on me, not the most effective way of dealing with reality. Just because it fulfills some inner tape we run as part of our behavioral repertoire is no good reason to let it disturb our serenity, such as it exists. You know what, though? Our bodies don’t care how old we are, they just want the pain/discomfort to stop, and they don’t care if it takes a two-year old’s mentality and behavior to get it done…. in other words, maturity goes right into the toilet in the face of undue, or apparently unwarranted pain….

It seems as if the condition is backing off somewhat…. perhaps my inner appeal to reason has struck a chord, and persuaded whatever it is to mellow out for a while…. whatever, I’ll take it…. I started both the pearls below last night, getting a jump, as it were, so, I ‘ll do my best now to finish them off, then all we’ll need to do is either write, or find, an appropriate piece of poetry to fill in the central portion of today’s effort. I’m not sure how this will work out, but, we’ll see…. All you can do is all you can do, and no more….. so, let’s do what we can….. Shall we Pearl?….
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“It is a misconception that spirituality brings everlasting happiness. There is no such thing. Sadness still comes to the wise, but, unlike most people, their clarity of mind allows them to see beyond the temporal emotionalism of the moment. They are farseeing, and so happiness and sorrow become the same to them.” — Deng Ming-Dao

This is a very subtle and difficult concept for anyone, of Western or Eastern orientation to reality, to fully understand, and even harder to put into action in everyday life…. It is also an idea I’m not sure I can completely hold to be true, in one sense at least. I can see how learning to accept both happiness and sorrow as being equal in value, in terms of how reality is structured is important to understanding. The very fact that we perceive them as opposites reflects our way of seeing the universe, as a dichotomy, with each characteristic balanced by its spiritual opposite, its mirror image, as it were; it follows that being able to recognize this without experiencing any discomfort or imbalance would be a valuable approach.

But, I cannot say that they are the same to me, for as a human, it is part of my nature to “like” the happiness, and “dislike” the sorrow; as people, we are going to have an emotional reaction to what we perceive, regardless of any other factors. It seems to me that the lesson to be learned, then, is to not allow our emotional preferences to  influence our inner state, beyond the state of acknowledging it. Our task then becomes to learn to accept it, and appreciate it for its place in reality, without letting our feelings about that place bring us to imbalance within our own spirit….  As I said, subtle and difficult, and more easily said than done, to be sure…..

The events surrounding this morning’s Pearl, as outlined in the intro, serve well to demonstrate how this principle can be useful to us in a very real sense….. I am unbalanced this morning, with my physical being complaining in no uncertain terms that it is displeased with the current state of my diet. This imbalance takes the form of severe discomfort, with some pain located in specific areas of concern. In addressing how I would deal with the feelings it generates, in the above section, it could be said that I was attempting to see past the event itself, into the meaning of it. This encourages some distance between the mind, and the actual events, and consequently, some distance from the feelings. With the sense of panic that accompanies such feelings abated, it is possible to adjust one’s attention to other places in the mind, and the imbalance of the negative feelings is brought back into proper  alignment….

As with most types of pain, the feelings we have in reaction make the pain worse, if only by forcing our attention onto it. By creating some inner distance from those feelings, we take control of our attention, and by doing so, reduce the amount of pain/discomfort by a significant factor…. The pain doesn’t go away, but it is reduced enough so we can deal with it in a more productive fashion. It is by no means easy; the pain/discomfort doesn’t like giving up its position in the forefront of the mind’s attention. But, as can be seen by this very pearl, it can free us from the tyranny that our own bodies may try to impose upon us…. In a very real sense, learning this lesson, and how to apply it to the real world, can free our minds completely, to exist in a place where good and bad do not affect our inner balance….

“If you regard discomfort as a normal condition you are not likely to be troubled by want.” — Ieyasu’s maxims

This maxim points to one of the important attitudes one must cultivate, in order for this principle to work properly. It reminds me of the old story about the colonist and the Indian, walking through the forest in winter, sometime in the late 1600’s. The colonist is fully dressed against the cold in leathers, sweaters, jackets, furs, boots, and full beard; the Indian is in moccasins, breech cloth, and skin, despite the snow all around. The colonist says to the Indian, “Aren’t you cold?” The Indian asks in return, “Is your face cold?” “Well, yeah, but I’m used to that,” is the reply….. The Indian just smiles, and says, “Me all face….”

Put most simply, it’s all in what you are used to…. So, get used to learning to adjust your own mind, teaching it to control its reaction to events of all types, rather than letting the world, and its unwelcome events, adjust it for you….. Me, I’d hate to have the words “willy nilly” apply to me in ANY respect….. I prefer having some say in the matter…. and I’ll tell you, it has been an invaluable tool this morning, else there would be no Pearl today…..

And if I laugh at any mortal thing,
‘T is that I may not weep.
— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Don Juan, Canto iv, Stanza 4
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Ogden Nash, I think….

Common Cold

Go hang yourself, you old M.D.!
You shall not sneer at me.
Pick up your hat and stethoscope,
Go wash your mouth with laundry soap;
I contemplate a joy exquisite
I’m not paying you for your visit.
I did not call you to be told
My malady is a common cold.

By pounding brow and swollen lip;
By fever’s hot and scaly grip;
By those two red redundant eyes
That weep like woeful April skies;
By racking snuffle, snort, and sniff;
By handkerchief after handkerchief;
This cold you wave away as naught
Is the damnedest cold man ever caught!

Give ear, you scientific fossil!
Here is the genuine Cold Colossal;
The Cold of which researchers dream,
The Perfect Cold, the Cold Supreme.
This honored system humbly holds
The Super-cold to end all colds;
The Cold Crusading for Democracy;
The Führer of the Streptococcracy.

Bacilli swarm within my portals
Such as were ne’er conceived by mortals,
But bred by scientists wise and hoary
In some Olympic laboratory;
Bacteria as large as mice,
With feet of fire and heads of ice
Who never interrupt for slumber
Their stamping elephantine rumba.

A common cold, gadzooks, forsooth!
Ah, yes. And Lincoln was jostled by Booth;
Don Juan was a budding gallant,
And Shakespeare’s plays show signs of talent;
The Arctic winter is fairly coolish,
And your diagnosis is fairly foolish.
Oh what a derision history holds
For the man who belittled the Cold of Colds!

Ogden Nash
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“Abolition of a woman’s right to abortion, when and if she wants it, amounts to compulsory maternity: a form of rape by the State.” — Edward Abbey

This is a difficult pearl to write, as it turns out….. I’ve been cutting and pasting it ahead now for a week or two, trying to get past the anger I feel whenever I think about the number of asshole men who actively perpetrate the oppression of women in our society, a number far too large for my taste, and one I hope to make smaller before I leave this world…. one way or another. I’d prefer to have them listen to me, and consider what I say to them, and subsequently change their ways…. but, if it takes more than that, say, the judicious application of brute force upon their person, well, I hope to be able to oblige them…. because, in my world, any man who is cowardly enough to try to assume his delusional superiority over women deserves whatever they get from other men, as well as from women strong enough to fight back….

“You’re a very strong woman… Though this would be a traumatic experience that you would never forget, I think that you would be very successful in
life.” — Senator Dan Quayle telling an 11-year-old girl — why he would want her to have the baby if she were raped by her father, 10/18/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)

Note, please that this quote from the Quail was made 20 years ago…. yet, the Republican party includes this very atrocity as a part of its platform…. disguised of course, and never directly addressed, or even obliquely alluded to, but, these attitudes are just the same now as they were then; perhaps even worse. A very similar statement, just one of several in the same vein, was made in the last couple of weeks by a currently running candidate for the Senate, and the R/R ticket has steadfastly refused to speak out against what the man said…. or about any of the other statements by the low-class misogynists now inhabiting the entire Republican party. In fact, Lyin’ Ryan is already on record as having made the same assertion as Mr. Quayle did in 1988, earlier in this year’s campaign.

“The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life — the children; those who are in the twilight of life — the aged; and those who are in the shadows of life — the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” — Hubert Humphrey

These asinine fools would have us believe that their entire concern in this issue is for the fetus…. when in reality it is their own sexual insecurities that they are protecting, by taking the decision about any such matters, involving women’s health, out of the hands of the women involved, and putting it in the hands of men, who are deathly afraid of the women’s sexuality, because they automatically feel inferior…. This creates the reaction of rage, or anger, which always covers our fears, and these cowards in men’s clothing cover it all by spouting their lies and insanity even more….

I find at this point that I must bring this to a (temporary) end…. I am not paying attention to the lesson of today’s first section, and my anger at these assholes is getting to the point where I want to put away the computer and pick up my stick, to go looking for a few of them to bludgeon until some of my anger is released. That, while satisfying in the short run, would no doubt lead to complications I’m not prepared to accept, so….. but, I’ll be back to this subject, be sure…. I need to ask all those women out there who are supporting Romney and Ryan just when it was they lost their minds….
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Boy, if it ain’t one thing, it’s another! Due to unforeseen but amicable changes in scheduling, this Pearl has been truncated a trifle, but apparently without harm…. at least on first pass. Since it is done, we’re going to let if fly without any further checks, other than to see what spell-checker has freaked about…. Tomorrow promises to be, well, different, which, I guess, is all we can really hope for…..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!

Night birds sing their own songs….

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1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Politics…. is poopadoodle….” ~~ Fred, the Bird, from “Odds Bodkins”, an iconic comic strip from the 60’s and early 70’s
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“Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.” — D.H. Lawrence

Alone And Drinking Under The Moon

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

Li Po

“No poems can please nor live long which are written by water-drinkers.” — Horace (65-8 B.C.)
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“I often have long conversations all by myself, and I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word I am saying.” — Oscar Wilde

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Plagiarizing from life…..

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5

Ffolkes,
I am finding my PTSD to be more of an inconvenience these days, now that it has chosen to re-activate itself as a significant factor in my life. The stress of living in poverty, with the uncertainty of whether it will ever change, has brought me to this point, and I can’t say that I am real happy about it…. I’m not sleeping well at all, and the days are longer and longer, especially when I’m tired all the damn time. It’s not like I have any important stuff to do, other than to make sure the stuff is done for my disability case, and that only takes a few minutes of time, separated by months and months of waiting for them to do something with what I submit to them….

Now, I’m once again on hold while they meander through their inanities, taking their sweet time, and I sit here fuming…. I now have to go on November 8th to an appointment with a psychiatrist, so he can generate a report on the status of my PTSD….. all because I happened to mention it in one of the papers I submitted, and they don’t have any record of treatment for it….. Well, of course they don’t…. I haven’t been able to afford to go to a psychiatrist for years, not at $30 or more a pop for the co-payment; I can’t afford to take all of the medications ordered for me, much less add on an expense like that. So, I’ve had to just live with it, just like I live with the constant pain in my back and hips, or the constant fatigue I feel from my diverticulosis…. and, I’ve learned to cope with the constant feeling of impending doom, and the edge of hysteria just under the surface, ready to have me burst into tears at the drop of an emotional hat.

Once this doctor gives them his opinion, I may just be able to get some kind of real decision as to my whether or not to award my disability….. if they deny it a second time, I am not sure just how badly I will react…. I am already living on the edge, and suffering another delay will just about be a final straw….. and I find it to be a bit ominous that my mind refuses to think about it…..

It’s like it is hiding from me exactly what it plans to do if that kind of obstacle is thrown up in front of me…. and if it is hiding that knowledge from ME, it means it knows that I won’t approve, which means the planned explosion is more violent than even I will consider, if in my right mind…. The trouble is, if this happens like that, I know I WON’T be in my right mind…. The fantasies that I have envisioned at times in my head, thinking about what I’d like to do to those bureaucratic assholes, are, to be honest, pretty graphically horrendous…. bloody body parts are a minor issue, believe me…..

Ah well, I guess my violent fantasies will have to wait…. again. Throughout a fairly long life, I’ve managed to avoid violent behavior pretty well, outside of work; dealing with violence at work was, for a long time, the order of the day, but that is another story for another time. Mostly, I was able to find other methods of dealing with my problems in life; I’ve always believed what Salvor Hardin said, (one of the protagonists in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series of books), to wit: “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”  But, it has always been there, and I’ve dealt with it, on my terms, as well as its own…. and I’m pretty damn good at it, when I choose to engage….

I suppose I’m just going to have to take it as it plays out, and make my decisions “ala carte”, so to speak. It is what I end up doing every time, anyway….. as do we all. Life changes on us, every day, every way, and we can either hold on and learn to enjoy the ride, or spend our time picking ourselves up from wherever we have been tossed, and trying to clamber back aboard…. I guess blowing up the train won’t help this time…. Such is life in the fast lane, ffolkes….. I’m done whining now, so…. Shall we Pearl?….

“Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.” — Things We Can Learn From Dogs
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“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.” — Alexander Frazer Tyler (1748-1813), — The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic

It has been established pretty well that the premises as presented in this scholarly tome from the 19th century are essentially true; most scholars agree with Mssr. Tyler’s assessment of historical forces as they have played out, with very little to pick at that doesn’t reek of jealousy for not having written it themselves. In light of this, it then becomes the task of the moment to run a comparative study, to gauge the current temper of the country we inhabit, and form an opinion as to where on the scale we are living now….. This, of course, will no doubt engender as many different responses as their are responders….. fortunately for the time factor involved, the number of responses is naturally limited to one…. my own. You may, of course, use the comments section to respond, and are welcome, even encouraged to do so…. but, if not, here is my take on it….

I thought for a time that we should be placed in the “apathy” stage, or possibly the “complacency” level. But, then I realized that, no, we are most certainly caught, as we have been for some time, in the “selfish” stage…. It began, really, with Nixon, obviously, as he was the perfect example of a man who went into public service for purely selfish reasons…. he loved the power that being President, or any other public office, gave him, and the simple fact that, as a public official, people HAD to pay attention to him. My whole life, I always saw him as that geeky kid nobody would ever pick for their team, who discovered the attraction that being an elected official had for that kind of emotional neediness.

It is dangerous, I know, to be critical of Nixon’s replacement, JFK; his assassination guaranteed his martyr status for the liberal left. But, regardless, he was far from perfect, and in fact, was one of the most effective manipulators of public opinion ever to grace the White House. His relatively liberal political agenda favored the middle class, not because of his overpowering virtue, but because he saw that as his power base, and was, in some ways, fundamentally opposed to much of the agenda of the political right. That opposition is why the corporate masters had him killed; they already had their paid lackey, LBJ, in place to assume the role they wished him to play, so, all in all, they lost very little time at all in the solidification of the corporate grasp on the throat of America….

Then, of course, came Saint Ronnie…. the very heart of evil. A man who smiled really big, as he repeatedly drove his knife into the backs of the American middle and lower classes. He probably actually believed the whole “trickle down” theory of economics that he postulated and forced on the American people; I can see him being that actively, deliberately stupid; he did, after all, graduate from USC…. that unashamed cradle of the 1%, where virtually the entire graduating law classes step right into politically connected positions with prestigious firms who act as the defenders of the elite. I don’t think that the legal term, pro bono, is even taught at USC; doing something for nothing doesn’t compute in their world….it’s all about the billable hours….

Ah, well, I could spout off for a long time, listing the crimes perpetrated on the American public over the last 50 years by the corporate masters who control the world; even those who get into power with ideas of reform are either ridiculed for manufactured immorality, blocked by oppositional lawmakers, or victimized by lies and innuendo spread maliciously by the conservative right, that easily manipulable segment of the population so beloved by the ruling classes for their sheer stupidity, and the ease with which they can be misled.

But, trying to let folks know about the people out there who are screwing them left and right is kind of like shouting into the wind; tiring, and not very productive. Let it suffice to say that I believe we are deeply ensconced in the stage of history known as “selfish” according to the above scale. I don’t think there is much doubt of it, though I’m willing to hear arguments…. feel free to comment below. In the mean time, I’m going to let this thousand or so words on the subject speak for themselves…. Don’t forget to vote, little as it means…. it is the only gesture we have to make, so make it count….

“I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education.” — Wilson Mizner

As smart as a politician/lawyer is honest. — Smart Bee
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“What do you want me to do?  Say it again in worse English?” — Robert Frost, when asked about the meaning of one of his poems.

A Late Walk

When I go up through the mowing field,
The headless aftermath,
Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
Half closes the garden path.

And when I come to the garden ground,
The whir of sober birds
Up from the tangle of withered weeds
Is sadder than any words

A tree beside the wall stands bare,
But a leaf that lingered brown,
Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
Comes softly rattling down.

I end not far from my going forth
By picking the faded blue
Of the last remaining aster flower
To carry again to you.

Robert Frost
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WARNING: X-Rated Material below…. If the following offends you, well, hey, don’t read it…. I happen to think it’s funny, so, deal with it….  🙂

I know I’ve spoken to you before about the darker side of Pooh…. He’s actually, for a Bear with Very Little Brains, a pretty swinging guy, and stays active in a part of town that I’m don’t even go to…. In fact, he has been caught en flagrante delecto on numerous occasions, and has never shown a bit of regret, or a shred of remorse. He is an incorrigible sex addict, which is, when you stop to think about it, really, really sick…. I give you now more examples of just how nasty he has been known to be….

— Bother! said Pooh, with a sexy grin, as he tied up his favorite redhead!!

— Bother! said Pooh, as Macgyver ran to him with his pants down.

— Bother! said Pooh, when Christopher Robin came in his mouth.

— Bother! said Pooh, as Piglet pulled out the Anal Intruder.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he rolled over and lit a cigarette.

And, worst of all…..

— Bother! said Pooh, as he flashed a group of nuns.

I wouldn’t have believed it, if I didn’t see them there in black and white….. Hey, it’s not any harder to believe this, than it is to believe some of the shit coming out of Mitt the Twitt’s mouth, now, is it?….   🙂
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Well, it is definitely not the best Pearl to ever come down the Pike, but, it has the advantage of being finished, so it will have to do. Now I hope I can get it published without too much hassle…. In any case, it has been a bit of a struggle, so I’m counting this one as a win….. 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!

Penny has yet to dance the lambada….

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Ffolkes,
Yesterday, I corrected Time, so we are all caught up in that respect; the missing day has been banished, and no longer exists, for our purposes. This has, unfortunately, allowed Murphy a whole new 24 hour period in which to plan his persecutory activities, and I’m a bit timorous about diving right into a day where he’s had so much leeway for setting up potential chaos. I don’t even have a clue as to where he might strike…. my head seems fairly clear, but I have yet to examine or test out Smart Bee. He could have messed with the program somehow, as I don’t think geeking is beyond his skill set; I’ve been hit too often with little glitches that only could have come from him….. Ya never know, with Murphy….

I suppose one of the reasons I make such a good target for him, and his minions, is that I really, really hate his guts. I don’t care how often he claims it’s his job; I don’t care that the universe HAS to have someone like him, to maintain balances. He’s an asshole, plain and simple, and I don’t care how important he is to the universe. He could figure out ways to fuck with people less than he does; it is obvious to the most casual, and causal, observer that he goes above and beyond the call of his job to create special pain for people. To me, this is unacceptable, and unforgivable…. to have the choice, to make pain for innocent folks, or to mess with them, just because you can, is completely the work of an asshole, and is deserving of the disrespect of every honorable man alive….

If you can’t tell, I’m still angry at Murphy from his actions on Friday morning…. Having the Social Security case worker call me at 0801, to suggest I might wish to WAIT LONGER to get my benefits, was a  brilliant stroke on his part, if one considers such acts dispassionately. Nothing could have ruined my day, and my month, any better than that simple call. I did make the analyst pay, after a fashion…. Since his question had to do with my PTSD, I treated him to a full-on episode of emotional breakdown, at flash speed, complete with blubbering, shouting, and pressured speech, with the particular added bonus of my erudition at full out attack mode…. the man definitely got an earful in a short time….

I don’t know if that will help or hinder, and since the lawyer has yet to return my call (they’re a bit lax about that…. we’ll have to have another word or two on the subject, I can see…..), I am not sure how to think about it. I’m hoping I made it clear to the analyst that any further delays in awarding my benefits would only have a bad effect on me, and that their intransigent dallying is causing me no end of problems, both physical and emotional. Not that they care, particularly, that I can see, but at least I’ve made my position clear to them…. I can only hope the lawyer agrees…. and if not, well, they are the ones who are supposed to be guiding and controlling this process; they should start doing that, to my way of looking at it…. As may be apparent, my patience with the entire process is getting a bit thin…. and if something doesn’t break soon, I’m going to start looking for targets for my angst, which, I can assure you, is building up to a nice, big explosion….

Since I’m up and writing, and it’s only 0710 (bounced up at 0635 for some reason…. might have been the falling asleep at 2100 that did it…. but, hey, how ’bout them Giants, eh?…..) I suppose I’d best get started on today’s Pearl. Once again, I’m starting with zero material…. no quotes yet, and no incipient poetry, at least not at this juncture. Ah well, it’s been worse, for sure…. Shall we Pearl?……
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“Why does this magnificent applied science, which saves work and makes life easier, bring us so little happiness?  The simple answer runs: Because we have not yet learned to make sensible use of it.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended, civilizations are built up, excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top, and then it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine conks. It seems to start up all right and runs a few yards, and then it breaks down.” — C. S. Lewis

Sometimes it takes two to make the correct point….. Between these two quotes, we are given a glimpse of both the problem that mankind suffers from most, and the solution to that problem. Of course, the solution is one that, so far, has been unpalatable to most people, but, it is at least visible for discussion…. Most simply put, the whole problem that our species confronts can be ascribed to our spiritual deficits, as they pertain to both our treatment of each other, and our treatment of the world in which we live…..

In the first case, there are still too many people who think it is acceptable to seek power over others; in the second case, that spiritual flaw translates into a sense of entitlement that extends to how we utilize the resources of the planet, to wit: without proper or even minimal restraint. In the sphere of interactions between people, this deficit leads to misunderstandings, cruelty, slavery, and war…. in the case of planetary resources, it leads to strip-mining and unsustainable industry, unchecked pollution, and ecological suicide…..

I could spend a long time detailing just how far along the path to extinction our species has come; in fact, I’ve done so many times in the past. Such detailing is to little effect, however, so today we will assume it is already done, and we have established the fact that we are further along the road to perdition than most folks want to admit. At the same time, it is necessary to admit that we are also no closer to finding an answer to the question of how we are going to persuade the majority of mankind to make major internal changes, to their beliefs, their spiritual compass, and indeed, the very foundations of their entire existence, if they wish to live, and to give their children an even chance of the same….. This is a difficult proposition, as most folks won’t even admit to the necessity for change, much less what they themselves need to do…..

The depth of ignorance, you see, is not the only problem. For many, that ignorance will keep them from ever realizing just how bad things are, right up until the Grim Reaper comes knocking on their door. But, there are many, many people out there who know exactly what they do that is wrong, and they don’t care, because they believe it will have no ultimate effect on them, only on others…. To be so uncaring as to the fates of others, it is required that one be disconnected from reality, including the reality of one’s own motivation. These folks, who live for power, will not even examine their own motives, because they already know that they are flawed; they chose to be flawed deliberately, because it serves their own self-interests, and they are incapable of understanding that they will be as affected by the end game that is coming as everyone else…. and, in this case, one can see how deliberate ignorance becomes its own justice, eventually….

I wish I had an answer…. I wish I knew a way to convince those who need to know that what they, and the fools they allow to control the world through their own inability to see clearly, their own choice to remain ignorant, cannot continue to expect to live if they do not learn to open up their minds to a new way of seeing life. These fools are rushing into oblivion with their eyes closed, believing they are blessed and protected from harm by their faith in a mirage, when in reality, their faith, and their ignorance is guaranteeing their extinction…. and unfortunately, mine along with it… So, yes, I wish I had an answer…. but, I don’t, so I’ll have to make do with my plans to wreak severe havoc amongst the philistines when the time is ripe…. If we are all marked for extermination by the universe, I’m making sure some of the guilty are going down with me…. Trust me….

“In the dark colony of night, when I consider man’s magnificent capacity for malice, madness, folly, envy, rage, and destructiveness, and I wonder whether we shall not end up as breakfast for newts and polyps, I seem to hear the muffled cries of all the words in all the books with covers closed.” — Leo Rosten

“Here pigs will fly, lightning will strike twice, hell will freeze over, and eventually, things will get really interesting…” — Smart Bee
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I’ve looked inside, and nothing is turning up in any of the dark corners where they hide, mumbling to themselves until I rip them out into the open air…. so we will have to make do, and settle for something from a proven source…. which shall remain nameless, until I find out who it is today…. Be patient, you will know soon enough…..

Portrait of the Artist as a Prematurely Old Man

It is common knowledge to every schoolboy and even every Bachelor of Arts,
That all sin is divided into two parts.
One kind of sin is called a sin of commission, and that is very important,
And it is what you are doing when you are doing something you ortant,
And the other kind of sin is just the opposite and is called a sin of omission
and is equally bad in the eyes of all right-thinking people, from
Billy Sunday to Buddha,
And it consists of not having done something you shuddha.
I might as well give you my opinion of these two kinds of sin as long as,
in a way, against each other we are pitting them,
And that is, don’t bother your head about the sins of commission because
however sinful, they must at least be fun or else you wouldn’t be
committing them.
It is the sin of omission, the second kind of sin,
That lays eggs under your skin.
The way you really get painfully bitten
Is by the insurance you haven’t taken out and the checks you haven’t added up
the stubs of and the appointments you haven’t kept and the bills you
haven’t paid and the letters you haven’t written.
Also, about sins of omission there is one particularly painful lack of beauty,
Namely, it isn’t as though it had been a riotous red-letter day or night every
time you neglected to do your duty;
You didn’t get a wicked forbidden thrill
Every time you let a policy lapse or forget to pay a bill;
You didn’t slap the lads in the tavern on the back and loudly cry Whee,
Let’s all fail to write just one more letter before we go home, and this round
of unwritten letters is on me.
No, you never get any fun
Out of things you haven’t done,
But they are the things that I do not like to be amid,
Because the suitable things you didn’t do give you a lot more trouble than the
unsuitable things you did.
The moral is that it is probably better not to sin at all, but if some kind of
sin you must be pursuing,
Well, remember to do it by doing rather than by not doing.

Ogden Nash
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“Don’t ever become a pessimist, Ira; a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun — and neither can stop the march of events.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough For Love

As with many important truths, this one does not comfort one to know it; a common attribute of remarks by Lazarus, who has a tendency to voice the truth regardless of its potential, or even certain, effect on the audience. And, damn it, it is just so much simpler to let all the bad stuff hold sway on our attention, and give in to the depressive urge to berate and chastise the universe for its lack of tact and consideration for human sensibilities. It never listens, anyway….

My semi-rant in section one today is a perfect example of this principle at work; I do try to maintain some optimism in the face of reality; I even have learned to try to explain away all the weird stuff as being outside the statistical universe being considered. It’s a lie, but it’s my lie, so I usually can buy into it, long enough to allow denial to set in, and thus preventing the otherwise inevitable depression over how bad things have gotten…..

Actually, right now, it is fairly simple to stay completely distracted, as we always have the election, and all the shenanigans taking place on that stage, to draw our attention away from the imminent demise we face as a species, or even, more importantly, our personal concerns of everyday living. It’s easy to deny the inevitability of carbon monoxide pollution when we have Mitt the Twitt’s lies to chase down, or Biden’s latest zinger to admire, or Lyin’ Ryan’s latest example of elitism to watch with dropped jaw….. it’s a veritable circus, and the clowns are in full swing….

It’s not just the candidates providing the entertainment, either…. every Tom, Dickwad, and Mary is chiming in with their two cents, on TV, radio, and, most prodigiously, on the Internet, all trying to get SOMEONE to listen to them during the run-up to the election. Those two cents can get very, very strange, as each commenter tries to make the most outrageous statements and/or claims/accusations about all the actors on stage, and is a whole new package of entertainment for us to have on hand, each one vying for our attention at the top of their lungs, figuratively speaking…..

This is where the metaphor of the circus gains its credibility, although, more accurately, I am reminded by this, most emphatically, of just about any carnival at the County Fairs I’ve been to….. Disheveled, sinister-looking barkers, complete with suspenders and a cigar in their mouth, yelling out the prizes they promise, each one grander than the next, and easy as pie to win: exotic visions that promise endless satisfaction of desires, enormously valuable jewels and objet’s d’art for virtually nothing, and endless illusions to draw the eye away from the seediness and underlying, almost frenetic despair permeating the air….

Yes, indeed, the political scene here in America has always reminded me of a carnival, and the events and activities that prompt my impression of the election as an illusionary device, designed to fool the public into thinking that things will change if they vote, has never been stronger than it is now. I have hope that by voting against the obviously evil side of the campaign, the overall effect on the immediate future will be mitigated to some degree. But, I can find within me very little hope that the eventual outcome is in doubt, and that outcome is not one that anyone is going to like…. at all.

My optimism is fairly natural to me; I’ve always been a hopeful kind of person, and I continue to hold hope that mankind’s future will extend beyond this century, groundless as it may be. My pessimism, unfortunately, has the advantage of having the most evidence in it’s favor right now, even if Obama wins the election, as I expect he will. He is only one man, and the course of human events is very difficult to change once it is headed in a particular direction. My hope is based on the wish that more than just he will learn to make the inner changes needed for us all to survive the storms that are coming…. a slim hope, yes, but hey, it happens to be all we’ve got…..
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I seem to have gotten stuck today, harping on the same general issue in both of the prose sections. This is no doubt the result of the intense mind-control I have now assumed, in order to keep from going stark raving mad….. That severe control is causing some stilted thought patterns, falling into short, but seemingly endless loops…. I suppose I will have to sacrifice a standard or two today, in order to clear the internal censors…. but, that is simple enough. I’m human, and temporarily setting aside standards is pretty simple for us, as a rule….

Besides, I have to decide on whether to write a poem, or find one, and that can be a decision of some magnitude, depending on, well, stuff…. stuff that isn’t always clear, to me, or for me… so the decision is made more tedious, as it were…. and I’m babbling now, so I’m going to put a stop to this, with some ruthless use of the power of will…. just watch me, I’m going to stop typing any moment now, and you’ll see…. keep a sharp eye out, or you’ll miss it….  Oops, there you see, all done…. did you catch it?….. I’m just happy there’s no blood…..  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!

Elements of improbable style…..

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Ffolkes,
Unknown random thoughts awoke me early today, and I have yet to pin them down sufficiently to see just why it was so bloody important for me to be up just now (0645…. that’s AM, in case the military time doesn’t compute….). I can’t see anything particularly in need of my attention, and I can’t believe my head got me up just to witness the very short power outage at 0642, which lasted all the way until 0643….. my assistance was not necessary, other than to re-program a couple of clocks, which could have been done later.

Considering my retired state, and the fact that I don’t HAVE to get up at all, should I so wish, whatever reason I’ve been summoned awake at this hour is insulting, not to say a bit tiring….. and if it was merely to set the clocks, then I need to have a serious discussion with my unconscious mind; it’s getting a bit out of whack with reality, and what is important.  But, hey, I’m up, so I may as well begin the Beguine…. so to speak. (And, boy, did I just date myself there!…..) (Of course, I MAY be the only one left alive who knows the song, so…. I might be safe….)

Much of today’s Pearl was written last night, as Smart Bee presented me at that time with a plethora of quotes with which to work. In addition to the fine group of them that centered on my usual topics, I also found this one, which relates to a post I made some weeks ago; that post, it turns out, was a pivotal post, as it seems to somehow have attracted a large number of new readers to my blog, many of which have begun to follow it, to my delight and surprise.

That post, the title of which escapes me (as they all do, since I don’t bother to make them logical, or indicative of content….) spoke in the intro section about fish sauce, and its importance in society….. That post has become the most widely read post I ever wrote, with well over 30 Likes, and a number of comments….. Fish sauce struck a chord, somehow, with a LOT of people, it seems…. Any who, the following may shed light on just why it turned out to be so popular…..

“SAUCE, n.  The one infallible sign of civilization and enlightenment. A people with no sauces has one thousand vices; a people with one sauce has only nine hundred and ninety-nine.  For every sauce invented and accepted a vice is renounced and forgiven.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

I find this to be somewhat comforting, all in all, as it lends to the concept of civilization a somewhat elegant veneer. Little did I, or any other historian or scholar, for that matter, realize just how intrinsic to the inner nature of society Sauces really are…. I do know that the world would be a darker, sadder place without gravy, especially Country Gravy, and who can deny the socially redeeming value of a good Hollandaise? Then, of course, there is fish sauce, without which our society would never have arisen, lifted up from the culture of the caves to assume the grandeur of what it is now. We owe a lot to Sauces, and fish sauce is one of the grandest sauces ever conceived. I don’t know about y’all, but a fresh fish sauce just makes my toes curl in anticipation…. YUM!

Okay, now that is over, my medication is starting to take effect, so fish sauce stories will soon become impossible to write, much less explain later to the authorities…. It must be time to put all this aside, and get on with the scheduled program…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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While searching for pearls for this morning, (as noted above, last evening would be more accurate…..) it seems as if Smart Bee wants me to take a few shots again at the political scene here in America…. almost all of what is coming up is pointed in that direction, and who am I to disparage Smart Bee?….. So, here are some pearls, some from political figures, some from philosophers, some from talking animals, and some from screenwriters…. maybe some others, too…. My comments will appear between pearls, to provide some direction….. if it can be called such….

Nick: “There are lots of things worse than movies: politicians, wars, forest fires, famine, plague, sickness, pain, warts, politicians…”
Jack: “You already mentioned them.”
Nick: “I know I did. They are twice as bad as anything else.”

— The Last Action Hero

Years ago fairy tales all began with “Once upon a time…”, now we know they all begin with, “If I am elected…” — Carolyn Warner

These two pearls are such that just about every American can identify with, and that is just sad. Nobody in this country will argue with either of the above opinions, as expressed, because they know there is just too much evidence proving them to be true. Deciding for whom to vote is no longer a matter of examining and comparing the candidates’ positions on various issues, but rather a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils. And, as Jerry Garcia once pointed out, “The lesser of two evils is still evil….”  We will know that things are changing if ever someone hears this kind of joke, and objects….

“I have never been hurt by anything I didn’t say.” — Calvin Coolidge

It is really too bad that more politicians don’t take what Calvin said to heart. In fact, it seems that Mr. Romney has not only NOT listened to this advice, but has actually gone in the other direction; just about every time he opens his mouth to speak, he says something that he later regrets. This is not merely my opinion…. just look at the news every day, and you will find yet another example of how poorly qualified he is to speak in public.

“Ah say, son, you’re about as sharp as a bowlin’ ball.” — Foghorn Leghorn

The saddest and most disheartening part of it is two-fold; one, in his bowling ball state, he believes that, merely because he wants to be President, he should be allowed to be President…..

“Faith:  not wanting to know what is true.” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900)

Second, there are millions of IDIOTS, wallowing in their faith, who actually listen to him, and nod their doltish heads in agreement as he spouts off again…. They do this without ever pausing to consider whether or not what he says is true, because he has appealed to their basic fears, their bigotry and racism. It’s quite pathetic, when viewed dispassionately…. and what is true gets lost in the shuffle…

“Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do.” — President Ronald Reagan

“Poor dear, there’s nothing between his ears.” — Margaret Thatcher, — about Ronald Reagan, in the 6/2/88 issue of The New York Times

But, the idiocy we see in Romney’s acolytes is actually comprehensible when one considers that these are the same fools who thought Reagan was a saint, when in actuality, as the above statement shows, he was not only a fool, but a vicious, narcissistic fool, who didn’t care at all that what he said was absolutely false, as long as it served his purpose. To make such an ignorant statement as the above shows me not only that he hates Americans, but has no respect for them, or for their innate intelligence…. not to mention his cluelessness re: his own lack of IQ points….

“If you can’t say somethin’ nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.” — Thumper (1942)

Ronnie, and now, Mitt the Twitt, will never understand what Thumper said; they probably think that there is nothing to learn from a cartoon rabbit. While Thumper’s mom obviously has a compassionate nature, and some common sense, these men simply cannot comprehend how a metaphor can apply to them. Of course, I’m fairly certain that neither Romney, nor Reagan, could have defined the word “metaphor”, much less understand how it might apply to them. They just don’t care enough about anyone else for that kind of insight to ever occur in their insulated little world of delusion….

“No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the Legislature is in  session.” — Lysander Spooner

Here is another pearl whose very existence is telling. The very fact that someone can say this at all implies that it is a foregone conclusion, that it is such a truism that there is no argument whenever such criticisms are leveled. Everyone knows about this, but, like the weather, nobody ever does anything about it…..

“Irreverence is the champion of liberty and its one sure defense.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910), Notebook, 1888

Thus, the final line explains the process of creating Pearls of Virtual Wisdom; they are my inadequate but sincere attempt to defend the liberties that are threatened by these political assholes who want to get rid of the basic rights our forefathers procured for us. If I can make one person laugh, or stop to consider what I’ve said, then I’ve achieved my basic purpose…. which is more than can be said for many of my undertakings. I can only hope that by doing so, I can, in some small way, contribute to the dispersal of the truth about the congenital liars and thieves who are currently trying to usurp this country, and send us back to the dark ages….. And we all know who is behind them, don’t we?…..

:Corporation: An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility.” — Ambrose Bierce: “The Devil’s Dictionary”
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I’ve sat and stared at the screen for about a half-hour or so now, and nothing seems to be gelling, at least, not into anything remotely resembling poetry…. SIGH…. I suppose this means we’ll have to settle for something classic this morning….. such a burden!…..  🙂  Ah yes…. after so much reality, a bit of fantasy, from one of the Romantics….

Faery Songs

I.
Shed no tear! oh, shed no tear!
The flower will bloom another year.
Weep no more! oh, weep no more!
Young buds sleep in the root’s white core.
Dry your eyes! oh, dry your eyes!
For I was taught in Paradise
To ease my breast of melodies,–
Shed no tear.

Overhead! look overhead!
‘Mong the blossoms white and red–
Look up, look up! I flutter now
On this fresh pomegranate bough.
See me! ’tis this silvery bill
Ever cures the good man’s ill.
Shed no tear! oh, shed no tear!
The flower will bloom another year.
Adieu, adieu — I fly — adieu!
I vanish in the heaven’s blue,–
Adieu, adieu!

II.
Ah! woe is me! poor silver-wing!
That I must chant thy lady’s dirge,
And death to this fair haunt of spring,
Of melody, and streams of flowery verge,–
Poor silver-wing! ah! woe is me!
That I must see
These blossoms snow upon thy lady’s pall!
Go, pretty page! and in her ear
Whisper that the hour is near!
Softly tell her not to fear
Such calm favonian burial!
Go, pretty page! and soothly tell,–
The blossoms hang by a melting spell,
And fall they must, ere a star wink thrice
Upon her closed eyes,
That now in vain are weeping their last tears,
At sweet life leaving, and these arbours green,–
Rich dowry from the Spirit of the Spheres,
Alas! poor Queen!

John Keats
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Since I used an old school pearl format above to take some shots at the political spectrum, I thought this would be a good spot for a bit of the same sport with my other favorite whipping boy…. religion, and the folks who like to fiddle around with it….. This time, I’ll leave the pearls to their own devices, and allow your minds to meander among them as you would, picking out the choicest pieces for perusal…. Enjoy!…

“You believe God created you in one day? Yeah, looks like a rush job…” — Smart Bee

“Instead of striving to be like Jesus most Christians would rather presume that Jesus was just like them.” — Callan Williams

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

Born again? No thanks, I was born right the first time…. — Bumper Snicker

Born again? Mom said, NO WAY!…. — Smart Bee

“One Galileo in two thousand years is enough.” — Pope Pius XII
(Shows how brave they are, eh? And how worried about people who can actually think….)

God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM. — Exodus 3:14
(So…. God is Popeye…. who knew?….)

That is most likely enough for one day. I imagine pearls such as this one tend to drag my karmic burden a little further into the gutter, but, I can’t resist….. We, as humans, have a lot of payback coming when it comes to religion, and all the shit it has heaped on us humans in the last 5000 years….. I’m just getting some of mine back early, that’s all….
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I’ll take it. Sometimes, the best policy is to just take the money and run. Since I know for a fact that no money will be changing hands today, I’m proceeding directly to the running part…. I’ve always found myself to be a more difficult target when I’m running….  I do hope you’ve enjoyed today’s efforts; I’d be crushed if you didn’t…. well, sort of crushed….. Any who, 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!

Such beauty lives without shame….

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Ffolkes,
I love rice. I do. It is so versatile as a food…. it can be eaten as a side dish, complementing an entree item. Add some sauce and veggies, meat, and cheese to it, and you have a lovely risotto. Dress it with a vinaigrette and some garden specialties, and you’ve got a cold salad for an afternoon lawn event. If you enjoy the nutty flavor of a good rice, it can be eaten as is, too….. And, I am sick to death of it…. I know now why so many folks in the throes of poverty use it so much, along with beans, and pasta…..

A little of it goes a long way to stretch other foods, it’s cheap, compared to many other staples, and it takes longer for the family to get tired of it, as long as one is creative in the kitchen…. But, I swear, when I can afford more food, rice will go to the bottom of the list, merely because I am so incensed at having to eat it every day to stay alive, and not giving in to the temptation to steal…. It is surprising, perhaps, to realize how quickly one’s ethics and morals can be put aside when one is hungry and angry….. bad combination, I can attest….

Ah well, life could be worse, I’m sure…. It could be that I couldn’t afford the rice, and had to subsist on beans… Now, THAT would be tragic,  not to mention the danger to the public…. I mean, I already have a pretty heavy reaction, methane gas-wise, when I consume beans… even refried beans can cause some serious toots. If I am forced to eat more beans, I’m not sure the walls of this apartment will stand up to the volume under pressure that is engendered in my bowels by vegetable protein…. and the effect of both the noise and the odoriferous output on my neighbors is bound to be considerable, given that I would have very little control over when such outbreaks would occur….. It could turn into a Keystone Kops type event in a flash…..

So, I try to stick to pasta and rice for my staple starches. It’s best for everyone if I do…. Hmmm…. I just realized, in reading back over this morning’s introductory remarks, that I may have strayed into the TMI category….. not everyone thinks body functions are funny…. Nurses do, for sure, and healthcare workers of any kind can develop such a basic appreciation for the less public aspects of our physical processes….. The rest of society, however, seems to have an objection to body fluids, and the humor they can provide….

I noticed this difference once when I had surgery, to remove a piece of evil from my midsection…. After abdominal surgery of any kind, the first thing the doctor and nurses want to see happen is for the intestines to resume function; this is indicated by the build-up, and passage of gas. Thus, it becomes a point of interest, and even enthusiasm, when the nurse is first informed of any such activity by a surgical patient… in other words, nurses are the only group people who get happy and enthused to learn that people are farting…. Kinda get ya, right here, doesn’t it?….. (points at his heart….)

Okay, that’s enough fart humor for one day, such as it is…. It doesn’t affect me negatively at all, having been privy to its charm for many years from my nursing experiences, but I know that it can affect others detrimentally. I’ve been informed of such by many folks, just before they storm out of a room in high dudgeon, miffed because the conversation turned to phlegm, or other such delightful substances that the human body is wont to produce at times. Silly humans…..

I have a feeling I had best get on with the normal business of the day, before there isn’t anyone left to read it….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of confusion and bamboozle requires intelligence, vigilance, dedication and courage.  But if we don’t practice these tough habits of thought, we cannot hope to solve the truly serious problems that face us — and we risk becoming a nation of suckers, up for grabs by the next charlatan who comes along.” — Carl Sagan, “The Fine Art of Baloney Detection,” Parade, February 1, 1987

Unfortunately, Baloney Detectors became out of style….. No one listened to Carl, and we are STILL recovering from exactly what he pointed out could happen. As soon as Clinton left office, after leaving the first budget surplus ever, Bush 1 took over and proceeded to give Reaganomics another try; the first time they hadn’t stolen quite as much as the figures showed they could, so they had to go back for all that money. Along the way, they jacked the budget deficit back up a couple trillion dollars, and turned it over to Shrub 2, who decided  to spend us completely into oblivion, starting two wars, all because he was covering for the crap his father pulled to keep his theft of the 2000 election out of public scrutiny….. Whew, sorry, didn’t realize there was so much indignation to pack into one paragraph summarizing the Republican meltdowns of the American economy…. which they continue to try to blame on anybody but themselves and the Bushes, much less Saint Ronnie….. the asshole….

Don’t forget, I knew Ronnie before he got to the Presidency…. he was governor when I went to college….  I was one of the ones he was talking about when he made the remarks regarding turning student protests into blood baths…. Mind you, these were PEACE protests, against the war in Vietnam….. I was there when he and his oh-so-sweet wife Nancy made their undisguised play for their chain of facilities to garner a monopoly on the mental healthcare market, by changing the laws to turn mental patients out of the state hospitals, back to their counties, where the facilities owned by the Reagan demons were the only available places to put them…. In case you wondered, they were called Heavenly Manor I believe, and the state-registered owner of record was Nancy Reagan…. even though her husband started, supported, and signed bills to try to make it happen…. No nepotism there at all, eh?….

I never trusted Reagan, ever since he got out-acted by that ape in that movie back in the 40’s where he was the world’s most unconvincing college student (well, his ditziness in the role seemed to be an accurate display of character, but you know what I mean…. he just wasn’t very real, and looked like he was made of cardboard….) His actions as governor were clearly anti-American, and yet people for some reason loved him. It didn’t surprise me at all when it came out that his administration was one of the crookedest ever, and hid more from the public than even the rest of government was comfortable with….

None of this mentions how disastrous his economic policies were; you remember, don’t you?  Ronnie was fond of the term, “trickle down” theory, a policy he espoused in which, according to Ronnie’s strange math,  giving huge breaks to the richest would result in more money “trickling down” to the rest of society…. Well, guess what folks? It didn’t work, nor could it ever have worked, because there is no “trickle down” where it concerns money, and those who covet it…. they will hold on to every little bit they can, and cry for more if threatened….

I realize the view I am presenting is far different than what you might see in history books of the time, or even what some conservatives who idolize Reagan will want to remember, but none of what I’ve said is based on anything that I didn’t see happening myself; it’s all documented stuff, on the nightly news in somebody’s archives. What goes in the books is what all the folks in power decided to say happened, not what actually occurred.

If most folks knew, or even thought about, what actually happened for most of history, they would think they’d been lied to their entire lives…. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!   They HAVE!   It cracks me up, a little bit, when I’m done being sad, just how little truth is EVER told by those in positions of power over others in society. Lying and cheating are pre-requisite habits, and sheer  necessities, in getting into the positions they hold, and they aren’t about to stop once installed in office with the treasury keys in their pockets.

So, go ahead and believe, if you will, that the beloved ruling class, epitomized so darkly and accurately by the Republican Party in the last 40 years, is on your side, and is working hard to make your lives better…. They will go on stripping you of every freedom the founding fathers gave us, along with all your money, and your hope for a brighter future, because they DON’T CARE! Not about you, or anything that you believe; they care about themselves, and how much power they can accumulate in their lifetime.  They don’t even THINK about what it may cost anyone else…. they don’t consider anyone else’s benefit or interests, at all, ever….. And that is the truth, whether you can accept it or not…..

“Food for thought is no substitute for the real thing.” — Walt Kelly, Potluck Pogo
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In my poems, I am trying to get to a point where everything extraneous is stripped away, leaving only the most powerful words to portray my meaning…. I’m getting a bit better, but I’ve a way to go yet, to my way of looking at it, which, as we know, is all that matters, since I’m the one writing it…. I don’t know if I’ll ever be as good at it as I’d like…. but, the following poem, from Ogden Nash, certainly demonstrates the concept that I’m trying to get to…. If I can ever come even close to the sheer genius of this poem, I will be happy….

This was my dream;
I dreampt it.
I dreamed that my hair was kempt,
and my true love unkempt it.

— Ogden Nash

See? Sheer genius! With four tiny lines, he connected to the most lovely and compelling dream shared by ALL men…. completely amazing, and to my way of looking at things, the kind of power that literature should always have…. not that it will…. But, if everyone who writes shoots for at least the same kind of inspiration, and won’t settle for crap, at least we could conceivably see more poetry like this…. and that would be a good thing, yes?….. Yes….
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Another old-school pearl, with some observations on Life, the Folks who inhabit the planet, and the stuff they find to keep busy…..

“Among the rich you will never find a really generous man even by accident. They may give their money away, but they will never give themselves away; they are egotistic, secretive, dry as old bones. To be smart enough to get all that money you must be dull enough to want it.” — G. K. Chesterton, A Miscellany of Men

“Never mind what I said,” the Lord spake.  “Doth thou listen to every crazy idea that comes thy way?”
And Abraham grew ashamed.  “Er — not really… no.”
“I jokingly suggest thou sacrifice Isaac and thou immediately runs out to do it.”
And Abraham fell to his knees, “See, I never know when you are kidding.”
And the Lord thundered, “No sense of humor.  I can’t believe it.”
— Without Feathers — Woody Allen
(This is probably a far more accurate portrayal of what took place than what we find in either the Bible, or the Qur’an, both of which talk extensively  about Abraham, and his relations with God, or Allah, take your pick…. It seems more true to human nature, somehow…..and, if God exists, I would like to think he has a sense of humor. If not, we are in deep shit…..)

“Let us begin by committing ourselves to the truth – to see it like it is, and tell it like it is -to find the truth, to speak the truth, and live the truth.” — Richard Nixon, accepting the Presidential Nomination, 1968
(I laughed aloud when he said this, but later, I cried….. in looking at it now, in retrospect, this actually rivals the crap that Romney has been spouting….. and I can see how he, and others, got the idea they can get away with this kind of shit…..)

“Liberty cannot be guaranteed by law. Nor by any thing else except the resolution of free citizens to defend their liberties.” — Edward Abbey
(This had to go here, just to counter balance the severe level of BS that Tricky Dicky raised in one sentence…..)

Extremes in nature equal ends produce;
In man they join to some mysterious use.
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle ii, Line 205

“Americans like to talk about (or be told about) Democracy but, when put to the test, usually find it to be an ‘inconvenience.’   We have opted instead for an authoritarian system *disguised* as a Democracy.  We pay through the nose for an enormous joke-of-a-government, let it push us around, and then wonder how all those assholes got in there.” — Frank Zappa

“He who knows best knows how little he knows.” — Thomas Jefferson

Well, that should be enough…. It’s a rather meandering concept, but it gets there eventually….. and if not, well, it’s always a good time trying to figure out just what dark alleyway of the human psyche I have wandered into, or out of, as the case may be…. Here, we have a combination plate…. enjoy! Oh, and it WILL be on the Quiz….
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I’d say this isn’t too bad, but then, I have inside knowledge of what it took to produce it….. which included a pain level rather larger than normal, by a factor of about two (i.e., double the morning dose….) I hate grunting when I stand up and walk; I feel like an ape. One with an irritable disposition, to be sure…. Growling just becomes a natural response when all one wants to do is to be able to straighten up without going into spasms…. and the thought of human interaction is just plain scary. I will have to avoid all contact with folks while on my trip to the library to post today…. I don’t think I want to deal with blood today, mine or anyone else’s….

Ah well, life goes on, and we must take it as it plays out….. My apologies in advance today, for not being able to spend any time perusing other blogs…. it will be all I can do to get this up and posted, so it will have to wait for another day…. Probably for the best anyway, my concentration is shot…. 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!