Ffolkes,
~~ Aristotle ~~
Leaving Galway on a Train
Hajime…. There are times, such as today, when I wonder why I push myself to do this. Then, I just do it. That’s what we will have to do today, ffolkes, thanks to some physical issues demanding attention, and, the realization that Reality is about to step on me, big time. I’ll let y’all know if I live through it.
In the meantime, I got most of this done last night during one of my insomniac periods during the night; even so, some of it is rather truncated, due to well, taking on more than I was prepared to handle. So be it. I have no more to say, until the end, so, let’s start working our way down to that end….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.” — G. K. Chesterton, ILN, 4/19/30
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Image from free-extras.com via Google Images
Yesterday, I made a slip of the fingers, typing ‘Fred and Wilma’, when I meant to type ‘Fred and Ethel’, referring to the Mertzes, of course. Since it reminded me of this show, which I had not used previously, I figured it would work today, which, oddly enough, it does. Enjoy!….
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~~ Socrates ~~
Today’s rant will be more of an ‘exploration’ of an idea than our usual ‘explanation’ of how an idea functions, and the resultant angst that function creates in me. If you think about it, a rant is more of the latter, and thinking is what I’d like to encourage with this particular piece, in myself, and in the Gentle Reader, if you acquiesce. Otherwise, it may get a bit boring, or, at least, uninteresting, two related, yet, not equal states. The second is not necessarily a choice, the first always is…. but, once again, I digress. The idea Socrates brings up in the above quote is our focus, so, let’s examine it while I have the wherewithal, and the urge….
In this assertion, Socrates echoes an opinion I’ve seen expressed by other sages, to wit: the language we choose to use in our speech influences our thinking, thus affecting our behavior, equally as much as the process works the other direction, with our thoughts influencing speech. When we choose, as we often do, we humans, to allow our feelings to guide what we say, rather than what we may think, it tends to roughen our language; it becomes simpler, perhaps, and plainly expressive, but, with such feeling attached, often negative, it becomes vulgar. This can lead to allowing feelings to dictate behavior as well, so, the common use of vulgarity tends to encourage that indulgence. To maintain a rational level of sustainability for all in our interactions, upon which our behavior is such a vital factor in the outcome, we must learn to detach ourselves from the feelings involved, and that is best encouraged by using language that does not retreat into either excessive passion, or vulgarity.
Not to say vulgarity doesn’t have its place in language; anyone who DOESN’T cut loose with some serious vulgarity when a carbon-steel hammer comes down unexpectedly on their finger is missing out on the best way to release the frustration, if not the pain. And, if they HAVEN’T done so, well, quite frankly, I’d put down serious money to bet they’re lying about that…. We all have our secrets, especially those who deny ever having evil thoughts, or having never made a moral or ethical mistake i.e., a bad choice, of words perhaps most often…. Since much of the language I hear in the mainstream culture to which I’m exposed is pretty vulgar, as a whole, when not merely perverse and ignorant, I would say Socrates’ point has been made rather graphically.
So, now we know evil is rampant in the world, as evidenced by the language you can hear any/every day, in the news, movies, on TV, on the radio, on the net, all of it together makes up a picture of culture, and, by all I can tell, this one is pretty well fucked. I mean, just look at religion, and the stranglehold it has, and has had on society for practically forfuckingever…. I’m not the only one to have noticed you know; just read some of the lesser known passages in the Bible, describing the victories the ancient tribes had in their wars to spread the word of Yahweh, the bloodthirsty asshole… Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to get vulgar…. Let’s see what somebody else has/had to say on the subject….
“Strange, because they are so frankly and hysterically insane — like all dreams: a God who could make good children as easily as bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who could have made every one of them happy, yet never made a single happy one; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stingily cut it short; who gave his angels eternal happiness unearned, yet required his other children to earn it; who gave his angels painless lives, yet cursed his other children with biting miseries and maladies of mind and body; who mouths justice and invented hell — mouths mercy and invented hell — mouths Golden Rules, and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who frowns upon crimes, yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man’s acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites this poor, abused slave to worship him!” — Mark Twain, _The Mysterious Stranger_
I’m afraid this rant has gone a bit south on me; I keep finding pearls which, though they fit in with the overall theme, exploring how society has gone wrong over time, also seem to want to go all over the map to find those responsible for much of it…. For example, while thinking of how to next demonstrate the principle we’re dealing with, i.e. how our language reflects our attitudes, and thus, our reality, Smart Bee gave me the following pearl, defining another class of people who have caused more than their fair share of damage to others…. our old friends (NOT!…), solicitors/counsel/officers of the court, to wit: lawyers, or as most of us here on the streets call them, fuckheads in suits…..
Q: What do you call 5000 dead lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A: A good start! — Smart Alec Bee
Lawyers, of course, once they have rotted on the vine for a while, generally become politicians, so, Smart Bee came up with the following pearl to show his diverse talents….
“Anyone can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error.” — Cicero
Gee, does this remind y’all of anything you may have seen/heard before about the post-larval lawyer class? For example, in the news lately, we see how the US government, at the behest of, and in collusion with the Big Pharmacy companies, have conspired to keep the knowledge of how powerful a cancer drug cannabis is, for more than 40 years. The FACT that cannabis cures cancer has been withheld from the American people and the world for all that time, the secret held by a few traitorous politicians and their pet scientists. In short, all of the more than 20 million people in this country who died from cancer since 1976, when the research was classified, have been, essentially, murdered by their own government….
http://www.naturalnews.com/051881_cannabis_oil_cancer_treatment_Big_Pharma.html
Okay, I’m sick of talking about those assholes, the scum of our species, the oligarchs, politicians, preachers, pimps, police myrmidons, professional military assholes, and especially lawyers, who prey upon their fellow man… To finish off this now epic diatribe, let’s go 180º, and find some pearls to show us how things COULD be, if we just kicked their asses to the curb….
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” — Greek Proverb
“The difference between a moral man and a man of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, even when it has worked and he has not been caught.” — Henry L. Mencken
“It is our duty to make the best of our misfortunes, and not to suffer passion to interfere with our interest and public good.” — George Washington
“Let us face a pluralistic world in which there are no universal churches, no single remedy for all diseases, no one way to teach or write or sing, no magic diet, no world poets, and no chosen races, but only the wretched and wonderfully diversified human race.” — Jacques Barzun
That’s all, ffolkes. I’m done, having bitten off more than I can chew. At least I spit it out….
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A pig in a poke’s got nothing on me,
cuz I’m as confused as a man can be.
This ol’ world’s got me spinnin’ around
cussin’ and spittin’, a penny for a pound.
Forty ‘leven times since I was a kid, well,
I’ve fallen in love, ‘least too close to tell.
Every damn time, it all went to crap,
Forty ‘leven times I’ve felt like a sap.
‘Course, each time it happens, I forget the last;
why not? I’m havin’ such a blast….
Livin’ in each moment, filled with joie de vivre,
’til it’s all gone away again, nothin’ left up my sleeve.
Don’t want y’all to think I’m sad or blue,
life’s full of sorrow, lots for me, and/or you..
T’other side of that coin, we can be glad,
is joyful love, and that ain’t at all bad.
My road’s been littered with parts o’my heart,
each one colored with trust, which ain’t always smart.
Yet, long as I don’t lose my connection to joy,
I’ll find my own true love, and be a happy boy.
It’s been some kinda fun, even when I’d take a fall,
and doin’ it over makes no sense at all, at all
Day after day, I keep on keepin’ on, as it’s said;
Guess I’ll keep on doin’ that ’til I’m dead.
‘Nuff said….
~~ gigoid, tongue firmly in cheek….
Written 3/23/2013.
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It’s a pearl, and that’s about all I have to say at this point. It does have a meaning; I’m just not up to explaining it. Enjoy, anyway, please….
“Some people are, through no fault of their own, sane.” — Smart Bee, talking about gigoid again
“A dead man cannot bite.” — Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey)
“Fortune is unstable, while our will is free.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Epicurus, xxvii
“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne
“Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.” — Doug Larson
“A man makes no noise over a good deed, but passes on to another as a vine to bear grapes again in season.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Meditations, v, 6
“Think not that thy word and thine alone must be right.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Antigone, 706
“It’s not what we don’t know that gets us into trouble, it’s what we know that ain’t so.’ — Will Rogers
“Dreaming permits each and everyone of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.” — Charles William Dement
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It’s done, and that’s the best I can say of it. Moreover, it’s all I SHALL say, for I am, for once, out of words. See y’all tomorrow…. I hope.
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
gigoid, the dubious
The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.
PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.
“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch
À bientôt, mon cherí….
gigoid 