Ffolkes,
I can only make them think.”
~~ Socrates ~~
Pluto as seen from the New Horizons Spacecraft
Image from the UK Guardian 9/17/2015
I had forgotten just how deeply embedded this process has become in my existence…. It seems the creation of a Pearl is more important to my degree of sanity than I’d previously admitted; if I don’t sit down to write for a while, I feel “off”. Once I’ve cruised through SB for a time, using my mind in a familiar way, some of the angst I seem to build up over the course of the day dissipates, leaving me better able to think introspectively, which is where I need to be just now…. So, I’ll write…. but, I may not post…. We’ll see.
For now, I think I’ll go make some coffee. It’s 0230 (almost) so, why not? It looks like me and LeeLoo will be up a while tonight…. Don’t know why insomnia struck tonight, but, I may as well take advantage of it to get some thinking & planning done…. Or, perhaps, I’ll gather up some pearls, and see what they have to say….
When I told myself, and y’all, this process would be changing, I didn’t realize just how many alterations the change would encompass. No complaints at all; I seem to have misplaced some of the angst I’ve typically carried around with me. Whatever the case may be, it’s slowed this down to a crawl…. The two paragraphs you see above were written yesterday. Since then, most of this Pearl has been finished; only some entertainment left to find now. Yet, I’m not even worried at all whether I get it posted today, or not…. which may be good, or not. We’ll see about that, too, I suppose. For now, I think I’ll go cruise You Tube & find something fun to watch, whenever this gets posted….
Shall we Pearl?….
“The laws of physics have no basis in reality. They describe the operation of the human mind.” — Robert Anton Wilson
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I don’t believe I need to say anything at all to introduce this artist/philosopher/social critic. Simply, he was the best of his time….
It’s Bad For Ya ~ 2008
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~~ Hard Ass Bee, with gigoid’s full agreement ~~
Okay, so, I lied. I COULD say I didn’t lie, so much as I misspoke, as any number of politicians would say. And, have said, repeatedly. (e.g.: “I just didn’t say it.” — Ronald Reagan — Associated Press, 10/5/66)
Actually, what I did is underestimate how long it would be until I was struck by the urge to write about the world at large, when I’m having my own troubles with the world inside the shell of my consciousness…. But, as I cruised through SB for entertainment, the following pearls kept jumping up, practically shouting at me, to insist on being included in a long, involved indictment of men of evil intent, who usurped the government of this nation almost before the ink was dry on the Constitution…..
Their efforts have resulted in the world we face today, where all the rules are made by those who insist on controlling the lives of all they see, without ever considering how others may feel about that…. 90% of the world’s population live as no more than slaves, threatened with poverty and destitution at the slightest emergency or accident in their lives, at the mercy of the bankers, and the predatory politicians, the fat-cat lawyers, the faceless myrmidons (i.e., police) who enforce the will of the masters, and the religious dogma dogs who encourage the slaves to respect those who oppress them, for the promise of a better life after they die.
I was raised by a man who went to war in 1941, to protect his family and home, thinking he was fighting for the liberties he believed he had, and that he believed would be the legacy for his children. He raised us to believe in those same principles, of liberty and freedom for all, upon which he, and we, were supposedly brought up….
If he were alive today, he would be as pissed off at what has taken place as I am, for, since the creation of the National Security Agency during WWII, every one of the Bill of Rights, and, all of the protections of our Constitution, have been abrogated, one after another, in the name of security and ‘national interest’, two concepts the definition of which the beloved ruling class reserves solely for itself…. Neither of those two concepts have anything to do with protecting the interests of American citizens; they only serve to protect the status quo. How else does one explain such statements as the following:
“You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in their struggle for independence.” — Charles Austin Beard, American Historian, 1874-1948
This is the absolute truth. We see this every day, in irrefutable evidence provided by videos of how using the words our forefathers used can get an American citizen shot by the police, ‘for resisting arrest’, or, for ‘disobeying a lawful order by an officer’…. It’s pretty hard to refute visual/auditory evidence, but, time after time, people continue to die, and no police officer is ever charged…. It is a disgrace, and, a national shame, one my father would have deplored with every fiber of his being…. I share that disgust, and, intend to never submit to such treatment myself, without making it clear it is a mistake to assume that a free man can be oppressed…. Whoever tries to take my rights will find I only have those rights I am able to defend…
In the meantime, here are a bunch of other statements that cover the same subject, from various angles, by various contemporary and historical figures; some are examples of how things ought to be, others point out the nature of the problem, or, at least, some of the motivation behind it…. All are, to my mind, spot on….
“If Congress can determine what constitutes the general welfare and can appropriate money for its advancement, where is the limitation to carrying into execution whatever can be effected by money?” — South Carolina Senator William Draden 1828
(Oops! Another warning missed by the general public, from someone who apparently saw what was happening, right from the start…. Typical….)
“Annoy a Fundamentalist: Tell him the truth!” — Sardonic Bee
“Any person under the age of thirty, who, having any knowledge of the existing social order, is not a revolutionist, is an inferior.” — George Bernard Shaw
“Solon gave the following advice: “Consider your honour, as a gentleman, of more weight than an oath. Never tell a lie. Pay attention to matters of importance.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Solon, xii
“Conservative: Proof that evolution is not an exact science.” — Polly Sci Bee
“This is the Nineties, Bubba, and there is no such thing as Paranoia. It’s all true.” — Hunter S Thompson
“Capitalism in the United States has undergone profound modification, not just under the New Deal, but through a consensus that continued to grow after the New Deal. Government in the U. S. today is a senior partner in every business in the country.” — Norman Cousins
“We have watched American democracy at close hand for many years and we believe few governments are institutionally so susceptible to dictatorship as this one.” — Gerald Johnson
“The statesman shears the sheep, the politician skins them.” — Definitive Bee
“The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshiped anything but himself.” — Sir Richard F. Burton
“No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” — Jacquin’s Postulate on Democratic Government
“Is it fair to hold politicians to the same standards as humans?” — Snarky Bee
In the main square, and I saw there
The fire eating the text.
Books are burning
In the still air
And you know where they burn books
People are next.
~~ “Books Are Burning”, XTC ~~
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Faces tell such stories
as these,
we know.
No one saw,
ever.
No one sees,
ever.
But, we know.
Forgotten,
deliberately bought
with
consistent threats
of Sitcoms,
Paisley Ties,
yes, and,
Lava Lamps;
proof offered
unbidden
of Death.
Only
of Death.
~~ gigoid ~~
Written 5/21/2015.
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In my world, pearls such as this are the standard. As far as any philosophy goes, other than my own, Taoism is the closest attempt made by mankind to describe Reality, period. Beginning, and ending, a lesson/pearl with Taoist principles is a sure way to ensure the balance, and accuracy, of whatever is created…. Add one in the middle, and, it’s unassailably perfect. Go ahead, try to refute ANY of it…. Enjoy!….
But no one can understand them and no one can practice them.
In my words there is a principle.
In the affairs of men there is a system.
~~ Lao-Tzu ~~
“You don’t know how much you don’t know until you know a lot.” — Nick Holland
“While all things have their opposites, it is also true that in each the spirit of the opposite exists.” — Hazrat Inayat Khan, Sufi writer
“Clay is moulded to make a vessel, but the utility of the vessel lies in the space where there is nothing. … Thus, taking advantage of what is, we recognize the utility of what is not.” — Lao Tzu
“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.” — Carl Jung
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.” — Albert Einstein
Others call it lofty but impractical.
But to those who have looked inside themselves,
this nonsense makes perfect sense.
And to those who put it into practice,
this loftiness has roots that go deep.
I have just three things to teach:
simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and in thoughts,
you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.
~~ Tao Te Ching ~~
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I see it is done. Clearly, time to post; what the hell, it’s only two hours (and two days….) overdue, according to the previous paradigm. Good thing a new one is under construction…. For now, I’ll merely say there WILL be more Pearls; when that might occur is anybody’s guess. If the past two days are an indication, it shouldn’t be too long. See y’all then, ffolkes; you can count on it….
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 