Tag Archives: overpopulation

Statistical universes encourage the use of pets….

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Ffolkes,

You can expect no desperate whining, nor any trepidation at the blank screen this morning; the date, in all its glorious singularity, is subject enough for anyone to latch onto, providing all of us would-be authors and columnists with ample fodder for our grist, or grist for our mill, or more simply, lots to write about…..

The end of another year, for some reason, seems to put society into nostalgia mode, with year-end sales, year-end parties, year-end lists, and all sorts of activities designed to bring more attention to what just happened, thus avoiding both living in the moment, and preparing for the future, both of which would doubtlessly serve us better than gazing into our checkered past….

In this sense, we can see that all of the end of the year contortions people go through every damn year are just another method of avoiding anything that MIGHT resemble intelligent or productive living. Society would rather spend all their time going over the past year, with all of its problems and triumphs, than it would discussing what may be wrong now, or trying to prepare for a potentially fatally grim future, one very much likely to be less than a stable, peaceful path, but, rather, a short, violent one that leads to, shall we say, a less than desirable outcome, in a very short time…..

Last year, I wrote the following, as the beginning to the last Pearl of 2012…. I think it’s pretty good, so let’s see how it reads today….
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From 12/31/2012:

Exploring consensual reality means more than just talking about what people see as real; it means being real, and learning to accept the reality of others, while at the same time rejecting all those realities that are harmful in some way. It means speaking up against all the cruelty and evil that we see, refusing to join the masses who try to ignore what they cannot understand, and therefore, fear. It means exposing those who live their lives without regard for anyone else. It means taking responsibility for one’s own actions, and insisting that others do the same. It means, to me, that even though there is little hope of changing human nature at this late date, a small chance exists that we can survive, provided we learn to embrace ALL of life with honest regard, and can find a way to bring out the best in human nature, rather than allowing the worst to run rampant….

And that, pompous as it is, is ALL we will say about the future, or the past year, for the time being. Everyone else will, I’m sure, cover that adequately, and it would be a waste of my time to add to what is already a massive outpouring of material to read. I’d much rather provide something a bit different, and shall endeavor to do so, post haste…. Sorry, once pomposity sets in, it’s hard to put down….
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Not too bad, and certainly worth using again this year….. Now, if I could only figure out what the hell to write about today, I could fulfill my given task here at ECR with no fuss or muss…. But, as per normal around here, it looks like it will take some effort to get anything worthwhile to come out of this messy process….. This intro, as can be seen, is yet another experiment, this one thrown together and applied on short notice, as the day snuck up on me, so to speak… Well, actually, the idea snuck up on me, and…. oh, never mind….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“The answer to the question “why was I born trans?” is not in the past, but in the future. When we move beyond asking how we got here and ask what we should do with what we have we answer why we are here.” — Callan Williams

Believe me, this is a much more appropriate pearl than you may think upon first read….. and is much, much deeper than it may first appear….. Just think on it, and it will become clear why this is here, and what it means to all of us, not just the “trans”…..
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Not only was the opening of the Pearl from last year on this date a good one, but there was a religirant in there that is well worth reprinting today…. It is still completely valid, in all respects, remaining both an indictment of those who would foist this nonsense upon an unsuspecting society, and as a call to think about the dogma that is impressed upon the believers of what I consider to be delusional material… i.e. strong beliefs held in the absence of evidence or tangible proof….. In short, an indictment of preachers and priests, imams and sadhus, and all the other religious pundits who try to manipulate mankind by the application of massive guilt, and the concept of original sin…. the greatest scam of all time….
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Also from 12/31/2012:

Forgiveness. How does a person without faith in a higher power obtain this boon? Certainly not from themselves…. I know, if I have done something for which I feel the need, or desire, to be forgiven, then I most likely don’t deserve it, and refuse to give in to self-indulgence. According to the preachers, God forgives all, but damn me if I can see any reason to do so, no matter how ‘merciful’ he/she/it might be. How can anyone expect moral behavior, if even our most grievous sins are forgiven? Because of the promise of reward for compliance, or threat of punishment for refusal to conform? I agree with Albert Einstein, that any such philosophy is not realistic, and certainly not moral,,..

“In his private heart no man much respects himself.” — Mark Twain

All of us, without exception, have things we hide inside ourselves, secrets that nobody else will ever be told. Whether it is a memory of an act one is not proud of, or a bit of severe foolishness, or something so shameful that to share it would be to become a pariah, all of us humans have secrets. I would guess that almost all of them are akin to what is described in the first paragraph, to wit: acts that need forgiveness, but do not deserve it. I believe that this may be a method by which one can tell another person’s outlook on religion, for almost all religions are based on this principle, of divine forgiveness. Even though we may do things in life that are unforgivable, the gods, or God, for the monotheistic among us, are so merciful, that they will do so, if you but acknowledge their divinity, and admit they are your higher power….

It’s a good deal, all in all, if one buys it. Myself, I’m a bit sanguine about it, since I only have the word of the preachers that it is so; there is no real evidence to be found that supports the theory, and the scientist in me wants at least a little bit of proof before accepting something as truth. I’m not going to buy anything just on someone else’s word, or assertion of truth; I’ve been alive long enough to know that doing things like that can only lead to losing something, if only the advantage of self-respect.

“His ignorance covers the world like a blanket, and there’s scarcely a hole in it anywhere.” — Mark Twain

Wait, I thought we were talking about religion, not the last Republican President…. Sorry, couldn’t resist…. Any who, it all comes back to the basic idea of how we view reality, in terms of the concept of God, or a power greater than ourselves, that is responsible somehow for everything that exists, and thus, for us. By giving away that responsibility, I think, we are showing our own cowardice; I’m not willing to do that, not without more compelling evidence than hearsay.

I’m not blind to the other evidence that many religionists claim as being proof of God and his will; I’ve burst into tears myself at the sight of a particularly vivid sunrise, without knowing why, other than the beauty of it was so arrestingly powerful. I’ve seen good things happen everywhere, in human interaction, and in Nature. I’ve witnessed what priests like to call “grace”, and will admit that such events are not explainable by ordinary means.

I’ve also witnessed the other side of existence, where human nature turns dark and cruel, while Nature reveals its own complete indifference for human suffering; I cannot accept that the same entity would dare to assume, or want responsibility for such a wicked universe, even if the balance of good and evil is maintained by the presence of the other.

That assumption is purely human, and thus does not qualify, in my mind, as evidence of divinity in the form of God, by any of the visions held by any of the churches of Mankind. Unless, of course, one goes beyond doctrine, into philosophy, where the above contradictions do not apply, or can be explained by one further assumption. That assumption is a hard one for most humans, as it involves taking responsibility for EVERYTHING that they do, and for everything that happens to them. (Yep, that’s a paraphrase of the basic principle of Karma…)

In other words, as Robert Heinlein put it so aptly, in his epic statement of philosophy, Stranger In a Strange Land, “Thou art God.”  I know, it’s blasphemous, but, hey, been there, done that, let’s get past it…. It is the only explanation that fits ALL the facts in evidence, and even if a bit grandiose, really isn’t, because we are, after all, just a bunch of bozos on the bus.

Being God, though, would be a really boring job, the way the job descriptions in all the churches read, and I don’t think I want to take that on, particularly. It may be the only way I can find any forgiveness for those things I’ve done in my long life of which I am not proud, but, since I don’t feel that I SHOULD be forgiven for them, I think I’ll just accept the responsibility, along with the consequence, a certain lessening of my self-esteem, and try to act in the future in ways that won’t make me feel that way….

It really isn’t hard to be good, in reality, as long as you care…. The problem is, not enough people care, or even think about stuff like this…. Me, I can’t help myself…. Caring, to me, is what being human is about; those who don’t care aren’t fully human, and won’t be until they do….

“I am covered with pure vegetable oil and I am writing a best seller!”  — Zippy the Pinhead
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Once again, I’m forced to resort to my own poetry, for honor’s sake…. It’s one of my strongest held beliefs, that no one else should ever get any of the blame for what happens here, so, there are times when I must use my own, to protect the names of the innocent….. I hope you enjoy it, as it was picked out to match today’s mood….

Stray Cats

The veils that billow and fold
between dreams and reality
 may sometimes part,
showing the visions of one to the other,
blending, bleeding as one,
only to bring us up short,
closely jammed against immovable fate.

Still, we keep our watch,
seeking to find the vision
 that brings with it the mark of reality’s regard,
a humble mind, and a compassionate heart.

Events of broad impact draw us away again,
distracting with shiny glitter and tinny music,
leaving our feelings raw and bruised,
the victim of universal disregard.

Now, in the twilight of years, the music is fading,
and the glitter has all gone….
yet the memory of visions remains sharp and clear,
melancholy reminders of reality’s promises,
unkept…..

~~gigoid~~

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Since it IS the last day of the year, I will condescend to create one fresh section of today’s Pearl, even if it is only an old-school variety pearl, which I can throw together in my sleep…. No comments from the peanut gallery on that one, please…. In truth, Smart Bee has been really, really good at what it does of late, so I’m kind of trusting it to pull my fat from the fire, in a manner of speaking, as I have yet to really do much today, beyond blather, a form of literature at which I am gaining some expertise….. So, let’s see if SB can pull off another serendipitous grouping of wisdom in small pieces, eh?….

“A people who expect to be ignorant and free expect what never will,  and never can, be.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Politics is for people who have a passion for changing life but lack a passion for living it.” — Tom Robbins

“For insurance purposes, an act of God is defined as something which no reasonable person could possibly have anticipated. In this same sense, Catholic theologians speak of the creation of humanity as an act of God! If carried to the logical conclusion, we might even find some sort of reason for your ordinary parking meter.” — Smart Bee

“We’re not afraid, its just that we have this thing about death.” — Smart Bee

Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.  (Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity.) — William of Occam, Occam’s Razor

“I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages.” — William H. Mauldin, “Up Front” 1944 *

“My face is new, my license is expired, and I’m under a doctor’s care!!!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

A bit obscure, but, you wouldn’t want it to be easy, now, would you? I think not…. You’ll take it the way it is, and like it….
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* “Up Front” 1944, by William H. “Bill” Mauldin This is a GREAT book…. I read it as a young child, because it was in my parent’s library, and we were always encouraged to look at the books. It was a series of cartoons, with two ordinary US Army joes as the ‘heroes’. It pictured the life of an average soldier, on the front lines during WWII in Europe, from the standpoint or these two typical Americans, Willie and Joe, following them with extremely realistic cartoon-like sketches, more portraiture than cartoons, like a comic book, in black and white for publishing in the newspapers of the time….

The sketches/cartoons took the reader with Willie and Joe through battles, life on post, life in the field, encounters with the locals overseas, fear, homesickness, illness, and all the trials and joys that are found in such times…. The text, which I read later, in my early teens, was simple and compelling, written by the author, a political cartoonist/journalist, who traveled around with the soldiers all over during the war years…. A great read…. It educated me at a young age about war, and how average people behaved at those times in history…. very enlightening re: human nature, as I recall…. and funny as hell, even to a five or six year old….

Well, for a final go, this certainly has some bulk to it…. Not a bad way to roll over into a new year, artificial as that distinction may be (What calendar do YOU follow? Gregorian? Orthodox? Mayan? Aztec? Chinese? It makes a difference, you know….). I suppose most of the ffolkes who would be reading this, as English speakers, even if not native, (NOT a handicap, I assure you….) are following the one that celebrates tonight as the crossing from one year to the next in line…..

Thus, as the Universe encourages us all to embrace Change, as acknowledged by Axiom #1 of Peruaosophy, I can say “Happy New Year” without any sense of embarrassment or guilt for being politically incorrect…. not that I give a shit, of course, but, hey, I try to be nice some of the time…. See ya next year, ffolkes… It’s been Real…. Now, if only we all could agree on how that Reality should proceed….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Soft pedal the soap suds; we’ll hard ball the onion powder….

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Ffolkes,

As all of us tend to find out during our lives, at some point, that knowing what to do, and doing it, are two separate events, with very little, if any, reason one HAS be connected to the other, other than by natural interest. However, the process of finding out what we know, and bringing what we know into action are essentially mutually exclusive, and one of our most important lessons is in learning to keep the two separate in our own minds and efforts….

Now, this little piece of advice on life is pretty good, and actually works to help a lot of folks…. But, it’s pretty damn obscure, too, and not something that a lot of people think about too often…. This doesn’t even mention how deliberately obtuse I’ve made this discussion of these characteristic habits of human behavior, or how I’ve made this just as thick and nonsensical as I could, just because…. This is what happens when I allow my bozoid tendencies get mixed in with my scientific training…. It only happens early in the morning like this, so you may not have noted it previously…. Wait, no, that’s backwards, again… you may HAVE noted it previously….. Duh….

Yep, that’s correct, ffolkes, this intro is another experiment, one that worked out reasonably well, all in all. My thought was to just start typing about a subject that was NEARLY real, but, not quite, then to treat it as material that would otherwise be regarded as TOTALLY real…. It was my thought that the contrast thus set into play would create an atmosphere that would encourage intellectual play, or at least a compelling literary experience…. Sad to say, though, I think it isn’t quite as good as I’d hoped, in spite of my earlier enthusiasm (all the way back at the start of THIS paragraph!….), and in spite of all the advertising-inspired language I heaped on it….

That’s okay, though, it’s working, if not exactly as I’d envisioned. I find that a lot in reality, don’t you? It works, but not exactly the way we expect it to work…. Hell, that phrase right there could be made into an internet meme, couldn’t it? “Things don’t always work the way we expect!!” Just put it to music, have some funny little animal flying by on a severely animated GIF, and it would go viral in a heartbeat, what do you want to bet? I saw where one of those made it onto a list of the Year’s Best Viral Videos, so, it’s almost a sure thing, or, as much as anything these days can be called that….

Speaking of sure things, we’ve got a Pearl to put out here, and this discussion, such as it is, and as interesting as it may be, is NOT getting us any closer to completing that process. We now have five paragraphs here in the intro, which makes it a legal document, for our purposes, and I’m taking advantage of that little section of the law to end this here, without any legal ramifications or otherwise annoying announcements….

Shall we Pearl?

“One lie does not cost you one truth, but the truth.” — Friedrich Hebbel
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So, there I was, cruising through an archived piece, and I came across this politirant, with religirant undertones, (well, to me, anyway….) from January of this year…. I think I may have used it fairly recently, but, don’t remember for sure, and don’t feel like looking to find out (Don’t forget, I AM exceedingly lazy….. It’s a gift….).

It doesn’t matter, because it is one of my best rants, and it’s worth a do-over, just because it’s all still true, and still needs to be said…. Along with the evil selfishness of those who seek power over others in the public venue, the attitudes taught to children, and adults, by those who would have us join them in the delusions of religious dogma, are evil, dangerous, and, patently, are demonstrably responsible for the problems and issues facing our species in today’s world…. Thus, any time I can take a few shots at them, and at the BRC at large, I will…. They’re just lucky, that the shots I take are not out of the guns I don’t own….  yet….

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From 1/21/13:

“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.” — Justice Louis D. Brandeis, dissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 — U.S. 479 (1928)

Finding pearls is sometimes frustrating, but then I find one like this, which is just a perfect representation of what I want to say, and it all seems worthwhile again…. This statement, though written in 1928, could not be more relevant to the present if it were written yesterday. We are observing this principle in action, as the POTUS and Congress thrash around, trying to convince the public they are responding intelligently to the furor over gun control. Of course, there IS no intelligent response possible, but they’ve never let that stop them before, so….

Gun control will always be a hot-button issue, even after they’ve been taken away. And, you can bet your booties that day is coming, as the BRC and the unseen manipulators who control society will continue to create conditions that produce the mad ones, the ones who ultimately break free of their insanity, to let it loose on the world. This scenario suits the purposes of the ruling class very well, as it allows them to keep the populace stirred up in fear, making them easily led to the place they wish them to go. It is always easier to take away a right, when the people clamor for the government to take it away, out of unreasonable fear….

A mighty pain to love it is,
And ‘t is a pain that pain to miss;
But of all pains, the greatest pain
It is to love, but love in vain.

– Abraham Cowley (1618-1667) — From Anacreon, vii, Gold

This is often how I feel about my country. I consider myself to be a patriot, in the classic sense; I support the idea of my country, but do not necessarily support the government. I love the idea of America…. a place where men and women are free to work out their own destiny, without the interference of the system they have created to oversee the necessary societal issues, i.e., without being persecuted for their beliefs, whatever they are…. The concept is an ideal, and one that the world has never actually seen before, not in practice. There have been attempts in history, but none so bold as the one made by our forefathers, who managed to create a system with the potential to create a veritable utopia….

But, within moments of the signing of the Constitution, the bankers, the preachers, and the lawyers were all taking their shots at the system, trying to find ways to amend its protections, and weaken the defenses against the very things they are trying to do. Since the Bill of Rights became law, there have been members of the Beloved Ruling Class trying to dismantle them, and reduce the protective qualities they possess. Much of the time they don’t even bother to hide it, but just couch it in terms that distracts the public from examining their claims too closely….

That struggle, to maintain the purity and intent of the original Bill of Rights, continues to this day, and is now undergoing its most fearful threat since the initial days of this country, more dangerous even than the Communist Purge in the 1950’s, during the McCarthy era of our political history. Once again, events have been manipulated to make it appear as if there is great danger, to the public, and most significantly to our children. Emphasizing this danger to our progeny is the most powerful weapon the BRC possesses, and they are making full use of it in the media, you can be certain…. Manifest a threat to children, and the ire of the public is yours to control…. much like Pavlov’s dogs….

I also think that Justice Brandeis was being nice, when he mentions that the BRC may be acting with good intentions, but lack of understanding. I think that the BRC knows EXACTLY what it is doing when it pursues legislation such as the current limits to gun ownership, and I don’t think they care at all that people don’t really NEED their protection or their help to protect themselves from the evil in the world. What the citizens DO NEED is less intrusion by the BRC into their private, or even public, lives.

I don’t care how ethical a government official SAYS they are, I don’t think they are more ethical than me, or the average Joe…. Nor can they be trusted to act in a manner that is beneficial to me, or to any other private citizen; their actions are only concerned with their own private agenda, and anything they say to the contrary is a BIG, FAT LIE! (Sorry, don’t mean to shout at you….)….. This, I think, is an assertion that doesn’t even need me to point out the proof, as it jumps up in everyone’s face on a daily basis…. The BRC LIES TO US, every day, and it isn’t hard to catch them at it, as it happens virtually every time they open their mouths to speak….. What amazes me is that they get away with it so easily….

“I believe and I say it is true Democratic feeling, that all the measures of the Government are directed to the purpose of making the rich richer and the poor poorer.” — William Henry Harrison

As is obvious, I’m not the only one who is dissatisfied with the BRC, or as some say, the Government. I like to use the BRC, because then I can supply the defined parameters to include ALL of the various types of assholes who are part of that group; lawyers, preachers/priests, bankers, Senators, Congressmen, judges, elected officials, all are charter members of the BRC, and the targets of my ire, as well as the meat for my consumption here on ERC. I guess it would be accurate to say that the BRC consists of all those who seek power over others for their own personal gain, and just let it go at that….

“One of the most difficult of the philosopher’s tasks is to find out where the shoe pinches.” — Ludwig Wittgenstein

There is the pinch-point, ffolkes…. There are essentially two types of humans…. those who seek to have power over other people, and those who seek power over themselves. Anyone who doesn’t fit into those two categories is not living up to their full potential as a human being, and will not in any way have any say in what happens in the world. They are the cannon fodder, the unwashed masses of folks who go through life without ever directing their conscious mind anywhere but right in front of themselves, oblivious to all the evil that occurs around them, as well as unaware of all the beauty that exists.

That is their choice, and I cannot fault them for their lack of courage; it’s a scary world out there…. but, as human beings, I believe we have a duty to our fellow man, and that duty means NOT keeping quiet, NOT letting those who would do evil act with impunity. In my position, all I can do is speak up when I see injustice, or immorality, and issue my objections to what I observe…. It’s all I can do, so I’ll do it all I can…. because, as Albert sez….
Albert E & true sin_____________________________

In searching for a poem for this morning, I came across this one from my favorite poet of all time (another epiphany I just accepted as truth….). Upon reading this, I realized, all of a sudden, the reason I like her work so much, heretofore hidden from me by my own obtuseness, I suppose, is her innate and unbreakable grasp of the power of metaphor, combined with an ability to express that understanding in a way that can only be called elegantly personal.

Poetry, to me, is ALL about metaphor, and language, and how we humans put those two elements together with the power of imagination, to create mental images that echo with meaning…. This one, to me, echoes endlessly, revealing deeper meaning with each returning voice…. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do….

A shady friend for torrid days
Is easier to find
Than one of higher temperature
For frigid hour of mind.

The vane a little to the east
Scares muslin souls away;
If broadcloth breasts are firmer
Than those of organdy,

Who is to blame? The weaver?
Ah! the bewildering thread!
The tapestries of paradise!
So notelessly are made!

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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Being the sort of person who appreciates tradition, even if it is only my own, we will now proceed to the dock, where I shall dive into the deep waters that hold and protect my oyster beds…..  There, swimming peacefully among the colorful denizens of the sea of knowledge, I will endeavor to find, hidden among the more delectable physically edible specimens, a worthy group of lustrous gems, to form into one strand that will encircle and encompass the wisdom of the ages….

Hmm… You don’t think that’s just a little too ambitious, for one little pearl? Or, perhaps, to fanciful an expression of the concept as metaphor? No? Good, neither do I…. Let’s see what I, and SB, can come up with today….

“No man can be brave who thinks pain the greatest evil; nor temperate who considers pleasure the highest good” — Cicero

Piglet of Borg: “If I weren’t such a small Borg, resistance would be useless.” — Smart Bee

“Before you have sex you have to be elected to a high government position.” — Zippy

“If an ass goes travelling he will not come home a horse.” — Thomas Fuller

“Behead a Lawyer for Allah!” — Smart Bee’s Jihadic Imam

“The major contribution of Protestant thought to the knowledge of mankind is its massive proof that God is a bore” — H.L. Mencken
(It certainly worked that way for me!…..)

When the night has been too lonely, and the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong,
Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows,
Lies the seed, that with the sun’s love, in the spring becomes The Rose.

— Amanda McBroom, The Rose, as performed by Bette Midler

Ffolkes, I’m a fairly smart guy…. Not that that particular piece of information is terribly useful, but, it is, for the moment, relevant… I’m smart enough to see that this is a pretty damn good pearl, with shiny individual gems, some of which made me laugh out loud, and others that made me cry in both joy and sorrow. There’s even a bit of good advice from one of the ancient sages…. What more could anyone ask for, before they’ve even had any breakfast? Smart as I am, Smart Bee was smarter today, and I like it…. So should you….   😉
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New method for proofing…. Before starting on this closing section, proof and edit…. Seems to work okay, and certainly gives me a good idea of the total picture…. Now, what the hell do I do with it? I’m done! I don’t NEED it now I’m done…. Sheesh! I am a bozo, of this there can be no doubt…. I’ll see ya tomorrow, should I survive that long….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

That ghost just flattered Nadine!….

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Ffolkes,

As the end of another year passes in this weird society of ours, we are all encouraged to become nostalgic, looking back over the past year, assessing, weighing, seeking meaning in what has transpired in our lives. All sorts of year-end retrospectives begin to appear, and the lists come out to play…. Yes, the year end-lists….

The Year’s Best Photos, The Year’s Best Music, The Year’s Best Movies, The Damn Year’s Bloody Best This, That, and/or the Frigging Other, all begin to shout from the covers of magazines, grab us from the internet pages we visit, blare out over the radio, or inundate us with visuals in the latest videos, all for the BEST of whatever is currently in vogue on the editor’s tiny mind….

I’m not sure how this little tradition became so ubiquitous; we used to see it just a bit, in the newspapers, when I was a kid, and maybe a little bit on the radio…. When TV started to become the media of choice for most households, in the late 50’s & early 60’s, the news departments of the TV stations were tasked with coming up with new lists every year, and the race to find the most egregiously stupid list possible was on!….. Ever since then, we are bombarded each December with whatever ideas for new lists that the idiots in those departments can come up with, trying to get the lion’s share of the viewers to tune in to them, rather than to the competitors….

Actually, what I mentioned above, that I don’t know how this started, is an inadvertent falsehood; I DO know why we get deluged with all of these asinine judgments of EVERYTHING they can think of to list….. It occurs to me that I’ve really ALWAYS known what’s behind the whole scenario…. In fact, it’s really quite obvious why we are subjected to all of this hoopla during this last week of the year…..

Christmas, the biggest shopping spree of the year, is officially over, and the shadowy corporate masters of society, fresh from their latest gorging on the public’s outpouring of cash, but, still greedy, want the REST of the money y’all have squirreled away, so they can squeeze out every little iota of profit from 2013, in preparation for the new assaults on your pocketbook in 2014…. They like to make sure they get it all, and balance their books before starting on the new set….

Yep, ffolkes, it’s all just another mind game, a scam, brought to you, whether you wish it or not, by those avaricious capitalists who use their shadowy influence to direct the wishes and desires of the great unwashed masses, who never even stop to think about whether or not any of what they are seeing or doing has any real benefits for them….

These well-trained consumers are blind to how they are manipulated into spending money they don’t really have, to keep up with the competition with their neighbors and peers, to acquire useless, expensive toys that have no real purpose in their lives….. Magic shoes, electronic wonders, terminally cute icons, sexy cars, all are presented in such ways as to make their acquisition seem to be a necessity, removing it from the realm of luxury into need….

I mean, really, ffolkes, do we NEED to have the year’s hottest selling doll for our own child, just because they are manipulated into wanting it? Is that the correct way to teach our children about giving? About love, or about life? I don’t think so, myself, but, then, I’m strange, as we know…. I never felt the crushing need to have a new car every year that seems to be the ultimate desire of a great many Americans….

Nor do I feel the pressing need to buy gifts for people once a year, when I should be interacting with them, showing them love and compassion, throughout the year…. Being compassionate toward my fellow man isn’t something that should be confined to one season, yet that is how we are taught to view the world by those assholes who have their attention focused on our money, and  their own rapacious desires for power and control…..

Well, when I began this little bit of discussion, I hadn’t intended to rant; this is, after all, the introduction section…. But, it just sort of grew into what it is according to what it said, and how that made me feel as I wrote…. I got madder and madder as I progressed, until I had to take a short break, to find the center again….

Unfortunately for us all, that center slipped quite a bit off course, by a matter of over 120 degrees, at least, and it has taken me an inordinate amount of time to find my balance again…. Bloody damn assholes…. Every time I start to think about all the SHIT they hand out to the unwitting masses of people out there, I get incensed, and want to go buy a gun….

Ah well, at least this came at an opportune time today…. I can now use this as my rant, as well as a much more than adequate introduction, and go on about the rest of my business as if none of it happened…. Of course, that doesn’t get the BRC & PTB off the hook, necessarily…. I’m sure I can still find a verbal bullet or two in my vest, to reload and take a couple more shots before I’m done today…. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even rant again…. Since I have no written agenda, merely an outline, empty of subjects, I can do what comes naturally…. And, most of the time, I do…. Like now, for instance….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“The world is not to be put in order, the world is order incarnate. It is for us to put ourselves in unison with this order.” — Henry Miller
_____________________________

One of my blogging friends, Professor Chuq, over on his site, In Saner Thought, informs me he is working on a piece on “The Second American Revolution”, and will inform me when it is done…. I’m looking forward to it, as that concept has been in my own mind frequently of late, a concept that I believe warrants more attention than it is currently receiving from the public.

It is patently true that if we wish for things to change, we must go about creating those changes ourselves. The Powers That Be, the beloved ruling class and their shadowy corporate masters, are not going to allow any changes that don’t include their supremacy, not without a struggle, but, if we wish to survive, as a species, there is no other choice but to make changes in the way things are being done…..

In my opinion, any Second American Revolution will need to be more of a spiritual revolution than a physical one, and, in the case of our species, an evolutionary change as well, for it is human nature which MUST change…. It is clear to almost anyone who has a functioning brain cell, one that isn’t focused on remaining ignorant, that we cannot wait any longer to make the changes that will keep our planet from bursting at the seams with the garbage we have dumped EVERYWHERE, sickening us, and all the other creatures with whom we live, killing many of them, and making irrevocable changes to the delicate planetary balance, a biochemical balance that keeps the whole shebang working as it does….

In short, and as clearly as I can put this, if we don’t get smart, NOW, we are all going to die…. it is that simple.  The IMMINENCE of these events is very much more than it can possibly appear to be… If that isn’t clear, let’s just say that we should have made the first steps 40 years ago… and we only have about 10 left until the game gets much more serious, much more quickly….

Damn my pomposity! Ffolkes, if we don’t make these changes, and do it in the next few years, we are all going to die, horribly, painfully, and with no dignity whatsoever….. That famous line about the world ending not with a bang, but with a whimper, will become yet another example of Art imitating Life, or, in this case, Death….

Here I am ranting again, and it’s only six AM in the morning, during the slowest news week of the year….. what a life, eh? Ah well, it could be worse…. I’m not clear as to just HOW it could be worse right now, what with global warming, overpopulation, and imminent extinction for all life as our current set of issues to deal with, but, I’m sure I could think of something that could send some chills down your spine. But, I’m tired of being gloomy and upset, even if my targets deserve all I can throw at them….

Since I’m crapping out on another extended rant, I’ll go old-school, to finish out the thoughts we’re discussing…. I’m looking forward to the Professor’s take on the necessity for changes in this country, and to the dialogue I’m sure it will create…. In the meantime, let’s see what Smart Bee can find for our amusement and/or edification….

“It seems a little silly now, but this country was founded as a protest against taxation.” — Smart Bee

Beauty is truth, truth beauty, –that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

— John Keats (1795-1821) — Ode on a Grecian Urn

“Politicians are the same all over.  They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.” — Nikita S. Khrushchev (1894-1971)

“All censorships exist to prevent any one from challenging current conceptions and existing institutions. All progress is initiated by challenging current conceptions, and executed by supplanting existing institutions. Consequently the first condition of progress is the removal of censorships.” — George Bernard Shaw

“Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“Society can only pursue its normal course by means of a certain progression of changes.” — John, Viscount Morley

“Never do a thing concerning the rectitude of which you are in doubt.” — Pliny the Younger (61-105 AD) — Letters, Book i, Letter xviii, 5

Ah…. a good one, as it turns out. Eclectic, obscure, subtly ironic, viciously mendacious, yet never mundane, or despairing… just the way I like them….
_____________________________

I’m not sure how it worked, but I actually picked this out yesterday to run today, not knowing, at that time, that it would fit in this well…. which, IMLTCHO*, it does…. Enjoy!…..

Seeing is Conducive to Belief

Folly sits so comfortably upon my fevered brow
one would easily believe that I would know how
to look at Life with a jaded, weary eye
seeing enough, and more, to know Why.

Such seems the case, as I will it to be,
an open book of a face, it looks so like me;
what’s known to be so, needs no close attention
familiar sights require no minding, nor mention.

The eye is drawn at once to the stark and new,
and sent back to sleep by successful review.
Once we find evidence we feel we understand,
curiosity languishes, dismissed at command.

Ancient sages knew the insidious value of illusion,
preachers and pundits know the power of confusion.
Each pair of eyes contains its own point of reference,
each mind sets its own standards of preference.

Seeing is believing, for those who live in thrall,
accepting what is perceived is all they ever recall.
Unknown to them, reality follows another set of rules,
Deeper, more dangerous, and no place for fools.

~~ gigoid ~~


*IMLTCHO = In My Less Than Completely Humble Opinion
_____________________________

Okay, that didn’t work…. The first three lines I wrote here were incredibly dumb, and were deleted soon after hitting the screen…. Seriously, I don’t think I could have written anything more mundane or, hell, just say it, plain old bad…. Let’s try this, instead….

I’ve ranted, sort of, and made a pearl of the older variety. I’ve poemed. (That’s a word I just made up, meaning I included a poem, either mine, fresh or old, or someone else’s, ditto…..) I’ve cogitated, I’ve composed, and I’ve drunk some coffee. My feet stink, my back hurts, and I don’t even love Jesus…. No, wait, that’s a Jimmy Buffet song…. I think…. No, that was, “my breath stinks, my feet hurt, and I don’t even love Jesus”…. Maybe…. I forget… Oh well… you get the picture….

Never mind. Any who, to get on with it…. It’s still early, and I’m about done, but, I don’t feel up to anything complicated…. so, I’ll foist off another piece from the archives on y’all, my compassionate, understanding, indulgent, unsuspecting audience, no matter how tiny, or huge…. (In numbers, not size…. I have no idea how big or small any of y’all are, do I? No, of course not….)

What I found for y’all today is a simple piece, and much shorter than usual for me, so there’s a small bonus, eh? You can’t say I don’t consider my readers, can you?…. Well, maybe it’s best if we don’t even THINK about that concept right now, okay?…. Here, this is better, for all of us….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From April 2012:

During his 1956 presidential campaign, a woman called out to Adlai E. Stevenson “Senator, you have the vote of every thinking person!” Stevenson called back “That’s not enough, madam, we need a majority!”

Obviously, this implies he was part of the minority, along with not enough voters…. Mr. Stevenson was perhaps the last truly rational man to run for the highest office our country offers, hindered only by his commitment to honesty. I’ve seen a number of articles about that campaign, and it’s clear in my mind that his very rationality is what gave the election to the other candidate.

He made every attempt he could to try to engage the minds of Americans, naively, as it turns out. His opponent, Eisenhower, just mostly kept his mouth shut and let his slogans speak for him, such as “I like Ike!”, and other such intellectual standards, that appealed directly to the American public’s misplaced sense of national pride.

After four years of post WWII and the Korean war economic boom(s), it wasn’t hard for the Republicans to rest on their laurels, firmly attached to the coattails of a war hero…. There was, and still is, no place on the political scene in this country for rationality, obviously, as Ike and his ilk won in a landslide…. So much for the opportunity to see what a “thinking man’s president” might be able to accomplish….

The chances of such a man being elected today are even slimmer, considering that, in today’s media-frenzied world, those candidates who can be the most sly, underhanded, and completely dishonest, are those who catch the eye, and the votes, of the great unwashed, uneducated masses who now comprise the voting public….

“It has been said that man is a rational animal.  All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.” — Bertrand Russell
_____________________________

Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow;
He who would search for pearls must dive below.

— John Dryden (1631-1700) — All for Love, Prologue

It is apparent to me, and most likely, to the most casual observer, that today, I’ve covered the complete gamut of surface errors to lustrous pearls from far below…. Far be it from me to stand in the way of progress, so, with no further fuss or muss, I’m outta here…. Well, until tomorrow…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Don’t pry, MacDuff, it’s clan business….

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Ffolkes,

“If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us.” — Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.

“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955), when asked what his Theory of Relativity was– by William Randolph Hearst’s mistress — during a visit to Xanadu, the Hearst mansion

When my mind is this achingly empty, it hurts….. a lot. On such mornings, it becomes imperative to supply it with something that will ease the pain, while simultaneously filling some of the sheer emptiness that echoes for what seems to be forever….. Fortunately, one of my first steps in the morning routine is to turn on the computer, which is trained to open up the database of quotes I use frequently, Smart Bee….. It can then randomly supply me with such gems as the two above, which have served me well this morning, easing my mental hunger…. for it was shockingly empty, and the pain was fierce….

I like the above pearls, and not just because they saved the morning for me…. I’ve  been looking back at the history of the US in the last century for some time now, trying to figure out just when it started to go bad for us…. Mostly, I’ve found that the roots of the problems we are facing go back quite a bit further than the twentieth century, although much of the worst that has come to light seems to have taken place since the beginning of that last  hundred years; this, though, is merely a matter of observing the effects, over time, of the policies that are causing the issues to manifest….

In short, the bad habits we have displayed as a species, which have been running without much interference for a couple of thousand years, thus shaping the mental attitudes of almost all those living in our culture, (some of us seem to be more resistant than others….), are now coming to fruition, in terms of the long-term effects of our behaviors, effects we had not the wit to see, or understand….

Our continuous, constant rape and pillaging of the planet’s dwindling, and certainly finite, resources has reached a point where our filthy habit of pouring smoke into the air, as if it would have NO effect at all, is going to kill us all, in a surprisingly short amount of time. In spite of all my research into the matter, I’m still not sure exactly WHY we have ignored this for so long, other than to say that we all must have been blinded by what is wishful thinking; regardless of whether or not that is true, we HAVE ignored it, and the effects of that neglect are now catching up to our continued display of ignorance….

I’ve been ranting about this for a week or so, since I saw the report in the Nation that summarized some of the latest reports from climate scientists…. reports that show exactly how late it is, and how little time we have to make the needed changes in how we make use of the planet’s resources….. I have, unfortunately, been made aware, by the lack of reaction to what I’ve written by almost ANYONE else, that the season has played a part in how few have seen or reacted to my sense of urgency about all of this. In short, my angst has been usurped by the seasonal atmosphere of “Oh, it’ll wait ’til after the holidays! Have another egg nog!”….

So, I can see that whatever campaign I might wish to begin, to try to alter the course of history in today’s world, isn’t going to make very much headway until the New Year….. Thus, I may as well relax, and try to have a bit of fun until then…. I am not looking forward to the next fifty years, should I survive that long, as they promise to be more than just a bit “interesting”….Even if mankind DOES wake up, and start to make some kind of effort to halt the environmental damage, and alter the course on which we are now locked, it isn’t going to be simple, or easy, and there will be a great many people who complain vociferously about the changes, which they don’t want, and can barely understand….

The world that is coming, ffolkes, won’t be very much like the one we have now, not once the atmosphere becomes a danger to us…. There will be SUCH a scramble, to see who will be saved, and who will be condemned to die, that all the revolutions and wars we have seen throughout history will pale in comparison…. Governments will try to blame each other, and lie to protect themselves (just as they do now….), but, it won’t matter who is to blame, because Mother Nature really doesn’t give a shit WHO did it…. her reaction will be the same…. Clear the decks, kill them all, and start over…. from Her viewpoint, it’s much easier than trying to get us to change our nature…..

Changing human nature has been our species’ most important goal for most of our history, as well as the one that is resisted most strongly by any to whom it is applied….. Those who have power and resources do not want to give them up easily, and see very little in it for them….. and that has been the problem right from the start….. These people (and I use the term loosely, as they do not accept many of the rules and customs that actual ‘people’ live by, which, in my opinion, removes their right to be included as part of the species at large….), who have set themselves up as the ‘leaders’ of humanity, are in truth merely thugs and thieves, willing to lie, cheat, and steal to make sure that they are in control, of other people, and of the wealth of the community….

We have yet to figure out how to keep them from doing that, and, unless we, as a larger group set against them, are willing to use the same degree of force that they are capable of using, we won’t do so…. until it’s too late, and the ignorance and idiocy of the lifestyle they’ve chosen so blindly will end up killing them…. and, sadly, us along with them…. I guess, if there were a way to figure out how to make the universe JUST, things might work out better…. But, until there is some way for the behavior shown by the BRC to be rewarded by killing ONLY those who show it, well, then, the rest of us are going to end up paying for their foolishness…..

There, now that I’ve completely depressed myself, and anyone else who stumbled in this morning, I guess I can go on to more lucrative pursuits…. Or, at least, more lucrative in the sense of being more enjoyable, and less depressing…. It isn’t every day I start off the day with a nine or ten paragraph rant on the End of Days Scenario, so we should, if for no other reasons than sheer exuberance and silliness, celebrate such flippancy and sang-froid, with some funny, heartwarming pearls, all of a lighter nature than this discussion…. In short….

Shall we Pearl?….

And the angels, all pallid and wan
Uplifting, unveiling, affirm
That the play is the tragedy ‘MAN’
And its hero Conqueror Worm

— Edgar Allan Poe “The Conqueror Worm”
_____________________________

Having ranted above, sufficient unto the day, the following shall have no excuse, nor any pity…. This pearl, ffolkes, is about politicians, and the way they look at life…. Some may just show how they speak, or show of what they think about in crisis, but all demonstrate, somehow, just what assholes they are, providing ample justification for how little we like them…..

“The higher you climb, the more you show your ass.” — Alexander Pope, “The Dunciad

“You can fool all of the people some of the time; you can fool some of the people all of the time; and that should be sufficient for most purposes.” — Smart Bee — Found on a plaque, set in the wall beside the doorway into the Congressional offices…..

Chang: “‘Cry havoc!  And let slip the dogs of war!'” — “STVI:TUC”, Stardate 9523.8

“The greatest right in the world is the right to be wrong.  If the Government or magistrates think an individual is right, no one will interfere with him; but when agitators talk against the things considered holy, or when radicals criticize, or satirize political gods, or question the justice of our laws and institutions, or pacifists talk against war, how the old inquisition awakens, and ostracism, the excommunication of the church, the prison, the wheel, the torture-chamber, the mob, are called upon to suppress the free expression of thought.” — Harry Weinberger, letter to the editor, — New York Evening Post, April 10, 1917

One, two, three, four
What are we fighting for?
Don’t ask me I don’t give a damn.
Next stop is Vietnam.
Five, six, seven, eight
Open up the pearly gates.
Ain’t no time to wonder why
Whoopie!  We’re all going to die.

— Country Joe and the Fish

“When you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship.” — Harry S. Truman, 1959

I might have guessed, had I thought of it, but, I didn’t…. so, it doesn’t matter. Nonetheless, I’ll say it anyway…. this final pearl took quite a while,and quite a complicated search, to find just the right candidate to finish this off correctly…. The effort was worth it, for it’s absolutely perfect…. Here, look….

“There is no force more potent in the modern world than stupidity fueled by greed.” — Edward Abbey

See? I can’t think of ANY statement that matches the concept of politics as we know them better than this, a pearl that helps to form a, (yes, I’ll say it again…), perfect ending to a fine indictment…..
_____________________________

Today’s post is freshly made, so, this means the poem will also be mine, though not fresh….. Nobody else will get any blame for any of this, I promise….

Penance, Made Simple

After all the dross is sent away
a celebration can begin,
time will face up to space, to stay
willing, to shine from within.

Anger and confusion come in to share
brushing reason aside,
eager to welcome all that is fair,
alert to danger, eyes wide.

Re-gift the wicked with their own pain
stand with the just;
fail to partake of the ill-gotten gain,
living in honor, the only must.

Standing fast in the face of wrong
is its own prize and reward.
Holding on to truth makes us strong,
well worth working toward.

Little is left to chance by fate
our lessons are never free of cost.
Seldom does reality make us wait
only when alone, are we lost.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

So that no one can ever say I’m not equal opportunity in my criticism, here are some pearls that have a bit to say about the preachers/priests…. You know,those delusional busybodies who insist on having everyone share in their delusions, which mostly involve a prophet commonly found in the desert, fasting and hallucinating, a supernatural love triangle involving rape and incest, and soliciting the promise to give them 10% of all you earn…. You know, those guys…. Any who, these are some pearls that have something to say about those who would not be king, but, rather, would rather serve that king to help keep you in thrall… for free housing, guaranteed income, and a good tax shelter, of course….

“No man with any sense of humor, ever founded a religion.” — Robert G. Ingersoll

Proof that Bill Gates is the devil ; The real name of the Bill Gates is William Henry Gates III. Nowadays he is known as Bill Gates (III), where III means the order of third (3rd.) By converting the letters of his current name to the ASCII-values and adding his (III), you get the following:

B       66
I       73
L       76
L       76
G       71
A       65
T       84
E       69
S       83
I        1
I        1
I        1
————–
666 !!!

Some might ask, How did Bill Gates get so powerful? Coincidence? Or just the beginning of mankind’s ultimate and total enslavement???

— Smart Bee

“A church is a place in which gentlemen who have never been to heaven brag about it to persons who will never get there.” — H. L. Mencken

“Since everything in life is but an experience perfect in being what it is, having nothing to do with good or bad, acceptance or rejection, one may well burst out in laughter.” — Long Chen Pa

“You do nothing but steal men’s souls and make them your slaves. Your words are are nothing but empty lies.” “The same could be said for any religion…” — Simon Belmont being utterly destroyed by Count Dracula

“God isn’t dead, She was never born.” — Smart Bee
_____________________________

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man except one thing: the last of the human freedoms— to choose one`s own attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” — Victor Frankl

I think, in coming years, this will be an important attitude to cultivate, and, a mental direction that will provide the one who follows it to live in the most comfort possible…. in their own mind, anyway…. If what I see in the evidence comes true, as I sincerely hope it does NOT, we all will need the ability to retreat into our minds for comfort, because there won’t be any to be found, not out in the real world…. But, time will tell, and who knows? Maybe the One who has the genius to figure out the answers is being born as I speak, and in twenty years or so, will condescend to figure out how to save the world…. Ah well, we’re all looking for a magic bullet, aren’t we?….. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Crafty solutions work well for hybrids….

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Ffolkes,

There…. now I’ve got time galore to get this going, and/or done…. It isn’t often I re-blog another writer’s work, but one of the blogs I follow had a great post, that fit so well into what I see and believe, I just had to put it up on my site for ffolkes to see…. It’s a good take on modern society, and a grand indictment of the BRC, whom the author of the piece, quite accurately in my mind, defines as the 545 members of the US government, (POTUS + Congress + Senate + Supremes = 545). I really did enjoy the way he placed the logical responsibility for current events in their lap, right where it belongs…. Please read, and enjoy, and then spread it around to others…. thanks….

I’m up, and have finally realized how badly I’ve timed my rants on global warming, and the imminent nature of the problems it will cause us in the coming years….. The time of year has defeated me in that respect, as there are only a few die-hards hanging around WP, from what I can see. Everyone else is probably out celebrating with family, or doing whatever else it is people do at this time of year, instead of reading radical, potentially offensive diatribes against the government, and those responsible for our position. If I still had a nuclear family, I’d probably be hosting them myself, or at least getting together at some point, to make the contact with family…..

My own kids make me proud; it was nice of them yesterday to take the time to drive all the way to where I live to see me, so my son could give me his presents, and visit for a time…. They may have thought I didn’t appreciate it, as we didn’t visit for long, but, I really do enjoy the very compassionate natures that both of them show to the world, in everything they do…. They may not always hear it often from me, but, I am very proud of them, and how they live their lives…. and, I hope they see this little piece today, so they know it firsthand….

I’m not sure what to do today… I still have a lot of angst and outrage built up from my last few days of thought regarding the newest global warming reports, which would easily translate into a rant, or even two….. but, it would be to little avail, as there aren’t very many ffolkes out there to read it…. Of course, I can always use my new friend Chuq’s method, of rating my blog to determine success, which would encourage me to disregard how many people read it, as long as they receive it…. which is fine, but doesn’t allow me to complain, so I won’t go there for now….

Besides, I’ve already managed to blather enough at this point to legally get on with today’s effort, from a creative standpoint, anyway. I’ve gotten pretty good at just diving in, and wandering around until an intro is done, don’t you think? Haven’t had a panic attack over that in months… It’s amazing to me how far just a little bit of smarm can be spread around into so many different places, all without getting any of it on one’s clothing…. After a while, one might tend to think it’s the normal course of things, but, I think we’re far too sophisticated for that to ever happen…. don’t you?

No? Oh…. well, so much for that idea…. I suppose there’s nothing left for me to do in this venue, so….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Everyone has to be somewhere, so you might as well be here.” — Smart Bee
_____________________________

http://fkuverymuchandhavaniceday.wordpress.com/2013/12/16/227/

I know that I reblogged the post attached to the above link, in order for it to get its own referrals, but, I’m including a link to the post here in section one, prior to the upcoming, old-school pearl, so that ffolkes won’t miss their opportunity to see what I consider to be an important read….. or, if nothing else, a read of great brilliance, with no punches pulled…. To honor the post, below are seven pearls of great luster, all in the same line of indictment, of immorality on the part of those who would be king….. Or, in short, here is a seven-star pearl, aimed right at the heart of the Beloved Ruling Class…..

“We have our spasms of revolt, our flarings up of peekaboo waists, free love and “art,” but a mighty backwash of piety fetches each and every one of them soon or late.” — H. L. Mencken, The Butte Bashkirtseff

“The people always have some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness…. This and no other is the root from which tyranny springs.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.), “The Republic”

“No matter how often a lie is shown to be false, there will remain a percentage of people who believe it is true.” — Law of the Lie

“Democracy means government by the uneducated, while aristocracy means government by the badly educated.” — G. K. Chesterton

“Approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let’s not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emissions standards from man-made sources.” — Ronald W. Reagan, quoted in “Sierra”, 10 September 1980

“The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war.  Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin.  But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists.” — Ernest Hemingway (1898-1961)

“…. I don’t know why but, suddenly, I want to discuss declining I.Q. LEVELS with a blue ribbon SENATE SUB-COMMITTEE!” — Zippy the Pinhead
_____________________________

The placement of poetry in this section today is not an indication that I consider myself to be on a par with T.S. Eliot as a poet….. But, these two snippets from him were perfectly formed to act as brackets to this poem, it seems to me, so, who am I to quarrel with an episode of artistic insistence by Art itself?…. I think it works, and so do you….

You cannot face it steadily, but this thing’s for sure,
That time is no healer: the patient is no longer here.

 — T.S. Eliot

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Future Shocked:

Weeping, I wake;
waking, I weep, I weep.
I weep for the ages to be lost,
for the children never to be born.

Time comes calling, strident and spare,
nudging us toward the future with bony hands.
No pausing, no waiting, always away,
Frantic hearts unseen, unheard.

Spirits are dark, afraid.
And the Beast hunts, hungry and cruel,
seeking out the weak, and the foolish.

We all weep now…..

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And I said to myself be still, wait without hope.
For hope would be hope of the wrong thing.
Wait without love.
For love would be love of the wrong thing.
Wait without faith.
For the faith and the hope and the love are all in the waiting.

 — T.S. Eliot

_____________________________

“If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be: a Christian.” — Mark Twain

Since I’m not going to rant today, no matter how much provocation I receive, here is a mini-religirant from the archives, written and posted just over a year ago, to be precise…. S’okay, for the next, oh, hundred years or so, there will still be a number of tomorrows in which to get to writing another diatribe against the guilty ones…. After that hundred years, though, all bets are off…. It’s looking much like our tomorrows will be coming to an abrupt ending, in the not-so-distant future…. Oh well, rather than be too sad about it now, let’s see if we can pull a smile or two out for our pleasure, even if it’s only on a temporary basis….

From 12/5/12:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One day, a gate breaks down between heaven and hell. So St. Peter arrives on the scene and calls out for the devil.

And the devil saunters over and says, “What do you want?”

And St. Peter says, “Satan, it’s your turn to fix it this time.”

And the devil says, “I’m sorry. But my men are too busy to worry about fixing a mere gate.”

And St. Peter says, “Well, then, I’ll have to sue you for breaking our agreement.”

And the devil says, “Oh yeah? Where are you going to get a lawyer?”

– Soupy Sales

It occurs to me, Soupy’s next line from St. Peter would have to be…. “I don’t need one, I’ve got a fix in with the judge….”  That would give not only balance to the argument, but would accurately reflect the actual level of corruption implied in the picture of the universe painted by the Judeo-Christian model of religion. It would also probably more closely reflect Soupy’s sense of humor, which was much more pointed than he got credit for…. People just thought he was a little strange sometimes, not recognizing lines that were making active fun of the establishment (as we old hippies were wont to call the mainstream of American society….).

In reality, this joke is another example of the bad press that the Devil always gets; it isn’t often you’ll see a joke that ends up with Satan coming out on top. No, he is always given the role of the asshole, the manipulator, the one who wants to drag us down into Hell for eternal torment. Everyone seems to forget that they have ascribed omnipotence, and omniscience to God, and that He is the one who a) made the Devil the way he is, and b) could change it if he wished…. which seems to indicate that he DOESN’T wish to rid us of Satan, but prefers he be around to tempt and distract us…. That sounds to me like just a bit of manipulation in itself; how ’bout y’all?….

The preachers would have us believe that God allows Satan to exist out of his sheer benevolence, forgetting this is the same God who, in the Old Testament, sent forty bears to a town to kill all the children, just because a few small boys made fun of one of His prophets. He is also the one who threw Satan out of Heaven for objecting to some of what He had done on Earth, then turned around and allowed him free access to us humans, just so He would have a ready-made way to test us at His convenience. Just a little self-serving, don’t you think? This God, as generally presented in most versions of the Bible, to my way of thinking, acts more like a spoiled little kid than a deity capable of creating universes….

Okay, I’ll quit now. It’s really too easy to shoot at dogma; it never tries to hide; it just stands there, looking dumb, as you sight in on its forehead. But, hey, it’s a necessary job, and somebody’s got to do it…. Boy, it sure would be nice, though, to see humanity grow up, and learn to face reality without crutches, and without having to invent a supernatural being to explain away the stuff that isn’t clearly understood…. But, I guess it’s job security, in that sense, because it means I’ll always have something about which to write….

“I’m RELIGIOUS!!  I love a man with a HAIRPIECE!! Equip me with MISSILES!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
_____________________________

“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_

Which is why, when all is said and done, you see me at the end of the day, weak from being out of breath, laughing as hard as I can, because I’m so tired of weeping…. Today’s Pearl is an unusual one, for a lot of reasons, none of which would be profitable to discuss right now…. However, let it be said that, due to the re-blog of the great post by my WP compatriot, and the odd structure that this Pearl seemed to dictate for itself, this turned out a bit strange, which is saying a LOT around here…. Let’s take a quick look at the damages….

Well, I think, unless one has completely unlimited hit points, this one should be able to shave off a few of them to have at least some effect, even if only for today…. It’s a start, and I’ll take it…. I’m not sure what that means, but, it sounds good, so, hey, anything that works that well should be included…. I’m losing all credibility now, I know it, so, I’m outta here, ffolkes…. See you soon, I’m sure…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

The magical life of Welsh budgies….

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Ffolkes,

“Any mental functions attempted in this area must be re-evaluated during a subsequent period. It has been discovered that standard logic works sideways in this area due to the influence of the occupant.” — Smart Bee, describing a sign reportedly seen on the White House lawn in 1983…. (Fairly early in the Reagan Years, for those with sympathetic memory loss issues….)

For some reason, SB left this sitting here on the screen for me to find…. go figure….

Most mornings here at ECR find me staring with trepidation at a blank screen, worried that inspiration will fail me at last, and no Pearl will be forthcoming. So far, I’ve managed to avoid that, most days, missing only about a dozen or so over the last two and a bit more of years; many of those were due to technical glitches, with about a half-dozen due to illness…. such as the first four days of this month, when I came down with bronchitis while on a cruise….. Such fun that was! One of my most compelling memories will always center around being trundled through the hallways of the ship, in a wheelchair, miserable, (a euphemism for tossing my cookies….), and wondering how many thousands of dollars it was going to run me for this….

I lived through that, so I guess it taught me a lesson….The problem is, I can’t figure out what the lesson is, that it is trying to teach me…. Don’t get sick? Don’t go on cruises? It’s a bit of a facer when I can’t even decipher my own subconscious’ little tricks designed to get me to live more…. what? Safely? Healthy? What? I don’t get what it’s trying to tell me with this…. It’s not as if I spend all my time pursuing unhealthy behaviors…. Hell, the way I move these days, there’s no danger of any speed-related illness or injury, that’s for certain…. I feel like a snail much of the time, and walking over two blocks is getting to be a real challenge…. I stay warm, I don’t hang out in crowds, and I eat a well balanced diet, mostly….

So, what’s the deal here? Did I lose all my marbles last night? Have I forgotten what I was going to write about today? What’s with all these questions, anyway? Have I lost it completely? Maybe I should wait for one of these to be answered before starting to write the next….. But, if I started answering any of these, how will I get to where I want to go? And just where is it I want to go, anyway?….. Maybe I should just start to think about that one…. But, since I haven’t known the answer to that question for many, many years, other than where it might be in relation to a cruise itinerary, it would arguably be a waste of time…..

Of course, we’ve already done that for, oh, twenty minutes or so already, so that isn’t going to fly as motivation, or as defense, at least, not a viable one….. I suppose I’ll have to just pull out method #9 for ending intro sections, which involves a lot of noise and party favors, while the noises from outside the house continue to sound as if the Twilight Zone has settled into the neighborhood for good…. No wind, but nice wind-chimes happening, and the lights keep flickering at odd moments out on the street….. I think I’ll just leave the doors and windows locked up for the moment…. Oh, wait, look at that!

It’s a nocturnally oriented, black faced, cattus domesticus, sleepily winding across the floor to demand morning libations…. Loudly demanding her morning food and water attention, she graciously accepts the morning attentions of one of her personal slaves…. There, one high-maintenance cat taken care of…. Since I’ve managed to meander far enough to satisfy even the most stringent of bureaucrats, even the one with the dual pocket protectors,  method #9 isn’t going to be needed today…. That’s always good news, as it is one of the more expensive to use in terms of physical resources that need to be replaced each time…. That damn caviar is getting expensive!…. I suppose I could use non-Beluga, but, what would the point of that be?….

Okay, so, not bad…. Five full paragraphs of completely useless bullshit, none of which had A) any real meaning beyond its existence as fodder, or piffle, B) any connection to Reality at large, either Consensual, or Privately Held Beliefs, and, most importantly, C) more dignity than necessary to keep from breaking formation….. For less than a full cup of coffee, that’s not bad at all…. Hell, it might just be a record, but, we’re not going to measure today…. The necessary tools are all put away in their winter stations, and I’m not up for it…. Besides, I just realized, it’s a holiday, isn’t it? So, legally, I can take the day off from tasks like that….. I have reached my limit of nonsense, and shall now go find another way to annoy myself…..

Shall we Pearl?…. In fact, for openers, let’s do it twice, because that’s twice as nice…..

“I don’t understand why everybody’s in disguise.” — Lemmy Kilmister

“Integrity has no need for rules.” — Albert Camus
_____________________________

So, it’s Christmas…. This is a tough holiday for me, since I don’t believe in the Christian hierarchies of thought, or buy into its particular set of delusional material…. In fact, I’m pretty pissed off right now at the Christians, as I hold their attitudes to be a significant factor in the events that have led to the current world environmental crisis; you know, the End-of-Days scenario, that is forming as we speak, or, more accurately, as I regale y’all with my outrage…. The Christian attitude, of “we’re special, because we are the ONLY religion that is right….” has caused more damage over time than any other single idea, especially since it is so egregiously FALSE….. but, I digress….

Any who, since I don’t believe in the BS, it’s hard for me to engage in the more likable parts of the season, like the gift giving, because I find it so hard to justify the rampant consumerism that goes along with that…. The ads, commercials, the billboards, the deals being screamed at us from every venue, get so annoying, it makes me want to go out, buy a gun, and start carrying it around, not necessarily to USE it on the idiots, but to show it now and again, to at least get them to SHUT THE FUCK UP FOR FIVE DAMN MINUTES….. How many times does it take before “Silent Night” becomes a legitimate call to take up arms?….

So, for this first section, we’ll go with an old-school variety of pearl, and hope we can find some way to poke some fun at the culture we all inhabit…. Hey, it’s a tough job, but, somebody’s got to do it, right?…..

“We have nothing to fear but the atmosphere itself.” — Smart Bee

(Okay, so it’s not funny…. it’s TRUE though, and that should count for something…..) (Okay, I’ll stop with the comments now, and let the rest of this pearl proceed apace….)

“Space is not the final frontier. The final frontier is the human soul. Space is merely the place where we are most likely to meet the challenge. The victory will occur in the continual process of challenging and testing our limits — both as individuals and as a species — and not in the amount of territory conquered.” — Solomon Short

“Be not careless in deeds, nor confused in words, nor rambling in thought.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, viii, 51

Conservative: The mix of megalomania and stupidity. — Smart Bee, in a VERY insightful moment

“There are many things worth living for, few things worth dying for, nothing  worth killing for.” — from Tom Robbins’ “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues”

Memorial Day In The United States;  “A day when almost every community holds memorial parades. The man who enjoys marching in line and file to the strains of music falls below my contempt; he received his great brain by mistake.” — Albert Einstein

“To be wise, the only thing you really need to know is when to say “I don’t know.” — Smart Bee

As I’ve said before, I know it will be okay when Smart Bee has the brackets covered….. Perfect, if a bit eclectic in nature…. good embedded cynicism, I think, if a bit light on incipient sardonicism…
_____________________________

Hmm…. let’s see now…. for whom am I in the mood today? Ah, I know…. This will do nicely….

Old Men

People expect old men to die,
They do not really mourn old men.
Old men are different. People look
At them with eyes that wonder when…
People watch with unshocked eyes;
But the old men know when an old man dies.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

_____________________________

I had some trouble figuring out what to put in here, but managed to find an archived rant, one that should fit in quite well…. It’s fairly long, but quite cogent, so, we’ll just get to it…. This is from June 22, 2013….. not so long ago, was it?…. A mere six months…. which, as the rant indicates, another six  months when NOTHING changed in the world at large….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The rights of one are as sacred as the rights of a million.” — Eugene V. Debs, US labor leader.

(Note: Debs received one million votes in 1920 as candidate for US President, while serving a 10-year jail sentence for having said in June 1918: “Wars throughout history have been waged for conquest and plunder… the master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.”) — Smart Bee

This has been sitting around for a couple of days, since I found it in SB. It’s the perfect beginning for a politirant, and the news of late has provided a number of interesting side notes to this idea, so I find myself in the position of being compelled to rant, which is the best attitude to start with….

The recent news has shown a number of items concerned with the revelations just released a few weeks ago, when a former NSA contractor spilled the beans about how the US government has been spying on its own people, collecting personal data from phone records, mercantile records, and from review of emails and other data mined from the internet…. The revelations, of course, are in the process of being denied and/or devalued by that government, who are trying to convince the public that the spying is “transparent”, and that the information is NOT being collected to investigate American citizens…. This, of course, is a bald faced lie, and anyone who believes it deserves anything that happens to them….

The government of this country is in the hands of people who are controlled by the corporate masters of society, sometimes willfully, most times without their complete knowledge. They (the corporate masters…) don’t give a SHIT about the rights of anyone else, so the above statement that got Mr. Debs in trouble is shown to be perfectly true. The people who control society don’t believe in the sacred nature of rights, for anyone who isn’t them, so it can be said that the rights of one are as sacred as the rights of a million, because to the 1% (a number that is actually far larger than the number of real masters of society…. that’s probably closer to .001%…..), neither one is sacred at all….

What disturbs me a lot of the time is that there are still a lot of people who believe that, of the choices available in the political spectrum, one side or another is better, and showing support for one of them will direct matters to a more favorable (for the people) resolution…. The fact is, neither the Republicans, nor the Democrats, nor any of the Independents who are in office, or trying to get into office, have any interest at all in doing anything other than establishing their own agenda as the one used by society. Those agendas have nothing to do with helping the general public; they are designed to benefit only those who ascribe to the correct philosophy. No matter which political party or entity you choose, you’re going to get screwed, in the final analysis.

“The art of government is the organization of idolatry.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

If you still think that Barack Obama is going to help the common man, well, I suggest you listen to the crap he is putting out right now about this surveillance. Remember, too, that he signed the law that killed the Bill of Rights, on New Year’s Eve of 2012,  the infamous National Defense Authorization Act, which makes it legal for the government to arrest citizens without a warrant, to hold them in an unknown place, without any oversight or review of rights, and try them in a secret court, without legal representation. It authorized the use of drones in a domestic fashion (which they continue to lie about, and say they aren’t using them…. when reports from all over the country provide relatively incontrovertible PROOF that they ARE using them….), and, most assuredly, authorized the illegal wiretapping and internet data mining that is currently going on, even though it has been exposed.

We may as well begin referring to the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution as the Bill of Former Rights, because, face it, ffolkes, you don’t have them anymore. I’ve heard it said that they are not rights, anyway, as a right is something nobody can take away from you…. More accurately, you have no rights that you are unable to defend…. and the government has slyly convinced most people that they don’t want those rights anyway….

Look how many formerly intelligent people are jumping on the bandwagon about gun control, forgetting all that our forefathers cautioned us about, when they warned about the possible encroachment of big business and the churches into the workings of government…. Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Mason, Franklin, all of them mistrusted the corporate interests and the preachers, having suffered much at their hands, and they tried to warn us against listening to them….

But, what happened to Eugene Debs back in 1919, when he was sent to prison (in direct violation of the right to free speech….) was not the first indicator that things had regressed, and the trend toward government takeover of the rights of US citizenry has continued right up to today. The recent revelations about spying, you will see, will be quashed, and ignored by those in power, as there is now nothing we can do to stop them from doing whatever they want…. According to the laws we let them slip by us, it’s all legal ffolkes…. We are screwed, and the only good thing I can see about it, is that, due to global warming, climate change, and the imminent destruction of the human species by our own pollution, we won’t have long to put up with it….

Books are burning
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
_____________________________

To some degree, I am procrastinating the finish of this Pearl…. It is now but 0635 in the AM of Christmas Day, and I can foresee a long, boring day ahead, filled with many hours for which some sort of entertainment must be found that won’t stultify my brain completely…. The current choices offered by the mainstream media just aren’t going to provide me with anything remotely amusing, and the library is closed today…. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to go back to bed, and sleep until tomorrow….

First, though, let’s see how this came out….. Hmm… not too shabby for a non-government contractor working for free…. It will pass muster for a holiday, at least…. Gosh, I suppose this means I can delay no longer, but, must find a way to end this, hopefully with some grace and dignity…. Ah, the hell with that….. I’m outta here, ffolkes…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

In the domain of the demons of democracy…..

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Ffolkes,

Timing…. is everything….. and mine has been way off lately…. Here ’tis, Xmas Eve, and I’ve been so busy ranting about the upcoming climatological emergency, (an event COMING SOON, TO A PLANETARY UNIT YOU INHABIT), I completely skipped over talking about any of the rampant consumerism that is so “in your face” this time of year, all of which, in my opinion, is based on a delusional system that over a third of this planet has bought into, and fully believes…. I guess that’s what comes from not watching very much TV; the worst of it is on there, what with the massive amounts of money put into directing consumer’s habits and tastes every holiday, particularly Christmas….. Gasp! Epiphany!

Wow! I just realized why Christianity, all throughout history, has been so closely allied with the forces of corporate manipulation of society, i.e. the bankers, and/or whomever are in positions of authority…. And it isn’t because Christians are so “special”…. No, they are merely encouraged to think they are, because when they do, they are the most easily manipulated idiots on the face of the Earth, save perhaps cows, or, maybe, starfish….. and, hey, who’s worried they’ll take over, eh?….

Any who, at this time of year, the mask comes off, to a degree, and the rampant greed and sheer avarice of the very rich is fulfilled by the appetites created for them by the churches, the radios and TVs, and the newspapers, all of whom repeat and trumpet the latest deals into the public consciousness…. I actually saw a car commercial of some sort, in a rare moment when the TV was on, that said something to the effect of “Buy, buy, buy, buy, buy, buy buy… buy” to the tune of some carol or another, complete with subtitles…. I kid you not!…. I had to laugh, to keep from weeping….

There is something good to be said for the spirit of compassion that is so much more common now than at other times of the year (Yet another sign of the morally and ethically juvenile make-up of society at large…..), but, on the whole, other than exchanging gifts with my kids, and a couple friends, I ignore most of what other folks are all excited about…. and that’s okay by me, a hard thing for some to understand, without getting an impression that isn’t wholly accurate….. C’est la vie, friends…. I can’t change the world…. at BEST,  I can successfully ignore what it does to, or on, me (Think about it….), and learn to be content with whatever that may be…. or, if not content, resigned….

Aside from that aforementioned higher degree of human compassion that marks many interactions at this time of year, there is little to recommend it to me, as the commercials, the decorations (another area where greed and competitive spirit cause so many to go completely overboard….), the false bonhomie, the distressed parents and over-amped kids, and all of the other “holiday” treats the world has for us…. Well, all of that holiday spirit just tends to piss me off more than anything else….. This is because I realize it is ALL in place solely for the benefit of those who want power and money, and none of the given reasons for the season have any more influence on people than does the weather…. and nobody seems to care!….

Ah well, I’m tired of ranting to no purpose…. since I have a ways to go today to get this done, I’ll end this mini-intro-section-rant here, and get on with today’s dive…. It will serve more purpose than has been garnered by this section, that’s for sure and for certain….

Shall we Pearl?….

“No matter where you go, there you are.” — Buckaroo Banzai, from “Buckaroo Banzai – Across the 8th Dimension”
_____________________________

Of course, since I ranted, to some degree, in the introduction, y’all get the benefit of that, in the shape of an old-school pearl here in section one….. Yesterday, Smart Bee was being rather showy, providing all sorts of great quotes even when not asked for them…. It was a very lucrative day, aphorism-wise, and I’m hoping that attitude will extend into today’s search…. Murphy, bless his tiny little head, has been busy elsewhere during this holiday season, due mostly, I think, to my own lack of Christmas spirit, which doesn’t leave him a lot of leeway to pick at me…. I’m already in curmudgeon mode, so I’m less vulnerable at this time of year…. Yay!….. Any who, here you go….

Not bad for a first find…..

“And now, let the fun begin.” — Smart Bee

“I may RISE today, but I refuse to SHINE !!!” — gigoid, channeling Zippy

“A grave, wherever found, preaches a short and pithy sermon to the soul.” — Hawthorne

“Delay is preferable to error.” — Thomas Jefferson

“There is only one commandment:  Thou Shalt Not Waste. All the others are superfluous.” — Solomon Short

“Mastering others is strength. Mastering one’s self is true power.” — Lao Tzu

“Ask me about my lobotomy.” — Smart Bee

We always know a pearl will work when Smart Bee provides the bracket quotes…. This one is a good one, all in all, and well balanced, for all its sparsity…. How well balanced? Allow me to demonstrate….

Not bad for a first find…..

“And now, let the fun begin.” — Smart Bee

“I may RISE today, but I refuse to SHINE !!!” — gigoid

“A grave, wherever found, preaches a short and pithy sermon to the soul.” — Hawthorne

“Delay is preferable to error.” — Thomas Jefferson

“There is only one commandment:  Thou Shalt Not Waste. All the others are superfluous. — Solomon Short

“Mastering others is strength. Mastering one’s self is true power.” — Lao Tzu

“Ask me about my lobotomy.” — Smart Bee


See? Just TRY to knock THAT over!….. Not happening, ffolkes…. You will please note that the outline shape of the text is an exact replica of an Imperial Starship… which, as we all know, were pretty tough to bring down…. and even tougher to de-legitimize….. What? What does that MEAN? Why? Who needs to know? I mean, in the final analysis, it’s all dross and drivel, so, who the hell cares, eh?….

No, really, sorry ’bout that…. a bit of insanity and temper, just ignore me…. It’s kind of like Tourette’s Syndrome…. I need fluids, my electrolytes are imbalanced, or something…. I know, let’s try getting on with this…. maybe it will get back on to some sort of logical track on its own….. Hope springs eternal, you know…..
_____________________________

While cruising some old pearls in the archives, I came across this poem, which I wrote…. some time …. and not in the future, so we know it was in the past. Sorry, I forget when it was, and it’s a long, laborious process to find it again, as my Pearls are not organized, by subject, content, category, or title…. Hence, I can’t find ANYTHING in there, unless I stumble across it while surfing…. Any who, this is one of my favorites of my own, if not exactly my best…. and mine is the only opinion that really bears any meaning for me, because, with me, it’s all about “better out than in”….. Being human yourselves, you will understand my obsessive need to make it all about ME!….. Oh well, try to enjoy it anyway….

Joe Friday’s lament

Life is short, and though I’m odd, they say
it really doesn’t bother me
to realize there is no God, per se.

Though other folks will disagree
and tell me I’m wrong
I won’t believe it, not with naught to see.

Liars, called padre, tell me, ‘have humility,
and do as the authorities say’,
then fondle little boys with facility.

They also tell me to share the wealth
and give them a 10% tithe
so they don’t have get it by stealth.

So spare me the delusions, please
don’t bother with such a tale;
I’m nobody that needs such a tease.

Keep your fantasies under your hat
and out of my face;
I don’t need them, they’ll make me fat….. headed.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

Shoot! I lost some pearls…. I had several collected for this space, and inadvertently copied something over the top of them…. Now I must go back and find them again…. thank goodness for control-Z, or in SB’s case, just Z….. I’ll be back, to copy in what I’ve found…..

Okay, well, not bad, found a couple of them…. it will do…. Now I can get on with this, and finish off today’s effort, if I can only stay focused, and pain free for another twenty minutes or so…. Wish me luck, friends….. Oh, bonus prize today….. If you can articulate, exactly, what concept to which this pearl points, you will be absolved of any and all responsibility for what happens in the future….. S’truth! I’ve got an “in” with the gods of justice….

“Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” — American Proverb

“Politicians are interested in people. Not that this is always a virtue. Fleas are interested in dogs.” — P. J. O’Rourke

“Beer commercials are so patriotic: “Made the American Way.” What does that have to do with America? Is that what America stands for? Feeling sluggish and urinating frequently?” — Scott Blakeman

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting.  It has been found difficult, and left untried.” — Gilbert K. Chesterton (1874-1936), “What’s Wrong with the World”

“They gave me a book of checks.  They didn’t ask for any deposits.” — Congressman Joe Early (D-Mass) at a press conference — to answer questions about the House Bank Scandal

“When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer ‘Present’ or ‘Not guilty.'” — Theodore Roosevelt

“Government of the people, by the lawyers, for the conservatives.” — Smart Bee

Bonus prize hint: The answer is included in the above text, about half-way through this group of pearls…..
_____________________________

Yesterday, the day before, and today, I spent a lot of words, and time, speaking of the End Of The World As We Know It, and As We Don’t (which is obviously what we do more of…..)  In the ensuing period of time since beginning those posts and pieces, I haven’t seen anything that tells me that the world has taken notice of the urgency that is present in the given statistical analysis, nor any indication that degree of ignorance, deliberate or not, will change…. Realistically, I couldn’t expect that to happen….. However, I’ve always been like Churchill, in this way at least….

“I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.” — Winston Churchill

Then, I find a little piece of wisdom like this one, from a poet extraordinaire….

History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, but if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.

— Maya Angelou, “On the Pulse of Morning” — delivered at the inauguration of Bill Clinton, Jan 21, 1993

At such moments, it’s hard to hang on to the depression that naturally ensues from the consideration of our species’ extinction at its own hands…. but, that issue isn’t going away, and there will be time to lament, and to rant, and to panic, and to watch, as the world goes stark, raving mad in the face of its own demise…. Such a pity, but, what are ya gonna do with them, eh? They just won’t listen….. Ah well, I’ll try again tomorrow….. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

I hear the death bell tolling…. it tolls not just for thee….

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Ffolkes,

Yesterday I wrote the most important of all the rants I’ve written here on ECR, and, true to form, very few people came by to read it; only the ffolkes who make it by very regularly show up on Sundays…. Normally, I wouldn’t much care, but the message I was delivering with that post is one of a critical nature to the whole species…..

In my mind, and in my opinion, this is not hyperbole, or a dramatization, or an attempt to catch your attention, or any other plot or literary device. It’s a fact. A fact. Not a factoid, not a speculation, no longer even a matter of having special knowledge…. The evidence is right out there now, for anyone to see, and it doesn’t take a degree in climatology or climate sciences to predict the future any longer…..

Naturally, it isn’t widely known, or accepted, at this moment, which is why nobody is panicking yet, though we all SHOULD be about ready to do so by now…. It is, perhaps, true, that my ability to foresee future events is somewhat advanced over that of others, due to my scientific background, and my skill at assimilating large amounts of data and coming to the correct conclusions from that information. But, the evidence is pretty plain now, and doesn’t require much background training to interpret…..

They (the scientists who study the changes in the environment due to global warming) (which your beloved rulers would have us believe isn’t yet a problem….) have discovered that the permafrost in the environment is melting, releasing massive quantities of methane gas into the atmosphere….

Simple, undeniable, this is a fact, not speculation…. the stuff is melting all over the Arctic, the Antarctic, and on the seabeds all over the world near the poles,  where a LOT of it exists, and the methane gas trapped in that permafrost is now being added to the carbon particulates that we humans are pumping into the air, at a rate of hundreds of millions of pounds per HOUR…. ( See the World Clock, at Poodwaddle.com   http://www.poodwaddle.com/clocks/worldclock/ )

What needs to be understood is that methane is a much more potent polluting material than carbon…. It is known as an “environmental catalyst”, because even small portions of the substance, added to the mix we have, can, and will cause changes to occur in the climate, changes that will rapidly escalate as more of it is absorbed into the air….. AND…. as it melts, it will go faster, until it is a growing at a parabolic rate, meaning faster every moment, increasing without limit, until there is enough methane, plus carbon monoxide, plus carbon dioxide, plus the other particulate matter that clings to them all, now in the air to affect the balance of chemicals, whereupon the (unwelcome) changes begin….

At a certain point, the changes will become two things important to us…. First, they will become IRREVERSIBLE changes…. we won’t be able to go back to the way it was, at least, not by any process we have knowledge of….. Second, at about the same point in time, or possibly sooner, the atmosphere will become too poisonous for us to breathe, causing widespread panic and death worldwide, until, eventually, we are all just a memory to the planet…..

The MOST conservative estimate as to how much time we have until those points are reached is less than one hundred years…. the game has changed, ffolkes, and not in our favor….. The less conservative estimates give us far less time, some as little as THIRTY YEARS, or less, and, sadly, THEY are more likely right than the others….

When the permafrost began to melt, it became a whole new ballgame, ffolkes, and this game is one NOBODY is going to want to play…. Unfortunately, thanks to the assholes who run the planet, none of us have any choice in the matter….. We are going to have to deal with the consequences of our actions…. or, on the part of the public, our lack of action, for not having removed the assholes who are killing us a long time ago…. Regardless of whether or not we like it, we are going to have to deal with this, and it won’t wait for us to make up our minds whether or not it is real….. It is real, and it isn’t waiting for us to accept that….

Oh, gosh, look what I’ve done…. the entire intro got turned into a rant, the same rant as yesterday…. Given, however, the present situation in the world, it is a rant you are likely to see EVERY DAY on this blog, from now on, until the public gets off its collective ass and starts to actually DO something about all of this….

That’s the thing I do know about all of this…. Once it becomes too obvious to ignore any longer, there is going to be SUCH AN UPHEAVAL in society, all past wars and revolutions will pale in comparison… The war that is coming, ffolkes, will be, literally, a war for survival as a species, and if we lose, we ALL lose, even the powerful elite….. for even THEY cannot make the air breathable, once it is not….. As for us…..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“I know that our bodies were made to thrive only in pure air, and the scenes in which pure air is found.” — John Muir, American Naturalist (1838-1914)
_____________________________

We’ll be going old-school here in the first section today, simply because I am now far too emotional to rant…. I tend to get too many salty tears dripping onto the keyboard, and, worse, into my coffee…. Hopefully, the process itself will provide some serenity, as it is, when pursued in a properly mindful/mindless manner, quite a soothing task…. Who knows? Serendipity could strike while I’m searching the dB, and I’ll come up with a brilliant solution to the methane issue…. If not, well, we’ll have a couple chuckles to look back on….

“Only through hard work and perseverance can one truly suffer.” — Smart Bee

“Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it.” — Horace (65-8 B.C.)

“To overcome evil with good is good, to resist evil by evil is evil.” — Mohammed

“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

“The privilege of absurdity; to which no living creature is subject but man only.” — Thomas Hobbes

“Wisdom, understood as a new kind of strength, is a paramount necessity for Man. Now, even more than before, it is required as a basis for fitness to maintain life itself on the face of this planet and as an alternative to paths toward alienation or despair.” — Jonas Salk, The Survival Of The Wisest

“I don’t CARE if you’re on fire!  Stop SCREAMING like that!” — gigoid, on waking from a dream…..

Okay, so most of it turned away from funny, toward entries for Aunt Millie’s Life Advice column, but, they’re all true as they stand, so, just deal with them with a bit of salt, or soy sauce….. Please note also, it did go wonky there at the end, and, by golly, ended up where it needed to be…. As for me, well…. all I can say is….

“Ah, the vastness of space and time… and I end up here..” — Smart Bee
_____________________________

I’m feeling a bit of angst, from whence I’ve not a clue…. it could be left over from the rant, or it could just be the background anxiety that seems to have parked itself in the far corner of the parking lot of my mind, sitting there in a dimly lit, lonely space, just hanging about in case its needed, ever since I read the article on climate change in The Nation….

It could also be my over-active imagination, but, that’s moot, as such manifestations are as real as reality…… whatever THAT may be today…. Any who, on occasions such as these, I like to use my own poetry, just so no body else can be blamed for whatever takes place today….. In that spirit, here is one from, well, I don’t know, but, it was a while ago….

Stray Cats

The veils that billow and fold
between dreams and reality
 may sometimes part,
showing the visions of one to the other,
blending, bleeding as one,
only to bring us up short,
closely jammed against immovable fate.

Still, we keep our watch,
seeking to find the vision
 that brings with it the mark of reality’s regard,
a humble mind, and a compassionate heart.

Events of broad impact draw us away again,
distracting with shiny glitter and tinny music,
leaving our feelings raw and bruised,
the victim of universal disregard.

Now, in the twilight of years, the music is fading,
and the glitter has all gone….
yet the memory of visions remains sharp and clear,
melancholy reminders of reality’s promises,
unkept….

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

I’m deliberately retreating somewhat today…. I have to admit, I haven’t EVER been this terrified of the future, nor so saddened by its prognosis. The sadness, of course, comes from knowing my children, and my grandson, may never have any chance at all to achieve any of their own life goals…. and there won’t be any more to come after that….

I think, if it is true, this is NOT an inappropriate reason for sadness…. even if only a possibility, it is worth a bit of depressive emotion, at the minimum, and sadness is better, at any point, than despair…. which would be the next logical choice, if one were to give in, to the seduction of that path….

Instead, I’m going to do another search through my database, for something that can LIFT spirits, or UPLIFT them, as it were, rather than give in to the darkness that threatens…. I guess it’s just not in me to give up completely, no matter what the apparent odds… Let’s see if a random, harlequin approach to Smart Bee will garner the results I’m looking for….. I NEED a good pearl….

“In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble.” — Yun-Men

From ignorance our comfort flows.
The only wretched are the wise.

— Matthew Prior (1664-1721) — To the Hon. Charles Montague

“Half of the American people have never read a newspaper.  Half never voted for President.  One hopes it is the same half.” — Gore Vidal

“Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.” — Buddha

“The chief aim of wisdom is to enable one to bear with the stupidity of the ignorant.” — Xystus I

“Neither will the wave which has passed be called back; nor can the hour which has gone by return.” — Ovid (B.C. 43-18 A.D.)

“The sages put great stock in saying that every ending is truly a beginning, or every beginning an ending, or insisting that there are no endings or beginnings, or remarking that there is nothing new, and we are doomed to endlessly repeat ourselves. Or have I said all this before?” — The Teachings of Ebenezum, Vol. LXXXVII

Hmm…. I think it’s possible I MIGHT have said all this before….
_____________________________

Before finishing today’s effort, I want to say this…. Zackary. That one word, my grandson’s name, is the reason for all the pain I’m feeling about the news I read in The Nation, regarding the climate change status this year. If the worst scenario is even nearly true, then by the time he is my own son’s age, he will have lived most of his life in a state unimaginable to me, fighting every moment to stave off extinction, while the majority of the species, (the word “race” no longer matters, as all the races of Man have lungs….), goes through the contortions involved in social upheaval of a magnitude never before experienced on this planet…. not by our species, anyway…. Bob Dylan said it well, ffolkes, when he wrote, “It’s a hard rain, a gonna fall….”

I took a short break before finishing the last section, and prior to starting this closing piece; I found myself sitting in the morning air, breathing, and crying, as each breath reminded me that it won’t be long before I, and everyone else alive, will be fighting to draw the next breath, and the next, and the next, if we wish to merely survive…. It’s a hard picture to live with, and I don’t like it…. but, there it is, and it won’t go away….. As of this moment, I don’t yet know exactly what I will DO about this pain, or about any of this issue…. so, we’ll see about all that…. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with two last pearls, both of which speak eloquently to just what I am talking about…..

“There is an immeasurable distance between late and too late.” — Anne Swetchine

“Mankind are an incorrigible race. Give them but bugbears and idols — it is all that they ask; the distinctions of right and wrong, of truth and falsehood, of good and evil, are worse than indifferent to them.” — William Hazlitt

The saddest part is that the exact opposite of Mr. Hazlitt’s description of mankind’s nature is ALSO true…. There is, in us, the greatest potential imaginable for virtue, for honor, and for compassion, in the souls of MOST people…. It is those few who have turned away from those finer qualities we all possess who, with the cruelty of their indifference to the benefit, or the pain of others, have caused all the trouble…. Ah well…. that’s a subject we talk about a lot around here…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

We can save time by cross stitching the zippers….

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Ffolkes,

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

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

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

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

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Don’t follow in my footsteps. I think I stepped in something.” — Smart Bee
_____________________________

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Perfect ending….
_____________________________

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

A Vision

Two crowned Kings, and One that stood alone
With no green weight of laurels round his head,
But with sad eyes as one uncomforted,
And wearied with man’s never-ceasing moan
For sins no bleating victim can atone,
And sweet long lips with tears and kisses fed.
Girt was he in a garment black and red,
And at his feet I marked a broken stone
Which sent up lilies, dove-like, to his knees.
Now at their sight, my heart being lit with flame,
I cried to Beatrice, ‘Who are these? ‘
And she made answer, knowing well each name,
‘AEschylos first, the second Sophokles,
And last (wide stream of tears!) Euripides.’

~~ Oscar Wilde ~~

_____________________________

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From June 27, 2012:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I’ll just finish by saying this…. until Mankind grows up enough to be able to put aside the crutch of religion, and learns to stand up to reality as it exists, without the delusional imaginary friend to intercede on their behalf with the universe, then our path to extinction will remain clear…. It’s too bad really, because our species shows a lot of promise…. it’s too bad we will never be allowed to explore our limits as an adult species, because we will have killed ourselves off before we ever got out of childhood….
_____________________________

You’re right, I cheated a bit…. I’m an American, sue me…. I don’t currently have the angst and/or outrage necessary for good ranting, so, I went with the archives again…. It saves time proofing, too, as I’ve already been over the old stuff at least twice before it got posted…. Let’s see what kind of overall damage I’ve done today….

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Parabolic patterns, majestically arranged on tiles….

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Ffolkes,

We read of a certain Roman emperor who built a magnificent palace.  In digging the foundation, the workmen discovered a golden sarcophagus ornamented with three circlets, on which were inscribed, “I have expended; I have given; I have kept; I have possessed; I do possess; I have lost; I am punished. What I formerly expended, I have; what I gave away, I have.” — Gesta Romanorum — Tale xvi

I have decided, again, to make a change, of at least a temporary nature…. Here is a beginning pearl for your perusal, one that shows well in the early light, and not merely because it is a tale from old Rome…. those always go over well with the breakfast crowd….. This is also a fine way to show off a very old format for Pearls, from the very Dark Ages, before computers were available to the public, and we all had to write stuff down with real pencils, or one of those other actual writing utensils…. Never mind all that, though, and look at the pearl more closely…. You’ll see that there is actually a real-life lesson in there, just waiting for us to learn it….

Of course, we must then assume one is capable of learning, capable, moreover, of learning such an ethical lesson this early in the day…. Not everyone can, you know…. There are a lot of people who can’t learn ethical lessons at all, but, we try to keep them confined to the political arena where  we can keep better track of them…. Hah! I wish it were that simple…. No, there’s actually a good little parable in the above little tale, all about big fish, little fish, etc., compassionate living, ethics, and the pointlessness of arguing with reality, but, in sooth, I just included it there to show y’all how pearls used to be constructed, back in the days before the digital hegemony became extant…. Can we be done now? Okay….

So, yesterday, I made a really dumb statement, and though that isn’t all that unusual, it IS unusual for me to resort to hyperbole when I’m writing, even when being sardonic, or sarcastic…. Part of the trouble with hyperbole is its unfortunate habit of always coming back to bite later on… Yesterday, I spoke of being one of the richest single men in the world, referring to a fortune in the neighborhood of several hundred million dollars….. which, of course, isn’t anywhere NEAR the richest…. The men and/or women who inhabit THAT short list have fortunes approximating several BILLION dollars, a figure they cannot envision any better than the rest of us, in the final analysis…. nor can they take a single penny more than we can with them wherever any of us are going, after we’re done fooling around on this plane of existence….

There…. now that I’ve cleared up that little misunderstanding, I can honestly say that I’ve completely screwed the pooch, in a manner of speaking…. I’ve written myself into another damn corner, and the only way out is to just bail…. I hate to do that, it gets my cardigan all wrinkled from the dive, and it’s always such a hassle to retie all the knots, and restock all the snacks…. But, it does get us to the next section, without having to go back and do any of this over, and without having to resort to sheepish, apologetic shuffling while you look magnanimous and kindly…. Thanks for THAT!….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“I am ignorant of absolute truth. But I am humble before my ignorance, and therein lies my honour and my reward.” — Kahlil Gibran
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[7/16/89] “I’ve had no indication from home, nor have we picked up any here that they felt that the US economy was going to move towards a recession.” [10/4/91] “The economy is moving in the right direction.” [10/25/91] “I don’t want to buy into the predicate about [the US being in] another recession. I don’t feel that way.”  [10/31/91] The economy’s turned the corner, headed for recovery.”  [11/8/91] I’m not prepared to say we are in a recession.”  [1/4/92] It will not be a deep recession.”  [1/15/92] Look, this economy is in free fall.”  — President George Bush

Perfect, eh? I think this little collection of quotes from the news is an excellent way to demonstrate my point about the lies that politicians tell on a regular basis…. This group of quotes could arguably be reproduced for just about ANY politician alive, and look almost exactly the same, whether the subject is the economy, gun control, foreign policy, the war on (drugs, poverty, illiteracy, hunger, disease, cancer, the middle class…. pick one, they’re all current….), or just their own cupidity…. It’s clear from each and every of the above statements, at each and every time he was queried, this man had absolutely no clue as to what was actually going on with the economy…. and had no intention of ever admitting any such thing….

To be honest, I don’t expect him to have a clue about the economy….. That is a subject of which no one alive has any real understanding; the economy of this nation, and of the world at large, is too big, too astronomically huge and amorphous, with so much inertia inherent in its workings, the effects of ANY kind of cause are delayed, and perverted (which merely means altered unexpectedly…. get your mind out of the gutter, please….) by that inertia, making the behavior of the entire entity rather completely unpredictable by any normal means, and certainly by no means of which we are capable at this point in our mental development…. Even cloud-computing won’t resolve such huge numbers….

The economy of the world, as an outgrowth of the society which engages in it, is suffering in the throes of unbridled, undisciplined growth… The number of people on the planet is bumping right up against the total number of those it is POSSIBLE for the planet to support, in a real, physical sense…. That fact, not factoid, is, of course, calmly being ignored by society at large, and we continue to produce alarming numbers of people, along with the alarming amount of grunge that each person seems to require, every second of every day….. If it were a medical issue, we would call what is happening in the world of money, and society in general, “cancerous”, as it is steadily, unflinchingly, irrevocably eating itself alive from the inside…..

I’m going to set myself a small task… As a finishing exercise for this small rant against the general stupidity of our species, I’m going to go perform a quick data mining expedition on the front pages of the news… I’ll bet I can come up with at least four or five examples from this morning’s batch of headlines that will serve as examples of some part of what I’ve outlined above…. Let’s see what the world is up to, eh?….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Judge-orders-removal-of-San-Diego-war-cross-5059879.php

(Oooh, politics AND religion, in one article…. How many opinion-based arguments will we hear on this one, do you think?….)

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Sunnyvale-car-dealer-pleads-no-contest-to-sales-5060326.php

(Apparently, the urge to lie, cheat, and steal extends into every level, and every corner of society, not merely the government….)

http://blog.sfgate.com/fiore/2013/12/11/im-an-internet-company-im-the-government/

(Another brilliant observation from Mark Fiore, Pulitzer-winning journalist, exposing at least one or two of the falsehoods out there….)

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/House-GOP-conservatives-help-propel-budget-bill-5060806.php

(Congress…. Senate…. budget…. Now, how many of these people would you guess are lying, to you, to each other, and to themselves? Can you say, “ALL OF THEM”?…..)

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/UN-inspectors-confirm-Syria-chemical-attack-5059352.php

(As noted above, the incidence of diseased ethics is not limited to the government of this country alone…..)

There you go…. easy money, if I was getting paid. The five articles I found were all right there on the front page… didn’t have to search beyond there to find enough examples to complete my self-imposed task. I find that both encouraging, and disheartening at the same time…. So much so, I’m done with this for now…. We’re all goin’ to Hell in a Hand Basket, ffolkes, so, we may as well enjoy the ride…..

Then farewell Horace, whom I hated so,–
Not for thy faults, but mine.

— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto iv, Stanza 77
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One’s solace, from tasting the fruit of the tree of knowledge, at times, can only be found in the arms of genius…. and serendipity…. Such is the joy of finding this at just this moment, when I needed it most….

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

~~ Dylan Thomas ~~

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As a practicing hedonist, finding one’s self overwhelmed is an occupational hazard, in a manner of speaking. We’re told our whole lives that there is a price to pay when we over-indulge; at one time or another, all of us have experienced a graphic example of the truth of that little fillip from the gods of laughter, usually bestowed upon us to bring a bit of humor to our lives, at those moments when we least wish to laugh, and most need to…. In short, there’s always a come-uppance when we piss on our own shoes, and crying about it won’t help….

In accepting the truth of that, one doesn’t always give in completely, and learn to “like it”, but, we can learn to live with it, and live with it we must, so, it’s usually best to just do so, and get on with it…. This means, in one respect, at least, that I’m done being sick…. I’ve taken my turn, it’s over now, so can someone else please get on this bus and drive it away? I’m through with it….. Thank you….

Now that’s settled, I can see I have a lot of work to do, in my head, and on this blog…. I’ve managed to write so damn much that most people give up, I think…. Not that I’m writing for other ffolkes, but, it’s nice to know they’re out there, and that I’m not talking to the wall…. Any who, I’m coming to terms with having traveled over 50,000 miles in the past nine months, more than I’ve covered in the previous 12 years, or more, and my body needs to take a break…. This will mean I’m online more, so, we’ll see if I can’t get around to see more of other ffolkes’s blogs, which I do miss being able to get to…. As John Carter of Mars said, “While I live, there is hope….”

Here’s a pearl, composed of random pearls, to finish off this Pearl…..   😆

“How ridiculous and unrealistic is the man who is astonished at anything that happens in life.” — Marcus Aurelius

“Reality is a much bigger concept than I thought.” — Smart Bee

“Education never ends… It is a series of lessons with the greatest for the last.” — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

“The most common sort of lie is the one uttered to one’s self.” — Nietzsche

He only earns his freedom and his life
Who takes them every day by storm.

— Goethe, from Faust

“What is the first business of one who studies philosophy? To part with self-conceit. For it is impossible for any one to begin to learn what he thinks that he already knows.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — How to apply general Principles to particular Cases, — Discourses, Book ii, Chap. xvii

“I grow old ever learning many things.”– Solon 630 – 555 BC

Serendipity, indeed! John Carter was right! Seven perfect, matching pearls, all of great age and luster, but for one, one that serves as an exact counterpoint to the rest, providing the perfect balance…. God, I love this job…. oh, wait….. shoot….. Oh, well, still fun….
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Euripides was wont to say, “Silence is an answer to a wise man.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Of Bashfulness

Another outburst of egotistical meanderings, just as if anyone cared, or was even listening…. If nothing else, one must give points for persistence, eh? And proofing, I’m good at the proofing, generally…. Let’s try that for a moment or two… I’m really not sure what to think about this…. so, I won’t. I’m outta here, ffolkes, and there’s nothing any of us can do about it now…. See you tomorrow, I think…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3