Tag Archives: Philosophy

Curmudgeons are people, too….

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Ffolkes,
In a break from routine, today’s title actually fits in with today’s material. Or with the author’s mood, if nothing else…. I awoke, again very late, for me, and my first thought was stimulated by the dream that had just finished. It was, “Well, shit, here we go again….” Perfect….

The dream was some nonsensical series of unlikely events that I won’t try to explain, as my dreaming mind is MUCH weirder than anything I’ve written here. One of the dream’s other participants in these events was my older brother, Tim…. for a long time, I held a lot of anger inside me re: my brother. In my humble opinion, for most of the 17 years I spent with him in the house, he was one of the world’s biggest assholes…. he was totally self-centered, and seemed to have never gotten over being 14, the most obnoxious age for males.

I was still pissed at him when I was 40, and he was 43, as I discovered one day, when he tripped the switch on the anger I had been holding in for all those years. He did something very selfish, which was his habit, left over from his teen years, and caused my little boy a good dose of disappointment, for no reason other than his own sheer narcissism. So I took the lid off, and blew him away with about 40 years of built up anger at his antics. He was totally flabbergasted, and has since made some effort to change that part of him, with some moderate success…. he’s still an asshole, but he is nicer than he used to be…. that’s just not saying much….

Any who, I woke up this morning having just dealt with those feelings again, and it made my first view of the day somewhat cranky… and it still is…. only now I’m cranky about real stuff that is picking at me today in reality….. My only hope, I think, for a day that doesn’t end up with me alienating someone or other, is to put this crank into some pearls…. There are certainly enough targets out there in reality, giving me a veritable buffet of choices to target with my vitriol….. That part will be fun, and will hopefully get it all out, for once again, the situation calls for using the adage, “better out than in”….. or it will eat me up from the inside out…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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Yesterday, while searching for pearls, more of Will Shakespeare’s crap kept popping up, getting in the way & wasting my time with BS couplets that have no meaning in modern times, and thus are truly inscrutable, even more so than in his own time….. Now, this morning, when I am NOT in the mood for him or his nonsense, this was the third pearl to surface, so I figured, “Hey, there is a suitable, and convenient, target for all this angst I’ve built up….” So, here are the quotes from Will that got in the way today, as further proof of how much he deserves all the crankiness I can dump on him….

“How still the evening is as hush’d on purpose to grace harmony!” — William Shakespeare

(Huh? Mama nature is throwing up in the bushes over this one…..)

“Palsied eld.”  — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Measure for Measure — Act iii, Sc. 1

(I reiterate, huh?…..)

“I will kill thee a hundred and fifty ways.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), As You Like It — Act v, Sc. 1

(For him, this is so good, I think he must have plagiarized it from somewhere…..)

“You two are book-men.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Love’s Labour ‘s Lost — Act iv, Sc. 2

(This is just about the weakest insult I think I’ve ever seen…..whomever he said it to must be either quaking in their boots, mockingly, or choking because they’re laughing so hard….)

“Damnable, both sides rogue.” — William Shakespeare

(Once more, with feeling…. Huh?….)

“And let me wring your heart; for so I shall, if it be made of penetrable stuff.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act iii, Sc. 4

Okay, I’ll show some mercy, and make this the last for today…. I hadn’t really intended to take shots at Will today, but his crap kept getting all over my boots…. so…. To comment on the last one, from Hamlet…. I wonder how long it took him to come up with the word “stuff” to use in that particular place…. I hope not a long time, because it stinks, quite simply. A heart made of “penetrable stuff”?  Pathetic, pitiful, and any other demeaning word of your choice…. there are so many that would be appropriate, I can’t decide which to use…..
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All Is Vanity, Saieth the Preacher

I.
Fame, wisdom, love, and power were mine,
And health and youth possess’d me;
My goblets blush’d from every vine,
And lovely forms caress’d me;
I sunn’d my heart in beauty’s eyes,
And felt my soul grow tender:
All earth can give, or mortal prize,
Was mine of regal splendour.

II.
I strive to number o’er what days
Remembrance can discover,
Which all that life or earth displays
Would lure me to live over.
There rose no day, there roll’d no hour
Of pleasure unembitter’d;
And not a trapping deck’d my power
That gall’d not while it glitter’d.

III.
The serpent of the field, by art
And spells, is won from harming;
But that which coils around the heart,
Oh! who hath power of charming?
It will not list to wisdom’s lore,
Nor music’s voice can lure it;
But there it stings for evermore
The soul that must endure it.

George Gordon Lord Byron

In keeping with today’s theme of political and literary relevance and chicanery (you may combine the two nouns with the two descriptive adjectives as you choose…), I offer this from Lord Byron…. it seems to fit rather well with the rant below…. Enjoy!
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TUESDAY’S WEATHER – FOR HELL:  Hell will be hot during tonight, boiling over to boiling early Tuesday morning. Towards the middle of the day it will be sweltering, with a heat-wave later in the day.  Wednesday: Hot  Thursday: Hot   Friday: Hot  Saturday (the day that peace is predicted to be declared in the Middle East, the national economy will recover, pigs will fly, and a brain scan on Dan Quayle Mitt the Twitt will be positive): Cold, with snow and ice, possible blizzards. — Daniel Bowen’s TOXIC CUSTARPEDIA.

You could add to the list of impossible things to happen on Saturday “Mitt the Twitt will quote something that is absolutely true…” I have been reading about his latest gaffes over the last few days, since he has been back from his disastrous trip to Europe. He has managed, on two consecutive days, to pull one lie after another out of his commodious hat regarding his opponent, inadvertently strengthening the President’s position and weakening his own even more, if that is possible. The man is his own worst enemy.

He continues to refuse to show his tax returns, even though he is now aware that each time he refuses, he loses more and more support. Eventually, unless he shows them, he will have no remaining supporters, and the Republicans will have to concede the election before it even gets to the polls…. I read an interesting take yesterday on why he won’t release them…. the author of this particular piece made the observation that Mitt has calculated just how much his refusal is costing him in support, and weighed that cost against what is in the returns. He obviously feels that whatever is in there will be worse than not releasing them, no matter how bad it gets. That implies that there are some pretty damning facts in there, that he cannot afford to release into the public eye, knowing that it would ring the death knell for his campaign….

“I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleges, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives. ” — Tolstoy

Actually, I think that if he were forced to drop out of the race, it would produce a situation that is very reflective of current American society. We would have a sitting President who is liberal, with a liberal Senate, and a conservative House of Representatives, just like now. But, we would also have a Republican party in complete chaos, having to come to terms with the fact that they are so out of touch with the MAJORITY of Americans that there is no one at all they can put in the field who would serve as competition for the President.

No one. None. All the other would-be candidates have already proven they cannot engender the needed public support to successfully challenge the incumbent, so it seems to me that they will either have to pick someone they don’t like themselves, but who is liberal enough to pose a threat to the other side, or they will have to admit that they no longer represent a significant portion of the public, and split into about five pieces, ranging from moderate, middle-of-the-road to the skinheads on the far right. All of those splinter parties would be pretty much guaranteed to fail, as their support bases will be in the minority….

I have yet to check out the news from yesterday, but I know for certain there will be more instances of Mitt’s puerile inability to tell the truth…. he can’t help himself; it is congenital, a maladaptive behavior that has been reinforced throughout much of his adult life. He simply can’t seem to open his mouth without saying something that isn’t true; this is so obvious, I can’t understand how seemingly bright, intelligent people continue to support these lies, and the liar who tells them. It seems to me that a lot of his supporters are losing some of the strength of their commitment to him…. they still speak up in his defense, but fall silent quickly when the proof of his untruths are made clear (The man has no sense at all! He lies about stuff that is documented, or on video, like he forgot he said it, or something….. it’s pathetic!).

I guess that will be enough of picking on the Twitt for one day. I’m still a bit cranky, but this certainly helped. It’s always good when I can rip someone like him to shreds by using his own words against him; less guilt involved that way, since he proves with every other breath just how much he deserves the jabs and pokes the media gives him. I’m just one of the crowd when it comes to cataloging his lies….. May he continue down the path to self-destruction upon which he now treads, and may he reach the end quickly…… 🙂
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Not too shabby, if I do say so myself….. I’m going to take my chances, and let it go as is; I kinna do no more! Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

He exudes substantial melancholy leakage….

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Ffolkes,
Having left home so many years ago, he…. No, that’s not right….try again…

Never before had there been such a storm in Beulahland…. no that’s no better….again.

The shadow reached out to tap the shoulder of the man to whom it was attached….. hmm, better, but not there yet…..

Maria screamed, as the deafening blast shook the windows in their frames. Dust flew everywhere, obscuring the nightmarish scene before her eyes. Across the room, her father lay dead, eyes staring at the ceiling as if the answers were all there……

I don’t like any of them…. not even the last one, that showed a bit of promise. Ah well, it’s just as well. I’m starting way late again, having once again slept late. It’s no doubt due to having put in about 6 or 7 miles yesterday, walking to look at apartments. I can see I need a different method, as trying to walk to all these places is going to wear me out before I ever find anything. I’ve never spent a long time without a car, so this is a new experience for me, and I’m not sure I like it much…..

I’m not going to indulge in a display of whining today, though the universe is giving me plenty of reason to do so. Actually, I think that, after putting this Pearl together, I’m going to take the rest of the day off…. catch up on some sleep with a nap, listen to the Giants get beat by St. Louis again (hey, I don’t like it, but the last two games haven’t been encouraging….), maybe even cook a real meal, like on the stove and everything. Yeah, that’s the ticket….. in the meantime, shall we Pearl?…..
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“The evidence of the emotions, save in cases where it has strong objective support, is really no evidence at all, for every recognizable emotion has its opposite, and if one points one way then another points the other way. Thus the familiar argument that there is an instinctive desire for immortality, and that this desire proves it to be a fact, becomes puerile when it is recalled that there is also a powerful and widespread fear of annihilation, and that this fear, on the same principle proves that there is nothing beyond the grave. Such childish proofs are typically theological, and they remain theological even when they are adduced by men who like to flatter themselves by believing that they are scientific gents…” — H. L. Mencken

“One of the proofs of the immortality of the soul is that myriads have believed it–they also believed the world was flat.” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910)

“Convincing yourself doesn’t win an argument.” — Robert Half

Here is an old school Pearl, in a manner of speaking…. These three quotations all say pretty much the same thing, with varying types of expression. Each, to me, seems to express that same idea more succinctly than the one before, leaving out more and more words until the final statement gives the bottom line… which is one that is heavily argued by those to whom it most applies….

It’s funny (ironic funny) to me to hear some of the arguments proposed by the priestly hierarchies in support of their beliefs. Some are couched in formal robes, all dressed up so they appear as reasoned logic, rather than the unwarranted assumptions that they really are. Mr. Mencken’s expression above would be the most effective in engaging these wordy individuals, as it would appeal to the side of them that pretends to being a scientist. They might reject the arguments, since their own arguments are, in the final analysis, subjectively formulated, not based on observations but on induction, just as the platform of their entire argument is all based on an imaginary entity’s theoretical wishes…..

“Jesus loves  me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so”…. Such an innocent sounding piece of doggerel…. one would scarcely believe it is one of the most insidious examples of blatant propaganda in existence. The proponents of the “Old man in the sky” group start drumming this into the minds of children as soon as they are able to talk, and, as they well know, before they learn to doubt what their elders tell them. Children naturally accept what their parents tell them, almost exclusively for the first few years of life.

This home-schooling form of brainwashing continues once they are of an age to start looking outside their family for knowledge of the world, with teachers, preachers, and kindly old aunts who continue to inundate the young minds with stories of Bible heroes and villains, drilling into the malleable minds the sense of entitlement and elitism that will provide them with the impetus for bigotry later in life.

In addition, this period strengthens the brainwashing given earlier, teaching the kids that they should only trust certain people to tell them the truth, and that all the other religions in the world are not only not saved, but are not eligible for saving, due to their own beliefs, which are characterized as villainous, and as enemies, to be reviled and persecuted because they are different….

“The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.” — Oscar Wilde

This entire process, this systematic, deliberate mental conditioning, is, to my mind, pretty despicable. It denies its victims any possible way of examining the information that other systems may possess, by convincing them that all other forms of knowledge are not only wrong, but blasphemous in nature, and should be cast aside whenever encountered, without ever examining the information for its relevance, or its accuracy.

Education is learning that you did not even know what you did not even know you did not even know. — Smart Bee

The whole system is designed to continue the delusional system into the future, while keeping the congregation in the dark of ignorance. It has no other purpose…. it is not in place to help or sustain the members of the congregation, but rather to control that population’s thoughts and behavior, ensuring the power and influence of the priests, pastors, preachers, or whatever name they choose to call themselves…..

I can only count myself as fortunate, to have been raised without the brainwashing on a regular basis. We attended a Presbyterian church, probably an offshoot of the old Church of England, where the adage about “cake, or death?” was originated…. The net result of this was that I was able to include other systems in my education, and found the entire construct to be a house of invisible cards, easily knocked down with a single bite of the Apple….

“How come you never see a politician (or a preacher) laugh? Because they know what they’re getting away with, and if they started laughing, they’d never stop.” — Smart Bee

And you know what else?…. I always thought Satan got a pretty raw deal, all for exercising the free will he was given…. and so did Adam and Eve…. Even as a child of five, I always wondered why God had set them up to fail like that…. it’s like, “Here’s the apple…. don’t taste it….” and then making sure we, as humans, had a sense of wonder and curiosity strong enough to disregard the admonition…. Even then, it looked like a set-up, and I could never reconcile the image in my head of a God, supposedly with infinite knowledge, setting up his own creation like that…. it just didn’t seem very God-like, or even fair…. and I still don’t get it, even today…..

With a subject such as this, it’s hard to know when to stop…. the issue has been one that has held Mankind back for two millennia now, preventing us from achieving our real potential as a species. All the progress we, as a species, have made in the last 3,000 years or so has been in spite of the efforts of the priestly hierarchies to keep us as ignorant as possible; at every turn of the wheel of science, the powers that be have thrown sand in the works, to try to slow down the acquisition of knowledge.

“Neither do the ignorant seek after wisdom.  For herein is the evil of ignorance, that he who is neither good nor wise is nevertheless satisfied with himself; he has no desire for that of which he feels no want.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.)

They know that an educated populace, capable of reasoning beyond the limitations placed on the human mind by religious dogma, is the greatest threat to their continued existence as the leaders of Mankind. They know that once people are exposed to knowledge (the flesh of the Apple, remember?), the less they will submit to the brainwashing that is the lot of the common man…. and it scares them to death…..

Doubt. Question authority. Ask the next, deeper question. And never, ever, give up the right to make up your own mind…. In the final analysis, that power is the only one we all have, and the only one that cannot be taken away from us without our consent…. Viva la raza!…..

Oh, and won’t it be nice when you don’t have to give tithes anymore?…..

Though old the thought and oft exprest,
‘T is his at last who says it best.
— James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) — For an Autograph
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The Rose

Some say love, it is a river
That drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger,
An endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower,
And you its only seed.

It’s the heart afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance.
It’s the dream afraid of waking
That never takes the chance.
It’s the one who won’t be taken,
Who cannot seem to give,
And the soul afraid of dyin’
That never learns to live.

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 ~~

I first heard this song as sung by Bette Midler, back in the 70’s or 80’s, whenever it came out. I thought then, and still believe, that it really couldn’t have been done better, and is one of the loveliest poems put to music I’ve ever heard…..

Now, I’ve given clues before that show that I am a closet romantic, but my feelings for this song prove it without doubt. As I sit and read the verses, I can hear Bette’s voice, flying up on the high notes, and tears just come into my eyes without any warning…. The last verse, particularly, is very moving, and never fails to bring with it a lot of emotion and, oddly enough, hope….  hope for me, for the world, it’s all the same at this point in my life….. It gives me strength to think of spring, when the world is renewed and the seeds of hope that have germinated in silence all winter bloom in all their glory, driving out all thoughts of the cold, and the dark….

I miss having someone to love…. I am perfectly content with my own company, as I learned long ago how to laugh at my own folly, thus ensuring I never get bitter about being alone. But, it is lonely….. I’m glad my friend Carol posted this poem, for it is a reminder that the future has yet to be written, and that somewhere out there is a woman whom I will meet someday, and never again have to be alone, unless I choose to be so….. SIGH….. I just wish time would get a move on, as it seems to me that two plus years of solitude should be sufficient for me to appreciate…. I could use a change of direction, and some company…..   🙂    Ah, me, time will tell…..

I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen,
Of Meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have been;
Of yellow leaves and gossamer in autumns that there were,
With morning mist and silver sun and wind upon my hair.
I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see,
For still there are so many things that I have never seen:
In every wood in every spring there is a different green.
I sit beside the fire and think of people long ago,
And people who will see a world that I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think of times that were before,
I listen for returning feet and voices at the door.

— J.R.R. Tolkien
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“To make a good salad is to be a brilliant diplomatist–the problem is entirely the same in both cases. To know exactly how much oil one must put with one’s vinegar.” — Oscar Wilde

To those of us in society who are seekers of truth, Oscar Wilde is a frequent flier, in terms of how often one of his quotes will show up. He had a way with words second to none, and in his time, touched on almost every subject dear to the hearts and minds of those who actually use both extensively. It goes without saying that this quotation is true; it is an expression often turning up in discussions of how people learn, and communicate what they’ve learned to others. “A spoonful of sugar, makes the medicine go down” is one of these expressions, one that supplies the very same dosage of truth as does the above from Oscar…..

This technique is one that everyone who wishes to share their knowledge MUST learn; it is immediately obvious when what we have to say is NOT going to be believed, as people will simply stop listening, or even react negatively to what they are hearing, because it is opposite to what they feel they know to be true. Often, one will need to duck quickly, or take to their heels, should the reaction to what is said be taken amiss…. people get testy about their deeply-held beliefs, especially if those beliefs are faith-based, rather than based on reason….. Sad, but true….

So, it becomes an important skill to be able to impart information to someone who doesn’t have it in such a way that the person can digest it, or process it in their mind without stirring those strong feelings that crop up when the message is not couched in the proper terminology. Even the non-verbal techniques used when teaching are important to learn; what one says can be negated entirely by using a facial expression that isn’t complementary to what is being said out loud…. Tone of voice, facial expression, volume, all play a part in whether or not the message given will be received, and the person who ignores this is destined to experience a lot of pain and anguish at not being able to get their message across to the ones who need it most….

So, remember Oscar’s little reminder, and use the proper amount of oil to go with your vinegar…. For a good, tasty vinaigrette with the proper emulsified consistency, you need to learn the technique of pouring the oil into the vinegar slowly, whisking briskly while adding the oil, until the proper thickness and emulsification takes place….. Only then can the person you are serving enjoy the salad fully, and take in the beneficial qualities that otherwise would be lost if the message fails….  In the kitchen, the rough estimated proportions are four parts oil to one part vinegar…. but that can change, depending on the oil, the vinegar, and the cook, so flexibility must be maintained….

When successful, it makes a great salad, all but guaranteeing that it will be consumed until the plate is empty….. the goal of anyone serving others, whether in food, or in education…..
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Although arising late, this turned out fairly well…. at least it feels like it from this end….. So be it; it will have to do, as I’m not going back and starting over…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Mighty fancy footwork, pilgrim….

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Ffolkes,
Fast forward a few spaces….. there.! See it? It’s all broken, and we paid a bundle for those! That blasted driver did that deliberately! What are we going to tell the boss? Boy, he’s going to shit a brick when he sees this!….. Maybe we can get it replaced before….uh oh, I guess not…. Hi,  boss! Long time no see….. What, no, it’s not important, just a delivery that came overnight…. yeah, we know…. okay, I’ll get the boys started cleaning it up, while you call the vendor….

I suppose it might be interesting to stick around and hear the conversation with the vendor, but I’m not feeling curmudgeonly enough yet to pull off a conversation…. gotta have some angst in there for that to happen easily, and I’m keeping my angst at a minimum these days. Moving is going to be enough of a pain without getting all weirded out by it, thank you very much. 

I started the process yesterday, checking out potential places, and put in a good 4 miles of walking to do so…. not bad for an old fat guy with a limp….. I can see I’ll need to do a bit more looking online, and map out a route to use the buses to get there…. SIGH…. such a pain, when I just want to relax and read my books….

No more complaining, I swear…. I’m tired of hearing it myself. It’s probably for the best if we just get on with the business for which we are gathered this morning, yes? Yes…. Shall we Pearl?…..

Disclaimer: The following may contain coarse and violent nudity.  Occasional language will also be encountered…..
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“Calling him a pea brain would be an undeserved compliment.” — Smart Bee

Many of you who have visited here before will know, by this statement, exactly who will be our subject for dissection, er, discussion today. That’s right, Mitt the Twitt, who has been out there meeting and greeting the public, and living up to my expectations once more…. He has started to harp upon a piece of legislation in Wisconsin, I believe, or maybe Ohio…. some state, anyway…. that the Obama administration initiated via the Attorney General’s office.

Unfortunately for him, he is once again harping on a lie; he says the legislation is an attempt to limit the vote of military personnel, claiming Obama is anti-military. It’s really too bad for him that this isn’t true; in fact, it is the opposite of what he claims…. the legislation protects the voting rights of the military voters, as well as the other citizens who were affected by the law it proposes to overturn… a law initiated and pushed through by a Republican coalition…..

“Admit nothing, deny everything, and launch counter-accusations.” — Smart Bee

I was certain Mitt would continue to stick his foot where he seems to like it, (firmly entrenched in his mouth), and he didn’t disappoint…… He kept repeating this blatant untruth several times on Sunday, only stopping when it was pointed out to him by his own people that he was wrong. Now, of course, he is ignoring it altogether…. a typical ploy to get people to talk about anything other than his missing tax returns.

Which, by the way, isn’t working, as more and more Republicans are making pointed remarks about it. In a way, it reminds me of a little boy, trying to keep from having to admit to Mom he’d been in the cookie jar, while having cookie crumbs all over his face and fingers. It might be cute, if it wasn’t so pathetic in an adult….

“He who confesses to small faults hopes you’ll think he has no big ones.” — Smart Bee (Hmm, SB is really on the ball today….)

Mitt’s mouth has gotten him in so much trouble, both open and shut, that his handlers have gagged him. A full search of the front page of the SF Chronicle news site, SFGATE, shows that there are NO stories being pursued this morning, on either the presumptive candidate, nor the POTUS. Neither Romney nor Obama were mentioned anywhere on the front page. The landing of the newest Mars rover (successfully, YAY!….), the latest crazy white man gunning down innocent people of color, and the Olympics are the top stories today.

For a politician, this is extreme hiding…. the trick for them is to get their name out there, so people are talking about him, and he remains in the forefront of the national eye. For a candidate for any office, NO news is bad news…. and in this case, is most likely due to their candidate’s ingrained habit of opening mouth, inserting foot….

Just remember this, my girl, as you look up in the sky — You can see the stars and still not see the light. — The Eagles, from “Lyin’ Eyes”

It’s early yet, so perhaps by the end of the day, the Twitt will have once again proved his complete lack of intelligence with some ill-considered lie. I suppose it’s a good thing that he is so completely clueless; if he bothered to ever look up at the sky, he wouldn’t even see the stars, much less the light…. At this point, all we can do is make sure that enough ffolkes get to the polls to keep him from ever getting any closer to the Oval Office than the two-dollar White House tour….. and continue to watch as he continues his campaign of self-destruction, right there in front of God and everybody…..

“I used to be a FUNDAMENTALIST, but then I heard about the HIGH RADIATION LEVELS and bought an ENCYCLOPEDIA!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“The broad mass of a nation… will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one.” — Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), “Mein Kampf”
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Families, when a child is born
Want it to be intelligent.
I, through intelligence,
Having wrecked my whole life,
Only hope the baby will prove
Ignorant and stupid.
Then he will crown a tranquil life
By becoming a Cabinet Minister
— Su Tung-p’o

Born in 1036, Su Tung-po was a famous Chinese poet. He was also called Su Shih. Born in present-day Sichuan province, Su was from a literary family. During the Sung Dynasty he wrote very simple poems based on Buddhist Philosophy. Su occupied many official posts, rising to president of the board of rites (which regulated imperial ceremonies and worship). He designed the parks surrounding Lake Si in Hangzhou. Five emperors came to the throne during his lifetime.

Su’s poetry and art were inspired by Taoism and Buddhism, although his political views were founded in Confucian philosophy. Su is generally considered the greatest poet of the Sung dynasty. He is also noted for his fu, satiric poems which approach free verse, and for letters and essays. Although his writings were once blacklisted, even destroyed, his genius could not be repressed. His poetry and writing have been reprinted, studied, and enjoyed by generations since.

His satiric verses and opposition to official policies frequently lost him his official status and resulted in imprisonment and 12-times exiled. Su’s tumultuous career began around 1079, when he wrote a satirical poem on the New Policies promoted by Prime Minister Wang An-shih, who was infuriated and had Su arrested. Su served time in jail and was later released, but the following year he was banished to Huang-chou in the southern hinterlands. This proved to be a major turning point in his life. Beforehand, Su was a free and spirited personality, and his poetry was full of insight and energy. However, having barely escaped with his life and being banished to the harsh region of the south, he began to reflect on the beauty of nature and the meaning of life. In exile, he enjoyed the simple pleasures of farming and writing, taking joy in what life had to offer. In fact, many of his most popular works were done at the time. Though Su was later pardoned, he was never far from controversy. Even as an old man, he was banished to the furthest reaches of the land–Hainan Island in the South China Sea. The experience, however, only further enlightened him. Though pardoned once again, this time he did not make it back to court and died on the trip north.

Picture, poem, and biography from Poemhunter.com   Su Tung-p’o

I love finding new authors…. well, authors who are new to me. I’ve seen this poem before, and even used it once, I believe, as a pearl, but I didn’t realize there was more from the poet. Now I have a whole new bunch of stuff to read, that I’ve never seen before…. Life is good!….
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It’s time again for an old-school pearl…. these statements all lead to one cogent thought, one that can completely change your life, and how you look at that life…. just let your mind float freely, holding each thought, then adding the next one in, until all have been mixed together thoroughly, to a smooth consistency…. and you will SEE!…..

“Always store beer in a dark place.” — Lazarus Long

Be a hero! Teach your children to think for THEMSELVES! — Smart Bee

“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.” — Oscar Wilde, “Oscariana”

“You’re not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it.” — Malcolm X

“Once you can accept the universe as being something expanding  into an infinite nothing which is something, wearing stripes  with plaid is easy.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

And, as it has been said for centuries in the alleyways and hidden streets of the world’s greatest cities,….. there you go. You may now consider yourself a yogini of highest rank…..  or was that yogurt?  No matter, don’t you feel enlightened? I know I do….. with a nice blueberry aftertaste….
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I’d better stop here…. it’s threatening to get away from me, and it wouldn’t be pretty for that to happen today; too much built up angst-pressure. It would blow away this whole corner of the internet for a couple hours, minimum…. So be it….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Not only the penitent are forgiven….

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Ffolkes,
Pinched, grim faces peer through the windows as I wash the dirty feet of the Tupperware solicitors. Leering, jeering, they make their obscene gestures in vain, rather pathetically cheering each other’s futility. Parcels of latent importance linger on the threshold, waiting for delivery, independent and proud of their clean lines and ruler-straight packing tape. In the midst of all the chaotic motion, a small, silver dreidle spins hypnotically, focused and free of the detritus so common to such games as played today. Not for nothing did they salvage their given names, to show to the inspectors, in direct opposition to the rising sun, hopeful of another hour, another day to find Reality…..

Which, apparently, has retreated to the background, not wanting any part of the previous paragraph, a sentiment I can completely understand. That there paragraph is even weirder than usual, even for this space. But, I kind of like it, sort of, maybe…. it does have a certain charm to it, even if it doesn’t make any sense. And it did give me the opportunity to use the word “dreidle”, as well as “detritus”, two words that seldom see the light of day. I do enjoy getting these seldom-used words out for a workout; they’re always so appreciative…..

As you might be able to tell, my relationship with the English language is one of mutual admiration and support. We get along pretty well most of the time, and that is completely due to the fact that we are always formally polite with each other, and never ask the other to perform tricks that are embarrassing or immoral. It is a somewhat tentative and careful relationship, because we both understand each other’s needs and desires, and want to be careful to preserve the good relations we enjoy. After all, where would either of us be, without the other?  Nowhere, that’s where….

With that ringing endorsement, let us now wend our way down to the edge of the water, and begin today’s search for pearls….. shall we Pearl?…..
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If they make you not then the better answer, you may say they are
not the men you took them for.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Much Ado about Nothing — Act iii, Sc. 3

A man whose blood
Is very snow-broth; one who never feels
The wanton stings and motions of the sense.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Measure for Measure — Act i, Sc. 4

The eftest way.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Much Ado about Nothing — Act iv, Sc. 2

Like Niobe, all tears.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act i, Sc. 2

So, there I am, cruising along in my database, searching for pearls, and what keeps popping up in front of me, getting in the way and wasting my time? You guessed it…. more drivel from our old friend and charlatan, Will Shakespeare. These four pieces of nonsense popped up one after the other, within two minutes of each other.

Taking this as a sign from the gods of literature to carry on my campaign to educate the public regarding the relative value of his works, I am reproducing them here, as a reminder to everyone to be careful with Will’s stuff. It can be dangerous to those who don’t understand the power of human idiocy.

I mean, just look at those four quotes. I consider myself to be pretty smart; if not smart, I am at least over-educated, for sure. But, for the life of me, I can’t figure out what the hell he is talking about in ANY of these quotes. Sure, they’re missing some context, but good literature should be able to provide its own context…. These only provide an excuse for scratching one’s forehead in confusion….. and don’t even do that well….

Just as a test, for the rest of today, while searching for stuff about which to write, I’ll save and put in here all the little pieces of dung from Will’s pen that get in the way…. You will begin to see why I think he needs to be downgraded as an icon, to reduce the amount of his work to which we are forced to be exposed in the normal pursuit of our life’s objectives…..

Some griefs are medicinable.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Cymbeline — Act iii, Sc. 2

Sleep shall neither night nor day
Hang upon his pent-house lid.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Macbeth — Act i, Sc. 3

Come not within the measure of my wrath.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Two Gentlemen of Verona — Act v, Sc. 4

Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Sonnets & other Poetry — Venus and Adonis, Line 145

Okay, so the last one isn’t so bad…. I guess 7 out of 8 gives a pretty clear indicator of how he SHOULD be graded…. Enjoy, so to speak…..
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Immediately after writing the above section, I went back to my search. I felt a bit disappointed, in that the first section was teaching by poor example. This is a legitimate technique, but is less satisfying than making the same point by a good example. As I thought of this, an excerpt from one of Alexander Pope’s poems flashed up, which led me to go search out his page at Poemhunter.com, to see what else could be used…. and there it was…..

His Essay on Criticism is the perfect next act in this circus I call my blog…. It is, however, about 20 pages long, an epic poem, with several parts, each with its own introduction by the author. That is a bit much to expect you to take in in a morning read with your coffee (or, looking at the clock, as a lunch-time dessert….), so I picked out the most relevant stanza I could find on short notice, and offer it here, as a contrast to the above pile of dung from Shakespeare….

From Part II of “Essay on Criticism”

The vulgar thus thro’ imitation err,
As oft the learn’d by being singular;
So much they scorn the crowd, that if the throng
By chance go right, they purposely go wrong.
So schismatics the plain believers quit,
And are but damn’d for having too much wit.
Some praise at morning what they blame at night,
But always think the last opinion right.
A Muse by these is like a mistress used,
This hour she’s idolized, the next abused;
While their weak heads, like towns unfortified,
‘Twixt sense and nonsense daily change their side.
Ask them the cause; they’re wiser still they say;
And still to-morrow’s wiser than to-day.
We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow;
Our wiser sons no doubt will think us so.
Once shool-divines this zealous isle o’erspread;
Who knew most sentences was deepest read.
Faith, Gospel, all seem’d made to be disputed,
And none has sense enough to be confuted.
Scotists and Thomists now in peace remain
Amidst their kindred cobwebs in Ducklane.
If Faith itself has diff’rent dresses worn,
What wonder modes in Wit should take their turn?
Oft, leaving what is natural and fit,
The current Folly proves the ready Wit;
And authors think their reputation safe,
Which lives as long as fools are pleas’d to laugh.

Alexander Pope

There you have it…. If you have the time, head on over to Poemhunter.com to read the entire piece. It’s well worth the time taken, in my not so humble opinion…. the address for the rest of the above poem is   http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/an-essay-on-criticism/

Enjoy!
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Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.
— Tao Teh Ching

Often in life, we find ourselves at a point where we feel frustrated with how reality is unfolding, and allow the weight of the world to sit on our shoulders. We grasp to our breasts the complaints and insults we have heard or expressed, holding on to all the wrong things that have happened, to justify our own irritability.

It is at these times that the Tao Teh Ching can be most helpful, especially to us Westerners. Our culture looks at stress differently, at least in terms of how to deal with it. In this case, I find the Eastern way of approaching this issue works much better, allowing one to overcome the stress that builds up, offering release from the headaches and tension that can come with such feelings….

The solution is extremely simple, once learned…. just let go…. No, not just say no…. Just let go…. Don’t hang on to those feelings of urgency because your work isn’t done…. just finish the work, and be done with it….. Don’t let money determine your feelings. Don’t let your worries fill your mind so you obsess and worry; allow them to pass through you, as all feelings eventually do, if we don’t hang on to them….

Just let go…. and find yourself already serene….
___________________________________

Well, that works, I think…. It will have to do, because I’m NOT doing it over…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

A sample vortex coalesced on the stairs….

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Ffolkes,
A day passes, one seemingly identical to another, over the course of a long life. Yet from one day to the next the entire world may turn upside down, leaving us to scramble for the nearest point to hold on for dear life, or fall, jumbled and tumbled around with the rest of our lives.

Five days ago, I was content and comfortable. Now, I am anxious and on edge, and will be until I can find another place to live…. Yep, that’s right, I got the ol’ 30 day notice a few days ago, and must find another lodging, as this one is being foreclosed by the lien-holder, no doubt some fat cat banker who doesn’t care that 6 people now must rearrange their entire existence in the space of one month. Just another typical tale of the 21st century here in America, as the economy continues its self-destruction right before our eyes….

It may be a product of my youth, but I hate to move. When my dad was in the Army, before I was 10, we moved every few years, to wherever the Army sent him, in their commonly capricious manner. By the age of 10, I had lived in California (two army bases, and two towns), Washington (Fort Lewis), and Japan for seven months. My older siblings had, prior to my birth, also lived in Georgia and, I believe, Texas. It is an adventure, to be sure, to move a family of four to seven people and all their belongings, from one end of California to another, or, just as likely, from one coast to another. An adventure that I, and my siblings, found to be a major pain, after the initial rush of excitement.

So, once more, I have to find a place, negotiate to get in, then box up all I own, and find somebody to transport it to the new place for me, as I can no longer do the lifting myself. Piece o’cake, right? Riiiiiight…. NOT!  I’m already bummed out about it, and now must find a way to motivate myself to not procrastinate…. otherwise I’ll be staring at the end of the month with no place to go….

Ah, me, Life is such a joy, is it not?…. Murphy has obviously been planning this one for a while, and is, no doubt, hovering around somewhere, laughing his ass off at the idea of the poor old fool and his meager possessions being on the street, even if only for a short time…. it’s all funny to him….

Ah, the hell with it, I’m going diving. Want to come along? Let’s go find some pearls, and create today’s Pearl……
___________________________________

On Monday, when the sun is hot,
I wonder to myself a lot;
‘Now is it true, or is it not,
‘That what is which and which is what?’

“On Tuesday, when it hails and snows,
The feeling on me grows and grows
That hardly anybody knows
If those are these or these are those.”

“On Wednesday, when the sky is blue,
And I have nothing else to do,
I sometimes wonder if it’s true
That who is what and what is who.”

— A.A. Milne, Winnie The Pooh

Winnie seems to have been channeling the future for Dr. Seuss, and has hit the perfect note of nonsensical sense. Much of this little poem could conceivably have been included in “Horton Hears a Hoo”, or “A Cat in a Hat” (I may have gotten the titles wrong; it’s been a while since I read the good doctor’s books….)

Regardless, I like this little poem a lot, as it expresses so well how all of us feel at times…. at least, those of us who remember to let out our inner child on a regular basis…. It is unfortunate that many folks read this, and dismiss it as being “childish”, and not suitable for adult consideration… for they are losing out on experiencing a completely different side of reality than the one they normally inhabit…. and as Willie Wonka said, “A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.”….. Yes, indeed it is…..
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“The advocates of the pornography victims compensation bill seem to think that if we stop showing rape in movies people will stop committing it in real life. Anthropologists call this ‘magical thinking’. It’s the same impulse that makes people stick pins in voodoo dolls, hoping to cripple an enemy.  It feels logical, but it does not work.” — New York Times Article

This is propaganda, in its worst form…… First, it is presented as a legitimate article with the attached charismatic factor of being published in (gasp!) the New York Times. If it’s in there, it must be true, right?…. Bullshit. The Times gets it wrong just as often as the National Enquirer; remember a few years back when one of their most popular reporters was busted for making up all his stories, for years? One would do well to always remember to believe only about 25% of what is read, and only then if you know of corroborating information…. otherwise, you are bound to eventually be disappointed in your trust…..

Second, it makes an assertion that is completely false, in order to ridicule the supporters of the legislation they are  opposing. I have no doubt this was written by a male, and that he very likely misogynistic. He first accuses the supporters of the pornography victims compensation bill of sloppy, wishful thinking, which he claims is called ‘magical thinking’ by (gasp!) Anthropologists (whom we all know to be the Final Authority when it comes to labeling the parts of society…) According to the author of the article, “it feels logical, but it does not work.”  Hmph. I suppose he has already tried it himself. And, of course, we can consider him an expert on what is logical, because, by golly, he said so….

This is typical propaganda, written to pull the unwary into feeling a kinship with the author. The author makes statements, and claims, that sound pretty bad, in a way that says to the readers, “hey, look, you and me, we’re different than this poor fool!”, and calls on experts, who in reality are, a) not experts and b) didn’t, and wouldn’t, necessarily say what they are claimed to have said….. In reality, Anthropologists would probably agree that movies DO have an effect on societal behavior, and CAN help stop this kind of issue, because it ceases to glorify, and make acceptable, actions that are evil and completely derogatory to women.

If it is made illegal to ban showing rape in movies, it WILL help stop such behavior in society. How can it be considered wrong to rape, when movies glorify it, often showing it as a natural result of the WOMAN’s actions, that inflamed the man beyond his ability to control, thus making her responsible for being raped? How can it be illegal to rape, and yet be legal to show rape in movies? THAT is what doesn’t make sense, unless one accepts the lie that movies don’t affect behavior.

Banning the filming of rape, or any other sexual crime, (of which there are more than enough examples in real life), is NOT THE SAME as “magical thinking”. Nor is it the same as “voodoo” believers’ beliefs in unprovable principles. Rape is NOT a subject for films, especially when they glorify it, as being something natural. It is only natural to misogynists and sexual predators; normal men do not feel like watching a rape for entertainment purposes.

This statement, and the article, are typical of the kind of lies that those who perpetrate the sex slave trafficking in women and children of both sexes. They couch their lies in logical, dispassionate terminology, and quote societal experts to support their lies with scientific proof.

The simple truth is that these men are animals, sexual predators of the worst kind, and their only interest is in continuing the ongoing slavery of millions of women who have been trapped into a life of prostitution, and brainwashed into feeling that they are nothing, worth only what their bodies can be sold for, and forced to be raped on a daily basis….. and the general public doesn’t seem to care….
    The whole issue is a hot button for me. I start crying, like now, every time I think of the pain and anguish that is felt by these women who are nothing more than slaves to their male animal masters. I am ashamed of my gender, and of my species, for allowing this kind of activity to not only persist, but to assume some kind of acceptance by society at large.

Supposedly enlightened people talk about “victimless crimes” and as above, they spout off about “magical thinking” to distract the general public into believing the issue is not a problem; these enlightened IDIOTS are fools, and can be considered to be in the same category as those who deliberately pursue this kind of activity, by default….

Next time you read some article supporting the sex trade, remember that for every ONE woman who voluntarily enters the business of selling themselves for sex, there are, easily, a MILLION women who are not given any choice in the matter, who suffer daily beatings and rapes, and who are treated as if they are cattle, with no rights and no hope of change….

But, there is hope, if they are fortunate; there are women who, by dint of their own strength, and their own will to be free, have successfully exited the business. And those women are carrying their message to a thus-far indifferent public; they are on blogs all over the world, telling their experiences of being slaves, and showing the way to set themselves free…. 

So far, these voices are a mere drop in a bucket, and will remain so, as long as articles like the one above continue to make their ridiculously dangerous, pseudo-logical arguments to an unwitting public, and the public continues to accept the lies….

But then, the American public is pretty good at accepting lies, aren’t they?……
___________________________________

And, finally, we will use some Art to disguise this last Pearl…. these three photos, all found on Facebook, shall act as this morning’s political commentary…. enjoy!
    I think that will serve to make my point…. if not, well, just think on it a while, and it will come to you….
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And so we come to the end of another day’s effort…. So be it. I’m not even going to go back and edit, beyond checking for typos…. So, y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Nary a one shall prevail….

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1

Ffolkes,
Today’s Pearl is quite late, obviously; I’ve generally posted by 0930, but spent the morning wending my way home from my buddy Tom’s house, where I went yesterday to visit. Now, of course, just to make things more challenging, Murphy, in conjunction with my ISP and WordPress, is conspiring to keep me from accessing my blog again, falling into an infinite loop when I ask it to connect to my page to read it. My only hope is the workaround I figured out last time this happened, which will hopefully still work. Time will tell, and the only way to find out is to finish this Pearl…

So, let’s get right to it, shall we? Yes, we shall…..

Hmm… took longer than I thought to get started, but, perseverance pays off, every time…. let’s go….
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“Charity should be spontaneous. Calculated altruism is an affront.” — Abbey

I’m guessing this came from Edward Abbey. It sounds like him. It also happens to be one of my biggest pet peeves about the calculated altruism practiced so hard by the almost all of the world’s large multinational corporations. By this I am talking of Ronald McDonald House, and the money spent on advertising it, and many other such charities, whose sole purpose outside their charitable work is to act as an excuse for the corporate acts of piracy and environmental destruction for which their sponsors are responsible. McDonald’s is responsible for a lot of the destruction of rain forest all over the world, due to the insane amount of packaging they use, and the subsequent destruction of wild forest to replace it with regulated farms that produce the products they need.

McDonald’s is not the only corporation that does this… Chevron spends millions on commercials to tell customers how much they care for the wildlife habitats they destroy, in order to provide more cars and fuels, with Exxon, Texaco, and, most likely, all the oil companies as co-conspirators in this practice. They all spend millions of dollars on useless charities that don’t come near solving any problems, and advertise themselves as saviors for spending those millions. They never mention how little those few millions matter to them, as they are just a drop in the bucket compared to what they make each year from their destructive business practices. They can afford a pittance of 20 million to protect the billions and billions they make by selling off humanity’s future.

I’m not sure why I brought this out, because I saw long ago that such deliberate hypocrisy isn’t going to change, any more than the beloved ruling class is going stop lying, just because they get caught at it. People seem to want things this way, so they don’t have to think about it too much, so who am I to interfere, just because it affects me as well? Well, that’s an easy one…. I’m a self-taught curmudgeon, and I’ll rant if I want to…. Later though, ’cause I’m tired…. but, tired or not, I can still spot the evil side effects of the dreaded Moriarty, whom I have decided is ultimately to blame…. reasons for that deduction may or may not be forthcoming in future Pearls, depending on whether I remember or not…. If I do, I’ll also try to remember these thoughts on writing, as I try to do it….

It takes a strong person to swim against the current. Any dead fish can float with it. — Smart Bee, and….

“If you can’t annoy somebody, there’s little point in writing.” — Kingsley Amis

“I think that in order to write really well and convincingly, one must be somewhat poisoned by emotion. Dislike, displeasure, resentment, faultfinding, imagination, passionate remonstrance, a sense of injustice — they all make fine fuel.”  — Edna Ferber
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A Party Of Lovers

Pensive they sit, and roll their languid eyes,
Nibble their toast, and cool their tea with sighs,
Or else forget the purpose of the night,
Forget their tea — forget their appetite.
See with cross’d arms they sit — ah! happy crew,
The fire is going out and no one rings
For coals, and therefore no coals Betty brings.
A fly is in the milk-pot — must he die
By a humane society?
No, no; there Mr. Werter takes his spoon,
Inserts it, dips the handle, and lo! soon
The little straggler, sav’d from perils dark,
Across the teaboard draws a long wet mark.
Arise! take snuffers by the handle,
There’s a large cauliflower in each candle.
A winding-sheet, ah me! I must away
To No. 7, just beyond the circus gay.
‘Alas, my friend! your coat sits very well;
Where may your tailor live?’ ‘I may not tell.
O pardon me — I’m absent now and then.
Where might my tailor live? I say again
I cannot tell, let me no more be teaz’d —
He lives in Wapping, might live where he pleas’d.’

John Keats

This produces an ambivalence in me that possibly affects my understanding, but it doesn’t affect my appreciation of its simplicity. I guess I’d say, it’s got cool lyrics, and a beat you can dance to…. I give it a four out of six, Dick……
___________________________________

“The value of a human being is determined by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from self.” — Albert Einstein

Albert’s genius is questioned by virtually none, with good reason, and goes well beyond his work in physics. He was also a humanitarian of the first order, and his philosophy of life was produced by his clear vision of the important principles of human nature, and human interaction. He also had a very strong appreciation and understanding of the subtle points that often are missed by others. In his statement above, he gives a valuable insight into how to achieve inner peace, and the importance of learning to interact with reality without the encumbering weight of desire and ego…..

Almost every philosophical system I’ve encountered, western or eastern, teaches this same lesson, though couched in different anecdotal terminology. But, all agree that the less a man allows his emotions, driven by ego, to control his actions, the closer he approaches serenity within his own spirit.

Letting go of desire is a common theme to many of these systems of thought, and remains a critical skill in achieving such enlightenment. Once all desires are eliminated, and good and evil are balanced, without creating emotional storms, a person can see the world most clearly, and be able to appreciate the deeper beauty that can be seen through eyes and minds that are truly free…..

SIGH…. it seems so easy, when one writes it out like this. Introspection, however, is not easy at all, as one must learn to become totally honest with one’s self. Only the truth can bring one to the object of this process; false trails make themselves obvious, as they encourage desire, and ego, and taking from the world, rather than giving to it of ourselves. Since it is such hard work, many, many people give up after their first efforts, and, instead, end up learning the skills needed to hide from the truth, i.e., denial, rationalization, lying, and cowardice….

Ah well, I prefer Albert’s take on things when figuring the value of a human being, hard work though it may be….
___________________________________

Okay, here it is…. very, very late in the day, and pretty truncated as a partial result. So be it… tomorrow is another day, so I am told, so I’ll take them at their word, and we’ll bring this to a somewhat belated, awkward ending….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

 

Dithering on the Wine…..

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2

Ffolkes,
Circumstances have conspired against me today, and will have an effect on this Pearl, so I’m notifying y’all ahead of time to tread carefully. I’m putting this together in  hurry, and won’t have time to watch for the sharp edges that can be formulated. Normally, I will edit my material for such obstacles to comfortable reading, but I won’t have time today for that, so you are on your own…. just handle it gently & all should be okay… they usually don’t bite without provocation..

Later this morning I’m taking off to go stay at my friend’s house overnight….. I’ll be spending the most time away from my house in over a year, so it’s got me all in a dither (hence today’s title…. it’s actually connected, sort of…. in a way…. kind of….maybe….) I hardly know what to do with myself…. it’s a damn good thing I have coffee, or I’d be completely discombobulated….. which is such a great word, I don’t think I mind being it, as long as I get to use it in a sentence…. That means that when I pull myself together, I will be fully combobulated, right? Gads! I love English….

All that being said, let’s dive right in & see what I can come up with in the midst of all this rush…. Shall we Pearl?….
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“But Aristarchus of Samos brought out a book consisting of certain hypotheses, in which the premises lead to the conclusion that the universe is many times greater than that now so called.  His hypotheses are that the fixed stars and the sun remain motionless, that the earth revolves about the sun in the circumference of a circle, the sun lying in the middle of the orbit, and that the sphere of the fixed stars, situated about the same center as the sun, is so great that the circle in which he supposes the earth to revolve bears such a proportion to the distance of the fixed stars as the center of the sphere bears to its surface.” — Archimedes, The Sand-Reckoner, Third Century B.C.

I love reading about the early days of scientific inquiry. One of the most telling points, though, lies in examination of this kind of discovery. It is clear that Aristarchus was proposing a new thought for the time, one that Archimedes relates as being opposite to the currently held beliefs….. This idea, though radical, had the advantage of being true, but even with that, it did not become commonly known until the same theory was proposed, and proved, by Copernicus, many centuries later. (Even with its proof provided, it was challenged by those famously tolerant, self-appointed guardians of public morality, Catholic Church officials, the Pope’s myrmidons, who were gleefully busy killing knowledge, and lots of people, with the The Grand Inquisition just about then….)

My point here is one that I could belabor, but let’s cut to the chase…. the people who run the churches in the world, along with their co-conspirators, the beloved ruling class, make it a habit to try to stifle any new scientific knowledge that is published anywhere in the world, if it appears to be contradictory to what they would have you believe. Back at the time of Archimedes, just after the beginning of the first millennium of modern history, this kind of knowledge was slow to spread, with the spread being further slowed by the priests as much as they could.

Today, we are witnessing much the same, but now the controversy is over the theory of evolution, and global warming. Both of these concepts are under attack by the powers that run the churches, and by the government. Neither of these two entities can afford for these ideas to become common accepted knowledge, for they bear serious implications about the presence or absence of a diving being in the universe, a subject upon which they will brook no argument.

Accepting either one of these theories will mean accepting both, for they are intricately connected, and the churches cannot allow that. They cannot have people actually believing that they are responsible for their own actions, that we are NOT the crown of creation, and that human nature absolutely MUST change in order to keep these fools from killing all of us, an event that is made certain, if we don’t heed the call……

gigoid has spoken….
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I died for beauty but was scarce
Adjusted in the tomb,
When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room.

He questioned softly why I failed?
“For beauty,” I replied.
“And I for truth,–the two are one;
We brethren are,” he said.

And so, as kinsmen met a night,
We talked between the rooms,
Until the moss had reached our lips,
And covered up our names.

Emily Dickinson

Not bad for a quick-find…. it even kind of fits in with today’s ambiance, I think…. Onward!…..
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“I used to sit on the banks with a raft and watch the water roll lazily by. One day I pushed my raft into the shallows of the water and found the water moved swifter than I thought, but my raft was actually a little rowboat. Then, after some time, I rowed my little boat into deeper water. There were great storms, mighty winds, tremendous waves, and sometimes I felt so alone. But I have noticed my little rowboat is now a mighty ship manned by my friends and loved ones, and beautiful calm seas, warm sunny days, and nights filled with comfortable dreams always double after a storm. Now, I could never go back and sit on the bank, in fact, I search for deeper water. Such is life when lived.” — B D Gulledge

I’m not going to go into any long discussion here, as I believe this has adequately described how I feel about life. It goes along with another thought, to wit: ” You can live life like a turtle, pulling back and hiding whenever threatened, and always going slowly to avoid risks. Or, you can live like a tiger, and head out into the day to see what it will bring for us to discover, meeting the challenges with courage and skill” (from “Rite of Passage” by Alexi & Corey Panshin).

To me, this point is so clear, that I can leave this right here, and know that you have understood what I am saying….. So, how will you live Life?…. Sitting on the banks, or wandering the wide oceans? Will you live as a turtle, or as a tiger?….. The answer only matters to yourself, but it MUST be answered, so consider well your choices….. Shallow and safe, or deep and glorious?   It’s your choice, but you MUST choose….
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All things considered, this isn’t bad. Thrown together in half the usual time, too!  Hmm….. makes me wonder a bit if I need to trim down the daily process, so it runs faster like this all the time…. Nah! I like to procrastinate, it comes naturally to me, and since there is no actual deadline, we’ll stay with the random, time-tested methods from now on…. In the meantime, y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Measuring the Waves of Active Ingredients….

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2

Ffolkes,
The future has arrived, early. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m not quite ready for this. Especially when it’s tied up like this with a pretty bow; it only makes it look sleazy, not classy. And, of course, there’s no user’s manual…. how are we supposed to even get this thing running without a manual? When you open the box, a process not aided by the presence of the aforementioned big bow, 277 oddly shaped parts fall out, with no diagram, no labels, no screws or other fasteners, and, of course, no manual. Says here it was shipped by the Acme Future Shock company, St. Louis, Mo….. whoever they are….

Ah well, what’s one more incomplete project laying around? I’ll just kick all these weirdly shaped pieces of plastic into the corner over here, and….. there….. Voilá, organization strikes again….. Now, where were we? Ah yes, nowhere…. a place with which I’ve become very familiar in recent months, having been beguiled into getting off the bus there a couple of times. It’s the kind of place you don’t forget, as it isn’t the most pleasant of environs, and tends to wear thin after almost no time at all…. I’m just not a happy camper without something to read, and there ain’t nothing like that nowhere, no how….

Since there is nothing here to tempt us to stay, I suggest we get on with the normal business of the day, and go find some oysters to torment…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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From an Essay on Man

Heav’n from all creatures hides the book of fate,
All but the page prescrib’d, their present state:
From brutes what men, from men what spirits know:
Or who could suffer being here below?
The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed today,
Had he thy reason, would he skip and play?
Pleas’d to the last, he crops the flow’ry food,
And licks the hand just rais’d to shed his blood.
Oh blindness to the future! kindly giv’n,
That each may fill the circle mark’d by Heav’n:
Who sees with equal eye, as God of all,
A hero perish, or a sparrow fall,
Atoms or systems into ruin hurl’d,
And now a bubble burst, and now a world.

Hope humbly then; with trembling pinions soar;
Wait the great teacher Death; and God adore.
What future bliss, he gives not thee to know,
But gives that hope to be thy blessing now.
Hope springs eternal in the human breast:
Man never is, but always to be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin’d from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.

Lo! the poor Indian, whose untutor’d mind
Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind;
His soul, proud science never taught to stray
Far as the solar walk, or milky way;
Yet simple nature to his hope has giv’n,
Behind the cloud topp’d hill, an humbler heav’n;
Some safer world in depth of woods embrac’d,
Some happier island in the wat’ry waste,
Where slaves once more their native land behold,
No fiends torment, no Christians thirst for gold.
To be, contents his natural desire,
He asks no angel’s wing, no seraph’s fire;
But thinks, admitted to that equal sky.

Alexander Pope

Pearls of Virtual Wisdom are as random as I can make them, and today, that impulse called for me to start by bringing in something classic from Mr. Pope, one of the most quoted men in history…. Far be it from me to buck a trend…. or trend a buck, for that matter….  Enjoy!
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What we have here is a failure to…. wait, that’s been done…. Okay, here, I found it in the script…. What we have below is an old-school Sesame Street style pearl…. Taken together, in the order given, and with a relatively open mind, these quotes will lead one to the Thought For Today. If they don’t, well, that’s okay, too…. Once again, as we are going old-school, this will not be on the test….

“But a short time elapsed after the death of the great reformer of the Jewish religion, before his principles were departed from by those who professed to be his special servants, and perverted into an engine for enslaving mankind, and aggrandizing their oppressors in Church and State.” — Thomas Jefferson, [letter?] To S. Kercheval, 1810

“All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.” — Thomas Paine

“One sure way to determine the social conscience of a Government is to examine the way taxes are collected and how they are spent.  And one sure way to determine the social conscience of an individual is to get his tax-reaction.  Taxes, after all, are the dues that we pay  for the privileges of membership in an organized society.” — Franklin Delano Roosevelt, campaign address, — Worcester, Mass., Oct. 21, 1936.

“The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out.” — Thomas Babington Macaulay

“When I was made presidential press secretary my father sent me a telegram: “Always tell the truth. If you can’t always tell the truth, don’t lie.” — Bill Moyers

“What is left when honour is lost?” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 265

What, indeed….. on that note, onward…..
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When it comes to learning how to get along with the differences we all have with each other, animals have it all over humans…. I know I have used this before, probably to make the same point, so….here is a picture I found on Facebook, that furnishes graphic proof of that assertion……
    Four species, all dreaming the same dream…. one of peace and beauty, with love as the basic coin of the realm…..
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So, there is less than usual of my particular brand of drivel today…. There are reasons for that; while intensely relevant to me, listing them here would no doubt bore y’all to tears…. Better to let this go out as is…. I’ll be posting again later today, anyway….

Mr. Crusher, make it so…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

These brass monkeys were stolen!….

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9

Ffolkes,
A shooting star flashed across the night sky, carving its bright path, until fading out near the horizon. Heartened by this hopeful sign, four silent figures moved quietly down the hillside, mere shadows moving through the night. With hours yet to first light, the forest through which they padded slept, unaware of the passage of the silent, nearly invisible group. No night birds sang their warning, only deep silence accompanied the group as they moved between the trees. As they reached the edge of the vast savanna which lay east of the forest, the group split, two finding cover on the ground, and two climbing swiftly up two trees overlooking the path leading back into the forest from the plain. They settled down to wait…..

Hmm… I kind of wonder what they are waiting for, or who they intend to ambush. But my curiosity is not so strong as to get me any further into the story, so we’ll just leave the group there, waiting, and go on to more dignified, if not more lucrative, pastimes…. whatever those may be…..

All things considered, it was a close call, but I’ve made it to the end of the month, alive, and that is definitely worth celebrating, given the effort it took to do so without committing mayhem, or biting someone, hard….. I think I’ll treat myself to breakfast, once I’ve tortured the language enough to put together a Pearl… It may or may not turn out well, only time will tell, and yes I rhymed on purpose…. I can’t help it, I’m a sick man….

Shall we Pearl?…..
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“It’s wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope.” — Elrond

For those who don’t know, Elrond is the leader of the Elves of Rivendell, friend to Gandalf and hobbits, father of the elven beauty who becomes wife and queen of Aragon, King of Middle Earth. His age is unknown, but he remembers clearly the last time the Evil One, Sauron, made his bid for supremacy, thousands of years ago. How then, even if he is so wise, did he know how to best describe the state of American politics today?….. What he says above is what goes through my mind whenever I consider the possibility of Mitt the Twitt somehow being elected to the Presidency, as I make sure my rifle is clean and loaded, and my preparations complete for the upcoming target practice….

It’s kind of amusing actually. I have this image in my head, of how some true Americans might react if he is actually elected….. For example, when the Chief Justice tells the Twitt to put his hand on the Bible on Inauguration Day, 50 gunshots ring out, as the Marine color guards all open fire on the podium, with the first 50 rounds exploding Mitt’s head…. Then, when the confusion really starts, I’ll provide cover fire so the Marines can take off and get to their hiding spots, picked days before…..

I like either that scenario, or the other one, where, after the Marines put him down, the gathered crowd all surround the Marines, and pat them on the back, telling them , “good job.”  Whereupon the Sergeant in charge of the squad salutes and says, “No problem, ma’am, we are sworn to protect the country from all enemies, foreign or domestic”….. The crown applauds, they break up, and the country gets back to the business of reform…. Hey, we all have our fantasies, yes?….

It is unfortunate that these kinds of fantasies are necessary these days, to keep my blood pressure under control. It tends to spike whenever I think about the disastrous results should the Twitt get into the White House…. Of course, he’d probably live in one of his own houses…. the White House would be a a bit of a come-down for him, rich as he is…. No car elevator, or room for a dancing horse…. I suppose the Conservatory could be converted to a stable, and the rose garden could be taken out and turned into pasture….

You know, of course, how they teach those horses to do that dancing they do, right? They smack the horse on their forelegs to teach them to lift them up, then progress to both legs in sequence, producing the dancing motion…. which is actually a reaction to the pain of having a metal bat strike the shin, causing a short shot of agony…. I might pick my foot up, too, right before I planted it forcefully on the trainer’s nose… Nice folks, these Romneys….

Now, in most election years, I might not worry so much about an idiot in the White House. But, two factors have prompted me to keep plugging away at this subject…. One, Mitt Romney has clearly shown that should he be President, the United States would be in serious trouble. Every one of his stated goals is contrary to what I believe is needed, not just for stability in our country, but contrary to what is needed to keep us in the 21st century. Second, there are more racist, ignorant, frightened people in this country, who have been hoodwinked by this man’s lies and manipulations into giving him their support, and on election day, their votes, than I would have thought possible. Millions of them. It’s hard to swallow, I know, but it is true, nonetheless.

This is all a pretty long winded way to remind y’all to register and vote this November. You can bet that Romney’s supporters will be; they need to be notified, in no uncertain terms, that they are a minority in this country, and the rest of us will not sit by and watch this fool destroy all the progress we’ve made in the last twenty-five years…. Hell, for that matter, the last hundred and fifty years, because if he has his way, we all will be following the rules of his religion, in which the rights of women are completely ignored…. Believe it!
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A Bronze Head

HERE at right of the entrance this bronze head,
Human, superhuman, a bird’s round eye,
Everything else withered and mummy-dead.
What great tomb-haunter sweeps the distant sky
(Something may linger there though all else die;)
And finds there nothing to make its terror less
{Hysterica passio} of its own emptiness?

No dark tomb-haunter once; her form all full
As though with magnanimity of light,
Yet a most gentle woman; who can tell
Which of her forms has shown her substance right?
Or maybe substance can be composite,
profound McTaggart thought so, and in a breath
A mouthful held the extreme of life and death.

But even at the starting-post, all sleek and new,
I saw the wildness in her and I thought
A vision of terror that it must live through
Had shattered her soul. Propinquity had brought
Imagination to that pitch where it casts out
All that is not itself: I had grown wild
And wandered murmuring everywhere, ‘My child, my
child! ‘

Or else I thought her supernatural;
As though a sterner eye looked through her eye
On this foul world in its decline and fall;
On gangling stocks grown great, great stocks run dry,
Ancestral pearls all pitched into a sty,
Heroic reverie mocked by clown and knave,
And wondered what was left for massacre to save.

William Butler Yeats

After writing the mini-rant above, I was in need of some poetry to smooth my ruffled feathers. What I got was this, which is not soothing, particularly, but is nonetheless perfectly and surprisingly apt…. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did just now….
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“I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That “all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people…”  To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.” — Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1791

I had intended to write here a sober, reasoned discussion of the above from my second favorite Founding Father (okay, George Mason is my fave….), but decided first to search a bit more to see if I could find something to accompany this, to lighten it up a bit…. this is what I found…..

“History records no more gallant struggle than that of humanity against the truth.” — Smart Bee

Now, while I might suggest that the word “epic” is more apt, ‘gallant” still gives it an adequate emotional index rating. With either word, it rather goes beyond the statement by T. J., into the deeper issue of basic truth. Personally, I don’t understand the issue that most of humanity seems to have regarding the truth…. I’m not afraid of it, even though it is painful more often than not. Unfortunately, much of the rest of mankind seems to not have that sort of reaction to the pain it often brings, and will go to incredible lengths to avoid having to experience that pain, even if it means putting up with another, lesser pain in the process….

You can see, of course, the immediate similarity between those folks who avoid pain, and those folks who vote conservative, or are supporting the accomplished liar, Mitt the Twitt….. Sometimes, many times, in fact, the stuff that is coming out of the mouths of Romney and his supporters is a dead giveaway, one that shows their stark, malignant fear, fear that is rooted in their racism and bigotry. Their worst nightmare came true in 2008, and a BLACK MAN (gasp!) was elected President….

Without ever considering, or even looking at, his record while in office, these ignorant throwbacks will go to ANY lengths to elect ANYONE else, even if that person is actively trying to harm them, as is the case with Romney…. They don’t care, he’s white, so they’ll be more comfortable with him in office…. or so they think…. Should it happen, it will be a rude awakening when he starts his campaign to get the rest of any money they have left, and cheerfully squashes any hope of a better life that they might have retained…..

In reality, this discussion does relate back to Tom’s statement re: the rights of the people vs. the rights of the government. We, the people, have not tried hard enough to maintain the rights we were given, and those rights continue to be eroded. More and more, government is seizing control of various aspects of our lives that formerly were our own issues to deal with. The rights in the Bill of Rights are now amended, and every amendment is another nail in the coffin of freedom….

So, here is the truth, and painful or not, it would be wise to pay attention…. like Jerry Garcia said, “Choosing between two evils is still choosing evil.”  There are no heroes on the ballot. No matter which party is in office, they will continue their assault on the freedoms that Tom says are ours, not theirs. Go with what your reason tells you to do, and don’t be distracted by the lies. Put aside the fear, and the bigotry, and the cowardice. Only one of the two choices is making any effort toward transparency, and you don’t need me to point out which one. Nor would I be so rude as to suggest which you might choose; I just lay out the truth, and you pick….

The truth is Obama lies at times, for expediency, just like any politician. But, he also is genuinely invested in making reforms that will actually help the middle class, and as far as I can tell, has not overly abused his powers (there are anomalous blips on that radar screen, but another time for that….).

Romney lies all the time; time after time after time, it has been documented that he lies just about every time he opens his mouth in the public arena. In addition, he is unapologetic about the lies, and indifferent to any claims of his doing so; he lies again by denying his lies, even when they are laid out in front of him. He has made it abundantly clear that has no interest in making things better for anyone but his own core group of friends, the rich and powerful who occupy Wall Street offices, seats in Congress, and the religious right. The fact is, he is so out there, his own party is starting to get nervous….

These statements are truth. They can all be proven, if necessary, using documentation that is available to anyone in public archives. What you decide to do with that truth is up to you, as it always is…. What will you do with it?…..
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Hmm…. I guess I had some political angst built up in there, & needed to get it out. “Better out than in”, for sure…. Remember, ffolkes, the above is my stuff, and is not intended to mess with anybody else’s stuff…. Remember also what Albert said….

“I never thought that others would take them so much more seriously than I did.” — Albert Einstein, about his theories

I guess that will serve as an adequate disclaimer….. good enough for government work, anyway…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Objectionable nuns on parade….

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9

Ffolkes,
Once more, I find myself staring at the screen with an empty head, hoping for inspiration to strike. Apparently, hope isn’t enough….. I know, I’ll start off with some fiction….

Once upon a time, there was a young man who didn’t want to grow old. He did everything he could think of to keep from growing into an adult, but reality would not cooperate, so he ended up pretty much like everyone else…. an adult, with a job, and the whole nine yards. He thought being an adult would be okay; they certainly have more options than kids. But, he was quite certain that he didn’t want to grow old, and made up his mind to do something about it….

He read books about aging, and did all he could do to stop the march of time. He used specially made soaps, and ate only certain foods. He went to bed early, got up early, and ate a balanced diet. He never took chances, going so far as to never ride in cars, trains, airplanes, or buses, so he wouldn’t die in a crash. He avoided stressful activities. He prayed. He tried every new product that claimed to prolong life. He did everything he could think of to keep from growing old….. and guess what?  He got old………

I know, I know, pretty cheap, going for the easy laugh, but it kind of got away from me, and I had to do something to end it, or it would have gone on for pages and pages. We’d never get done with this Pearl if I let that happen….. And speaking of Pearls, it’s probably best now if we just get on with it. Goodness knows we’ve wasted enough time on this! Shall we Pearl?…..
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This will be an unusual Pearl…. structured like no other. Old school, yet brand new…. let’s see if it works….

“I can see stopping a car for a dog.  But a cat? You squish a cat and go on.  I think we’re over-complicating life.” — Iowa Democratic State Senator James Gallagher

I am having trouble with this statement…. there are just SO many wrong things in it.  I’m having a hard time with the fact that a U.S. Senator would utter such an incredibly STUPID statement. Especially considering he uses it as if it were some sort of actual argument in favor of whatever it is he is talking about. “Over-complicating life?”  How is that possible? The man has not a single clue about so much, it is difficult to decide where to start…. SIGH  He probably alternates his Sunday TV viewing between Wrestling Smackdown and NASCAR…..

Though man a thinking being is defined,
Few use the grand prerogative of mind.
How few think justly of the thinking few!
How many never think, who think they do!

— Jane Taylor (1783-1824) — Essays in Rhyme, (On Morals and Manners, Prejudice, ) Essay i, Stanza 45

I suppose I should just get over my surprise, and acknowledge the Senator’s statement as further proof of my assertion regarding people who seek public office. I’ve stated before that I think anyone who wants a job like that is already too crazy to give it to, and, not realizing that further indicates the public’s willingness to buy into the lies they tell to get into office. It’s not the way it SHOULD be, it’s just the way it is…. THIS is how it SHOULD be…..

“A man does not serve his country by canting, snuffling and marching in parades, he serves her by striving to make her clean, brave, just, intelligent and worthy of respect.” — H. L. Mencken, Baltimore _Evening Sun_, June 13, 1916

Clean, brave, just, intelligent, and worthy of respect….. The only one of these characteristics that I can believe about Mitt the Twitt is the first one, given that they are talking about showering, and not morals. If it refers to morals, the most accurate thing to say about Romney is that he has none at all.

He lies by every method available…. He makes it up. He gets it backwards. He takes it, and/or puts it, out of context. He pretends. He flip-flops from one belief, to the opposite, and back again, all in one day. There are documented examples of each of these types of lies, spewed by Mr. R at one time or another over the last few months, and I don’t think we’ve seen the end of his creativity in this arena yet….. he’ll find new ways to lie, just you wait…. He doesn’t even try to hide it most of the time, and never follows Twain’s advice….

“Get your facts first and then you can distort them as much as you wish.” — Mark Twain

Mitt is so good (or so he thinks…) he doesn’t even need the facts, as he proved when he couldn’t remember the name of the leader of the opposition he met in England, just a moment before….. instead he tried to cover his indifference to fact by calling the man “Mr. Leader”…..What a dolt! Remember the dog on top of the car trick he admitted to pulling?….

“The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that’s the essence of inhumanity.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Okay, that is enough. I can only take thinking about Romney in small doses; much longer and I’d be risking an attack of nausea….. But, never fear…. there are now 99 days until the election, and I’m not finished taking shots at Mitt the Twitt. He’s just too attractive a target to let it pass by without letting off a few rounds….    🙂
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I have previously brought you poems from este poeta, but this one is special. She amazes me time after time with the passion, the power, and the beauty of what she writes….. which is only matched by her own luminous eyes…. there is only one thing to do with pieces such as this, and that is…. Enjoy!

Obligating Hums

surely we’ve met in midair
sometime ago
your stubborn neck disregarded my smile
apologetically you stirred these mediums
the melancholic instruments attached to my head
on a solid oaken table we wrote
the aloofness of a spell
critiquing the crafty shapes
with your index finger you pointed at me
and shivered
i waited
and thickened your space very slowly
my voice reached your core
i knew then how bitter your loneliness was
tempting these souls to write
and with your little murmur
a flame in my chest i saw
i slowly began to weep
you stroke my head listening to me pray
softening my thoughts
the names that inhabit my soles
the steady pure familiar calm
the wind the golden faces inside this life of mine
designed for staying here
urging trumpets to melodically banner my heart tonight . . .

Mari Sanchez Cayuso

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“Humans hardly ever learn from the experience of others. They learn – when they do, which isn’t often – on their own, the hard way.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

Bob has certainly nailed that puppy right on the head this time…. (No, no, not a real puppy, just a metaphorical one…. good grief, get a grip! I wouldn’t do that to a real puppy, and neither would Bob….)  This is a deeply insightful observation on human nature, one I’m sure he learned, on his own, the hard way….  🙂     I would just like to add that there are humans who don’t learn at all, even the hard way…. we call them politicians….

Sure, I know, one would ask, “Why do you say that? Politicians SEEM to be smart, how would they do that if they don’t learn?” Well, maybe you wouldn’t ask, but that wouldn’t make a very good pearl, now would it? No…. so, I’ll explain to you, that what politicians display is called “low animal cunning”, and is a direct result of getting to the age they are by adaptation rather than actual learning.

By trial and error, they did learn, from a young age, to mimic those around them, copying the moves and lines that got them acceptance from their peers. Often, this cunning is enough, and they learn to mimic so well, it looks just like the real deal, i.e. they appear to learn, they seem like they can reason, etc., when in reality, it is all just a survival trait, based on their ability to adapt quickly……

This is why Mitt the Twitt has been having such a tough time overseas…. He really has no clue about why he even has to go over there, but his handlers, people who actually do engage in the reasoning process, told him he should, so he did.  It became apparent he was out of his depth before he even left for London. I’m sure his handlers were slapping their foreheads over that interview on NBC right before he left, in which he insulted most of the English people, and gave a little taste of the fun to follow, when he actually got to England….. What an idiot he is!….

Bob Heinlein’s statement above doesn’t just apply to politicians, and that is unfortunate. It seems that a lot of folks in this country are the same, and they have all adopted Mitt the Twitt as their savior, setting him up as the “Great White Hope”, the one who will save them from the trauma of having a black President. These folks don’t really even understand why they don’t like Obama, they just know he is black, and that is enough for them.

In this modern age, in a supposedly enlightened society, one would think racism has been eradicated….Unfortunately, it isn’t true…. racism never went away, it’s just not out in the open anymore….. The Ku Klux Klan has not disbanded, just because the law says they must…. they just went underground.

It may not be politically correct any more to display one’s bigotry, but that doesn’t mean it went away. The fact that it hasn’t serves as proof of what I’ve said before…. The only changes that will save this planet, and us, from dying out are changes in philosophy and belief. Humans need to change the way they look at the universe, in big ways and in small. We haven’t done a particularly good job at being the landlord of this planet; we need to learn how to be a good tenant, instead….

Instead of approaching life as one of God’s intended Lords of Creation, we need to see our real place in the environment, to realize that the rest of the universe is just as beautiful as we can be, and is merely waiting for us to realize our own place, not above the other creatures, but beside them, acting in concert….. We need to become part of the team of life on this planet, instead of trying to act as if we are the manager of the team…. or we are going to lose the game, joining T-Rex, the dodo, and Neanderthals on the list of failed experiments.

“The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking…the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind…  If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Me too…..
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Such as it is, so let it be…. Mr. Sulu, take us home…. Not a bad effort for being up so late, and rushing so hard to get done…. It will have to do…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!