Great deals on used sidewalks….

Posted on July 14, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Life is full of surprises when you’re up th’ stream of consciousness without a paddle…”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

Surreality on a Train….

Good morning…. Today’s opening quote from Zippy is one with which we are very familiar in these parts. Without going into what would no doubt be described as Too Much Information, let us merely say, in the interests of full disclosure, I’m going to cheat. You won’t be required to do anything out of the ordinary, other than the two new injections required by law. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt (much), and it’s GOOD for you. We have the assurances of our BRC this is true; now, don’t you feel better?

Hah!…. Sure…. Let’s do this…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“Work is not an end in itself; there must always be time enough for love.” — Robert Heinlein

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royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573

It’s been a while since I thought of this band…. I like them a lot; they’ve made some great, innovative music over the years. Here is a live concert from not very long ago. It’s nice to think they’re still making new music for us to enjoy….. So, please do so….. Otherwise, we don’t get our kickback….

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Blues Traveler

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https://youtu.be/JQv66WUDEFw

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The following rant(s) makes up a rather long ranting section; I don’t mind, because the subject matter is one I believe in strongly. The message is one ALL of humanity needs to heed….

Last posted in June of 2014, created in May of 2012:

It has been a long while, too long, since I posted anything on the subject of human trafficking/sex slavery, one I consider to be truly evil, with its own category of posts that touch upon the issue…. To make up for that, below this paragraph you’ll find TWO rants on the subject, both from May of 2012, when I first began to write about it…. Please pay attention to these rants, ffolkes, and spread them around if you will, to spread this message to all who need to hear it, which is virtually everyone alive…. Men, especially gentlemen, have a big responsibility to uphold, and need to be made aware of how they are failing to do so….

Free our sisters, free ourselves…. take note, ffolkes, and pass it on….

From 5/2012:

O men with sisters dear,
O men with mothers and wives,
It is not linen you ‘re wearing out,
But human creatures’ lives!

~~ Thomas Hood — The Song of the Shirt ~~

Yesterday, I reblogged an article posted by rmott62, a very strong, inspiring young woman who writes about her experiences as a sex trade slave. I use the word “slave” deliberately, for no other word describes how the women, and children who are trapped, abducted, or even tricked into becoming prostitutes. I have reblogged her work, and the work of a couple others who have been fortunate enough to have exited the system in which they were entrapped, several times, and I will continue to do so as long as she, and I, still are publishing. I do this because I am ashamed….

Yes, ashamed…. I am ashamed at myself, and of all the other men in the world who turn their faces away from this issue, and pretend that there is nothing they can do about it. I am ashamed that this practice, of raping and abusing women and girls, just for their own pleasure (though I fail to see how it can be pleasurable to rape or abuse…), just because they can, not only has been present for thousands of years, but continues unabated in today’s supposedly enlightened culture. To my way of thinking, all of us men are responsible for this, and it is our DUTY to do whatever we can to put a stop to it.

Back in the days when mankind lived in caves, when a man in the tribe became dangerous to others in the tribe, for stealing, for abusing others, for whatever reason they had that went against what was good for the tribe, the other men in the tribe made it a point to discipline that man. It may have been merely a physical beating, or banishment from the tribe, or even death, but the other men took it upon themselves to see that the will of the tribe was upheld. Somehow, when culture grew, and started inhabiting cities, and there was more interchange between various tribes, the system broke down. The people of the society were now supposed to be protected from such depredations by law….

But, at about this time, the unscrupulous among us started to solidify their power over society; the richest among the tribes were those who made the laws; they were also the same ones who saw nothing wrong with raping and abusing women, assuming that was their privilege as one of the beloved ruling class. And so the laws were made to reflect that attitude, and the die was cast. This system has survived the centuries, and now the attitude that prostitution is an integral part of society is so ingrained that even those without any other kind of power over others can go to a brothel and act out their sick fantasies, at the expense of a woman or child who has no defense against the violence that occurs if they should object…. and if there is a discussion it is always about a “victimless crime”….

It disgusts me, right down to my core. It is perhaps the sickest part of our society, and very few people are even aware of it. There is certainly no discussion in the public at large of the issue; it is far too volatile for any politician to ever take the chance of siding with the women who are being abused. Hell, a good half of those assholes in office are trying to take away the few rights women have managed to get into law over the last 40 years; Roe vs. Wade has already been set aside, and the asshole men who can’t stand the thought of a woman having the right to choose anything, much less their own sexual nature, are trying to make sure it never gets revived.

I’m not sure what can be done, at least not on a society-wide scale. The attitudes, and laws, have been so set in stone for so many years that it may require surgical removal to make any progress. But, on a smaller scale, I can make noise about it, and try to shame any man who believes otherwise that he is not only a fool, but an asshole fool, and doesn’t deserve to call himself a man. When I was in college, the women’s rights movement was in its beginnings, and there was a phrase coined that says it all, to me…. Free our sisters, free ourselves….

None of us men will ever be truly and completely free until we have freed our sisters from such servitude. That is a fact. It is not just my opinion, it is a fact, and we would do well to pay heed…. and those who engage in this industry had best watch out, for if no one else does, I will be looking for them, and when I find them, I will do all I can to end them. You can interpret that however you wish; I have no doubt in my mind as to what I mean, and I mean “end them”…..

______________________

From 5/2012:

“I’m just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round.” — John Lennon

Men are afraid of women… hence all the jokes about them taking over, over slyly ruling us without us knowing it. Men’s fears of just that thing are what cause him to hate women, because they do not understand them, and fear arises out of lack of understanding. Here are a few examples of such lies, the lies that perpetuate the war between the sexes…..

“My notion of a wife at 40 is that a man should be able to change her, like a bank note, for two twenties.” — Warren Beatty

A lady is one who only shows her underwear intentionally. — Smart Bee

— Yo momma……so fat she has to buy two airline tickets. — Smart Bee

“A beautiful woman is paradise for the eyes, hell for the soul, and purgatory for the purse.” — Smart Bee

“Passionate kiss like spider web, lead to undoing of fly.” — Confucius say (No, he didn’t, but liars don’t care….)

Really, really sexist and paranoid, yes? Yes….

The mere existence of these jokes, and others like them, indicates clearly what men are afraid of in women, and that is their sexuality. We… well, men, not necessarily we men, because not all of us hate them… No I don’t understand them, but that doesn’t make them any less fascinating or wonderfully different. I am aware of my own self, and my own powers, and they have naught to do with what women can do; I feel no need to compare the two, or to assume one is stronger or better. They are just different, and what is different about women is not to be feared, even if not understood. It is just to be learned, that’s all….and the learning is a totally awesome trip, I assure you….

But, back to the sexuality that men fear. It is because these men have never learned to understand themselves, or their place in the scheme of things, that makes them unable to understand women, and turns their ignorance to fear, from thence to hatred and abuse against them. Men cannot stand the thought that a woman might be more important than him, and that is a certain sign of lack of confidence, and of ignorance. Men who know their place in life, and who are confident of their own ability to cope with that place and its demands, have no need or desire to be more important than anyone; they are complete within themselves….

Too many men in this world don’t come anywhere close to this kind of self-knowledge; most go through life without exercising more than two neurons at once, and those tend to lose function whenever the blood goes elsewhere than the brain (such as during an erection). Most men are so afraid of women that they spend half their life telling jokes like the above, and spreading the nonsensical lies that perpetuate this atrocity.

Yes, atrocity, because it is this fear and loathing, of both themselves and women, that leads to issues such as domestic abuse, sex trafficking, prostitution, and abuse of children. The only women who are actively engaged in these activities are those who have been brainwashed to believe the crap they’ve heard all their lives, and who have given up their own humanity; they are very few in number. Otherwise, it is men who perpetrate these vile actions on women…. all because of their own fear and ignorance…. and I say, shame on them, for they are not men, in my world…. they are vicious, unredeemable beasts, and should be put down like the dangerous creatures they are…..

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

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Dreaming, I wait….

In the most patient moments of rationality
kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,
fallow thoughts speed first from equality
to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.

Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law
shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,
intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,
falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.

Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,
it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,
foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,
alive, always eager, willing, and pale.

Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few
with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.
No solemn royal version may pass in review,
true love for man, never to remain unhidden.

Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,
calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,
With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,
swimming in the oceans of natural delight.

When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,
roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,
Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,
and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.

Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night
aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart
Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,
tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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Today’s final section’s entry turned out to be an odd little pearl; it took SB three separate tries to get it right, and, it still looks as if it could be bigger. It’s actually fine the way it is, with a fairly coherent little message on how to approach the process of growing into your humanity…. Well, okay, so, maybe not QUITE so rarefied a concept, but, it works for me…. Enjoy!….

Living Dead
the path is chosen,
to live forever
is to die
forever.

To not know
when you’ll die
is to find life
wherever
you are.

~~ Alagad ~~

“To know others is wisdom. To know yourself is enlightenment.”

~~- Lao Tzu ~~

“It is impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

“Each of us bears his own Hell.”

~~ Publius Maro ~~

“Change is inevitable, growth is intentional.”

~~ Glenda Cloud ~~

“It is a good thing to be rich and strong, but it is a better thing to be loved.”

~~ Euripides ~~

“Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.”

~~ Kahlil Gibran ~~

~~ Essay on Death in The Prophet ~~

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As noted, quick, if not short. I’ve done what can be done, and shall take my leave forthwith. Y’all try not to worry too much, okay? I know things out there look bad, but, remember, there are still more of us than them, so, all we have to do is maintain the world as we see it, and it will all be fine in the end…. And, if not, well, there’s always the next incarnation, when we can try again…. Regardless of all the reasons to NOT do so, I’ll be back tomorrow, so, see ya!….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

We’re having malt, like it or not….

Posted on July 13, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Das, was mich nicht tötet, macht mich fremde!”

“That, which does not kill me, makes me stranger.”

~~ SB’s variation of Friedrich Nietzsche’s classic affirmation ~~

A cold morning at the glacier’s mouth….

Good morning…. I say that only because it is protocol for morning blogs; I must confess to a significant degree of trepidation at such a pronouncement so early in the day, as it tends to tickle Murphy’s interest more often than not, giving him a reason to make it untrue, in his own inimitable style, so vilely familiar to us all. But, what the hell? It’s Monday, so, most everyone expects a higher degree of crap to be a part of the equation….

All that having been said, in common degree of uselessness, perhaps we should just get on with the show for today, before Murphy can figure out just how to throw a few obstacles in our path. Yeah, slip out the back, that’s the ticket!…. Let’s do it….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Never appeal to a man’s “better nature.” He may not have one. Invoking his self-interest gives you more leverage.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

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Image from wikipedia.com

I’m in the mood for some guitar music today; why not go for the very best?….

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Clapton Unplugged

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https://youtu.be/W4d7K92S7Eg

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The urge to rant is a part of my everyday life; its a natural result of watching the BULLSHIT going on every day in the news. Unfortunately for me, and, fortunately for y’all, the urge, while strong as ever at 3 AM, just isn’t within the scope of possibility when the only brain available for use resembles a dirty dish rag more than a shiny tool of logic…. See, I couldn’t even come up with an appropriately accurate metaphor for it!…. SIGH…. I’m gonna explode soon, if I don’t get some of this out…. Ah well, maybe tomorrow…. For now, we’ll go back about a year and a half, to an appropriately similar rant….

From 2/10/2014:

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

It’s almost certain now…. I’m convinced the government is actively restraining themselves in this past week, deliberately trying to NOT do anything that makes the news…. The only articles in the past few days are all just follow-up stories on other older news, or what are called ‘fluff’ pieces, designed merely to take up space on the page, without actually serving up any real information about anything important…. Kind of like the “Dumb” Starbucks story today in the SFGATE headlines…. You know there is probably a conspiracy to control the news when the primary article on a Monday morning has to do with a corporate logo dispute in Southern California….

Now, one might surmise that this means that the psychopaths who inhabit the halls of government in this country are busy carrying on the business of the nation, out of plain sight in order to avoid distractions…. It would be more accurate, I’d think, to say they are definitely involved in the hatching of new schemes, er, making of plans, plans for making progress in their chosen task, that of total world domination…. Well, maybe that’s a bit harsh…. But, you can bet your bony ass that whatever they’re up to, will benefit themselves more than it does anyone else… They can’t help that, it’s a genetic imperative for them…. They are preconditioned to selfishness, and a complete lack of compassion for others….

Oh, these sickos we have in our elected offices are slick, though, aren’t they? To look at them, and to hear them talk, you’d think they did nothing but sit around all day and worry about how tough things are for you, and the rest of the common masses over whom they preside, with the implied purpose of spending all their time looking for ways to improve your lot…. It often astounds me just how many idiots in the mainstream of society will talk as if what I just described is the gospel truth, and goes to describe their own chosen heroes in the public eye…. They will go to any lengths to convince others of their candidate’s sterling qualities, often going so far as to claim a touch of nobility upon the brow of their champion….

I no longer bother even telling those folks how stupid they are, because they’re already addicted to the sugar that is poured into their ears, to take the place of real information, or actual intelligent ideation…. Hell, even when one speaks to them, they refuse to listen to anything that disagrees with their own misconceptions…. I used to try to convince them of how they were hurting themselves with their blind obedience to a shadow, but, I got tired of bandaging my forehead, after beating it against the wall of their stubborn ignorance….

Instead, I started making Pearls, and, in the solace of that task I found the peace my mind needs to continue to think clearly, as well as the means to say what needs to be said, even if I’m the only one who knows what the hell I mean…. Hence, it becomes clear that I have once more completely pulled wool over the eyes of those present, as all of this is merely a way of introducing the following group of pearls, forming a pearl, whose parameters, if I’m lucky, will match what I’ve written above…. and, if not, well, we can always shoot for funny…. Enjoy!…..

“Those who are clever, who have a Brain, never understand anything.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

“Seeing death as the end of life is like seeing the horizon as the end of the ocean.” — David Searls

“It is the mark of our whole modern history that the masses are kept quiet with a fight. They are kept quiet by the fight because it is a sham-fight; thus most of us know by this time that the Party System has been popular only in the sense that a football match is popular.” — G. K. Chesterton, A Short History of England. 156

“Don’t confuse me with the facts – my mind is made up.” — Joe Average, NYC

(In a 1998 study, in which random people on a street in New York were asked to pick, out of four statements, the one that described their Congressman the best, this was the favorite, by a factor of 28…. Truth…. Yes, it is…. no I’m not lying, trust me….) (Okay, yes, I am…. but, it SOUNDS true….)

“The NY Times is read by the people who run the country. The Washington Post is read by the people who think they run the country. The National Enquirer is read by the people who think Elvis is alive and running the country…” — Robert J Woodhead (trebor@biar.UUCP)

“Idolatry is committed, not merely by setting up false gods, but also by setting up false devils; by making men afraid of war or alcohol, or economic law, when they should be afraid of spiritual corruption and cowardice.” — G. K. Chesterton, Illustrated London News, 9/11/09

“All cruelty springs from weakness.” — Seneca

Okay, so it came out a bit more comprehensive in scope than I first intended it to be, but, it works anyway…. The politicians are in there, for sure (See the first, third, fourth, and fifth pearls above for proof of that)…. But, the parameters widened up on me, mid-search, so, a few more ideas are included than we bargained for…. bonus!

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Blithely Untitled

A poem came to me today, willy, nilly,
along with a sharp blow to the head.
Since it left me feeling just a bit silly,
anything that rhymes should lessen the dread.

Manifesting destiny into a small, insidious group
we push on toward sanity, concentrating hard.
Full engaging moments spent navigating the loop
shall ever make a difference to victims found in the yard.

Still corpses of creatures, straight out of nightmare
fill up the corners of our tortured minds.
While ever saddened, the iconic male, most debonair,
gazes softly, ironically, at all the mutual interest he finds.

Moronic public statutes compel outbreaks of sanity,
responding to momentary impulses toward inducing peace.
Still, the motions get completed, in fertile stages of inanity
while the bulk of our inmates can find no surcease.

Reluctant motivation to continue is unbound,
striving to ascertain how far there yet remains to go.
No precognitive guesswork will make any less of a sound
to soften the final strains, or teach us to truly know.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 2/7/2014.

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It took some doing, but, I managed to persuade SB to contribute a genuine old-school pearl, consisting of five stars, gathered in four separate trips to the well, over two days…. It should be worth it, though, as it has been a long time since we saw a five-star pearl of such magnitude…. It’s all about living life as an actual human being…. with honor, and joy, balancing the trouble and pain….

“Everything flows and nothing abides; everything gives way and nothing stays fixed.” — Heraclitus

“Virtue is but heroic bravery, to do the thing thought to be true, in spite of all enemies of flesh or spirit, in despite of all temptations or menaces.” — Albert Pike (1809-1891)

“How can we contrive to be at once astonished at the world and yet at home in it?” — G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

“Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.” — H. Jackson Browne, P. S. I Love You

“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

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Having thus secured my hold on Reality for another day, I shall take my leave, before anyone catches on. I hate to say this (no, I don’t), but, I’ll be back tomorrow, ffolkes, to give this another shot…. Sorry, gotta do it. It’s the only way to prevent the complete destruction of space and time as we know it….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Oh, swell. Oatmeal fritters again….

Posted on July 12, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

How he lies in his rights of a man!
Death has done all death can.
And absorbed in the new life he leads,
He recks not, he heeds
Nor his wrong nor my vengeance; both strike
On his senses alike,
And are lost in the solemn and strange
Surprise of the change.

~~ Robert Browning ~~

~~ After ~~

International Space Station crossing the Moon’s face

Image by amateur astronomer Dylan O’Donnell

Good morning, I suppose…. could have fooled me. But, then, 3 AM isn’t my favorite time of day, even if being awake is more comfortable than being asleep just now….

In thinking that over, it’s just sad. Having to claim a preference for being up, twitchy and sleepy, with aggravated pain in several spots, rather than being in bed, twitching, WISHING to be able to fall back asleep…. well, it’s just sad, because neither one is anything I can claim to enjoy, or even want to tolerate….

Yesterday was a wash, mostly, as has most of the past two weeks, in some ways. Others, not so bad. Not enough to bring balance, but, not as bad as it might have been, had I still been carrying around that extra 60 lbs. I’ve lost. And, now I’ve bored y’all to the brink of madness, detailing my own sad issues with the aging process, I think we can call this an intro, and get on with the rest of this mess…. It’s bound to be a bit of a cheat, but, it can’t be helped…..

Besides, at this point, I really don’t give a shit….

Shall we Pearl?….

“From the errors of others a wise man corrects his own.” — Publius Syrus

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15112676-wolfgang-amadeus-mozart-1756-1791-on-engraving-from-1908-one-of-the-most-significant-and-influential

To bring balance to my world, nothing works like the music of this man. In fact, his music is not only proven to lift spirits, it has been scientifically proven that listening to his music can increase one’s intelligence, at least for the time it is being enjoyed. People who hear his music score better on tests, consistently, than those who have no music, or listen to any other type… I believe it, especially considering how it can make one feel when one is in the dumps…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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https://youtu.be/gTEn6SRVAE4

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I had originally intended to rant today, using a rather fine entry from the Devil’s Dictionary as a base. However, due to circumstances completely within my control, I decided to use one from the archives, simply because I’m feeling particularly lazy today. Go figure, right?…. Ah well, soon, I’ll have enough angst built up to bleed out some fresh rants; until then, the archives are full of stuff, all of which is still relevant, sadly….

From 4/4/2014:

When I read the following articles in yesterday’s news, about the government’s abortive attempt to destabilize Cuba using a social networking platform they built, I fully intended to rant about it, as it clearly indicates the administration’s continued demonstration of their contempt and disregard for the American citizen’s right to privacy, as well as the complete debunking of our civil rights as outlined in the Bill of Rights…. It pisses me off royally, especially now that the White House is trying to defend its clandestine activities with more lies, even when confronted about them…. How can anyone think they can explain a lie with another lie?….

I am SO angry about this one, I can’t rant right now…. I’m going to have to let this percolate for a while, to organize my thoughts on the matter; right now it would come out as a threat of violence, which I won’t be ready to carry out for another little while…. Instead, I’ll again use an old-school pearl to vent what I’m feeling, and take some shots at the pundits who are making me crazy with their asinine contortions in the public arena over this spying issue….

It all makes me want to buy a gun; moreover, it makes me want to use it….. Instead, following the links, are a group of pearls, with the specific purpose of making me feel better, by striking out at the fucking assholes who keep showing how much they hate Americans…. even though we keep electing them…. I suppose it’s natural for bullies to disrespect their victims, isn’t it?….

“The reasons which any man offers to you for his own conduct betray his opinion of your character.” — Sir Arthur Helps

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/US-secretly-built-Cuban-Twitter-to-stir-unrest-5372422.php

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/White-House-defends-Cuban-Twitter-to-stir-unrest-5374712.php?cmpid=hp-hc-nationworld

How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds

Make deeds ill done!

~~ William Shakespeare, King John — Act iv, Sc. 2 ~~

“An hour’s perusal of our national charter makes it hard to understand what the argle-bargle is about. The First Amendment forbids infringements of the freedom of speech “except for commercials on children’s television” or “unless somebody says ‘****’ in a rap song or ‘chick’ on a college campus.” The Second Amendment states that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” period. There is no mention of magazine size, rate of fire, or to what extent those arms may resemble assault rifles.” — P. J. O’Rourke

“The fact that Hitler was a political genius unmasks the nature of politics in general as no other can.” — Wilhelm Reich

“All lawyers should be shot.” — William Shakespeare

(Policy note: Did you ever wonder why so many politicians were lawyers first? I did, but, then, I went, “Oh, right…. Follow the money.”)

BOUNDARY, n. In political geography, an imaginary line between two nations, separating the imaginary rights of one from the imaginary rights of the other. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“If it weren’t for lawyers, I think we could have invented a universal symbolic representation of reality.” — Smart Bee

“It’s the RINSE CYCLE!! They’ve ALL IGNORED the RINSE CYCLE!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Okay, I feel better….. Now, if only we can get them to rinse!….

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Penance, Made Simple

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 10/23/2012.

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

Smart Bee continues to give me fits when I ask it to provide some appropriate pearls for this section; today’s group took six distinct episodes to gather a sufficient number to make the point….. which wasn’t all that deep a hole to dig. But, it’s done, so, we’ll take it, and run…. Enjoy ffolkes, this one has some good advice on how to approach life with some style….

Do not stop to ask what is it;

let us go and make our visit.

~~ T. S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock ~~

“Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.” — Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

“Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids.” — Aristotle

25. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer. — Instructions for life

“Let him that would move the world, first move himself.” — Socrates (B.C. 469-399)

“If you get confused, listen to the music play.” — Robert Hunter

“Do not confuse ‘duty’ with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.” — Lazarus Long

“Don’t take anything seriously except happiness.” — Albert Camus

Because right is right, to follow right

Were wisdom in the scorn of consequence.

~~ Alfred Tennyson, “Oenone” ~~

See? Easy money….

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

Well…. I can’t say we got down to the bone, but, I do think that bled out very nicely, don’t you? Such a pretty pattern develops as the bright, red blood seeps into the pale grey carpet (nobody ever accused my landlord of good taste….), as the now oxygenated blood mixes with the dirt and tiny livestock inhabiting the depths of the rug…. Lovely!

Okay, sorry…. You’ll find barf-bags in the seat back in front of you…. Oh, wait, we’re out of barf bags…. Ah, well, maybe next trip…. Feel free to use the showers on the way out today…. For sure, though, I’ll see y’all tomorrow, with a full complement of brand new barf bags….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Honorable thieves of Time….

Posted on July 11, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I respect your right to make an idiot of yourself.

Please respect mine.”

~~ Smart Bee, speaking for gigoid ~~

Main Street, Skagway, Alaska

Good morning…. That’s what it says on the label, anyway, though, from my viewpoint, I think I’d want a second opinion before committing myself too far. We’ll go with the odds, though, and just get on with today’s mess, for lack of a better idea….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Well, I’ve wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I’m happy to state I finally won out over it.” — Elwood P. Dowd, “Harvey”

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

NASA Hubble Deep Space Telescope Anniversary Image

Rather than a video today, I’m including some artwork which demonstrates the extent of humanity’s exploration of our own Solar System. NASA, with some newer entries into the space exploration circle, has a number of projects taking place around the system, of which we will look at three…. The first is an article on the subject of asteroid mining, which I personally believe to be the next goal our species should take on…. Also included are videos, at the Space.com web site, showing some details of the mission to photograph Pluto and its companion bodies, Charon, Nix, etc., and a video compilation showing the journey of the Mars Rover Curiosity, in a time lapse video made of pictures from each day’s journey…. Those two are in reverse order from how the appear here…

Space is Mankind’s destiny; there is no other answer to the question of why our species exists…. It is our fate to either explore to the ends of the Universe, or kill ourselves trying….

So be it…..

gigoid has spoken.

***********************

Moving a mineral rich asteroid to Mars.

http://www.space.com/29864-asteroid-mining-space-exploration-podcast.html?cmpid=NL_SP_weekly_2015-07-08

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NASA Rover Curiosity photo of a sunset on Mars

http://www.space.com/29868-11+-years-of-mars-roving-in-8-minutes-time-lapse-video.html

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Artist’s rendition of the New Horizons spacecraft

http://www.space.com/29856-pluto-grows-in-new-horizon-s-color-lens-time-lapse-video.html

Pluto’s Heart

Pluto, Charon, & New Horizons

Pluto’s Irregular Moon, Nix, as it tumbles around its orbit

New Horizons Path to Pluto, 2011-2015

***********************

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

I’d planned a fresh rant for today, but, circumstances have prevented it from getting written just now…. This, of course, means a trip to the archives…. Today, we’ll discuss our world’s Plague of Evil, a term I use to describe the most viciously evil practice our species exhibits, to wit: the trafficking of humans, women, children, and men, for the purposes of sexual exploitation…. If I ever do reach a point where I no longer care about society’s rules, pimps, snakeheads, and other participants in this evil trade would be my very first targets…. And, I wouldn’t/won’t stop until I run out of targets, for nothing, to me, is more dishonorable, or more disgusting, than to take part in such abuse….

From 9/6/2012:

Miss, n.: A title with which we brand unmarried women to indicate that they are in the market. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

While this quote is intended to be funny, it actually perpetuates the discriminatory, proprietary labeling of women in our society, exactly the way this says it does. By using such terms, we “brand” women according to their eligibility to be possessed by a man, to serve as his property, and think nothing of it. Indeed, a person is considered polite and well-mannered when he or she uses these societal forms of address, never even considering the implications of what they are saying.

Men are either Mister, or, as boys, Master. That’s pretty indicative of the mind-set that using these terms puts the speaker in; men are assumed superior, merely for being male. Women are either Miss, Mistress, or Missus (Mrs., probably a shortened form of Master’s Mistress… or some such….. ), automatically placing them in the subordinate position to the males.

In the last part of the 20th century, society began to use the term Ms., pronounce mizz, to indicate a woman not married, and not to be automatically considered as a candidate for marriage, in an attempt to mitigate somewhat the restrictive mental attitudes that accompany such terminology, and it has had a fairly positive effect, though in no way complete or enough.

This small change is merely one step in the direction society needs to go, and the journey is not a short one; these attitudes have been part of society for thousands of years. It will take a concerted, sustained effort to change the way people think, even partially. But none of us, men or women, can consider ourselves truly free , free to be, and free to become who we CAN be…. which makes the effort the only rational choice…..

All of this does not even touch upon how these attitudes open the way for the trafficking in human beings that continues to take place all over the world. Because of the assumed male superiority, it becomes a very short step to assuming that men may do whatever they please with women. This includes the rape and abduction of young girls and women, taking them to far away cities where they are forced to work as sex slaves by unprincipled men, who hide behind the laws that protect them; laws also written by men.

This has been going on for centuries, and continues right here in this supposedly advanced country. The public does not pay any attention to the sex trade, as long as it isn’t right in their faces; the unscrupulous, misogynistic men, and women, who run these businesses talk of “victimless crimes” as if the women involved were willing participants, while in reality, most of the women are trapped there by abusive, terrorist men who rape them repeatedly until their will to live is gone, thus making them pliable and docile.

These men, and the women who sometimes join them in their depredations, are sick, disgusting scum, and society needs to excise them from the tree of life. To my way of thinking, a long, drawn out period of torture and pain before death is what they deserve, but I am willing to settle just for death. This trade in sex and the slavery that supports it are a scourge upon society, and should be dealt with just as if it were any other type of threat against the species, with swift and complete justice, and no mercy…..

Free our sisters, free ourselves….

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

Momentary Terror

Absently casual, memories pester endlessly
leaving only bleeding remnants, amiable and loving.
Coming awake, I cry to still the pain, shamelessly.

Elsewhen, time gives surcease, if only to live,
shoring broken pilings, worn and gray.
Passing on, I laugh at the pain, accept all it will give.

Time will build a shelter, warm and ever safe
save for Fate’s busy hands.
Enduring, I follow the pain, knowing it will chafe.

Fixed against a darkened sky of starry black
such beauty brings us to our knees.
Entranced, I welcome the pain, ’tis all I lack…..

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 2/4/2013.

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

The Dalai Lama

Image from boingboing.com via Google Images

Today’s final old school pearl sees us taking a look at some of the ways we can all improve our lives, if only to make ourselves more comfortable about all that happens around us, by showing us how to change ourselves from within, the only true change we can make in this Reality…. If that wasn’t clear, perhaps the words of some of history’s most beloved sages will help, as they have done for thousands of years…. Enjoy!….

“My teachings are very easy to understand and very easy to practice. But no one can understand them and no one can practice them. In my words there is a principle. In the affairs of men there is a system.” — Lao-Tzu

“We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything.” — Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

“Even if you don’t follow a formal meditation program, it is good to sit quietly for a little while every day.” — Deng Ming-Dao

“Glimpses do ye seem to see of that mortally intolerable truth; that all deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea; while the wildest winds of heaven and earth conspire to cast her on the treacherous, slavish shore?” — Herman Melville, Moby Dick

“Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

“Ours is a strange world, in which the vast majority do not know what it is they want, but are willing to go through hell to get it, and once they’ve got it, they don’t know what to do with it because it was supposed to make them happy and didn’t.” — Don Marquis

“Dope will get you through times of no money better that money will get you through times of no dope.” — Freewheelin’ Franklin, “The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers”

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.

If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

~~ The Dalai Lama ~~

(Note: If the most modern example of common wisdom seems out of place, stop a minute to consider what it actually means, by replacing the offensive, yet perfectly apt word, with almost any other object of human need/desire, to obtain an example of the universal quality of the concept… Try the word, “love”, or, “air”, or, “food”, for example, to see the meaning remains valid…. )

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It’s done. Thank goodness, too. Rather than fuss with it, I’m gonna post it, and be done with it. Jeez, one would think I was organized, if one didn’t know better. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, attitude adjusted, or not….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Buffed up laces with worn out traces….

Posted on July 9, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“If at first you doubt, doubt again, and again …”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

Dancing Ferryboats, Victoria Harbor, B.C.

Good morning…. Or, actually, wait! I was wrong. The meter doesn’t read “good” morning; it says “frood” morning! I should have known, as the ambient atmospheric pressure is obviously way far away from anything approaching “good”. I can’t say just what “frood” means, but, it’s clearly not what we expected…. Ah well, given the presence of dancing ferry boats, I think we can give the universe a break, & just go along with whatever it has to say…. Otherwise, we’ll never get out of this intro….. Trust me, I’ve been here before…

Since that’s the case, I’m making an executive decision, to take us onward, in spite of our lack of any clue as to destination. I guess, when it comes down to it, that is true of every day here at ECR. And, that’s fine with me; the journey is much more valuable to me than the final destination…. Okay, let’s do this, ffolkes….

Shall we Pearl?….

“A new broom sweeps clean, but the old brush knows the corners.” — Ancient Human Proverb

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

Gandalf & Shadowfax arrive at Helm’s Deep

Today’s video selection will be appreciated by all those with an imagination… Oh, right…. Okay, enjoy, ffolkes….

***********************

The Lord of the Rings
Animated Version

***********************

https://youtu.be/2WH1fxl3iAg

***********************

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

And the people bowed and prayed, to the neon Gods they’d made.

~~ Paul Simon ~~

No, it’s not the wrong icon; it’s deliberate. Today’s ranting section will consist of an old-school pearl with a group of comments, thoughts, and observations on the subject of religion, which, as I’m sure you have guessed by now, is one we here at ECR reserve primarily for those occasions when we are feeling a bit snarky, with a side dish of smirk. Some of them may be offensive to those who hold faith as more valuable than reason; too bad, so sad, move on…. The rest of us shall enjoy the fun….

“They [the clergy] believe that any portion of power confided to me will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly: for I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” — Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush, September 23, 1800

“Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile!” — Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

“No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says; he is always convinced that it says what he means.” — George Bernard Shaw

“Ridicule is the best test of truth.” — Lord Chesterfield

“It would be well, if some who have taken upon themselves the ministry of the Gospel, that they would first preach to themselves, then afterwards to others.” — Cardinal Pole

“To be an atheist requires an infinitely greater measure of faith than to receive all the great truths which atheism would deny.” — Joseph Addison

“No one who accepts the sovereignty of truth can be a foot soldier in a party or movement. He will always find himself out of step.” — Sidney Hook

DEVIL: A popular character in mythology, commonly blamed by Christians for everything from plagues to burnt toast. Of course, if the devil ever actually appeared, it would scare these people shitless.” — Daniel Bowen’s TOXIC CUSTARPEDIA

“Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose.” — Garrison Keillor

See? Relatively painless, as long as one chooses not to wear blinders…. Onward, ever onward we go….

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

Being the compassionate, kindly sort, I wouldn’t wish for the other categories of Asininnies to feel left out of the fun today, so, here, to go with our persecution of the faithful, we’ll have a bit of fun at the expense of the Talking Heads, those pompous, avaricious gobshites who compose the elitists of our Beloved Ruling Class, the Politicians and Pundits!…. And, we’ll do so without involving the delicate reputation of any other of our society’s poets, by using one of my own outbursts…. Enjoy!….

A Few Words of Note

In place of ranting and raving about assholes every day
maybe I’ll try something more fun.
Rather than throwing words at all the assholes on public pay
I’ll switch to shooting at them, with a gun….

Should I actually hit one, purely by mistake,
maybe it would wake them up.
Maybe, if they had to think, or actually cut us a break,
we’d see a chance to win at life, to take a step up.

Our nation, such as it is today, was founded by men who told the truth;
that morality disappeared long ago.
Simple ethical strength so bright, so prevalent in our country’s youth
was soon corrupted, corporate interests now run the show.

Nothing would please me more than to fire off some rounds,
if only to gain their attention.
But, I can no longer run, I’ve gained too many pounds;
so, my keyboard and intellect must serve to fulfill my intention.

I won’t stop, of that you may be sure
I love my freedoms, and the philosophy from which it springs.
Tom, and Ben, and John, and Pat, those patriots pure
gave me their example, and the inner peace it brings.

If bullets won’t persuade our elected liars to toe the ethical line,
I’ll throw my most powerful words…..
If nothing else, it will make them wriggle to escape, or voice their pitiful whine,
thus exposing themselves for what they are…. plain and simple turds.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 7/19/2014.

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

“I think I am. That’s close enough.”

~~ Peruaosophy, axiom #1 ~~

Okay, ffolkes…. I have no excuses today. I was up early, but, somehow, just couldn’t seem to pull it together (SB wasn’t much help at first, but, came through in the end). The parameters for this old-school pearl were set to find quotes on ‘reason vs. faith’. I have no idea how it came out the way it did, but, I could probably figure it out, if I bothered to think about it…. It just seems easier to let it all work on the underside of your consciousness, in a semi-subliminal fashion…. Oh, right; you might want to hide your credit cards; ya never know what might happen when subliminal suggestions start affecting your brain….

Stupidity is no excuse for not thinking.” — Smart Bee

“Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.” — Mark Twain

“If error is corrected whenever it is recognized as such, the path of error is the path of truth.” — Hans Reichenbach

“By a tranquil mind I mean nothing else than a mind well ordered.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, iv, 3

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” — Albert Einstein

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

“Only a brave person is willing honestly to admit, and fearlessly to face, what a sincere and logical mind discovers.” — Rodan of Alexandria

“True myth may serve for thousands of years as an inexhaustible source of intellectual speculation, religious joy, ethical inquiry, and artistic renewal. The real mystery is not destroyed by reason. The fake one is. You look at it and it vanishes. You look at the Blonde Hero–really look–and he turns into a gerbil. But you look at Apollo, and he looks back at you. The poet Rilke looked at a statue of Apollo about fifty years ago, and Apollo spoke to him. ‘You must change your life,’ he said. When the true myth rises into consciousness, that is always its message. You must change your life.” — Ursula K. LeGuin

“Yeah, but you’re taking the universe out of context.” — Hacker wisdom

Time and again, example proves the best teacher; I reiterate, it’s all in the wrist….

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

Well…. that was…. something. I’m going to let it fly, simply because, in spite of the casual nature of the above, putting it together seems to have exhausted me…. Go figure. Ah well, it has the very attractive quality of being ‘done’, so, I’ll take it. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if the past nearly four years are any indication to go by…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Midnight oil burns hot and clean….

Posted on July 6, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

For of all sad words of tongue or pen,

The saddest are these: “It might have been!”

~~ John Greenleaf Whittier, Maud Muller, st. 53 ~~

Sunset on Mars

Image by NASA’s Curiosity Rover

Good morning…. Technically, I suppose, it’s still night; the decision making process in the mind, as to which word is appropriate, tends to blur at bit at 2 AM. I’ve slept. and now I’m up, so it must be morning. Anything more complicated than that, I don’t believe I could quite comprehend just now. Hell, it took me almost 55 minutes to come up with a title; that process is just about as randomly easy as it gets around here. The title doesn’t even need to make sense, yet, it took me that long to decide on the proper combination of words; even with that, I’m not positive it’s right…. I would imagine all of this is less than compelling literature, but, what are ya gonna do when the old mind is a vast plain of emptiness?

Ah, well, fuck it. Let’s party….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Apollo, the God of light, of reason, of proportion, harmony, number — Apollo blinds those who press too close in worship. Don’t look straight at the sun. Go into a dark bar and have a beer with Dionysus, every now and then.” — U.K. LeGuin

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

Image from britannica.com via Google Images

Something a bit raucous, and light-hearted is required, I think…. Ah, perfect!…. The hour I spent each week watching this man’s show are all included in my favorite childhood memories…. I consider Red to be one of the funniest men who ever lived, though he tended to be a bit of a putz when it came to his political humor; he was definitely a blind patriot…. But, he came up with some of the funniest stuff I’ve ever seen, and can be forgiven any such flaws…. Anyone who comes up with a character named Klem Kadiddlehopper is okay by me….

***********************

Red Skelton

***********************

https://youtu.be/LGlLIh5QUL4

***********************

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

I began a rant this morning, since I had so much time; it didn’t gel in time, so, I’m filling in with a pretty good rant from last year…. It fulfills my daily duty to speak out, for sure….

From 4/5/2014:

The shadowy corporate snakeheads, (“snakeheads” is my newest shortcut name for the 1%,the rich and powerful who control the money and resources of this planet…. I use it because it is the English translation of the Chinese word for “slaver”, human traffickers who who dupe, or kidnap men, women, and children selling them into prostitution and/or slavery…. Thus, it becomes the perfect word to come after “corporate” when referring to one of those assholes….), who control the world, in their campaign to secure their position as the rulers of humanity, influenced the Shrubs enough during their terms in office that the Supreme Court justices they picked to replace dead judges were all their conservative buddies, all of whom are comfortably in the pockets of those self-same corporations. This, of course, has allowed the assholes who bought them to make even further inroads on our rights as individual citizens, by establishing the rights of corporations as superior to the rights of an individual….

A couple years ago, this led to the Citizens United decision, which gave the money-grubbers the opportunity to spend even more money on influencing politicians and elections, by forming giant Political Action Committees, where they could funnel millions of dollars into holding organizations, where it could be used for influencing elections, and to bribe congressional lawmakers…. That decision is a big part of how the Republican Party has managed to pass so many conservative laws in states around the nation, such as anti-abortion laws, and voting regulations which allow them to manipulate themselves into office, by providing obstacles which prevent the supporters of those who oppose them from voting….

Yesterday that decision was reinforced by yet another decision eroding our protection against corruption, a decision which removed most of the limits on how much money an individual can contribute, thus giving rich, avaricious, corrupt billionaires more say in Congress than the average citizen can match, allowing even more money to find a direct route into the Congressional pockets…. Below are two articles, from two sources, to offer a slightly different viewpoint (insofar as the media CAN be even-handed in their reporting….), just so we’re not limiting ourselves to one view…. C’mon back when you’re done, for what discussion may follow….

http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Supreme-Court-strikes-down-overall-political-5371989.php

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/04/02/supreme-court-campaign-finance/4481675/

I’m pissed…. I’m so pissed, all I feel like doing is sitting here typing obscene names to call those assholes, in Texas (where Jr. lives….), Maryland (I think that’s where Shrub, Sr. lives…), and Washington D.C, at the courthouse, (where the Supremes hang out….)…. My next feeling, which somehow reminds me very much of sheer, unadulterated rage, is one that may just prompt me to go out, find a gun store, giving in to the urge buy the guns I’ve been considering…. Don’t worry, I won’t forget the ammunition…. I may have been a practicing pacifist for a long time, but, mostly, at least in terms of personal survival, that was just a pose to get the draft board off my back…. I have no issue with the use of force in support of what I believe is right…

For today, though, I’ll give myself some slack, which will give you some relief, from having to listen to my ranting over stuff we can’t change…. At least, nothing will change without resorting to drastic measures, in which most ffolkes are unwilling to engage, lest they risk increasing their karmic burden…. I figure it this way…. If we DON’T give up our insistence on non-violence, we are all going to die….. that is for sure and for certain, if things don’t change very soon….

That means there won’t be any next reincarnation, not on this planet, because it won’t have us; we are being evicted from this plane of existence… So, I don’t have to worry about coming back as in a form with less karmic status, as we won’t be coming back HERE at all…. Our energy configuration will just have to find some other reality to inhabit, because Mother Earth isn’t likely to rent to us again…. We’re too hard on the property….

Ah, the hell with it…. I’m pissed…. or did I say that already? Okay, I’m done…. Since I’m not organized or coherent enough to produce a true rant (I don’t consider this loud complaint a rant…. not enough reasoning, or quite enough structure….), I’ll fall back on another old-school pearl to close this out for the day….. I’ll bet you’re cheering inside, right?…. Okay, then, here, have it your way….

“Ignorance doesn’t kill you, but it makes you sweat a lot.” — Haitian proverb

“Faboo!, Would you like to see me make bubbles with my spit?” — Wakko Warner

OCCIDENT, n. The part of the world lying west (or east) of the Orient. It is largely inhabited by Christians, a powerful sub-tribe of the Hypocrites, whose principal industries are murder and cheating, which they are pleased to call “war” and “commerce.” These, also, are the principal industries of the Orient. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“There’s nothing wrong with you a shotgun blast to the face couldn’t fix.” — Smart Bee, from gigoid’s political fantasy files

— Bother! said Pooh, as he rolled another joint for the President.

“And took for truth the test of ridicule.” — George Crabbe (1754-1832) — Tales of the Hall, Book viii, The Sisters

“Every nation ridicules other nations, and all are right.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

Perfect…. I have only one thing left to say, to wit:

“There are two intelligent responses to contemporary Western civilization: laughter and despair. You’ll note I’m not laughing.” — gigoid

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Premises, premises….

Tricked, I stumble, and I fall
dreaming, through an abandoned palace.
Frightened and wary, unheard my call
fading into memory, no cup, no argent chalice.

The people, crushed, cry out to be freed
asking only to take part, or travel.
Nascent oaths spotlight such bursting need
fed by treachery, deep from our well.

Only the wicked shall find their way blocked
justice seeks them, snug in their hole.
Faint praises never touched, but naked, stalked
singing no gospel, no soul, no rock and roll.

Only the promised will remember the way
from unforgiven trails of sorrow.
To live life, and give death no sway,
saving grace for our only tomorrow.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written in 2012, rediscovered 12/19/2014.

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

SB continues its campaign of terror, having now shown me the same 50 quotes about a hundred times in a row…. This means today’s final old-school pearl will have to come from the archives, too…. SIGH. One might think this process was starting to get away from me, if there was any evidence it was ever under control…. Enjoy, ffolkes; all you can do is all you can do….

From 8/12/2014:

As I noted somewhere above, I’m a bit late today, so this last section will be put together as fast as I can do it; this may lead to an unforeseen result, so, be warned…. This pearl may be like no other…. It is essentially parameter-free, as well as, most likely, judgment impaired…. Oh, well, at least I’m not getting paid for any of this….

“I do not distinguish by the eye, but by the mind, which is the proper judge of the man.” — Seneca (8 BC) — On a Happy Life, 2, (L’Estrange’s Abstract, Chap, i.)

“Old men are dangerous; it does not matter to them what is going to happen to the world.” — George Bernard Shaw

“There is a certain majesty in simplicity which is far above all the quaintness of wit.” — Alexander Pope

“I like people better than principles, and I like people with no principles better than anything else in the world.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

“No matter how hard you throw a dead fish in the water, it still won’t swim.” — Smart Bee

“Fortune is not satisfied with inflicting one calamity.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 274

“I’ve got an IDEA!! Why don’t I STARE at you so HARD, you forget your SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

I gotta say, that went well….

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

Trusting in the process has gotten me this far, so, there’s no sense now in turning back. Now, all I need to do is get it posted, and I can get on with a day beginning five hours ahead of the rest of the world…. SIGH…. Ah well, so much for planning. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, damn it!….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Look! It’s a roly-poly, wholly holy jellyroll!…

Posted on July 4, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

The path is the way.

The way is the truth.

It is found, but not held;

walked on, but not followed.

~~ Tao Teh Ching ~~

Scenes from a train IV….

Good morning…. Making such a grandiose statement so early, before actually seeing any of the day, is, perhaps, somewhat optimistic, but, I figured a bit of positive attitude can’t hurt…. We’ll see how that goes…. Given the hour (0200), my physical status, (shaky, with pain at about level 7 much of the time), and the state of my mind (sleepy, grumpy, and other dwarfish adjectives… to wit: funky…), a lot of the optimism may be unwarranted, but, hey, life’s tough, and then you die. So, how else to react, than to shake our heads, sip, breathe, sip, and trundle on?….

All you can do is all you can do…. Therefore, that’s what we’ll do….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Before he became a hermit, Zarathud was a young Priest, and took great delight in making fools of his opponents in front of his followers. One day Zarathud took his students to a pleasant pasture and there he confronted The Sacred Chao while She was contentedly grazing. “Tell me, you dumb beast,” demanded the Priest in his commanding voice, “why don’t you do something worthwhile? What is your Purpose in Life, anyway?” Munching the tasty grass, The Sacred Chao replied “MU”. (The Chinese ideogram for No-Thing.) Upon hearing this, absolutely nobody was enlightened. Primarily because nobody understood Chinese.” — Camden Benares, “Zen Without Zen Masters”

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Today is a national holiday, designed to celebrate nationalism, a subject I tend to avoid/ignore as much as possible…. However, it does give me the opportunity to include an iconic American band for your listening pleasure…. Today’s choice is one of the finest acoustic performances, ever…. Enjoy!….

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Crosby,Stills,Nash,& Young

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https://youtu.be/Mjbq6K2ziDQ

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“Silence can be the biggest lie of all. We have a responsibility to speak up; and whenever the occasion calls for it, we have a responsibility to raise bloody hell.” — Herbert Block

“… so long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men.” — Voltarine de Cleyre

One might think, being up so early, I’d be able to rant; however, such an event requires a delicate balance of energy and angst. A lack of either one can sink a rant before it begins. Such is the case today; I got so little sleep, I’m too tired to think clearly… THAT is why you get an archived discussion today…. It is on a subject near and dear to my curmudgeonly heart, and, not to shabby, all things considered…. Enjoy, ffolkes, for what it’s worth….

From 3/15/2013:

“Republican views of the world differ from Democratic views of the world. The reason for this is that these views are based on different compilations of misinformation.” — Smart Bee

There are moments, such as this one, when I believe the people, or person, who put together the database known to me as Smart Bee, is perhaps the most intelligent creature on this planet….. I’ve been ranting about politicians for years, trying to show people how dangerous it is to believe ANY of the stuff that either party is slinging at us to try to convince us they are worthy of our votes. Now, in one short aphorism, of two lines, we are given a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of the crap we hear from them…. Essentially, this says that every one of them is full of shit, and everything they say and do is destined to fail, because it is ALL based on incorrect information, or, to be more accurate, on unwarranted assumptions about reality…..

The most important part of this description is its impartiality of indictment. Both parties are brought into scrutiny, and found wanting, of any real knowledge of the truth, because they are both basing all of their premises on false beliefs, just for starters. Add to that, since they are politicians by choice, their genetic predisposition is to self-aggrandizement, and they show an inherent inability to tell the truth. It becomes rather easily seen why our society has become, well, insane…. It’s a short trip to crazy from where they begin the journey…. and they don’t take any detours on the road….

You see, both parties are convinced of a complete falsehood, one with which humanity has been struggling for centuries…. This lie is so basic, it colors and affects everything they do to try to manipulate the world into going the way they wish it to go. As long as they continue to try to do this, our society is doomed to failure in the long run, for the lie goes against the very nature of reality…. Simply put, these people believe they can legislate morality…. They believe that they can make laws, and people will go against their very nature to follow them, in spite of the fact that the law they propose is contrary to what comes naturally to humans, to wit: self-centered, grasping behaviors that only benefit the perpetrator, and no one else…..

We have laws against stealing…. and the most accomplished thieves we see in our culture wear suits and live in Washington D.C. We have laws against killing each other, but, people still get killed, and, if the killers do so while wearing a flag, or a badge, they are considered heroes, no matter how many they kill. We have laws that supposedly protect women, children, and the aged, from suffering abuse, but, just look around you, and you will see no end to the depredations that society allows to be perpetrated upon these three most vulnerable members of our society, all very much within the legal limits of the public morality, as given in the law books….

“[…] For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner […] on an unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. […] That is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for us to understand that.” — Carl Sagan

The people who get involved in politics, and religion, for much the same reason, believe they are special, and entitled to take all they can from the universe, because they are the be-all, and end-all of the evolutionary ladder. It says so right there in the Bible….. They don’t care that reality says differently, because their sense of denial has been fine-tuned since shortly after they were born, and they are capable of ignoring facts right up until they slap them in the face…. (Witness the Republican melt-down in the last Presidential election, when the Republican party got slapped in the face by their own lack of contact with reality…..)

In spite of all the massive amounts of evidence to the contrary, these folks believe in their own divine entitlement as the lords of creation, chosen by God to do with this planet as we would, without regard for any of the other creatures that live here with us, or for the beauty and balance of the land that sustains us. As far as they are concerned, other people and animals, and natural resources, are theirs to do with as they wish, with God’s blessing…. The fucking assholes…..

I apologize for the vulgarity, to my readers, but not to those at whom it is directed…. To them, I say, fuck you, and fuck you again…. I regard all politicians, priests, preachers, police, lawyers, judges, and corporate misogynists of all shapes and sizes to be INSANE…. floridly, and viciously insane, without any of the moral standards that the rest of mankind embraces. These assholes are responsible for our imminent demise through environmental destruction of the ecosphere, as well as for the endless preying on the weak and vulnerable to suit their own depravity, and lack of moral fiber.

“All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.” — Joseph Conrad

Sexual slavery, corporate collusion to fix wages and prices, legislative corruption and oppression, judicial malfeasance and more corruption, governmental incompetence, religious repression and collusion with politicians, all serve the purposes of the ruling class to a T, no matter how much suffering it causes to others…. As long as they have what they want, nothing anyone else says or does matters at all….

I hate to be a harbinger of bad news, but, I call ’em as I see ’em, and I see what is real…. None of what is wrong in the world will change, until the major portion of mankind makes a change of spirit, and the people, as a whole, decide that the few among us who are bold enough to act must, in fact, act. The evil among us will not go away, or stop, of its own accord, and waiting for them to come around to a more amenable state of mind isn’t going to work, as that just isn’t going to happen.

If we wish to survive, they have to go, and mankind must find a new way to get along with each other than the out-dated ways we have been trying for millennia… Those old ways leave too much power in the hands of people who will give in to the temptation that goes along with such power over others, and must not be allowed to happen any more, not if we wish to survive to see any future at all….. The universe doesn’t care one way or another, so we’ll have to be responsible for our own actions…. as we have always been, and have always been afraid to admit….

“If we do not permit the earth to produce beauty and joy, it will not produce food either.” — Joseph Wood Krutch

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Relative Cynicism, with Caramel Sauce

Absolute stillness follows violent movement,
it can happen during a downhill race,
as an immovable piece of asphalt pavement
meets the once handsome racer’s face.

Yuk, yuk, yuk, said that asshole Moe,
after poking both of Larry’s eyes,
bashing face, head, & crotch of Curly Joe
and only ever got hit with pies.

Lonely moments never really come along
when Murphy’s got us in his sights.
Not for money, love, or siren’s song
will he abrogate his natural rights.

All we can do is sigh, or laugh in pain,
as Life portions out our ration of shit.
Silver linings melt in the slightest rain,
so we may as well learn to live with it.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 4/7/2013.

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

As it turns out, it’s a good thing I was up so early; SB decided to go on strike again…. I managed to pull out a decent nine-star pearl, commenting on Life at Large, but, I have to say, it was much like pulling tree stumps…. I can testify, it ain’t easy…. Enjoy, ffolkes; these are probably, if not actually on the Quiz, required prerequisites….

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” — Anais Nin

“The believer is happy. The doubter is wise.” — Hungarian proverb

“He does not seem to me to be a free man who does not sometimes do nothing.” — Cicero

“They say dogs ignore their reflections in mirrors because they can’t smell them. Dogs, unlike people, are not fooled by what they see.” — Theodore Sturgeon

“Clay is moulded to make a vessel, but the utility of the vessel lies in the space where there is nothing. … Thus, taking advantage of what is, we recognize the utility of what is not.” — Lao Tzu
“Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life.” — Bertold Brecht

“I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.” — Alan Watts

“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.” — Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

“For it is the doom of men that they forget.” — Merlin

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

Well…. I suppose, since I’m done, I can say this: fucking assholes!. There. I feel better now…. To whom do I refer? I refer to those assholes who call themselves doctors, that’s who. It’s too late to explain right now, but, take it from me, they’re assholes…. Regardless of that, I’ll be back tomorrow, provided nobody in a uniform gets in my way…. I’m NOT in the mood to fuss with them, and might get a bit testy…. See you then, ffolkes, as long as my computer boots up….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

You’re our only dope, Obi-wan!….

Posted on June 18, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing.”

~~ Albert Einstein ~~

What? You don’t like green?

Good morrow…. Well, that may be a bit premature, given the state of affairs I find upon arising….. It seems there was a party in my house while I was asleep…. Y’all will have to excuse me, while I deal with a group of quite unrepentant semi-sentient appliances, who seem to have decided to make a play for independence…. SIGH…. I knew that Siri was going to cause trouble…. Put one smart phone in with those old toasters, ovens, reefers, and long-suffering kitchen appliances, and you’ve got a revolution….

Oh well, I guess it won’t hurt to sit down & negotiate with them…. But, that means I won’t have as much time to get this done… So, y’all will just have to settle for whatever happens, okay? Okay….

Let’s see what will happen if I do this….

Shall we Pearl?

“Purity engenders Wisdom, Passion avarice, and Ignorance folly, infatuation and darkness.” — Bhagavad Gita (c. B.C. 400)

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Right around the year 1970, this band released an album with their name as the title; that album catapulted them to instant stardom, lasting only a few short years, but, leaving behind a body of work definitive of the era…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this is part of our history, like it or not….

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It’s A Beautiful Day

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https://youtu.be/RwvcICa-a3c

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Image stolen from Twitter

Today’s ranting section has been usurped by impulse…. Instead, you’ll find below some links, and pictures, detailing one of the current space projects pursued by mankind…. The Philae Comet lander, which landed in a spot originally thought to be poor, has awakened after several months of hibernation, which it entered to save power…. It woke up, having stored enough solar power to operate, and has been in contact with Earth to say it is ready to continue its mission….

I’ve included pictures below from the mission, along with a couple others, one from a mission currently going on near the orbit of Pluto, where the dwarf planet Ceres is being investigated…. Also, a couple other shots of space I thought were cool….

One of the links will take you to a photo essay describing much of the mission, with more pictures…. I hope you enjoy today’s break from the usual routine…. This kind of activity is what gives me what small bit of hope for survival I hold for mankind; our ONLY hope is to establish colonies on other worlds, or moons, or asteroids, before we make this planet uninhabitable, as seems to be our intent…. Maybe you’d like a vacation home on a comet? Cruising through space, visiting different parts of the solar system as the comet rides around the sun in its long orbit…. Not bad, eh?….

All the pictures were taken from Space.com, or the NASA website, or various news articles on the web. I don’t own any of them, I just like them….

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/14/rosetta-mission-hibernating-philae-lander-spacecraft-wakes-up

http://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2014/nov/12/rosetta-mission-lands-philae-probe-on-67p-comet-in-pictures

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When life calls, ready or not….

Memories are all we have sometimes
to keep our sanity intact,
with learned phrases and subtle rhymes
lessening life’s vicious, vibrant impact.

Presently all seems composed and intent
in stark contrast to hollow day,
forlorn patchwork emotions of unheralded bent,
fill up night’s bower, leaving hell to pay.

Such vigorous and elevated temper
brings us rare moments to ponder,
filled with lessons all need to remember
lest base perception lose valued wonder.

Laugh loud when entropy sticks fast
leaving shameless anger in its wake.
Let bygones pass quietly into the past
reaping only what is left to take.

Final words of wise imagination
tell us living well’s the best revenge, it appears
ever eluding choirs and congregations
finally finding home, never buried in tears.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 9/10/2012.

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

The pearls for this final section have been coming to me in a rather odd fashion; that may be why so many of them turn out a bit odd…. Today’s final pearl is no exception. It’s all good advice, or a fine way to look at Life; in one case it’s a warning. It all adds up to a pretty good pearl…. Enjoy!…. Or, not, as is your preference….

“When late morning rolls around and you’re feeling a bit out of sorts, don’t worry; you’re probably just a little eleven o’clockish.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

“If “everybody knows” such and such, then it ain’t so, by at least ten thousand to one.” — Lazarus Long

“If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else.” — Marvin Gaye

“We become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions.” — Aristotle

“The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers. It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and death, in ebb and in flow. I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood at this moment.” — Rabindranath Tagore

“The sunlights differ, but there is only one darkness.” — Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Dispossessed”

“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

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Well, it’s done; it’s different, if nothing else…. I’m gonna let if fly, because I don’t have the time, or, the inclination to go back & do it over…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as I can’t think of any reason not to do so….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

All that hard work & no braised felafel in sight….

Posted on June 16, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~

Caribbean Sea from the International Space Station

Image by NASA Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti

Good morning…. A glance at the clock instantly sends him into White Rabbit mode….. “I’m late. I’m late….”

Okay, okay, so, I’ll deal with it…. Somehow….

Shall we Pearl?

“Hope is the denial of reality. It is the carrot dangled before the draft horse to keep him plodding along in a vain attempt to reach it. I say we remove the carrot and walk forward with open eyes.” — Raistlin Majere, Dragonlance Chronicles Vol. 1

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

Being late around here means one thing, if naught else; we go with our defaults whenever possible…. Here, in the video section, it’s possible….

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The Best of Mozart

***********************

https://youtu.be/gTEn6SRVAE4

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No way in hell am I going to be able to produce a fresh rant today, even with the proper inducement. Y’all know what that means, don’t you?….

From 5/5/2013:

The thorns which I have reap’d are of the tree
I planted; they have torn me, and I bleed.
I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed.

~~ Lord Byron — Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto iv, Stanza 10 ~~

Here, in a three line verse, Lord Byron has explained the flaw that exists in human nature, a flaw that will one day drive the species to extinction, if we don’t find a way to alter its effect on us, as a species. This flaw doesn’t manifest in every human, only in a certain percentage, not particularly large, but full of the people who affect society the most, i.e., the leaders, the politicians, the aristocracy (the rich, or as I call them, the bankers….), and the preachers, all of whom are supposed to be ordering society to benefit ALL of its members.

Instead, these individuals, who have this fatal flaw, have ordered events to suit themselves, hoarding the largest part of the available resources, showing absolutely no compassion or willingness to share, and dismissing as unimportant all of the pain and suffering their actions cause to other people…. This selfishness gene will eventually kill us all, because the BRC, or Beloved Ruling Class, are so focused on their goals, and so unwilling to entertain the idea that their actions are wrong, they cannot comprehend the danger they have created by their pathology, to themselves as well as to the rest of us….

That is the unfortunate thing about any mental aberration; it’s very presence tends to limit what the victim can understand, because they are unwilling to look at the evidence….. No one wants to believe they are mentally off; it doesn’t fit in with our self-image as a competent human being. These folks never understand at all that the way they are leading their lives is a threat to the rest of us; they will only accept evidence that supports their unrealistic view of reality.

Unfortunately for the rest of us, these people are also the ones who are the most willing to use violence, and weapons, to enforce their will, and they already have control of more force than the rest of the public can possibly contend with to force a change. It is a very complex, delicate problem, with no solution that I can see as practical, or with any large chance for success….

The time we have to make the necessary changes to society is growing shorter every hour, as more and more millions of tons of CO (carbon monoxide) is pumped into the air, along with other particulate pollutants. This material in our atmosphere has almost completely destroyed the ozone layer, and the amount of heat reaching the planet from the Sun has raised the ambient temperature of the planet a full two degrees…

Two degrees may not seem like much, but, the fact that the change has taken place in less than a hundred years is a clear indicator that it is quite enough, as it continues to change the climate of the planet drastically. The polar ice is melting more rapidly than ever before, and at a geometrically increasing rate. The amount of oxygen in the air is decreasing in relation to other substances; if it changes two percentage points, there won’t be enough of it for our lungs to breathe; we will suffocate ourselves if it continues. The weather is changing all over the world, as the water from the polar ice melts, and changes the chemical balance of the air everywhere…. As plants die, the process will accelerate, and it will be a toss-up to see what will kill us first….

“Whenever I see a photograph of some sportsman grinning over his kill, I am always impressed by the striking moral and aesthetic superiority of the dead animal to the live one.” — Edward Abbey

Not a pretty picture, is it? Unless, of course, you are one of the power elite, the BRC; then, you’re the one with the gun…. I’m sorry to have to bring doom and gloom into the morning, but, this is a subject that won’t go away, so I pound on it whenever I can…. The quote above, from Lord Byron, stimulated my sense of outrage at the sheer selfishness of the 1% (yet another name for those with the flaw of extreme self-interest….), so I ranted, if mildly. What bothers me the most is that what I’m saying here is absolute truth, and the people who read it are NOT the ones who need to change…. Of course, those folks wouldn’t believe it if they did read it, so it’s rather a thankless task, and relatively futile, to boot…..

“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good.” — Anne Frank

I think Anne was a better person than I am, because I have lost my belief in what she says here…. I do believe that the majority of mankind is good, or at least tries to be good; I just don’t believe that those ffolkes are the ones that matter to our future, as much as the folks who are NOT basically good, for as long as the innocents allow the harm their leaders continue to cause to the environment in which we all have to live. I don’t know of a solution, other than the obvious one of becoming violent myself, and doing to them what they want to do to me, but doing it first….. But, then I become like them, and I’d have to kill myself, because I’d never be able to look in a mirror again….. I guess there’s only one thing left to do…..

Petition me no petitions, sir, to-day;
Let other hours be set apart for business.
To-day it is our pleasure to be drunk;
And this our queen shall be as drunk as we.

~~ Henry Fielding — Tom Thumb the Great, Act i, Sc. 2 ~~

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Penance, Made Simple

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 10/23/2012.

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I’m afraid today’s final pearl for the old-school section isn’t very mysterious, or esoteric, or hard to figure out at all…. Hell, just follow the bouncing thought balls (Hmm… That doesn’t sound quite right, does it?…. Oh, well….), you’ll get the idea, such as it is…. Actually, it’s a pretty good idea, it’s just silly, by nature of its…. well, nature, quite obviously both sublime AND ridiculous….

Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum — “I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“Acquittal of the guilty damns the judge.” — Horace

“How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.” — Marcus Aurelius

“The wise learn many things from their foes.” — Aristophanes — The Birds (414 B.C.), line 375

“Live before you die.” — Smart Bee

“All cats are NOT gray after midnight. Endless variety …” — Lazarus Long, “Time Enough For Love” by Robert Heinlein

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” — W. Edwards Deming

“It is a bad plan that admits of no modification.” — Publius Syrus — Maxim 469

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

There you go, ffolkes. The best summary of the proper functioning of the human animal I’ve ever seen…. Above all, don’t wobble…..

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Having long since lost all sense of propriety, I’m going to go ahead and post this, sans proofing, of either content or intent… In short, I don’t care today; it’s done, & that’s all that’s important…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless this one breaks the camel’s back….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Oddly enough, it DOES float….

Posted on June 15, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“The logic of words should yield to the logic of realities.”

~~ Louis Brandeis ~~

The Pyramids as seen from the International Space Station

Image taken by NASA Astronaut Terry Virts

Good morning…. We meet once again, coming together to peruse those parts of Reality we can perceive, finding reasons to reason…. Or, not. As they’re fond of saying downtown…. Whatever they’re saying, here we are, fully prepared to pursue whatever nonsense or sheer beauty we may encounter in our journey together…. I can’t wait….

Shall we Pearl?

“As long as you live, keep learning how to live.” — Seneca

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

little_feat_1975_1.jpg.CROP.promovar-mediumlarge

Possibly the very best little-known band in Rock, Little Feat are considered one of the best ever, for their music, and for the show they put on stage…. Here is one of those from the late 1970’s…. Enjoy, ffolkes; these guys are GOOD….

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Little Feat Live

***********************

https://youtu.be/eXsFZjfNCDY

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Okay….. So, today’s ranting section is to be another mini-rant from the archives; if you were here, inside my head, you’d understand why I’m not going to attempt any fresh material of that nature; it would be dangerous for the Space/Time Continuum. This was an intro section, wherein I lost control & went off into a short, but, pointed rant about, you guessed it, our lovely BRC…. Enjoy!….

From 9/16/2013:

Powerful visions often pass through my mind, generally on their way somewhere else, thus making them merely an annoyance, rather than a joy. Such is life in reality, where we seldom get a proper chance to do just as we would like, even though we adjust and flex both our efforts, and our desires, in the quest to achieve whatever it is we are seeking to accomplish. This is because reality is like an amoeba, always changing shape and character, right before us, with nothing we possess that can affect it one way or another before it changes. All we have is the ability to change our minds, which, to those of us who study reality, is our most valuable tool….

This ability is the one saving grace we have in the face of reality, so it is a good idea to train it well. If not used, and guided, this ability, to be flexible in our thoughts, becomes weak, and can disappear altogether if neglected. The people to whom this has happened are doomed, to a life of misery and ignorance, because there is nothing new to learn for them, once they have abrogated the control of their own mind. They are unable to adjust to the rapidity of modern society, and constantly yearn for “the good old days”, which in their minds are golden, but in reality are just gone. It’s sad, but true, that the greater majority of this particular country has done just that, and now allows the pundits on TV to determine for them just what they will think….. It’s much easier than making up their own minds, and, easy is what they are all about…

Whoops! I didn’t mean to start ranting, but, it’s just so easy sometimes, when I start thinking…. That right there is the whole problem…. I start thinking, things just get all intense, and I start taking shots at the parts of society that seem to thrive on stealing from the others with whom they live….. It’s all such a waste, in my mind, to see the potential talent and abilities even the most average person possesses subverted, and/or deliberately perverted, into either disuse, or misuse, all for the sake of keeping the BRC in their positions of power over everyone else.

Those who wish to be in charge of others, who want the power over others that goes along with being an elected official in this country, are, in my mind, clinically insane; I wish sometimes I was more of a curmudgeon than I am, and that I owned a gun…. But, then, if I did, I’d feel compelled to use it, and my targets would be mostly found in one particular environment, a large city on the East Coast where those who are crazy enough to want that power gather, to perform their arcane rituals of theft, misdirection, and aggrandizement. It might take me a few weeks, and a couple boxes of ammo, but, I could make a serious dent in their numbers, given the time and space…. Too bad I’m disabled now, and can’t work up that much angst…. it might be fun….

Of course, then I’d be falling into the same frame of mind they cultivate in themselves, wherein they believe they are smart enough to actually make decisions for others….. It has always amazed me to see how much these men and women can delude themselves into thinking this kind of crap; it’s like they have a complete blind spot for other people, for what they might think or feel; they actually believe what they want should be paramount over what everyone else wants, or needs….. SIGH….. To make it all not just worse, but stupidly worse, they not only believe this nonsense, they are all-too-successful at getting everyone else to buy into it as well, and will use any persuasion they can think of, no matter how immoral, illegal, or just plain untrue it is, to assert control over the rest of society….

As the perfect example, I give you the attacks of 9/11/01, which the BRC used to perfection. to create fear, and even paranoia, in the public, thereby freeing them to mount their assault on the Bill of Rights. Without even considering the source of the money that paid for the attacks, or who might have had a part in planning it, let us note how the politicos ALL jumped on the security bandwagon, shouting for more restrictive laws to keep the terrorists at bay, while simultaneously pocketing all the extra money that now pours into the Homeland Security monstrosity of a bureaucracy, and disappears down the black hole that such behemoths always create, sending piles of money into places where the pundits can more easily transfer it to their pockets…. a habit of politicians, as Thomas Jefferson, and his cohorts, knew well.

Well, I see that I’ve completely lost my way, and fell into a full-fledged rant, before even seeing any headlines, and before consuming sufficient coffee to prevent it….. I’d better take a short time out….

Okay, well, that didn’t help much; I’m still in rant mode, but, now I don’t have the physical capabilities remaining to get any more of it out; it’s going to be one of those days, I think, and I might just go back to bed to avoid the worst of it…. Let’s see if I can get a Pearl done first. It should be fairly quick and easy…. I’ve already ranted, so I can go old-school for sections one and two, and I’ll find a good poem for section two…. as long as it all goes smoothly, I should be done, and back in bed within a couple hours…. Yay….

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A young woman whom I believe will be one of humanity’s future poet laureates, maggiemaeijustsaythis, (Maggie Mae to her friends), has written another gem…. Her work continually amazes me, as is patently obvious by how often her name shows up in this section…. Enjoy, ffolkes! Oh, and, watch that last line; it’s a powerful metaphor, and will knock you over, if you aren’t paying attention….

Center of Time

Welcome home, a strawberry plant
grows out back
for you, but it
has twisted to fingernails
to scratch away the bugs.

It has a heart, ready for transplant.
I promised to die,
I admit, I’m in the habit,
but it just sat in one spot,
sucking on water cells

reminding me what it
would feel like to overheat.
Now you are here, hiding in
the desert, my fruit not fertile
enough for you
to eat.

So, you say it’s the center of time,
one hand holds it,
the other says good-bye.

~~ maggiemaeijustsaythis ~~

http://maggiemaeijustsaythis.com/2015/06/14/center-of-time/

I repeat…. Whew!….

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Yep…. It’s yet another pearl about Life at Large…. Note the smooth, even way it all slides together….

You must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss,
A sigh is just a sigh;
The fundamental things apply,
As time goes by.
It’s still the same old story,
A fight for love and glory,
A case of Do or Die!
The world will always welcome lovers,
As time goes by.

~~ Herman Hupfield~~ ~~

~~As Time Goes By”, from “Everybody’s Welcome” ~~

“It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.” — Ursula K. LeGuin

“For my part, I had rather be the first man among these fellows than the second man in Rome.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Caesar

“Be able to be alone. Lose not the advantage of solitude, and the society of thyself.” — Thomas Browne

“In theory, theory is the same as reality. In reality it’s not.” — Smart Bee

“A hole is nothing, but you can break your neck in it. — Smart Bee

Pity this busy monster, manunkind, not.
Progress is a comfortable disease.

~~ e.e. cummings, One Times One ~~

As I’ve said, many times, it’s all in the wrist…..

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Some days, this process runs itself, which is a fortunate thing, since I often end up as I am today, rather a useless addendum to the issue. Nevertheless, I can take comfort in knowing the process itself will take us where we need to go, which, I may add, it has done quite well…. Since it is done, we’ll trust to luck, and go post it…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should Fate deign to consent….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

gigoid

Ned Moore, aka gigoid, is a 70 year-old, (!!!… When did that happen?….), retired dilettante, who would rather read than eat, most days. His first blog, "gigoid’s folly", has been emailed out to folks he knows for about 18 years now. He still considers it his best defense against angst, and the ever-present specter of sheer insanity..... Due to rigorous curmudgeon training requirements, he has discontinued his Facebook presence, but still indulges in the occasional Twitter session... In essence, he's socialized, but, not overly sociable; all labels and stereotypes are forbidden in his presence... and he doesn't care what anyone thinks about that..... In fact, he doesn't want to talk anymore.... If you feel you MUST contact gigoid, his email address is: alphagigoid@gmail.com You can go read now.... Go on, beat it.... gigoid, the dubious

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Exploring Consensual Reality

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