Tag Archives: politics

A graduated scale of benevolence….

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Ffolkes,
When I can, I do. When I can’t, I don’t. If I’m ordered, I refuse. If I’m asked, I consider. And if I’m bitten, I bite back. That’s my bottom line, and if anyone doesn’t care for it, well, that’s just too damn bad, so sad for you, maybe you’d like a little cheese with that whine? Or shall I just forcibly insert a sharp object into your most accessible orifice?

What prompted this? I’m not certain, as it just took over when I sat down to compose the opening for today’s missive. It sounds as if my subconscious is reacting to a perceived threat, but the only threat I know of right now is the threat of bad poetry, or the heartbreak of diverticulitis, and neither is particularly imminent. I suppose it’s just feeling nervous about how the political scene in this country is shaping up; it gets more bizarre every day, as the candidates jockey for position for Tuesday’s dustup primaries, and continue to make their outrageous claims and wild accusations of conspiracy by the White House. I’ll sit down and have a talk with it, give it some soothing words…. it should be okay in a little while.

My subconscious tends to a fairly high degree of paranoia, but I don’t want to blunt the edge of its perceptions, even if a bit extreme. It’s better to be prepared for the worst it can imagine, then whatever does happen is easily handled, as it generally is not as bad as what my subconscious mind has prepared to deal with. That’s the whole point of a successful defensive strategy, to be ready for the worst; anything short of that is a piece of cake….
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“There is in us a tendency to locate the shaping forces of our existence outside ourselves. Success and failure are unavoidably related in our minds with the state of things around us. Hence it is that people with a sense of fulfillment think it is a good world and would like to preserve it as it is, while the frustrated favor radical change. The tendency to look for all causes outside ourselves persists even when it is clear that our state of being is the product of personal qualities such as ability, character, appearance, health and so on.” — Eric Hoffer

Mr. Hoffer makes a good point here, a point that has fallen into disfavor in today’s society. I speak, of course, of the concept of personal responsibility. By always looking for external factors to explain what is wrong with our world, the personal responsibility that each person holds is nullified, or at least ignored. It has become fashionable instead to find a scapegoat for our problems; we blame our upbringing, our parents, our struggling schools, the President, the economy, or anybody or anything else we can come up with that might have contributed to our discomfort.

There are very few people left today who will admit to having any part in their difficulties; it’s much easier on the self-image to blame it on one’s parents, who are not there to defend themselves, or on some diffuse entity like society, to which all may point as the perpetrator of whatever problem they have encountered. I’d guesstimate that 95% of the members of society today fall into this category; real integrity and honesty is virtually extinct. Just another in a litany of human folly, one which will not only support our extinction as a species, but will hurry it along like a manic sheepdog worries its flock. And when we’re all dead and gone, the planet isn’t going to care one little bit about whose fault it was……

“There is a perfectly satisfactory explanation for everything, but security prevents its disclosure.” — The Anthony Blunt Excuse
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“Already the spirit of our schooling is permeated with the feeling that every subject, every topic, every fact, every professed truth must be submitted to a certain publicity and impartiality.  All proffered samples of learning must go to the same assay-room and be subjected to common tests.  It is the essence of all dogmatic faiths to hold that any such “show-down” is sacrilegious and perverse.  The  characteristic of religion, from their point of view, is that it is intellectually secret, not public; peculiarly revealed, not generally known; authoritatively declared, not communicated and tested in ordinary ways…It is pertinent to point out that, as long as religion is conceived as it is now by the great majority of professed religionists, there is something self-contradictory in speaking of education in religion in the same sense in which we speak of education in topics where the method of free inquiry has made its way.  The “religious” would be the last to be willing that either the history of the content of religion should be taught in this spirit; while those to whom the scientific standpoint is not merely a technical device, but is the embodiment of the integrity of mind, must protest against its being taught in any other spirit.” — John Dewey (1859-1953), American philosopher, — from “Democracy in the Schools”, 1908

This is long enough, and clear enough, that it needs no more added, by me or anyone else. It’s a well-thought out, and clearly stated premise, and a perfect description of a problem that society has obviously not solved, as this sentiment from 1908 remains as valid today as when it was first uttered. I guess it just goes to show that not only are we bozoid creatures, but stubborn as well, unwilling to give up our prejudices and delusions without a struggle. It’s the old “devil you know” outlook carried to its logical extreme; it doesn’t seem to matter that it will kill us just as dead as a new devil….. as long as we don’t have to think about it…..
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The human body produces far more energy than the sun (per unit weight)

It’s simple, really. A human body is an energy conversion tool, or machine, whereas the sun is a source of electromagnetic energy. The body consumes energy in the form of food and converts it first to neurochemical energy by the digestive system, then to kinetic energy by the neuromuscular system. The processes they employ to create and convert one form of energy to another are very complex biochemical transformations, involving a number of steps. Electromagnetic energy is produced by the sun by the process of nuclear fission, in subtle and complex processes not fully understood by mankind, as we are not yet able to look inside a star to gather any evidence of how it functions; at least, not to any important degree.

Nonetheless, we can measure and compare the relative levels of each type of energy produced by the human body and the sun; from there it is merely an arithmetic problem, with a solution provided by addition, multiplication, and long division of the defined numbers representing the energy produced. Both processes are beautiful examples of how understanding the underlying mathematics of the universe lends itself to harmonious functioning between the various manifestations of which it is comprised, to wit: energy, biology, chemistry, and all of the other branches of physics that make up our mathematical model of reality.

From any direction it is viewed, the existence of Life, Consciousness, and the Universe at large is pretty miraculous, exceedingly, almost painfully beautiful in its grandeur and scope. Tossing in the concept of Entropy (you know… Chance, randomness, chaos, Satan, free will, statistics, human nature, the power of PMS, etc.) makes Life all the more intriguing…. besides which, as far as I can tell so far, it’s the only game in town….

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them.- that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality.” — Lao-Tzu
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“Half of the American people have never read a newspaper.  Half never voted for President.  One hopes it is the same half.” — Gore Vidal

Hope springs eternal, does it not? This particular hope is, I’m afraid, never going to pan out. Besides, of the half who actually read a newspaper, only half of them are reading the articles on the front page; the rest only take it for the comics, the sports page, and the astrological forecast…..

But Hope, the charmer, linger’d still behind. — Thomas Campbell (1777-1844) — Pleasures of Hope, Part i, Line 40
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“What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?  Let them take arms!” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), Letter to Colonel W. S. Smith, 1787

“Are we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our own defense? Where is the difference between having our arms in our own possession and under our own direction, and having them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the _real_ object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?” — Patrick Henry

I have nothing to add to this, it’s perfectly clear……
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So ends another episode of temporary sanity, sent out with love from my little corner of the universe. It’s not Ibsen, but it’s still Art…. y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Dreaming, the sleeper sleeps on….

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Ffolkes,
This could take awhile, as I have no pearls on tap, and must first go diving, and I never know how long it may take. So bear with me, as I sacrifice my comfy bed in exchange for a dip in the world wide ocean of facts and fantasies….. I hate to quote Arnie, but, I’ll be back…..
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“A professional politician is a professionally dishonorable man.  In order to get anywhere near high office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker.” — H.L. Mencken

To tell the truth, I’m getting a bit tired of harping on this subject. But, I’m also still filled with outrage and chronic disbelief at the sheer effrontery of the so aptly named professionally dishonorable men who are trying to gather enough blind people together to ensure their nomination for next year’s election.  Oops, wishful thinking I guess; I mean the election later this year. I have yet to encounter a day in the last few weeks where the news has no new comments or statements from one of the group of wannabe’s, and every one of those reported utterances is fuel for the fire of outrage merrily burning out of control in my brain.

Their statements are becoming more grandiose, more insipid, more personal, and more derogatory toward opponents with each passing day; one of the most desperate is so scared of losing he has begun a series of attacks of a personal nature on the President and his own Republican opponents for the nomination. No issues are being addressed now, it’s all a matter of who can paint the ugliest picture of the other guys in the remaining days before Super Tuesday (what a crock!). It will be interesting to me to see who does the best in these upcoming primaries on Tuesday; it will give me an idea of just how far down the road to perdition we’ve gone, and how far it is to get back to a normal world…. a long time, I’m afraid, but we’ll just see what happens……

“I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends…that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.” — Adlai Stevenson

….and just so you don’t think I pick on Republicans exclusively…..

“I looked up the word “politics” in the dictionary and it’s actually a  combination of two words; “poli,” which means many, and “tics,” which means bloodsuckers.” — Jay Leno
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“Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence…  From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to ensure peace, security, and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable….  The very atmosphere of firearms every- where restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.” — George Washington (bogus?)

Bogus or not, it’s true. If George didn’t say this, then Thomas Jefferson, or George Mason did say it, or something very close to it. I’ve read passages from Tom Jefferson’s letters that parallel this statement perfectly. I’ve included it today because I want to reiterate its importance in today’s society. It is becoming increasingly clear that the powers that be are trying to take away the basic freedoms that Tom and both George’s fought for so eloquently; the Bill of Rights is now abridged, and the next step is to make those abridgments permanent.

The federal government and politicians are always spouting off about gun control, trying to limit the public’s right to arm themselves, blaming it on the criminals who have no compunction against using their guns to achieve their own ends (funny how much that sounds like what the police do on a regular basis). They do this because they firmly believe that only they have the intelligence, integrity of purpose, and restraint to have guns, and can be trusted not use them inappropriately. Of course, they say that, but once all of our guns are gone, and they are the only ones who have them, tell me, what is there to keep them from using them on us? Honesty? Riiiiight. Do I even need to point out how often they lie to the public? Restraint? Sure, ask the Afghanis or the Iraqis how much restraint they have witnessed (ask their civilians, they’re the ones we were killing over there, a great many more than military casualties…..).

So, you may, if you so desire, sit there and buy into the bogus fears promoted by the beloved ruling class, and calmly watch while all of your former freedoms are sold into slavery. Or, like me, you can make sure you are well-armed, and hunker down to wait for the fools to come and try to take your guns away from you. Give me 10 seconds warning, and they will find out that a free man cannot be controlled; you might be able to kill him, but in my case, at least, they should be aware that I guarantee the price to be exacted will be much higher than expected…..
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If parts allure thee, think how Bacon shin’d,
The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind!
Or ravish’d with the whistling of a name,
See Cromwell, damn’d to everlasting fame!
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744)  — Essay on Man, Epistle iv, Line 281

I was talking yesterday with my old friend, Tom, and we got to talking about how much age is affecting us, in ways that now seem obvious as to cause, but which in former years we had no clue of their developing importance. An example of this is sleeping; our sleep habits now are much different than previously, due to age-related conditions such as BPH or hypertension. Other things assume higher priority as we age, and when younger, we had no clue that we would be even thinking about such subjects, nor that we would be spending inordinate amounts of time dealing with the ramifications. It’s all good, we weren’t bitching about it, just observing. But it brought other thoughts to mind, thoughts that didn’t have so much weight for the younger me…..

I’m talking about death, of course, and the legacy we leave behind, that which demonstrates best our raison d’etre, our purpose, our answer to the question, “What’s it all about, Alfie?”. In my younger days, thinking up new and funny lines to put on graves was, at best, an undertaking of no more than a couple of minutes of mild hilarity. Now it’s a matter for serious thought and internal debate; one never wants to be caught unprepared for death. It would embarrass me no end to not have my affairs straight before I submit my final post in the blog of Life, to have no memory of me survive past the temporary grief of my children and friends who might outlive me.

Our lives as humans on this plane of existence are short, and so being, they create in us a strong need to have some piece of us that is immortal, that does not give in to the laws of nature, and insists on persisting in a form other than flesh. If we can’t live forever, then we will settle for living in memory, preferably with some physical presence, such as a headstone, or a statue. But, even if it is only in memory, it is comforting to know that those we love will keep the best part of us with them, and that is the love we share; it acknowledges no barriers at all, not even that of death…..

Man will survive into eternity. He’s too stupid to know when he’s beaten. — Unknown, (one of the lesser-known Greek philosophers…)
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To see the world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
— William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence”

I tend to write about the parts of human nature and society that annoy me, or more often, outrage me; there’s plenty of stuff happening in the world that accomplishes either or both every day. As a result, it may seem like I’m a curmudgeon all the time, and firmly believe that we’re all going straight to my version of Hell, sometime in the next two weeks. And you’d be right in that estimation, for the most part.

But in reality, I am not so pessimistic as it may sound, and I find life to be all I could hope for as a human, full of beauty, grace, and loving kindness. I see these features every day, in almost every interaction I witness  between people. A great many people out there in Life At Large are decent, honorable folks, and they interact with others in that light. There are also many who are not so squeaky clean on a moral level, but who fight against their own nature to change themselves for the better.

There is human misery aplenty, but there is also human love unlimited, as the dance of balance that takes place every instant of existence spins gaily along the ribbon of Time. One need only open the eyes, the mind, and the heart to see beauty in every direction, and in every moment…… and the poem above from Blake, is a perfect example of that serendipity…..
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As I awoke this morning,
When all things sweet are born,
A robin perched upon my sill
To hail a happy morn.

He looked so young and fragile,
So sweetly did he sing,
That thoughts of joy and happiness
Into my heart did spring.

I smiled discreetly to myself
As I paused beside my bed,
Then quickly brought the window down,
And smashed his little head!

— another gem from Anonymous–

See? I do have a sense of humor…. I just find it to be more effective if I don’t let it out much. Better surprise factor…. and this poem by our old friend Anonymous has all the elements I admire…. perfect rhyming, cadence, and structure, grace, beauty, and in the last line, true to life. Admit it. You’ve had the same feeling, those homicidal (aviacidal?) tendencies toward an early bird bragging about his breakfast, now, haven’t you? I’m honest enough to admit to having succumbed to this attitude frequently in my youth, though in my case it was generally directed toward a rooster rather than a robin. In any case, it’s worth a moment’s giggle…..
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When I awoke this morning, almost two hours after my normal wake up, I was uncertain how today’s missive might turn out. I shouldn’t have worried; I’m happy with it, at least now that it’s over. Might just be the relief at that, but hey, I’ll take what I can get. Meantime, y’all take care out there……

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

Dozer

Kowabunga!

 

Openly brazen kittens are easily aggravated…..

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Ffolkes,
On those mornings when it all seems clear, I can jump right into the water, and start typing away (the water is figurative, naturally…), heedless of the rules set forth many years ago to keep writers confined to a narrow little strip of possibility. In the Great Shrug that took place in the 90’s, all those rules were examined and verified to be pertinent to the writer’s art. But you know how I am about rules; they only apply when I say they apply, and not a moment before. So let’s take a moment to heave those rules out the window, and get on with the program for today, eh what?….
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“In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all – security, comfort and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.” — Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter 29

Sound familiar? It should; it’s a perfect description of modern society. Americans no longer deserve the freedoms they were given, for they are all too willing to give them up in exchange for a false sense of security. The beloved ruling class goaded the unstable fanatics so prevalent in the middle east until they, out of their fear and loathing of Western ideals (and bombs), struck out in acts of senseless violence against civilian populations. Once they had done so, then those self-same manipulators then trumpeted the tune of “homeland security” and “have to break a few eggs to make an omelet” so long and loud that the public’s fears were whipped into a frenzy of hatred toward those who attacked out of their own fear, and allowed certain freedoms to be abridged in the name of defense.

I could go on; in fact I often do. But, I’m tired of trying to arouse people and alert them to the danger to our liberties, because nobody seems to be listening. It has been obvious for some time that the people who are running this country are pursuing their own agenda, and that agenda is in no way meant to benefit you or me. It is designed specifically to preserve the status quo, to keep the public ignorant and confused, and easily manipulated. And everyone just sits there and takes it. Oh, there are minor disturbances, such as the Occupy protests that continue, but even those are losing momentum, as the Machine just ignores them until they go away. Nothing has changed, and nothing will change, as long as the American people continue to allow their freedoms to be taken away, by the very people they elected to protect them…. I am disgusted, and I’m gonna buy a gun…. because I’ll be damned if they are going to take my freedom away. The price for that will be steep….

“The genius of our ruling class is that it has kept a majority of the people from ever questioning the inequity of a system where most people drudge along, paying heavy taxes for which they get nothing in return.” — Gore Vidal
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“Strange, because they are so frankly and hysterically insane — like all dreams: a God who could make good children as easily as bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who could have made every one of them happy, yet never made a single happy one; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stingily cut it short; who gave his angels eternal happiness unearned, yet required his other children to earn it; who gave his angels painless lives, yet cursed his other children with biting miseries and maladies of mind and body; who mouths justice and invented hell — mouths mercy and invented hell — mouths Golden Rules, and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who frowns upon crimes, yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man’s acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites this poor, abused slave to worship him!” — Mark Twain, _The Mysterious Stranger_

I guess I’m feeling antagonistic this morning. I feel that antagonism on a daily basis, and I do so because, damn it, somebody has to! Somebody has to buck the tide, to refuse to buy into the fear-mongering and manipulation, to boldly shout, “the emperor is naked!” when necessary. I’m sick to death of a society that claims to be Christian, but has no tolerance whatsoever for other people, especially if they don’t worship the same idol. And there’s one more thing I’ve never understood, nor could any of the clergy I asked about it tell me anything that would explain how putting Jesus’ figure on a cross and hanging it over the altar is any different than a Buddhist shrine, or the Mormon ‘tablets of gold’ given to Brigham Young by the Angel Moroni. It’s all worshiping an idol; as far as I can see, one has no inherent advantage of believability over another. But I’m supposed to shut my mouth and eyes to this nonsense, and go along quietly with having the legacy of the Founding Fathers eaten away by the nibbling of fearful little mice…..
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“Now I’ll give YOU something to believe.  I’m just one hundred and one, five months and a day.” “I can’t believe THAT!” said Alice. “Can’t you?” the Queen said in a pitying tone.   “Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.” Alice laughed.   “There’s no use trying,” she said: “one CAN’T believe in impossible things.” “I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen.  “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day.  Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” — Lewis Carroll, “Through the Looking-Glass”

So, what did you do before breakfast? If you’re like me, well, by breakfast time you’ve already created the Universe twice; it always takes two tries, it’s a complicated incantation, and you have to get the orbits just right, or it all crashes together and makes this Big Bang….. I think it’s a good thing to trot out a bit of nonsense now and again; especially when recent activities have included ranting and/or complaining in the guise of sharing the wealth. Besides, I couldn’t think of anything to put here that would be sillier than the Queen…. more’s the pity…..
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“Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life; they feed the soul. When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyancy is restored. We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping along with, the absurdity of life, instead of being squashed by it over and over again. It’s like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can’t stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.” — Anne Lamott

I can’t claim that what I’m doing here always lives up to this, but I would say that this is an accurate statement of what I am shooting for when I write. There are brief moments when I feel as if I’ve gotten close, and on rare occasions, I write something that meets even my stringent standards of excellence. Not often enough, but the journey is the lesson, and mine has a long way to go before the last lines are written…. I just hope I’m still alive when I get there…. and can still appreciate it….    🙂

“Life is not the way it is supposed to be. It is the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.” — Virginia Satir
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Tactile; Commensurate; Xanthian; & Saarinen (Thanks to Carolyn of http://abcofspiritalk.wordpress.com for supplying the words….)

In a recent post, I made the tactical error of issuing a challenge to my readers, to wit: give me four words, and as long as I can find a meaning listed somewhere for each word, I can make a sentence with all of them used in it. Here is today’s solution….

The tactile properties of the Saarinen furniture grouping is commensurate with that of the Xanthian chairs; though neither set displays any obvious or hidden puns, they both feel the same.

I warned y’all that it could be a little strange, and it certainly is. But all four words are there, and their meanings are implied in the context of the sentence. Et voilá……
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It’s been a long strange trip this morning, so I’m gonna go now, and deal with the real world for a bit. It’s going to be a strange day, I have a feeling…. y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Sitting amid the clutter, thinking of marigolds….

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Ffolkes,
Someone’s been fussing with the universe again, reality is all messed up this morning. Everything is nothing, and vice versa. It’s enough to make a grown man weep. Boo hoo…..

Okay, there, that’s done. I wouldn’t want to have started before spitting that out; someone could have been injured from the flying innuendo…… things here may seem a bit on edge, or jumpy, today. Pay it no mind, it’s just my depression trying to worm out of the hole I stuffed it in. It could be an ugly scene, so I’m going to go do as much as I can before it catches on to what I’m doing…..
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“If a person offend you and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures.  Simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick.” — Mark Twain, Advice to Youth Speech, 1882

Mr. Twain seems to be advising youth here with his tongue firmly planted in cheek, but is nonetheless spot on with his technique for dealing with those idiots who manage to get under our skin with their displays of offensive ignorance. It is what may be called a reasoned response, and the punishment can be considered proportionate to the offense. Resorting to extreme lengths to discipline in cases like this can come back to haunt you later; society tends to look unfavorably on the maiming, slicing, and dicing of its citizens, even when so obviously provoked, and deserved. And leaving them alive and seriously injured puts a strain on the health care industry to treat them for their wounds, or to perform the 24 hour nursing care for any human vegetables your justifiable anger may create. So temper thy temper with just a bit of tolerance, and only give such fools their immediate desserts, not their final meal……. you’ll feel better for having shown such restraint, while still purging any lingering resentment…..a clear win-win…..
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“A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.” — Eric Hoffer

Aha!  Now it makes sense. I have always wondered how some of these political types can go around, day after day, uttering the same stupid nonsense that they were spouting the week before, in spite of the evidence brought forth that shows it to be incorrect, ill-considered, or a bald-faced lie. They act as if nothing at all has been said, and will even accuse the questioner of bias or discrimination, just to deflect and distract from the subject they wish to avoid. It is as if they completely block out anything said to them, or about them; they act as if what is presented has no existence, and has no bearing on the issues at hand.

This is how Newt Gingrich can continue to deny that his serial adultery has no bearing on his politics, and does not indicate any moral inferiority. He seems to think that it’s okay to turn it around, and blame his infidelity on his wife, or on the one with whom he cheated. It’s how Mitt Romney can casually flaunt his wealth and indifference toward the 99%, and believe that it won’t cause resentment to eat away at his support system, and cause the disillusioned to turn away. It is how Congress thinks it is acceptable to hold meetings on the issue of birth control with a committee that has no women sitting on it, and no women scheduled to give evidence. It’s how Rick Santorum can make outrageous statements that are parroted from the zealotry of the religious right, and still believe that he is popular with anyone else, or that he stands an even chance of stealing the nomination away from the bigger dogs.

Worst of all, this is how the great unwashed masses who vote can, time after time, continue to believe the bullshite that is handed to them, and elect these idiots again. To my way of thinking, this is behavior that wouldn’t be out of place in sharks; they have no memory to speak of, and not much ability to learn. But every four years, the people of this country go forth, and show their support for people who lie to them on a consistent basis, and who have no interest whatsoever in improving the lot of anyone but themselves. It’s not exactly the strongest evidence of intelligence I’ve seen… and is indubitably the strongest evidence of mass stupidity I can think of…..

“It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” — Noel Coward

“There is no point in getting angry, but there is a stupid malignity to all this that does try one’s patience.” — Anonymous
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FIGHTING WORDS

Say my love is easy had,
Say I’m bitten raw with pride,
Say I am too often sad —
Still behold me at your side.

Say I’m neither brave nor young,
Say I woo and coddle care,
Say the devil touched my tongue —
Still you have my heart to wear.

But say my verses do not scan,
And I get me another man!
— Dorothy Parker

No comments needed here. I enjoy Dorothy Parker’s work; it always has a bit of self-deprecating humor to it, yet shows off her immense talent by it’s mere casualness. She was indeed, unique…..
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“Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible form of magic, capable of both inflicting injury, and of remedying it.” Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter:The Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling

I’m going to go out on a limb, here…. I sincerely believe that should society survive the next 200 years, the seven books comprising the Harry Potter saga will come to be considered required reading, as the greatest work of literature created in the latter half of the 20th century. Quotes such as the one above will be commonly held wisdom. as will the quote below. I also think that the character of Severus Snape will be the most widely known and admired fictional character from the same period. The performance by Alan Rickman is flawless; wickedly intelligent, ambitious, and always conscious of his flawed humanity, he brings powerful emotion to a toweringly tragic figure.  Snape will join Hamlet, Othello, and the like as the latest in a long line of tragic heroes, and deservedly so.

The performances of all the perfectly picked cast were well-done, and guided to reflect the characters described in the books. Ralph Fiennes brings a certain chilling insouciance and style to the character of Voldemort, making him more accessible and human, but a human who LIKES being evil.

The translation of the books into movies was well done, thanks to the determined efforts of Ms. Rowling to keep the movies true to the spirit of her work. With only minor changes to the plot lines to satisfy the limitations of movie-making, all eight of the movies were able to bring the fun, the wonder, and the magic of her stories to millions of people who hadn’t read the books.

This was a challenge of no little stature, as the art of movie-making turned its technological eye on making people believe in the magic onscreen. This is harder than it sounds, but with the new power of computer animation and advances in film technology, the challenge was met, and the world now has the entire epic in two formats, written and digitized. I predict that it will remain atop the list of the world’s favorite stories for centuries to come……

“Pity not the living, Harry, pity the dead. Especially, pity those who live without love.” — Albus Dumbledore, ibid
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“Don’t SAY things. What you ARE stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson — Social Aims

In a section above, we spoke about the nimrods who are currently showing off their ignorance on center stage of the nightly news, and how they are oblivious to their own flaws. This famous little snippet from Emerson should be brought to their attention, as it describes perfectly the plot-line of the play in which they find themselves acting out their parts. It could save them, and us, a lot of heartache and wasted time, as well as money.

I am, however, unwilling to wager on whether they will pay any more attention to this than they do to the bald truths they are already ignoring…. I have a feeling that they’ll just look at it, scratch their heads, and walk away from it; that’s their usual response to any truth that doesn’t mesh with their agenda…..
___________________________________

Well, my schedule is all screwed up, thanks to age-related kinks in the system…. my activity level nears the frenzy level around the first of the month, as I try to dole out a bit of gelt to all those nice folks who say I owe them. It’s a catch-22, for sure, as they dun me for what I’ve already consumed, yet try to get me to consume more of whatever it is, before I’ve finished paying for the old stuff.  Ah well, life in the fast lane, I suppose….. all will be well, in time….. in the meantime, y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Custom platitudes built while you wait….

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Ffolkes,
Shadows followed, dark and fluid, as the band of silent intruders picked its way up the narrow path to the castle. Not a whisper of sound could be heard; only a slight background hiss, as the wind blew softly, rustling the leaves of trees bordering the path. No weapons clattered, no feet scraped, no harsh breath drawn; only the silent shadows slipping through the night. As the wall looms above the group, a cloud passes, and the troop is revealed as eight men with darkened face and skin, clothed all in black, bearing strangely shaped weapons that softly gleamed in the pale light cast by the half-moon, high above the eastern horizon.

Still no sound is heard, as the men spread themselves evenly across the base of the wall, facing the bricks. Each man laid the palms of his hands on the wall, and began to mutter soft incantations; power now crackles through the night air, almost a sizzle along the nerve endings. As the chanting continues, the men’s bodies begin to become indistinct, translucent, fading and merging with the wall. In mere seconds, all eight forms are gone, as if they had never been, and the night’s silence covers the now empty space of wall where they stood…..

One of these fine mornings, I’ll sit down and write a paragraph like the above, but I won’t stop writing until something actually happens to the people in the story. It may be this one; it came out pretty well, and could very easily be a good opening for a science-fantasy tale, set on some fantastic planet peopled by a race of beautiful women who need….. some kind of help…. see, there’s the problem. I get so far into a story, and it peters out on me. Oh well, this is mostly a form of self-therapy anyway; it doesn’t HAVE to mean anything, or go anywhere other than where I feel like wandering in my head. And, honestly, I kinda like it this way; I never know from one day to the next what is going to tickle my fancy, and get written about today. And that’s okay, too….. let’s get on with it, shall we?…..
___________________________________

Buzz off, Banana Nose; Relieve mine eyes
Of hateful soreness, purge mine ears of corn;
Less dear than army ants in apple pies
Art thou, old prune-face, with thy chestnuts worn,
Dropt from thy peeling lips like lousy fruit;
Like honeybees upon the perfum’d rose
They suck, and like the double-breasted suit
Are out of date; therefore, Banana Nose,
Go fly a kite, thy welcome’s overstayed;
And stem the produce of thy waspish wits:
Thy logick, like thy locks, is disarrayed;
Thy cheer, like thy complexion, is the pits.
Be off, I say; go bug somebody new,
Scram, beat it, get thee hence, and nuts to you.

I’m sorry, but once more, there was no attribution for this. It’s too bad; I’d have enjoyed looking for more of this author’s work. It’s delightfully silly, yet strongly written. And that’s why it’s here, simply because I like it. You don’t have to, but if you find you don’t, there’s no shame…. it’s also pretty bad, when viewed from certain viewpoints. Hey, it’s free, right? What else have you done today where you can say that?…..
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“Waiting is.” — Robert A. Heinlein, ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’

Taken by itself, in this format, without the supportive structure of the book from which it was taken, this seems a bit obtuse, too inscrutable. But when one adds in the philosophical background from which this statement springs, a direction is given to the path one’s thoughts must take to find and absorb the meaning, and the lesson, that these two words hold. Even without the book’s help, using the phrase as a focus of meditation is very soothing, almost healing. It may be the shortest koan known to man; I can’t think of any I’ve seen that are simpler or deeper than this. And using it is so simple! Merely close the eyes, relax, and say the words, inflecting them as a question, and follow the march of your thoughts and images as they lead you further inward, toward the center, where balance lives…..
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“You can’t have a light without a dark to stick it in.” — Arlo Guthrie

Serendipity, by its very nature, is always a surprise; knowing that, one shouldn’t be surprised when it happens. But we always are; it’s just the way we’re built, I guess. This little tasty bite of truth becomes all the more savory for knowing it came from the same guy who wrote “Alice’s Restaurant”. In at least one respect, though, it’s not surprising at all; Arlo grew up under the influence of one of the century’s most talented artists, Woody Guthrie, a very perceptive social historian himself, so I’m certain his education and personal paradigms show the effect of that on his intellectual abilities. No matter how one looks at it though, it’s still a great quote, very perceptive and insightful…. may contemplating it bring you illumination….
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‘God says in the Bible’ carries as much moral imperative to me as saying ‘Dr. Seuss says in Green Eggs and Ham.’  Both are interesting books with some good messages, nothing more. — Anonymous

Thank goodness this quote came from such a distinguished, well-respected source; some folks might take it wrong coming from someone of less renown, such as, say, …me? No, I didn’t say it, I just found it, but I can’t dispute it either, as it has a valid point. I’ve read both books, and each is composed of a very large amount of nonsense surrounding some nuggets of truth; at least, that’s what my crap detector tells me. I’m sure Green Eggs and Ham would be just as popular as the Bible, if it also had dozens of chapters obviously written by biased people, who had their own agenda, conveniently disguised as sacred, ‘divinely inspired’ gospel.

That agenda generally includes the unwritten but inherent assumption of entitlement that humans have over the rest of ‘creation’, otherwise known as the Universe. I’m afraid that the Biblical divine mandate that theoretically allows humans to ‘have dominion’ over everything they see, just isn’t supported by the facts in evidence. In fact, the evidence points to humanity being more of a pimple on the face of Mother Nature, and once the build-up of crud we’ve created with our foolishness comes to a head, it will burst, be drained, washed away, and the earth will continue on as though we were never here….. and in truth, were we ever really here, or did we just imagine ourselves?…..

“…to emphasize the afterlife is to deny life. To concentrate on Heaven is to create hell. In their desperate longing to transcend the disorderliness, friction, and unpredictability that pesters life; in their desire for a fresh start in a tidy habitat, germ-free and secured by angels, religious multitudes are gambling the only life they may ever have on a dark horse in a race that has no finish line.” — Tom Robbins, _Skinny Legs and All_, 1990, p. 305.
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“If science were explained to the average person in a way that is accessible and exciting, there would be no room for pseudoscience.  But there is a kind of Gresham’s Law by which in popular culture the bad science drives out the good.  And for this I think we have to blame, first, the scientific community ourselves for not doing a better job of popularizing science, and second, the media, which are in this respect almost uniformly dreadful.  Every newspaper in America has a daily astrology column.  How many have even a weekly astronomy column?  And I believe it is also the fault of the educational system.  We do not teach how to think.  This is a very serious failure that may even, in a world rigged with 60,000 nuclear weapons, compromise the human future.” — Carl Sagan, The Burden Of Skepticism, The Skeptical Inquirer, — Vol. 12, Fall 87

This is the kind of statement that can be used to demonstrate the difference between a reasoned, rational response, with evidence included, to a concrete, relevant question, and an answer formulated by someone with a belief system based on matters of faith. The attraction of such belief is rooted in the ease of living with it; when faith provides all answers, no thought is required to find them. Nor is evidence required…. only faith.

It’s a very safe feeling, to exist with the knowledge that no matter what one does, personal responsibility never has to be assumed. Just confess, and accept Jesus, and forgiveness is yours….. and if someone gets hurt along the way, well, they’re probably heathens, anyway, and not like us…..so, treating them like animals is okay…. these are the same folks who don’t see what is wrong with Americans soldiers overseas burning Muslim holy books, or torturing and humiliating helpless prisoners, and yet want to pass an amendment to the Constitution to make it illegal to burn a US flag. What is wrong with this picture?….

I’ll tell ya what’s wrong with it…. but it will have to be another time. I don’t think I have enough left in me now to begin a whole new rant.  Probably just as well, considering my mood; I’m already wound up, and letting it out now could easily cause a rift in the space-time continuum; we certainly wouldn’t want that. Consider yourselves lucky, this time….. I’ll just leave you with this…..

“The mistake began when God was created in a male image. Of course, women would see Him that way, but men should have been gentlemen enough, remembering their mothers, to make God a woman! But the God of Gods–the Boss–has always been a man. That makes life so perverted, and death so unnatural. We should have imagined life as created in the birth-pain of God the Mother. Then we would understand why we, Her children, have inherited pain, for we would know that our life’s rhythm beats from Her great heart, torn with the agony of love and birth. And we would feel that death meant reunion with Her, a passing back into Her substance, blood of Her blood again, peace of Her peace! Now wouldn’t that be more logical and satisfying than having God a male whose chest thunders with egotism and is too hard for tired heads and thoroughly comfortless?” — Eugene O’Neill, “Strange Interlude” [1928], Act II
___________________________________

I have a feeling this one may cause some flak; I see that I’ve gone a bit overboard this morning in my discussion on belief systems; it’s certainly long enough. If it helps, no offense is intended; everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. I write what is in my head at the time; some of it is not acceptable for public consumption, and I don’t bring that stuff out for review. But, I also don’t shy away from giving my take on just about any subject that concerns society at large, so those who disagree or actively dislike what I say are free to either stop reading and go elsewhere, or write back with a response. I’m happy to engage in dialogue, it’s a great way to check the validity of one’s arguments, comparing them to someone else’s take on the matter at hand.

I’ve reached the end, finally. Happy days….. now I shall sally forth and carpe that old diem! Y’all take care out there…..

 

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Singing for adipose marsupials is mandatory….

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2

Ffolkes,
I can tell already that this will be one that I must fight with; my mind is throwing up obstacles, distractions, suggestions, and outright lies, all designed with one purpose; to f___k with my head so I can’t write. Well, thhppppt on that! I won’t have it, I tell you. I shan’t be held hostage by my own flesh and blood; what’s more, if it doesn’t knock it off, I’m going to outsource the entire Pearl!

I’ve had enough of this emotional blackmail, especially of myself; it’s a nasty habit to begin with, and when one considers where that stuff might have been, and who might have touched it, well, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how disgusted I am with myself. It’s a sad day indeed when one must resort to such measures at all; to be manipulated into holding myself hostage like that is totally unacceptable.

I am fully prepared to stop writing and call in some mercenary ringers to finish it up today, so you better just cool your jets, young paduan, cuz homey don’t play that!…..
___________________________________

“How often we recall, with regret, that Napoleon once shot at a magazine editor and missed him and killed a publisher. But we remember with charity, that his intentions were good.” — Mark Twain

Since I am, as yet, unpublished as a novelist, I have yet to be exposed to having to write to editorial demand. But I’ve read a lot of treatises by authors, and editors, as a class, are considered right down there with Satan and Voldemort, when it comes to naming the universe’s most dangerous villain. They (editors) are rumored to have no heart; they are reputed to be clueless and indifferent as to the artistic process, and make impossible demands on authors on a daily, sometimes hourly basis. According to authors, they are rude, overbearing, impatient, greedy, jealous of real talent, and are probably mean to babies, and their own mothers. And any author will gleefully relate how editors have been known to speed up when they spot an old lady stepping off the curb into a crosswalk. If there is a boy scout helping her, it’s worth bonus points, triple the usual if the scout is under 16; they’re really fast at that age.

Where did this bellicose animosity come from? “How did it arise?”, you may ask. And you can go right on asking, because not only do I not know, I don’t really give a rat’s patooty. Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell; knowing why something happens sometimes just makes it worse. (How, I couldn’t say; I’m just writing to editorial demand here, so back off with all the questions, eh?) Nevertheless, it exists, and what with the constant verification that up and coming editors supply every time they open their mouths, this internecine warfare between authors and editors will eventually put the Hundred Year War out of its position at the top of the war heap as the longest-running conflict. Who knows, it probably has a chance of toppling marital discord off its perch as most common form of conflict….. why not go for the whole banana, and a dual championship?….. it certainly can’t make things worse, and might be considered as making the best of a bad situation….

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I slept, and dreamed that life was Beauty;
I woke, and found that life was Duty.
Was thy dream then a shadowy lie?
Toil on, poor heart, unceasingly;
And thou shalt find thy dream to be
A truth and noonday light to thee.
— Ellen Sturgis Hooper (1816-1841) — Life a Duty

Sheesh, this is like pulling my own teeth today! But, so be it. When I stop to think, a habit I’ve cultivated for years, I am always pulled first back to Duty; Duty is a choice we make, and as such is first priority, before even self-needs. Living with that as my rule is the only method I’ve found that allows me to deal with the outrageous and often malicious demands that everyday life presents us with, in steady, unending procession, and still be able to sleep at night…. and, in hindsight, I can add that the solutions I come up with using that standard are much more salient and effective in reaching positive outcomes than are those that arise from need or desire alone. It’s nice to know that what I do for myself, and my own self-respect, is also the most effective and efficient way to approach everyday life…..
___________________________________

“What about these commandments then?”
“You again?  All right…  There shall be TWO commandments, and this shall be the first of them: “Keep the noise down.”
“Just that?  `Keep the noise down’?”
“You got it.”
“Hmmm.  And the second of Your commandments, Lord?”
“Do what thou wilst,” (sayeth the Lord), “just go away and don’t bother Me now.  For behold, some of Us are trying to get some sleep around here.”  — Seven Deadly Sins

No point here, really, or any intended (or unintended) offense to anybody…. I just thought it was funny…. well, it made ME smile….
___________________________________

“Sex is a sacrament, not a prison. While monogamy can be a beautiful, even sacred bond, it might not be the agreement that best suits everyone. Our thinking that monogamy is inherently a nobler arrangement than any other has created a nation of hypocrites.” — Marianne Williamson

One facet of this statement’s relevance will be overlooked by many, who may see in it another attack on conventional marriage, and attempt to turn it into a religious issue. That facet lies in the fact that the statement is made by a woman, when one might assume that wanting to justify non-monogamist behavior would typically be a male characteristic. Women are assumed to be the ones who profess to want monogamy, to possess the monopoly on relationships, and this puts the lie to that misconception.

As many women as men chafe under the strict paradigm of monogamous marriages, apparently, and those women feel as their male counterparts do, that monogamy is fine for those who desire it, but is a poor choice for others who don’t share their particular views on life and morality. The men and women who acknowledge that there are alternatives to monogamy aren’t the ones creating the issue in society; it’s the fundamentalists and conservatives who cannot fathom anything outside their own narrow beliefs as having any validity, and are deathly afraid that someone, somewhere is having a good time……

Now these narrow-minded bigots are trying to make the issue a political one, rather than a societal one; they seek to place the power of the law behind their own particular set of delusions, and put all the “heretics” into the criminal category, merely for having the temerity to reject the soulless mandates of an outdated social contract, one that has no particular advantage over any other potential contract between two people, not in a truly diverse culture. It’s a sad state indeed, when we have come to this, that brother and sister should come to schism over the issue of whose imaginary friend is the most real…..
___________________________________

“Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other “sins” are invented nonsense. (Hurting yourself is NOT a sin–just stupid.)” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

I first came across this quote when I was in my teens, and was immediately added to my personal list of the Basic Laws of Life on Planet Earth. I believe this with my entire soul; it hopefully guides my every thought, and every action. I can’t think of a better way of stating the concept, either; this is just so perfectly constructed and clearly stated that it leaves no room for contradiction, if one has any heart at all.

Note I didn’t say intelligence; I know a lot of intelligent people who are basically clueless in terms of morality, or even in terms of introspection. I said heart, which is what it takes to be fully human; without it, one can never achieve even the slightest part of their own possible growth as a human being. A lot of potential is wasted for this very reason, that people are so afraid of taking responsibility for their own being, for their own existence, that they will refuse to consider any idea not already a part of the learned-by-rote dogma they have memorized in order to parrot, without any demand to think about what they are saying…. or doing for that matter….. morality by default, rather than by choice….
___________________________________

I’m going to have to start getting up even earlier, if this is going to take this long, and take this much effort every day. Or start eating breakfast earlier, so I have more juice, or at minimum a larger dose of caffeine…. any who, here t’is, a fait accompli for another day. I’m feeling adventurous, so I’ll decide what to do next, nap or walk, by the toss of a coin. Not completely random, I know, but since nobody else is here to do rock/paper/scissors with me, it’s the best I can come up with without breaking out a slide rule or calculator…. quicker, too….. y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Acres and acres of obsolete dreams….

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Ffolkes,
Patterns of light, both bright and fearful chase each other madly ’round and ’round, mad peals of laughter shrieking through the cool night air. Ghostly figures of unheralded regrets vie for position closer to the oddly shaped harpsichord in the foyer, while the thief of lost hope and his cohorts silently steal away. As the outer walls grow nearer, madness fades, and the silent myrmidons forge ahead, further into the day, further from the night’s insanity, until reality assumes a more familiar form and face, and faded regrets hold no more power over the hearts of the unmindful……

As is often obvious, reality can be pretty fluid in my world. I don’t insist that it stay in familiar patterns just to make me more comfortable; that never works in any case. Also, I find that reality becomes more palatable, more amenable the less one tries to have any influence over it; it seems to resent, and resist, any such foolery, and has been known to revolt altogether when attempts are made to make it conform to any preconceived notions. And to be honest, I don’t blame it at all….. let’s see what’s in the hopper for us today, shall we?…..

“Some people write to please, to soothe, to console. Others to provoke, to challenge, to exasperate and infuriate. I’ve always found the second approach the more pleasing.” — Edward Abbey   (Me too! Obviously….)
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Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow;
He who would search for pearls must dive below.
— John Dryden (1631-1700)
— All for Love, Prologue

When I first thought about what to call the results of this process that I put myself through to create the email Pearls, and now the blog posts, I had a hard time finding an appropriately accurate yet whimsically irreverent name. Letting my subconscious mind loose on the problem finally produced the title I have kept now for over 12 years, to wit: Pearls of Virtual Wisdom, considered as a subset of the ongoing experience of Exploring Consensual Reality in which I engage. Now I can see where the inspiration for that had at least part of its roots; it is entirely possible I must have come across this sometime in my wanderings through the Unending Forest of Books. No matter, really, I just got a charge out of finding it again, as it’s one of those wonderful little nuggets of truth that make such an addictive snack for the ever-voracious mind I call home. Short, sweet, and deep as the deep blue sea…

Since I’m in the mood for whimsy, here is some, attached to a nugget of truth…..

“A person is not given integrity. It results from the relentless pursuit of honesty at all times.” — Anonymous, aka Unknown

Anonymous was a Greek philosopher extraordinaire, often confused with Aristotle, who lived during the same period of history. This was written, according to the crumbling document upon which it was transcribed, in the year 89 B.C., Thursday about supper time, in the early spring… or so it says. Honest…. that’s what it says. What do you mean? Why would I make it up?….. Trust me…..

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

Just in case you ever wondered where it came from…… okay, end of this segment of silliness in the guise of wit. Back to the serious stuff….
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“Agnosticism simply means that a man shall not say he knows or believes that for which he has no grounds for professing to believe.” — Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)

I wish fundamentalists and proselytizing sects could, or would, understand this point, and not take it so damn personally when their faith based platforms are not accorded privileged status in someone else’s world view. I mean, it’s not as if hordes of agnostics are going door to door, trying to destroy anyone’s faith, or convert anyone to their own beliefs. Nor are they taking out ads espousing agnosticism, or actively recruiting anyone to join them in their interpretation of reality.

But for some reason (not unknown, merely not pertinent here), they cannot do that; it is beyond their capability to entertain two separate concepts at the same time, without making a judgment on both; yer either fer us, or yer agin us….. there doesn’t seem to be any middle ground between their reality and that of anyone else. I’ll confess, I’ve never been able to understand, or get on board with, this particular brand of denial. I’ve found that reality is much more predictable and pleasant when taken as is, and not as we would like it to be. Fewer headaches, and no ulcers, ever…..
___________________________________

Good-nature and good sense are usually companions.

I like that. It makes perfect sense, on the planet I inhabit. (Sorry, couldn’t resist…)  If one takes a moment to think about what makes this statement true, and how it applies to reality, one comes to the illuminating notion that “balance is everything”. Knowing where one’s center is, and allowing that knowledge to direct one’s responses to the unpredictable nature of reality, is a valuable tool, one that is essential to a healthy approach to life.

By healthy, I mean it is a natural and sustainable condition, which fosters a continuous state of growth in one’s strength, integrity, and compassion, improves the chances of survival, and teaches eloquently the importance of choice, of not letting fate have everything its own way.  In other words, our world is what we make of it, and that kind of freedom allows good sense and good nature to co-exist in harmony, makes food taste better, can sometimes get you free tickets to Disneyland, and is guaranteed to turn you into a chick magnet…. well, maybe not the last two…… Sure would be cool, though, huh?…..
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If thou are rich, thou art poor;
For, like an ass whose back with ingots bows,
Thou bear’st thy heavy riches but a journey,
And death unloads thee.
— Shakespeare (1564-1616) — Measure for Measure, Act III

As I’ve said before, Shakespeare isn’t one of my favorites; though I acknowledge without shame that he was a sheer genius at what he did. As such, he occasionally comes up with something that meets all my standards, and compels me to include it in a post. This is one of those that jumps out and administers a ringing blow to the side of one’s head, as reality is wont to do. It’s a simple concept, but one not designed to create any feelings of empathy for the trials of the rich, or sympathy for the suffering of the poor; it merely reminds us of how our own mortality makes all our stature and posturing irrelevant.

I’m reminded of an aphorism related by Alan Watts in one of his books, which says: “If you wish to have a lifetime of trouble, fill your house with treasure.” Young as I was when I first read it, the clarity and truth in the saying was obvious, and it has stayed with me through all my life, allowing me to enrich my life with love, compassion, and good memories, rather than gold, silver, or precious gems….
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God’s   Problem Now:


His wife’s graveside service was just barely finished, when there was a massive clap of thunder, followed by a tremendous bolt of lightning,  accompanied by even more thunder rumbling in the distance.  The little old man  looked at the pastor and calmly said, “Well, she’s there.”

Priceless….. any man who has been married for more than say, 10 years or so, can relate perfectly, on at least one level…..as can many wives married the same amount of time….. at least, the ones with a sense of humor can; humor is a characteristic of wives that is not consistently present; a significant number of them end up without one, or lose it in the hustle and bustle of modern existence.  According to a friend, and fellow WordPress blogger, Linda Vernon, those women all tend to work at Pottery Barn.

That might be true, I don’t do either gardening (completely black thumb), or knick-knacks, so I can’t hold an opinion about that; I do know that I can always spot the ones who didn’t get one, or have lost the one they were issued, by the unique expression they wear in public, sort of a demonic, red-eyed, clenched jaw sort of look. Dead giveaway, if you know what to look for…. and trust me, 23 years of marriage to a woman with a powerful personality left me with a very keen eye for the signs of developing trouble in the female face.

And they all share that face; I’ve seen it elsewhere as well, on the faces of other women in a relationship. It’s hard when people lose their sense of humor; they tend to lose connection with the positives, and concentrate on the negatives that are part and parcel of any human interaction, ultimately driving away the very person they formerly wanted to stay…..
___________________________________

So much for that….took a lot of effort today, but, hey, I had nothing else to do this morning. Funny, I’m in a semi-fugue state, mere millimeters from complete unconsciousness, yet the visual world is bright and clear in my eyes, the refrigerator noise is as loud as ever, and the chair hurts my butt as usual. Odd feeling, to be sure….. I’ll go feel my way into the day now….. y’all take care out there….

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Faded signs of former glory….

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2

Ffolkes,
It’s been a long, strange trip, to be sure. Having come this far, I suppose I’ll have to keep on to the end. That final moment of my destiny is still a ways off, but is growing larger in my mirror every day. That’s the most accurate simile, I’d say; destiny isn’t the place we travel to, it is the stalker, always behind us, ready to pounce should we hold still too long. One learns to keep an eye on the rear-view mirror, and hope against hope that we don’t get a flat…..hmmm, a bit morbid for so early in the day. Let’s see if we can’t find something a bit more cheerful to start with……
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Everything needs a little oil now and then.

Here is a little piece of truth that should be part of everyone’s bag of basic knowledge. It’s a rather universal statement, for it applies to any number of situations in life, and not just with those involving machinery. One may look at human relations as an engine, of sorts; it certainly acts like one, with people as the moving parts. When two parts come in contact, a little oil always makes things move more smoothly, without potentially harmful friction.

We thus can see that in society, good manners and polite speech act as oil to a machine, allowing each part to perform its function without fear of breakdown in communication. The people who struggle with this are those who are unwilling to get their hands dirty, refusing to apply the needed oil to the points of contact. Thus they never can perform to full potential, for their engine is tearing itself apart, all for want of a bit of oil……
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“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” — Philo

Here is another piece of highly intuitive advice from one of the ancients; Philo lived around the time of Christ. I like this because it highlights a little-known facet of reality; everyone creates their own “devil”, and spends much of their time fighting against its influence over their lives. It can only be a hard battle, for our personal devils know all our weaknesses and vulnerable points, and have no compunction against using them freely. There is no feeling of guilt too strong, nor any regrets too old to throw into our faces during attempts to assume control. They fight dirty, and make it difficult to not give in, and resort to similar tactics.

Once one has crossed that line, there is no return, and the inner battle is lost. We must defeat our own devils using only those tools we know to be honorable; to lie or cheat, even for a presumably good cause, is an immediate and automatic failure. Better to die, than to allow our inner demons to control how we face the world at large…..honor demands strength of purpose, and the only reward is the ability to sleep at night with a clear conscience…..
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1. To succeed in politics, it is often necessary to rise above your principles.
2. The best way to succeed in politics is to find a crowd that’s going somewhere and get in front of them. — Brown’s Rules of Leadership

# 1 is usually pretty easy for most politicos, it’s not hard at all to rise above one’s principles when they already live in the gutter. # 2 is Rick Santorum to a T; his posturings and outrageous attacks on the administration are obvious bait for the far right’s ultra-conservative religious fundamentalists. One can easily spot the manipulative statements from Rick’s camp; they are the statements that A) make divisive, antagonistic remarks about personal, not political issues, and/or B) have little or no relation to reality as is commonly accepted by society at large.

I don’t figure that the White House is particularly worried over the election in November; all the apparent choices in the opposing camp are proving themselves adept at shooting themselves in the foot, and at alienating large groups of voters at a time through bigoted and ignorant statements. It’s almost as if the Republican wannabes hired Democrats as their campaign advisers; events could not have gone any better had they been planned that way. Let’s hope the trend continues, and the right wing continues to show how out of touch with the American public they really are…..
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What Congress means by ethics is best explained by the tailor’s story: “Suppose I sell a suit to a young man for $200.  He tells me that his family is footing the bill and that if I give him a receipt for $400 to give to his parents, he will pay me $100 on the side. The question of ethics is: Do I keep the extra $100 myself, or do I tell my partner and split it with him?”

Once again I am saddened by a joke…. I’m sad because it isn’t funny any more. It’s absolute truth, and a perfect analogy for the political scene in today’s society. Worse yet, the money they are stealing is mine, or another taxpayer’s; far be it from them to ever put their own money at risk.

This tailor sounds like a viable candidate for Speaker of the House of Representatives. He couldn’t be any worse than Mr. Gingrich, the first Speaker ever to receive an official reprimand from the House Ethics Committee for infractions of Congressional ethics (whatever they are…). Another sad part? None of the political liars and cheats who are outed in the papers ever spend any time in jail….. and that’s definitely a crime…..

“The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.” — William H. Borah
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“I’ll tell you what kind of guy I was.   If you ordered a boxcar full of sons-of-bitches and opened the door and only found me inside, you could  consider the order filled.” — Robert Mitchum

If for nothing else, one could enjoy this just for the chutzpah; Bob certainly had no problems with self-esteem, did he? Actually, I read this many years ago, and for a long time it was one of my most cherished wishes to be able to say this about myself. There is a certain charm and attraction in being held up as an example, even if the example is less than savory. There is also a lot to be said for the fact that folks who have this sort of reputation don’t get bugged very often, once word gets around that doing so is liable to get your tongue handed back to you as an accessory instead of a built-in tool.

It does get a bit lonely at times, since very few folks are willing to take the time to get past the outer crust, but the friends one ends up with are those that will stick. The wishy-washy need not apply….. curmudgeon training also teaches one how to appreciate one’s own curmudgeonliness, (not a word, according to SpellCheck, but I’m using it anyway; it’s self-explanatory…) for the time it can save; one finds that those who are nice to others all the time spend a lot of their own time dealing with those people, and bear the risk of drowning in sugar. As a practicing curmudgeon, all that super-sweet nicey-nicey shit is cut off at the pass; ignore them long enough, and they go away, leaving us in peace to pursue our own lives….. happy as a pig in mud…
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It’s always a bit of a shock to realize I’m done for the day; this process tends to capture my complete attention for the first two or three hours of the day, and reaching the end is somewhat of a surprise. But, in a good way….. it promises to be a nice day outside; I think I might take a long walk & breathe a bit….. y’all take care out there…..

—

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Unraveling the Celtic knot….

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2

Ffolkes,
T’is morning again, and as the castle awoke, I strode down the chancel steps, thoughts focused on breaking my fast. Years ago, none were so bold as to tell me, but all looked at me askance, with questions and fear in their eyes. Aye, none would tell me, but all knew. They all knew that I, Raxom, heir to the throne of Saxony, had been abducted by a wizard when very small, and no amount of raging and blustering, and charging around the kingdom searching had brought me home.

At the end of a month, I was found, asleep in a basket, left on the steps of the scullery door. No marks, and no evidence of foul play were found on me, and being too young to talk, I could not tell them. I could not tell them that the old wizard who had taken me had changed me somehow. No longer a babe, I looked around me with bright, interested eyes; the scullery maids tittered and fluttered, as I peered at them from my basket, for I looked at them with eyes older than the sun. Pay heed now, as I tell the rest of my tale, a tale of power, and magic, and matters of highest import…….

There…. that feels better. Sorry, that’s been stuck in there for awhile; I’m glad it finally worked its way out into the light. They tend to fester if they stay in my head too long….. and now we can go on to something a bit more constructive, and more fun…..though, I have to say, this one was a delight to process; no stumbles or blockages noted…. a very polite little pair of paragraphs, if I do say so myself…..
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“Let us go forth not as defenders of the status quo, but as crusaders with a revolutionary idea – that government should be the servant and not the master of the people; that its purpose is to protect, not deny, each man’s freedom; that the purpose of a free press is to liberate, not enslave the human spirit.” — From the speech made by A. S. Hills upon taking office as President of the Inter-American Press Association

This noble aim seems to have fallen out of favor with modern media professionals. The Internet now acts as the limitless source of otherwise hidden information that accumulates around government activities, while the newspaper, radio , and TV reporters spend their time endlessly dissecting and discussing the details of the same shared stories. The unfortunate side effect that needs to be taken into account in using information from the ‘Net is the frequent and obvious slant to the information put out by some sites; these slants can be as misleading as the nonsense the “major networks” are spouting, influenced as they are by folks who, though not of the powerful elite, very much have their own agenda, one that has little to do with what is best for you and me…

Thus, finding sources of information that can be trusted becomes a critical element in the fight to keep up with the events that shape reality; it can be a time consuming effort, culminating in thorough testing of the information gathered against what we know to be real, before deciding whether to utilize it or not. Even when we have made such a decision, we have to regularly run the same test over all the sources we use, for safety’s sake…. annoying, but necessary. Using the old 50/25/0% ratio (one should only believe 50% of what is seen, 25% of what is read, and nothing of what is heard) it doesn’t take long to wean out the sources that are unfit for data consumption. This is important to know in a world where having accurate data is essential to solving the equation of life; starting with false assumptions, or false data, can only lead to erroneous outcomes…… and there are enough folks out there filling that evolutionary niche already….
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They say that a dog never steps on a cursed object.

I would say this is probably true; as well, one might include cats in this category of creature, i.e., one who perceives more than what a mere human is capable of seeing. How often have you seen a cat sitting, perfectly still, staring with intense concentration at a point on the floor, or wall? I see them do that often; I figure they are using their mental power of telekinesis to hold shut a door between universes where bad/evil uglies are just waiting to cross over to our universe to steal our Kiss albums and recipes for homemade dumplings. It’s either that, or they are messing with our heads, a habit any cat owner will tell you is common in the species.

Dogs never do that, not purposely; they’re too nice, too innocent for such games. Cats can be nice, too, when it is in their self interests to be so; they can also be as disapproving and cold as your Great Aunt Minnie’s oatmeal. All in all, though, I’d say the collaboration between man, dog, and cat, a pact entered into many generations ago around a campfire, has, for the most part, worked out well for all three parties. I know for certain that I mostly prefer the company of dogs and cats over that of my fellow man; they’ve given me much more reason to trust them than 99% of the people I’ve met in my life….. and they’re mostly better company, to boot….
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“Evolution is as much a fact as the earth turning on its axis and going around the sun.  At one time this was called the Copernican theory; but, when evidence for a theory becomes so overwhelming that no informed person can doubt it, it is customary for scientists to call it a fact.  That all present life descended from earlier forms, over vast stretches of geologic time, is as firmly established as Copernican cosmology.  Biologists differ only with respect to theories about how the process operates.” — Martin Gardner, “Irving Kristol and the Facts of Life”, — The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. XII No. 2, ppg. 128-131

This is one of the clearest statements I’ve seen regarding this subject, and I was going to use it to poke more fun at the politicians in the news, but decided instead to just examine the concept for relevance. Evolution seems such common sense to me that I have a hard time believing that adult, presumably educated people can truthfully express their doubt as to it’s veracity. But, as a matter of fact, the two leading Republican presidential contenders currently hogging the headlines have both called evolution an “unproven theory”, though they are not able or willing to supply any physical, or even logical, evidence supporting that contention; it’s just their opinion, smirk, smirk, wiggle eyebrows…. My simple question for you is this….. are you willing to allow these people to have the power to launch nuclear weapons? To speak for us before the world? To have a mandate to force the rest of us to adopt their insanity? I didn’t think so……. neither do I…..
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“The correct way to punctuate a sentence that starts: “Of course it is none of my business, but –” is to place a period after the word “but.” Don’t use excessive force in supplying such a moron with a period. Cutting his throat is only a momentary pleasure and is bound to get you talked about.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

I tend to use quotes from this book a lot; it’s a tour de force of much of Heinlein’s body of work, and includes a segment called “The Notebooks of Lazarus Long”. The Notebooks are a compendium of quotations on life that come from the wisdom of a man who, by the beginning of the central story in the book, had already lived through 2300 years of human history.  That’s a pretty long time to hang around this old place, and in order to survive that long, some basic patterns of thought and attitude are revealed as being valuable for their usefulness in the Art of Survival.

As a matter of fact, ‘useful’ may be one of the defining characteristics of all the quotations, and attitudes, that are included in the Notebooks. There are too many to cover in a short piece of work like this one (though  long/short is debatable when talking of P.O.V.W….), but I will leave you with one of the deepest and most useful of all the fabulous entries…..

“Always store beer in a dark place.”– Lazarus Long  (Think about it awhile; it will grow as you think…..)
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Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea,
Yet never in extremity
It asked a crumb of me.
— Emily Dickenson

As is often the case with one of Emily’s poems, there is nothing I can add that will make it better, or better understood. I have a hard time saying why I like her works, anyway; I’m not sure the reason is available to my conscious mind. But it’s okay, because just reading it is enough for me……
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Putting this morning’s Pearl together was an interesting start to the day; I’m not certain just what it says about how the rest of it should go. I thought much of the time this morning I was struggling, mostly to find subject matter. But, the process is now over, and it seemed to go by very quickly, which is usually a sign of good things to come later in the day.  Now I don’t know what to think…. oh well, I guess I’ll use the old retired person gambit, and go back to bed for awhile….. meantime, y’all take care out there….

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Not all pundits are bellicose….

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Ffolkes,
If it hadn’t been for Nosy’s dog, the aliens might have enslaved us all. He (Nosy, not the dog) always said that Useless wasn’t a normal dog, but we figured he was just saying that to make Useless feel better. And who’d a’thought a dog that wouldn’t even chase cats could be a hero? Goes to show, I guess, you can’t never take nothing for granted…..

It was one of them days in the desert when even the wind was too hot to blow. Shimmering waves of heat were coming off the packed dirt surrounding the old shack that housed the only gas station and general store for 100 miles in any direction. Pop Doolan and Bill Watson were in their standard positions, perched on chairs that were old & battered when they were boys, puffing away on a pipe and a cigarette, respectively. As I strolled up toward the door, Pop hailed me, “Hey, boy! When you goin’ to start shaving?” Since he knew as well as me I’d never have to worry about that (long story), I just grinned, waved, & stepped on inside the screen door…..

Hmm….. and interesting little opening. I wonder if it will go anywhere? We’ll find out another time; right now it’s time to rein in the horses, and buckle down to work….. seems a shame though; I was kind of interested to see how Useless saves the world…..
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Amor, ch’al cor gentil ratto s’apprende,
prese costui de la bella persona
che mi fu tolta; e ‘l modo ancor m’offende.
Amor, ch’a nullo amato amar perdona,
mi prese del costui piacer si` forte,
che, come vedi, ancor non m’abbandona.
Amor condusse noi ad una morte.

Love, which is quickly kindled in a gentle heart,
seized this one for the fair form
that was taken from me-and the way of it affects me still.
Love, which absolves no loved one from loving,
seized me so strongly with delight in him,
that, as you see, it does not leave me even now.
Love brought us to one death.
— Dante, La Divina Commedia: Inferno V, vv. 100-106

I’ve never taken the time to delve deeply into The Divine Comedy; there were always reasons not to read it whenever it crossed my path, usually taking the form of books more in tune with my tastes. It may be the subject matter, or maybe the style, I don’t know, or much care. But I can recognize quality and talent when I see it, even if it doesn’t appeal to me particularly. I get the same reaction to William F. Buckley and Ayn Rand when I try to read their work. It’s okay though, there are plenty of other reads out there, and I can thus enjoy and appreciate snippets from these works for their artistic flair, or their relevance to reality.

In this case, I included this excerpt for the sheer beauty of form and content it exhibits; the Italian poem reads so well it engenders an audio image of great power and majesty. It is also impressive how well the translation of this piece, and of the others I have seen, mimics the original so closely, in both tone and grandeur. It almost makes me want to go pick up a copy and dive in….. nah! Too much work….. but, it’s a good one to remember for the next time I’m hard up for something to read….. that’s the nice thing about the Classics. There are so many of them, you can always find one you’ve never tried before, and be virtually guaranteed that it will be a good read……
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“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.” — Edward Abbey

Sad, but true. And even more relevant in today’s political climate, which often resembles a carnival sideshow on Mental Health Day. As an American patriot, I have become inured to the constant lies and grasping avarice common to the current species of candidates. Don’t get me wrong, now; I mistrust the Democrats just as much as I do the Republicans. It’s just that the news and media is always full of the GOP right now, due to the feeding frenzy they call the caucuses, or some such euphemism for circus.

Every day, we are assaulted with reports of the latest gaffes, misstatements, outlandish claims, prophesies, and the random reasoned response (usually from some man-on-the-street), all of which are examined, re-examined, and speculated on endlessly. By the time the relevant election gets here, in November, I, and every patriot with a lick of common sense, will probably either boycott the election altogether, or find an empathetic psychiatrist to deal with the rage, one who can persuade them (us) not to shoot at the poor little candidates, at least not with live ammo…..

“It is of some small consolation for you to know that we have survived every President the electorate has thrust upon us.” — Anonymous

“The genius of our ruling class is that it has kept a majority of the people from ever questioning the inequity of a system where most people drudge along, paying heavy taxes for which they get nothing in return.” — Gore Vidal
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Some days, pearl diving is an occupation fraught with frustration; other days, like today, quotes on a particular subject just keep jumping into my lap. I had intended to write about the Bill of Rights, and how it is under attack by the PTB, otherwise known as our beloved ruling class, so I had that as a thought in the back of my mind when I dove in. Et voila’, quotes galore…. now I don’t need to write about it, because these say all I needed to say….

“Are we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our own defense? Where is the difference between having our arms in our own possession and under our own direction, and having them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the _real_ object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?” — Patrick Henry

“…it is hard for me to see how one can argue that circumstances have so changed as to make mass disarmament constitutionally unproblematic.” — Professor Sanford Levinson, — The Embarrassing Second Amendment, — The Yale Law Journal, Vol 99, No 3, December 1989, p637.

“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” — The Constitution of the United States of America, Amendment 2, 1791 (That pesky Second Amendment….)

“Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear — kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor — with the cry of grave national emergency… Always there has been some terrible evil to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it by furnishing the exorbitant sums demanded.  Yet, in retrospect, these disasters seem never to have happened, seem never to have been quite real.” — General Douglas MacArthur, 1957

“Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Avert misunderstanding by calm, poise, and a .44 magnum.

I think that about covers it….. stay alert, ffolkes, the world needs more lerts…..
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“People are divided into two groups – the righteous and the unrighteous – and the righteous do the dividing.” — Lord Cohen

People are funny, aren’t they? Lord Cohen (another royal I’ve never heard of…) has hit squarely upon one of the more perverse qualities common to the human spirit. It always struck me as pretty hilarious (as well as hypocritical) that the people in the world who make the most noise and trouble over insignificant cultural or ideological differences are the same people who lay claim to being the only true devotees of the Great Redeemer, the only ones who really see the light.

It says right there in every translation of the Bible, even theirs, that the core of Jesus’ message is “Love thy brother as thyself”; he spent his whole time on this planet teaching compassion and encouraging diversity. But that’s not good enough for them, so they just pay lip service to that part of the Bible, and base their fundamental cruelty on interpretations of the Old Testament that serve their bigotry and ignorance. Too bad…. the world could use a few more good Christians, to help offset the karmic imbalance created by those who choose to fear the unknown, rather than embracing and understanding it…..
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politics, n:  From the Latin ‘poly’, meaning many, and ‘tic’, meaning little bloodsucking insects.

I think this is self-explanatory. It’s here merely because it fits in so well with my raison d’etre, my modus operandi, my….. my very real and unrelentingly hostile opinion of the type of human who enters the political arena in today’s society. I make no secret of my repugnance for those who seek power over other people, on any level, but especially in the political level, whether local, state, federal, or foreign, Democrat, Republican, Independent, whatever. Doesn’t matter to me, they’re all certifiably insane.

Even those who retain even the slightest shred of human decency are made irrelevant by the sheer weight of numbers. The corporate thieves, the sociopathic manipulators, and the deluded fundamentalists outnumber any such foolish milquetoasts to a degree that makes them ( the altruistic idealists) completely meaningless, and effectively powerless.

The picture is bleak enough that I, who swore never to own a gun, have decided to arm myself as soon as possible. The Second Amendment, one of the branches on the Tree of Liberty, may need to be protected and nourished, by the blood of patriots, and tyrants…..
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Having thus purged myself of a large buildup of angst, I can now face the rest of the day with a more cheerful mien. So, that’s what I’m gonna go do…. Y’all take care out there……

—

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!