Tag Archives: politics

It may have been the yeast…..

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Ffolkes,
Just to prove once again that I am not one who will ever cotton to stultification, we’ll shoot today for brevity, and profundity, all at the very same time……

Scintillate, scintillate, globule vivific,
Fain how I pause at your nature specific,
Loftily poised in the ether capacious,
Highly resembling a gem carbonaceous.
Scintillate, scintillate, globule vivific,
Fain how I pause at your nature specific.

Bonus points awarded if you figured out this cover of another well-known poem. Not many bonus points; it’s not THAT hard, but just having to look up even one word will make the extra points welcome…..no profundity to be seen here ffolkes, move along….
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Euripides says,–
Who knows but that this life is really death,
And whether death is not what men call life?
— Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Pyrrho, viii

It always amazes me (and by now it shouldn’t, as it certainly happens often) how certain periods of history produce brilliant minds by the dozens, while others languish for centuries without the benefit of the constant stimulus of ideas that pour forth from those genius’ that sometimes dwell among us. What struck me about this particular pearl is its’ similarity to the beliefs of another culture, far across the world, and unknown to the Greeks, Romans, and Western (so-called) civilizations, the aboriginal people of Australia. They too observed the universe as oppositional, existing in duality as dictated by the means of our perception,  but with a different set of cultural prejudices, a wholly different way of interpreting what the perceptions mean. But in this point they are convergent, marking this subject as one that would likely be a valuable one to study, and heed…..
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“In the midst of the word he was trying to say, In the midst of his laughter and glee, He had softly and suddenly vanished away –for the Snark *was* a Boojum, you see.” — Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark

This is only here because it gave me an unexpected moment of deja vu; I felt for a short intense moment that I was the Snark, destined to vanish before ever making a point…..probably just paranoia, but unsettling to say the least…..
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“The trouble with Nixon is that he’s a serious politics junkie. He’s totally hooked… and like any other junkie, he’s a bummer to have around: especially as President.” — Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939), journalist — The Great Shark Hunt, Jacket Copy for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1979)

I saw this, pondered a moment, and have come up with this here scientific experiment, in which you will now play a part……it’s a simple experiment. In the above short statement, substitute the name of any President of the United States post WWII, and examine the ensuing statement for veracity and/or accuracy. The results, I believe, will be, perhaps, enlightening, if not downright ugly…..when I did it, I got a short stab of nausea for every other name I entered…..SIGH. And we wonder why things are falling apart……
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Basically, I have this theory that there are five kinds of truth.  (This is Joe’s Theory of the Five Truths.)  There is the truth you tell to casual strangers and acquaintances.  There is the truth you tell to your general circle of friends and family members.  There is the truth you tell to only one or two people in your entire life.  There is the truth you tell to yourself. And finally, there is the truth that you do not admit even to yourself.  And it’s that fifth truth that provides some of the most interesting drama…..” — J.Michael Straczynski (creator of Babylon 5)

To my mind, what Mr. Straczynski forgets to mention is that such truths also provide us with the most interesting drama in our real lives. The word ‘interesting’ is also perhaps a bit tame to describe what happens when life explodes in our face like a cheap novelty cigar; he must mean in it the same sense as the Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.”…..which we are doing now……
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“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.” — Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) — Churchill’s Commentary on Man

Winnie Churchill was a crusty old duck; probably explains why I like him. The little snippets of his wit that have been recorded for posterity, such as this one, generally demonstrate his curmudgeonry as much as his common sense, which I consider the simplest and most elegant form of wisdom. This one is a frighteningly accurate observation about the average man, and as such earns points today for both brevity, and humorous yet profound truth…..
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That went well, I think. I managed to keep from expounding, or getting lost in one of my endless explorations into areas of information that seldom sees the light of day (aka, trivial pursuits), or suckering myself into a political rant. Not bad for a first attempt. If y’all have any preferences, comments, criticisms, or other forms of individual ideation, feel free to come back at me with your best stuff….meantime, y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

The Allure of Fuddy Duddy……

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Ffolkes,
As life passes,
dressed in illusions of grace,
we sit upon our thrones of offal,
ignoring the smell in favor of delusion,
twisted souls blighted by ignorance, laughing,
oblivious to impending doom, until the end………

Perhaps it isn’t great poetry, but it works for me…..up early today, a natural result of going to bed early, & thought I’d try my hand at a line or two….no rhyming going on, but not a bad data compression ratio. Who knows, maybe one day all I learned sophomore year of high school about iambic pentameter will come back to me, and I’ll become a famous poet. Stranger things have happened, for sure….meantime, lets discuss some heavy s__t…..

“Yes, evil comes in many forms, whether it be a man-eating cow or Joseph Stalin, but you can’t let the package hide the pudding! Evil is just plain bad! You don’t cotton to it. You gotta smack it in the nose with the rolled-up newspaper of goodness! Bad dog. Bad dog.” — The Tick

Throughout history, literature, and the people who create it, have been the gadflies of society. Teaching morals and customs through humorous stories and fables goes back to the time even before the Greeks began producing theater, bringing us stories and plays that were both humorous and dramatic, passing on to later generations the public mindset that was prevalent at the time. Prior to theaters and formalized acting out of plays, minstrels and bards, often nomadic, were responsible for the passing on of knowledge to the next generation, teaching nursery rhymes to children, and singing the news to the adults.

     In the 19th century, the advancement in technology for the writing down of history, law, culture, etc. had gotten to the point that books could be produced fairly cheaply. Newspapers were even cheaper, and were able to carry the news from far away even more efficiently. It was about this era when political cartoons made their way into the consciousness of society at large, and cartoons became one more very powerful method for transmitting vitally important information to large numbers of people all at once. This has had some good effects, and some not so good…..


The primary effect, of course, is the ability of cartoon media to spread information to large numbers of people. People have learned to use the information presented there since childhood, from reading comics in the newspaper to watching Saturday morning cartoons all their lives, and have become accustomed to processing the information given in that format with no difficulty. In fact, I have observed that people will often trust a cartoon figure more than a live one, having a greater degree of confidence that they will get a straight answer from the cartoon, while the live person may lie. But the trust that people feel for cartoons carries over as well, and a great deal of information is now given using a “talking head” format. This format is what you see almost everywhere on TV, where a person’s head and shoulders are shown as they deliver some piece of news, or concept, or documentary; it has been refined over the years until today, we very seldom even think about it.


And that is the bad effect…..people have come to trust the talking heads, to believe that what they tell us is the truth, when in fact, probably more than 50% of what you see presented is a lie, always presented in such a fashion as to have us believe it is true, when it is not. Everything you see on TV, especially commercials, is intended to make you think a certain way, to believe certain things are true. There is even a name for the process, called putting the ‘spin’ on truth, meaning to twist and turn the truth into such a shape that it looks true, but is not. This misplaced trust is one of Evil’s most powerful tools, for it gives those who would do us harm a clear path into the control center of public consciousness, where they can adjust belief at their whim. It allows the PTB (Powers That Be) to control what the public hears, and how they hear it. “True power is control of the routes of perception.” — gigoid.


What is the answer to fighting this usurpation of the truth by our beloved ruling class? It lies in the same information media in which it is secured, with a small twist to the other direction. Parody and caricature, when applied by an artist of wit and style, can prick the balloon of lies we are given, and watch them shrivel, their demise hastened by our laughter. The Tick, whose philosophy is summarized above, is a good example of how the literati in society may fight back against the forces of darkness. Sheathed in apparent idiocy, the Tick blunders through the universe righting wrongs, because his heart is pure, and his writers are genius. Fortunately, though the percentage of humanity that sees the truth and brings it to light is small indeed, it has the advantage of the use of the same tool used by those whose self-interest is of primary importance. Used properly, we can laugh those nasty suckers right out of power……

When I’m not thank’d at all, I’m thank’d enough;
I’ve done my duty, and I’ve done no more.
— Henry Fielding (1707-1754)
— Tom Thumb the Great, Act i, Sc. 3

Duty is a word whose meaning has been somewhat obscured in this last century. Before about 1950 or 60, people in this country understood the word, and it’s true meaning. That understanding is what drove the millions of men who volunteered to go to war in WWII and Korea. These men assumed their duty to protect their home and families, and had no expectation of any reward beyond staying alive (the possibility of death is trivial to any man whose life is based on honor). Those men CHOSE to go to war; no threat was needed to obtain recruits. An army of volunteers is much more powerful and dangerous than one comprised of conscripts, a point proven by the war’s outcome.


But somewhere along the line, the concept of duty got perverted, and people apparently came to accept that government had the right to determine what our duty is, without consultation or consent from us. Duty is defined in most dictionaries as “moral obligation”, and as such is an obligation we must decide for ourselves whether or not to assume. No government is either responsible for, nor entitled to dictate, my morals, or anyone else’s.

     Morals are based on our personal beliefs, and as such is not subject to governmental authority. Hell, I don’t even give a religion that power; my morals are mine, and are not the business of anyone else, unless I choose to share them. You can rest assured, I will never allow any government, or church, or any other person to determine my duty for me. Only I make that choice, and any who would try to take that decision away from me should beware…..I get testy…..

“Noise proves nothing.  Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she had laid an asteroid.” — Mark Twain

I included this one as a light-hearted attempt at describing the current political scene here in the good ol’ USA, After a few moments though, what I thought about it looked as if it would be good for a couple thousand words all by itself, and though I got an early start on the day, that may be a bit much. So, we’ll just let it speak for itself, and I will merely point out the tendency of Ms. Bachmann, Mr. Cain, Mr. Perry, Mr. Hunt, Mr. Romney, et al, to insist on giving us a daily report on how many asteroids they have laid in the past week…..

On that note, I will bid thee adieu. I hope my verbosity didn’t put anyone off, but hey, if you think it’s too much, just let me know, ‘kay? In the meantime, y’all take care out there……

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Green socks and red suspenders….

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Ffolkes,
Softly, lovingly, the words flew, seeking minds to take their measure; the day begins…..

“I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.” — H. L. Mencken

One would think that the above statement is self-evident. This is not to say that Mr. Mencken is stating the obvious, but rather that the concepts he shares are clearly true, and leave little or no room for disagreement. Every religion, every culture, every person on the planet would see these, and find it nearly impossible to denigrate any of them, or argue that they are not personal values that all of us are taught to respect from the time when we were small. They are ideas that are intrinsic to a free society, and their absence in everyday interactions between society members leads to controversy, every time. Every person, politician, and corporation, news outlet, hell, everybody you speak to would have you believe that they are true to these principles, and make them a part of their modus operandi. What they don’t add is that they have their fingers crossed behind their backs when they look you in the eye and tell you it is true.

Isaac Asimov is a scientist and writer of great renown, having published well over 200 science fiction novels and collections of short stories, as well as nearly the same number of hard science text and reference books. He had an interesting comment on this subject, to wit: “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is as good as your knowledge.” — Isaac Asimov. Newsweek, January 21, 1980  I like this because it states its premise clearly, succinctly, and powerfully, making itself the perfect example of the type of intellectual statement that would be completely ignored, or possibly vilified, if related to a political aspirant. In this country, if you want to get elected, you can’t afford to say or do anything that might indicate agreement with this observation; there are too many voters who are lifetime members of the cult. This is why they say such dumb things when they are campaigning for office; it keeps their name up in front of the Stupids, and they know their assertions will be bought at face value, no matter how outrageously untruthful or anti-intellect it may be. There are times, and of late they are legion, when I get really disgusted with the sad state of affairs in this country, and for that matter, the world. Just seems like there’s not enough of us shouting out the truth, and those who are not invested in truth don’t hear it anyway…….

Behold the child, by Nature’s kindly law,
Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw;
Some livelier plaything gives his youth delight,
A little louder, but as empty quite;
Scarfs, garters, gold, amuse his riper stage,
And beads and prayer-books are the toys of age.
Pleased with this bauble still, as that before,
Till tired he sleeps, and life’s poor play is o’er.
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
— Essay on Man, Epistle ii, Line 274

It’s just a personal quirk, I guess, but when I find a piece of poetry such as this, I get a tingly sliver of sheer pleasure that shoots up my spine, and hits my consciousness with a sharp jolt of joy. Look at it! It even sits there attractively, balanced and lovely, shining slightly with a glow of insight, and profound understanding. Eight lines. Two quatrains of everyday words, put together so cleverly, an entire lifetime is celebrated between the first and last lines. Not only the life, but the experience of life, comes through as clearly and powerfully as if whispered directly into your ear. Mssr. Pope gives us an image, a picture painted on the mind’s canvas, and shows with deft strokes how each of life’s stages flows from one age to the next, until at last it progresses to the final curtain. Poetry like this is one of life’s grandest surprises, an unexpected gift of joy. Gotta love them poets…..

“Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you’ll understand what little chance you have of trying to change others.” — Jacob M. Braude

If one is in the habit of following the ebb and flow of current events, as am I, it becomes increasingly difficult to ignore the signs of impending global disaster. Pollution of the air, land, and sea; global climate changes melting the polar ice; an ever-widening financial gap between segments of society; divisiveness and religious controversy amongst all nations and cultures; increasing evidence of the effects of over-population. All of these, and more, are clear indicators of the breakdown of society at large, and of the need for far-reaching changes to stop and reverse our progress down the path to extinction. And unfortunately for all of us, human nature is such that the statement above is absolute truth. Each of us is solely responsible for our actions; no one can make us do what we won’t, unless we allow it. And this is the root of the whole problem….

Too many people abrogate their responsibility to Life. It’s too hard to think, or consider deep philosophical concepts, and there is too much to do in order to stay even with life’s demands. So people tend to let others think for them. Even though they have the power to make their own decisions, they let others tell them how to behave, when to eat, what to buy, what to believe. They react with anger and violence when challenged about their beliefs, even though they cannot express what those beliefs are, other than to repeat what they’ve been told. Talking heads come on TV and the most aggravatingly insane drivel that comes out of their mouths is held as gospel truth. Politicians make up incredible lies and make promises that appeal to the most extreme segments of the populace, fanning the fire of their ignorant fear of anything different, just to get elected. When in office, those promises are ignored in favor of whatever new policies will guarantee the continuing process of lining their pockets with public funding.

People are lazy. It’s a fact, and is actually one of our most important survival characteristics. Our minds are armed with the power of imagination, and it is always willing to focus that talent in order to make life easier and more comfortable. This is why we invent stuff; to make life easier. Not because we want to improve ourselves or our environment, but because we are too lazy to work hard to achieve our desires. If we can think up a way to perform simple, tedious tasks with less effort, we will do so. It’s a natural ability, and it is an integral part of our nature. And used in this sense, it is a valuable tool. But most folks end up taking their lackadaisical tendencies too far, which allows the less moral among us to increase their influence over our lives. My fear is that society at large has waited too long, and become too rigidly committed to the behaviors which will eventually lead to extinction to be able slow, or stop our progress toward the abyss…..and I don’t want to die yet!……

Y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

In the palace of the king….

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Ffolkes,
The weather is behaving oddly….but that is to be expected, as humanity has so far declined to stop pumping CO2 into the air, and the average temperature of the planet continues to rise. It won’t end until we are all dead…..and that, my friends, is a fact, not an assumption, not a theory, but a proven fact. Deal with it…

So here hath been dawning another blue day:
Think, wilt thou let it slip useless away?
Out of eternity this new day is born;
Into eternity at night ’twill return.
— Carlyle (1795-1881)

When I first read this I was struck by how perfectly it communicates the passage of Time, human productivity and motivation for same, and the Beauty of the entire process. It is a perfect piece to read to help us know why we go out and start a day’s work, and an equally good way to end the day, with a reminder to appreciate what has been. And as such, it enters the realm of R.G.P. (Really Good Poetry), and finds a niche of honor in my collection of Virtual Wisdom. It is perhaps a perfect example of the power of the written word, when it takes the form of poetry. An hour-long lecture exploring the subjects mentioned above could be composed with little effort, a lecture that would explain what the poet what trying to say. And THAT highlights the power, as the information passed in the hour-long statement is merely a paraphrasing of the poem. The hour’s information was packed into four short lines, and grew more beautiful with being shrunk to the given size. Wonderful indeed are the hidden talents of the human mind. It’s really our only hope, and a slender one at that……..

Fanatic: Someone who, having lost sight of his goal, redoubles his efforts.

This is obviously not the definition as given in Webster’s, but is just as accurate a description as the one that appears therein. And in today’s political arena, it serves a useful purpose, which is, of course, using it to help identify these overly zealous individuals among the current crop of candidates for the presidency. From my point of view, at least five of the seven Republicans campaigning for the highest political prize of all can be classified as fanatics, and the other two are so far out of it, their next steps will probably qualify them to join the others in the fanatics category. Every time one of them makes a statement, it sounds like a plot from a really bad daytime soap opera has gotten mixed in with their speech notes. Or even more fascinating, they will shoot from the hip, make some outlandish statement that comes from deep in their personal quirk files, showing the true depth of their racism, or prejudice, or their deliberate ignorance. Watching them spend the next two weeks backing off from those statements provides me with a great deal of entertainment, and hopefully gives the voting populace a clear picture of the danger of having one of them take the controls of so much power.

It’s amazing really, how these folks can parade their ignorance in front of the public eye, and actually, I take hope from the fact that they do so, as it shows their true natures, and how unsuitable those natures are for the position they seek. But, I also know my hope is tenuous at best. All it takes for me to groan again at the foolishness of the American voting populace, and remember that we have already elected one actor to the job, and we are still trying to overcome the financial mess he left us in. As a matter of fact, in looking back over my lifetime, what I see is one President after another coming into office, spending the first part of their term deciding what needs the most reform, making plans to start the changes, then having to fight intense pressure from the supposedly “loyal opposition” to stop any change. The party that lost the last election, whether right or left, spends its time bringing up BS about the President, accusing him of chicanery, and generally throwing up any kind of distraction they can come up with, no mater how silly or vicious, to keep anything constructive from taking place. Then they can point out how little the President has accomplished. I am becoming thoroughly disgusted, and increasingly angry at our belove ruling class. I have suggested previously that it is time for the Second American Revolution, and I am completely serious. The country I live in today bears no resemblance to the one envisioned by our founding fathers (and mothers); I am so incensed that I am seriously considering buying a gun, something I had resolved not to do in my life, as I’ve always felt the best way to get shot at was to carry a gun. But, I can see a day coming when I will need it, in order to defend the few rights I have left…..what do y’all think?

If all is not lost, then where is it?

I can only wish that I knew……not enough people are outraged at what is happening today. I’ve read a book every day since I was ten years old. I’ve watched people and society for that same amount of time, and I am afraid. I am afraid that we have waited too long. We, and by that I mean Humankind, have not made the internal changes necessary to insure our survival. Our greed for power over others, and our sense of entitlement regarding the planet’s resources, is leading us down a sure path to extinction. The pumping of chemicals and poison toxins into the water, air, and land that we live in and on, continues to take place, in spite of massive evidence that we are killing ourselves (and a lot of other forms of life). The recent 99% protests going on are just the beginning of uprisings from the public; the 1% is killing us all, and they don’t think that it applies to them. I don’t care how rich you are, when the percentage level of oxygen in the air (16% ideally), falls below 12%, you will certainly die. And they just don’t seem to care……deliberate ignorance. What they also don’t know is that the results achieved by their intransigence are completely unavoidable; there’s nowhere else to go. Once this environment is kaput, that will be the end of, and there is no appeal. Kinda makes it hard sometimes to keep up a good front……I guess we’ll just have to see how it goes……and hope for good luck, because that’s all that will save us at this point……

Well, was that enough gloom and doom for ya? In some ways I hate to write this kind of article, because I know it’s a waste of effort. Our beloved ruling class, all 1% of them, will have their way, unless we take the ability to do so away from them. 5000 years of human history shows not a single instance of that ever happening, so the odds are against us, at least in that sense. Meanwhile, all we can do is take care of the ones we love, and smile, smile, smile…… Y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Equipped with unregistered tweezers…..

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Ffolkes,
I was right about the new format, and wrong as well, just like in real life! It does eliminate the search for subject matter, but tends to lead to ranting, or just plain old rambling, an occupational hazard for me. Oh well, can’t have everything, and who wants it easy all the time? Onward…..

“His philosophy was a mixture of three famous schools:  the Cynics, the Stoics and the Epicureans – and summed up all three of them in his famous phrase, ‘You can’t trust any bugger further than you can throw him, and there’s nothing you can do about it, so let’s have a drink.'” — Terry Pratchett, ‘Small Gods’

Laughter is probably my favorite part of Life; I can’t think of a single time in my life when laughter was unwelcome. Conversely, I can think of any number of times when it was not only welcome, but life-saving, or at the very least life-preserving. In its way it also affirms life; it lets you know that you are alive, and that life is good. The sound of a child’s laughter can bring a smile to the grimmest curmudgeon, and the laughter of a beautiful woman can be either joyous, or cruel. Laughing is our best defense against the tyranny of repressive thought; it can bring a tyrant to his knees, for tyranny lives in fear of ridicule. Laughter cannot cure pain, but can ease it, and make it more bearable. In its way, laughter prolongs life, actually reversing many of the effects of time. When laughter is in our lives, everything is more colorful; vision is more acute, hearing, touch, smell, all are more acute when under its influence. And when it is long absent from us, the world turns dreary, and washed of all color. Without laughter, our lives become drudgery, merely a time to survive, in silence and despair.

The Universe is one huge joke, and the punch line has yet to come. We can spend our lives in black and white, trudging along the dusty road of Time with head hanging down and steps heavy as sorrow. Or, we can look for the brighter side of Life, and laugh at ourselves and everything around us, marching ahead with eyes up and seeking new vistas, hopeful for the dawn of each new day. Your choice…..

“If you look at life one way, there is always cause for alarm.” — Elizabeth Bowen

When I read this quote, I was immediately reminded of St. Francis of Assisi’s famous quote, “Beware the man of one book.” It also occurred to me that this would be a perfect slogan for the any of  the Republican candidates who have spent the last few months flailing around the country, sowing ignorance and discord by the bucket. It is a perfect description of their entire campaign, wherein they attempt to turn any question from a reporter into an opportunity to get their own personal talking points out into the public eye, without ever giving a substantive answer to the original query. Global warming? Just a theory…. Abortion? NIMBY….Gay marriage? They’re sick and need treatment…. Torturing prisoners? It’s the American way….. The 99%/1% wealth distribution? “It’s your own fault you’re not rich!”….. Trillion-dollar a day wars in two countries? “We’ll just cut service to the elderly and the educational system…”  Every time one of them opens up their mouth, more insane drivel pours out, and I have to go wash my ears again…..

The worst part of this situation? To me it is the scary fact that there are millions of people in this country who not only fall for this bullshite, but actively support these sociopathic assholes, thinking they’re just the bee’s knee’s. It scares me to distraction when I think of how many uneducated, deliberately ignorant folks live in this country, and how easily they are led into voting for people who not only don’t respect them, but laugh at them as they carry their moneybags to the bank. It’s very disheartening……but it’s like the Firesign Theater said, “Yes, living in today’s complex world of the Future IS much like having a hive of bees living in your head. But….there they are!”……and here are the Republocrats…..deal with it….. if we don’t deal with it pretty soon, the species Australopithecus will join the dodo in the ranks of failed organisms on Planet Earth….here is a short poem that would make a good epitaph, should that occur….

And the wind shall say, Here were decent, godless people
their only monument the asphalt road
and a thousand lost golf balls.
— T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)

I usually do three, but these went a bit long, so for today, I will bid thee adieu…….y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

If you sing, it will hum….

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Ffolkes,
Good morning…..let us be off into the world of words…..

Our real self, the soul, is immortal. We may sleep for a little while in that change called death, but we can never be destroyed. We exist, and that existence is eternal. The wave comes to the shore, and then goes back to the sea; it is not lost.” — Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda was an Indian sadhi, or holy man. He was a teacher of yoga and philosophy, beloved around the entire world. He wrote the book “Autobiography of a Yogi”, which is held to be responsible for bringing the practice of meditation to the Western world. Now, yesterday, or perhaps the one before, I included here a quote from one of the Indian holy books written before the advent of Christ, in approximately 300 B.C. If you were to hold the two quotes together, it would be very difficult to tell whether or not they came from the same piece, or at least the same school of thought. But there are over two thousand years between the appearance of the first, and the writing of the second. To me, this is one of the major reasons that I often prefer the approach of the older religions to the questions of Life that they try to answer.

Compared to most Christian, or Muslim writings, the passages from the Bhagavad Gita, the Dhammapada, and the older Hindu tomes written first in Sanskrit, all show a much greater understanding of how the universe works, without having to resort to the creation of one deity, who is omniscient, omnipotent, and all-seeing (it says so right here on the label), who strangely enough, resembles most an old Jewish patriarch, and who oddly enough has the behavioral characteristics of a jealous and spiteful little boy. That whole batch of stories in the Old Testament about the prophets like Job, and Lot, are like reading a soap opera with deus ex machinae. It’s the sort of story that first drove me away from Christian teachings, which proclaim to be merciful, but have been perverted to rationalize prejudice and racism, to more logical, evidence based philosophies that encourage diversity and reason.  I’ve never looked back, and thus am not a pillar of salt…..

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.  It is it’s natural manure.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to William S. Smith, Paris, Nov.  13, 1787

In the past few years, since the advent of Homeland Insecurity, I have watched the more conservative elements of our society pull back, just like a tortoise who sees danger, and retreats into his hopefully impervious shell. And at the creation of each new regulation to curtail one of our liberties, I have watched with somber regard, ashamed of my country. We were attacked on 9/11/01, yes. But why? Has anyone ever stopped to ask that question? Well yes, some did, and they were shouted down as being unpatriotic. Apparently, holding fast to the liberties provided for us by Mr. Jefferson, et al, has become an unpatriotic act.
It is unpatriotic for me to object to having my private information and home privacy invaded and curtailed. It is supposedly unpatriotic to object out loud to any of the measures taken; the pundits will scream their tiny little heads off, using every fear of the unknown that they can come up with to frighten and distract the public. I recently put out in one of my pieces the concept of another American Revolution. I pointed out that the men and women who fought against English rule in the late 1700’s did so because they wanted to govern themselves, to “pursue happiness” according to their own rules, rather than living with rules and taxes laid upon them by people who were only interested in profits and power.
Today, we are living under the same sort of oppression; the people who are elected in this country run for the office not because they are public-spirited, but because it is the best way to achieve power over others. I cannot think of one single elected representative that did not lie to the public to obtain office, nor can I come up with a name of one who didn’t continue to lie once elected. It’s pathetic how stupid the general public has become, so focused on the details of living that they can’t spare the intellectual energy to question their beloved ruling class. I’m not sure anymore that there are any Americans left who believe in what Tom Jefferson said above; they’d all rather just kick back and watch hockey, or complain the beer’s too warm……..

Freedom is just a hallucination created by a pathological lack of paranoia. (Scary, if true…..)

I think I’ve chosen poorly this morning, which isn’t surprising. I had a lot to say about this when I first picked it, but I can see that most of the subject was covered above. It might be amusing to try to go humorous with it, but I’m not in the mood today for that; too much sheer anger built up against the forces of Dark, aka Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Bush I or II, or any of the other crop of folks who prefer to keep the public in a state of constant turmoil, in order to distract them from what they are actually doing. It is hard for me to accept the whole “water-boarding” controversy, because I had assumed that our leaders were people of integrity, not hypocrisy. Torture, to my way of thinking, the act of cowards, who believe that the end justifies the means in all cases; it doesn’t fit with my image of how a free man functions. Cowards who live in constant fear that someone will really see what a coward they are, who will say or do anything to maintain their own little kingdom of influence. Sometimes the end CAN justify the means, but not most of the time. Most of the time, it merely serves as a way to comfort their innate insecurity, and keep them from assuming either guilt, or responsibility for the actions.
This could go on forever; I have a lot of powerful emotion behind these ideas, and could sit here all day, taking shots at the talking heads. But, I do have other stuff to get done today, so I’ll leave it here. Feel free to comment, positively or otherwise; dialog is always welcome here. In the meantime, y’all take care out there…..

Sometimes I sits and thinks,

and sometimes,

I just sits.

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Broken promises with fresh pie….

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Ffolkes,
Through a film of excruciating pain, he writes…..

True freedom is the release from pain.–Unknown

Another little tagline on pain….”Pain is our least favorite, and best, teacher.”  I’m sure most of us have had some experience with physical pain. Women who are mothers speak of the pain of childbirth, supposedly like no other. I cannot judge that, having no point of reference with which to compare. But I will say this; even the pain of giving birth cannot be any worse than a badly infected tooth. On a scale of 10, it feels like about 12. There is no escape; breathing makes it worsen, and we can’t stop breathing. The entire right side of the face is sore and tender, and any inhaled cold air is like a shot of electricity right into the nerve. It throbs, and every heartbeat brings a new surge of pain.


Having an old back injury, I’ve been dealing with continuous pain now for about 16 years. My doctor treats the pain with Norco, a double dose of Vicodin in one pill. When the back pain is bad, even the Norco can be ineffective. But for the most part, as long as I pay attention to the teacher, I can operate normally. But when the tooth pain is added in, it is not as efficient. It’s as if I wasn’t taking anything at all; the tooth pain just starts growing, and blows right past the Vicodin stop sign. The pain grows and grows until I feel like screaming and tearing out my hair (as if I had any extra to lose at this point). It won’t stop, and it won’t go away. The only way to deal with it is deep meditation, where one can completely shut out the external and internal stimuli. But that can be a hard state to get into when your nerve-endings are all screaming at you in a crescendo of pain.


Then the moment arrives…..the extra medication finally hits the blood, and the pain begins to recede at long last. The feeling that is engendered at that moment can only be described as one of exquisitely fulfilling relief. The entire system gives a huge SIGH as the muscles in the body begin to relax and the tension of fighting the pain is reduced. When the pain is severe, there is a roaring in the ears, the sound of your world crashing down around you as the pain takes over. But when the pain recedes, it grows quiet. It is almost orgasmic in the sense of release that comes when the pain is no longer in control, and with the brain’s amazing power of selective memory, it is as if it never were. That feeling is freedom. Pain is oppressive, and the release from its clutches is as sweet as honey on homemade bread. More on this subject on another day…..

“Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.)

It’s probably too early in the week to start on politics, but as time passes, we grow ever nearer the Presidential electoral farce that is acted out every four years, and this particular event in 2012 promises to reach for new heights of asininity. The tagline states a premise that is unfortunate, but all too true. Those of the public who are caring, reasonable, honest, and intelligent will once more be subjected to a series of complaints, lies, accusations, lies, assertions rooted in ignorance, lies, promises, and more lies, all intended to convince us that we should choose the perpetrator to be the one to lie to us for the next four years. And therein lies the conundrum we face…..


If we don’t vote, then the people who get elected are put in office by those people who believe the lies, and we have no say in the matter, and no right to complain, only the right to feel smug about being right. But if we vote, then we are falling into the category of fools who believe whatever a talking head tells them, and complaining only adds confusion and controversy to an already unstable scenario. But rest assured, no matter who is voted in, they are NOT looking out for your interests; they are looking after their own.


So, you may ask, how do we fix it? Hell, I don’t know, at least not offhand, and I probably shouldn’t suggest the old system get thrown out if I don’t have anything in mind to replace it with. But my patience with the whole system is growing less with each passing year, and with each new atrocity promulgated by the deliberate ignorance of our beloved ruling class. I have suggested before that it may be time for the Second Revolutionary War for the people who live in this country, and I won’t withdraw that idea. We fought against an oppressive government in the late 1700’s, for the right to determine our own destiny without the interference of a corrupt governing body. It seems to me that the folks we have been sending to D.C.  are just as oppressive as George II, taxing without any input, and legislating us until we bleed. So, are we lesser men than our forefathers? Or will we stand up for the few freedoms we still possess? Only time will tell……

“Do we know much about women? Do we? We don’t. We know when they’re happy, we know when they’re crying, we know when they’re pissed off. We just don’t know what order those are gonna come at us.” — Evan Davis

I love women. All women. Tall, short, thick, thin, doesn’t matter much. Just a look of intelligence and humor in the eyes is enough for me to be interested. This love for women is probably a characteristic of the survival instinct, an essential feature of guaranteeing the future of the species. Regardless, it is a part of my nature that I have no problem accepting, being both genetically and educationally disposed toward creating a family. I have goals for my self, that have nothing to do with other folks, even women, at least not directly. But all of those goals assume, or at least approve of, the presence at my side of a distaff companion, a partner, a lover, a friend.


Now, in my later years, I find myself living without a companion, an uncommon state of affairs for me. And one that I hope will not continue forever. However, I am finding it to be a kind of relaxing vacation from the everyday effort needed to maintain a relationship with a woman. The above tagline is pretty accurate, as far as it goes. I’m almost 61, and I can’t say I understand women any better now than I did when I was 11. Even though I’ve spent a good portion of those 50 years in the company of women, the limits described by the tagline continue to hold true. But, that is part of the charm, for me. Life with a woman is never boring, and if it ever gets to a point where it is, I would suggest extreme vigilance, ’cause the other shoe is about to drop……but even then, it’s not going to bore you. As unfathomable as they are, I wouldn’t want it any other way, because the unpredictability of their nature is what makes them so fascinating to me……

Well, ffolkes, that’s enough narcissism for one day…..let me know if you like, or don’t like, the new format, ‘kay? Kay! Thanks….y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Platitudes, attitudes, and fortified pillows…..

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Ffolkes,
Once all the bugs are eliminated, I believe I am going to enjoy the new format here. So let’s dive right in…..

“We have a presidential election coming up. And I think the big problem, of course, is someone will win.” — Barry Crimmins

I have previously written many diatribes on the subject of politics, and more specifically, on politicians. While I have no particular problem with the first, I have a number of reasons for mistrusting the latter. And unfortunately, we have put ourselves into a situation where no matter who we elect, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or Bozoid, they are going to gleefully start lining their pockets, because they are not acting in your best interests. Why? That one is easy; they all lie to us. Every politician has a single characteristic they share with all their peers, and that is the willingness to say ANYTHING to get elected. I regard it as a given that they all do this, and it won’t change until we, the voting public, the great unwashed masses make the first change by holding another American Revolution, and toss them all out on their cheating, lying asses. That’s right, I am suggesting we stop voting. Just say no to their chicanery. Indicate your displeasure with all politicians by shunning them.


Anyone who WANTS the power over others that elected office brings is, by evidence of their very interest in acquiring that power, completely insane. It isn’t mentally or emotionally healthy to need that kind of control over others, and indicates a person whose sole purpose in life is to satisfy their own interests, aka sociopathic. It’s a very passive-aggressive way for them to express their disdain for all the ignorant voters who continue to buy into their bullshite; first they lie to get into office, then they are free to cheat and steal from the public treasury, as long as they cheat and steal for the benefit of their own constituency while they’re about it.

     Our forefathers fought a war to obtain the rights we supposedly enjoy, a war that began because the people here were tired of being governed by people who had no interest in their welfare. Well, here we are again, folks, back in the same boat as in 1760, being oppressed by the very people who are supposed to be protecting us from that very thing. And I say it is time to put a stop to it…. what do you think?….feel free to comment, because this is one I will enjoy discussing in more depth…..

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

I enjoy a lot of what Johann von Goethe wrote, and regard him as one of the clearest thinkers of his time, or any other. I don’t always agree with him; he tends a bit toward conservatism in some areas, but those ideas are straightforward in their inconsistency, and generally can be discounted as cultural prejudice, as he lived in a quite repressive era in terms of human rights. But for the most part, he had a clever mind and a powerful writing style, consistent with the Teutonic roots of his modes of thought, and possessed a very deep insight into human nature.


I like this quote, both for its insight, and for its depth of compassion. We are all familiar with the Golden Rule; it is a phrase common to ALL cultures, and could be considered as the basis for all the laws made by humans to regulate their interactions with one another. In that light, this becomes a corollary aphorism to that rule, a corollary that points the way to a life well-lived. Treating others with the respect and dignity we desire for ourselves is taken one step further on the path to enlightenment, by leading one into right action. When we help others, we improve ourselves, and everyone is better for it…..

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that ‘s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow’d to that tender light
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.
— Lord Byron (1788-1824)
— Hebrew Melodies, She walks in Beauty

As yet, I’m a bit uncertain as to how to approach the discussion of a poem, or excerpt from a poem, without making it seem either pretentious or emotionally labile. What I do know is that each poem is the world-view of another person, condensed from its seemingly infinite size into more palatable portions, that yet connect the spirit of the reader to the greater design. I first looked at the selected piece from Lord Byron because of the subtitle, “She walks in Beauty”. It reminded me of the common farewell phrase spoken by the Navajo tribes, uttered when parting company with another member of the tribe, or anyone else for that matter. The phrase, ‘Ya teh hey’, loosely translates as ‘Walk in Beauty’ expressed as a wish, i.e., ‘may you walk in beauty’.

     Then I read the poem itself, and my mind was transported to India, where the goddess of the night, Ratra, is worshiped by devotees of Hinduism, as she has been for several thousand years. You’ve seen the words of Lord Byron here before; I particularly enjoy his view of the world, and his unique way of stringing words together in a logical, yet beautiful style. “Thus mellow’d to that tender light, Which Heaven to gaudy day denies”  Is that not perfect? A multitude of layers, a fountain of emotion, joy and gratitude, and much more, made plain in two lines. I don’t know if the ability to make and enjoy poetry has any significance from an evolutionary standpoint, unless you count the unlimited power of imagination, so necessary to making poetry, and so essential to us in creating  Beauty, both real and imagined…….

Well, two down now, and I like it! Until tomorrow, ya teh hay! And….y’all take care out there….

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

Kowabunga!

Clandestine morality….

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Ffolkes,
When I was young I held the ideals of the young; I was sure I would make my mark on the world, to make it a better place. And like all who hold those lofty, cherished ideals, the reality of living has left them tarnished and weary, weakened by repeated beatings by the thugs of time.  Very few of my high expectations have been left intact, and basic requirements for survival dictated that ideals be sacrificed on the altar of mundane practicality.


There used to be a cartoon called “Pinky and the Brain”, about a self-proclaimed genius mouse and his idiot giant mouse friend, Pinky. The premise of the show was the Brain’s obsession with “taking over the world!”, and each episode would find him with a new Rube Goldberg plan or construction that would presumably start his campaign of world domination. But the device or plan never worked quite right, and he’d end up having to be rescued again by Pinky, who would proceed to ask Brain a very Zen-like question that identified the fatal mistake that defeated the Brain. He (the Brain) would give his Homer-like “Doh! I can’t believe I missed that!” expression, and then twist around the answer into his next brilliant plan to become the world’s dictator.


This reminiscence does have a point, that point being I enjoyed the Brain’s weekly descent into foolishness, and could relate very well to his obsession, as I had the same hobby for a short while. During my college years, when my idealism was at its peak, I actually wrote down three or four scenarios for world domination, and semi-seriously considered putting one of them into action. Fortunately for the world, I became distracted from my purpose by, yes, you guessed it, a woman. I say fortunately because I can be certain of only one thing about my plans; they might have worked. Had I decided to bend my efforts toward that end, current reality would certainly be different. Whether to say it would be better would, naturally, have to be determined by value judgments I’m not prepared to make now. It would have been better for me, but as for other folks, well, they might not fully agree……


So, we can all be glad that love, or at least lust, turned my path from plans of world domination toward more realizable goals like getting intimate with members of the opposite sex. SIGH, I do miss the grandiosity of that particular delusional dream, but I suppose we must admit that it was all for the best. Of course, since I didn’t take over the world, we now have to put up with the idiots who manipulate their way into public office. At least I was motivated by altruism, not avarice……Enjoy!…..

“As great scientists have said and as all children know, it is above all by the imagination that we achieve perception, and compassion, and hope.”
— Ursula K. LeGuin

“He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.” — Confucius

And of course, No soap, radio.

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.

The bustle in a house
The morning after death
Is solemnest of industries
Enacted upon earth,
The sweeping up the heart,
And putting love away
We shall not want to use again
Until eternity.
— Emily Dickinson

“Cursed is he that does not know when to shut his mind. An open mind is all very well in its way, but it ought not to be so open that there is no keeping anything in or out of it. It should be capable of shutting its doors sometimes, or may be found a little draughty.” — Samuel Butler

A finer collection of food for thought is not available in today’s market at any cost, much less for free…..y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Marvelous mountains of popcorn…..

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Ffolkes,
On a day following the last two, this morning’s subject for discussion would naturally progress into a political rant. After all, one can only take so much BS before having to spew. Who am I to go against tradition?….. So, for a while there, watching the Republican circus in the news was getting to be a little scary. I don’t think I’d enjoy having a person in charge of this country who insisted on maintaining the degree of ignorance on display in those debates. A person who questions evolution, and at the same time questions global warming, does not have the intellectual strength necessary to carry out the duties of the job. I consider deliberate ignorance to be the biggest problem we have in today’s society, because it affects everything else. How can I justify giving control over nuclear weapons to a person whose most intellectual pursuit is Saturday morning cartoons?


Yes, it was scary for a time, but I forgot a critical factor, that of natural selection. As time goes by, each of the eight or ten Republicans who have declared their intent keeps on talking with the media. Even though some of the campaigns try to limit access to the candidate, they eventually have to speak out on the national stage, or risk being forgotten. And every time they open their mouth, out comes another little verbal bomb, some statement that shows the public just how stupid and greedy they are. It’s been kinda fun, watching them implode their own campaign by the mere act of speaking their mind. I couldn’t ask for better comedy…..if only it weren’t real….


It is unfortunate that there is nobody in the public arena who speaks sense, whether Democrat or Republican, though it shouldn’t surprise us. We voters are the ones who keep electing these schmucks. It’s almost shark-like behavior, performing time and again the same idiotic actions that let these idiots into office, and then complaining because they lied to us. Of course they lied; they’ve been programmed to lie, as history shows it to be the best way to get elected. Lie to the voters, then reverse positions once in office; it’s a time-tested sure-fire method of how to steal from the public, and convince them they like being screwed over. If you think you can explain it any better, feel free to write back and show me some evidence of intelligent life in D.C……meanwhile, here are some pertinent Pearls. Enjoy!….

How you do anything is how you do everything. — Zen proverb

He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan,
Without a grave, unknell’d, uncoffin’d, and unknown.
— Lord Byron (1788-1824)
— Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto iv, Stanza 179

“Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot.  In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” — Oscar Wilde

Only the educated are free. — Epictetus

“The ultimate evil is the weakness, cowardice, that is one of the constituents of so much human nature.  When, rarely, unalloyed nobility does occur, its chances of prevailing are slim.  Yet it exists, and its mere existence is reason enough for not wiping the name of mankind off the slate.” — John Simon

“One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual responsibility is the difficulty in finding someone to blame your troubles on. And when you do find someone, it’s remarkable how often their picture turns up on your driver’s license.” — P. J. O’Rourke

In light of today’s political scene, the last Pearl is downright frightening…..y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!