Fold the strawberries gently into the partially whipped cream….

Posted on February 10, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Such, I suppose, is the lot of those of us who live with pain; occasionally, we lose a day to the fog….. Yesterday, after writing the morning Pearl, I did something to my back, (no, I don’t know WHAT that something might have been….), which caused it to go into full spasm mode for the rest of the day, sending me to bed twice during the day, just to give myself a break from fighting gravity, a task of greater than normal effort when this happens…. When it does, the gravity of Earth feels more like that of Jupiter, where I’d weigh over 500 lbs…. After a while, trying to move under that handicap becomes more than just a little tiring…

It seems to be pretty well done now, though today’s back feels as if it WANTS to retreat back to that state; if I’m careful, and don’t do anything to tweak it again, it should calm down enough to at least finish this Pearl, a process that, under these conditions, becomes threatened with being dumped for the day…. I’ll do my best, but, I’ll probably have to resort to another archived rant, because I just can’t think very straight when I feel this much pain…. it’s a little distracting at times, y’know?…

Oh, not that I can’t do it…. One can ignore just about ANY level of pain, when necessary…. But, at 0350 in the AM, writing a Pearl isn’t a task that would allow that sort of adaptation; it’s just not THAT important…. But, if I had to save a baby, or my kids were in trouble, then, I could throw it off for as long as needed to finish the task…. But, if there isn’t any sort of that type of emergency, then, it’s not going to get done, until the back is done with its snit….

Well!…. I’m sure that little discussion of my pain levels was simply fascinating, but, I think we can do better…. and I think we SHOULD do better, if only to get me out of this chatty, too-much-information mode I seem to be in… It’s all a result of waking up at such a weird hour this morning…. 0245 is early, even for me…. I’m a bit out of sync, I guess, but, determined not to let any of my own shit get in the way of completing what I have taken on as my duty, to wit: the completion of a Pearl, every day…. It is, perhaps, not the most dignified, or lucrative, or even uplifting of tasks, but, it’s mine, and I’ll do it….

With that said, for better or worse, shall we Pearl?…..

“Hmph! Seriousness. Hmph! Sobriety. A Jedi craves them not.” — Yoda

(Okay, well, he MIGHT have said it!….. Sounds just like him, doesn’t it?….)
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“Uh-oh — WHY am I suddenly thinking of a VENERABLE religious leader frolicking on a FORT LAUDERDALE weekend?” — Zippy the Pinhead

The following is a public service announcement, with which gigoid fully agrees…. I would have the banner on my site, but, I couldn’t figure out how to do it using the WordPress widget they provided…. I’m a geek, but apparently not up to date on the way to do this task… But, this definitely needs to be spread around, and shared…. so, please do… I HAVE included a link to the main site for the protest, where you can go to sign the petition…. Please do that…. Let’s all join together to give the Asininnies the finger, and let them know we won’t stand for any fucking around with our Internet….

“On Tuesday, February 11th, EFF (the Electronic Frontier Foundation) will join thousands of other websites in demanding an end to mass surveillance through an Internet-wide digital protest.

Visitors will be prompted to contact members of Congress or sign a global petition opposing mass surveillance with a banner that can be inserted into any site This is a critical moment in the NSA surveillance fight.

Worldwide outrage at NSA spying helped pressure the Obama administration into making a few key concessions toward reform. But Obama’s reform plan falls woefully short.

That’s why we’re turning the heat up on Congress to finish the job. Help us end NSA mass spying. Use your website to join the protest, and help us spread the word on February 11th through social media with the hashtag #StoptheNSA.”

https://thedaywefightback.org/?r=eff

This is an extra pearl today, and, will appear again, tomorrow, the day of the protest….. Your three standard entries follow below…. For those of you wondering what the Zippy quote at the top of this section has to do with the content below it, the answer is, not a damn thing….
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“The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.” — Oscar Wilde

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“All cruelty springs from weakness.” — Seneca

Okay, so it came out a bit more comprehensive in scope than I first intended it to be, but, it works anyway…. The politicians are in there, for sure (See the first, third, fourth, and fifth pearls above for proof of that)…. But, the parameters widened up on me, mid-search, so, a few more ideas are included than we bargained for…. bonus!
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Most of today’s Pearl will, apparently, consist of a series of volleys fired at the Asininnies at large, and the BRC specifically…. Therefore, to keep from splashing on anyone else, here is one of my poems, from 2012, essentially written with those (left blank for lack of an adjective sufficiently nasty to apply) people who inhabit the labyrinthine halls of government in mind….

Accentuated Lessons

Bold statements of calculated intent
Become common rule of the malcontent.
Avarice assumes such attractive wear
Beguiling deception, illusory and fair.

Grasping and pulling with ghostly hands
Legally proper in all the signatory lands.
Seeking and finding each vulnerable soul
Anguish as payment for exacting the toll.

Wraiths of commerce’s invisible dead guards
Still haunt the dreams left in sad empty yards.
While absentee nobles sit in stiffly elegant splendor
Served by sad-faced detainees in abject surrender.

Escape from reality is illusory at best
Often we falter and fail its daily test.
Only when focused on inner strength
Does peace stay with us for any length.

Peace lies within, always…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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Apparently, the month of February of 2013 was a good one for ranting….. Here is the third old rant from that period that I’ve used in this last week or so, and each one is as valid today as when I first vented them…. This one, a politirant, is not so much an indictment, as it is a lament….. As is apparent above, ranting today would not be difficult for me to engage in, but, I have a feeling I’d get just a bit more vituperative than would be good for me right now…. I’d probably get so worked up I’d get up and stomp around on my break, and end up hurting myself good and proper…. Hence, this indulgence, and a rant that I know won’t draw blood….. Enjoy!….

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PRESIDENCY, n. The greased pig in the field game of American politics. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

You can’t see me, but I have this big smile on my face…. It has been there since I first read this, this morning, and has flashed on each time I see it…. I had forgotten just how funny, and how eerily accurate, as well as wonderfully sarcastic, the Devil’s Dictionary could be….. In either case, this is some funny stuff, and is a perfect example of how the Dictionary’s author somehow obtained a direct line to the future of this country, in order to be able to so exactly describe how our modern system has evolved, and demonstrate how it has become, rather than high comedy, an example of low farce….

Of late, you’ve seen me put out a lot of words on the Beloved Ruling Class (BRC), and the priestly hierarchies, those two entities I hold responsible for the miserable conditions that most of our society is forced to endure, and whom I also hold responsible for the danger of species extinction that we face… It is their narcissistic insistence on having it all for themselves that has put our entire species at risk, along with a large number of other species, who will also be affected by the mess we’ve created in the environment. I keep on shouting, even though it mostly feels as if I’m shouting into the wind, because, in all honesty, I don’t want to die, and I’d like my kids to have a chance to live their entire lives, too, and perhaps even have some hope of a future for their own children…. Currently, there isn’t much hope of that…..

Yes, ffolkes, there isn’t much time left to get this done…. Every second, more and more tons of particulate matter are being poured into the air, and the cumulative effects have actually, finally, reached the critical flash point that ecologists have predicted for years…. Soon, plants that provide oxygen to the air will begin to die, (actually, they are dying as I write this…. as I said, it is late in the game….) and the balance of oxygen and carbon monoxide in the air will start to rapidly change, until it is unbreathable for us, and for all the other mammals, sea creatures, and plant life-forms that are dependent on the levels of those substances as they are now…. This process isn’t unknown….. we have been warned about it, now, for going on 50 years, or more, since the effects were first noted….

But, nobody who cared to do anything about it was listening, and still today, there aren’t anywhere near enough of our BRC who are convinced of the risk, so virtually NOTHING has, or is being done to resolve the issue…. Instead, it is subjected to massive denial on the part of almost every government in the world. They, and most people, have no idea that the bill for our idiocy is about to be presented, and we left our wallet in our other pants….. I think it’s obvious the Universe doesn’t take checks, or give credit…..

I wish I knew the proper sequence of words to use, the words that would inflame the masses, that would inspire the world to rise up, and throw off the yoke of oppression that the 1% has fitted us with, to finally give them their just desserts, and save our own asses in the process…. Alas, I don’t seem to have them in me…. not yet, anyway…. There are probably a few ffolkes out there who agree with me, and would help, if they also knew what to do, or say, to get things started…. But, mostly, I think I’m either shouting into the wind, or preaching to the choir….

In either case, it doesn’t seem to be helping much, other than keeping me from losing my sense of perspective, and actively going out hunting, to try to at least thin the ranks of the ones who are causing the problems…. That would make me feel better, for sure, but, I’m not ready to live the rest of my life on the run, so, I’ll save that option for when things are even worse than they are now….

I’ll also keep shouting, even if it’s into the wind, because I’m also not ready to give in to despair, and loss of hope. Call me stubborn, call me irresponsible (you’d be wrong in that, but, hey, it’s a free country…. mostly….), but don’t call me late for dinner. Also, don’t call me to help you further any of the agenda items that I see on the part of those in power, because I can guarantee that would put me over the edge, and you would be right there, in the explosive field of destruction when I went off…. If you want help to work against anything they’ve started, I’m there…. In the meantime, keep your powder dry, and your field of fire clear…. This final pearl explains why….

“If we don’t survive, we don’t do anything else.” — John Sinclair

And one more, just because there must always be hope, or life isn’t worth living…

“In a just cause the weak o’ercome the strong.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Oedipus Coloneus, 880
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Now I’ve done it….. I’m done with today’s Pearl, such as it may be, and it’s still only 0515 AM (I know, the AM isn’t necessary when writing the time in military/24hr format…. but, not everyone knows that, do they?…. The AM is for those who don’t…. See, I can be nice, and think of others at times…. I’m no Asininnie, you can be sure of that!….)

This means I have at least three hours before most of the world will be functioning, four for most of the business world, and no books on tap to read…. That’s a bit more time than I can do, surfing-wise, and going back to bed will only awaken the others who are asleep (dog, cat, one other human…), whereupon, we’d all be up, and they’d be (rightfully) displeased with me for waking them up in what is essentially the middle of the night…. Ah well, I suppose I’ll just take some drugs to quiet down the spasms, and lay on the floor for a while….

Who knows? I might even fall asleep…. wouldn’t THAT be a treat!….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

Seven reasons to stop gargling, now….

Posted on February 9, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Intros! We got your intros here! Get ’em while they’re HOT!…..

Hey, boy! Over here!….. Thanks….

Today, I decided to forgo the usual struggle for introductory material, and move right ahead to purchasing one from the local vendor, who hawks them on the corner every day…. I know the boy well; his mother is ill, and he works all the time to support his seven little brothers and sisters…. I like to help him out because, hey, he’s only five, and it must be tough to bed the eldest at his tender age; it’s pretty young to have to be responsible for the whole family….

What’s that? Oh, the number of siblings? Oh, yeah, I guess that could be confusing, couldn’t it…. No worries, it’s not as strange as it sounds…. Yes, he has seven siblings, and he’s the oldest, at five…. That’s two sets of triplets (one boys, one girls…) and one last little girl, to even out the score in the family…. all born about 13 months apart, before the father was killed in an accident at work…. (He fell into a vat of boiling hot caramel at the Mars factory….) The insurance, while almost adequate, isn’t enough to make it comfortable for them, so he works, as any good son would do for his family… He can use all the help he can get, so I like to pick up one of their intro’s (the triplet girls write them….), even if I don’t use it right away, like today….

Damn! You know what I just did, right? I’m writing an intro, about another intro, talking about intros, while holding on to an intro that was written by innocent hands….. This, with its insidiously tenuous connection to reality could be dangerous to the health and well-being of the space/time continuum as we know it…. To stretch the boundaries of reality to such an extent can cause unknown stress fractures to appear in strange places, and at strange times….. It can cause reality to become unstable, at best, or, if left to itself too long, can cause actual holes in the fabric of time and space, through which nasty creatures from other dimensions can creep over into ours, and cause a lot of problems until they’re caught and sent home…. Hey, what did YOU think those cats were staring at over in the corner?….

Since we don’t want any of that to happen today (I’m short on funds, and can’t afford the charges from the Green Lantern League to put things right after such an episode…. Blast it, I remember when superheros would work for free!….) But, nonetheless, that’s how we’ll have to go today, because the old bank account isn’t going to stand up to that kind of stress…. What we’ll do now is a bit hard to define, because, in these situations, we have to fall back on an emergency method to get us out of here without further damage…. We’ll go with #4, which, in spite of its brevity, and lack of style, continues to work the best…. but, then, Denial has always been one of mankind’s favorite tools….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Everything is in a state of metamorphosis. Thou thyself art in everlasting change and in corruption to correspond; so is the whole universe.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 19
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Today’s Pearl, I’m thinking, is one that will someday be destined to be known as “that one”….. So be it….. I’m using an older religirant in section 3 today, because I can, and because I like it…. So, this section, naturally, will be an old-school pearl, but not a random harlequin…. Smart Bee keeps giving me good pearls about the BRC and their ilk, so, we’ll go with what we’re given, this time….

“Still one more thing, fellow citizens: a wise and frugal government, which shall refrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), inaugural address, 1801

“The white man is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land what he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy. Continue to contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.” — Chief Seattle in a letter to President Franklin Pierce in 1855

“The first measure of a free society is *not* that its government performs the will of the majority. We had that in 1930s Germany and in the South until the ’60s. The *first* measure of a free society is that its government protects the just freedoms of its minorities. The *majority* is quite capable of protecting itself.” — Jim Warren

“What good is it to me, after all, if there is an authority always busy to see to the tranquil enjoyment of my pleasures and going ahead to brush all dangers away from my path without giving me even the trouble to think about it, if that authority, which protects me from the smallest thorns on my journey, is also the absolute master of my liberty and of my life?” — Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), Democracy in America

“A government solution to a problem is always followed by the creation of at least two additional problems, either of which was worse than the original problem which the government set out to solve.” — Smart Bee

“And, after all, it is the 200th anniversary of the presidency. That’s something to celebrate. From George to George — in only 200 years, we’ve gone from “I cannot tell a lie” to “I cannot tell.” — A. Whitney Brown, “Weekend Update,” Saturday Night Live

“Give me the mind of a child of 4 and he’ll be mine for life” — Adolf Hitler
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Since the two other sections are somewhat somber in nature, I thought a bit of whimsy would go over well….. Enjoy!….

There Once Was A Fellow Named Nash – A Limerick Ode To Ogden Nash

There once was a fellow named Nash
He could write funny poems in a flash
But some of the time
The truth of the rhyme
Could give the poor subject a rash!

~~ Randy Imwalle ~~

I Do, I Will, I Have

How wise I am to have instructed the butler
to instruct the first footman to instruct the second
footman to instruct the doorman to order my carriage;
I am about to volunteer a definition of marriage.

Just as I know that there are two Hagens, Walter and Copen,
I know that marriage is a legal and religious alliance entered
into by a man who can’t sleep with the window shut and a
woman who can’t sleep with the window open.

Moreover, just as I am unsure of the difference between
flora and fauna and flotsam and jetsam,
I am quite sure that marriage is the alliance of two people
one of whom never remembers birthdays and the other never forgetsam,

And he refuses to believe there is a leak in the water pipe or
the gas pipe and she is convinced she is about to asphyxiate or drown,
And she says Quick get up and get my hairbrushes off the
windowsill, it’s raining in, and he replies Oh they’re all right, it’s only raining straight down.

That is why marriage is so much more interesting than divorce,
Because it’s the only known example of the happy meeting of
the immovable object and the irresistible force.
So I hope husbands and wives will continue to debate and
combat over everything debatable and combatable,
Because I believe a little incompatibility is the spice of life, particularly if he has income and she is pattable.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

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This is a pearl from February of 2013:

“The essence of Christianity is told us in the Garden of Eden history. The fruit that was forbidden was on the tree of knowledge. The subtext is, All the suffering you have is because you wanted to find out what was going on. You could be in the Garden of Eden if you had just keep your fucking mouth shut and hadn’t asked any questions.” — Frank Zappa Playboy Interview, April 1993

Hmm…. Frank’s take on matters are such that I generally find myself in complete agreement with what he says. Here, he has again put his finger on one of the more obvious facets of Christianity, one that defies all logical explanation in lieu of subservient belief, to wit: faith vs. knowledge, and the Christian’s unfortunate tendency to embrace the former, without any appeal to the latter….. To my way of thinking, that is not only foolish, but cowardly….. but, perhaps, that’s just me….

The fruit of the tree of knowledge gives mankind the go-ahead to use the brain with which we were furnished at birth; the preachers would have us abrogate that use, having us, instead, give over all our power of belief into the hands of the faithful, who, naturally, have only our best interests at heart….. Sure they do…. NOT. I’m sorry, but, no matter how many times these folks say so, I am not going to accept that they know better than I what is best for me…. Nope, not even if there were twenty Bibles out there, all proclaiming how true they are…. Oh wait, there are twenty of them, aren’t there?…. Oh, well, you know what I meant….

Why do people fall for this? I cannot understand how people, who are normally reasonably intelligent, will, by conscious choice, bury their heads in the sand to buy into this, without ever taking even one moment to examine any of it for truth, or even logical assumption. Is there some kind of mind-control drug in that incense? Maybe in the sacramental wine…. Whatever it is, it turns normally competent, intelligent people into mindless slaves, and does so with their complete agreement and approval….. To my mind, it is one of history’s saddest, most incomprehensible features, when I look at just how easily people fall for such egregious, and so obviously self-serving idiocy, as most of the dogmatic proclamations of the major religions tend to offer up.

“I hope I never get so old I get religious.” — Ingmar Bergman

I am compelled to add, “Me, too!” to this sentiment…. In the recent past, I’ve been taking a lot of shots at religions, and need to make clear that I do not hate Christians, or Buddhists, or Muslims, or the followers of any religion. I think they are being silly, deliberately and evilly so, at worst, or at best, misguidedly so, but I don’t hate, or fear them, as is the case on their part whenever they consider me, or my criticisms of their beliefs. I don’t hold that against them, either, as it is logically consistent for them to do so, given the limitations of their dogmatic position. Since, however, the fervor with which they will often defend their position can reach a rather fevered pitch, I tend to treat many of them like a stinging insect, so I will move, and speak, slowly and carefully, so as not to frighten them more than they already are….

Ethical and moral behavior is not confined to those who follow the precepts of one religion or another, despite what any of the proponents of those religions will try to tell you. In fact, if you look closely, the number of folks who are believers have a much higher percentage of failure in that area than do the non-believers, which only makes sense…. The believers all have a sense of entitlement that gives them the idea that the rules of behavior don’t always apply to them, in terms of how they treat people who are not of the same faith, so, to those who are not of their own sect, they don’t bother being truthful, or honest, or ethical, as those people don’t count, in their eyes. People who make their own moral codes tend to follow them, and are much more tolerant of those who do not share their beliefs.

Basic human nature dictates these responses in people; thus, one can see how dangerous it is to remain ignorant, in the Biblical sense. Those who choose to buy into the myth of the Garden of Eden, giving up all their personal independence of mind for the comfort and safety of dogma, will always fail to act according to their own morality much of the time, generally acting, instead, out of their sense of entitlement, and the belief that all of their sins will be forgiven, merely by the act of confessing them. Only those who consciously choose their moral code have the courage to act it out, it seems, except for those few people who actually try to live according to the morality that is espoused, and is seldom embraced by their less ethical peers.

Having the strength of mind to make one’s own moral code also implies the courage to act it out…. This is why I choose to deny the dogma I’ve been exposed to all my life, as being illogical, and, ultimately, immoral…. It makes more sense to me to make my own decisions on such matters, and tell the busybodies who assume they know best for all to go jump in a lake…. Even better, just shut the hell up, and get out of the way, so the rest of us can get something relevant done, without having to put up with all the nonsense from that quarter….

“What is a church? Our honest sexton tells, ‘Tis a tall building, with a tower and bells.” — Crabbe

Note from 2014: Since the validity of the above remains strong, I leave you with the following pearl, to finish off this discussion with the proper tone of accusation, and indictment, of those guilty of this sort of crime against humanity….

“The impression somehow prevails that the true believer, particularly the religious individual, is a humble person. The truth is that the surrendering and humbling of the self breeds pride and arrogance.” — Eric Hoffer
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“The Earth is degenerating these days. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no longer mind their parents, every man wants to write a book, and it is evident that the end of the world is fast approaching.” — Assyrian Stone Tablet, c.2800BC

4814 years….. That’s how long it has been since that tablet was written…. One wonders, at times, just how much credence there is to the idea that strong forces in history will somehow have been felt long before they came to fruition…. How else to explain the proven cases of accurate precognition that are found throughout our species’ short span on Earth? This tablet could have been printed yesterday, and would be no less valid than it was over 4500 years ago….. That is, to me, pretty damn scary, and not terribly encouraging…. Of course, I’m a worry-wart, so…. Y’all stay cool, ffolkes, & I’ll see you tomorrow….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

To my best knowledge, common sense says we run away, fast…..

Posted on February 8, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Yesterday’s fog of pain has been dispelled, and this morning’s outlook on life is much improved, thankfully…. The application of copious quantities of heavy drugs has done the trick once more, and I am freed from the prison of pain, to march forth once more into the world, unbowed, and unafraid, to take up the gauntlet as thrown by those in power in our society, to bring my unique viewpoint, to join in the ongoing quest to find EVEN A LITTLE bloody common sense in the world…. This may sound as if I’m writing to make the title come true, but, no, it’s just what struck me, smack! right upside the head, as I sat to compose today’s missive….

I’ve learned, over the past two+ years, to allow my mind a bit of free rein, at the outset of each Pearl, to make the opening lines compelling, or at least, engaging…. I can’t say that it’s a particularly successful technique, but, it gets me going, as a general rule, so it suffices, and I am content with it, for the nonce…

You see, the biggest trouble in writing every day isn’t coming up with stuff to write about, it’s the little details, such as an engaging opening, or a cheerful closing, that will bring a reader back again, that determine the quality of a blog…. Well, that’s how I see it, anyway, and on this site, that’s all that really matters…. Out in the BBR, to try to balance the scales, I try NOT to be too egotistical, or assume too many prerogatives; the general sense of entitlement that MOST folks feel isn’t something I care to emulate…. But, here at ECR, it’s all MINE, and I can do with it as I wish….

That doesn’t mean I’m not aware of y’all, or that there may be times when I want to cater to public viewpoints…. More often, I just ignore what may be cute, or acceptable, and go for a poke in the eye, so don’t expect a lot of leeway in that…. Ffolkes who read my blog need to remember to put on their thinking caps, and be ready to heat them up; I’m not going to suffer fools any more than is absolutely necessary…. It’s a waste of my time, and tends to annoy me when I do, so, I’d rather just lay it out there, and let ffolkes deal with what I have to say, and not worry too much (or at all, for that matter….) about how people will react to it….. In other words, gigoid has spoken…. so be it…

Now, how did we get there? Boy, sometimes I’m not sure if there’s actually anyone driving this bus…. I find myself, all too often, starting off to write in one direction, then, in mid-paragraph, I’ll find myself 4 or 5 degrees away from whatever concept began the train of thought, into a completely different set of issues and/or ideas, with little connection to where it began…. SIGH….

I can’t say it’s a gift, but, it’s not exactly a curse, either, as it sometimes puts me right where I needed to go, whether I knew it or not…. Sort of a Zen cowboy sort of philosophizing technique, you know? Ah well, such is life in a daily blog…. What the hell, let’s get on with it….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“To spell out the obvious is often to call it in question” — Hoffer
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While cruising through old Pearls, I found this little diatribe from early last year…. I think it’s appropriate for today’s beginning section, as it remains as valid today as the day I wrote it….

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

From February 2013:

I am an asshole. A jerk. A prick. A foul-mouthed, misbegotten excuse for a human being…. I am, as with most of my peers, a hypocrite, and deserving of permanent sentencing to the lowest pits of hell for my perfidy….. What, you might ask, prompted this outburst of severe, seemingly sincere self-denigration? Well, let me tell you….

Most of us, at some point or another, sit down from time to time to think about our actions, those we are considering, and those we have acted out in the past, to get some perspective on how those actions have conformed to our ethical and moral beliefs. In other words, we sit in self-judgment; whether we do so to praise or to chastise doesn’t matter, ultimately, as long as it is an honest appraisal, and we do not flinch from owning up to our baseness where it is found…..

This is why I am forced to curse myself…. Because I’m not a Catholic, or any other faith that espouses such mummery, (I don’t mean to pick on Catholics…. some of my best friends, etc….. 🙂 They’re just an example everyone knows about….)…. Any who, because I’m not of that Tribe, I don’t have the luxury of confessing to a priest, who would then reassure me that I am still one of the Chosen Ones, and send me on my way having learned nothing but a false sense of entitlement. I can’t just pass off what I may have done in my life to some faceless butthead in a dress, who, no doubt, has a great laugh at the expense of the penitent, when he and the other priests get together in the rectory for a few drinks, passing around all the latest tall tales and outtakes from the confessional booth…..

I consider myself to be a morally upright person, and hope that my actions reflect that. But, I know for certain that, like every other human being who ever lived, I don’t always live up to those moral beliefs, and fall from grace on occasion…. If I were a less honest man, I’d say that there were mitigating, or at least explanatory reasons for my failures to hold to my own standards, but, if I tried that, my Dad would kick my ass from now until Thursday the next time I see him, so I’m not going to take that chance…. I take full responsibility for my actions, base and cruel as they were, and no one can hold me in lower regard than I do….

I had considered using this venue as a confessional, to air out my transgressions on the stage of reality, but, I don’t think that would be any more ethical than confessing to a priest…. Confession may make a difference to the penitent, by absolving him/her from any lingering guilt that could adversely affect them (i.e., they feel better about themselves after receiving absolution…), but, in truth, it doesn’t mean a damn thing, as nothing is done to balance the scale, in a karmic sense, especially for whatever creature or person that was the victim of the cruelty. The only act that would mean anything would be for the perpetrator to use the experience to motivate them to two things….

One, to try to repair whatever hurt or pain they have caused another creature…. man, animal, doesn’t matter…. They don’t deserve to be victimized, no matter their form, and ALL one can do, to fix any harm they have caused, is the least they should do…. Second, use the experience as motivation to make a change in themselves, to act with greater understanding, greater compassion, and greater control over themselves and their feelings…. which is what guilt is all about, right?…. The difference is that, when one confesses to a priest, and receives absolution, then there is no motivation to make any changes in their actions…. They know that none is necessary;they can relieve themselves of any guilt they may feel by confessing, so why bother?

On the other hand, when one assumes the responsibility for their own actions, the guilt doesn’t go away…. I will never forgive myself for some of the things that I’ve done in my life (nor will I share them in any attempt to gain forgiveness from anyone else…. it’s none of their fucking business….)(Besides, that whole confessional thing just sounds too much like a blackmail scheme…. the people who confess are sure putting their fate trustingly into the hands of those priests, aren’t they?). That simple fact is what keeps me from falling into the same ethical trap I did when I lost my cool, and acted without thinking, or took my feelings out on innocent bystanders….. Not going to happen again, a sentiment which, I’m sure, is NOT what you can expect from any confessors, after a confession….

You will note that there are no pearls associated with this discussion…. That’s because I am such an asshole, none was needed to stimulate me into spilling my guts, so to speak…. Besides, I couldn’t find a proper pearl for the beginning of such a somber subject by the time I was ready to write about it…. But, Murphy must have enjoyed the way I dissed myself, because I found these two, which, together, make a good closer for this subject…. Think of them as bookends….

“Character is doing the right thing when nobody’s looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that’s right is to get by, and the only thing that’s wrong is to get caught.” — J. C. Watts

Boy, that hits the nail on the head, doesn’t it?….. I’ve got these two quotes reversed in the order in which they make the most sense, but, given the state of things here, that isn’t surprising, is it…. This is the one that probably should go at the front of this piece, so, just put it there in your mind, okay? Thanks…..

“We tell lies when we are afraid, . . . afraid of what we don’t know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger.” — Tad Williams, Spoken by Dr. Morgenes, To Green Angel Tower (part of — Memory, Sorrow and Thorn)
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Today’s poem is one I might have used in the past, but, I don’t care….. It’s so good, here ’tis again…..

Finisterre

This was the land’s end: the last fingers, knuckled and rheumatic,
Cramped on nothing. Black
Admonitory cliffs, and the sea exploding
With no bottom, or anything on the other side of it,
Whitened by the faces of the drowned.
Now it is only gloomy, a dump of rocks —-
Leftover soldiers from old, messy wars.
The sea cannons into their ear, but they don’t budge.
Other rocks hide their grudges under the water.

The cliffs are edged with trefoils, stars and bells
Such as fingers might embroider, close to death,
Almost too small for the mists to bother with.
The mists are part of the ancient paraphernalia —-
Souls, rolled in the doom-noise of the sea.
They bruise the rocks out of existence, then resurrect them.
They go up without hope, like sighs.
I walk among them, and they stuff my mouth with cotton.
When they free me, I am beaded with tears.

Our Lady of the Shipwrecked is striding toward the horizon,
Her marble skirts blown back in two pink wings.
A marble sailor kneels at her foot distractedly, and at his foot
A peasant woman in black
Is praying to the monument of the sailor praying.
Our Lady of the Shipwrecked is three times life size,
Her lips sweet with divinity.
She does not hear what the sailor or the peasant is saying —-
She is in love with the beautiful formlessness of the sea.

Gull-colored laces flap in the sea drafts
Beside the postcard stalls.
The peasants anchor them with conches. One is told:
“These are the pretty trinkets the sea hides,
Little shells made up into necklaces and toy ladies.
They do not come from the Bay of the Dead down there,
But from another place, tropical and blue,
We have never been to.
These are our crêpes. Eat them before they blow cold.”

~~ Sylvia Plath ~~

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This pearl will be displayed in the new format I’ve been working on as a change of scene around here…. These are headlines from SFGATE, a news web site I use as an average news collector, as it tends to display a fairly even grouping of the world’s and nation’s news, without TOO much bias, though certainly not without any…. The headlines I’ve included below, viewed as a big picture, are, as we can see, downright fucking crazy in how they portray the insanity so prevalent in today’s society…. Here then are more indications we are currently living through Heinlein’s “Crazy Years” here in America…. My comments, as always, are parenthesized for clarity….

http://blog.sfgate.com/energy/2014/02/07/tesla-driver-blames-fatal-crash-on-new-car-smell/

(I’m pretty sure I don’t need to make too many comments about this guy, or about how typically asinine he is, in as he cluelessly exhibits not only his selfishness, but, also his stupidity in public, without any idea of how ridiculous he sounds or appears to others….. “New car smell?” As the justification for running over a pedestrian? I suppose, in one way, it’s a perfect example of both the corruption so prevalent, and of the lack of any sort of system of ethics at play, in the lawyers who took the case to bring suit, as well as in the sense of entitlement that the average American asshole feels, to think that they can escape any consequences for their actions by finding a loophole in a law, or some weird psychiatric justification for acts that were at best, stupid, and at worst, deliberately, carelessly, and, feloniously, ignorant….)

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Elderly-woman-slain-in-Oakland-home-invasion-5215511.php

(Again, no comment is necessary to make any clearer how sick our society has become, when there are people in the world who can actually perform these kinds of acts, without any compassion, or any connection to how another person feels…. I didn’t read the article, as I’ve seen its like too often to need to put myself through that again… I already know, having dealt with them for many years, the depths to which the human psyche can sink in its pain and reaction to a lifetime of abuse by the world…. It still doesn’t excuse any of it, or justify it, to understand why it happens…. But, it sure does make me want to go out, buy a gun, and start picking off some of the names, on my own personal list of those the world would be better off without….)

http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Russian-TV-shows-doctored-video-of-Olympic-rings-5214936.php

(More comedy from Russia and their current dictator, Vlad “Glad Impaler” Putin, trying to convince the world that hey, nothing wrong here, move along, nothing to see…. when, in fact, almost everything the world is seeing in Sochi points up another issue that the Soviet government has screwed up in its repressive attempts to maintain the status quo….. which, after all, is the ultimate purpose of any dictatorship, or essentially fascist government…. or ANY government, for that matter…. Democratic, Republic, Monarchic, no matter what form government takes, its bottom line priority is to maintain the status quo, to ensure the people stay out of the government’s way as they plunder, steal, and cheat…. The video to which the article refers is merely the latest symptom that shows exactly how the world’s society at large, and, Russian society in particular, is falling apart at the seams…..)

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/SAC-Capital-ex-trader-convicted-of-insider-trading-5211174.php

(Whoops, gosh, look here! A stock trader cheated! A bank(er) was involved, a large, shadowy, amorphous corporation was involved, a government agency screwed up their job, a rich businessman profited, and the poor scapegoat is the only one to go to jail…. Have we seen this story before? Isn’t this a rather familiar scenario over the last, oh, 120 years or so? Why, yes, yes, I believe that’s so…. I can remember seeing stories exactly like this one 50 years ago, back in the 50’s and 60’s, as well as many from history that would be classed as clones of this one…. But, the media has to present each one as if it is some sort of big surprise…. SIGH…. It’s almost too easy for me, when they act this stupid….)

http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/02/07/senate-judiciary-republicans-blame-a-lawyer-adegbile-for-a-client-abu-jamal/

(Oh, right, this one…. This is SO STUPID!!!! So stupid, it caused me to go momentarily insane, with my fingers flashing out four exclamation points without conscious control, just to vent my frustration…. You know, it’s completely possible that commenting on this story could turn into a rant….

The Republican Party has become a conglomeration of some of the stupidest, most hidebound fools I’ve ever witnessed, even in American politics, and remember…. I was there when we had both Spiro Agnew and Richard Nixon to push around, so, I KNOW about corrupt, greedy, amoral politicians….. This current group in the House, and the Senate, as well as spread throughout all the state’s houses of political machinery (chicanery?), are among the stupidest and most viciously ignorant that I’ve ever seen….

This particular set of idiots involved in this article are perhaps some of the most egregiously ignorant of the lot, and show the extent of how much the conservative mind has turned to mush over time, especially when dealing with issues that are, essentially, non-partisan in nature…. It seems to me that finding the most balanced people to be judges, or attorney general types, would benefit BOTH sides, more so than choosing biased people, who only make things worse for everyone…. Of course, I’m not stupid, I have no investment in pursuing my own agenda in this issue, nor do I desire to use the issue for any political gain, so, perhaps that would color my perceptions…. I certainly hope so….

Please note, I am certain, and have seen proof of the fact, that the Democrats are no brighter, in toto, or even, on average, but, somehow, they don’t seem to publicly stick their foot in it quite so frequently as the GOP pundits. I can’t blame the media for that, entirely, as they obviously have no more claim to intelligent design in their actions than do the politicians. Each of the political parties that dominate this country’s bureaucracy (it long ago ceased to function as anything else….) feels the media favors the other; that’s a typical reaction for a creature that suffers from paranoia, and the political scenario attracts schizophrenics like flowers draw bees…. (Actually, it would be more accurate to say that politics attracts the psychopathically insane like shit draws flies….. but, I won’t say that….) (Oh…. whoops….)

Nonetheless, it seems to me that BOTH of the parties that are currently ensconced in the halls of Congress in Washington have been taken over by a bunch of really, really selfish, more than stupid in their deliberate ignorance, rich, white, old men, with the random woman, African-American, Asian-American, and Latin-American tokens there to provide proof of our “diversity”…. No overt LGBT’s yet, publicly….

The funny thing about those politicians of color or gender…. when they talk, they SOUND EXACTLY like a rich, white, stupid old man, no matter whether they are young, female, black, yellow, or brown…. Next time Ted Cruz puts out a sound bite on TV, close your eyes and listen…. He will not be distinguishable from any of his peers…. Note also, the terms to describe the token members of Congress deliberately set them apart as being ‘different’ Americans than the others, don’t they? They sure do, and that’s just fine with the old white dudes, as if provides camouflage for their inherent racism and bigotry, making them appear as if they welcome the input from those parts of society THEY DON’T REALIZE ARE NOW THE MAJORITY!…..

It’s too bad, really, and frustrating for those of us who can understand what is going on…. Intelligence is the only factor in our makeup that enhances our chances to survive, especially in the oncoming crisis in the environment of our planet…. These idiots are continually, and continuously, displaying behavior that is counter-productive to that survival…. and they don’t even have the wit to know it. In fact, most of them are so insanely wrapped up in pursuing their own agenda they refuse to even listen to anything that doesn’t fit in with their own preconceived misconceptions….. Idiots, every one of them….

Okay, that’s enough…. I could conceivably spend a very long time at this…. I’ve got a long litany of complaints about government, and those who indulge in that particular vice…. But, I’m getting worked up, and that’s making me tense, and that makes my back hurt…. So, for my health, I’m calling a halt to this rant…. (For my health…. right…. Can you see my skeptical expression?….) Since the entire rant, short as it may be, is in parentheses, I can do that without any permits, or even any hand signals….

gigoid has spoken…. So be it…..)

“When I think over what I have said, I envy dumb people.” — Seneca

Well, you know what they say…. Ignorance is bliss…..
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Well, this Pearl turned into an epic…. and high time, too, if I say so myself….. That’s a joke…. 😆

I’ve noted very light traffic of late on my site, so it’s fortunate I don’t really care one way or the other about the size of my readership…. I kind of hope this one gets some traffic, though, as it says some stuff that would be good for most Americans to hear, whether they want to or not….

That said, let me thank all my regular readers, people I consider as friends now after a long time of exchanged information, and shared emotion…. that’s part of friendship, right? Right…. Any who, I’m happy you’re my friends, (both of you…) (Joke….), 🙄

I do hope all who read what I write enjoy it, and are inspired to use their own “little grey cells” for more than just finding food and shelter…. But, then, I also wish for world peace, so, I’m accustomed to having my wishes denied by reality…. SIGH….. See ya…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

Seventy-seven reasons to sit shiv-eh in the nude…..

Posted on February 5, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I feel my immortality oversweep all pains, all tears, all time, all fears, – and peal, like the eternal thunders of the deep, into my ears, this truth, – thou livest forever!” — Byron (1788-1824)

To look at this inspiring quote from Lord Byron, one might think he refers to religion, and the afterlife so glibly promised by those who engage in that particular human foible…. I’m fairly certain, however, that would be a mistaken assumption…. This, I expect, was more the result of the same sort of attitude as displayed by Bob Heinlein when he said, “There’s no conclusive proof of life after death. There’s also no conclusive proof there isn’t. Either way, soon enough, you will know, so why fret about it?”

If I am not mistaken in my memory (a rare occurrence…) Lord Bryon joined Yeats, and Keats, his contemporaries, and friends, in the unusual insistence on NOT buying into the whole dogma fallacy, and, they weren’t shy in saying so…. proving they lived in a truly free society, because, though all of them burned out and died rather young, none were hounded or persecuted for their beliefs while they were alive….

This is as opposed to society’s eventual reaction to Oscar Wilde, whose homosexuality, or, as most believe, his bisexuality, put him in direct opposition with the forces of public morality of his era, whereupon they sent him to prison, where his health broke, and he died young, as did the three romantic poets…. But, not by fate, but, rather, by human folly.

I’m not sure just why I’m talking about Romantic Era poets, or about the victims of dogma, either…. I was staring at the screen, lost in contemplation, when I decided to use a pearl to get me started (my mind was, in a creative writing sense, quite empty….), so I went to SB and found the quote from Byron, which, acting on instinct, I brought over and used as a springboard for discussion….

A discussion, as it turns out, truly worthy of some nontenured research fellow at college teaching a boring English Literature class on a July day, in a boring monotone, that would put the most dedicated student to sleep, I’m sure…. But, even if I don’t have any idea how I got here, here we are, four or five paragraphs down the pike, and all warmed up, finger-wise….

See how that works? I write, you read, and we have fun…. Simple, yes? Now, why would you want to go anywhere else in the morning for your first dose of Reasoning, Ranting, and Rhyming, which is pretty much all we do here…. Oh, I remember why…. Hey, I can’t do anything about Murphy’s tender mercies, nor can I keep myself from ranting over the shenanigans, (to use a NICE word they don’t deserve…) of the Asininnies (The BRC, the Priestly Hierarchies, the Shadowy Corporate Masters, the Blue Meanies, and the Mundanes…. at least, those of the clan Stupid….) whenever I run across more evidence of how nasty they are….

In spite of all the minor handicaps under which we operate, I think we do a pretty decent job here at ECR, of staying sane, and spreading that sanity around as far as we can…. If people don’t want to use it, well, I can’t go out there and beat it into their heads…. (Well, maybe I could, but it might be hard to continue publishing this blog from a prison cell….) When the sky turns green, and we can no longer see the moon at night for all the carbon and methane in the air, I guess they’ll get the picture…. Until then, well, I’ll just keep on keepin’ on….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Excuse me, Worker, I’ll just be a nanosecond.” — a computer, from Firesign Theater’s I Think We’re All Bozos On This Bus
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Robert Heinlein called the latter half of the twentieth century, “The Crazy Years”, with good reason…. I have reason to believe that the period of US history to which he SHOULD have applied the term might better be placed in the beginning of the current century, instead….

As proof of that, below, I offer five links, to articles on ONE news site, all of which give a pretty good estimation of the depth of the problems we have in society today…. It’s a pretty good overview of some of the issues, but one should remember to remember the irony of having to read the words they’ve written, at all…. My comments will follow each link, in parentheses to avoid confusion….

“Two rules we should always have ready,–that there is nothing good or evil save in the will; and that we are not to lead events, but to follow them.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — In what Manner we ought to bear Sickness, — Discourses, Book iii, Chap. x

http://www.sfgate.com/raiders/article/2nd-Raiderette-joins-suit-over-wages-expenses-5203869.php

(In sooth, this one isn’t so crazy as sad…. In the massive pyramid scam that comprises the structure of the NFL, the bosses make billions, the players, basically a bunch of grown up kids, make millions, the lackeys (like cheerleaders, equipment managers, beer vendors, stadium workers, and all the other mundane drones working in the business somewhere…) make a few thousands, while the fans, who are paying in all of that gelt, pretty much get screwed… but, then, what would you expect of a business that engenders billions of dollars of revenue each year, while engaging in what is essentially a complicated game of tic-tac-toe, with live x’s and o’s….. Actually, the whole NFL scenario reminds me of the whole Religion scenario…. same scam, different clothes… Robes and collars in one, uniforms and helmets in the other….)

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Sochi-city-hall-orders-killing-of-stray-dogs-5200318.php

(We all knew the Russian government was crazy, as often proven by their chief crazy, Vlad, the Bad boy, Putin….. and this little exhibition of the power of expediency over compassion is a perfect example of how the leaders of society take nothing but their own agenda into account when making decisions, regardless of how those decisions may affect another living creature, canine, or simian….. They don’t give a shit for anything but themselves, in essence, and this is more proof of it, to my way of seeing things….)

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Senate-sends-farm-bill-to-Obama-5202152.php

(You know which farm bill this is, right? I’m pretty sure this is what they call the Farm Subsidy Bill, the one that distributes the BILLIONS of dollars, stolen by the government from taxpayers, to various American farmers, to supplement their income by paying them NOT to grow things…. Farmers, being PAID to NOT GROW food…. now, if that isn’t crazy, then I don’t know what the word means….)

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/television/article/Bill-Nye-defends-evolution-in-Kentucky-debate-5202990.php

(You know we’re in trouble, as a species, when a scientific theory that has been proven beyond all doubt is STILL being questioned in public…. The fact that the debate here is taking place in a Creation Museum is one of the more ironic parts of this….. Here, in one spot, is gathered all of the major points of ignorance that are held as true by Creationists, who believe the world was created 6,000 years ago, reportedly by some aged, white-haired, Caucasian Supernatural Being, with serious busybody tendencies, (whom nobody saw, other than a few minor prophets, where they had been in the desert, happily having visions from dehydration, and experiencing beautiful, inspiring visions from consuming the desert plants…), with the aid and collusion of some of history’s most accomplished con men, in support on the ground…. The mere fact that the matter under discussion here is still being questioned, by ANYONE, is the most ironic, and the saddest part of this one….)

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Slain-Napa-girl-kept-in-suitcase-freezer-police-5204040.php

(I’m pretty certain I don’t need to comment at all here, though I will; this story is infused with craziness…. The sheer insanity of this couple’s journey into methamphetamine hell, turned them from being human, into monsters….

I lay the blame for this death squarely at the feet of the BRC, as more proof of the failure of their “War on Drugs”….. Hell, from what I can see, everything the BRC has ever done to fight drugs has only worsened the problems that produce the drug use in the first place…. The drug use that is endemic in the lower reaches of the financial scale in our society is a direct result of the widening gap between the rich and the poor….

The sense of futility and hopelessness that goes with living in poverty, (and I know it’s real, having been there….) leads to despair, and drugs often seem like the only way to forget it all for a while….. Deal with THAT issue, the financial gap, and there MIGHT be some improvement in that area of societal behavior…. It’s obvious by the last 50 years that the current methods used to deal with drug use are NOT working….)

There you go ffolkes, a compendium of evidence that goes to prove how insane society has become…. I wish us all the best of luck in the coming years…. We are going to need it, badly….
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I’m trying to make today’s Pearl a fresh one from beginning to end, so, here is one of my own poems, that speaks about society, and how it treats those who perceive the universe with greater clarity than the majority…..

Intelligent Crimes

The value of wit is often said to cause harm,
for those who think, such is its greatest charm.
The new and the bold cannot be fulfilled
if innovation and change is left unwilled.

Society behaves at its base as a mob
conformity and submission its primary job.
Any sign of rebellion against the mob’s rule
is met with resentment, naming such rebel the fool.

Intellect and talent are looked at askance,
expressing artistry stands nary a chance.
To stand out from the rest of mankind
is fraught with danger, for body and mind.

Often, I stand to watch, in solemn dismay
as beauty and joy get left by the way,
ignored and reviled by the unwashed masses
who prefer darkness, and acting like asses.

With shouts of derision the normals make known
their fear of intelligence, greater than their own.
They hope to stop all semblance of progress;
for thoughts and ideas, they couldn’t care less.

The world struggles on in spite of all opposition,
managing to maintain its advanced position.
Pulling the foolish along in spite of reluctance,
helping each to learn the survival dance.

Hard though it may be to keep up with the future
genius manages its plans to develop and nurture.
In the final analysis, those who live by reason
enjoy life the most, season to season.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

Okay, I’ve EARNED this old-school pearl…. The above material, in section one, while not quite as tiring as a rant, still left me pretty tired from the effort to be both reasonable, and tactful…. It’s harder than you think to NOT bite people…. HARD!, whether figuratively, or literally….

Nonetheless, I think I’ve showed decent restraint today, as evidenced by the miniscule amount of bandaging material that we’ve had to use so far…. Also, I’m happy to report, there have been no injuries today that broke the skin!…. Hurray!….. So, I’m going to put together a classic, seven-star pearl, without any specific parameters, other than my own whimsy, and Smart Bee’s admittedly odd sense of direction…. Enjoy!…..

“I’m having an EMOTIONAL OUTBURST!! But, uh, WHY is there a WAFFLE in my PAJAMA POCKET??” — Zippy the Pinhead

“And it shall some to pass that idiots shall roam the earth, and morons shall rule the masses.” — Smart Bee

“[In America] we like our solutions quick, and we like ’em stupid.” — Bill Maher

“Distrust interested advice.” — Aesop

“I refuse to be intimidated by reality anymore. What is reality? Nothing but a collective hunch.” — Lily Tomlin

“A little learning is a dangerous thing but a lot of ignorance is just as bad.” — Bob Edwards

“DON’T go!! I’m not HOWARD COSELL!! I know POLISH JOKES… WAIT!! Don’t go!! I AM Howard Cosell!… And I DON’T know Polish jokes!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
_____________________________

I’m almost certain, without having even proofed this, or gone back to edit at all, that it will do some real damage, if it gets into the right hands…. In that respect, all I can do is hope, because I’m too lazy to go promote it myself…. C’est la vie, mis amis! No soap, radio! See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

No, no! File the DRY ones first!….

Posted on February 4, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

My brain informs me that today we will be taking the day off, at least from any sort of the customarily productive, intellectually stimulating activity that generally occurs here…. This isn’t to say that our usual acts of random idiocy are anything that should, or, for that matter, shouldn’t, be encouraged, or that I believe any of the claptrap that ends up on the screen…. Oh no, far from it…. It merely means that I’m lazy again, and trying desperately to figure out a way to get this done without actually doing any real thinking, an endeavor which, at the moment, hurts considerably….

Hopefully, in my casting about for a suitable opening, I haven’t sprayed any of the dross on your clothing, or offended you in any way; it’s way too early to deal with a lawyer, or hard feelings. Mornings such as these are a trial to me, methinks, mostly because of my sense of honor, and its true companion, integrity, instilled in me by the man who raised me, and not something that I have any choice about…. This honor of which I speak is of the ilk that has always forced me into acting in ways that puzzles many of my contemporaries, as I do things that the general run of folks don’t bother to do….

Like giving an hour’s work for an hour’s pay…. Like paying one’s bills as soon as possible. Like telling the truth, even when it hurts me, or someone else. Like opening a door, or standing when a lady enters a room. Like taking off one’s hat when going indoors. Like showing respect for those older than me. Like doing all those things that lead one to self-respect; in essence, these acts are those that make one able to look in the mirror in the morning, and meet their own eyes….

Much of our society ignores these simple rules, a truism that has, to my way of thinking, led to many of the serious, life-threatening issues we face in the world today…. To be honorable, one must act in such a way that one’s own self-interests are secondary to whatever is needed to make others comfortable, or safe. Robert Heinlein’s definition of love includes this concept, when it says, “Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” When one is capable of extending that love, and/or the actions that go along with it, to the entire world, one may call themselves a gentleman….

It’s really not that hard to do, once one embraces honor and truth as their guidelines for life, making the firm determination to live as a gentleman….. a statement which inspires me, at this point, to include some Art…. I seldom do this sort of thing in the intro, but, today, it seems like the correct thing to do… So, with no further bilge from me, here are the Rules of A Gentleman…. To me, THIS is the blueprint for a life, well lived….

On that note…. Shall we Pearl?…..
_____________________________

I’ve been lazy lately, as you know, and haven’t written a fresh religirant, or politirant, in days…. I’m also not going to burden y’all today with another long, rambling diatribe against the Asininnies, of all varieties, because, quite frankly, I’m a little burned out, and need to let my brain percolate without having to produce for a time…. As that is the case, we’ll be going old school today, with a few pearls I found over the last few days, all of which take a few nice, healthy swings at the priestly hierarchies, as well as at the numb knees who buy into their delusions…. Enjoy!….

“A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.” — Matz’s Maxim

“A long and wicked life followed by five minutes of perfect grace gets you into Heaven. An equally long life of decent living and good works followed by one outburst of taking the name of the Lord in vain, then have a heart attack at that moment and be damned for eternity. Is that the system?” — Robert A. Heinlein

In English, “I beseech you, my brothers, _remain faithful to the earth_ and believe not those who speak of supernatural hopes. Poisonmongers are they, whether they know it or not. — Nietzsche, “Also Sprach Zarathustra”

“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

“He who speaks the truth must have one foot in the stirrup.” — Armenian proverb

“Do not be angry with me if I tell you the truth.” — Socrates (470?-399 B.C.)

“Don’t you think you’re a little over reacting?” — Adam to God
_____________________________

On March 18 of last year, I wrote a long, harsh religirant, with the main target being Mother Theresa, one of the most egregiously sanctimonious assholes of all time, in my opinion…. I’m not in a space right now to show that rant again just now, (though you could find it in the archives with that date in 2013), but, the poem I wrote after being stimulated by the rant isn’t bad at all, so here ’tis, such as it is….

Rejection

“Jesus loves me, this I know,
For the Bible tells me so…”
I’d be crying a river, I thought
if ever such crap I bought.

Sorry if it hurts your sense of style,
but, hypocrisy always gives me bile.
Being lied to accidentally is okay,
deliberate lies make me angry, and quite fey.

Oh, God, hear what I pray!
Keep me from your followers today.
Having to listen to so much that is wrong
makes me puke, before it makes me strong.

I don’t know why it isn’t clear to other folks,
which is alright, you know, different strokes.
But, why should that mean that they must
force me to believe, or fail in trust?

Spare me the lies, and the make-believe,
fairy tales are easier to hear, and to weave.
They give us a lesson which we can feel
but don’t pretend at all to be real.

Reality can scare us, that’s a given fact,
still, met with care it will leave us mostly intact.
Met without fear, standing tall and alone
Life will allow us to make it our own.

Folly beckons, and so many follow
mass delusions seem to me most hollow.
I’ll have to stick to my own chosen way
while so many go so sadly astray.

It’s lonely at times, it may seem sad,
but really isn’t, and I’m quite glad,
that knowledge is always stronger than fear,
year after year, tear after tear…..

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

In keeping with today’s policy of anti-freshness, I offer the following link to an article in the Telegraph, a newspaper from the UK, now publishing online…. This was a photo gallery, with pictures of each of the comedians listed…. I thought it would be a nice little break in routine for around here, to send y’all off to somewhere to find a few smiles…. I’ve included some of my favorite lines below the link, to give an idea of what you’ll find there…. Enjoy, ffolkes, it doesn’t happen often around here….

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/9594011/30-great-one-liners.html

Groucho Marx (1890-1977): ‘I never forget a face, but in your case I’d be glad to make an exception.’

W.C Fields (1880-1946):’Start every day off with a smile and get it over with.’

Billy Connolly (24 November 1942-): ‘My definition of an intellectual is someone who can listen to the William Tell Overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger.’

Dorothy Parker (1893-1967): ‘If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.’

Mae West (1893-1980): ‘I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.’

Jay Leno (April 28, 1950-): ‘Politics is just show business for ugly people.’

Ambrose Bierce, author of The Devil’s Dictionary (1842-1913): ‘War is God’s way of teaching Americans geography.’
_____________________________

It’s actually a good thing I didn’t try to write anything original today…. The process of trying to put this whole Pearl together has proved THAT to me indisputably…. I won’t complain, though, because, hey, we’re done, right? Right… See you tomorrow, I hope…. if things improve, there’s a solid chance of it….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

Parachutists pack their own…..

Posted on February 3, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“So be it,” he said, simply. “I can’t do it, and, they won’t, so…. what else is there to do?”

Ah, yes, the old fictional start to the day…. If only my mind were in enough of a light-hearted space to continue it….. Sadly, it isn’t, nor will it be, possibly ever again….. Why, you may ask? Well, I’m not going to tell you, so there…. No, actually, I AM going to tell you, if I can ever find that little note I left lying around…. Oh, good, here it is….

Okay, so, why aren’t the fictional beginnings continuing as a viable technique for gigoid? Hell, I have no clue… It just sounded like the most dramatic thing I could think of on the spur of the moment…. Naturally, given its inner nature, damaged from the outset at having been created, and executed, in haste and worry, it isn’t very good, is it?

Since I have your attention, though, allow me to actually get started on this, so we can get away from this slippery reality in which I have inadvertently landed us. You know it’s going to be a tough day when the first stuff that comes out of the hopper is such that one can’t keep it even close to coherency, on much of ANY level, as far as I can tell, no matter how charming or erudite one may be…. It just isn’t working, so we’re going to rely on an old piece of magic, one I often neglect to remember to use, as it is just so easy, it’s downright decadent…. Here let me show you….

Howdy, ffolkes! Welcome back to ECR! We’ve got a grand program scheduled for your excitement and approval today, so let’s not waste another minute, and get right into it, shall we?

Okay, our first contestant is “gigoid”….. let’s see how he does at “Finding the REALITY You’re IN!”…. But, first, this word from our sponsors….

Shall we Pearl?

DO NOT ADJUST YOUR MIND: IT IS REALITY THAT IS MALFUNCTIONING — Robert Anton Wilson
_____________________________

Back in the day, when I was at UC Berkeley, I first read, or tried to read, a book called The Illuminatus Trilogy, by R. A. Wilson and Robert Shea. I got only a few pages read, for it was one of the most impenetrable tours de force I had ever tried to consume….

The level of thought used in this initial outing from “the Bobs” is at the very high end of human capability, and the words written are hard to place into proper context, as they are so flamboyantly outrageous, from the standpoint of normalcy, that one cannot even fathom what they’re talking about, without first gaining a certain handle on the style in which it is written…. a task that includes, and even needs, first, for the reader to let go of a great many preconceived notions about the real world….

For a long time after, I avoided Mr. Wilson’s work, as being more than I wished to work at for the time being…. Throughout the ensuing years, I’d see his newest book, but, never really kept up with him, or his philosophy…. This, as it turns out, is too bad, as what he tends to espouse is very close to what I believe myself, but, with even a greater degree of intellectual freedom than I have ever managed to achieve…. His work, and words, are definitely hard to keep up with, but, from what I can see now, it is well worth investigating, especially now, as the attitudes he promoted may just be what is needed to save us, in this, the time of our greatest failure of both spirit and mind….

One of my Gentle Readers was kind enough to furnish me with a reminder of Bob’s presence, and pointed me to his information via the links I’ve included below…. Over the years, I see that his ideas have grown with him, but, he remained, right up to his death a few years ago, very involved in the world of avant garde intellectualism, and quite vocal about the stupidity and cupidity of national politicians, especially the beloved Shrubs…. I do believe he disliked, and disrespected the Junior Shrub quite as much as I do, which makes my heart warm…. Great minds, you know….

All kidding aside, I intend to explore his work more deeply in the coming months, and you will most likely be seeing a lot of his ideas and words on these pages…. For example, the following quote is his; it shows me that he had a very firm grasp of the reality in which we are all trapped…. This doesn’t even mention what a FINE lead-in to a rant this would furnish….

“There are periods of history when the visions of madmen and dope fiends are a better guide to reality than the common-sense interpretation of data available to the so-called normal mind. This is one such period, if you haven’t noticed already.” — Robert Anton Wilson, The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Part I

Go ahead, ffolkes, check him out…. There is a lot of stuff on the Web about him, and his work continues, through the efforts of his wife and daughter, who have their own websites, available through these links…. Enjoy!

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Anton_Wilson

http://www.rawilson.com/home.html

http://www.rawilson.com/thoughts.html
_____________________________

As with any human of natural intelligence, R.A. Wilson wrote poetry, chiefly, from what I saw on his site, haiku…. However, this poem is one that graces the top of his poetry page, on his website, and is, apparently, dedicated to his wife, Arlen Wilson…. I like it, too….

Dove sta memora

You have not snared her,
                                    Scarecrow Death:
She’s in my pulse,
                                    My heart, my breath.
Eye sees only
                                    Local hardware;
Brain conceives
                                    Nonlocal software;
Brain knows more
                                    Than eye can see:
Brain can scan
                                  Eternity.

~~ Robert Anton Wilson ~~

_____________________________

Okay, so today’s Pearl is a wash, pretty much, in terms of freshness…. No rant, just a fan club piece…. admittedly, it speaks about a worthy subject, but, a fan club piece, nonetheless….. I could put in an archived rant, but, I’ll spare you that, and go with an old-school pearl instead…. I kind of think that Mr. Wilson would have enjoyed my pearls, especially those that shoot, and score, at the BRC, especially the Shrubs, for whom he held a GREAT DEAL of animosity, just like ME!….. Any who, enjoy, ffolkes, it may be your only chance to salvage today….

“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

“Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives.” — John Stewart Mill (1806-1873)

“Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.” — Napoleon Bonaparte

“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” — Socrates

“The militia of these free commonwealths, entitled and accustomed to their arms, when compared with any possible army, must be _tremendous and irresistable_. Who are the militia? _are they not ourselves_? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms _each man against his own bosom_? Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are _the birth-right of an American_…the unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the _federal or state governments_, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, _in the hands of the people_.” — Tench Coxe 20 Feb. 1788

“There is one sure way of telling when politicians aren’t telling the truth — their lips move.” — Felicity Kendall

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away – if you aim right!” — Smart Bee

Hmm…. Who knew? Not me…. It will do, though, if only for today…. In case it isn’t clear, the above pearl, when correctly viewed, with the proper attitudinal filters, is a brilliant rendering of the shape of life today in the USA….. Now, for some, myself included, that is a bit of a stretch, imagination-wise, but, it’s not an insurmountable difficulty…. Actually, having to work a bit harder to find it will make it more worthwhile when it hits you…. less bloody, too, which is always a bonus….. 😆
_____________________________

Once again, I’ve created a monster…. Oh, wait, no, that’s the other Reality…. never mind….. Actually, this one might deserve that moniker itself…. Let’s see how it flies before letting it go…. Oh, hey, that’s not bad at all…. That being the case, I’m outta here, ffolkes…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

Crash test dummies don’t do it….

Posted on February 2, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I stood
Among them, but not of them; in a shroud
Of thoughts which were not their thoughts.

— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto iii, Stanza 113

This excerpt is one I’ve used previously, in a Pearl from long ago… Other than not knowing the title of that particular Pearl, or what was in the pearl in which this was used, I remember it very well, in that, the verse held the same meaning for me then, as it does now. In essence, this expresses how I feel a lot of the time, when I consider myself in relation to my fellow man….

Often, I feel as if I am seeing something in the what the world presents for our perception that they don’t, that I am perceiving more details than most people….These perceptions, because they are different, and more extensive in many cases, cause me to entertain thoughts and ideas that always seem to shock or surprise others, because of their dubiously exotic, yet obviously valid nature, which is, all to often, in direct contrast to their own perceptions and thoughts.

The most common reaction I get from folks when I offer an insight into an issue out in the BBR somewhere (in line in a store, in a restaurant, etc….) is a puzzled expression, and/or a question about either “why” or “how” I came to the conclusions I’ve offered…. In many cases, I’ve learned to just stay out of situations where I could possibly help, because people get upset when it is offered; I guess they think that accepting the offer of help is tantamount to giving up, or seeming incompetent, so they get all grumpy and sober, insisting on fixing whatever the problems without assistance.

This little behavioral fillip is one that most humans have, to one degree or another, when their own mental acuity is put into question, either by circumstance, by someone’s tactlessness or cruelty, or by the bozoid nature of their own efforts….

Me, I just keep tumbling along the road to freedom, wherever it may lead me, keeping my thoughts mostly to myself, as I’ve found the public doesn’t want to hear it, unless you’re wearing a power suit, a red tie, (with stripes is good…. blue, if you can get ’em….), and a flag pin, while talking on TV…. Now, dress up like that, get on TV, speak nicely to them in small words, and they’ll believe just about anything they’re told….

Tell them face to face, in words of more than two syllables, and they will slam shut the doors to their minds like the closing of a bank vault; at that point there is no reason, and no rhyme, they will ever allow in…. Change can be scary, you know; people are well aware that when they allow themselves to learn something, something always changes on them…. and they don’t like it….

Perhaps this is why I find this blogging experience to be cathartic…. It allows me to say what I have to say, that would otherwise sit inside me and cause trouble, without it getting to the point of being burdensome, while at the same time, offering to the world some of the diligently imprudent, yet occasionally wise thoughts that have passed through my head over the years…..

Some of it is pretty good stuff, very helpful in living a life well lived… Other parts of it may not be quite as useful, or particularly attractive to those who don’t enjoy using their minds for anything other than finding food and companionship, but, hopefully, what I create will entertain and/or amuse y’all as much to read as it does me to share….

And, if not, well, there’s always the pearls to get you through the day…. They’re pretty infallible in their wisdom, you see, having been around long enough to have withstood the test of time, having long since proved their worth, as good advice, or solid logic…. or, merely as beautiful…. Whichever it may be, these pearls, and the Pearls that they form, will be here long after I am, and I hope they give someone pleasure to read, as they do me to write…..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“All I kin say is when you finds yo’self wanderin’ in a peach orchard, ya don’t go lookin’ for rutabagas. — Kingfish
_____________________________

A year ago, in January of 2013, my life was much different, in several ways, too numerous to mention now, obviously, or we’d never get anywhere…. However, if we use the following old pearl from a Pearl I posted early in that month as an indicator, one can see my thoughts haven’t traveled far in a different direction at all…. This sortofarant is one I wrote the second day of the month…. I was pleased with it back then, and am even more so now, for it saves me a shitload of work this morning, and my back, in its current state, thanks me…. I hope you enjoy it, too….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From 1/2/2013:

“Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when he is called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.” — Oscar Wilde

One can always trust Oscar Wilde to display both elegant wit and intelligent insight, though, to be sure, many of his most closely held views were somewhat divergent with what was commonly held to be true, philosophically, by many in the mainstream of society. This divergence was, I believe, mostly deliberate on his part, as he tended to mock that which he did not respect, and he never had much respect for…. well, anything to do with human nature vs. reason and rationality. He mistrusted most people to act morally, and was unafraid to say so; this, of course, made him both famous, and infamous….. His infamy, I’m sure, ultimately was his undoing, much to society’s loss; as is said so often about our brightest minds, “only the good die young….”

I often wonder, (well, maybe not so often, so much as I’m wondering now…) what the world today would be like, if somehow, some of those bright stars in history had lived to an age where their accomplishments, in relation to the advancement of human thought, and the betterment of the human condition, had a broader, and more lasting effect than their absence has left us.

What if Keats had written poetry until he was 85? How many more inventions would have come to us from Nicolas Tesla, had he lived long enough for the rest of the scientific world to catch up to him, instead of hounding him to an early grave? How much more good music, and art, and literature would be available to all of us, if not for this tendency for the best of us to live as a burning meteor, flaming brightly through the sky, until burned out and lifeless?

It is a sad commentary for society to know that it is often the very brilliance of these people that brings about their downfall, at the hands of the ignorant, and the avaricious…. What is even sadder, to me, is that this demonstrates another part of human nature that is responsible for almost every painful issue in human history, and current society, the issues that cause people to suffer pain, oppression, perpetual struggle, and will most certainly ultimately lead to the extinction of our species, on this planet, at minimum….. I’m pretty sure we don’t have time to mount any significant exodus to another planet, to save at least some of the species, before our own stupidity catches up to us, in a fatal sense….

That piece of our nature is the unfortunate characteristic, in a number of humans, to be able to put aside all conscience, to act solely in their own self interest. All of us, of course, possess this quality to some degree; it is an outgrowth of having a will to survive. To these few others, it is their primary modus operandi; they simply do not take other people, or their concerns, into account when deciding what they are going to do, and are not hampered by the consideration of any suffering they may cause other people, animals, or things.

As is patently obvious, to my mind, every elected official, every high level preacher, every corporate magnate, and a great many lawyers, are all of this ilk, and have, for nearly 230 years now, been quietly and efficiently plundering the pockets and rights of the American people (and those of every other country in the world, for that matter…. it is a HUMAN condition, not just American…. Ours are just some of the most obvious about it….), while simultaneously lying, cheating, and otherwise acting to secure their stranglehold on society.

(Note from 2014: In fairness, let’s add those criminals in the world who prey on the weak and poor, like the mafia, the drug cartels, etc…. We’ll include anyone who involves themselves in prostitution or the sex trade in any way, or otherwise abuses women and/or children out of their own misogyny and greed…. A lot of the poor, who are resentful at the treatment at the hands of those in the same category, who disguise their evil behind the public face of politics or religion, become of the same nature, losing the connection to their own humanity, using violence, and physical power over others to survive in the world created by the corporate masters, and their dupes and myrmidons, in the established powers that be….)

Anyone who disagrees with this assessment, quite simply, isn’t paying enough attention to the world around them….. Sorry to be so blunt, but the facts are all laid out, right there, almost every day in the news media, if one knows how to look at the larger picture it presents, rather than the individual facets of that picture. Focusing on the little shit is just what those in power wish for people to do…. It keeps them busy not noticing other, more incriminating stuff they are carrying out, in the darkness where they mostly live….

“… change depends on individual acts of courage and commitment. Most such acts are private, invisible, and uncelebrated. But some find a place in the public spotlight; and their influence goes far beyond mere example.” — Arthur C. Clarke & Michael Kube-McDowell, The Trigger, 1999

Each and every one of us, in the face of what we know about reality, is responsible in some way, and to some degree, for both the way things are, and the way they will be in the future. If you don’t believe that, well, discussion is, for you, probably useless, and little hope remains. For anyone with moderate insight, however, this is plain, clear truth, and we all need to accept it before any significant progress can be expected against those who are sociopathic, which I define, and hereby name, as homo suicidus, those who would kill us all…. But, it is imperative that we act soon, for the damage we have done, and continue to do to our world, is at a point where the effects are nearly irreversible, and even if we manage to wrest control from the beloved ruling class, we may find it is too late to save our lives….

“In regard to disagreeable and formidable things, prudence does not consist in evasion, or in flight, but in courage. He who wishes to walk in the most peaceful parts of life with any serenity must screw himself up to resolution. Let him front the object of his worst apprehension, and his stoutness will commonly make his fear groundless.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, _Essays_, Prudence

It is my hope, small and pale though it be, that we WILL speak up, that the rational among us will rise up, and take back the control of our destiny from the hands of those who would see us all die, rather than give up their own control. It will only happen when men of courage, as defined by Mr. Emerson, stand up to those who would render us all impotent, for their own benefit. The only hope that exists for the rest of us lies in enough of us showing this kind of courage, and overcoming the fear that keeps us in thrall…..

“I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat.” — John Milton (1608-1674) — Areopagitica

Myself, I don’t want to die ignominiously, gasping for breath, because I didn’t have the courage to speak up, and to fight back against the immoral, avaricious assholes who dominate society….. Instead, let’s create a whole new world, without a beloved ruling class, at all….. Who knows? We might just find out that anarchy works!….. Worth a try, I think…..

And, if it doesn’t work, well, we can always try a technocracy, which we have yet to do in history….. With a bit of foresight and planning, it might just be what we need to survive our own foolishness… Maybe, Richard Brautigan had the truest prophetic vision, when he wrote “All watched over, by machines of loving grace….”

“Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.” — Pablo Picasso

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

— Maya Angelou, “On the Pulse of Morning”
_____________________________

Again, to maintain integrity, rather than shuffle off any of the blame for today on anyone else, here’s another of my old poems, one that talks about the chronic pain, and the emotional lability that PTSD brings, that I live with…. a poem which, in its own sardonic way, expresses the joy those bring….. NOT… I’m pretty sure I wrote this when I’d forgotten to take any meds for too long, and was feeling the result of that….Or, it could have been a day when the meds weren’t working very well, or the pain was too much for it…. Either way, it’s real….. or, rather, it was real when written, a reality that remains, as it always will, a threatening potentiality….

Pieces of broken spirit….

Deep within the inner abyss, tears lay in wait
Ever on the verge, tending to infuriate.
Real moments of sadness cracking our need
Swift, deadly waves of appalling terror freed.

Memory hurts badly when visiting now
Leaving me alone, forgetting even how
Killing the sunshine still pouring over all
Darkening all spirit, holding it in thrall.

Knowing no blame seems almost to heal
Yet healing is blunted, plainly not real.
Innocence is pointless compared with pain
On the soul it tattoos an indelible stain.

Hours become days, days turn to a year
Serving up only a compendium of fear.
Blind groping for light finds only dark
In caverns of terror, angry and stark.

Trails of endless sorrow fill up the nights
Confounded at last by unfathomable sights.
No hope can find its way to the fore
Never to sail safely, lost forever more.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

For some unknown reason, today, my mind keeps finding reasons NOT to compose…. I suppose it might have something to do with the fact it’s Sunday…. Nah, that doesn’t make sense, as I often don’t know what day it is until after noon, when I look at my calendar, or happen to notice when I look at my phone…. Ah, I know, more coffee…. Hold on….

Okay, well, better, but still no burst of creative urges billowing up from my subconscious mind…. I guess we’ll have to settle here for an old-school pearl, or we’ll never get done…. (You KNEW that was coming, didn’t you?….) Let’s see what Smart Bee has for us today, shall we?…. Hey, cut the complaints! It’s this, or you’ll be sitting through a half-baked, ill-considered, badly written rant, to no particular purpose, which I will make sure to take AT LEAST two more hours to write…. So, settle down, or I won’t distribute the Valium until we’re in the air…

“It is ridiculous to suppose that the great head of things, whatever it be, pays any regard to human affairs.” — Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) — Natural History, Book ii, Sect. 20

“I don’t pretend to understand the universe–it’s much bigger than I am.” — Einstein

“If Shaw and Einstein couldn’t beat death, what chance have I got? Practically none.” — Mel Brooks

“Nobody ever complains that you are treating them like a child when you listen to their stories, encourage their dreams, and tell them how special they are.” — Callan Williams

“To certain individuals of small minds and overweening ambition, there is no greater insult than to be proved wrong.” — Thomas H Dyer 1984

“The most virtuous of all men is he that contents himself with being virtuous without seeking to appear so.” — Plato (B.C. 427?-347?)

And taste
The melancholy joy of evils past:
For he who much has suffer’d, much will know.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Odyssey of Homer, Book xv, Line 434

Well, who knew? A comment on Life at Large, its ever-present counterpart, Death, and, how to cope with both… Not bad for off the cuff…
_____________________________

In spite of factors that have precluded much fresh material today, I think this is probably done, anyway. Oh, right, we’re here at the ass-end of section three, so it HAS to be done…. because I’m not going back to do it over now…. With that little piece of deliberately factoidal wordplay as my excuse, I’ll just slip out this door over here… See ya…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

Destiny won’t manifest on demand…..

Posted on February 1, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

As further proof of the universal nature of bozoid tendencies, I offer up my own sweet self, for spouting off in a most bozo-like fashion a couple of weeks or so ago, talking completely through my ass, to make statements that, while not exactly stupid, were based on a false assumption, thereby guaranteeing they were wrong from the start…. As a result, naturally, my nose began to grow round and bulbous, and take on a deeper red shade…. Most embarrassing, or, would be, if it didn’t happen all the damn time…. I must be getting accustomed to all the funny looks and pitying expressions….

SIGH… It was really dumb, too, but, to save face, I am choosing to believe to be the result of an eye hitch…. I said that in a few days I’d be posting my 1000th blog here on Exploring Consensual Reality, having reached 997 on the count…. Well, it’s going to be a while yet until I hit that high a number, because what my eye saw as 997 was actually 937, a matter of a mere 60 Pearls difference…. about 8 WEEKS difference, not an inconsiderable number….

Oh well, sorry ’bout that…. scratch anything I said earlier, and forget it altogether if you wish…. I’m going to, right up to the time it actually happens…. THEN, I’ll worry about it… That way, no more embarrassing need to admit to my own bozoid nature, any more than I already do as a matter of course….

Since even I don’t want to go there, not without severe need, we’ll try to change direction here, to see if there is anywhere more interesting to hang…. Hmm, how ’bout them Warriors, eh? Oh, right, nobody cares about basketball until the playoffs…. I think, any more, a lot of people do that with almost every sport, which is to say, not follow it closely until the end of the season, when it becomes clearer who will be in the championship games…..

For me, most sports, even baseball, are becoming difficult to sit through; it’s easier to tune in about in the last quarter, or the last few innings, and see who wins…. Usually, in that amount of time, most of the broadcast teams will summarize the rest of the game anyway, complete with video replays, so it’s like seeing only the highlights of the game, without sitting through the whole thing….

There, that was just about as boring a subject that I could possibly have thought of to discuss…. That makes it a perfect paragraph for one of these intros, even if I did, nearly, put everyone right into a self-induced coma, in a frantic attempt to protect themselves from the sheer boredom threatening to overcome their senses…. I think it’s a masterpiece of distraction, completely charming in both its apparent, but false connection to reality, and for its sheer effrontery….. Who else do you know who would make you think about that kind of thing so early in the day? Nobody, I’m guessing…

Plus, after a paragraph THAT unsettling, the law allows me to forgo any further attempts to maintain control; I can let this puppy off the leash now, since I’ve already let it get out of hand. That’s a new law here in 2014… If you screw up badly enough in the introduction of a blog, you’re allowed to remove all restrictions from the rest of the blog, in regards to how it is expected to behave…

In other words, I can let it go wherever it wants, and y’all don’t have any choice but to get dragged along, once you’re strapped into your seat…. Therefore, since the future is set in stone….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“If God hadn’t wanted me to be paranoid, He wouldn’t have given me such a vivid imagination.” — Smart Bee
_____________________________

“I wouldn’t recommend sex, drugs or insanity for everyone, but they’ve always worked for me.” — Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939), journalist

So, this is going to be fun…. I think. I have no idea what to put here today. I’m not ready to rant; besides which, there’s nothing particularly rantable on tap… Oh, there’s stuff to talk about, silly stuff, bad stuff, even some good stuff…. but, none of it tickles my rant bone…. So, I’m just going to use some links to subject matter, as well as links to today’s headlines, to make short, hopefully pithy comments, infused with with and wisdom, (well, insofar as I am capable of doing so…you can never tell just how that will work out….), thereby defusing the otherwise potentially explosive possibilities that arise when I don’t rant….

First, one of my gentle readers left me a link yesterday, that led to some rather interesting information, about a concept that, oddly enough, I’d never before encountered in all my reading…. though, come to think of it now, I did read the book in which the the first appearance of the idea appeared, according to the article, a tome by Philip K. Dick…. I must have passed over the concept as part of the book’s plot, because it is a deep one, and deserves some thought….

Pronoia.… the belief that there is a conspiracy on the part of the universe to make my life better…. It is the exact reverse state of mind of paranoia, the belief in a conspiracy by reality to do us harm; as such, the concept offers the best sort of contrast to that, contrast that outlines and reveals the true state of mind we need, in order to see ALL the picture that Reality presents to us… The state of mind that shows us how to be aware of the true nature of Reality, that of duality….

It’s also a very nice way to think about living, as one of the natural results of following this train of thought is to become more compassionate, and more tolerant of others…. more able to love, and be loved… If you need an example of someone who displays the characteristics of a pronoiac, think of Elwood P. Dowd, the character played by Jimmy Stewart in the movie, “Harvey”….. Elwood believed in acting just as if the world was a place that had no other purpose than to give him different opportunities to find happiness, and, as a result of his beliefs, he found it, everywhere he looked….

Read the article, ffolkes, it will give you something to think about other than the gloom and doom that is our usual fare, if nothing else….

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronoia_%28psychology%29

In another example of how frigging CRAZY this world is, and just how little respect for the public the BRC has, I offer the following, which, though it appears to be encouraging, is actually quite scary, and I’ll tell you why…. after you read what he said….

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Obama-I-care-deeply-about-net-neutrality-5193864.php

While Barry claims to value net neutrality, his minions at the NSA and the US Cyber Security Forces are actively pursuing complete CONTROL of that internet, seeking to find ways to be able to access ANY computer ANYWHERE on the planet, as long as it is connected to the Net. When he was first elected, I sent an email to the White House, in answer to a call for opinions on some subject or another…. My hope, though small, was that someone would actually READ what I sent, and possibly, a response from an actual person would be elicited….

No such luck… I never have received anything from them via this contact other than obvious form letters, asking for donations, telling me I should join this movement, or support the president in some project or another…. Since sending that ONE email, I have been inundated with two, and sometimes three or four emails a day from the White House…. That’s every day, since 2009…. I get begging letters, letters to try to engage me enough to click on links to send me to places where they can present more attempts to brainwash me…. This administration has embrace the internet, social media, and email as marketing tools of the highest order, and obviously, have learned a lot from the spam industry about how to use email as a marketing tool…

Not only that, they are definitely mining me for whatever data they can find…. They know my name, and that I’ve never responded, because I keep getting emails from them telling me my name isn’t on their list as a supporter or a donor…. I would opt out of getting them, but, I believe in the old adage about keeping one’s enemies close enough to know what they’re up to, at least on the surface….

Immediately upon emailing the WH, I also got new, begging-type emails from a number of liberal causes, all of whom are big supporters of the pOTUS’s agenda…. Even Al Franken, a smart comedian turned Senator, started hitting me up for donations, along with the Human Rights Commission, MoveOn.org, Causes, Greenpeace, etc….. all are dunning me to get my spare dollars, and put my name, and computer address, into their database….

No, thanks…. I’ll keep accepting the emails, because it gives me a fair idea of what’s up in those arenas, but, I won’t ever respond again to them, even though I have no fear of the delete button, and can get rid of them without mercy, or regret…. which I do, every day…. But, damn, I wish I was a good enough hacker to be able to send back an email bomb, that would explode their database when my data got entered…. That would be too cool for words….

I see this statement by the president as a self-serving one, designed to make people believe he has the same concerns they have; but, at the same time, he is actively working to make the internet completely his to control…. and THAT’s dangerous, because, people are BELIEVING him….

Lastly today, here is an article which I am including, even though I won’t read it…. If this project gets passed, it will be a significant victory for the Asininnies in the fight to save the Arctic (Oh, yeah, I get emails about that, too…) from the oil companies’ limitless avarice. I have a feeling, though, even if passed, it will never get built, due to eco-terrorist sabotage…..Though not one of them, per se, I know there are a LOT of people out there who are VERY committed to stopping this pipeline, and won’t give up….

Seems to me, though I’ve never studied those particular warfare techniques in great detail, it wouldn’t be all that difficult to stop the pipeline from being built, considering the vulnerability of the areas through which it must pass…..Time will tell, but, I think the shadowy corporate masters may have bitten off a bite from a very bitter apple, which may end up being more than they can chew, this time….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/texas/article/Keystone-XL-oil-pipeline-clears-significant-hurdle-5193660.php

Such articles tend to depress me, so I’m going to give this a rest now…. This will have to suffice as today’s rant, because, ffolkes, that’s all I’ve got in me today…. I’m pretty sure that most ffolkes would say it’s enough…. I’ll finish up with this short, five-star pearl, which seems appropriate to the above discussions….

“According to Descartes, Rush Limbaugh doesn’t exist.” — Smart Bee

“If good intentions are combined with stupidity, it is impossible to outthink them.” — Marion J. Levy, Jr.

“Prefer loss to the wealth of dishonest gain; the former vexes you for a time; the latter will bring you lasting remorse.” — Chilo

“Remember: it’s only American television.” — David Letterman

“Life, as we know it, does not exist.” — Smart Bee
_____________________________

Again, to avoid splashing any of the blame over onto any other entity, I am posting one of my older poems, this one a nod to my current opinion of the BRC and this administration, in light of the failure of hope that has been laid upon our doorstep….

Geezer to Congress, with Love

Politicos don’t care much ’bout seniors, normal folks, or their ilk,
except for their money, I thinks;
Though they talk as if they’d cozen them in silk,
what they actually do, it stinks.

“The banks are failing, we can’t allow that!”,
steal from the aged, that’s their plan.
“Their life’s ending, that’s plainly where they’re at,”
lie shamelessly, because they can.

Maybe just once, if we all act together,
it couldn’t miss.
Right on their shoes, no matter the weather,
take careful aim, and piss.

Why the hell not?
It’s worth a shot!

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

Oh boy! Now, it’s MY turn…. Well, I suppose you could say that it’s always my turn here, but, that’s okay, I like to show my enthusiasm now and again, and, it would be really rude of me to shut myself off when I’m trying to be so positive…. Besides, now I get to let Smart Bee pick out some pearls, the kind I can use to create a pearl of great wisdom and beauty….

I probably should say, though, that it’s a distinct possibility we’ll just get whatever we get…. We’ll like it, or we’ll lump it, and Smart Bee won’t give a rat’s ass one way or the other…. It can be an asshole that way, sometimes, but, I don’t think we’ll have that issue today…. it seems in a good space…. Let’s get on with it, shall we?….

“There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method.” — Herman Melville, Moby Dick

— Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road? Ernest Hemingway: “To die. In the rain.”

“Pompey bade Sylla recollect that more worshiped the rising than the setting sun.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Pompey

“Can there be a republic that does not slump under the weight of so much human desire?” — Michael Scully

“Above all, we must abolish hope in the heart of man. A calm despair, without angry convulsions, without reproaches to Heaven, is the essence of wisdom.” — Alfred Victor Vigny

“I don’t feel it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become something else that you were not in the beginning. If you knew when you began a book what you would say at the end, do you think you would have the courage to write it? What is true for writing and for a love relationship is also true for life. The game is worthwhile insofar as we don’t know what will be the end.” — Michel Foucault, interviewed by Rux Martin

“Go softly, for you tread on my dreams.” — Yeats
_____________________________

Ffolkes, THIS is a Pearl…. I won’t make a value judgment as to its quality, but, I’ll say this… It’s done, it’s all fresh, and, it’s all the truth, as far as I can tell…. I’ve been known to be wrong, but, not this time, I think…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

Stable the horses, first, then we’ll emote…

Posted on January 31, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Now, here is something that doesn’t occur every day…. Here I am, up, fairly clear-headed, coffee poured and sampled, with all sorts of energy and rantable angst on hand…. and I can’t decide what to rant about….. There are just so many lovely topics from which to choose, I’m having the worst time, trying to pick one…. They’re all so critical, and attractive, especially to one who wants to bite somebody. I suppose when one wakes up with the urge to bite, it’s best to give in to that urge; it keeps me from biting myself, or, milady….. She gets so MAD when I do that!….

I don’t blame her… I’m down to one tooth in front, so the biting process for me involves some ripping, in order to obtain the proper chunk of flesh, without which any true bite is not complete…. Since I’m sure that is painful, I can see why she gets upset at me…. Of course, I always allow her a bite in return, so, the playing field stays level, and nobody’s feelings get permanently bruised…. All in all, it’s a win-lose situation, which is just the way I like it, and so does Murphy…

With all that said, what shall we talk about today, ffolkes? Since I can’t make up my mind, I might just have to dip into the archives again to find a suitable rant…. unless, of course, I decide to go ahead and work with the few article links I have to build a case against the BRC or the Asininnies…. That’s always fun….. It’s also quite easy, and subject to the whims of serendipity as to whether or not I have something new and fresh to point at while I’m ranting…. I guess we’ll just have to wait, and see how it goes later on down the page….

I wouldn’t want to start planning things out TOO drastically, or too efficiently…. One, or more, of my own myrmidons wouldn’t know how to deal with that much organization…. Most of them are trained ferals, you know, so they’re a bit skittish about that sort of thing…. They don’t like things too well ordered, or they get all antsy and anxious, which can cause them to ignore some of their training in a crisis, or even in times of normal activity, if they’re sufficiently spooked….. They feel stifled, and locked in…. Since they work for almost nothing, (just a meal, a bed, and a book most days….) I like to keep them happy….

Shh…. don’t tell the Feds that I’m using undocumented feral imaginary myrmidons to do my dirty work, okay? They’d most likely want me to get health insurance for them…. or make them get legally documented, or make me pay them a minimum wage, just like they were real Americans…. If I do that, making the SUV and boat payments is going to get tough…. Gee, I’m starting to sound a bit like a Romneyite, aren’t I?…. Sorry, couldn’t resist…. nobody’s taken a shot at that idiot in months, and we wouldn’t want him to feel neglected, now, would we?…. No, we’re far too compassionate for that….

Ah fuck it…. If I keep this up, we’ll never get to what we’re supposed to be doing here….. Shall we Pearl?….

“Bleem miserable venchit, Bleem forever mestinglish asunder frapt. gashee morphosite thou expungiest quopisk. fripping lyshus wimbgunts awilst moongrovenly kormzibs Gerond withoutitude form into formless bloit, why not then? moose.” — The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
_____________________________

Okay, rather than ranting, which today would be a project beyond the capabilities we have on hand (trust me….), I’m going to allow y’all to find your own level of angst, through the application of some links that will provide you with plenty of motivation for outrage…. I’ll also cheat a bit, and use each link as a platform for a comment or two on the article’s subject matter…..

As is patently clear, this is a new technique for me, somewhat, though I’ve tried something similar…. Let’s see how it goes, shall we?….

http://blog.sfgate.com/fiore/2014/01/29/goodbye-net-neutrality-hello-gilded-age-internet/

In this brilliant video, Mr. Fiore again turns his wicked sense of humor on the one specific group of Asininnies, this time on the shadowy corporate masters, who have once again bribed and bought the right judges in the federal court system, to obtain a ruling that allows them to take over control of the internet…. The ruling, which most American won’t know about until it’s far too late to change, will allow big network companies, such as Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, etc. to charge whatever they wish for people to obtain access to the internet, since the court awarded them that right as “corporate persons”….

Yep, now those with more money will be able to buy faster speeds for their internet connections, while those who have less will not have the same opportunity…. Once again, the government, this time in the guise of the courts, has screwed the public, BIG TIME, in favor of the corporate special interests who pay them to do so…. and, once again, we let them do it to us, without any opposition…. Of course, they didn’t bother to TELL us what was up, but, hey, can we expect them to turn themselves in for this kind of stuff? No, of course we can’t, because, hey, they won’t, and we can’t make them….

You know all that internet speed you’ve been enjoying for some time now, ffolkes? Well, kiss it goodbye, unless you’ve got a stash of cash somewhere to keep it flowing…..

http://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/Tom-Perkins-trickle-down-defense-of-the-1-has-5186878.php

This article is pretty good, though it’s a bit hard to find any humor in such asininity…. But, the article’s author makes some good points, and rightly makes this jerk-face look just like what he is…. an asshole, with a sense of his own worth that is blown COMPLETELY out of proportion…. But, then, for some reason, money seems to do that to whomever falls under its spell….

http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Leaked-docs-NSA-uses-Candy-Crush-Angry-5186801.php

This one is here just to let y’all know the administration continues to pursue their goals, all of which are based on their ultimate goal, to be able to hack into ANY computer, ANYWHERE in the world, if it is connected to ANY network…. Yep, ffolkes, it’s true…. they want them ALL. The NSA’s ultimate goal is to have the ability to look into, and take over the control of, any computer in the world….

Now, normally, I’d say that such a statement indicates some paranoia in whomever made it, even ME….. But, in this case, it isn’t at all paranoid, given the evidence in hand, as supplied by that American hero, Eric S….. I am absolutely positive that what I just stated above is the absolute truth; those people, the NSA, the CIA, and Homeland Security, with Obama in full collusion, want to control every other computer in the world, or, at minimum, have access to those same computers in order to obtain the information they require to meet their own paranoid delusional needs. They aren’t going to stop working toward that until they feel they have that control….

This has become patently obvious…. Look at the recent outbreak of news on the issue…. Tightly controlled by the White House, the news articles stated what THEY wanted to put out, then they shut up, and let that percolate, ignoring any other references to the situation, giving the State of the Union as an excuse…. Then, after two powerful congressional pundits put out supportive statements, the president then completely ignores the issue in the SOU, allowing ONE sentence on it to pass his lips…. It was obvious to me, given the nature of the embarrassment that the exposure of their illegal activities already outed, they weren’t going to bring it up any more than necessary, so they wouldn’t have to furnish more lies that could be exposed…

Now, we find them hacking into our phones (gee, didn’t the president assure us that wasn’t happening? Why yes, I do believe he did say that they weren’t listening to our phone calls, or reading our emails…. Gosh, you mean, he lied? No, really? Snort….)…. using the software in some of the games people play to access email and address information in the phones…. No intrusiveness there, no sirree bob…. Do you think, maybe, they’re lying to us about other stuff, too? I think it just MIGHT be so…

Okay, that’s enough for one day…. Recent statistics for this site show a drop off in readership, though I’m still gaining new followers…. This tells me my material is too heavy, and keeping people away, in trepidation of having so much to read to keep up…. Oh well, c’est la vie! I can’t seem to shut up, so, deal with it…. I have to, and so do you…. Besides, I’m now offering discounts….

Of course, a discount off of zero is still zero, so, I may as well cut this off here, because I’ve lost all chance at regaining my flow… Oh hell, I’d better shut this off quickly now, before it floods the whole place with nonsense and drivel….

Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow–
You are not wrong who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream

— Edgar Allan Poe, A Dream Within A Dream

_____________________________

Here is another of my older works, from 2012…. I kind of like it, myself…

Vague Glimpses of a Rainbow

All the sad notions of propriety had fled,
Screaming their anger for pausing in song,
Until late came the rabid fog, colored in red,
As serenity cried, unafraid to live so strong.

Fallow fields in faithful patience set free,
Dragged from birth, by their own nature cast
Saving each moment against fear yet to be,
Carved into silence, by ignorance held fast.

Historical forces plod slowly ’tis often said
Anxieties streaming stiffly, one epoch to the next.
Cultural mania stands nonchalant in its stead
No sadder epitaph has such bittersweet context.

Patterned bags of forgotten virtue lie in wait
Blessed by reminders whose souls value affinity
Frozen webs surround the fields in gravid state
Grasping passionately within obvious opportunity.

Passage to future realities isn’t guaranteed
Small favors for deities was left off the menu
No roses, nor manna, nor gallant aerial steed
Left traces of fatal, yet originally gracious venue.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

On days when I don’t officially rant, I get a bit of dross build up in my head, which is never a good thing…. The next-day results, after 24 hours of decay while sitting in there in the damp, dark corner where it gets shoved on such occasions, to get it out of the way, have been known to cause traffic delays three counties away, just from backlash over the stench….

To avoid any such happenstance today, I’m going to attempt a new pearling technique…. First, here is an old rant, from January of last year, on gun control; it’s part of a Pearl I wrote then, which you can find in section three of the Pearl connected to this link: https://gigoid.me/2013/01/17/artichoke-juice-is-an-efficient-lubricant/?relatedposts_exclude=2544

Now that I have provided a rant, even if it is one from last year, I feel that I’ve done my part to improve the traffic flow in the Bay Area, and I can now go on to the rest of this new endeavor, wherein I furnish you with a thrilling, seven-star pearl, sans parameter, to finalize what I’ve begun here today…. It may not finish whatever this is, but it WILL finalize it…. whatever THAT means….

Do you ever get feelings of Deja Vu?

“Nations and empires flourish and decay,
By turns command, and in their turns obey.

— Ovid ~~

“The only justification for our concepts and systems of concepts is that they serve to represent the complex of our experiences; beyond this they have not legitimacy.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“If we tried to sink the past beneath our feet, be sure the future will not stand.” — Elizabeth Barrett Browning

“Besides, it is clearly a bunny rabbit” — Data

“Most of us lead lives of chaotic improvisation from day to day, bawling for peace while plunging grimly into fresh disorders.” — Edward Abbey

“I don’t vote. It just encourages them.” — A Maine woman

Before enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood.
After enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood.

— Zen Proverb ~~

Do you ever get feelings of Deja Vu?

_____________________________

I rather like the format of that third section… The pearl, that I found to have created itself, (since I set no parameters, it set its own…), was one of such balance and beauty, I just had to centrally justify it, because it looked as if it was perfectly composed for such a balanced display….

It seems I was correct in that assessment, because, hey, look at it! It’s perfectly designed, and the pearls themselves are so powerful, it’s like a pillar, one that could be used to base an entire semester of study at some metaphysical college or another…. Or, maybe not… Maybe I should just go now…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

I’d like to be made fully cognizant, please….

Posted on January 30, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“After all,” he said, with a small, sardonic smile, “it’s only a matter of time.”

“Of course it is,” she replied, smiling back in her sultry way, “but, whose time will tell the tale?”

Have you ever seen one of those big old, shuffling bears, with a red vest, and a silly top hat, that rides around on a unicycle, playing a squeeze box? No? Neither have I…. But, that’s probably alright, because I HAVE seen one of the other kind of bears, the kind that shits in the woods whenever the Pope’s existence gets confused with his own… Playground games have more solid effect on Reality than you knew, you know…. No soap, radio!…..

Now that we have established the proper tone for this morning’s episode of fun and frolic, otherwise known as pearling for dollars, not that we ever see any….. at least, not for this…. But, I do like to start with some nice, thick, obscure nonsense; it just gives something special to enhance the tenor of whatever comes out of my head, sort of like adding streusel to schnitzel. Plus, it makes for a better, more healthful start to the day, as all of what we’ve been so fortunate to offer up thus far has been organic in nature….

Yep, nothing but pure, 100%, government certified organic materials were used to construct the pearls you’ll see today…. It’s our newest product line, brought in to try to corner a piece of the vegan market, though the reason “why” escapes me completely. It has something to do with the diversification program the top management wants to put us through, to try to bring the bottom line up from 0, to some number that resides outside the negative realms where it typically stays…. I keep telling them, nobody will buy it, especially not here, but, hey, they’re committed to it…. probably, one of them married a vegan, and can’t get any at home unless he does this…

Now that we’ve prevaricated shamelessly (Silly readers, there’s no top management here at ECR…. there’s just ME!!….), I wonder what other kind of mischief I can get into before getting to the meat today…. I’m feeling a bit whimsical, as well as feeling like I want to bite someone (not sure as to WHY on that one…. just woke up with a stick in my ass, and SOMEBODY’s got to pay for that, right?….), or maybe dance a few steps of the Assholio on somebody’s head…. You know, the Assholio, those classic mambo-like moves guaranteed to take the skin off anyone… All I know is SOMEBODY is going to get an earful, before the day is done….

Shall we Pearl?…..

And through the spaces of the dark
Midnight shakes the memory
As a madman shakes a dead geranium

— T.S. Eliot
_____________________________

“Gentlemen, listen to me slowly.” — Samuel Goldwyn

On first attempt this morning to fill in this section, I wrote what is now residing in section three…. My intended material, presumably located somewhere in the semi-intelligent haze of thoughts that hovers around in my head at all times, which concerned the recent SOU by our beloved POTUS, apparently got lost in the shuffle….

In truth, it’s just as well, because, from what I could gather on first impression, the State of the Union he described in his speech had very little to do with the actual Reality of that State, or, for that matter, that Union, since he managed to leave out some rather important issues altogether, concentrating only on what he wants people to focus on….

This technique is common among prestidigitators, showing a shiny, squirmy object, in one hand, with some kind of feathers, metaphoric, or real, (real is good, they never fail to pull in the eye….), that draws the attention, while the other hand is hiding the actual important issues, perhaps even off stage, never referring to them, so as to not plant any unwanted ideas….

Now, I have yet to peruse the content of the entire speech, but, I’ve seen a couple of articles that touched on his high points, and there were … are a couple of what I think should be called glaring omissions…. For example…. no, can’t do it… I’d better go research the speech fully before I pick at a specific…. Be back in a bit….

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obamas-2014-state-of-the-union-address-full-text/

Well…. That was educational, to be sure…. Yes, I just read the text of the whole speech; you can, too, using the link just above…. go ahead, I’ll wait….

In the speech, there were, as I mentioned, a couple of important issues that received only minimal mention, in passing…. (I know, I said they were omitted… I was wrong, they were merely minimized, and hidden in plain sight….). There was only one paragraph on gun control, wherein he promises to “try” to “stop more tragedies”, with one quick reference to Sandy Hook (gotta get those talking points in!… Shootings at elementary schools always bring out the tearful emotions, which is the intention…. such emotions are much more easily manipulated….).

This is an issue that has gripped the public attention all year, but, isn’t worth mentioning, except in passing…. Instead, the POTUS will deal with this “on his own”, through the use of the concept of the “Executive Order”, to limit assault weapon accessibility, along with other issues on his agenda, in which he is being blocked by Congress, or the Constitution….

There is also only one short, vague paragraph mentioning the issue of spying, prefaced, of course, by mentioning the illegal war in Afghanistan, reassuring us the number of troops there is decreasing, (We’re all gone from Iraq, he says….. Sure, sure we are….)…. while simultaneously fanning the embers of fear, by then stating “For while our relationship with Afghanistan will change, one thing will not: our resolve that terrorists do not launch attacks against our country……The fact is, that danger remains. ”

This, of course, is the justification for the following complete wash on the clandestine spying issue that has been in the forefront of the news all year; he makes a passing, one-sentence statement on that…. ( The pertinent statement is in bold, and italicized….) ….”That’s why I’ve imposed prudent limits on the use of drones – for we will not be safer if people abroad believe we strike within their countries without regard for the consequence. That’s why, working with this Congress, I will reform our surveillance programs – because the vital work of our intelligence community depends on public confidence, here and abroad, that the privacy of ordinary people is not being violated.”

That’s it…. That’s the sum total of what he had to say about the single most reported and discussed issue in the public arena in the entire year of 2013…. ONE sentence. Oh, the drones, too… They are another seriously disturbing factor in the clandestine activities they AREN’T talking about…. but, they’re nowhere near as critical for the public as the spying that continues to take place, in spite of the “welcome public debate” created by the actions that exposed the chicanery by the administration….

Oh, also, was that a crushing silence I heard on the subject of Eric Snowden, probably the most important character, definitely the most important of the last year in America, to enter the stage in the morality play that is our government? Why, yes, yes it was a crushing silence…. Maybe the president was still in shock; perhaps due to learning that Mr. Snowden had received his first nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday?…. That must be it….

His statements on climate change and global warming, while pointed in the right direction, still show no better willingness to face the true issues involved, as he said nothing that would disturb the bottom line of the corporate masters listening closely…. The entire speech, as far as I could see, had a very imbalanced viewpoint of Reality, much different, obviously, from a politician’s point of view than it is for the general public at large, and for me specifically…. His viewpoint paints a much rosier picture, of the past, the present, and the future, than the one I see, all without really making a single promise, or offering up a single detailed plan of action.

I guess I should have expected as much, seeing as this POTUS is one who is adept at painting pictures with words…. Unfortunately, the pictures he paints really don’t reflect Reality…. They’re very romanticized, vague, idealized, and lacking in clarity….. which, I believe, is a deliberate technique, designed to soothe the eyes and minds of the public at whom it is directed, distracting them from the harshness of the Reality that they can see whenever they look away from his pretty pictures…. Can’t have the natives getting too restless, now, can we?….

I think, given the evidence of this speech, along with some of the other issues that I’ve seen the POTUS take up, this is a far more dangerous individual than I had imagined, not because he is promoting reform, but, because he is using that pose, of being a reform politician, to cover up his much more egregiously oppressive policies, such as in the areas of intelligence, and executive power….. He has expanded the power of the office of the Presidency to an extent heretofore unseen, writing Executive Order after Executive Order, at times when Congress is out of session, or just to circumvent their blockage of what he is trying to accomplish….

This administration has brought suit against more journalists, for publishing leaked material, than any previous administration, by a factor of 10; they have aggressively and ruthlessly pursued any and all attempts by the media to obtain his vaunted, and non-existent “transparency”, which he so glibly promised in his first campaign for the office…

There are times I don’t blame him for some of it, because of all the actual, real reforms he, and every other president in the last 60 years, has tried to get past a divided Congress, and had blocked by their intransigent ignorance, and partisanship…. Except, that’s not how the Constitution says it is supposed to work….

He is writing LAWS, which is an act reserved for Congress…. He has issued orders on gun control that, according to the Second Amendment, he has no right to issue, for they restrict the public’s access to weapons of certain types altogether…. Not, I will admit, that they’re weapons they NEED, but, the Second Amendment doesn’t allow for any distinctions as to type or quantity of guns; change part of that, and it all changes, of that there can be no doubt…..

So, yes, I guess you could say that, once again, I’m disappointed in this POTUS’s assessment of Consensual Reality, or, at least, of his stated assessment, as well as in his lack of transparency, and willingness to lie to the public…. Oh, yes, ffolkes, lying by omission is still lying; just because he didn’t say anything about an issue, doesn’t mean he isn’t DOING anything illegal in that area… it just means he doesn’t want us to know about it…. You can be sure of that…. He’s already proven that transparency is just a word to him, one he is very glib and confident in using, but, one he has no intention of ever actually providing to the public….

In looking at the entire speech as a whole, what I see is a long, manipulative set of words and phrases designed to get the public, and his cronies, thinking about just those issues he wants to address, without giving any real information on any of it, beyond the necessary key phrases that identify his talking points.

He uses a lot of examples of what he calls typical Americans from the middle classes to illustrate his points, shamelessly using emotional stimuli to direct the people to the attitudes he desires to create in support of his agenda. In truth, he’s an adept, efficient speaker, never confusing the issues with facts, preferring to use insinuation and/or vague references to factoids….Sadly, none of what he said had any solid connection to what is actually real….. Ah well, I’m forced to admit, I wasn’t expecting to see anything better, and, I didn’t….

“Never be angry when a fool acts like a fool. It’s better when fools identify themselves…it removes so much uncertainty.” — Lord Peace
_____________________________

Once again, I’m putting in one of my own poems, to maintain the level of personal responsibility that must be assumed for whatever one may call this entire mess…. So be it…

Unheralded Sagacity…

To many, who will not see beyond their nose
the world becomes a dangerous place,
a bullet in every gun, a thorn with every rose,
no magic comes to save us, reality leaves no trace.

Minds closed, wrapped tight in manufactured fears,
men become clay, easily molded into complacent form.
No chains needed, held in thrall for years,
lies become gospel, when dishonesty is the norm.

Shed the chains you wear in durance, in kind;
Oh, ye of little faith, and much doubt
Strength is found in an unfettered mind,
Cry “freedom” with a great shout.

No help from any gods can hinder so much
as our own lack of confidence;
finding the light within, knowing it as such
confirms us, becoming consequence.

Illumination…..

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

“We’re not into science fiction because it’s _good literature_, we’re into it because it’s _weird_. Follow your weird, ladies and gentlemen. Forget trying to pass for normal. Follow your geekdom. Embrace your nerditude. In the immortal words of Lafcadio Hearn, a geek of incredible obscurity whose work is still in print after a hundred years, “woo the muse of the odd”.” — Bruce Sterling, addressing a convention of SF writers

A few days ago, I experienced an epiphany regarding the solutions we need to find to the issues of global warming and climate change…. This statement is one that, though not exactly what I’m talking about, is in the right ballpark…. Finding answers to what is happening in the real world has been part of what science fiction writers have done, peripherally, for many years, in the sense that the stories they write explore the concepts involved in ways that demonstrate the questions, and can, hopefully, point the way to finding the answers we now need…

There have been many, many stories…. full length novels, novellas, short stories… all written over the last two hundred years or so, that talk about the most critical issue we now face, to wit: the climate changes produced by our insane pollution of the atmosphere. There has also been a lot of speculation and talk among the people who do the writing, and those who write about them, all discussing possible scenarios for possible futures….. Somewhere among all that talk and discussion, there MUST be an idea that we can use to turn the tide that we have so foolishly turned against us…..

In other words, in a metaphorical sense, we need to go out into the realms of fantasy and imagination, to find the elves, so we can benefit from the wisdom of their counsel…. Even though I already know what they will tell us…. The elves always give the same counsel…. we will need to find a Hero, who can step forward to assume the Quest to save mankind from the folly of his own greed and ambition…. Metaphorically, this is absolutely correct…. what it will translate to in real terms is yet to be seen, but, something needs to be done to find an answer, and soon, for the time we have to accomplish anything that will work is growing smaller rapidly….

“There is something inside all of us that yearns not for reason but for mystery… not for penetrating clear thought but for the whisperings of the irrational… not for science but for wizardry disguised as science.. not for rationally founded influence but for magic.” — Karl Jaspers

In the meantime, rather than ranting at you to get out there and try to find an elf, who can then lead us to his where his people have gone, far over the Western Sea,…. I’ll put together an old-school pearl, with some good advice and/or some snarky comments about the assholes who got us to this point in the first place….

“For me, all I can do is spit in the eye of my fears by living each day with as much passion and commitment as possible to what truly counts, such as love and justice. To give the into the fear and hopelessness would be to declare defeat, something I am not ready to do while there is still the will to struggle.” — Lawrence Paradis

“You shouldn’t think about *how* we’re doing this. You should ask yourself, ‘why?'” — Penn Jillette

“To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” — Agatha Christie

“A little folly is desirable in him that will not be guilty of stupidity.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Book iii, Chap. ix

“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” — Oscar Wilde (1856-1900)

“Must not all things at the last be swallowed up in death?” — Plato

See? There is a perfect example of why I seldom make precognitive assumptions about a particular pearl, especially BEFORE it is constructed…. This is a grand pearl, but, no snarky comments to be seen…. ‘S’okay, it doesn’t need them….
_____________________________

All things considered, this didn’t turn out so badly as I had feared…. As I said above, so be it…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

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

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