Tag Archives: POTUS

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

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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
_____________________________

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 ~~

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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
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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

dozer3

Destiny won’t manifest on demand…..

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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
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“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
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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 ~~

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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
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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

dozer3

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

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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
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“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. ”

“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

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

dozer3

Fabulous shoes, Matilda…. Going waltzing?

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4

Ffolkes,

It figures, of course, that the first day in ages I arise, having slept well, and, with all sorts of ideas streaming out of my head, I am beset by physical complaints that keep me from sitting in front of the computer for much longer than it takes to boot up (this comp is getting old, so the boot sequence takes a few moments these days…. a lot of software under the old download bridge, each one wanting a bit of the sequence….). Nothing particularly egregiously dangerous, or more than normally painful, but, enough to make me uncomfortable, & unable to sit, or stand, for very long…. Ah well…. lots of breaks forthcoming, but, we’ll get to the end eventually…

Today’s rant is again pointed at the POTUS, and his seemingly endless willingness to lie to the public….. Written yesterday, it revolves around the latest political cartoon from Mark Fiore, social critic extraordinaire, and, most-excellent gadfly of unparalleled wit…..Currently, according to the chatty little emails I get from the White House, Barry is scampering around the West Wing today, with a bunch of writers and staff researchers, putting the State of the Union address into final shape. It will be interesting this year for me, to see just how far off the rails this president has gone….

You may note the lack of a capital letter when referring to the POTUS, as is generally considered correct; it indicates one is respectful of the office, and its occupant…. Fuck that, dudes & dudettes….. In my world, respect has to be earned, and I haven’t seen enough from Obama to warrant any such thing, much less prompt me to hand out any unqualified respect; in fact, he has lost a lot of the respect I did have for him when he was first elected…. He’s spent almost six years now, since first being elevated out of the Senate in 2008, disappointing the American public time after time, by revealing lie after lie after lie, in the process of completely ignoring everything he said to get elected…..

Out of Iraq & Afghanistan? Hmm… well, MOSTLY we are out of Iraq, but, we still have a lot of “police & security trainers” and “training personnel” there; we are still fully engaged in the illegal war in Afghanistan ( …. which is a country, by the way, that has NEVER been successfully conquered, or controlled, in ALL of history, by ANY nation…. Our country is merely the latest to try, since the Russians pulled out of there in the 1990’s, giving up their long-time occupation, as too expensive, in terms of lives, equipment, and money….). We still have foreign nationals, and possibly some of our own citizens (Who knows who is actually in there?…. They aren’t required to tell anyone….), being detained in the Guantanamo detention facility, though he promised to close that in his FIRST election run-up…..

So, don’t tell me to capitalize his title when using it to point at him; he has definitely NOT earned the respect….. I do NOT have any of that to hand out, especially not to someone who lies to me on a regular, ongoing basis…. I don’t give a shit who they are, or who they THINK they are, or how much they believe what they say…. I don’t respect anyone who will deliberately tell a falsehood to achieve their purposes, and justify it in the name of patriotism, when it really more resembles repression…..

Oops, did it again, didn’t I? Ah well, such is life here in ECR; when I’m in ranting mode, nothing will stop me….. I guess we ought to go do something a bit more relevant, or, at least more entertaining than my gripes about the liars in Washington…. So, we will….

Shall we Pearl?….

“All men thirst to confess their crimes more than tired beasts thirst for water; but they naturally object to confessing them while other people, who have also committed the same crimes, sit by and laugh at them.” — G. K. Chesterton, Illustrated London News, 3/14/08
_____________________________

“A picture is worth a thousand words….” — Universal wisdom, common to every culture on Earth, to my knowledge…. — gigoid

By that yardstick, a video is worth about 25,000 words, or so, depending on the subject matter, and the length….There’s probably an equation….  Any who, a few days ago, after the POTUS gave his speech on the reforms he “intends” to make at the NSA, I wrote a couple of thousand words about my take on his alleged changes….

I should have waited, to let Mr. Fiore do the same, in his own, Pulitzer-winning fashion…. Here is his take on that speech, and on this administration’s biggest failure, to wit: the transparency that was promised in every campaign speech…. but, then, as Mr. F. points out, the Guantanamo detainment facility IS still open, isn’t it? Why, yes, I believe it is….

http://blog.sfgate.com/fiore/2014/01/22/obama-on-the-nsa-translated/

When I wrote the above sectional opening, I hadn’t watched the video; now that I have, once again, the only possible adjectives I can think of as appropriate are in the nature of “excellent”, “brilliant”, or “superlatively perceptive”. I love the last twenty or so seconds of the speech, where Mr. Fiore has the POTUS utter six little power words, his “talking points”, strung together without any connecting words to get in the way of what they want us to think about, the six significant words he wants us to remember…. “democracy, progress, together, change, reform, believe!”….. This brilliant brainwashing technique is then followed by a brilliant statement of the administration’s true intent, when Obama says, “I have welcomed this debate, and this discussion makes us stronger, as a nation… which looks forward to…. imprisoning the person who started this debate in the first place. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless this database.”

Casual, condescending, arrogant, the president’s original speech was a sharp, insulting slap in the face to the American public, not just for the extremely smug disdain portrayed by his demeanor, one of supercilious, superior, omniscience, but, also by his complete refusal to even address any of the public’s real concerns, brushing them off as not important enough to even mention.

This accusation, by the way, is based on the speech, as I heard it, when it happened on Monday, not Mr. Fiore’s absolutely brilliant parody, which was very accurately paraphrased, serving well to clarify the meaning and intent, in contrast to that which was offered up by the POTUS with deliberate vagueness… Fortunately, it was clearly evidenced in his own words, if one is able to examine them objectively, with a critical mind, to see through the screen of words, to the implied meaning.

This assessment doesn’t even include the so-obvious, outrageously bald LIE he told, with a straight face, as a casual, off the cuff remark in the speech somewhere, when he so casually chided us, the American public, for believing they would actually stoop so low as to read our emails…. an event he failed to mention that has already been proven to occur….by their own records….

No, ffolkes, my crap detector went on full alert, as soon as I heard he was going to make the speech…. It then went off consistently at each assertion he made, continuing to go off frequently at double volume, which it is set to do, every time he said, or implied, “trust me”, whether intended literally, or metaphorically, from beginning to end.

My crap detector again went crazy, the next day, when Senator Feinstein, the most powerful legislative member of the Senate Committee on Intelligence, issued her office’s blind, unreasoning support of the POTUS’s message, (the article this came from said the Senator admitted the public was against them on the issue, but dismissed that as not worthy of consideration….).

The article made it clear that the Senator’s views on the matter were being held in the face of continued strong opposition for them by her own constituents…. She KNOWS the people who elected her are against what she is doing, but, she is committed to doing it anyway, claiming “special knowledge” not held by the public, thus completely ignoring the public’s wishes.

Like clockwork, on the following day, Congressman Mike Rogers, the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, (a definite, registered oxymoron….) issued an out-of-nowhere, never-before-considered, or mentioned, accusation during a press conference…. He strongly suggested that Eric Snowden, the whistleblower who exposed the administration’s outrageous abuse of civil rights, was aided by Soviet intelligence agency spies, making this accusation “ipse dixit”, or, just on his own authority (meaning, he just made it up….)….

“The conservation movement is a breeding ground of Communists and other subversives.  We intend to clean them out, even if it means rounding up every bird watcher in the country.” — John Mitchell, Atty. General 1969-1972

(Sorry, couldn’t help it…. I heard this statement when it first hit the news back in the day…. It sure looks like the politicians are still using the same methods of dirty in-fighting to accomplish their paranoid goals…. Making up egregious lies as accusations, labeling average American citizens as enemies, to manipulate public opinion for their own purposes….. it’s all still going on, right here in River City, ffolkes….)

The political strategists who instructed Mikey-boy to make the obviously false accusations tried to make it look as if it had some actual juice to it, by trotting out some obscure, uninvolved CIA agent to give a supportive quote…. This person, brought in, I’m guessing, to show how the intelligence community is behind the administration’s view, was very careful to have the first words out of his mouth be, “Well, there’s no direct evidence of that….”…. But, he then went on to say, “but, it COULD be true….”

Very reassuring, don’t you think? Strong proof…. The idiot politician made the accusation that he had help, “because he did things beyond his technical abilities…”, of which, of course, as we all know, every politician is competent to make a judgment, due to their own technical experti….. wait a minute! They don’t HAVE any such expertise, do they? Aha….

Chairman Rogers, (which title is capitalized ONLY because it starts a sentence…) also, by making his statements, implied that the NSA was hiring, or had hired, employees to program computers, or operate computers, for them, who were NOT trained well enough to understand what they were doing….. otherwise, (according to genius congressman Mikey-boy Rogers…) “he wouldn’t have needed the Soviet, or maybe the South American’s help to get away with it….”  

“Or, or,” he didn’t fantasize further, though he could have, “maybe the Chinese were involved…. They let him hang around their airport, didn’t they?….” After making his outrageous, paranoid, completely fabricated accusations to smear the reputation of Mr. Snowden as much as possible, planting false seeds in the fertile gullibility of the public mind, he then bowed out of the limelight, and hasn’t been heard from since….

I expect the strategists in the White House have put, or will, even more pressure on the Justice Department now…. It’s their turn to come up with a way to justify the administration’s anger at Mr. Snowden for pulling their covers, and there will be, sometime in the near future, an opinion expressed by some federal judge or other, about the case, with some elaborately constructed legal reason to continue the legal persecution the administration so desperately wants, and, in truth, needs, in order for them to be able to a) show a victory, of any kind, to shore up their image, and b) shut off the debate, so they can go back to their chosen task, which, by all evidence, is one of complete domination of the world internet, and control over every computer that connects to any network, anywhere in the world….

And, if you don’t believe THAT is their goal, then, ffolkes, you just aren’t paying very close attention, are you?…..

“When you choose the lesser of two evils, always remember that it is still an evil.” — Max Lerner

P.S. I found the following pearl after finishing the rant above…. but, it’s perfect for this rant as an addendum, with this to say about it…. Sometimes, when I’m chastising the president, and his cohorts, for their tendency to lie, I forget about one of their most well-used and practiced maneuvers to get the public to go along with whatever they are saying…. I refer, of course, to what the literary world calls “deus ex machina”, and, to what I call encouraging delusional behavior, to wit: blame it all on God…. If you don’t think it’s true, well, don’t take my word for it; the idea didn’t start with me….

“In truth, there never was any remarkable lawgiver amongst any people who did not resort to divine authority, as otherwise his laws would not have been accepted by the people; for there are many good laws, the importance of which is known to be the sagacious lawgiver, but the reasons for which are not sufficiently evident to enable him to persuade others to submit to them; and therefore do wise men, for the purpose of removing this difficulty, resort to divine authority.” — Niccolo Machiavelli
_____________________________

The pearl in section three went well, and so did my search for a suitable poem….The poem below by Walt Whitman is an excellent one, well worthy of inclusion here any time. It is, however, somewhat lengthy, so, in the interest of saving electrons, rather than copying the entire piece here, I’ve provided a link to the Bartleby’s copy of the poem, where you’ll find it, complete with annotations and discussion, if you so desire. I’m being a bit lazy today, because this is all the poetry you get, but, hey, it could have been something with less panache, so, buck up….

I Sing The Body Electric

If anything is sacred the human body is sacred.

~~Walt Whitman ~~

http://www.bartleby.com/142/19.html

_____________________________

It’s probably a mistake, but, I’m going to work here, in section three, before picking a poem…. Most days, I use the poem-search-process to decompress from whatever rant I’ve written in section one, and/or the intro. I don’t care if it is misguided, I don’t quite feel up to poetry today, yet…. it requires a certain affability on my part that I’m currently having a hard time finding in me, due to body parts/systems in revolt….

Fortunately for us all, picking out an old-school pearl isn’t taxing, to either the body, or the psyche, so, I should be able to live through it without any further complaints…. If not, well, just stick you fingers in your ears, screw up your eyes, and go, “nyah, nyah, nyah! THPPPT!” , like I do in such instances…. That should take care of it….

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” — George Orwell (1903-1950), “1984”, 1948

“There is great beauty in going through life without anxiety or fear. Half our fears are baseless, and the other half discreditable.” — Bovee

“That life is long which answers life’s great end.” — Edward Young (1684-1765) – Night Thoughts, Night v, Line 773

“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

“Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.” — Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

“The fight is what’s important.   Doing what is good and right is why we’re here. The end is variable and relative.  A person can only do what his heart tells him and break away from the terrible things around him.  We do what we can … and live with the consequences.” — Marc Zanoni

“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.” — Isaac Asimov — Salvor Hardin, Foundation

It seems my misgivings were premature; this is an excellent pearl, for all its innocent arrogance…. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did putting it together…..
_____________________________

Well, it has certainly been an adventure this morning…. I think my subject matter has sent a lot of readers packing; my site traffic seems to have dropped off a bit, with only a few regular readers showing up…. either that, or a LOT of people are coming by, DON’T like it, and so leave without any indication they were there…. Nah, I don’t think so….

Any who, no matter who may have been driven away by the somberness and vitriol in the last few Pearls, I’ll just say this…. I gotta write what is in there, lest it rot between my ears, causing me great discomfort, which I duly pass on the world at large…. Better all around for me to just keep typing, and hope for the best….. With that caveat spoken, I’m outta 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

dozer3

We’re all having Lorenzo do our taxes….

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3

Ffolkes,

I find myself again, sitting, alone and slightly awake, staring at a screen whose sheer expanse of unrelieved white stretches infinitely before me, a vision which, though it represents another in a long line of daily challenges to my perseverance and toughness, no longer fills me with trepidation…. In fact, it’s kind of nice, to sit here looking at it, WITHOUT shivering in abject fear & loathing of the task ahead…. Only in the last few weeks have I learned not to stress over the intro, though I really haven’t come up with anything particularly helpful to show me how to get it done efficiently on an everyday basis…. I’m still floundering in that respect; I just don’t fear it as much….

I suppose it could be the fact that I’ve now done this almost a thousand times…. (this, plus two more posts will bring me to the even, first of the 4-digit numbers….) About twenty or thirty of those were reblogs of the posts of others, but, in the final analysis, I’ve done this for almost the full millennium of episodes…. That, in and of itself, is somewhat of a milestone, though I’m not sure now just how significant it may turn out to be…. I just don’t know yet how it will feel to have produced that much over time….

I’ll probably be compelled to do some math on it, using statistical estimates, or even actual counts, to determine just how much material that all is…. I’m sure it will show I’ve written over a couple of million words, so, I’m content with that, knowing that my relatively life-long self-imposed silence, about most of the stuff we see in the news, is now completely done…. Being a firm believer in “better out than in”, it makes me proud, as well as seriously relieved, to have all that stuff out there, instead of in here, where it has always caused me more trouble than it was worth, from being kept inside and allowed to ferment…..

Fermented angst becomes a very potent mental beverage, one that I can assure you belongs in the category of adult beverages, a group of drinks, and/or ideas, best kept out of the hands of the weak and uninitiated…. If that isn’t clear enough, well, too bad, I’d hurt too many feelings if I said it otherwise….

Okay, okay, but, remember, you made me do it…. The stuff in my head isn’t for the Stupids, because it makes their heads hurt trying to keep up…. Most of what I tend to say, especially in the old-school pearls, but, also in the rants, isn’t for anyone without basic intelligence, as it is always based upon rational arguments seemingly beyond their comprehension, and, certainly beyond their ability to accept…. I am forced at this point to say, strongly, that I no longer care what those people may think about that…. There, I’ve said it, now I can get ready for the hate mail….

That’s okay, I’m no longer in a position where I need to care about that, either, nor would I if I could…. Like any such criticism, I can cheerfully ignore all of it, if I wish, or, I can stuff it back in their faces with a few well-crafted insults to add incentive to the idea of them hurrying along. I don’t care which I do now, as either one is acceptable to my curmudgeon training, and my sense of justice…. I’ve kept my mouth shut, to, and about the Stupids, for many years, and I’m done with it…. If they don’t like it, well, to put it just as simply as I can…. too fucking bad….

Now that I’ve amused my regular ffolkes (me, too!…), and annoyed any visiting Stupids (y’all know who you are…. folks….), we can get on with today’s effort…. This intro, obviously, though a bit chatty and intimate, does meet all the legal and structural requirements for the beginning of a blog, so, we’re going with it, crusty as it may be….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Every event that one would master must be mounted on the run, and no one ever caught the reins of a thought except as it galloped past.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
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If you would please read this article, the following will make a lot more sense; if you don’t, it may take you a bit longer to figure out the gist of it….    😉     Plus, that way, you’ll know, for sure, I’m not making this stuff up, just so I have something to write about….

http://news.yahoo.com/snowden-help-from-russians-193641893.html

In the time of Pythagoras that proverbial phrase “Ipse dixit” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Pythagoras, xxv

Ipse Dixit. [Latin, “He himself said it.”]  An unsupported statement that rests solely on the authority of the individual who makes it.

And so it begins….. All of a sudden, many months AFTER the fact, several high-ranking officials all come out with the same story-line, IMPLYING that Eric Snowden was influenced and/or helped by Russian spies to do what he did…. This statement by Mikey-boy Rogers, U.S. House Intelligence Committee Chairman, R-Mich., Senator Feinstein’s cohort (she’s his counterpart in the Senate, who put out her office’s lies about this issue yesterday….), is the newest step in the ongoing attempt by the administration to paint Mr. Snowden’s actions with the brush of treason, when, in fact, they KNOW he is not a traitor, but, rather, a patriotic American, caught in the web of intrigue THEY created with their clandestine, illegal activities….

As soon as I saw this headline today, my highly-trained, delicately-honed, automatic political crap detector SCREAMED at me….. “LIES, LIES, MADE UP LIES!!”, it said, without much doubt implied (accuracy factor of the detection meter said it was 99.9% likely to be lies…. which makes it pretty certain, as I’ve programmed it to never say that it is completely sure; it defaults to that number when it is…)….. This is SO obviously a campaign to smear Snowden, it positively REEKS! They are introducing doubt of his character into the dialogue, which, come to think of it, is only a monologue, because, hey, he’s not here to defend himself, is he?

This, of course, is typical political posturing, reminiscent of any other campaign, such as an election run, when they need to direct the public’s attention toward certain areas, away from others, so they can control the conversation…. In his speech, Obama admitted to responding to a public dialogue called for by the leak of information, while never admitting any wrongdoing for having committed the spying initially. Yet, this conversation, this debate, has only shown them to be more secretive than we knew, and they are pulling out all the stops to stop any further investigation into, or outcry about what is REALLY going on…. Naturally, since they are politicians, they will approach this as a campaign to be won; the first step in any campaign is to decrease the viability, the believability of the opposition…. Hence, unproved, unfounded, and untrue accusations, out of nowhere, to try to demonize Eric Snowden….

They say first, it’s beyond his abilities to have done this…. Well, hell, even the most thick-headed fool can see this is a total fabrication…. If this is true, would it mean that the NSA made a habit of hiring programmers that couldn’t understand what they were being tasked to do? Doesn’t make any sense to me….

This man was part of the program, a programmer, and KNOWS how to read data, as well as write the programs that would do so…. Hell, I’m only a high powered user, and I understand what is being done, and what WAS done…. This statement is an obvious lie, an attempt to demean Snowden, so he looks more like a villain, or, at best, the dupe of master spies….

The second thing to note about this claim, is that it is introduced by a politician, who obviously is NOT capable of judging what a programmer is capable of doing with a computer…. Mikey-boy probably has to ask his admin how to use his smart-phone, which is, arguably, smarter than he is, technically speaking… Yet, this idiot, in his power suit and tie, makes this claim unequivocally, thereby implying that one of the most competent programmers alive (look who hired him to begin with!….) isn’t capable of doing something he was trained to do, but, had to be helped by a foreign power…. A pretty far-fetched stretch, to my way of looking at it….

The one professional spy they quoted, from the CIA, it should be noted, said, in his statement, right off, so he couldn’t be accused later of any prevarications…. “I don’t have any particular evidence”, but, then goes on to agree with the outrageous claims made by a politician, one with NO FUCKING CLUE about the glaringly obvious untruth of what he proposes, or, indeed, of how much truth any of what he said might have contain….

Rogers’ job, which he performed perfectly, was to put in the minds of the public the single idea that Snowden was made to do what he did, by coercion, by trickery, or by duplicity; they don’t say which, nor do they have to…. They merely imply, without directly accusing, so that the lies they intend to bring out later, as seeds for further doubt, will find fertile soil in the simple minds of the public….

None of the truth, or any actual connection to reality of the claims he was making concerned him; he was strictly a talking head, on a major TV show; his mission was to plant in the public awareness the idea that Eric Snowden didn’t act alone, and that the very act of his doing what he did, regardless of ANY evidence to the contrary, should be viewed as proof of his having had help from another country….

The fact that this isn’t remotely true was not an issue; the message was delivered, and supported by the other actors in the play…. Throw in the claim about him being technically unable to do what he did, and you’ve got some juice to keep the story going, even though all of it is a complete fabrication….

Ffolkes, if you can’t see that this is true, that you were deliberately lied to, and manipulated in an attempt to make you think what the government wants you to think, well, I guess I should just use THEIR justification and tell you…. You’re an idiot, and the fact is, if you believe any of what this man says about this subject, that, in itself, can be considered as PROOF of your idiocy….. incontrovertible, undeniable PROOF. (After all, that’s the same method of proof they’re offering for THEIR assertions…..) If the timing, and the words themselves, don’t make your crap-detector go off like it was on fire, then I’m afraid there isn’t much hope for you in the real world….

These statements were merely the latest tactic to be applied by the White House political strategists, all without having to bring out their big gun, the president, with his down-home, I’m-so-sincere, boyish face, and, the now-famous, good-ol-boy, aw-shucks grin, both of which are political tools of great value to him….. Right now, they’ve got a few of the sidekicks out in the limelight, after his speech over the weekend, making up stuff and carrying on with all the talking points and deliberate manipulations, all orchestrated in Mr. Snowden’s absence….. which, I hope he continues to maintain, as it is the ONLY hope he has of surviving the future.

(….Oddly enough, in a case of Life imitating Life, this is a problem ALL OF US are going to have in the very near future…. that of running out of any hope of surviving the future, when the very air we breathe will be toxic to us….)

After seeing this story, and taking into account the other stories in response to the president’s speech about the nonexistent changes he claims he wants to make to the NSA mission (I mean, look closely at what he said…. He isn’t changing ANYTHING of any significance…..), I think it would be safe to predict that in the next few days and weeks, we will hear more fabrications and implications without any evidence about Mr. Snowden, as the administration continues to distract and defuse, hoping that if they stall long enough, something else will come up to take the public’s awareness from their spying, and put it back in the closet, or sweep it under the rug, where they keep all the other stuff they don’t want us to see or know, about what they are REALLY doing behind our backs….

You can bet on that, ffolkes, for sure…. They’re not going to stop lying, just because they’ve been caught at it…. They’ll only get more bold with it…. It’s the way they’re built, they can’t, and won’t, help it…. There’s no profit in it for them to give up, is there? And, profit is what they are all about, when it comes down to the bottom line…. Profit for their self-interests, which are, to them, more important than the whole rest of the human race…..

As Lily Tomlin’s character, Edith Ann, used to say, when she was done making her brilliantly simple observations of people’s foibles…., “And that’s the Truth! THPPPPT!”

“Plausibility is the morality of fiction.” — Edith Mirrilees
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I’m not sure when this was written, but, it expresses an emotion all of us feel at one time or another…. This is probably why it has such an appeal to almost anyone who reads it….. I suppose one could say the author tapped into a Universal truth when he had the inner vision that led to this poem…. or, one can just enjoy it… I particularly like to read this aloud, when I can, to get a good feel for the rhythm and cadence, that mimics the natural motion of the sea….

Sea Fever

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a gray mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way, where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

~~ John Masefield ~~

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The rant in section one today is one of the better ones I’ve created, I think, and I may publish it in another spot or two on the net…. Hell, I might even use it to comment right on the news site where I found it, to try to start some dialogue in the mainstream, get folks thinking about how badly they’re being lied to, not to mention how much condescension is shown, by their own government….

Since the rant was seemingly effective (for MY purpose, not necessarily yours, and definitely not for their purpose, or comfort….) I’m going to go old-school here…. I’m also going to TRY to change the mood a bit, to lighten things up with a smile or two… I know I could use one right now, and if I share it with y’all, then you’ll have one, too…..

“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” — Robert A. Heinlein

“Organized Religion is like Organized Crime; it preys on peoples’ weakness, generates huge profits for its operators, and is almost impossible to eradicate.” — Mike Hermann (hermann@cs.ubc.ca)

“The first thing in the human personality that dissolves in alcohol is dignity.” — Smart Bee

“Instead of striving to be like Jesus most Christians would rather presume that Jesus was just like them.” — Callan Williams

“If you must mount the gallows, give a jest to the crowd, a coin to the hangman, and make the drop with a smile on your lips.” — Smart Bee

“It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.” — Henry David Thoreau

“There ain’t no devil, there’s just God when he’s drunk.” — Tom Waits, Heartattack and Vine

Hmm…. Well, it’s not quite as light-hearted as I’d hoped, but, it’s all pretty good, considering how well the last line tied it all together…. I like it, which, as we know, is the critical, and deciding, factor for any pearl….
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Most of the rant was written yesterday, right after I saw, and read, the article under discussion, and the poem is another serendipitous find in my inbox…. As a direct result, this morning’s post is done, now…. “Wow”, he said, in amazement…. Maybe I can actually get some planning done for the day, and actually accomplish something constructive out in the real world! What a concept!….. 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

dozer3

One final set of twins to discombobulate….

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Ffolkes,

I’ve still to come to terms with Reality today;  this is a particularly trying issue just now, as it hits right at a very critical function…. Our argument began the moment my eyes opened, at about 0430 or so…. It seems Murphy, or some other iconic force of nature with similar asshole tendencies, wanted me to arise earlier, but, in my blissful ignorance, so blessedly bestowed upon me last night by the gods of sleep, with the aid of some beaudacious drugs, I completely blew him off, from about 3:15 until I finally arose….

He was pissed, (a minor piece of enjoyment for me….) but I was only mildly amused by that, since he didn’t fire off any of his usual fireworks upon my upheaval…. (I think that’s a good word to describe my process of getting out of bed these days…. between the stiff hips, back, generally painful movement, and the usual degree of morning lethargy, the act of arising can turn into quite a little ordeal these days…)

Any who, having gone to ground early last night, with some major pain from a minor back tweak, I wouldn’t have minded too much, but, damn, it sure felt good….. Not only to get to sleep easily, but to be able to turn over and go BACK to sleep as I wished…. The latter is a particularly nice bonus, as that is the worst part of being old and in pain, the not being able to sleep comfortably, or consistently, part….. Not sleeping well, or easily, or often, only adds to all the other difficulties involved in aging, sort of like how synergy flows, and builds up with resonant feedback…. Oh, damn!  What’s the word I’m looking for? Aha! Heterodyne!…. That’s it…. not sleeping causes a heterodyne effect in other problematic issues, making them bigger, and harder to deal with….

Okay, then!…. Now that the morning medical issues chat is out of the way, and I’m thoroughly embarrassed by my own inadvertent release of TMI, I suppose I should look for some other, less revealing way to get on with today’s business… It is, after all, my purpose in being here at all…. I hadn’t actually thought about how to open up today at all, and this diving right in, though it seems to have produced a sufficient amount of material, also seems a bit too much like the usual method of getting the intro done, i.e., mindless rambling around the back hallways in my head, until we find our way out into the light of the day….. Not that those intro sections aren’t legal, but, they’re still not what I’d prefer to see here every day…. Until I can figure out some sort of feasible method, though, it’ll have to do….

Oh, goodie…. Look! It’s happened again! Four to five completely worthless paragraphs, chock full of stuff that doesn’t mean anything to anybody…. Well, it could POSSIBLY mean something to me, but, I don’t wouldn’t have it with a warranty…. Any who, it’s street legal, obviously, so we’re going to bail on this whole intro thing, and get on with today’s dive and/or rant…. It can’t be any more difficult than this has proven to be, to be sure….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened.” — Terry Pratchett.
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Today, the order of events has undergone some alterations, and the old-school pearl will be in this section…. No particular reason, other than I pasted the necessary rantable material in the other section without looking first, and I’m too lazy to move it now….. Here, then, for your delectation and elucidation, a harlequin, randomly chosen pearl of lustrous quality, complete with burgeoning hints of wisdom…. Enjoy!….

Better stop short than fill to the brim.
Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt.
Amass a store of gold and jade, and no one can protect it.
Claim wealth and titles, and disaster will follow.
Retire when the work is done.
This is the way of heaven.

— Tao Te Ching

“Consider well what your strength is equal to, and what exceeds your ability.” — Horace

“After the battle in Pharsalia, when Pompey was fled, one Nonius said they had seven eagles left still, and advised to try what they would do. “Your advice,” said Cicero, “were good if we were to fight jackdaws.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Cicero

“You take the lies out of him, and he’ll shrink to the size of your hat; you take the malice out of him, and he’ll disappear.” — Mark Twain

“With the neutron bomb, which destroys life but not property, capitalism has found the weapon of its dreams.” — Edward Abbey

“A lot of people voting for Pat Buchanan say they are doing so to send a message. Apparently that message is, Hey, look at me, I’m an idiot.” — Dennis Miller

“While the gentleman cherishes benign rule, the small man cherishes his native land.  While the gentleman cherishes a respect for the law, the small man cherishes generous treatment.” — Confucius, Analects, IV.11

Wow…. I guess today’s theme got into Smart Bee’s head, and turned that pearl in a direction that causes it to fit right in with today’s rant, below in section three…. If it isn’t clear, when reading the above pearls, think Beloved Ruling Class, and the antidote for society’s ills, to wit: Reason….
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I love it when serendipity becomes subject to the influence of a good plan… I received this poem via email, from a poetry web site… Though I’ve read quite a few of this man’s poems, this is one I’d missed, or not gotten to yet….  My jaw dropped, and I was struck momentarily dumb as a statue, at the sheer, unadulterated power of metaphor (Metaphorse?) displayed, in this poem, and by the author…. one of a long line of crazy Irishmen…

A Coat

I MADE my song a coat
Covered with embroideries
Out of old mythologies
From heel to throat;
But the fools caught it,
Wore it in the world’s eyes
As though they’d wrought it.
Song, let them take it,
For there’s more enterprise
In walking naked.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

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So, below here, you’ll find a bit of art, which I fell would help to show the point I’m going to attempt to make today…. The first photo goes hand in hand with the first link, which is an article that gives us the patina of lies from Senator Feinstein’s office, a statement that fully supports the mealy-mouthed lies and distortions put out by the President yesterday, in his oh-so-highly-anticipated, and oh-so-disappointingly-asinine speech regarding the leak of information by Eric Snowden that exposed the spying being done by the NSA….

The speech itself was a masterful litany of garbage, from all I can tell, a political masterpiece for its obscurity and ability to ignore completely any real sense of being in the wrong…. He never once admitted any wrongdoing, either by the agency, or his administration, and made no concessions toward any clemency for the whistleblower who began the debate, by making this information so distressingly (distressing for the administration, for having been caught, both in the spying, and in the lies they told about it….) public.

The constraints the president (no capital on purpose; remember, he’s got to EARN it….) recommends do not even go as far as his own self-appointed committee recommended, and, in reality, do absolutely NOTHING to put any REAL restraints on the spying that the NSA is doing, nor on what they PLAN on doing, which is to gain access to every computer on the planet…. Mrs. Feinstein (who happens to be the wealthiest Senator on record, with a net worth of about a half a BILLION dollars….), who is the co-chairman (with the other stone-faced pundit in the photo below…) of the Senate Committee on Intelligence, in her own speech, managed to blow off every bit of public opinion her constituency has shown her, and backed the president right down the line…..

Here, read the articles for yourself…..
di and her ilk(Suggested caption: ” Dianne, I’m a power-crazed psychopath – I don’t WANT inner peace!!!!” )

http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/01/17/dianne-feinstein-praises-prez-on-nsa/

The photo below is one of the congressional members who sat to listen to the president’s speech yesterday…. Have you ever seen a group of more self-satisfied, sleekly rapacious, avaricious political pundits anywhere? Not to mention how well it points out how the majority of the Beloved Ruling Class is made up of older RICH, MISOGYNISTIC WHITE MALES, who are, by far, the largest demographic represented in Washington, D.C., even though this country no longer reflects that demographic in any way….

What amazes me about the article below, in some ways, is the media’s straight-faced reporting of this speech, as if it really had any meaning…. The title of the article itself implies that some sort of restraints are to be applied, but, if one really looks at what he has proposed, there really aren’t any changes being made…. Oh, they’re making it LOOK as if there are, but, the system in place is not going to be shut down, or altered in any way from its current format…. they’re only making what appears to be a cosmetic change in the way the paperwork gets done, with no mention at all of any of the real concerns the public has, in spite of anything Feinstein, or anyone else said….

They all look pretty happy about all this, don’t they? That’s because they all know that they’re exempt, (as far as they know….) from being treated like one of the public…. These men, and a few misguided, broken women who join them in the BRC, believe they’re different than the public, and are not being spied upon as we are….. HAH! Let them think so…. Do they really believe that these agencies will stop at spying on just the public?….. If so, they’re even stupider than they look….
a room full of...(Suggested caption: ” Dianne, I’m a power-crazed psychopath – I don’t WANT inner peace!!!!” )

(P.S. Both captions are the same, deliberately…. think about it….)

(Both photos are from the SFGATE website….)

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Obama-tightens-reins-on-surveillance-programs-5151532.php

Once again, as I have at almost every turn for the last six years, I am disappointed in the president’s response to this issue. Every time I build up some hope that just once, someone in the political arena will show some real intelligence, instead of continuing to maintain the standard government policies of entitlement in their attitudes toward the public, ignorance and denial of the actual wishes of the public, and prevarication as their method for communicating with that public…. In essence, I wish the public would WAKE THE FUCK UP, and get on with the business of throwing these idiots back into the gene pool….

Sorry, didn’t mean to shout at y’all…. I get pretty frustrated at times, looking out at the world, and watching it slowly, inexorably exploding…. A study recently showed that those films of buildings that are demolished by explosions are one of mankind’s most fascinating visions, harder to pull away from watching than pornography…. I guess there’s a reason for that, as watching that complete destruction probably gives our unconscious minds the feeling of observing one’s own future….

The asininnies you see in the picture above have already placed the dynamite in all of the points required to bring down the building in which we all live, ffolkes….. you can bet your bottom dollar that is true. Oh, they have no clue as to what they’ve done, or continue to do…. Evil doesn’t think of itself as evil…. They just refuse to listen to, or look at, any sort of evidence that what they think may not be true…. One can only learn when one admits to not knowing, and they’ll never admit they’re wrong at all…

But, their ignorance and denial doesn’t alter the FACT of global warming…. Of the people you see in that picture, most of whom are involved in running this country, approximately half don’t believe it is real; that belief, or lack of belief, still doesn’t alter the FACT that the temperature of the planet continues to rise, and that the planet’s entire supply of permafrost, a naturally occurring substance that lies in the Arctic, and Antarctic, in conjunction with the ice, and under the oceans, on the sea beds, which contains the most lethal gas we know, is rapidly melting, releasing that methane gas into the air at a rate that will kill them, and us, in a shorter time than any of us want to believe….

I’m tired…. This subject is one I’ve been ranting about for what seems like ages, but, in actuality, is only a couple of years, at least, in print…. I’ve been talking about this for many years, to mostly deaf ears…. Nobody WANTS to hear such bad tidings, so, their solution is denial, and/or avoidance…. Well, so be it…. I hate to say it, ffolkes, but, if that particularly human habit, of hiding from reality when it gets unpalatable, continues, well, then, we are all going to die much sooner than anyone thinks…. plain and simple…..

Whereas: Since our primary source of cultural advice and supposedly wise actions is seen by most people to reside in the churches and religions of     the world…., and,

Whereas: no church or religion will admit to global warming, or evolution, or any other scientific FACT that questions dogma…., and

Whereas: almost everyone believes the churches….

Whereas: the churches tell people to respect the government’s authority…., and

Whereas: as explained above, governments are worse than the churches when it comes to ignorance, denial, and prevarication…., then

Conclusion: You may as well just bend over, and kiss your sorry ass goodbye…..

“I’m RELIGIOUS!!  I love a man with a HAIRPIECE!! Equip me with MISSILES!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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Well, ffolkes, this one’s got a bit of it all! Links, art, research, rant, old-school, classic poetry, innuendo, nonsense, and, for a kicker, some down and dirty depression….. What more could one ask for, I ask you? Oh, really…. hmm…. Well, I’ll think about that, and let you know…. 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

dozer3

All of that, in marmalade shoes?…..

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Ffolkes,

“Hey, mister!”
“Yeah, kid?”
“What time is it?”
“Crying time….”

What? What’s that you say? Hold on, let me turn this off…. Okay, that’s better…. Now, what was that? Oh, that? I don’t know…. some random bozo left it on screen, and it kind of fit in, so…. Huh? No, not me, no way…. Oh, alright, I’ll confess, I did it…. I actually kind of like that little conversation at the beginning…. I don’t know, it just appeals to me, and it seems to be fairly flexible, as I’ve used it several days now, and it’s still coming across okay…. I’d ask y’all for opinions, but, I’ve never done well working by committee, and I don’t play well with others most of the time, so, it’s probably best for me to NOT ask for help with this….

I’m not sure exactly what I’m doing up this morning, anyway….I’m up way early…. I lost track of my pill timing in the night, and ended up missing a dose of my pain pill… This is not a good thing, generally, and tonight was no exception…. I wake up, with my pain increasing slowly, and a feeling of disturbance, a kind of edgy feeling, as if my nerves are vibrating…. This, of course, is the precursor to the dreaded dyskinesia, a side effect that occurs when the medication level in my blood falls too far below the optimum level, lasting until a pill is taken, and the blood level rises again into a therapeutic range. Until it passes, I am unable to do much but pace, or sit and vibrate…. Grand craic…. NOT….

Once I had figured it out, and taken the pill that went AWOL, all I had to do was get up, and try to keep from moaning and groaning so much I wake up Pat…. Well, and wait for coffee, so I don’t bite the cat…. Actually, I think it might be a good time to start a rant, as my anger level is perfect for letting out on some deserving asshole… I’ve got beau coups material below, what with the re-emergence of the Asininnies from their year-end hiatus from the news….

The politicians are starting to talk again, so we’ll have some good stuff to go over later…. Then there’s the news from the courts, regarding the half-hearted attempts to curb the bankers, trying to make them toe the line the rest of us stand on…. Of course, then I won’t have anything to do later, so, maybe I’ll wait on that…. Actually, I’m sort of wandering around in my head as much as I am on screen, trying to find some sort of direction… Maybe, the routine will need to adjust this morning; I can see now, this is going nowhere, and getting there fast….

Instead of any more of this nonsense, lovely as it may be, Shall we Pearl?…..

“It matters little what you believe, so long as you don’t altogether believe it.” — Bertrand Russell

“Thought and theory must precede all salutary action; yet action is nobler in itself than either thought or theory.” — William Wordsworth
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http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/01/06/house-democratic-leader-nancy-pelosi-says-edward-snowden-should-come-back-and-face-the-music-for-leaks/

Sometimes, I really do wonder how these people get to be as old as they are, much less understand how they go about convincing other people they are competent, intelligent human beings, who can count all the way to three without stopping, and tie their own shoes, in those cases where they are allowed to have them…. Nancy Pelosi, echoing the bullshit rationalizations that the administration has spewed from the start, yesterday made the completely idiotic suggestion that Eric Snowden should come back to the US and surrender himself for prosecution, or, in the words of the people who have been lying, and spying on their own citizens, he should “face the music”….. Music THEY want to play, and you can bet it is a funeral march….

What a completely asinine, idiotic statement! It’s as if they don’t have a clue as to their own duplicity and hypocrisy, to make such a suggestion, knowing full well that this man could no more receive a fair trial in this country than Bradley Manning got, or, everyone’s favorite whistleblower, Julian Assange, of Wikileaks, who, though admittedly an asshole himself, at least TRIES to help the common man, rather than siding with the Powers That Be automatically, as they would like us to do…. Nancy Pelosi, especially with quotes like this, and her compatriot, Dianne Feinstein, who has been parroting the exact same talking points, are becoming excellent examples of how out of touch our Congressional pundits are with their voting base….

I would wager that over 60% of the American voting public, especially here in California, is grateful to Mr. Snowden, considering him to be a whistleblower, a patriot, and a brave man, if not a hero…. Yet, in spite of the almost universal support for Mr. Snowden’s actions,  both of the elected Senator bozoettes from California continue to parrot the administration’s rote message, one of revenge, with no mercy, on this “outlaw” who exposed them as the criminals they are…. I know of very few people on the streets, those that I speak with, anyway, who believe he did wrong…. If anything, most folks I speak with feel he is a very brave man who made a tough decision, and is now paying the price….

The thing is, how stupid do these people have to be? How can Pelosi make such a completely obtuse statement, and expect it to have any positive effect at all? This whole scenario seems to have locked all of them, the politicians, into the same, inflexible mode of mind, where they just keep on saying the same thing, over and over, no matter how many times it takes, until they get their way…. I know that experience has taught them they can do this, and it will eventually work, but, it seems so foolish to me to continue the charade, especially when the opposition is so strong in his favor….

A lot of very influential people and organizations have already come forward to support the idea of clemency for him, and it seems to me that the administration would have the commons sense to see the way the wind is blowing, especially when it is blowing against their chosen direction…. But, then, they’ve had a lot of practice at getting people to ignore their chicanery in the past, and they have no doubt they can do so in this instance as well…. However, I think, this time, they may have underestimated the depth of the anger that many Americans feel at being spied upon, and lied to, by their own elected officials….

You see, THAT, to me, is the core principle here, and one that the public needs to stay aware of….. These assholes, the POTUS, the Congress, the bankers, and all those shadowy supporters of the status quo are spying on you, lying to you about that spying, and about almost everything they are doing, supposed on your behalf, and in your name…. The administration of this country is in the hands of 545 people, men mostly, who have ONLY their own agendas to follow, and have no interest whatsoever in any of the things that the American people want for themselves…. All they want is to secure their own power, their own entitlement, and their own control over everyone else….

If you believe anything else to be the case, I’d welcome hearing your evidence…. But, I’ve looked at all of it, and what I see is a small group of selfish, greedy assholes who are running the world for their own benefit, and leaving the scraps for everyone else…. In this case, they’re angry at a man who pulled their covers, and they want their revenge on him for daring to show them up….

This entire scenario is just that simple, ffolkes;  anything else you read, or hear, from almost anyone in the public eye, will make a bit show of outrage and indignant blather, in a blatant attempt to draw your attention away from that simple FACT…. They’re mad because they got caught, and now they’re scrambling around in anger, and will stop at nothing to bury the one they hold responsible for that, for they will never admit any of their own responsibility….. Hell, not only do they NOT take responsibility for what they’ve done, they’re trying to convince everyone they were RIGHT to do what they’ve done…. Assholes, every one of them….. and, now, they’re talking through those self-same defecatory orifices, if what is coming out is any indication…..

When I saw the following quote, I thought to myself, “I didn’t know Bertrand Russell was a seer.” This comment from the past could very well be taken as a very accurate description of the Obama administration’s response to the revelations about their spying…. It’s a perfect ending pearl for this rant, summing up a large part of my argument in one line….

“Conventional people are roused to fury by departures from convention, largely because they regard such departures as a criticism of themselves.” — Bertrand Russell  “The Conquest of Happiness” (1930)

There you have it for now, ffolkes, another in a long line of indictments of our Beloved Ruling Class, all polished up for your enjoyment…. As a retired chef, I can tell you, these rants will go best with a blueberry muffin, and a strong cup of coffee, sweet & light, as they say back East….
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On ranting days, I often turn to this poet, to soften the mood a bit….. Enjoy!….

The Loser

Mama said I’d lose my head
if it wasn’t fastened on.
Today I guess it wasn’t
’cause while playing with my cousin
it fell off and rolled away
and now it’s gone.

And I can’t look for it
’cause my eyes are in it,
and I can’t call to it
’cause my mouth is on it
(couldn’t hear me anyway
’cause my ears are on it),
can’t even think about it
’cause my brain is in it.
So I guess I’ll sit down
on this rock
and rest for just a minute…

~~ Shel Silverstein ~~

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http://news.yahoo.com/jpmorgan-chase-pay-2-0-bn-madoff-probe-100825763.html

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/JPMorgan-settles-Madoff-fraud-claims-for-1-7B-5120459.php

Normally, I wouldn’t rant twice in one day, but, these two articles made it imperative that I respond, at least to one part of what I read in there…. That part was this….. This is two quotes, both from the second article, on SFGATE….

“The nation’s largest bank will forfeit a record $1.7 billion to settle criminal charges, plus pay an additional $543 million to settle civil claims by victims. It also will pay a $350 million civil penalty for what the Treasury Department called “critical and widespread deficiencies” in its programs to prevent money laundering and other suspicious activity.”…….  “The settlement includes a so-called deferred prosecution agreement that requires the bank to acknowledge failures in its protections against money laundering but also allows it to avoid criminal charges. No individual executives were accused of wrongdoing.  ”

2.5 billion dollars….. Two point five billion dollars…. Two and a half BILLION dollars! That’s it…. They were responsible for allowing over 300 BILLION dollars get ripped off from the public, and they only have to agree to give up 2.5 of the profits they made to get out of any prosecution for their part in the scheme…. There was another point in the first article, in Yahoo, that mentioned that Chase had “put aside” 23 Billion dollars for legal defense funds on this issue alone…. 23 billion dollars folks, just to make sure none of their precious money-makers would be sued, or for that matter, be discomfited in any way…..

Now, normally, this wouldn’t set me off, as it’s a pretty common tale, but, what with all the other shit going down in the world today, the fact that these corporate assholes can buy their way out of trouble, well, it makes me pretty angry…. especially when a solitary brave man has to suffer persecution, and possible prosecution, for telling the truth about a government gone mad, while the corporate masters who have manipulated the whole world scenario to suit their own agendas can hide behind their mountains of money, and never suffer a moments angst or worry over what may happen to them….

The world has gone mad, ffolkes, and there isn’t a damn thing any of us can do about it at this point…. There are just too many battle fronts, too many serious issues, any one of which can, and will, bring society to the edge of either revolution, or self-destruction… According to all the evidence I can gather, and all I can extrapolate from that evidence, one of those two actions is pretty sure to come to pass in the next few years, if not months, and I’m getting a bit worried about how far I’ll be able to jump when the bang comes…..

Ah well, so much for one day’s efforts…. All I can do today is rant, and cry…. Cry for my people, and for a future that will never be…..

“If God hadn’t wanted me to be paranoid, He wouldn’t have given me such a vivid imagination.” — Smart Bee
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“They seem to have learned the habit of cowering before authority even when not actually threatened.  How very nice for authority.  I decided not to learn this particular lesson.” — Richard Stallman

Well, nobody can say that today’s Pearl isn’t fresh…. It’s also probably enough to get me arrested, if anyone from the government really worried about my blathering indictments…. I haven’t read EVERY word of the NDAA regs, but, the administration seems well able to bend those regulations as they see fit, if they wish to do whatever it is they wish to do…. If they wanted me, they’d probably have enough legal reason to come and get me, or try, anyway….

Fortunately, the quote above is the perfect truth, and I’m ready and willing to discuss the matter with them, ANY WAY, ANY TIME, as long as it is in public… If they want to make me disappear, well, they may be able to do that, too, but, I guarantee, it won’t be as easy, or as simple, as they might think…. and, in order to maintain the security of those precautions I may or may not have taken… (they’ll never know, will they?….), that is all I’ll say on that…. other than, come on down, folks…. let’s dance….

As for this Pearl, it’s done, in every respect, and in every way I can make it done…. Hence, my decision to take my leave makes perfect sense, yes? You betcha…. See you mañana, ffolkes….

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

dozer3

How many asparagus spears can we salvage for cloning?….

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Ffolkes,

Ah, good morning…. You may want to consider coming back later, or, if that isn’t doable, then, it’s probably best if you DUCK!!!…. Whew! Close one…. So, how’s it going this fine, beautiful morning…. Huh? What was that? Oh, nothing important, not to worry. We’re testing out some drones for the CIA, for use in the upcoming revolution…. Why, you might ask, am I helping the CIA perfect weapons for use on our own citizens? Well, there’s quite a story behind that, so, take a seat, and I’ll tell you….

It’s like this, you see…. I was approached by an agent from Langley, the CIA HQ, with a proposition that I figured might be one to take, for a number of valid reasons… First, you need to realize that my helping them is a sham…. I’m actually undercover for those self-same forces of the revolution, gathering information to be used when it all breaks loose here in the next few years. It’s just a matter of keeping my enemies closer than my friends, so that I know what they’re up to behind all those closed doors and high walls…. metaphorical as those may be. I’m sure that is exactly what they are doing by hiring me, so, turnabout is fair play….

Second, its’ fun! Playing with all these neat toys the government gets to play with, all months before the technology is filtered down to the public, where watered down versions of what the BRC has to use are sold to amuse those in the public venue who like toys, and to make the public believe the state of the technology is less than it actually is…. What? You thought they’d give up the edge by giving us the same level of developed technology as THEY have? Think again, ffolkes, the public only sees the prototypes, not the finished versions… For example, I see how the Army now has functioning laser weapons that can target and destroy planes in flight…. How many of those do you think they’ll be allowing the public to have, eh?….

Okay, fantasy done…. I don’t feel much like carrying that any further; it was already too cumbersome to do much more with…. Those three paragraphs, I can tell, are going to need some serious punching up to get them right…. It’s a good concept, but clumsily started, so I’ll have to figure out how to clean it up for consumption…. I like the concept, but my execution wasn’t spot on…. I think the victim is dead…. I’m going to have to resort to one of the emergency methods for getting out of this intro, because this is starting to feel somewhat sticky, & hard to get off my fingers….

Okay, that sinks it…. Now, my carpal tunnel is chiming in, to let me know it doesn’t want to type right now, at least not as much as other parts of me want to keep at it….. I HATE internal struggles, they’re so…… ARRRGH!!!! Fuck, fuck, fuck…. Sorry, but, sometimes, vulgarity is the only thing that works to ease the pain, or end the frustration…. That’s it, I’m done….. Immediate deployment, method #4, on 3…. One…. two….. three….

Shall we Pearl?….

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

— Seven Deadly Sins

(I dunno…. it works for me….. If one MUST put up with a deity, one who likes His naps would be a good one…. Just sayin’…..)
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In terms of routine, I’m a dead man walking, and I’m not interested today in any false heroism or pride; I’m going to cheat all I can to get this done in a timely manner, and the hell with my integrity as an author…. Considering some of what I’ve foisted upon an unsuspecting public, I should probably be the most like candidate for the next public hanging, or, perhaps, a bit of time in the pillory, metaphorically speaking….

Regardless of all that, or whatever other silly crap I can come up with, the following is an excellent rant…. a politirant, but, with plenty of vituperation to go around, in case the PHs, SCMs, or the IMs feel like they’re missing out….. As I sat in the morning air after this section, it occurred to me that, though this rant was written almost exactly six months ago, every word in it is still valid, as related to the issues under discussion…. Not a lot of progress in that time, was there?….. Ah, well, life goes on….. Enjoy…..

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

From March 7, 2013:

“It is useless for sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while wolves remain of a different opinion.” — William Ralph Inge, D. D.  1860 – 1954

I’ve seen this little statement before, and like it a lot, for its honesty in describing our Beloved Ruling Class in relation to the flock of sheep that comprises most of mankind. And, yes, this is the beginning of another politirant…. This one is prompted by the most recent activities that our leaders, if such word applies, have been shown to be engaged in by the news outlets I watch…. to wit: the legislation under review and up for vote in the House of Reps that is concerned with the economy, to wit: the “sequester”, and the recent comments by the POTUS re: global warming and climate change…. Let’s see what we can note about these issues, shall we?….

I have noticed that the Congress, and the POTUS, are currently at odds, as usual, over the economy, and arguing over how to address an issue over which they have absolutely no control…. I just don’t get it, actually…. There is no evidence whatsoever that anything the government does, or has ever done, about the economy has any effect at all on it…. none.

Zero. Zilch. Nada damn thing…. The economy of the world, or even just this nation, is not subject to any manipulation by us; it’s too big, too amorphous…. It’s like trying to herd cats…. a lot of effort for small results, and you end up with a bunch of pissed off felines…. If you know anything about cats, you will realize that this is never a good thing….

Yet, because the public demands that something be done, the politicians start their idiotic posturing, pontificating, and, otherwise polluting the airwaves with nonsensical suggestions as to what should be done to fix the problems. NONE of those ever work, nor will they ever work; the economy does not move according to any rules that we can control, or even know, and any action we take is just as liable to have a bad effect as a good one…. But, the public wants the government to fix it, so the politicos in the BRC make noises as if they actually could do something helpful, when in fact, anything they do is as liable to hurt, as it is to help…. Sad, but, true as the day is long.

It’s actually kind of fun watching the contortions they go through for issues such as this; since I know for a fact that none of it will have any real effect on the issue, I can enjoy the parade without worrying about whether it will actually do anything useful, or cause any harm…. It is a bit depressing to watch, since I am aware of just how little can be done, but, the show can be entertaining, and it does pass the time….

The most depressing part is knowing that the public is actually buying all of what they are saying, and really do expect something to change for the better…. But, then, I am always amazed at the depth of human stupidity. I don’t know why, as I KNOW how dumb people can be…. I am one, you know…. but, it always is a surprise to see just how deeply that stupidity is ingrained in the human condition….

Of course, this stupidity is part and parcel of why we are experiencing the second issue I mentioned above…. global warming and overpopulation. I will be very interested to see exactly how the POTUS intends to address the issue, as he has promised to do, several times now since his inauguration. Since the issue is well advanced beyond the point that most people think it is, what he does, or proposes to do, will be a telling factor in deciding how seriously the issue is being taken, and whether or not it will have any chance at all of being either enough to help, or soon enough to make a difference…. Both of these are critical factors, as the point of no-return for the ecological balance of this planet is so near, it may have already been passed some months, or years, ago….

I’m not sure how scientifically minded many of y’all are, but, I am…. scientifically minded, that is, and I can tell you without fear of contradiction (from anyone with any reliable scientific knowledge, anyway….) that the atmosphere of this planet is, without doubt, and without evidence to the contrary, on the very edge of becoming unbreathable for humans….

The millions of tons of carbon monoxide, and other toxic substances, that are being pumped into the air EVERY SECOND, and that has been pumped in now for over a hundred years, has reached the point where it will begin a process of leaching oxygen from the air, and the balance of gases we need to survive will change…. Hell, it IS changing, and fairly rapidly…. It will continue to do so, ever more swiftly, until it is no longer of a balance that we can safely breathe; moreover, once begun, the process is irreversible. The process is beyond our capability of stopping…. This is scientific FACT, not speculation, not a guess….. The process has already begun, the only question remaining is, how quickly will it happen?

“In the game of life you get to choose where you keep your brain – heads you win, tails you lose.” — Smart Bee

So, we’ll see where the POTUS keeps his brain, as he speaks in the next few days about this issue…. Whatever he decides to do, I would be willing to bet that it won’t be enough, and it won’t make a damn bit of difference, other than in a few Presidential approval polls, perhaps. After all, even though he is a fairly reform-oriented politician, he is still a politician, and you can lay good money, without fear of losing, on the fact that whatever he does is designed to benefit him and his Presidency, and any benefit for the public is a secondary concern….

He IS a politician, after all, and his primary concern is for his own success; it’s NOT the welfare of the people…. He has merely discovered that being the “People’s Champion” is currently a good political stance to take…. If it ever becomes too itchy a coat to wear, he will take it off in a heartbeat…. Count on it…. You don’t get to that level of the game without being a complete asshole in some respects, and I don’t think anyone who WANTS to be President can be accused of not being ambitious, and, in the process, they brand themselves as sociopathic….

“No people in the world ever did achieve their freedom by goody-goody talk and moral suasion: it being immutable law that all revolutions that will succeed, must begin in blood, whatever the answer afterward. If history teaches anything, it teaches that.” — Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889)

In this case, we aren’t talking about freedom, unless by that, one means the freedom to stay alive…. and the BRC isn’t going to do anything about it, I don’t believe…. Or, rather, I’ll believe it when I see it, and, so far, no dice in that respect. I’m enough of a cynic to believe, sadly, that it isn’t GOING to happen, either…. because I don’t believe that the POTUS, or the rest of the BRC, gives a damn about the rest of us, as long as they have their own…. This much is obvious from history, but, when did mankind at large ever pay any attention to history?….

If you have some evidence that contradicts that belief, I would dearly love to see it…. Truly, I would, because, quite frankly, my own intelligence, and the evidence I have now, forces me to conclude that we humans are shortly about to come to a bad end…. not with a bang, not with a whimper, but, choking to death in our own planet’s toxic air, victims to our own stupidity, and cupidity….

Daniel: “We’re damned if we do, we’re damned if we don’t; we need other options….” — from Stargate
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Since I’m cheating already, there is no point in making anyone else feel at all guilty by association, so, here is a poem of my own, from September of 2012, which, apparently, was not a bad year for poetry…

Visible life

Forty-two days of pressure and internal rain,
leave marks of salvation, often in pain.
Such sharp reminders of yesterday’s remorse
fight heavily to keep a straight course.
Rash moments, bright, and routinely immense
Give us pleasure, bereft of common sense.

Still the night comes soft and eternally dear
to bring out wishful dreams so vitally clear.
Life’s myrmidons give freely in protest
lifting with skill, soul pieces first to infest,
Loudly brash, with no such voices to remain
Sealed in infamy, branded ugliness all too plain.

Now come brave signs of chapter and verse
Shielded by ignorance, irritable and terse.
Gravid portions of in-between retaliation
leave only pale marks of initial gestation
With hope even pallid warriors grow brave
Leading all humanity, to a warm, stale grave.

Hope never falters, nor leaves any trace
Yet lingers forever in a welcoming space.
Cheerful faces yet shine out of time
for tricking and fumbling sweet melody sublime.
Fill in the spaces with a long, strong retort
life is ever visible, if only as last resort.

~~ gigoid ~~

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A couple of the following quotes were found prior to the collection of the remainder, because I found them at different times, in different places, and intended to use them for a couple of rants…. Since that is off the agenda for today, due to circumstances I have no desire to alter, even if possible, I’m including them as part of what I call an indictment pearl, one that takes as many hard shots at the BRC, et al, as I can fit into a short, five-star volley…. Let’s see if SB will cooperate today….

“Make no laws whatever concerning speech and, speech will be free; so soon as you make a declaration on paper that speech shall be free, you will have a hundred lawyers proving that “freedom does not mean abuse, nor liberty license;” and they will define and define freedom out of existence.” — Voltarine de Cleyre (1866-1912)

“I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries; as long as they are chiefly agricultural; and this will be as long as there shall be vacant lands in any part of America. When they get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, they will become corrupt as in Europe.” —  Thomas Jefferson

“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country…. Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.  — Former US President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864 — letter to Col. William F. Elkins — printed in “The Lincoln Encyclopedia”, — ed. Archer H. Shaw, Macmillan, 1950, NY

“He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” — Thomas Paine

“The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.” — Joseph Conrad, “Under Western Eyes”

“An experienced, industrious, ambitious, and often quite often picturesque liar.” — Mark Twain

Well, aside from Smart Bee pulling its covers, showing us it doesn’t know how to count, that came out well…. Maybe it needs one more….

“If we were to promise people nothing better than only revolution, they would scratch their heads and say: “Is it not better to have good goulash?” — Nikita Khruschev, quoted 1971

I love it when a plan comes together, even if the formatting has gone wonky….
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For reasons unbeknownst to me, the formatting above decided to fuss with me, changing stuff without warning or purpose…. Since I don’t feel like tracking down the cause just now, it will have to do the way it is, and I’ll fix it on the fly, as it were…. Aha! Found it… Well, not exactly, but, the copy and paste process seems to have eliminated the wonkiness…. Okay, not bad, but, I still feel as if I’m in a panic, or should be…. I kind of feel like this man felt, back in the day…..

“I drank WHAT???????” — Socrates (470?-399 B.C.)

Ah well, we can only do our best…. or, as gigoid has so aptly put it, many times and many ways, in the recent, as well as the far-distant past, “All we can do, is all we can do….”  On that note, I shall bid thee adieu for another day….

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

dozer3

A delicate motif, in gold filigree….

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Ffolkes,

Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae fuit. : “There is no great genius without a tincture of madness.” — Seneca (8 BC) — De Tranquillitate Animi, 17

This is a truism, in my world, which extends itself to include “all the nicest folks I know”; in this way, it lives up to the same piece of wisdom, first told to me by my own father, who told me while I was still quite young, “Son, all the nicest folks I know are just a little bit tetched….” Though he was from Illinois by birth, he said it in a very Georgian, or Texan, accent, with a big smile, and a twinkle in his eyes….. These, of course, were the non-verbal signals to let me know that, though said in the spirit of fun(ny), he was quite serious, and believed it to be an absolute truth…..

I’ve found this to be true in my own life, for certain; just about all of the nicest, most intelligent, most compassionate people I’ve known were all just a little strange…. or, as in my own particular case, pretty damn strange altogether, by intent….. Meeting, and knowing, these people is different than other folks one meets; it reminds me of the difference between some tap waters in various cities…. Some have more flavor than others, such as the water from my old home town, Templeton, which, because of its situation on the Salinas River, had water with a much higher content of minerals and other substances, not to be duplicated in other areas…. It actually tasted great, compared to most of the other towns and cities we traveled to….

People, like water, it seems, need the same addition of various things to make their personalities more flavorful, and a little bit of strange goes a long way, like a good, strong herb does to the right food dish….. Like basil in tomato soup, it can make a big difference in how that person tastes, personality-wise….. We all know a lot of people who tend to try to avoid most of Life, by hiding, or shyness, or fear of interactions, or whatever other reasons they have…. These folks go through life trying to protect themselves from getting too wet, from getting too hot in the sun, and generally missing out on most of what Life has to offer in the way of joy, because they are trying to avoid the pain that comes with it….

As is patently obvious to most observant of ffolkes, avoiding the pain in Life isn’t possible, and trying to do so often will block us from receiving, or perceiving, any of the very real joy that is very often in the same vicinity. In trying to miss the hard parts, these people seem to shut themselves off from finding any of the easy parts…. It often causes them to be bitter, and, in the typical way of the fearful, gun-shy, afraid to come out of their shell of ignorance….. They never seem able to see that by getting past the fear, there is joy to be found….

Ah well, Life is not fair, I suppose, and even as we try to do what we can to make it a more level field of play for all, the universe is going to crap on us whenever it wishes…. It is our place to deal with that, without get all worked up at how discriminatory it seems…. Life craps on us all; only our personal reaction to that FACT is what makes us different….

Having exposed themselves more often to this process, the people I’ve known in Life who handle this the best are those who embrace the hard parts, who make strangeness their friend; moreover, they use it as a tool, to perceive it all without taking it personally, as the universe is completely indifferent to how we feel about whatever happens…..

Now that I’ve expounded mercilessly upon a very odd point, for the entire purpose of justifying my own oddity, we’ll somewhat hastily, if long-windedly acknowledge the point in question, and get on with other business…..

Today’s introduction has been brought to you by the “Animal” (from Sesame Street) Fan Club, by the letter S, and by the number 13….. Portions of this morning’s outburst were created in a studio, and have no connection with reality; the rest of it is fairly normal in intent if not origin…. We hope you’ve enjoyed this little trip into nonsense and back, and urge you to buckle up, and try enjoy the rest of the ride…. One never knows where we’ll end up around here, or what kind of strange turbulence we’ll encounter along the way….. Good thing, too…. I wouldn’t deal with normal very well…..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“If man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve man but deteriorate the cat.” — Mark Twain
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I’m not sure just now whether to spend some energy on a rant, or just go old-school…. I know, I’ll look at the headlines, then make a decision, when I see if there is something in this morning’s news at which to get some outrage going….. Be right back…..

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Federal-judge-rules-NSA-phone-surveillance-legal-5096126.php

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

Naturally, since this is a left-leaning area of the country, this was buried near the bottom, but, it was there…. I’m a bit disappointed in the reported decision, for the simple reason that it was made, as explained by the judge, according to the idea that expediency is an acceptable reason to abrogate personal liberties, and that his own interpretation of the program and its capabilities, including its intent, is superior to the public’s knowledge, making him entitled to decide for them which of their rights are acceptably abrogated when expediency demands it…. I can only hope the next court to look at the issue finds a bit more intelligence within themselves to avoid basing their rulings on personal beliefs that are based on demonstrably false assumptions….

But, that’s just me…. This one, though egregiously down-played by the media source where I found it, is bound to cause a lot of noise over the next few days, as the country begins to wake up from the holiday brain freeze that seems to invade and disable the minds of the nation this time of year….

Don’t forget, this is the same time of year when our beloved leader, the POTUS, signed the NDAA in 2010, or whenever it was, handily utilizing the absence of Congress to make it an Executive Order, thus bypassing that silly public and congressional approval requirement in the Constitution…. That year, the New Year’s holiday session was over a weekend, so even the TV and news outlets were less active than usual, as they were involved in holiday reporting, while the public could be counted on to remain inebriated and ignorant.for the four day period…. Slick timing, don’t you think?

I’ve noted it in the headlines, and, in the little bit of TV I’ve watched, and on the internet chatter….. The world, at this time of the year, seems to want to NOT think very much…. about anything more important than how much egg nog they have on hand in case the neighbors should drop by, or whether to walk the dog, or take a bath. Which is fine…. I have no objections to anyone taking a day or two off from stuff…. but, weeks? Oh well, I suppose it’s just practicing their skills at turning off their perceptions, to be able to adequately ignore whatever they may need to in the coming year…..

Snideness aside, this doesn’t exactly fill me with sufficient angst or outrage to rant today…. at least, not more than I just did….The mood of the world is contagious, I guess… In fact, I’m feeling so lazy, I’m not even going to give Smart Bee any parameters to follow in the search for this first pearl…. Nope, not me, and don’t you say anything, either…. THAT would really make a mess!…..  Oh, don’t fret, I’ve done this before, lots of times; plus, I’m an uncertified professional, so, no worries….

“Indifference is isolation.  In difference is texture and wonder.” — Edwin Schlossberg

“There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out.’ — Russian proverb

“Death, the most dreaded of evils, is therefore of no concern to us; for while we exist death is not present, and when death is present we no longer exist.” — Epicurus

“Where does weight go when you lose it?” — Smart Bee

“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” — Baruch’s Observation

“Because you’re not what I would have you be, I blind myself to who, in truth, you are.” — Madeleine L’Engle

“I’m just here for moral support. Ignore the gun.” — Smart Bee

See? What did I tell you? Not only did no one get hurt, or even splashed, it turned out to be quite an excellent pearl…. go figure…..
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As with any of this woman’s poems, no adornment is required…. only your willingness to open yourself to her vision…..

Thereon Rose a Serpent

I dreamt the mists of morning masked the mall
Where silent sentinels stand stolidly.
I wandered lonely in a listless lea,
Where spirits moaned a mantic madrigal.
This scene was like to art by some Chagall
When thereon rose a serpent from the sea,
Who lolled upon that shore complacently,
As there spread ebon darkness over all.

I sought my Sarah in the standing stones
Once raised by people of the Pleistocene.
It’s here a ghostly shaman still intones
Odd chants and runes beyond Death’s thinnest screen.
I know for certain that she is most near,
I wait and hope that she will soon appear.

~~ Sylvia Plath ~~

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As iterated above, I’m not outraged enough at any of the usual subjects, OR suspects, in my pantheon of villains to produce a fresh rant, beyond the mere hints of such furnished in the same ‘above’ as is/was noted at the beginning of this sentence, which, please note, is a veritable gem of punctuational and lexicographical brilliance….

I’m also not going to subject y’all to another random pearl, which not all may appreciate so early in the day…. For some, two can cause over-active imagination to chip in with distracting irony the rest of the day; this has been reported to cause some embarrassing moments in check-out lines full of people with no sense of humor…. Any who, what I’ve dredged up is a fairly small, though patently longer than necessary, discussion of, well, stuff…. I hope you enjoy it, but, if not, remember what it cost in a real sense, not counting your time….

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

From December 1, 2012:

“The sage wears clothes of coarse cloth but carries jewels in his bosom; He knows himself but does not display himself; He loves himself but does not hold himself in high esteem. Thus he rejects the latter and takes the former.” — Lao-Tzu

In spite of how it must appear, there is a small degree of organization to this blog’s contents. Most days I try to make sure that the first and third sections, while possibly related, are essentially about different concepts. The second section is, of course, reserved for whatever poetry strikes my fancy that day, whether classic, humorous, or original (Though it does seem that my recent outpouring of original poems has run dry, I don’t think I’m done with that, yet….).  It seems to work for me…. well enough, at least, to keep my internal critics quiet most of the time.

Today, it seems that most of what I’m seeing for pearls are related somehow to what I spoke of peripherally in today’s first section, to wit: the importance of integrity in human life. Integrity…. hmm…. not the precise word, or the characteristic I am thinking of, actually; it’s more than merely integrity. I suppose one could say the concept to which I’m referring is too mystical an idea to be presented clearly, and not be too far off the mark….

However, not being one to ignore a challenge to my vocabulary, I’ll take a few unseen moments here and find the correct word to facilitate further discussion, because, hey, if I can’t, no discussion, right? Right…. Be right back…. instantly, by all you will know and see….  Well, the challenge is a strong one, and I think best answered with more than one word to describe what I’m trying to say. Those words are all contained in Axiom #7 of Peruaosophy, to wit: Do your Duty. Honor the Truth. Respect Life. Share your Love.

I know that it is my own philosophy, and some may think that is cheating, but, not so. All that I hold to be true is in that axiom, and it represents the four cornerstones of my personal foundation. I find that when I am able to live up to all of these concepts, when I am able to use their direction in guiding my actions, my life is much smoother, and my moments of joy are plentiful, to balance the pain that life brings all of us in turn. This, to me, is the best way to advance the human condition, little by little, with the efforts of each man and woman adding its weight to the forward momentum.

Yes, the actions and discoveries that the best of history’s minds bring to us are wonderful, and work to make the lives of every human better…. It is the everyday efforts of each man, though, that takes that wisdom and turns it into reality, by using ideas, and integrity, to add their experience to that of the rest of society. Since there is a large number of folks who do NOT subscribe to this kind of ethical behavior, choosing to make their own self-interest their primary concern, it is the duty of those who do believe in these ideas to carry them out as best they may, so that the world can retain some semblance of harmony. It doesn’t always work, and, in fact, is in constant jeopardy of not working at all, but, it is the only way that will make the changes our society needs to survive…. which is another discussion for another time….

“And now there is merely silence, silence, silence, saying all we did not know.” — William Rose Benet
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It’s been an interesting morning, to say the least…. Without going into details at this late stage, let me just say the last two and a half hours are some I wouldn’t trade for anything at all…. It’s been a peaceful, productive period of time, and those are precious moments indeed, in a reality that often takes us in directions not of our choosing, without notice or concern…. As such, they should be cherished…. From what I can see, this is done; I don’t think I can do any further damage, nor would I wish to, given my already heavy karmic burden…..  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

dozer3

This cat doesn’t have a stealth mode…..

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Ffolkes,

Two days in a row of sufficient sleep…. Though not tempted to say “wow”, not even quietly, lest I tempt Fate beyond its capacity to ignore, I will say it’s another record for me, with a new learning experience thrown in….. what a deal! I’m learning what it’s like to wake up without being overly grumpy, feeling as if all is right in the world, rather than immediately focusing on what may be out of sync, or not so pretty….

As a practicing curmudgeon, I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed to go three days consecutively like this, so, I’m enjoying it while I can…. At my age, one becomes accustomed to the morning state of grouch; that’s fine, because Oscar always WAS my favorite Sesame Street character, anyway, so it generally fits right in with my historical outlook, designed, or maybe, evolved, to embrace the harsher side of the new day…..

Today, however, not even potential shenanigans by our old pal Murphy could disturb the tranquility I possess this morning, not without events I don’t believe he’s had the time to get set up…. So, I’m hopeful for the state of this Pearl, as I can approach its construction with a relatively clear mind, and a lighter heart than is normally the case in the morning…. As I said, it’s somewhat of a new experience, and I think I am enjoying it, possibly more than is allowed, or encouraged in these cases…. Can’t have the citizenry having TOO good a time of a morning, now, can we? That tends to annoy the Murphy, and put his myrmidons out of work….

But, that, as they say, is HIS problem, not mine… I’m just going to sit here, and enjoy feeling pretty damn good, as opposed to feeling miserable, or even just okay….. After a while, one misses the sense of feeling okay, when it’s been gone a while, even though what is currently being felt has a tendency to overcome any tendency to focus on that; being miserable, especially, is enough of a distraction to keep one from getting bummed out over NOT having something, believe me…. (Huh? What did he say?…. Uh, well, never mind, we’ll just go on, and try to catch up on the fly….)

Ah well, such is life with pain…. there’s always something to keep us distracted, even if it’s no more than a change in routine…. Funny, isn’t it, how the brain learns new tricks and techniques to make life acceptable, no matter how disturbing, or riveting the condition we experience?….. One learns to find different outlooks, different ways to view the world, that allow us to direct the way we feel about it, so that we are not forever in the thrall of the physical condition that keeps us so occupied with dealing with its symptoms…. I don’t know about anyone else, but, I don’t ever intend for my pain to keep me from doing what I wish to do, no matter how debilitating it gets….

I’ve played entire second halves of football games in severe pain, trained right over and through pain while conditioning my body in martial arts, and, for many years,  worked at my jobs, in hospitals, and in restaurants, while bent over, grunting in pain from the injury to my back, or some other kind of body pain….. Most areas of the body, internal and external, that CAN experience pain, are familiar to me….

None of it ever kept me from doing what I wished to do, and it won’t now…. It’s just that, now, there is a higher price to pay for being able to do anything overtly physical, and that price is no longer negotiable…. It’s heavy, and delays in payment are NOT accepted….

Since I do have a bit of space today, to enjoy a bit of normality, so to speak, I’m going to take advantage of it, and try to get this done, so I can spend some time today doing something fun, that I normally would eschew due to pain…. Now all I have to do is figure out what that might be….

No worries, it’s already furnished me with enough material (and, apparently, more than enough….) for an into, before anyone even noticed…. I’m going to bite the bullet, and get this Pearl going…. now…. Wanna come along?…. I promise, nothing bad will happen….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Ask of friends only what is honorable.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)
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Authority intoxicates,
And makes mere sots of magistrates.
The fumes of it invade the brain,
And make men giddy, proud and vain;

By this the fool commands the wise
The noble with the base complies.
The sot assumes the rule of wit,
And cowards make the base submit.

— Butler

I think this poem is pretty clear in its message, which is one that is arguably true in all cases, if the history of Mankind is any indication. We humans seem to not be able to resist the corruptive power of power over others; in EVERY case for which we have a historical record, the rulers of any nation, tribe, city, or village seem to change when they assume the mantle of office, becoming everyone else’s nightmare, as they cease to work for the public good, turning instead to the task of emptying the public treasury…. If you have any examples to the contrary, please, PLEASE show them to me, because I’ve been unable to find any, in all my reading…..

We have today the perfect example of this phenomenon, taking place in the public eye, on the largest, most scrutinized public venue possible…. After the election in 2008, I had high hopes for seeing some good changes, what could be called actual reforms, as the newly elected President SEEMED to be as idealistic, and altruistic, as anyone I’d seen in the public eye since Kennedy, or Carter…. Now, I know Kennedy was not the saint he was supposed to be, but, Jimmy Carter was about as honest as you will find a politician…. That is why the Congress of the time, which was under Republican control, pretty much  blocked ANY changes Jimmy might have wanted….

Now, however, we have a POTUS who is not merely being obstructed in his attempts at reform, but is forced to fight a public relations battle with the Republicans, who have turned this Congress into the WORST session in history, worse even than the famous “Do Nothing” Congress in the early part of the twentieth century…. This year, they’ve passed 49 new laws, the lowest number EVER, by a factor of five (the next lowest number is around 300 new laws in one session…. from that famous “Do Nothing” group….)…. Every single piece of reform legislation that has been put before the House, which is Republican controlled, has been ignored, or buried, or otherwise obstructed, so that the POTUS’s agenda is effectively blocked….

But, this hasn’t kept the POTUS from taking advantage of his position, to lie to the public over issues that were supposedly answered in his campaign, with promises to accomplish certain tasks important to the public…. Most importantly, the POTUS maintained that this administration would be the most “transparent” in history, that nothing would be hidden from the public…. This has turned out to be the biggest lie told, as this administration has become the most draconian of ALL administrations, with illegal spying, lies about the spying, torture at Guantanamo, abrogation of the Constitution, and the persecution of journalists who are critical of them….

I’m incensed at what is happening, and afraid as well…. If a POTUS who is supposed to be the most transparent is doing this, right out in the public eye, refusing to even answer questions on subjects he deems secret, is allowed to continue in the current vein, there will be NO FREE PRESS, and NO FREE SPEECH left by the end of his reign…. There have been so many journalists prosecuted for obtaining information they didn’t want published, those journalists are becoming wary of writing anything about them…. If that trend continues, then we’ll never even KNOW when they are fucking us over, will we? Nobody will have the courage to stand up and tell us….

Please read the article attached to the link below, and then tell me I’m wrong…. Tell me I’m not right to say that even Saint Barack has fallen prey to the corruption syndrome, and has allowed the shadowy masters of reality to bind him to their cause…. which has NOTHING to do with making things better for the common man…. But, first read this, and weep….

http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/diaz/article/Don-t-shield-government-from-watchdog-reporting-5003376.php

Pretty scary stuff, isn’t it? I was taught that, in this country, the principles of freedom, of speech, of the press, of religion (though I could care less about that one…. but, it’s also a right that people SHOULD have, as a matter of course….), and of all the other basic functions formerly protected by the Bill of Rights, were never going to be taken away…. Sadly, to my chagrin, in the last few years, since the incident on 9/11/01, the ruling classes have used the fear and public paranoia generated by the event to manipulate the law, and the American people, to a point where none of the rights guaranteed in that document are worth the paper they’re printed on….

I’d love to hear any arguments that ffolkes, or even folks, might have, to the contrary…. even though I don’t think anyone will be able to do that, as there just isn’t any contrasting evidence to present…. But, I’d love to hear it, anyway, if only to get a gauge on how others are viewing this issue…. Also, share this with others, please…. This is an issue that NEEDS to be discussed in public…. If it isn’t, then you can kiss, at best guess, ALL your freedoms good-bye, for certain, and, most likely, for all time…..

“Be patriotic – question authority.” — Bumper Sticker

“When did the words “national security” become the root password for changing the Constitution?” — Smart Bee
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In the section above, I asserted that I was hopeful when the last election happened, even though, by then, I was getting a bit disturbed by some of what I had learned about the current administration’s behind-the-scenes activities… Most especially, I was becoming concerned by the continued denial, and outright ignoring of any accusations of such, and the aggressive persecution, and prosecution, of anyone who challenged them, or used any information they deemed secret due to national security reasons….  (Hmm, there’s that term again…. wonder what that says?….. Well, that’s what occurs to me…. what does it tell you?….)

Nonetheless, I maintained my hope, at least long enough to write this poem, which my computer tells me I wrote just a couple of months ago, but, I believe that date is when I found it in my past notes, from having been composed soon after the election in 2012, and transcribed it into the poetry folder….. Any who, I like it, even though the final stanza is now a bit optimistic according to my current opinions, which are based on more current evidence….

Destiny’s Vote

It was a special day, written on tablets of stone
with fanfare, and crepe paper, a symphony of lies,
played with verve, but discordant, and alone,
never more the grand parade, no more apple pies.

Heated dialog full of prejudice, hatred, and fears,
fills up the airwaves, a cacophony of callow untruth,
playing up to ignorance, bringing anguish, and fearful tears,
while Nero’s fiddler sits down, in the only open booth.

Watchful and afraid, I see the coming conflict
clouds of ignorance and intellect, preparing to fight,
one to fight with darkness, and abject fear to depict
opposed at the base, banishing fear with truth, and light.

Seeds of anger and bigotry are planted very deep,
growing best in darkness, hiding in shame and fear,
waiting for moments of trouble, its destiny to keep,
looking for weakness, seeking to draw its victim near.

Sing not yet a funeral dirge for tolerance,
that particular die is not yet cast;
there still remains a very good and honest chance,
our common dream of freedom may yet hold fast….

~~ gigoid ~~

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Okay, so I lost track of the light-hearted part of today’s quest for readable material, fresh from the source…. As it has yet to be determined just where that source is, or what the hell it will take to get it to produce something viable, I’ll just do as I always do, resorting to an old-school pearl, with NO parameters, except, of course, light hearted…. which usually means it will be at least peripherally concerned with how to go about living Life in a way that is pleasing, to you, and to the Universe….. Let’s see what we can come up with….

“Things to do today:  Get up, Survive, Go to bed.” — Smart Bee

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

“A mind’s journey begins with a single “Why?” ” — Confucius (?)

the average person is average
the common people is common
the straight people is straight
you gone be the crooked weird
rare intelligent bird creep type
that what you gone be, honey

— A. R. Ammons

“Goodness speaks in a whisper, evil shouts.” — Tibetan proverb

“Only the half-mad are wholly alive.” — Edward Abbey

“It makes sense, when you don’t think about it.” — Smart Bee

One of the signs of completion I acknowledge is when Smart Bee picks out the first and last quotes for any particular old-school pearl; that’s part of what makes it old-school…. In this case, I can only nod my head, and go, “Yep”…..
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Again with the learning curve…. I’m done already, even with the majority of material being fresh today…. This again bodes well for the rest of the day…. Let’s see if the feeling of everything going well extends to the concept of proofing…. Well, not too bad, and certainly “nothing to get hung about”, in the eloquent words of John Lennon’s mom…. It’s also another epic production, ffolkes, I know, but, I keep telling y’all, I can’t seem to find the off switch, once I get started….

Oh, wait, here it is…. Okay, 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

dozer3