Tag Archives: Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace)

We’ll bathe it in linseed oil and mint….

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Ffolkes,

“When the fox gnaws — smile.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

~~ Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough For Love ~~

11-8-2014 001 (2)

    The picture, one I took a few days ago at the bus stop down the street, is a perfect metaphor for the lies told to us by our beloved ruling class, and by the perpetrators of public slavery, perpetually the BRC’s most ardent supporters, the preachers, imams, and dogma dogs who spout off about religion, to whomever will listen….

In a quite beautiful setting, we are reminded of how ‘they’ offer us ONE choice to salvation, but, god forbid you should be able to park while making your choice…. Perfect alignment, don’t you think? One Way/No Parking…. What better metaphor/euphemism for how the mass of humanity is treated by those who would control their very lives….

Oh, good grief, stop shouting!…. Control yourselves…. Put down that stick, you’ll hurt yourself with it…. For goodness’ sake, did you think I was going to rant at you in the first paragraph? Shoot, not even I am that cruel, though, if anyone has any comments to the contrary, with evidence, of course, I’d welcome them, as it’s been a long time since I found anyone willing to challenge my conclusions…. It must come from basing them on evidence, instead of faith…. Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to take another shot, this one aimed at those who buy into the delusions they’re offered at every turn….

Okay, you’re right, I’m busted…. Yes, I did mean it…. The people to whom I refer, those who embrace the dark side of human nature, quite simply, are assholes…. As I see them, they deserve every vile curse, every vituperative description, every fucking expletive we can think of to apply to them, in recognition of the thousands of years of deliberate theft, deliberate lies, and deliberate cruelty, to those whom they claim to love, or whom they claim mandate to lead, for their own good…. What a crock of shit THAT is!….

Sorry, I guess I did start ranting, didn’t I? It’s just so damn easy, when every frigging word out of the mouths, of preachers, or politicians, or business moguls, or police chiefs, or any of the other societal “leaders” who purport to work FOR the people, is a bald-faced lie…. In truth, they are busily at work doing every fucking thing they possibly can think of to screw the people over, in a myriad of ways…. Or, even scarier, they are as stupid as those they purport to lead, being brainwashed themselves into believing their own lies….

Every where I turn, every time I turn, I’m presented with new evidence of how often, and how deeply they screw those who trust them, and it just pisses me off anew, each and every time, making me wish I wasn’t so damn ethical/moral myself, and could feel less conflict over treating them the same way they treat us….

If I did that, I’m afraid they’d start dying at a much more rapid pace, which would be just about the length of time it takes me to re-load, then, focus in on another target…. With a well-concealed stand, and a crowd where I can acquire targets quickly, I could make some significant headway in a relatively short amount of time before having to become smoke…

However, those who engage in preying on others, for religious reasons, for political reasons, or whatever their personal justification may be, all believe the same tired old lie, which claims the end justifies the means…. I reject that notion categorically; to abrogate honor and responsibility for the sake of expediency, no matter how compelling the reason, removes any positive moral value such acts may otherwise be due. To do right, for the wrong reason, is to do wrong, in my world. To do wrong, for ANY reason, no matter how well rationalized, deserves nothing from me but disdain, and active resistance….

Well…. where did THAT come from? As I’m not sure just now, I think we’ll just take this opportunity to go on, and see what else may pop up today…..

Shall we Pearl?

“We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success; We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.” — Samuel Smiles

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

Pearls of Virtual Wisdom, like all fields of human endeavor, are subject to Sturgeon’s Law, which states: “90% of everything is crap.” This physical law has been tested repeatedly by scientists, sociologists, and psychologists, with the same results every time…. It is the absolute truth…. Hence, my reluctance to committing perjury, or displaying undue arrogance, by calling the Pearls I create anything but what they are, to wit: occasionally brilliant, but, mostly just acceptable, as entertainment for the strong of stomach…. If they were in the newspaper, they’d be suitable to line birdcages, for sure….

But, as I said, some can be pretty good, because I, too, with due diligence, and a bit of work, can jump into that 10% of human output that actually helps improve life by its presence…. The same is true of all fields in which humans put forth effort, so, naturally, it’s true of TV shows, and literary works…. I guess I’m just saying, some stuff is better than other stuff…..  This Sherlock Holmes story, to me, falls into the latter category of stuff….

Sherlock Holmes – Season 5 – The Problem Of Thor Bridge

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

You may have noted my initial outburst, up in the intro section…. It was a rant, a sharp stick to the eye of religion, mostly, though there was quite a bit of angst left over to take some pokes at the rest of the Asininnies, too, such as politicians, police myrmidons, corporate snakeheads, human traffickers, and any of those ilk, who prey upon their own species, with the full support and tacit approval of those dogma dogs who keep the general populace under control, softening their minds with bilge water, so they are easier to corrupt and manipulate….

It has been a while since I took aim at those delusional buttheads, a group for whom I hold absolutely no respect whatsoever….. They take the words of one of the world’s greatest social reformers, and twist them until they are practically unrecognizable, but, mold the minds of the people who buy into those twists into shapes more amenable to control by others….

‘Tis a natural result of putting one’s faith in ideas that have no visible proof in reality, but are based on blind faith; it leaves the one holding the belief in a vulnerable state of mind, ready to believe all kinds of nonsense, as long as it’s told to them by one of those they have learned to believe, without the benefit of examination for truth….

But, that is what they all count on… all those preachers, and priests, and the others mentioned above…. They all count on the gullibility of the average person to believe what they’re told by authority figures…. And, they are justified in that, as my compatriots around the world seem to fall for their bloody bullshit every time….. SIGH…. I sometimes wonder how mankind even developed the idea of their own mental superiority, when they continuously act as if they haven’t two spare neurons to rub together at all….

However…. Today, I am feeling generous, or, at least, sympathetic to your pain…. So, I shall cease ranting about those assholes, and compose a seven-, or nine-star pearl, which will serve the same purpose, but, with a bit less sobriety, and a lot more tongue-in-cheek fun…. Let’s see what SB can come up with for us, to jab some sharp sticks in the eyes of a few dogma dogs….

“Ignorance is the soil in which belief in miracles grows.” — Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)

“History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.” — Lazarus Long, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long, by Robert A. Heinlein

“The territory behind rhetoric is too often mined with equivocation.”– Dunne’s Law

“It is an open question whether any behavior based on fear of eternal punishment can be regarded as ethical or should be regarded as merely cowardly.” — Margaret Mead

“A Sunday school is a prison in which children do penance for the evil conscience of their parents.” — H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)

“The mind of the bigot is like the pupil of the eye.  The more light you pour upon it, the more it will contract.” — Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

“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

“Religions change; beer and wine remain.” — Harvey Allen

“O imitators, you slavish herd!” — Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace) (65-8 B.C.)

“There is no sin but ignorance.” — Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)

Okay, so, it kept growing; Smart Bee is on a roll today…. To use Winnie Churchill’s method of making a point, I’ll give it a good whack with my sledge hammer, with one final piece of proof, of how the dogma dogs attempt to establish their mind-control, with entries such as the following, in that book they use as their most effective manipulative tool….

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” — Proverbs 3:5,6

Sure, do that…. put your faith in what you cannot see, or touch, or hear, or otherwise prove exists…. That’s a good idea…. NOT!

So be it.

gigoid has spoken…. a lot…..

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

There is so much of my stuff today, with some deep help from SB, I’d best go with my own poetry, to avoid getting any of this on anyone else…. I know, we’ll go with an old favorite….

Rejection

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~


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Today’s final pearl is a perfect adjunct to the ranting section…. This group gives us some pretty good observations about being human, at the other end of the scale from those who are unable to find the means to USE the intelligence with which they are endowed…. Reflect upon these, and you’ll find them a map to a rich, fulfilling life….

“Over my mask is your mask of me.” — Mitsuye Yamada

“Once when Bion was at sea in the company of some wicked men, he fell into the hands of pirates; and when the rest said, “We are undone if we are known,”–“But I,” said he, “am undone if we are not known.”  — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Bion, iii

“A child is a person who can’t understand why someone would give away a perfectly good kitten.” — Doug Larson

“If water derives lucidity from stillness, how much more the faculties of the mind!  The mind of the sage, being in repose, becomes the mirror of the universe, the speculum of all creation.” — Chuang Tzu

“I believe that part of what propels science is the thirst for wonder.  It’s a very powerful emotion.  All children feel it.  In a first grade classroom everybody feels it; in a twelfth grade classroom almost nobody feels it, or at least acknowledges it.  Something happens between first and twelfth grade, and it’s not just puberty.  Not only do the schools and the media not teach much skepticism, there is also little encouragement of this stirring sense of wonder.  Science and pseudoscience both arouse that feeling.  Poor popularizations of science establish an ecological niche for pseudoscience.” — Carl Sagan, The Burden Of Skepticism, The Skeptical Inquirer, — Vol. 12, Fall 87

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive–to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love….” — Marcus Aurelius

“An intelligent mind is a mind which is not satisfied with explanations, with conclusions; nor is it a mind that believes, because belief is again another form of conclusion. An intelligent mind is an inquiring mind, a mind that is watching, learning, studying.” — J. Krishnamuti

“There are many things worth living for, few things worth dying for, nothing worth killing for.” — from Tom Robbins’ “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues”

“Now my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we *can* suppose. I have read and heard many attempts at a systematic account of it, from materialism and theosophy to the Christian systems or that of Kant, and I have always felt that they were too simple. I suspect that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of, or can be dreamed of, in any philosophy. That is the reason why I have no philosophy myself, and must be my excuse for dreaming.” — J. B. S. Haldane, British geneticist (1856-1928) — from “Possible Worlds”, in “Possible Worlds and other essays”, — Chatto & Windus, London, 1927. p286

Smart Bee was in a very generous mood today, eh, what?…..

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‘Tis a good thing much of this was begun yesterday…. I’m up a bit late, but, it’s all good, as it’s done, and in good time…. If the proofing isn’t too horrendously complicated, I may even get another hour’s sleep before the day can begin out in the BBR, where I’ve several tasks to complete…. Since I do, we’ll leave it at that, and be on our way, royal ‘we’ syndrome notwithstanding…. See y’all tomorrow, 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, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Kindly confine the excess salivation to the spittoon…..

			
						

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Ffolkes,


“Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.”


(It is when I struggle to be brief that I become obscure.)


~~ Horace ~~


from Ars Poetica


mars-rover-selfie




The above picture is from NASA, the US Space agency; it’s a self-portrait of the Mars Rover, Curiosity, taken in 2014, after a year of exploring Mars. I have included it today, simply because it makes me proud to be human. We have a robot on Mars, dammit! Not only were we able to send it there, let it touch down without crashing itself into small pieces, with computers, and all its delicate equipment intact, using an incredibly complex method of landing from orbit, once it had traversed the hundreds of millions of miles just to get to where it could orbit the planet….


Not only did we get it there, safely down to the surface, it is advanced enough it can communicate with us, here on Earth, well enough for us to be capable of receiving high resolution, LIVE pictures, such as this self-portrait, composed of a panoramic collage of photos taken by the robot’s camera arm…. I cannot express, loudly, or long enough, the importance of the simple fact that WE HAVE REACHED ANOTHER PLANET! 


Perhaps we are not yet there in person, but, to have a representative there, a functioning explorer/ambassador of our culture, in constant touch with the home planet, is enough of a wonder to give me the shivers when I consider it…. It’s not a big step, in terms of the total distances involved in space, but it is one more significant step on the only path I can see saving us form our own foolishness, to wit; the path to the stars….


When I was a child, I read a lot of Science Fiction, along with all I was learning in school; over the years, up to high school, and into college, I became convinced that exploring the stars is the only purpose I can think of worthy of Mankind’s ultimate attention, as a goal for the entire species to reach… There is so much out there to learn, and we’ve had so little time, compared to all there is, or will be; we can never, individually, learn all there is to learn, see all there is to see, for what we know now tells us, without doubt, there is no end in sight to the sheer variety and diversity of the Universe, in all its ancient glory, all the way to the ends of the visible space, over a BILLION light years away, in space, and, in time for it takes that long, a billion years, just for the light of those distant galaxies to reach our eyes….


At my tender age, I didn’t know how foolish most men are, or how stupidity, and the cupidity of men with no honor, would place all of us, every single human alive, in the direst of jeopardy, before the end of my life here on Earth…. but, that is what has happened…. The cumulative effects of the actions of just a few dishonorable, selfish, violently insane men, who, unfortunately, are in control of most of society’s resources, have reached a critical point, where the choice of the wrong path, in the next few years, may well determine whether we live long enough, as a species, to have the chance to even reach the limits of our own solar system, much less travel to the nearest stars, a bit over 4 light years distant…


What I didn’t realize when I was young, is that the path to Alpha Centauri, or it’s twin, the closest star system to ours, and beyond, would be the ONLY path upon which we humans will have any real chance to survive. If we do NOT leave our planet soon, the internal pressures in society are going to explode, and the damage we have caused to our own planet is going to reach a point from which there is no retreat…. We need to start a solid, self-supporting colony on another planet, or three, or four, or we are not going survive past the end of the current century…. It’s harsh, but, I don’t see any way around this…. it’s simple math, and simple logic….


If we, as a species, cannot get our act together, stop killing each other, and quit fucking with the environment through our ignorance and avarice, then, for sure and for certain, we are ALL going to die, along with most of the other mammalian life on this planet…. The insects, and some of the lower orders of plants and microbes (lichen, fungus, viruses, etc…) may last a while, but, not in the form they are in now…. Life, as we know it on this planet, will cease, and never be missed by an indifferent Universe…. This, ffolkes, I’m sorry to say, is NOT speculation, and NOT a guess. If we don’t quit our bullshit, NOW, it will be too late….


I’m sure you’ve heard of, or seen, the reports from various points around the globe about sinkholes that are showing up where none were ever seen before, both in remote areas, and in settled ones… These holes are not completely understood, but one thing is clear; they are most likely a result of the melting of the permafrost, which exists under the first layers of ice in the poles, and, under the ground, all over the world… In this permafrost is a chemical substance, a gas, which, though natural to nature, is toxic in large amounts, and acts as one of the most powerful catalysts to climate and environmental changes ever discovered….


Introducing large amounts of the gas trapped in the permafrost is scientifically certain to cause changes in the chemical balance of the atmosphere, and can be shown to happen at a hyperbolic rate once begun, increasingly faster with each molecule added to the air…. This gas, once reaching a certain percentage amount in the air, will alter the percentages of gases in the air we breathe, making it toxic, poisonous for us to breathe…. AND, there are two things to note about the process we are seeing in the formation of the sinkholes….


First, once begun, there is no known way to stop the catalytic changes from continuing…. we haven’t a clue how to stop what it will do. The second item of note is this…. all these sinkholes show an intense concentration of the pertinent substance to which I referred, inside, as well as coming out, of the air in the holes, mixing with the general atmosphere, meaning the permafrost below the hole is melting, at a rate we cannot halt….


We may already be dead, and not even know it…. How ’bout them apples, eh?


I am unsure of how to view this news…. It’s all true; everything I wrote in the above paragraphs can be found in the daily news, with a bit of minor digging…. Hell, I’m not entirely cognizant of either how I got started on this, or why I didn’t stop myself…. I started off with a positive outlook, but, reality set in, I suppose, and the rest just flowed from there…. I guess this is one way to get my ranting out of the way….


I’ll leave this here, since I’ve said all that can be said on the matter; at this point, it all boils down to one question, to wit: Will we have time to find our way out of the damn near insoluble situation in which we’ve placed ourselves, live up to our promise, and beat a path to the stars? or, will we continue to allow our own worst qualities determine our fate, thus putting the first, and most likely, the last nail in our own coffin?


Sadly, your guess is as good as mine, and, I don’t have a clue; all I have left is a little bit of hope, and it has a hard time manifesting at all….. SIGH… I guess we should get on with the rest of this; I’ve made it hard on myself today, by insisting on dealing with such a depressing subject, first thing…. Perhaps it will have a good effect on the rest of this one… One can never tell, can one?…. I can’t, and, here, that’s all that matters, in the final analysis…. On that singularly obvious note, let’s be off….


Shall we Pearl?…..




While I pondered on this dangerous pastime…

I took a heavenly ride through our silence…

I knew at that the moment had arrived…

For killing the past and coming back to life.


 ~~ Pink Floyd ~~


Coming Back To Life


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


I really don’t know what came over me up there…. I’m getting pretty unpredictable when it comes to this ranting stuff; I might have to just give it a rest for a time, though I don’t know what I’d do with all the build-up of internal pressure liable to happen if I do that; it’s been known to cause problems for NASA when it gets to be too much….. not that I really know how that works, but, when you get Federal Marshals at your door enough times, it gets old fast….


Now I’m falling into silly mode, and it’s still a bit early for that….. Well, perhaps not. Why don’t I see if Smart Bee can help out a bit? I’ll put together an old-school pearl, with random parameters set to silly, & see what happens, okay? Okay…. Let’s dive into the world wide web, & find us some oysters…. the metaphorical kind….


“Cthulhu! You’ve been SPOKEN to about biting the readers!” — Smart Bee


“First prepare the soup of your choice and pour it into a bowl. Then, take the bowl and quickly turn it upside down on the cookie tray. Lift the bowl ever so gently so that the soup retains the shape of the bowl. Gently is the key word here. Then, with the knife cut the soup down the middle into halves, then quarters, and gently reassemble the soup into a cube. Some of the soup will run off onto the cookie tray. Lift this soup up by the corners and fold slowly into a cylindrical soup staff. Square off the cube by stuffing the cracks with this cylindrical soup staff. Place the packet in your purse or inside coat pocket, and pack off to work.” — Steve Martin


“A detective story generally describes six living men discussing how it is that a man is dead. A modern philosophic story generally describes six dead men discussing how any man can possible be alive.” — G. K. Chesterton, A Miscellany of Men


“Reality can be beaten with enough imagination.” — Smart Bee


“Courtroom: A place where Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot would be equals, with the betting odds in favor of Judas.” — H.L. Mencken


“I find more and more, as I grow older, that I prefer women to men, children to adults, animals to humans… And rocks to living things? No, I’m not that old yet.” — Edward Abbey


“Now that I have my “APPLE,” I comprehend COST ACCOUNTING!!” — Zippy the Pinhead


As is usual when we go random, it ended up a bit eclectic…. Silly, but, eclectic…. Hmm, not a bad combination, for a throw-together concept… Well, onward…..


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


I’m in the mood for Keats, so, that’s what you get today…. So be it, gigoid has spoken….






Ode To A Nightingale


My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains

My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,

Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains

One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:

‘Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,

But being too happy in thy happiness,—

That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees,

In some melodious plot

Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,

Singest of summer in full-throated ease.


O for a draught of vintage, that hath been

Cooled a long age in the deep-delved earth,

Tasting of Flora and the country green,

Dance, and Provencal song, and sun-burnt mirth!

O for a beaker full of the warm South,

Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,

With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,

And purple-stained mouth;

That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,

And with thee fade away into the forest dim:


Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget

What thou among the leaves hast never known,

The weariness, the fever, and the fret

Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;

Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,

Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies;

Where but to think is to be full of sorrow

And leaden-eyed despairs;

Where beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,

Or new love pine at them beyond tomorrow.


Away! away! for I will fly to thee,

Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,

But on the viewless wings of Poesy,

Though the dull brain perplexes and retards:

Already with thee! tender is the night,

And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne,

Clustered around by all her starry fays;

But here there is no light,

Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown

Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways.


I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,

Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs,

But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet

Wherewith the seasonable month endows

The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild;

White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine;

Fast-fading violets covered up in leaves;

And mid-May’s eldest child,

The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,

The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.


Darkling I listen; and for many a time

I have been half in love with easeful Death,

Called him soft names in many a mused rhyme,

To take into the air my quiet breath;

Now more than ever seems it rich to die,

To cease upon the midnight with no pain,

While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad

In such an ecstasy!

Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain—

To thy high requiem become a sod


Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!

No hungry generations tread thee down;

The voice I hear this passing night was heard

In ancient days by emperor and clown:

Perhaps the self-same song that found a path

Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,

She stood in tears amid the alien corn;

The same that oft-times hath

Charmed magic casements, opening on the foam

Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.


Forlorn! the very word is like a bell

To toll me back from thee to my sole self!

Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well

As she is famed to do, deceiving elf.

Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades

Past the near meadows, over the still stream,

Up the hill-side; and now ’tis buried deep

In the next valley-glades:

Was it a vision, or a waking dream?

Fled is that music:—do I wake or sleep?


~~ John Keats ~~




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For this section, since I ranted already, and created a pearl above (a strange one, admittedly, but, fresh as can be….), I’m going to dip into the archives for this section…. This is not a rant, per se, but, more of a discussion, with rant-like qualities…. I enjoyed it, so, I suggest you do to…. 


Just kidding, it’s worth a look, if only to check out how little things have changed in the last eight months of history on this sad old ball of mud…. At least, little about humanity has changed; the universe is rolling merrily along, as always….


From 1/13/2014:


Perception is, perhaps, the most elementally intricate quality we possess as living creatures. Through the five-plus senses we bring to the process, we receive information from the universe that gives us what we require, in order to be able to interact with Reality, (another term for the Universe… for the purposes of this discussion, anyway….)  in some sort of way that is meaningful to us. 


This information comes to us in a variety of forms, and our minds must utilize the complex, yet subtle qualities of imagination, reason, logic, and all those mental functions that our minds have discovered to organize the information, functions whose etiology are basically unknown to us, as part of our basic nature. We don’t think about, or feel in any way, the process of seeing, or smelling, or touching, except in the context of the sense itself…. We just DO it….


Yet each sense is such that it works WITH all the others, in ways we don’t really understand, to give us the pictures in our heads that show us how our minds perceive the world outside us…. We, being the imaginative creatures we are, have evolved all sorts of ways to organize and utilize our perceptions, all of which are again connected (remember that complexity part…) to another facet of Reality, which is our motivation for what we do, an outgrowth of our judgments of what we perceive…. We perceive, we judge, we act on that judgment, all according to our basic outlook on life, and how we choose to accept, and use, what we perceive….


This subject, I know, is a  bit esoteric for such a venue, but, I’m leading up to a point, which is this…. We all perceive the world differently, but, that doesn’t mean the world takes that into any account…. It’s one of our hardest lessons to accept when we are forced to admit that the Universe, in all its majestic glory, couldn’t give a tiny little crap for us, or for what we think of the way things are…. If we choose to interact with it in such a way that we are breaking the basic rules that everything works by, then we will have to pay the price, in the only way that the Universe uses to exact payment, to wit: extinction….


Now, given that, it seems to me that my ranting about all of this*** is a bit like that ant crawling up the elephant’s leg, with belligerent intentions…. In short, it’s not really a productive way to achieve whatever it is I’m trying to do, as I can see only one possible outcome, which, the odds, and logic, would tend to dictate doesn’t include any need for any worry on the part of the elephant…. All that is a long winded, pedantic way of saying that my rants, while satisfying on a personal level for the release they provide, are mostly a waste of breath, in a practical sense…. Nothing will change because I rant, in spite of the need for change being the whole purpose behind the rant…


The major part of that reason, I think, lies in the fact that I’m preaching to the choir…. None of the ffolkes, or folks, who read my blog, (with the possible exception of any bored NSA drones who may be assigned to do so merely because of my anti-government stance, shown by the  use of key phrases indicating my opposition….), are in any position to make any of the changes themselves, even though many of them would be willing to do so, I think…. But, the people who inhabit the halls of our government in Washington, and in other capitols around the world, DON’T read my blog, nor do they agree with most of the things about which I rant….


Why is that, do you think? Why don’t the people who govern us agree with any of what I say in my rants? It’s all stuff that can be proven, and is certainly important enough to all of us to warrant discussion… But, they don’t agree… They have their own agendas, which don’t look like anything that anyone in the great unwashed masses could come up with, even though they supposedly represent US…. These are our representatives, ffolkes…. I found this short comment in an old Pearl, which I think sums up most of my point pretty well…..


(From May 12, 2012):


“Such bickerings to recount, met often in these our writers, what more worth is it than to chronicle the wars of kites or crows flocking and fighting in the air?” — John Milton (1608-1674) — The History of England, Book iv


Did you ever wonder why a group of crows is called a congress? I didn’t. It makes perfect sense to me…. Dark, sinister looking creatures who act in odd ways, even for birds. Their behaviors tend to lean toward stealing shiny objects from wherever, or stealing the food of people or other animals and birds. When they speak, it is in a voice that grates on the ear like fingernails on a slate. In groups, they mill around, cackling and grumbling and jostling each other, until they all fly off to different areas to carry out whatever nefarious schemes they have hatched among themselves.


No, I have no problem envisioning a congress of crows; in fact, I believe they are in session, now, in Washington, D.C. …. Why, look! Here’s a list of them now!…..



http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/01/10/congress-is-mostly-full-of-millionaires-but-who-are-the-richest/#19551101=0


Them’s some affluent crows, ain’t they?…. That’s what happens when any politician is given the keys to the treasury….. One last query…. Who gets to say how much money members of Congress get paid? Answer: They are authorized to set that themselves…. Okay, one more… Who authorized them? Why, they authorized that themselves, of course….


I’m tired now…. I’ve managed to spout off now about the Asininnies, or, at least, about the 545 of them who inhabit the top levels of OUR democratic bureaucracy, for a good, oh, thousand words or so, and once again, it will end up being read by those who mostly agree… (I’m making the assumption, reluctantly, but, with confidence, that if they DIDN’T agree, they’d leave a comment to say so…. I know MY Gentle Readers would do so….), so, I’m perfectly aware that no changes will happen because of what I’ve written….


I don’t feel any better, either, damn it!…..      😦


***  It must be noted that “all of this” should be understood to include: global warming, and the impending ecological disaster, overpopulation, criminality of the Asininnies, most especially the egregiously selfish actions of the Beloved Ruling Class, the Shadowy Corporate Masters, Snakeheads in general, (human predators…. pimps, slavers, pedophiles, and the ilk…), and the Priestly Hierarchies….. Oh, yes, and, on the rare occasion,  exposing Pooh’s evil twin….


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


It definitely feels good to be able to get back to my routine, I must say…. Dealing with changes has me feeling rather cattish; cats get pretty upset when their routines get altered. Guess I must need to get out & about more, so I don’t get so crusty…. And, since I’ve probably rambled & blathered enough for 3 blogs already today, I should no doubt hit the road for the day…. I’ll be nice, and do that…. I will, however, give you fair warning…. I’ll be back tomorrow, ffolkes, so, set your watches, so you can be elsewhere at that time….. Hah!….. 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, the dubious


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


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Distracted by a classic diversion…. cinnamon-glazed potato cakes….

			
						

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Ffolkes,


Soft, puffy, pristine white clouds scudded lazily across the morning sky, looking like nothing so much as huge balls of cotton, tumbling through the blue vastness, dazzling in the bright sun. The chirping calls of thousands of awakening birds echo through the trees, as the mundane creatures of the night silently retreat to their dens, giving way to those who hunt by day…. 


One of these predators, walking on two legs, is up, moving through the dappled light between the trees…. With rapid steps, he heads east, toward the sun, moving silently between the trees as the bright orb rises slowly, higher and higher, laying a blanket of oppressive heat over the landscape, stirred by the gentlest of breezes, enough only to make one wish for more….


Whoever that is, walking through the tropical forest (it’s too hot, too early to be anywhere but tropical…) is on their own today; I don’t care what he’s hunting, or how hot it gets…. It is now 0215 AM, and I’m up, wide awake, having slept for eight straight…. an unusual occurrence, to say the least…. I won’t be going back to sleep awhile yet, as I slept right through two pain pills (thank you mary jane!)…. Now, here I am, at this ungodly hour, wide awake, nerves dancing with massive dyskinesia, the result of missing two doses of Norco…. That alone will take an hour, before the pill I took hits, & I can stop jitterbugging in my chair, like a junkie who needs a fix….


So, I began with a landscape/story opening, just for practice, and to see how my mind is loosening up so far today…. Not too bad, all in all, so, there may be some hope for this process yet; I’ll be gracious, and try to assume the WORST is not necessarily going to happen…. I’m not yet ready to completely give up my curmudgeon status, so, I won’t be anticipating any Pollyanna issues, such as positive proof of the death of Murphy; however, I WILL try to keep a bit of a positive outlook about the future, especially as it pertains to this….


That isn’t to say I’ll be any more lucid or coherent than I usually am; no, I won’t make promises I can’t keep…. But, it does mean I probably won’t bite anyone, at least, not until someone actually SAYS something really stupid to me…. The mere act of being stupid in my vicinity won’t be held against them, beyond a bark or two, and I’ll break tradition so far as to go unarmed for the first couple of hours, until these homicidal urges pass….


By “unarmed”, I mean, of course, I won’t carry any guns, crossbows, spears, atl-atl’s, or other types of projectile weaponry…. Items such as knives, cords, shuriken, that sort of hidden tool set, doesn’t count toward the state of being unarmed, as I carry at least one of each of those at ALL times…. Just an old habit learned at me father’s knee, so to speak, and not subject to alteration…. You know how a Christian feels naked without clothes? Well, that’s me, without my standard tool set…


As is patently obvious at this point, though, it becomes clear that this intro section IS subject to alteration, and thank goodness for small favors, eh?…. In fact, I’ve already blathered sufficiently, following the fictional opening, to be able to legally call this an intro, and be done with it…. That, given the time of day, and my state of mind, may just save my ass, and, by logical concatenation, yours as well…. I find it to be a very good policy to keep the asses of my Gentle Readers intact, insofar as it is at all possible to do so; it makes everybody happier, especially my insurance guy….


With that in mind, I believe we’ll bring this to a halt; I’ll be firm, as it appears to be making an attempt to drag itself on, preventing me from either finishing this, or getting on with the rest of today’s effort…. But, as I say, firm…. so, with no further ado, we apply #4….


Shall we Pearl?…..


“We are all bozos on the bus of life, lunatics every one, but there is a difference; the one who can analyze his own delusion is often called a learned person, a philosopher.” — unknown smart guy, found in Smart Bee


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


“The public weal requires that men should betray and lie and massacre.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book iii, Chap. i, Of Profit and Honesty



http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Obama-at-Wal-Mart-touts-efficiency-angers-labor-5465332.php


When I first saw this article, I wasn’t going to react; it was on one of those recent days when my pain level was through the roof, and it seemed too much effort to get into…. but, today, I’m okay, for the nonce, at least, so, we’ll take a shot at it, and see how it goes….


In truth, this article is one that provides us with a number of issues to discuss, so we should probably pick one to focus on, so we don’t get too lengthy, or involved to the point of distraction, & spend the entire day at it, creating an opus that nobody will ever read…. too long, too windy, too pedantic… So, lets see…. We could go for the obviously metaphorical conjunction of a “transparent” president using one of the country’s most reviled corporations as an example of green technology commitment; this, of course allows for a discussion of the minimum wage, and healthcare reform, either of which is a subject Wal-Mart fails at, totally…..


Or, we could talk about how Obama is now, finally, after six years in office, getting around to doing something about the climate change issue, as he promised in his first campaign, regarding an issue which, now, is even further away from being fixable than it was in 2008….


Or, we could talk about how Obama, and the BRC in general, are becoming less and less clandestine in their efforts to conceal the lies that are their stock in trade….. (Now, don’t start on me…. He’s a politician, therefore, he lies…. That is not a theorem, that is a proven fact, and arguing about it is counterproductive…. Please see the original pearl, at the beginning, by Montaigne; if they knew this in the 1500’s, it is certainly not disproved by any of today’s political figures…. They ALL lie, ffolkes, get used to it….)


I voted for Barry…. At the time, he was the only logical choice, since the only decision to make was which was the lesser of the evils, in the field  from which we were forced to choose…. But, I was never convinced of his actual honesty, as the previous four years of his administration had already demonstrated he was no different than any other man who occupied that office in the last hundred years or more…. They all lied ffolkes, regularly, and with no shame; if you don’t believe that, then, I’m sorry, there is nothing at all that can be done to save your sorry ass from the consequences of that belief….


I’ve previously ranted numerous times on this subject, so I shouldn’t have to demonstrate any further just how often the lies are spread; my only source of data comes from the daily news, which is available to everyone, just as it is to me. All of the evidence needed to convict any politician is right there, in the public record for anyone to read, at any time of the day or night…..


The hardest part for me is to realize that, much of the time, the lies aren’t even being covered up any more; more and more often, they are being left right out there in the public eye, obviously untrue, yet, the Beloved Ruling Class says nothing to augment, defend, or alter them….. whereupon, the public just accepts it with resignation, or with deliberately ignorant enthusiasm…. Myself, I find it hard to be enthusiastic over having my ass reamed on a consistent basis by those who ostensibly work for me….


Ah well…. I could rant all day on this subject; there is a lot of evidence that supports it, and it’s easy to pick out examples that prove my contention. I mean, examples of political prevarication are all over the news, every day; one need only look, to find…. But, I feel too good this morning, physically, to spend any more time at this; I still have to read TODAY’s news, so, I figure it would be best to let go of what came from a couple days ago…. There will be plenty more data for me to use, should I choose to take up this gauntlet another time, I’m sure….


After all, all I have to do is watch TV, and wait for one of them to open their lips…. At that point, I know I’ll have another choice lie to add to my evidential pile….


“It is an unhappy lot which finds no enemies.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 499


“It is better to deserve honours and not have them than to have them and not to deserve them.” — Mark Twain


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


I wish I had known Oscar Wilde…. I think we would have had a lot to talk about…. Plus, the society of his time hadn’t a clue as to what to do about him, so, I think we would have been, in that sense, brothers in arms…. I like some of his poems, too, and though this isn’t one of them, it IS a good one…. I don’t always go with my own tastes; I try to be flexible, acknowledging those works that deserve it, even though it may not be completely to my liking…. This is okay; it’s a very good poem…. I just like others better…. Nonetheless, enjoy, please….




A Vision


Two crowned Kings, and One that stood alone

With no green weight of laurels round his head,

But with sad eyes as one uncomforted,

And wearied with man’s never-ceasing moan

For sins no bleating victim can atone,

And sweet long lips with tears and kisses fed.

Girt was he in a garment black and red,

And at his feet I marked a broken stone

Which sent up lilies, dove-like, to his knees.

Now at their sight, my heart being lit with flame,

I cried to Beatrice, ‘Who are these? ‘

And she made answer, knowing well each name,

‘AEschylos first, the second Sophokles,

And last (wide stream of tears!) Euripides.’


~~ Oscar Wilde ~~


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


I’m a bit disappointed in my rant today…. It’s long enough, but seems a bit disorganized to my mind; not enough vitriol, or anger on hand to drive it, I suppose. That’s what happens when I sleep so long; my attitude improves, and my ranting goes wonky…. SIGH…. Oh well, such is life…. I can make up for it all here, though, by putting together an excellent old-school pearl, thus balancing out the scales of reality…. Hey, we’re all entitled to our fantasies, right?…. Right….


“Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all the others.” — Winston Churchill


“Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero!” [Seize the day, put no trust in the morrow!] — Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace) (65-8 B.C.)


“Not only is life a bitch, it has puppies.’ — Adrienne E. Gusoff


So the struck eagle, stretch’d upon the plain,

No more through rolling clouds to soar again,

View’d his own feather on the fatal dart,

And wing’d the shaft that quiver’d in his heart.


— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, Line 826


They say there is strangeness, too dangerous, in our theaters  and bookstore shelves.

Those who know what’s best for us,  must rise and save us from ourselves.

Quick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand;

ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand.


— Rush


“The known is finite, the unknown infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of in illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land.” — Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)


“My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world and exiles me from it.” — Ursula K. Le Guin


Sometimes, I look back over a pearl, such as this one, and I think to myself, “Wow.” Then, it occurs to me, I didn’t have a damn thing to do with what just took place here, not with any consciousness of doing so, anyway. Yet, taken as a progression of thoughts/ideas, in this instance, the seven pearls that constitute the greater pearl, in the context of today’s Pearl at large, still manage to follow a logical train of ideas to a conclusion that is at once infinite, yet, specific and precise, though not annoyingly so…. Much better than I can do myself, more’s the pity….


😉


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


If the process of putting out a Daily Pearl of Virtual Wisdom were this easy every day, I’d probably end up posting more often than once a day…. That isn’t to say this was a snap; it’s taken over two hours to get this far, into the closing section. But, all of it, completely fresh, came out smoothly, in a relative sense, and all of it, to my probably only semi-coherent mind, appears to be uniformly logical and well-reasoned, if a bit opinionated. Of course, logical doesn’t mean much, but, the reasoning is good…. I also avoided swearing a lot…. Mom would be proud….


Since it went so well, I’m thinking I’ll bring it to a halt here, so it doesn’t get out of control, as it can so quickly in this corner of the space-time continuum; reality tends to twist itself into some rather fanciful contortions, rather rapidly at times, so, we’ll take our leave before that happens today…. I will, however, be back tomorrow… Take that as a warning, or a heralding, your choice…. 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 the dubious


dozer3



					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
All Papal proclamations are to be digitally titillated prior to release….

			
						

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Ffolkes,


Must type…. must write…. NO! NO! Don’t take my antique Corona Note Master!…. Not that!…..  Brr!…. Huh? What’s that noise?….


Whoa, wait a minute, here…. What’s happening here? I was asleep, in my bed, having some sort of dream, about the BRC myrmidons at the door, with a warrant to take my typewriter….. when, all of a sudden, I wake up, to find myself sitting at the computer, coffee already poured and sipped, with the first line up there, staring back at me from the screen…. 


Well, damn! This means my worst fear has come true…. I’m sleep-typing again, just like the old days, before the incident that we don’t discuss took place, altering forever the landscape of my existence, as well as providing me with yet another neurotic fear to deal with….


This one, however, isn’t what I’d call completely neurotic, as the basis for the fear is rooted in real events, events of extraordinary danger, as well as of extraordinary complexity, which can tend to create little pockets of fear in us, like camouflaged grenades, stored with the pins already pulled, just waiting to go off at the slightest touch. 


I mean, how would YOU feel if you were attacked, physically AND emotionally, by your own clothing…. It isn’t pretty, although I’ve heard of certain perverted haute couture designers who actually get off on this sort of thing, but, then the depths of human nature are always looking for new record-holders for their asshole awards…


Now I’ve done it, and done it good…. I’m lost, ffolkes…. When I began to write this morning, I had a place to go; it was not a normal place, even for us, but, somewhere between there, and here, I lost track of where it is, in relation to where we are, due to the confusing nature of what I was trying to write…. 


I know, it sounds weak, and confused, and you’d be right about that…. That’s exactly what I’m saying, actually…. I don’t know where we are, and I don’t have a clue as to how to get anywhere we need to be… I don’t know about y’all, but I need some more coffee… Be right back, after a few sips…


Well, bless my garters! That didn’t work at all! I’ve never had coffee disappoint me like that, and I am the one who made it! But, wait, there’s more! Call now, and we’ll include this complete set of faux deer horn flatware, free of charge! Send in three boxtops with your check, for $10.95 per ordered item, and we’ll send those out to you on the next Fed-Ex truck we can flag down….


Whoa! What’s happening here? I keep getting little cracks in reality, ffolkes, with strange things taking place in the gaps between now, and then…. What will become of this blog if we are lost in space/time? How will I cope, with no real coffee, once it runs out? Why am I asking you? None of you have any more idea of what is going on here than I do…. Of course, I’m also supposed to be in charge of this mess…. You can see how well THAT is going….


Oh, look, ma! It’s an intro! Look what I found, sitting right here on top of this pile of crap! Another legal-sized, and, more importantly, legally-produced introductory section, (even if created in a fashion more perverted than creative….), that passes all the requirements the authorities set upon us, as well as those less stringent, though no less pointless rules and standards we apply to our own work…. In other words, I’ve spewed sufficiently, and will now go on to more complex, even MORE twisted brain farts, as is required by law, and custom….


Shall we Pearl?…..


“A man who can fool chiefs, and even gods, must still face the monsters he himself created.” — Old Maori saying


Hmm…. Is that good news, or…. never mind, or we’ll never get out of here….


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


In the news on 4/28/2014:


http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Judges-financial-conflicts-of-interest-revealed-5434148.php#photo-4664440


I am, I’m afraid, moved to express an expletive with religious overtones of blasphemy, so, move on a bit if that offends you…. There’s nothing like it for getting such toxic vitriol out of the system….


Oh. My. Fucking. God….. This…. article, for lack of a more telling word, is nothing short of appalling….


All of it, it’s all wrong, and evil, and perverted…. The picture of democracy painted by this article describes a country that does not even RESEMBLE the country in which I grew up, the country to which I gave, and would gladly still give, my allegiance….. I’m sorry, ffolkes, but there is just too much going on here for me to even begin to rant, not at this moment, anyway, as I would be entirely too distressingly impassioned to think clearly…. I’ll be taking a break, now that I’ve read the first page, and most of the second, before I go back, to try to finish absorbing the evil content it contains…. Be back soon… oh, right, I forget…. you’ll never know WHEN I actually come back, will you?….


Oh, well… I will. And, do…. See, here I am, and none of y’all have any idea of when this took place, do you? Nope, didn’t think so…. but, hey, it’s irrelevant, anyway, so let’s go on…


When I was growing up, we were taught certain things in school about our country, and about the problems our forefathers had with the English monarchy before coming here to get away from all that. Certain ideas of what a government should do for it’s people, and ideas of what should NOT be allowed, were clearly laid out to us, with a strong message/warning firmly attached, confirming for us that honesty, integrity, and compassion were the key components to what our Founding Fathers had in mind as our legacy….


In light of that, I have always believed that the members of our judicial branch should never have ANY involvement in ANY activities, especially of a financial nature, that could conceivably come into conflict with their work as a judge. Such financial dealings can only lead to both the appearance of corruption, and the actual perpetration of corruption by those judges, allowing themselves to make legal decisions based on anything other than the law…. It’s always been my belief that ANY such dealings can only lead to problems, and usually those problems dump their results on the public, not on the participants….


I feel as if I’m not angry enough for this now; I’m not being particularly vitriolic, which the subject matter deserves…. I must have allowed myself to cool off too long after reading this yesterday. Since I am NOT living up to my own expectations for a rant (not enough vitriol, or vivacious vituperation happening for my taste….), I’m going old school, just because I CAN, and because it’s the only way to save this pearl from the shit-pile it’s heading for otherwise…. 


Here then, some pearls to show how this subject annoys me, no end, and why y’all should be making sure your powder’s dry, and there’s plenty of scrap metal to make bullets…. We might need them, sooner than any of us believes….


“Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it’s hard to get it back in.” — H. R. Haldeman


“When Demaratus was asked whether he held his tongue because he was a fool or for want of words, he replied, “A fool cannot hold his tongue.” –Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Of Demaratus


Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,

Is the immediate jewel of their souls:

Who steals my purse steals trash; ‘t is something, nothing;

‘T was mine, ‘t is his, and has been slave to thousands;

But he that filches from me my good name

Robs me of that which not enriches him

And makes me poor indeed.


— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Othello — Act iii, Sc. 3


“Our sires’ age was worse that our grandsires’. We their sons are more worthless than they: so in our turn we shall give the world a progeny yet more corrupt.” — Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace) (65-8 B.C.)


“Any appeasement of tyranny is treason to this republic and to the democratic ideal.” — William Allen White


“Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Measure for Measure — Act ii, Sc. 1


“America is at that awkward stage. It is too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.” — Claire Wolfe


Well…. That’s not bad, such as it is…. It IS an unusual pearl, for certain; it’s not often I’ll use two from Shakespeare, but, when it works, I’ll go with whomever I find…. If any of the punchlines or references aren’t clear, well, think about it; it’ll come to you…. Or, ask, and I’ll provide further clues…


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


Those who have been here often enough know how I feel about Emily D., in spite of Shauna’s disapproval of her work… (That’s a joke, Shauna…. Everybody gets to dislike someone…. mine is Shakespeare, and, as proven above, I’ll even use his work, if it fits….) Any who, today, I looked for one that might go with what the pearl in section one had for a theme, but, Emily didn’t seem to write a lot of politically oriented material, so, this is what I’ve picked, as it comes as close as anything she did in that respect… Enjoy, please….




No Rack can torture me


No Rack can torture me—

My Soul—at Liberty—

Behind this mortal Bone

There knits a bolder One—


You cannot prick with saw—

Nor pierce with Scimitar—

Two Bodies—therefore be—

Bind One—The Other fly—


The Eagle of his Nest

No easier divest—

And gain the Sky

Than mayest Thou—


Except Thyself may be

Thine Enemy—

Captivity is Consciousness—

So’s Liberty.


~~ Emily Dickinson ~~




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


” In spite of all evidence to the contrary, the entire universe is composed of only two basic substances: magic and bullshit.” — G’s Third Law


“There is no magic…” — H’s Dictum


I really do hate that this might be true; it’s one of those assertions that I will forever be reluctant to accept, especially on faith, and would do so unwillingly, ONLY if presented with concrete, verifiable evidence…. Thankfully, that is not completely true, yet, so, there is hope for reality…. That being said, I’m at a loss for anything worthwhile to put here in section three today, so, I’m dipping into the archives yet again, simply because it’s there, and there is so much of it, going back to read some of it is like finding completely fresh, newly minted material…. but, not….


Any who, this pearl, from the days when each Daily Pearl contained five of them, fits perfectly with the theme of section one, providing further evidence of how our country, especially those parts of it that comprise the three branches of the government,  a) has gone to the dogs, and b) how much that pisses me off….


From 4/14/2012:


Morality is learned, not legislated. — Smart Bee


This will be a very short section. The above is something I believe to have the force of natural law; as such it is not susceptible to our ability, or desire, to change it. It’s just the way it is. And I wish, for all of our sakes, that all the idiots in government, i.e., all the liberals, conservatives, libertarians, and independents, as well as all of those who indulge themselves in the religious organizations of all creeds, of ALL sects, cults and, denominations, would get this concept into their heads….. More importantly, I really wish they would learn to accept the fact that there is NOT A FUCKING THING THEY CAN DO TO CHANGE THIS…..


No matter how strongly they wish it weren’t so, this is so. No matter how many laws they make and/or pass, in the attempt to legislate into law whatever it is they believe to be morality, each and every effort in that direction will fail. Mankind’s long history, during which the attempt has been made by EVERY society that existed for any time, has proved beyond any shadow of possible doubt the futility of such manipulation; it has been tried  literally thousands upon thousands of times, failing EVERY time, which makes it no longer a subject for serious debate. It hasn’t been successful even once, for thousands of years, though people seem to act differently, continuing to complain, and continuing to make their illogical and futile attempts to “make it so”…..


So, please, those of you who wish that the rest of society would just be like you, forget it. Not going to happen, and you can’t pass a law to make it so…. Get over it…….please. All the noise and crap you subject the rest of us to is getting tiresome….


Horatio: O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!

Hamlet: And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.

There are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.


— W. Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I, Scene V


(I know, it’s from Willie, but when it fits, I use it, no matter whose it is…..)


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


Well, ffolkes, all in all, I would say I’m getting pretty good at this; it may be a bit egotistical to say so, but, hey, somebody’s got to be, right? Besides, reality will step in, in short order, if the past is any indicator, and slap me down in some fashion, so, don’t fret…. karma will adjust matters to suit the Universe, not me, not you, and not anybody else, so, it’s best just to try to get along with it as it comes…. That having been said, not for the first time, I’m sure, I’m outta here, until the next time…. See ya, ffolkes, as long as you don’t see me first…




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 the dubious


dozer3