Artichoke juice is an efficient lubricant….

Posted on January 17, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Normally, streams of accidental tourists would be barging through the parlor, trying to see the latest version of Alice’s knickers, but the piano tuner forgot to shut down the coverlets, which caused the maids to neglect the silver. It might have been salvaged, had not the vicar arrived with the generalissimo in tow, hoping to be invited to tea. Since even Timmons, the tinker, was perplexed, Maggot, the farmer’s idiot son was sent to fetch the constable, to file a report for the insurance. Even the cats at the barn door paused in washing their whiskers to watch the ambulance pull away. Farragut Towers had never seen such goings-on, in all its days….

Hmm…. the nonsense doesn’t seem to want to flow this morning. Generally, a paragraph such as the above can fly onto the screen in about two minutes, but I had to struggle a bit to get this one down, taking at least 15 to wind its way to where it faded out. Ah well, I guess it just isn’t an English drawing room kind of day…. It’s probably just a hangover from dreaming last night, or something; I often find myself in dreams, involved in long, drawn out conversations with Lord Peter Wimsey, or Sherlock Holmes, sitting around in a smoky Victorian parlor, with the street noises of Piccadilly Circus or Baker Street muttering outside the window……

Unfortunately, that didn’t translate well onto the screen today. I don’t suppose I can expect to be able to do that on command; none of my other types of writing rely on focus or discipline. I rely far more on impulse and imaginative speculation when I’m deciding what to write, and try very hard NOT to apply a lot of conscious direction to where the decision ends up. My talent, such as it is, seems to work better for me when I just let it flow, without any direction from my conscious mind, and allow it to find its own path down to the sea, in a metaphorical sense. Metaphor is, after all, pretty much what we do around here….

Ranting at the world, even using the power of metaphor, is getting to be somewhat more dangerous, as our BRC (Beloved Ruling Class) is having a lot of success in fooling the public into being afraid, and letting them pass laws against what they fear, or, more dangerously, allowing them to make “executive” decisions to make laws, without bothering Congress about it. They are also performing a lot of surveillance on their own public, and, I am certain, marking down the names of those who are critical of the government’s actions in what they write.

To think that they will allow this criticism to go on forever is naive; they will eventually take steps to curtail freedom of speech further than it has already been eroded, just the same as how they have eliminated the right to protest in public, to gather in groups to obtain redress for grievances against the government, and the right to a fair trial by their peers. We lost the right to public oversight of the police some time ago, when the Patriot Act made it legal for them to arrest people and put them in undisclosed locations, without any judicial review or oversight. Very few of the original Amendments to the Constitution, which provided many of the rights we counted on, remain as law in this country. Americans sat around and watched, as the BRC has methodically and calmly sliced the Bill of Rights into shreds over the last 12 years since 9/11, using that day of infamy to justify their rape of the Constitution.

Oops…. I started ranting too early; forgot I was still in the intro. The latest outrageous moves by the BRC have me all worked up in that respect, as they are now, predictably, coming after the right bear arms, the one amendment that actually gives us real protection from the real world. The slippery slope of gun control is now on the public table, and the show is getting pretty raucous, on both sides of the argument….. But, all this is moot, here in the intro, or should be, so we’ll save it for below, should the subject come up…. (I know, that’s cheating, since I’m the one who picks the subjects…. deal with it…. I don’t cheat much, and when I do, it is merely a time-saving device, and has no direct effect on reality…..)

Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Gun control is not about guns. It is about control.” — Smart Bee

You had to know I couldn’t let this one go….. Yesterday, the POTUS signed several “Executive Orders” regarding the subject of gun control, addressing the issues that much of the American public is focused on (as directed to be by the BRC and the media….). Putting aside for the moment the issue of gun control itself, I wish to make it clear that the “Executive Orders” that were used to create the new regulations are a clear and obvious circumvention of the Constitution, and a direct attempt to bypass the checks and balances that our three pronged government is supposed to be subject to thereby. It seems to be escaping everyone’s notice that the Executive Branch of the government is now MAKING LAWS, not just enforcing them.

The whole system that has grown up around the concept of Executive Orders is, as far as I can see, completely illegal, according to Constitutional law. The President does NOT have the right to make laws, no matter how much urgency is seen to be present, or how much expediency is needed to address a situation. Congress is the body that is supposed to make laws, and the enforcement of those laws is the responsibility of the Executive Branch, with the oversight of both to be accomplished by the Federal Courts…. That is the way it was designed, and that is the way it has worked, to protect our rights as citizens for over 200 years….

Now, because of public fear, due mostly to the media frenzy at the behest of the BRC, and the manipulative dishonesty of the corporate masters of that same BRC, the rights we have enjoyed as Americans are now just about all gone. The assholes who run this country, the corporate masters who pull all the strings from behind the curtains, have successfully created a climate of fear amongst the general populace, and have neatly manipulated events so that it is the public itself clamoring for protection….. from itself. The media have so effectively spread the fear and horror, that the people on the streets are actually asking to have their rights curtailed, “for the good of society”…… What a load of bilge!

I am amazed at times at how naive people can be. The world is a dangerous place, and always has been, as human nature is anything but civilized. Yet people expect the government to be able to eliminate all danger from the public venue. They expect there to never be people who go crazy, and start shooting at everything they see, or attacking their delusional enemies. They expect there to never be an instance where police shoot unarmed citizens, just because they can. They actually expect members of the Beloved Ruling Class to have concern for what is important to them, instead of blithely pursuing their own agendas….. Such naivete is sadly all too common, and is the reason the rest of us will be forced to go along with the repressive regulations that are surely coming….

Yesterday, in discussing the gun control issue with a neighbor, it became clear just how naive, and unwilling to think, the general populace is…. This person is, I’d say, a pretty average citizen, perhaps less educated than some, but with more innate intelligence than many I know of. She actually said “yes” when I asked her if she trusted the police to be more ethical than the average citizen…. When I pointed out the multitude of incidents that occur every day that show police officers to be much less moral than the average joe, she acknowledged the point, but still would not voice mistrust of the police over the citizenry. She actually believes that policemen and women are more capable of carrying a gun, and not using it unethically, than are average folks…. A very, very foolish assumption, to my way of thinking…..

So, what we have now is a dual issue… First, the government wants to limit the citizenry’s access to guns, a direct abrogation of the Second Amendment to the Constitution. (Read it…. it says the right to bear arms will “not be abridged.” Period.) Second, the executive branch of government is being allowed to make law, another direct abrogation of the Constitution, which assigns that function to Congress. If nothing else, these two subjects are going to provide the impetus for a shit-load of public discussion, for sure…. The trickiest part of that is to be able to winnow out the wheat from the chaff, for there will be a LOT of chaff thrown up, much of it by the BRC, as they do all they can to obfuscate the issues, and hide their own manipulative interactions.

You will, I’m sure, see and hear more on this, both here on this blog, and out there in the Big Blue Room. I’m not done ranting on either of these issues, you can count on that. For the moment, I’m going to go search out some pearls to use in the discussions, and leave you to chew on what I’ve already brought up. Don’t worry, I’ll be back, to chew on these bones some more…..

“I have the power to HALT PRODUCTION on all TEENAGE SEX COMEDIES!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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Children’s Rhymes

By what sends
the white kids
I ain’t sent:
I know I can’t
be President.
What don’t bug
them white kids
sure bugs me:
We know everybody
ain’t free.

Lies written down
for white folks
ain’t for us a-tall:
Liberty And Justice–
Huh!–For All?

Langston Hughes
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“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” — Robert A. Heinlein, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long

It would be difficult for me to try to describe just how influential this statement has been in my life. I first read it around 1965 or so, when it was first published as part of Lazarus’ first appearance, in “Methuselah’s Children”. This incarnation of the idea, which pretty well describes Lazarus himself, was published later, in The Notebooks, as part of Heinlein’s book, “Time Enough For Love”, his magnum opus in later years. When I first read it, I was, as with much of Heinlein’s work, impressed by its relevance, and by how much it appealed to my own view of the universe. To my way of thinking, this is a perfect definition of what a man should be, and how one should approach life in general…..

As humans, our ecological niche in the Earth’s environment is that of the animal that fits into all niches. Our ability to eat any kind of food, to cope with any kind of environment we encounter, are designed to act as characteristics that enhance our ability to survive, and reproduce, which is the genetic mandate of all species. I mean, think about it, anything other than focus on surviving, and reproducing in kind, is kind of counter-productive, isn’t it? So, having this kind of all-encompassing flexibility of talent would seem to be custom made to make us efficient at staying alive long enough to carry on the species by producing offspring.

One of the talents we possess that is an essential underlying factor for our flexibility is our imagination. This unique talent, seemingly absent in most other species, allows us to see into the future, into the realm of possible outcomes of real time actions and events, giving us the advantage of being able to prepare for dealing with such issues much more efficiently than we can by merely reacting to the immediacy of what is happening in front of us. It is a very, very powerful tool, and ultimately, it will be either our saving grace, or our own personal executioner……

You see, humans also have a flaw in their make-up, a flaw that is every bit as powerful as imagination in its effect on our existence. This flaw is part of our emotional make-up, our feelings about what we perceive in the real world, outside our minds and imagination. The flaw can manifest itself in a variety of ways, but the most harmful are when this basic crack in our armor assume the form of deliberate ignorance, exemplified by fearful bigotry, or in indifference to the feelings of others, as typified by the corporate masters of the world and the Beloved Ruling Class (not necessarily the same group of men….). The flaw is typically seen in those public events that are marked by a lack of morality, or ethical behavior, such as the common habitual lying to the public by the candidates during elections, or when the police murder another innocent citizen….

I’ve written myself into another corner here, so to speak….. This subject is one that is constantly in my thoughts of late, as I witness the historic battle that is being waged in today’s political arena, a battle that began the day after the signing of the Constitution. The unseen, hidden rulers of the world have been trying to tear apart the system of protective laws and concepts that our forefathers left as our legacy since that fateful day, and their efforts are coming to fruition now. We are watching every one of the ten rights in the Bill of Rights being eradicated, made moot, by the passage of illegal laws, executive orders, and manipulation of the public’s fear until the lost and ignorant are crying out for protection from the boogie man….

At this point, I don’t know what the answers may be, nor what they may entail…. History, and our place in that history, is about to come to a head, in a manner of speaking. A lot of very volatile issues are currently being played out on the world stage, and the outcome is still in question. I can only hope that there are enough of the people who fit the description above still alive and actively working to maintain human dignity and freedom, to make a difference in the final resolution. I’m not terribly confident of success, but, I haven’t quite given up hope…. I’m not sure why, because, damn it, the BRC and the corporate assholes are holding a lot of good cards, and have a lot of resources at hand that aren’t available to the rest of us.

Ah well, all you can do, is all you can do….. and this is all I can do for now….

“I know everything, but I’m sworn to secrecy.” — Smart Bee
__________________________________

Since I can’t ethically reveal any more secrets, it seems to be time to bring this….. whatever it is…. to a close. One can only beat one’s head against a wall for so long, before concussion sets in, and I’d like to get through a day without all the dizziness and nausea that daily events can produce. It would probably help if I didn’t go read the news every day, but, as I’ve said before, and will again, it’s good to keep track of what is going on, if only to be able to jump when necessary, and to know which way to jump…. makes the landing more comfortable….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

We’ll pick one of the lesser valued artichokes, please….

Posted on January 8, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“All statements contained herein may be accurate, but might also be carefully designed lies intended to induce an angry response.” — Mike Chapman, mike@hopper.acs.virginia.edu

I thought you should see this, just so you are aware, it applies here…. There IS a slight problem that is associated with that, which lies in my own tendency to forget which one is true, or for that matter, which one isn’t true, for both are both true and false, and both are designed to create a response, though anger isn’t always my targeted emotional response…. Just sayin’….. I didn’t wish to make things more muddled than they already are in the natural state for gigoid-ECR, but, it appears that I did, anyway…. Oh well…. Onward….

I find myself at odds this morning, a most complicated affair, given the even nature of the issue. Wait, issue? I didn’t mean to say issue, I meant tissue. Wait, no I didn’t…. Well, this has gone completely to shit, before I even got very far into it. Common sense would dictate just tossing it, applying the delete button, and get on with something new; I’m not a common kind of guy, I guess, because I’m going to try to salvage this paragraph, or at least save the wear and tear on my poor laptop buttons. They’re looking a bit bedraggled, after the 750,000 words I put out last year in Pearls…. the ‘A’ key is now completely blanked out, as are the ‘E’ key, most of the ‘S’ key, and several others showing signs of wear…. not too shabby for an amateur, eh what?

There, saved it….. or saved it from the trash pile, anyway. I won’t comment on the level of expertise it shows, as that would be blowing my own horn. Yeah, yeah, I know, when has that ever stopped me before? Hush, you’re bothering me…. be still, and keep reading, or I’ll report this to the blog police….. Well, I would, if there were any….. It was worth a try, maybe…. It got y’all to quiet down for a moment, didn’t it? Works for me…..

This is rapidly deteriorating, and I don’t seem to have much control over what it is doing, so I’m going to stop trying to amuse myself, and you, any further, and get on with the program. I know there are some delightful pearls out there, just waiting for me to polish them up and set them before swine, er, Gentle Readers….. sorry, no puns intended….. Or implications, either, for that matter…. hey, it’s a JOKE!…. Ah, hell with it…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an art.” — Charles McCabe, San Francisco Chronicle

In one sense, one could say that this is what this blog is all about; the search for artistic value in my expression of opinions on Life, and Reality. I figure it is somewhat like Homer Simpson reportedly said one time, “Facts, schmacts…. you can use them to prove almost anything that is remotely true.” In the case of this being so, what I do here can easily be termed artistic…. as much so as can The Simpsons, that is certain….. I never did watch very much of the show; it reminded me too much of All in the Family, that old sitcom with Archie Bunker, and his poor wife Edith, who week after week consistently made Archie look like the world’s worst actor, by the mere example of grace and dignity in her performances as his oh-so-much more intelligent spouse…..

The character of Archie was, in my opinion (see how that works?…. 🙂 ), probably one of two things, each of which could be considered to be the ultimate in their category. Either he was the single most ignorant, bigoted American asshole to ever walk the streets of Laredo, or he was a gruffly compassionate, steadfastly loyal American neighborhood hero, with a hard exterior covering a soft heart. Since I don’t consider Mr. O’Connor, the man who played Archie, to be an actor worthy of the title of thespian, much less hack, I’d say the former comes closer to the truth of the matter.

As such, IMHO, the character enters the arena of national tragedy, and can be seen to be actively toxic mental conditioning by the BRC. For the entire run of the show, I was appalled at the number of people who expressed not just approval of his character, but applauded its victories over the other actors and the situations they created, no matter how egregiously inhuman…. The whole concept CELEBRATED this man’s consistent stupidity and ignorance, making him into an icon, and never even paying any attention to the real acting going on in the show, by his character’s wife…. I’d say the best acting she did was when she said she enjoyed working with her costar….. If one turns off the sound when she says that, her expression doesn’t match the words…. Her face tells a different story about Archie, and the idiot who played him….

Ah well, such is the public’s taste in such matters, I suppose. The entire phenomenon of that show, and others like it (Sherman Blakesly? Helmsley? something like that, got a chance to play the black Archie on the show, “Movin’ Uptown”, a spinoff of All in the Family), just goes to demonstrate how easy it is to fool the American public. I guess, in looking back on it, it makes the phenomenon we saw in the recent election more understandable, to some degree.

Since seeing the results of the election, I’ve had a hard time with the fact that close to 50 million adult Americans voted for the Republican ticket. When one lists the positions they took on the issues, and compares them with what can be easily seen as the public’s opinions on those issues, the contrast is stark and clear. The GOP had NO areas of concern in their platform that matched what the general public believes; their contact with, and understanding of, the Average American, is so completely out of date, one wonders how they still can find their way around town, as they are using maps of the world that have been out of date for a LONG time….

Yet, 50,000,000….. Fifty. Million. That is a lot of ignorance, or just plain weak spirited complacency, to pile up in one spot, and I’m surprised that the voting machines were able to deal with all of the wishful thinking that attached itself to the ballots. How can there be THAT many people out there who refuse to look at the truth? How can that many people make a decision to ignore the blatant lies, the flip-flopping positions, the outright immoral and unethical views on women, and people of color? How can there be that many STUPID people out there, in MY country, breathing MY air, and spreading their miasma of ignorance and bigotry?

It is appalling to me, to think that there are so many people in this country who can not only be fooled into believing lies, but will willingly join in the persecution and discrimination against others because they are different in some way….. To me, THAT is un-American, and worthy of being labeled as traitorous…..

“Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.” — Smart Bee

I considered for a moment going with Zippy as a closing remark for this subject, but my outrage at the cupidity of the massive number of folks who voted GOP is too strong to ignore. Even though all of the above is probably the equivalent of teaching a pig to sing, I figure it can’t hurt to get it off my chest, at least. It’s as appropriate as the other one I planned to use, which had to do with a comment about that fine day in the future we all know will come, when the Great White Hope will save us from the heathens, and darkies, and gays, and all those scary folks in the world… you know, when pigs fly?….
__________________________________

From Poetryhunter.com, a classic….

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and is tune is heard
on the distant hill for the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
an the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

Maya Angelou
__________________________________

Finding, and creating, pearls as a part of the process for composing Pearls can be a challenging pastime, which is a big part of why I continue to do so after all this time. It is an odd procedure at times, as there is no set of instructions, or rules to go by. As far as possible, I use as little volitional direction as I can get away with, which, I’ve learned, is the best way to keep things fresh. This pearl is a perfect example of that process, though the full concept is a bit nebulous, and a fine way to end today’s effort.

These pearls were collected over the last three days, one at a time, but for the last two, which came together as the ‘coup de grace’ of the whole shebang. Bonus points if you can figure out which two those are, as they are not in the same order as they were found…. Sheesh, that wouldn’t make any sense, would it? No, they’re just as they should be, and should provide, if nothing else, a mild chuckle at life’s little jokes…..

“No one is fit to be trusted with power. … No one. … Any man who has lived at all knows the follies and wickedness he’s capable of. … And if he does know it, he knows also that neither he nor any man ought to be allowed to decide a single human fate.” — C. P. Snow, The Light and the Dark

“For how much longer can I howl into this wind?” — The Cure “A Thousand Hours”

“I choose a block of marble and chop off whatever I don’t need.” — Francois-Auguste Rodin, — when asked how he managed to make his remarkable statues

“You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.” — Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973)

“It is not a bad little planet, if you know the right people.” — Smart Bee

There you have it, another in a long series of obscure jokes from the mind of gigoid, deep within the confines of his maximally labyrinthine patterns of thought, for what the experience is worth….. Abondanza!
__________________________________

Well, it’s another fine mess I’ve created here, Ollie…. I’m thinking I’ll make my getaway while the iron is hot, or something like that….. not to mix my cliches with my metaphors but, a man’s gotta do what he’s gotta do, right? Anything less would be dishonest…. and I’d rather not go there, thanks all the same….. I’m off into the Big Blue Room….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Credit given where due….

Posted on December 24, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Yesterday, it rained all day, hard, in the area where I live. A higher degree of pain than usual, with concomitant stiffness, meant I didn’t have it in me to walk the seven and a half blocks to the library in the rain, and I can’t afford the coffee shop this late in the month…. besides, it’s also over three long blocks away, with the same walk back UP the hill afterward, all in the rain. No thanks…. If I had tried either one, I’d be in bed still, come the New Year…. Also, no thanks…. Unhappily, this means my postings are a day behind, proving once again I am mostly human…… I’ve never been able to quite get it all right….

No worries, though… I decided I’m not going to stress about it; I just came back, fired the computer back up, and proceeded to write this little pre-disclaimer to maintain some clarity. I don’t think any of what is below is time-sensitive, particularly, so it will still be relevant…. and, who knows? I might even get the poem I feel percolating to drip down before I get to a posting point tomorrow, which, now, is today….. At any rate, this is a pretty decent Pearl, I think, so….. enjoy…..

Ffolkes,
I know full well why I am not a success. Wait…. Okay, that’s wrong. I know full well why I AM a success…. Wait…. Okay, that’s wrong, too…

Alright, this is the right way to start….

Most folks in the mainstream would NOT call me successful, I suppose, though I know full well I am. The reason for this discrepancy is a different understanding of the definition of the word itself, along with a somewhat different idea of what determines that definition. To the average person in our world, successful means rich in money or property; you aren’t even in the ball park if you don’t own two cars and four TVs to go with your house and boat. This, as mentioned, differs widely from my own idea of what makes a person successful, as mine has nothing whatever to do with gelt…..

I am rich in friends. I am rich in my children. And, I am rich beyond the dreams of avarice in my mind, which is all I ever wanted. When I was very young, before the age of 10, I remember hearing the phrase “If you want a life full of trouble, fill your house with treasure.” I thought about that, decided that it sounded perfectly logical, and made up my mind there and then to never make the seeking of money, or things, an important goal in my life. There are far greater riches to be found in any random Mark Twain story than in any bank, and this I believe, implicitly…..

Oh, sure, it’s nice to not have to struggle financially, and I’m smart enough that I’ve never before had to struggle as I am today with money issues. Once, back in my early twenties, I went without work for a couple of months, and it was tough for a few weeks, but then I found a job, and all was well…. The rest of the time I’ve spent just enough effort to make enough to take care of myself, and my family, once I started it, and never felt any need for more. I can’t say I’ve felt deprived, at all, for not having experienced more in the way of the rich lifestyle, as I have had all I ever wanted…..

So, in that sense, I’ve always been extremely successful, for I have always done exactly as I wished to do, and been successful at attaining all I wanted. And, I can truthfully say, I have never had a moment of worry or anguish over being threatened with, or experiencing, being robbed. It’s easy, when you know there is nothing about which to worry, for there isn’t enough to tempt any robbers. It makes for a quite serene lifestyle, all in all…..

The other side of this coin under discussion is that I simply don’t give a crap about what others think, and never have….. Maybe it’s a gift, I don’t know, but I’ve never felt that what anyone else thought about ME had any bearing on what I was to do, or think. It just never occurred to me to let what anyone else said have that kind of influence over me…… It’s always been relatively easy for me to say “f___ you” to anyone (figuratively, of course….) when they try to tell me what I SHOULD do or think….. Gift or curse, I don’t care, it works for me….

Well, now, I was going somewhere with all this bilge water; where could that have been? Ah, yes…. the fucking feds & staties….. Sorry, when I write their names, the “fuck” is mandatory; that’s the law. Since the California State Department of Social Services has decided to draw out the time during which they can fuck with me about my own money, I am once again consigned to the confines of financial purgatory. They decided, because I mentioned a word they hadn’t heard before, (to wit: diverticulosis), they decided they’d better send me to another doctor about it, thus extending the process another three or four months, minimum. This puts me right back into limbo, where I’ve languished now for close to two years…. By the time these guys finish dicking around with my case, I’ll be eligible for my regular SS, at age 66, four years from now…. Bloody Assholes!….

I could rant about it for a long time, but this intro is already past the standards set for normalcy around here, so I’d best let it go for now….. Suffice it to say, I am once again NOT A HAPPY CAMPER! Wish me luck with my patience, please, I’m going to need it….. For now, I’m going to go for a dive, to try to take my mind to some other point in the universe, where things aren’t quite so dreary and depressing as they are around here just now…. Thank goodness for books and literature, they’ve saved me all my life, and continue to do so now….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Anyone who isn’t confused doesn’t really know what’s going on.” — Edward R. Murrow

To Mr. Murrow’s assertion, in today’s world, I would add, “Anyone who isn’t worried, isn’t paying attention.” I saw in the news yesterday that the President has offered up Social Security as a sacrifice to the Republicans in the Congress, to bribe them into signing some other tax bill. I can’t say it surprises me, as I have said all along that I don’t trust the President, any more than I trust any office holder in this country. But, given his most recent statements during the election run-up, I’m concerned that he is already turning what he said at that time into a lie; he promised, then, to protect senior citizens, and Social Security, and Medicare, from the depredations of the conservatives. To start abrogating his duties before he is even sworn in is not a good, or hopeful, sign for the future.

This particular threat is a serious one; the cuts proposed would have a very deleterious effect on my income, and that of every senior under the aegis of SS. One article claimed it could decrease the average senior’s yearly income by more than $3000, and possibly more over the next ten years. This, without any doubt whatsoever, is a reprehensible idea, and the person(s) responsible should be taken out an shot, without ceremony or delay. These politicians seem to think that the money that is in SS is theirs, when in fact, it belongs to me, and those like me, who have been pouring a percentage of our pay into it for our entire lives. It is NOT theirs, nor should it be thought of as even public money. It belongs to the people who put it there, and should be protected from the rapacious assholes who can’t stand the idea of anyone having something they don’t control….

ROBBER, n. A candid man of affairs. It is related of Voltaire that one night he and some traveling companion lodged at a wayside inn. The surroundings were suggestive, and after supper they agreed to tell robber stories in turn. “Once there was a Farmer-General of the Revenues.” Saying nothing more, he was encouraged to continue. “That,” he said, “is the story.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

Thomas Jefferson, in certain of his writings to other patriots, mentioned the danger to the Republic from corporations, bankers, and preachers. He was particularly clear-sighted in this respect, and saw that once the legislators had voted themselves the power to control the treasury, both the income and output, the public would be in danger of continuous, and ongoing theft of public funds. He stated this many times, but, did anyone listen? Not enough of the right people, apparently, because everything he feared has come to pass.

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” — H. L. Mencken

The legislature in today’s modern world is completely under the financial influence and control of the banks and corporations, aided by the preachers’ continuing repression/distraction of the public, to confuse the issue, and help obfuscate their actions, hiding them from public view. Anyone who does not believe this to be true is under that same influence, and should be referred back to our original statement above, i.e., you don’t really know what’s going on…… or, you are not paying attention…..

Now that Barack no longer has to worry about re-election, he can begin to show his truer colors, and screw the rest of us in the process. I told you all a while back; NO POLITICIAN can be fully trusted, either to tell the truth, or to act in the public’s interests, for they all suffer from the same issue of moral failure, and that is that they WANT to be in power.

“Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on them [public offices], a rottenness begins in his conduct.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), 1799

That desire, to have power over others, is a mental disorder, plain and simple. It is insane, both in my mind, and in scientific terms, to want to control other people like that. Even if the desire is motivated by what could be termed a moral impulse, the urge to help, the actual wielding of the power is corrupting, and soon overcomes any leftover morality, in favor of expedience.

Call the White House, and the Senate. Write them. Email them. Tell them we aren’t going to stand for this flip-flop from the President, and let them know that the true power really still does reside with the people. If we don’t, we may all end up regretting we ever listened to them….. again…..

“A statesman is a politician who places himself at the service of the nation. A politician is a statesman who places the nation at his service.” — Georges Pompidou

As far as I can see, there are no statesmen alive today, only politicians….
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And, as in uffish thought he stood
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame
Came wiffling through the tulgey wood
And burbled as it came
— _Jabberwocky_, by Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson)

If it isn’t clear to y’all by now, I love nonsense. For me, it provides the balance so necessary to a harmonious existence, as the rest of reality is so often dreary, grim-faced, and sober. (see section one, above, for clear evidence of this assertion….) And, since poetry makes anything in words better, nonsensical poetry is sheer joy for me….. It doesn’t get any better than the above, which will provide adequate balance for whatever I find and choose to go in the latter half of this section…. so, enjoy, both the poetry, and the contrasting styles…..

To Congress, with Love

Politicos don’t care much ’bout seniors and 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

Well, gosh, who knew that was in there?…..
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“Just because you’re not paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you!” — Smart Bee

Last week, or maybe earlier, another blogger and I were both ID’d as being a bit paranoid, (self-identified, I might add) because we happen to believe at least some of the conspiracy rumors continually floating around the internet. Each of us took comfort from the above sentiment, knowing it to be 100% true, and have mutual agreement in that belief. He seems to be pretty tech-savvy, posting a lot of different types of media on his blog, so he must have similar knowledge as I of computers, and the functions of which current technology is capable. This knowledge, along with a deep understanding of human nature, is the root cause for our paranoia, and, it’s justification…..

“No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness.” — Aristotle

The little laptop computer upon which I type to create these Pearls of Virtual Wisdom is an amazing machine, and fairly representative of what is available to the public these days. It has, quite simply, more computing power in it than was present in the ENTIRE WORLD when the first laptop was on the design boards, when I got my first clunky 386. What this simple fact(oid) implies is this: the government, and its supporters, the bankers, corporations, and churches, has available for their use, enough computing power to record EVERY piece of communication, of EVERY type, created each day in the ENTIRE WORLD. Along with that capability, to monitor ALL communications, it has the capability of mining that huge amount of data for significant words, phrases, and patterns that will inform them of anyone, anywhere, who is speaking in a way that is potentially against their interests.

Yep…. every single piece of published communication, via phone, internet, TV, radio, or any other form of media by which humans communicate, is vulnerable to being overheard by those in the beloved ruling class…. Allow me to assure you, the reasons for which they want this information have nothing to do with YOUR rights, or YOUR interests, nor are they going to tell you, either that they are doing it, or how often, or where, or anything about it. In many public places, with cameras and recording devices, it is possible for them to overhear even the words we speak to each other face to face. If they wish, they can even concentrate technology on a single spot, (such as your car, your living room, or kitchen…..), and listen to every word spoken there, even if they are not within miles of the place. There is, by published report, no place left on Earth where technology cannot penetrate, to listen to what is being spoken, given the opportunity, and the time to employ the needed technology.

So, my friend and I are well aware that what we write and publish here online is perfectly available to those who care about such matters, and they WILL be listening to what EVERYONE is saying, even, or, perhaps especially, us. Since I have a tendency to rant against the very people who are listening, I doubt that my name is missing from several lists of theirs. In fact, I’d be surprised if it was missing from those lists…. if it is, they’re not paying attention….. 🙂

As I’ve said before ffolkes, be alert; the world needs all the lerts it can get. You are being watched, and listened to, whether you choose to believe it or not, so it would behoove you to, perhaps, take that into account. Please, don’t fall into that, “oh, you’re just being paranoid,” attitude, or the “well, if I don’t say anything wrong, they can’t get me,” fallacy…. One of the primary characteristics of those with the power-mongering gene is a certain irrationality that is inherent in their make-up…. They have an unfortunate tendency to act on belief and faith, not on fact, so their actions, while fairly predictable, are somewhat irrationally chosen, and don’t necessarily make any sense to those of us who use our minds for other things than reclining upon…. Remember, as Lazarus Long advises, “Always cut the cards.”…..

I have read and understood the above. X ______________________
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Today’s effort certainly doesn’t lack for original material….. It’s understandable, to me; I’ve got a lot of stuff to say, no viable, compelling reason not to say it, and plenty of good reasons to do so. (“Stuff” being my most versatile word…. such flexibility of meaning!…..) Having said a lot of it, I’ll leave thee be to pursue thy own ends, for the nonce. You can’t say fairer than that….. Oh, yeah, happy holidays, I guess….

Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

With piteous disregard for the weak of mind….

Posted on November 16, 2012 by gigoid

Special note: To all my Facebook, Yahoo, WordPress, and Internet friends….. I feel this Pearl is an important one to share…. I don’t usually try to promote my work this hard, but today’s message is one of importance for all Americans, if only for the links I’ve added to my comments. Those links need to be seen by millions of our countrymen, whereby we have a real opportunity to fix a big part of the problems faced by our Society at large, in light of the results of our recent election…. Please read these ideas, and spread them around for discussion, as far as you can, by Sharing on Facebook, by Pressing on WordPress, and wherever else on the Web they may get to…. thanks….

Ffolkes,
Several days ago, I spoke here about the embittered asses who have been spouting off in Facebook, and other places, regarding seceding from the Union, since their bigoted racism was struck down by the majority of right-thinking people in this country on election day. I spoke fairly eloquently to express my chagrin, and my anger at their intransigence, but yesterday, I read a response to those people that was not just better than mine, but was, in my mind, perfect. The author had researched his law well, and was forthright in outlining the very illegality of their so-called “right to secede”, as well as being quite forthcoming in his anger at them for their treason. That article can be found here: http://90degrees2theleft.com/2012/11/15/when-a-comment-is-better-than-the-article/#comment-333

Yes, treason, the same word I used previously. You see, the South LOST the Civil War, though they don’t seem to realize it, just the same as they lost this election. When they did, they lost the right to secede from the Union, forever; that is clearly stated in the articles of government that were set in place during the Reconstruction after the War. I was fairly lenient, saying they should just be allowed to leave, if they wish; this man is more righteous in that sense, and would have these traitors prosecuted and jailed, and not merely allowed to leave, but EXILED in shame, for their treasonous statements and actions. And you know what? I wouldn’t stand in the way of that at all…. Stupidity should have SOME consequences attached to it, especially when it is deliberate….

Apparently, these ffolkes aren’t leaving it there, at just expressing their displeasure at this treason, but are following up their words with action…. They’re submitting a petition to the White House, suggesting that these secessionists be arrested for their treason, have their citizenship stripped from them, and be sent into exile. Their position as citizens would then be offered to resident immigrants in this country, who all WANT to be Americans, with educational assistance given to complete the naturalization process. I think this is a GRAND idea, and will be signing that petition as soon as I can get online again. That petition is easy to find, too, here: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/revoke-citizenship-those-who-petition-secession-our-union-and-grant-their-citizenship-working/LQ9sXmmh?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

Once again, the intro section has been usurped into political ranting mode, but, that’s one of the risks around here; political or religious ranting fervor may strike at any time. Apparently, right after I wake up is one of the times when that is likely; my outrage is set to kick in at a moment’s notice at this time of the day, I guess, which is, all in all, a good thing, I think….. Whether y’all agree with that may not be immaterial, but it is moot, since we’re about done with it for today, anyway…. But, lest one think that I’m not serious about this, let me reiterate….

Reason prevailed at the polls on November 6, and the MAJORITY has spoken. These, sad, white, racists cannot stand having their delusions shattered, and are deathly afraid, knowing their prejudices are no longer in control of society, and they are now exposed as the bigots they really are. This talk of secession is just one more piece of evidence that shows their complete ignorance, of history, of reality, and of the laws of their own country.

Fuck them…. fuck them all. Arrest them for treason, strip them of their citizenship, and send them off to Africa, or wherever in the world there is a haven for such assholes (Now, there’s a thought…. Who will take them? I don’t know that any country will want them, as they’ve already proven their inability to live with others, and shown just how bigoted and racist they are…. There might not be anywhere for them to go…. Oh, well…. too bad, so sad…. I guess we’ll just have to dump them on some island that nobody else wants…..).

Give their rights as citizens to working immigrants, who have already shown their commitment to be good Americans by their actions in support of this country. Maybe then, we can see the last of the Southern fried idiots who have been keeping this country from joining the rest of the human race in the struggle to survive…. and the Civil War will finally be over….

Well, now that my political/religious* rant for this morning is done, I may have a hard time finding something else to discuss…. time will tell, I suppose, as it always does (how does the Doctor always know?….) At any rate, I can do no more damage here, so we’ll get on with today’s dive for pearls…. Shall we Pearl?…..

*I say religious, as well as political, because I hold religion, or more accurately, preachers/priests, to be equally responsible for the attitudes these secessionists hold; it is the combination of the bigotry and elitism promulgated by the Christian religions (and others, they’re not alone….) with the ignorant political and historical throwbacks to the Old South who have usurped the GOP, that has created this group of hard-core fundamentalist fanatics, who cannot, and will not, learn to get along with anyone who isn’t in their chosen group…. If there is a group of people on this planet worthy of my hatred and complete disgust, it is these religious politicians, and political preachers, who preach their litanies of hate to their congregations just as if it was some kind of truth, while simultaneously claiming their own innocence and God-given mission, and calling it Peace and Love…. Despicable, sad excuses for human beings, which is why I try to pity them, because they are not even worth the mental energy it takes to hate….
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Having ranted enough for the time being, here is an old school pearl. This one is a bit different, as it doesn’t lead to one central concept, as such, but rather a number of related ideas. All of it is good food for thought, and are things I believe in….. as if that matters….. Nonetheless, it is all good stuff, and one can never have too much good stuff….

“He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“He was a wise man who invented God.” — Plato
(You’ve got to think about this one, and go a bit deeper than the first level or two….)

“All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers … Each one owes infinitely more to the human race than to the particular country in which he was born.” — Francois Fenelon

“I don’t know but I’ve been told
the streets of heaven are lined with gold
I ask you how things could get much worse
if the Russians happened to get up there first
wowee, pretty scary”

— Robert Zimmerman
(Bonus points if you know his stage name…..)

“I just didn’t say it.” — Ronald Reagan –Associated Press, 10/5/66
(When asked to explain a “recorded” statement…. i.e., it was on tape….)

“Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.” — P.J. O’Rourke

As a final note, here is a fitting finish to this subtle, yet pointed group of sharp sticks to the eye of ignorance…..

“As for courage and will – we cannot measure how much of each lies within us, we can only trust there will be sufficient to carry through trials which may lie ahead.” — Andre Norton

I love it…. yet another proof of what I’ve said before… “All you can do, is all you can do…..” Having done so, we will pass on to another pearl…. a poetic one….
__________________________________

Shui Tiao Ko Tou

Will a moon so bright ever arise again?
Drink a cupful of wine and ask of the sky.
I don’t know where the palace gate of heaven is,
Or even the year in which tonight slips by.
I want to return riding the whirl-wind! But I
Feel afraid that this heaven of jasper and jade
Lets in the cold, its palaces rear so high.
I shall get up and dance with my own shadow.
From life endured among men how far a cry!

Round the red pavilion
Slanting through the lattices
Onto every wakeful eye,
Moon, why should you bear a grudge, O why
Insist in time of separation so th fill the sky?
Men know joy and sorow, parting and reunion;
The moon lacks lustre, brightly shines; is al, is less.
Perfection was never easily come by.
Though miles apart, could men but live for ever
Dreaming they shared this moonlight endlessly!

Su Tung-po
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Here is what may properly be called a minimalist pearl…. at least, that’s what I’m calling it, and I’m the one in charge, so…. any who, below you will find two statements, one purely textual, and one with some attached art (well, a facial photo of Jimmy Carter may not exactly be art, but, it IS a picture….). Both statements cut to the heart of one of the modern world’s most basic root problems, in my mind, which is the disparity of purpose and unity between males and females of the human species. I regard this “battle” to be the most destructive element of what is wrong with our culture, and believe very strongly that it needs to change…. I’m not so narcissistic or egotistical to believe that I have all the answers as to how that might be accomplished, but, a clear examination of the truth is generally a pretty good place to start….

“In the early twelfth century century the Virgin had been the supreme protectress of civilisation. She had taught a race of tough and ruthless barbarians the virtues of tenderness and compassion. The great cathedrals of the Middle Ages were her dwelling places upon earth. In the Renaissance, while remaining the Queen of Heaven, she became also the human mother in whom everyone could recognise qualities of warmth and love and approachability… The stabilising, comprehensive religions of the world, the religions which penetrate to every part of a man’s being– in Egypt, India or China– gave the female principle of creation at least as much importance as the male, and wouldn’t have taken seriously a philosophy that failed to include them both… It’s a curious fact that the all-male religions have produced no religious imagery– in most cases have positively forbidden it. The great religious art of the world is deeply involved with the female principle.” — Kenneth Clark, 1969

Now that Mr. Clark has thrown some light on some of the historical elements, one of this country’s former Presidents (whom history will judge much more fairly, and admirably, than current society…..) has some words about how the political, and religious leaders of the world have conspired to keep things the way the are for so long, just because they are assholes (Sorry, my phrase, not his…. But, they are, though…. assholes, that is….)…..

I could go on in this vein for a very long time, and promise to do so again at a later date…. Suffice it to say here that we all need to think about this sort of stuff, every day…. That is the only way to sustain the outrage long enough to stimulate us to act. Action will be necessary for changes to be made, as is always true…. True, is what every word above is…..
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“All right, then, Harry?” “All right, Hagrid….” I have to say, this one came out worthy of an NTS rating (Not Too Shabby). I can’t say it’s exactly inspired, or even inspirational, but it sure came down heavy on the side of Reason and Truth, eh? For a day when there is so much more happening, I feel a fair sense of accomplishment, merely for completing it. And, since that is an award I give myself, nobody can take it away from me, without much more effort than it would ever be worth…. If you are now confused, my work here is done….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

Any Use of This Product, in Any Manner Whatsoever, Will Increase the Amount of Disorder in the Universe. Although No Liability Is Implied Herein, the Consumer Is Warned That This Process Will Ultimately Lead to the Heat Death of the Universe. — PUBLIC NOTICE AS REQUIRED BY LAW

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Only the only allowed on the promenade….

Posted on November 14, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
A lot of people saw the movie Forrest Gump; I finally joined that group some years after its release. It took that long because I have a problem with movies about Vietnam; not an objection, merely an uncomfortable reaction from my PTSD. I only found this out after going to see The Deer Hunter many years ago, when I was still working in the violent places I used to inhabit; my adrenal gland went nuts during the captivity and firefight scenes in the movie, dumping a load of epinephrine into my blood stream, which had me buzzing for hours, looking around for an enemy to engage. I can still get jittery when I hear those helicopters in the distance….. Whoops, here come the tears…..

Sorry, had to regain control… I was dripping on the keyboard…. Any who….. In Forrest Gump, the scenes from ‘Nam weren’t quite as bad, though bad enough in spots. But, what I really wanted to talk about was Forrest’s mother, who gave us the phrase that I believe should become our national motto…. “Stupid is as stupid does….” Boy, how true is THAT! It is a perfect pearl, and a perfect aphorism, or truism, or call it what you will…. it is a perfect lesson in life, and one that several million sore losers all over this country really need to take to heart…..

Yesterday, when I went over to Facebook to see what was happening for a few minutes, I noted some posts from this particular conservative Friend on my list. I’ve never actually met this woman, other than as a co-writer on a blogging site I used to frequent. Though a conservative politically, she has some ideas that are congruent with mine, so I’ve tried to be tolerant of the nonsense she posts, repeating all the lies and propaganda she hears from the pundits on her side of the issues. (Plus, it keeps me up to date on what the opposition is thinking, or what passes for that among them….) Now, however, she is starting to piss me off, and the latest BS from that group is enough to make my adrenaline flow…. There are a number of idiots in several states that voted for Romney who are so frightened, and so bitter, that they are talking about seceding from the Union…. I repeat, Stupid is as Stupid does…..

These people so frightened of the non-whites who have taken over “their” country that they continue to spout their racist agenda, in spite of having it pointed out to them how divisive they are being, merely raising the volume of the clamor they’ve created with their bigoted claims of prejudice on the opposing party. What they have failed to realize is that the world has passed them by, and their outdated attitudes are not shared by a very significant percentage of the Caucasian population….. At least 50% of the whites in this country support the President, and what he is trying to do by strengthening the middle class, and making healthcare and services available to those in society who need them, such as seniors, students, veterans, and the poor and disadvantaged.

All these foolish racists can see is that they worst nightmares have come true, and they are realizing that they now have nowhere to go to join a society that believes as they do. I saw one comment from a woman on FB that highlighted part of the issue…. This disgruntled racist said “I’m going to move to Australia, where the President is white, and Christian….” Unfortunately, this statement points out a big part of their problem, to wit: stupidity, compounded by deep ignorance…. First, Australia has a Prime Minister, not a President. Second, she is white, but she’s not a he…. and third, she’s an atheist…. Many more of the conservative whiners are threatening to move to Canada, but, then someone told them that Canada allows gay marriage (has done so for years….) and has socialized healthcare, just like the system they’re complaining about…..

These folks (who have lost the privilege and honor of being “ffolkes”, in my mind….) who are speaking treason (yes, treason…. they are definitely not patriots….), have their attitudes stuck back in 1864, and they really need to get over the Civil War, before they start another. But then, one of the primary characteristics of those who embrace racism and bigotry is a severe mistrust of education, so they have obviously forgotten the one about “those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.” I say, go ahead, let them secede, and then ignore them. Ostracism is a very, very powerful tool, and one they well deserve….

They don’t have the economic clout they would need to make themselves into a successful new country, nor do they have the support from anywhere else in the world (except a few dictatorships who would love to manipulate such idiots into joining their evil causes…. and those are the only ones in the world who would have anything to do with a country of white, fundamentalist Christian fanatics….). So, let them go, we’ll do fine without them, and they’ll find that the world at large is much less tolerant of their sort of stupidity, than were their former countrymen, who at least gave them the courtesy of allowing them to speak aloud without penalty…. they won’t find that to be true anywhere else….

Well…. hmm….. This introductory section seems to have gotten away from me a bit…. no pearl, yet a rant of some proportion came pouring out. I can see that this whole issue, of secession, is bothering me more than I had realized. It just seems so damn futile to me…. to get so fucking upset and bitter over losing an election that these fools would be willing to send this country into a Second Civil War, with all the concomitant pain and anguish, for both sides of the battle, seems to me to be the very epitome of what is STUPID! In this case, it is also very small minded and petty…. I mean, we who are not invested in keeping the white race supreme put up very nicely with Nixon, Johnson, Reagan, Ford, Bush I, and Bush II, all without ever crying or threatening secession. If they don’t like this administration, well, start looking for a candidate to put forward; it’s only four years, and their nightmare has to leave office, anyway….

But, for goodness’ sake, get over yourselves. Nobody gets to win every time in life, and your attitudes and beliefs, which are NOT consistent with what the rest of the world believes, are what is causing you all the trouble, as they are based on things that just aren’t true, and have no real validity in modern life. It is that simple, which is probably good, as they’ve already amply demonstrated a lack of ability to take in complicated ideas, and I wouldn’t want to confuse them any more than they are naturally, as a matter of course.

“To the intelligent man or woman, life appears infinitely mysterious. But the stupid have an answer for every question.” — Edward Abbey

SIGH…. now what will I do? I seem to have used up a lot of today’s verbiage in this lament over the stupidity of my countrymen (or, former countrymen, depending on their decision re: treason vs. patriotism….. makes no never mind to me which they choose….). I will make some attempt to keep the pearls below from getting so out of hand, since I’ve already taken this boat too close to the shores of indifference…. but, stubborn old fool that I am, I must go on…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Virtue is but heroic bravery, to do the thing thought to be true, in spite of all enemies of flesh or spirit, in despite of all temptations or menaces.” — Albert Pike (1809-1891)

I like this quote; it speaks to both the philosopher and the warrior in me. My first thought, on reading it, was, “Cowardice might be said to be the reverse, that is, to NOT do the thing that one knows to be true, for whatever reason one may choose”… Any choice to abrogate one’s duty is the wrong choice, and when that choice causes pain or misery for others, it becomes not merely cowardice, but cruelty, and gives a new level of meaning to the word despicable.

One of the most important goals of anyone who wishes to consider themselves in a good light MUST be to seek to limit one’s own choices of that nature. We are all human, and weak by nature, in some respects; it takes training to make the will strong enough to overcome our instinctive reactions at times. Fear, and its companion, cowardice, can be powerful motivating factors, especially in times of perceived danger (even if the perception is false), and the ability to consistently overcome both can be a difficult task.

“Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.” — Leo Buscaglia

I remember hearing this, from my own father, in fact, when I was a young boy, and the words he spoke were reinforced by his example. Though equipped with a powerful personality, he never exhibited any sort of belligerence, desire to control others, or hints of implied violence, except under circumstances that warranted such (such as in speaking with a bully who was abusing his wife in public….). Even at that time, he retained perfect control of his actions and words, but with such strength of will that he retained control of the situation without raising his voice. He merely made it clear that he was performing his duty, according to what he knew to be right, an act that, in his world, and mine thereby, requires no acknowledgment or reward.

“It is the main earthly business of a human being to make his home, and the immediate surroundings of his home, as symbolic and significant to his own imagination as he can.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Coloured Lands

The concept Mr. Chesterton presents here is one that, I believe, every person tries to accomplish in an instinctive fashion. But, not everyone who does so applies the same level of introspection, or strength of will, to what they imagine, or in what they try to make real. Our own current society is offering proof of this assertion, as the different visions of many millions of people all jockey for position as the primary viewpoint on which the culture uses for the justification of its actions. The clamor and cacophony that ensues is enough to drive a thinking man to drink, as conservatives vie with liberals, and fundamentalists parry and riposte with reformists, and society itself totters along toward the almost certain oblivion that will be a direct result of allowing a select few determine the course for all the rest…..

“Anything else you wish to draw to my attention, Mr. Holmes ?” “The curious incident of the stable dog in the nighttime.” “But the dog did nothing in the nighttime.” “That was the curious incident.” — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, “Silver Blaze”

Sadly, I am afraid that the incident will remain curious, with its solution never realized, as those who live for only themselves follow their path to self-destruction, which is inevitable when one ignores the laws of physics. I hold some hope that there are enough men and women of reason and honor to save the species in the end, but, that hope is not well supported by the evidence, or by reality’s current course. But, all I can do is all I can do, so I keep writing these little treatises, in my own attempt to arrange the universe to suit my inner vision of how it could be. It’s pretty much shouting into the wind, I know, but, hey, what do I have other than time?…..

“Do the right thing, regardless of what others think.” — Smart Bee

“YOW!! I’m in a very clever and adorable INSANE ASYLUM!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
__________________________________

Sharing the Wealth

Lucky are we who live with some adversity,
Such strife to bear leaves us strong and free.
Time is no better spent at a fine university
Teaching us the kind of person we wish to be.

We humans are such contrary creatures
Life lived in ease is our fondest intent.
New perceptions are our strongest features
Learning to cope with troubles we cannot prevent.

Lessons we learn at Trouble’s bent knee
Stay on top in the bag of tools we carry.
Knowledge so earned can keep us free
On our long, strange trip to Charon’s ferry.

Pain is the least favorite of our teachers
Yet such powerful lessons stay forever and a day.
No matter how life presents its features
Strength of will equals what life sends our way.

T’is well to consider such time-tested tools,
To carry them with us as we travel through Life.
Events are less likely to show us as fools,
as we deal with Reality, where peril is rife.

~~ gigoid

Well, it’s kind of simplistic, but, it’s all true, and it rhymes…. what more could I ask? What, you want brilliance? Sorry, not happening today, but, this will do…..
__________________________________

The universe we live in in truly wondrous and strange; of this there is little doubt, or argument. I appreciate that about reality, as it is certainly more entertaining than the one that many of my fellow inhabitants would have me acknowledge. There is so much more interesting stuff going on at the fringes of humanity than at the center…..

This isn’t to say that normal is bad; far from it. I like a spot of normal most of the time, it’s a very comfortable place to spend time. But, I’d really hate to get stuck there for very long, as it doesn’t suit my taste nearly as much as the spicy strangeness that abounds when one frees the imagination from the bounds of normalcy…..

In that spirit, I present now some little known pieces of a very familiar old character…. We all know of Pooh, and his innocent wisdom…. but, what many DON’T know is that he has a darker side…. Oh my, yes he does…. and here are just a few examples, straight from the horse’s, or bear’s, mouth…..

— Bother! said Pooh, as a woozle bit his bottom.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he hid Piglet’s corpse with Roo’s.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he carved Eeyore’s name in the black candle.

— Bother! said Pooh, I’m just a sweet transvestite.

— Bother! said Pooh, as his plastic love doll exploded.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he was accidentally neutered.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he adjusted Tigger’s head on the trophy wall.

Sorry if I’ve destroyed anyone’s illusions irreparably…. Well, actually, no, I’m not. It was fun…. so, deal with it. If I had fun, so can you….. 🙂
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Wow…. I thought I’d never finish this one. Stuff just kept coming out…. but, I feel better now. I guess I’ll try to get something constructive done today….. right after my nap….. 🙂 Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Not just a pretty space….

Posted on November 13, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Oh sweet blessings of Morpheus! It felt so good to sleep, I may go do it again in a little while, if I can persuade my brain/body to fall out again….. Sorry, can’t help it, it’s the hedonist in me; always wanting more of a good thing than is good for me. But, gosh and golly, it sure feels good…. Okay, enough on that… Hedonist, maybe, narcissist, never….

It’s been a week now, and apocalypse has not happened, so I guess all the Republicans can now relax. There is still a lot of sour grapes floating around places like Facebook, with the more vocal of my conservative buds still posting “Obama is evil” messages, and lamenting the loss of “their” country….. just as if it were ever really theirs. The reactions that we saw by Romney, Ryan, and that would-be king-maker, Rove, on election night were typical of what I’m seeing now, basically variations of shock and disbelief, as their delusions of adequacy came tumbling down along with their hopes. They coudn’t understand where they had gone wrong, which is precisely why they DID go wrong. They were operating from a false assumption right from the start, i.e., that their ilk were still in the majority in this country, so their efforts were doomed to failure from the moment they first gave a clue as to their intention to oppress every other demographic category but their own…..

These folks on FB who are still disgruntled are demonstrating exactly why they lost the election, and do not even realize the depth of their own bigotry. It’s kind of pathetic, when you look at it rationally, and not worthy of any more discussion. Therefore, I banish such idiocy from this blog, until such time as another of their pathetic attempts to garner public power comes to pass, in which case, well, the gloves will come off again…. but, there is no need to dwell on such ignorance when it is clearly in the wane in terms of societal prominence.

Not too shabby…. sleep can do wonders, can’t it? Here we are, not yet out of the intro, and I’ve already ranted a bit, chastised ignorance a bit, and banished a subject from discussion…. Nope, not too shabby at all, for someone who is somewhat less than completely awake. It almost convinces me I did the right thing by waking up when I did…. Now, if only Murphy would take a day or two off, maybe this lottery ticket might hit…. ya never know…. Just in case he doesn’t though, perhaps I’d best get on with today’s effort…. with Murphy constantly on the prowl, it’s good to keep one’s cards close to the chest…. Shall we Pearl?……
__________________________________

“Like, if guns are outlawed, the lawyer population will explode out of control.” — Smart Bee

You can’t hear me, but I’m guffawing loudly; you can’t see me, but I have a huge grin on my face. I love lawyer jokes. They are perfect humor, as far as I’m concerned, and I frankly don’t give much of a shit what any lawyers may think about it…. They’re the ones who went to law school, not me…. I once had a lawyer’s secretary tell me I shouldn’t make lawyer jokes when talking to her boss, but I just told her he’d probably heard them all, and if he couldn’t take a joke, then f….k him….. Well, I was polite, & didn’t use the “f” word, but the rest is accurate…. and, like her boss, she’s the one working in a lawyer’s office by choice….

I call them perfect humor because they express so well what the main body of humans feel, and turn it into an object of humor, instead of one that causes repeated pain, by considering just how badly one has been screwed by one of that infamous group. Lawyer jokes are so ubiquitous that all of us can probably tell one or two without even having to see them in print; all of us have our favorite lawyer joke, and we keep it at hand for telling. I’d bet almost anything that is truth, and anyone who contests it is just wrong, and should put their money where their disbelief is, where I’ll be happy to relieve them of it…..

Hell, I can think of at least three, just off the top of my head, without particularly making a great effort to recall. There’s the one about the skid marks, the one about the lawyer and St. Peter, and, hmm, how about the one about the lawyer, the politician, and the priest walk into a bar….. There’s a million of them, and all of them are hilarious, because that is what humor and laughter is all about…. relieving the pain that is caused by real live solicitors and their fucking “billable hours”…. assholes, every one of them….

Okay, maybe not ALL of them. I know one personally, and he’s a good guy. Of course, he no longer works as a lawyer; his sense of integrity didn’t fit in well with the general run of them, I think, and the others drove him out of the business; he won’t speak of it, but knowing him as I do, I imagine it had something to do with him making a decision according to what was the right thing to do, not the legal thing…. There are others out there; I’ve heard of their work, though I’ve yet to meet one. These are people who became lawyers because they believe in the law’s purpose, which is to protect people from each other. They work to assist people to do what is best for the client, by helping them find their way through the maze created in the name of society.

As far as I can see from my observations of society, though, the great majority of lawyers are in the business because of their love of money, not their love of the law, or of others. They know that the law, in all its majestic complexity, is impenetrable to the common man, who is helpless in the face of it. These human predators learn the language and map-reading skills that allow them to navigate these complex legal pathways, and then set themselves up as essential guides through the wilds of the court system. Being essential, they can therefore set their own prices for their services, and those prices are at least as out of line with reality, in terms of their real worth, as those of professional athletes, doctors, corporate executives, and politicians. In addition, lawyers have the added advantage of having other lawyers in the position to approve their fees and methods of thievery as being legal, since the judges, who interpret the laws, and politicians, who write the laws, are about 75% lawyers themselves…. It’s a closed club, ffolkes, and the rest of us aren’t members…..

So, as long as lawyers exist in our society, they will attempt to manipulate and control the rest of us; they figure that is their right, as the ones who are in charge of keeping the rest of society under the aegis of law, not for OUR benefit, but their own. And, as long as they, and politicians, and executives, and doctors, continue to abuse their professional status by stealing from the rest of us (Athletes are just the lottery winners, that the men who are really in charge hold up in front of us to tempt, and to make us think it could happen to us…. They’re of no real significance in reality, other than as dupes and decoys…. distracting the rest of society with the glitter attached to their shoes…..), why then, I’ll keep telling jokes about them, as often as I have to, to keep myself from finding a gun and starting to eliminate the problem another way…..

Here are my two favorites….. with no attribution, because I’ve known them for so long I have no idea where I first heard them…. Lawyer jokes are kind of like mushrooms after a heavy rain; they just pop up everywhere there’s a shady spot with some s__t nearby for food…..

A lawyer came to the gates of Heaven…. St. Peter says, “We don’t get many of you up here…. but, we’re offering a deal right now. You go to Hell for as many years as you caused Hell for others on Earth, then you can come back up for the rest of eternity in Heaven, for your good works and faith.” The lawyer says, “I’ll take the deal.” So, St. Peter says, “Okay, so that will be 31,272 years in Hell, then you can….” “Wait a minute!” yells the lawyer. “I’m only 65 years old!” St. Peter smiles, and says, “Oh, yes, but we calculate by billable hours….”

There are two smears of roadkill on the highway…. How can you tell which is the snake, and which is the lawyer?
There are skid marks leading up to the snake.
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A Song About Myself

I.
There was a naughty boy,
A naughty boy was he,
He would not stop at home,
He could not quiet be-
He took
In his knapsack
A book
Full of vowels
And a shirt
With some towels,
A slight cap
For night cap,
A hair brush,
Comb ditto,
New stockings
For old ones
Would split O!
This knapsack
Tight at’s back
He rivetted close
And followed his nose
To the north,
To the north,
And follow’d his nose
To the north.

II.
There was a naughty boy
And a naughty boy was he,
For nothing would he do
But scribble poetry-
He took
An ink stand
In his hand
And a pen
Big as ten
In the other,
And away
In a pother
He ran
To the mountains
And fountains
And ghostes
And postes
And witches
And ditches
And wrote
In his coat
When the weather
Was cool,
Fear of gout,
And without
When the weather
Was warm-
Och the charm
When we choose
To follow one’s nose
To the north,
To the north,
To follow one’s nose
To the north!

III.
There was a naughty boy
And a naughty boy was he,
He kept little fishes
In washing tubs three
In spite
Of the might
Of the maid
Nor afraid
Of his Granny-good-
He often would
Hurly burly
Get up early
And go
By hook or crook
To the brook
And bring home
Miller’s thumb,
Tittlebat
Not over fat,
Minnows small
As the stall
Of a glove,
Not above
The size
Of a nice
Little baby’s
Little fingers-
O he made
‘Twas his trade
Of fish a pretty kettle
A kettle-
A kettle
Of fish a pretty kettle
A kettle!

IV.
There was a naughty boy,
And a naughty boy was he,
He ran away to Scotland
The people for to see-
There he found
That the ground
Was as hard,
That a yard
Was as long,
That a song
Was as merry,
That a cherry
Was as red,
That lead
Was as weighty,
That fourscore
Was as eighty,
That a door
Was as wooden
As in England-
So he stood in his shoes
And he wonder’d,
He wonder’d,
He stood in his
Shoes and he wonder’d.

John Keats
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“He who dies a thousand deaths meets the final hour with the calmness of one who approaches a well remembered door.” — Heywood Brown

I almost passed this by when I first read it, then I thought a moment about it, and it occurred to me that it sounds like a defense of cowardice, which is what we usually associate with the phrase “He who dies a thousand deaths”….. Upon further reflection, though, that phrase, though certainly appropriate for describing the state of uncontrolled fear that brings a human to react with cowardice, could also be used to describe some of my own experience in dealing with violence. To generalize that thought, it could be said that a person who faces situations where death is hovering nearby, always a threat to manifest its presence in reality, is also dying a death each time, because their imagination is always aware of that proximity of possibility….

I made the mistake once of counting how many times I faced off with a person who wanted to rip my head off, and would have done so had I not acted to prevent that from becoming reality. Suffice it to say it was entirely too many times, though somewhat less than a thousand (not by much, but less….), and my imagination was stimulated into conjuring visions of possible outcomes that included my own death, each and every time. Of course, the key to success in such situations is to be able to put aside, or ignore, those visions, in order to keep them from becoming real, and I learned very well to react very quickly in a way that allowed me to control the outcome, rather than random chance or, worse, having the other party assume that control. Fortunately for all involved, I never lost…. at least, not in the sense of becoming physically injured, or dead. (Nobody else that I controlled was ever hurt or killed, either, a fact I’m pretty proud of…. and mental injuries are another story, entirely….)

The quote above is one that I find to be a comfort to me as I get closer to the time when death will come to make my acquaintance in this lifetime. As a conscious being, I naturally have to believe that my mind, or soul, if you prefer, will not cease to exist; only a change that we do not understand will happen, one which no one has ever successfully explained with any degree of certainty. There is, of course, no evidence to support the belief that we do not merely stop existing, like the flame of a candle, when we die, that we will somehow “wake up” somewhere else, according to our particular set of preferences in such philosophies.

Nothing tangible can be produced, or has ever been produced, that makes such a belief a conclusion; contrarily, there is also no evidence available that it is not true. We each have a strong feeling that our soul is indestructible, like energy of any type, but no incontrovertible proof is available for either side of the issue. Thus, we can only hold on to our sense of spiritual connection to the universe, that part of us that knows that, like sunlight, or electricity, or heat, our conscious mind is a manifestation of energy, one that, like all the other kinds of energy we perceive, does not cease to exist, ever. It may change forms, or even types (as light can become electricity, or motion become heat….), but it does not leave the universe at all.

To me, and to certain philosophies, the qualities of water are a good example to use as a way of understanding this principle. Water cannot be destroyed. You can, by altering its temperature, cause it to change form, from ice, to water, to steam…. but it cannot be destroyed at all. Our minds, and thoughts, can be thought of as water, ever flexible, ever changeable, yet never ceasing to exist in any way, and retaining within its being all the qualities that make it, and us, what we are…. another unique part of a beautifully complex and wonderful reality…..

To me, that is, indeed, a comforting thought…..

“If I am I because you are you, and if you are you because I am I, then I am not I, and you are not you” ~~ Hassidic rabbi
__________________________________

Well, I like it, but, then, I’m prejudiced, I suppose. All in all, it came out well, save for the fact that the poem I’ve been working on isn’t ready yet, and I’m getting a bit lightheaded from the blood loss…. ah well, a bit of Keats should fix that. Now we’ll see if I can get my hips and back to cooperate long enough to get down to somewhere I can post it….. No worries, I’m stubborn, so…. in the meantime, y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Unable to pass, naturally, he punts….

Posted on November 10, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Damn, damn, damn…. Murphy strikes again, it seems. What with my recent stresses building up to a climax on Thursday at the Disability psyche exam, I believe I may have exhausted myself. Yesterday, I managed to get the Pearl out, and even went out in the rain to post it at the coffee shop. In that process, I found that my newly acquired advanced age has taken away some of my resistance to the weather, and I got really cold before getting home to warm up. Then, last night, I got really tired, and went to bed at 8 PM, only to awaken at 3:30 AM, wide awake, of course, and ready to write…..

As I booted up the ol’ laptop, I poured coffee, and prepared to sit down and get serious. But, upon looking at the screen, Smart Bee was missing. This, I believe, is where Murphy stepped in again. The program icon was there, on the task bar, but wouldn’t come up on the screen. Well, this had occurred previously, and only got fixed after a week of panic and contortions, by reinstalling a newly downloaded version that I had to go get from the website. That version has acted fine, until this morning, when it once again went back into wherever it is software goes when it’s messing with you….

So, here I am, once again, without my trusted source of stimulating material. For today, I have some stuff I had previously collected, but, it looks like I’ll have to do another download of Smart Bee to get it back, which won’t happen until later. SIGH….. Murphy is indeed an asshole, and I don’t care if he hears me…. he couldn’t f….k with me any worse than he already does…. (I know, tempting for him, but, you know what, f….k him, and the white horse he didn’t ride in on…..)

There are, of course, probably other sources for quotes I could use, but I’m stubborn. Stubborn, but not stupid, so I WILL look for another program similar to SB that may work for me, once I get to where Google will work for me. In the meantime, I’m stuck with what I have on hand, and that means so are you…. Hopefully, it won’t cause any great difficulties, and also hopefully, will not result in a lessening of the quality of pearls.

Having thus gotten my morning whine out of the way, I should get on with the rest of the day’s work, such as it is. The first section should be no problem; it’s a diatribe on an old familiar target. After that, well, the results will be a matter of chance…. and if anyone says that will be some kind of improvement, well, that will just be cruel…. accurate, perhaps, but cruel….. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“In my travels I have found that those who keep Heaven in view remain serene and cheerful in the darkest day. If the glories of Heaven were more real to us, if we lived less for material things and more for things eternal and spiritual, we would be less easily disturbed by this present life.” — Billy Graham, from Hope for the Troubled Heart Traveling Through

Ah, yes, more pseudo- faux wisdom from Mr. Delusional himself. Billy (what is it with these evangelical preachers and their names?…. Why would a 60 plus year-old man want to be called “Billy”? Makes me suspect some pederasty, myself, but I’m the suspicious type….) has hit upon a very valuable point here, without even being aware of the point he is making…. which is pretty typical for him. I’ve had to listen to his crap all my life, as my mother went through a period of time in my childhood where she enjoyed watching his TV revivals, and made us watch as well. For me, it worked out okay, as it gave me all the more reason to mistrust whatever the preachers were spouting off about, and there were some pretty hot Christian babes to look at, even if they couldn’t sing for shit; must have been from having no rhythm, as they danced even worse….. Hell, maybe it wasn’t dancing at all, but choreographed speaking in tongues while writhing on the stage….

Sorry, didn’t mean to wander…. any who, Billy’s assertion here, though it calls upon people to use their heads in a new way, unfortunately points the way to go that leads straight to the delusions he wishes to share. He is right that when we concentrate on our spiritual manifestation, we are less susceptible to the vagaries of reality, but, he uses the concept of Heaven as the goal, which, as we all know, is somewhat hard to prove exists. In order to accept Heaven as a reality, one must assume the belief in the other unprovable assertions made by these evangelistic (another word for “manipulative”) busybodies. Besides, what’s wrong with being disturbed by life? I’d rather be disturbed than lied to, which is what they are doing…..

“Some foolish men declare that a Creator made the world. The doctrine that the world was created is ill-advised, and should be rejected. If God created the world, where was He before creation? How could God have made the world without any raw material? If you say He made this first, and then the world, you are faced with an endless regression … Know that the world is uncreated, as time itself is, without beginning and end.” — The Mahapurana, Jinasena

You see, this makes as much sense to me as any of the stuff that the preachers and deacons tried to tell us as kids, and that Billy tries to force down the unwilling throats of adults. This philosophy at least takes reality into account in its provisions, even if it does make its own unprovable assertions…. But, most of the assertions it makes are much more logical and justifiable by evidence than are any of those made by the Christian sects. These assertions are at least verifiable according to reason, and fit in better with the observable universe. In a choice between logic and fantasy, I’ll go with logic, every time….

Fanatic: Someone who, having lost sight of his goal, redoubles his efforts. — Smart Bee (This is the last one found there, for the time being….SIGH….)

Sadly, the people who accept Billy’s nonsense are often of this ilk. No matter how much one defies their assertions by presenting logical alternatives, the believers just clutch their cherished delusions more tightly to their breast, and raise their voices in anger and angst, in order to drown out any opposing views by the din of their fervor. Actually, I, being the cruel curmudgeon I am, will often challenge these folks just to watch them explode, as it is quite an entertaining way to pass the time. Some might say that it is immoral to pick on them (it IS dishonorable to engage in a battle wits with unarmed persons, I suppose….), but, I can’t help myself. I’ve spent much of my life having to listen to these people, politely, and giving in to the admonitions to not argue with them; I’m done with that, and if I want to tease them, I damn well will….

“When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, “This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know,” the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter how holy the motives.” — Robert A Heinlein, “If this goes on….”

One of the most annoying aspects of the folks like Billy, who proselytize their beliefs, dumping them on others, is the way they will do everything in their power to keep their constituents ignorant of any other views but their own. They cannot abide competition, and attempt to subvert it by brainwashing their acolytes to accept what they say, without ever trying to find out whether or not it has any validity according to any other knowledge possessed by Man. They are the people of whom St. Thomas Aquinas warned, when he said, “Beware the man of one book.” If Billy had his way, the Bible, King James version, would be the only book in the library, unless there were some approved treatises that discussed appropriately the contents of that Bible (thereby making it the same book, in essence).

This is the kind of discussion that could carry on for days, but, I’m tired of it, so we’ll bring it to a close. Billy is, all things considered, a pretty easy target, since he fits into so many of the categories that I like to make fun of…. preacher, fanatic, delusional, believes his own hype, hypocritical, sanctimonious, pompous, and sure of his own (non-existent) omniscience. It’s fun, but grows old as fast as his ideas…. I pick on him because it is obvious that he possesses a modicum of native intelligence; he just refuses to use it, and that, to me, is a crime against nature. He is smart enough to see that what he says is nonsense, but, is too cowardly, or too dishonest, to admit it. For this I hold him accountable, and thus use him as a target frequently…. because he deserves every bit of opposition we can give him…. He targets, and solicits money from, the weak-minded and the ignorant, and that, to me, is unforgivable……

If you wish to know
Why there are disasters
Of Armies and Weapons in the world
Listen to the piteous cries
From the slaughterhouse at midnight

— Old Chinese Saying
__________________________________

A Question

A voice said, Look me in the stars
And tell me truly, men of earth,
If all the soul-and-body scars
Were not too much to pay for birth.

Robert Frost

Well said!…..
__________________________________

In lieu of Smart Bee, I went back into the archives to find an old Pearl to use here. Serendipity struck, and I found this one, which is rather appropriate. I wrote this one four years ago, almost to the day…. these were my comments regarding the outcome of the 2008 election, and the remarks, minus one, are all still very apropos…. Just ignore the one about the lame duck, as there isn’t one this time around…. the rest of it remains valid, so, to reiterate….

Ffolkes,
Though it is my gut feeling that we can all breathe a big sigh of relief that the nightmare of the last eight years is almost over, I must caution thee against complacence. It’s now a matter of keeping an eye on both the lame duck guy and the newbie, for a while at least. It’s best not to leave them unattended for long as they tend to get into mischief if not firmly leashed. With this in mind, I offer the following….

“As one gets older, one discovers everything is going to be exactly the same with different hats on.’ — Noel Coward

“A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them.” — P.J. O’Rourke

“I have never been hurt by anything I didn’t say.” — Calvin Coolidge (Let’s hope Obama can live up to that!)

And lets not forget the Wisdom of Who….

“Here’s to the new boss,
The same as the old boss….
….
So I get on my knees an pray,
we don’t get fooled again”– Pete Townshend

Y’all take care out there….

Almost eerie, isn’t it? I have to say, this country dodged a BIG bullet this election; if R&R, the consummate liars, had bought the White House, we would have been in for a very disturbing episode of history, with the outbreak of the Second American Revolution not out of the realm of possibility. I know I would have been ready to assume arms in a heartbeat….

But, reason prevailed, giving me some hope for the people of this nation, even those who have the heads firmly inserted into their bums…. I think Zippy is right on the money with this closing thought on the subject, and with that thought, we can bring the subject to a welcome close… for about 3 years, until the next group of power-hungry Republicans step up to try to steal the election….. Pay heed to Zippy’s wisdom!……..

“Disco oil bussing will create a throbbing Naugahyde pipeline running straight to the tropics from the rug producing regions and devalue the dollar!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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Well, it may not be Art, but it is Frank and Earnest….. and, sadly, it’s the best I’ve got today. Since I’m now looking at 0615 AM from the wrong side, I think I might try to go back to bed for a while, and let this all slough off my conscience. Besides, I can look at it later with a fresh eye, and see if it is worth posting, or if my early morning adventures are affecting the Pearls adversely. If that is the case, well, gosh, I just don’t know what I’ll do…. I guess I’ll find out later….. More to come…..

Well, it’s better than I had anticipated; good enough the let fly….. I’m considering it lucky, and being thankful….. Onward into another day, ffolkes…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

A plethora of hothouse plants….

Posted on November 9, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Softly crept the morning light, filling the room in golden rays of warmth. As the eyes of the young maiden opened, they fell upon the worried face of her brother, standing by her bed, dressed for his morning ride. His fair, innocent face, marred by the worry in his eyes, looked down at her as if he could see into her mind with the intensity of his gaze. She smiled up at him, wanting to ease the worry out of his eyes and mind, and spoke, “I’ll be fine, Malcolm. There isn’t even a bruise.” He only frowned harder, replying, “I don’t care. I don’t like to hear that you’ve been hurt, even if it was your own cupidity that caused it….” “I just wanted to see….” “Bah!,” he interrupted, “…. ‘only wanted to see’… How many times have I heard you say that in our life, as I was dragging you to the healer again? You have no sense of danger, Malia, and it worries me. Especially when you try to climb up to see a dragon’s nest of eggs….. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!” It burst out of him, with the force of his emotional storm, leaving him breathless and angry.

All done…. That just sort of leaked out as I sat down to start this morning. I don’t know if there is any significance to it, but it’s not bad, so maybe I’ll try to keep this one to work on and expand later…. Dragons always make for a good story…. Why is that, do you think? Is it some kind of racial memory of ancient days, when dragons roamed the Earth? Is it a prescient image in our minds, of a time in our future when dragons assume some pivotal role in our fate? Is it just imagination and wishful thinking? I don’t know for sure (though I tend to favor the first reason….), but there is something about the concept of dragons that fascinates the human mind. Even the most egregiously plagiaristic books with dragons as a key character seem to sell in today’s market, no matter how well, or how poorly written. I guess, if I’d like to sell a story, that might be a good way to go….

For now, though, we’ll drag ourselves out of the realms of imagination for a time, and go off in search of the oysters, with their hidden gems inside, that go together to make a Pearl of Virtual Wisdom. It’s not an easy task, nor one that furnishes me with much beyond the sanity it saves, but, hey, somebody’s got to do it, and I’m the only one here, so….. Shall we Pearl?
__________________________________

A well known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: “What you have just told is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.” The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, “What is the tortoise standing on?” “You’re very clever, young man, very clever,” said the old lady. “But it’s turtles all the way down!” — Stephen Hawking, “A Brief History of Time”

In other words, reality is, for you, whatever you believe it to be….. and, if you believe it, no logic, no evidence, and no kind of argument at all will ever change your mind. The human imagination is so powerful that it can actually make us see, and feel, things that are not real, just to fulfill the inner urgings our minds. This latest election is an example of this talent, as over 50 million people managed to convince themselves that their candidate was not a congenital liar, not a misogynist, not a thief, and instead was an honest, trustworthy human being. It took some really powerful self-deception to pull THAT off, as he spent six months and more exhibiting all three of those behaviors, and not a one of those who voted for him will admit to seeing any of it….. Makes one wonder, sometimes, just how some folks get to be as old as they are, since they are in such denial of reality….

“It is a mistake to believe that a science consists in nothing but conclusively proved propositions, and it is unjust to demand that it should. It is a demand only from those who feel a craving for authority in some form and a need to replace the religious catechism by something else, even it it be a scientific one.” — Sigmund Freud

Siggy was very often full of shit with his psychoanalytic conclusions, but he got this one dead on. There does seem to be a large percentage of people out there who want the universe to be easy to understand, and amenable to what they wish it to be, rather than being strong enough to accept it the way it is. I try to be tolerant of these folks, as they are obviously operating with a mental handicap, but it’s hard sometimes, when they try to make their idiocy spread to others.

The recent campaign we just suffered through helped to identify the people who feel this way, as they all, to a man, voted for the loser. I’ve never seen an election that so clearly and completely showed the schism in this country between those who use their minds to hide from reality, denying it as much as they can, and those who use their minds for something other than sitting on…. I saw a good one in Smart Bee recently, & can’t find it, but it says, “Where you keep your mind is much like a coin toss…. heads you win, tails you lose.”…..

“The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking…the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Albert, as we all know, was perhaps the greatest of us who lived in the last century. The knowledge and wisdom that he gave us through his lifetime is a legacy that we can never appreciate enough. This particular insight is one that I believe completely, for it expresses the whole issue very succinctly. The heart of men is fickle, and will follow the will of its owner, without knowing what is true or not. If the owner is deliberately ignorant of what is true, or if they deny it, because it doesn’t fit in with their prejudices and misconceptions, then the heart is led into realms of dishonesty, and dishonor, suffering changes that leave it forever blackened, and in despair.

“First you have to be able to see world as it is not as you wish it were. or because of your ignorance, misconceptions, and prejudices.” — Smart Bee

It is this sort of deliberate denial of reality that is leading us to perdition, and one of our own devising. No sane or educated person can deny any longer that our habits are killing the planet’s ecosystem….. the evidence is too great. (Not that the planet itself is in danger… oh no. It will just rain for a couple centuries, and wash away the crap we deposited, until we are just a memory, in nobody’s mind…..) It is not a matter any more of conjecture, or speculation; we can now see first hand the effects on climate, as super-storms, seasons changing, and ice-cap melting continues unabated, thanks to the millions of tons of carbon monoxide pumped into the air on a daily basis. No, only a person who denies reality, who refuses to consider evidence, even when it is poking them in the ribs, can argue that there is no problem. And, once again, the recent election serves to help identify those folks for those of us who do accept reality; it will be handy knowledge when it comes time for a reckoning…..

“It is only the ignorant who despise education.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 571

The sea-change that is needed for us to make the changes necessary for survival don’t seem to be happening, as far as I can see. When almost one sixth of the entire population of this country, supposedly an educated one, can vote for such an egregious example of the very attitudes that got us here, then the chances of their hearts all of a sudden seeing the light of day are pretty slim, and approaching none rapidly. It’s sad, really, to think that it is the stupids who will win in the end, bringing the rest of us down with them…. If I were a bit stupider myself, I would start killing them, in an effort to stem the tide…. but, alas, by doing so, I would be joining their ranks, and I couldn’t live with that anyway…..
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I feel like a change of mood, so here is something about 180 degrees from the rest of today’s material…. Enjoy!

The face that launch’d a thousand ships

Was this the face that launch’d a thousand ships,
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.
Her lips suck forth my soul: see where it flies!
Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again.
Here will I dwell, for heaven is in these lips,
And all is dross that is not Helena.
I will be Paris, and for love of thee,
Instead of Troy, shall Wittenberg be sack’d;
And I will combat with weak Menelaus,
And wear thy colours on my plumed crest;
Yea, I will wound Achilles in the heel,
And then return to Helen for a kiss.
O, thou art fairer than the evening air
Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars;
Brighter art thou than flaming Jupiter
When he appear’d to hapless Semele;
More lovely than the monarch of the sky
In wanton Arethusa’s azur’d arms;
And none but thou shalt be my paramour!

Christopher Marlowe
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“Integrity is when what you say, what you do, what you think, and who you ARE all come from the same place.” — Madelyn Griffith-Haynie

Okay, I know we are all probably sick to death of politics, and the election, and everyone would like to have a break from talking and thinking about it….. I know I am. So, I’ll try to make this fairly short, and make it the last political diatribe for at least a day or two. It may be possible, if nothing in the news jumps up to stimulate my outrage (which may be on a short vacation itself….. I hope. I could do with the emotional space….).

Any who…. here is what I was thinking when I came across this little gem…. What if we devised a test, that in some way would enable us, as voters, to determine the relative status of each of the candidates according to this rule? A way, as it were, to measure their degree of integrity, which is something I think we can all agree would be a good thing to see in a politician, unlikely as it may be. If we could, say, set up a scale of integrity, and make it law that a person had to score in the top 5% of the scale in order to merely be eligible for office, I think we might see a whole new set of politicians, who had never before been seen in public.

In fact, in thinking about the current crop of those in office, it is entirely possible that ALL of those in office now might not be eligible…. I am not excluding the President, out of fairness, though I personally believe he might score in the top 10%…. I still have questions about some of the stuff he has signed that didn’t seem to be very well publicized, as they didn’t exactly fit with his image….. The newest version of the Patriot Act, the NDAA, that he signed last New Year’s Day comes immediately to mind….

I don’t care if he did try to mitigate some of the deleterious effects of the law, he still signed the damn thing, thereby seriously endangering a number of the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. Plus, the method he used to keep it from the public awareness was rather suspect, in my mind, and reminiscent of the old days under Nixon, Johnson, Reagan, and the two Shrubs, may they all rot in whatever level of Hell they are destined to occupy….. (I know, I know…. not being a Christian, that curse has little weight, but, hey, it’s a pretty clear indicator of my opinion of all of them….)

As I suspect it might, this grew to be somewhat more than I intended it to be, so I’ll cut it short here. But, my suggestion above, about the test for integrity that should be a given for political aspirants, is completely serious, and I wanted to get that out. Maybe by the next election, we can get the rest of the country to buy into it…. which should be interesting, and fun. I’ll be looking forward to the expressions on the faces of all the supporters of those now in office, when their people gloriously fail to pass the test…. and to the results it will have on society, should it ever be adopted…. I don’t see any way at all that it could do anything that wouldn’t improve the situation…..

And so I penned
It down, until at last it came to be,
For length and breadth, the bigness which you see.
— John Bunyan (1628-1688) — Pilgrim’s Progress, Apology for his Book
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I’m almost sorry to come to the end this morning. The thoughts are flowing easily, and Smart Bee is coming up with decent material…. but, all good things must come to an end…. otherwise it will never get posted. 🙂

I hope you enjoyed today’s little trip through the minefields in my head; I didn’t see any explosions that will cause serious injury, and around here, we call that a win….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Poorly constructed fuzzy bears sold here….

Posted on November 7, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Provided the reports I heard last night are true, the election proved to be just what I’d hoped… a solid victory in the name of Reason. As of 9:00 PM, the report I got from a friend with a TV, said that Obama had won the election, with enough electoral votes to secure the win, and ample extra to provide a mandate from the people. I am hopeful the final count of the popular vote is equally weighted, and that a significant majority of the people who voted gave the mandate to the President, to continue trying to repair the damage done by the last 25 years of Republican piracy.

Even if the vote is closer than I hope to see, I imagine the attempted fraud on the part of the Republicans will be unearthed (I understand there is already some video proof circulating on Facebook of voting machine tampering on their part in Pennsylvania….), and hopefully, prosecuted to the full extent of the law. One can hope…. but, I’ll be satisfied with just knowing the danger, if not past entirely, is at least mitigated for another four years….

I’ve now read the morning papers, and feel a bit better. Obama’s victory is confirmed, and the immediate danger is past. However, I was appalled at the sheer number of IDIOTS in this country who voted for Romney; it is clear that if the whites in this country were not now in the minority, the story might have been different. Fortunately, they are not in the majority any longer….

It was also appalling to learn that there were actually small percentages of blacks and Latinos who actually voted for the Republican liar; I can’t imagine WHAT they were thinking, when he made it so obvious that he hates and fears both groups. I also have a hard time understanding why a single woman would vote for a man who so obviously hates them….. I guess it just goes to show the depths to which human stupidity can take someone who makes no effort to determine the truth, or is in denial of that truth….

If 150,000 people do something really stupid………it’s still stupid. — Smart Bee

Or, in the case of yesterday, right around 50,000,000 (fifty million) people provided proof positive of their stupidity…..So be it…. The Republicans somehow managed to maintain their majority in the House, so we can look forward to another four years of them blocking every attempt to make any progress in easing the burdens of the middle and lower classes, and placing a fairer share of those burdens on the people who can afford them, i.e. the 1%….. Only time will tell if any of the attempts to curtail their blatant elitism, and mitigate the damages that catering to them has caused over time, have been at all effective. For us bloggers, it promises to provide a wealth of material over the next few years, as the ongoing battle between the classes continues to wage….

For now, though, some of the tension is released, and I feel better knowing that this particular issue, of the forces of evil threatening to usurp the White House, is now on hold for another four years. So much better, I think it must be time to go for a dive, and see what we can come up with for an interesting discussion today…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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Originally this morning, I had intended to write something less controversial here…. but, Smart Bee is being a bit recalcitrant this morning in coming up with suitable stuff…. so, I’m going ahead with this discussion of religious thought, even though I was trying not to be so sober today….SIGH…. “The best laid plans of mice and men, etc….” Such are the mysterious ways of Smart Bee….

I believe in god, I just don’t like him. — Smart Bee

Now, here is a concept I can get behind…. I am often unsure of how to express my own beliefs about the idea of a God, or god, capitalization depending, I suppose, on one’s sense of reverence regarding same. All the twaddle I was taught in Sunday School was an obvious pack of lies; even at age 5 I was unconvinced of the stories they told me. None of them seemed any more real, or plausible, than the cartoons I watched on Saturday morning, and there was certainly no bloodshed in the cartoons…. mayhem, yes, bloodshed, no…. But, the story of the crucifixion is enough to give even the most ghoulish of child nightmares, for sure and for certain…. What were they thinking?….

But, the statement above goes along better with what I would like to believe (which is no more, and no less, than any other human…. believing what we’d LIKE to believe is always more attractive than what MIGHT be true…. neither of which necessarily has anything to do with what is actually REAL….), because most of the stories and lessons we heard as children about God make him out to be a petty, narcissistic, vindictive asshole, to be quite frank. Well, there is that, plus, most of the preachers, to me, seemed to me to be much more interested in other people’s business than their own, with many of the same characteristics of their ignoble so-called creator. None of them were much of a recommendation to me as proper examples of what a good man should be, and none of what I heard about god, or God, put (H)him in that category, either.

“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.” — Jesus Christ (Gnostic Gospel Of Thomas, Saying 70)

Or, better out than in…. so to speak. Which, as you know if you’ve been reading here previously, is something I believe in wholeheartedly….. Jesus, for me, falls into a similar category for me as God, or preachers…. kind of in limbo regarding all the stuff that was, and is, said about him. He was obviously a real historical figure, and not a mythical supernatural being, and as such his words and actions were recorded for posterity. The accuracy of what was written is, to say the least, questionable, if for no other reason that he spoke Aramaic as his primary language…. that is pretty well established.

What many fail to consider is this…. in order for us to hear his words, we have to hear what was translated through at least four or five languages, from the original Aramaic, which is a language no longer spoken anywhere. First, it would have been translated to Latin, or possibly another middle eastern dialect of the time, then into Latin. Then it was translated to probably Italian, French, and Spanish; then into German and, possibly, its first change into English, back when it was still considered to be Middle English…. the first King James version didn’t occur until well after the Renaissance period.

So, my question is this…. how much of the original meaning of his words came through into the English translation? It’s funny, but when, as a teen, I asked this of my pastor, all I could get from him was that, because the words were inspired by God, then the meaning would have been accurately translated by all those different people, as they were doing God’s work…. which, even then, made me go, “Hmm? Could you explain that again, in English, with something, anything, that approaches an answer?” (This was before I spoke Spanish, or German, or anything else but English….)

That seems to be a problem with preachers/priests… they tend to lump everything into the same mold, and expect us to believe that what they say is true, even though there is no direct evidence to support any such twaddle. “The Bible says God said it, I believe it, and that’s the end of it!” seems to be their logical train of deduction, even though there is no logic, or deduction, to it. I wasn’t born in Missouri, but, you’ve got to SHOW ME the evidence before I’ll waste my time trying to place any belief into such grandiose ideas. When one of the church minions asks me, sarcastically, if I expect God to send me a telegram, I usually reply, “Well, that WOULD be more persuasive than expecting me to take it on your word, now, wouldn’t it?” Idiots….

“God is the immemorial refuge of the incompetent, the helpless, the miserable. They find not only sanctuary in His arms, but also a kind of superiority, soothing to their macerated egos; He will set them above their betters.” — H.L. Mencken

This attitude, the elitist idea that those who believe are somehow superior to those who do not, is one of the root causes of most of the trouble our species is having today. The insane attitude that this planet, and all the other creatures on it, was placed here specifically for our benefit and use, is responsible for all of the pollution that continues to pump into the ecosystem, for all the abuse and chauvinism against the other life forms who live here, and for a great number of the social issues, such as poverty, racism, misogyny, and violence, that plague us as a culture. We are not only NOT the masters of creation, we are not even qualified to be our own masters; we cause ourselves as much trouble as we do the rest of creation, if not more, all because religionists insist that those who believe them are good, and everyone else is bad…. a stupid idea at best.

“God made Man to his image and likeness, and Man, being a gentleman, returned the compliment.” — Voltaire

Hence, my lack of faith in the nonsensical claptrap that the various religions attempt to pass off as truth. Reality, to me, is scary enough, without the idea of some insane supernatural creature, sitting up in some fanciful Utopia, looking down and giving a rat’s ass about what I’m doing with my life. It just doesn’t make any sense to me to try to visualize a god…. by the very definition of the beast, they cannot be imagined by a creature of lesser scope…. and telling me that you have a direct line to God, and know what he wants me to do with my life, only makes me wish I could order your new medications personally…. Oh, didn’t I mention it? We now have medications that will keep people from believing delusional material, or at least keep them from acting on those beliefs before thinking about them at least a bit….. but, who’s going to give it to a priest, when the doctor believes the same bilge?

Now that I’ve alienated any number of true believers out there, I guess I’ll let this discussion die a natural death. I could obviously continue indefinitely, but, the rest of the day calls, and I should get to it…. If you have any thoughts on these conclusions of mine, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below…. and remember, please, the rules of engagement prohibit outright flaming on this site…. Confine name-calling to short, impersonal epithets, and please, include some logical thought in your responses, as neglecting to do so wastes my time, and everyone else’s…. I don’t mind being called a fool, but, as I said, let’s see your evidence….

“I find your lack of faith in the Force disturbing….” — Darth Vader (Star Wars)
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The Little Boy and the Old Man

Said the little boy, “Sometimes I drop my spoon.”
Said the old man, “I do that too.”
The little boy whispered, “I wet my pants.”
“I do that too,” laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy, “I often cry.”
The old man nodded, “So do I.”
“But worst of all,” said the boy, “it seems
Grown-ups don’t pay attention to me.”
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
“I know what you mean,” said the little old man.

~~ Shel Silverstein
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“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” — George Bernard Shaw

Now, THAT is a good attitude toward living! Carpe diem, and all that, don’t y’know? I like to think that I approach life in much this same manner, even though I have my moments spent in depression and despair; those moments I consider to be anomalous, and not fully representative of my take on life in general. Many people may not feel this way, and I cannot disparage them for that, as living often requires more of our attention that can be spared to make sure we are positively motivated; it’s not easy to get by in this world, and maintaining a positive outlook can become secondary to just having the wherewithal to do anything at all.

But, George points out a pretty good way to think about it, even if one hasn’t the time or resources to fully appreciate, or apply, the principle as given….. As such, it joins a number of other viewpoints of famous historical figures, all of whom had advice to give to people about how to live well…. below you will find several of these suggestions for living life as well as one is able to live….

“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it… Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings — that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” — Buddha

“Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.” — Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)

“Honor has not to be won; it must only not be lost.” — Arthur Schopenhauer, Parerga and Paralipomena

In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don’t try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.
— Tao Te Ching

“A wise man first determines what is within his control; all else is then irrelevant.” — Epictetus

Well, there you go…. now, all you have to do is put all of this into practice…. sounds like fun, eh?….
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Another day, another post…. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was getting pretty good at this…. We all need to have our little illusions in life, so, remember what has been said so often, in so many ways…. It’s all good…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

A matter of beating the battery….

Posted on November 6, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
O frabjous day! O happy times! At last, at last, the day is here…. and we will no longer have to put up with all the crap political ads, on the air and through the mails, both e- and snail-….. At least not for another four years. We only have to put up with whatever choices are made today…. I hope it all comes out okay…. If there are any more shenanigans on the part of the Republican Party in suppressing votes, or voting machines failing, I swear I will make it a personal campaign to drive that group into the grave, and I’m a literal sort of guy. Same goes for anyone else, Democrat, Libertarian, or whatever. I’m tired of all the lies I’ve had to listen to, and I’m tired of lying, cheating assholes who only want the keys to the treasury trying to convince me they are trustworthy, when I know for a damn fact that NONE of them come anywhere near that word….

Can you tell I’m glad this will be over? I am so tired of being lied to, and not having anything done about it. That is the part of this whole deal that gets to me the most. The idea that public figures can go on a public stage, make outrageous claims that are proven false, and never get called on it, or pinned down about it, just pisses me off royally. That fucker still hasn’t released any taxes, so how did he ever get so many idiots to support him, unless it was based on racism? Bah, humbug! I’m sick of the whole scene, and cannot wait until tomorrow, to see all the garbage that will be printed, and all the weird stuff that will be said, in victory and in defeat, by all the pundits. That part of this show is fun, if the results don’t depress you…. that is a risk….. If we have to spend another four years with the Republicans in power in the House, it’s going to get ugly, I assure you…. and that asshole Mitt the Lying Twitt in the White House would be a disaster for ALL of us….

Ah me, I guess I should have saved some of that angst and emotion for ranting below…. but, not necessary. I spent some time last night ranting about such stuff, so there is no lack of material this morning…. just a need to organize and get it all down…. GASP!…… I just realized that the material on this blog may be changing radically after today. If the incumbent is re-elected to office, as is right and proper, then the reforms being worked on should continue (and if the Dems win back the House, there may actually be some of them able to get past there, and into reality…..), and the material I have to pick from will be reduced a lot. I mean who wants to hear me rant about how cool things are? A rant, by definition, needs something about which to rant, and positive events don’t make the grade…. Ah well, I’ll take the trade-off, and gladly…. I can find more to write about, but I can’t afford to have those fools in the White House….

“People who have nothing to say often do and take a good long time doing it. People who have something to say, often do not. People who are unsure, often go ahead and say it anyway, thus putting them into the first category.” — Smart Bee (I’m pretty sure I don’t land in any of the given categories…. which makes this somewhat superfluous here, though ’tis true of many who write….)

The tone has been set for today, so I’d best get on with it… At this stage, I know not what sort of poem will be used, so you’ll have to take potluck there…. If I come up with an original piece, it should be a doozy…. but, if one doesn’t leak out, the rest is on me, such as it is…. Hopefully, something I write today will stimulate a laugh, or a groan, or a sense of outrage…. and if nothing else, will fill up a space of time you would have otherwise spent on something less fruitful, like another political ad….. rather than go through any of that again, Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Americans have the right and advantage of being armed – unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” — James Madison

I found this yesterday; I’d seen it before, and it seemed serendipitous that it showed up just in time for the event today (psst!…. go vote!….). In my mind, a good standard for figuring out if a person is a true patriot is to get their take on the Second Amendment, and the idea of gun control by the government. As I’ve stated before, I believe the risk of letting the government restrict our rights in this regard, IN ANY WAY, can only lead to the eventual loss of the right altogether, and that is an event that is completely unacceptable to me. Yes, it means that the world will be a dangerous place, but, guess what, ffolkes, that is something that happened a long time before guns. Taking them away from the general populace is not going to stop mass killings, or unjust, insane use of guns against innocent people. That occurs on a daily basis, anyway, but with the guns in the hands of police officers; that is a fact….. So, don’t tell me that the government is more qualified to use guns than I am, because that is just stupid….

Now that I’ve insulted many of you, we’ll try to go on to the election…. didn’t mean to get off into a rant on that, but, wanted to get it out of the way, so that the discussion may go on to other ways that the government is, quite simply, fucking us left and right…. George Carlin had a lot of good points about the corporate masters and their lackeys, the beloved ruling classes, and the priestly hierarchies. He often pointed out that the world has turned into a massive corporate conglomerate, with all the world governments at the mercy of those few individuals who actually control all the resources, and money. Those are people you never hear about, or see in the news, unless it is by intent…. they don’t allow accidents like that to happen…. But rest assured, they exist, and are perfectly content to let the world believe whatever it wants, as long as their profits, their power, and their control over others continues to grow….

“The rifle and handgun are “equalizers”–the weapons of a democracy. Tanks and bombers represent dictatorship.” — Edward Abbey

But, the invisible rulers don’t like the Second Amendment…. it leaves too much chance for independence in the hands of the people, and in case the people ever find out what they have been up to, they want to be able to know where all the guns are that might threaten them….. Having the general populace of this country continue to have access to any significant firepower is not in their best interests, so they work behind the scenes to get people to believe the nonsense about gun control, and how keeping guns from the hands of the citizenry will make life safer…. which is just so much bullshit… plain and simple. Ultimately, the only real effect of making guns illegal will be to make a large percentage of the American people outlaws, because I don’t think any of us will give them up without resistance, whether overt, or covert…..

“The right to buy weapons is the right to be free.” — A. E. Van Vogt, The Weapon Shops, — in Astounding Science Fiction, December 1942

How, you may ask, does this relate to the election? Well, it doesn’t, directly…. it’s just a pet peeve of mine, and an example of another of our basic rights that are being eroded by politicians, preachers, and those who ignorantly buy into their lies. I don’t trust the Democrats any more than I do the Republicans; perhaps even less, because the Republicans seem to be far more open about their lack of concern with the rights of the people. In that sense, they are easier to spot, and to resist. The Dems are being more subtle, but that doesn’t make them trustworthy; they do, after all, seek that power over others as well. There just seem to be more of them who are motivated to do so out of some community feeling, and concern for others, and those are trying to encompass reforms that are sorely needed.

“A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman, of the next generation.” — James Clarke

The difference between the two parties that have the only chance at the seats of power is extreme in this election; very seldom has the choice that needs to be made been clearer. One can choose to move forward into a future of change, or one can try to return society to the middle ages, with all of its injustice, and misery. It is that simple, and anyone who wishes to argue with that is welcome to present their views…. I’ll knock them down easily, with headlines from the daily news that, although not exactly unbiased or always true, are nonetheless balanced out by the outrageousness of each side’s contributions.

“Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.” — H.L. Mencken

The facts are all our there to see, and they clearly show one candidate whose only interest is in increasing his own power and wealth, and protecting his cronies on Wall Street, his cultish church, and the ruling class; he cares noting about the common man, and makes his disdain obvious. The other is, well, definitely the lesser of two evils…. on the apparent surface he is a dedicated, honest man, seeking reform and change, but, there are indications of less than stellar activity in his administration, too. But, he obviously cares about the common man much more than his opponent, and since the common man is the one who will be affected the most by what happens this time, the choice is clear. If you don’t want to have to take up regular use of Vaseline and Preparation H, then vote the incumbent…. If you really want to get a good screwing in the nether regions, then vote the opposition…. it is that simple ffolkes…..

“There is but one element of government, and that is THE PEOPLE. From this element spring all governments. “For a nation to be free, it is only necessary that she wills it.” For a nation to be slave, it is only necessary that she wills it.” — John Adams (1735-1826), Letter to John Taylor, 1814
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I Must Have Wanton Poets

MUST have wanton poets, pleasant wits,
Musicians, that with touching of a string
May draw the pliant king which way I please:
Music and poetry is his delight;
Therefore I’ll have Italian masks by night,
Sweet speeches, comedies, and pleasing shows;
And in the day, when he shall walk abroad,
Like sylvan nymphs my pages shall be clad;
My men, like satyrs grazing on the lawns,
Shall with their goat-feet dance the antic hay;
Sometime a lovely boy in Dian’s shape,
With hair that gilds the water as it glides,
Crownets of pearl about his naked arms,
And in his sportful hands an olive-tree,
To hide those parts which men delight to see,
Shall bathe him in a spring; and there, hard by,
One like Actæon, peeping through the grove,
Shall by the angry goddess be transform’d,
And running in the likeness of an hart,
By yelping hounds pull’d down, shall seem to die:
Such things as these best please his majesty.

Christopher Marlowe
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50% of all people are below average….– Shocking Truth

This truth, which is mathematically indisputable, is quite a shock to many people. Oddly enough, human nature is such that nobody at all is constitutionally able to conceive of themselves being part of that 50% that makes up the lower half of the whole. If you ask anyone at all where they would place themselves on a scale of human intelligence, I would wager good money that not a single one would place themselves on that part of the curve. (It’s a bell curve…. Humanity, in all it’s measurable traits, exists on a bell curve….Trust me…..) Yet, the simple fact remains that SOMEBODY has to make up that part of the whole, and the chances that anyone at all is in the lower 50% are exactly even….

This is one of the hardest things for any human to accept, and the power of their denial is in direct proportion to how far below the average they fall. Myself, I would not trade being well above the average for anything…. It can be a pain, for sure, but the perks are very persuasive…. However, there is a lot to be said for the ability to absolutely refute the facts of reality… I think it’s been said before that “ignorance is bliss”, and this is the reason why that is true. Human beings have an incredibly strong sense of denial when it comes to reality, in spite of the obvious drawbacks (I guess if they were able to see the drawbacks, it would be different, but what is, is….), and probably nothing else in our make-up causes more problems for us than that single trait.

This ability to ignore what reality is saying to us can easily be shown to be responsible for the entire concept of global warming and climate change, two subjects that are now forcing their way into our awareness in the most dramatic fashion…. I really can’t recall a November in my 62 years where I was forced to turn on the air conditioning during the day, to combat the 85-90 degree temperatures that are currently par-boiling Northern California. It’s not as if fall hasn’t been nice before, but this is ridiculous. To have summer-like weather this far into fall, even here where the seasons tend to run together in similarity, seems to be to be pretty incontrovertible proof of the weather changes that are happening…. especially if one factors in all the OTHER places in the world where extreme weather is becoming normal.

No, global warming and climate change are FACTS, ffolkes. The evidence is right there for anyone to see…. but, most of the people who are responsible for much of it happening are in complete denial of those facts, so the problem just continues to worsen as time goes on. I suppose when the super-storms start hitting New York and Washington D.C. in mid-summer, flooding out the stock market and congress again, maybe they’ll start admitting to some of it…. Given the history of the power of ignorance and denial, though, I rather think it won’t happen until it’s too late to do much about it. I just hope by then, I’ve figured out how to emigrate to another planet, where, as a natural result of having weeded out the stupid, the more intelligent settlers of new worlds will perhaps learn to live without falling into the process of fouling our own nest…. SIGH…. A pipe dream, I know, but mine own….. and, I can’t see much else that will work, so in that respect, I’m asserting my own form of denial…..
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Well, that was a strange Pearl, to be sure. Smart Bee was playing with me, and ended up forcing that last section out of me without my actual approval. It’s just that after two and a half hours of being unable to hit on a good quote to write about, I had to make do with what Smart Bee insisted upon…. It worked out okay, I guess, but I feel used and abused by my software….. Tomorrow, I swear it will be different, and more humor will find its way into the pearls….It’s election day, so I guess I felt a need for sobriety, to indicate my sense of purpose, I suppose…. Hell, who cares? It’s done, and now I can go vote myself…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..
—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Kowabunga!

gigoid

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

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Tag Archives: Republicans

Artichoke juice is an efficient lubricant….

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Credit given where due….

With piteous disregard for the weak of mind….

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