Immodest noises of patient concern….

Posted on May 6, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I have been a stranger in a strange land.”

~~ Old Testament — Exodus ii: 22 ~~

Luna ~~ Earth’s Moon ~~ Farside view

(click to see enlarged view ~ it’s awesome…)

Image from the European Union Space Administration via Space.com

Good morning, ffolkes…..

Lately, I’ve been leaving the intro right there, with pretty good results. However, this morning (a morning unlike any other, which, thanks to the conveniently timely application of Time Lord powers, is yesterday afternoon, about 18 hours from now, in the past, which will soon be the present, no longer the future; of course, now can never be the future again, unless….. Oh, never mind…), I must comment, if superfluously, on the opening quote, which you see above the moon up there at the top today.

Generally, when I include something from the Christian Bible, whether Old, or New Testament, or whatever version, it is for the purpose of sardonicism, or, as an example of the delusional content one finds in such copious abundance nested within its pages. I don’t really mean to be mean; it’s just the sheer implausibility of the whole story made any sense to me, and I don’t understand how anyone with a functioning neuron can buy into any of it. This, I suppose, makes me sound somewhat antagonistic to them, though I’m really not… I just wish they weren’t so fanatical about everyone else having to feel the same way. (You’ll note I didn’t say think the same way…. It wouldn’t apply….)

This particular phrase may be, in my estimation, and, according to my memory of what I’ve read of the silly collection of improbable stories, (That comes to approximately 95% of it… Well, c’mon! Nobody reads every single “Absophel begat Paraceltic, who begat Miriam, Peter, and little Bubba, etc….” I’ll bet YOU didn’t read every damn one of them!…. We ALL skipped over that part….), simply put, the truest statement in the entire book…. As well, it has the added caveat of being applicable to just about every thinking person on this planet, thanks in large part to the massive power of delusional thinking so encouraged by faith-based religions….

“I have been a stranger in a strange land.” What a powerfully vague metaphor, vague enough to suit each and every person who finds themselves, as I often do, wondering just how the hell we ended up here, where almost everyone we see, or engage with, is pursuing illusions, based on delusions, manipulated by amoral, evil versions of themselves, rushing down a dark corridor toward a future none of them, master or slave, are going to like at all…. From what I can tell in over 60 years of watching people, most of them aren’t real happy with what they already have for a life….

It’s getting really, really weird out in the BBR, ffolkes, especially if one is able to view the overall picture of all the crap happening, all over the world, as we, and the majority of everyone alive, even those who believe in supernatural safety nets, blindly rush headlong toward a final solution to the problems plaguing this planet….

Oops…. Did it again, didn’t I? Oh, well, it’s going to happen now and again; try not to let it worry you. All of us have our own axes to grind, and our own gardens to tend. Maybe, since we’re alive, there is hope…. We are human, after all, and our imagination has, so far, been equal to the task of figuring out how to get us where we need to be, physically, and, intellectually.

Now, if it can extend that influence to the advancement of the human spirit, to allow us to mature past the need to prey upon others, there is a slight chance we may live to see new stars, new planets, new galaxies…. In short, our true legacy, to understand the Universe, as best we may…. The Universe itself doesn’t care, one way or the other, whether we do, or not; it makes a big difference to me, and a lot of other ffolkes, I’d think….

Shall we Pearl?

“Never frighten a little man. He’ll kill you.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

How’s THAT for a quick change of direction?…..

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Sherlock is The Man, of course, when it comes to deductive reasoning and the power of observation. I think this is my favorite story of his exploits; it certainly lends itself well to the movie/TV genre, as produced by the BBC. Here is one of two adaptations of the story, this one with Peter Cushing in the title role, the other, which I could not find in the version I saw on YT, (don’t know where it went) starred Jeremy Brett as Sherlock. Both are excellently done, with humor, and typical Holmesian deductive investigation…. Enjoy!….

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Sherlock Holmes

The Blue Carbuncle

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https://youtu.be/eAPWPDL9aMU

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Here’s a pretty good rant from quite a while ago…. For some unknown reason, I’m always surprised at how relevant these old rants remain in the current world…. It’s as if humanity has completely stopped progressing in any direction but one of self-destruction…. SIGH….

From 8/27/2012:

“In Christianity neither morality nor religion come into contact with reality at any point.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

In perfect demonstration of the accuracy of Herr Nietzsche’s assertion, I give you, Senator Dan Quayle, a veritable paragon of Christianity, speaking, with absolute faith, and insane illogic, the rigid and hateful prejudices as obsessed over by the Church of the Brain Dead….. one of many such cults common to the not-so-outer-fringes of the Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and other religions, all of which are prone to creation of pockets of entirely too vocal enclaves of zealous fundamentalists, who spew their strident hatred and bigotry all over the innocent, and the different….

“You’re a very strong woman… Though this would be a traumatic experience that you would never forget, I think that you would be very successful in life.” — Senator Dan Quayle telling an 11-year-old girl — why he would want her to have the baby if she were raped — by her father, 10/18/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)

After you have recovered from the shock of encountering (again) such abject inhumanity, racism, bigotry, you name it and they are doing it (‘they’ being anyone who even listens to this tripe without gagging, and including any other religious zealotry as practiced in other religions beside the Christian cults) (cults is the correct word, trust me….), I’d like to scare you even further, so take a deep breath….

“If I seem to take part in politics, it is only because politics encircles us today like the coil of a snake from which one cannot get out, no matter how much one tries. I wish therefore to wrestle with the snake.” — Mahatma Gandhi

The just released, official platform of the Republican Party for the 2012 election, lays out in clear detail the very spirit of what Mr. Quayle is quoted to say above. Their stances on women’s healthcare and basic rights to decide for themselves how to live, LGBT rights and marriage (in)equality, immigration, tax cuts for the rich, tax raises for the middle class, continued reliance on the same failed economic policies that killed the economy (trickle-down theory, supply side economics), cuts and actual elimination of Social Security and Medicare for seniors, voter suppression techniques reminiscent of the post-Civil War era….all are designed to turn back the clock to the middle of the last century, and further, in the case of women’s rights, and voter’s rights for minorities (which are no longer minorities….).

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” — H. L. Mencken

The frightened white, rich bankers and politicos are starting to realize that they are no longer actually in the majority…. close, but not enough to matter, since many, many of us honkies are technically on the other side of the fence, having more faith in humanity and basic human rights, than in religious zealotry, and fear under the guise of politics.

“I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleges, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives.” — Tolstoy

This is so true….. It is insight like this into the very nature of man that frightens the beloved ruling class, and has since the time of Tolstoy, and before. The complacent culture that has derived from the young, energetic society of our forebears has lost the will to suffer change. They cannot imagine life different from what they know, and don’t wish to know.

Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for the rest of us here in the real world, there are now more of us than there are of them….. provided all of us who know, and care, get out there to vote in November. It is a matter of making the, to me, obvious choice, to take a path that leads to a future for all of us, instead taking us back to a time that no longer exists, and is meant only for a few….. It’s a no-brainer, to my way of thinking….

“Is a tattoo real, like a curb or a battleship? Or are we suffering in Safeway?” — Zippy the Pinhead

Take care ffolkes, we don’t want to end up suffering in Safeway…… really, you don’t want to do that….. I can testify…..

A disciple of another sect once came to Drescher as he was eating his morning meal. “I would like to give you this personality test”, said the outsider, “because I want you to be happy.” Drescher took the paper that was offered him and put it into the toaster- “I wish the toaster to be happy too”. — AI koan

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Written 9/6/2012:

Dreaming, I wait….

In the most patient moments of rationality
kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,
fallow thoughts speed first from equality
to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.

Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law
shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,
intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,
falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.

Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,
it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,
foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,
alive, always eager, willing, and pale.

Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few
with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.
No solemn royal version may pass in review,
true love for man, never to remain unhidden.

Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,
calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,
With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,
swimming in the oceans of natural delight.

When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,
roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,
Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,
and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.

Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night
aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart
Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,
tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Smart Bee is in full rebellion, it seems, so I’ve sent it to a resort for a day or two to recover its equilibrium…. Here is a pearl from the archives…. Enjoy!….

From 5/6/2013:

Just so everything today isn’t old and creaky, I’m putting together an old-school group of pearls for your delectation…. Hopefully, this, too, will feel the freedom of a Murphy-less morning, and turn out well, and quickly…. I think this one might make it onto the Quiz, so you might want to take notes….

Cogito, ergo sum. (I think, therefore I am) — Rene Descartes

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind; Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave. I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.” — Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Dirge Without Music”

“God is an invention of Man. So the nature of God is only a shallow mystery. The deep mystery is the nature of Man.” — Nanrei Kobori,
— late Abbot of the Temple of the Shining Dragon, Kyoto, Japan

Made still a blund’ring kind of melody;
Spurr’d boldly on, and dashed through thick and thin,
Through sense and nonsense, never out nor in.

~~ John Dryden (1631-1700) — Absalom and Achitophel, Part ii, Line 413 ~~

“A note of music gains significance from the silence on either side.” — Anne Morrow Lindberg

“To a rational being it is the same thing to act according to nature and according to reason.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, vii, 11

Cogito sum, ergo sum. Circa basta. (I think I am. That’s close enough.) ~~ gigoid

That turned out well, I think, and this is my blog, so that’s good enough…. 😆

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Thus, the cookie crumbles….

For another day, anyway…. I mean, it’s not as if I’m responsible for excessive Entropy, now, is it? Just because more of it seems to happen here than in other loci, doesn’t mean we aren’t done for the day…. And, the cool part is, if I’m wrong about that, there’s always tomorrow. Even if the powers of a Time Lord aren’t available, as they were today, we always have tomorrow, right? Right? Hey, where did everybody go?…..

See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, though, who I’m talking to I’ll never know…. Sheesh!…. Crumbs EVERYWHERE!…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Layer upon layer of dense frog….

Posted on April 30, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily.”

~~ George Santayana ~~

Invergordon, Scotland, seaport near Inverness/Loch Ness

Yesterday was a bust. A massive attack of vertigo kept me from doing much at all, including a Pearl. It’s the first actual miss in over a year, I think, but, this time, it wasn’t my fault…. (Yes it was….) (NO, it wasn’t….) (Yes, it was….) (Ah, go f__ yourself!…)….

Ah well, regardless of who wins the argument, I’m getting one done today, no matter what it looks like, or how smooth it isn’t; I don’t like to miss a day. Since the primary focus of doing this is NOT the message, or even the fame (well, in this case, the lack of fame….), but, rather, the process as therapy for my own inner demons, it’s more important than mere celebrity…. to me, anyway….

Hmm… a bit somber for an opening, but, I’m too much in the groove to do it over. Besides, I know this Pearl will be choppy. Oh, you won’t be able to tell from where you’re sitting, but, believe me, getting this done at all was a challenge, one answered very well in the affirmative. Of course, it took three dead bodies and two false fire alarms, but, who’s counting? The bodies weren’t even from my staff, so, that’s good. My budget wouldn’t stretch to training new staff right now….

I’m pretty sure I don’t have much of a clue today; I’m writing pretty much by instinct right now. I am hoping it will get better by the time we get to the rant, but, hey, we take it the way it comes, because we’re legally required to do so, AND, it keeps Momma happy. With Mother’s Day coming up, we all know how important it is to keep Momma happy….. Of course, she ain’t MY momma, but, she thinks she is, and it doesn’t hurt business to let her think so…. I just wish she wouldn’t sit out front & flirt with every guy over 12 who walks in the door….

Okay, I’ve blathered sufficiently, both for the legal requirements, and the personal. Of course, those latter regulations are perfectly non-existent, but, shhh….. the authorities don’t know that part….. Y’know, I think I’d best take us outta here, before this gets any more complicated…. Luigi, hit it!…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Don’t ever become a pessimist, Ira; a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun — and neither can stop the march of events.” — Lazarus Long, in Robert Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

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Image from billboard.com via Google images

I was first introduced to Jimmy Buffett’s music in 1978 or 79, not long after the release of his first album, which, if memory serves, was titled, “Livin’ and Dyin’ in Three-Quarter Time”…. His version of southern fried island rock burst upon the music scene with gusto, and he’s never looked back. I’ve seen him in concert many times, for each of his concerts is the world’s biggest party, for five or six hours, depending on how they get rockin’…. Infectiously joyous, funny, and down-to-earth, Jimmy and the Coral Reefers continue to fill up concert venues wherever they play….. Enjoy, ffolkes,. this is good time music….

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Jimmy Buffett & the Coral Reefer Band

Jones Beach ~~ August 21, 2014

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https://youtu.be/_4nba6YneJY

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I had hoped to complete a fresh rant, but, time constraints preclude such an event today, so, here is a somewhat lengthy, but, appropriate rant, on the very same issues the originally scheduled piece was to address…. Go figure….

From 2/16/2013:

“Laws are only words words written on paper, words that change on society’s whim and are interpreted differently daily by politicians, lawyers, judges, and policemen. Anyone who believes that all laws should always be obeyed would have made a fine slave catcher. Anyone who believes that all laws are applied equally, despite race, religion, or economic status, is a fool.” — John J. Miller, And Hope to Die (in _Jokertown Shuffle – Wild Cards IX_)

Fiction is the repository and temple of the Metaphorse…. which explains this passage from a novel I haven’t read, but obviously need to get around to finding, so I can. This is such a perfect statement of Reality in society today, it could only be said in a work of fiction, because anyone stating this in the public venue would be shouted down by the aforementioned politicians, lawyers judges, policemen, and may I add, preachers/priests and the rest of the priestly hierarchies…. none of whom would wish for the truth of the idea become commonly held knowledge, or even a point of discussion…. They have too much invested in keeping things just as they are to allow any such utterance, without the protection of metaphor….

With metaphor, in both prose and poetic form, the truth can be intimated, and made clear for those who otherwise would never even consider the concepts involved, without being connected directly to Reality itself. Most of society has been brainwashed since birth, and are trained to accept as true anything told to them in a newspaper, on a TV by a person in a suit, or by someone holding a Bible, no matter how disconnected from Reality that may be. Reading things in a book, a piece of fiction, they are taught, is suspect, and not to be believed without corroboration from someone in authority….

“God said it, the Bible told me, and I believe it, so that’s the end of it!” How many people do you know who would say that? It saddens me no end to know that even I, who tend to drive that sort of person crazy in no time at all, know several folks who feel this way. I have to say, if nothing else, these folks are stubborn, but, stubbornness is not always a survival technique… it can also serve as a death warrant. One has to learn to give up knowledge that is shown indisputably to be false, or face consequences not to their liking.

As I’ve stated before, I have no issue with ffolkes who are sincerely devout in their beliefs…. I’ve found that people who do try to live by the rules that Jesus put forth are generally good people, with good instincts, and have a lot of compassion and kindness in their nature. I have at least two people in my own family who fit that description, and at least three of the people with whom I grew up are what I would call true Christians, because they use their faith as a supportive tool to enhance their lives, not as a crutch, or a reason to feel entitled…..

In other words, they don’t use their faith as a mask, to hide from the world what they really are like inside…. or, as tool of manipulation, to further their own agenda, which generally involves theft from everyone else, in one form or another….. I have found, by experience with real people in the real world, that a good 95% of those who claim to be Christians are NOT true believers…. Only about 5% of those who call themselves Christians make any attempt to live up to that social reformer’s rigorous standards….

Of that figure, 95% of all self-identified Christians, the great majority can be considered, and are generally labeled, as the ignorant masses, whose minds have been under the control of someone else their entire lives. The smaller percentage of that number, probably only about 1 or 2% of the 95%, are those who either don’t believe in the dogma at all, but use it as the modus operandi for their sociopathy, or those who at least believe it on the surface, but only because it is to their advantage to do so… They would believe anything at all, if it kept them in power….

“Always watch where you are going. Otherwise, you may step on a piece of the Forest that was left out by mistake.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

I’m not sure whether those who stubbornly cling to their faith (i.e., they walk through the Forest with eyes closed….) are like that because of their nature, or their nurture, and in the final analysis, it doesn’t matter. But, it sure would be nice, for those of us who ARE aware of the truth behind the lies we’ve been told all our lives, to have a few more of us out there, working against the small percentage of people who are taking advantage of the massive ignorance and apathy of the great masses of people, who don’t have the time or mental energy to care about anything but what is happening right in front of them.

Those who control society for their own personal benefit, without any regard for the rest of humanity’s suffering at their hands, aren’t going to change, and they aren’t ever going to give up what they’ve got without a struggle…. I can only wish for enough ffolkes like myself, who can see the truth, to find a way to save at least a few of our species, if only for some galactic zoo of extinct species…… If enough of us get together, there is still a small chance, though the odds of success are diminishing, second by second….

“I don’t feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them. There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.” — John Wayne

(Did your jaw drop as far as mine when you read that?)

Bah! Enough pessimism for one day…. let’s go find something a bit more uplifting, shall we?….. As a parting thought, please note the following, which serves to illustrate and define the general feeling in modern society, in terms of ethics and morality…. Consider, if you will, the cultural paradigms that are needed to make this statement a joke, one that no one at all would think was out of place…. In other words, by its calm acceptance of the implied lack of ethics, it shows how deeply ingrained is the attitude (made crystal clear by Mr. Wayne…), in the members that make up that society….

“I think our No.1 problem is that nobody wants to take responsibility for anything, but don’t quote me.” — Randy Glasbergen, “The Saturday Evening Post

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Relative Cynicism, with Caramel Sauce

Absolute stillness follows violent movement,
it can happen during a downhill race,
as an immovable piece of asphalt pavement
meets the once handsome racer’s face.

Yuk, yuk, yuk said that asshole Moe,
after poking both of Larry’s eyes,
bashing face, head, & crotch of Curly Joe
and only ever got hit with pies.

Lonely moments never really come along
when Murphy’s got us in his sights.
Not for money, love, or siren’s song
will he abrogate his natural rights.

All we can do is sigh, or laugh in pain,
as Life portions out our ration of shit.
Silver linings melt in the slightest rain,
so we may as well learn to live with it.

~~ gigoid ~~

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I find it mildly curious to note, both Socrates, (470-399 B.C), and Laozi, known commonly as Lao Tzu, (604-531 B.C. ), each died more than 2400 years ago in human history; yet, today, they are still known as, perhaps, humanity’s most revered scholars, one the most influential in Western thought, the other in the East. Each one left a legacy of wisdom, of simple ideas to last a lifetime, giving us the benefit of the workings of their innermost minds, powerful enough to have lasted through the centuries.

In my experience, using a thought from either of them as the basis for a pearl is guaranteed to make it more relevant to reality, not to mention more perceptive and intelligent, in re: the conclusions/lessons/concepts being presented…. It doesn’t seem to matter which comes first, or last, or if only one is included; the pearl comes out better. Using them both, especially as bookmarks around the wisdom of five other historical sages, though rare, seems to make the best old-school pearls….

I’m sad to have to report, this pearl, as with each of the individual pearls, was pulled out of Smart Bee using, well, not to put a false face to it, torture; it seems to be the only method working just now. I can’t say I didn’t warn it; it’s been balky for days, & we’ve been through this before…. So, enjoy, please; it cost the poor little database a lot of pain and anguish….

“Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued.”

~~Socrates ~~

“And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.” — Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

“They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.” — Confucius

“Aristotle was once asked what those who tell lies gain by it. Said he, “That when they speak truth they are not believed.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200AD) — Aristotle, xi

“A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser to-day than he was yesterday.” — Alexander Pope

“Remember this,–that very little is needed to make a happy life.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, vii, 67

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 ~~

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That will have to do. I’m not sure exactly how it got done, or how it came out, but, I’m trusting to the process to carry the day…. Foolish hope, I know, but, hey, remember the second quote today, about optimism? I take that to heart…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if you’re lucky….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Yield not to base impulse….

Posted on April 28, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“We fear things in proportion to our ignorance of them.”

~~ Titus Livius ~~

Hubble Space Telescope 25th Anniversary Image

NASA

Long shadows fell across the courtyard, as the setting sun fell down behind the roofs of the city, spread out below the house on the hill. As she watched the shadows lend mystery to the peaceful scene, a small shape appeared at her side. “Are you crying, again, Mummy?” “No, dear, just enjoying the sunset.” “Is there news of my father? Did you hear from….?” Worry tinged the small voice, so she put some confidence into her reply, “No, we’ve heard nothing, but, it’s still early. There is still time.” I’m worried, mummy.” “All will be well, my child; you father is wise, and will come home soon….” As darkness, fell, they stood, watching the sun disappear behind the far off hills….

We’ll leave the two waiting there, while we take this opportunity to say, “Good morrow to you”, and let you know that’s all you get today. I’m not in the correct place for ANY type of creativity, so, we’ll have to make to with nonsense and fictional wisdom. Not that any of that is new, but, hey, it’s now legal, at least. I didn’t have time to secure all the proper permits, so, the intro has to be short today. So short, the above fictional opening, and this explanatory paragraph (or, is that exculpatory?…. you tell me…) is the last you will see today in this section…. I’ve been ordered to end it here, by the duly constituted authorities, no less, so, I guess I will….

Shall we Pearl?

“Why explore the Universe? It is almost ironic that we should have to ask this question because it is almost as though we have to apologize for our highest attributes… we went to Mars, not because of our technology, but because of our imagination.” — Norman Cousins

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Taz

Okay, I’m busted. Taz is my favorite cartoon character, simply because he is who he is, and he is nobody else…. Enjoy!….

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Taz

Everyone’s favorite Tazmanian Devil

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https://youtu.be/FOTlNOZB4Zo?list=PLv33yrwnty7r3-8fDtKYu1at7Bnxnne_y

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As might be surmised, no fresh rant today. Instead, I’ll sublimate, with this somewhat lengthy diatribe fro 2013….

From 3/9/2013:

“Though I have said above that all men by nature are equal, I cannot be supposed to understand all sorts of equality. Age or virtue may give man a just precedence. Excellency of parts and merit may place others above the common level … And yet all this consists with the equality which all men are in, in respect of jurisdiction or dominion, one over another.” — John Locke

Whew! As an explanation of the opening of the Declaration of Independence, this hits the top of the pomposity scale, but, all in all, is quite clear, and correct in its conclusions. It’s merely a long-winded way of saying that all men are not created with equal abilities or resources, but, they all are created with equal rights under the law…. hopefully. (That last qualifier is my contribution to the idea, prompted by my opinion of most of those involved in the justice system as, shall we say, less than completely honest, and less than completely impartial?) (I mean, really, ffolkes…. we choose our judges from the ranks of LAWYERS!…. How many honest, impartial candidates are we liable to find?…. Not many, I assure you…. it just doesn’t go with the territory….)

“Once I belonged to a group that really had THE WORD. I fought like hell for them. But another group came along and exposed the word of my group as shallow and degenerate. They had a better word. So I quit the first group and lost all the friends I had made and I joined up with this new group. I fought like hell for them. But another group came around. They exposed the word of my group as false and materialistic. Their word was very much better. So I quit the second group and lost all the friends I had made. And I joined up with this new group. I fought like hell for them. Till this one guy came along and proved that there wasn’t any word at all. That I should go off as an individual and grow! So I quit the last group and lost all the friends I had made. And now I sit home alone all day and all I do is grow. It would be nice to join up with some others who feel the way I do.” — J. Feiffer

One of the reasons we humans have such a hard time with the concept of equality lies in our own level of ignorance regarding ourselves. There is a delicate balance between what a person thinks of themselves, and what the world knows about them to be true…. If the two are not at least within shouting distance of each other, that person’s life will be filled with pain and controversy, as his own self-image is repeatedly destroyed by reality…. And, our self-image can be a very difficult thing to maintain because, as humans, we need the company and approval of other humans. The paragraph above by Mssr. Feiffer describes very well the philosophical journey that many take while learning to assess their own place in the world…. it’s kind of pathetic, in a way, but typical for all that….

“In my day, we didn’t have self-esteem, we had self-respect, and no more of it than we had earned.” — Jane Haddam

This lack of understanding of self is what allows most humans to be controlled by others. The others, by whom I mean the BRC, the priestly hierarchies, and all those with no compunctions about how they go about achieving their own ends, find those who have no self-knowledge quite easy to fool, to convince, and to control. They merely tell them what they wish to hear, no matter how outrageously false it may be, and the blindness of the ignorant will supply all the belief required, because it is what they WANT to hear…..

A man, or a woman, who knows themselves cannot be fooled into that kind of acceptance of anything without compelling evidence; their self-image allows them the confidence to make their own decisions, rather than relying on someone else to do it for them. Because they are honest themselves, they are able to differentiate truth from fiction, and thus cannot be fooled into accepting what they know to be false.

Their own self-honesty acts as a protection of sorts against that sort of manipulation, while at the same time giving them the freedom to exercise the right to make their own choices. Those who do not believe they are strong, are not….. This is why people are not equal, not in abilities; it is also why it is important that the law ensures that they at least are granted equal rights with everyone else… This at least makes an attempt at leveling the playing field, while acknowledging that a great many of the players are going to cheat…..

“For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.” — Ivan Panin

Whenever I look at humanity as a whole, I am often filled with a sadness that comes from my own knowledge of science, sociology, psychology, and extensive experience in Reality. The sadness is because I know how much promise humanity holds, such promise as to make the gods weep in envy of the beauty we are able to create with our imagination…. and I know that our own foolishness is very close to shutting off that promise forever, or at least, for this period of the history of the universe…. I suspect we will have another opportunity to interact with reality, though it may not be this particular version of it….

But, there are just too many of the selfish, unfeeling, manipulative, power-hungry assholes mixed in with all of us relatively nice ffolkes, intent on grabbing all the power and money, which they equate with happiness, that they can during their short stay here. They are, unknowingly, rushing us all to an early death, seemingly, without caring, as they do not believe they are vulnerable to the same dangers as the rest of us…. Ignorance is firmly tied to belief, and even strong evidence does not convince those who will not see it…. All I can say is, it’s a damn shame…..

“The improver of knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge authority, as such. For him, skepticism is the highest of duties, blind faith the one unpardonable sin.” — Thomas Huxley (1825-1895)

Luckily, there are still a few of us out there who don’t buy into the BS that most of society goes along with…. and a great many of us are blogging…. It gives me a bit of hope, though not much; there is a LOT of historical momentum to overcome for anything to change, and I am not aware of it happening, try as I might to see it. But, every time I read more blogs, I see more ffolkes who have a clue, so, I guess I’ll go so far as to cling to that one little hopeful sign, and keep on preaching to the choir…. It’s about all I can do these days to try to help the situation, and little as it may be, I’ll keep on truckin’ down that lonesome road…..

“The disappointment of manhood succeeds to the delusion of youth: let us hope that the heritage of old age is not despair.” — Benjamin Disraeli (Earl Beaconsfield) (1805-1881) — Vivian Grey, Book viii, Chap. iv

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

On a nonsense day, who else?….

I’ll Get One Tomorrow

Barber, barber, come and get me;
Hairy torrents irk and fret me.
Hair and hair again appears;
And climbs like ivy round my ears.
Hair across my collar gambols;
Down my neck it wayward ambles.
Ever down it trip it tickles;
Yes, where it trips it tickles.
Barber dear I wish I knew;
Why i do not visit you.
Why I grudge the minutes ten;
In your smiling den.
Why I choose to choke on hair;
Rather than to mount your chair.
Men no busier than I;
Weekly to your office hie.
Men no busier than myself;
Confront the armory on your shelf;
Men no wealthier than me;
Gladly meet your modest fee.
And for a fraction of a dollar;
Keep the jungle off their collar.
I alone am shy and flustered;
Solitary, cowardly custard.
Shaggy as a prize angore;
Overrun with the creeping flora.
Barber, barber, you’re in luck;
The bell has rung, the hour has struck.
Sloth strong, the hair is strong;
I cannot stand it any long.
Barber, barber here I come;
Shake up the odorous bay rum.
Bring on your shears your scythes, your snippers;
Bring on your crisp electric driers.
Employ a dozen extra sweepers;
Bring giant harvesters and reapers.
I warn you a bumper crop;
Waits to overwhelm your shop.
Barber, barber, be verbose;
Be anything but clip me close.
Leave me razored, leave me scissored
Leave me hairless, as a lizard;
Barber, barber, single and scald;
Barber can’t you make me bald?
I will be the happiest of men;
And never think of you again

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

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“Be both a speaker of words and a doer of deeds.”

~~ Homer ~~

Smart Bee is, apparently, on strike; the above from Homer was found two days ago, and that’s all I’ve been able to persuade out of it…. Rather than fuss with it, here is a pearl from the archives….

From 5/5/2013:

Today has turned into a traditional Pearl… though the intro is shorter than usual, the rest of it follows format perfectly, with a rant in section one, a classic poet, and poem, in section two, and a third section, which obviously is supposed to be an old-school grouping of pearls…. I confess that I keep a stash of quotes from Smart be, to the tune of about eighty-seven pages of a document, so I’m not as short of quotes as I’d thought to be. I’m going to use it for a couple days, & let the real Smart Bee have a vacation, to see if that will fix the corruption in the file….

I know, wishful thinking, but, it’s worth a shot… If it works, it will piss Murphy off, so I’d do it that way anyway, for just that reason…. Any who, today’s group will be VERY random, so bear with me…. Buckle up, please, we can’t proceed until all seat-belts are fastened securely…. insurance rules…

“A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.” — Robert Heinlein

“Life is a long lesson in humility.” — James M. Barrie

“Ridicule is the best test of truth. — Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773)

“If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn’t part of ourselves doesn’t disturb us.” — Hermann Hesse, _Damian_, 1919

But the sunshine aye shall light the sky,
As round and round we run;
And the truth shall ever come uppermost,
And justice shall be done.

— Charles Mackay (1814-1889) — Eternal Justice, Stanza 4

“There are two sentences inscribed upon the Delphic oracle, hugely accommodated to the usages of man’s life: “Know thyself”, and “Nothing too much”; and upon these all other precepts depend.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Consolation to Apollonius

“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.” — Smart Bee

Now, that’s not bad at all…. a very cogent grouping, I think…. Let yourself flow with it, and you’ll end up in a place you will like, I guarantee… If not, well, that’s okay too…. some of us need to let things stir around a while before consuming it… or something…. Ah hell, just listen to the last one, and all will be well….

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

I wasn’t sure, given my state of mind, whether I’d get done; stubbornness has SOME value, I guess. Since it’s done, I’ll shove the guilt into a dark hole, and post it anyway. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as I can’t find a reason not to do so….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Slick Willie’s sick sailboat…

Posted on April 26, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“And it’s just a box of rain
I don’t know who put it there

Believe it if you need it
Or leave it if you dare

And it’s just a box of rain
Or a ribbon for your hair

Such a long, long time to be gone
And a short time to be there”

~~ Box of Rain by Lesh, Hunter ~~

Curiosity Rover trundling across Mars

Photo by NASA orbiter via Space.com

Aw, fuck.

Oh, I’m sorry. Did I say that out loud? My bad…. I guess I should either explain, or start over. Hmm…

Good morning, ffolkes! Yes, yes I did bail on the first beginning…. No explanations for you. “Too bad, so sad, try again next time,” he said, with a nasty smirk. That’s because he woke up in the weirdest fucking mood he’s ever experienced; in fact, ‘weird’ just doesn’t make the grade at all… He has no clue what person to write in, first, second, third, or weird; the latter seems the most achievable, at this point. In fact, we’re going to admit defeat, so we can get on with the rest of today’s mess, a process y’all realize just became even more volatile than usual…..

Why is that? Well, last time I had this issue, the stock market crashed. No, not really, but, I did feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if a million voices had all… wait, no, that’s Obi-wan’s line. Sorry, wrong page.

Okay, I’m busted, I guess. Since I didn’t, and won’t, have a clue as to how to find, or create, yet another exciting, passionate, obviously brilliant opening section, I figured this would serve to fill in. How’d I do? I know, it’s kinda sappy, but, hey, it’s better than most of them, I’d say. Of course, I’m pretty biased, as we all know, especially in THIS instance; I certainly have a vested interest in finding some way to make it work every day. It’s really too bad Reality is never going to cooperate in that goal, since it has absolutely no investment, or interest, in helping me out…. Asshole.

Oops. No swearing at Reality. It’s easily offended, and the payback is, quite simply, a…. you thought I was going to be vulgar, didn’t you? Hah!

Iconoclasm as a way of life… yeah, that’s the ticket!….

Okay, that’s plenty, I’d say. If we, or I, or y’all, or somebody doesn’t assume control here, we’ll be stuck here forever, listening to me try to achieve enough coherence to bring this to a conclusion (at this rate, that would be sometime in the next millennium….). I think it’s time for the application of another colorful metaphor, so to speak….

Fuck it. I’m through being nice…. Luigi, take us in!…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Insanity in individuals is something rare – but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” — Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), Beyond Good and Evil

I’m not sure how I should take that…. I AM an individual!…. I guess that makes me rare… or, perhaps, merely sane in an insane world….

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

Google Free Images

This young lady needs no introduction; her fame is intact. The cartoons I’ve included below are a collection of those banned from TV and theaters for their adult/controversial content…. Certainly a cultural icon, she was the first fantasy girl for many a young American lad….

***********************

Betty Boop

***********************

https://youtu.be/VkG9c1yy2lg

***********************

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

“The more laws, the less justice.”

~~ Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.) — De Officiis (44 B.C.) ~~

Here is an epic rant from the archives. It first appeared in 2012, and shows up about once a year, it seems, so, it must be okay…. Enjoy, such as you may….

Last posted 4/26/2014:

One of the hardest parts of blogging on a daily basis, I’ve found, is keeping the chosen material fresh, especially when I tend to rely on a small set of subjects upon which to rant on a regular schedule…. As you know, if you’ve been here previously, I do like to take my shots at the BRC, which consists primarily of the men who prey upon the rest of humanity for their own benefit; most especially, I like to take my best shots at those assholes who prey on women and children, enslaving them as sexual objects for their own profit and sick indulgence….

However, as I tried to explain in the last post in which I spoke of this, it is extremely hard for me to write about, as it tends to kick in my PTSD symptoms…. I get a large jolt of adrenalin when I start to think about this, and my mind turns immediately to buying weapons, ammunition, and starting the planning process to go hunting, for pimps, snakeheads, and any other assholes involved in the sex trafficking trade….

Bleeding hearts may proclaim all the sad stories they know, or speculate, stories that might explain why these assholes are the way they are, but, I don’t really give a shit how they got the way they are; to do what they do, a conscious choice must be made, and, to my mind, that is enough to warrant removing them from the society of decent people, permanently…. If that means I’m playing God, well, so be it…. I am liable to be as good at it as any of the delusional versions; I have the advantage of actually having a physical form that can be touched, so there’s no question of my involvement, or my reality….

Just writing those last two paragraphs has me so worked up, my breath is speeding, my heart rate has jumped over a hundred, & my musculature is loosening up, relaxing and stretching…. I’m starting to breathe more deeply, too, as the adrenalin widens all of my blood and air passages in preparation for fight, or flight…. Having spent eleven years living with random adrenalin attacks, while working at Atascadero and Napa State Hospitals, frequently wrestling with the violently insane to save their life, or my own, I am all-too-familiar with those symptoms…. which include the necessity for waiting for up to three or four HOURS for them to wear off completely…. It’s a pain, to be honest, and I don’t like it at all…

Which is why I am going to cheat…. I’m going to reprint a rant from the archives, one of several I wrote during the year it was first posted, when I first began to write about this issue regularly…. This is one of my better rants, so I hope you enjoy it…. I have added, here at the beginning, a perfect pearl that I found as an appetizer to what follows…. Here then, our rant for today…..

“Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity.” — Frank Leahy

From 12/4/12:

“Free enterprise ended in the United States a good many years ago. Big oil, big steel, big agriculture avoid the open marketplace. Big corporations fix prices among themselves and drive out the small entrepreneur. In their conglomerate forms, the huge corporations have begun to challenge the legitimacy of the state.” — Gore Vidal

In his book, “Friday”, Robert Heinlein details a society of humanity’s possible future, one in which corporations have continued to grow beyond the boundaries of mere countries, until their interests become paramount even over that of the state, as observed by Mr. Vidal. We, of the society here on Earth in the early 21st century are witnessing that growth, as I write, and as you read…..

The small enterprise markets still exist, but only on the fringes of the economy, the major portion of which is busy manipulating the population into serving the economic trends that the corporations control, in the essential markets that cover everyone… In other words, the corporations monopolize most of the economy, allowing the fringe markets to exist to provide exotic, alternative toys and entertainments for the working classes.

Mr. Heinlein’s character, a young woman with designer genes, genius IQ, and Heinlein’s innate sardonicism, as part of an assignment, is required to perform a research and analysis of how the large multinational corporations affected the political and economic scenes of their society, obliquely referring, of course, to the one we have now. It is a very interesting part of a very good book, and well worth a read, not only for its perspicacity in explaining the piracy we are seeing today, but because Heinlein was a master storyteller, who created fascinating characters in fantastic situations, making it all seem perfectly normal and real.

“The phenomenality of organic, conscious existence should, could have made impossible the sadism, the unending hurt of our ways. The impotent fury, the guilt that master and surpass my identity carry with them the working hypothesis, the ‘working metaphor’, if you will, of ‘original sin’. To this expression, I am unable to attach any reasoned, let alone historical substance. On the pragmatic-narratological plane, stories of some initial crime and inherited culpability are universal fables — uncannily profound and lasting. Nothing more. Yet in the presence of the beaten, raped child, of the horse or mule flogged across its eyes, I am possessed, as by a midnight clarity, by the intuition of the Fall.” — Rudolf Steiner, Errata: An examined life, Phoenix — (a division of Orion Books), London, 1998), p. 169

At first, this quote may not seem to be related to the first. However, it is this “original sin” of which he speaks that is the root cause of the problems with corporations in society. Those humans who reject commonality with the rest of humanity are the villains, in this play that passes for modern culture, for they do not accept their debt to the rest of the species, and have determined that they will use whatever means they need to become ascendant over the rest of us. Greed is only the most obvious of the ills that this group has subjected our culture to, with cruelty, dishonesty, and lack of compassion as side attractions. Through the actions of their corporate entities, they work to maintain their power and control of others, all for the sake of their own aggrandizement….

These are the men who run the trade in human trafficking, abducting and abusing children and women, for sex and slavery. These are the men who run the brothels, and the underground casinos, and the money-lending, and the protection rackets, and the drug dealing rings. What many folks don’t realize is that they are also the men who run for political office, or become preachers/priests, and the bankers, and the CEO’s, and other corporate officers, who make their decisions based on self-interest, never on altruism. They seem, and act like, they are the leaders of society, when, in fact, they are the very reason our society is headed for extinction….

Unfortunately, these men (and they are almost ALL men….) will not give up their power and control without a fight. They will not respond to reason, giving up all their wealth and perceived power, to benefit the rest of mankind. They will not suddenly see the light, and give it all back. They will have to be rooted out like weeds, tough, hardy weeds, and destroyed, if we are to have any chance of survival…. It is unfortunate, but no other method will work, and it brings with it the danger of falling into the same kind of behavior by which they operate. But, I can see no other way to solve the issue, since they will not cooperate with the rest of us for the benefit of all….

1. If you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting.

2. What you settle for is what you end up with.

3. If you think that worrying about a problem is the same thing as solving it, then you must live in some other universe where different laws pertain.

–Smart Bee

Note from 2014: To finish this, here is one last pearl, with a perfect description of the assholes who prey on their fellow men, or worse, women and children…. Pearls like this are good channel markers, for helping to identify the dickheads….

“Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.” — Epicurus

Note from 2015: Thank goodness for the Tardis! I’ll leave you with another appropriate closing for THIS year….

“Sometimes I think the world has gone completely mad. And then I think, “Aw, who cares?” And then I think, “Hey, what’s for supper?” — Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey

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Written December, 2012, last posted October, 2014:

A Failure to Germinate

Marking the days in elements of sad disarray
only holds me thrall, as I laugh while I may.
With cold, hard hands so impatient and cruel
pulling me to this vale of tears, a pathetic old fool.

Feelings sit silent, cast in shadows and light
breaking forth to implicate such vengeful might.
Just below the surface they patiently hide
to sally forth bravely, colors bright as they ride.

Tears and pain transform valued assets in hand
while comfort and serenity retreat to a far land.
Bold, bright patterns of hope garnish my ruinous state
until reality enters, full of disdainful portions of hate.

I sort out the illustrious measures of vision gone mild
only to find them transformed, now vicious and wild.
In my deepest desires I find myself calloused and cold
with faithless advocates whose souls have been sold.

My search finds little to support any hope of relief
far too much time has passed to bolster such belief.
The sad becomes real, and real becomes unfounded
until flights of such fancy are all dead, and grounded.

Nature has informed me of the newly hatched crime
of which reality boasted proudly, time after time.
The last answer we think of is always the best
as we come to terms with fate, our hope at rest.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Today’s old-school is bifunctional. It’s no surprise Spell Checker doesn’t like that word; I did just make it up, as far as I know. But, that’s true of the pearl, as well, so, hey, symmetry, right? Works for me…. Ask me sometime, & maybe I’ll remember what I meant by that….

“Grasp the whole world of reason, life and sense
In one close system of benevolence.”

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

“He said that there was one only good, namely, knowledge; and one only evil, namely, ignorance.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Socrates, xiv

“In the midst of winder I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus

“We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.” — Carl Sagan

“I have found power in the mysteries of thought.” Euripides

“Depend on no man, on no friend, but him who can depend on himself. He only who acts conscientiously towards himself will act so towards others, and vice versa.” — Lavater

Euripides says,– Who knows but that this life is really death, and whether death is not what men call life?” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Pyrrho, viii

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction, ice
Is also great
And would suffice

~~ Robert Frost ~~

~~ Fire and Ice ~~

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“Blessed is he who has learned to laugh at himself, for he shall never cease to be entertained.” — John Powell

Bwahahahahahaha!….

However, let me assure you, I mean that only in the best of ways….. And, yes. I am endlessly entertained by my own antics, in making my way through this beautiful, ugly, puzzling, simple, wonderful journey called life…. But, that’s probably just me; what do I know?…. With a bit of luck, I’ll see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Lost in the Sea of Choices

Posted on April 17, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Life is not to be bought with heaps of gold:
Not all Apollo’s Pythian treasures hold,
Or Troy once held, in peace and pride of sway,
Can bribe the poor possession of a day.

~~ Alexander Pope (1688-1744) ~~

~~ The Iliad of Homer, Book ix, Line 524 ~~

Pearl House

Aye, lost indeed…. Not that it’s anything new, or unexpected; merely a new variety of our least favorite category of feelings, to wit: a pain in the proverbial, and actual, arse. Any routine I may have had is now kaput, and the effects are beginning to register on the process, in a fashion nobody can call any version of good. Even I, with my vast store of words from which to choose, can only come up with a batch of stilted, whiny complaints that nobody, least of all, me, wishes to hear first thing in the morning….

Fuck it. I’m not going to screw around with it today. This, you may have noted, is the intro. Pearl, meet your Gentle Reader…. Gentle Reader, this is your Pearl for today…. Get on with it, both of you, or, no snacks….. I am now in full curmudgeon mode, and there’s no turning back now…. Luigi, take us out of here, stat….

Shall we Pearl?

“History has the relation to truth that theology has to religion — i.e., none to speak of.” — Lazarus Long

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Image from Disney Clip Art

Who doesn’t know and love these two little scamps? Only a few bitter people…. Enjoy, ffolkes; we can all use a break now and then….

***********************

Chip & Dale

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https://youtu.be/KFkE14vwP8o

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Written 12/22/2011:

Modern Times, Indeed

Less than Random thoughts on Modern Society

“He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.” — Confucius

“He who does neither is eligible to join the crowd as a Republican candidate for the Presidency in 2012.” — gigoid

Although there are moments, when I’m reading some new report on the latest verbal bomb from the Republican gallery of fools, that I despair for the race, I have to admit it’s really handy for us writers. Every day, sometimes several times, we are presented with a huge bounty of material by these folks, who seem to not only have the habit of shooting themselves in the foot, but seem to enjoy it, and, at best, are using it as a campaign tactic to draw attention. There isn’t even any need to go deep to look for stuff the politicos would rather we didn’t know, because they have taken it upon themselves to offer that information in their own statements, made obvious by their loquaciousness on certain subjects, and their reluctance to speak on others. It’s almost as if they are printing up pictures of themselves with arrows pointing to their most vulnerable points, and handing them out with their media packets.

I really don’t understand how so many obviously unqualified and deliberately ignorant group of people ever got the notion that they could possibly do this, when their primary distinguishing characteristics are blatant religious bigotry and racism (or in at least two cases, demonstrably sociopatchic tendencies). The only thing I can come up with is that they are completely out of touch with any sort of objective information about reality, and have determined that their own subjective judgments are sufficient reason to qualify them for the Presidency. In other words, they are delusional, as that word is defined as “continuing to hold as truth information that has been proven false.” Now, do we really want anyone who suffers from delusional thinking to be the one holding the button that launches the nuclear holocaust? I don’ know about you, but I would give that question a resounding “NO!”…..and not feel even a smidgeon of guilt…..

“[E]lections amount to little more than choosing between the scum that floats to the top of the barrel and the dregs that settle to the bottom.” — L. Neil Smith

There are at least two facets of this gem that disturb me, aside from its obvious veracity, and I can’t decide which is the more unsettling. First, the fact that it is funny is a sad commentary on our political scene; we always laugh at what hurts the most, and having to laugh about the choices we have in the political arena hurts a great deal. I’m not particularly happy about it when I have to make a choice between the lesser of two evils; no matter which is chosen, it’s still evil.

Even more disturbing to me, however, is the failure of courage this implies on the part of the general populace. Continually forced to make poor choices, the people have become resigned to low-quality leadership, and haven’t the heart to demand changes. The mere fact of existence for this ‘joke’ indicates that we, as a society, have given up, and are apathetic about which particular member of our beloved ruling class is currently stealing from us. We are so used to being bent over and violated, we walk around with no belt, and a jar of Vaseline, so it hurts less, and ends sooner….

Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp! cries she
With silent lips. Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me…

~~ Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus” ~~

In today’s tempest-in-a-teapot of political chicanery, and unbridled avarice, so-called “patriots” wander around spouting off about how proud they are to be an “Uhmurrikin”, (spelled phonetically to reflect the butchering of their native tongue), and shower us on a daily basis with their nonsensical claims and ignorant racism. How can one be proud to be American? Did you choose to be born here? No, it was an accident of birth. Your parents have the right to be proud, for having provided you with your citizenship, but you didn’t have any say in the matter, and have no reason to be proud. It’s just a false pride, stemming out of the Judeo-Christian concept of elitism so prevalent among the elitists.

I would wager a considerable sum, and give good odds, that none of the current political superstars knows where this poem is inscribed. Even if they do know, they would no doubt disagree with the idea, and will find some way to throw dirt on the sentiment displayed, because as we all know, we only want new immigrants who are white Christians with money. Persons of color, the poor, or heretics, aren’t wanted by a surprisingly large number of politicians who live on the Right side of our two point six party system.

The idea of sharing is foreign to them (pun intentional, naturally), and learning to embrace both compassion and diversity is well beyond their self-limited, and self-limiting, capabilities. Ignorance has won a lot of battles recently, in the eternal war it carries on with the forces of Reason and Knowledge. I’m thinking it’s time for the proponents of the latter to remove their gloves, and get down to the serious business of beating ignorance out of the human spirit…. We hold the keys to our final destiny in our own hands, and regardless of the outcome, we are responsible….though one would be hard-pressed to find a member of our beloved ruling class who would admit to it….

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

Written 2/19/2013:

Waiting to Find

Feeling and looking routinely fabulous,
seldom seems as hauntingly ridiculous,
scintillation is hardly more perilous,
or quite as fascinatingly anomalous.

Gaia pales in the face of redundancy,
yet welcomes elemental shades of necromancy,
never failing, episodic bouts of philanthropy,
can often be misconstrued as misanthropy.

It’s all much too fancy,
yet not sufficiently chancy,
to fulfill the promise made for pants.
It can’t be the thyme,
so it must be the rhyme.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

I’m going to be giving up on Smart Bee soon. It’s getting more difficult each day to get it to let loose of anything worthwhile… Ah well, it’s apparently got a few old-school pearls left in it, even if they’re a bit obscure in their conclusions, like this one…. Enjoy, but, don’t try too hard; I have a feeling it’s booby-trapped…. Hence the picture of Kokopelli, as a warning to examine your Reality closely when it is handed back to you….

“Imagination creates reality.” — (Wilhelm) Richard Wagner

“Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth. When perfect sincerity is expected, perfect freedom must be allowed; nor has anyone who is apt to be angry when he hears the truth, any cause to wonder that he does not hear it.” — Tacitus

“There are occasions when it is undoubtedly better to incur loss than to make gain.” — Plautus (254-184 BC) — Captivi, Act ii, Sc. 2, 77, (327.)

“A man cannot speak but he judges himself…no man thoroughly understands a truth until he has contended against it.” — Emerson

“A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.” — Eric Hoffer

“Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.” — Kahlil Gibran

Truths would you teach, or save a sinking land?
All fear, none aid you, and few understand.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ Essay on Man, Epistle iv, Line 261 ~~

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

Okay, I’m done, and glad to be so…. I enjoy this, even when it’s hard work, such as it was today…. Go figure. Any who, if nothing happens to convince me otherwise, I’ll see y’all tomorrow…. Stay alert, ffolkes, it’s getting a bit crazy out there….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Softly, softly banging drums….

Posted on April 8, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

No flies on gigoid.

This is why.

‘Twill be sufficient unto the day to say this: Axiom # 2 is more right than even I had believed…. For those unfamiliar with Peruaosophy (my own response to Sartre, Plato, and the Stoics… If they can have their own philosophy, so can I…..), Axiom #2 says: “The nature of the Universe is Change. Unpredictable, innovative transformation of Reality is the Norm. If you have a problem with this, you’re in for a rough ride in Life.” Boy, did I hit that one on the head, or what? (I should tell you: anyone who actually says, “what?” will be shot where they sit…. or stand….)

All of that being said, I’ll leave it at that, to create a bit of confusion, and/or, frustration in the Gentle Reader. I heard somewhere it’s a good technique for getting someone interested enough to read further…. How’s it working? Oh, I guess maybe talking about it kinda ruins the effect, doesn’t it? Oh, well…

I guess it’s all going to be a wash today. Not surprising, considering I’m up two hours late, and not feeling up to much (as this intro section indicates clearly, so far….) I think I’m going to have to go all executive again, to get us out of here in any reasonable amount of time, or with any degree of competence at all…. Not only that, I’ll have to do it quickly, or, I have the feeling it won’t happen at all…. Ah, I’ve got it….

Ffolkes, we’re done here, so, we’ll go on to the rest of this massive collection of farcical…. hmm. Can’t think of a single word in English that would describe what’s happening here, so, I’ll just pretend I never said any of that…. We are done here, so, we’re going to dive now, just as if we knew what we were doing…. Stay alert, ffolkes, I think you’ll need it today….

Shall we Pearl?

I saw Eternity the other night,
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright;

And round beneath it,
Time in hours, days, years,
Driv’n by the spheres

Like a vast shadow mov’d;
in which the world
And all her train were hurl’d.

~~ Henry Vaughan ~~

~~The World ~~

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

Guess who….

I’ve read just about every Sherlock story ever written, by Sir Arthur, or anyone else. I’ve watched as many of the movies as I could, too, with my favorite Sherlock played by Jeremy Brett (well, Basil Rathbone, of course, set the standard by which all the others are judged; even with that, I believe Brett was marginally superior in the role, as I feel his own personality was of a similar bent…. This video is one I haven’t watched yet; it has Peter Cushing in the title role, in one of the most entertaining stories Doyle wrote…. Enjoy!….

***********************

Sherlock Holmes ~ The Blue Carbuncle

***********************

https://youtu.be/eAPWPDL9aMU

***********************

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

Since I am so late, I cannot complete the rant I’m working on today. As is my habit, then, here is one from the archives to take its place…. It’s a bit long…. Deal with it, it’s just words….

“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

From 3/15/2013:

“Republican views of the world differ from Democratic views of the world. The reason for this is that these views are based on different compilations of misinformation.” — Smart Bee

There are moments, such as this one, when I believe the people, or person, who put together the database known to me as Smart Bee, is perhaps the most intelligent creature on this planet….. I’ve been ranting about politicians for years, trying to show people how dangerous it is to believe ANY of the stuff that either party is slinging at us to try to convince us they are worthy of our votes. Now, in one short aphorism, of two lines, we are given a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of the crap we hear from them…. Essentially, this says that every one of them is full of shit, and everything they say and do is destined to fail, because it is ALL based on incorrect information, or, to be more accurate, on unwarranted assumptions about reality…..

The most important part of this description is its impartiality of indictment. Both parties are brought into scrutiny, and found wanting, of any real knowledge of the truth, because they are both basing all of their premises on false beliefs, just for starters. Add to that, since they are politicians by choice, their genetic predisposition is to self-aggrandizement, and they show an inherent inability to tell the truth. It becomes rather easily seen why our society has become, well, insane…. It’s a short trip to crazy from where they begin the journey…. and they don’t take any detours on the road….

You see, both parties are convinced of a complete falsehood, one that humanity has been struggling with for centuries…. This lie is so basic, it colors and affects everything they do to try to manipulate the world into going the way they wish it to go. As long as they continue to try to do this, our society is doomed to failure in the long run, for the lie goes against the very nature of reality…. Simply put, these people believe they can legislate morality…. They believe that they can make laws, and people will go against their very nature to follow them, in spite of the fact that the law they propose is contrary to what comes naturally to humans, to wit: self-centered, grasping behaviors that only benefit the perpetrator, and no one else…..

We have laws against stealing…. and the most accomplished thieves we see in our culture wear suits and live in Washington D.C. We have laws against killing each other, but, people still get killed, and, if the killers do so while wearing a flag, or a badge, they are considered heroes, no matter how many they kill. We have laws that supposedly protect women, children, and the aged, from suffering abuse, but, just look around you, and you will see no end to the depredations that society allows to be perpetrated upon these three most vulnerable members of our society, all very much within the legal limits of the public morality, as given in the law books….

“[…] For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner […] on an
unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. […] That is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for us to
understand that.” — Carl Sagan

The people who get involved in politics, and religion, for much the same reason, believe they are special, and entitled to take all they can from the universe, because they are the be-all, and end-all of the evolutionary ladder. It says so right there in the Bible….. They don’t care that reality says differently, because their sense of denial has been fine-tuned since shortly after they were born, and they are capable of ignoring facts right up until they slap them in the face…. (Witness the Republican melt-down in the last Presidential election, when the Republican party got slapped in the face by their own lack of contact with reality…..)

In spite of all the massive amounts of evidence to the contrary, these folks believe in their own divine entitlement as the lords of creation, chosen by God to do with this planet as we would, without regard for any of the other creatures that live here with us, or for the beauty and balance of the land that sustains us. As far as they are concerned, other people and animals, and natural resources, are theirs to do with as they wish, with God’s blessing…. The fucking assholes…..

I apologize for the vulgarity, to my readers, but not to those at whom it is directed…. To them, I say, fuck you, and fuck you again…. I regard all politicians, priests, preachers, police, lawyers, judges, and corporate misogynists of all shapes and sizes to be INSANE…. floridly, and viciously insane, without any of the moral standards that the rest of mankind embraces. These assholes are responsible for our imminent demise through environmental destruction of the ecosphere, as well as for the endless preying on the weak and vulnerable to suit their own depravity, and lack of moral fiber.

“All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.” — Joseph Conrad

Sexual slavery, corporate collusion to fix wages and prices, legislative corruption and oppression, judicial malfeasance and more corruption, governmental incompetence, religious repression and collusion with politicians, all serve the purposes of the ruling class to a T, no matter how much suffering it causes to others…. As long as they have what they want, nothing anyone else says or does matters at all….

I hate to be a harbinger of bad news, but, I call ’em as I see ’em, and I see what is real…. None of what is wrong in the world will change, until the major portion of mankind makes a change of spirit, and the people, as a whole, decide that the few among us who are bold enough to act must, in fact, act. The evil among us will not go away, or stop, of its own accord, and waiting for them to come around to a more amenable state of mind isn’t going to work, as that just isn’t going to happen.

If we wish to survive, they have to go, and mankind must find a new way to get along with each other than the out-dated ways we have been trying for millennia… Those old ways leave too much power in the hands of people who will give in to the temptation that goes along with such power over others, and must not be allowed to happen any more, not if we wish to survive to see any future at all….. The universe doesn’t care one way or another, so we’ll have to be responsible for our own actions…. as we have always been, and have always been afraid to admit….

“If we do not permit the earth to produce beauty and joy, it will not produce food either.” — Joseph Wood Krutch

***************

Well, that was fun, eh? We’ll let Zippy have the final word….

“I feel better about world problems now!” ~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

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

I use my own work today simply because it’s there, & I don’t have to go look for it…. This is one my personal faves, as it hits very close to home for me… go figure….

Elemental, dear Watson….

Don’t worry,
it’s not
me
you hear
screaming.

It is
only
my bones,
giving in,
to
cowardly,
pathologically,
repetitive,
fucking,’
complaints
of
past abuse,
and
all the fun
we had.
playing,
hard.

I don’t mind
too much;
I can spend my
TIME
in another space
in my head,
pretending
my bones
don’t
exist….

It
is,
indeed,
a shame
they
always
come
back….

Fuck.

It
hurts.

More proof,
I guess,
either
God isn’t,
or,
He is.

He isn’t?
Oh,
Well….

Ante up.
Deal.

He is?
Then,
I don’t fucking care
who
doesn’t like it,

I say,

He
is
a bully,
a coward,
a hypocrite,
and,
truly,
an enormous asshole.

I suppose,
God
is
what comes,
to,
and
from,
People,

because

they
feel
a need,
for
someone
to
blame,
for
a
Universe
they
cannot
understand
or
accept.

I
will
take the complaints.

After all,
they
are
my bones.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

In keeping with today’s theme, the following is a pearl from a few years ago, created on another day where ranting was proscribed by circumstances completely within my control. I hope you enjoy it….

From 5/4/2013:

Ranting may or may not be on the agenda today; hard to tell what will happen out in the BBR to stimulate outrage, but, it’s a good bet I’ll see something to jerk me around…. In the meantime, I’ve got a bit of time, so we’ll go see what kind of trouble Smart Bee has up its sleeve today…..

— Bother! said Pooh, as he fell into the toilet.

“I take a simple view of life: keep your eyes open and get on with it.” — Laurence Olivier

“Always forgive your enemies– nothing annoys them so much.” — Oscar Wilde

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” — John Kenneth Galbraith

“If you don’t like yourself, you can’t like other people.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“If you are patient in a moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.” — Chinese Proverb

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it–even if I have said it–unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.” — The Buddha

Not too shabby, I’d say…. all good words on how to live; taken together, you have a recipe for peace on Earth…..

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

I’m not sure what to think of this one; I cheated unmercifully. But, it’s done; therefore, it’s done. I’m going to count my blessings, and escape before anyone can take me to task for it…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Hearken to the Call of the Mild….

Posted on April 6, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“In the vacant places, we will build with new bricks.”

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

Pastoral Urbanity

All euphemisms aside, I feel like crap. Nothing particularly vile going on; pain is a constant, of course, but, it’s not bad today. No, I believe it’s another of my physical ailments giving me its usual fits, which, though infrequent, are rather debilitating. Such being the case, this will have to go quickly, as I just don’t have a lot of energy…. SIGH…. I HATE starting the day tired & grumpy…. well, I don’t mind the grump so much, but, trying to get going when fatigued is a pain in yet another anatomical area of great renown….

Ah, well, such is life, as we say on the streets… Well, I say it a lot; other folks, not so much. Regardless, I’m losing my train of thought here, trying to decide whether to continue this farce, or throw it out & start over…. Instead, I think I’ll give up altogether. It worked so well yesterday, what the hell, eh? Let’ give it another shot….

I’m done. Go read the rest, such as it is….

Shall we Pearl?

“Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.” — D.H. Lawrence

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

Image from You Tube via Google Images

This man wrote two of the best songs ever written in the English language, yet not many know his name, aside from every musician in the recording business…. For years he was what is termed a “studio” performer, only playing with others as a musician, and allowing others to record his songs…. Then, someone heard him sing; he eventually cut a couple of albums, before he became too uncomfortable in the limelight, which he never sought at all… Among musicians, he is a legend; to the general public he is a minor footnote…. Whatever he is, I consider him one of the best…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

***********************

Fred Neil

***********************

https://youtu.be/FO6CNj5YVF8?list=PLBAAF803C0E45B369

***********************

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

Those who have been here a while will understand why Kokopelli graces the ranting section today. I’m incredibly late, besides struggling with debilitating physical issues; naturally, this means we go to the archives…. Here is an excellent rant, if a bit long….

From 12/21/2013:

Below, you will find the rant to which I referred above…. it’s another long one, thanks to the support I again found in the archives, but, it’s worth the read, for it will all point toward the rant I’m planning for tomorrow, one that will be a culmination, and a summarization, of all the rants I’ve done up to this point…. For today, please read, and pay attention to this, as it will end up being important for all of us…. a point which I hope to make clear tomorrow….

In order to achieve the proper understanding of this issue, and the following discussion, aka a ‘politirant’ of first magnitude, the article attached to the following link should be read first…. It contains some interesting information that is critical to the dialogue that may ensue, or, in any case, for a full data set to use for analyzing the issue at large…. Go ahead, we’ll wait here….

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Judge-NSA-program-is-likely-unconstitutional-5068946.php

It isn’t often this happens twice in a row, but, since I’m always attuned to the possibility of serendipity, it did…. happen twice, that is…. Below, you will find a rant I posted back in early March of this year, which, given the information contained in the article attached to the above link, is astoundingly accurate as a response to the actions demonstrated by the administration in this entire scenario….

First, let me say that I’m very, very happy that a federal judge had the courage and integrity to stand up against the tide of administrative pressure, which, as we all should realize by now, originates from the dens of the shadowy corporate masters, and special interest groups who dictate society’s course to suit themselves…. If you haven’t noted this from what you see happening everywhere in the public sector, well, I can’t convince you, but, it remains, nonetheless, the truth, well-documented in the news….

The government, of this country, and just about every other in the world, is in the control of the corporate special interests who control virtually ALL the money, and, along with that, ALL the resources needed to keep society working. It has been this way for millennia, and they are only getting better at the controls they possess over the happenings in the world around us, honed by centuries of practice and deception…. They are so good at it, virtually nobody even realizes the true nature of their control, or the extent of it…. and, that is just how they like it….

But, there are moments when a bit of progress is made in keeping at least a minimum of mankind free of much of their influence, and this ruling in a federal court is one of those moments in history…. It still remains to be seen whether the rest of the federal courts, up to and including the Supremes, will continue to see the actual truth, or whether they’ll begin to color it, too, with the paint provided by the special interest groups, in whose best interests lie the abrogation of the amendments…. For the moment, though, we can be encouraged, at least a little bit…

I was especially heartened by two parts of this report…. First, the judge acknowledged James Madison, as one of the framers of the Bill of Rights, speaking of his obvious and well-placed mistrust of just this scenario, of corporate interests dictating the abrogation of civil rights, such as in this case, the Fourth Amendment, by those in power, and how Mr. Madison would be “aghast” at how far it has come true today….

Second, I was encouraged to see the steadfast dismissal of the reasoning by the administration’s lawyers on the basis of constitutionality, as it goes to prove the contention by Eric Snowden, that the laws and policies being perpetrated by the NSA would be found to be such, to wit: illegal according to the Constitution of the United States…. which would, in turn, prove his innocence under the laws of our country, which, theoretically, rewards those who speak the truth in defense of their fellows….

Good to know SOMEONE is paying attention in the judiciary system…. even if one of the Shrubs appointed him… That, apparently, didn’t turn him away from the Constitution, unlike the POTUS who gave him the job, who was on record as thinking some of the Bill of Rights went too far in giving people certain rights….

Further than that, the arguments presented below are the correct response to the above, which also goes to prove one small point, to wit: even nine months ago, I knew something was wrong in the pictures I was seeing out in the real world…. Enjoy!….

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

From 3/2/13:

He who imitates evil always goes beyond the limits of the example, whereas he who imitates what is good, always falls short.” — Confucius

Perfect! If ever a quote could be applied to fit one group of people, this one would; it fits the folks who occupy elected office in this country like the proverbial glove. Ooh! Ooh! Here’s another one….

“Ignorance: When you don’t know something and somebody finds it out.” — Jethro Burns

Okay, that’s a good start…. Now, we all know that politicians lie to us…. It’s what we’ve taught them to do, by our calm acceptance of all the other lies they’ve told, from the very beginning. We expect them to lie…. then, when we catch them at it, there is this huge public outcry, as if it had never happened before….. (Shakes head, sighs….)

Sometimes, the behavior of the American public toward the political beast reminds me of a shark…. to wit: no memory of the past to slow down their willingness to rush into dangerous situations…. For millions of years, sharks and dolphins have lived together in the oceans. For just about all that time, whenever a shark attacks a dolphin, it gets killed, unless the dolphin is injured in some way, or, it is a baby inadvertently left alone. Always, if things are even, the shark dies, because the dolphins are smarter, and faster swimmers.

After millions of years, you would think the sharks might learn to let them alone, but, they don’t, which is evidence of their lack of ability to learn. The American voting public has the same problem…. they never learn to expect to be lied to, and always seem surprised to learn that their elected officials are, shall we say, less than perfectly honest? It, quite frankly, drives me nuts…. What is it about people that does that to them? Why are they so unwilling to use the mind that sits between their ears, rather than just carrying it around from toilet to toilet, which is all most folks seem to do with it? I wish I knew….

“There is one way to find out if a man is honest – ask him. If he says yes, you know he is crooked.” — Groucho Marx

I’m starting to feel a bit of anger, actually, and I have a hard time not letting it out on the voting public, the idiots. But, it really isn’t all their fault, as the people who run for office are the ones who are actively imitating evil, and, obviously, exceeding the limits of their example. And the voting public can’t help never being able to quite reach the good for which they reach. This is why I get angry about it…. The folks who run for office tell the public they are going to work for the people when they are elected; we all know they are lying, but we elect them anyway. Now, how stupid is that? Pretty stupid, in my book….

On the one hand, the stupidity displayed by the politicians is deliberate, in its adherence to principles of theft and prevarication; on the other hand, the stupidity displayed by the voting public is, perhaps, not deliberate, but at minimum, misguided, and, ultimately, just as evil, in placing its trust in evil people. In the dispassionate view held by the universe, stupid is as stupid does, and the sentence of death is the same for both types of stupidity, deliberate and unconscious. It doesn’t care about why, it only looks at results….

What can be done about this? Not a damn thing…. Not only do I find that most people are unconsciously stupid, but they are stubborn about it, even when it is clear how being stupid is hurting them. Rather than use their minds to find a new way of dealing with these issues, they retreat into platitudes and dogma, and run right back out to vote for another idiot who promises them manna from heaven, or, more accurately, from Washington D.C. If confronted with their idiocy, they become even more stubborn, as they are unwilling to accept they might be wrong, and refuse to either examine any evidence of being wrong, or, will deny its existence altogether. (See quote # 4 in section one, above… Plato knew this about people, hundreds of years before Jesus was born….)

The politicians, who choose to live in stupidity, by lying and cheating and stealing from their own people, don’t even WANT to choose otherwise. Why should they? They’ve got it easy, with a ready supply of host bodies on which to practice their symbiotic parasitism, a body that not only accepts all their lies, but encourages them to even further depredations with their complete acquiescence with whatever the politicos want. All the politicians have to say is that the public is in danger, from this, that, or the other, and the public will allow them to do whatever they choose, as long as they feel safe from whatever fictional fantasy they have been told is dangerous….

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift; the rational mind is faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” — Albert Einstein

It’s an interesting spectacle to observe from the sidelines, but it arouses in me a strong feeling of sadness, with the anger underlying, as I watch, day after day, as so many millions of foolish people get taken advantage of by a few assholes. It definitely makes me want to buy a gun, even though I would only use it if pressed; I have a feeling I may get pressed some day, if I continue to make noise about all this.

I’m fairly well protected thus far by a lack of notoriety; the BRC and the PTB aren’t going to worry about me until I have an audience a lot larger than a couple of hundred folks, of which perhaps fifty regularly read my work. If what I am saying began to gain popularity, and was being read by millions, I’d be in danger; until then, I’m as safe as I can make myself with the tools at hand; which, if I say so myself, are not entirely inconsequential….. If I said any more, I’d be giving away my precautions, and that wouldn’t do, so, just rest assured…. I am ready to deal with anything short of assault weapons, with what I have on hand….

“Many, if not all, of my presidential opponents are certifiable idiots.” — Miriam Defensor Santiago — The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1993

See? I’m not completely alone! Actually, if you pay close attention, you will note this was uttered by a politician, about their peers, so it really doesn’t count as support of what I’m saying here. What, exactly am I saying here? Hmm, okay, since I’ve already written about 1200 words or so on this, it’s a good place to wind it up…. so, here goes….

Ffolkes, you are being lied to, daily…. hell, more like hourly, by those who have been elected to office to look out for your interests. I hate to tell you, but those folks never intended to do anything of the sort. So, it would be a good thing if everybody in this country would OPEN THEIR FUCKING EYES AND GET A DAMN CLUE!!!!!….. I don’t think I can say it any clearer than that…. That’s all, for now….

“Ignorance kills daily. “– Smart Bee

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

Roses for Noses

I have a bozoid personality, of the first degree;
nobody, I mean nobody, knows that better than me.
I often wonder, as the world goes around, and around
how many others have realized just what I’ve found….

I know for a fact, I’m not the only bozoid one;
too many people laughing out there, having fun.
Is their laughter, though, at themselves first?
Or is it some other impulse, like purple liverwurst”….

I’ve always loved to make others laugh and giggle,
since my tender youth, when my ears began to wiggle.
The world is full of humor, but not always easy to find
so laughing at myself I learned never to mind….

We bozos know each other, here, there, and everywhere
there’s no hiding such joy, it just wouldn’t be fair.
We all have one feature, our great bulbous nose,
and there’s no doubt at all, cuz it just grows….

There’s nothing like a good, big mistake, a disaster,
to show us the folly of living life faster and faster.
Nothing in the world can ever take the place,
of seeing in the mirror, a happy, smiling face….

Don’t be shy, just let it all hang out;
we bozos have more fun, there’s no doubt.
Life’s too somber and gray if we let it get on top
if we don’t stay loose, the pain won’t ever stop….

My advice to all of you, out there in the world,
let noses grow round & red, keep hair tightly curled.
Find a way to let your spirit out often to play,
you’ll never once regret any price you pay.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

I’m not sure about this old-school pearl; the parameters weren’t set solidly before beginning to search. It seems my subconscious had something to say, but, it sure escapes me what that might be. The only thing I can figure is, all of them would produce the reaction you see in the above picture of the laughing monk, even if each one were told to Buddha himself…..

“All time in all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all bugs in amber.” — Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Slaughter-House 5

“Cato said the best way to keep good acts in memory was to refresh them with new.” — Francis Bacon (1561-1626) — Apothegms, No, 247

“Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.” — Sigmund Freud

“I have a grip on reality, just not this particular one.” — Liberated directly from the subconscious mind of gigoid, the dubious, articulated by Smart Bee, in Telepathic Mode

“It is important to do what you don’t know how to do. It is important to see your skills as keeping you from learning what is deepest and most mysterious. If you know how to focus, unfocus. If your tendency is to make sense out of chaos, start chaos.” — Carlos Casteñeda

“How prone to doubt, how cautious are the wise!” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Odyssey of Homer, Book xiii, Line 375

“When the fox gnaws — smile.’ — Lazarus Long in Robert A. Heinlein’s Time Enough For Love

31. Read between the lines. — Instructions for life

“All mimsy were the borogoves.” — Lewis Carroll

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

Don’t ask me where I’m going,
Just listen when I’m gone
And far away you’ll hear me singing softly to the dawn

~~ Pippin ~~

Well, it’s done, thankfully…. Rather than dwell on whether it was worthwhile, I’m going to go…. elsewhere, to do something else. I will, most surely, see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Days of beer and pansies….

Posted on March 23, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Happiness is a state of mind. Not happy? Change your mind.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

Artist’s rendition of Mars, millions of years in the past

Image from Space.com

Today’s Pearl will be quite short, consisting of an intro, and a closing. I don’t feel well; without going in to details, I feel unwell enough to keep me from writing any more than this. What’s more, I find myself without any compelling reason to fight back enough to get posted with a normal-looking Pearl. In fact, I am going to take an actual break, of at least two days, to give myself a chance to overcome what ails me, and to find my muse, who seems to have taken a powder, as the saying goes.

Since I really don’t have much to say other than that, I’ll leave you to get started on my days off. Below, you’ll find one pearl, which is actually a reprint of the Pearl for a date in 2011, a couple months after I first started posting on WordPress. In a couple of days, I’m sure I’ll feel better, and be back with new energy, and commitment to excellence…. or, something resembling excellence, at least….

That’s all, ffolkes. Y’all have a nice couple days, & I’ll see y’all on the flip side….. I’m going to take Smart Bee’s advice, above, and go change my mind….

Shall we Pearl?

“Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.” — Dalai Lama

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

From 9/17/2011:

Picking out today’s Pearls turned out to be a marathon. Just couldn’t find the right stuff to lead off a lazy Sunday. So, we’ll have to wing it…. Hmmm…..nothing is rising to the surface. Even stirring the contents briskly has nothing sticking to the spoon. I suppose we could take a few moments here for an advertisement disclaimer, but, it being Sunday, I don’t much feel like diving back in to the oyster beds to find where I left it. I could go nonsensical; that’s always fun. But Lewis Carroll did that already, and I don’t much feel like trying to out-Jabberwock a dead author. I suppose I should find a newsworthy event to share, or comment on the current political scene, but I also don’t feel like putting on the necessary high-top boots for wading around in that filthy pool. It stinks, also, and I’m out of nasal plugs. Well, this means we will be going to last resort tactics, and saying just this; today’s Pearls are being brought to you by your generous donations, and by a grant from the Idiosyncratic Corporation, makers of fine eccentric philosophies, which come complete with a full line of optional accessories……

I stared into the abyss. The abyss stared into me. Neither of us liked what we saw.

“Adulthood, one could say, is when it begins to occur to you that you may not be leading a charmed life.” — Adam Phillips

And Katerfelto, with his hair on end
At his own wonders, wondering for his bread.
‘T is pleasant, through the loopholes of retreat,
To peep at such a world,–to see the stir
Of the great Babel, and not feel the crowd.

~~ William Cowper — The Task, Book iv, The Winter Evening, Line 86 ~~

“Beware the man of one book.” — St. Thomas Aquinas

“Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation. Stupidity is not a sin; the victim can’t help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.” — Robert A. Heinlein — Lazarus Long

WARNING: The Meaning Of Life Is Subject To Change Without Notice.

Whoa, there big fella! Whew! Almost couldn’t get it to stop…..’tis a fine day for nonsense, don’t you think? Have fun with it, and y’all take care out there….

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

Okay, ffolkes, I’m done, and damn lucky, too, to have finished prior to an internal explosion…. and, ’nuff said on that! I’m outta here. I’ll see y’all in a couple of days…. I’m shooting for Wednesday, or Thursday; look for a new Pearl then….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Ode to a Grecian fern….

Posted on March 17, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“His own character is the arbiter of every one’s fortune.”

~~ Publius Syrus (42 BC) ~~

~~ Maxim 283 ~~

3 owls in Russia-Olga Maltseva-AFP-Getty Images

Chased by all the demons of Hell, I awoke. Having spent much of the night running from the hosts of Hell, I awoke, to find myself once again deep in the throes of confusion, made worse by nausea, thanks to my traveling balance crystals, which have chosen this morning to go for a spin. Rather than return to the steeplechase, wherein I was the fox, I got up, stumbled out to boot up, and began to write…. Just my luck the only idea in my head has more to do with murder than literature…. Who do I want to murder? Oh, take your pick, it’s a long list….

I had hoped I’d gotten past this morning angst related to this intro section, but, apparently not. Oh well. I don’t have the chutzpah today to worry about it. Fortunately for me, about half this Pearl got done before I got up, so, we may yet meet our personal demands for publication by a certain hour. Of course, there’s no guarantee, given or implied, we’ll ever make it out of this section, though the odds are in our favor there. Despite all the problems I find obstructing the way during this process, we do get it done each day…. Well, it’s done, as long as we don’t try to call it anything like “good” or even “okay”….. I think “inoffensive” is the best we can hope for….

Nonetheless, here we are, so, I may as well try to make it something worth wasting a bit of time to peruse over your morning coffee or tea. In order to do so, however, I think I’m going to have to make another executive decision as to timing, to get us down to the next section. I know it’s not exactly kosher, but, I’m not of the Tribe, so, that isn’t a factor for me. Besides, I LIKE pork…. and, I like meat on Fridays, too, so, all you priestly types can just forget it…. Forget what? Hell, why ask me? I just type here….

Speaking of typing, I think I’ve typed quite enough for one morning; any more along these lines, and we could find ourselves in court again. I swear, when we started this, we never thought our legal budget was going to take up such a large part of the overall cost of business…. But, I guess that’s life in the modern world; the lawyers are entitled to their cut of my money, according to the rules we all play by…. Well, that’s how they’d like us all to behave, anyway…. Ah hell, see? I can’t even rant effectively right now…. ARGH!

Fuck it, ffolkes. I’m outta here. I can’t deal with trying to make this right, and it’s too late for that anyhow. Hang on to your hats, because I’m telling the pilot to take us in hot…. PUT THAT DOWN!…. That will be enough of that, thank you. Now, if y’all don’t mind, we will now take our leave, and go find something else to do, that won’t make us look so funny, or get us in any worse trouble than we’re already in…. Again, I say, fuck it….

Shall we Pearl?

“I’m not a teacher only a fellow traveller of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead – ahead of myself as well as of you.” — George Bernard Shaw, “Getting Married,” 1908

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

Jennifer Warnes ~ Image from allmusic.com/Google images

http://www.jenniferwarnes.com/

I’m not sure how many ffolkes, or folks, will remember this lady. I know many will know her voice when hearing it, for she was part of a song duet which became a cultural icon during the 60’s, and, in fact, was one of the better known performers of that time, at least, among us hippies. This was because she was a contemporary, and frequent co-performer with many of the biggest names in music of that time, including Mimi Fariña, Joan Baez, Linda Ronstadt, and, her best known collaborator from that era, Bill Medley, of the Righteous Brothers, with whom she sang the duet in the incredible “I Had the Time of My Life”, as revived for the movie, “Dirty Dancing”. She has also collaborated a lot with Leonard Cohen, whose work we highlighted here a short time ago… Enjoy, ffolkes; this lady can SING!….

***********************

Jennifer Warnes

***********************

https://youtu.be/bPlpxHhzSp0?list=PLfb5wJhuBA28GTLiTWlwzMLO8f9Z9v4na

***********************

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

As noted above, I don’t have much going on this morning that isn’t tinged by a bit of incipient nausea; ranting is out of the question. This one from a few years ago will have to do for today…. Oddly enough, nothing much is changed from when this was first posted…. go figure….

From 6/6/2012:

“Let us, then, fellow citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of a bitter and bloody persecution.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

See! They warned us, and we still didn’t listen! Almost every one of the men who were involved in the writing of the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights, at one time or another in the ensuing years, wrote a letter or essay discussing this very idea. They had just fought a long, hard battle to set up the safeguards for the freedoms we now supposedly enjoy, and were nervous that what they had accomplished would be lost in the future, due to the machinations of those among the human herd who make it their habit to prey on the rest of the group.

Corporations, and the politicians who take their money in return for legislation favoring those corporations, were considered just as dangerous to liberty as were religions; Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, Mason, Adams, and a host of others all wrote their own version of warnings to their ancestors, naming rapacious corporate entities among the most dangerous enemies against which to guard. These men, who had already risked everything to create the nation we live in, had no desire to see that nation fall to internal enemies, and were careful to make sure that we would know…

But, nobody listened, and, now we are reaping what we have sown. Corporations control Congress. If you believe otherwise, you are delusional, quite simply. It is only necessary to go down the list of those who have been elected, and tally up how their votes go on issues that concern the control of corporate activities. It becomes perfectly clear that NO legislation that seriously hinders what corporations are allowed to do in their pursuit of profit will ever be enacted.

If something that appears to be beneficial to the public does get voted in, you can bet there are codicils and amendments to the bill that essentially emasculate any attempts to curtail profit. Congress hasn’t enacted any laws beneficial to the public in over 75 years, that I can see, and I invite anyone to show me one bill that did so. Just one…. then we can discuss how long it took to find it…. and what THAT little item of information means….

Back in the mid-nineteenth century in America, a corrupt Federal judge was paid by corporate interests to make a ruling that, in essence, gave corporations “person-hood”, making them legal entities entitled to all the protection of the laws that govern individuals. Essentially, this gave these businesses the “right” to a profit, and allows them to charge their customers for any expenses they wish, no matter how egregious or outlandish, and their right to that is protected by law.

Every legal decision challenging that personhood has been defeated in the intervening years, on those few occasions when anyone has tried to throw off the chains the law has placed on us all. The amount of money spent on lobbying, to control the laws that get made, far exceeds what is spent on education, healthcare, or almost any other publicly beneficial programs, and in the eyes of the 1%, it is money well-spent…..

Now, PAC’s for both the Democratic corporations, and the Republican corporations (yes, they are…. there is no real difference between the corporations and the pundits they have paid for; they’re speaking the same language, and have the same goals….) are all set to spend BILLIONS of dollars, dollars originally ripped out of YOUR pockets for stuff you don’t really want or need, to spread lies, misinformation, accusations, and prestidigitation around the public airways until we are all sick of it…..

Well, until some of us are…. I’m sick of it already, and they haven’t really ramped it up yet….. I think I’m going to go buy some aspirin to go along with my other pain medications; I can feel a headache coming on, and I don’t think it will let up until December….

“I speak truth, not so much as I would, but as much as I dare; and I dare a little the more as I grow older.” — Michael de Montaigne

So be it.

gigoid has spoken.

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

I don’t know why, but, this one seems appropriate for today’s Pearl….

Accentuated Lessons

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

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

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

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

Peace lies within, always…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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

This is what I would call a pearl of philosophy, for lack of anything more classy or brilliant. It has been specially constructed to conform to the highest standards of truth, as well as ethically and physically centered for your convenience; the purpose is to encourage using what you read, and ponder, to center your mind, and your spirit…. It can’t hurt to try, now, can it?….. I can tell you from personal experience, if you do it right, it works…. But, then, not everybody CAN do it; nothing wrong with that, as each one will work toward the same purpose in your mind, whether you know it or not…. Truth is like that; yeah, it is….

“Alone, I look down the road. Each must walk one’s own path.”

~~ 365 Tao ~~

“You live and learn. Or you don’t live long.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

“I do not believe in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.”

~~ Thomas Carlyle ~~

“Nothing in human affairs is worth any great anxiety.”

~~ Plato ~~

“Without civic morality communities perish; without personal morality their survival has no value.”

~~ Bertrand Russell ~~

“Don’t be afraid to feel as angry or as loving as you can, because when you feel nothing, it’s just death.”

~~ Lena Horne ~~

“To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.”

~~ Buddha~~

“Intellect annuls fate. So far as a man thinks, he is free.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

“Truth needs no flowers of speech.”

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

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

“Hopelessly lost, but making good time…” — David Letterman

Boy, that’s us, to a T! However, not only are we hopelessly lost, but, we have arrived, so, we can say we made good time, for sure… Hell, I’m not sure I’m all the way awake yet, so, I can only assume being done is the right thing to do….

Hmm… You know what? In looking back over that last sentence or two, I think it’s just as well we ARE done. Any more of this and we could be arrested for assault with an empty weapon. Since I can’t afford any more time in court, I’m definitely outta here for today. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can’t figure out a way out of it….

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

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loo.se.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Misfiring on all cylinders….

Posted on March 15, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality.”

~~ Jules de Gaultier ~~

OMG! So SCARY!… Dragon Style Tai Chi!

So much for good intentions…. Having slept two full hours past my normal time to awake, I’m running WAY behind. As would be expected, this condition produces a mild feeling of panic, which I must throw aside, ignoring it to the best of my ability, if I am to have any hope of getting this done. Especially considering the state of mind I find myself in, which somewhat resembles a bowl of oatmeal…. Bland, inoffensive, and BORING…. even if it’s good for you…

So far as I can tell, that oatmeal isn’t overcooked, though, so, there is hope we may yet find our way into the body of today’s Pearl. Of course, that assumes I have the wherewithal to even produce something resembling our normal output. I’m not certain, exactly, how I’m getting THIS done, as I really don’t know what the hell I’m doing, or where I am going with this. More so than even our ‘normal’ state, we are somewhat befuddled, like a sloth awakened from a short sleep, blinking confusedly at the light, wondering just what or who I am…. SIGH….

Oh well. It’s been worse, I suppose, though I can’t recall when that might have been; past, present, future are all dark to me. In fact, so dark, rather than fumble around any further, with no clue as to what may occur next, I think I’ll use this handy, dandy plot device I found laying here, to get us out of this poorly conceived, yet hopefully mundane effort to distract y’all from the actual mess we’ve come to inhabit. I can’t do anything about the excessive sweating y’all had to undergo, but, I will loan y’all some deodorant to get you home without offending your car’s co-inhabitants.

In addition, we won’t charge any extra for the extra time it takes to clean off the debris from your clothing; it is, after all, our own fault, for trying to keep up with the times. Sad to say, we’ve never been able to catch up, but, it’s fun to keep trying. Since I can’t think of a single thing to do to keep this up any longer, I suggest you hang on….. this will be a very sharp, fast dive back into reality, where we may once again set our imaginations free…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Remember, ‘nowhere’ is also ‘now here’.” — Smart Bee

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

When my soul needs uplifting, there is nothing like this woman’s music to lift us up…. I have been madly in love with her for almost 50 years…. Brilliant guitarist, red hair, a gorgeous smile. and the voice of an angel…. What’s not to love? I give you the woman I call the finest female musician of the past century…. Ms. Bonnie Raitt….

***********************

BONNIE RAITT Live in Germany 1992

***********************

https://youtu.be/FeprNTw9Wcc

***********************

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

From 1/29/2015:

“A power has risen up in the government greater than the people themselves, consisting of many and various and powerful interests, combined into one mass, and held together by the cohesive power of the vast surplus in the banks.” — Johann L. Uhland (1787-1862) — Speech, May 27, 1836

Zowie! Eureka! I knew I’d heard this somewhere before, but, couldn’t remember the author’s name. In stating this observation, made not long after the US government was formed, the author takes the hand of Thomas Jefferson, who expressed his fear of exactly this happenstance, in numerous letters to friends before, and after, the signing of the Constitution. He recognized the overpowering ambition and thirst for power so obvious in those who embrace it, attempting to warn his fellow citizens, many times….

As is plain to see, nobody paid the slightest attention, whereupon the bankers, in close conjunction with their myrmidons, i.e., the pundits and lawyers, continued to pursue their evil intent, to secure their hold over government, and, thus, society…. They’ve been so successful, we see in today’s world, they control every level of the national scene; witness the number of Republican presidential candidates who have been sucking up to the Koch brothers, and the Citizens United PAC, with their unlimited pile of money, in use in today’s world buying the loyalty of every single politician they can pervert to their insane desire to make the world over in their own image…. It doesn’t seem to matter at all to them that image is a clear, crisp photograph of the worst HELL imaginable, or that it would entail oppressing 99% of the human race….

Why are many scientists using lawyers for medical experiments instead of rats?

a) There are more lawyers than rats.

b) The scientist’s don’t become as emotionally attached to them.

c) There are some things that even rats won’t do for money.

~~ Smart Bee ~~

Gee, do ya think I’ve lost some of my respect for lawyers, and their second-slimiest clients, the bankers? (First place in my hell is reserved for pimps, and those who abuse women, children, or animals…. which, of course, lawyers and bankers do by proxy, with their usual complete indifference to the suffering of others….) Why no, of course not. I’ve lost ALL of it, with what I consider damn good reason, based on 64 years of observing the human drama, along with my own personal experience with both categories of asshole…. The only respect for any of them I have, is for those who actually HELP people, without considering what they can get out of it, other than their own satisfaction for helping people find justice, and a reasonable fee for that help, whether the fee is taken in pies & chickens, eternal gratitude, or simply cash….

In keeping with today’s theme of picking on lawyers and bankers, and, to save energy for my upcoming battle, I decided to pick out an old school pearl, aimed at the former, as they’re an easier target, all in all…. They’re just SO…… weaselly! Well, there are some are exceptions, sure, but, the others infest the world so prominently, the good ones are hard to find…. Ah well, here are some observations about them, from Smart Bee, and a number of other people who feel the same as most everybody else, about those lawyers who use their skills to benefit themselves, showing complete indifference as to whether it benefits anyone else….

Liar, n.: A lawyer with a roving commission. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“A group of white South Africans recently killed a black lawyer because he was black. That was wrong. They should have killed him because he was a lawyer.” — A. Whitney Brown

“Always take a lawyer with you, and bring another lawyer to watch him.” — Bo Diddly’s Observation on the Law

“Fleas can be taught nearly everything a lawyer can.” — Smart Bee

“Here’s an amazing story. A man in Orlando, Florida, was hit by eight cars in a row and only one stopped. The first seven drivers thought he was a lawyer. The eighth was a lawyer.” — Jay Leno

“If a lawyer and an IRS agent were both drowning, and you could only save one of them, would you go to lunch or read the paper?” — Smart Bee

“In a man’s world…simian aptitudes are rated high, and so not too many women get in. To succeed as a lawyer, for example, a woman would have to throttle two of her chief attributes: her disdain for the petty accumulations of useless knowledge, and her sharp feeling for the truth. What men in their imbecility consistently mistake for a deficiency of intelligence in women is merely an incapacity for mastering small and trivial tricks.” — H. L. Mencken, Chicago _Sunday Tribune_, January 8, 1928

“In the Norse mythology Loki originally was on the side of the rest of the gods, helping them once or twice using particularly nasty forms of trickery. He was a cunning negotiator with a talent for technicalities. He was sort of the Norse equivalent of a lawyer, no doubt the reason they tied him down in a pit dripping acidic venom on him.” — Martin Terman

“How many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb? You won’t find a lawyer who can change a light bulb. Now, if you’re looking for a lawyer to screw a light bulb… ” — Smart Bee

LAWYER: A professional advocate hired to bend the law on behalf of a paying client; for this reason considered the most suitable background for entry into politics. — Definition from “THE CYNIC’S DICTIONARY”

Needless to say, I could do this forever, no sweat, or guilt; there are already nine pearls, and I’ve only used three of the ten pages of quotes I’ve collected on the subject. But, I suppose there ARE more productive things we could all be doing. This is pretty cool, but, as with all good things, it can’t last forever…. Onward, into the day….

Oh, hell…. Naturally, AFTER I’ve finished, I find the PERFECT pearl for this group. Since we’ve already completed it, I’ll just tack it here on the end, where it will enjoy its highlighted position; I call it perfect because it takes a shot at two categories at once, both of which are current players in my personal drama…. This one tells it like it is, for sure and for certain….

“Doctors are the same as lawyers; the only difference is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you too.” — Anton Chekhov

gigoid has spoken…

So be it.

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

In order to avoid blame, and keep to the now ruined schedule, here is another of my older poems….

Fine and Good, Good and Fine

A pig in a poke’s got nothing on me,
cuz I’m as confused as a man can be.
This ol’ world’s got me spinnin’ around
cussin’ and spittin’, a penny for a pound.

Forty ‘leven times since I was a kid, well,
I’ve fallen in love, ‘least too close to tell.
Every damn time, it all went to crap,
Forty ‘leven times I’ve felt like a sap.

‘Course, each time it happens, I forget the last;
why not? I’m havin’ such a blast….
Livin’ in each moment, filled with joie de vivre,
’til it’s all gone away again, nothin’ left up my sleeve.

Don’t want y’all to think I’m sad or blue,
life’s full of sorrow, lots for me, and/or you..
T’other side of that coin, we can be glad,
is joyful love, and that ain’t at all bad.

My road’s been littered with parts o’my heart,
each one colored with trust, which ain’t always smart.
Yet, long as I don’t lose my connection to joy,
I’ll find my own true love, and be a happy boy.

It’s been some kinda fun, even when I’d take a fall,
and doin’ it over makes no sense at all, at all
Day after day, I keep on keepin’ on, as it’s said;
Guess I’ll keep on doin’ that ’til I’m dead.

‘Nuff said….

~~ gigoid, tongue firmly in cheek ~~

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

So, I have no idea where this pearl came from…. I found it sitting here when I came down to start on this section. I’m not entirely sure what it’s saying, but, it definitely has something to say…. I’d pay attention, if I were y’all… there might be something in there more important than it seems at first read…. It won’t be on the Quiz, unless, of course, they’re lying to me, too….. Ah well, it’s a fun read, anyway, so, enjoy!….

“The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.” — Plato (BC 427?-347?)

“I know now that there’s one thing you’ve all overlooked: intelligence and education that hasn’t been tempered by human affection isn’t worth a damn.” — Daniel Keyes, “Flowers for Algernon”

“Everything is leaf, and through this simplicity the greatest diversity becomes possible.” — Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832)

“All cats are NOT gray after midnight. Endless variety …” — Lazarus Long

“If it is not seemly, do it not; if it is not true, speak it not.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, xii, 17

“We become wiser by adversity; prosperity destroys our appreciation of the right.” — Seneca

“Living Dead the path is chosen; to live forever is to die forever. To not know when you’ll die is to find life wherever you are.” — Alagad

“The chief aim of wisdom is to enable one to bear with the stupidity of the ignorant.” — Xystus I

Ne te confundant illegitimi (Don’t let the bastards get you down…) (alt: Don’t let illusion confuse you…) (Literal: lest you confuse Illegitimate) — Smart Bee

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

Well…. Considering this Pearl was composed and created from relative scratch in just under 58 minutes, it came out fairly well…. I’m not going to even THINK about proofing, as it might take longer than the original creation. Y’all know what that means; you are hereby released from any further need to remain on the premises; all legal action has been canceled. Me, I’m outta here, before I change my mind…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

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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Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Robert Heinlein

Days of beer and pansies….

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