Even this holiday is one where we see the beginning salvos in the Christmas shopping wars…. Hell, this year, not for the first time, they’re not even waiting until after Thanksgiving to begin the seasonal campaign for our dollars, inundating the TV world with commercials touting the latest popular gifts for the season, with Santa, the talking M&M’s, and Rudolph all making their initial TV appearances a full week before this holiday arrives. Four days ago, I saw the same M&M Christmas commercial as has been shown for 10 years running now, where two of the talking candies meet Santa, causing Santa and the green M to faint…. It’s cute, but, having seen it hundreds, perhaps thousands of times over the years, it’s become a bit scary….

Ah well, I’m up a  bit late, and I don’t feel like ranting as yet, so, we’ll let the crass commercialism that marks this time of year go by without comment, for the time being…. I’m sure, before the actual arrival of the fated day, I’ll have a word or two to add to the public discussion on the season. I can feel it building up angst as I type this, so, it shouldn’t take long for it to boil over onto the screen… I’m kinda looking forward to it this year, what with all the other crap going on; it will provide a bit of relief from the same old crap being pulled by those who prey on society, to wit: the beloved ruling class and the dogma dogs….

I had my Thanksgiving meal with my kids last Saturday, so they can  be with their Mom today, if they wish, or with their other extended families, so, I’ll be chilling out, & will perhaps catch a college football game or two, if any are on…. The professional games tend to bore me, of late, since they’re such a cash-cow for the owners; the game has become stilted and predictable…. Any more, I only watch the last couple of minutes of the pro games, as it is the only part that really matters…. College games, however, remain unpredictable, due to the effects of enthusiasm on the players, which can seriously affect a game’s outcome, as one team may display a degree of will power and expertise beyond their normal levels, because they are so pumped up with team spirit….

The rest of today’s Pearl may be either short, or taken from the archives to save time; I’m being slow today, and it’s getting late…. Ah well, it’ll all come out in the wash, and tomorrow’s another day, n’est pas? For today, I think we’ll do this….

Shall we Pearl?

“One would like to stroke and caress human beings, but one dares not do so, because they bite.” — Vladimir Lenin

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It’s a day for comedy, I think, and, who better to combine humor and poking fun at society, than this man?…. The link provided will take you to a You Tube page where many more of his shows can be seen…. Enjoy, ffolkes, we’ll never see his like again….

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“Heaven and earth were created all together in the same instant, on October 23rd, 4004 B.C. at nine o’clock in the morning.” — Dr. John Lightfoot, — Vice-chancellor of Cambridge University

I’ve seen this quote before, and always felt like it would be a great start for a rant against the dogma dogs, as it establishes, and pretty well, the sheer, deliberately obstinate refusal to use their own brain, such as they possess, by those who engage in religious zealotry. However, it’s a day to be thankful, rather than vituperative, so, I’ll pick a milder rant from the archives to fill in today…. We’ll get back to taking our shots at them in real-time in a day or two…. For now, here is one from the past, which will serve the purpose nicely….

From 3/6/2013:

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. {2} If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. {3} If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. {4} Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. {5} It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. {6} Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. {7} It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. {8} Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. {9} For we know in part and we prophesy in part, {10} but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. {11} When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. {12} Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. {13} And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” — 1 Corinthians 13 NIV

It is such a shame that the Bible has to be regarded as divinely inspired, in my mind. There are a number of passages in the various books by different authors that display a deep insight into human nature, and, like the one above, beautifully give to man words of such truth they can form the basis of one’s entire world-view. Insisting that such ideas are only possible to God, to me, isn’t realistic, nor is it true. I’ve known a number of people I would consider very wise, who have never even heard of the Christian God…. so, where does that fit into the picture?….

No, from what I can tell from reading it, most, or, okay, I’ll be fair, much, of what is written, most especially those parts intended as dogmatic proclamations, are more human in origin, obviously, than they are divinely inspired. The premises all favor the church over the individual, and submission of each individual to dogma is required of the faithful; that much is apparent in every statement that asserts God’s authority over Man as Creator. It’s obvious to me, anyway…. I could never figure out why God, who could make universes, needed me to fall down on my knees and humble myself….. What kind of sick thrill does he get from that? I know that anyone who acts in a subservient manner to me makes me uncomfortable, and feel like I want to kick them, and tell them to stand up and show some pride…. or at least some dignity….

Any who, in the Bible, there is all this good advice, and good ideas, like the one above…. but, in order to find them, one must wade through all the nonsensical stuff that the priestly hierarchies would have us believe is “written by the hand of God”…. Much more likely t’was the hand of Guido, or Antonio, I would think, at the insistence of assholes like Paul, and Peter, those evil men who barely waited until Jesus was underground to start perverting his teachings…. I’ll bet they were a bit surprised to have to wait until after he rose, and left again, before getting down to the business of altering texts, twisting meanings, and generally setting things up to suit themselves, all with the convenient authority he so trustingly gave them….

Not for nothing is it said that Jesus was an innocent…. He believed he could trust his disciples, forgetting entirely they are human, and will act out of self-interest FIRST, every time, when it comes to morality…. Hell, soon after he died, all twelve of the disciples went their own ways, and began the task of creating the thousand and one different sects based on the teachings of Christ that exist today…. or at least, setting the stage for their creation…. There WERE only twelve of them to start with…. Even with that, it takes a while to split it all up to the point we now see today, with thousands of separate churches, all based on one or another of the basic core principles Jesus left behind as legacy, and all interpreted through the lenses of each person’s glasses, colored in self-interest….

Ah well, at least if one has the patience to look, some good things can be found in the Bible…. I just wish that people would learn not to take it so seriously… because, I’m sorry to have to tell them this, but, God doesn’t publish books, nor does He (as I understand the concept of Him….) use ghost writers….. In fact, I should think that, if such an entity had something to tell us, He might make it pretty obvious where the message came from, and what it meant…. otherwise, what would be the point? If nothing else, I would expect a God to be, at minimum, logical…..

Okay, I’m done….

“Due to intense mind fog all thoughts have been grounded.” — Smart Bee

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I’m still late, even with using all the short-cuts I could make or find, but, we’ve made up a little bit of time, so, let’s see if SB can fill in the rest of today’s effort with some fresh pearls for our perusal….

“Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.” — Lauren Bacall

“Were it possible for us to see further than our knowledge reaches, and yet a little way beyond the outworks of our divination, perhaps we would then  endure our sorrows with greater confidence than our joys.  For they are the moments when something new has entered us, something unknown; our feelings grow mute in shy perplexity, everything in us withdraws, a stillness comes, and the new, which no one knows, stands in the midst of it and is silent.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

“It is not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that make horseraces.” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), from Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar(1894)

“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.” — Helen Keller

“All kings is mostly rapscallions.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“A great many people mistake opinions for thoughts.”– Herbert Prochnow

“Do not turn back when you are just at the goal.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 580

Not too shabby, not too shabby at all, methinks. It can stay, even if it IS a bit vague; that will just make y’all think harder about it….

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Okay, I did it, in spite of my own lack of organization today; just lucky, I guess…. So lucky, I’m going to take the advice of my lawyers, and stop talking now…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as no charges get filed before then….

Oh, by the way…. Today’s PATT (picture at the top, of course…) is internally attributed; look closely at the right lower corner to see the photographer’s name; I found it on the London Daily Telegraph, a great example of good timing, with a meteor, the Big Dipper, and Northern Lights in the same photo…. Ta, then, luvs…..