Seeking a confirmed state of random vacillation….

Posted on July 31, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Man has made his bedlam; let him lie in it.”

~~ Fred Allen ~~

Variations on a Theme: Blue Marble – Earth from 1 Million Miles

NASA Image from nasa.gov

Good morning…. Today’s effort turned out pretty strange, due in part to the manner of its construction. I shan’t bore y’all with the details, but, suffice it to say the process was a bit choppy. In fact, I had considered using my newest opening, which I dearly love…. It merely consists of a,

[dignified silence]

However, that seemed a bit egocentric, since much of today’s post is by others; my only contributions were an old school pearl of dubious condition, and an epic archived rant. The rest just sort of evolved…. Ah, well, such is Life in the Big City, whatever THAT means…. I think, today, I’ll get in some target practice, on live targets…. Yeah, that’s the ticket…. Meanwhile….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it, because they have no way to change it. So the flexible overcome the adamant, the yielding overcome the forceful. Everyone knows this, but no one can do it.” — Lao-Tzu

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

royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573

I am not sure why, but, my mind refuses to do this part…. I can’t seem to make a decision. My user name is gigoid, thus, the only possible solution is to resort to our default position…. It’s okay, I’ve got over 500 years of music to choose from, so, it’s easy to vary the content…. Today’s selection advertises itself as the Best Classical Music to be found; it was one of 38 such claims, so, you will have to decide for yourself…. Enjoy!

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

Classical Music, Again

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

https://youtu.be/gMbPVEsaH90

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

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

Today’s contribution to the daily mess is a test…. However, it’s not your usual, sit down, think hard, sweat, & stress; no, no, not here. It’s merely a test. What it’s measuring is really none of your concern, but, since you have to take it, I’ll tell you…. This may be the longest single rant I ever did…. I didn’t actually check, but, after reading it through, it’s close enough to say so without more than a 3% measure of guilt if I’m wrong. It’s also still relevant; each of the articles I used as a springboard for discussion could easily have been pulled from the same stories I saw just today, earlier, when I perused the RSS news feeder I use…. seriously.

The only difference is, all, or most of these articles came from the same mainstream news source; any others were also mainstream. My feeder pulls headlines & links to articles across the internet, from hundreds of sources… So, I’m confident none of the issues spoken of below has come to any final resolution; in fact, they’re all pretty much worse now…. SIGH…. Ah well, so much for ranting to the choir, eh?…. Hey, listen up, ffolkes, it IS all true stuff, so, anyone who needs to hear or read it would be a good one to share it with….

I didn’t know it when posting it, but, the title of the Pearl on the date this was first shown was a perfect title for the rant, should it ever get published…. I’d call it:

From 8/13/2014:

Look,Honey! It’s the official White House Pornographer!

Ffolkes, you will probably need to gird your grid for a big one….. The pearl below has been evolving for a full day, growing beyond my ability to restrict its size, due to the relatively verdant field of subject matter with which I chose to work, the scope of the discussion, and the critical nature of the issue on which I am trying to focus, to wit: all of the available evidence at hand indicates that the human race has entered a stage of civilization that, in every historical case, has led directly to its demise, and disappearance. Moreover. because of the technological advances we have made, as a species, this time, that demise will be world-wide, and will preclude any possibility of ever rising again…

Now, I know that sounds rather pessimistic, as well as cynical; I can’t help that. The evidence is too ubiquitous, and too convincing to me, to ignore, or to minimize. Below, I am going to provide links to articles from only ONE source of news. The breadth of the problems described in those articles are connected to the worst characteristics of human nature, and are symptomatic of the culture’s deterioration we are facing. Each one shows humanity at its worst, and the worst part of it is, all of the protagonists in the stories, on both sides of whatever issue is being discussed, all demonstrate those qualities that continue to cause the problems to be insoluble by any known means…

I’ve got a lot to say about this, so, we’ll start with some art…. It’s just a picture of me, and one of the guys I’ve talked all this over with…. though in the case of this gentleman, our conversation was completely non-verbal…. Now that I stop to think about it, it made it all much less susceptible to misunderstanding…. Below the picture, we’ll begin our assault on the Asininnies latest shenanigans, and our discussion of how it all connects to create another link…. showing the path to extinction we are all following so blindly….

“At once it struck me what quality went to form a man of achievement, especially in literature, and which Shakespeare possessed so enormously — I mean negative capability, that is, when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.” — John Keats (1795-1821)

Trust a poet to come up with exquisitely crafted, delicately balanced, subtly nuanced, completely negative statement (otherwise known as an insult….), about someone mostly everyone in the world admires, and make it almost sound as if he is administering praise, when, in fact, he just poked Willie S. with a very sharp stick in the reputation…. Of course, it is also obscure enough that you may question exactly how it applies to blogging here in section one, which is generally reserved for rants, or rant-like facsimiles…. and, it would be a good question, as the connection IS rather tenuous, at best…. However, I’ll try to make it clear….

I speak often about how the world is screwed up, an assessment of existence for which I lay much of the blame on several aspects of human nature, and the way those characteristics affect our society and culture…. I think it can all be boiled down to one particular area of examination, which is the way we, as human beings, deal with the matter of Truth…. There is, of course, more than just this issue involved, but, how we handle clear, correct expressions of Reality, in our dealings with the world, and each other, is one that has far reaching side effects on every area of human discourse, which is a long winded way of saying, on our history….

“Honor isn’t about making the right choices. It’s about dealing with the consequences.” — Midori Koto

In today’s complex world of the Future, it can easily be shown how Truth is considered to be something that is susceptible to human alteration, according to whatever whim or reason they may have for doing so, whether honorable, or otherwise, whether selfish, or otherwise…. I’ve shown many, many instances of how the government of this country, and many of its other official entities, such as the courts, the police, the churches, and ALL of the bankers, continuously, and purposefully lie to the public…. Not only that, but, they spy on us, and keep their own secrets about doing so….

Then, when confronted, they create a huge hullabaloo, all starting with denial, fading into reluctant admission, then justification, then distraction, then…. time passes, and the public is given some other catastrophic event to put fear into them, such as a mass shooting, or an alleged terrorist threat….. It always follows the same basic pattern, with the intent, and result, of nothing changing at all….

Below you’ll find a number of links, to articles that show how the White House, the Congress, the Federal Courts, the police, and, even the public attitudes toward Truth, are shown in the light in which they use them, to wit: they all regard Truth as more of a myth than a reality…. The article on how resumes for work contain falsifications is particularly disturbing, for it shows just how far the corruption has spread to the general public…. Well over HALF the public saw fit to include lies on their resumes… The companies doing the hiring reinforced the corruption by, to some extent, rewarding almost half of the resumes with lies, by considering other factors other than the lies in the hiring process…. In other words, about half of the lies were accepted as OKAY….

SIGH…. The last article is different from the rest, though it touches on the general issue quite nicely…. Mr. Carroll offers another viewpoint than mine, with some similarities, and some differences…. As always, his thoughts on the matter are quite insightful, making an excellent addendum, and ending note, for what would otherwise be completely depressing material….

I’ll let you get to the articles now, with this bit of housekeeping… I tried to help a bit, to indicate the point being made by the inclusion of each article, by including the excerpts I pulled out below each link…. They show the most disturbing points in each article, to my way of seeing them…. Good luck, I know it’s a lot, but, this is turning out to be something of a manifesto of my world-view, & I think it will be worth the effort to cover all of it…..

http://www.sfgate.com/nation/article/Judge-won-t-force-U-S-to-release-spying-program-5681970.php?cmpid=hp-hc-bayarea

“Michael Rumold, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the lawsuit has been successful but the ruling was disappointing….”It’s troubling to see courts sign off on government secrecy arguments when the general public knows the truth,” he said.” — excerpted closing lines from the article, summing it up nicely….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Vandalism-looting-after-vigil-for-Missouri-man-5680580.php

“Witnesses have said that Brown had his hands raised when the unnamed officer approached with his weapon drawn and fired repeatedly. ” — excerpted from the article

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Chief-Police-killed-California-robbery-hostage-5681892.php

“….. results of a preliminary ballistics report show that police in the city of Stockton fired the 10 bullets that struck Misty Holt-Singh, 41, and all her wounds likely came during a final burst of gunfire,….”

“33 officers fired at the vehicle, most of them during the final shootout. Officers were under constant fire and were concerned the suspects would kidnap other hostages, take over businesses or even a school.”….

“We believe July 16, 2014, brought dynamics never before seen in law enforcement,” he said, adding that the suspects attempted to kill officers, fired more than 100 bullets and had about 200 rounds remaining when the gunfire ended.” — excerpted from the article

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/State-Supreme-Court-yanks-Citizens-United-measure-5682420.php

“If approved by the voters, it would have asked Congress to submit a constitutional amendment to the states that would authorize federal lawmakers to limit campaign spending and would specify that only people, not corporations, have the right of political free speech.”

“In the 2010 Citizens United ruling, a 5-4 majority of the nation’s high court said federal laws that limit spending by corporations or labor unions on political causes violated freedom of speech….. ” — excerpted from the article

http://blog.sfgate.com/gettowork/2014/08/12/most-memorable-resume-lies/#25719101=0

“58 percent of hiring managers in a recent CareerBuilder survey saying they have caught a resume lie.”….. “Fifty-one percent of respondents said they would automatically throw out a resume containing a lie, 41 percent would base their decision on the type of lie, and 7 percent would overlook a lie if they liked the job candidate.” — excerpted from the article

http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/08/06/what-would-the-founders-say-cagop-barring-media-from-qa-with-party-chair/

“…. a response from GOP state vice chairwoman Harmeet Dhillon…. “There are open press and closed press events at every convention (Brulte) has run. There will be open press events and press conferences at this convention. Closed press is to allow delegates to ask him sensitive questions about strategy and finances that the public and our opponents are not entitled to know. … And neither does John Burton (the Democratic state chairman) invite the Chronicle to every meeting of delegates to his party.”

“We asked Tenoch Flores, spokesman for the California Democratic Party, about its rules regarding press coverage of convention events. His response: “It is our policy that any delegation meeting taking place at convention is open to press.”– excerpted from the article

and, finally, a voice of reason….

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/Notice-your-urges-when-I-say-you-can-5682102.php

“I favor considered opinion over uninformed opinion. It’s a liberal bias…..”

“Experts are not always right. Scientists are not always right. But most of the time they are. We built a very fine country on the basis of Enlightenment rationality. Thomas Jefferson and those folks very much favored knowledge over ignorance, reason over superstition.”– excerpted from the article

Truth. Lies. Human nature….. What a mess, eh? I can only hope that, somehow, the strength and beauty of human nature, the incredible creativity and passionate imagination our spirits have the potential to express, just as much as it does our flaws, will gain ascendancy in the coming years, becoming the rule of human behavior, rather than the exception, and that we can overcome the reckless, selfish, violent spirits among us to reach for that potential…. Being a curmudgeon, and somewhat of a cynic, at least in regard to human nature, I find myself reluctant to hope…. but, it’s like Emily always said….

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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

Image used with original poem at:

http://souldiergirl.com/2015/07/29/twilight-of-intrigue/

A couple months ago, I was introduced to a new blog site. I don’t remember how I found it, but, I’m sure glad I did, for. on this site writes an incredible poetess….. Her work is powerfully personal, revealing, painful. and joyous, all at once. Simple, clean lines come together to place the reader right inside her soul…. She’s fought a hard battle in Life, to get to the point she now observes it from, and I, for one, am very glad she uses her poetry to help herself find the Light inside her soul…. She is indeed, a souldier girl…. You’ll be seeing more of her here, but, the link above will take you to her site, where you can sign up to be notified when she posts…. Enjoy!….

Twilight of Intrigue

Do you see

The amigos of three

Brushing upon the twilight of intrigue

The starry night

Gazing in our eyes

Comprised of moments

Later whispered as memories

Carried on the tail end of time

“Remember when it was you and I

In the silence of life”

Love, solace and a hopeful gleam

Brushing upon

The twilight of intrigue

~~ Souldiergirl ~~

Posted at above link on 7/29/2015..

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

Kokopelli graces the top of this section today, simply because his nature comes closest to the nature of this pearl…. This means, naturally, it would behoove y’all to WATCH OUT. You see, it’s a trick pearl, beginning and ending with a variation on a theme from Life, with a group of clear instructions on how to go about calculating that particular algorithm…. You’ll enjoy it, if you can find the key….

“What I ought to do, I can; if I can, why don’t I?” — Smart Bee

“Hateful to me as are the gates of hell, is he who, hiding one thing in his heart, utters another.” — Homer (c. 700 B.C.)

“If you understand, things are as they are. If you do not understand, things are as they are.” — Gensha, Zen Master

“Count your age by friends not years, and count your life by smiles, not tears.” — John Lennon

“Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.” — Kahlil Gibran

“To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice.” — Confucius

“It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.” — Buddha

“Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.” — Aristotle

“What I can do, I ought to; if I ought to, why don’t I? — Smart Bee

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

It was close, there, Ma, but, I whipped ’em! There was some doubt there, for a time, this would make it through to the end…. I am currently unable, not mention unwilling, to go into the reasons, but, since we’re done anyway, it doesn’t matter at all, does it? Nope. Hence, my exit, stage virtual…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as the Space/Time Continuum holds together….

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

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Midnight oil burns hot and clean….

Posted on July 6, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

For of all sad words of tongue or pen,

The saddest are these: “It might have been!”

~~ John Greenleaf Whittier, Maud Muller, st. 53 ~~

Sunset on Mars

Image by NASA’s Curiosity Rover

Good morning…. Technically, I suppose, it’s still night; the decision making process in the mind, as to which word is appropriate, tends to blur at bit at 2 AM. I’ve slept. and now I’m up, so it must be morning. Anything more complicated than that, I don’t believe I could quite comprehend just now. Hell, it took me almost 55 minutes to come up with a title; that process is just about as randomly easy as it gets around here. The title doesn’t even need to make sense, yet, it took me that long to decide on the proper combination of words; even with that, I’m not positive it’s right…. I would imagine all of this is less than compelling literature, but, what are ya gonna do when the old mind is a vast plain of emptiness?

Ah, well, fuck it. Let’s party….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Apollo, the God of light, of reason, of proportion, harmony, number — Apollo blinds those who press too close in worship. Don’t look straight at the sun. Go into a dark bar and have a beer with Dionysus, every now and then.” — U.K. LeGuin

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

Image from britannica.com via Google Images

Something a bit raucous, and light-hearted is required, I think…. Ah, perfect!…. The hour I spent each week watching this man’s show are all included in my favorite childhood memories…. I consider Red to be one of the funniest men who ever lived, though he tended to be a bit of a putz when it came to his political humor; he was definitely a blind patriot…. But, he came up with some of the funniest stuff I’ve ever seen, and can be forgiven any such flaws…. Anyone who comes up with a character named Klem Kadiddlehopper is okay by me….

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

Red Skelton

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

https://youtu.be/LGlLIh5QUL4

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

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

I began a rant this morning, since I had so much time; it didn’t gel in time, so, I’m filling in with a pretty good rant from last year…. It fulfills my daily duty to speak out, for sure….

From 4/5/2014:

The shadowy corporate snakeheads, (“snakeheads” is my newest shortcut name for the 1%,the rich and powerful who control the money and resources of this planet…. I use it because it is the English translation of the Chinese word for “slaver”, human traffickers who who dupe, or kidnap men, women, and children selling them into prostitution and/or slavery…. Thus, it becomes the perfect word to come after “corporate” when referring to one of those assholes….), who control the world, in their campaign to secure their position as the rulers of humanity, influenced the Shrubs enough during their terms in office that the Supreme Court justices they picked to replace dead judges were all their conservative buddies, all of whom are comfortably in the pockets of those self-same corporations. This, of course, has allowed the assholes who bought them to make even further inroads on our rights as individual citizens, by establishing the rights of corporations as superior to the rights of an individual….

A couple years ago, this led to the Citizens United decision, which gave the money-grubbers the opportunity to spend even more money on influencing politicians and elections, by forming giant Political Action Committees, where they could funnel millions of dollars into holding organizations, where it could be used for influencing elections, and to bribe congressional lawmakers…. That decision is a big part of how the Republican Party has managed to pass so many conservative laws in states around the nation, such as anti-abortion laws, and voting regulations which allow them to manipulate themselves into office, by providing obstacles which prevent the supporters of those who oppose them from voting….

Yesterday that decision was reinforced by yet another decision eroding our protection against corruption, a decision which removed most of the limits on how much money an individual can contribute, thus giving rich, avaricious, corrupt billionaires more say in Congress than the average citizen can match, allowing even more money to find a direct route into the Congressional pockets…. Below are two articles, from two sources, to offer a slightly different viewpoint (insofar as the media CAN be even-handed in their reporting….), just so we’re not limiting ourselves to one view…. C’mon back when you’re done, for what discussion may follow….

http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Supreme-Court-strikes-down-overall-political-5371989.php

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/04/02/supreme-court-campaign-finance/4481675/

I’m pissed…. I’m so pissed, all I feel like doing is sitting here typing obscene names to call those assholes, in Texas (where Jr. lives….), Maryland (I think that’s where Shrub, Sr. lives…), and Washington D.C, at the courthouse, (where the Supremes hang out….)…. My next feeling, which somehow reminds me very much of sheer, unadulterated rage, is one that may just prompt me to go out, find a gun store, giving in to the urge buy the guns I’ve been considering…. Don’t worry, I won’t forget the ammunition…. I may have been a practicing pacifist for a long time, but, mostly, at least in terms of personal survival, that was just a pose to get the draft board off my back…. I have no issue with the use of force in support of what I believe is right…

For today, though, I’ll give myself some slack, which will give you some relief, from having to listen to my ranting over stuff we can’t change…. At least, nothing will change without resorting to drastic measures, in which most ffolkes are unwilling to engage, lest they risk increasing their karmic burden…. I figure it this way…. If we DON’T give up our insistence on non-violence, we are all going to die….. that is for sure and for certain, if things don’t change very soon….

That means there won’t be any next reincarnation, not on this planet, because it won’t have us; we are being evicted from this plane of existence… So, I don’t have to worry about coming back as in a form with less karmic status, as we won’t be coming back HERE at all…. Our energy configuration will just have to find some other reality to inhabit, because Mother Earth isn’t likely to rent to us again…. We’re too hard on the property….

Ah, the hell with it…. I’m pissed…. or did I say that already? Okay, I’m done…. Since I’m not organized or coherent enough to produce a true rant (I don’t consider this loud complaint a rant…. not enough reasoning, or quite enough structure….), I’ll fall back on another old-school pearl to close this out for the day….. I’ll bet you’re cheering inside, right?…. Okay, then, here, have it your way….

“Ignorance doesn’t kill you, but it makes you sweat a lot.” — Haitian proverb

“Faboo!, Would you like to see me make bubbles with my spit?” — Wakko Warner

OCCIDENT, n. The part of the world lying west (or east) of the Orient. It is largely inhabited by Christians, a powerful sub-tribe of the Hypocrites, whose principal industries are murder and cheating, which they are pleased to call “war” and “commerce.” These, also, are the principal industries of the Orient. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“There’s nothing wrong with you a shotgun blast to the face couldn’t fix.” — Smart Bee, from gigoid’s political fantasy files

— Bother! said Pooh, as he rolled another joint for the President.

“And took for truth the test of ridicule.” — George Crabbe (1754-1832) — Tales of the Hall, Book viii, The Sisters

“Every nation ridicules other nations, and all are right.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

Perfect…. I have only one thing left to say, to wit:

“There are two intelligent responses to contemporary Western civilization: laughter and despair. You’ll note I’m not laughing.” — gigoid

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

Premises, premises….

Tricked, I stumble, and I fall
dreaming, through an abandoned palace.
Frightened and wary, unheard my call
fading into memory, no cup, no argent chalice.

The people, crushed, cry out to be freed
asking only to take part, or travel.
Nascent oaths spotlight such bursting need
fed by treachery, deep from our well.

Only the wicked shall find their way blocked
justice seeks them, snug in their hole.
Faint praises never touched, but naked, stalked
singing no gospel, no soul, no rock and roll.

Only the promised will remember the way
from unforgiven trails of sorrow.
To live life, and give death no sway,
saving grace for our only tomorrow.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written in 2012, rediscovered 12/19/2014.

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

SB continues its campaign of terror, having now shown me the same 50 quotes about a hundred times in a row…. This means today’s final old-school pearl will have to come from the archives, too…. SIGH. One might think this process was starting to get away from me, if there was any evidence it was ever under control…. Enjoy, ffolkes; all you can do is all you can do….

From 8/12/2014:

As I noted somewhere above, I’m a bit late today, so this last section will be put together as fast as I can do it; this may lead to an unforeseen result, so, be warned…. This pearl may be like no other…. It is essentially parameter-free, as well as, most likely, judgment impaired…. Oh, well, at least I’m not getting paid for any of this….

“I do not distinguish by the eye, but by the mind, which is the proper judge of the man.” — Seneca (8 BC) — On a Happy Life, 2, (L’Estrange’s Abstract, Chap, i.)

“Old men are dangerous; it does not matter to them what is going to happen to the world.” — George Bernard Shaw

“There is a certain majesty in simplicity which is far above all the quaintness of wit.” — Alexander Pope

“I like people better than principles, and I like people with no principles better than anything else in the world.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

“No matter how hard you throw a dead fish in the water, it still won’t swim.” — Smart Bee

“Fortune is not satisfied with inflicting one calamity.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 274

“I’ve got an IDEA!! Why don’t I STARE at you so HARD, you forget your SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

I gotta say, that went well….

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

Trusting in the process has gotten me this far, so, there’s no sense now in turning back. Now, all I need to do is get it posted, and I can get on with a day beginning five hours ahead of the rest of the world…. SIGH…. Ah well, so much for planning. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, damn 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 loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Filtered through a bold new paradigm….

Posted on June 21, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“He should not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.”

~~ Elrond ~~

Faded Beauty

Good morning. Maybe…. Even in the quite curmudgeon-like space currently defining my presence this morning, there is no room for nicety. When I think of the general run of people in today’s world, my teeth yearn to bite, my hands to throttle; the mere thought of their pain fills me with an sense of unbridled glee I cannot contain…. Have I gone mad in my sleep? Where is my center, my serenity? Gone, replaced with sheer, bloody rage at the machine…..

Well, that was fun… NOT. It seems all the angst I usually put into ranting has been building up inside, in the past few weeks I’ve been over-using the archives. And why not, I say? It had been a while since I ranted, but, yesterday, a short exchange with a new blogging friend stimulated a fresh rant against our beloved ruling class (I’ve stopped capitalizing it; they don’t deserve the honor….), which you’ll find below, in the appropriate section…. It felt good, too, I have to say….

Rather than wander around too much here, we’ll get on with today’s mess; in the mood I’m in, we could easily end up with two or three fresh rants, and, I’d like to see if there’s a poem in there that might bleed out. If the process of opening up a vein will let it out, cool. If not, well, we’ll see what happens… In the meantime, we’d best be on our way, before I say something that sets off a rant…. It’s a bit early yet for that…. Onward….

Shall we Pearl?

“All the secrets we may be able to keep from any and every god and human being do not in the least absolve us from the obligation to refrain from whatever actions are greedy, unjust, sensual, or otherwise immoderate.” — Cicero, On Duties

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

Image from mytinyphone.com via Google Images

In my mind, this man was one of the top three songwriters of the era in which he lived…. A true societal icon, his music did more to create a bond between the feuding races of Man than any religion has EVER done…. The love this man had for his fellow man shone through every note he played…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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

Bob Marley

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

https://youtu.be/XspU6g9m2Fs

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

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

“I don’t believe there’s any problem in this country, no matter how tough it is, that Americans, when they roll up their sleeves, can’t completely ignore.” — George Carlin

Since I regard George Carlin as the premier social philosopher of the latter half of the twentieth century, I appreciate him giving me the perfect opportunity to speak to an issue which, to be frank, pisses me off no end…. Yesterday, during a chance reading of a fairly new blog, with a subject something to do with clowns, I made a smart-aleck comment about how clowns are evil, going off on a mini-rant about commercialism of holidays, which led to another comment about the huge elf at the top banner of the blog; you know, the one from that insane propaganda movie, about the 6 ft. tall elf in NY who saves Christmas, or something…. Will Farrell, I think is the actor’s name; can’t be sure, never actually watched anything but the innumerable commercials and trailers for it….

Well, as became patently obvious, the subject flicks my ranting mode switch; when the blogger, a very creative young woman, commented with a “Santa?”…. I went off, ranting for several paragraphs, which I include below, to begin today’s rant, which will continue the theme, if I can do so strongly…. Should be easy, this one really fucks with my sense of justice and outrage….

The comment, as shown below, can be found here, where you can read the whole comment thread, and the original article prompting the conversation:

http://livelovelaughdotme2.com/2015/06/20/childhood-destroyed/comment-page-1/#comment-18066

Oh, honey-chile, I hate to be the one to burst a bubble for you, but, although Santa Claus (as a concept) used to be fairly innocuous, mostly harmless in terms of any psychic brainwashing was concerned, the whole concept of Christmas, and Santa himself, was hijacked by the bankers and businessmen, all the way back in the 1920’s, with roots going back even further in our history; it’s part of why the Great Depression happened…. Then, all the other holidays were turned into Hallmark days, so the businesses that depend on that sort of sales could potentially sell more ‘stuff’, during those months when no ancient, or religious holidays occur….

Mother’s/Father’s Day, St. Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, Halloween, President’s Day, Memorial Day, (originally just an observance for the dead in ONE battle…. Now, a person who doesn’t fall into the celebration can be accused of not being patriotic, for failing to buy beer, or watch a game of some kind, to honor all the LIVING brainwashed myrmidons, placing their lives at some risk while they’re off bombing and killing citizens of other countries all over the world, so our bankers can sell their plastic crap to the natives of those places….), virtually every holiday in every month in this country is either a complete fabrication of the government to stimulate business, or an ancient/religious holiday perverted for the same purpose….

I know many holidays are the only chance people today have, to feel good about their lives, and take a break…. So, what does the beloved ruling class do? They inundate the public with advertisements to buy this, that, or the other for the holiday, thus spending more than they can really afford, for a crap-load of stuff, all to celebrate something supposedly worthwhile, which they could easily accomplish without the costly manufactured needs…

Sorry to be a bummer, but, the subject of holidays, cute little elves, and all the other stuff used to convince people they just HAVE to participate in the ongoing economic frenzy of buying, all for stuff you will eat in one day, or throw away afterward…. Well, it just burns my ass to watch our entire society throwing money down the drain, for nothing important, except to fulfill what they BELIEVE to be the customs of the society, which have, in reality, been perverted into a travesty of anything honorable, or even reasonable…. It’s all an illusion, little one, deliberately created to convince people it’s important enough to waste their money on it….

But, then, maybe that’s just me…. It’s not Santa, young paduan; it’s what they’ve turned Santa into that lights my fuse….

gigoid, the sincerely dubious….

———————————————

I think the reason this subject angers me so much is connected to two reasons. First, it’s all so transparent, to me, yet, seemingly, there are millions upon millions of otherwise intelligent people who refuse to look at how brainwashed they have become. The opening quote from George takes on new meaning, when one considers how much strength of will it takes to deny evidence that slaps you in the face EVERY DAY….

It implies a choice. It tells me that most people in this country, rather than using their minds for what they were designed to do, have abrogated all their honor, and dignity, for the sake of a safe, secure existence wherein they are not required to think, or make any more effort than the minimum required to survive, in a world made soft and palatable, without danger, or challenge, or need for any imagination….

The second part. which angers me even more, is that we were warned this would happen, by the very men who gave their lives and fortunes to ensure we had the few rights we do…. Thomas Jefferson said it best, I think, though others of his time said much the same…. In fact, it seems Tom had something to say about just about everything happening in today’s news headlines, nailing exactly what has happened to our rights…. For those with tunnel vision, I’ll add a modern example of exactly what Tom was referring to in his statements….(in parentheses)

“A monied aristocracy in our country … has already set the government at defiance.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

(The Koch Brothers. Super PAC’s. Corporate personhood. 55% of US Senators are millionaires…. Big Pharma/HMO’s. Walmart. )

“Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.” — Thomas Jefferson

(Citicorp. Bank of America. Chase. Rothschild, Rockefeller, Kennedy, Dupont, Krupp, Takahashi, Windsor, Chang, Wang, and the other 0.02% who own ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD)

“I am mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, the sale of a book can become a subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry too.” — Thomas Jefferson

(Gee, does that sound anything like the programs gathering metadata by the NSA, or the FBI, authorized by the good ol’ Patriot Act, one of the most ironic catchphrases they ever came up with….)

“I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.” — Thomas Jefferson

(Current US government debt is more than 700 TRILLION dollars, and counting….)

“…when all government… in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the centre of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1821

(Need I even say anything here? Okay, just for a recent example…. Obamacare….Another? Okay. The Supreme Court decision allowing rich people to buy politicians through PAC’s…. What did one of the dissenting judges on the Court say about that? Let’s see….)

“A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose both, and deserve neither.” — Thomas Jefferson

(Patriot Act again…. Secret courts. Torture as a legitimate tool. Police killings. Police militarization. Drone spying on domestic targets. All proven with evidence, yet denied by officials….)

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to William S. Smith, Paris, Nov. 13, 1787

(Sadly, this one is no longer possible, I think…. Not enough true patriots of liberty left; they’ve all become zombies, or bought into the lies, and are in complete denial of their slavery….)

Okay, that’s enough…. As you can see, Tom, and others, warned us of ALL of this…. But, thanks to laziness, to the common man’s lack of willingness to be responsible for their own lives and actions, the majority of Americans not only don’t realize they are no longer free at all, but, deny it when confronted with incontrovertible evidence….

SIGH…. Fuck ’em…. I won’t go down without a struggle, you can be sure of that…. Others may do as they like…. And, yes, I KNOW the NSA will eventually see this…. So what? I’m not going to lie, and become like them….

gigoid has spoken.

So be it.

“For water continually dropping will wear hard rocks hollow.”

~~ Plutarch ~~

~~ Of the Training of Children ~~

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

I’d hoped a poem was ready to bleed out, but, it ain’t happening…. Here is yet another from the archives….

When life calls, ready or not….

Memories are all we have sometimes
to keep our sanity intact,
with learned phrases and subtle rhymes
lessening life’s vicious, vibrant impact.

Presently all seems composed and intent
in stark contrast to hollow day,
forlorn patchwork emotions of unheralded bent,
fill up night’s bower, leaving hell to pay.

Such vigorous and elevated temper
brings us rare moments to ponder,
filled with lessons all need to remember
lest base perception lose valued wonder.

Laugh loud when entropy sticks fast
leaving shameless anger in its wake.
Let bygones pass quietly into the past
reaping only what is left to take.

Final words of wise imagination
tell us living well’s the best revenge, it appears
ever eluding choirs and congregations
finally finding home, never buried in tears.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 9/10/2012.

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

I put the following pearl together, but, I don’t know exactly what it all means…. I mean, I do, but, I don’t…. See what I mean? (What IS the mind? More to the point, what does the mind MEAN?….)

Ah well, they’re all such good pearls, it has to mean something good, right? Or is that a bit too Pollyanna-ish? Or, maybe, Pavlovian…. Perhaps so; I don’t think any of it will affect the Space/Time Continuum, anyway, so, I think we’ll be okay…. If not, well, see y’all in the next Universe….

And now someone’s on the telephone desperate in his pain
Someone’s on the bathroom floor doing her cocaine
Someone’s got his finger on the button in some room
No one can convince me we aren’t gluttons for our doom

~~ the Indigo Girls, “Prince Of Darkness” ~~

“Whip me such honest knaves.” — William Shakespeare, Othello — Act i, Sc. 1

“Better to have illusions of a reality where everything is real than to have a reality of illusions where nothing is real.” — Bobby Matherne

“As the sword of the best-tempered metal is the most flexible; so the truly generous are most pliant and courteous in their behavior to their inferiors.” — Fuller

“Those who fear death most are those who enjoy life least.” — Edward Abbey

“One idea spoken truly, even in a cave, can change the world.” — Buddha

“Food, sleep, fear, propagation; each is the common property of men with brutes. Virtue is really their additional distinction; devoid of virtue, they are equal with brutes.” — The Hitopadesa (600?-1100? A.D.)

“Of all the benefits that virtue confers upon us, the contempt of death is one of the greatest.” — Montaigne

“I say love, it is a flower;

and you, it’s only seed.”

~~ Bette Midler, “The Rose” ~~

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

Well, I can’t do any better, or think of anything else to add; I guess that means we’re done here. Whew! It’s been a long life…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can’t think of anything better to do….

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

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Simply bursting with indifference….

Posted on May 20, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.”

~~ Chinese proverb ~~

Aurora Australis, seen from the International Space Station

NASA Image by Astronaut Terry Virts

Good morning… let’s keep it that way….

Shall we Pearl?

“Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors and miss.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

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

Ludwig von Beethoven

Image from library.ucf.edu via Google Images

Those who don’t know this artist, or, for that matter, this symphony, are the unhappy possessors of some serious gaps in their cultural education…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. Da da ta DA!….

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

Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony

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

https://youtu.be/Gzs-OGgkZTU

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

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

Once more, I find my level of angst not up to a full, fresh rant, though I found several good openings… Instead, I’ll use what I’ve found to create an old-school pearl, with some comments about those who would rather prey on their fellow man than make any attempt to live with honor… In other words, Asininnies of every variety…. Polly pundits, Dogma Dogs, Corporate Snakeheads, Pimps, Uniformed Myrmidons, Mundanes, and all the others who make life a misery for others, simply because they are ASSHOLES!… Sorry for shouting….

“All cruelty springs from weakness.”

~~ Seneca ~~

“What would happen if the President, the Supreme Court, and all members of both houses of Congress were stoned out of their gourds twenty-four hours a day? The chilling truth is, it might be an improvement.” — Allan Sherman

“Humility is a virtue all preach, none practice, and yet everybody is content to hear. The master thinks it good doctrine for his servant, the laity for the clergy, and the clergy for the laity.” — John Selden (1584-1654) — Humility

“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

“If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.” — Virginia Woolf (Alternate definition of a politician…)

“A sect or party is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A man can’t get rich if he takes proper care of his family.”

~~ Navajo Proverb ~~

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

Maggie Mae has done it again, ffolkes; sometimes, the poems she writes are so powerful, I have to include them here, so everyone who comes here will know about her poetry…. Enjoy! This one is special….

Caterpillar

Ink is raining again.

Stan, on the radio, rapping tattoos
onto white-trash girls,
sitting, spinning on bar stools.

The highway is moving ninety miles
back, to late August madness,
cars are splashing

into phone booths
left over from big cities
and light houses.

But ships don’t come in
like they used to.
The calm of the sea
isn’t the color of God’s
angry finger anymore.

Caterpillar!!
Across the back of my shoulder!
“To rob.” “To pillage.”
“To suck the ink out of every living thing.”

My name is not what matters.
The alphabet is random.
My fingers have no pattern.
I’m bound to and wrapped around each syllable
like a piece of cabbage.
An appetizer. A long, soft caterpillar
eating my way into you.

~~ Maggie Mae ~~

http://maggiemaeijustsaythis.com/2015/05/18/caterpillar/

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

A simple little pearl, this one speaks of how to live your life with courage and compassion, guided by reason….

“Safety is on the shore, but the pearl is in the ocean.” — Chinese Proverb

“A good philosopher is one who does not take ideas seriously.” — Edward Abbey

“It is human nature to think wisely & act foolishly.” — Anatole France

“Take hope from the heart of man, and you make him a beast of prey.” — Ouida (Marie Louise de la Ramee)

“The light is reached not by turning back from the darkness, but by going through it.” — Leonard Roy Frank

“To be alive is to take risks; to be always safe and secure is death.” — Edward Abbey

“I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.” — Professor Bernardo de la Paz

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

Without even looking it over, I can tell it’s done. Or, maybe it’s me…. Yep. That’s it. I’m done. Since it would be fruitless, not to mention pointless, to continue, I’ll cease torturing y’all, and take my leave, stage center rear…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless my imagination quits working overnight…. Not bloody likely….

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….

A slight limp is more noticeable….

Posted on May 19, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“With virtue you cannot be entirely poor…

Without it you cannot be really rich.”

~~ Chinese Proverb ~~

Solar Array on the International Space Station

Image from NASA.com

Good morning…. One is allowed to hope, anyway, since it’s a new day. I’m late, again, but, we’ll forgo any discussion of the reasons, as it would only depress us all…. Instead, we’ll just head on down the page, where we might find a solution, or, at worst, a change of scenery…. You could do worse, on a Tuesday in May….

Shall we Pearl?

“It has long been known that one horse can run faster than another – but which one? Differences are crucial.” — Lazarus Long

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

Aristotle_Bust_White_Background_Transparent

Some of my Gentle Readers, who aren’t as familiar with my mind as some others, who have been here longer, won’t quite get why the following video is here today, given the general run of stuff you will see. That’s okay, I’m willing to explain this time, if briefly…. The picture is of Aristotle, arguably Mankind’s most influential teacher/polymath/scientist/philosopher, considered by many to be the founder of Western civilization, with only a couple other candidates (Plato, possibly Homer…). Aristotle, a true polymath, was, nonetheless, a man who frequently admitted his ignorance, in order to demonstrate to his students the proper frame of mind with which to approach any new knowledge.

Today’s very short video demonstrates a very simple idea, which merely takes the very old, simple principles involved in lacing one’s shoes, the traditional way, then, performing an even simpler reversal of the idea, in space, and in thinking, to produce a technique for securing footwear securely, more quickly, more cleanly, and more safely than the old method…. Bloody brilliant in its simplicity is what it is, and I commend the person who came up with it…. I can’t wait to change all my shoes with laces….

See, I’m not such an old dog, am I?….

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

Ukrainian Lacing

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

https://youtu.be/EaT6FqmKjaM

Original article found at Lifehacker.com:

http://lifehacker.com/tie-shoes-smarter-with-the-ukrainian-lacing-technique-1705179518

Instructions found here:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Ukrainian-Lacing/

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

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

And the wind shall say,

Here were decent, godless people
their only monument the asphalt road
and a thousand lost golf balls.

~~ T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) ~~

Yesterday evening, while waiting for the pain to recede far enough to go to bed, I was struck by an irresistible urge to rant. This is what happened….

My passion has become subsumed in anger; I spend, it seems, the major part of my days battling with physical issues, almost every one of which can be attributed to one medical clusterfuck…. This, I think is why I haven’t been able to collect enough angst built up against the machineries of evil as a whole, other than one specific part of it, to provide enough emotional drive to rant effectively, or, at all, mostly.

That simple fact, the simple inability to fire back at my tormentors, pisses me off, especially, as I can ascribe all of it to the lack of courage, and slavish ignorance of two young people with degrees in medical science, an M.D. and a D.O., both of whom have been brainwashed to believe they are physicians, when they are merely practicing what they’ve been taught to believe is medicine. In reality, it’s a pretty narrow picture of all the medical knowledge available in the world, especially now, in these days when we all have access to the medical information of every culture, in every country in the world.

Losing my passion as a side effect of their clumsy manipulation, apparently, is a tough nut for me to swallow, (not to mention the mixing of metaphors it makes me commit…); I can’t seem to get past the sheer cruelty they have both unwittingly, (mostly… I have to assume that, or I’d have to kill them…), put me through, by their insistence on enforcing a policy of the HMO, which they both know to be ill-advised, due to a) having NO medical justification; b) necessitating a breach of medical ethics; c) ignoring patient rights; and, most egregiously, d) directly causing aggravation of existing conditions, including pain, stress, and, a serious loss of quality of life.

If I were a doctor, or wanted to pretend to be one, I don’t think I’d be able to sleep at night, even if I only had to do this to ONE person; I know for a fact I am NOT the only person to whom this is happening. I’ve talked to them. I’ve talked to their lawyers, and the people who have submitted their complaints, all of which are ignored, completely, by the HMO, which has paid many legislators over the course of many years to pass laws ensuring they cannot be stopped from doing what they do, whatever it is, to ensure their bottom line profits…. This includes making the process of even filing a complaint difficult, complicated, and ultimately, completely useless, as, strangely enough, they NEVER find they’ve ever done anything wrong, in any investigated complaint…

Nor have they ever been found to have done anything wrong by any of the agencies who are supposed to oversee them, and protect the rights of patients…. I can tell you, from personal experience, having talked to all of those agencies, the system is rigged to favor the powers that be, and even IF a private citizen had the time, the money, and the energy (remember. these are sick people, who AREN’T getting the treatments they need….) to be able to follow through on the several levels of appeal, each of them is more complicated, and harder to begin, much less finish, than the one before…. In short, it is impossible, and it’s meant to be that way.

(Gee… y’know? This situation all sounds a bit familiar in its general outline, I think…. Does it remind anyone else of the current situation with the misdeeds police are guilty of committing? I seem to recall hearing a recent federal court deciding a case that indicates that no police officer can be held legally responsible for the death of ANYONE while on duty, and probably when not…. Same, same, all same, same, sounds like to me….)

To protect the rights of the patients? I may be skeptical enough to deserve the sobriquet of ‘the dubious one’, but, even the most trusting soul in the world must be able to see what is happening here; the only entity the laws are made to protect is the corporations, who pay the lobbyists, who bribe the politicians…

Of course, now, thanks to having bribed the Supreme Court many years ago, and finally getting a majority of assholes, er, honestly insane judges on the bench, the corporate powers who influence the making of laws can contribute directly to the politicians, cutting out the lobbyist contingent altogether…. Guess whose money gets saved there…. Yep… Not mine, or yours, that’s for sure…. Nope, now the corporate entities can pool their money, and give it directly to whomever will vote their agenda… Sweet, eh?…

So, what does all that mean? Well, who the hell knows… I sure know how I feel about it, and that is most easily, and succinctly stated as consistently enraged. But, rage is pretty useless, as emotions go; the only time it really works for us is to save our asses in the middle of a fight, to wake us up to do whatever we need to do to survive…. channeling the berserker, I call it… Or, in my case, that would be the bozoid berserker…. Basically, though, any other time we feel rage, it is difficult to keep the consequences from being regretful…. dead bodies are SO inconvenient, and so is having to move to another country…. again….

Just kidding…. I hope you knew that, right? Well, if not, that’s okay. I like to keep folks guessing, because all the ffolkes I know would get it without being reminded, or having it pointed out…. I haven’t had to move to another country in many, many years, and, to be honest, have yet to leave any dead bodies behind me, that I know of…. Left a few in a bit less than pristine condition, but, no dead ones, I’m pretty certain….

So, how ’bout them Giants, eh? What, I can’t change the subject? I was done with that one anyway…. That, you know, was NOT a rant…. It was more what I’d call a vent. Having thus removed at least a portion of the bilious crap that collects so quickly, along with all that other noxious shit in my head, (better out than in, I always say….), I suppose I should stop teasing/torturing y’all and get on with whatever comes next…. It can’t be any worse than this, and there is a distinct possibility it could be better…

SIGH…. Okay…. Who am I kidding? We all know it will be…. Ah, well, I’m nothing if not tough…. tough, stubborn, who cares? We all made it this far, didn’t we? What’s to complain about?….

“A poet who reads his verse in public may have other nasty habits.” — Lazarus Long, The Notebooks

SHHHH! Please, don’t say anything, okay?….. I owe the lawyers enough….

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

Miss Maggie Mae (maggiemaeijustsaythis.com, aka, mmijst.com) has graced these pages a number of times over the last almost four years; she’s one of my favorite modern poets, whom I found on WordPress many moons ago…. I think she was one of my first ten ‘follows’ after signing up here.

Her poetry is, quite simply, incredible…. Sharp, incisive, powerful, filled with metaphor, exploring the darkest feelings a human can experience…. and, by the power of her words, implying the presence and power of light, that she just can’t keep from shining out from within her….Enjoy!….

To That

inch of time spent over the sea,

dragging your dead body back
from the sharks I fed you to.

There should be enough salt
to drown in. Now that is something
you don’t hear of!
But, I have heard of Buddha,
and Gandhi,
and what great advice for the
blonde girls in white dresses,
not scratched by hands of
light drinking, or hard gunfire;
the girls untouched by
living a dead life, waking under floorboards
built by their mothers.

Your heavy photograph burns to
my tongue. I spit. I curse you out
of your newly dried grave.
I am ecstatic for your corpse,
it grows on me like tough leather.

Now for her.
I carry a monsoon to her driveway.
She is lit up. A bright pumpkin
ripened for plummet.
She dresses in honeysuckle,
and flickers like whiskey.
I haven’t thought of her name,
she is black as a canvas; a new galaxy
before energy matters.
If her heart happens to
do that, I will carve it out.

I will take it back to July in my teeth
where the desert is waiting for me,
it’s Queen.

~~ Maggie Mae ~~

http://maggiemaeijustsaythis.com/2015/05/17/to-that/

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

I’d call these “lesser known” pearls of wisdom; they all give some really strong advice on living life as we choose, but, in ways, and about seemingly small factors, that aren’t common…. Works for me….

“Nature is not benign. Natural laws have no pity.” — Lazarus Long

“It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life. The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated… it is finished when it surrenders.” — Ben Stein

“A hug is a heart to heart talk.” — Bobby Matherne (American writer, 1940-)

“Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.” — Marcus Aurelius

“Grace is the absence of everything that indicates pain or difficulty, hesitation or incongruity.” — William Hazlitt

“The little girl expects no declaration of tenderness from her doll. She loves it – and that’s all. It is thus that we should love.” — DeGourmont

“How you do anything is how you do everything.” — Zen proverb

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

Okay, well…. I can see I’m going to have to think very hard about this…. But, we’re done, so, that’s for another day…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as nobody comes up with a good enough 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….

Solid fuel burns longer, trust us….

Posted on April 18, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Hold the MAYO & pass the COSMIC AWARENESS…”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

Coastline south of La Bufadora, Ensenada, Baja Mexico

Those of y’all who have been here frequently, (a habit, anout which, I’m sure most of y’all are a bit ambivalent… of course…), know of my ongoing battle with the process of introducing these Pearls…. Having to come up with something new, and different each day, while still making it worthwhile reading, is rather a daunting challenge, about which I consistently whine in a piteous, pitiable fashion…. Well, I’ll tell ya, I’m as tired of it as you are….

So, I’m again going to exercise my powers as Administrator, and as a Time Lord (I’m late again..) to get us out of here. I think a judicious use of #4 will work nicely, and so do you…. Y’all know this routine by now; put down your cups, make sure you’ve swallowed, and hang on. Luigi, while a professional, isn’t the most comfortable pilot to ride with; something to do with his time in Vietnam, as a copter door-gunner…. He doesn’t much care about danger, you see, having burned out all his neuronic receptors for that in what is left of his mind…. But, no worries, he gets an odd look in his eyes, but, he hasn’t crashed yet….

Shall we Pearl?

“Do not speak of what men deserve. For we each of us deserve everything, every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead Kings, and we each of us deserve nothing, not a mouthful of bread in hunger. Have we not eaten while another starved? Will you punish us for that? Will you reward us for the virtue of starving while others ate? No man earns punishment, no man earns reward. Free your mind of the idea of *deserving*, of *earning*, and you will begin to be able to think.” — Odo, The Prison Letters (Ursula LeGuin, _The Dispossessed_)

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

This movie selection may pull my covers as a closet romantic, but, I don’t care. It’s one of my favorite movies to watch, when I’m looking for some mindless, comfortable, funny relaxation…. Kevin Kline’s performance is brilliant, with Meg Ryan playing off him perfectly as the ditzy blond she probably is very much like in the real world…. but, who knows, and who cares? It’s fun, and that’s enough…. Enjoy, ffolkes…

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

French Kiss

Meg Ryan, Kevin Kline

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

https://youtu.be/_mNts8Qoms4

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

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

I’m still unable to bring myself to ranting state, so, here’s one from last year about this time….

From 4/4/2014:

http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Supreme-Court-strikes-down-overall-political-5371989.php

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/04/02/supreme-court-campaign-finance/4481675/

“Ignorance doesn’t kill you, but it makes you sweat a lot.” — Haitian proverb

“Faboo!, Would you like to see me make bubbles with my spit?” — Wakko Warner

“There’s nothing wrong with you a shotgun blast to the face couldn’t fix.” — Smart Bee, from gigoid’s political fantasy files

— Bother! said Pooh, as he rolled another joint for the President.

“And took for truth the test of ridicule.” — George Crabbe (1754-1832) — Tales of the Hall, Book viii, The Sisters

“Every nation ridicules other nations, and all are right.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

Perfect…. I have only one thing left to say, to wit:

“There are two intelligent responses to contemporary Western civilization: laughter and despair. You’ll note I’m not laughing.” — gigoid

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

“But groundless hope, like unconditional love, is the only kind worth having.” — EFF co-founder John Perry Barlow, “Cynthia Horner’s Eulogy”, Apr. 1994

Unsolicited Gratitude

Fear becomes familiar when reality bodes us ill
pain assumes first position, no matter our will.
Powerless, we founder, no strength to prevail
anguished and afraid, against unwanted Fate we rail.

Still, a grain of hope deep inside, hidden well against need
gives us reason to survive, our starving souls to feed.
Failure of courage burdens time, of being bested,
until our souls, in submission, become foully infested.

Bitter tears wash through us each day, with little care,
no thought, no feeling, no wish, or need to be fair.
Rendered clueless, confusion falls upon us, as prey,
we surrender a piece of our soul, little as we may.

Yet, always, a bright beam of hope is seen from afar,
no matter how dreary, or dark, it may seem where we are.
None knows, nor would consent to tell, it seems
from whence it hails, or why it so brightly gleams.

Saving our sanity, absolving our unwanted fears,
dispelling the myths and lies that come with the years.
Each man has known the precious gift that hope may give
And gives glad thanks, as long as he may live.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Smart Bee is cooperating, but, reluctantly; it took a LONG time to put this one together, and I’m still not sure what it means…. Good food for thought, though, all of it….

“The field of consciousness is tiny. It accepts only one problem at a time. Get into a fist fight, put your mind on the strategy of the fight, and you will not feel the other fellow’s punches.”– Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“I do not distinguish by the eye, but by the mind, which is the proper judge of the man.” — Seneca (8 BC) — On a Happy Life, 2, (L’Estrange’s Abstract, Chap, i.)

“My way of joking is to tell the truth. It’s the funniest joke in the world.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

“Anyone who has had a bull by the tail knows five or six more things than someone who hasn’t.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“Nature forms us for ourselves, not for others; to be, not to seem.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book ii, Chap. xxxvii, — Of the Resemblance of Children to their Brothers

“In every affair consider what precedes and what follows, and then undertake it.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — That Everything is to be undertaken with Circumspection, — Discourses, Book iii, Chap. xv

“I grow old ever learning many things.” — Solon 630 – 555 BC

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

I have fulfilled my vow, and may now take my leave. I shall do so forthwith, as I can’t seem to break out of this formality, much as it chokes me to experience…. SIGH…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless I come to my senses….

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….

I’ll take that last glazed pineal gland, please….

Posted on February 3, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Admission of ignorance is often the first step in our education.”

~~ Stephen Covey ~~

Chacalacascape — Gregory Basco

Mr. Covey, in his opening line, makes a valiant attempt here; sadly, he comes up slightly short of creating a truism. While what he notes IS true, he apparently lacked full confidence in his convictions, causing him to hedge his bet a little in his statement. A more correct word, with much more scope and perspective, is available to use to increase the accuracy of the concept; that word, which fills the lack in his original quote, would more accurately be as follows:

“Admission of ignorance is ALWAYS the first step in our education.”

Socrates, perhaps mankind’s most revered sage, knew this quite well, making the admission of his own ignorance freely, and frequently….. Perhaps the most famous story we have demonstrating his sagacity, out of many examples of his wisdom preserved throughout history, is the story of his lesson to a potential student, wherein he pushed the lad into deep water, telling him to come back to learn, when he wanted knowledge as much as he wanted air to breathe…. Simple, yet, effective lesson, wouldn’t you say?

I’ve always thought so, since first hearing it, in elementary school, but, then, I suppose one could say I started out a bit strange, a pink monkey, don’t y’know? Ah well, I’m good with it; I never could understand wanting to be like everybody else. It always puzzled me why anyone would want to be someone else; if I was, who the hell would I be? And, why am I asking you? You probably don’t have any more idea than do I, which puts both of us up that proverbial creek, sans a paddle, wouldn’t you say? I think, given the number of question marks in this paragraph, we’d best get on with something of a different nature, or color, or, well, anything at all but more of this silliness…

Can’t think of what I was trying to do there. Oh, wait….. Okay, I know what’s happening now. It’s my subconscious again, fussing around with the routine, probably has an issue to work out. It always does this to me when it’s trying to get my attention somehow….. I guess it does make communication difficult, when the two parties involved are separated by the veil of consciousness…. Every time it wants something, it has to work out some metaphorical code, to grab my conscious mind’s attention, directing it toward whatever has been chosen as a means of getting its point across…. It even SOUNDS complicated…..

Today, though, I think we’ll just wait until after we’re done, then I’ll figure out what it wants…. For now, I think I’ve blathered uselessly for long enough. Other than the initial short discussion of the classic lesson from Socrates, we’ve managed to make our way to a legal cut-off point, without having paid the slightest attention; no bridge tolls paid, either. Of course, we didn’t cross any bridges, but, you know those stat monkeys; they want us to keep track of EVERYTHING…. Bozos, every one of ’em…

Okay, I’m done. We’ll go on to the rest of today’s effort, leaving this right here, in this lonely, deserted area, with the nearest phone two miles away at a strip mall. I hope y’all brought your survival kits; we may need them, if we can’t find our way back here to the vehicle…. Besides, it’s questionable whether we’d be able to find it anyway, as the automatic camouflage utility will cover it in a holographic image of the surrounding trees, making it virtually impossible to find, anyway. If that happens, we’ll be late getting back, for sure, as Luigi will then have to fire up the swamp buggy to come get us…. Oh well…. such is life….

Shall we Pearl?

Pearls of Virtual Wisdom, August, 2011 to February, 2015 = Slightly less than 2.5 million words (Precisely, 2,478,983, according to Open Source Software’s Word Count utility….). — gigoid, showing off his addition skills, thus, clearly demonstrating the keen appreciation of the trivial which characterizes the prototypical bozoid personality….

To a Bozo, trivial statistics are not merely food for thought; they are Meat, Potatoes, AND, a Vegetable!…. Note the number of words used to talk about one simple stat…. Now, we can spend an inordinate number of otherwise fruitful hours, trying to calculate if the number of words written, as shown above, to wit: 2,278,983, is a Prime Number! It sure looks like one…. What fun we’re going to have!

Oh, heck…. Never mind. It’s a complicated calculation, which I’m not prepared to pursue just now. I guess we can just go on to the rest of today’s post, which, if the intro section is any indication, could prove to be an experience none of us have experienced in our lives…. I’m a little nervous, but, let’s go on, shall we?…..

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

Each year, the Grateful Dead web site organizes what they call the Dead Covers Project. Fans are encouraged to make a video wherein they play and/or sing a version of one of the Dead’s songs. They then upload the videos to a You Tube page dedicated to the “covers”, so all the fans can enjoy them, with prizes awarded to those voted the best by the viewers…. It’s a great way to get new music from America’s most dedicated fans, by some very good musical artists…. The link below will take you to the page where one of the fans has compiled 114 of the videos from 2014, for your listening and viewing pleasure…. and mine…. Enjoy, ffolkes, there’s some good shit here…..

Dead Covers Project 2014

***********

http://youtu.be/gGZUSrj3dko?list=PLAxT_DkSwQLsxDqEgOm-dAigF13pEy2n8

***********

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

“The rights you have are the rights given you by this Committee [the House Un-American Activities Committee]. We will determine what rights you have and what rights you have not got.” — J. Parnell Thomas

Hmm…. I’m not entirely certain of exactly when this statement went into the Congressional Record; the HU-AAC operated in the early 1950’s, during the era of McCarthyism, that black period of US history when the number of insane Senators elected to seats in Congress approached numbers paralleled only by the numbers we see today, when the world, and this country, have been inundated in the effects of long-term insanity, now being displayed so prominently in legislative and governmental facilities all over the world. But, I do know the statement fits in perfectly with the obvious sense of entitlement the current crop of pundits displays toward the public…

The infestation of vermin in Washington D. C. has reached epidemic level; soon the only solution will be to fumigate the whole town, moving the government to Topeka, or somewhere, until the smell is gone. Then we can send everybody left back to their jobs, minus the most egregiously stupid that were eliminated in the pogrom…. It shouldn’t take more than a week or two to treat the infestation; we’ve got some pretty good pest control chemicals available to us these days…. I’ve seen some even cockroaches don’t like….

Almost any the current products on the market should take care of a hundred Senators, a pack of Representatives, and a building or two filled with bureaucrats such as the Supreme Court and the President, etc…. They’re nastier looking than cockroaches, & definitely make a bigger mess, but, generally, they’re not as tough, or efficient at resisting chemical attacks…. Well, those obese pigs who walk around with basketballs under their suits, who eat a lot at McDonald’s, might be more poison-resistant than a cockroach, due to their diet, but, a bit of old-fashioned strychnine should deal with them just fine….

Hmm…. I detect some vitriol and resentment in my tone; I wonder where that came from? No telling, really; the number of different ways these assholes annoy me every day is something I gave up trying to count, or keep track of, long ago. It happens so often, I’ll make myself crazier than I already am if I keep counting them, & reacting every time. They fuck someone over so often, it gets hard to fit any more resentment in my craw, every time I hear of their latest act of infamy. They’re like the frigging Energizer bunny; when it comes to dirty tricks, lies, theft, massive stupidity, and greed, they just keep going, and going, and going…. You’d think they’d at least take a break to change batteries once in a while, but, it never seems as if the shit stops flowing, ever….

Have you heard the latest BS they’re lying to the public about? Check out the picture below, noting the highlighted text….

Yep. That’s right. The words you read are not an illusion. They are printed on the drug information sheet included in the box with each vial of vaccine, as required by law…. Of course, the big pharmacy and HMO corporations aren’t allowing patients receiving the vaccine to SEE this, or to read it before receiving the shot; in fact, they will mostly refuse to show it at all, disposing of them before allowing the vaccine near a patient. The copy you see was stolen by an activist…. And, yes, it DOES say exactly what it means…. NO clinical trials performed, IF any actually occurred, showed ANY effectiveness AT ALL in preventing the disease. NONE. ZERO. ZILCH. In short, it’s useless, and probably dangerous….

This means, of course there are millions and millions of Americans receiving vaccinations, which contain trace amounts of mercury, and other harmful substances not commonly known to the public, that do not serve any purpose at all…. Or, at least, no purpose that bodes well for the public. They are deliberately selling this lie for unknown purposes, that obviously have nothing to do with any sort of benefit to those being vaccinated. Who KNOWS what crap they’re injecting along with the vaccines?

They’re not telling us much, that’s for sure; their silence on this issue indicates to me there is a lot more they’re not telling the public…. That, ffolkes, is simple logic…. Paranoia is justified when it becomes clear one is being persecuted and oppressed; the need for change then becomes clear, as does the need for clarity of mind, which will create in us a real thirst for justice.

I’ve made a tactical error in this rant…. I began with a good premise, & ran with it a good long way; the direction took a bit of a side-trip into a related subject, then turned again; now, I’m not sure how to connect it all back together. I think I’ll just bail for today, & let an old-school do the work to bring it to a close…. Here s a group that comments on, well, stuff…. you’ll see… It’s all related, if a bit tenuously in spots…

“Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

“RIP: The U.S. Constitution–one amendment at a time.” — Smart Bee

“Food will be scarce; you will have to scavenge. Learn to recognize foods that will be available after the bomb: mashed potatoes, shredded wheat, tossed salad, ground beef, etc.” — Safety Tips for the Post-Nuclear Existence

“We need excellence in public education and if the teachers can’t do it, we’ll send in a couple of policemen.” — Frank Rizzo, Philadelphia Bulletin, Oct 19, 1973

“They are cold-blooded. They are completely ruthless about protecting what they have. The only thing they connect to is the money aspect of life. Let’s face it: That’s the American way.” — Jeffery M. Johnson, regional chairman of the District of Columbia United Way, speaking of drug dealers.

“Whenever you hear a man speak of his love for his country, it is a sure sign he expects to be paid for it.” — H. L. Mencken

“I’ve been vaccinated against rabies. *snarl*” — Random flu vaccination recipient

“Annual drug deaths: tobacco: 395,000, alcohol: 125,000, ‘legal’ drugs: 38,000, illegal drug overdoses: 5,200, marijuana: 0. Considering government subsidies of tobacco, just what is our government protecting us from in the drug war?” — William A. Turnbow

“A guilty conscience never feels secure.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 617

Well…. If we consider the last pearl to be true, there are a great many uncomfortable people in our nation’s capital…. Evidence of it’s truth can be found in one simple fact of note: it is still being used in everyday conversation, still considered as wisdom, more than 2000 years after Citizen Syrus made the original observation….

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

I’ve shared poems from this young lady previously; in my opinion, humble or not, she will someday be considered one of the world’s greatest. Perhaps it is the powerful obscurity of her metaphor, highlighted by the stark realism of the images she creates, often violently graphic, yet never offensive, that attracts me; I do love my metaphorse.

It could also be just the way it feels to read her work, as if she is speaking a deeper truth, from a connection to the universe she alone feels so strongly, in a language that is just on the edge of comprehension, though completely unknown…. Though you may not understand exactly what she is saying, you will know how it feels to see what she sees…. Read this, then follow the link, which will take you to her web site; besides this poem, you can find links to much of her past work, including her book, recently published…. Pay attention, ffolkes, THIS is genius at work/play….

Pecan

Of all the parts I could choose of you, I need only two;
The round, full seed inside and
the strong bulge that protects you.
I know your shell, hard as a pecan, hanging on ripe roots underground,
sipping on the end of the season.
You rip fingerprints from the
skin of the persistent, leaving your mark for the rest of winter.
I am careless, like you. A vulture
hovering overhead. Unease grows soft inside you; brown fruit meant for the ambitious.
I wait for destruction, for decay, for the cycle to recycle, again and again.
But during the wave of high desert winds, in the middle of
God and all of his plans,
I perch on a branch where your life begins and pray for your pain to dissolve with the land.

~~ Maggie Mae ~~

https://maggiemaeijustsaythis.wordpress.com/2015/02/02/pecan-2/#comment-47186

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

Life at Large. We all spend time here on Earth, born to a life of physical and spiritual challenges, all of which are made more complex by the intricate patterns of atoms and molecules which, when touched by the spark of life, speak in DNA, the code of effectively infinite variety which determines the configuration of the life for which it forms the pattern. We humans are ONE of the more complex forms on this planet, rivaled, perhaps, only by the dolphins and whales, whose DNA is, in some ways, related to our own; the dolphins, it is clear, have the most complex brains of all the creatures here on Earth.

This is shown clearly in research, and by simple observation and deduction…. For example, I observe that dolphins pay no taxes, nor do they suffer the pains of commuting to work through a fog of air cluttered with particulate matter; that seems pretty intelligent to me. I also deduce their advanced intelligence, from the simple fact they can learn our languages easily (so far, any of them we’ve attempted to teach them, they can learn….); we have only learned a small part of their language, not even enough to know yet if they possess & use more than one…. Their brains, when compared to ours, are larger on average, in sheer size, and in relation to body size.

So, since I can’t tell you how dolphins talk, or share with you any of the wisdom their greater intelligence must have given them, I’ll have to settle for some of humanity’s finest pieces of advice, to those who wish to lead a life filled with dignity, purpose, and peace…. Well, we try, anyway. A lot of ffolkes in history seem to have worked out some pretty good stuff to help us learn to cope with life; it isn’t their fault if not enough people have paid enough attention to them…. Below you find a nine-star pearl full of that wisdom; Smart Bee and I both think these are some of the finest lessons of all we’ve learned….

“If you don’t know, say so.”

~~ Mom’s Hint #012 ~~

“The wailing of the newborn infant is mingled with the dirge for the dead.” — Lucretius

“…to emphasize the afterlife is to deny life. To concentrate on Heaven is to create hell. In their desperate longing to transcend the disorderliness, friction, and unpredictability that pesters life; in their desire for a fresh start in a tidy habitat, germ-free and secured by angels, religious multitudes are gambling the only life they may ever have on a dark horse in a race that has no finish line.” — Tom Robbins, _Skinny Legs and All_, 1990, p. 305.

“Honor is the reward of virtue.” — Cicero (B.C. 106-43)

“Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.” — Plutarch

“I like that moment central to danger… when you become so thoroughly concerned with acting deftly, in order to be safe, that only reaction is possible, not analysis. You shed the centuries, and feel creatural. Of course you do have to scan, assess, and make constant minute decisions. But there is nothing like thinking in the usual methodical way. What takes place is more akin to informed instinct. For a compulsively pensive person, to be fully alert but free of thought is a form of ecstasy.” — Diane Ackerman

“Anyone who imagines that all fruits ripen at the same time as the strawberries, knows nothing about grapes.” — Philippus Paracelsus

“Place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”‘

“What a man has, so much he is sure of.” — Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) — Don Quixote, Part ii, Book iv, Chap. xliii

“Don’t take life too serious. It ain’t no ways permanent.”

~~ Pogo, by Walt Kelly ~~

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

Well, it’s done. Again. What a let down…. No, not a let down, a bummer. No, wait. That’s not right, either. Oh, hell, I don’t know, and, what’s more, don’t care any longer, simply because we ARE done. Go figure…. Gosh, ffolkes, I have no idea what happened here, but, it does LOOK done, so, I’m going to trust my instincts, such as they are, and let if fly without even going over it for typos…. Today, in that respect, y’all are on your own. I think I’m going to go look for my mind, which seems to have taken a powder….. I’ll let y’all know tomorrow where I had to haul it home from…. See ya, 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….

Okay, but, who takes the hindmost?….

Posted on September 10, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he gets to know something.” — Wilson Mizner

Since there can be no doubt as to exactly WHEN this was taken, (as long as we can trust digital appliances not to lie to us….) allow me to just say, it is one of mine, shot a few days ago, in a relatively futile attempt to get one good shot of the Super Moon,which took place at the date and time on the picture, as calculated by scientists at the Naval Observatory, & reported on Space.com. I intended to go out earlier, to find a spot to get a really good one, but, Murphy had other plans for my evening, as it turned out….

Approximately a half-hour before the moonrise was calculated to take place, I grabbed my phone, my stick, and the bagged garbage & recycling, to take it outside, downstairs, to the bins, which, I would then take out to the curb, for pick-up the next morning. Since I was still in quite a bit of pain, with some stiffness, too, it took me a few minutes, as I was moving, and, apparently, thinking slowly….

When done, I walked back up the stairs, with some difficulty, only to find the back door had blown itself shut in the breeze, while still locked…. Naturally, I didn’t have my keys on me, so, there I was, outside, no key, tired, in pain, and about two minutes away from A) biting myself, or, preferably, and, much more likely, the nearest human being I could find, and/or B) requiring the immediate use of articles only to be found indoors…. No, not what you’re thinking, but, well, ’nuff said… I had reasons to need to get in long before anyone would be able to bring m the means to do so….

Needless to say, I was NOT happy, first, with my bozoid failure to unlock the door, the first time I opened it that morning, as I almost ALWAYS do; nor was I happy with my bozoid failure to realize it would blow shut while outside, even though I am the one who opened the other door, the windows, & turned on the fan, so the very breeze that shut the door would be blowing, to cool off the house…. In short, my own bozoid nature gave Murphy the perfect opportunity to BURY ME in stress, in the course of a few short moments, a window of time into which I strode boldly, with full confidence that everything was fine…. the frame of mind that bloody Irish asshole LOOKS for…. I imagine he had a hard time containing his glee when he saw me go outside….

Since I had only moments to figure out how to get back inside, (remember, I had very GOOD reasons to HAVE to get in….), I tried to call one of the handymen my landlord employs, whereupon, of course, I found one out to dinner, and the other not answering… So, I made the only decision my executive nature was capable of under that sort of stress, proceeding to use my multi-purpose stick to break in the damn window on the back door, thus creating a HUGE FUCKING MESS inside my house, ten feet out into the middle of the kitchen floor, now COVERED with tiny pieces of breakaway glass, thus, necessitating a complete cleaning of the kitchen, and laundry room, which is where the back door is situated….

So, yesterday morning, (or, today, as I write this…. remember, I have a Tardis….), as well as overnight, I was completely unable to use about a quarter of my house, as it was covered in glass I had no way to pick up…. I have to wait until I can ask someone to come over, bring a real broom, (which has somehow disappeared….), and help me clean up, as doing it right is well beyond my current capabilities….

Now, is there anyone out there with any more questions about WHY I hate Murphy, even more so than your average Bozo? I am completely depressed now, because, in one swell foop, he has put me in a hole it will take days to climb out of…. the only thing that is currently serendipitous, as far as I can see, is the fortunate arrival in the bank of my monthly SS allotment. At least I’ll have enough to pay for repairing all the damages incurred in this episode, and, be able to obtain enough cannabinoids to knock down some of the severe pain that has been haunting me the last couple of weeks….

Plus, as you see, it provided enough material to complete another introductory section, with the ease of long habit in reporting the machinations of our planet’s least appreciated, most reviled icon, Jester to the Courts of Chaos, The Murphy, Most Puissant Asshole Supreme, He Who Has No Peer, Nor Ever Shall (because no other force of nature will have anyfuckingthing to do with him….)….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Hey Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!”
“But that trick NEVER works!”
“This time fer sure!”

— Rocky & Bullwinkle, playing verbal ping-pong, with Metaphoric Balls, using Euphemystic Brand paddles, Hand-Crafted with ONLY the finest of Time Tested Cliches….

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

“Aim at the sun, any you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if aimed at an object on a level with yourself.” — Joel Hawes

“Beginnings are such delicate times.” — Princess Irulan, from Dune, by Frank Herbert

Of late, the posts here at ECR have been, shall we say, epic in proportion. I know I talk a lot; a certain percentage of responsibility for that can be laid at the feet of my writing style. Spare, it is not…. (Though that sentence isn’t bad, in that respect…. but, you’ll note this parenthetical comment has added approximately 15-20 extra words. See how that works?….) SIGH….

‘Tis a conundrum, for much of my sense of humor requires the long build-up to the punch line so easily displayed by using the more formal approach I’ve chosen; I guess I’ve always loved a long, involved story that ends with a pun, or something so unexpected, the usual reaction is multiplied by the surprise factor….. (Now that I’ve pointed it out, the convoluted grammatical structure of my style seems to be part of the issue; a sentence such as the one previous to this could have been written in half the words…. See? It’s almost as if I can’t help it; it’s a sickness, I guess… Verbalitis maximus, or some such Latin perversion….)

Once, on a bus trip in high school, one of the other students told a story to the entire bus… He took about 30 or more minutes to tell the entire story, giving background, and describing the characters, dragging it out with repetitive actions by the characters that lent themselves to long, drawn out dialogue, and slow speech…. At the end of the 30 minutes, when the story wound around toward a resolution, the question being asked by the protagonist, which is the quest in the story, to find out WHY this person did something, is about to be answered… The entire bus was hanging on this student’s every word; even the driver was engrossed. At the crucial point, the father asks his son, who is dying, the question, “WHY, my son? Why did you…..?” The dying young man, struggling to speak, chokes out, “Dad, I did it because….”

Then he died…. The student telling the story, at the word, “because”, dropped his head, shut his eyes, and fell over, as if dead….

For about15 seconds, there wasn’t a word, not a sound, as everyone on the bus sat in complete shock…. Then, the entire bus erupted, with shouts of anger, groans of dismay (the loudest and largest number of responses were the groans….), and some actual animated growls directed at him, right before half the objects on the bus started flying in his general direction, as each victim grabbed the first item at hand & let fly, intending serious harm….

I’ve never, in my entire life, seen a joke better told, unless by a pro, such as George Carlin, or Bob Newhart, who loved that sort of joke… nor have I ever seen such a loud, universal reaction to a pun, up to this day…. It was, quite simply, the best joke I’ve ever heard, even though it isn’t even a joke, except on the audience listening to it…. Nor, for that matter, is it a particularly GOOD joke; stupidly thick is the best one can say about all the parties in the story…. The value is in the telling, with it a critical factor to have the audience on the edge of their seats at the crucial point in the story….

Y’all are probably wondering where I’m going with this, since I’ve wandered so far afield in my mind…. Easy…. I’m giving y’all a break from the usual sober, involved, ranting that is generally my choice for this section…. I figured out, reading my blog isn’t easy…. it takes time, involves no little amount of cogitation, (a habit many Americans don’t possess), all of which probably asks more of the reader than I am entitled to ask in a blog…. Most blogs out there are much shorter, in terms of content, unless they post less often…. But, not ME, no sirree, Bob, I must write and post about 2000- 4000 words EVERY DAMN DAY….. I suppose I’ve come to realize it may be a bit much to ask of ffolkes, even those who enjoy my writing…

So, this little personal reminiscence is to let y’all know, I will be attempting, to some degree at least, to shorten the Pearls of Virtual Wisdom, to make them a little more palatable, and easy to swallow…. Perhaps, this will bring a bit more traffic to the site, because, even though I don’t write for the purpose of increasing my readership, as much as I do to stay sane, to try to hold off the mental calcification that may tend to settle in with us as we get older, decreasing our awareness, our cognitive abilities, and, ultimately, shortening our lives, by removing the pleasure of using our minds the way they were designed to be used…. which is hard, and often….

So, here is a single pearl, hopefully as cogent as I can make it, to seal the deal…. I can’t promise to succeed at this, but, I’ll promise to try, so, hopefully, you’ll see some less bulky Pearls, and a bit more dialogue in the comments, from increased traffic…. If nothing else, I’ll know I’ve lived up to the following aphorism, from one of history’s most prolific, and most accurately insightful moralists… Even if I don’t succeed, this tells me it’s the right thing to do….

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” — Aesop (620-560 B.C.)

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

Today I will, once more, assume the ethical stance, to include a poem of mine in this section; you already know why…. This way, nobody else can catch any of the grief or blame for any of today’s missive…. Which, in at least one respect, makes it safer for me, as well; no fear of litigation is necessary…. Here is one written this year, in February, that fits in perfectly with the discussion in section one…..

Blithely Untitled

A poem came to me today, willy, nilly,
along with a sharp blow to the head.
Since it left me feeling just a bit silly,
anything that rhymes should lessen the dread.

Manifesting destiny into a small, insidious group
we push on toward sanity, concentrating hard.
Full engaging moments spent navigating the loop
shall ever make a difference to victims found in the yard.

Still corpses of creatures, straight out of nightmare
fill up the corners of our tortured minds.
While ever saddened, the iconic male, most debonair,
gazes softly, ironically, at all the mutual interest he finds.

Moronic public statutes compel outbreaks of sanity,
responding to momentary impulses toward inducing peace.
Still, the motions get completed, in fertile stages of inanity
while the bulk of our inmates can find no surcease.

Reluctant motivation to continue is unbound,
striving to ascertain how far there yet remains to go.
No precognitive guesswork will make any less of a sound
to soften the final strains, or teach us to truly know.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

In order to assuage my own needs and desires, as well as to subdue, or at minimum, sublimate my urge to rant, today’s section three will assume its typical format, of an old-school pearl, but, with specific parameters, set to find ideas, quotes, and/or poems to show our disdain for the Asininnies, and our anger at the shadowy corporate slavers who have held society in thrall for our entire written history….

“Search men’s governing principles, and consider the wise, what they shun and what they cleave to.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 38

“Boldness is a mask for fear, however great.” — Lucan

“It is hard to let old beliefs go. They are familiar. We are comfortable with them and have spent years building systems and developing habits that depend on them. Like a man who has worn eyeglasses so long that he forgets he has them on, we forget that the world looks to us the way it does because we have become used to seeing it that way through a particular set of lenses. Today, however, we need new lenses. And we need to throw the old ones away.” — Kenich Ohmae, The Borderless World

“Food is an important part of a balanced diet.” — Fran Lebowitz

(The above, on food, should be tattooed on the forehead of every one of the 455 men & women in Congress, the White House, and sitting on the SCOTUS; it’s something they tend to ignore, or forget, especially when forced to think about the ‘little people’….)

“People come o Washington believing it is the center of power. I know I did. It was only much later that I learned that Washington is a steering wheel that’s not connected to an engine.” — Richard Goodwin

“Our virtues are most frequently but vices disguised.” — Francis, Duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) — Maxims, Head

“And what is a good citizen? Simply one who never says, does or thinks anything that is unusual. Schools are maintained in order to bring this uniformity up to the highest possible point. A school is a hopper into which children are heaved while they are still young and tender; therein they are pressed into certain standard shapes and covered from head to heels with official rubber-stamps.” — H.L. Mencken

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

Well, there you go…. a reasonably fresh Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, (Required disclaimer: These are ‘virtual’ wisdom; any attempt to use them as real wisdom is the responsibility of the Gentle Reader; the author takes no part in that, for damn good reason….) with only the intro section written prior to this morning’s effort, and it needed to be edited, so, it’s all pretty up-to-date…. Not that freshness will make it taste better, but, hey, with Pearls, you never know…. time improves some of them, others are gems from the start, and, sadly, some cannot be saved by any power known to Mankind…. so be it. gigoid has spoken….

For today, it’s done, which will allow me to go on into the day with no lingering dross or drivel left in my head, just the way I like it…. I’ll need it today, as I go forth to contend with the bureaucratic forces of government…. with a buffering shield of drug-induced emotional space, in lieu of a force-field, (still can’t find one on the open market….), but, still, my hands and ears will require serious cleansing later on…. See ya tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

All those attending the apocalypse, board here….

Posted on September 5, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“It is a waste of energy to be angry with a man who behaves badly, just as it is to be angry with a car that won’t go.”

~~ Bertrand Russell ~~

What vivid, beautiful morning glories! (Well, I THINK they’re morning glories; if not, can a gardener tell me what they are? I’m clueless about plant ID’s….) I’m happy with this shot, simple as it is, because of the colors that came through in the final result…. gorgeous plant, it was, and the only pictures I managed to get on that walk, were of it, and its flowers…. Out of the four or six shots I took, (shaky hands, couldn’t get one centered…. I was on my way to the magic cream shop, in dire need of their products….), this one, and a study of the whole plant, which was in a yard next to a store, were lovely enough to use for today, and tomorrow’s Pearl…. sufficient reward for the misery I had to endure to get to the store….

And, you are NOT going to believe this one…. Last night, I slept (yes, slept… Me, gigoid, sleeping…. quite a concept, eh?) for ten hours, straight and solid, with only two awakenings, to take the scheduled opiate…. I feel GREAT! (Well, I’m discounting the hips and shoulder, which are in their standard state, but, a bit of the ol’ magical topical cream, and I’m good to go…. You may have already noticed how my mood is at a level of, oh, I’d say, a good three steps from usual…. I really don’t know what to do with it; I haven’t suffered this much ‘good will toward men’ in ages…. Maybe I should go out tonight, & try my luck at meeting somebody new…. Nah, I’ll just enjoy the glow….

Besides, by 10 AM, if the world’s routine hasn’t altered significantly, my arthritis should be kicking in, and I’ll be back to the steeplechase, running as slowly as I can, chasing after the pain, trying to knock it down far enough to stop, if nothing else, the whimpering, which tend to embarrass me, even though nobody can hear me when I cry out…. SIGH…. It’s been a tough week, if you couldn’t tell….

Enough whining, though, I feel too good to be pessimistic about how long it will last… I’ll just take advantage of the moment, and enjoy feeling relatively normal, at least for a while…. Plus, look, it gave me enough to fill in this space, which means we can use one of the emergency release mechanisms we have in place, to get us out of here, and onward into the rest of today’s mess, er, missive… Whattyathink, eh? Shall we use #4? It IS sitting right there, ready…. Okay, we’ll do that….

Shall we Pearl?

” — I’d love to, but… I have to study for a blood test.” — 79 of 101 Easy Ways To Say NO

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

“Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.” — Nietzsche, “Thus Spake Zarathustra”

I’ve been writing a lot recently on this subject; one reason makes itself obvious today, or, more accurately, was demonstrated yesterday, as several stories in the news caught my attention, stories that demonstrate the ubiquitous seriousness of the issue, that of the militarization of the police, with the concomitant result, and motivating factor, of the elimination of the basic rights as covered in the original US Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the US Constitution…. If you think, even for a moment, that you have all those rights by law, in today’s world, then, ffolkes, and, folks….. y’all just aren’t paying close enough attention to what is happening, right in front of you….

In support of that obviously arguable contention, I offer the following discussion, with two appropriate expressions as a preface:

“No sheath shall hold what finds its home in flesh.” — Proverb

“The law hath not been dead, though it hath slept.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Measure for Measure — Act ii, Sc. 2

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Fast-food-protests-expected-in-push-for-higher-pay-5732532.php

Oh…. I get it now…. We, the citizens, are now allowed to protest, without fear of arrest by overzealous police forces, UNLESS we are “disruptive to traffic”, or refrain from “blocking streets”, as a way to express our grievances, to petition the government for redress of those grievances… Sounds to me like the same line of reasoning used by the large communication companies, such as Verizon, or AT&T, (as well as just about ALL companies these days…. they all saw how well it worked for the big guys, & jumped right on that wagon…), who make it impossible to even SPEAK to an actual live person, to try to address any issues of customer service….

They all say their primary goal is customer satisfaction, or, in the case of the police, the protection of the rights of the public, but, have arranged matters (i.e., passed laws…) that enable them to refuse to speak, or listen to anyone who wishes to obtain any such thing…. Same same attitude, in my book…. They don’t want to talk to us, and they don’t want to listen to any complaints about that, or about anything else…. so, they’ve made it damn near impossible to exercise the right we were allegedly guaranteed by the sacrifices of our ancestors….

“The simple rights, the civil liberties from generations of struggle must not be just fine words for patriotic holidays, words we subvert on weekdays, but living, honored rules of conduct amongst us…I’m glad the American Civil Liberties Union gets indignant, and I hope this will always be so.” — Senator Adlai E. Stevenson

(Obviously, by the evidence of this, and other quotes from the good Senator, and, because I was around to watch the rest of the established incumbent politicians of the era, who were, ostensibly, his peers, deliberately and ruthlessly destroy his credibility, and his reputation, with lies, innuendo, and political skulduggery, thus effectively shutting him up, and preventing him from causing any real harm to them, or their incumbency, it’s clear, to me, and to many others, Adlai was one of the rare exceptions to the established rule….)

http://blog.sfgate.com/crime/2014/09/03/black-oakland-firefighter-says-white-cop-held-him-at-gunpoint/?cmpid=hp-hc-bayarea

According to this one, the officer involved was acting “within policy”…. So, by that standard, it’s okay, policy-wise, to profile, to NOT call for backup, to use intimidation as a method of controlling a situation, and to assume that the officer saying, “Sorry” for being a total asshole, is sufficient reason to ‘overlook’ his behavior from the police’s obviously expert, objective viewpoint….. Right…..

“If our behavior is strict, we do not need fun!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Doesn’t this bother anyone else, but me? Why is it okay for the police to act like this, without any consequences at all for the officer involved, and the department that encourages this sort of asininity? Can ANYONE explain this to me, any way at all? I’m pretty smart, and will be able to understand just about anything that makes any sense, from any objective standpoint, based on a full understanding of the intent of the founders of the Constitution when they created that document, and a pretty extensive knowledge of human nature, so, any sort of evidence will do….

“Pluck out the heart of my mystery.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act iii, Sc. 2

I’m willing to bet, some serious money, that there is no one who will, or can, respond to those questions, at least, not in any way that will lessen the responsibility for immoral, unethical, and illegal actions of the policeman, and the department that echoes the WRONG attitudes of almost every other force in this country, and all over the world…. I say this because I’ve looked for any such evidence, already, many times, and have yet to find anything to alter the way I look at it, not by the analysis of the available FACTUAL evidence….

Ever since the middle of the nineteenth century, the government of this country, (and, by that, I am including all three branches, which are supposed to balance each other’s powers, thereby protecting us, the People….) has been under the influence and control of corporate interests, which translates as the monied elite, who have, and will protect viciously, all the “legal” rights they now possess, rights to the control of almost ALL the resources available to society…. With this influence, hard-won by the bribing of a major Federal Court judge in the mid-1800’s, some legal rulings were made, rulings that defined corporations as “persons”, with the legal rights of a person, and, more, providing a legal precedent for future flunkies, er, judges to fall back on….

PRECEDENT, n. In Law, a previous decision, rule or practice which, in the absence of a definite statute, has whatever force and authority a Judge may choose to give it, thereby greatly simplifying his task of doing as he pleases. As there are precedents for everything, he has only to ignore those that make against his interest and accentuate those in the line of his desire. Invention of the precedent elevates the trial-at-law from the low estate of a fortuitous ordeal to the noble attitude of a dirigible arbitrament.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

This opened the door to other rulings, all of which, over the years, based on the original decision, and, all of which, essentially, give more and more of the rights we flesh and blood citizens have to those “corporate persons”, such that, now, corporations not only have MORE rights than any single citizen, composed of mere flesh and blood, but, have extended their control, using the same basic method of bribery, to the other two branches….. They did so in Congress, by convincing that august body to vote itself the right to make laws that were separate from those that were Constitutional, thereby making them not subject to the same restrictions that now define that document…. In other words, they voted themselves the keys to the treasury….

(Some time, if you get a chance, check out the health plan that the members of Congress, and other Federal government elected officials, are set up with when they get elected, along with their retirement plans…. You will be shocked at what they have given themselves over the years, all without even notifying any of the public what was going on…. Most of the American public is not even AWARE that a member of Congress, when they leave that august body, get to keep their health plan (much better than any available to the public, more extensive coverage, and free of any out of pocket cost to them….), AND their congressional salary, now in the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS range….. FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES….. even if only elected to one term…. Pretty good deal they’ve handed themselves, eh, what?….. If you are ANYTHING like me, it will convince you to go buy a gun, and to use it…..)

The Executive Branch, while attempting to maintain the appearance of independence and proper assumption of its Constitutional duty, fell in with those same shadowy corporate snakeheads on Wall Street, and came up with the simple concept of “Executive privilege”, giving themselves the power to make laws, bypassing Congress, and, thus, the people, altogether…. Cute, eh? And, clever, too, for making it all seem as if the White House, Congress, and the Courts, were, and are, all doing their jobs, providing balance to the powers of government…. when, in fact, the people of this country have NO ONE representing their interests, in any level, in any branch of our government….

There are 455 very rich, white men, (with a very few exceptions to that particular description….) who determine the course of life in this country…. add it up yourself. Their average income is over a million dollars…. the average, mind you… Many of them are multi-millionaires, many times over…. What do they know of the lives of the common man? How can anyone believe they would have the same set of interests to pursue, or that the agendas they hold are, in ANY way, concerned with making things better for anyone but themselves….

“Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.” — Mark Twain

As I said, there are a very few exceptions, who, basically, are powerless to change any part of the big picture…. too much money, power, and inertia working against them… Plus, every one of those at that level, who accidentally make it to the national stage, and are those who would work for the people, sincerely and honestly, are always isolated by the rest, to make them completely ineffective…. witness the only moral president of the last century, Jimmy Carter…. from the current crop of Congressmen with any honor at all, I’d say Al Franken comes closest, and he is under massive political assault, by the Republican Party, the Tea Party, AND the Koch Brother’s Super PAC, Citizens United….)

Ah yes, Citizens United…. that famous Supreme Court decision, which makes my contention, about the bought-and-paid for servile indenturing of the Supreme Court, not so very hard to believe, giving, as it did, the very clear message the Court’s belief in the sacred status of corporate personhood, and the inviolability of corporations to do whatever they must to protect and preserve their bottom line, which is the profit they make on all the predatory hoarding of resources, and the control that gives them over society and culture at large…. Anything at all that interferes with smooth flow of money into their coffers is not to be allowed….

There is a bill now in the Senate, awaiting a vote, that, if passed, will do away with the decision by the Court re: corporate donations to political campaigns; it is a Constitutional Amendment, which was the ONLY way to stop the decision from becoming the law of the land. It will prevent the corporations from having completely unlimited power to influence elections, by removing the restrictions they, as corporate persons, to political campaigns, effectively halting the formation and continued existence of Super-PAC’s, such as Citizens United….

You know, the one owned by the Koch brothers, ultra-conservative billionaires, with a sense of entitlement you have to see to believe…. incredible assholes, both of them…. Sorry, just can’t stand people like that, who have no compassion or “fellow-feeling”; in my estimation, they do not deserve to be called human, and, to be honest, I consider them to be a total waste of sperm….

This government, as it now exists, has NOTHING to do with the Constitution that allegedly forms the basis for its existence…. Almost every statement in the Constitution, especially in the amendments that make up the Bill of Rights, is no longer in force, essentially, and we can no longer count those rights as anything but a memory….

The experiment in government started by our founding fathers, who wanted a government that would protect and support the people, not oppress them, as every other government in history has done to its citizenry; once in power, every human being alive seems to fall prey to the urge to put aside all of their compassion, all of their integrity, and all their altruism, whereupon, they begin to make changes, that will ultimately server their ends, which are ONLY concerned with meeting their own needs, not those of the people…. It has happened EVERY TIME….

I challenge ANYONE to find an example, anywhere in the past 5000 years, of a government that demonstrated any appreciable degree of care for the people, ahead of what was important to the ruling class…. Just one will do, because even that will provide hope that it can be done…. but, I’m a pretty well-read guy, and I can’t think, or remember, any government in history who were considered to be any such thing as “compassionate” or that actually made life better for its citizenry….

As one of the Shrubs said one time, “Bring it on….”

I think that’s all…. I cant, at this point, think of anything more to add to this discussion, so, why don’t we give it up now, and move on….

“Sorry, my mind was on edible underwear today.” — Smart Bee, providing gigoid with an excuse for the above….

Whoops! How’d that get in here? Oh, I remember…. After the somber sobriety of the above politirant, I went to look for an appropriate pearl to close with, whereupon I found this, & couldn’t resist…. Okay, here is a proper thought with which to end this piece….

“May you have eyes like a hawk and a spouse with warts.” — Smart Bee, being a smart ass….

Sorry, I’m not taking the rap for that one; it’s on SB…. It just showed up when I pasted the right pearl, I THOUGHT…. THIS is the proper ending I was looking for, when I was so rudely interrupted, by a bloody database!……

“A conqueror is always a lover of peace.” — Karl von Clausewitz (1780-1831)

~~ from “On war”; copied by Lenin in his notebook, with notation, “Ah, Ah, witty”. ~~

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

Whew! Good thing the first half of that rant was already done, or I’d have been there forever this morning…. After that, I need something to cheer me up a little bit…. no, make that a LOT…. I know…. In this mood, some pure, cold, clean, powerful brilliance is just the ticket…. Since none of mine quite fit that bill, this one will do just fine….

Witch Burning

In the marketplace they are piling the dry sticks.
A thicket of shadows is a poor coat. I inhabit
The wax image of myself, a doll’s body.
Sickness begins here: I am the dartboard for witches.
Only the devil can eat the devil out.
In the month of red leaves I climb to a bed of fire.

It is easy to blame the dark: the mouth of a door,
The cellar’s belly. They’ve blown my sparkler out.
A black-sharded lady keeps me in parrot cage.
What large eyes the dead have!
I am intimate with a hairy spirit.
Smoke wheels from the beak of this empty jar.

If I am a little one, I can do no harm.
If I don’t move about, I’ll knock nothing over. So I said,
Sitting under a potlid, tiny and inert as a rice grain.
They are turning the burners up, ring after ring.
We are full of starch, my small white fellows. We grow.
It hurts at first. The red tongues will teach the truth.

Mother of beetles, only unclench your hand:
I’ll fly through the candle’s mouth like a singeless moth.
Give me back my shape. I am ready to construe the days
I coupled with dust in the shadow of a stone.
My ankles brighten. Brightness ascends my thighs.
I am lost, I am lost, in the robes of all this light.

~~ Sylvia Plath ~~

“Poetry is the eloquence of truth.” — Joseph Campbell

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

Boy…. reading Sylvia is certainly a roller-coaster of an experience, isn’t it? I feel lots better now; all the lingering dregs of angst and resentment at the shenanigans of the BRC, and the rest of the asininnies, have departed, forthwith, leaving me relatively normal, in re: all-around feelings of contentment with life…. Since I’m 63 years old, I know that won’t last forever, or even very long, so, I’m intent on enjoying every minute of it….

Do be, do be, doo….

Okay, that’s enough normal for me…. I’m going to do what I do, which is put together a fresh, random harlequin style pearl, with parameters set at the extreme end of SILLY, right smack up against the backside of INSANITY…. Should be fun!…. Let’s go annoy Smart Bee for a while, okay? Okay! Let’s go!….

“It is a mistake to think of all demons as being exactly alike. Some are short while others are tall; some are yellow, others are blue; some are nasty and others are extremely nasty. Some of the nastiest are quite fast as well. Should you encounter one of these, it is a mistake to think at all. Much more appropriate are such responses as running, screaming, and the very rapid formation of a last will and testament.” — The Teachings of Ebenezum, Vol. IX

“Reality does not exist – yet.” — Smart Bee

“If I kiss you, that is a psychological interaction. On the other hand, if I hit you over the head with a brick, that is also a psychological interaction. The difference is that one is friendly and the other is not so friendly. The crucial point is if you can tell which is which.” — Dolph Sharp, I’m O.K., You’re Not So Hot

“Being normal is driving me crazy.” — Smart Bee (who obviously was listening all those times gigoid was talking to himself…. he thought….)

“The mind is everything,” wrote Proust. No doubt true, when you’re dead from the neck down.” — Edward Abbey

“Fear always springs from ignorance.” — Smart Bee, and, the Bhagavad Gita, paraphrased

“For I never have seen, and never shall see, that the cessation of the evidence of existence is necessarily evidence of the cessation of existence.” — De Morgan (1839-1917)

— Bother! said Pooh,as he rolled over into the wet spot.

(Oops, sorry, that was supposed to go somewhere else…. oh, well, we’re on fun mode, so, I’ll let it stay….)

“The only very marked difference between the average civilized man and the average savage is that the one is gilded and the other is painted.” — Mark Twain

“Before you criticize people, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’ve got a mile-long head start. And you have their shoes.” — The Lion

“I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.” — ee cummings

“As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.” — Henry David Thoreau

When I was a little boy, I had but a little wit,
‘Tis a long time ago, and I have no more yet;
Nor ever ever shall, until that I die,
For the longer I live the more fool am I.

— “Wit and Mirth, an Antidote against Melancholy” (1684)

Okay…. I know, I went a bit overboard, again; chalk it up to having so much energy, after my marathon sleep last night…. Bonus: You have, and I have, without realizing it, witnessed the creation of the very first 13-star pearl…. I have no clue as to how it happened, other than forgetting where I was while collecting…. The clipboard appends each quote, but, doesn’t allow me to look at it, to count, before pasting… It doesn’t matter, at all, really, because, in this case, it worked, just fine, which is a word we could easily use to describe this pearl… Without getting overly wordy, or overly long, these 13 ideas present us with some fine entertainment, and a few pokes in the conscience, as well as a good portion of silliness… I like it….

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

So much for serendipity and planning…. In spite of the sleep, and, in spite of the plan my unseasonably clear mind came up with this morning, I’m running a little late…. this, even though over half the rant was already done… But, when I sat to go over it, it just got me going again…. Then, the long pearl in section three got going…. Happily, it’s done, and I’m not going to fuss with it…. I will see y’all tomorrow, with who knows what new and exciting ideas, given an entire day of relative clear-mindedness? Not me, certainly, though I’ve got as much chance as anyone of guessing…. But, where would be the fun in that?…. Bye, for now….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

Doling out a measure of peace….

Posted on July 13, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Always be curmudgeonly. Don’t ever forgive. Go home infrequently. Just keep loose. Mostly, never opine. Pick quirky relatives. Stay tough underneath. Vote. Watch xenophobia, you zealot.

There…. my version of alphabetical alliteration…. Pretty cool, eh? I don’t think I missed any letters, or got any out of sequence…. If I did, I’m sure you’ll…. What? Hell, I don’t have a clue what it MEANS. I just wrote it. Come to think of it, I probably shouldn’t be so quick to claim authorship; who knows? Somebody else might have already done this, and I’m plagiarizing, for all I know….. Somehow, though, it’s a bit hard to believe that anyone else would take credit for something as lame as this…. not if they intended for anyone to have any respect for them as a writer….

Me, I gave up on that a long time ago…. I’ll settle for what I got yesterday, which was a comment stating one reader always enjoys my work as a change of pace from the news…. Yes, he’s a bit strange, too, but, it still feels good to know I’m achieving at least part of what I wish with my efforts…. To know someone is enjoying it, that it gives someone pleasure, is enough for me….

Of course, that may not continue, should I keep making up crap such as the first few lines today…. I DID think it was fairly cool in one respect, at least…. It was fun…. The challenge I set myself, to write something at least marginally humorous, using words that begin with each successive letter in the English alphabet, was accomplished with ease, so much so I was a trifle suspicious it would be good enough…. Sure enough, it’s not what I’d call classical in nature or style, but, there is a point or two in there where it approaches funny…. I particularly enjoyed the WXYZ sentence….

Wow! Now THERE is an eye-opener…. It isn’t apparent from where you are sitting, but, I have been gone for the past four and a half minutes, unable to breathe or talk, or type…. Being a bozoid personality does have its risks, which can, and did, strike anytime…. As I took a sip of coffee just a few moments ago, I got a tickle in my throat just as I started to swallow…. This caused a major disruption in my metabolism, with the most immediate result being that I damn near choked on the coffee, as it made every effort to go into my lungs, rather than down the hatch to the stomach….

Preventing that threw my whole throat and chest into massive turmoil, coughing, choking, and generally looking like the world’s biggest bozo for a while, as I attempted to regain my composure…. SIGH…. One of the things that they forgot, or deliberately omitted, from the manual is this aging stuff… A lot of the small little hassles that our bodies present to us as we age are things we’ve never heard about…. I can’t believe I’m the first old fart to have these difficulties with the aging process, yet we never hear about them when we are younger…. but, I know why…

It’s revenge, for being young…. None of the old-timers say anything about any of this stuff, except to each other…. We all complain about our aches and pains, when we are with our peers…. But, we never got warned, so we aren’t going to give those young whippersnappers any kind of help WE didn’t get…. It wouldn’t be fair to tell them, and let them write it down so it eventually ends up in the manual…. Fair to whom, you ask? Well, to all of us who are already suffering from the indignities of advancing age, and all those oldsters who have gone before, pioneering the way for us…. THEY had no warning, and neither did we…. why should we be any kinder?….

Okay, this meandering is getting a bit out of bounds…. I’m starting to fantasize and make stuff up again, which is fine, but, won’t get this Pearl done…. Today’s intro, in my attempts at trying a new approach, seems to have grown past all boundaries of good taste, or at least, good sense…. That, of course, isn’t anything out of the ordinary for us, but, it IS making this intro a bit longer than is handy… In fact, I’m going to have to…. Oh, wait, look! There’s the ending right there…. Good, now we can get on with this….

Shall we Pearl?…..

Will change the pebbles of our puddly thought
To orient pearls.

— Du Bartas (1544-1590) — Divine Weekes and Workes, Second Week, Third Day, Part i

[dignified silence]……

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

Here, for your early morning viewing pleasure, is a classical, ancient pearl, whose contributing authors all lived prior to the birth of Jesus Christ, who, though not my own particular candidate for basing a calendar on, remains the agreed upon point of reference for the modern version of time…. essentially, all of these wise ffolkes were born more than two thousand years ago, yet their words have survived, intact, to this day…. Enjoy!….

“Human life nearly resembles iron. When you use it, it wears out. When you don’t, rust consumes it.” — Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 BC) — Carmen de moribus

“The most virtuous of all men is he that contents himself with being virtuous without seeking to appear so.” — Plato (B.C. 427?-347?)

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

“It is a difficult thing for a man to resist the natural necessity of mortal passions.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Of those whom God is slow to punish

“Neither make thy friend equal to a brother; but if thou shalt have made him so, be not the first to do him wrong.” — Hesiod (c. 700 BC) — Works and Days, Line 707

“Time cancels young pain.” — Euripides (431 BC)

“In the land of the dark, the Ship of the Sun is driven by the Grateful Dead.” — Egyptian Book of the Dead

Okay, so the last one isn’t so much of a pearl as it is a small revelation about the past…. and where a certain band got their name…. Okay, fine, here is one last pearl to finish this off correctly…. I hope you enjoyed this little trip back in time with me, to gather a small harvest of the wisdom of the ages….

“No sooner said than done — so acts your man of worth.” — Quintus Ennius

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

It’s a haiku day, I can feel it…. so, here is one fresh one, and a couple more from the archives….

Food for thought

Savory phrases
seem to surface from the depths
of hidden hungers.

~~ gigoid ~~

7/13/2014

A Moment of Haiku

Bare is the soul
who will not see the truth,
even when the truth sees them.

~~ gigoid ~~

2/9/2012

Haiku IV

Time and circumstance;
all of us who are alive,
must pay heed, or else.

~~ gigoid ~~

4/19/2013

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

“It’s awfully hard work doing nothing. However, I don’t mind hard work when there is no definite object of any kind.” — Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

This morning, Oscar’s ironic curmudgeonry from his most popular play hits me where I live, to paraphrase my blogging friend, Jerry Doby…. I had a rant subject all picked out for this section, but find myself unwilling to carry out my intent…. No idea why, just don’t feel like ranting just now…. All the emotional content necessary to produce one is present, and accounted for, but, I haven’t been able to find a proper headline to pick at thus far, and I’m not in the correct frame of mind to persevere….. Oh, well, too bad, so sad…. for me, not for you… for you, it means yet another old-school pearl, as fresh as I can make it, sans parameters to help speed the process, and widen our options…. Have a care with this one, ffolkes, it could get a little rowdy….

“If you live long enough, it WILL kill you…” — Smart Bee

“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 Casteneda

“Caesar had his Brutus; Charles the First, his Cromwell; and George the Third [“Treason!” cried the Speaker]–may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it.” — Patrick Henry (1736-1799) — Speech in the Virginia Convention, 1765

(Okay, so this doesn’t exactly fit in with a parameterless pearl…. but, it was there and it’s always a good time to remind all you bloggers out there of our duty as American writers…. Socrates set the example, with his belief in the concept of the societal gadfly; I see it as every American’s duty to challenge the authority of the establishment, and these inspirational words from Patrick Henry serve perfectly as the proper and appropriate credo for all of us who believe in this country, and the dream of freedom and peace upon which it was founded…. There, I ranted, are you happy?…. I am….)

“…the value of the constitution depends on the good will of government itself. If the Supreme Court rules that the Bill of Rights should not interfere with the important business of government (which they have done on at least two occasions), then the constitution is meaningless.” — John Kormylo

(It’s always good to follow a credo/disclaimer with a warning…. Keep a sharp eye on this Supreme Court, ffolkes. They’re beginning to show their colors somewhat, since way too many of them were nominated by Shrubs…. Those assholes, the Shrubs, and all those misogynistic zombies (think Dick Cheney, the Lizard King), or any of the other closet anti-Americans who support them, have a very funny idea of constitutional law, one that has very little, if anything, in common with the one we already have in place…. If you don’t believe me, ask them…. they’ve stated, in the papers, how they’d like to see certain parts of the Constitution repealed, specifically, certain entries in the Bill of Rights, and the junior Shrub is on record as mentioning his belief that the framers of the Constitution “went too far” in handing out freedoms to the people…. See, I told you I had all the makings for a rant in here…..)

“Yes, there is Nirvana; it is in leading your sheep to a green pasture, and in putting your child to sleep, and writing the last line of your poem.” — Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), Sand and Foam

“The majority is never right.” — Lazarus Long (1912-)

“There’s a tendency today to absolve individuals from moral responsibility and treat them as victims of social circumstance. You buy that, you pay with your soul. It’s not men who limit women, it’s not straights who limit gays, it’s not whites who limit blacks. What limits people is lack of character. What limits people is that they don’t have the fucking nerve or imagination to star in their own movie, let alone direct it.” — Bernard Mickey Wrangle

Apparent disorder is a product of control.
Apparent fear is a product of courage.
Apparent vulnerability is a product of possession.

Control or disorder is a matter of Analysis.
Courage or fear is a matter of Direction.
Possession or vulnerability is a matter of Positioning.

— Sun Tzu “The Art of War,” translation by R.L. Wing

“May you grow so rich you never have to eat, drink, piss, crap, wash, or walk by yourself, God forbid.” — Smart Bee

This is why I love the process of making pearls…. It started out parameter free, picked out its own theme, then stretched itself into the rarest form of pearl, a nine-star, with comments that add up to a mini-rant…. Bonus!

Man, I love this job!….

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

I especially enjoy it when I finish in a timely manner, having created a completely fresh, original product…. other than the quotes themselves, anyway…. It must be the shoes…. If not, well, that’s okay, too, because I need new ones…. Your guess as to what that may mean is as good as mine; since it has NOTHING to do with anything that has gone before, or with anything being planned, I’m not going to even acknowledge its absolute irrelevance to the present situation…. In other words, what a load of crap! Hah! Gotcha!…..

Having thus disposed of the final piece of childish behavior I had left to get out today, I’ll leave you in peace… Well, once I’m gone, you’ll THINK it’s peace, anyway, because of the relative quiet and calm…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

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

View Full Profile →

	katiemiafrederick on Are those Foster Grants to blo…
	katiemiafrederick on Funk-o-matic accessories are o…
	katiemiafrederick on Dodge those taxes with dignity…
	katiemiafrederick on Dodge those taxes with dignity…
	katiemiafrederick on But…. but…. what a…

gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: scOTUS

Okay, but, who takes the hindmost?….

All those attending the apocalypse, board here….

Doling out a measure of peace….

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: