Tag Archives: Shakespeare

Cops & donuts– Match made in heaven, or evil twins? Film at 11…

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Ffolkes,

Today we are happy to welcome the advent of a heretofore long-standing non-existent state of being, which, given its long absence, may or may not be entirely welcome…. There, is that obscure enough for you? I think it’s a cool bit of literature, myself, sort of teasingly compelling, but, then, that’s to be expected from me, as the author. Regardless of that, though, it’s still a real-time, official announcement, though not fully sanctioned by the PTB, due to my not telling them about it…. You see, I just found out a short bit ago, so, I didn’t have time to register… I’ll get around to it one of these days, if it ever happens again…. Can’t tell right now how long it’ll last…

Okay, so now that we’ve gotten to the second paragraph, I’ll clue y’all in to just WHAT THE HELL I’M TALKING ABOUT….. Basically, this is it… we, or rather I, am in an entirely unaccustomed, and completely unfamiliar state of mind, induced by the application of NINE straight hours of sleep…. Yep, nine…. I was not just amazed, but completely flabbergasted, one of the language’s finest words, if not our favorite condition to encounter in ourselves. Nonetheless, paranoia aside, I awoke, looked at the clock, & laughed out loud in joy…. once I’d cleared my head enough to calculate how long I’d been asleep….

It’s an astounding feeling, one I vaguely recall from those halcyon days of my youth, to actually arise feeling as if one has had enough sleep, fully able to throw off the perfectly natural impulse to go back to bed, with ease…. Though I don’t find myself any more clear-headed than I achieved when calculating my downtime (obviously, if this introductory section is any clue…), I FEEL wonderful, physically speaking, at least for the moment…. I’m sure gravity will have its usual effect on me over time, but, for now, I’m happy with how it feels to get this far into the day without suffering too much pain….

Okay, enough crowing… boasting becomes ugly quite quickly…. It would be easy to go overboard in my joy at having done what the rest of the world gets to do on a regular basis, so, I’ll cut this off right here…. Instead, I’ll try to figure out a way to get from here to the first section, without making too big of a mess, or disrupting the flight holding patterns of all the other pilots in the air… I know it makes the controllers nervous when I change course over the airport, but, on a day like today, they’ll never catch me anyway, so we can pretty much do as we like…. at least, until they catch us, which they haven’t been able to do yet….  Our chances are good…

Shall we Pearl?….

“Clear the laundromat!!  This whirl-o-matic just had a nuclear meltdown!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Yow!…..
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“It is surely harmful to souls to make it a heresy to believe what is proved.” — Galileo Galilei

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Officials-Senate-considered-phone-company-option-5349450.php

As predicted in yesterday’s rant, the pundits in the House and Senate are now showing us the expected waffling and discord around the subject of data storage, all of which assures me I was right to say they will accomplish nothing other than producing a lot of hot air and paper, all without actually changing ANYTHING…. Any bets?…. I’m willing to wager just about every penny I can scrape together on this one….

In truth, I hate to be right in instances such as this…. What I related yesterday in my politirant can now be seen to be a perfectly accurate assessment of how the tactics of the White House would play out on this stage, according to the script they are trying to establish, as the one they want us to believe as the truth…. I mentioned how Congress would take up the challenge of reforming the NSA regulations on phone tapping and data collection, whereupon the bickering would begin, and nothing would actually get done… Read the article above, then tell me I was wrong…. Can’t do it, can you?….

Nope, they’re fulfilling my prophecy perfectly, which means, the next event to be staged will involve some sort of faux crisis, or as close to one as can be managed on short notice, to pull the attention of the media, and thus, the public, away from the spying issue altogether…. I’d rather not say I expect to see another school shooting, or some random college nut case who goes wonky during exams and takes a rifle up to a tower, where he starts picking off his co-sufferers…… but, that sort of event is usually what happens to draw our focus away from where the administration doesn’t want it to be….

SIGH, as I said, I hate being right like this, because it all seems so damn SORDID and CHEAP…. The American public is so fucking EASY to FOOL, it’s like taking candy from a baby, which politicians have been known to do. It is, to my mind, simply disgusting, and makes me want to puke when they feed us this sort of bullshite, expecting us not only to believe what they say, but support them in what they do…. the assholes. They haven’t the slightest clue that there are a great many of us out here who DON’T BELIEVE A FUCKING WORD of what comes out of their mouths….. In fact, it is my not-so-humble opinion there is a sure way to tell when they lie to us, by simply watching their mouths… if it’s open, and words are coming out, they are lying…. Be sure of it….

On that note, I am done ranting, for now…. I’m too angry to write well, or, for that matter, to think objectively, both of which are preferable in ranting mode… So, the rest of this section will be an old-school pearl, with the guiding parameters set to take shots at the BRC, or the Asininnies, whomever comes first into the cross hairs….

Honest politician — Oxymoron

“He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.” — Lao Tzu

(This is included to show the 180º, completely opposite philosophy of the one held by ALL our elected officials…. To a politician, enough is never enough…. it is in the nature of the beast….)

“In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments – there are consequences.” — Robert Ingersoll

(I can only wish more of our pundits knew this….or, at minimum, acted as if they suspected it to be true…..)

“Food for thought is no substitute for the real thing.” — Walt Kelly, Potluck Pogo

“If someone tells you he’s going to make a “realistic decision, you immediately understand that he’s resolved to do something bad.” — Mary McCarthy

“Oft hath even a whole city reaped the evil fruit of a bad man.” — Hesiod (c. 700 BC) — Works and Days, Line 240

“Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself.  Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others?” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

All things considered, not a bad set of charges…. I think any reasonable grand jury would vote for indictment….
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“And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.” — Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Sometimes, prose can almost feel like poetry…. such as the above line from Mr. V…. Words are powerful, aren’t they? Other times, it almost seems as if a poem is a discussion, more prose than poem, yet, fills the mind with more than just the meaning of the words used…. I love language, it’s just so…. so… so COOL!….. Here is an example of the phenomenon of which I speak…. Enjoy!….

Fire and Ice

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

~~ Robert Frost ~~

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

Just for fun, here is an excerpt from an old Pearl, on the subject of poetry, that I think will make a nice bonus to today’s poetry section…. It might also be a surprise, for those of my Gentle Readers who know my opinion of Will S…… It fits well with my comments above, regarding how I feel about words…..

From 12/10/2011:

Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.

— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Romeo and Juliet — Act ii, Sc. 2

First, let me say that I’m not Willie’s biggest fan. Oh, I give him his props; he is arguably the best author of his, or any other age, as well as one of the most prolific. But, being somewhat lacking in expertise, in the area of Middle English slang, reading his work takes on a more forbidding aspect….. I get bogged down trying to struggle through the admittedly beautiful, but barely transparent language he used. I have a hard time reading it, as I have to stop frequently to puzzle out his meaning before I can go on with the story. It must, however, be admitted… he was, indeed, most incredibly talented at painting wonderful pictures of his time’s culture, using an incredibly extravagant number of words, strung together with great beauty. He did it a lot, too….

I’ve included this couplet from Romeo and Juliet, mostly because it is what I consider to be a ‘perfect’ example of the art of poetry.  Perfect rhyme, perfect cadence, perfect illumination. “Sweet sorrow”. What a wonderful pair of words to have found each other in his play! Everyone alive has felt just that, no explanation necessary. These are words of such power that they still carry the same sense of rightness today, the same emotional content, as they did when they were written.

He wrote these lines so well, that the couplet has been preserved through over four hundred years by word of mouth, not by being transcribed to paper; even people who are completely illiterate have heard these lines; even as non-readers, they know who wrote them, and most even know the play it is from. Now THAT is  is some powerful poetry……
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Here we are, finally, in section three; naturally, since it has gone so smoothly, I haven’t a bloody clue as to what to put here…. I’ve already ranted, complete with an old-school pearl… The poetry section had a bonus, so this Pearl is already fat with material…. Anything more would be gilding the lily, to be sure…. But, what the hell, I’ve always enjoyed that procedure…. Futile as it may be, in the most real of senses, it sure does make some nice looking lilies, you know?

So, without further ado (or any more crap….), here is a seven-star, randomly chosen, harlequin pearl, with duly-executed side-comments, for your enjoyment, elucidation, delectation, and/or disbursement to the farthest reaches of your recycling bin….

“A proverb is the wisdom of many and the wit of one.” — Lord John Russell

“There are so many ways that we sabotage our own divinity, our own possibilities. and the mythologies of race and gender may well head the list.” — Callan Williams

(Oops…. How did that get in there? Oh well, it’s quite true, so, it can stay…. just don’t try to make it fit in with the others, okay?…. I wouldn’t want anyone to hurt themselves…. Just file it for later perusal, and you’ll be fine….)

“Is it clean in other dimensions?” — Zippy the Pinhead

(THAT’s more like it…. Okay, we’ll finish strong….)

“If a person offend you and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures. Simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick.” — Mark Twain, Advice to Youth Speech, 1882

“Although most cowboys are not politicians and most politicians are not  cowboys, they share the common experience of being able to do a fairly decent job of throwing the bull.” — Smart Bee

“I believe everybody in the world should have guns. Citizens should have bazookas and rocket launchers too. I believe that all citizens should have their weapons of choice. However, I also believe that only I should have the ammunition. Because frankly, I wouldn’t trust the rest of the goobers with anything more dangerous than string.” — Scott Adams

And here I wait so patiently
Waiting to find out what price
You have to pay to get out of
Going through all of these things twice

— Bob Dylan, “Memphis Blues Again”
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As I thought, this one kind of got away from me a little bit…. It doesn’t seem to have caused itself much harm, though, and I don’t see any particularly large fields of debris on our back trail, so, my guess is, we’ve go a winner here… It’s good enough to float, and fly, so, I’m launching it just as if it mattered….. As for y’all, well, I’ll see y’all tomorrow, yes? Yes…. See ya…

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

As with excellence, stupidity is its own reward….

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Ffolkes,

Regardless of how it may seem at times, no matter what it says on that commitment paper, I am NOT insane….. I also insist on making it clear that no matter WHAT the doctors may believe, it ISN’T insane to want to kill someone…. It is only when one carries out that sentiment, without having one of the several exemptions provided by custom, does society become all bent out of shape. Customary exemptions from this degree of upset over one’s actions are given when society itself wants the killing done, or, in other words, if it is done in the name of GOD or the State, (they’re often interchangeable, especially in some people’s minds….) then, it’s okay…. Go figure…

These exemptions, and the customs by which they are spawned, can be a bit complex to understand, based as they are on philosophies which are, in turn, based on a delusion…. But, most of us have the gist of it by the time we’re in our teens, even if we don’t necessarily agree with all of them….. To me, that’s the oddest part of all of this, that one’s agreement, or disagreement, with these principles, has not a single bit of influence over the idiocy they embrace…. And society doesn’t CARE whether or not any of the rules make sense; as I said, the rules are based on a delusion, and, thus, don’t require agreement, or understanding, much less any logical justification…. they only require compliance…

In my mind, the rules based on society’s view of killing another human being are completely immoral, founded, as they are, solely on the supremacy of the State over the individual, or the Church, using as its root structure the morality described by the priestly hierarchies….. This set of principles, as I see them, are so egregiously insane, I will never adopt them as my own , no matter how expedient, or how much grief it might save me…. I’ll gladly deal with whatever consequences my actions bring, as long as I have the right, and the wherewithal to make my own decisions about any of these issues…..

You might be wondering by now, just what the hell I’m talking about…. Well, damn, ffolkes, if I knew THAT, why would I be here at all? It’s not as if there is any law about whether or not what is written here has to make sense, or be logical, or even come close to what we’ll find in Reality, much as we like to claim it as our own…. No, the actual reason for all this is hidden, anyway, deep within the furthest reaches of my mind, in those dark corners where I put all the things I don’t want to see the light of day….. It’s not that I’m cruel, and wish to cause unnecessary discomfort to any poor, innocent reason…. I just don’t want to know…

You see, I DO want to kill somebody…. a lot of somebodies, now I think about it. I feel that urge several times a day, usually as I’m reading some news article about the latest shenanigans of some lying politician, or some entitled police officer, or some bigoted preacher who has managed to get their insanity covered by some reporter with no more sense they they have themselves.

Every time I see a report of a cop breaking the law instead of upholding it, or an article about some pimp beating up his women, or some corrupt judge making a decision favoring a corporation over a real person, or a politician making a speech telling us all how they’re going to help us, when all they’re doing is letting us see their latest method of stealing from the public treasury, or any number of other assininical societal trends…. well…. At those times, it takes every bit of will power I possess to keep myself from buying a gun, and a shit-load of ammunition….

Yes, I feel like killing someone regularly…. But, since I am NOT insane, I realize that before I can give in to my oh-so-justifiable urge to go kill myself an idiot, I’d better make some arrangements for making tracks afterward….. Hence, since I’ve procrastinated on that thus far, I am kill-free…. unless we’re counting mosquitoes…. How ’bout that, eh? Maybe I’ve got more will power than I thought, to be able to keep from giving in to this powerful urge for so long….

I’ll tell you, though, the way things are going these days, I’m not going to be able to get all the way through to the end of my life without first letting myself go, indulging myself in the fulfillment of my lifelong dream, of making a difference for good in the world, by the simple expedient of  taking a few politicians down with me as I go….

On that pleasant note, (well, it’s pleasant to ME…. I LIKE the idea of going underground to go hunting pundits, talking heads, and assholes of all descriptions….), I think I’ll bring this already out of control introductory section to a crashing close, & head out to get started on the rest of today’s effort…. Or, as we’re fond of saying ’round here….

Shall we Pearl?…..

HOMICIDE, n.  The slaying of one human being by another.  There are four kinds of homicide:  felonious, excusable, justifiable, and praiseworthy, but it makes no great difference to the person slain whether he fell by one kind or another — the classification is for advantage of the lawyers. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“For they starve the frightened little child
Till it weeps both night and day:
And they scourge the weak, and flog the fool,
And gibe the old and grey,
And some grow mad, and all grow bad,
And none a word may say.

Each narrow cell in which we dwell
Is a foul and dark latrine,
And the fetid breath of living Death
Chokes up each grated screen,
And all, but Lust, is turned to dust
In Humanity’s machine.

And all men kill the thing they love,
By all let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword.”

 — Oscar Wilde ~~

from “A Ballad of Reading Gaol”


“I do not wish to kill nor to be killed, but I can foresee circumstances in which these things would be by me unavoidable.” — Henry David Thoreau
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1. No matter what they’re telling you, it’s not the truth.
2. No matter what they’re talking about, they’re talking about money.

— Todd’s Political Principles

Is this not the perfect beginning for a political rant of some sort? It would be hard to find anything better to start with, as this little aphorism delineates two of the truest, and most powerful pieces of information about politicians that anyone could discover. I’d say, if this were common knowledge, if there were a lot of people who knew this, and acted accordingly, we’d have a completely different set of people in office than we do currently….. In fact, we might have an entirely different system of governance altogether, as the inherent flaws in the one we are using now would become critically obvious in a society that knows the above, thus requiring changes to be made….

However, since I’m not up to ranting right now, I’m going to cheat a bit, and turn this into an old-school pearl, using the above Principles as the defining parameters for what is to be included….. It should be interesting, if not completely cool…. Myself, I think this should make for a great pearl, but, I AM the one who writes them, so it’s obvious, as well as perfectly justifiable, I’m a bit prejudiced…. At any rate, I hope you enjoy these little pieces of virtual wisdom….

“A man generally has two reasons for doing a thing. One that sounds good, and a real one.” — J. Pierpoint Morgan

“Be careful what you vote for. You may get it.” — Smart Bee

“The American system of ours, call it Americanism, call it Capitalism, call it what you like, gives each and every one of us a great opportunity if we only seize it with both hands and make the most of it.” — Al Capone (1899-1947)

“America’s one of the finest countries anyone ever stole.” — Bobcat Goldthwait

“If law school is so hard to get through, how come there are so many lawyers?” — Calvin Trillin

“Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying! I grant you I was down and out of breath; and so was he. But we rose both at an instant, and fought a long hour by Shrewsbury clock.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act v, Sc. 4

“The most useful tool for dealing with management types is, of course, an automatic weapon.: — Smart Bee
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Today’s poem is from the senior of the two O.W. Holmes’s, both of whom wrote poetry, though, in my opinion, the junior example could have saved himself the effort…. He was a better jurist than poet, in my view…. His father, however, was an excellent poet; this one shows why I believe that….

Sun and Shadow

As I look from the isle, o’er its billows of green,
To the billows of foam-crested blue,
Yon bark, that afar in the distance is seen,
Half dreaming, my eyes will pursue:
Now dark in the shadow, she scatters the spray
As the chaff in the stroke of the flail;
Now white as the sea-gull, she flies on her way,
The sun gleaming bright on her sail.

Yet her pilot is thinking of dangers to shun,–
Of breakers that whiten and roar;
How little he cares, if in shadow or sun
They see him who gaze from the shore!
He looks to the beacon that looms from the reef,
To the rock that is under his lee,
As he drifts on the blast, like a wind-wafted leaf,
O’er the gulfs of the desolate sea.

Thus drifting afar to the dim-vaulted caves
Where life and its ventures are laid,
The dreamers who gaze while we battle the waves
May see us in sunshine or shade;
Yet true to our course, though the shadows grow dark,
We’ll trim our broad sail as before,
And stand by the rudder that governs the bark,
Nor ask how we look from the shore!

~~ Oliver Wendell Holmes ~~

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Today’s intro section was the closest I’ll be able to come to a true rant, I think…. I know, I’m breaking your heart, right?…. Nonetheless, I’m going to forgo any such vocal egotism today, & go with another old-school pearl, just because I can, and because I want to….. As a retired dilettante, I can do that, legally, so, back off…. Alternately, you may stick around, and enjoy the rest of today’s pearls, as best you may…. There will be no parameters for this one, so, watch your step…. sometimes, they squirt……

“I only touch base with reality on an as-needed basis!” — Royal Floyd Mengot (Klaus)

And in your dreams you can see yourself
As a prophet saving the world
The words from your lips
I just can’t believe you are such
A fool.

— Frank Zappa, “Oh No”.

“Invite the man that loves thee to a feast, but let alone thine enemy.” — Hesiod (c. 700 BC) — Works and Days, Line 342

“Experience is the name that everyone gives to their mistakes.” — Oscar Wilde

“You know, it’s not the world that was my oppressor, because what the world does to you, if the world does it to you long enough and effectively enough, you begin to do to yourself.” — James Baldwin.

“Belief is not the beginning but the end of all knowledge.” — Goethe

1) Things will get worse before they get better.
2) Who said they get better?

— Ehrman’s Commentary
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“I, for my own part, had much rather people should say of me that there neither is nor ever was such a man as Plutarch, than that they should say, “Plutarch is an unsteady, fickle, froward, vindictive, and touchy fellow.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Of Superstition

Same goes for gigoid, ffolkes…. I don’t think, at this point, I can do anything more…. Positive or negative, I’m done…. not just done, but, finished, as well, which is a much more serious thing. To deal with the expected legal challenges, I’d better head out into the rest of the day….. See you tomorrow, should I figure out how to survive another day….. Odds are pretty good, I think, given my track record….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

All quiet on the western omelet….

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Ffolkes,

I am never sure how one of these Pearls will turn out, due to several factors, the most telling of which is my refusal to plan them out from one day to the next; I’ve always insisted on using either fresh material, or material I created previously, from the archives here on WP, or my own backup copies here on Arthur’s hard drive (my computer’s name is Arthur, after the Dudley Moore character….Yes, it was whimsical….). Today’s Pearl may be the most different yet, as it will have been constructed under the most trying of conditions possible for me to imagine…

Yep, my coffee machine broke today…. This, of course, could have been a major disaster, which is, I’m sure, exactly what Murphy planned when he sabotaged the heating element…. (He tried to hide the fact of his chicanery… when I came out, and pushed the button to start the coffee maker, the light went on, just as if it were going to work…. but, three minutes later, no hot water, and an obviously dead machine….). However, having slept well, again, thanks to my new regime of night time medications that work like a charm, I didn’t panic at all…. I merely reached down, grabbed a sauce pan, heated water, and poured it through myself, then made a note to go by a store for a new machine later today….

It’s amazing how clear one’s head is when one actually sleeps during the night…. It has been so long since I had any consistent sleep, I’ve forgotten how it feels in the morning, which, to put it most simply, is wonderful…. clear-headed, and without unending waves of pain crashing through my awareness, demanding attention as soon as I am up, to begin the daily fight with gravity to remain upright…. What a bonus! There is pain, yes, but it is manageable, and responds well to the morning routine I’ve evolved…..

It is no doubt a mite confusing for y’all here today…. Y’all are probably as unused to my NOT complaining about my pain, or Murphy, or whatever issue has arisen upon my ascendancy from bed ( I’ll bet y’all are especially weary of hearing about my fears of the blank screen….), as I am unused to NOT having anything about which to whine…. It’s actually quite nice…. even fun…. Who the hell am I kidding? I’m boring myself to tears with all this nicey, nicey crap!….

Fuck it, I’m outta here, before I turn into a Pollyanna, and start writing love poems….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Great acts are made up of small deeds.” — Lao Tzu
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I’ve got rants in me today; I could easily turn all this goodwill I’m experiencing today into angst. All I’d need to do is go look through some headlines, & voilá! Instant outrage…. But, my precursor mood isn’t quite right to get me there, at least not yet today (It IS only 0430….)…. So, I’m going with the newest format, combined with some random pearls, chosen to replace any long-winded comments from me, for a new effect…. We’ll see how it works, and possibly include it again in future Pearls…. for now, enjoy the craziness that is our society at large, in action….

First, two statements that are the perfect opening pearls for this set of headlines….

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

“Is being an idiot like being high all the time?” — Janeanne Garofolo

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Ex-parks-ranger-sues-CHP-officer-over-use-of-force-5234039.php

“With tooth and nail.” — Du Bartas (1544-1590) — Divine Weekes and Workes, Second Day

Is there any worse temper displayed, (other than the fabled “woman scorned”, of course….) than that of one whose sense of entitlement has been usurped? If so, I’d like to know what it is, as it may be the absolute champion of all such egregiously stupid, and selfish attitudes that anyone can assume…. Yet, here we have, in this country, literally, MILLIONS of idiot assholes, such as the ones in this story, who harassed the officer who upheld the law at the expense of their peer, the speeding asshole…. Yes, there are millions of other, even stupider assholes manning the wheels of innumerable police cars in our cities, counties, and towns, driving around with their attitudes on full display…. When was the last time you observed an officer of the law making a legal turn signal?…. Yep…. I can’t remember, either….

http://blog.sfgate.com/techchron/2014/02/13/comcast-net-neutrality/

“Accumulate mannequins now; spare parts will be in short supply on D-Day.” — Safety Tips for the Post-Nuclear Existence

This article is here just so I can say I included something about the SCM’s, whom I believe to be the MOST responsible parties when it comes to assigning blame for the condition of our planet…. This story shows just how little the common man has to say in just about anything in society….. Here we have two more faceless corporate entities joining forces, with the end result one of increasing the degree of control each of them has over US…. the Internet is the McGuffin in this picture; it’s what they WANT us to focus on…. Yes, they want to control the Internet, but that is merely because it is a tool that helps US to learn more about what they’re up to…. thus, stealing control of it ensures they maintain the death-grip they have on our slave collars….

Need more evidence? Here:

“Another doctor reports that in a recent issue of the *American Journal of Family Practice* fleas were called “hematophagous arthropod vectors.” — Smart Bee

http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Study-says-fracking-releases-more-methane-than-5233422.php

“…it doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are — if it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong.” — Richard P. Feynman

“Fracking releases more methane than previously thought”…… Oh? Really? No kidding? Well, there’s a surprise, eh? Another fucking asinine method for ripping resources from the planet’s crust, using previously untested technology, and it’s causing more damage than we realized? Now, who would have guessed that?

If you haven’t realized yet that these are angry, rhetorical questions, then, you may as well go read somewhere else, because you’re just not getting it, or not paying attention, ffolkes…. The assholes who run the world don’t CARE if they fuck up the planet…. They believe they’re immune to the results of what they do…. dying is for the little people, don’t y’know?….. Bah! This one makes me so angry, I can barely speak, and certainly can’t write very well, so I’ll just call them assholes one more time, and let it go at that…. Fucking assholes….

“Where are we going? And why am I in this damn handbasket?” — Smart Bee, at gigoid’s instigation….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Ron-Paul-starts-Snowden-clemency-petition-5235280.php

“I’m all in favor of the democratic principle that one idiot is as good as one genius, but I draw the line when someone takes the next step and concludes that two idiots are better than one genius.” — Leo Szilard

I’d never in my life have ever thought I’d agree on ANYTHING with this guy, but, well, there you go…. The reasoning behind our opinions here are, very likely, completely at odds, but, we seem to have reached the same conclusion, to wit: Eric Snowden is NOT a traitor, but, rather, a hero, and should  be brought home in honor, not restraints…. In this particular instance, I don’t really CARE that I’m apparently getting into bed with one of the country’s most insane talking heads, a professional politician who turned his vocation into his legacy, making his son a hereditary politician, as well as a professional one. He got this one right, and he’s the first one to come out in public with this, in the face of the administration, so, in this at least, he has my support….

Yuck…. They were right when they said that politics makes for strange bedfellows…. And, now, I feel a little ill….
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One of my email services sent this poem to me a few days ago, so I saved it for just an occasion such as this, when my spirit is in need of something along a classical line….. and, please, no relevance to current events, either….. I just want to get away for a moment or two…. This is a good one for that….. Enjoy!

A Crazed Girl

THAT crazed girl improvising her music.
Her poetry, dancing upon the shore,

Her soul in division from itself
Climbing, falling She knew not where,
Hiding amid the cargo of a steamship,
Her knee-cap broken, that girl I declare
A beautiful lofty thing, or a thing
Heroically lost, heroically found.

No matter what disaster occurred
She stood in desperate music wound,
Wound, wound, and she made in her triumph
Where the bales and the baskets lay
No common intelligible sound
But sang, ‘O sea-starved, hungry sea.’

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

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I was going to include an old-school pearl here, but, found this old politirant, from almost exactly a year ago, and thought it would make a good piece to demonstrate some of why it makes me ill to have to agree with Ron Paul, as noted above…. This will explain that delicacy quite well, I should think, and if not, well, you can always read it twice….

From 10/17/13:

First, a word from the Founding Fathers….

“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

Now, a bit of insanity, on the identical subject, from a more modern source….

“By all accounts, though, an end seems near for the impasse that has once again exposed a government so divided that it sometimes borders on dysfunction. Though the House failed to muster sufficient support for a conservatives-only bill in the GOP-majority chamber on Tuesday, enough Republicans there seem likely to join House Democrats to approve a bipartisan version if it can be approved by the Senate and sent to them. ”

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Senators-closing-in-on-deal-to-reopen-government-4895884.php

I was reading the news last night, online, and the latest reports from the capitol say that a deal will get done prior to today’s deadline…. as it always does…. The difference in the deals that get done and those that don’t get done are relatively insignificant, in terms of real life; they only make a difference to those involved in whatever struggle is current. Nobody really understands any of it anyway… not the politicians who spout all the platitudes and figures, not the experts who supply the detailed analysis of those figures, and certainly not the public, who don’t even WANT to understand the complexities…. which is something the pundits know well, and, in fact, depend on to assist them in their endeavors…

“Morality is a private and costly luxury.” — Smart Bee

Sadly, this statement, though found without attribution, was made by an observer who knows human nature well, one who has obviously observed our history closely, drawing from those observations the only possible conclusion…. Society, as exemplified by its leaders, in both the secular and clerical arenas, loudly and boldly tout the twin concepts of morality and ethics, laying claim to them as if they were a coat left lying about. The noise they make in making these claims is generally quite noisome, to my ears, but, serves to cover their asses when later accused of impropriety; they can point to their strident statements as being proof of sincerity, though, logically, sincerity and morality have no real connection.

However, sad as the statement is, it is accurate, and never more so when looking at the budget crisis that we are witnessing today. The assholes who inhabit Congress, especially the conservatives in the House of Representatives, ( an oxymoron, if I’ve ever heard one…. ), DO NOT represent the people who elected them, not even close…. They lie to them, they steal from them, they follow their own agendas, but, they DON’T represent them…

How can they? They are not even in the same economic class as most of them, and never have been…. and, please, DON’T try to tell me you don’t think we have economic classes in this society…. Sorry, ffolkes, but American society is NOT classless, and never has been…. It has ALWAYS been separated into classes, based primarily on economic factors, with those who have more money having more influence and, more importantly, more rights, than those with less money…. The most cursory examination of history, of the world, and of this country, will show this as a fact of little possibility of dispute.

The average US income (which doesn’t give a completely accurate picture, but is useful to make the point….) is somewhere in the tens of thousands of dollars ($10, 001 to $99,999, somewhere between the two….). This translates into a basic demographic breakdown of being a very few people making more than they need to survive, as contrasted by a very large number of people who are struggling to even eat on a daily basis…. This accounts for 99% of the population, and about 1% of the actual money available to that 99%….

On the other side of that coin, we have a few thousand people, the remaining 1%, who have 99% of the money, all making more than a million dollars a year, on average…. Of this small percentage, we find that ALL of the Senators, about half of the House members, and the President, of course, are all part of that 1% of the population, a part that has never had to worry about where their next meal came from…. I wish that this were not true, but, these are facts, with the supporting evidence available to anyone with a library card, so they can go there to look up the numbers….

Of course, the fact that they are “more successful” in economic terms is only proof, in their minds, of their inherent right to make the decisions for everyone else in the country, even though they have no real grasp of the needs of those people. The fact of their disconnection from reality cannot penetrate their sense of entitlement, and they fully BELIEVE in their own mandate…. “Somehow, it never hurts to step back occasionally and ask yourself “Am I contributing to the solution of the problem or aiding in making a bigger problem?”…. this is a process, and a question, that never occurs to them…

This is why I call them delusional, and can honestly claim that I believe them to be clinically insane; a person so disconnected to what is real cannot be considered sane…. except, perhaps, in an insane society. Making assumptions about having the right to decide about the wants and needs of others is a sure sign that one has an unreasonable belief in their own importance to the universe, an assumption that can only be termed as a delusion. This kind of behavior is one society cannot afford to allow, because, if nothing else, these types of delusions are dangerous to the rest of us.  Allowing these “crazies”, for wont of a more accurate term, to act out their fantasies in the real world tends to lead to trouble for more than just themselves…..

“Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying! I grant you I was down and out of breath; and so was he. But we rose both at an instant, and fought a long hour by Shrewsbury clock.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act v, Sc. 4

I’m down, and out of breath, from shouting into the wind, at the mountain… A futile task, at best, I know, but, what else can one do at 5 AM? Mountain moving is my specialty, after all…. The truth of the matter is, after two hours by Shrewsbury clock, I’m tired of shouting at the mountain; it’s hard work, to little effect. I suppose it’s all I can do, and that is why I do it…. It’s cheaper, and, in the long run, less troublesome to my spirit and karma, than going out, buying a gun, and making a list of targets…. Less chance of getting shot back at, too…

There comes a time, however, when even I must admit to the futility of this particular task, and grow a bit discouraged…. I’m just not the kind of person who can give up completely, though, so, I’ll be back to rant on this subject another time…. “They” are always out there doing something on which I can comment. For the time being, I’ll leave you with this final lament…

“The world has taken on a thickness of vulgarity that raises a spiritual man’s contempt to the violence of a passion.” — Charles Baudelaire

Notes from 2014, almost precisely four months after being written: How is one ALMOST precise? Hmm…. well, that’s for another time…. for now, all I can say is…. I resemble that remark!…..
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I find myself at loose ends…. It is now 0524, and I’ve been up, working on this Pearl for about an hour and a half, minus some time to deal with coffee production and consumption anomalies…. and, I’m done. I’ve done a new-style mini-headline-rant, included an archived rant, and found a great poem…. all that, and an intro, too!

But, it’s way too early…. If I stop now, there’s no telling what kind of mischief I can get into before the rest of the world in this longitude awakens…. Hell, it’s still pitch dark outside! Even in my reduced condition, I could go down the block, setting off car alarms, and be back inside in five minutes, none the worse for wear…. Then, everyone else would be up, and I could go back to bed, satisfied I had done my part to get the world started today…..

Instead, I’m going to take a break (necessary at this point…. No worries, I’ll leave the car alarms alone….), then come back and put together an old-school pearl, just to take up some time….. I’ll make it a good one, to soothe the hurt from having extra to read today….. Let’s go see what SB has been hiding from us, okay?….

“Indeed, man wishes to be happy even when he so lives as to make happiness impossible.” — St. Augustine

“I have never been so well pleased, as when I could shift power from my own, on the shoulders of others; nor have I ever been able to conceive how any rational being could propose happiness to himself from the exercise of power over others.” — Thomas Jefferson, letter to Monsieur Destutt de Tracy, January 26, 1811, — reprinted in The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, XIII, — ed. A. E. Bergh (1853)

— ‘Shit Happens’ according to…

Politician:  It’s shit, but it’ll get me elected.
If you elect me, there will never again be shit.
Shit is bad for the economy.

“Mistakes are at the very base of human thought, embedded there, feeding the structure like root nodules. If we were not provided with the knack for being wrong, we could never get anything useful done. We think our way along by choosing between right and wrong alternatives, and the wrong choices have to be made as often as the right ones. We get along in life this way.” — Lewis Thomas, The Medusa and the Snail

“As the caterpillar chooses the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on, so the priest lays his curse on the fairest joys.” — William H. Blake (1757-1827)

“They do not understand how that which differs with itself is in agreement: harmony consists of opposing tension, like that of the lyre and the bow.” — Heraclitus

“Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Speaker, 12/15/00

Well, once again, SB proves its merits…. I didn’t pay much attention as I gathered up these pearls, but, I think it came out pretty coherent, don’t you?…. Well, I guess it is if you have my own particular strange way of seeing patterns of thought in collected ideation…. or, whatever it is I’m doing when I go Pearling…. For that matter, who the fuck cares? It works for me, so, I just try to enjoy it, and don’t fret about how it works…..because I can’t always explain it, even to my own satisfaction….   🙂
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Well…. the Pearls seem to be growing again…. I’ve broken 3000 words several times already this year, and this looks like another one that will go over that count, easily…. Not that I’m counting, or anything…. I just keep track of it as a way of judging how much crap is left in here to get rid of…. The more I can get onto the screen in the morning, the less I have to shovel out during the day, into the BBR, where it can cause real problems, if I’m not careful where I put it…. But, that’s the world’s lookout, not mine…. In the meantime, I think I’m done here, so….. see ya…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Never to forgive, no time to forget….

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Ffolkes,

Today’s Pearl is going to be a difficult one to write…. not because of the complexity or subtlety that is needed, nor for any great amounts of humor that I’ll be trying to infuse in it, though I’m sure humor won’t be out of place…. it just won’t have much effect. In order not to drive anyone away right off the bat, I’ll try to hold off any further spoiler remarks until its time for the actual event to unfold….. and, I’ll try not to drip tears on the keyboard as I type, a frequent problem with this sort of material….

In fact, the upcoming rant, and Pearl, could be considered as unique, beyond any reasons that already may apply for a blog such as this…. First, the title…. It actually has something to do with the content today; what it says refers directly to the rant that will go below, on global warming and climate change. This is unprecedented here on ECR; the one time it happened previously was an accident, when I forgot to do the title beforehand, and having written the Pearl already, the title ended up as a comment on it, after a fashion….. Other than that one instance, the title has never before directly referred to what is included in the Pearl itself….

Second, the content today will be not merely curmudgeonly, and my emotions regarding what is written about are much, much stronger than for most rants, because this is the BIG ONE, ffolkes. This one speaks to the End Times that we have brought upon ourselves with our massive stupidity, and lack of simple intelligent behavior. We’ve fouled our nest beyond redemption, and it is NOT an easy task to try to discuss it without involving my own feelings about the assholes who are to blame….

I am usually the kind of person who tries to fix the problem, rather than fixing blame… But, in this case, the problem is one I can’t fix…. nobody can, it’s too late. The physical processes involved in global warming have reached the stage where we not only don’t have the technology, or the smarts to know how to stop the process, but we don’t have enough TIME to figure it out…. The processes involved have already reached a point of no return, so the only option left for us is to adapt the best we can, which doesn’t appear to give us much time at all, as there is no adaptation we can make to learn how to breathe methane gas….

That’s enough of a preview in the intro section… I’d best leave some of my angst out for the actual rant. I’ve managed to blather about it long enough to cover the basic requirements, so, we’re good to go in that respect…. I only hope I can keep up the anger, and let go of the sadness and disappointment long enough to make this a good rant…. There’s certainly enough supporting material to prove my points….. Any who, I think I’ve been as clear, and as obscure as I could be in one short section, so….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Only the good die young. Note the average age in Congress.” — Smart Bee
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Do you remember what the First American Revolution was about? I mean, really about? In school, we are given a dual message as to the motivation for the rebellion, with the message the BRC WANTS you to believe on the top, and the real reason as the subtext, gone over quickly and then dismissed…. This is how you control and manipulate people, by controlling their perceptions, and what they are allowed to see and hear; it’s a technique that has been applied to the American people, as well as most of the people in the world, ever since the ink dried on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights…..

You see, the subtext of the message about the Revolution was this, (and I’m sure you’ve heard it….)…. “No taxation without representation.” You see, ffolkes, it’s all about the money, and it always has been….. We are told about how we fought this war with England for our freedom… freedom of religion, and freedom of government…. This was the idea used by the colonists who owned the land, and the plantations, to convince the laborer classes, the small merchants, and small land holders, the rest of the folks living here, to join in the revolution with them, promising virtually unlimited freedoms (compared to what they had known all their lives….), and never once letting on that protecting their money was the underlying reason….

You see, what was really wanted by our forefathers was freedom to keep their money for themselves, rather than having it taxed by a king they never saw, for public services they also never saw…. Not being particularly fond of sending their money off to the king, and never getting anything for it, the aristocrats among the colonists fooled the rest of them into joining the fight, while they sat comfortably at home, paying for it…. thus, the scam and charade began, and has been going strong ever since….

“A politician,… one that would circumvent God.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act v, Sc. 1

Now, it’s 2014, and our culture has been evolving under the auspices of this charade for over 200 years. We have reached the point where certain of our societal habits and fillips are becoming significantly dangerous, in a very real, physical sense….. One of our ingrained societal habits is that of entitlement, that particularly human characteristic that gives people the false impression they are adequate as moral beings, just because they’ve agreed to the delusional claims of the religious hierarchies, or sociopathic, power seeking politicians, or, worst of all, the amoral financiers who live for self-interest, giving them carte blanche to assume their own prominence at the top of the food chain….

I mean, one of the religious books these fools pay so much attention to says it right up front, “Man was given dominion over all the other animals, made master of all the world, in God’s name….”    I know, that’s not an accurate quote, but the meaning is clear, and is exactly what they teach their constituency to believe….. This entitlement is what has led us to destroy our own nest, fouling the air and water to the point where we have outstripped our ability to adapt, either technologically, or biologically….

The article just below this paragraph is by one of my favorite authors, to give you another perception of what I’m seeing, and talking about today; I found some of the other links in his article, which will take y’all to material that will help understand the depth and severity of the problem we face now…. Please, take a few moments now to read it…. I’ll wait right here…..

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2014/01/21/fine-weather-for-creepy-melancholia/

The two links below are to other articles that contain some of the research facts that have brought this knowledge to the forefront of the news… The first is a summary of the current California drought, the second an assessment by experts about drought conditions world-wide in the upcoming year…. All of it is pretty grim, and pretty convincing, since none of it can be denied…. This stuff isn’t theory, it isn’t speculation, ffolkes, these are the FACTS…..

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/01/california-drought-scary-facts-snowpack

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/expert_assessment/sdo_summary.html

The link below this paragraph is perhaps the scariest of these documents, as it is a discussion by the leading US government scientists in the appropriate fields, who have gotten together to file this report…. The opening lines are astoundingly frightening…. They paint a grim picture of WHATEVER future is in store for the US, with its immediate focus being on how the American people are now going to have to accept the FACT that what is happening is because of our own foolishness…. Go ahead, read the first page or two, then come on back here to finish this diatribe, as you can get back to the rest of that report later, should you wish to inundate yourself in evidence….

http://ncadac.globalchange.gov/download/NCAJan11-2013-publicreviewdraft-fulldraft.pdf

An old adage in writing talks about always leaving one’s audience wanting more…. I’d love to do so, but, that’s all there is, ffolkes. It’s too late for anything else, so all I can do is deliver the message, as clearly and as convincingly as I can, and, well, I almost said pray, or hope, that a miracle of some kind will happen, but, neither one of those looks like it will do much good…. We’ve already broken all the supposed laws that God might have given us, had He existed outside our own minds, a statement I make in complete confidence that there isn’t a priest, preacher, or Pope alive who would admit otherwise, by their own standards, if they were tasked to be honest….

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

Hope? Hope never dies, does it? As convinced as I am of our impending doom as a species, there is still a small, admittedly VERY small, piece of me that retains some hope that my assessment is incorrect….. But, even the power of Emily’s brand of unfounded, unasked-for hope, it is now getting very hard to retain any belief in it….

I WANT to believe there IS a feasible scientific or otherwise practical solution to the physical issues concerning the climate, with all its unknown, perilous changes, to which we will have to learn to adapt in a very short period of time…. or die. I want to, but, I don’t….. I cannot say I will welcome Death if it comes before I think it is my time, even though I have little fear of it….  Welcome or not, it is an issue I believe I WILL have to confront….

Dramatic? Yes. True? Yes. Don’t take my word for it, go read the articles, listen to the experts; they’ll all tell you the same thing, ffolkes. We have ignored Axiom #2** of Peruaosophy, and we are all about to become victims of our own ignorance. The change that is coming isn’t a matter of trying to decide on a new paint color, or even whether or not a politician is lying to us…. It is real, innovative, unpredictable in scope, if not direction, and is in our faces NOW….

**Axiom #2: The Nature of the Universe is Change. Unpredictable, innovative transformation of Reality is the Norm. If you have a problem with this, you’re in for a rough ride in Life.”

Addendum: You might ask, how did we ignore Axiom #2, as a culture? Perhaps the primary characteristic of those in power is their fear of change, and their insane need to maintain the status quo at all costs…. To me, this is simple logic, unassailable in its clarity, and its truth as a conclusion of both deductive and inductive reasoning…. If you doubt either assertion, perhaps this will help…. Proof of their fear of change? Ask a politician their opinion on term limits…. or, ask a banker their opinion of the Second amendment… Inductively, it seems obvious to me that only a very great fear of the unknown could account for the need for entitlement, or the desire to even possess power over others…. It isn’t sane, and nobody can tell me it is….

I will leave this gloomy discussion right there, with only the following three-star pearl as a final comment….

“The case has, in some respects, been not entirely devoid of interest.” — Sherlock Holmes [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]

“While hunting in Africa, I shot an elephant in my pajamas.  How an elephant got into my pajamas I’ll never know.” — Groucho Marx

“Most of all, I’ve learned that a good time to laugh is anytime you can.” — Linda Ellerbee
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”    . . .those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded . . . Sad, indeed, is it to see how men occupy themselves with trivialities, and are indifferent to the grandest phenomena– care not to understand the architecture of the heavens, but are deeply interested in some contemptible controversy about the intrigues of Mary Queen of Scots!” — Herbert Spencer


The link above will take you to a copy, with annotations, of T.S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland”….. for some reason, my sense of irony demanded I include it today, in spite of the several hundred verses one must wend through to reach the end, and all the meaning…. Rather than take up your time further with it here, I am providing the link so you may peruse it at your leisure, little as we may have of that left to us….   Sorry, no more doom & gloom now…. we’re going on to have some fun, if I have to hurt myself….
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I am bound and determined (what a clunky, awkward phrase! How did it ever survive in the English language for so long?….)… Any who, I am firmly invested in having a laugh or two now, even if I have to resort to picking on my own bozoid tendencies…. There are certainly enough of those to go around, which any of my exes would be happy to tell you….

Bozoid tendencies? What are those? Well, really, ffolkes, do you really feel the need for me to explain that? The very words are pretty self-explanatory…. but, I guess it’s been awhile since I expounded on my version** of this theory, so, to answer, quickly….

Bozoid tendencies are those human characteristics that are embedded in our species’ persona, hard-wired, as it were, into our psyches, that can only be described as being “clownish”, and cannot be suppressed, no matter how dignified or stuffy one tries to be…. It can be best expressed vocally by the phrase, “I came, I saw, I screwed up.”…..

At some point in life, each and every one of us will do something really stupid, right in front of the most embarrassing group of people possible, such as family, or an entire stadium of excitable fans, or a restaurant full of strangers…. Often it is something as simple as forgetting a wife’s birthday, or forgetting to close a zipper, ensuring a wardrobe failure at the wrong time, or it could be as compelling a moment as running the wrong direction in a Super Bowl…. but, we all do it at one time in our lives, without exception…. Hence, the theory of Bozoid Tendencies….

** Inspired by the metaphoric brilliance of the Firesign Theater’s audio improvisational album, “I Think We’re All Bozo’s On This Bus!”, the Theory of Bozoid Tendencies was first discussed and codified in Berkeley in 1969….

This is the period when gigoid (that’s me….) spent a lot of time in such discussions with other burgeoning social philosophers, all UCB students of various vintages, in various dark, smoky venues, in various stages of mindfulness due to either extreme use of sober imagination and logic, to the often brilliant scintillation of drug induced excitement of the imagination, whether the drug was wine, beer, MJ, or something more exotic, if infrequent.

Having obviously survived the experiences intact, the Theory has been shown to be valid in many, many instances over the years, in myself, and in the world at large…. with most of such proof provided in the daily news…. when not in the mirror….

With all of that in mind, we’ll now search for some pearls that can make me laugh…. you’re on your own, this one will be according to MY sense of what is funny, and what isn’t…. So there…. I TOLD you we all have a sense of entitlement, didn’t I?….. Besides, if nothing else, YOU can laugh at MY sense of entitlement, or my humorous standards, if you so desire, and I can laugh at myself (I’m easily amused….)…. just for making the effort, which goes to the evidence folder for the theory’s validity….

“A guinea pig is not from Guinea but a rodent from South America. A firefly is not a fly, but a beetle. A giant panda bear is really a member of the raccoon family. A black panther is really a leopard that has a solid black coat rather then a spotted one. Peanuts are not really nuts. The majority of nuts grow on trees while peanuts grow underground. They are classified as a legume-part of the pea family. A cucumber is not a vegetable but a fruit. — Smart Bee

(Just a few of the reasons I love the English language…. and the English mind, which is completely twisted…..)

“I think you ought to know I’m feeling terribly depressed.” — Douglas Adams — The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Marvin

(And I think I have very good reason to be depressed, don’t you?….. So much so, I have to laugh, so I don’t cry….)

“The education of a man is never completed until he dies.” — Robert E. Lee

(Don’t know exactly why, but this, to me, is funny…. perhaps more funny, strange, because of the irony, than funny ha ha, but, funny….)

“Life isn’t fair.” — L.J. Smith

(This reminds me of my favorite line to use to try to gently remind someone they are whining for no reason; simply ask, “Who was the one who lied to you?” “Who was who?” “The one who told you life would be fair.”…. First heard from my father, at a young age….)

(Okay, so, I’m not funny today…. I’ll quit with the comments, and find a solid final threesome of pearls for ya….)

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert.  Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read.
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains.    Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

— Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), “Ozymandias” (1819)

“Everything that goes up must come down. But there comes a time when not everything that’s down can come up.” — George Burns (1896-1996)

You know it’s going to be a bad day, when you find a note on your door that says, “Knocked, you weren’t in. — Opportunity” — Smart Bee

You may well ask yourself why I felt compelled to include the excerpt by Shelley in there, but, I, being the curmudgeon that I am, will only say that I know that my Gentle Readers will be able to look at that, in juxtaposition with everything else I wrote today, and see why I fell over laughing when I saw it come up on the screen, and why it’s a particularly funny joke right now…. The others, well, as I said, you’re on your own…. I laughed….

😆
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“Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves.” — Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

Either this means I should never have started, but kept silent, or, it means I spent a lot of time in silence, fashioning a great Pearl. I’ll have to leave that particular judgment up to others, but, I gotta admit, I like this one quite a bit…. Long as it may be, I had fun, and I said what I had to say…. Now, I can go finish the day in good spirits, having completed what I now consider as my duty, or, at least, the initial one of the day…. See ya tomorrow, 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

dozer3

Cosmic rays are scrambling our emotional states….

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Ffolkes,

Having spent the last 8 or so hours in complete and utter misery, or, as much as anyone sleeping indoors in a warm place can experience in one night, I am up, and ready to Pearl, in my own fashion…. Coffee’s siren call fills my senses as, bravely, I sally forth from the chamber of horrors that comprises my sleeping room, to do battle with the forces of evil one more time….

Not that there are any such nasty forces at play right here and now, but, it sounds more dramatic that way, making it easier to talk myself into this again. Motivation can play a big part in getting a Pearl done, especially in the beginning, when potential is strongest, but, the day has not yet been given a direction, or even a mood….

Motivation today will be an issue of note, I’m thinking, as it generally is on those days when I’ve spent the night NOT sleeping…. well, or otherwise. I mean, I know I’m going to do it, but the energy levels required to get this done are greater than what is available to me without some reason, a stimulus of some sort, a kick in the pants to get the process rolling…. Once I’ve gotten started, inertia is sufficient to keep me going, even when tired…. Plus, once I begin a rant, or begin to edit an old one, the angst flows…. Then, energy is no longer an issue….

However, right now, energy is a bit hard to find…. plus, I can tell you, I’m not in the mood to write much at all, so I’ll be leaning heavily on archived material today…. It won’t matter much, as the subjects on which the old material is based is as valid today as it was then…. The Asininnies are still on the loose, and global warming is still gaining speed, so there’s plenty for me to rail about; in fact, given my usual subject matter, I don’t think I’ll ever really run out of material to write about…. Those assholes are just too good (or bad, depending on where you’re looking at it from, of course…) at what they’re doing to ever fail to find something else they can turn into a pile of shit….

In sooth, I am finding motivation to be a hard thing to corral these days, mainly due to the advanced state of global warming that the latest environmental scientists reported in 2013…. The worst case scenario, which speaks of the meltdown of our planetary supply of permafrost at an increasing rate as the ambient planetary temperature continues to rise, (permafrost contains methane, which is more potent a pollutant than even carbon…. Tons of methane are being released into the air each day now)…. gives us a possible end-time that is only MONTHS away; none of the other, more optimistic theories about what might happen give us much beyond a few years, possibly as many as fifty or a hundred….

But, no matter how long we may or may not have before the air becomes unbreathable, the changes we have caused in our environment are coming to a head, and once a certain point is reached, the rate at which it will occur will jump drastically, becoming a parabolic curve, approaching infinite speed…. at which time, it would be a prudent matter to bend over and kiss your ass goodbye…. More significantly than even this, though, is the fact that it is probably too late for us to even try to find a way to stop it all…. The carbon we’ve put into the air is beyond the point of return; the changes that occur will only get faster, as more methane from melting permafrost joins the carbon in the air….

SIGH…. I suppose you can see why motivation is becoming problematic for me; what I know of science tells me that the scientists are correct, and we no longer have any choice in what will happen. We have removed ourselves from having any say in our own future, turning over our fate to Mother Nature, and She is both ruthless and pitiless in her defense of her own integrity…. We have fucked up, and we will receive no reprieves, no pardons, and no mercy….

There, now that I have thoroughly depressed my entire base of readers, and myself, we’ll go on to the Pearl for today, and hope I can find something to make you smile, or get outraged along with me, or, if nothing else, give y’all a few minutes of entertainment…. while in the process, getting all that shit OUT of my head….. Bonus!

Shall we Pearl?…..

ELYSIUM, n.  An imaginary delightful country which the ancients foolishly believed to be inhabited by the spirits of the good.  This ridiculous and mischievous fable was swept off the face of the earth by the early Christians — may their souls be happy in Heaven! — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”
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As promised, here is a short, mild rant from the archives…. Apparently, 50 weeks ago, the world’s issues resembled those we are witnessing today, and my take on what was going on was, IMHO, not unintelligent, and fairly instructive…. Hence, the inclusion today of TWO pearls from last year, in all their dubious glory…. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From 1/29/13:

In difficult ground, press on;
In encircled ground, devise stratagems;
In death ground, fight.

– Sun Tzu, The Art of War (circa 400 B.C.)

The Art of War is still considered by military experts to be one of the definitive books on warfare and strategy, after more than 2000 years. I’m not certain, but would certainly be surprised, if this little tome is not still used as a reference at West Point, Annapolis, The Citadel, and the Air Force Academy, in classes on tactics and strategy used in battle, and in peace time. In the book, which is actually quite short, Sun Tzu gives the basic tenets for success in war; he was so perfectly correct and complete, that all he wrote remains valid today, even though the landscape of war has grown much larger, and more complex. The issues that can decide victory or defeat remain the same….

One of the most surprising features of the book is the idea that Sun Tzu presents regarding the perfect warrior. In his mind, warriors came in a number of types, each of which required a different method of leadership. The surprise lies in his choice of the type of warrior that he considers to be the most valuable; oddly enough, at least, on the surface, he chose…. the Spy….

Not the weapons master, not the brilliant tactician, not the engineer…. the spy, who combined attributes of all the other types. According to Sun Tzu, a properly trained and experienced agent provocateur was, by far, the most valuable type of warrior, for, with the proper application of truth and lies, and the correct timing, battles might be won without loss of life or property, or with a minimum of effort, due to the efforts before the battle by the spy. This choice indicates that Sun Tzu recognized the true battle that is waging at all times when people interact with each other…. the battle between truth and lies….

We see this battle raging in our own society every day, as the politicians vie with each other to see which one can get the furthest from the truth and still convince people they aren’t full of shit. When we have priests telling us that we aren’t the masters of our own bodies or minds, expecting us to not even ask why, we are witnessing the constant struggle for control of our minds… and our pocketbooks….. Control of the former, of course, will always lead to control of the latter, and you can bet your booties that it is the pocketbooks that the preachers and politicians are concerned with, not just our minds, or our souls…. You betcha, compadre…

She was a wight, if ever such wight were,–
Des. To do what?
Iago. To suckle fools and chronicle small beer.
Des. O most lame and impotent conclusion!

– William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Othello — Act ii, Sc. 1

Normally, or as close as we get to normally, I wouldn’t use a Shakespeare quote, and this one shows why very well…. I can’t for the life of me figure out what the hell any of it means, but the last line struck home for this discussion…. Before what I am saying reaches the point where the last line might apply, I will refer you to the book itself….  The Art of War, by Sun Tzu;  copies of it are available at any bookstore, or at your local library; nowadays, you can probably find it online in a number of places.

It is a fairly quick read, (though there are points that do require some thought and pondering), with fewer than a hundred pages in most of the versions I’ve seen. As I said above, it’s pretty simply written, but covers all that is needed to get his point across, which has to do with winning, not just at war, but in life. As with many things in Chinese culture, there is more to the subject than may be apparent on first view, and it is worth the time to look more deeply into what Sun Tzu left for us….

But war ‘s a game which were their subjects wise
Kings would not play at.

– William Cowper (1731-1800) — The Task, Book v, The Winter Morning Walk, Line 187
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As much as I’d love to bleed out a fresh poem today, I can’t find it anywhere in me…. Hence, I retreat to one of my favorites for respite….

A Dream Of Death

I DREAMED that one had died in a strange place
Near no accustomed hand,
And they had nailed the boards above her face,
The peasants of that land,
Wondering to lay her in that solitude,
And raised above her mound
A cross they had made out of two bits of wood,
And planted cypress round;
And left her to the indifferent stars above
Until I carved these words:

She was more beautiful than thy first love,
But now lies under boards.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~
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This religirant is a bit more pointed than the one above that spoke about the battle in society for the minds of the people; the battle here is the same, but the methods used by the Priestly Hierarchies, and people of the ilk of Billy Graham are different than those used by the BRC, though no less demeaning, and no more honest…. This rant is one of my more potent, and very clear as to the targeted group’s identity….. which, as always in anything to do with humans, includes just about everyone….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From 1/29/13:

Delusional material, very dangerous…. Read carefully…

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;
I was made weak, that I may learn humbly to obey.

I asked God for health, that I may do greater things;
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I may be happy;
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life,
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing I asked for but everything I hoped for.
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

– unattributed, even by Smart Bee (I can assign no blame to them, for not wanting to take credit for this….)

From the time we are small, our minds are programmed with the ideas and beliefs our parents and families held as truth, regardless of whether or not there is any actual truth to be found in them. We have little, or no, defense against these ideas, as we are naturally inclined to believe what our care givers tell us. While I can understand the way it works, it seems to me to be a shame, that we don’t come with a built in truth detector, to protect us before we are able to reason for ourselves. Until our minds have been trained, we tend to accept whatever someone in a position of authority tells us, which may keep us safe, in a physical sense, when we are small and vulnerable, but is a dangerous habit to keep when grown.

The above is an example of how churches and the priestly hierarchies attempt to befuddle people into obedience and acceptance of their credos, aimed at those adults who have carried over their trust in authority into their adult views. On the surface, the statements seem to imply a certain morality, one of patience, compassion, and beneficence; but, underneath, they are merely designed to reinforce the ideas they wish to espouse, of obedience, humility, and subservience to authority.

If one is to believe the priestly hierarchies, we humans don’t really stand a chance against the universe…. In their minds, God has it all worked out, and it isn’t our place to question any of His prerogatives; we are here only to do His (translates as: their….) will, and to sing His praises (keeps us busy NOT thinking….). We are weak, bumbling, foolish creatures whose only claim to fame is that God loves us…. according to dogma. It occurs to me to ask, “So, which one of y’all is the one to whom God spoke, when he laid down all this specious crap? When y’all talked with God, how long had it been since you last took your medication?”

I know, I know, not very friendly approach, but, sheesh, give me a break…. I mean, these people are responsible for a great deal of the suffering and trouble mankind has endured over the last 5000 years or so, and don’t even have the courtesy to take credit, or apologize. In their minds, all that stuff they do to maintain their status quo is justified by their holiness, or whatever it is they claim makes them special. And, all the time, in reality, everything they do is designed, ultimately, to bring coins to their purses, and food to their tables, at the expense of the ignorant mass of believers….

I feel a nasty rant coming on…. Sometimes, when I write one of these rips at religion, I just get SO ANGRY…. I’m mad at the preachers and priests, and those who support them, for their willingness to prey on the public, using the pretension of religious fervor and worship to justify their narcissism, and for the thousands of years of suffering that mankind has endured at their hand. I am also angry at those people who buy into their bullshit, for not having the courage to use their minds, to blithely accept anything told to them by an authority figure, never even considering that there might be more to life than they are seeing…. It is all such a waste, and my anger knows no bounds….

“Civilization is fun!  Anyway, it keeps me busy!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Well, it would keep me busy if I could find any…. I had to include this little side-trip from Zippy in order to bring my anger level down. I was feeling the urge to let out ALL of the vulgar curses I could think of, to express how I feel about all the assholes who perpetrate this entire fallacy on the rest of humanity, knowing how gullible they are, and how little effort it takes to fool them into believing the most incredible bullshit.

I mean, how hard can it be to fool someone who would believe that the recent spate of cold weather means that global warming is a myth? How hard is it to fool someone who will gladly trade their freedom in this life for the promised reward in the next life? It’s so damn easy that the fools actually come asking for it, to be made into puppets, just so they can believe they are beloved of God, and guaranteed a spot in Heaven…. I often wonder just how fit to survive our species really is, when we can’t even come to terms with our own sense of self, or learn to accept the responsibility for our own actions….

Most folks are so scared to think for themselves that they gladly surrender that chore to the priests and politicians, apparently not even caring how often they lie to them. Even when the lies are exposed, and even proved, people will hang on to their prejudices, and to the belief in supernatural beings that control our every move; they are quite unwilling to let go of what they’ve bought into all their lives, even when it’s clear that none of it is true. Most of the time, they are unwilling to even look at any arguments against what they hold to be true, preferring the solid comfort of their ignorance. Makes me want to puke, it does…. on THEIR shoes….

Ah well, I’ve spilled enough bile and venom for one morning. It would probably be best to move on, and let this one die a natural death. If nothing else, I got some angst and pressure relieved, for the time being. It is almost a comfort to know that the politicians and preachers will be providing more ammunition in the coming days, as they continue their campaign of oppression against the people of the Earth; that means I’ll always have plenty about which to rant…. Happy Days!….

“Those who won’t think will have it done for them.” –  Smart Bee
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In spite of the use of mostly archived material, plus a poem by someone else, I’m beat…. Probably not sleeping is a factor in that, but, putting this together took more than I realized it would…. It must be okay, then, because otherwise I wouldn’t have worked so hard on it…. Hey, if that kind of logic and faith works for religions, I can use it, too, right? Sorry, I know, leave the ranting to the rants…. Any who, this now achieves the primary defining characteristic we seek for any Pearl, which is, arguably, it’s done….. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Hey! These are good croissants!….

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Ffolkes,

“Hey, buddy!”
“What?”
“Is the bus coming?”
“Pretty soon, now, I think, ….. it’s breathing pretty hard…”

You figure it out; anyone over 16 should get it, without having to resort to pictures, or dictionaries…. I’m feeling bone-deep lazy, and found a bunch of good stuff yesterday in the archives, so, with some judicious editing, you’re getting a stale, massively punched up, hybrid Pearl, composed of nearly all old stuff, that was good enough to be recycled, because, hey, it’s just that good, okay? Allow me a bit of egotism here, and just read on…. I think you might agree that fresh wouldn’t be any more relevant, or more satisfying….

From May 12, 2012:

“And torture one poor word ten thousand ways.” — John Dryden (1631-1700) — Britannia Rediviva, Line 208

Wow! Have you ever seen a better description of this blog?    🙂    I’ve been torturing words now for over 12 years, at least in a bloggy sense; that’s about how long I’ve been doing these Pearls……

I’ve learned over the years not to hear their screams, or read the petitions, or pay any attention to the ones who try to distract me with their flexibility of meaning; I just strap them into the rack and start hacking away. Sometimes, in the intro, I force them, admittedly with some glee, to assume the shape of a short fantasy; other times I will completely embarrass them by telling them they are haiku, or a poem, when they know for certain I am no poet. I can be pretty cruel to the words in my head….

I figure it’s only fair, considering how they treat me much of the time. I don’t ask much of them, really…. just the morning group of five good pearls I can use to create these missives, and I’d leave them be. But much of the time, such as today, they insist on playing games, hiding, shifting about, presenting only the quotes they know I’ve already used, or massive amounts of Shakespeare, which they KNOW just annoys me….

No, they’re not very nice to me, so I feel no compunction about torturing them to get them to do what I need them to do. If I didn’t, I’d never get anything written. If I didn’t write as much as I do, I’d build up all this incredibly strong angst and tension, and eventually it would have to come out…. at that point, it has been known to be dangerous, especially for anyone in the immediate vicinity of the blast zone….

So, you see, this blog is really a public service in disguise…. No thanks are necessary: since they are my words, I take responsibility for them, and consider it my duty to keep them from harming others (except, of course, when I want them to do so….). I just didn’t want y’all to think I was hiding anything important…. I like to call this my Literary Guantanamo Bay for Wayward Words, where we have the leeway, and the executive authority, to torture those nasty, little, terror-inducing buggers into submission….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“I had a dream which was not all a dream.” — Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Darkness
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There will come a time, one fine day, when I’ll go back through my archives, and pull together all the stuff about which I’ve ranted, to put together into one homogeneous work that I can publish as a book, or perhaps, given the amount of material, two…. who knows? If the world lasts long enough to make something like that worthwhile for me, I’ll no doubt do it, as I’ve always had the dream of being a published author, with a real book, that I wrote, to hold in my hand…. For now, it’s nice to be able to occasionally take a day to work a bit less strenuously to be fresh, practicing instead the skills I’ll need to edit all of what I’ve written…. I’m told that editors can be bitchy that way, so I may as well get all my ducks in a row before I go into any power struggles with one of them….

I intend to take full advantage of this little break today; hopefully, I may even be able to spend some time reading other WP blogs, to at least get to the sites of those friends and loyal Gentle Readers who have been coming by to check out my blog each day…. There aren’t a lot of them, perhaps ten to twenty regular ffolkes who drop by every few days to catch up, but, I appreciate each and every one of them greatly, and prefer to get to THEIR  sites first, before cruising randomly to any of the many sites I follow…. Strange, too, is the fact that I keep getting notified of new followers, but the people are names of bloggers who never hit the Like button, or comment, so I have no idea what they think about all of it, which, I know, is a LOT of material…. I’m just happy they liked it enough to Follow….

Be all that as it may, I get guilty a lot, from not being able to go read other blogs as much as I’d like….. However, the process of getting all this crap out of my head remains my primary purpose, so, that has to be the way it is, with little I can do about changing the way I approach it…. Any who, I’ll get around some today, and hopefully, can do so more in the future…. for now, we’re going to a random old-school style pearl, just so we can say there is SOMETHING fresh in today’s Pearl….. ‘Kay? ‘Kay!…..

“I will not be as those who spend the day in complaining of the head-ache, and the night in drinking the wine that gives the headache.” — Goethe

“The real danger is the gradual erosion of individual liberties through the automation, integration, and interconnection of many small, separate record-keeping systems, each of which alone may seem innocuous, even benevolent, and wholly justifiable.” — U.S. Privacy Protection Study Commission, 1977

“For good men but see death, the wicked taste it.” — Johnson

“History is always written wrong, and so always needs to be rewritten.  …What is interesting is brought forward as if it had been central and efficacious in the march of events, and harmonies are turned into causes.  Kings and generals are endowed with motives appropriate to what the historian values in their actions; plans are imputed to them prophetic of their actual achievements, while the thoughts that really preoccupied them remain buried in absolute oblivion.” — George Santayana, The Life of Reason:  Reason in Science, 1918

“…Or, I may not feel that my belief-system needs to be self-consistent  in a post-Goedelian epoch.” — Dan’l Danehy-Oakes

We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow;
Our wiser sons, no doubt, will think us so.

— Pope

“I wouldn’t recommend sex, drugs or insanity for everyone, but they’ve always worked for me.” — Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939), journalist

Well, serendipity certainly took a hand in THAT little collection of virtual wisdom, didn’t it? What a wonderful pearl this turned out to be! A little obscure, but, finely tuned to show off all those little twists that make me so happy….. Fret not, if you don’t see the underlying direction this takes, it won’t matter, as none of these will be on the Quiz…. Reading and understanding pearls is not the simplest skill we have to learn in our life; sadly, it’s also one nobody will ever pay you minimum wage for possessing, either….

It is useful, however, when reading the news, as it gives one a deeper understanding of how duplicitous the Asininnies can be, as well as the ability to dismiss nonsense in a trice…. And, if nothing else, it got us through that section without any casualties, so, from our standpoint here at ECR, it’s a win-win….
_____________________________

This is one of my own poems, written in 2012…. I think all in all, it’s one of my best…. That, perhaps, does not say too much, but, I like it anyway…. I hope you do as well….

“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 ~~

_____________________________

Since beginning today, which was, in truth, quite some time ago, (much longer than one would think, for what is mostly cut and paste material…. I guess I’ve been wordier than I knew….), I seem to have lost my way…. Since I wasn’t planning to go anywhere in particular, that’s arguably exactly where I went…. and they’d be correct to say so…. (Huh?)(Oops…. sorry, brain fart….. I only thought I’d written the lead-in to that last line….) (SIGH….)(Picture it….. old, graying, roundish guy at a computer, solemnly banging his forehead on the wall next to the chair…. but, not quite crushing the BIG, RED, NOSE on his face…..) (Here’s the lead…. “Anyone of a reasonable nature might be compelled to mention that seemed a bit abnormal….” then, the next part, ” and they’d be correct, etc….”)

I just looked up, to check that paragraph, and realized that it had gone beyond hope, in spite of what it says in section two’s poetry… Oh, it’s all there, and correctly punctuated, but, it’s just so frigging scattered, in thought, in timing, in juxtaposition, I’d be surprised if anyone who isn’t me could make sense of it…. I’d be wasting the time of both of us if I tried to fix it; the same could be said of just starting over, too… What to do, what to do, oh, me, oh my, indecision hurts…. Ah, fuck it, okay…. Scrap the whole nine yards, says the consensus…. Onward into the final section now, naked and unafraid…. WAIT!…. One more thing….

There’s still quite a ways to go yet, I know, so, I won’t keep y’all long, but, I just wanted to say this…  Never mind, it’ll keep…. here, this is better than anything I could come up with today, anyway, so, please enjoy the following politirant from the past…. which, as always, remains as valid today as when it was first posted, because, hey, the same sharks be swimmin’ in the same pool, see?…. Any who…..Enjoy….

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From 2/13/13: Thus, the election, of which much is spoken herein, would be the Presidential election of November, 2012, Obama vs. Romney…..

The following is a piece that I wrote just before the recent Presidential election, as section 1 of a Pearl I cannot find without more effort than I care to spend right now, even though it is still only 0633…. Tracking it down would mean scrolling through at least a month’s worth of old Pearls, from last year, (2012), and I’m not ready for that today…. However, I’ve re-read it, and consider it worth a second posting, as it covers a lot of things that remain relevant after the election, in spite of the fortunate outcome we saw…. Any who, without further ado, here is a pearl I entitled,

“Considering the Etiquette of Ignorance”….

SIGH…. the only reason I did not write this in 1988 is that I did not see it until today…. it is never a good policy to suffer a fool gladly, so my code of honor demands a response…. This begins the tale, but by no means ends it…. be warned, and be nervous, if not afraid….

“I don’t know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they  be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.” — George Bush in Free Inquiry magazine, Fall 1988

Actually, George, the Pledge of Allegiance has no legal standing, in relation to the Constitution of this country, or for that matter, in relation to what our forefathers were thinking when they founded the nation. In fact, what was said here by such an upstanding Constitutional scholarly type, is, in reality, completely contrary to everything that makes a true patriot, or an American citizen.

The part in the pledge, (which no one at all is legally required to take, or state….), that says “under God” was only added in the middle of the twentieth century, by the same Congressional idiots who perpetrated McCarthyism, and the Red Scare, on the American public. It has nothing to do with the Constitution, and in fact, could be construed as a Constitutionally illegal statement, considering the intended separation of church and state that is the backbone of what our forefathers wished us to have as our legacy…. True freedom, not Christian usurpation of freedom…. A person’s religious belief, or lack thereof, is protected by the Constitution, and a patriot is one who supports the Constitution, not a church, or a corporation….

And if his name be George, I ‘ll call him Peter;
For new-made honour doth forget men’s names.

– William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King John — Act i, Sc. 1

This kind of thinking from the Shrub, whichever one it was, Junior or Senior, is the same kind of narrow-minded fundamentalism that the colonists were escaping from in England back in the 16-1700’s when they came to the New World. The churches and corporations, both of which were singled out as dangerous to the republic by Jefferson, Franklin, Paine, Adams, Hamilton, and many of the other founding fathers, have tried to usurp the Constitution ever since it was ratified. Their writings, to each other, and in public venues, were filled with precautionary admonitions about allowing corporations and preachers to have access to, or influence over, members of government.

Ultimately, their fears were justified, as we now are facing just the situations they predicted…. corporations are manipulating our “professional thieves”, otherwise known as politicians, to vote for laws that favor them (Really, now…. “corporations are people?”… I don’t think so….), and the ranks of our leaders are rife with fundamentalists and religious nuts of all varieties.

“Men tend to have the beliefs that suit their passions. Cruel men believe in a cruel God and use their belief to excuse their cruelty.  Only kindly men believe in a kindly God, and they would be kindly in any case.” — Bertrand Russell (1872-1967)

It’s difficult sometimes to tell which ones are more dangerous, or more disgusting: the corporations who buy votes from those who fit the definition of “good politicians” (…. a good politician is one who stays bought….), or the religious demagogues who want to oppress everyone who doesn’t believe the same set of dogmatic constraints as they do. Neither one is particularly hard to spot, but they are protected by their tame dogs in Congress, who will do and say anything to make sure the cash keeps flowing…. right into their pockets.

As may be extrapolated, if one is exceedingly clairvoyant, one may infer from the above that the 2012 Republican  Romney/Ryan ticket disturbs me; I have no problem ranting without end right off the top of my head about the lies and distortions of reality that continuously fall from their lips. As I mentioned in a separate post, a lot of people are catching on to this, as Ryan was roundly booed offstage at the AARP meeting he attended to try to sell their admitted intention to rape Social Security and Medicare (Smart? No. Arrogant? Completely.).

In retrospect, even this negative reception is disturbing to me, as it shows just how little they care, that they are showing themselves to be only interested in lining their own pockets, and the pockets of those who own them, without apparent shame or embarrassment. They aren’t even trying to hide their lies anymore; they just keep repeating them, even after having been shown to be false, believing that if they repeat the lies enough, people will buy them….

“Men are most apt to believe what they least understand.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book iii, Chap. xi

Unfortunately, they are right, to a large extent. Millions of people in this country, who have hung on to their prejudices and bigotry with desperation as the minorities have become majorities, are supporting these assholes, merely because they are white. They don’t realize, or seemingly care, that these are the same assholes who will be screwing them over completely as soon as they get sworn in, preferring to trust in the lies, because it soothes their fears of having a black President.

“Beware of the half truth.  You may have gotten hold of the wrong half.” — Smart Bee

This is why I have been repeatedly reiterating that this election is bringing this country to a crossroads. The outcome will show whether we intend, as a nation, to continue to fight all attempts to curtail the freedoms that were bought and paid for by our forefathers, with blood, sweat, and tears, or will become just another religious, corporate-controlled entity, in a nation consisting of slaves and their masters.

I don’t know about y’all, but I’ll be at the polls as soon as they open, and will urge everyone I know to do the same…. vote early, and vote often (just joking….), but vote. We need to send a message to these fools, that there are still patriots and citizens of this country who believe in the vision embraced and established by the men and women who began this noble experiment in self-government….

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” — Aldous Huxley

Back in the future….. As I said above, the election came out okay…. but, the rest of what is said here remains relevant, and always in need of being heard….

Back, again, in the true future…. January 9, 2014, that is…. All I can say is, it’s done…. Really, I’m through here…. Nothing more to say…. As soon as the keyboard lets go of my fingers, I’ll end this section, and all of us can get on with our day…. What the F!…. Okay, who smuggled the handcuffs in past the scanner?….
_____________________________

Okay, so, luckily, I found the key to the cuffs, (well, I beat up the guy who had them…. so, sue me….), and we’re no longer stuck in the last section…. This means, should I accept the mission, we can be done here, at least for the day…. Let me go see if that will fly with the censors…. Well, not too shabby, if I do say so myself, and, I do…. Not too shabby…. See? I said it….. I mean it, too, but, before I do anything to affect that judgment, or change the space-time continuum permanently, I’m getting my sorry ass outta here…. See you tomorrow, if Barry and the NSA leave me alone….   😆

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

dozer3

Fat chances at skinny odds….

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1

Ffolkes,

Since the White Rabbit’s progenitor seems to have dictated how this morning’s events should transpire, I’m going to do what I do best when a crisis hits…. take a break…. In case it isn’t clear, that’s a joke, ffolkes…. My first reaction at the initial signs of trouble is NOT to cut and run, unfortunately. My life would have been a LOT different if that were the case, and that is for sure and for certain….. The more than 750 times I got into a major altercation with some insane, violent mental patient might never have had the effect on me that it did, had I not been the kind of person who did NOT run away when confronted with danger…..

Today, however, I’m going with the flow, such as it is, and taking a break, first off…. not to relieve tension, or difficulty, but to gather resources, to find the center, if it is anywhere to be found…. I’ll be back shortly, when I’ve made an honest effort to get it together…. Maybe then, I could come up with something original, and fun to read, rather than this personal chatty shit that seems to have me under its spell of late…. Any who, I’ll be back…. and you won’t even notice I’m gone….

Whereas I, intimately connected to all I do, naturally, noticed the exact moment I returned, which is not this one, or this one…. It is, however, this one, so, let’s get back to the reality for which we so diligently yearn…. You’ll be pleased to know, I’m sure, I DID find the center, and, yea, verily, I speak to you now from the serenity of its confines…. Well, I’m near there, anyway; I can see it, and it’s beautiful, too…. But, I’m okay over here, sort of off center, but, near enough to feel the balance it provides by its mere existence…. Yah, sure, he said, remembering at last it was time to take those pesky medications they make me take to keep me quiet and happy…. Mmmm, yum!

So, I was taking a break outside, as I normally do about this time, and it was very strange…. NOTHING happened. The usual traffic, of course, and joggers with dogs, and brisk morning breezes to keep me on my toes….. Otherwise, nada, zip, zilch…. It made it quite nice, in truth, as it gave me some good cogitation time, which I spent judiciously on a number of subjects close to my heart and mind (what else would I think about?….). One of the ideas that struck me, (this one was quite bloody for a moment, opening up that vessel over the eye that bleeds like a stuck pig at the slightest blow….), in fact, should be good for a pearl or two, which means I can afford the replacement blood….

Still, I think that this morning’s attempt at introducing today’s pearls is sufficiently strange to serve the intended purpose, which, sad to say, I am not at liberty to divulge at this time. Doing so would involve too many alterations to reality as it already has been configured for the day; such alterations have a high risk of disturbing the balance of the entire space-time continuum in ways completely new and unknown… That risk is just too high to allow such knowledge, so, you’ll just have to wait until the end, when the purpose becomes not just apparent, but justifiably protected….

Hey, that argument seems to be good enough for the White House, so, as a citizen, it’s good enough for me…. Shall we Pearl?…..

“Support your local church or synagogue. Worship at Bank of America.” — Smart Bee
_____________________________

Above, in the intro section, I referred to an idea that occurred to me while I sat in the morning air, engaging in my favorite pastime, random thinking about Stuff…. This idea is a delicate one, and needs to be explored a bit more deeply on my part before I bring it out into the light of day…. I’ll just say this: it has to do with the Internet, the Asininnies, and You/Me(Us)…. and it’s a bit disturbing….. In case you don’t recall, Asininnies are those humans on planet Earth who live by the code of Me First, regardless of what other people or animals may have to say about it…

They are the Beloved Ruling Class, those professional politicians (parasites) who claim to lead, but more accurately, crave power; the Shadowy Corporate Masters, those bankers and old money warmongers who buy and sell the world at their whim, including the loyalty of the BRC, and those others who are also Asinine by nature…. There are more… The entitled Police and Military Goons, The Athlete Rock Stupid Role Models, The Media Cowards, who unconsciously help the Asininnies accomplish their manipulations by parroting their lies without complaint, or exposure….

Most heinously, which adjective I use deliberately, these Asininnies are all supported by the efforts of the last group in the category…. the  Priestly Hierarchies, those deliberately delusional fanatics who live by faith rather than reason (though they would claim the opposite….) By encouraging their constituencies to follow their lead, and accept all that the worldly authorities tell them to do in their lives, they teach the people how to obey, both by example, and by designed application of guilt over original sin….

What a scam! Convince people they are bad because of what some original member of the tribe did, which may or may not have happened in truth, then, use the ensuing manufactured sense of guilt to cause behavioral changes at direction…. Willing mental slaves, all for the price of a good story line…. gotta love those early Christians and Muslims, eh? They knew human nature, with its susceptibility to the lie, and its gullibility to the apparent truth….. What ticks me off is that it continues unabated after thousands of years…. It goes a long way toward proving Robert Heinlein’s statement on the subject, by his character Lazarus Long, to wit: “Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.”

That, then, is the current scenario we have in the world today, as I pointed out above…. Internet, Asininnies, and Us…. In the near future, I’ll expand on the idea that occurred to me, but, I’ve taken enough time and energy this morning to make sure all the players are known, and clearly…. I don’t want any confusion about any of that after I begin my rant, whenever that may be…..

For now, I’ll just put together a short five-star pearl, which, hopefully, will give y’all a preview of the rant that is to be…. Let’s see what SB can do about that…..

“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.)

“Now that the government is going to balance the budget, it is up to the rest of us to budget the balance. Some folks think we are getting too much  government these days. They should be very happy that we are not getting all of the stuff we are paying for.” — Smart Bee

“The devil knew not what he did when he made man politic.” — William Shakespeare

“We are locked into a system of “fouling our own nest,” so long as we behave as independent, rational free-enterprisers.” — Garrett Hardin

“Know yourself. Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.” — Ann Landers

Perfect…. Good enough to go on, for sure…..
_____________________________

I’ve seen this poet’s name and work all my life, but never took the time to explore it…. Now, I will….

On what is best
Some celebrate the beauty
of knights, or infantry,
or billowing flotillas
at battle on the sea.
Warfare has its glory,
but I place far above
these military splendors
the one thing that you love.

For proof of this contention
examine history:
we all remember Helen,
who left her family,
her child, and royal husband,
to take a stranger’s hand:
her beauty had no equal,
but bowed to love’s command.

As love then is the power
that none can disobey,
so too my thoughts must follow
my darling far away:
the sparkle of her laughter
would give me greater joy
than all the bronze-clad heroes

~~ Sappho ~~

_____________________________

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you just might miss it.” — Matthew Broderick — in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, screenplay by John Hughes

The movie, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, is a cult classic with good reason, & not just for this little gem…. Too much to go into now, just suffice it to say that it’s worth a look, and worth thinking about a lot of what is portrayed in there about society, and human interaction…. Any who, I’m tired, still recovering from my illness, and find myself willing and ready to cheat already this year…. But, with good reason…. While looking for material, this relatively short piece from the Pearl posted on New Year’s Day of last year jumped up, & demanded to be included in a Pearl of more recent vintage…. If not today, then soon…. I decided to just go ahead and let it have its way, as it is well worth another read…. Enjoy, if you dare…..    😉
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Pearl posted 1/1/13:

“Life isn’t weird; it’s the people in it.” — Smart Bee

This is one of the reasons I love Smart Bee, for its cheery reminders to look at reality from different perspectives; it always helps me to gain a wider understanding. It is also fitting to begin the New Year with one of its little gems, especially when it fits into my own world view so seamlessly. Weirdness, to my mind, is what gives people their snap (or, in at least one case, their Snaap!). Those who fight against weirdness, who try to conform as much as possible to what society wants of them, are dull, listless, and have leeched all the color from their existence, choosing to live in reality’s version of limbo, a world painted all in grey, quiet, and depressing. It is those ffolkes who embrace the strangeness in life who have found the secret of filling life with color, music, and beauty….

“Believe me!  The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously!” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900)

SIGH…. I must be getting old…. This year, for the time being, at least, I’m counting my refusal to make any resolutions as living dangerously. Normally, (there’s that word again…. I should stop using it, since it has little relevance around here….), in my checkered past, I’d do something a bit more flamboyantly dangerous, like go out drinking on New Year’s Eve, or maybe go out drinking on New Year’s Day morning. Or, when I was a Dad with teens, I’d try to keep track of my kids on New Year’s Eve…. boy, now that’s dangerous! This year, since nothing of what I intend for my life can happen until my SS disability is awarded, I am on HOLD, unwilling to partake of anything particularly complicated because I am….. and that makes me feel OLD….

“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along and not bothering.” — Winnie the Pooh

Perhaps it is an indicator of some sort, to base much of one’s behavior, or at least intended behavior, on the philosophy of a teddy bear, but this little idea from Pooh, in his Uncarved Block mode, is probably one of the most valuable pieces of advice one can take, even if not used consistently. I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t mind if people consider me weird for feeling or thinking that way; in fact, it is rather a compliment, to my way of looking at things. But, then, having been raised in a family where ‘weird’ was encouraged, I suppose that isn’t a surprise…..

“Life treats all of us like dirt; it is how we react to being dirt that determines our own worth.” — gigoid

I imagine, nay, I’m pretty certain, this thought is not original; only the words I’ve used to express it in this form are mine. It is, however, perhaps the most important lesson that I have learned in my life, and I do not say that lightly. The four pearls in this pearl (don’t fret, just flow…), if put together as an old school pearl, would say the same thing they are saying with my comments, which is to say, a very important idea for anyone who wishes to live life well, with dignity and honor.

Sure, we are all going to have moments of pain, moments of joy, and more than plenty of moments of nothing much going on….. but, how that makes us feel is completely up to us. We can, as the Navajo say, “walk in beauty”, or we can trudge through life with our heads down, plugging on toward the cemetery, oblivious to the beauty by which we are surrounded…. The choice is our own…..

“Truth does not change, although your perception of it may vary or alter drastically.” — John & Lyn St. Clair Thomas, “Eyes of the Beholder”
_____________________________

“Some people are quick to criticize cliches, but what is a cliche? It is a truth that has retained its validity through time. Mankind would lose half its hard-earned wisdom, built up patiently over the ages, if it ever lost its cliches.” — Marvin G. Gregory

Good news for gigoid! Cliches are ‘in’ again! Yay! This brings a whole new level of opportunity to this blog, doesn’t it? Yes, yes it does, he chortled with glee, as I am, if nothing else, very, very familiar with cliches…. In fact, I’ve spoken cliche since my early teens, having been raised on commercials during the 50’s and 60’s, when cliches were getting created every minute for a new products advertised on TV….. It’s all quite “old hat” for me, don’t y’know?…..

Alright, I’m done now…. Let’s look at today’s mess….. Well, considering the amount of material I’ve written, one can say with fair certainty that “I’ve done worse”…. I can also say I haven’t done a lot better, either, without feeling too bad about it, so, it’s good to go….. See you tomorrow….

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

dozer3

Improbably imbued with ponderous value….

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Ffolkes,

Vague flutters, as tiny wings not seen, but heard on the very edge of awareness, fall obscurely upon the dark shadows, soullessly inhabiting these empty halls. A terrible, heavy silence grips the night by the throat, quelling any thought of outcry, any hope of warning, as minute by minute, the hour of fate approaches unbidden, unwanted, unknown…. Baleful denizens of darkness cower, shivering in the cold of a terror so great, so powerfully evil, all hope died, screaming, before it was ever born…..

Then, of course, I woke up, and all was well…. or, as well as things can be, all things considered…. At least we’re not in the evil grip of some kind of Steven King-like novel, like the poor sap in the first paragraph, eh? I’d hate to go there every day, even if only in my head…. Having been blessed once more by 10 solid hours of sleep, I feel GREAT! Well, I feel pretty good, anyway; I don’t think I’ll be climbing any mountains anytime soon, but, I may be able to make it past 2 PM without a nap, if I’m lucky, so, that’s a good thing, right? Right….

In the last week, other than two trips out of the house to take care of some business out in  the BBR, we’ve been stuck in the house ever since getting back from the cruise from hell, me with bronchitis, and my lady with a cold she managed to pick up inadvertently upon arriving home…. For the past five days, we have been alternating sitting, taking meds, and sleeping, pretty much, with some minor writing on my part in the early mornings, while my brain is actually functioning at a relatively normal level…. Part of what has kept us in the house, aside from illness, is the weather here in California, which has been reminiscent of Alaska in the early winter…. seriously…

It has been well below freezing point for five nights running, with temps here last night down to 21 degrees F…. For a town right on the water of a bay, on the Pacific Ocean, at around the 37th parallel, that is COLD!…. Especially here in this part of the state, where ‘mild’ is the word we use most often to describe our weather patterns…. This year, 2013, the area has had approximately five to six inches of rain, with only twenty-one days left in the year,  whereas, the annual average is close to 24 inches…. But, there’s no such thing as global warming, so, hey, not to worry, eh?….

Okay, that’s enough… Some fictional musings, some personal patter, a bit of weather, a mini-mini-environmental rant…. It will suffice for our purposes here….  I think we’re good to go for a dive… If things turn out to make that an erroneous decision, well, hey, we’ve been wrong before, haven’t we? Yes, yes, we have….

Shall we Pearl?…..

That ‘s the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture.

— Robert Browning (1812-1890) — Home-Thoughts from Abroad, ii
_____________________________

“Whenever, therefore, the profession of arms becomes a distinct order in the state….the end of the social compact is defeated… No free government was ever founded, or ever preserved its liberty without uniting the characters of the citizen and soldier in those destined for the defense of the state…Such are a well regulated militia, composed of the freeholders, citizen and husbandman, who take up arms to preserve their property, as individuals, and their rights as freemen.” — Richard Henry Lee

I mentioned a few days ago that I’d found a good quote for the beginning of a rant, and I was right, wasn’t I?….. Specifically, for a politirant, concerning gun control, and the misguided attempts to alter the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, if not wholly, at least by abridging its intent. This, I believe, is a HUGE mistake, even though it was fully expected by those who first made the law, to wit: Jefferson, Franklin, Mason, Paine, Hamilton, etc…. our founding fathers, in short. All of them believed very strongly that this amendment was the very backbone of what made our freedoms possible, and were leery of ANY changes to this law….

“Liberty cannot be guaranteed by law. Nor by any thing else except the resolution of free citizens to defend their liberties.” — Edward Abbey

Those fears were expressed, verbally and in writing, many times, before and after the Constitution’s approval, and all the available evidence shows how little these men trusted the monied, or titled, elite in society… More than once, in correspondence with each other, they discussed their mistrust, of the bankers, the corporations, the aristocrats, the professional politicians, the professional soldiers, and all who support those categories of society. They knew that, as soon as the laws were passed, these special influences would begin using their money, and their influence, to try to abrogate the intent of the laws, limiting them, altering them until they no longer were capable of protecting our rights….

“Freedom isn’t cheap and it never goes on sale.” — Smart Bee

That assault on the Bill of Rights, especially those of the First and Second Amendments, has been continuous since 1786, as can be seen by the Congressional logs of bills that were brought forth at one time or another throughout our history, bills attempting to limit the power of the amendments; some were successful, some were not….. and the assault is not over; it continues to this day, as the special interest groups all clamor to fill the public’s attention with unreasoning fears, by making a huge hullabaloo over EVERY shooting that occurs in this country….

Well, as long as it suits them, of course…. They don’t make a big deal out of one of their police or paramilitary types blowing away some ‘perp’, (…. kind of a demeaning term, don’t you think?…. As well as prejudicial… A ‘perpetrator’ is one who is considered guilty of an act, by connotation, if not denotation….), who is robbing a store because he needs food, or drugs…. Even the shooting of some little kid playing with a toy gun brings no particular outrage from the governors, or even the media, in response to that lack…. No, those types of shootings get little attention past the first report; the only investigations into THOSE incidents are internal, and never find any blame, or file any charges….

No, it is the incidents where some crazy asshole, most likely some private citizen with a long time internal struggle to be normal, gets hold of a gun, goes to some public area, and proceeds to blow away a bunch of other innocents…. These events, relatively isolated in comparison with other types of shootings, of any kind, are the incidents that are brought into the limelight, so that every detail of the agony of the victims is expressed, fanning the public’s outrage, making them afraid for their own safety…. This makes them much more malleable when the talking heads propose their newest limits to the guns that the people can have…. Don’t worry, they’ll get them all, it will just take them more time…

As I’ve stated before, I’m a warrior, raised by a man of honor, and have studied the Art of War, (both the book by Sun Tzu, and the actual Art itself….), for almost my entire life…. and though I don’t, as a rule, use guns (They’re too loud, too complicated to maintain in the field, & hard to use with stealth…. heavy, too….. Knives, and sticks, of many shapes, are quieter, simple to use, & much easier to conceal…. Ropes are pretty useful, too….), I do know how to use them….

If I should ever need one, why, then, I’ll acquire one, from someone who has more than they need, to use as I so require. Then I’ll put it away again, or give it back to the owner, if that individual happened to loan it to me…. If the gun I end up using was pointed at me, well, they won’t be needing it back, anyway….. So far in life, I’ve been smart enough to avoid the necessity of dealing with that, and have had no need for one, so, I’m content with that, for the time being….

But, no matter what the talking heads may do, or say, or how they may change the laws, our founding fathers already GAVE me the rights I have, and I won’t be giving them up, no matter how many legal sounding words they may send through their lips…. It will all be just noise, as far as I am concerned…. There is no rationalization that is, to my mind, conceivable, that could persuade me to give up those rights, because I’ve already heard them all…. After all, in addition to my book/day from 1961 onward, I HAVE been watching TV since the early 1950’s, (I remember the Republican convention in 1954 that nominated Eisenhower, watching it on a small B&W console TV…. “I LIKE IKE!”….), so, I’ve seen or heard just about every political lie there is to perceive…. They just recycle the same old BS every time, anyway….

I’m tired of ranting about this, because, to me, it’s already a settled issue in my mind…. so, let’s see if I can find some pearls to lighten up the tone, and still deliver a few shots to the midsection of the pundits and preachers out there, who deserve as many shots as we can give them….

“War is a matter of vital importance to the State; the province of life or death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied.” — Sun Tzu

(Which is why I sincerely urge each and every one of you to PAY ATTENTION!….)

“The devil can quote Shakespeare for his own purpose.” — George Bernard Shaw

(And, too often, does so, right on TV, wearing a dark blue suit with a power red tie and a flag pin….)

“The state is the great fictitious entity by which everyone expects to live at the expense of everyone else.” — Frederic Bastiat

“To use power is to make yourself infinitely vulnerable to greater powers.” — Bene Gesserit

“A promise must never be broken.” — Alexander Hamilton

(Wait! How did THAT get in here?…. Oh, okay, it’s alright, he’s not a pundit, just a founding father…. If a bit of a prude in some ways…. Smart, but a bit anal, y’know?….)

“The Bill of Rights goes too far–it should have stopped at “Congress shall make no law” — Smart Bee

“The man who finds a truth lights a torch.” — Robert G. Ingersoll, _The Truth_

“In the midst of this sublime and terrible storm [at Sidmouth], Dame Partington, who lived upon the beach, was seen at the door of her house with mop and pattens, trundling her mop, squeezing out the sea-water, and vigorously pushing away the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic was roused; Mrs. Partington’s spirit was up. But I need not tell you that the contest was unequal; the Atlantic Ocean beat Mrs. Partington.” — Sydney Smith (1769-1845) — Speech at Taunton, 1813
_____________________________

I like this, not merely because it is beautiful in its execution, but for what it says, as well…. Exquisitely romantic, and powerfully emotional, it is indeed what I consider the BEST kind of poetry…. to wit: it affects the reader, engaging and enlightening at once…. Enjoy!

Sonnet 14 – If thou must love me, let it be for nought

XIV

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love’s sake only. Do not say
‘I love her for her smile — her look — her way
Of speaking gently, — for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day’—
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee,— and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry,—
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love’s sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love’s eternity.

~~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning ~~

_____________________________

“One of the most difficult of the philosopher’s tasks is to find out where the shoe pinches.” — Ludwig Wittgenstein

But, other times, the fools make it easy to show just where the pinch is biting…. such as when this fool opens his mouth…. You MUST read this, please… I know it is a hard one to believe, but, it was reported with a straight face by the news outlet, just as if it were real news, so we owe it the respect of doing the same, no matter how egregiously insane it may be…..

http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2013/12/07/santorum-mandelas-fight-for-freedom-like-the-fight-against-obamacare/

Can you believe the sheer, blind selfishness of this man? No matter what his issues, he was asked to comment on the life of someone who died, and regardless of his own position, he could not put aside his own personal foibles long enough to make a statement of compassion for the family, or the loss to the world…. No, he attempted to equate the works of one of the last century’s most well-loved, and universally respected figures, trying to turn the moment to his own political advantage, with possibly the weakest, most illogical, most ill-informed argument I have heard outside a second-grade classroom, when the teacher asked the little boy why he ate his neighbor’s cookie….

“People become educated, as against trained, insofar as they achieve a grasp of certain critical principles, and the passion to choose, organize and shape their own ideas by means of them. Education is not a mere piling up of more and more bits and pieces of information. It is a process of deciding for ourselves what we believe. It implies a self-motivated action upon our own mental nature and a process in which we learn to open our mind, to correct and refine it, to enable it rationally to learn; thus to empower it to analyze and digest its own knowledge, to gain command over its own faculties, to achieve flexibility, fair-mindedness, and critical exactness. More and more students should have assignments that challenge their minds to think for themselves.

This requires, of course, that they are encouraged to question what is presented to them for belief, not only in the various subject areas, but on TV programs and movies, in news broadcasts, in the talk of their peers and others, in political speeches and personal discussions, in everyday decisions and ways of living. And they should do this not to discover that everything is relative and arbitrary or a matter of opinion, but that all beliefs and points of view are subject to rational analysis and assessment. Ideally the process will come to pervade the school climate and be reflected in the deepest structures of school life. By this means, schools can perhaps become, as they should be, leading institutions in society, paradigms of rationality, helping an irrational society to become what itself has said is its own highest goal: a free society of free and autonomous persons.” — Richard Paul

Rick Santorum is a perfect example of the kind of first type of education described in this quote, with a lot of well-memorized factoids running around in his head, which he is able to regurgitate in various formats on demand, all without ever having to apply a single moment’s actual thought, or use them to reason with for any purpose…. When one reasons, one might come up with a conclusion, which is a risk for a pundit….. He is a well-programmed autobot for the Republican right, which, for me, is a continual delight, as he also has an almost Romney-esque ability to keep his foot planted firmly between his teeth for long periods of time, and still talk around it…. This was a perfect example of that skill, along with a display of callous ignorance and lack of compassion that is merely astounding, rather than particularly surprising.

In a way, though, he is also a frightening phenomenon, for there are actually people in this country who take what he says as gospel, who dote on his unpopular opinions, mostly because they tend to fall into misogynistic, racist, bigoted, fundamentalist Christian guidelines,…. a group of characteristics, you will note, that purportedly have NOTHING to do with government, other than as things to fight against inclusion in that process…. Yet, there he is, the darling of the fascistic fundies, just like that hive of bees in my head that, in spite of telling them of all the flowers that are in other locations, remains ensconced in the eaves under the roof of my mind…. and, well, there they are, so what do I do with them?….

“Annoy a Fundamentalist: Tell him the truth!” — Smart Bee

Hmm, that’s good advice…. To get back to Rick’s case, at least there are times like this one, when he provides me with at least a few moments of hilarity, at the breadth and depth of his stupidity, until, saddened by the same sheer ignorance in one in a position to do so much harm, I become depressed again, when I think of how many idiots are out there taking him seriously….. SIGH….. That thought is SO depressing, I’m going to quit this rant, and go find something fun to do, just so I don’t have to think about him any more….. Wish me luck, and I’ll wish it back at ya…. And remember, ffolkes, I may not be right, but I make up for it by being sure…..

“For the love of God, folks, don’t do this at home.” — David Letterman, CBS Late Show, demonstrating the Donut-o-pult, 1995
_____________________________

I’m not entirely certain just how it happened, but, I think I’ve done it…. Let’s go see…. Well…. I’m still not sure, but, now, at least, I know it did happen, so…. I guess I’m outta here for today…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Patterns of dark, and darker…..

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Ffolkes,

As you all (or even just both of you….  😆  )  may have noted, I did not post yesterday, with good reason…. Due to the cold that has kicked my ass all week, and my increasing frailty in a physical sense overall, I had to take a full day of rest, at the end of my trip south, to rest enough to drive home…. I found a comfortable motel about 50 miles north of where I had the meetings with my old classmates, the 50 miles being the sum total of miles I had it in me to drive on Friday.  I posted Saturday morning, as the motel had a very fast internet connection, then spent the rest of the entire day sleeping like the dead. At 0300 on Sunday morning, I arose to drive home, as that time of day, between 0300 and 0800 or so, seems to be my most active, and I figured I could make the 140 miles without too much problem…..

This was a foolish notion, as it turned out… I had to really push myself to make it, and still had to stop for a short nap halfway home, at a gas station by a closed McCafe, somewhere north of San Jose. I made it, but it was no cinch, fighting pain, fatigue, and restlessness all at once while trying to drive…. Then, after a couple hours of sleep, I got up again, to drive to Sonoma, where I visited with my grandson for an hour, (all the court allows) then drove home and crashed again…. It’s now almost 0430 AM, and I’m up, unable to sleep any more, despite still feeling exhausted…. too much pain, between the back spasms, and the ripping headache centered between my eyes, which dutifully threatens to blow off the top of my head when I cough….

I don’t mean to whine, but this is getting old, ffolkes…. I really am getting tired of the pain, and wish there was something that would cut through all of it long enough for me to sleep for oh, say, just four hours straight? That would be lovely, and so welcome….. But, ’tis not to be, at least not today, so I may as well try to push through it to get something done here…. Since times like these are all I have left to convince myself I’m still a tough old coot, I will, as far as I can….

My visits with my mates were wonderful…. I got to SEE four of my classmates, whom I hadn’t seen in a very long time, one of them since graduation in 1968 (hmm… that’s way too long… 45 years….) Chuck looks grand, and in great shape, (possibly the best of all of us, since he was the baby of the class…. he’s still only 62…. for a couple of days more….) Vicki looks practically the same as she did in high school, only better, and Carolyn and Laura were much the same as with Vicki, at least compared to me, and the degree to which I’ve changed shapes…. All three of them became even more beautiful as women than they were as teenage girls, and that is saying a lot, as I was fortunate to be in a class that was full of ‘foxes’, (as we used to say, back in the days before political correctness….)… Even back then, I felt that there wasn’t a single girl in our class that could be described as less than average looking, and the grown-up versions are even more beautiful, at least to my old eyes….

The only thing about all of the visits I regret is that there wasn’t more time, to hang out, to just talk, but, what we had was wonderful…. plus, now that we’ve established contact, and obtained promises to stay in touch, there will be time to say all the things that we didn’t get to relate in person…. All three of the ladies I saw are now joining the ranks of the Pearly Gates, and will, no doubt, eventually have to say SOMETHING about my ramblings…. they’ve known me long enough not to be shocked by most of it, but, some of it will no doubt prompt reactions, and that will be grand…. I live for dialogue… Chuck has been getting them for a year or two, and is probably immune by now….   😉

Of course, as is made patently obvious from this blog, I live for monologue, as well…. and that is about enough of that for one morning…. I could ramble a long time about our visits, but, it’s probably best to get on with today’s dive for pearls, since I’m not sure how long I can last before crapping out again…. Thankfully, being retired, I have nothing so urgent on my plate that it can’t be tossed without harm to my schedule…. The absolute BEST part of retirement is that my schedule is all my own, even more so than when I was a kid, with no responsibilities other than to family; I am the only one who gets to make my plans, and THAT is a powerful tool, indeed…. Any who….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Neither do the ignorant seek after wisdom.  For herein is the evil of ignorance, that he who is neither good nor wise is nevertheless satisfied with himself; he has no desire for that of which he feels no want.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.)
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“Only great masters of style can succeed in being obtuse.” — Oscar Wilde

“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)

As I have said before, there is more to Keats than meets the eye at first glance…. and this is proof positive my assertion is correct. For several years now, I have included the occasional pearl that spoke of Shakespeare, and how I believe him to be one of the most over-rated, over-quoted, and over-publicized authors of all time. Oh, he was prolific, indeed, and in all that stuff he produced, there was bound to be a winner or two…. But, for the main part, most of what he wrote was just plain bad, and, moreover, I think he knew it, deliberately couching a lot of his creative impulse in language so impenetrable, people just gave up on it, saying aloud how wonderful it was, just so everyone else wouldn’t know they hadn’t actually finished reading all of it….

I don’t expect y’all, or anyone, to accept such a premise without some proof, so, I offer the following, which are a number of examples of Will at his most dense and unknowable, so convoluted in concept and delivery that most folks just say, “oh, how pretty!” and let it go at that…. Whereas, I say, “Bullshit! This doesn’t MEAN anything, and, moreover, is so convoluted, it is impenetrable to the intellect”…. As further indication of how much of his work is of this nature, I must report that there are over a thousand quotes in SB from Will, and only about twelve of them are what I’d consider good literature…. the rest is just crap, that his publicists have made people believe is so good, they don’t understand it…. I call BS, and offer the following as proof…. As usual, my comments are parenthesized….

About some act
That has no relish of salvation in ‘t. — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act iii, Sc. 3

(Huh? What?…. Sorry, couldn’t catch any meaning, before the play’s action took us somewhere else….)

And let me wring your heart; for so I shall,
If it be made of penetrable stuff. — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act iii, Sc. 4

(Again, huh? What the hell is he talking about? And don’t tell me there is a cultural meaning that is only clear to those who lived in his time…. I’d bet NOBODY understood it, even back then….)

The weakest goes to the wall. — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Romeo and Juliet — Act i, Sc. 1

(Really? Why is that?…)

Potations pottle-deep. — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Othello — Act ii, Sc. 3

(This one is particularly dense, even considering the language changes over the intervening 400 years…)

Adversity’s sweet milk, philosophy. — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Romeo and Juliet — Act iii, Sc. 3

(Eeuuuw! Disgusting image….)

But in the gross and scope of my opinion,
This bodes some strange eruption to our state. — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act i, Sc. 1

(Maybe politics was different back then, but, still, what does this MEAN?….)

That he is mad, ‘t is true: ‘t is true ‘t is pity;
And pity ‘t is ‘t is true.  — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act ii, Sc. 2

All I can say is, ‘t is indeed a pity…. the pity is we spend so much time lionizing this man as a writer, when all he was, in reality, was his time’s most prolific hack, but with a really good publicist…. In today’s world, he would have been the highest paid writer at the National Enquirer…..
_____________________________

Since I used Keats as the lead for the above Shakespeare mini-rant, here is something to bolster my opinion of him, and his work, which is, needless to say, much better appreciated around here than Will….

 

An Extempore

 

When they were come into Faery’s Court
They rang — no one at home — all gone to sport
And dance and kiss and love as faerys do
For Faries be as human lovers true —
Amid the woods they were so lone and wild
Where even the Robin feels himself exil’d
And where the very books as if affraid
Hurry along to some less magic shade.
‘No one at home’! the fretful princess cry’d
‘And all for nothing such a dre[a]ry ride
And all for nothing my new diamond cross
No one to see my persian feathers toss
No one to see my Ape, my Dwarf, my Fool
Or how I pace my Otaheitan mule.
Ape, Dwarf and Fool why stand you gaping there
Burst the door open, quick — or I declare
I’ll switch you soundly and in pieces tear.’
The Dwarf began to tremble and the Ape
Star’d at the Fool, the Fool was all agape
The Princess grasp’d her switch but just in time
The Dwarf with piteous face began to rhyme.
‘O mighty Princess did you ne’er hear tell
What your poor servants know but too too well
Know you the three great crimes in faery land
The first alas! poor Dwarf I understand
I made a whipstock of a faery’s wand
The next is snoring in their company
The next the last the direst of the three
Is making free when they are not at home.
I was a Prince — a baby prince — my doom
You see, I made a whipstock of a wand
My top has henceforth slept in faery land.
He was a Prince the Fool, a grown up Prince
But he has never been a King’s son since
He fell a snoring at a faery Ball
Your poor Ape was a Prince and he poor thing
But ape — so pray your highness stay awhile
‘Tis sooth indeed we know it to our sorrow —
Persist and you may be an ape tomorrow —
While the Dwarf spake the Princess all for spite
Peal’d the brown hazel twig to lilly white
Clench’d her small teeth, and held her lips apart
Try’d to look unconcerned with beating heart.
They saw her highness had made up her mind
And quaver’d like the reeds before the wind
And they had had it, but O happy chance
The Ape for very fear began to dance
And grin’d as all his uglyness did ache–
She staid her vixen fingers for his sake
He was so very ugly: then she took
Her pocket mirror and began to look
First at herself and [then] at him and then
She smil’d at her own beauteous face again.
Yet for all this — for all her pretty face
She took it in her head to see the place.
Women gain little from experience
Either in Lovers, husbands or expense.
The more their beauty the more fortune too
Beauty before the wide world never knew.
So each fair reasons — tho’ it oft miscarries.
She thought her pretty face would please the fa[e]ries.
‘My darling Ape I wont whip you today
Give me the Picklock sirrah and go play.’
They all three wept but counsel was as vain
As crying cup biddy to drops of rain.
Yet lingeringly did the sad Ape forth draw
The Picklock from the Pocket in his Jaw.
The Princess took it and dismounting straight
Trip’d in blue silver’d slippers to the gate
And touch’d the wards, the Door full courteously
Opened — she enter’d with her servants three.
Again it clos’d and there was nothing seen
But the Mule grasing on the herbage green.
End of Canto xii.

Canto the xiii.
The Mule no sooner saw himself alone
Than he prick’d up his Ears — and said ‘well done!
At least unhappy Prince I may be free —
No more a Princess shall side saddle me
O King of Othaiete — tho’ a Mule
‘Aye every inch a King’ — tho’ ‘Fortune’s fool.’
Well done — for by what Mr. Dwarfy said
I would not give a sixpence for her head.’
Even as he spake he trotted in high glee
To the knotty side of an old Pollard tree
And rub’d his sides against the mossed bark
Till his Girths burst and left him naked stark
Except his Bridle — how get rid of that
Buckled and tied with many a twist and plait.
At last it struck him to pretend to sleep
And then the thievish Monkies down would creep
And filch the unpleasant trammels quite away.
No sooner thought of than adown he lay
Sham’d a good snore — the Monkey-men descended
And whom they thought to injure they befriended.
They hung his Bridle on a topmost bough
And of[f] he went run, trot, or anyhow–

~~ John Keats ~~


A bit long, I’ll admit, but, oh, so much better, in imagery, in feeling, in CLARITY of thought…. Yay, Keats….
_____________________________

So far, what has happened is pretty amazing…. not for its brilliance, which is obviously less than blinding, but for the fact it is done at all… My head is still pounding behind my right eye (maybe it’s a tumor! Oh, no!….), my back is still spasming, if a bit less dramatically, and I’m still awake, sadly…. But, the coffee is good, and so is the poetry, so, I’m content…. Content enough to go for an old-school pearl, if Smart Bee will cooperate…. If nothing else, it will get us through another day here at ECR without any major catastrophes of a real-time nature….. Let’s see what’s in there today for us to find….

“Get a shot off FAST! This upsets him long enough to let you make your second shot perfect.” — Lazarus Long

“It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.” — Mohandas K. Gandhi

“It matters not how long you live, but how well.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 829

Much water goeth by the mill
That the miller knoweth not of. — John Heywood (c. 1565) — Proverbes, Part ii, Chap. v

” “. . . Eye of Newt, toe of frog . . .”, believed to be the first recipe for an explosive mixture — …the forerunner of gunpowder”– Smart Bee

“Sick cultures show a complex of symptoms … but a *dying* culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Loss of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot.”  — Friday’s boss, Dr. Richard “Two-sticks” Baldwin, in Robert Heinlein’s “Friday”

“Hey! You’ve been taking drugs again, haven’t you?”– Smart Bee

Okay, I give up…. Smart Bee is in a mood, and doesn’t want to play nice, so we’re going to go now, and leave you to your own ruminations, which could be no more confusing than any of the forgoing…..
_____________________________

No matter how weird this one turns out to be, it’s still getting posted, if for no other reason than to verify my own stubbornness and lack of any sort of pride….. Let’s see just how strange it turned out, shall we?…..

I like to consider myself a well-read, well-rounded person, with a very good vocabulary at hand for my immediate use, but, I’m struck speechless by this…. you wish….  🙂   No, really, given the handicaps under which it was created, it’s pretty, well, not bad…. Definitely meets all the parameters for your average Daily Pearl, so, off it will go, to be sent via the cloud to about 50 or so private recipients, followed by posting to the internet, for the thirteen other regular readers I have remaining….  Such as it is, it’s the best I’ve got…. I hope y’all enjoy it…. Me, I’m going back to bed, hopefully, to sleep for a couple of hours to get me through the day…. I’ll be back tomorrow, and if you receive no other threats like that today, consider yourself lucky…..

😈

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

dozer3

 

Bettie Paige merchandise is on aisle three…..

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Ffolkes,

Serendipity is characterized by its unpredictability; it wouldn’t be what it is if we knew when it was going to manifest in our lives. This may be why it is always such a rush, such a joyous feeling when it drops a gift from the universe in our path. This joy makes it particularly hard to accept that even in such cases as we have serendipitous occurrences happening in our lives, we still need to keep  sharp eye out for Mr. Murphy and his myrmidons of chaos, just in case he wants to stick his filthy hands into our business, which, you may rest assured, he does….

I have an opportunity, if I can take it, to go to my home town to visit with several of my classmates, one in particular who will be there on visit from Arizona/Alaska, the places she splits the year between, sensibly avoiding the Alaska winter, and the Arizona summer. Since the recent passing of our mutual friend, Carole, of whom I speak every day in the closing, I’ve felt the urge to go down to the town where we grew up, to visit her grave, and see my other friends still living in the area…. Now, name withheld for privacy, another of our classmates, is going there for a few days this week to do the same, so I’m trying to figure out how I can get there to join in….

Murphy’s presence is noted because, within an hour of receiving the email informing me of all this, I began coming down with a cold, of the kind that kicks your ass right into bed ( possibly, that’s just MY reaction, due to my age…. but, let’s not go there, ‘kay?….)…. The cough I had thought was smoke-quitting related was joined by  increased fluid in the head, headache, the general malaise that goes with a cold, and, the kicker, sneezing and watery eyes. I’ve started downing freshly chopped garlic, every four hours, and am living, essentially, on Nyquil and Dayquil clones, in order to keep from just sinking into the morass of illness that threatens to consume me in these cases….

This is going to make it hard to get to the place where we grew up, as it’s about 250 miles south of here…. No matter how I go, there are disadvantages involved that will make it hard for me, in my condition, with the pain, and the cold symptoms, to get there, by any method I choose…. I can ride the bus… It’s fairly inexpensive, and pretty quick, considering, but, uncomfortable as hell for all of the five to six hours it would take… I hesitate to ride the train, for a lot of reasons, one of which being I’m still pretty pissed at them over my trip to Oregon earlier this year. Planes are too expensive to get there, as it is a small place, with no big airports within a hundred miles; the small planes that go there are a lot more money than the regular routes charge.

That leaves renting a car for about four days, then driving down there, being active, then driving back, all without enough time to recover from the exertions I’ll be making, which are far and beyond what is normal for me…. I’m pretty drastically out of shape, physically, and being tired just kicks my butt these days…. If I don’t rest, it can take me several days to get over it when I’m done; I did practically NOTHING for two weeks after getting back from Europe, and this latest cruise, only a seven day affair, was enough, apparently, to lower my resistance to the cold virus….. Bummer, dude….

Ah well, such is life….. At least I’ve got something to think about other than my usual fare…. I don’t know yet how it will play out, but, now that I’ve got my secondary computer, the one I use when on the road, it shouldn’t affect these Pearls, unless I so choose…. I’m sure that my Gentle Readers will appreciate that, though that is probably wishful thinking… I’m not at all sure that I have more than about eight or ten regular readers anymore, if the statistics on my blog are any indication….

I never have known exactly how many readers out of the email group actually reads them, as very few ever send back a comment, so that’s no big; it’s been the same for ten years or more…. But, according to the number of likes, and visits to the site that register in the stats, not very many ffolkes have been stopping by…. which, by the way, is still confusing, as my number of followers continues to grow steadily…. Go figure….

Okay, I think I’ve mined this particular cave for all the ore it contains, so, we can get on with the real business of pearling that we’re here for….. I’ll figure out whether I’m going or not later…. For now, it’s time for a dive, before it’s too late…..

Shall we Pearl?….. Let’s start with a two-fer…..

“People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be  well-mannered.” — Francois Marie Voltaire
_____________________________

It may be a bit smug on my part, but, ever since the revelations about the spying being done by the US government hit the news, I’ve felt a sense of justification, a result of having all of my suspicions verified by unshakable proof, furnished by the very hands that committed the crimes…. In other words, and, of course, metaphorically speaking, they found fingerprints, and there is no longer any doubt that the lies that are being told have been put to the test, and failed. It’s a fact, and it cannot be denied, ffolkes… the government is lying to us, regularly, and frequently. If you have any further questions, see the news of the day….

In fact, let me assist you…. Here are three articles from yesterday’s news, all from SFGATE…. I am using them because they show up BOTH the culprits in this whole mess, to wit: the BRC themselves, who create the lies for their own purposes, and the news and print media which, albeit unwittingly and unwillingly, nevertheless aid the pundits in spreading their lies to the greatest number of people. I won’t even bother to go through at this point to delineate each and every little untruth, partial truth, made-up crap, or altered data that is used to convey the lie to the public; by now, most of y’all should be able to figure those out for yourselves…. I have excerpted one comment, by Eric Snowden, which sums up perfectly my own feelings on this subject; that summation is in bold italic font, to separate it from the rest of the excerpt….

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/White-House-lawmakers-no-clemency-for-Snowden-4952388.php

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Feinstein-disputes-Snowden-s-claim-for-clemency-4952073.php

“Federal prosecutors have charged Snowden with theft and with two violations of the Espionage Act of 1917. But Snowden, who has taken refuge in Russia, has denied any treasonous intent, saying he disclosed secrets to the news media, not to hostile foreign powers, and did so to push for reform. “Instead of causing damage, the usefulness of the new public knowledge for society is now clear because reforms to politics, supervision and laws are being suggested,” he wrote in Der Spiegel. “Citizens have to fight against the suppression of information about affairs of essential importance for the public. Those who speak the truth are not committing a crime.” ”

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Snowden-seeks-the-world-s-help-against-US-charges-4946049.php

It is a sad day for me, and for this country, when one of its citizens, in the pursuit of freedom guaranteed to him by the Constitution, commits an act of pure patriotism, tells the truth, for the good of everyone, yet, in order to even stay alive, much less free, he must run to another country to hide, and make an appeal to the rest of the world for protection. I do not blame him for doing so; the first articles above make it abundantly clear exactly WHY he has to do it this way; if he didn’t, we would never have known all this…..

If he had attempted to go through “channels” to report any of this, he would have disappeared from view, forever, along with all of his information, and we might never have known exactly what our own leaders were doing to us… Count on that, ffolkes, no matter how many times they would deny it…. With an attitude like the one displayed, no other outcome would have been possible… Remember, no matter how many times it is repeated, a lie does NOT become the truth…

The two most powerful figures in Congress, and the President, along with all their police myrmidons and agents, are dead-set against ANY leniency in this, a sure sign to me that they KNOW they are in the wrong. Strong denial is ALWAYS the first reaction by a politician when accused of wrongdoing, and they will deny, deny, deny, even up to, and past, the point of having the proof shoved in their face, to keep from ever having to admit their own immorality, or that they MIGHT have made a mistake… No, that possibility cannot be allowed in their narrow world-view; they are well aware that if one lie is exposed, it will lead to the exposure of more lies, and they don’t want to let the public have any clue as to how many different ways they are screwing them….

Part of the irony in all of this is that many of these pundits and politicians often BELIEVE their own BS; they really do believe they know best what the public should know, or have, or be allowed to do…. They often, always erroneously, but sincerely, believe they are the best judges of what people should have the rights to do, believing they are making decisions for them “for their own good”….. which, as you, and just about any person with an IQ over 75 knows, is a complete crock of shit…. And not just ANY shit…. sticky, smelly, unhealthy shit at that…. What else could it be, coming from the very source of our worst qualities as human beings….. ambition, pride, and egotistic avarice for power?….

Ah me, it’s all so discouraging most of the time…. I’m a smart guy, and I can see all the shit that is going on right in front of me… Unfortunately, I’m also smart enough to understand human nature, to at least some degree, and realize that it isn’t going to change, not overnight, and, perhaps not at all…. If we, in the expression of our nature, don’t make SOME kind of changes, in how we treat the planet, and each other, well, the consequences won’t be pleasant for anyone, and that is just about as discretely understated as I can make it in English…

More simply, we’re on our way to a living hell, ffolkes, if we don’t change the way the world is going today…. It is a foregone conclusion that if we keep on the way we are, things WON’T change, not for the better; at best they’ll stay the same for a while, but, entropy guarantees that, unmodified, reality will start to fall apart, and will continue until chaos is achieved….. That is the nature of the Universe, and there is not anything in our power, or our imagination, that can change that simple fact…. Me, I’m going to do what I can, when I can, to point out what I see, and what I think may be happening, and hope that somebody in a position to actually do something will take note, and perhaps, begin the process that will save our sorry asses….

I doubt that is very likely, though, so I may as well go have a beer…. Make that an Irish Coffee, please, it’s a bit early for beer….

“And what is good, Phaedrus, and what is not good,
Need we ask anyone to tell  us these things?”

— R. Pirsig
_____________________________

In keeping with today’s ranting theme, but, with a bit of contrasting humor to mitigate the sobriety, here is a poem I’ve used before, by one of the twentieth century’s finest poets…..

À Bas Ben Adhem

My fellow man I do not care for.
I often ask me, What’s he there for?
The only answer I can find
Is, Reproduction of his kind.
If I’m supposed to swallow that,
Winnetka is my habitat.
Isn’t it time to carve Hic Jacet
Above that Reproduction racket?

To make the matter more succint:
Suppose my fellow man extinct.
Why, who would not approve the plan
Save possibly my fellow man?
Yet with a politician’s voice
He names himself as Nature’s choice.

The finest of the human race
Are bad in figure, worse in face.
Yet just because they have two legs
And come from storks instead of eggs
They count the spacious firmament
As something to be charged and sent.

Though man created cross-town traffic,
The Daily Mirror, News and Graphic,
The pastoral fight and fighting pastor,
And Queen Marie and Lady Astor,
He hails himself with drum and fife
And bullies lower forms of life.

Not that I think much depends
On how we treat our feathered friends,
Or hold the wrinkled elephant
A nobler creature than my aunt.
It’s simply that I’m sure I can
Get on without my fellow man.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

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It’s been a tough morning, as evidenced quite strongly by the complete overpowering dizziness that just stormed through my brain; what a rush! I’m not sure if it is fatigue from denying the cold’s effects, or just my currently strange body chemistry affecting the state of my mind, going through, as it is, the transition from long-term nicotine addiction to a (reportedly….) more healthy life without nicotine…. I’d forgotten that the almost 47 years I abused myself with those fags would demand a heavy price tag to get shut of; goes to show we are ALL adept at NOT looking at things we don’t want to see….

But, now I get to relax, and find some lustrous pearls to fill out this last section appropriately, and that is always a pleasure…. Let’s see what Smart Bee has for us this morning, shall we?….. If I am compelled to comment, those will be in parentheses, just so’s you know….

” Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what stings is justice.” — H. L. Mencken

(Ouch! Boy, I’m feelin’ that one!….)

“The reason the Christians have murdered on such a vast scale and killed anyone and everyone in their way is purely and simply greed…  Their insatiable greed and overweening ambition know no bounds; the land is fertile and rich, the inhabitants simple, forbearing and submissive.  The Spaniards have shown not the slightest consideration for these people, treating them (and I speak from first-hand experience, having been there from the outset) not as brute animals – indeed, I would to God they had done and had shown them the consideration they afford their animals – so much as piles of dung in the middle of the road.  They have had as little concern for their souls as for their bodies, all the millions that perished having gone to their deaths with no knowledge of God and without the benefit of the Sacraments.  One fact in all this is widely known and beyond dispute, for even the tyrannical murderers themselves acknowledge the truth of it:  the indigenous peoples never did the Europeans any harm whatever; on the contrary, they believed them to have descended from the heavens, at least until they or their fellow citizens had tasted, at the hands of these oppressors, a diet of robbery, murder, violence, and all other manner of trials and tribulations.” — Bartolome de Las Casas, — A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, 1542

(This could easily be the beginning of another rant, against those I believe to be equally complicit with politicians in the rape and pillaging that occurs in society on a daily basis, but, I’ll leave it as just a pearl, and just note this…. It seems, by looking at the date this was written, that the churches and dogmatists have been known as criminals and rogues for a very long time…. By my count, it was around 485 years ago this first appeared…. I haven’t seen a lot of improvement over that period…. have you? Oh, they have better press agents now, and slightly different techniques of modus operandi, but the basic rapaciousness, and misguided sense of entitlement remains in full force, without any doubt…. Now, though, it seems that children are in the worst danger from the clergy, as they have been their primary target of exploitation in the last century….)

“If the lawmakers make a compromise, the place where it will be felt the most is the taxpayer’s pocket.” — Deadlock’s Law

“A politician,… one that would circumvent God.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act v, Sc. 1

(Even Will got it right occasionally; I’ve just never been able to figure out if it was because he wrote SO DAMN MUCH STUFF that sometimes, chance worked in his favor, and he hit something on the head, or if he just stole it from Francis Bacon…. or, just as likely, one of his cronies at the pub next door to the Globe…. )

“Freedom begins between the ears.” — Edward Abbey

(It’s really too bad that this means that most of today’s citizens have way too much space between their ears for freedom to keep from leaking out….)

“We must never permit the voice of humanity within us to be silenced. It is man’s sympathy with all creatures  that first makes him truly a man.” — Albert Schweitzer

“In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble.” — Yun-Men

I love when serendipity is everywhere!…. Two perfect pearls to close with, and the whole thing comes together, mismatches and all…. I hope you enjoyed this little meander through my head as much as I did, but, I doubt that’s possible…. S’okay, it doesn’t make me anything, other than done…..
_____________________________

Given all that has gone before in this Pearl, it’s probably just as well it IS done…. Let me see how it stands up to scrutiny, even from such an indulgent judge….. Well, that’s certainly a Pearl. Not only that, but, from all appearances, it doesn’t wobble. I’m going to count my blessings, and steal off into the day…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3