Tag Archives: Smart Bee

Theo thinks it’s a faulty plug, Otto….

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Ffolkes,

This will be an extremely short Pearl today; I still have over a hundred miles to drive, and don’t want to wear myself out before I even begin to drive…. So, the intro section will be the shortest EVER, because this is all you’re going to get here…. Yep, this is it. That’s all. I’m done. Let’s go dive….

Well, almost done…. Really, though, I’m not going to go nutty here as usual, just this much, and no more…. Okay, now I’m really going on…. Sure, when pigs fly…. no, really…. Oh, damn… see you in th next section, ffolkes…

Shall we Pearl?….

“Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have kindled this inner light.” — Albert Schweitzer
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I’ve tried to get it together, but being on the road has me thrown off center a ways…. which makes this archived pearl perfect for this spot. It tells the story that needs to be told just now, so listen up….

“I’ve got no deeds to do, no promises to keep. I’m dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.”– Paul Simon

I’m a self-convicted, unapologetic hedonist. In this space I had originally placed a Zen Koan, which I intended to use as a springboard for discussion of some subtle philosophical point about Reality. However, the reality is that my psyche is not always in complete agreement with my will, and can be pretty stubborn in its campaign toward personal comfort and obeying the urge to nap. I let the koan percolate in my mind, and it sat there going round and round, like an old vinyl record stuck in the groove before the song begins, just, “…sssssssclick….ssssssclick” forever and evermore. I would have gone to sleep, but I fell out of the chair first.  I’ve come to the conclusion that trying to be subtle today isn’t going to work, so we’ll leave eastern philosophy for another day…. onward….
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When I don’t know who to turn to, I turn to this poet, time after time…. I always find something that soothes…..

A Galloway Song

Ah! ken ye what I met the day
Out oure the Mountains
A coming down by craggi[e]s grey
An mossie fountains —
A[h] goud hair’d Marie yeve I pray
Ane minute’s guessing —
For that I met upon the way
Is past expressing.
As I stood where a rocky brig
A torrent crosses
I spied upon a misty rig
A troup o’ Horses —
And as they trotted down the glen
I sped to meet them
To see if I might know the Men
To stop and greet them.
First Willie on his sleek mare came
At canting gallop —
His long hair rustled like a flame
On board a shallop.
Then came his brother Rab and then
Young Peggy’s Mither
And Peggy too — adown the glen
They went togither —
I saw her wrappit in her hood
Fra wind and raining —
Her cheek was flush wi’ timid blood
‘Twixt growth and waning —
She turn’d her dazed head full oft
For there her Brithers
Came riding with her Bridegroom soft
And mony ithers.
Young Tam came up an’ eyed me quick
With reddened cheek —
Braw Tam was daffed like a chick —
He coud na speak —
Ah Marie they are all gane hame
Through blustering weather
An’ every heart is full on flame
Ah! Marie they are all gone hame
Fra happy wedding,
Whilst I — Ah is it not a shame?
Sad tears am shedding.

~~ John Keats ~~

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In keeping with today’s theme of rush, rush, rush, this will (hopefully…) be the fastest old-school pearl ever created…. maybe…. I’ll try not to let it get crazy over it, which would, no doubt, drag me along for the ride….. Hmm… It seems Murphy followed me to Gilroy…. Instead of a fresh pearl, from a recalcitrant database, here is an archived pearl, already formed and finished, fully functional, and full of effs…. Well, this sentence was full of them, anyway…. The pearl is what it is, as usual…. Actually, it quite a long one, and just chock full of all sorts of ranting from 2012…

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It’s not every day I’m compelled to write about religion, politics, philosophy, and the Unified Field Theory, unless in separate pearls…. Taking them all on together might seem a bit egocentric of me, but I’ve never been one to dismiss a challenge, unless it was one that didn’t interest me… this one definitely hits all the high points of my particular bent, or bents, so what the hell, let’s see what happens…..

“Each religion, by the help of more or less myth which it takes more or less seriously, proposes some method of fortifying the human soul and enabling it to make its peace with its destiny.” — George Santayana

This idea is one that makes it possible for me to get through a lot of days without becoming homicidal toward a lot of people who bandy their religious beliefs about as if I were at all interested in them. I am aware that there have been a lot of good people throughout history, including current times, who are devout believers in one religion or another, and are sincere in their beliefs, and in their efforts to live their lives according to the precepts of their religions.

Some of them are even preachers, or priests of one sort or another, but the percentage in those categories of sincere belief is most certainly smaller than in the general public…. Let’s face it, most of those who go into the business do it because they aren’t any good at anything else, and the work is pretty easy…. Being a preacher is only hard if it gets taken seriously enough to try to help other folks, but most of the ones I’ve met are more concerned with convincing everyone of their piety to worry about actually helping…. and to most of them, the process of proving their own piety is accomplished by challenging everyone else’s beliefs, and sticking their noses into other people’s business….

One of the most insidious attractions of religion to many people, sad to say, is that it provides such a convenient vehicle for going through life without ever having to come up with an original thought or feeling. Every system of religious dogma, from no matter what cult, or division, or schism, or whatever it maybe called, is designed to give people answers to their questions about life and all the things that happen that they don’t understand, thus creating a sense of dependency. This is very convenient for political pundits, who manage to take advantage every time the preachers pull another scam on the public….

Unfortunately, those answers, comforting as they may be, seldom reflect reality very well, but are based rather on how that particular sect views the issue at hand…. and you can rest assured that those answers are designed to benefit the sect, and the preacher, in rather more ways than they will benefit the person with the questions…. But, I’m sure it is very comforting to know that if you just go along with what they say, you are somehow guaranteed something….. I never could understand that part very well, as there was nobody who could tell me just what was being promised…. other than I’d have to wait until I was dead in order to see it…. (The politicians like this one as well, because it gets people used to being told something,  i.e. campaign promises, then having those promises unfulfilled…. )

“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

Ah yes, the mythologies of race and gender…. Consider this…. each of us who are of the genus homo sapiens is a unique individual, no matter what color our skin, or whether we are male or female. Unique in our own right, beginning with the pattern of DNA that dictates and defines the characteristics of the organism that is each one of us. Unique. This is indisputable scientific fact. And yet, there are still people who choose to believe that there are characteristics shared by certain groups of homo sapiens that make them somehow superior or inferior to another group. Which of those characteristics they claim as exclusive is always based on articles of faith, and never on any physical evidence. The basis for these articles of faith are outlined in the myths, myths that ignorance breeds, born out of fear of the unknown….

These fears are pretty formless, as the people who have them don’t like to think about them. First, because then they feel uncomfortable, and being comfortable is preferable to thinking, no matter how much it may alleviate the fear.  Second, it is also hard to clearly define something that one rejects all evidence of knowing about; the fear is a known factor, and knowledge is not. These behaviors are a very childish reaction to serious adult issues, but then, a large number of people never learn to deal with life after a certain age; the techniques of denial and avoidance that children rely on are hard for some to give up, especially in matters of emotional or psychological import.

“The ability to accept responsibility is the measure of the man.”  — Roy L. Smith

This is very true, and actually would be claimed as their own by many folks who make a habit of refusing    to even consider being responsible for anything outside their own little world. The flaw in their world-view is that they firmly hold that what they perceive is the only true way that the world CAN be perceived; they seem to be constitutionally unable to entertain any idea to the contrary. It makes compromise with them somewhat of a difficult proposition, as their belief in their own rightness gives them a feeling of entitlement, of believing that they can lie and cheat others without consequence, because the “others” are, as unbelievers, not worthy of honorable treatment. (Hmm, I can’t decide if this sounds more like a fundamentalist Christian, a ruthless business man, or a politician….. since it fits all three, I guess it fits Romney like a second skin…..)

“It is a great advantage for a system of philosophy to be substantially true.” — George Santayana

This second quote from Mssr. Santayana points out another flaw in the philosophy held by those who follow many religions, under their own interpretations of the scriptures that are used by them. This flaw is obviously based on the relatively inarguable fact that all of them are faith-based philosophies…. grand, well considered, beautifully constructed philosophies, whose basic premise is an entity whose existence cannot be evidenced in the physical world.

There are innumerable thoughtful and elegant “proofs” of the existence of these entities, all of which, again, are constructed entirely of words and ideas. Some use logic, some history, some use hope, some use delusion, and some use an amorphous idea that cannot be pinned down…. none of them have actual pieces of physical evidence that incontrovertibly points to the existence of such an entity. If anyone knows of one, or two, or more, please let me know of it/them; I would be very interested in the information, and its provenance, to be sure….

I have wandered far afield indeed in the realms of human thought today, and I’ll bet you thought I’d forget about the Unified Field Theory…. For those unfamiliar with the phrase, let me explain as succinctly as I can; this has gone on a long time, and I’m sure we all have better stuff to do, but, hey, I’m here, you’re here, so…. Any who, the Unified Field theory is a mathematical model of the universe that, in essence, explains and describes all the different types of energy that we know to exist in the Universe; Gravitational energy, Magnetic energy, Electric energy, Electromagnetic energy, Kinetic energy, Biochemical energy, life energy…. all are known to us, but we do not understand, even minimally, how they all interact, and how they are all inter-related as part of the Universe at large…. hence the unified theory. It hasn’t been written yet; it is still just a concept for the future of scientific endeavor, though Stephen Hawking is said to be working on coming up with one before he dies…. if anyone can, it is him.

In short, one theory to explain how it all works…. There are many, including Mr. Hawking, who believe that knowing this can possibly lead us to a closer idea of the answer to the Why it all works the way it does…. by design, or by chance? Did God lose a bet, or win one? Or is there some as yet unknown reason beyond our current ability to understand? Being able to SEE and KNOW how it all works can only give us clues about the origins of it all.  Even if it doesn’t give us all the answers we seek, we will have a better understanding of the Universe, and ourselves, and thus, perhaps, a better idea of our true place in all of what we see…..

Whew! If you made it to here, you are indeed worthy…. and probably tired, confused, and a bit troubled with doubts as to my sanity. S’okay, I understand…. and I don’t blame you. I should have handed out warning notices at the beginning…. Ah well, t’was fun for me, and that will do….. Stop me, please, I can’t seem to shut up….. wait, don’t pull that pl……
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Okay, since I’m on the road, I’m going to stop fooling around, and get this done, if possible…. It isn’t quite working as well as I had hoped it would, but, that may just be because I’m not used to this method yet…. plus, I’m tired and feeling down from the cold I’m fighting off… So, with no further whining, I give you the finished product for today, such as it is…. See ya tomorrow…. Hopefully, by then, I’ll have some art (read: photos…), and a little better handle on this….
,
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole,
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

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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
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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
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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…..
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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

Fighting by the Duke’s rules….

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Ffolkes,

I am forced by law, and by custom, at this point, to give fair warning to all who stop in to read today…..  Lack of inspiration, though it is a constant companion to me, troubling my existence every day, has yet to keep me from creating these Pearls, in spite of the fact I’ve yet to discover a logical, or, for that matter, an illogical reason why that should be…. Nonetheless, it won’t keep me from writing today, either, even if it IS the most daunting lack I’ve yet encountered, in the going-on-three-years I’ve been putting myself, and y’all, through this exhausting, yet completely enervating process, each and every morning (minus a handful…).

Such lack has never kept me from producing, (one could even say over-producing), episode after episode of Pearls of Virtual Wisdom, with nary a repeat among them, aside from the occasional trip to the archives that all blogs rely on in times of material shortages, or, perhaps, the sometimes redundant subject matter….. I’ve only had to resort to archive/dumpster-diving a couple of times, usually when I’m physically under the weather, so, I’m happy about that….

My warning is this…. on days like today, when the freshness of what I write is suspect, due to the absence of any kind of creative spark, you may literally see just about anything at all show up here, with or without taco sauce, and certainly without salsa. I mean, I COULD supply the salsa, but, the tomato crop this year was terrible…. I wouldn’t feel too badly about this, if I were you; there’s really no downside to it…. I don’t have to make salsa, or taco sauce, and y’all don’t have to put up with any of my usual boring blather…. Of course, you DO have to put up with THIS boring blather, but, hey, a guy’s got to live, right? Right….

So, with said warning delivered, thus making it no longer implied, but expressed, I could legally go on into the Pearl’s body, and start tattooing for all I’m worth. That is, if I could tattoo at all…. Sadly, the most complex drawing (sketching, painting, whatever, it’s all a mystery to me….) I can do involves a simple tree, from a distance, so there aren’t any particular details to supply, with some mountain shapes in the background, for perspective, as it were….. It’s pretty primitive, believe me; I’ll never get a job as a police artist, drawing faces…. All of my faces look like the smiley face we see everywhere these days…. just a round circle, with two dots for eyes, and a curved line for the nose and mouth. Maybe a couple of half-circles if I want ears, or a crown of squiggly lines for hair….. It looks a lot like Charlie Brown’s head, wearing a bowl of spaghetti, to be honest, but without the detail….

Wait a minute! What if I broke precedent, and started a piece here that is full of dignity, and decorum, with just the right amount of reasoned discourse, all pointing to a logical, beneficial idea that everyone can appreciate and enjoy, using the concepts to improve their lives, and the lives of others?…. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?…. Now, if I could only find some dignity, or decorum, or reasonable ideas, I’d be good to go. Instead, I’m reduced to this, just babbling away, putting down as many useless words as I do words that mean something, just to take up the space needed to call this a legal intro….

Which, you will please note, we have once again done, and done quite well…. I’ve managed to put out five entire paragraphs of inane, chatty, intimate, yet meaningless prose, full of bad jokes and worse analogies, all for the purpose of filling in space. What can I say? It’s a gift….

Shall we Pearl?…. Have no fear, we shall, we shall, indeed, pearl our little hearts out…… In fact, here is an excellent pearl to start the day….

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, Who are you not to be?  You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.  It is not just some of us. It’s in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  as we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” — Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love — (widely mis-attributed to Nelson Mandela’s 1994 inaugural speech)   

All true, but, remember, you are not a child of God…. Thou art God…. It all remains the same….
_____________________________

There are times, such as today, when a pearl will write itself, over all my objections…. When I began to collect this group, I saw right away it would be troublesome, from a logical, reasonable point of view. Then it really went south, but by that time, I could see where it was trying to go, so I let it have its head…. This is the resulting mess, for which I refuse to take full responsibility…. It’s not my fault! The dog ate my homework! The cat puked on my notes! I got married!…. Well, none of that actually happened, but, I’m not sure I want the responsibility for this one anyway…. Oh well, so be it… It’s really not bad, if you keep your eyes screwed up with the correct degree of silliness….

“Alexander [the Great] asked Diogenes if there was anything in the world he wanted. Diogenes, without looking up, replied: `Yes. Get out of my light.'” — Plutarch

“I am a traffic light, and Alan Ginzberg kidnapped my laundry in 1927!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“A State which dwarfs its men, in order that they may be more docile instruments in its hands — even for beneficial purposes — will find that with small men no great thing can really be accomplished.” — John Stuart Mill (1806 to 1873, English philosopher and reformer)

“Now the trumpet summons us again — not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need — not as a call to battle, though embattled we are — but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation” — a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.” — John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963)

“If you can’t fight and you can’t flee…FLOW” — Smart Bee

“Everybody has something to conceal.” — Humphrey Bogart

Who combats bravely is not therefore brave,
He dreads a death-bed like the meanest slave:
Who reasons wisely is not therefore wise,–
His pride in reasoning, not in acting lies.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Moral Essays, Epistle i, Line 115

See what I meant? Sheesh, it’s not as if we were TOTALLY obstreperous to the Pope, or to our Vatican chaperons…. and they got a good tip, didn’t they? They did, so you can’t blame me if it all fell apart….. I’m not sure, but, we may be nearing some sort of black hole in time and space…. I’m starting to feel a bit of cosmic twisting….
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Whom to pick, in the face of cosmic upheaval?….. In such times, I enjoy the way this poet points me in the right direction, toward the center….

Alone Looking at the Mountain

All the birds have flown up and gone;
A lonely cloud floats leisurely by.
We never tire of looking at each other –
Only the mountain and I.

~~ Li Po ~~

_____________________________

According to my usual modus operandi, this section would, and may yet be, a rant of some nature. It’s been a while since I took any real shots at the churches, but, then, they are a bit less of a worthy target than are the politicians of the world.

Let us not even begin to think about how the shadowy master class of corporate vampires deserve all the disdain, vituperation, and vicious criticism we can heap upon their nasty little heads; whatever we do will never be enough to pay them back for the damage they’ve done to others, and to our world in general….

No, I’d say I have no real lack of usual targets for my critical regard…. What I have is a lack of angst and/or emotional drama to drive that big ol’ truck…. The one I’d like to flatten them with, as they cross my road to the future….

It would be simple to cruise over to a news site, and pick up a current headline or two to work with; there’s no lack of material there, for sure. Even that doesn’t attract my interest; I guess my birthday gave me a good enough chance to get a lot of that out, and there’s not enough left today to drive any further attempts at ranting….

Too bad, actually, as I did have some rather interesting introspective moments yesterday, as the import of my increasing age grew in my thoughts, taking on a deeper meaning than is usual for me during my day…. I love when that happens, though, even if the contentment and serenity it brings me is such that I don’t want to write about it…. It feels too good to talk about it…. Kind of how a joke is like a frog; if you take either one apart to try to figure it out, they both die….

Since I wouldn’t want anyone with the discrete sensibilities of my Gentle Readers to be confronted with that kind of issue, I’ll just fade back ten yards, and punt…. Here is another old-school pearl for your delectation…. Since I’m not ranting about anything today, I’ll let Smart Bee pick out which pearls it thinks should be included, with, possibly, a few comments of my own, in parentheses to avoid any further confusion….. Remember, ffolkes, this is VIRTUAL wisdom…. don’t try to use it as if it were real….

“If you dig a deep enough hole, someone will want to jump in.” — Smart Bee

(It’s always good to start off strong….)

“My indignation, like th’ imprisoned fire, pent in the troubled breast of Aetna, burnt deep and silent.” — Thomson

(SIGH…. if only it had, we’d have a rant today…..  😦    )   😆

“The silence drew off, baring the pebbles and shells and all the tatty wreckage of my life. Then, at the rim of vision, it gathered itself, and in one sweeping tide, rushed me to sleep.” — Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar

(At first I thought this was here just because it’s so bloody brilliant, in both content and style of execution… Astounding imagery, and powerful yet simple language, expressed with such beauty, the heart aches with it….. It also stretches beyond that, into the outer reaches of credibility and connection, to form a tenuous bond with reality, right here in this pearl…. Amazing, isn’t it?….)

“When great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule the majority are wrong.  The minority are right.” — Eugene V. Debs

(Mr. Debs, a political activist and reformer in the early twentieth century, had a lot of interesting things to say, many of them equally as true as this one…. If you have the time, look him up; smart guy…..)

“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.” — C. G. Jung

(Yep….)

“We would like to apologize for the way in which politicians are represented in this programme.  It was never our intention to imply that politicians are weak-kneed, political time-servers who are more concerned with their personal vendettas and private power struggles than the problems of government, nor to suggest at any point that they sacrifice their credibility by denying free debate on vital matters in the mistaken impression that party unity comes before the well-being of the people they supposedly represent, nor to imply at any stage that they are squabbling little toadies without an ounce of concern for the vital social problems of today.  Nor indeed do we intend that viewers should consider them as crabby ulcerous little self-seeking vermin with furry legs and an excessive addiction to alcohol and certain explicit sexual practices which some people might find offensive.  We are sorry if this impression has come across.” — Monty Python

(Actually, this sums up my opinion of 99% of the politicians I see in public, with incredible accuracy….)

(No apology from me is, or ever will be, tendered for making these assertions, either…. fuck ’em all……)

(When I say, “fuck them all”, I’d like to be clear that I don’t intend that in any positive way at all…. What I mean is, FUCK THEM ALL!!!…. and the white horse they say they rode in on, too…..)

“And never, ever cut a deal with a dragon.” — Smart Bee

(I’m with SB on this one…. The last pearl brings all the rest together perfectly, while at the same time reminding us that we already know the important stuff… I mean, it’s just common sense, right? Any dragon master knows this…..)
_____________________________

What we have here, today, is living proof that age does NOT imply sanity, or vice versa…. Nor does it imply having enough sense to keep one’s mouth shut, once it has begun spewing…. Nevertheless, it’s finished…. let’s see if it’s done….

Boy, is it ever! I wouldn’t touch that with someone else’s hands, even with gloves…. Not toxic, I’d say, but definitely subversive, in its own little way…. Good enough for my loose standards, so, we’ll get on with the rest of the day now, and let this die a natural death…. 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

He needs more time, or it won’t fly….

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1

Ffolkes,

One might surmise, given the relatively advanced age I’ve reached today, I might just be able to show a degree or two of restraint, and keep from ranting first thing. On the other hand, I find it encouraging that, at this age, (I’m 63 today, an age I NEVER contemplated reaching when I thought about it in my earlier days….) I still have the wherewithal to expend energy on ranting at all. I find it to be quite positive to be able to bring my experience, and my extensive knowledge of the English language, to bear on the issues I see around me, and hope I never give up my sense of activism, at least as far as ranting goes… I might not join in too many more demonstrations out on the streets, but, I’ll keep writing as long as I have a venue from which, and in which, I can spout off….

Sixty-three…. hmph. I suppose you COULD say it’s a perfect age, just right for curmudgeonly attitudes and ill-tempered, bombastic outbursts, all aimed at these whippersnappers in Washington who are fouling everything up with their stupidity, their selfishness, and their rampant lack of integrity. When I was a lad, we didn’t have politicians like these, no sirree… our politicians had HAIR. They were honest! They fought commies, and won! They were bigger than life… and THAT is as much of a crock of pure bullshit now, as it was then…. For sure…

No, I can’t say much about politics being different now, because it isn’t…. Many of today’s issues actually have their roots in the fifties, when I was first starting to observe the political world, and then-President Eisenhower, that old soldier, knowing well the value of silence, in 1954, quietly began sending our troops over to Southeast Asia, as “observers”, without bothering to tell the American people about it…. The general knowledge of his build-up of troops in Viet Nam didn’t happen until the mid-sixties, right before I went off to college, and boy, the shit hit the fan then, didn’t it?

The universities and colleges in this country, and across the entire world, became hotbeds of revolution (For any NSA hot-heads who might be listening in….. whoa, calm down, there, big fellas, it’s just a word….. revolution merely means “change”, not “doom”….. at least, not from THIS side of the word….), fomenting discontent among the common citizens, and turning millions of young people, like me, into life-long political reformists, by pointing out how the government, and all it’s supporters and lackeys, were reacting in the classical fashion of the guilty…. The issues that came to light back then were so powerful, and of such a revolutionary nature, that even long-time supporters of the government, (such as my father, a WWII survivor, and a 20 year Army veteran….) began to question what the government officials of the time were up to, to the point of writing letters to ask them that very question, pointedly….

I remember once, I came home from college for a weekend visit, in 1969, ( I was at UC Berkeley, a REAL center of protest at that time….)… I brought with me a copy of the SF Chronicle from the day before I arrived, which had a picture on the back page, a large one, of an Oakland Tactical Squad member leveling a shotgun at the back of a fleeing hippie…. The young protester was speeding away from the officer, some thirty or forty yards down the block, in full flight, hair streaming, arms akimbo, running full speed for his life… The officer was obviously about to fire, with his shotgun up level, aiming straight at the protestor’s BACK. The picture had appeared the morning after one of the People’s Park demonstrations, taking up half of the back page, as it was taken from a rooftop across from the action, the day before it was published…. But, when I got home & showed it to my father, he was astounded!…. No, that is too weak a word…. he was flabbergasted, as well as extremely dismayed…

You see, he had received his copy of that same Chronicle, delivered to our home, 300 or so miles away from the Bay Area, in a conservative farming town near San Luis Obispo…. but, the picture was not anywhere in the paper…. He was astounded, not only because of the subject matter of the picture, (a policeman obviously firing at the back of an unarmed, fleeing citizen…. ), but because of the censorship implied in its absence from the paper, removed to spare the sensibilities of the conservatives who were far away from the scene itself…. It was his first evidence that he, and the rest of the American public, were not getting ALL the facts from their own government, whom they trusted….

It actually was quite a sad time, for both of us, as he had been the one to pass on to me his own patriotic beliefs, and his pride in this country; it hurt to know that our faith was completely undeserved by those who had taken power here…. He wrote to several government officials he knew from his time in service, at the Pentagon, but was never able to find anyone who wasn’t part of the cover-up going on, and was thus turned against the very government he had defended so valiantly in WWII, even giving up some of his blood in the process (he earned a purple heart, though he wouldn’t talk about it much….)

You know, I just realized that my father’s reaction to the exposure that occurred during the Viet Nam protests in the sixties is most likely the major qualifying reason for my political activism today…. It pisses me off, royally, that this government could so egregiously abuse the patriotism and belief in the system held by my father…. Not merely for him, but for myself, and for all those men and women who gave their lives and personal loyalty to defend what they believed this country to be about, I began to observe, to form ideas and opinions, and to comment upon what they do…

It’s only now, after I’ve retired, and have the time to pursue this, that I’ve really started to work at it; I try now to give them as much shit as I can possibly shovel out to throw at them…. This country, as my father saw it, and as he taught me to see it, is a GOOD place, with people who care about each other, and make an honest effort to  live their lives with honor and integrity…. It is a place where a person can look for their own destiny, without interference from others, and without having to fear for their lives because their destiny is not the same as what is common, or traditional. It’s a place where the word, “freedom”, actually means something important to every man and woman, without having to resort to creating fear in order to have it….

But, the people who have become professional politicians, who have fallen under the manipulative powers of the shadowy special interests of the bankers and corporations, have usurped that integrity, and turned us into a nation of self-serving, fearful, ignorant assholes, not willing to share anything with the rest of the world, jealously hoarding as many resources for our own use as we can get away with, bombing the crap out of anyone who has something we desire, and won’t give it to us…. We’ve become the world’s bully, throwing our weight around everywhere, just as if we had the right to do so, and no matter how the people we are abusing feel about it….

Oops, did it again, didn’t I?…. It must be an age-related issue…. I started off reminiscing about the old days, just like any old-timer, then lost my way, and began to spout off against the machine, again…. SIGH…. Oh well, maybe this means the rest of today can get going without any further ranting on my part…. or, not, as the case may be…. I guess we’ll have to wait and see…. for now….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“In every affair consider what precedes and what follows, and then undertake it.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book iii, Chap. xv
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I ranted so long above, I decided not to rant in this section, a decision for which I’m sure you are eternally grateful… I am including here the article I noticed yesterday, and the comments I made on it… Then, however, instead of ranting, I’ll put in a harlequin pearl, to try to make the same points as always, but, in a new and exciting way…. If you believe that, let’s talk real estate, ‘kay?….  Enjoy!….

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Report-Snowden-gets-tech-support-job-in-Russia-4942178.php

The interesting part of this article is the comments…. From what I could tell, the vast majority, apparently nearly all, of the commenters supported what Snowden had done, either regarding him as a hero, or thanking him in some way for his bravery, in being the one to pull the covers on the NSA and the government’s deep involvement in spying on their own people. Like myself, they are aware of the fact that, in the process of exposing the government’s lack of integrity, he was giving up his own life as an American citizen, resigning himself to a lifetime of persecution by a vengeful collection of dishonest and highly embarrassed politicians, on both sides of the political aisle….

Enough of that; y’all know how I feel about this already. Let’s go pearl, shall we?….

“Although everyone is entitled to be stupid, some abuse this privilege.” — Smart Bee

ARENA, n.  In politics, an imaginary rat-pit in which the statesman wrestles with his record. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“How could the drops of water know themselves to be a river? Yet the river flows on.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“We should be able to see that our interest would be best served not by asking the state to promulgate our values but by forbidding the state to promulgate any values at all. If the state can espouse some value that we love, it can, with equal justice, espouse others we do not love.” — Richard Mitchell

“Why is the universe the way we see it?  If it had been any different, we would not be here!” — Stephen Hawking

“Don’t tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don’t tell them where they know the fish.” — Mark Twain

“I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.” — Alan Watts

Sometimes, perfection just sneaks up on you, patiently sitting in front of your face until you notice it’s there….
_____________________________

Inside the museum infinity goes up on trial.
Voices echo, ‘This is what salvation must be like after a while.’
But Mona Lisa must have had the highway blues;
you can tell by the way she smiles.

— Bob Dylan

Time, and again….

Life, and/or love, will seldom fit
into any box we keep for them to sit.
Loose and limber, without any reason,
always somewhat out of season.

Surprise, surprise, they seem to say,
can’t help it, it’s just our way.
If only you would learn, instead of know,
maybe you’d find yourself with one to show.

Deal, just the way it is, now and here,
follow the path, on the other side of fear.
Finding the future isn’t all blood, sweat, and pain,
far, far more than mere joy we stand to gain.

The sages all say not to try, just do,
sounds as simple as putting on a shoe.
I’d say we could really go places,
if we could learn, to tie up the laces….

~~ gigoid ~~


I believe I mentioned there was a poem percolating in the unguarded, dark corners of my mind somewhere…. I guess it was waiting for the right moment to push its way out into the light of day…. Here ’tis, such as it is…. I like it, myself, as is obvious from the fact that it’s here…. I’ll stop blathering now….
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Okay, so, I’m happy…. It’s my birthday, I’m up and feeling pretty good, all in all, and have gotten a poem out of my head, always a good sign of mental health, for me…. That stuff does better out than in, if you know what I mean…. or, even if you don’t, it still does better out than in…. Any who, I’ll be done soon, so, have patience…. Here is a random pearl, picked from the archives, but, from another of my birthday posts, to keep it all in the family…. let’s see what I did back then….

11/1/11
Ffolkes,
Today is my birthday. I’m sixty-one years old now, and one might think I’m all grown up. I suppose I am. If being such is defined as the state of finally accepting one’s own mortality, whether with fear and loathing, or with calm and grace, then, yes, I am all grown up, for I have exhibited both states of late.

I am still at the point where the thought of death is not easily applied to myself; I’ve been immortal since my early teens, and only of late have I come to realize that such a belief might be an erroneous assumption. I’ve always thought that the progress mankind has made in the field of medicine would reach a point where living much longer than we do would become common, and yes, I’ve been accused of unreasonable optimism previously. But, though there is improvement, the average age of death for males in our society continues to hover right around 72 years, and that for me is all too close for comfort.

When the Grim Reaper comes for me, he’ll find me to be unwilling to cooperate; when they take me, it will be kicking, fighting, biting, screaming, and whatever else it takes to keep from having to leave this life before I am ready to do so. I’ve got a lot left to get done before I can consider myself to have done all of what I set out to do in life; I will need more time before I can feel ready for it to end. Unfortunately, we don’t always get the last word in that particular decision-making process; all too often it is taken out of our hands altogether. I can only hope to be given enough time to finish what I’ve begun.

I have a number of creditors to appease today, it being that time of the month when they all come out of the woodwork with their grasping hands, greedily trying to take some of my money before I give it to someone else. None of them seem to care that if I give them all what they wish, then I won’t eat again this month. Ah well, c’est la vie, such as it is…..not exactly what I had in mind for birthday activity, but we gotta do what we gotta do. Since I do have all that to deal with, we’ve gone back to the old format again today. The Pearls were all chosen for their luster; they shine even in the dark…..enjoy!!!

“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate error so long as reason is left free to combat it.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) — First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801

Heavy, adj.: Seduced by the chocolate side of the force.

And if we do but watch the hour,
There never yet was human power
Which could evade, if unforgiven,
The patient search and vigil long
Of him who treasures up a wrong.

— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Mazeppa, Stanza 10

“To lose a friend is the greatest of all losses.” — Syrus

There….I feel better, sort of….. y’all take care out there…..

Back in 2013 now, and, I’m sensing a theme here…. Good thing we’re all done, isn’t it?….
_____________________________

Okay, so I went a little overboard…. if you hadn’t noticed, it happens around here on a regular basis, and I’m not going to apologize for it, not when it makes me feel so damn good…. Y’all will just have to deal with my unwarranted, and possibly frightening, display of good will and high spirits today…. or not, it’s up to you, as always… I do hope you enjoyed it all…. Now, let’s see if any of it makes any sense…..

Not only does it make sense, I feel even better, knowing I still have to appease creditors, but, having done so today, I can still go out for breakfast…. I’m a simple guy, really, though it may seem otherwise if you go by what happens here on ECR…. Breakfast makes me happy, and I say that’s simple, and right, and I’m going to go have some now…. 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

Honest, mister, I read the manual….

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Ffolkes,

Before beginning to write today, I took a few moments playing solitaire, to calm my nerves, and to help me in beating back the urge to rant, here in the intro section. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with ranting; it’s just not the best place for it, in terms of structure and format. I prefer to wait, at least until section one, before jumping in with both feet, and haven’t been very adept of late at keeping myself from that form of premature ejaculation, an issue which hasn’t been a problem since, oh, before my marriage ended…. at least, not in a verbal sense…. The physical aspects of that descriptive phrase haven’t been a problem for some years, but one must be cautious, lest such things spread to one’s peripheral activities….

Now, I’m sure that, while you probably can appreciate my delicacy in discussing this matter with some discretion, it’s probably somewhat confusing, trying to figure out whether I’m talking about talking, writing, or making love (as opposed to ‘having sex’, a much less enjoyable sport….). In fact, I’m a bit confused myself, but, in this case, that may be an advantage. There are times when a certain degree of “plausible deniability” comes in handy…. just ask any President, or Presidential candidate about that…. Of course, they probably won’t discuss it, at least not on record, but, you can always say you asked; that has to count for something….

Oops, almost got caught up there…. I’ve got to remember to be careful, not to even MENTION a politician, or a preacher-type (even though, as Popes go, this one’s got a lot of class the others never showed….), or I start in on them with a vengeance…. I just don’t think I need to spend that much energy here in the beginning… I need to learn to pace myself, saving the best part for later on in the Pearl, where it will be highlighted by the brilliance of the material that surrounds and supports it…. Ah, yes, dreams..

We all have our dreams, don’t we? Me, I thought, hey, if I call Congress, maybe I can talk to Feinstein, or Pelosi, or one of my actual representatives in the House of Representatives…. They’ve got a lot of representatives there; maybe I can even find the one that is supposed to be representing ME, to ask him/her (I suppose I ought to know which it is, shouldn’t I?….) some of these pertinent questions I have, about the latest news coming down the pike…. I’d love to ask some of them the kind of questions that cause a deep silence on the other end of the phone, you know? The kind that tells me I’ve stumped them, or caught them without a prepared lie…

Whoa, hold on there…. almost went there again…. Oh well, I suppose I’ve blathered enough, and wandered around the edges of coherency without really saying anything, for what is most probably enough material to be able to call it an intro… If not, well, too bloody bad, ffolkes, because I’m done with it now, and no matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to make me start over…. Not that I expect you’d be that silly, but, we’ve had some weird stuff happen, so, I try to cover all the bases in my preparations…. In the meantime….

Shall we Pearl?…..

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

(If this is still true, we’re all in deep shit…. Just thought you should know…. )
_____________________________

Well, I waited until now to begin ranting, which is probably a good thing. Perhaps this will be a bit more effective as a call to action than in the usual position, or wherever it’s been of late that has kept it from at least making me feel a bit better for having ranted…. What a mouthful! And so on topic, too! Gotta love us amateurs, eh?….

At any rate, I found this article yesterday, buried back a few pages, probably because everyone is so tired of hearing of yet ANOTHER outrageous instance of the NSA breaking the law, by once again going far beyond the scope of their legal mandate, in the ever-widening quest by our own government to become the true Evil Empire…. I know, that’s some pretty high-powered language to use to in discussing an agency of our own government, but, as always, I believe in calling a spade a damn shovel, not an indigenous individual digging device, type 2…. and you may as well get used to it….

These assholes over at the NSA have gone completely bonkers; they assumed that because they got practically all they wanted in the way of legal coverage by the administration, they may as well just go ahead and do whatever else they wanted, believing that the people who set them loose on the trail of ostensible terrorists would protect them from any critical attention and/or interference by something as mundane as the law, or the will of the people….. and, for a long time, they were justified in that belief…. But, now that their clandestine activities are being brought to light by that national hero, Eric Snowden, the rats are deserting their ship, and leaving them to their fate without any real support….

Talk around Washington is that the President is going to, belatedly, stop spying on the leaders of our allies, and will move to put limits on what the agencies are allowed to access in the data that is generated by the general public. This is a complete reversal, and I can only hope it is in response to the pressure put on them by the public’s obvious displeasure, and not as a temporary measure to appease while they figure out a diversion in some other area of the public venue, where they can cause some problem that will draw our attention away from this issue, allowing them to continue their illegal, but, in their eyes, oh so necessary theft of the people’s identities….

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Report-NSA-broke-into-Yahoo-Google-data-centers-4939585.php

In the article, the most significant part of what is there, to my way of thinking, is that the companies involved say had no idea that they were being compromised, even though their own security measures are considered to be nearly impenetrable… Well, they SAY they had no idea; one must remember they ARE a corporation, and, thus, are very familiar with telling the public what they wish to hear….

However, it appears that the American and British spies went in, got their data, and left, without ever notifying Google, or Yahoo, of what they were taking, though such activities are still illegal, according to the laws in place…. (Not to mention rude… ) The spying mandate they have doesn’t extend to what they stole, theoretically…. Of course, they can say they didn’t KNOW that, but, then, lying is their entire purpose, and the single most critical part of their entire modus vivendi, is it not?…. Even in the Art of War, Sun Tzu acknowledged the importance of the spy in warfare, calling them the most powerful of all the various types of warriors…

Of course it is, just as lying and cheating come naturally to anyone in a nationally elected office; it’s part of their job description these days, even if it is written in invisible ink….. Since Google, and Yahoo, and the other agencies that were hacked, are all corporations, and have pretty much the same characteristics as shown by the BRC pundits, (i.e., a tendency to lie at the drop of a cliche…), it’s a bit hard to tell who is more guilty here….

Is it Google and/or Yahoo, who are gathering all sorts of data about its users without their knowledge or permission (I don’t regard those passive advertisements that one can “control” what data is gathered by adjusting their “preferences” as real permission…. they take whatever data they want, and tell you about it later, if at all….)….? Or, is it the government spy agencies, who are stealing that same stolen data from the corporations, that fit the bill as the villain?

It should make for an interesting contest, to see how this fake argument plays out….. I mean, I can’t really believe that the BRC, who is controlled and supported by the corporations (go ahead, disprove that!….), will continue to try to take data from them without their knowledge. It’s more likely they are playing out this faux-dispute in the public venue in order to confuse the public about who is on their side in this issue…

It seems to be working, as always, as the public is pretty much ignoring these latest revelations, and looking around for almost anything to take their minds elsewhere for a while… I’m almost interested, in a resigned, doubtful sort of way, to see just what they come up with next to draw the public’s attention off this issue…. Probably more to do with the recent roll-out of health care reform laws, which seems to be a hot button for a lot of people….

For me, all of it is dross and spittle…. I believe, absolutely, that if there is an official statement made by anyone in the government printed in the news, it needs to be examined in the light of what it is NOT saying, to ascertain about what it is lying, or what it is trying to hide by distraction, not merely for what it says…. Their motivation in making ANY public statement is manipulation of public attitudes; they’re not trying to make anything better.

They lie outright, they leave stuff out, they point us in all kinds of useless directions, but they almost NEVER tell us what is actually going on, unless we’ve already caught them at it… In those cases, we see all sorts of backing and filling, as they come up with all sorts of “plausible deniability” in order to convince the public that their lies are really the truth…

What a crock! If it wasn’t so damn sad and depressing, it would be amusing…. SIGH… Enough is enough…. Stay alert, ffolkes, because they’re lying to you every day, and doing all they can to improve THEIR lot in life, not yours…. Let them know you’re on to them, at every opportunity…. If nothing else, it will make them nervous, which they deserve….

“You can fool all of the people some of the time; you can fool some of the people all of the time; and that should be sufficient for most purposes.” — Smart Bee, quoting from the true bible, used by both politicians and preachers…..

“The ideal robot, after all, is simply a properly processed human being.” — Edward Abbey
_____________________________

“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 ~~

_____________________________

Arguably, I could get away with not having a short introductory paragraph here, but, I hate stuff that isn’t either symmetric, or traditionally asymmetric. I’m funny that way, among others….. Nonetheless, it will help today if you just sort of skew your eyes off in another direction for a moment, while I just….. there. You didn’t see that, did you? I hope not, I’d have to kill you if you had….. But, now, we can get on with the rest of this pearl, and finish off this Pearl, thanks to the absence of the government agent I just offed and buried out back….

(For those of you reading this in a cubicle at the NSA, or at any of our fine nation’s other domestic or foreign spy agencies, such as the FBI, the CIA, or any of them…… that’s we we writers call a “joke”, and it has no connection with reality, other than the tenuous resemblance to one that exists only in your own tiny little mind…. in other words, PSYCHE!…. Hah!…. bloody assholes , who have nothing better to do than go around spying on regular folks, they get what they deserve….)

Since I have decided to NOT go without an intro here, well, this is what you get…. Sorry, but, it’s what I could come up with, and y’all will just have to deal with it… I think, though, the power of the following pearl will mitigate any possible discomfort, or discombobulation of any sort, that you may experience today, as it is turning out to be extremely cogent, as well as powerfully poignant…. I should know, I’m a sensitive guy….

“The Master doesn’t talk, he acts, when his work is done, the people say, “Amazing: We did it all by ourselves!”” — Tao Te Ching

“In writing, fidelity to fact leads eventually to the poetry of truth.” — Edward Abbey

“The comedy of man survives the tragedy of man.” — G. K. Chesterton, Illustrated London News, 2-10-06

“A people who expect to be ignorant and free expect what never will, and never can, be.” — Thomas Jefferson

“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. ” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“It is odd, is it not, that a person’s worth to society by is measured by their wealth, when instead their wealth should be measured by their worth to  society.” — A. Cygni

“Reality is a crutch for people who can’t cope with drugs.” — Lily Tomlin
_____________________________

One never knows, do one? This may have turned out better than I’d realized, or even hoped…. let’s see what happened here…. Whatever that was, it seems to have worked fairly well…. Well enough that I’m calling it a done deal, and making my escape, stage left, right about…. now….. 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

We don’t need no stinkin’ paradigms….

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Ffolkes,

The title of today’s Pearl, somehow, got close to meaning something, as well as connecting that meaning to what is contained herein…. I’m positive, however misguided that may be, if I just ignore that, it will pass off without comment…. Hell, I’m not sure if there’s enough ffolkes out there TO comment, but, since that’s neither here, nor there, we’ll ignore that, too. It seems like the best thing to do on a day such as this promises to be…. I’m not sure exactly where my head’s at, but, it ain’t here, exactly, and I haven’t a clue as to how to go about finding out where it might be….. You know, just in case I need it? I’ve been told that I could use it around here, but, I don’t know what they mean by that…. do you?….

Honesty….. there’s a subject. Trust….. There’s another one… Honor, truth, integrity, compassion…. These are all good subjects, I think, and I’d love to be able to write about them directly, much more often than I do…. Mostly, though, I find myself ranting, about lies, intransigence, ignorance, and ambition, which is avarice by another name…. Oh, and stupidity…. Can’t forget THAT!…. Mankind possesses ALL of these characteristics, good and not-so-good alike, displaying them all at various times, when challenged by events, or while otherwise attempting to cope with reality. The funny thing is, ALL of them are available to us, but, we have to CHOOSE which ones we will use regularly to achieve our ends….

This is why I rant, or perhaps, more accurately, this is what I choose to rant about…. In today’s world, much as it has been for all of history, a small number of people spend an inordinate amount of time and energy achieving their desires, which involves the use of most of the negative qualities I mentioned, if only by implication, i.e., lying, cheating, stealing, and manipulating the rest of society, to ensure that they are in control of the most critical resources (you know, the law, and, therefore, the money….), thus ensuring that they possess the power to control the very large number of others (i.e., not them….) that make up society/humanity at large. This small percentage of humanity is very good at what they do; it really isn’t very hard to be a nasty person. It takes far more work, more inner strength, and more courage to live with integrity, than it does to live without it….

But, these folks prefer to live life “the easy way”, and allow their own vicious inner spirit to dictate how life will be for everyone else, for all those who don’t subscribe to their selfish need for self-aggrandizement, self-promotion, and a psychopathic need for power. They go into politics, (almost all of them start by studying law, so they know which ones are most easily circumvented….) or into the armed/police forces, or into the priesthood, ostensibly out of a sense of civic duty, or a desire to protect others (the “knight errant syndrome”), or of having received “a call from God” (they have medicines for that now, you know….), all of which have been used to rationalize their need to go forth and pester the people unto death….

My ranting has reached a certain limit though, one recognized, and most likely created, by my own mind…. I’m getting tired of pointing out all the obvious (to me) evidence that shows up every day on the news, evidence that supports my contentions about the Beloved Ruling Class, the Shadowy Corporate Masters, the Hierarchies of Priestly Delusion, and the misguided myrmidons that make up the armed/police forces, who act as the enforcement arm of the master classes, mostly without any idea of how they are being manipulated by them. I’m tired of it, not because I can’t find any more to show, or any more to say about their chicanery, but because it’s not having much of an effect….

I know that I shouldn’t EXPECT my ranting to have much effect on Reality…. It takes a lot of power and energy to have any effect at all on society, due to the massive inertia involved in any changes made, and I’m not so egotistical as to think that I’m such a great writer, everyone will fall right in with what I’m saying, or so full of myself as to think I can convince society to make changes that could conceivably make things better for a lot of people….But, after all, how much damage will it cause if we treated each other with more integrity, started telling the truth more often, and began working toward a better existence for ALL of us…. It certainly wouldn’t hurt, would it?

Nope, I don’t think so…. But, nobody’s listening, pretty much, and those who are, I believe, pretty much agree with me, so there’s little more to do in that direction…. I’m going to take a break from ranting, I think, at least in one respect, which is, I’ll confine my rants to old-school style pearls, which put the onus of the most critical ‘thinking’ part of the deal back onto the Gentle Reader….. Or, conversely, I’ll merely include links to articles of interest on the subjects I usually rant about, giving y’all, if nothing else, more evidence of what is going on out there, the stuff they do that can hurt y’all, if you don’t keep an eye on it… with, perhaps, a comment or two of an ironic, or even sardonic, nature, just to keep my hand in….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“We are as different from one another on the inside of our heads as we appear to be different from one another on the outside of our heads. The world “out there” is as much a projection from inside our heads as it is a perception. It is almost unbelievable that we are all dealing with the same reality. We operate on a kind of loose consensus about existence.” — Robert Fulghum “It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It”
_____________________________

To begin well, one must begin as you intend to go on…. or, so it has been said….. Who am I, then, to question such ancient wisdom? No one… No one at all…. Here is a pearl of the most ancient variety…. Deliberately obscure, yet pointedly cruel in its indictment of those who would be king….

“Arguments seem futile to me, for behind every argument I have ever heard lies the astounding ignorance of someone.” — Justice Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941)

“To be forced by desire into any unwarrantable belief is a calamity.” — I.A. Richards

“Just because an animal is large, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t want kindness; however big Tigger seems to be, remember that he wants as much kindness as Roo.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

“Custom is almost a second nature.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Rules for the Preservation of Health, 18

“If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.” — Mark Twain

“I hate mankind, for I think myself one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am.” — Samuel Johnson

“It is a sin to believe evil of others, but it is seldom a mistake.” — H. L. Mencken
_____________________________

A poem is there, inside my head, but won’t come out to play yet…. A Pearl such as this one, however, should have one of mine, if for no other reason than to save anyone else from guilt by association… hence, this one, which I wrote in 2012….

“Poetry is what gets lost in translation.” — Robert Frost

Placidly falling in amber waves: old friends

Whiskey, oh, whiskey, I’d forgotten thy balm,
thy loving spread of lassitude, and nature’s own calm.
Misery and pain flee in squalid disorganization,
leaving mirth, happily embraced, in just consolation.

James, old friend, thou has not abandoned me at all,
steadfast and loyal, ever ready to answer my softest call.
Ephemeral illusions of normality come at your instigation
blessed moments of peaceful joy, sans vilification.

Gasps of coherence pound at the door to conscious thought,
muffled explosive memories of battles already fought.
Malleable as the changeable airs of time and circumstance
plaintive calls to reason stand not a single, honest chance.

Sober again, reality’s cold reign brings a new day
ringing in old changes in a new-fashioned way.
To know true freedom’s release from our everyday pain
Is worth a bit of headache, even in the cold, pouring rain.

~~ gigoid ~~
~~ two sheets to the wind, and back ~~


“You will find poetry nowhere, unless you bring some with you.” — Joseph Joubert
_____________________________

As promised above, I’ll not rant any more than I already have done…. Also as promised, I’m including some links, to several articles regarding the continuing revelations about the extent of the spying our Beloved Ruling Class has been doing on, well, everyone in the world, it seems…. The scariest part of the whole deal, for me, is the one quoted piece of text after the first link. The quote comes from that article, and is scary because of its implications…. The President doesn’t sign off on this stuff? Does that mean they get to decide for themselves who to spy on? Well, yep, to them, I guess it does…. which means that nobody at all is overseeing what they decide…. Ah well, enough, see for yourself just how bad it is, ffolkes….

http://news.yahoo.com/us-ended-merkel-spying-program-report-062120305.html

“These decisions are made at NSA,” the unnamed official told the Journal….”The president doesn’t sign off on this stuff.”

http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Feinstein-plans-bill-to-codify-NSA-s-phone-spying-4931092.php

More proof that political chicanery is NOT limited to the Republican Party, but, rather, continues to run rampant on both sides of the congressional aisle….

“People believe it’s surveillance, but it’s not,” Feinstein said. Some may have a problem with the collection of data,” she said, but “realistically, it’s the only way we prevent an attack.”

    Oh, really? The ONLY way? When did she get appointed to dictate what is realistic? The use of semantics to make a point like this is a clear indication that something is NOT being said, or, in other words, somebody isn’t telling the whole truth of the matter…. In short, it’s a lie….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Report-US-monitored-60-million-calls-in-Spain-4931617.php

“But it’s all for you own good!”…..  Right, mm hmm, sure…..
_____________________________

In the interests of reducing the average number of words I post each day, I’ll leave this here; as Lao Tzu said, “One who knows he has enough is rich.” See ya 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

Dancing away our cares in muffin colored shoes….

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Ffolkes,

Foul!  Foul! The convicted creatures of the night cried out in fear and hope, bleeding from a thousand wounds… Drifting, without pace, or price, no vector described, filling out the spaces between with animated visions of bright, colorful clouds, all with familiar faces. Barely alive, hovering over the warmth, of five distinct sources of valiant bravery, of arguable finality, those arguments fail in basic logical structure, thereby pinning their hopes on the last bus from town. We don’t know if they’ll have exact change, so the extensively fashionable wiper blades were turned on for a while to compensate. All will be copacetic, as long as no one tries to comprehend…

If you have, well, good luck with the headache you probably have by now…. Hell, I’ve got one, so, you should, too; it’s only fair…. Sorry for that one, folks….. The above paragraph is a leftover bad habit from my teens and early twenties, a form of what I like to call jabberwock, nonsense that makes sense, almost, just like the bandersnatch, a manner of wielding the vorpal blade of intellect and wit with style and elegance. It consists of words, phrases, and concepts in language that tends to confuse rather than illuminate. It is intended to stimulate cogitation of some form, as well as emotional disturbance of some degree, preferably up to the level of aggravation, without spilling over into violent objection of a physical nature (the latter has been threatened a time or two, when we got a little out of hand with it in public….)….

During my college years, a few friends and I would go into late-night diners to have coffee, and begin to talk in jabberwock, improvising as we went along… sort of improvisational philosophy for the mildly insane. We, of course, thought it hilarious that other people, the “normals” who were in the diner, listening to this, would often get up and leave, obviously in a huff, because they didn’t understand what they were hearing, and were too embarrassed, or perhaps too angry, to ask us to stop, or even ask what we were doing….

At our age, we didn’t care, and the more who left, the better…. until the owner objected because of losing customers…. Usually we went to those diners that catered to college kids, and understood the hi-jinx they perpetrate in the throes of their intellectual growth, but, sometimes, the local Denny’s was our targeted spot, to see how many folks we could get to leave quickly, jamming their food down as fast as possible, in order to get away from the crazies in the next booth…. SIGH…. those were the days!…..

There, now, don’t y’all feel better? I’ve managed to introduce today’s Pearl of Virtual Wisdom without resorting to any tricks…. This was pretty straightforward, with a flash of jabberwock to start, with a polite, if specious and of little real value, explanation of the opening, using some rather poignant memories from my youth…. I’d say this one is quite the little foray into normalcy for me, so, I hope you hate it, because it just about drove me crazy, trying to be that way…. Normal, I mean…

Ah hell, you know what I mean…. Shall we Pearl?…..

“Trouble rather the tiger in his lair than the sage amongst his books.  For to you Kingdoms and their armies are things mighty and enduring, but to him they are but toys of the moment, to be overturned by the flicking of a finger.” — Chinese proverb
_____________________________

This section has been growing on me, so I’ve decided to leave all previous formats behind, to engage in some sheer mental indulgence…. I’ll stop writing when I see a chance to do so gracefully, how’s that?….. First significant change to note is that this section has a title,  which indicates the precise subject under discussion, to wit:

“A prosperous fool is a grievous burden.” — Aeschylus (525-456 BC) — Frag. 383

Yes, ffolkes, I’ve had time to peruse the news, (Hey, a rhyme! A good sign this early on…), and have seen a bit of what transpired while I was off ignoring the world at large, in favor of the world at hand. At this juncture, I can only say that it’s hard to be right so often…. That’s a joke, by the way…. What I mean is, I expected SOME sort of further evidence of how the Beloved Ruling Class continues to screw the public at every opportunity to present itself, at one point or another while I wasn’t watching…. and, I was right…. Sometime yesterday afternoon, after reading some stuff on the internet, I started this section, collecting the information I’ll discuss…. The collection of that information prompted the following, thanks to SB, and the FIRST beginning of this epic pearl-to-be….

“Just because you’re STUPID ain’t no excuse.” — Smart Bee

“Progress doesn’t enlighten people – it just makes them stupid in new ways.”– Smart Bee

“You’ve little to fear, brave knight…unless the dragon stops purring.” — Smart Bee

I’ve begun this section with a three-star pearl, an obvious set of matching earrings, with a ponderous pendant, which seemed to put just the right tone to the subject we are about to cover… Well, I’ll cover it, and you can read, or not, as suits you…. It’d be cool if y’all stuck around & hung in with it… I worked hard on this one, with research, quotes, extra time in SB, and the whole nine yards, not to mention the ranting that should ensue as a part of it….

I hope y’all enjoy today’s journey into the madness of Reality, as I fight my way back from the illusionary world of luxury travel…. As is obvious, it didn’t take long for me to catch up to what’s been going on while I ignored the rest of the world, so let’s get to it…. For starters, please peruse this article from yesterdays news on SFGATE…. several quotes, from the article will follow, with my comments, surrounded by nothing… ( quotes from the article are surrounded by this indicator: “~~” , two squiggly lines together,, then quotation marks around the text… I chose it because I like to write the word “squiggly”, thus making people think more squiggly, always a good thing….)

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/NSA-spying-threatens-to-hamper-US-foreign-policy-4928089.php

~~ “To Henry Farrell and Martha Finnemore at George Washington University, damage from the NSA disclosures could “undermine Washington’s ability to act hypocritically and get away with it.” ~~

My immediate reaction to this was, “Oh, those poor babies!”…..  😆 To think that a government official would have to go through a day without being able to resort to a lie…. boy, what cruelty!  It amazes me that this line didn’t faze the public’s credibility,  as I haven’t heard of very much backlash about what is essentially old news… By that I refer to the “acting hypocritically” by the government… It’s almost as if the public EXPECTS to be treated that way, and, like a horse that has been beaten too long, no longer flinches at the feel of the whip…

~~ “Madeleine Albright, secretary of state during the Clinton administration, recalled being at the United Nations and having the French ambassador ask her why she said something in a private conversation apparently intercepted by the French.

Albright says Snowden’s disclosures have hurt U.S. policymakers. “A lot of the things that have come out, I think are specifically damaging because they are negotiating positions and a variety of ways that we have to go about business,” Albright said at a conference hosted by the Center for American Progress in Washington. “I think it has made life very difficult for Secretary Kerry. … There has to be a set of private talks that, in fact, precede negotiations and I think it makes it very, very hard. The broad nature of NSA surveillance goes against the Obama administration’s claim that much of U.S. espionage is carried out to combat terrorism, she said.

The administration asserts that the U.S. is amassing intelligence of the type gathered by all nations and that it’s necessary to protect the U.S. and its allies against security threats.” ~~

Again, oh my goodness! These poor, abused diplomats and former pundits! To think that being responsible for their lies makes their job harder is the height of arrogance, for it assumes that the lies are not the issue, but rather, being caught in the lies…. The issue of most primary significance is, and always has been, the simple FACT that they lie to begin with….. They do this because, hey, we were elected, weren’t we?…. Thus, they believe they have the right to do so, no matter what the public may think…. After all, the public doesn’t know what’s good for them, do they?…. That’s why they elected us, isn’t it?…. So, see, nothing to see here, never mind, just go put the whistleblower in jail for the rest of his life for having the bad grace to tell the truth….

“The true, unacknowledged purpose of capital punishment (or life imprisonment for telling the truth — gigoid) is to inspire fear and awe–fear and awe of the State.” — Edward Abbey

~~ “The French government protested revelations this past week that the NSA had collected 70.3 million French-based telephone and electronic message records in a 30-day period.

Germany and France are demanding that the administration agree by year’s end to new rules that could mean an end to reported American eavesdropping on foreign leaders, companies and innocent citizens.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff canceled her official state visit to the White House. She ordered measures aimed at greater Brazilian online independence and security after learning that the NSA intercepted her communications, hacked into the state-owned Petrobras oil company’s network and spied on Brazilians.

Brazil says it is working with other countries to draft a U.N. General Assembly resolution that would guarantee people’s privacy in electronic communications.

A European Parliament committee approved rules that would strengthen online privacy and outlaw the kind of data transfers the U.S. is using for its spying program.

European lawmakers have called for the suspension of an agreement that grants U.S. authorities access to bank data needed for terrorism-related investigations.

“We need trust among allies and partners,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose cellphone was allegedly tapped by the NSA. “Such trust now has to be built anew.” ~~

Aha! Somebody says the key word, at last…. Trust…. A simple word, yet one of the most powerful concepts in the human lexicon of ideas that affect reality most strongly. This one is a basic part of ANY and ALL human interactions, with other humans, with animals, with the universe, wherever… As humans, we rely on certain concepts to be true, and when they are not, our ability to retain our honor, and our sanity, are affected strongly…. Whether we are affected in a way that strengthens, or weakens, is immaterial…. It makes each interaction more stressful, because the trust must be there to deal with it efficiently, without precautions, extra effort, or rejection….

I know, that’s a bit esoteric for morning conversation…. But, it all affects what is happening in the world, and the BRC still refuses to acknowledge their own responsibility in making trust a scarce commodity…. They believe the problem is that the secrets were told, when the real problem is that the secrets exist, and are expected to be hidden without consequence…. The government does not EVER question the rightness of their own actions; it is a foregone conclusion, proven throughout our history, that to act on ANY assumption of that nature is a sure path to self-destruction… In this case, that path will not merely lead them, but will pull all of us with them…. Apparently, with our full permission…

Thomas Jefferson, along with others of the Founding Fathers of this country warned future generations to be mindful of corporate special interests, i.e. “bankers”…. Money, and more importantly, the desire for it, and for the power over others it brings, has long been recognized as the root of most of our problems as a society, and as individuals in that society…. It affects human behavior in a personal way, creating avarice, hatred, and mistrust between the best of friends; it also affects human behavior on a societal level, as those same characteristics come to play on the public stage….

The following article, by one of my favorite voices of reason, Jon Carroll, is an excellent discussion, and an excellent indictment of those people among us who act as wolves, viewing others as prey, in the pursuit of their own ambitions….

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/An-upright-salute-to-government-today-4920756.php

As any sage knows, enough is enough…. I may not be a sage, but, I know that…. Besides, if you haven’t gotten the picture by this time, it’s probably not working, anyway, so, ‘twould be best to exit now, with what grace can be summoned…. They’re not good people, ffolkes, though they would have you believe they are…. and, I don’t think I need to explain, at this point, who “they” are…. Take care of each other, as best you can, and try not to harm anyone without good reason…. At this point in the game, that’s about the best we can do….

“To date, there is only one animal in the Galaxy dangerous to man- man himself. He must supply his own indispensable competition. He has no enemy to help him.” — Lazarus Long
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I’ve never been able to completely explain why I enjoy the poetry of this woman…. Though she is acknowledged as one of the most creative and powerful poets in history, her work is an acquired taste…. But, with her, as with little girls and butterflies, no explanation is really needed… I speak, of course, of Miss Emily D….

Perhaps the most significant thing I like about her work is that she left the title of each poem up to the reader…. They may supply one, in their own mind, or not…. She doesn’t seem to care, or perhaps didn’t want to influence them with pre-conceived notions of the meaning of the poem to follow…. I like that, for some perverse reason….

Death sets a thing significant
The eye had hurried by,
Except a perished creature
Entreat us tenderly

To ponder little workmanships
In crayon or in wool,
With “This was last her fingers did,”
Industrious until

The thimble weighed too heavy,
The stitches stopped themselves,
And then ‘t was put among the dust
Upon the closet shelves.

A book I have, a friend gave,
Whose pencil, here and there,
Had notched the place that pleased him,–
At rest his fingers are.

Now, when I read, I read not,
For interrupting tears
Obliterate the etchings
Too costly for repairs.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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Without even having to look, I know this is already nearing the point of the largest Pearl ever created on this blog; I must have buried more material in my brain while I was off cruising than I had imagined, because it’s all spilling out now… Ah well, it’s all been quite cathartic, so I’ll just make a last, quick, old-school group of pearls to make up the last pearl for today…. Enjoy, as we see what comes up on the Wheel of Philosophy, as interpreted by gigoid’s complex set of non-rules….

“No man is happy who does not think himself so.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 584

“Humans hardly ever learn from the experience of others. They learn – when they do, which isn’t often – on their own, the hard way.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Heisenberg may have slept here.” — Smart Bee

“War loves to seek its victims in the young.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Scyrii, Frag. 507

“Beginnings and endings are, for the most part, artificial constructs. You say you begin when you are born, but what of those months spent growing in the womb? Endings are hazier still, for further things may occur that extend and enlarge the earlier story. And that is my final sentence on the subject. Or perhaps this one is the final sentence. No, most assuredly what I write now is the final word on the matter. But now that I think upon it, perhaps this….” — The Teachings of Ebenezum, Vol. LVII (Abridged)

20. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. — Instructions for life

“I know things about TROY DONAHUE that can’t even be PRINTED!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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As noted above, this turned into a REAL epic Pearl…. Let’s go see just how epic…. If there ever was a more appropriate time to say, “Whew!”, I can’t imagine when it might occur…. So much so, I’m done, I’m gone, I’m outta here…. Whew!….

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

 

Plainly painful paroxysms of unnatural concern….

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Ffolkes,

Well, I’m back. It seems as if I’ve been gone forever, but that’s probably the coffee’s fault. It’s so wonderful to be at home, where I can count on that first cup of coffee in the morning to be a good one…. I won’t go into great detail now, but, suffice it to say, I am less than totally happy with the coffee on cruise ships, and leave it at that, in celebration of the first good cup in a week, ready for me to drink, with the proper condiments, when I arise, at the very moment I need it the most…..

I’ve survived yet again, even without being able to post a blog each day as intended…. I also didn’t take very many pictures, finding it quite relaxing this time to NOT worry about that, or about writing. I’m sorry, but the internet they use on the ships is pretty bad, compared to just about any other I’ve ever connected to, and trying to work around their deficiencies just made it too much work.

So, I ate, and slept, ate some more, and walked around the ship doing stuff that seemed fun at the time… Or, we’d go ashore when in port, walk around a bit to see the sights, and have lunch in a different venue, if there was a nice place to go… In short, I did practically nothing for seven days…. I did so much nothing, I only had time to read two books…..’Twas grand, to be sure…. even though I’ll have to read a lot for a while to feel right….

For most of the time since receiving my disability status, and the money they owed me for the years they made me wait to get it, I’ve traveled, as I intended from the moment I heard I’d be getting back payments of my monthly checks… I’ve spent almost a full month of days on cruise ships, on three separate cruises, to Europe, Alaska, and Mexico; I’ve been to Texas twice, and to Oregon once. I’ve also used the money to live as comfortably as I can, with absolutely no regrets about how I spent much of it on myself, fulfilling my own dreams, an event which has never before occurred in my life….

Since the age of 28, when my kids came along, all of my money has gone to take care of was necessary for others, rather than what was desired by me, and I have NO problem with that; it’s the way it should be for a man with family to care for…. I’ve put off all of my youthful wishes to travel, without any regret at all, sublimating by traveling with the family when I could afford to do so…. In fact, taking them on a cruise, when the kids were pre-teens, is what hooked me on cruising in the first place….

There are times when I feel a pang or two of discomfort, but, that has more to do with my lifelong pursuit of truth, my political and social views, and the insidious way money corrupts, than it is about my own weakness for luxury… There is a part of me that KNOWS that cruising is really just another of the corporate masters’ illusions, only made available to the general public to keep their eyes focused on unreachable goals, and away from the nastiness they perpetrate in other areas of our existence….

Going on a cruise is fun, but one should always keep in mind that it is not normal, and people who actually live in a way that allows them to do that sort of thing on a regular basis are a big part of the problems we have in society. In addition, such industries, making billions of dollars annually, are a constant drain on the planet’s resources, put to use to keep the circus interesting for us, but actually keeping us under the thrall of those who actually control the money…. I KNOW all that, and it is all absolutely true, yet, I still enjoy the experience of living in decadence, even for a short time….

I think, over the next few weeks, I’ll discuss this further, as it is something I think is worth examination from a critical standpoint…. It will also give me a chance to get back into ranting before I really get back into the swing of things out in the real-time world…. For six days, I’ve ignored the news completely, and have no clue as to what is up in the world; I didn’t even read the headlines. It actually surprised me to find myself last night watching Game 3 of the World Series, as I had forgotten it was opening last week…. Actually, that’s a good feeling; I always enjoy my bouts of ignorance, and can see how it is an attractive state to live in, for those folks who are able to shut off their thinking apparatus…. Mine always pushes its own power button, so it never shuts off for long….

Okay, that should be enough…. I’ve rambled and blathered, I’ve made a few pointed remarks about the bad guys, and reasserted my geopolitical views. I’ve bragged about my travels, and been trite, and even a bit ashamed…. and, best of all, I haven’t spilled anything on anybody! Bonus! Any who, I think I’d best get on with this, and see if I can salvage any of my dignity…. Doubtful, but ever hopeful, I plod on….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto.” [“I am a human, and nothing human is alien to me”] — Publius Terentius Afer, c.190-159 B.C. — Heautontimoroumenos, a. 1, sc. 1, v. 25
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First, to get the trip off my mind and out of my head, let’s put in the pictures I DID take while on the cruise…. As I mentioned, there aren’t a lot of them, as I ended up taking the trip off from ALL of my usual activities, including taking pictures…. I did manage to get a couple from each port we stopped in, but, only a couple, so there aren’t many to choose from, or worth showing… but, what I have are here for y’all to see, such as they are….

Our ports of call were, in order of visit, Santa Barbara, Long Beach, San Diego, all in California, and Ensenada, Mexico, leaving and coming back to home port in San Francisco…. I’ll try to put the pix up in order, but, I’m still not totally adept with the adding media functions in Word Press, so we’ll see how that goes….. Since I’m home, and don’t have to worry about network speed, it should be possible to add some comments, but, that is still to be determined…. At any rate, here are the best shots I DID take, and I hope you enjoy them….

The first stop was Santa Barbara… these were taken from the tender on the way to shore, on State Street, and more from the tender on the way back to the ship…
Coastal cruise pix 003Coastal cruise pix 010 Coastal cruise pix 013 Coastal cruise pix 004 Coastal cruise pix 005 Coastal cruise pix 006I was right… the order of the pix isn’t correct, but, hey, they’re here, so… Next came Long Beach, where I had lunch with one of my old friends, (he’s not so old, but we’ve been friends for almost 25 years…), on the Queen Mary I, right next to where our ship docked… Believe me, there wasn’t anything else to take a picture of… It IS the port of Los Angeles, don’t y’know….

Coastal cruise pix 018 Coastal cruise pix 017Next came San Diego, where we docked next to the USS Midway, a WWII aircraft carrier, now a museum, and some old, tall ships on the other side, at the San Diego Maritime Museum….

Coastal cruise pix 024 Coastal cruise pix 019 Coastal cruise pix 020 Coastal cruise pix 023Our last stop was in Ensenada, Baja Mexico, where I was so distracted by all the street vendors I got only one picture, and then forgot the camera was even in my pocket… This was the scene in the courtyard where the shuttle from the ship dropped off the victims, er, tourists in the downtown area….

Coastal cruise pix 025Okay, ffolkes, that’s the extent of it… I told you I didn’t do much, and I meant it, didn’t I?… I hope I didn’t bore y’all too much… I had fun, any who, so, all is well in the land of gigoid….
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Choosing the first poem to post was tougher than I had imagined it would be; hopefully, you will enjoy this one, as it cost me a lot of effort to decide which one to choose…. In the end, I chose one that I’ve used before, a couple of times…. Each time, I see in it more of myself than I saw before, which convinces me of its universal relevance….. But, mostly I just like it…. that counts for something, I hope….

A Song About Myself

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

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

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

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

~~ John Keats ~~

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“Ninety percent of everything is crud.” — Sturgeon’s Revelation

It’s always tempting to write a rant using this statement by one of Science Fiction’s most revered and highly respected authors; I usually refrain from doing so in order to avoid any chance of my thoughts becoming part of that ninety percent so eloquently highlighted…. It is also a temptation to discuss the merits of the statement in terms of accuracy, but, that also tends to enter the realm of surreality, as the truth of the statement is all too often proven, not only by those who are critical of it, but, also,  by those who are asserting its veracity…. Personally, I find it best to merely accept it, just as it is, and be done with it….

In light of that, and in the interests of time management, (plus, I wouldn’t want to drive anyone away on my first day back by being too heavy-handed, or any more bozoid than is necessary….), this section will be the latest in a long line of pearls of virtual wisdom that chose themselves…. Well, the one parameter used today was the above revelation, so it should work out well, as we are, in new-age parlance, ‘going with the flow’…..

Remember, ffolkes, to correctly interpret the following, you will need to place the above revelation in its correct position among the others, an exercise that, as always, I will leave to you, as the prerogative of the Gentle Reader in all such instances….

“We rest here while we can, but we hear the ocean calling in our dreams, And we know by the morning, the wind will fill our sails to test the seams, The calm is on the water and part of us would linger by the shore, For ships are safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” from “Ships”, by Tom Kimmel & Michael Lille

“If it ain’t broke, maybe you need a bigger hammer.” — Smart Bee

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those of us who profess to favor freedom yet depreciate agitation are men who want the crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters…This struggle may be a moral one or a physical one, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without demand. It never has and never will. Show me the exact amount of wrong and injustices that are visited upon a person and I will show you the exact amount of words endured by these people. These wrongs and injustices may be fought with words or with blows or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.” — Frederick Douglass (1817-1895), Letter to Gerrit Smith [March 30, 1849]

“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. books are well written, or badly written, That is all.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Letter to Gay, Oct, 6, 1727

“What do they call a comedian who doesn’t get any laughs? A philosopher.” — Phil Proctor
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Oddly enough, this didn’t go too badly; I had some reservations when I sat down, but, I don’t think I’ve done anything here to be ashamed of…. Not any more than usual, anyway…. Let’s see how it holds up under scrutiny….. I can’t honestly say I think this is great literature, but, it won’t poke out your eyes, or, more importantly, make you want to poke out anyone else’s, mine included…. That being said, I’d best leave it as it is, and hope for the best…. I’ll try again tomorrow to get a few steps further toward coherence, and toward sanity….

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

North flew East, East turned West; South became irrelevant….

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Ffolkes,

Normally, my travelogues feature more artwork, in the sense that I generally post pictures that I’ve taken myself, of the places and people I’ve seen in my ramblings for the day. Since it will be eight or so hours until I actually embark on the ship, which then sets sail at about 4 PM, I am as yet without my camera, which is packed away for the ordeal of getting through the security checkpoint….

I suppose I could have taken a few pix of me and my lady, or my son, who will be driving us today in his limo, but, none of us particularly care for fame, or photos of ourselves, (in my case, there is the danger to the camera itself; my visage has been known to freeze digital cameras instantly….), and who wants to see pix of a street corner, with no people in it?…. So, y’all will have to wait until tomorrow, when I’ll have some shots from the first night on board….

In past travelogues, I concentrated a lot on pictures of where I was visiting, and neglected to show off the ships I’ve been on, which are part of the attraction for me in traveling. It makes perfect sense to my hedonistic side to travel in luxury if possible; I’ve traveled the cheap way, staying in hostels or cheap motels, eating out of the markets and fast food joints, and taking trains and buses to where I wished to go. Often, before I was married, I’d even resort to hitchhiking for my travel mode…. cheap, and you meet some great ffolkes, but it can be a bit inconsistent if traffic is slow, and can take a LONG time to get anywhere…

That sort of travel is great fun, but requires a lot of energy and physical stamina that I no longer possess, so, having a place to take a nap when I get tired, in a five star hotel, with three gourmet meals a day (or more….), along with staff eager to provide service, is a better choice for someone of my age and condition…. Plus, on those voyages on which my luck holds, the casino can help reduce the overall cost of the trip….. I came out about $500 ahead of the game on my Alaska cruise, with my winnings exceeding my bar bills by about that much…. Of course, I went a bit crazy on souvenirs for everyone, but, hey, I tried….

This trip, I’ll try to remember to take more shots on board, to let y’all see what it’s like to cruise with a crazy old long-haired, long-winded blogger…. or, at least to give you a better idea of what it looks like on board…. Plus, it keeps me from having to think too hard about what to include in the Pearls, which will give me more time to just screw around and do nothing…. which is, after all, the whole point of cruising, to have all the time one wishes to just do nothing….

Doing nothing, in our culture, tends to be looked down upon severely, especially by those who suffer from Christian guilt, and the whole concept of “the near-occasion of sin”, wherein the church assumes that everyone WILL give in to temptation, and everyone WILL act on their worst impulses to (GASP!….) sit around and do nothing, thus becoming undisciplined, immoral, and worst-case for the dogmatists, reduce their guilt, making them less amenable, and more resistive, to behavioral control…. They HATE that!….

So, I encourage hedonism at every turn, as should every other person of a like mind; it’s the best method I’ve found for providing almost immediate relief from the constipated, bloated feeling of constriction that goes along with allowing the dogmatists to draw the patterns of your life. A good, meal, with just a little too much wine and conviviality, is the perfect antidote to the most stringent attitudes…. Why, a prime rib, and a bottle of good Cabernet, has been known to destroy six years of Catholic denial in one sitting, given the proper company, and perhaps some after dinner brandy…. And, even if it doesn’t completely eradicate ALL one’s prior conditioning, the process of removing it, meal by wonderful meal, is one that appeals to even the most hardened ascetic…

Hmm…. I seem to have strayed a bit afield from the concept of an intro…. not unusual, I suppose, and possibly much better than the typical rant I’ve been saddling y’all with of late. I can see that, no matter what I’ve been babbling about, it’s certainly long enough to meet the legal standards for which we shoot, so, I’m opting to go with my usual technique, to just go with it, without worrying at all about what the hell it means, or what it may or may not do in terms of stimulation of cogitation…. That, of course, is, ultimately, the personal responsibility of each gentle reader, at least for the cogitation part…. I’ll try to supply the stimulation, but, no promises, eh?…..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“If any man asks for greatness, let him forget greatness and ask for truth, and he will find both.” — Horace Mann
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“Anger is a tool, not a master. Anger is meant to be tapped into and drawn upon. Used properly, anger is useful. Sloth, apathy, and despair are the enemy. Anger is not. Anger is our friend. Not a nice friend, not a gentle friend, but a very loyal friend.  It will always tell us when we have been betrayed. It will always tell us when we have betrayed ourselves. It will always tell us that it is time to act in our own best interests. Anger is not the action itself. It is action’s invitation.” — Julia Cameron  “The Artist’s Way”

“He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.” — Confucius

Lao Tzu sez    I had originally intended to write a piece to accompany these three statements, the latter of which are from two of the most revered philosophers in history…. but, there really isn’t any need to expand on this idea…. It’s pretty perfect, as wisdom goes, so, I’m going to do the unusual, for me, and leave it alone, to allow you the space to consider the concept in your own way, and in your own time….

Just know this…. if there is a single key to being happy in life, this is it…. This is the key to ALL wisdom, ffolkes, so just let it become part of your inner self, and you’ll find your life has fallen into a pattern of serenity, and an inner peace that you have never known….. Oh, didn’t I say what that key is? Hmm, imagine that…. I guess I forgot…. Well, it’s probably best if you articulate it yourself; it seems to work better that way…. Okay, if you insist, one last hint….

“A person never so beautifully shows his own strength, as when he respects another’s weakness.” — Smart Bee

If that doesn’t do it, well, then, we’ll just have to try again another time, won’t we?….   😆
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“I have thought many times since that if poets when they get discouraged would blow their brains out, they could write very much better when they got well.” — Mark Twain

Hmm…. I’m not sure, but, perhaps Mark was feeling a bit curmudgeonly toward poets that day…. If not, well, we all know his fondness for sardonicism, don’t we?…. Here’s one I think you’ll enjoy, from a poet I’ve only recently begun to explore….

Song

A rowan like a lipsticked girl.
Between the by-road and the main road
Alder trees at a wet and dripping distance
Stand off among the rushes.

There are the mud-flowers of dialect
And the immortelles of perfect pitch
And that moment when the bird sings very close
To the music of what happens

~~ Seamus Heaney ~~

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As might be guessed from what has gone before, I’m a bit anxious to be on the road… It will take all of my patience and fortitude to wait until 1 PM, when we leave for the embarkation pier in SF….. especially as leaving dead bodies behind me could conceivably cause problems upon my return…. SIGH…. People get SO upset when I do that!….

Any who, I’ll try to not kill anyone today, so I can have a worry free cruise…. In hopes of getting to that point sometime in the near future, I’m going for an old-school, random, harlequin pearl, to finish off this very skimpy Pearl….. Don’t worry, I’ll make up for it with art work tomorrow…. the camera’s all charged up and ready to shoot…. Until then, here are some thoughts from SB to help y’all get through the day…. or not….

ICONOCLAST, n.  A breaker of idols, the worshipers whereof are imperfectly gratified by the performance, and most strenuously protest that he unbuildeth but doth not reedify, that he pulleth down but pileth not up.  For the poor things would have other idols in place of those he thwacketh upon the mazzard and dispelleth.  But the iconoclast saith:  “Ye shall have none at all, for ye need them not; and if the rebuilder fooleth round hereabout, behold I will depress the head of him and sit thereon till he squawk it.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

(Oh! Oh! So, THAT’S what I’ve been doing all this time!! I love it, and now feel very justified in my work here…. I am just loving the idea of putting the OCI after my name, to signify my identity of a member of the Order of Curmudgeonly Iconoclasts…. My sig. line is starting to look impressive, with all my initials after it…. as in, gigoid, MCA, BS,  OCI…. [which, BTW, is the correct way to write ‘gigoid’, with no capitals…. it’s a user-name, and caps aren’t required, nor, in this case, desired….].  If I’m not careful, all these titles will start to go to my head, or something equally inane… Okay, I’m done fooling around now…. We’ll get on with the rest of this pearl….sorry, got distracted…)

“Make your enemies by choice, not by accident. The same applies to friends.” — Xavier R. Quinton

“When the way comes to an end, then change – having changed, you pass through.” — I Ching

“In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to Liberty.” — Thomas Jefferson

:interesting: adj.  In hacker parlance, this word has strong connotations of `annoying’, or `difficult’, or both.  Hackers relish a challenge, and enjoy wringing all the irony possible out of the ancient Chinese curse “May you live in interesting times”.  Oppose {trivial}, {uninteresting}. — from The on-line Hacker Jargon File V423

(Note: This definition of the word “interesting” is the most frequently applied here at ECR, in terms of meaning and connotation, used almost exclusively; just so’s you know….)

“It seems, in fact, as though the second half of a man’s life is made up of nothing but the habits he has accumulated during the first half.” — Feodor Dostoyevski, “The Possessed”

“The zoo is not an exhibition
I view with much enjoyment,
when I notice beasts in a position
To learn the weaknesses of men.”

— John Brunner
_____________________________

I’ve done it again, I suppose, and I’ll just have to deal with it…. I’ll be back shortly, I hope….

As I suspected, that took a while, but, it’s done now, and I can get on with my day…. which, as might be imagined, promises to be one of greater than usual import, and all around fun… or, as has been intimated, more interesting…. hopefully without the negative connotation that generally applies…. See y’all tomorrow, even if there are technical issues… I’ll figure out a workaround of some kind….

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

Alarms, and sirens, and gunshots, oh my!….

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1

Ffolkes,

In spite of massive outpourings of attempted distraction, perpetrated by my own unconscious mind, I made it here, only to find myself confronted once again by the specter of a blank mind…. Vague, terrifying echoes of past Pearls, wherein I spent hours, nay, days, it seems, searching and searching, desperate and panicked, yet always managing to, somehow, find enough blather within to fulfill the minimum required standards…. It’s a gift, though not one most ffolkes will acknowledge… I, on the other hand, lost all pride years ago, and realize that there is nothing shameful at all in admitting one’s faults…. In fact, with the right spin, those faults can be turned into assets, of a sort….

Of course, one must never try to profit from using personal faults as tools; that borders not only on the immoral, but on creepy, and I’m not going there, no sir…. Naturally, you will never mention in public that I ever admitted to that, right? I could get in a lot of trouble with the morals police…. not to mention a harsh word or two from Stephen King, the master of creepy…. Tell you what, you keep my confidence, and I’ll do my best to avoid a rant in the intro today, how’s that? Seems like a fair trade to me….

Now we’ve settled that, we can go on… Of course, I have absolutely no idea where we’re going today, as is no doubt crystal clear by now. I started this Pearl without a clue, and haven’t discovered any since beginning, so, it’s looking like one of THOSE days…. a day of pulling rabbits from hats, and flowers from the sleeve…. A day of acting like a politician/preacher, spouting off nonsensical and/or simply untrue grandiosities to distract y’all from what I’m doing with my other hand…. You know, the one with all the hair growing out of the palm….

SIGH…. I hate days like this…. It’s really hard on my honest nature to pull the same tricks as our beloved rulers are accustomed to pulling…. I mean, I can tell a story with the best of them, but, I usually remember to tell ffolkes when they aren’t reality-based, but, rather, come from my imagination…. The pundits will NEVER show that courtesy…. I remember the last time one of them tried to tell the truth in public; it made a compelling video, watching this veteran talking head blushing, blustering, stuttering, fumbling, and basically undergoing a personal meltdown, all because he was cornered into telling the reporter an actual piece of truth…. very satisfying for one of my ilk….

Now that I’ve gone completely bonkers, by trying to pass off this large pile of shit as prosaic prose, or as entertainment, it would probably be a good thing for me to find a way to bring this to a close, and get on with something a bit less, well, pointless…. though, to be truthful, I’m not sure at this point whether or not I’ve got anything remotely truthful in me today….. I’m feeling rather political, and am experiencing a very strong urge to lie to people, just because I can…. Wait, is this a rant?…. Oops…

I’m going to have to exert some real effort today just to keep this from going completely off the rails…. and yet, it sure is attractive to think about letting myself be political for a day….. I mean, it must be really liberating to be able to lie whenever you feel like it. Even more liberating must be the feeling that one is entitled to lie in order to achieve one’s ends….

Ah well, that’s a state of mind that I would NOT be capable of assuming, anyway…. I’m afraid I have a tape in my memory, left there by my father, that would start playing if I ever lied for no justifiable purpose….. For me, it’s a foregone conclusion that, if I ever tried to lie like that, this tape, playing in my father’s voice, would leave me no peace at all until I had given up any such notion….

Now that I’ve completely lost my way…. Shall we Pearl?….

“A person of honor regrets a discreditable act even when it worked.” — Smart Bee

(I rest my case….)
_____________________________

Now that the budget crisis in Washington has reached some kind of near-resolution, and the country’s credit rating remains up in the fantasy level, while the imaginary numbers used for calculating our debt ceiling are once again considered as real numbers, I guess we can assume that things will return to relative normal, for the time being, until the NEXT crisis that develops to take our eyes off the more important stuff they don’t want us to think about….

For example, I found this article yesterday, from Mark Fiore, the Pulitzer-winning video artist and political commentator, whose brilliant political cartoon videos have punched countless politicians right where it hurts the most…. in their non-functioning moral sense…. This one is, as usual, perfectly timed to bring the awareness of new revelations about the spying being done by the NSA, at our POTUS’s insistence….

http://blog.sfgate.com/fiore/2013/10/16/new-from-the-nsa-internal-patriot-discovery/

“To develop a complete mind: Study the science of art; study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.” — Leonardo da Vinci

The talking heads in Washington don’t want us to know this little piece of wisdom from Leo…. If too many normal folks became aware of this, and started to use their heads for something other than a hat rack, politicians would go the way of the dodo bird, and in short order….. But, that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, would it? Well, I don’t think so….. I think we, as a nation, could use a break from these idiots, and their posturing…. It’s been really hard the last few weeks, watching the news as those Tea Party assholes paraded their ignorance for all the world to see….

This time, their rhetoric has backfired on them; public confidence in politicians in general, and Republicans specifically, has NEVER been lower, which makes me happy as a, well, a clam, which, if you stop to think about it, is usually pretty happy, by all the available evidence…. I’ve added a link below to some of the more pointed political cartoons that were published during this mess we’ve just witnessed…. Some of them are pretty sharp, and all of them indicate pretty well how LITTLE respect for politicians remains, in the public’s perception, of the responsible parties specifically, and government as a whole….

http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/slideshow/Shutdown-madness-Recap-of-cartoons-on-the-fight-71244.php

There…. I feel better, and didn’t have to rant. I’m sure, in the final analysis, you will appreciate that, too….
_____________________________

Tomorrow begins another cruise for me, meaning this blog will go travelogue, but, one more Pearl will be posted before I take off for the boat…. The reason I note this now is because the anticipation is distracting me somewhat from getting this Pearl done with any dispatch…. I’m gazing off into space too much, thinking about stuff left to do today, and tomorrow, before we leave, at about 1 PM…. Thus, today’s poetry selection is one that you can trust, as I had to concentrate really hard just to get it done, so I went with what I know to be a winner…. I hope you enjoy today’s selections, both by the same author, as well as two of my favorite poems of all time….

A Caution To Everybody

Consider the auk;
Becoming extinct because he forgot how to fly, and could only walk.
Consider man, who may well become extinct
Because he forgot how to walk and learned how to fly before he thinked.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

Bankers Are Just Like Anybody Else, Except Richer

This is a song to celebrate banks,
Because they are full of money and you go into them and all
you hear is clinks and clanks,
Or maybe a sound like the wind in the trees on the hills,
Which is the rustling of the thousand dollar bills.
Most bankers dwell in marble halls,
Which they get to dwell in because they encourage deposits
and discourage withdrawals,
And particularly because they all observe one rule which woe
betides the banker who fails to heed it,
Which is you must never lend any money to anybody unless
they don’t need it.
I know you, you cautious conservative banks!
If people are worried about their rent it is your duty to deny
them the loan of one nickel, yes, even one copper engraving
of the martyred son of the late Nancy Hanks;
Yes, if they request fifty dollars to pay for a baby you must
look at them like Tarzan looking at an uppity ape in the
jungle,
And tell them what do they think a bank is, anyhow, they had
better go get the money from their wife’s aunt or ungle.
But suppose people come in and they have a million and they
want another million to pile on top of it,
Why, you brim with the milk of human kindness and you
urge them to accept every drop of it,
And you lend them the million so then they have two million
and this gives them the idea that they would be better off
with four,
So they already have two million as security so you have no
hesitation in lending them two more,
And all the vice-presidents nod their heads in rhythm,
And the only question asked is do the borrowers want the
money sent or do they want to take it withm.
Because I think they deserve our appreciation and thanks,
the jackasses who go around saying that health and happi-
ness are everything and money isn’t essential,
Because as soon as they have to borrow some unimportant
money to maintain their health and happiness they starve
to death so they can’t go around any more sneering at good
old money, which is nothing short of providential.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

_____________________________

At last! I’ve finally reached the third section, and, having fulfilled the required degree of thoughtful composition, using rantable material, grade three or higher, I am allowed to stop trying to think, and let Smart Bee pick out some pearls, sans my direction, which, at this point, would be detrimental, anyway…. Best I keep my hands out of it, for now…. Let’s see what kind of mood Smart Bee is in today, shall we?…..

“If you’re a preacher, you talk for a living, so even if you don’t make sense, you learn to make nonsense eloquently.” — Andrew Young
(Unusual candor from one of his species….)

“If a person with multiple personalities threatens suicide…. is that considered a hostage situation?” — Smart Bee

“When an elephant is in trouble even a frog will kick him.” — Hindu Proverb

“It isn’t so astonishing the number of things I can remember, as the number of things I can remember that aren’t so.” — Mark Twain

“I didn’t understand this at first, but YOUR CONVINCING USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS HAS MADE IT ALL CLEAR TO ME.” — J. Nairn

“Wherever I go, there I am, Pooh mused.” — A.A. Milne

Try it, you’ll like it.  Trust me.

I have no explanation…. I also have no excuse, but, I don’t think I really need one, do you?…. It’s all just a mirage, you know, and, reality is only that which we all agree on, or, as Phil said, that which, when we stop believing in it, doesn’t go away…. unlike me, who will now do so…. go away, that is….
_____________________________

Having been there when it was written, I have some serious qualms about having to go back over it to proof for typos and/or grammar; it could cause some serious Windows-like brain-freeze…. Oh well, life is a risk, n’est pas?…

I knew I should have stayed in bed longer…. That was an ordeal of some magnitude, and, I still am not sure that it’s all perfectly sane… I guess that makes it a perfect Pearl, and I should just shut up now, and accept the inevitable…. 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