Pilot fish? Biscotti? Auroral halos? What IS all this?….

Ffolkes,

“Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.”

~~ The Beatles ~~

china-deep-in-the-guangxi-province-m-1

Image of Guangxi Province, China, found on the UK Telegraph Website


Good morning…. There is hope! As a scientist for most of my life, I am willing to change my theories in the face of new data that is indicative of the need for a change. For some weeks now, I’d about given up hope of ever sleeping more than a couple hours at a time, having been so disrupted by the forced medicine change perpetrated upon me by my own doctors. But, last night, I actually slept, with some small awakenings, for a full eight hours, or close enough as to make no difference…. The difference in my own state of mind is astounding, once one gets past the astonishment, filling me with the hope I can repeat the experience tonight…

In short, Right Fucking On! Or, as we used to say, Yippee, hippie! Well, okay, we didn’t say that, but, we felt like it!….

And, now, we can get on with this mess, without any further nonsense…. Another YAY, if you please….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Virtue is the beauty, and vice the deformity, of the soul.”

~~ Socrates (B.C. 469-399) ~~


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

Peace76

    Today’s musical video choice is a form of celebration for last night’s gift, a long rest in the arms of Morpheus…. This, however, will NOT put you to sleep. It’s one of my favorite old rock bands, famous for hard-driving, brilliantly improvisational southern rock & roll, in a concert from their heydey, in March of 1971. I give you. the Allman Brothers Band, at the Warehouse, New Orleans…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. I’m going to, for sure….

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

The Allman Brothers

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

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

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


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

We the People...

    Our world is poised on the cusp of an uncertain future; in my most optimistic examinations of the evidence all around us, there is conflict coming to society. All I can see is turmoil and human pain, in an ever increasing spiral of insanity, as the long-awaited collapse of the current system of economic dominance, to wit: capitalism, enters the final death throes, shaking itself apart at the very seams, which are merely illusions, held together by ideas long out of date, and ultimately self-destructive. In short, the house of cards is coming down, ffolkes, and there isn’t a damn thing anyone can do about it at this point.

Oh there are signs of hope, but, they are almost buried by the obvious signs of corruption and decayed morality which will, ultimately, spell our doom, unless we can find a way to change human nature in the next, oh, five minutes or so….. You think I’m being facetious, but, I’m not; that is a very literal warning, in real time…. My assessment is based on too many pieces of evidence to ignore, or deny, and I’m not particularly happy about it, but, then, Reality very seldom asks our permission for anything, now, does it?

One of the ways our species seems to use, to its undying regret, is to attempt to legislate behavior, or morality, which is the cause of the behavior, into a moral guideline, supposedly for the benefit of all. This, of course, is sheer nonsense, for you cannot legislate human feelings or motivational emotions. It just isn’t possible to make a law that causes people to stop committing offenses of morality; laws do not reach into the human psyche like that. Laws of society have no effect whatsoever on how people feel, or act, and to think so is sheer folly. Yet, for centuries, people have tried to make laws to adjust behavior; I defy ANYONE to show ONE TIME in history in which it worked…. Go ahead, I’ll wait while you look….

I’m pretty confident you wont’ find any such examples…. I’m full of energy, having slept well last night for the first time in, literally, months. As a result, I think I could keep ranting on this for some time…. But, I know y’all have better things to do, so, I’ll sublimate the rest of my angst into an older rant, on a subject which highlights our subject today….

This country has attempted any number of times to abrogate the Second Amendment of the US Constitution; regulations already exist which have decreased its universality, placing restrictions on the process of obtaining and licensing (!!!) a gun…. The following rant was written in response to one writer’s suggestion for a change to the Bill of Rights, which he felt would be useful. This is my response….

From 9/19/2012:

A while back, I wrote a comment regarding another blog, concerning the proposal made in that blog of writing some new amendments to the Constitution. Most of the suggested amendments made good sense, as they removed most of the entitlements that Congress had awarded itself over the years. However, there was one suggested change with which I wholeheartedly disagree…. this is the response to that suggestion… the address of the original blog is included, in case you want to read it first…..  To wit:

In Response to a Proposed 35th Amendment:

From the blog site at:

http://lennemi.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/a-proposal-for-a-new-bill-of-rights/#comment-234

After reading the above blog, I posted the following comment:

Sir, or madam,

Excellent post, well reasoned and presented…. I have a few comments, if I may….

It has long been a delusion in human society that morality can be enforced, or induced at all, by legislation. This is, as proven time and time again throughout thousands of years of human history, an idea that is doomed to fail, every time it is attempted. That is not speculation, or guesswork. Look it up…..

Therefore it is my suggestion that you forget #35, in favor of the Second Amendment already in place in the Bill of Rights; this concept is based on a false assumption, and making a flat statement of what (YOU believe) my rights are, or should be, is not acceptable to me as a citizen of this republic, or as a human being responsible for my own actions .Bearing arms is not a privilege, nor will I, and most likely at least 150 million, or more, other people in this country, accept that idea for a moment, a fact that should be obvious to any one with practical understanding of reality.

I do not, nor will I ever believe that Federal, State, or Local jurisdiction have either the right, nor the authority to say differently, and I doubt seriously that there are very many in this country who do believe that. I reject utterly the statement that they, or you, or anyone else, has the right to decide for me what I will or will not own, or keep, or use in my defense. After guns, free speech would be the next to go….any bets?

That, my friends, is a fact of life, and of human nature. We only have those rights we can defend…. and, this is merely another doomed attempt to legislate morality into human nature. Violence exists. Period. Get used to it, because you are not going to remove it from people’s core nature, or from reality, any more than attempting to remove guns will stop crime, or killing, or the tendency toward violence that is part of the nature of Man. Better to understand the impulse, to work toward educating people in how to cope with that part of themselves constructively, rather than destructively…..

The rest of your amendments are perfectly in alignment with what I believe is needed to improve the conditions of inequality and elitism so prevalent in today’s society, and would likely receive my full support.

To be honest, up to recently, I never owned, or saw a need to own a gun. As one who has followed the Warrior’s Path since my early teens (and probably before; I was raised on army posts from birth to age 10), a long-time student of martial arts, and the theories of war, I learned how to deal with violence in many ways, with many techniques, a large number of which I had to apply in my work for years, physically controlling out-of-control psychotic mental patients, without hurting them, or getting hurt. I got pretty  good at it, especially in recognizing it before it manifested fully, and diverting it.  I am very familiar with violence, in a great many of its guises. So, I can generally deal with whatever physical violence may occur in my immediate vicinity.

Now, however, I’m not as fast as I once was, nor as well-conditioned; I’m better at foresight, though, it comes with age. Moreover, I can foresee a time when I could conceivably need the equalizing factor of a weapon like a gun, in order to live up to my standard of handling events without injury, as far as I can….. So, I’m probably going to buy one or two… because of that aging, and even more, because of insane (sorry, don’t mean to flame; but, it isn’t fully sane to attempt to change human nature) talk such as this, of watching society willingly slip on their slave collars… It is NOT going to happen in my little corner of the world….

If anyone, or anyone’s brother, or anyone else, tries to take away the Second Amendment rights I now have, well, I can only say, good luck with that….. and bring lots of friends… You’ll need them….

Oh, I’d also keep in mind…. Those folks like the police in Sanford, Florida who were complicit in covering up the murder there (of Trayvon Martin),  aren’t going to disarm themselves, now are they?…. How far will you trust them to behave with honor, and respect for YOUR rights? Get real…..and I don’t mean that disrespectfully, but in hope that you will open your eyes to what is plainly there to see….

Dont keep calm

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

Comedy_Tragedy

    Near the end of next month, I’m planning to return to Ireland, to spend some time exploring the country, and the culture…. One of my grandmothers was born there; the other was born in a small village in England. I intend to try to find both their birthplaces, to see where some of my own roots were originally planted…. To celebrate in advance, here is a poem I wrote back in my time of poverty, prior to securing my retirement the way it is now. It shows fairly well how I feel about the Emerald Isle….

Days and Nights of Eire

Comforting, a dream creeps oft into my mind
On the elven hills of Eire lives the vision I find.
Elegant, gracious, everlastingly draped in beauty
Just payment of simple homage lives as joyous duty.

Fairies and druids walk abroad in ghostly parade
Gracing each hearth with its own welcoming shade.
Castles and heroes yet live in tale and song
Proving love for the land in each heart strong.

From cold of winter into glorious young spring
Brown, and gray, to emerald green songs to sing
Soft rains always follow winter’s great tempest
Eire dons its emerald coat from east to west.

Old and strong, connections call out in dreams
Nothing that was known remains as it seems.
Immersion in ancient runes and battle hymns
Offering sanity in place of grievous whims.

Time and place can tell a much different tale
Judgment should never be a final sale.
Yet something solid and real calls me to go see
Where dreams of loving beauty may actually be….

~~ gigoid ~~


Written 11/3/2012.

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

pearls_3

    Today’s final old-school pearl is destined to be a classic. I was careful in creating it, to choose just the right quotes to fit the point(s) made, as well as the Apple configuration elements (the ‘look and feel’… Yes, it’s an ironic dig at Steve-O’s sense of entitlement…). I believe it may be one the finest examples of the genre I’ve ever put together. Every one of the quotes has a significant piece of advice or point about living with virtue; anyone who can make these a part of their life is bound to find peace within themselves, for together, what we have here is a road map to happiness, and freedom…

I might also add, I’d wager serious money all of these will be on the Final Quiz waiting for us at the door to the next world, so, paying attention could make all the difference in where we end up…. Think about it….

“You’re only dancing on this Earth for a short time
And though you want to last forever,
You know you never will.
And the good-bye makes the journey harder still.”

~~ Cat Sevens ~~


Love is not something you have; it is something you do. — Limon

“Who then is free?  The wise man who can command himself.” — Horace

“What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to.” — Bob Dylan

“Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.” — Anne Herbert, Co-Evolution Quarterly, 1983

“Cultivate only the habits that you are willing should master you.” — Elbert Hubbard

“Be not unwilling in what thou doest, neither selfish nor unadvised nor obstinate; let not over-refinement deck out thy thought; be not wordy nor a busybody.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, iii, 5

“Our life is short, but to expand that span to vast eternity is virtue’s work.” — Shakespeare

“I expect to pass through this life but once. If, therefore, there be any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.” — William Penn

“Don’t try to have the last word. You might get it.” — Lazarus Long

Do not stand by my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am a diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle Autumn rain.
When you awake in the morning hush.
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star-shine at night.
Do not stand by my grave and cry.
I am not there… I did not die.

~~ Prayer of the Makah Indians ~~


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

It’s probably not smart to think what happened today will ever happen again, but, we can hope. This one came together like billy-oh, as they used to say, which, no doubt, is directly attributable to the massive sleep I from which I arose a while ago. Still, it’s nice to have it work the way it is designed to work. In fact, I think it would be wise to take the money, which is never anywhere to be found, and run for the border….. and, no, I’m not going to Taco Bell. Haven’t subjected myself to that in years….

See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes. That’s both a promise, and. a threat….. We only threaten misguided concepts, so, not to worry, right? Right. See ya…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Murky intentions, at best….

Ffolkes,

“Time, whose tooth gnaws away everything else, is powerless against truth.”

~~ Thomas Huxley ~~

zhenyuanlong-suni

Zhenyuanlong-suni

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jul/16/zhenyuanlong-suni-biggest-ever-winged-dinosaur-discovered-china


Good morning…. A phrase, I might point out, which is currently a bald-faced lie…. It’s now a bit after 2 AM; I’ve been up for almost an hour and a half, dealing with twitching, pain, and massive fatigue. I’m not going to whine about it; it’s just the way it is. I’m also not going to pretend I’m happy about it; to do so would probably jam the top on so tight, the resultant explosion would take out the nearest three houses…. That, or, I’d be compelled to become a serial killer, just to keep from going insane…

On that note, which I won’t even attempt to justify, or explain, we’ll get on with this mess, before I toss my laptop out the window at the yowling cats….

Shall we Pearl?….

“The price of liberty is, always has been, and always will be blood: the person who is not willing to die for his liberty has already lost it to the first scoundrel who is willing to risk dying to violate that person’s liberty. Are you free?” — Andrew Ford

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

BigAjzLgT (2)

    Here’s a cool find…. Jeremy Brett as Sherlock, in a full-length movie which served as the pilot for Season 1 of the show on BBC…. I haven’t watched it yet, but, if the episodes I’ve seen are any indication, it’s a good one…. Enjoy, ffolkes, I certainly intend to do so….


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

The Master Blackmailer

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

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

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


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

Dont keep calm

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. ”

~~ Smart Bee ~~


Soon after birth, it becomes readily apparent to anyone with the slightest wit, and the courage to SEE, these ‘rights’ are proved to be a lie; often, they are proved wrong by our own parents, who provide us with our first example of how to be a human…. By the time most people are adults, their minds have been so thoroughly programmed into mental slavery, they are completely convinced giving up both their dignity, and their rights, is perfectly acceptable, happily allowing them to be taken away, right before their blind eyes….

This process has to do with a little known corollary, which completes the incomplete statement outlined in the above semi-truth, the gist of which goes like this:

“In all other ways, not so much…. Equality between people does not extend to ability, intelligence, strength of spirit/mind, imagination, humor, or other basic tools we possess which make us uniquely human.”

In short, there are other qualities, of the mind, and spirit, which will determine what path a person takes in life, whether it be toward the abject mental slavery so commonly held to be the Norm, or to independence of mind and spirit. Far too few people, from what I can see, ever break free of their invisible slave collars, to enjoy life as a free human; this is, perhaps, part of why we are in such deep shit, for never having reached our true potential as humans….

I’m fully aware the average intelligence of humanity is decreasing; it’s a mathematical certainty, the proof of which I won’t go into just now. Take my word for it, it’s true, and it’s inevitable… What I find hard to accept, or believe, is just HOW stupid people seem to be getting…. It’s amazing how little today’s average American is willing to do to even secure the most basic of their liberties; they have watched, passively blinking in confusion, as the entire Bill of Rights has been decimated by the oligarchy, who no longer are bothering to hide their avarice and insane ambition to control EVERYTHING AND EVERYBODY….

Having ranted on this subject any number of times over the past four years, and considering my mental state, (very close to a case of rage that would demand action… of some sort…), I’m going to stop ranting here, to sublimate the rest of my angst into an old-school pearl, with a series of comments which show some of the ways society has been manipulated; most of them represent or describe a failure of virtue on the part of the American people at large….

“The truth of a proposition has nothing to do with its credibility. And vice versa.” — Lazarus Long

“Faith does not offer the least support for proof of truth.” — Nietzsche

“It was not for nothing that the raven was just now croaking on my left hand.” — Plautus (254-184 BC) — Aulularia, Act iv, Sc. 3, 1, (624.)

“The dread of evil is a much more forcible principle of human actions than the prospect of good.” — John Locke

“It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” — Noel Coward

“If it weren’t for lawyers, I think we could have invented a universal symbolic representation of reality.” — Smart Bee

“If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living.” — Seneca, Epistles

“If a Nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be … If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.” — Thomas Jefferson

Mourn not the dead…
But rather mourn the apathetic throng —
The cowed and meek
Who see the world’s great anguish and its wrong,
And dare not speak.

~~ Ralph Chaplin (1887-1961) ~~


On a final note, it seems to me, all these oligarchs, and their willing servants of evil, the pundits, dogma dogs, myrmidons, & snakeheads, as mean as they are, seem to forget a very basic rule about humans, and their capacity for violence…. They keep taking, and taking, and taking, and eventually, they will have taken it all…. When that happens, we will see the results of this well-known, (apparently, to all but them), absolutely irrefutable truism:

“Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose.”

~~ Baltasar Gracian ~~


Eventually, they will reap what they have sown. Be sure of it…..

    So be it.

    gigoid has spoken….


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

Comedy_Tragedy

    Now, this is serendipity, ffolkes. While looking for a poem for today, I came across this one. It was written EXACTLY one year ago today. It even goes along with the ranting section, perfectly. Who am I to fly in the face of serendipity?….

A Few Words of Note

In place of ranting and raving about assholes every day
maybe I’ll try something more fun.
Rather than throwing words at all the assholes on public pay
I’ll switch to shooting at them, with a gun….

Should I actually hit one, purely by mistake,
maybe it would wake them up.
Maybe, if they had to think, or actually cut us a break,
we’d see a chance to win at life, to take a step up.

Our nation, such as it is today, was founded by men who told the truth;
that morality disappeared long ago.
Simple ethical strength so bright, so prevalent in our country’s youth
was soon corrupted, corporate interests now run the show.

Nothing would please me more than to fire off some rounds,
if only to gain their attention.
But, I can no longer run, I’ve gained too many pounds;
so, my keyboard and intellect must serve to fulfill my intention.

I won’t stop, of that you may be sure
I love my freedoms, and the philosophy from which it springs.
Tom, and Ben, and John, and Pat, those patriots pure
gave me their example, and the inner peace it brings.

If bullets won’t persuade our elected liars to toe the ethical line,
I’ll throw my most powerful words…..
If nothing else, it will make them wriggle to escape, or voice their pitiful whine,
thus exposing themselves for what they are…. plain and simple turds.

~~ gigoid ~~


Written 7/19/2014.

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

August 7 2014 003

    Today’s final old school pearl is a quiet one…. In it’s own serene way, it presents some of the ideas that can make life more pleasant, for us, and for everyone around us…. And, no, I have no idea why I chose the picture; it just seemed to fit…

“The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.” — Socrates (470?-399 B.C.)

“Rules make the learner’s path long, examples make it short and successful.” — Seneca

“Devils can be driven out of the heart by the touch of a hand on a hand, or a mouth on a mouth.” — Tennessee Williams

“All things that are born must die. Work hard for your own freedom from sorrow.” — Buddha

“A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

“Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.” — Aesop

“The most important questions in life can never be answered by anyone except oneself.” — John Fowles, The Magus

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

Though not unprecedented, especially of late, it’s a bit unusual to be finished at 0300…. I think it came out alright, but, one should remember my state of mind while considering the relative accuracy of that assessment; in short, take it with a large grain or three of salt…. Or, you could just call it what I do, and be a bit dubious about it…. Either way, it’s done, and I’m outta here. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should I fail to come to my senses…. Again….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


Did somebody mention caramel sauce?….

Ffolkes,

“There is no cure for birth and death other than to enjoy the interval.”

~~ George Santayana ~~

10-8-2014 014 (2)

Colony of wild pine cones in the Big Blue Room…


Good morning…. Having slept reasonably well, thanks to the application of massive amounts of illegal and legal drugs at the appropriate time, I find myself in an unusual position…. I’m awake, not too tired, and still haven’t a single clue as to what to write about…. Hence. this little opening bit of fluff, discussing that very lack of inspiration. It may not be compelling, but, it takes up space, right?

Ah, the hell with it…. I’m thinking it might be best to accept things as they are, and just get on with it, letting Nature take its course…. Of course, last time we tried that, we had to buy a new plane…. But, hey, what’s a few thousand bucks between friends, right? In any case, it seems to promise much more maneuverability than any other method available in this state. Besides, it’s what laying on the top of the drawer.

Shall we Pearl?….

“I would rather suffer defeat than have cause to be ashamed of victory.” — Quintus Curtius

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

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

    Today’s video selection is a playlist of classical guitar music, picked out simply to match our standard logo…. Enjoy!….

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

Classical Guitar

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

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

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


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


Dont keep calm

“Today, if you are not confused, you are just not thinking clearly.”

~~ U. Peter ~~


One of my blogging friends mentioned the lack of fresh rants of late, which led me to wonder if I’d lost my angst somewhere… It’s true I haven’t felt the urge quite so often, yet, it’s no less compelling when it strikes…. I’m thinking there’s some stuff in there percolating, which will break out when it’s ready…. For rant material, it’s important to let it ferment to the proper degree of volatility; any resulting explosions are much more satisfying when the time is taken….

That means, however. I don’t have anything worth ranting about today… Oh, the quote is quite sufficient, I’m sure; I could do any number of numbers on that vague statement. But, I think I’ll cheat again, and let the rest sit a while longer, until it REALLY stinks…. Here’s one from the archives…. Don’t worry, I picked one that isn’t too long…. Enjoy!….

From 12/2/2012:

“I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics but for our contributions to the human spirit.” — former US President John F. Kennedy

At last! A worthy pearl! JFK, like the current President, was a superb public speaker, “Ich bin ein Berliner” notwithstanding, and whether he wrote his own words, or relied on his speech writers, he delivered, arguably, some of the most memorable, and insightful, aphorisms in US political and social history. The above statement is a perfect example, as he expresses a sentiment that can only be applauded, if not verified. I say verified because  there is not a lot of verification from the past that history remembers anything BUT the battles. But, one can hope….

Actually, I believe what Jack said very strongly, in the sense that there are different histories that are remembered, most of which become altered in some way over time, as does all memory. The great teachers and philosophers who have lived have left their mark on the world in more ways than always show, in spite of the records of their deeds not always surviving intact. But, throughout history, there have been men, and women, who have done much to advance the human condition, whose words and deeds were never seen, and never recorded, but, nonetheless. whose effects still ripple down the river of time.

Some of the great minds in history, such as Lao Tzu, Zoroaster, Genghis Khan, Gautama Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth, Mohammed, Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, and many others, all made such advances in the human spirit, and their ideas keep proving their worth every day by their relativity to modern society. Men like Leonardo da Vinci, whose genius was so bright it shines even today, and modern philosopher/scientists such as Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking, have advanced that human spirit as much as anyone.

I’m not being as eloquent as I’d wish for such a deep subject…. What I’m trying to get to here is that we all, each and every one of us, have the power and opportunity to do the same as these historical figures, to advance the human spirit, just by the way we live our lives. What the philosophers say, and write, and the wisdom they pass on, is all very good, and a lesson to the rest of us…. But, what the average person does every day in their lives is just as important to the future as any scientific breakthrough, because what they do will determine what their children learn, and THAT is where the advancement really takes place, in the moments of teaching that happens every moment for children, and their adult teachers.

Living a life of integrity, with honesty and duty as the watchwords for action, is the best teaching method there is; to provide a good example for a child holds no less promise for mankind than all the work of all the genius’ of all time. How each one of us approaches life will, in the end, determine what happens to our species as a whole. It isn’t easy, especially given all of the people in society who do NOT wish to have any part of advancing anything but their own interests…. and especially when so many of those kinds of people are in positions of authority. But, it can be done, and is done, every day, by millions of men and women of good spirit…. They are truly the future of mankind, and, if there is any hope for survival, it lies in their honest hands….

“So live that you can look any man in the eye and tell him to go to hell.” — Smart Bee

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

Comedy_Tragedy

    It’s an Emily Day; no explanations offered, or needed….

The duties of the Wind are few,
To cast the ships, at Sea,
Establish March, the Floods escort,
And usher Liberty.

The pleasures of the Wind are broad,
To dwell Extent among,
Remain, or wander,
Speculate, or Forests entertain.

The kinsmen of the Wind are Peaks
Azof – the Equinox,
Also with Bird and Asteroid
A bowing intercourse.

The limitations of the Wind
Do he exist, or die,
Too wise he seems for Wakelessness,
However, know not i.

~~ Emily Dickenson ~~


Here’s a little bonus round, a blast from the past, created 7/2/2012:

Pearls are…

Long, deep thoughts always
bring truth to the eyes of man,
and light into dark.

~~ gigoid ~~


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

ankh

    Our final pearl today is a bit esoteric; don’t worry, though, it’s all stuff you’ve seen before, and should fit right into the proper slot in your mind…. Of course, you will need one to get the point. You’ve got one, right? A mind?…. Well, then, use it…. Sheesh! Do I have to do everything?….

“It is in the shelter of each other that people live.”

~~ Irish proverb ~~


“There is only one blasphemy, and that is the refusal to experience joy.” — Paul Rudnick

“With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil – that takes religion.” — Steven Weinberg

“Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace. The soul that knows it not, knows no release from little things; knows not the livid loneliness of fear.” — Amelia Earhart

“The character of human life, like the character of the human condition, like the character of all life, is “ambiguity”: the inseparable mixture of good and evil, the true and false, the creative and destructive forces — both individual and social.” — Paul Tillich

“I bid him look into the lives of men as though into a mirror, and from others to take an example for himself.” — Terence — Adelphoe, Act iii, Sc. 3, 61, (415.)

My life is light, waiting for the death wind,

Like a feather on the back of my hand.

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~


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

To comment at all on today’s Pearl would, I think, be a mistake. Instead, I’m going to just post it, and be done with it for the day…. I’ll be back tomorrow, ffolkes; I don’t seem to be able to come up with any good reasons not to do so….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Oh, swell. Oatmeal fritters again….

Ffolkes,

How he lies in his rights of a man!
Death has done all death can.
And absorbed in the new life he leads,
He recks not, he heeds
Nor his wrong nor my vengeance; both strike
On his senses alike,
And are lost in the solemn and strange
Surprise of the change.

~~ Robert Browning ~~

~~ After ~~

Space_Station_Crosses_Moons_Face-Dylan ODonnell

International Space Station crossing the Moon’s face

Image by amateur astronomer Dylan O’Donnell


Good morning, I suppose…. could have fooled me. But, then, 3 AM isn’t my favorite time of day, even if being awake is more comfortable than being asleep just now….

In thinking that over, it’s just sad. Having to claim a preference for being up, twitchy and sleepy, with aggravated pain in several spots, rather than being in bed, twitching, WISHING to be able to fall back asleep…. well, it’s just sad, because neither one is anything I can claim to enjoy, or even want to tolerate….

Yesterday was a wash, mostly, as has most of the past two weeks, in some ways. Others, not so bad. Not enough to bring balance, but, not as bad as it might have been, had I still been carrying around that extra 60 lbs. I’ve lost. And, now I’ve bored y’all to the brink of madness, detailing my own sad issues with the aging process, I think we can call this an intro, and get on with the rest of this mess…. It’s bound to be a bit of a cheat, but, it can’t be helped…..

Besides, at this point, I really don’t give a shit….

Shall we Pearl?….

“From the errors of others a wise man corrects his own.” — Publius Syrus

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

15112676-wolfgang-amadeus-mozart-1756-1791-on-engraving-from-1908-one-of-the-most-significant-and-influential

    To bring balance to my world, nothing works like the music of this man. In fact, his music is not only proven to lift spirits, it has been scientifically proven that listening to his music can increase one’s intelligence, at least for the time it is being enjoyed. People who hear his music score better on tests, consistently, than those who have no music, or listen to any other type… I believe it, especially considering how it can make one feel when one is in the dumps…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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

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

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


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

Dont keep calm

    I had originally intended to rant today, using a rather fine entry from the Devil’s Dictionary as a base. However, due to circumstances completely within my control, I decided to use one from the archives, simply because I’m feeling particularly lazy today. Go figure, right?…. Ah well, soon, I’ll have enough angst built up to bleed out some fresh rants; until then, the archives are full of stuff, all of which is still relevant, sadly….

From 4/4/2014:

When I read the following articles in yesterday’s news, about the government’s abortive attempt to destabilize Cuba using a social networking platform they built, I fully intended to rant about it, as it clearly indicates the administration’s continued demonstration of their contempt and disregard for the American citizen’s right to privacy, as well as the complete debunking of our civil rights as outlined in the Bill of Rights…. It pisses me off royally, especially now that the White House is trying to defend its clandestine activities with more lies, even when confronted about them…. How can anyone think they can explain a lie with another lie?….

I am SO angry about this one, I can’t rant right now…. I’m going to have to let this percolate for a while, to organize my thoughts on the matter; right now it would come out as a threat of violence, which I won’t be ready to carry out for another little while…. Instead, I’ll again use an old-school pearl to vent what I’m feeling, and take some shots at the pundits who are making me crazy with their asinine contortions in the public arena over this spying issue….

It all makes me want to buy a gun; moreover, it makes me want to use it….. Instead, following the links, are a group of pearls, with the specific purpose of making me feel better, by striking out at the fucking assholes who keep showing how much they hate Americans…. even though we keep electing them…. I suppose it’s natural for bullies to disrespect their victims, isn’t it?….

“The reasons which any man offers to you for his own conduct betray his opinion of your character.” — Sir Arthur Helps

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/US-secretly-built-Cuban-Twitter-to-stir-unrest-5372422.php

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/White-House-defends-Cuban-Twitter-to-stir-unrest-5374712.php?cmpid=hp-hc-nationworld

How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds

Make deeds ill done!

 ~~ William Shakespeare, King John — Act iv, Sc. 2 ~~


“An hour’s perusal of our national charter makes it hard to understand what the argle-bargle is about. The First Amendment forbids infringements of the freedom of speech “except for commercials on children’s television” or “unless somebody says ‘****’ in a rap song or ‘chick’ on a college campus.” The Second Amendment states that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” period. There is no mention of magazine size, rate of fire, or to what extent those arms may resemble assault rifles.” — P. J. O’Rourke

“The fact that Hitler was a political genius unmasks the nature of politics in general as no other can.” — Wilhelm Reich

“All lawyers should be shot.” — William Shakespeare

(Policy note: Did you ever wonder why so many politicians were lawyers first? I did, but, then, I went, “Oh, right…. Follow the money.”)

BOUNDARY, n.  In political geography, an imaginary line between two nations, separating the imaginary rights of one from the imaginary rights of the other. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“If it weren’t for lawyers, I think we could have invented a universal symbolic representation of reality.” — Smart Bee

“It’s the RINSE CYCLE!!  They’ve ALL IGNORED the RINSE CYCLE!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Okay, I feel better….. Now, if only we can get them to rinse!….

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

Comedy_Tragedy

Penance, Made Simple

After all the dross is sent away
a celebration can begin,
time will face up to space, to stay
willing, to shine from within.

Anger and confusion come in to share
brushing reason aside,
eager to welcome all that is fair,
alert to danger, eyes wide.

Re-gift the wicked with their own pain
stand with the just;
fail to partake of the ill-gotten gain,
living in honor, the only must.

Standing fast in the face of wrong
is its own prize and reward.
Holding on to truth makes us strong,
well worth working toward.

Little is left to chance by fate
our lessons are never free of cost.
Seldom does reality make us wait
only when alone, are we lost.

~~ gigoid ~~


Written 10/23/2012.

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

ankh

    Smart Bee continues to give me fits when I ask it to provide some appropriate pearls for this section; today’s group took six distinct episodes to gather a sufficient number to make the point….. which wasn’t all that deep a hole to dig. But, it’s done, so, we’ll take it, and run…. Enjoy ffolkes, this one has some good advice on how to approach life with some style….

Do not stop to ask what is it;

let us go and make our visit.

~~ T. S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock ~~


“Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.” — Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

“Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids.” — Aristotle

25. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer. — Instructions for life

“Let him that would move the world, first move himself.” — Socrates (B.C. 469-399)

“If you get confused, listen to the music play.” — Robert Hunter

“Do not confuse ‘duty’ with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.” — Lazarus Long

“Don’t take anything seriously except happiness.” — Albert Camus

Because right is right, to follow right

Were wisdom in the scorn of consequence.

~~ Alfred Tennyson, “Oenone” ~~


See? Easy money….

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

Well…. I can’t say we got down to the bone, but, I do think that bled out very nicely, don’t you? Such a pretty pattern develops as the bright, red blood seeps into the pale grey carpet (nobody ever accused my landlord of good taste….), as the now oxygenated blood mixes with the dirt and tiny livestock inhabiting the depths of the rug…. Lovely!

Okay, sorry…. You’ll find barf-bags in the seat back in front of you…. Oh, wait, we’re out of barf bags…. Ah, well, maybe next trip…. Feel free to use the showers on the way out today…. For sure, though, I’ll see y’all tomorrow, with a full complement of brand new barf bags….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

“Daft!”, he cried. “They’ve all gone daft!”

Ffolkes,

“Sic Biscuitus Disintegrat.”

~~ Adrian Ogden ~~

ukg apotw 1

Spring in England

Image from UK Guardian Animal Pictures of the Week (See the cows on the farm?)


Good morning…. Let’s have a small Quiz, shall we? No worries, there won’t be a grade, or a prize, just self-satisfaction, or, stimulation, to take the opportunity to learn…. even if it is only something about yourself, and how you react to quizzes…

If you understand the opening quote today, above the picture, and wish to participate, say so in  the comment section… Caution! Don’t give your translation, if you know, so others have the same opportunity, without being tempted to, well, cheat. If you do cheat, just say so; for example, if you used your handy-dandy translation software (What? You don’t have any? Well, go get some; it’s invaluable if you wish to see what folks in other countries have to say, without sounding dumb by asking…), say so. It’s not a shameful act; at least you were curious enough to look….

If you don’t know, well, that’s okay, too. Unless taken in school, there aren’t a lot of places these days where one can pick it up….

I was lucky to be able to figure it out; the Latin phrase you see is close enough to Spanish, (which I’ve spoken since my youth…), and Italian, (which is quite similar to Spanish), to figure it out by context and deduction… It’s a great little aphorism, chock full of traditional homespun wisdom….

But, then, maybe it’s just me who gets excited over stuff like that…. Oh ,well, it filled up the intro section, didn’t it? Yep….

Shall we Pearl?

“Frivolity is important. Frivolity is the species refusal to suffer.” — John Lahr

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

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

    Today, we’ll just take it easy, a bit of a break with some classical music…. Enjoy!


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

Classical Break

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

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

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


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

Glasgow-Greenock Port 041

    I’m in a place today where ranting would be impossible…. So, here’s an old one…

First posted in the first half of 2102:

“I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.” — Sir Winston Churchill

“….for DEATH awaits you all, with nasty sharp  pointy teeth!” — Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Death. The great equalizer. Nobody gets away from it. As a matter of fact, it has been proven, beyond a shadow of doubt, that everyone who breathes air, dies. So, air must not be good for us, right? That’s logic…. Of course it’s logical. It is also, however, not true, and serves as an example of the fact that logic doesn’t always lead to the correct answer to any particular question…. sometimes you gotta just go by what is real….

I like the first quote, by Winnie C., the PM…. When my turn to find out what happens after we die comes around, should the Christian viewpoint turn out to have been true, I would prefer to meet my maker with this same attitude. To my way of thinking, if it (Christianity) IS true, then God has a lot to answer for…… Seriously…. I’m sorry, but I just can’t believe in any deity who would allow his creation to show such perversions as this species has shown. Whenever I bring this point up to a priest, or theologian of any sort, all I get is “God works in mysterious ways….”

Yeah? Is that right? You say there is some hidden purpose to those actions we don’t understand? Well, fuck God then, because he’s acting like an asshole. I don’t care a whit if there is some hidden purpose; there is NO ACCEPTABLE REASON to suppose that a merciful God would condone child molesters, or rapists, or torture, (even during war). I don’t believe it; it is neither logical, nor rational…. Most importantly, it isn’t reasonable….

Claiming that God is beyond our understanding, and therefore we cannot understand his reasons for allowing such actions, is pure bullshit. If he is that far above us, why are his morals so perverted? I don’t care what you say, I won’t accept the rape of a child as being justifiable from ANY standpoint. None. And if God does have some justification, well, I ain’t buying it. No matter what it is, it isn’t right…. And going along with it, believing the lie, is just another cowardly way of avoiding responsibility….

Men are responsible for these actions, not God. Men kill, and rape, and pillage, and manipulate and coerce their fellows into performing acts of heinous nature. Numerous times in our bloody past, this killing has taken place in the name of God, as the fanatical zealots so common to Christianity, throughout its vicious history, carried their own particular brand of oppression to new lands, forcing the natives to swallow their version of reality, regardless of how they felt about it.

This blind, unreasoning zealotry continues today, with the current Republican candidate all set to bring the US right back into the Stone Age, should he. through some cruel quirk of fate, be elected as POTUS. If that happens, I’m pretty sure Armageddon will be close behind, as I don’t think the rest of the world is going to sit still long enough for him to cram his own faith down their throats.  Hell, right here at home, should he be elected, I’d be surprised if there isn’t a revolutionary upheaval within a few months of the election. I know I would certainly be considering assassination as a viable political tool…. It is now legal for us to use torture as a resource, why should we balk at assassination?

Ah me…. I guess I got too much sleep. It seems to have awakened my old hippie instincts; I haven’t talked revolution in oh, six or eight months now…. I suppose I’ll just have to wait until November, to see which way to jump…. Let’s hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. That’s always the best policy…. for survival, anyway….  and that may become our primary goal, if things keep on keepin’ on….

“It is hard to free fools from the chains they revere.” — Voltaire

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

Comedy_Tragedy

Random Exposure

If I only knew what I was doing here,
I could give others a clue.
Reality gets stranger every year,
and I’m not sure what I should do.

Singing happy old tunes, in an old, gravely voice,
gives me a lot of pleasure.
I’m only glad I can still make a choice,
to look at life, to take its measure.

Memorable moments keep passing by
gilded, framed in precious emotion.
I never have to ask anyone why,
no need for a stronger potion.

Everything in life is clear, to me
there is no doubt, no misunderstanding.
We’re all good, as you can see,
members of Life, in good standing.

Life can be hard, or it can be great fun;
the right path is there for each of us to take.
That choice is often a difficult one;
pay close attention to the choice you make.

~~ gigoid ~~


Written 4/22/2013

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

socrates

    We begin today’s final old-school pearl with Socrates; hence, the picture. The point of the pearl is also one Socrates might have explored in his school, back in the day, in ancient Macedonia…. We finish with a very cogent, powerful statement from one of our greatest artists, who has obviously not limited herself to understanding just music in her life, but, has used her connection to increase her knowledge of Life at Large…. This  is all stuff that will definitely be on the Final Quiz…..

“The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” — Socrates

“It takes a wise man to recognize a wise man.” — Xenophanes

“Before honour is humility.” — Smart Bee

“It is better to be defeated on principle than to win on lies.” — Arthur Calwell

“As great scientists have said and as all children know, it is above all by the imagination that we achieve perception, and compassion, and hope.” — Ursula K. LeGuin

“To a reasonable creature, that alone is insupportable which is unreasonable; but everything reasonable may be supported.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap. ii

“Age ain’t nothin’ but a number. But age is other things too. It is wisdom, if one has lived one’s life properly. It is experience and knowledge. And it is getting to know all the ways the world turns, so that if you cannot turn the world the way you want, you can at least get out of the way so you won’t get run over.” — Miriam Makeba

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

Hmm…. Today’s was the first Pearl put together on the road, a day late & probably more than a dollar short…. But, here ’tis, so, we’ll all deal, eventually…. For now, this is what you get, and I will be back tomorrow, at a reasonable (for me) hour…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Using kosher kibbles as ballast….

Ffolkes,

“Rub her feet.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

ukg apotw 3

I’m hungry, mama!

Image of Wild Love from UK Guardian Animal Pictures of the Week


Good morn…. ah, hell. Who am I trying to kid? It isn’t anywhere within shouting distance of morning; I don’t believe calling 1:17 AM morning quite fits the bill, do you? Oh, technically, I suppose it is morning, but, approximately five hours before sunrise isn’t exactly what most would say is their customary time for beginning the day; would you?

I guess five hours sleep will have to do…. Rather than complain about it, though, let’s just get on with what we have to do, thus showing a bit of courage, or, at least, common sense. It doesn’t happen all that often around here, so, we’ll take advantage of the impulse while we may….

Shall we Pearl?

“It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” — Noel Coward

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


alison-balsom-1379411777-view-0
Alison Balsom

Image from classicfm.com via Google Images


There is something about the sound of a trumpet that burrows straight into the human soul, to lift it up from its mundane existence into higher realms of spirit. Other instruments, in the same way, can also achieve this connection, but, there is good reason the Archangel Michael will blow the Last Trump with the same kind of instrument as employed with such brilliance by Ms. Balsom…. It hasn’t hurt her career to be gorgeous, but, like many of the fans of her music, my fondness for her talent was established before I ever saw what she looked like…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this music will definitely give you goose bumps….


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

Alison Balsom

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

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

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


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

Dont keep calm

“The militia of these free commonwealths, entitled and accustomed to their arms, when compared with any possible army, must be _tremendous and irresistible_. Who are the militia? _are they not ourselves_. Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms _each man against his own bosom_. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are _the birth-right of an American_…the unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the _federal or state governments_, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, _in the hands of the people_.” — Tench Coxe 20 Feb. 1788

It’s funny…. funny odd, not funny, ha ha….. I wrote the following rant in 2012, after one of the spate of school shootings that took place that year. It’s funny how the mainstream media constantly plays up such incidents as the worst tragedies our nation faces, always prompting a huge outcry amongst the more manipulable amongst the public, demanding the government do SOMETHING to stop the violence…. Yet, nobody ever mentions all the research that has shown the shootings can only be the natural result of the overcrowding of the planet we humans are pursuing, in our mad rush to extinction at our own hands….

It’s also funny, halfway between odd and ha ha, I can still use this rant without changing a single word, unless I now know better than to use it. Everything I said in this is still true, and relevant to the situation in our society…. Go figure…. Any who, it’s a subject I believe in strongly, which is why my opinion hasn’t altered a whit in three years….

Last posted2/14/2013; first written in 2012:

The issue of gun control is currently a HOT BUTTON issue for a lot of people in this country…. At least, it is for those who enjoy over-reacting to all the violence reported in the news….. They seem to forget that there are now over 7 billion people on this planet, with more crowding on every second, and the increased violence we are seeing is a natural result of overpopulation combined with stupidity, both of which exist in ample supply in our society…. The following is a piece I wrote not long after one of the school shootings in 2012, which, to my mind, pretty well summarizes my objections to the foolish and unwarranted fear that has prompted the idiotic notion of repealing the Second Amendment altogether…. Here is my response to that notion..

“Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence…  From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to ensure peace, security, and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable….  The very atmosphere of firearms every- where restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.” — George Washington (bogus?)(who cares? I don’t, it doesn’t make it any less true if it was said by someone else…..)

I constantly hear people these days spouting off about gun control, practically screaming how guns should be outlawed. This is a viewpoint that I have never understood, because it makes a totally unwarranted assumption (more than one actually, but one that is most important….), i.e., guns cause violent behavior; it goes on to insist if people couldn’t legally own them, violence would stop. This is naive, and unreasonable, given there is absolutely no evidence to support such a contention. There is no evidence whatsoever violence is NOT part of human nature; this is a psychological FACT, not subject to debate. People have violent tendencies, and violence is the primary response of a great many people who have never learned how to use their reason to control their emotions.

Though I’ve never owned or carried a gun, I am a firm believer in the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, in its most literal sense. Without the right to bear arms in our own defense, we, as citizens, would be at the mercy of whomever was in office at the time, with no recourse at all to any redress of grievance against those officials, since they could not be forced to comply with law. I do NOT trust any elected official to act in MY best interests; human nature also decrees that they will act in their OWN interests first, with no compulsion to even consider anything else. Making it law only police and government lackeys could legally be armed is a sure way to guarantee the average citizen would be at the mercy of these so-called leaders, mercy being a quality they have never, heretofore, demonstrated in any fashion.

As I said, I don’t own or carry guns….. yet. I’ve trained myself to be dangerous without the use of them; I feel no fear I cannot deal with an armed man to my benefit; this is simply because it is the person holding the gun that is the danger, not the gun itself. Speed, power, and accuracy are the key elements to controlling a violent situation, along with forethought, preparation, and the ability to keep a clear mind when under duress. When a person is holding a gun, they feel ten feet tall and invincible, but they remain human, and humans can be controlled with superior strategy and tactics. It does no good to hold a gun, when the target won’t sit still, or even remain visible….. and in these cases, that sense of imperviousness becomes a liability to the gun-wielder.

However, most Americans do not have this sort of skill set, nor the state of mind that makes it work. In the hands of a skilled warrior, a gun becomes a dangerous weapon indeed, for it will be used to achieve the warrior’s goals, as any weapon would, and not employed to merely bully others into doing what is desired, which is the usual use of these kinds of weapons in the hands of the ignorant and deceitful. Politicians, by the very nature of their sociopathy, do get rather deceitful in the pursuit of their self-centered ends. The desire to be in public office, to me, is a sure sign of a sick mind, as a healthy one has no need to assume power over others, being content to be in control of themselves.

At this point in the narrative, I got a bit sarcastic, caustically so, directed at those shrill advocates of this kind of legal oppression, laws that attempt to legislate morality,  so I’ve stopped it here to avoid offending anyone unduly. (Hah!) I agree with the need to tighten the regulations regarding assault weapons, but not as far as is wanted by the fear-mongers. I also think it is a good idea to keep guns out of the hands of children, and people who have demonstrated the lack of emotional control needed by a free citizen of this country, to own and use a gun appropriately, i.e. the mentally ill, who are characterized by a lack of impulse control…. Not a good characteristic for someone with a gun in their hands….

But, once again, I must caution people to examine any laws that do get passed closely, for going farther than the minimum necessary, which people in charge have a tendency to do, to slip stuff by the public…. I’ll try to wake up your precautionary instincts by asking this….. If the insane are not to be allowed full rights as a citizen, who is it that gets to decide who is insane?  The same issues of trust are present, or absent, in that idea, as in the assumption that the Beloved Ruling Class will act in our best interests….. They can ONLY be trusted to act in their own interests, first, and we all would do well to keep that in mind…..

“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.”

~~ Bob Dylan ~~


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

Comedy_Tragedy

    Just because I can….

Random Visions/Coloring Between the Lines of Grief

Everywhere is dark, and shining,
    with points in dissonant pain.
Sharp, senses dull past divining,
   tears burn, a torrential rain.

Escape! Flee within to cower,
    find an unconscious cave.
Call on Morpheus’ power
    deny reality’s beckoning wave.

Light breaks, drawing the inner eye,
    leading to the slippery slope.
Risk is critical, we may only sigh,
   yet welcome, for bringing hope.

Sanity seems far out of reach
    Insanity’s a stronger friend.
Decisions made will merely teach
    our way toward Death to wend.

Lost, while still on familiar ground,
    the future yet undesigned.
Making way on paths unfound,
    to Now, as yet undefined.

~~ gigoid ~~


Written 2/22/2013

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

lao

    Inner strength. Learning & Teaching. Kindness. Change. Honor. Happiness. Friendship. Virtue. Life. Death. Humor. Pride…. Any pearl that includes a word on each of these, if that word is anywhere near the truth (of the included pearls, ALL of them ARE truth…. I checked, according to every known test of logic, and experience….),…. well, let’s just say I don’t think we can go wrong…. What do you think?…. Well, okay, then, if you insist, you don’t have to…. But, I’m betting if you pay attention, it will work out better than just passing it over…. Wow, did we just make another metaphor for living? I guess so…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

“Once, I read that a man be never stronger than when he truly realizes how weak he is.” — Jim Starlin, “Captain Marvel #31”

“No one can teach on an empty spirit.” — William Perky

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can read.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

“It is not necessary that whilst I live I live happily; but it is necessary that so long as I live I should live honourably.” — Immanuel Kant

“Friendship should be more than biting time can sever.” — T. S. Eliot

“The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” — Socrates

“I had a hunch something like this would happen.” — Written on grave

Ode to an Indispensable Man

Sometime, when you’re feeling important,
Sometime, when your ego’s in bloom,
Sometime, when you take it for granted
You’re the best qualified in the room;
Sometime when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow this simple instruction
And see how it humbles your soul.
Take a bucket and fill it with water;
Put your hand in it, up to the wrist.
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining
Is the measure of how you’ll be missed.
You may splash all you please when you enter,
You can stir up the water galore,
But stop, and you’ll find in a minute
That it looks the same as before.
The moral in this quaint example
Is to do the best that you can.
Be proud of yourself, but remember –
There is no indispensable man.

~~ Saxon White Kessinger ~~


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

We’ll continue our policy of not whining, in spite of the hour at which we are finishing today’s effort…. Why, I haven’t a clue. I suppose it’s for the best; nobody likes to hear grown men cry. I also haven’t a clue what I’ll do now, to pass the time until the sun rises, and the rest of this part of the world comes to life…. Ah well, I can always…. well, perhaps I’d better just keep that to myself…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should fortune favor this sad old fool….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

She won’t start for toffy…

Ffolkes,

“Having the fewest wants, I am nearest to the gods.”

~~ Socrates ~~

UraMajorRoqueLosMuchahos-claro

Ursa Major ~~ The Big Dipper

Image from Space.com


Good morning. Today’s Pearl will be an extreme cheat…. There are reasons, but, to tell you would be narcissistic, and whiny, so, we’ll just say they’re compelling enough to keep me from creating anything particularly fresh, or cogent. Neither is within my grasp today, at least, not yet…. Whether I will be able to find ANYTHING within my grasp today is an unsettled question…. Let’s get on with it, while we can….

Shall we Pearl?

“Cicero called Aristotle a river of flowing gold, and said of Plato’s Dialogues, that if Jupiter were to speak, it would be in language like theirs.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Cicero

If that’s true, then, me and Cicero, we’re mates…. Probably why we see so many of his quotes around here….

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

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

    Since I’ve got nothing in me worth sharing, we’ll go with classical music, which fills up the spirit….. Enjoy!


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

Classical Music for Reading

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

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

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


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

About Hopi Indian Symbols

    Today, given my brain’s status as a no-show, I thought Kokopelli would make a more appropriate opening thought than our usual Don’t Keep Calm logo; the content today is a bit more unpredictable than usual, and unpredictable is what Kokopelli is all about…. Here’s a piece from the archives, to fill in the necessary space today…. Enjoy!….

From 2/24/2014:

It seems the BRC has captured one of the world’s most dangerous drug cartel leaders, El Chapo, the Dude, of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico…. I have included below a link to the article announcing the capture, and included below that some “interesting” phrases and words used by the anonymous spokescops (who are never authorized to talk to journalists….. but, they do anyway….)…. The words italicized in bold are the ones I’d like to point out to y’all, with a comment or two about them as an addendum…. Read the story, then, we’ll talk…..

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Mexico-captures-Sinaloa-cartel-boss-Chapo-Guzman-5258301.php

“He was caught with an unidentified woman, said one U.S. official, who added that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Marshals Service were “heavily involved” in the capture…… A federal law enforcement official said intelligence from a Homeland Security Department investigation also helped lead U.S. and Mexican authorities to his whereabouts…… Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists. ….. Mexican authorities, based on a series of arrests in recent months, got wind….. ”

“didn’t say how authorities traced him to Mazatlan……” “A U.S. law enforcement official said members of Guzman’s security team helped Mexican and U.S. authorities find him after they were arrested earlier this month. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the case by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.”….. “His arrest followed the takedown of several top Sinaloa operatives in the last few months and at least 10 mid-level cartel members in the last week. The information leading to Guzman was gleaned from those arrested, said Michael S. Vigil, a former senior DEA official who was briefed on the operation.”

Allow me to point out a few little things in this article that give us a little clue as to how things are in the REAL world, where the government has the tools to find and capture ANYONE in the entire world, by the use of their “counter-terrorism” toys, and “executive orders” and the excuse of national security to employ any and all techniques to achieve their purpose, up to, and including torture, lying at will, and the legal clearance to perform their actions in complete darkness, without any public or judicial oversight…..

“an unidentified woman, said one U.S. official, who added that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Marshals Service were “heavily involved”

To my suspicious mind, this tells me that the US DEA and Marshalls used an undercover female operative to lure Guzman into an isolated position, where they could take him without dealing with his security forces…. which they did, perfectly…. In several articles I’ve seen, in addition to this one, the same phrase, “an unidentified woman” was used…. Now, do you you REALLY believe she is ‘unidentified’?… I don’t….

“intelligence from a Homeland Security Department investigation also helped”

Gee, ya think? Homeland Security is authorized to do whatever they want…. why shouldn’t they share their technology, and some of that unlimited data they are picking up from around the world with anyone who wants it…. As long as they’re giving it to another group of their insane compatriots, they’ll share it, with pride, even glee, in their own ingenuity, never caring at all about how unethical it is….

“Mexican authorities, based on a series of arrests in recent months, got wind….. ” “didn’t say how authorities traced him to Mazatlan.”

“Got wind?” Got wind? What the hell does that mean? And, since when do the police go by information they “got wind” of…..  Ffolkes, somebody is hiding something here, ya think? It’s obvious they don’t want to let the public know where they are getting their information, although in this case, they give us another clue about that….

” members of Guzman’s security team helped Mexican and U.S. authorities”

Gosh! That was awfully nice of those fellows…. These hard-boiled, vicious drug cartel security individuals had a complete change of heart, and shared all they knew with Mexican and US authorities, out of the goodness of those hearts, I suppose…. I think it is probably more likely that the word, and technique, “waterboarding” was brought into play, as both a threat, and in actual use… I don’t believe for a minute these guys gave up their boss without a little bit of a struggle…. They come from a culture where “machismo” is paramount, and they would not consider it very macho to talk…. hence, they were “persuaded to help”, and I don’t think the persuasive techniques used were verbal, or anything other than torture….

How do I come to that conclusion from this article? Easy…. they told us, in so many words….

“gleaned from those arrested, said Michael S. Vigil, a former senior DEA official who was briefed on the operation.”

How does one “glean” information from drug cartel security forces? I don’t think it was the promise of some Kool-Aid, ffolkes, do you?…. And, since this mouthpiece was “briefed” on the “operation”, what do YOU think he meant by “gleaned”? I do try NOT to be too naive….

This whole “broken rant” was created for the single purpose of demonstrating how the BRC uses its new toys, provided by us, to wit: you, and me, the not-quite-charmingly naive public, when we allowed them to pass those silly ass Homeland Security bullshit Acts after the 9/11 attacks…. In truth, I don’t really care much that they used it to bring down such a predator…. He was, and is, no doubt, someone we can all do without in our midst, since he insists on preying on the weak and foolish….

But, it seems to me, it was all merely an exercise of domestic discipline, as one set of vicious, insane power-hungry individuals, in the official, authorized, guise of law enforcement myrmidons of the ruling elite, tracked down and captured one of their own type of people, who had the bad taste to try to force his will on others without having the mandate of the public voting apparatus…. When one doesn’t automatically accept the bilge water that is presented to us as the truth, it is easy to see how little difference there is between those who hunted him down, and he who was hunted….

Governments have the backing of the multi-national corporations that control society, whereas the big drug cartels, rich and powerful as they may grow, are merely small businesses compared to them… and, we all know what happens to small business when a mega-corp wants to step into their marketplace…. The pharmaceutical companies don’t like the competition from street drugs, so they keep society amped up in arms against them, so their bottom line profit is not reduced to any significant degree….

The whole War on Drugs, (Y,know? It’s funny how our society’s rulers always deal with a problem by declaring War on it….Then, they throw money at it, and tell people that will make it go away…. Hmm…. how’s that working for ya?….), that has been raging in this country since the mid-1930’s, when the drug companies noticed how popular marijuana was becoming in the mainstream, is merely another example of how the real rulers in society don’t want the people to make their own decision about ANYTHING, not if whatever it is can make money for them….

(It’s why they are making their play for control of the Internet…. It’s a very real, but, still only potential, money cow…. if they can wrest control away, and start charging for access, they’ll essentially control all the information flow…. which also give them the wherewithal to censor information, before it gets TO the information cloud…. If they keep control in their corporate hands, you can kiss 75% of the Internet’s effectiveness as a social communication tool, free of interference, goodbye….)

Instead, the governments, at the urging of their corporate masters, spread outright lies and mountains of false information through their own media outlets, attempting to convince people of the dangers of (whatever), followed by the passage of legislation making any who decide for themselves into criminals in the eyes of society….. Even though, as in the case with marijuana, what they are fighting against is actually better for people than anything they have in the list of drugs they manufacture, (at a 2000% profit-margin, don’t y’know….), they decided to enlist the government’s influence over the people to make it illegal, since they had no actual way to stop people from finding and using it…. It grows EVERYWHERE on this planet, without much effort…. That’s why they call it a weed, you know?….

Okay, I’ve rambled, and ranted enough for one morning…. Ffolkes, the governments, the BRC, the Asininnies, the shadowy corporate slave masters, or, whatever label you wish to place upon those who actually rule this planet, don’t give a shit about me, or you, and they’re going to continue to do whatever they choose, just as long as we let them…. They make my life, and yours, a hundred times more difficult than it needs to be, all for the sake of maintaining control over the power, and resources, with which they are obsessed. I, for one, am tired of playing their game…. What game?….

“If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war.” — Pentagon official, on why US military censored graphic footage from the Gulf War

As far as possible, for the remainder of my life, I will be taking every opportunity I find to expose their asininity, their chicanery, their just plain evil intentions, in as loud a voice as I can muster…. I’d appreciate any help I can get in spreading that exposition around to those who need to see it…. Maybe, just maybe, if I can get this idea into the heads of enough reasonably intelligent people, we all will figure out it is time to stop them…. Then, we can join forces, to create of a large enough repository of the power of human will to overcome the physical entrenchments that have already been put into place, for their protection against that very thing….

With enough people, of good loving heart and infinite compassion, all putting their force of will behind whatever we decide is necessary, I’m sure it would be more than enough to turn the tide, and, in the process, maybe, just maybe, we’ll save our own sorry asses from the depredations we have allowed them to perpetrate in our name…..

“For me, all I can do is spit in the eye of my fears by living each day with as much passion and commitment as possible to what truly counts, such as love and justice. To give the into the fear and hopelessness would be to declare defeat, something I am not ready to do while there is still the will to struggle.” — Lawrence Paradis

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

Comedy_Tragedy

    I’ve read poetry all my life, more so at some times than others, but, it’s always been there, a part of the beauty I seek to include in my life…. When I find a poet I like, I am not shy about saying so; that’s why the ffolkes who frequent this blog, a hardy lot, to be sure, end up seeing a lot of Emily Dickinson, Keats, Pope. and other classic poets. I also, occasionally, include on from the poets I’ve discovered hidden here on WordPress. There are several excellent poets, and, “MaggieMaeijustsaythis” is one of the finest….

She recently began writing in a ‘sort of’ new style; it’s very similar to her previous work, but, it’s also different, with more scope, and more freedom, it seems… Here is another of her latest, posted just a day or two ago…. Y’all should go bookmark her site, and buy her book(s); someday, she will be known around the entire English-speaking world, should we humans survive the next fifty years or so…. Any who, forget that, just, enjoy…. Oh, be prepared for some reality, ffolkes….

Doctor, Tell Me

I am going to be. Here,
in a sticky womb,
a living room made for
madness; a sautéed fanciness.

The feast is being set,
just above the chandelier,
they call me by number,
my tattooed slumber calls.

White isn’t always padded
or strapped. Most likely
it only surrounds
the dark blue ring
around the sunburst I look at.

I think I am a painting.
Rembrandt is too gross, but
Picasso, he is enough mystery
to create me.
Half of me sprawls across the cold,
I wait for night-watch to
twist me back to form.

The other girl squats in the corner.
I smell feces and antifreeze.
Do I dream? Can I dissect the fumes of
the dead?
Her charred body crawls toward me,
she removes her teeth.
Everything glitters like a shadow.

Then, I am here. In the morning.
It isn’t the sun that tells me,
but the number, tattooed to
my skull.

Doctor, tell me, has Picasso gone home?

~~ Maggie Mae ~~

http://maggiemaeijustsaythis.com/2015/05/21/doctor-tell-me/


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

A-laughing-girl-and-her-camel

    One of the reasons for cheating today is Smart Bee…. Yesterday, it decided to take a dump, figuratively; no matter how many times I uninstalled & reinstalled the program, it wouldn’t act right… I gave up, and am hoping it will work this morning when I install it yet again… If it does, fine, we’ll get a fresh pearl out of it, if I have to use whips and chains…. If not, well, we’ll dip into the archives, which you’ll know because I’ll tell you the date it was first posted…. Go figure…. Enjoy, ffolkes, whatever we end up with….. The first pearls you’ll see are the last I got out of SB before it crapped out….

Aww, wasn’t that cute? SB gave me a joke quote to start today’s search, perfect as the opener for this batch, even though it has nothing to do with the other parameters of the search…. It just…. fits…

Run out of taglines: (A)bort (R)eread (S)teal

~~Smart Bee ~~


Okay, SB. go ahead & steal them; we don’t care, as long as we get a pearl out of it….

He not busy being born

Is busy dying.

~~ Bob Dylan ~~


“In a full heart there is room for everything, and in an empty heart there is room for nothing.” — Antonio Porchia, Voces

“A candour affected is a dagger concealed.” — Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD) — Meditations, book 9.

“The truth you speak has no past and no future. It is, and that’s all it needs to be.” — Smart Bee

“Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.” — Robert Frost

“Life is not an exact science, it is an art.” — Samuel Butler (1835-1902)

“If we lose affection and kindness from our life, we’ve lost all that gives it charm.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero

Not bad…. Not bad at all…. Plus, you will note, please, as predicted in the intro section, we once again see Cicero at the ending….

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

Well, that worked out fairly well. Since I’m NOT going to do it over, y’all get it just as it is…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, hopefully with a bit more pizazz to offer…. At least I got Smart Bee back on deck…. Ta, then, luvs….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

There arose a great tumult….

Ffolkes,

He said that there was one only good, namely, knowledge;

and one only evil, namely, ignorance.”

~~ Diogenes Laertius — Socrates, xiv ~~

Scorpion-manish mamtani

Image by Manish Mamtani from Space.com

http://www.manishmamtani.com/


Good morning…. It’s a good thing I came up with the new method for these intros; on days such as this, when my mind is a vast, blank plain, without even the smallest of shiny objects, anywhere to be seen…. Instead of worrying over it, we’ll merely go on to the next section, knowing we’re covered…. See ya down the page, ffolkes….

Shall we Pearl?

“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite  you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.” — Mark Twain

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


yakko__wakko__and_dot_by_slomoto-d5qotz9

Image from slowmoto at deviantart.com via Google Free Images


Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, the Warner Brothers (and Sister), are the only modern cartoon I like; they hearken back to a crazier age…. Just my cuppa tea, so to speak…. Here’s a playlist with a LOT of their cartoons…. Enjoy!….

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

Yakko, Wakko, & Dot

The Animaniacs

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

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

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


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


buddah-out-to-lunch_s

“Do you ever think about the end of the world as we know it?”

~~ Calvin ~~


I do…. It can be a rather daunting task to carry any such examinations to a final conclusion, for, most of the time, my calculations put us humans much closer to our own moment of truth, as a species, than anyone cares to either admit, or address, without panicking, laying blame, or, attempting to minimize the truth, to make it more palatable. From what I see happening in today’s world, both on the environmental, and the psychosocial/political/cultural fronts, it isn’t going to be long at all before we are faced with a number of severe crises, all of which will threaten our very survival as a species, or, as a civilized culture, should we be fortunate enough to survive at all….

In a general sense, I’m not certain we deserve to survive. Human history is little more than a long litany of sorrow, pain, death, and abuse of our fellow creatures, including the weakest members of our own species. Wars, political chicanery, more wars…. history is rife with Man’s inhumanity to Man, and to the other creatures with whom we share the planet. We have killed whenever we felt like it, for as little reason as the desire for power, a sickness afflicting a significant portion of the male half of the species. Nothing more than personal wants are considered sufficient reason for some to take and take and take, never considering the effects of their actions on any other living thing, nor caring….

Yet, there is good in life. A great many people are compassionate, and live to serve others, at least to the extent they love. There are a great many intelligent people, who have plumbed the secrets of the physical universe, bringing the advantages of the power of imagination to ease the lives of many others, as well as to help provide the species with the time to explore the limits of that imagination…. Art, Philosophy, Medicine, Music, all the finer characteristics of an advancing civilization have been created by the same creatures who kill for fun…. We are, for certain, a creature of great contrast; Our nature, quite naturally, mirrors the nature of reality, to wit: both good and evil coexist, as two sides of one coin, at the very core of both…

This leads, patently, to some confusion, especially in those members of our species whose power of imagination, and basic wit, are not sufficient to allow them to fully understand this concept. (Yes, I just called a lot of people “stupid”. I was trying to be nice….) This, of course, leads to a basic misunderstanding of their own nature; some people have a lot of trouble with the ambiguity that naturally exists in nature. It frightens them, as does anything they do not understand…. This fatal flaw allows them to be manipulated by any other person they have learned to trust, accepting the thoughts of others as their reality, rather than learning to face their fear, to learn  what they do not know. Learning is hard; faith is easy…

“The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true.  It is the chief occupation of mankind.” — H. L. Mencken

I admire H. L. Mencken; he wrote at the turn of the twentieth century, some time after the time called the Industrial Revolution had come to pass, solidifying technology as the primary focus of society in its advance, while simultaneously witnessing the usurpation of our democracy by the corruption of the Judicial Branch, which, bribed almost openly by corporate interests, passed laws cementing the control of the oligarchs, who now had the reins of government, industry, and the economy firmly grasped in their fat, avaricious fingers….. H. L. was fearless in pointing this out to the society of the time…. Did anyone listen? Apparently, not much….

“Government, today, is growing too strong to be safe. There are no longer any citizens in the world; there are only subjects.  They work day in and day out for their masters; they are bound to die for their masters at call.  Out of this working and dying they tend to get less and less.” — H.L. Mencken

Sound familiar? George Orwell’s novel, “1984”, detailing the horrors of the possible future of mankind, should the current cultural trends continue, was published in the mid-twentieth century, in 1949, many years after Mencken’s comments. Today, society does not look much different from the one proposed by Orwell; it’s been said that, of the more than one hundred predictions made in the book regarding society, ALL of them have come to pass…. I can believe it; anyone who doesn’t can just read the news headlines for a couple days to find graphic proof of how true it is….

“If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.” — Isaac Asimov

As far as I can tell, this is obvious. Yet, we continue to use the same old methods of problem solving so poorly used for millennia; sometimes I think the whole species is insane, for it doesn’t make any sense to keep using ideas and actions that don’t work…. SIGH…. It’s really frustrating to think of how stupid people act a lot of the time, especially when I know that stupidity is a choice….

Oh well…. such is life, they say. I’m tired of hearing it, but, what can ya do? Not much. In fact, for right now, I’m so damn depressed over the state of the world, I’m going to STOP ranting, and go do something more fun… You should do the same…

Go on… Find something constructive to do, ffolkes…. Go on, I mean it….. We’re done here…..

“He was a man, which, as Plato saith, is a very inconstant creature.”

~~ Plutarch ~~

~~ On the Tranquility of the Mind ~~

About Hopi Indian Symbols


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

Comedy_Tragedy

    As noted, I’ve had quite a bit of pain lately; s’okay. We’ve become old friends, me & my pain…. Here’s a poem I wrote another time I felt this way for a while….

Elemental, dear Watson….

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

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

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

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

Fuck.

It
hurts.

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

IF

He isn’t?
Oh,
Well….

Ante up.
Deal.

IF

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

I say,

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

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

because

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

I
will
take the complaints.

After all,
they
are
my bones.

~~ gigoid ~~


Written 9/14/2014.

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

Morning muse

    Today’s old-school pearl speaks very simply of life, and some of the rules, and/or ideas to remember, to help us to live it well….

“Do every act of your life as if it were your last.” — Marcus Aurelius

“Custom does often reason overrule and only serves for reason to the fool.” — John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester

“Often when he was looking on at auctions he would say, “How many things there are which I do not need!” — Diogenes Laertius — Socrates, x

“Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of happiness.” — Lao-Tzu

“Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds.  A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.” — Clive James

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

“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.” — Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

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

What an ordeal!…. Actually, it went fairly smoothly, even if Smart Bee was in a snit…. None of it matters now, of course, as we’re done. Having done all the damage I can do for one day, I’ll take my leave, to gather my resources so I can try again tomorrow, to fulfill my never-ending quest to create the perfect Pearl of Virtual Wisdom…. As today’s episode indicates clearly, we have a ways to go…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Offenders will be coated in Teflon….

Ffolkes,

“Time cancels young pain.”

~~ Euripides (431 BC) ~~

Opportunity_Rover_Sees_Rock_Spire-a3f7bbf0bff2eafe6a9e967b29440382

Rock Spire on Mars ~~ Rover Curiosity’s next target for research

NASA photo from Space.com

Good morning….. Let’s keep this on the up and up, okay? Step lively, ffolkes, Luigi’s in a hurry today….

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”

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


beatles

Image from freepiks.com via Google Images


No matter how anyone feels, or thinks of the music these four lads made together, it cannot be gainsaid to point out it was the major influence over the lives of millions of young people for a long time, acting as one of the primary cultural influences of the time…. Enjoy, ffolkes; this is part of the cultural legacy we all share, at least, in the Western world….

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

The Beatles

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

https://youtu.be/xp5Rb7-F-hY

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

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


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

Dont keep calm

“In any group of five people, one will be confused, one will be conniving, one will be honest, and two will be trying like hell to figure out where they fit in this group.” — Smart Bee

While I find this statement from SB to be fairly accurate, it fails, I believe, to completely cover the situation when five people get in one place to interact…. In addition, by the statement’s content itself, it fails to be clear; if one is confused, and two are still trying to figure out their place in the group, I’d say it comes down to one good guy, one bad guy, and three people stuck in bozoid mode; in short, all five of them are most likely confused, as anyone trying to make this fit into reality would be….

I suppose that goes to show how not everything said is worth adopting into one’s system of beliefs, even though it may sound relevant on the surface…. It also goes to show how looking further into any statement (to wit: being dubious….) is an important skill, and one everyone would do well to use when examining any idea… In fact, yesterday, the final section contained a word on that idea from Gautama Buddha, which I’ve always felt expressed the concept as well as it’s ever been done, to wit:

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.  Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.  Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.  Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.  But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” — The Buddha

Below you’ll find a video, complete with link to the You Tube page where it resides, on a subject that concerns all of us here in this country, not merely the five of us now under discussion…. Why don’t y’all take a moment to practice the lesson just learned from the Buddha, practicing your new perceptive skills on the material you’ll see in the report…. Then, we’ll talk….

I found the article at my friend’s site, here: https://talesfromthelou.wordpress.com/2015/05/10/corruption-is-legal-in-america-550/

************************
Corruption is Legal in America
************************

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

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


It’s easy to see, after watching the video, how things have gotten as bad as they are; not only have the bankers Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Ben Franklin, George Mason, and Thomas Paine all warned us about done exactly as predicted by those founding fathers, they’ve done it right in front of our eyes, with our tacit, complicit approval. They’ve successfully pulled off history’s largest long-con, and now have the entire American public believing…. what? What do they believe?….

Nothing. That’s the trouble. 98% of the people I see don’t even realize there is a problem. They look around, and wonder why they can’t seem to make the American Dream come true, without ever looking behind any of the claims with which they were brought up to believe, to see how they’be been manipulated, and lied to, from the time they were first born, by the government, by the churches, by their own parents, because they too are brainwashed slaves, who know no better than to fall for the same old crap they’ve been falling for their entire lives…

Me, I’m tired of it, so I’m doing what I can to quit the grid, to remove myself from the constraints so successfully welded around the necks of most of society…. I won’t detail my efforts, lest someone try to block them. But, I don’t intend to allow anyone to tell me how to live, ever. so, it must be done…. I don’t know what others may do, but, my own plans are to mitigate the effects of the overall status of society on my life, as best I can…..

In the meantime, I’m done for today; I don’t think I have any real angst left. The American people long ago lost their own freedom, giving it up willingly, trading it for a false sense of security, a state which has no corresponding match in Reality. NOTHING is ever completely secure; entropy and the power of chaos are part of Nature, and there is nothing one can do about it. All we can do is control ourselves, and not be a part of the slavery in which the powers that be would have me engage….

So be it.

gigoid has spoken….

“What I tell you three times is true.” — Lewis Carroll, “The Hunting of the Snark”

Believe me, ffolkes, I’ve told y’all this far more than three times…. You are being lied to, and manipulated; you are a slave. The only hope you have is to realize it, and make the necessary changes within yourself…. Otherwise, well, have a nice life, slaving away so someone else gets rich..,

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

Comedy_Tragedy

    I’m in a strange mood today…. Here’s one of mine, just so you can’t blame anyone else for any of this…. This one was written on 10/13/2012:

Honorable Request

Days, filled to a brim with fluff and time, pass
dimly into memory, bit by combative bit,
ever mournful, yet loud with life and sass,
only in dream do we meet, and dance, and flit.

Souls, spinning ’round in gleeful wonder, comply
as they must, never given a reason,
somberly proper, yet limber and quite spry,
dancing on to greet each bright new season.

Storms, angered by apathetic care, rage
proceeding into ministerial glare, unknown,
clothed in colors, purified solely with sage,
past an infinite future, already flown.

Life, plumbed to its depths and secrets, keeps
flowing with currents, strong and fairly found,
love stands, asking release, as it slowly weeps,
seeking refuge unasked, to stay honor bound.

~~ gigoid ~~


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

Peace76

    I was going to try to explain this pearl, but, I can’t. Oh, I could, but, I can’t. It would be best if we just leave it at that, I think, as it will become apparent before you’re finished it is a pearl of great beauty and scope…. All you gotta do is leave your mind to me…. Let’s see what it says, shall we?….

“As the wild duck is more swift and beautiful than the tame, so is the wild – the mallard – thought, which ‘mid falling dews wings it way among the fens.” — Thoreau

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

“A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

“All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten.  Remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned–the biggest word of all–look.” — Robert Fulghum

“As one gets older, one discovers everything is going to be exactly the same with different hats on.” — Noel Coward

“Everything may happen. [Omnia fieri possunt.]” — Seneca, Epistulae ad Lucilium, Epis. LXX, 9

“Remember there’s an “if” in the middle of life.” — Smart Bee

“Do not be angry with me if I tell you the truth.” — Socrates (470?-399 B.C.)

“I have no idea what that meant.”  – Dot (Warner; Yakko & Wacko are her brothers)

Well, I like it….

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

There are some mornings when it surprises me no end to reach this point. I haven’t a clue, really, as to how it got done, but, it’s done. Hopefully, one or two of the five or six things which have been engaging too much of my attention of late will resolve themselves shortly, and I can look for a bit of peace, all-too-absent of late…. That said, I’m outta here, with great reluctance, but, a feeling of accomplishment. That’s something, I guess. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. I have hope, anyway…. Call me Ishmael…. I won’t answer, but, go ahead….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Concentrating on cross-pollination for now….

Ffolkes,

“Nowhere is now here.”

~~ Nakagawa Soen Roshi ~~

thunder

Picture of Thunder

From an article on Gizmodo:  http://gizmodo.com/heres-the-first-ever-picture-of-thunder-1702480686


“I hope that after I die, people will say of me: “That guy sure owed me a lot of money.” ” — Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

I hope it’s just me who thinks this is one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard, in a weird, wacky way. I’m not even sure WHY I think it’s hilarious, but, I have to go with the evidence…. Whenever I start to actually think about what it says, about life, about Jack Handey (whoever he is…), and about irony, I bust up chuckling. It’s not a guffaw, nor a belly-buster; just persistent chuckling over how really, really stupid the person who said it HAS to be….

Okay, enough about me, and MY oddities…. I am  not sure I want to know about what it says about me that I think it’s funny, so, we’d best get on with today’s mess, before the men in white suits arrive to take me away….

Shall we Pearl?

“Diplomats are just as essential to starting a war as soldiers are for finishing it . You take diplomacy out of war, and the thing would fall flat in a week.” — Will Rogers

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

Peace76

    To ffolkes of my generation, only one name is needed to identify this artist; this one is definitely pulling some covers…. But, then, I’ve never denied, or tried to hide my complete identification as an old hippie… So be it. gigoid has spoken…. Enjoy, ffolkes….


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

Donovan

The Hurdy Gurdy Man

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

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

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


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

Dont keep calm

Well, here I am in AMERICA.. 

I LIKE it.  I HATE it.  I LIKE it.
I HATE it.  I LIKE it.  I HATE it.
I LIKE it. I HATE it.
I LIKE…

EMOTIONS are SWEEPING over me!!

 — Zippy the Pinhead


I know how Zippy feels; the direction this country took some time back has left all of us, I think, with a bit of a head-spinning problem, trying to keep up with all the insanity we see. I’ve figured out why I haven’t been up to ranting of late; there’s too many subjects to pick from, and all are equally important to us all…. The insanity of the Middle East, the Ukraine, and all the other places in the world where the arms dealers are continuing their insane need to keep the money flowing, by whipping the flames of discontent all over the world. The ongoing abuse of women and children, in the areas  of sex trafficking and child sexual abuse, which are rampant everywhere, even in the most seemingly civilized countries. The wealth inequality gap continues to widen, while the 1% (much too large a number, btw…. there are actually only about a thousand or so of the true elite, who actually control everything…. Names like Rothschild, Krup, DuPont, Remington, Rockefeller, etc…)

I could keep listing the troubles faced by our world, but, what is the point? Nobody is listening, unless they already feel much the same, and the people who NEED to hear what I have to say, not only don’t give a shit, they would actively try to shut me up, if anyone actually began to pay attention. That, of course, doesn’t worry me; in fact, I wish they would try, for then I’d know I was on the right track, and I have no doubts about my ability to handle whatever they come at me with. (I’m a bit more prepared than it might seem on the surface….) The only thing they might be able to do is kill me, and that is fine with me…. I am prepared for my death; I wonder if they can say the same….

So, for now. I’m going to NOT rant, but, try to keep after them with old-school pearls, until I can figure out a way to have what I say find its way to a larger audience…. For today, here is a nine-star pearl, speaking about life in this country, and in the world at large, as it exists today….

“What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?” — Ursula K. LeGuin

“I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of “Admin.”  The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid “dens of crime” that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps.  In those we see its final result.  But is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice.”– Preface to ‘The Screwtape Letters’ by C.S. Lewis

“There is an incessant influx of novelty into the world, and yet we tolerate incredible dullness.” — Henry David Thoreau, Walden

“An injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere.” — Samuel Johnson

“If we are not stupid or insincere when we say that the good or ill of man lies within his own will, and that all beside is nothing to us, why are we still troubled?” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap. xxv

“Who is more foolish: the child afraid of the dark or the man afraid of the light?” — Maurice Treehill

REPUBLIC, n.  A nation in which, the thing governing and the thing governed being the same, there is only a permitted authority to enforce an optional obedience.  In a republic, the foundation of public order is the ever lessening habit of submission inherited from ancestors who, being truly governed, submitted because they had to. There are as many kinds of republics as there are graduations between the despotism whence they came and the anarchy whither they lead. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“”Cowardice” and “self-respect” have largely disappeared from public discourse. In their place we are offered “self-esteem” as the bellwether of success and a proxy for dignity. “Self-respect” implies that one recognizes standards, and judges oneself worthy by the degree to which one lives up to them. “Self-esteem” simply means that one feels good about oneself. “Dignity” used to refer to the self-mastery and fortitude with which a person conducted himself in the face of life’s vicissitudes and the boorish behavior of others. Now, judging by campus speech codes, dignity requires that we never encounter a discouraging word and that others be coerced into acting respectfully, evidently on the assumption that we are powerless to prevent our degradation if exposed to the demeaning behavior of others. These are signposts proclaiming the insubstantiality of our character, proclaiming the hollowness of our souls.” — Jeffrey R. Snyder, Fall 1993 _The Public Interest

Because he was human, because he had goodness,
Because he was moral they called him insane.
Delusions of grandeur, visions of splendor,
A manic depressive who walks in the rain.

Cinderella Man, doing what you can,
They can’t understand what it means.
Cinderella Man, hang on to your plans.
Try as they might they cannot steal your dreams.

~~ Neil Peart, Rush ~~


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

Comedy_Tragedy

    Y’all get stuck with mine again, simply because I’m lazy, and the new poem isn’t ready…. Enjoy, please, it’s the best I’ve got today….

Pure Truth: Elsewhen

Everything I say and do, I’m sure,
only comes from what I know.
If what I’ve said or done is good, and pure,
I can say it’s not just for show.

Sometimes people don’t quite get me.
It can be a pain, for sure.
I try not allow it to keep me from being free,
especially when my thoughts may be impure.

In fact, I try quite hard most of the time,
to keep from hurting folks.
If any culture more often approached sublime,
I wouldn’t have to take so many pokes.

Now I’ll make another sacrifice, for y’all,
not for karmic advantage, not merely so….
But, to save me from yet another downfall,
I’ll stop here; ensign, make it so….

~~ gigoid ~~


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

buddhacat

    Today’s final pearl was left up to SB, who has, apparently, gotten the raise for which it went on strike. It seems to be a rather international collection of wisdom from the Sages of the Ages…. Greeks, Romans, Europeans, Asians, they’re all represented here today…. Enjoy, ffolkes, it’s all pretty good advice….

“Wisdom begins in wonder.” — Socrates

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” — Confucius

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

“The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever.” — Anatole France

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.  Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.  Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.  Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.  But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” — The Buddha

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

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

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

Having exceeded my expectations today, I’m going to take the money and run…. Not that there is actually any money in this, but, hey, one uses the euphemisms that fit, right? Right. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, though goodness knows why….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Featured Image -- 4217


À bientôt, mon cherí….