Tag Archives: Sophocles

As the black cat watches, the ritual begins….

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Ffolkes,

Brain damage…. it’s the only reason I can come up with to explain this…. I must have banged my head on a sharp corner, or something equally inane, that caused some bleeding, that led to swelling, and now my brain is frozen in place, never again to jump or play in the vast fields of imagination…..

Okay, so maybe it’s just the usual morning fog that I’m trying to see through…. but, a little drama never hurt a blog, now, did it? I have to keep coming up with a tricky piece of writing every morning, in order to catch and hold your interest, right? That’s how it was explained to me by Mrs. Rich, and Mr. Olsen, back when they were teaching us the basics of writing, in English classes in my teen years….

Now that I’ve been actually writing every day for over two and a half years, I’ve learned a bit more about the actual workings of the written story, or article, and know that the beginning of any piece is the most important part of it…. It doesn’t matter at all if what you have to say is right, or pretty, or important… what matters is that you can catch the interest of the reader…. Once you have engaged that interest, it can be led to where you wish it to go, depending on the available skills, and the value of the story being told…. but, first, you’ve got to get them to bite..

I’m trying to avoid using the old metaphor about fishing, as I think it’s over-used, and has lost some of its appeal as a teaching tool…. but, in this regard, it remains as valid as ever…. The writer must find the tastiest looking worms, er, ideas, and put them out to attract the fish, er, readers, not always knowing what which worms will work, which will move and squirm in such a way as to say to the fish, “Come! Eat me!”, rather than, “Oh, shit, get me outta here!” which is more likely what is passing in that tiny little brain…. I know if I were there, drowning, with a hook through my thigh to hold me in place, I’d be screaming and playing hell to get gone….

Now that I’ve destroyed all hope of garnering any of the gentle reader’s attention for this morning, with that less than attractive image of my fat old man body squirming at the end of a fishing line, with a hook through my leg, screaming my head off, I think I’ll slink off into the remainder of today’s effort…. I seem to have gotten lost here in the intro today, starting one place, heading off to another, then screwing the entire morning’s work with an ill-conceived trip into descriptive imagery, and have no idea at all how to get back to anything remotely dignified, or compelling….

It’s a shame, really, as I had high hopes for today…. I found a good rant yesterday, and fitted it together with one that jumped up and bit me yesterday afternoon, so I already had part of this one done…. which left only a poem to find, or write, and an old-school to gather up…. piece o’cake. But, no, I had to try to be tricky in the intro, and get all finillibrated, (yes, I just made that word up…), and turned around, so that I end up apologizing, instead, for yet another trip through the back alleys of my brain…. SIGH…. I’ll get it right one of these days…. Until then….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“If you are out of trouble, watch for danger.” — Sophocles

All us hippies know this one, because Jerry and the Dead told us, way back in the day, in Uncle John’s Band…..

“It’s a buck dancer’s choice, my friend,
don’t you worry any more….
for when Life looks like Easy Street,
there is danger is at your door….”

— Jerry  Garcia and Robert Hunter

Stay alert, ffolkes, it looks like rain…. and I’m not talking about water from the sky…..
_____________________________

Okay, here is the old-school pearl I promised…. I’m putting it first, because the rant is enough to tire anyone out, and I wanted y’all to have enough at the end to be able to think about it a bit…. so, let’s see what Smart Bee has in store for us today, to put us in the correct mood for an epic rant…. Shall we dive?….. C’mon, let’s go…

“Time will bring to light whatever is hidden; it will cover up and conceal what is now shining in splendor.” — Horace (B.C. 65-8)

“We scientists, whose tragic destiny it has been to make the methods of annihilation ever more gruesome and more effective, must consider it our solemn and transcendent duty to do all in our power in preventing these weapons from being used for the brutal purpose for which they were invented.” — Albert Einstein, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, September 1948

“I guess you guys got BIG MUSCLES from doing too much STUDYING!” — Zippy the Pinhead

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

“A man that expects to train lobsters to fly in a year is called a lunatic and is locked up. But a man that thinks people can be turned into angels by  legislation is called a reformer and allowed to walk free.” — Mr. Dooly

“All science, even the divine science, is a sublime detective story. Only it is not set to detect why a man is dead; but the darker secret of why he is alive.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Thing

“Don’t take life too seriously; you won’t get out of it alive.” — Hubbard’s Law
_____________________________

Pity this busy monster, manunkind, not.
Progress is a comfortable disease.

— e.e. cummings, One Times One

It is difficult at times to find the works of Edwin Estin in their entirety, due to copyright issues…. for today, though, I’ll use this little piece of one of his best poems, as an appetizer, so to speak, with this little gem from Alfie to follow as a main course…. Enjoy!….

All Things will Die

All Things will Die

Clearly the blue river chimes in its flowing

Under my eye;
Warmly and broadly the south winds are blowing

Over the sky.
One after another the white clouds are fleeting;
Every heart this May morning in joyance is beating

Full merrily;
Yet all things must die.
The stream will cease to flow;
The wind will cease to blow;
The clouds will cease to fleet;
The heart will cease to beat;
For all things must die.
All things must die.
Spring will come never more.
O, vanity!
Death waits at the door.
See! our friends are all forsaking
The wine and the merrymaking.
We are call’d–we must go.
Laid low, very low,
In the dark we must lie.
The merry glees are still;
The voice of the bird
Shall no more be heard,
Nor the wind on the hill.
O, misery!
Hark! death is calling
While I speak to ye,
The jaw is falling,
The red cheek paling,
The strong limbs failing;
Ice with the warm blood mixing;
The eyeballs fixing.
Nine times goes the passing bell:
Ye merry souls, farewell.
The old earth
Had a birth,
As all men know,
Long ago.
And the old earth must die.
So let the warm winds range,
And the blue wave beat the shore;
For even and morn
Ye will never see
Thro’ eternity.
All things were born.
Ye will come never more,
For all things must die.

~~ Alfred Lord Tennyson ~~

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Below, you will find the rant to which I referred above…. it’s another long one, thanks to the support I again found in the archives, but, it’s worth the read, for it will all point toward the rant I’m planning for tomorrow, one that will be a culmination, and a summarization, of all the rants I’ve done up to this point…. For today, please read, and pay attention to this, as it will end up being important for all of us…. a point which I hope to make clear tomorrow….

In order to achieve the proper understanding of this issue, and the following discussion, aka a ‘politirant’ of first magnitude, the article attached to the following link should be read first…. It contains some interesting information that is critical to the dialogue that may ensue, or, in any case, for a full data set to use for analyzing the issue at large…. Go ahead, we’ll wait here….

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Judge-NSA-program-is-likely-unconstitutional-5068946.php

It isn’t often this happens twice in a row, but, since I’m always attuned to the possibility of serendipity, it did…. happen twice, that is…. Below, you will find a rant I posted back in early March of this year, which, given the information contained in the article attached to the above link, is astoundingly accurate as a response to the actions demonstrated by the administration in this entire scenario….

First, let me say that I’m very, very happy that a federal judge had the courage and integrity to stand up against the tide of administrative pressure, which, as we all should realize by now, originates from the dens of the shadowy corporate masters, and special interest groups who dictate society’s course to suit themselves…. If you haven’t noted this from what you see happening everywhere in the public sector, well, I can’t convince you, but, it remains, nonetheless, the truth, well-documented in the news….

The government, of this country, and just about every other in the world, is in the control of the corporate special interests who control virtually ALL the money, and, along with that, ALL the resources needed to keep society working. It has been this way for millennia, and they are only getting better at the controls they possess over the happenings in the world around us, honed by centuries of practice and deception…. They are so good at it, virtually nobody even realizes the true nature of their control, or the extent of it…. and, that is just how they like it….

But, there are moments when a bit of progress is made in keeping at least a minimum of mankind free of much of their influence, and this ruling in a federal court is one of those moments in history…. It still remains to be seen whether the rest of the federal courts, up to and including the Supremes, will continue to see the actual truth, or whether they’ll begin to color it, too, with the paint provided by the special interest groups, in whose best interests lie the abrogation of the amendments…. For the moment, though, we can be encouraged, at least a little bit…

I was especially heartened by two parts of this report…. First, the judge acknowledged James Madison, as one of the framers of the Bill of Rights, speaking of his obvious and well-placed mistrust of just this scenario, of corporate interests dictating the abrogation of civil rights, such as in this case, the Fourth Amendment, by those in power, and how Mr. Madison would be “aghast” at how far it has come true today….

Second, I was encouraged to see the steadfast dismissal of the reasoning by the administration’s lawyers on the basis of constitutionality, as it goes to prove the contention by Eric Snowden, that the laws and policies being perpetrated by the NSA would be found to be such, to wit: illegal according to the Constitution of the United States…. which would, in turn, prove his innocence under the laws of our country, which, theoretically, rewards those who speak the truth in defense of their fellows….

Good to know SOMEONE is paying attention in the judiciary system…. even if one of the Shrubs appointed him… That, apparently, didn’t turn him away from the Constitution, unlike the POTUS who gave him the job, who was on record as thinking some of the Bill of Rights went too far in giving people certain rights….

Further than that, the arguments presented below are the correct response to the above, which also goes to prove one small point, to wit: even nine months ago, I knew something was wrong in the pictures I was seeing out in the real world…. Enjoy!….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From 3/2/13:

He who imitates evil always goes beyond the limits of the example, whereas he who imitates what is good, always falls short.” — Confucius

Perfect! If ever a quote could be applied to fit one group of people, this one would; it fits the folks who occupy elected office in this country like the proverbial glove. Ooh! Ooh! Here’s another one….

“Ignorance: When you don’t know something and somebody finds it out.” — Jethro Burns

Okay, that’s a good start…. Now, we all know that politicians lie to us…. It’s what we’ve taught them to do, by our calm acceptance of all the other lies they’ve told, from the very beginning. We expect them to lie…. then, when we catch them at it, there is this huge public outcry, as if it had never happened before….. (Shakes head, sighs….)

Sometimes, the behavior of the American public toward the political beast reminds me of a shark…. to wit: no memory of the past to slow down their willingness to rush into dangerous situations…. For millions of years, sharks and dolphins have lived together in the oceans. For just about all that time, whenever a shark attacks a dolphin, it gets killed, unless the dolphin is injured in some way, or, it is a baby inadvertently left alone. Always, if things are even, the shark dies, because the dolphins are smarter, and faster swimmers.

After millions of years, you would think the sharks might learn to let them alone, but, they don’t, which is evidence of their lack of ability to learn. The American voting public has the same problem…. they never learn to expect to be lied to, and always seem surprised to learn that their elected officials are, shall we say, less than perfectly honest? It, quite frankly, drives me nuts…. What is it about people that does that to them? Why are they so unwilling to use the mind that sits between their ears, rather than just carrying it around from toilet to toilet, which is all most folks seem to do with it?  I wish I knew….

“There is one way to find out if a man is honest – ask him. If he says yes, you know he is crooked.” — Groucho Marx

I’m starting to feel a bit of anger, actually, and I have a hard time not letting it out on the voting public, the idiots. But, it really isn’t all their fault, as the people who run for office are the ones who are actively imitating evil, and, obviously, exceeding the limits of their example. And the voting public can’t help never being able to quite reach the good for which they reach. This is why I get angry about it…. The folks who run for office tell the public they are going to work for the people when they are elected; we all know they are lying, but we elect them anyway. Now, how stupid is that? Pretty stupid, in my book….

On the one hand, the stupidity displayed by the politicians is deliberate, in its adherence to principles of theft and prevarication; on the other hand, the stupidity displayed by the voting public is, perhaps, not deliberate, but at minimum, misguided, and, ultimately, just as evil, in placing its trust in evil people. In the dispassionate view held by the universe, stupid is as stupid does, and the sentence of death is the same for both types of stupidity, deliberate and unconscious. It doesn’t care about why, it only looks at results….

What can be done about this? Not a damn thing…. Not only do I find that most people are unconsciously stupid, but they are stubborn about it, even when it is clear how being stupid is hurting them. Rather than use their minds to find a new way of dealing with these issues, they retreat into platitudes and dogma, and run right back out to vote for another idiot who promises them manna from heaven, or, more accurately, from Washington D.C. If confronted with their idiocy, they become even more stubborn, as they are unwilling to accept they might be wrong, and refuse to either examine any evidence of being wrong, or, will deny its existence altogether. (See quote # 4 in section one, above… Plato knew this about people, hundreds of years before Jesus was born….)

The politicians, who choose to live in stupidity, by lying and cheating and stealing from their own people, don’t even WANT to choose otherwise. Why should they? They’ve got it easy, with a ready supply of host bodies on which to practice their symbiotic parasitism, a body that not only accepts all their lies, but encourages them to even further depredations with their complete acquiescence with whatever the politicos want. All the politicians have to say is that the public is in danger, from this, that, or the other, and the public will allow them to do whatever they choose, as long as they feel safe from whatever fictional fantasy they have been told is dangerous….

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift; the rational mind is faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” — Albert Einstein

It’s an interesting spectacle to observe from the sidelines, but it arouses in me a strong feeling of sadness, with the anger underlying, as I watch, day after day, as so many millions of foolish people get taken advantage of by a few assholes. It definitely makes me want to buy a gun, even though I would only use it if pressed; I have a feeling I may get pressed some day, if I continue to make noise about all this.

I’m fairly well protected thus far by a lack of notoriety; the BRC and the PTB aren’t going to worry about me until I have an audience a lot larger than a couple of hundred folks, of which perhaps fifty regularly read my work. If what I am saying began to gain popularity, and was being read by millions, I’d be in danger; until then, I’m as safe as I can make myself with the tools at hand; which, if I say so myself, are not entirely inconsequential….. If I said any more, I’d be giving away my precautions, and that wouldn’t do, so, just rest assured…. I am ready to deal with anything short of assault weapons, with what I have on hand….

“Many, if not all, of my presidential opponents are certifiable idiots.” — Miriam Defensor Santiago — The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1993

See? I’m not completely alone! Actually, if you pay close attention, you will note this was uttered by a politician, about their peers, so it really doesn’t count as support of what I’m saying here. What, exactly am I saying here? Hmm, okay, since I’ve already written about 1200 words or so on this, it’s a good place to wind it up…. so, here goes….

Ffolkes, you are being lied to, daily…. hell, more like hourly, by those who have been elected to office to look out for your interests. I hate to tell you, but those folks never intended to do anything of the sort. So, it would be a good thing if everybody in this country would OPEN THEIR FUCKING EYES AND GET A DAMN CLUE!!!!!….. I don’t think I can say it any clearer than that…. That’s all, for now….

“Ignorance kills daily. “– Smart Bee
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I know, I know, I’ve been getting carried away the last couple days, letting my inherent loquaciousness get the better of my self-control…. But, it’s all stuff that I feel compelled to say, since the stuff that prompts it keeps happening, right there in the news….

Ah well, it’s all getting to be a moot point, as will be seen by my post tomorrow….. It’s not one I’m looking forward to, for it will discuss some hard truths….. As will be seen, however, it’s all stuff that can wait no longer to be said…. With that teaser delivered, I’ll give up on today’s effort…. It’s an epic, and will fly, even with all that weight to carry up into the upper reaches, where the cool breeze of reason flows….. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Moments of intentional rapture, guaranteed….

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Ffolkes,

Whether we speak metaphorically, or realistically, I’m screwed. Well, maybe not all the way screwed, but well-pinched, as it were, by the nearness of the approaching deadlines….. Yep, deadlines, those horrible self-drawn handcuffs of steel we voluntarily apply to ourselves, to play hell with our heads and hearts during the already busy holidays.

For me, it means the deadline of my son’s birthday, which falls ahead of Christmas by a week, but shall forever remain separate, by decree, and justifiably so. No, no worries here about the actual date, I’ve always known that’s coming…. it’s not knowing what to get this time that is causing the issue….

My son is no longer a boy, so the latest toys aren’t going to cut it; I know he doesn’t have much time for Xbox or other games right now, not with two or three jobs to get to, and a boy to raise, and I don’t know what his current reading habits are like, so I don’t know if he’ll like a book, if I get one…. I’ve never had this trouble for him, before, but, then, I’ve been totally unable to buy gifts at this time of year, for several years, so actually having to think about it is sort of new, too…

Oh well, I know I’ll end up using my same old method, of going to a store with a variety of stuff, and wandering around until I see the right thing….It always seems to work, and they always like what I find, so, I’ll go with that, and hope for the best…. As I believe I said, and if not, am now saying, it’s nice to be able to think about buying a gift without a feeling of panic or depression, which was the case for three or four years running….

It’s funny, too, how my income, now, at retirement, is set at a level well above where it was for much of my working career… That isn’t a complaint, for sure, as I need it now more than ever, what with the medical expenses that I can expect to climb steadily over time….. it’s merely a surprise, to see that I planned better than I knew…. No telling how well off I might have been, had someone actually TOLD me about this getting old business… but, hey, none of us got that memo, and who among us would have paid attention to it, anyway?….. I know for a fact that, until I turned 35 or so, I was completely invulnerable…. or, so I thought…

As I am well aware, now, I’m not anything of the sort, the proof of which I live with on a daily basis…. and life goes on, as it does for all of us…. Since I’ve already meandered and blathered for a sufficient amount of time and space, we’ll be nice, and go on to other events, which will probably be a lot more entertaining than this pile of dross…. I can’t even bring myself to call it drivel, as it doesn’t quite make it there, either….

Oh well, I should have known all this sleep would have some kind of effect on things… I just thought that effect MIGHT be positive…. Hope springs eternal, I suppose, only to be crushed again…. SIGH…. Damn that Murphy, anyway…. Since going back to bed is out of the question, I may as well go for a dive….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.” — Herodotus

Sometimes, we know it quite well….
_____________________________

Creating Pearls of Virtual Wisdom is not as easy as it may appear from the outside… This, though a truism, is not something I can explain to y’all, not by using words…. To really understand the process, it must be experienced…. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I can tell you enough to get it to work for you, and I don’t know if just having you tag along as I do it is going to quite give the correct information, either…. It’s quite the conundrum, and we are thankful to God for giving it to us to solve….

As you may know, if you spend time hanging around here much, the last statement was NOT serious, as we don’t waste a lot of time around here giving thanks to imaginary figures; we find that to be less productive than the regular application of rational thought…. No, it was a just a joke, only there to see if y’all were paying attention this morning…. Since you were, mostly, I can get on with this….

This one, as I was getting around to saying above, before I decided to go wonky on you with the test mode, will be an odd pearl, gathered at different periods of time over a couple of days, looking for just the right ones to make the point at which I’m pointing… Let’s see how it came out, after all my work…

“The artist’s job? To be a miracle worker: make the blind see, the dull feel, the dead to live….” — Edward Abbey

“When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking.” — Albert Einstein

“If my decomposing carcass helps nourish the roots of a juniper tree or the wings of a vulture – that is immortality enough for me. And as much as anyone deserves.” — Edward Abbey

“Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.” — P.J. O’Rourke

Death in itself is nothing; but we fear
To be we know not what, we know not where.

— John Dryden (1631-1700) — Aurengzebe, Act iv, Sc. 1

“Depend not on fortune, but on conduct.” — Publius Syrus

“For some Reason, reality is an illusion.” — Smart Bee

Hmm… I have the feeling I could have just used my index finger, and been done with it…. Oh, well, onward….
_____________________________

Sometimes, poetry hides itself inside another piece of literature…. Here is a poem, stuck inside a chant from an Indian tribe; without Googling, I’ll assume it came from the either the eighteenth, or the nineteenth century, during the time when Europeans and New World Indians were first meeting, culture to culture…. The poem I see in this describes a world view that indicates a people whose moral and ethical degree of advancement was obviously much greater than the European culture against which it came into conflict…..

The poor white devils couldn’t begin to understand, much less appreciate,  the finer sentiments of these children of nature…. so they had to destroy them…. For several hundred years now, this has been the typical reaction of most Caucasian cultures to societies different than their own…. The saddest part is that the Makah Indians, if they were as gentle as their words would indicate, probably forgave them… which I cannot do….

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.

 — Song of the Makah Indians


Smart Bee had originally listed this as a ‘prayer’ of the Indians, but, I don’t believe it was meant as such, as much as it was a song, one that their children sang, to learn about what their people believed, not to indoctrinate them with dogma, or with the useless memorization of lists of sins…..
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Hardware met Software on the road to Changtse.  Software said: “You are the Yin and I am the Yang.  If we travel together we will become famous and earn vast sums of money.”  And so the pair set forth together, thinking to conquer the world.

Presently, they met Firmware, who was dressed in tattered rags, and hobbled along propped on a thorny stick.  Firmware said to them: “The Tao lies beyond Yin and Yang.  It is silent and still as a pool of water.  It does not seek fame, therefore nobody knows its presence.  It does not seeks fortune, for it is complete within itself.  It exists beyond space and time.”

Software and Hardware, ashamed, returned to their homes.  — Geoffrey James, “The Tao of Programming”

This koan reminds me of the tale of how the guard at the city gate prevented Lao Tzu from leaving the city until he had written down the 88 verses of the Tao Teh Ching…. It also reminds me that too much is too much, and I should just let the story teach the lesson, without any comment… So, I will… Just read the above, ffolkes, and think on it a while… You’re bound to get something good from doing so, even if it’s only a few moments of quiet contemplation….

“The truth is always the strongest argument.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Phaedra, Frag. 737
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As I awoke this morning, I thought I was hallucinating; the clock read 0619, a time I have not seen from bed for a very long time. I even felt some mild anxiety at getting a Pearl done in good time, but, I should know by now they’ll get done when they’re done, and not before…. no matter how late I sleep. It seems, also, that I’m right, because, hey, here we are at the end, and I think it’s done…. Let me see just how done it is….

I’d say that’s done, and done fairly well, for all its assumed gravity, and in direct contrast to the rather pathetic plea for understanding that underlies the entire set of assertions and tentative conclusions…. In short, I think it will do, as long as I don’t think about it too much…. I’m going with that, anyway, even if it IS the wrong decision…. I’ve been wrong before, haven’t I?….. I know I have…. See ya…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Dancing away our cares in muffin colored shoes….

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Ffolkes,

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Trouble rather the tiger in his lair than the sage amongst his books.  For to you Kingdoms and their armies are things mighty and enduring, but to him they are but toys of the moment, to be overturned by the flicking of a finger.” — Chinese proverb
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This section has been growing on me, so I’ve decided to leave all previous formats behind, to engage in some sheer mental indulgence…. I’ll stop writing when I see a chance to do so gracefully, how’s that?….. First significant change to note is that this section has a title,  which indicates the precise subject under discussion, to wit:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

_____________________________

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

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

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

“Heisenberg may have slept here.” — Smart Bee

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

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

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

“I know things about TROY DONAHUE that can’t even be PRINTED!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
_____________________________

As noted above, this turned into a REAL epic Pearl…. Let’s go see just how epic…. If there ever was a more appropriate time to say, “Whew!”, I can’t imagine when it might occur…. So much so, I’m done, I’m gone, I’m outta here…. Whew!….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

 

The full gamut, from ho to hum….

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Ffolkes,

Yesterday, I dropped out…. I’ve been considering this for some time, especially so since the revelations by Mr. Snowden that proved the government hasn’t merely been spying on terrorists, but on its own citizens. After these insights were brought to light, several of the social media and large tech companies like Google,Twitter, Facebook, and others, revealed that the government had also forced them to release data about their users, including those of American citizens…. which includes me….

This information, naturally, concerns me, and, as an American citizen, disturbs me greatly; to think that my own government, founded upon the principles of freedom, and the right to be secure in my home, EVEN FROM THAT GOVERNMENT, is spying on me for no good reason, other than their own paranoia and ambitious avarice, is completely, unequivocally unacceptable….

As a firm critic of those policies of internal spying, and of the people who engage in that form of domestic terrorism on their own countrymen, I found myself even more concerned by what was revealed in the process of public discussion…. Facebook, in particular, has been gathering data about me ever since I first signed up for it, and has now given all that data, on me and every other user, to the NSA, which means it is now in the possession of every branch of the clandestine world, as, for a spy agency, those idiots in the NSA don’t seem to be very good at keeping their mouths shut…..

These criminals ( Yes, criminals…. they’re denying my Constitutional rights…. ) got stuff from Facebook about my likes, dislikes, as well as information about all of my friends (fortunately, I never did use it heavily, so I only had about 115 of them…. hmm…. I’m reminded of Aristotle, I believe, who said something about “a friend to all is a friend to none”, or something like that…)

Any who, to make an already too-long story shorter, I deactivated my FB account yesterday…. I hadn’t been using it a lot for quite a while anyway, since I didn’t want to give Facebook any more data on me than was absolutely necessary, and I never was real comfortable with having my ENTIRE life online…. I give up enough to write this blog each day, and there was no need to post my every act on Facebook for the entire world to see…. Oh, you ask, what about the Privacy Settings they use? Well, honey, if you believe everything you read online, especially about privacy policies, then have I got some deals for you…. cash only, please, no checks….

I may lose even more readers (???) over this, though, right now, I don’t see how that is possible, as I’m down as far as I’ve ever seen it in two-plus-years, as far as I can tell. But, I don’t care… I don’t intend to make it any easier for the assholes in the NSA, or the FBI, or any other police or government agency to gather data about me…. I use the most secure protocols I can, and I try to limit my traffic online to what is needed, and not give away too much of it without some kind of payoff for me…. However, I’m well aware of how easy it is for anyone with minimal skills to hack around on the internet for data, mining it for whatever they can that will turn a profit…. It only makes good sense these days to keep one’s online presence to a minimum, as far as possible, so as not to make it too easy for them….

In truth, I feel a greater feeling of relief than of any regret at leaving Facebook; I’m not sanguine about the fact that they already have more information on me than is comfortable, and I don’t really believe, or expect, them to destroy it…. Information is, of course, their business…. But, I’m not giving them any more of it for free; if they want it, they’ll have to get it here, or do without…. I hope. And, hopefully, it will throw a small wrench into the works for the assholes who try to steal it for the Beloved Ruling Class, and their corporate masters….

Shall we Pearl?…..

Scott: “Shut the deuterium from the main cryo pump to the auxiliary tank.”
LaForge: “The tank can’t withstand that kind of pressure.”
Scott: “Where’d you get that idea?!”
LaForge: “What do you where’d I get that idea?  It’s in the impulse engine specifications.”
Scott: “Regulation 42/15?  Pressure variances on the IRC Tank storage?”
LaForge: “Yeah!”
Scott: “Forget it.  I wrote it.  A good engineer is always a *wee* bit conservative, at least on paper.”

— “Relics”, Stardate Unknown

Or, as my dad taught me, and I taught my son, “Two ideas can be considered essential knowledge….. First, remember that just because I taught you all you know, I didn’t necessarily teach you all I  know; never show all your cards until the bet is called….. Second, always cut the cards….”
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I’m pretty certain that I could build a relatively decent rant today, but, I didn’t sleep well, and don’t think my mind is quite stable enough for that…. I was up and down all night long, unable to doze off…. only got about 1 or 2 solid hours of sleep, and that not deeply…. I am certainly in the right kind of mood for one, and intend to take out some of my angst and frustration on some innocent shopkeepers later on, but, for now, I think I’d best stick to an old-school version, to avoid the pitfalls of trying to sound reasonable when feeling rather vicious…. I might say something I’d regret later….. (Though I don’t know how I could think that, given what I’ve already said in this blog in the past….. I mean, how many blogs have you read recently that accused all three branches of the government of high treason?…. )

For now, though, unless something occurs to me that breaks through my initial reluctance, we’ll go with this…. a directed pearl, looking for ways to poke fun, even derisive fun, at the BRC, their corporate masters, and their myrmidons, the courts, churches, police, and armed forces…. may they all suffer from painful warts on their private parts!….

Words are like leaves; and where they most abound,
Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Criticism, Part ii, Line 109

“History is never written by the losers.” — Smart Bee

“If peace… only had the music and pageantry of war, there’d be no more wars.” — Sophie Kerr

“A bureaucrat is a Democrat who holds some office that a Republican wants.” — Alben W. Barkley

“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master.  Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.” — George Washington

“Grow your own dope. Plant a politician”– Smart Bee

“The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.” — M. Gandhi

I think this is a fine group of pearls, if a bit esoteric for some; it’s the best I can do when I’m so angry at them (the politicians, et al, not the pearls….)
_____________________________

When I am in a mood such as this, with not a single good thought to be found anywhere in my mind, I turn to the classic poets, allowing the beauty of it bring me back into a more affable state of mind…. because it ALWAYS works….

A Faery Song

{Sung by the people of Faery over Diarmuid and Grania, in their bridal sleep under a Cromlech.}

WE who are old, old and gay,
O so old!
Thousands of years, thousands of years,
If all were told:
Give to these children, new from the world,
Silence and love;
And the long dew-dropping hours of the night,
And the stars above:
Give to these children, new from the world,
Rest far from men.
Is anything better, anything better?
Tell us it then:
Us who are old, old and gay,
O so old!
Thousands of years, thousands of years,
If all were told.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

_____________________________

I’m breathing hard, but nowhere near the finish line…. Ranting is still out of the question, even though I took a break to go read the headlines…. I’m more pissed of than ever, but, still don’t have the mental energy, after two hours of sleep, to do justice to a rant of that import…. Y’all know what THAT means, don’t you? Don’t tell me that you haven’t figured out by now that in these cases, I ALWAYS retreat to my default position? Please, please, don’t tell me that….. But, in case you do, here is the answer to the implied question….

“What happens to your fist when you open your hand?” — Zen Buddhism

“If it were possible to heal sorrow by weeping and to raise the dead with tears, gold were less prized than grief.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Scyrii, Frag. 510

“Everything has been figured out, except how to live.” — Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

“A desire not to butt into other people’s business is at least eighty percent of all human wisdom… and the other twenty percent isn’t very important.”
“You butt into other people’s business.  All the time.”
“Who said I was wise?  I’m a professional bad example.  You can learn a lot by watching me.”

— Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein

“Je me presse de rire de tout, de peur d’etre oblige de’en pleurer.” – (I make myself laugh at everything, in case I should have to weep.) — Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais (1732-1799)

“We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“A man should not allow himself to hate even his enemies, because if you indulge this passion on some occasions, it will rise of itself in others; if you hate your enemies, you will contract such a vicious habit of mind, as by degrees will break out upon those who are your friends, or those who are indifferent to you.” — Plutarch
_____________________________

I have a lot to do today out in the BBR, so, I’m glad this is nearly done…. I’ve been at it for close to three hours now, and need to be done so I don’t run out of fuel before getting to the important stuff…. Let’s take a look at it…. Well, it will have to do…. I’ve got too much on my plate to go back & start over…. I’ll just leave you today with one final pearl of a hopeful, and hopefully inspirational nature..

“One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am – a reluctant enthusiast… a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure.  It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can.  While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lurid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in you head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise  you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those deskbound people with their hearts in a safety deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators.  I promise you this:  You will outlive the bastards.” — Edward Abbey

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Inundated in whole wheat toast points…..

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Ffolkes,
Far be it from me to complain, but…. there’s a fly in my soup, metaphorically speaking. This, in the normal course of events, would be cause for celebration, not complaint, as it isn’t often one actually finds meat, or protein of any kind, in the soup usually served up around here, especially the metaphorical soup….. It’s generally filled with more poisonous materials and/or ingredients, calculated to bring just the right degree of nausea to whomever has the courage to consume it. Yes, we’ve always had a bit of trouble with our Metaphorical Soup of Life, so the addition of a mere fly or two shouldn’t cause too much hullabaloo, regardless of how fat and disgusting the flies may be…..

Okay, I’ll get away from those images now…. even metaphorically, flies in the soup are not the best choice for pre-breakfast imagery, as they tend to put ffolkes off their breakfast, for sure….. The most hardened gourmand is leery of talk of flies, at the best of times, and before breakfast is definitely one to avoid bringing such pictures to mind…. Eggs over easy, or lightly scrambled, don’t mix well with hairy, ugly flying insects who are known to make a habit of hanging around shit…. Tends to put one right off their feed, and with good reason….

Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to do that here…. it’s a delicate line to walk, isn’t it? That line between bringing to mind some image that will turn the stomach, and one that will make the stomach growl in anticipation, is a very thin, hard-to-see line, and often gets crossed over inadvertently, by even the most careful of writers… which would NOT describe me, I’m sure….  I do try to keep from causing anyone to actually boot, but, I guess I missed it that time, eh? C’est la vie, as the Frogs would say…..

Note: to any Frenchmen, or women, who might conceivably read this…. the use of the word Frogs is in no way intended as a slight; I’m just copying my British brethren, who are known to have a large degree of disrespect for the French, dating back centuries, to one or another of the wars y’all fought with each other over whatever nonsensical issues either of you could come up with…. Any who, I just like the way it sounds, and from me you may take it as a form of endearment, okay? Okay….

Well…. I don’t know how, but I seem to have blathered long enough to make this a legal intro section…. In looking back over the above paragraphs, (I know, I could have used the simpler, “in retrospect”, but, we’re trying to fill up space here, so back off….), I see a certain lack of, shall we say, discretion, or perhaps, common sense would describe it better….

Whatever it is, there is too much of it, or not enough, or something…. But, you know what? It’s done, and I’m not going back to start over for anything, not at this point, six or so paragraphs in, even if not a single line of it makes any particular sense…. I told y’all at the beginning this isn’t for wimps, so, buckle up, hang on, and we’ll eventually get to a point where y’all can jump off…. In the meantime…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“Part of being sane, is being a little bit crazy.” — Janet Long

I’ve also heard it said that insanity is a sane reaction to an insane world, which, ultimately, comes to the same thing. I’ve spoken before on this, as it is a subject near and dear to my own life, having spent many years working in the mental health field, as a therapist, and as a patient, after I contracted mental illness myself… In spite of what you might hear, it IS contagious, in a certain sense, as the constant exposure to its presence in others tends to cause stress in the therapist over time, stress that eventually brings the issue home to roost in those who either become too immersed in dealing with it, or don’t have the emotional strength to resist the pressure of the work.

“I’m probably crazy.  Either that or its just the hormones.” — Chris Pirillo (chris@lockergnome.com)

In my own case, it was a matter of immersion, combined with long term exposure to the most violent aspects of the business, that eventually broke down my ability to resist the onslaught of depression. What many do not realize about mental illness is that, once present, the condition does not, like traditional, medical conditions or illnesses, get completely cured, and then go away, leaving us with a natural inner defense, as our immune systems learn the characteristics of each disease, and the procedure to eradicate it from the body.

There are parallels, of course, both in the etiology, and in the treatment, of mental and medical illnesses, but, due to the extreme complexity of how the mind functions, and the extreme sparsity of our understanding of how it actually works, we have yet to learn how those parallels can be of use in the treatment of illnesses of the mind, at least, not to any significant degree that guarantees success. Psychiatry, and psychology, remain areas of knowledge still in their infancy, in terms of how much we understand…. or, more accurately, in terms of how little we understand….

“In the struggle for existence, it is only on those who hang on for ten minutes after all is hopeless, that hope begins to dawn.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Speaker 2-2-1901

While not (necessarily) directed at mental illness, this statement describes partially how the struggle against it can be of a particularly grim nature, difficult to avoid, and once met, difficult to be rid of its imprecations. It takes a kind of inner strength, and courage, that is hard for most people to find or develop, in order to apply, and maintain, the effort needed to overcome depression, and the debilitating lethargy, hopelessness, and unreasoning fear that comes with it. It is a special kind of strength, that must be ALWAYS be on tap for use, if not constantly applied; depression, and its hold over us, doesn’t take breaks unless forced, and that force must come from within us; it isn’t to be found in drugs, or anything else outside our own awareness.

Other people cannot GIVE us this strength, but, they can help us to find it within ourselves, sometimes merely by their presence…. Dogs, cats, and other animals also know how to supply whatever it is that helps us find that little place in us where our strength lies. In a certain sense, I suppose, one could say that such interactions, with people, with animals, or with the universe at large, DO supply us with the strength we need to carry on our efforts.

The positive benefits of petting a puppy, or having a purring cat sit on one’s lap, or of a kind word from a stranger, have an effect on our inner selves much greater than would seem the case for such simple acts. I can think of no quicker way to find our way out of a depressive fog than to have a puppy start chewing on our shoelaces, or having a kitten paw at one’s face in affection, or, most effective of all, getting a hug from a loved one. No words need be spoken, no ideas exchanged, and no coins handed over…. but, our fear is soothed, our hurts are healed, and we can find the inner strength to go on resisting the pull of the darker side of existence…..

“Love is all you need….” ~~ John Lennon

Strange, isn’t it? Sometimes, John got it so right, you wondered why you ever thought life was so complicated…. The only problem is, by its nature, and by the nature of the people who inhabit reality with us, the world tends to make it very hard to keep love intact. The ways of the world are so complex, and fast, and confusing, that people lose track of what is real, and what is illusion, and end up chasing those things in life that will leave them cold and alone, instead of concentrating on what is real, and lasting, and will bring them joy for their entire life.

We all end up doing both, being aware of what is real, and what is not, to a certain degree, and to varying degrees, succeed in acquiring joy in our lives; at other times, we suffer the results of our folly, with pain and fear…. The trick, I guess, is to know which is which, and how to bring them about according to our own will, not the will of anyone, or anything, else…. With that knowledge in your pocket, and a couple of dollars, you can get a pretty good cup of coffee…..

“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.” — Henry Miller
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Somewhere inside me, buried deep in my mind, in some dusty hallway where no one has gone for a long time, there is a poem. I can see it, sitting there on the table inside the room in that hallway, waiting for me to find it, and bring it to light…. I can FEEL it sitting there, calling me, but, at this moment in time, I don’t have any idea in WHICH hallway it might be, much less which room in the hall…. I really do NEED to get a poem out soon; the pressure is getting uncomfortable, but, there’s no forcing it, or it will turn to sludge, so, I’m going to have to deal with it, and so must you….

In defense, though, I’ll put in one of my recent efforts in that arena, one I particularly like, so, if you do, too, that’s great…. If not, well, just remember… Any honest criticism is welcome, any praise is lapped up like cream…. Any less than enthusiastic responses will be cheerfully ignored, and any flaming will be revenged beyond your wildest imaginings… Just so’s you know….

Ah Ain’t Sho, but Mebbe So….

Fried eggs got nuthin’ on me
Ah’m not even sure of mah name,
or how Ah come to be;
no idea from where Ah came.

Ah does like a mystery tho’,
puzzlin’ things out so’s Ah knows,
good from bad fo sho,
Ah sho don’t want no rock pillows.

If’n Ah cain’t figure out what’s best,
Ah just falls back on mah Daddy’s words,
seems he knowed just whut’d stand the test,
‘n how to gentle the scaredest birds.

‘Course, he’d lived a good long time,
‘n had lots of stuff go on by;
Went to a war, n’ lost a piece or two,
never once used it fer an alibi.

He tol’ me once Ah’d best learn to learn,
school’s only cool if ya ain’t already a fool.
Yer own good measure you can earn,
by startin’ yer learnin’ with the Golden Rule.

Always seemed to me as Ah growed up,
he mostly only spoke if it wuz true,
‘n by doin’ that clued me to what’s up,
kept me from stuff that’d a made me blue.

Without ever sayin’ the word itself,
Ah learned ’bout honor, ‘n helpin’ others
not some fake stuff from some shelf,
but, knowin’ whut’s right, ‘n that we’re all brothers.

Ah’ve been around long enough now, Ah think
to get around the block at least two times.
I s’pose long as my head don’t shrink
Ah’ll keep on doin’ right, ‘n makin’ these rhymes…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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This pearl got away from me, somehow…. It started out really well, then Smart Bee took me on a tour of really bad stuff, with a few minorly shiny gems here and there. Then, when it got to the improper number of six pearls, it died out altogether, and I’m about ready to give up…. Except, I KNOW the perfect finishing pearl is out there, somewhere… the pearl that will bring these all into focus, and cure them of their apparent complete lack of relation to each other…. One more try…..

“Nothing makes one so vain as being told that one is a sinner. Conscience makes egotists of us all.” — Oscar Wilde

“In the republic of mediocrity genius is dangerous.” — Robert G. Ingersoll

“Do you know Presidents talk to the country the way men talk to women?  They say, Trust me, go all the way with me, and everything will be all right. And what happens?  Nine months later, you’re in trouble!” — Murphy’s Discovery

“How did the great rivers and seas gain dominion over the hundred lesser streams?  By being lower than they.” — Lao Tzu

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

“A man cannot be wise enough to be a great artist without being wise enough to wish to be a philosopher. A man cannot have the energy to produce good art without having the energy to wish to pass beyond it. A small artist is content with art; a great artist is content with nothing except everything.” — G.K. Chesterton, Heretics

Well, it almost beat me, coach, but, I held my ground, and finally won through to victory…. It took what seemed like forever, but, I guess, at this hour, anything seems longer… and I did find the correct finishing pearl for this group. It was actually quite simple, as most things are eventually….

“If you are out of trouble, watch for danger.” — Sophocles

See? Easy peasy….. Well, simple anyway, and the point it all makes at the end is worth whatever it took, right? Right…. Okay, so all it really does is keep the insurance folks off my back… that’s a good thing, for me….. And, besides, being obscure and/or unfathomable is a big part of what we do around here, so, it fits right in, regardless of the risk of straining something….
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Okay, that tears it…. I have to confess my sins…. None of the above (in section three… the rest is valid….) has any real meaning, beyond its own internal structure, and I lied about the point…. there isn’t one, that I can see…. I’m just so disappointed in Smart Bee for being so…. well, for letting me down today…. I’m sure it won’t happen again, but, it kind of hurts, y’know…. I depend on it so heavily, I don’t know quite how to handle it when it goes limp on me.

I’ll get over it though, and at least there is a small degree of humor than can be wrung out of all this…. If nothing else, you can laugh at yourself, for reading it all the way to the end…. I mean, I HAVE to, since I’m writing it, and, believe me, I will, and am, laughing at myself, but, nothing exists to keep y’all from bailing any time, so I’m surprised to find you still here, reading away….  Just kidding, of course…. sort of….

Now that I’ve completely screwed the pooch, let’s see how it all hangs together…..  Okay, well, I’ve seen, and done, worse…. Besides, I’ve been up and working on this for damn near three hours now, and it’s only 0715, so, I’m not going back and doing it over, nope, not me…. We’ll all just have to deal with it, as is….  Ah, hell, at least nobody died, or took any particularly grievous hits, except maybe, my ego…..   Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Near the end of the Plasticene Era….

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9

Ffolkes,
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a word! It’s a train of thought! It’s…… Bloggerman!  Faster than a speeding thought, able to leap tall metaphors in a single bound, this mild mannered writer for a large internet blogging community, risks humiliation and embarrassment on a daily basis, bringing to the reading public the views and opinions they won’t see on TV…. Join us today, as he once more joins battle with the forces of evil, cleverly disguised as normal priests and politicians, whose wicked agenda makes them seek to harden your water, frighten the baby, poison your cat, and make your whites dingy….. Now, that’s evil….

Obviously, it’s time for coffee…. I’ll be back…. The above paragraph sort of wrote itself, as I sat waiting for the coffee to finish, so I let it have its way, and since it came out in an acceptable form, we’ll let it stay…. It’s probably too late to start over, and it might stimulate a chuckle or two, so, what the hell…. It can’t be any less appropriate than the intro sections from the last few days, which have been rather painful to create, with all sorts of contortions and hoops to jump through, a process this old body/mind conglomerate just doesn’t tolerate so well any more…. And what you are hearing now is the LAST complaint for today falling from my mouth, or out of my head, or onto the screen, choose your own metaphor…..

Nobody likes to listen to complaints, unless they are funnier than whatever else is going on, and that isn’t the case here, is it? I may not be the world’s greatest writer, yet…., but I know funny, and so far, this isn’t it….. Unless, of course, the chaotic ramblings and silliness that seems to characterize this intro section appeals to your funny bones, in which case, welcome…. Can I get you something to drink?…. Some hors d’oeuvre? A plastic bunny? Some Milk Duds?….  We like to pamper our fans here at ECR….

See, that’s what I mean about these intros…. I’ll be going along fine, and my head will take a 112 degree hard turn to the right, or left, and leave me wondering what the hell to write next…. such as in the last paragraph…. Sheesh! As if I can afford snacks!…. I know, I know, they meant well, (whoever ‘they’ were….), but it doesn’t alter the fact that they’re promising stuff I can’t deliver…. which will tend to piss people off, and they’ll never come back…. Ah well, the entire process of creating intros seems to have become somewhat degraded, or at least become rather unwieldy, and probably is in need of some time in the shop for repairs…..

Since stuff of that nature is far outside the parameters of my current budget, I guess I’ll have to keep on keeping on, as they say, and try to make this work for a while longer….. I need new shoes, and socks, and a bunch of other stuff that will have to take priority over even a simple lube job on an intro section…. That is all if and when my SS money ever comes through….. Until then, these introductions, such as they are, will have to do…. In today’s case, it is definitely a matter of “making do”, or maybe I meant, “making do do…..” Shall we Pearl?…..
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PRESIDENCY, n.  The greased pig in the field game of American politics. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

You can’t see me, but I have this big smile on my face…. It has been there since I first read this, this morning, and has flashed on each time I see it…. I had forgotten just how funny, and how eerily accurate, as well as wonderfully sarcastic, the Devil’s Dictionary could be….. In any case, this is some funny stuff, and a perfect example of how the Dictionary’s author somehow obtained a direct line to the future of this country, in order to be able to so exactly describe how our modern system has evolved, and demonstrate how it has become, rather than high comedy, an example of low farce….

Of late, you’ve seen me put out a lot of words on the Beloved Ruling Class (BRC), and the priestly hierarchies, those two entities I hold responsible for the miserable conditions that most of our society is forced to endure, and whom I also hold responsible for the danger of species extinction that we face… It is their narcissistic insistence on having it all for themselves that has put our entire species at risk, along with a large number of other species, who will also be affected by the mess we’ve created in the environment.

I keep on shouting, even though it mostly feels as if I’m shouting into the wind, because, in all honesty, I don’t want to die, and I’d like my kids to have a chance to live their entire lives, too, and perhaps even have some hope of a future for their own children…. Currently, there isn’t much hope of that…..

Yes, ffolkes, there isn’t much time left to get this done…. Every second, more and more tons of particulate matter are being poured into the air, and the cumulative effects have actually, finally, reached the critical flash point that ecologists have predicted for years…. Soon, plants that provide oxygen to the air will begin to die, (actually, they are dying as I write this…. as I said, it is late in the game….) and the balance of oxygen and carbon monoxide in the air will start to rapidly change, at a geometrically parabolic rate, (to wit: faster and faster the longer it goes on….) until it is unbreathable for us, and for all the other mammals, sea creatures, and plant life-forms that are dependent on the levels of those substances as they are now…. This process isn’t unknown….. we have been warned about it, now, for going on 50 years, or more, since the effects were first noted….

But, nobody who cared to do anything about it was listening, and still today, there aren’t anywhere near enough of our BRC who are convinced of the risk, so virtually NOTHING has, or is being done, to resolve the issue…. Instead, it is subjected to massive denial on the part of almost every government in the world. They, and most people, have no idea that the bill for our idiocy is about to be presented, and we left our wallet in our other pants….. I think it’s obvious the Universe doesn’t take checks, or give credit…..

I wish I knew the proper sequence of words to use, the words that would inflame the masses, that would inspire the world to rise up, and throw off the yoke of oppression that the 1% has fitted us with, to finally give them their just desserts, and save our own asses in the process…. Alas, I don’t seem to have them in me…. not yet, anyway…. There are probably a few ffolkes out there who agree with me, and would help, if they also knew what to do, or say, to get things started…. But, mostly, I think I’m either shouting into the wind, or preaching to the choir….

In either case, it doesn’t seem to be helping much, other than keeping me from losing my sense of perspective, and actively going out hunting, to try to at least thin the ranks of the ones who are causing the problems…. That would make me feel better, for sure, but, I’m not ready to live the rest of my life on the run, so, I’ll save that option for when things are even worse than they are now….

I’ll also keep shouting, even if it’s into the wind, because I’m also not ready to give in to despair, and loss of hope. Call me stubborn, call me irresponsible (you’d be wrong in that, but, hey, it’s a free country…. mostly….), but don’t call me late for dinner. Also, don’t call me to help you further any of the agenda items that I see on the part of those in power, because I can guarantee that would put me over the edge, and you would be right there, in the explosive field of destruction when I went off…. If you want help to work against anything they’ve started, I’m there….  In the meantime, keep your powder dry, and your field of fire clear…. This final pearl explains why….

“If we don’t survive, we don’t do anything else.” — John Sinclair

And one more, just because there must always be hope, or life isn’t worth living…

“In a just cause the weak o’ercome the strong.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Oedipus Coloneus, 880
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A couple of months ago, the urge to write poems became too strong, and a bunch of them forced their way out of my head, up into the light of day…. Thirty-nine of them, to be precise…. In the intervening time since the last one leaked out, the urge has been quiet, making me afraid that I’ve lost my muse in that arena….. That is almost as frightening as having it take hold, to push me through the terrifying process of creating a poem, and letting it go public…. However, there are indications that there are some more verses percolating down there in my subconscious, so I’m trying to be patient, and wait for whatever it is to surface….

Which is why y’all have lately been treated to some of the best poetry I can find out there on the Net, among the clouds of information so bravely presented…. Here, then, is another classic, from one of my favorite poets, and yours (well, except for Shawna…. To each their own….  🙂   )…. I’ve used this before, as it is a subject on which I am expert, and speaks to me quite plainly…..

Pain has an element of blank;
It cannot recollect
When it began, or if there were
A day when it was not.

It has no future but itself,
Its infinite realms contain
Its past, enlightened to perceive
New periods of pain.

~~ Emily Dickinson
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“You, who claim that you long to rise above the crude concerns of the body, above the drudgery of serving mere physical needs — who is enslaved by physical needs:  the Hindu who labors from sunrise to sunset at the shafts of a handplow for a bowl of rice, or the American who is driving a tractor?  Who is the conqueror of physical reality: the man who sleeps on a bed of nails or the man who sleeps on an inner-spring mattress?Which is the monument to the triumph of the human spirit over matter:  the germ-eaten hovels on the shorelines of the Ganges or the Atlantic skyline of New York?” — John Galt

As far as I know, John Galt is a fictional character, who is often used to illustrate some obscure point of justification for the attitudes of the elite, the 1%. This statement seems to be a pretty good example of that, though it is a bit unclear, but, that, I believe, is a deliberate device on the author’s part to make the reader think the speaker is more mindful than he appears….

Anais Nin, the author of the book, or books, I’m not sure which, with Galt as the protagonist, is also often held up as the apologist extraordinaire for the moneyed classes, for her unapologetic defense of the lack of compassion, and rejection of human equality, that so characterizes the BRC, and the 1% of humanity that controls 99% of the physical and financial resources…

Yes, them again… Sorry, but, their influence over our lives is ubiquitous, touching on every aspect of what we do, and what we don’t do; as a result, their name tends to show up in a great many places where I’m trying to throw some light on certain examples of their activities, which they would just as soon stayed in the dark….. 

So, anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah, Galt and Nin, poster children for the hidden masters of society….. I began with the phrase, “As far as I know”…. That was deliberately vague, but accurate, in that I’ve never been able to read one of Nin’s books all the way through….

Oh, I’ve tried, and have read enough to get a pretty good idea of how the rest of it would go…. I’ve started “Atlas Shrugged” any number of times, with identical results each time, no matter how sternly I spoke with my inner judge to keep quiet until I was done…. It wasn’t the heavy, pretentious, wordy style of writing that made it so hard to finish, or even the presumption of validity, or the transparent misuse of logic, that made me give up on finishing the book(s) of hers I opened……. It was the nausea that built up over the course of the book’s events, directly related to the demonstration of the lack of human compassion, and narcissism, that infuses the main character’s behavior, and that of many of the books’ characters, which is so transparently a part of the author’s own beliefs.

In short, it literally made me sick to read this woman’s thoughts about how reality should be considered, according to her absolutely self-centered philosophy…. It is very nearly a clinical description of sociopathy, with its complete insistence on the validity, and priority, of one’s own rules of behavior over society’s standards…. If the character of John Galt ever came to life, and manifested in my vicinity, I might just give myself a day off from my vow to never kill anyone without first trying to at least talk them out of their asininity…. which is to say, the very idea of meeting someone like him(her) makes my blood boil….

Ah, me…. It can’t be good for my blood pressure to pump itself up so early in the day, so I’ll leave this little diatribe where it is…. I think by now, I’ve made it pretty clear how I feel about the 1%, whom I choose to call the BRC and the priestly hierarchies…. Besides, much more of this, and I take the risk of losing ffolkes out of repetitive boredom…. not a good recommendation for a writer, and certainly not something of which I wish to ever be accused.

Go ahead and read Anais Nin’s books…. If nothing else, they’ll give you a good idea of how the 1% tries, nay, succeeds, in combining the use of logic and lies to keep the public in a state of fear and confusion as to what is real; reading at least some of it will keep you abreast of what they believe, or claim to believe…. A sociopath chooses their beliefs like a shirt, and can change them just as easily, and as swiftly, in order to meet their own needs, and fulfill their own agenda, which has nothing to do with doing anything for you that would be helpful…. It’s all about them, and what they consider “rational”, or “practical”…..

“There is no conflict of interests among men, neither in business nor in trade nor in their most personal desires — if they omit the irrational from their view of the possible and destruction from their view of the practical …  A wish for the irrational is not to be achieved, whether the sacrificial victims are willing or not.  But men will not cease to desire the impossible and will not lose their longing to destroy — so long as self-destruction and self-sacrifice are preached to them as the practical means of achieving the happiness of the recipients.” — John Galt

See? I rest my case…..

“Concentrate on th’cute, li’l CARTOON GUYS! Remember the SERIAL NUMBERS!! Follow the WHIPPLE AVE EXIT!! Have a FREE PEPSI!!  Turn LEFT at th’HOLIDAY INN!!  JOIN the CREDIT WORLD!!  MAKE me an OFFER!!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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Well, that was certainly an outpouring, wasn’t it? Of what, precisely, there appears to be some confusion, which means my work here is done….. And with some style, too!…. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say… Mikey likes it. Or, he will, when he sees it…. Now that I’ve convinced even the most stubborn among y’all of my dedication to sheer insanity, I will leave you be….

If you are having some second thoughts, or even first ones, about the time you spend here, immersed in my particular brand of consensual reality, look at it this way…. You COULD have to live INSIDE my head, instead of just peeking in through these windows…. Be brave, I’ll be back, tomorrow, given a choice….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

We’ll take the pomp; no circumstance, please….

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10

Ffolkes,
Can you say pusillanimous? No? Nor can I….. pity…..

Now that the facts in the matter have been established beyond all doubt, we may turn to more important questions, such as why is he talking like that? Or perhaps, why DOES Murphy have to stick his big nose into my business every damn day? Now, these are meaty subjects, and well worth our undivided attention. Of course, should we provide that, I’m afraid that it may send the entire Roman and Greek pantheons into hysterics. They’re SO prudish since being de-deified….. I suppose conservatism is a natural reaction to bad news and cowardice combined; it certainly seems to be the case in this country amongst the, shall we say, non-cognoscenti…..

There, that’s out…. better out than in, I always say (just ask anybody…). I’m not going to apologize for that bit of phantasm; ’twas necessary to my health for it to come out. I will say that I hope I didn’t startle the horses, or make the babies cry; such was not, I assure you, my intent. No, sheer unbridled relief was the intent, and that has been achieved, so, what say we NOT press our luck, and go straight on into today’s dive, hmm? I think that would be best, for all concerned….. let us Pearl…
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Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. — Matthew 7:15  😉  Why look! There’s one of them now!….. Gosh, if it wasn’t for Matthew, we’d have never even noticed him…… thank God! No telling how much he traumatized those sheep…. c’mon grab your rifle, we’ll take him out before he goes rabid or something….

The above short piece of conversation was not me…. would I be that sarcastic? What? Well, I resemble that remark!….. Shame on you! Pulling covers like that! How will these folks who wear blinders all the damn time ever save themselves, if they can’t even see through what a preacher tells them? I’m afraid there isn’t much hope for them…. they’re doomed to a lifetime of ignorance, and its just rewards…..

Ah, well, such a pity…. The rest of mankind was hoping they’d get a clue, and try to come with us down the road of reason, and on toward survival, but, I suppose that folks are entitled to their own opinions, no matter how grossly ignorant, and bigoted. Well, as long as they don’t try to drag anyone else along with them to perdition; that would be a real shame…..

“Being intelligent is not a felony.  But most societies evaluate it as at least a misdemeanor.” — Robert Heinlein
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“If you are out of trouble, watch for danger.” — Sophocles

Sophocles states here one of mankind’s earliest attempts to make people aware of Murphy’s law, to prepare them, as it were, to deal with its unpredictable tendency to manifest at the most inopportune times. I can personally attest to the continuing relevance of this statement to reality, having encountered such danger on numerous occasions, and always when distracted by the absence of any other problems. It’s kind of like figuring out your taxes, finding out you will get a big refund, then having the car eat a piston on the way to mail the tax return forms….

“If you rely on Murphy’s law, everything will go as planned (but don’t count on it.)” — Sullivan’s Observation

I just have to say, if you will pardon my French, Murphy is an asshole. Of course, my no doubt bad habit of calling a spade a spade (even if it is obviously a shovel) is probably the main reason he bothers me so much. But, knowing that doesn’t alter his stink, nor does it give him the right to fuck with people who haven’t done a damn thing to deserve it. I think that is what annoys me so much about him; he is so damnably inefficient in his application of his power over reality. No sense to his choices at all, at times.

Oh sure, occasionally, he’ll get one right, and one of the beloved ruling class, or one of humanity’s ever-present number of true assholes will get what they so justly deserve at his hands. But, more often, it is the little guy just struggling along, trying to make his way through a life that offers no breaks, and no bonuses, who is the butt of his adolescent humor. It’s really a pain in the arse, if you know what I mean….

This isn’t hell.  This is where you get sent when you’ve been bad in hell. — Smart Bee
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What thou lovest well remains, the rest is dross
What thou lov’st well shall not be reft from thee
What thou lov’st well is thy true heritage
Whose world, or mine or theirs or is it of none?
First came the seen, then thus the palpable
Elysium, though it were in the halls of Hell,
What thou lovest well is thy true heritage.
— Ezra Pound, Pisan Cantos, LXXXI

Mr. Pound presents here a strong argument for self-expression and staying true to what one’s nature compels of them. Our society in general does not reward such integrity of purpose, at least not materially, though I should imagine that those who adhere to this are much happier than those who do not. Remaining true to one’s own nature can only benefit one’s overall condition, and increase competence along with confidence.

In addition this has the added benefit of not having to perform actions that cause them to feel degraded, or at minimum, vaguely dissatisfied with themselves, and with what they accomplish. A poor ending to a sparse meal, to be sure…. Better, it seems, to stick with what we know is ours, regardless of what others may think of it….

Besides, it’s a very nice poem…..
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BRAIN, n. An apparatus with which we think what we think.  That which distinguishes the man who is content to _be_ something from the man who wishes to _do_ something.  A man of great wealth, or one who has been pitchforked into high station, has commonly such a head full of brain that his neighbors cannot keep their hats on.  In our civilization, and under our republican form of government, brain is so highly honored that it is rewarded by exemption from the cares of office.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

Once I stopped chuckling over the wit, and then got over the sadness engendered by its truth, this little gem came directly to today’s lineup. Not because it will cause a good discussion, or even that it is either egregiously wrong, or demonstrably correct, though it is certainly the latter. No, I am impressed more by the fact that this was included in the original version of The Dictionary by Mr. Bierce, which was published sometime in the mid-nineteenth century, over 150 years ago. Truly a vision of the future, as well as a stunningly life-like representation of the present….. and well worth including here, all by its lonesome…..
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“Everything I have said and done in these last years is relativism by intuition… If relativism signifies contempt for fixed categories and men who claim to be the bearers of an objective, immortal truth…  then there is nothing more relativistic than fascistic attitudes and activity… From the fact than all ideologies are of equal value, that all ideologies are mere fictions, the modern relativist infers that everybody have the right to create for himself his own ideology and to attempt to enforce it with all the energy of which he is capable.” — Benito Mussolini, _Diuturna_

As I read through this, I at first thought it was a parody, that someone was having us on, as it were. But then I realized that this person was perfectly serious, and was astonished at the arrogance, the narcissism, and the sheer unbridled effrontery of the author, if such he may be called.

Then I saw the author’s name, and my mind went, “Aha! That explains it….”  It is hard to know where to begin to perform a logical critique of so much nonsense, but once begun, it practically tears itself apart, displaying the inconsistencies that are inherent in any such ambition and greed thinly disguised as logical justification.

Benito starts off by using words which, according to their definitions, do not apply to the subject at hand; he gets around this little fillip by redefining the meaning of the words, in this context, thus allowing him to use them as assumptions that justify the pseudo-logical arguments that follow. He then finishes off with a conclusion that is a complete 180 degrees from the actual truth of his assertions, thus turning an apparent discussion of ideologies and philosophy into a stand-up comedy routine, one that isn’t funny in the slightest…… And we all know where he ended up…. swinging slowly from a rope around his obese neck (at least figuratively, if not literally), applied by his fellow countrymen in just compensation for his evil…. and regardless of his obviously insane state of mind…..
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I have to say, this turned out rather well for something that seemed to be a struggle to get out. None of today’s discussions tipped over into a rant, nor any lengthy arguments or comments. So, compared to many of the entries on this blog, this one is rather short, but I don’t think anyone will mind, as I know I tend to ramble on…  So, we’ll let ‘er fly as she is, and hope for the best….

Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Colorful dreams for sale……

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2

Ffolkes,
I’m paying no attention whatsoever to the depression lurking in my mind. It wants me to go back to bed, but I’m not giving in to it. I tell you this because it may affect the quality of today’s comments, so please bear that in mind….’course, it could also cause extreme genius to break out. I can never tell ahead of time which might occur…..

“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.  His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.” — John Stuart Mill, _On Liberty_

This concept is what the founders of this country believed and fought for in 1776, and is one we must ever be vigilant in protecting, for it is continually being threatened by those who believe that morality can be legislated. All too often we give in to the Mrs. Grundy’s in society, and allow downright silly laws that tell us how we should behave to be enacted. The War on Drugs is a perfect example of this idea, though its inception was earlier when society decided that drinking alcohol was evil, and should be controlled. A small but determined part of society has learned how to make so much noise by campaigning against what they disapprove of that the rest of us pass their stupid law just to get them to shut up.


This idea, that we can force everyone in society to obey the will of the few, just because it is “for their own good”, goes against everything the Constitution stands for. We broke away from English rule because the English were forcing economic sanctions against us, as well as attempting to limit our religious freedoms, “for the good of all”.  We decided to form our own government because we didn’t want to live in a culture that allowed repression of one segment of the populace at the behest of another.

   Now, thanks to the fear-mongers and religious zealots, we are facing the same problem today. The concept of legislating morality is not merely repressive and ignorant, it is also impossible to achieve in the real world. You cannot force people to go against everything they believe just to follow a law that benefits only a small portion of the populace. The net result is that a large criminal class is created, because free men are not going to cease being free just to obey a law. Free men obey laws because the choose to, not because someone else chooses for them. You can insult, denigrate, humiliate, or even kill a free man, but you can’t make him be anything he chooses not to be…..

“It matters if you don’t just give up.” — Stephen Hawking

I have to say it…..Stephen Hawking is the Man! And this quote is especially poignant, because if anyone should know this, then he should. Here is a man whose body is ravaged by a condition that takes his strength of limb, and twists his physique in outlandish ways. In order to move he must use a specially designed wheelchair; in order to communicate he requires the assistance of computers. But his mind is quite possibly the most intelligent, the most far-sighted mind that Mankind has ever produced. Scientists who have tested him say that his IQ is completely off the scale, and there is no test that we can devise to really measure what his mind is capable of.


Despite his physical handicaps, he has assumed the position as the most well-respected Astrophysicist/Scientist in the world, and his revelations have pushed our knowledge of the Universe into new and exciting territories. His latest project is to develop a Unified Field Theory, a concept that would tie together all the disparate pieces of the various sciences, and bring them into harmony with one another, using the mathematics that describes the physical world as we perceive it. If he is successful, there is nothing that our species will not be able to accomplish. Unlimited electromagnetic power, anti-gravity, faster-than-light travel, even telekinetic translation of position (beam me up, Scotty!), all will be distinctly possible once the underlying laws by which the operate have been brought to light. It is a grand enough concept that it actually gives me hope that the Stupids won’t win, and Reason will eventually win the war between ignorance and science…….

“Think not that thy word and thine alone must be right.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Antigone, 706

I actually wrote enough about this yesterday, I believe; I don’t want to beat a horse that’s been dead for days. But I’ve included it here to point out that society has had the same problem (deliberate ignorance) since the beginning of culture. Twenty-five hundred years ago, men were already contending with the portion of society that prefers to bury their head in the sand rather than face the world on its terms, and trying to take the rest of us with them down that road to perdition. That is a long time to be trying to correct the same problem; almost makes me wish I was an elitist, and could just find some justification to eradicate them before they breed. But I suppose that would be putting myself down at their level, where one’s own beliefs are intrinsically better than anyone else’s, and that I have the right to make them see things my way, even by force. I’m glad, actually, that I have the perspicacity to see that, and act differently. I just wish there was some way to get them to SHUT IT!……

Enough deep thought for one morning….gotta go juggle creditors and fight off depression. Y’all take care out there……

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!