Epiphany for sale: affordable rates….

Posted on August 21, 2015 by gigoid

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Ffolkes,

=-0 * * *

~~ The Enterprise firing photon torpedoes, at a cloaked Klingon Warbird ~~

=-O ~~~~~ =۞≫

~~ The Enterprise firing phasers at an uncloaked Klingon Warbird ~~

This rich view of a tapestry of colourful stars was captured by the Wide Field Imager (WFI) camera, on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. It shows a open cluster of stars known as IC 4651, a stellar grouping that lies at in the constellation of Ara (The Altar).

Star Cluster IC-4651

Image by European Southern Observatory via Space.com

Good morning…. Boy, what a ride! Life can be pretty unpredictable, especially when you’re awake. Sleep, having been hard to come by of late, has apparently returned to stay for a while; I’m up late (for me; it’s damn near 6 AM….), having again slept more than 6 hours. Yay for me. Now, once again, I’ll have to rush to get posted before my automatic sense of duty kicks in to REALLY send me into panic mode. To forestall any such event, we shall now head out directly to the oyster beds, with no further fooling around…. Watch this!….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” — James Baldwin (1867-1947)

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You guessed it. Default music…. This one called itself a mix to improve Brain Power, and gives you about 10 hours to do so…..

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Classical Music

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https://youtu.be/EWDwa5ToY3o

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The Dawn of Man

https://youtu.be/ypEaGQb6dJk

As you observe the opening lines of this section, I’d like you to note a couple of details, which were deliberately added for the purpose of directing this discussion. First, I would request you watch the video, either by clicking on the embedded player, or using the link to watch it on You Tube…. Particularly note the development of the habit of violence in the human tribe of simians, with the not unexpected eventual response of stimulating the curiosity and violence in the nature of those abused by that new habitual behavior, thus, perpetuating it as part of the developing embryonic cultures.

Then, note I put the title just below a picture of the part of the film which shows humanity’s progress, with the Blue Danube waltz playing in the background, to highlight the pinnacle of achievement thus represented by the station, the flight, and the music, combined to show what is possible for us as humans. The title, to me, shows the TRUE dawn of Man.

We aren’t quite as far along yet, as shown in the film, (directly attributable, it seems clear to me, to the effect our violent nature has had in slowing that progress..); however, to me, our ascent from this planet into space is the only hope we have to get away from that violence, sublimating the power of the emotional content that drives it, by channeling our curiosity, into exploring a Universe large enough to provide us with an unending pursuit of knowledge, and more complex and powerful methods of getting along with the races we encounter out there, rather than into more complex and powerful weaponry, while simultaneously giving us the necessary physical protection of knowing HOW to fight.

The irony of putting the title at that point is this: we are NOT going to get there. Not at the rate we’re going. There is too much instability in the world today to ever believe we won’t end up destroying ourselves, either by consuming conflagration of nuclear war, or by continuing to poison the air we breathe, the food we eat, the plants and animals that support the ecosystem, and, most of all, by our ignorance and lack of courage/virtue….. The signs are too clear to ignore, ffolkes, so, it would behoove all of us to figure out exactly what we’re going to do…. quickly, too, for there are certain issues of physics/biology/chemistry/ecology which will NOT wait until we get around to it….

“As soon as you are willing to discard observational data because it conflicts with religion, you are giving up any hope of ever really understanding the universe. As soon as you pick religion as the touchstone of reality, then we have to start discussing how one can demonstrate the correctness of one religion over another when different *religions* disagree.” — Wilson Heydt

“The answer is simple: kill the heretics. History shows us that this is the actual solution that competing religions apply — trial by combat or trial by ordeal. God is the final arbiter. What a sad waste of human potential it has proven to be.” — Paul Hager

The two quotes above, taken together, give a graphic example of how this irony manifests itself in today’s world. The oligarchs control the politicians and the religions, and the politicians and religions try to control the masses of humanity, playing out their drama of good vs. evil on a global scale, at such a complex, mind-numbing number of times, places, and on so many fronts, the average person is buried in the details and stresses of life, never even realizing how deeply their thoughts and behavior are being influenced by others.

All this sad, yet, somehow glorious and fascinating panorama of human existence in today’s world, is observed by a relatively small group of people, smart enough to understand, and see, the big picture, but, who have never wished to control anything but their own lives. Since we don’t really WANT to have to do so, or to have to take part in any of the other delusional behaviors most of society is pursuing, it becomes a challenge, to find others who see the same, and have the wherewithal to organize, to make some kind of difference, if by nothing else than speaking up to educate the ignorant….

So, that’s what I do…. I seem to have done it enough for today, so, we’ll get on with the remainder of our lives now…..

gigoid has spoken.

So be it.

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Roses for Noses

I have a bozoid personality, of the first degree;
nobody, I mean nobody, knows that better than me.
I often wonder, as the world goes around, and around
how many others have realized just what I’ve found….

I know for a fact, I’m not the only bozoid one;
too many people laughing out there, having fun.
Is their laughter, though, at themselves first?
Or is it some other impulse, like purple liverwurst”….

I’ve always loved to make others laugh and giggle,
since my tender youth, when my ears began to wiggle.
The world is full of humor, but not always easy to find
so laughing at myself I learned never to mind….

We bozos know each other, here, there, and everywhere
there’s no hiding such joy, it just wouldn’t be fair.
We all have one feature, our great bulbous nose,
and there’s no doubt at all, cuz it just grows….

There’s nothing like a good, big mistake, a disaster,
to show us the folly of living life faster and faster.
Nothing in the world can ever take the place,
of seeing in the mirror, a happy, smiling face….

Don’t be shy, just let it all hang out;
we bozos have more fun, there’s no doubt.
Life’s too somber and gray if we let it get on top
if we don’t stay loose, the pain won’t ever stop….

My advice to all of you, out there in the world,
let noses grow round & red, keep hair tightly curled.
Find a way to let your spirit out often to play,
you’ll never once regret any price you pay.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 1/27/2013.

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☬

This one was a little rushed at the end, but, I’m pretty sure it came out alright. You tell me….

“A short saying oft contains much wisdom.”

~~ Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Aletes, Frag. 99 ~~

“I know but one freedom, and that is the freedom of the mind.” — Antoine de Saint Exupery

“Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.” — Socrates (470?-399 B.C.), [quoting Plato]

“Profound Truth differs from simple truth in that the negation of a simple truth is a simple falsehood, while the negation of a Profound Truth may be another Profound Truth. E.g. a button with “Life is just as simple as it seems” on one side and “Life is not as simple as it seems” on the other.” — Smart Bee

“It is… nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wreak and ruin. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty.” — Albert Einstein, “Autobiographical Notes”

“I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.” — John Locke

“I am a man, and nothing that concerns a man do I deem a matter of indifference to me.” — Terence — Heautontimoroumenos, Act i, Sc. 1, 25, (77.)

“Your actions prove what you think of yourself.” — Will Limon

“And never think about the past. No regrets, ever.” — Lazarus Long

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☬

Some of y’all may have noticed a new piece of ASCII-art added to the pearls today. If it wasn’t obvious before, it really ought to be now, for it is sitting right above this paragraph, staring at you as if you are some sort of pond slime for not noticing. It’s a sensitive icon, you see. It will be a part of every pearl henceforth, for as long as I remember to put it there, or, until I figure out the correct way to get it into the template…. So be it.

Now the housekeeping is done, (as Tommy Toilet recommended so aptly to us all, so may years ago….), I note the Pearl for today is as well. Done, that is. Or, at least, I hope it is; I promised it would be. I can’t be sure, as I’m actually writing this yesterday, and leaving it to the Tardis, to put it where it belongs, at the proper time. Handy, that. On that semi-plausible, –in-another-universe–, note, I shall take my leave, with the usual caveat regarding the instability of the Space/Time Continuum, and, of course, the forces of Entropy, which can be whimsical, at best…. I’m gonna go post now…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

☬

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Trapped again in durance vile….

Posted on August 10, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality.”

~~ Jules de Gaultier ~~

Blue Moon July 2015

Image from Space.com

Good morning…. For those ffolkes new to ECR, I should explain the titles of these Pearls of Virtual Wisdom. You see, the title is random, whereas the posts are not, hopefully. They mean nothing, and certainly have nothing to do with what is in the post. Each morning, before beginning to write anything in here, I make up the title out of my head, with no intent to connect it to the material I’m using. In fact, I try hard to make each one new, and completely odd, or as much so as my feeble brain can come up with upon first attempting to function… So, don’t worry if today’s title sounds a bit dark, or depressive; it has nothing to do with us; in fact, it has nothing to do with anything at all…. Sort of like this whole process, eh?….

All that being said, I’m making an executive decision to get on with the rest of today’s mess with no further nonsense, or sense, for that matter. In point of fact, we’re going to use the old #4 we found yesterday, which worked so well for us then, we’re employing it again today…. It works like this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“How ridiculous and unrealistic is the man who is astonished at anything that happens in life.” — Marcus Aurelius

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Don’t mess with my kids….

Today’s video selection will push unmercifully upon your “Aww” buttons…. There is an old saw about how cats are suspicious of babies, but, I don’t think that old tale is true; it was made up by a jealous dog lover, I think, because all the cats I’ve known in my life were VERY good with babies and small children. They can be a bit grumpy, when older, but, will always be careful not to hurt a child, even when striking out in anger at tail- or ear-pulling. Here as proof is a video that will have you saying “Aww” every few seconds….. Enjoy!…. Oh, and, if it isn’t quite enough, there are LOTS more like it on the page where the link below will take you….

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Cats protecting babies

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https://youtu.be/5MuQweOv9q8

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“TAPPING? You POLITICIANS! Don’t you realize that the END of the “Wash Cycle” is a TREASURED MOMENT for most people?!” — Zippy the Pinhead

It took me a few days, but, I finally found the perfect quote from Zippy to cover any comments I might make regarding the recent fiasco on Fox, wherein the gazillion wannabe candidates for the Republican presidential nomination were gathered together into two groups to answer a bunch of soft-ball questions from the most corrupt, biased news source in the entire world. Sometimes I don’t know why they don’t just include their news broadcasts in their lineup of Reality TV shows; the so-called debate had about as much to do with actual Consensual Reality as does the life-cycle of aquatic diatoms…. Come to think of it, that might be more entertaining….

“Politicians are interested in people. Not that this is always a virtue. Fleas are interested in dogs.” — P. J. O’Rourke

Here’s another accurate observation that serves to point up my point. What’s my point? Ah, okay…. forgot that part, didn’t I? Well, most simply put, it’s this; what a load of horse shit!….. None of these men, or, rather I should be accurate, and say, all of these rich, ignorant, misogynist, racist white males, none of whom fit MY definition of a Man, have any real idea of, or any real connection to, the lives of the common citizens of this country.

Each and every one of them is, and has always been, completely insulated from any of the actual stresses and pressures felt by those average citizens; they’ve never been hungry a day in their lives. They’ve never NOT had a job, or a roof over their heads, or wondered where they were going to find the rent money for next month…. They simply have no idea, other than, possibly, as a remote concept someone once told them about at a party, of what the reality of life is for the majority of the people they are clamoring to ‘represent’ in Washington….

When I began this rant, I intended to spend more time taking some personal shots at the Asininnies who piss me off on such a regular basis….. However, I’m getting a bit tired of always preaching to the choir, so, I’ll finish this indictment with some old-school pearls from some of history’s most coherent philosophers and books…. well, and some not so coherent, but, nonetheless pertinent…. Some of the entries may prompt a comment from yours truly….

“Wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” — New Testament — Matthew xxiv, 28

(Many people are not aware, or are in denial of the fact that eagles, even the iconic Bald American Eagle so commonly associated with America, are scavenger birds, who prefer their meat well-aged. They are NOT efficient predators, though some are good fishers….. Any who, the quote does show how our political class resembles the species of, well, vultures. whose nature they display so readily….)

“Who is worse: Lawyer, Politician, Reporter?” — Smart Bee

“The tendencies of democracies are, in all things, to mediocrity, since the tastes, knowledge and principles of the majority form the tribunal of appeal.”
— James Fenimore Cooper

“Any priest or shaman must be presumed guilty until proved innocent.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“Why are we surprised when politicians play politics? It’s not like they are supposed to be real adults… they are, after all, politicians and don’t have real jobs and aren’t playing around with their money.” — Max

“Politics has reached the level where we’re goin’ some if we can even get good, efficient people to vote, to say nothin’ of runnin’ for office.” — Kin Hubbard

“I know one committee I don’t want — Judiciary. They are going to be dealing with all those issues like abortion, bussing, voting rights, prayers. I’m not interested in those issues and I want to stay as far away from them as I can.” — Senator Dan Quayle (from “What a Waste it Is to Lose One’s Mind” — the Unauthorized Autobiography)

“It really doesn’t matter who is President. They all end up sitting in the Oval Office, sticking pins in a Dan Rather doll.” — Smart Bee

“Capitalism did not arise because capitalists stole the land, but because it was more efficient than feudalism. It will perish because it is not merely less efficient than socialism, but actually self-destructive.” — J. B. S. Haldane

“I’ve heard enough of your twaddle, Ringleader. We’ll settle this the American way — with our fists!” — Mighty Mouse, “The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse”

“Ignorance plays the chief part among men, and the multitude of words;” — Diogenes Laertius — Cleobulus, iv

There you go…. I can’t make it much clearer than that….

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I said earlier the titles have nothing to do with any of this material, and that remains true…. This poem, though, may test that contention a bit, as it is as dark as the title…. Not intentional I assure you; the title is fresh today, while the poem was first written on 8/18/2013….

Future Shocked:

Weeping, I wake;
waking, I weep, I weep.
I weep for the ages to be lost,
for the children never to be born.

Time comes calling, strident and spare,
nudging us toward the future with bony hands.
No pausing, no waiting, always away,
Frantic hearts unseen, unheard.

Spirits are dark, afraid.
And the Beast hunts, hungry and cruel,
seeking out the weak, and the foolish.

We all weep now…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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I have nothing to add to this pearl; it’s damn near perfect…. This one will most certainly be on the Quiz, ffolkes; I’d suggest taking notes today….

“Love is shown in your deeds, not in your words.” — Fr. Jerome Cummings

“A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.” — Buddha

“Morality is truth in full bloom.’ — Victor Hugo

“There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect.” — G.K. Chesterton

“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“To extend your limits, you must push them… and it often hurts.” — Smart Bee

“Appearances often are deceiving.” — Aesop

“Time will explain it all. He is a talker, and needs no questioning before he speaks.” — Euripides

“If birth is a miracle, is not death also a miracle?” — Philosopher Bee

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All things considered, not too shabby. I’ll take it, warts and all. Gosh, it must be ‘lerve’…. Now I’ve cleared most of the dross and drivel out of my head, I think I’ll go back to bed. Better yet, maybe I’ll go find some bureaucrats, myrmidons, or some other category of mundane to torment for a while…. I’m feeling particularly curmudgeonly today…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; I figure that’s fair warning….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

A regimen of exfoliation is hardly a cure….

Posted on July 10, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Dying is a wild night and a new road.”

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

Mankind’s Salvation: artist’s rendition of asteroid mining ship

Image from Space.com

Good morning…. Chuft-meister Schulz informs me the troops have gathered for morning reveille, so we’ll have to make this quick. Today’s Pearl is brought to you by the delightfully delirious depths of human insanity, and, by a grant from a large, soulless corporation, who really couldn’t give a shit about you, but, wants you to think they care. Any resemblance to real events is purely intentional. Of absolutely primary importance, no refunds will be issued in the case of fire, earthquake, or personal whimsy.

Since there is now no hope of any sort of coherence, or any assurances of freedom from prosecution for the events which may or may not transpire, we’d best get this slow on the road….

Shall we Pearl?….

“A friend is one who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.” — Bernard Meltzer

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Image from tmdb.com via Google Images

Okay, so…. Today’s video selection is a tongue-firmly-in-cheek selection, to add to the list of weirdness pursued at various times here on ECR…. To go along with the German version of the movie’s title poster I found to use as the art work, we have for your viewing pleasure, perhaps, the world’s worst actor in a title roll, an Italian body-builder from the Bronx, with the century’s worst perm, playing the svelte Sinbad… I swear, ffolkes, it’s really, really bad…. So bad, I had to pause the film, & stop watching the first time Lou came on screen, as I was busy trying not to shoot coffee out my nose from laughing so hard!…. Enjoy!….

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Sinbad of The Seven Seas

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https://youtu.be/37aE8QbWyVo

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Though I’m up quite early, I don’t quite feel up to a fresh rant; two weeks of disrupted sleep will do that, I suppose. To sublimate the urge, which is always present and, sadly, accounted for, we’ll use this fine politirant from a couple of years ago….. As with many of my rants, it’s all still pretty valid, as not much changes in the political scene these days…. Only the masks are different….

From 7/24/2013:

“One of the merits of democracy is quite obvious: it is perhaps the most charming form of government ever devised by man. The reason is not far to seek. It is based on propositions that are palpably not true — and what is not true, as everyone knows, is always immensely more fascinating and satisfying to the vast majority of men than what is true.” — H. L. Mencken

With this statement, Mr. Mencken has put his finger on the pulse of America, that is for certain. It goes a long way toward explaining why so many people in this country are so willing to believe the outright, egregious lies that are told to them every single day by the officials they elect every year at the polls that characterize our republic…. They do lie, you know, with almost every statement that comes out of their mouths…. They begin with the most important lie they tell, from which all the others spring, and that is the lie they tell when they tell you that they want to be elected so they can work for YOU! Each and every politician learns early in their career, if they are at all to be successful, they MUST portray themselves as a public-spirited, honest, and tireless worker whose only purpose is to make life better for their constituents….

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth…. NONE of them are at all concerned with any of that nonsense; they are there to carry out their own agenda, which has very little to do with what is good for the general run of mankind…. No, they are there to serve the interests of the men and women who pay them, those lobbyists and special interest representatives who run the businesses of the corporate masters. The people on the street cannot provide them with the perks, or the cash, that the clandestine rulers are able to come up with, other than peripherally, by electing them in the first place…. Once elected, their true colors come out into the light of day, and it can be easily seen how their actions are never congruent with what they have promised to the people who elected them….

It’s all about power and money to these folks, not service. In my entire life of observing politics around the world, I have yet to see a single elected official who could be shown to be honest, not at the national level. The one who came the closest was Jimmy Carter, and his presidency was marked by how little got done, because he was so honest that the true politicians in Congress blocked every reform he tried to institute during his time in office. His actions during that time showed him to be the exception to the usual rule for politicians, which is why, I believe, he was so ineffective as a legislator….

“Invest in America — Buy Japan!”– Smart Bee

Other than Carter, I have seen concrete proof that EVERY President of this country has lied to the American people, not just once or twice, but continuously, about nearly everything. Time and time again, public outcries are heard or seen in the news about some new revelation regarding something some politician lied about, just like it is breaking news or something, when it is actually the normal state of affairs…. I don’t know why it is, but if a man on a TV set, wearing a suit and tie, makes a statement to the public, the general public will believe it, sometimes fanatically, without ever examining it for whether or not it is true… Then, when it turns out they were lied to, they get all upset and vocalize their displeasure, never once admitting it was their own cupidity that allowed the lie to occur in the first place…. It makes me wonder what happened to people in this country, to make them go soft in the head….

“Doctors are the same as lawyers; the only difference is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you too.” — Anton Chekhov

Did you ever notice how many politicians were lawyers, first? Most of them, as it turns out, for the simple reason that learning to be a lawyer gives a politician two advantageous types of training… One advantage is that law school teaches the student how to lie in every imaginable way, in order to ascertain which kinds of lies are legal…. The other advantage is their primary motivation…. If asked, a very large percentage of lawyers will tell you their reason for becoming a barrister in the first place is that it is a good way to get rich, ( without mentioning, of course, that this is true only as long as one doesn’t give a shit about other people, and what that might do to them)…. In other words they make their money by taking advantage of people’s misery, holding them as hostages against their own destiny, in order to gain resources, i.e. money, and its sidekick, power…..

Then the lawyers realize that their training is perfect for politics…. The ability to lie with facility comes in very handy to anyone who wants to be in the public eye, as that is how one gets elected in the first place…. Tell people what they want to hear, and they will vote for you, every time, coming back to the same trough to eat, even though they get screwed, time after time…. Having the facility to ignore what happens to others, due to their own actions, is the other skill so important to the political set, and the training one receives as a lawyer fits right into that category….

“Watching the democratic party in a presidential contest is like watching a washing machine with a defective bearing: It starts up smoothly enough, but soon, it begins to wobble and shake, jumping violently from place to place, until it tears itself to pieces, spewing dirty laundry all over the room.” –Smart Bee

Some people will say that there ARE some good lawyers out there, and I won’t argue that…. but, they’re still lawyers, not politicians, aren’t they? They’re doing what they can to help ffolkes find their way through the morass of our legal system to get what they need, even occasionally finding some justice…. But, they aren’t going further, and going into public service, are they? They’re still in place, where they can help, but, they are so few and far between, they are hard to find, and so are very busy, seldom having the time or resources to work against their less honest colleagues. Plus, they really are very few in number, as altruists seldom become lawyers in the first place….

I can see this has evolved into a full scale rant; we’ve just begun the day, so I’ll call a halt here. I often feel as if I’m preaching to the choir, anyway, when I go through this stuff again…. It’s all familiar material around here, so it isn’t as if I’m presenting new ideas for your examination…. No, this is all old stuff, and, sadly, doesn’t seem to ever create the outrage that I feel in very many other ffolkes… which is too bad….. I forget who said that “if you keep on doing things the same ways as you always have, things will always be the way they’ve always been….”, but, they were absolutely correct…. We are on a path to our own destruction, clearly, but, nobody seems to care…

Nobody, that is, who seems able to DO anything about it, and they are the ones who will need to make the changes….. The people in authority over the rest of us are wearing blinders in this respect…. The idea that what they are doing is wrong, and will eventually kill us all, doesn’t fit into their world-view, so they won’t believe it, and will continue to refuse to make any of the changes needed to re-direct our steps onto a path less dangerous. It is up to the rest of us to get it done, and that may entail overthrowing the current crop of rulers, either by the vote, or by the less agreeable option of using the necessary force, while making sure the new crop will act in OUR best interests, rather than their own…. If it does happen, it will be the first time in history, which is fine with me…. just as long as it is not the LAST time in history….

“… democracy is not something you believe in, or a place you hang your hat, but it’s something you do. You participate. If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles and falls apart.” — Abby Hoffman

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A Failure to Germinate

Marking the days in elements of sad disarray
only holds me thrall, as I laugh while I may.
With cold, hard hands so impatient and cruel
pulling me to this vale of tears, a pathetic old fool.

Feelings sit silent, cast in shadows and light
breaking forth to implicate such vengeful might.
Just below the surface they patiently hide
to sally forth bravely, colors bright as they ride.

Tears and pain transform valued assets in hand
while comfort and serenity retreat to a far land.
Bold, bright patterns of hope garnish my ruinous state
until reality enters, full of disdainful portions of hate.

I sort out the illustrious measures of vision gone mild
only to find them transformed, now vicious and wild.
In my deepest desires I find myself calloused and cold
with faithless advocates whose souls have been sold.

My search finds little to support any hope of relief
far too much time has passed to bolster such belief.
The sad becomes real, and real becomes unfounded
until flights of such fancy are all dead, and grounded.

Nature has informed me of the newly hatched crime
of which reality boasted proudly, time after time.
The last answer we think of is always the best
as we come to terms with fate, our hope at rest.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 9/27/2012.

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Aristotle_Bust_White_Background_Transparent

Today we celebrate the return of Smart Bee, who has decided to quit screwing with me…. For now, anyway…. Here is a very nice little pearl, speaking to the subject of Reason as a way of Life…. sort of…. Just listen to what Aristotle and friends have to say on the matter, and all will be well….

Emancipate yourself from mental slavery,

None but ourselves can free our minds.

~~ Bob Marley ~~

“Bow to no patron’s insolence. Rely on no frail hopes; in freedom live and die.” — Seneca

“knowledge is a polite word for dead but unburied imagination….think twice before thinking.” — e.e. cummings

“Seek the wisdom of the ages, but look at the world through the eyes of a child.” — Ron Wild

“Old places and old persons in their turn, when spirit dwells in them, have an intrinsic vitality of which youth is incapable, precisely, the balance and wisdom that come from long perspectives and broad foundations.” — George Santayana

“All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions.” — Leonardo da Vinci

“One’s mind is like a knife. If you don’t sharpen it, it gets rusty.” — Nien Cheng

“Two rules we should always have ready,–that there is nothing good or evil save in the will; and that we are not to lead events, but to follow them.” — Epictetus — In what Manner we ought to bear Sickness, — Discourses, Book iii, Chap. x

“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.”

~~ Aristotle ~~

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

I cannot say starting early has had any particularly significant effect on the quality of today’s effort; I think any advantage gained by the early start is mitigated by the very earliness of the hour, as it indicates a less than complete night’s rest…. or something…. I guess I just have to trust the process, once again, knowing the routines built in will suffice to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion (meaning, there’s something in each section….). That said, to little or no purpose beyond filling in space, I will take my leave…. You may now resume your regularly scheduled program of insanity, and/or terror…. Or, not…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, no matter what anyone says….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

You’re our only dope, Obi-wan!….

Posted on June 18, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing.”

~~ Albert Einstein ~~

What? You don’t like green?

Good morrow…. Well, that may be a bit premature, given the state of affairs I find upon arising….. It seems there was a party in my house while I was asleep…. Y’all will have to excuse me, while I deal with a group of quite unrepentant semi-sentient appliances, who seem to have decided to make a play for independence…. SIGH…. I knew that Siri was going to cause trouble…. Put one smart phone in with those old toasters, ovens, reefers, and long-suffering kitchen appliances, and you’ve got a revolution….

Oh well, I guess it won’t hurt to sit down & negotiate with them…. But, that means I won’t have as much time to get this done… So, y’all will just have to settle for whatever happens, okay? Okay….

Let’s see what will happen if I do this….

Shall we Pearl?

“Purity engenders Wisdom, Passion avarice, and Ignorance folly, infatuation and darkness.” — Bhagavad Gita (c. B.C. 400)

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

Right around the year 1970, this band released an album with their name as the title; that album catapulted them to instant stardom, lasting only a few short years, but, leaving behind a body of work definitive of the era…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this is part of our history, like it or not….

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

It’s A Beautiful Day

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https://youtu.be/RwvcICa-a3c

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

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

Image stolen from Twitter

Today’s ranting section has been usurped by impulse…. Instead, you’ll find below some links, and pictures, detailing one of the current space projects pursued by mankind…. The Philae Comet lander, which landed in a spot originally thought to be poor, has awakened after several months of hibernation, which it entered to save power…. It woke up, having stored enough solar power to operate, and has been in contact with Earth to say it is ready to continue its mission….

I’ve included pictures below from the mission, along with a couple others, one from a mission currently going on near the orbit of Pluto, where the dwarf planet Ceres is being investigated…. Also, a couple other shots of space I thought were cool….

One of the links will take you to a photo essay describing much of the mission, with more pictures…. I hope you enjoy today’s break from the usual routine…. This kind of activity is what gives me what small bit of hope for survival I hold for mankind; our ONLY hope is to establish colonies on other worlds, or moons, or asteroids, before we make this planet uninhabitable, as seems to be our intent…. Maybe you’d like a vacation home on a comet? Cruising through space, visiting different parts of the solar system as the comet rides around the sun in its long orbit…. Not bad, eh?….

All the pictures were taken from Space.com, or the NASA website, or various news articles on the web. I don’t own any of them, I just like them….

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/14/rosetta-mission-hibernating-philae-lander-spacecraft-wakes-up

http://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2014/nov/12/rosetta-mission-lands-philae-probe-on-67p-comet-in-pictures

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

When life calls, ready or not….

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 9/10/2012.

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

The pearls for this final section have been coming to me in a rather odd fashion; that may be why so many of them turn out a bit odd…. Today’s final pearl is no exception. It’s all good advice, or a fine way to look at Life; in one case it’s a warning. It all adds up to a pretty good pearl…. Enjoy!…. Or, not, as is your preference….

“When late morning rolls around and you’re feeling a bit out of sorts, don’t worry; you’re probably just a little eleven o’clockish.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

“If “everybody knows” such and such, then it ain’t so, by at least ten thousand to one.” — Lazarus Long

“If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else.” — Marvin Gaye

“We become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions.” — Aristotle

“The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers. It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and death, in ebb and in flow. I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood at this moment.” — Rabindranath Tagore

“The sunlights differ, but there is only one darkness.” — Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Dispossessed”

“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

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

Well, it’s done; it’s different, if nothing else…. I’m gonna let if fly, because I don’t have the time, or, the inclination to go back & do it over…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as I can’t think of any reason not to do so….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Reflections on a theme in a minor key….

Posted on June 14, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I know who I am. Sometimes you go away, but I’m still here.”

~~ Everyone ~~

(Think about it….)

Artist’s rendition of The Planetary Society Light Sail Ship in flight.

Image stolen from Space.com

Good morning…. I’ve been trying to avoid getting weird or going long here in the intro, so, I won’t comment (much) on the recent weather we’ve been having here in Northern California; at least, not about WHY it’s happening. I’ve said THAT a lot, so, we won’t go into it…. But, I’ve gotta say this; the weather is officially, incontrovertibly, fucking crazy…. It’s JUNE, and we’re having weather that changes 20 degrees from one day to the next, TWICE in one week…. You would think it was springtime in Northern Europe, or the British Isles, the weather’s been so chancy….

Okay, mini-rant finished…. I’m just getting tired of never knowing what to wear to go outside; either I end up sweating under too many layers, or,freezing because I don’t have enough layers to cut the wind… SIGH…. Get used to it, ffolkes; it’s gonna get even stranger in times to come…

Basta! I said I was finished, so, I’m finished. Let’s do this, instead…..

Shall we Pearl?

“If brains were outlawed, nothing would change.” — Smart Bee

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

the-beatles-band-cover-in-black-and-white_72147496118

The Lads from Liverpool

Image from freepik.com via Google Images

I intended to bring y’all this movie today, and I’ll be damned if I’ll let some stupid copyright crap get in my way…. Here is the full movie version, but, in Spanish; it was either that, or, in Italian, which, as is patently obvious, is six of one & a half dozen of the other…. I figure my Gentle Readers are cosmopolitan enough to deal with the translation…. If not, well, the music remains just as originally recorded, so, if nothing else, there is that to enjoy…. Up the revolution! Or, at least, kick ’em in the ass every chance you get…..

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A Hard Day’s Night

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

https://youtu.be/40eaiuRQ64s

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

Today’s ranting section is a bit long, but, don’t worry, it won’t actually hurt you to do a bit extra reading…. I found an old intro section with a relatively short rant that will be perfect as an opening for the seven-star pearl I’ve put together in lieu of a fresh rant…. The old-school pearl is set on parameters to comment on today’s political scene in this country, such as it is; the archived rant speaks to the seemingly ingrained stupidity shown by the general public these days, as well as the cupidity of those who take advantage of their ignorance…. I think it works, but. maybe that’s just me….

From 9/17/2013:

Now that the crisis has passed in the Middle East, if only for the moment, the news seems to be singularly free of rantable material. Oh, there’s been another shooting, this time in a place where it raises even more questions than it does outrage…. The victims weren’t children, they were Naval workers, both those in the service, or civilians working for the Navy, and the shooter was a disgruntled Navy Reservist (though, in reality, even without firm information, I think we can safely say he was a bit beyond mere disgruntlement….) (Is that a word? Disgruntlement? I guess it is, Spell Checker didn’t even blink….), so it’s a little harder to feel the same degree of chagrin when it isn’t some crazy adolescent shooting back at the bullies….

Not that the victims deserved to be shot; that isn’t my point. It’s just harder to create controversy when the participants were all consenting adults, already engaged in activities that are, in at least one way, bound to bring some danger to one’s existence. I don’t know why this idiot nutted up, or what he was trying to accomplish, but a place where their entire purpose for existing is to create articles of war, is one that might conceivably be used as a logical target for anyone wanting to express their outrage, or in this case, probably anger, based on delusions.

It’s rather like someone who wears a gun on their hip, such as the police…. eventually, someone is going to shoot AT them, just because they are carrying…. Anyone who doesn’t acknowledge that truth is begging to get their head blown off for no good reason (I guess it has to be said…. IS there a good reason?…. The jury is still out on that one, ffolkes….).

I don’t carry guns, as I believe in using weapons that aren’t so obvious, or so limited in usefulness, but, I was raised around them, and taught how to treat them with the respectful alertness that any dangerous part of life should be given. To ignore the realities of using weapons, of any kind, guns, knives, brains, explosives, whatever, is to invite one’s own demise by those self-same articles, and that is the simple truth.

But, Americans, for some reason, seem to think passing a law will remove this truth from reality. Every time there is a new shooting, especially when children are involved as victims, or even as perpetrators, there is a huge outcry, and those who want to be protected from reality put out plaintive demands for more restrictive laws to control guns. This, in turn, prompts the survivalists and right-wing paranoids to believe the “guvviment” is going to “take away my guns”, so they too create a huge outcry, of resentment that anyone would challenge their entitlement, and their abject fear of facing life unarmed….

In truth, ANY kind of attempted change in morality in society is bound to fail in its purpose, because, like it or not, society’s morals are not subject to adjustment by the passage of laws. Trying to make society more moral by creating new laws, to control guns, or to reach ANY moral objective, is doomed to failure from the start.

Strange, isn’t it, how lately I seem to be confining my ranting to the intro section? It’s as if whatever I have to say is pushing its way out before I even get any coffee down… This does provide some rather intense emotional pressure to the ranting, I admit, giving it a good, sharp edge, but, I’m not sure the subjects I choose while still groggy are always going to be the best choice. Oh well, it’s unproductive to worry about stuff like that before it happens, so, I’ll just take this as a good thing, and roll with it…. Besides, it’s a pretty good rant, even if I don’t offer any solutions…. I’m also not offering any judgments, other than those prompted by observation of facts, so, it all balances out…. If nothing else, it got us this far, right? Right….

——————————————

“Our worst enemies here are not the ignorant and simple, however cruel; our worst enemies are the intelligent and corrupt.” — Graham Greene, The Human Factor (1978)

“I was born and I shall die, that is all that should concern the general public.” — Smart Bee

“Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men. … There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.” — Lord Acton (John Emerich Edward Dahlberg, 1st Baron Acton), (1834-1902) — letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, April 3, 1887, — reprinted in Life and Letters of Mandell Creighton (1904), vol. 1, ch. 13

“Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” — Seneca

“In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile-and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. We owe that to ourselves and our crippled self-image as something better than a nation of panicked sheep.” — Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939), journalist — The Great Shark Hunt, Jacket Copy for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1979)

“If you have a weak candidate and a weak platform, wrap yourself up in the American flag and talk about the Constitution.” — Matthew S. Quay

“We live in the kind of world where courage is the most essential of virtues;

without courage, the other virtues are useless.

~~ Edward Abbey~~

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

Pensive early and late…

Endings aren’t always a new beginning
I’m sad to say.
Sometimes it’s just an ending
there’s always a price to pay.

Still, it’s only money, he said
watching it piss away
Did everything ‘cept meet Fred
‘n had a good time the whole way.

Even the bad stuff turned out well,
life lessons are just that way.
Knowing what’s right, you can’t always tell,
we don’t always know the right things to say.

I’ll take all the hard times, without complaint,
learning isn’t always easy to take.
Kindness, patience, and compassion without restraint,
are still the best decisions we can make.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 4/26/2013.

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

Today’s final pearl built itself over three separate sessions of space/time in the last couple days… It seems to be a group of lesser-known truths about Life at Large, which, though not of obvious importance, are all rather deeply embedded in those parts of Life leading to happiness, and freedom…. Perhaps, to each of y’all, it says something different?….. In any case, a sharp, odd, yet compelling nine-star pearl, for your edification and amusement…. with, I think, a PERFECT closing pearl, to summarize…. Sort of….

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

~~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Ozymandias” (1819) ~~

“The highest result of education is tolerance.” — Helen Keller

“There is no gathering the rose without being pricked by the thorns.” — Pilpay (or Bidpai) — The Two Travellers, Chap. ii, Fable vi

“But some emotions don’t make a lot of noise. It’s hard to hear pride. Caring is real faint – like a heartbeat. And pure love – why, some days it’s so quiet, you don’t even know it’s there.” — Erma Bombeck

“Listen or your tongue will keep you deaf.” — Native American Proverb

“Where there is no shame, there is no honor.” — Smart Bee

“Something is either done or it is not done.” — Dwarvish Proverb

“The cruelest lies are often told in silence.” — Robert Louis Stevenson, “Virginibus Puerisque”, 1881

“It don’t mean a THING if you ain’t got that SWING!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

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

All of us tend to take the easy way when possible; it’s a characteristic we share with most other living creatures, though, the others aren’t quite as obsessed about it as we humans…. I’ve been guilty of it my own self, patently. In fact, watch closely, and you’ll see it happen right about NOW…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; that isn’t a promise, it’s a threat…. Well, I like to think so, anyway….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Boy, that is one sick puppy….

Posted on May 27, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought.”

~~ Lord Peter Wimsey ~~

~~ Dorothy L. Sayers, “Gaudy Night” ~~

Mars Rover Curiosity ~~ May, 2015

Image from Space.com, via NASA Images

Good morning….

Today’s opening quote is a jab of irony at myself; quotations are lifeblood to me, and my mind…. For some reason, using quotations seems to make the wisdom they impart more personal, and more understandable to me, and, hopefully, to others…. It’s also damned entertaining, and a memory workout, to come up with the appropriate quote to cover any situation in real life…. In fact. that is where the irony exists…. Socrates, Aristotle, etc., all were noted for proclaiming their own ignorance, in order to deliver the lesson that only then can one be open to learning….

In the book, and in the movie, Gaudy Night, when Lord Peter makes the statement you see re: quotations, he is speaking at dinner, to the Warden and Fellows of Shrewsbury College, a fictional women’s College of Oxford University, during the investigation of a mystery there. The Warden, one Dr. Baring, says in reply to his statement, “I think you are excessively modest, Lord Peter. The apt quotation is no mere intellectual sleight-of-hand. It’s a form of wisdom.”

I like that sentiment, for it confirms my own thoughts, in a way which helps me justify this entire process… if only to myself. Lord Peter, bless him, added another reason, for reason, to wit: “The only kind of wisdom that has any social use, Warden, is the knowledge of one’s own limitations.”, thus paraphrasing Socrates, Aristotle, and other ancient and modern sages.

It also tells me, though I won’t go into it now, WHY doing this helps me stay sane…. which I am quite thankful for, to be sure…. For now, we will leave this little introspective discussion, for two reasons. One, I’ve no doubt bored some of y’all to tears, prompting the second, to get on with the business of the day, i.e., pearling our little hearts out….

Luigi, my good fellow!…. Would you be so kind as to hit it!…. Follow me, ffolkes….

Shall we Pearl?

“A zygote is a gamete’s way of producing more gametes. This may be the purpose of the universe.” — — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

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

Best Friends Forever

While looking at a story on this blog, https://makingsenseofcrazy.wordpress.com/2015/05/26/worlds-first-phodographer-dog-wears-heart-rate-monitor-with-camera-that-takes-pics-when-he-gets-excited/ , I found the video below, as one of the choices after the video in the article. The picture you see of the BFF’s is one I found several years ago on sfgate.com, but, could never find out anything about the two animals involved in the picture. Finally, I found them, and the story of their friendship is one that can melt the hardest of hearts…. Enjoy, ffolkes, these two show us all what life is all about….

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Suria and Roscoe

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https://youtu.be/MDStH49W5Hk

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

“Nature does nothing uselessly.”

~~ Aristotle ~~

Today’s idea for discussion seems, at first glance, to be either too vague, or, too simple. However, a bit more consideration provides the meaning a bit more clearly, when one realizes he is speaking only the simplest of truths; everything that happens does so, for, and with, a purpose, whether known to us, or not…. Our own understanding of what that purpose might be doesn’t seem to have any real effect on the ultimate truth of the assertion; when we act as if we believe it, bending our efforts to make it true, or, act as if we don’t believe it, working against it, the end result is the same, to wit:

All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good;
And spite of pride, in erring reason’s spite,
One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 289 ~~

Unfortunately, a large number of people can’t deal with such ambiguity; it makes them uncomfortable, as it requires effort, especially in the direction of learning, to use the mind, and to understand as much of what we perceive as we can…. For many, that is as frightening as any other fear they have, for it means they must always be dealing with the unknown. In short, they find using their own mind tedious, difficult, and uncomfortable….

The resultant vulnerability arises from one simple fact; the Universe, and Life at Large, are ambiguous, by their very nature. As you see, a conflict at the most elemental level is generated, compromising their intelligence, and their ability to be anything other than what they are told to be…. Freud, who tended to think in terms of diseases of the mind, identified it this way….

“Neurosis is the inability to tolerate ambiguity.” — Sigmund Freud

These unfortunates, clueless to understand themselves. or the world around them, thus, without ever realizing it, become vulnerable, to anyone with the boldness to assert their own ability to mitigate those fears, if only the fearful ones will accept what they say as the truth…. This willingness to trust, to believe what is told to them, fearfully driving them to act against their own self-interest, firmly fastens a slave collar on every person alive who gives in to gives in to their fear, without ever realizing they are fully capable of learning to cope with life themselves…

One of the ways those with no ethics, or compassion, who ignore any such niceties as justice, or equality, sublimate their fears into bending all their efforts to control others, to get them to believe in what THEY tell them… To accomplish their ends, they form rigid systems of belief, often offering supernatural protections, or rewards of immortality in exchange for implicit trust, and the surrender of will… These systems reflect the fears of their creators, in their own inability to tolerate ambiguity, i.e, the REAL nature of reality… Another author noted this most succinctly this way….

“Intolerance of ambiguity is the mark of an authoritarian personality.” — Theodor W. Adorno

Then, of course, we may find classic social commentary, cleverly disguised as whimsical fairy tales/children’s stories, such as The Wind in The Willows, a short animated film from the early twentieth century, produced by one Kenneth Grahame, in which one of the story’s characters, quite famous in his own right, observes….

“To the small of brain, Ambiguity is pain.” — Mr. Toad

The only hope many people have of ever breaking their collars, to learn to learn, as it were, to use their own minds to find their own truths, is with the help of a teacher, or, at minimum, some sort of personal epiphany, either of which may convince them they CAN learn, and, more importantly, they CAN control their own lives…. Though hard to find, such teachers still exist, not only in books, but, as hidden gems, often not in schools, though one may find more of them there; at least those in that field are people committed to learning, even if their own beliefs may hinder the complete liberation of their minds…. There are even those who try to teach other teachers how to help, as demonstrated by this:

“Part of teaching is helping students learn how to tolerate ambiguity, consider possibilities, and ask questions that are unanswerable.” — Sara Lawrence Lightfoot, “In a World of Ideas,” 1992

Staying free isn’t as simple as it may sound by our discussion; I’m not implying people can be free just by wishing it, or by suddenly becoming more aware…. A certain degree of courage, and will, is also required, which many people never find within themselves, though it it there, in all of us. Sadly, a great number of people never do find any sort of freedom, not the sort they have never known, as there are a number of people in the world who actively work to prevent the masses from ever realizing their own slavery….

Bankers, preachers, politicians, even many educators, all victims of the same asinine beliefs in supernatural entities who will protect them, all are controlled by a few, insane, sociopathic oligarchs, masters of deceit, who, for millennia, have hidden behind the scenes, manipulating others for the sole purpose of fulfilling their own personal agendas, all of which are based SOLELY on their own wishes and desires, with absolutely no connection to their shared humanity.

Of the wisdom that is the legacy of all mankind, these assholes (no better word to describe their true nature…) pick and choose from the highest sounding, to justify their own selfishness, using their own expertise at psychological manipulation, and lying with a straight face, to achieve their own, perverted ends…. For example…. the following piece of wisdom, though perfectly innocent in its intent (to share knowledge of how to make oneself safer), provides them with the perfect excuse for their behavior, based on lies….

“All warfare is based on deception.” — Sun Tzu (ca. 500 BC)

What is really a shame is that far too many Westerners, especially those of a financial or political persuasion, seem to have read a mistranslated copy of the Art of War, wherein this line was translated as, “All life is based on deception.” It’s the only explanation for how a perfectly good concept, an essential truth, can be perverted and taken to its logical extreme, all for the loss of meaning in one word…. In this case, here on Earth, which we see around us today, nothing seen, heard, or read can be trusted; the truth is considered a weapon of last resort, only to be used as a distraction from the ‘true lies’….

“There are some remedies worse than the disease.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 301

SIGH…. I’m getting tired, and I need to finish this off before it gets away from me, so, we come to this final idea…. To get rid of the oligarchs who have been oppressing the majority of humanity for centuries, the most obvious, and quickest method, is to become like them, showing no compassion or concern for the rights of anyone but themselves. The numbers would be, patently, on the side of humanity in such a conflict, but, to use their own methods of violence to usurp their power can only mean, ultimately, we will become the same as them, thus, turning any attempts at achieving liberty into a mere transformation of power. from one sociopathic entity to another….

So, what is the solution? Well, at this point, at (unfortunately) 2:23 AM, on an unseasonably cold night in California, after hours of sleepless tossing and turning, I can’t say I have one, other than, possibly, my own, which involves me, a large supply of arrows, and a map to the oligarch’s houses. I’d be willing to sacrifice my own honor, in that way, to save humanity, and wouldn’t even mind dying afterward…. It’s the stain on my soul I don’t think I’d care for….

I’m working on it, though. It’s a tough problem, to figure out how to get rid of the assholes without becoming one…. I guess I could spend my time watching reality TV….. But, since I don’t much care for TV, I guess I’ll figure out something else…. When I’ve got something workable, I’ll get back to you…. Until then, let me leave you with one final thought, one which points up the ultimate solution for our difficulties, provided for us by Reality. It is also one which everyone, masters, slaves, and rebels, must eventually come to know….

There is a reaper whose name is Death,
And with his sickle keen
He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,
And the flowers that grow between.

~~ Henry W. Longfellow ~~

~~ The Reaper and the Flowers ~~

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Walt Whitman ~~ 1875

Image and poem from an article at: https://creativesystemsthinking.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/dismiss-whatever-insults-your-own-soul/

What is there left to say in admiration of this man. One of the Great Souls, Walt Whitman was an example of the best of mankind. If a solution to our problems can be found, it could well start by beginning with this man’s views on how to live…. We could do worse….

Dismiss Whatever Insults Your Own Soul

Love the earth and sun and the animals,
Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks,
Stand up for the stupid and crazy,
Devote your income and labor to others,
Hate tyrants, argue not concerning God,
Have patience and indulgence toward the people.

Take off your hat to nothing known or unknown,
or to any man or number of men,
Go freely with powerful uneducated persons,
And with the young, and with the mothers or families.

Re-examine all you have been told
in school or church or in any book,
Dismiss whatever insults your own soul;
And your very flesh shall be a great poem…

And have the richest fluency, not only in its words,
But in the silent lines of its lips and face,
And between the lashes of your eyes,
and In every motion and joint of your body.

~~ Walt Whitman ~~

~~ Preface to Leaves of Grass, 1855 edition ~~

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Okay, so here’s the deal…. Today’s final old-school pearl is kind of silly, but, it’s still a good pearl…. Moreover, at the end, you’ll find a method whereby you, and only you, can make it the perfect pearl for YOU…. Enjoy, ffolkes, whether it seems so, or not, it’s a pretty good set of ideas about Life at Large to consider, even if they’re without the usual degree of sobriety…..

“There is no opinion so absurd that some philosopher will not express it.” — Cicero

“Half of the people in the world are below average.” — Smart Bee

It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“There is no difference between theory and practice in theory, but there is often a great deal of difference between theory and practice in practice.” — Chuck Rei

“These days, the wages of sin depend on what kind of deal you make with the devil.” — Kara Vichko

“There are worse things than dying.” — Kalas

“Most of all, I’ve learned that a good time to laugh is anytime you can.” — Linda Ellerbee

“Take everything you like seriously, except yourselves.” — Rudyard Kipling

As a bonus, for today’s final pearl, YOU, the Gentle Reader, get to choose the final entry for this section… Choose one of the following; all have been cleared as perfectly appropriate finishing pearls for this pearl…. If you’re so inclined, tell us in the comments why you made the choice you picked…. Choose wisely, young paduans….

Z #1) “GOOD-NIGHT, everybody.. Now I have to go administer FIRST-AID to my pet LEISURE SUIT!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Z #2) “Hold the MAYO & pass the COSMIC AWARENESS…” — Zippy the Pinhead

Z #3) “I feel better about world problems now!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Et Voilà…. I keep telling you, and telling you, and telling you…. It’s all in the wrist….

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It’s hard to tell at this point, but, I’m pretty sure this one turned out pretty well. Or not. Since it’s still shy of 3 AM, and, I’ve been in misery for hours, frankly, I could care less, because it’s done, and, now I can try to get some sleep. Y’all have a good day, I’m gonna be busy sawing logs, I hope. Until tomorrow, then, I bid thee a fond, if somewhat sappy, adieu! Or, as we used to say on the streets…. well, no, I’d better not. I will, however, be back tomorrow to try this again….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

No tango tonight for you, Mortimer….

Posted on May 26, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A man’s happiness, — to do the things proper to man.”

— Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ~~

~~ Meditations, viii, 26 ~~

Just as if they had been dotted on top of the myriads of glowing suns in the Milky Way, this image depicts some of the brightest stars of the southern sky: on the right, in a rhomboidal shape reminding that of a kite, are the four stars of the constellation Crux, the Southern cross; in the lower left part, instead, shine the two most brilliant stars of the constellation Centaurus, the Centaur.

The Southern Cross

Image from Space.com

Good morning…. It’s a big world out there, and our last outpost of sanity is under continuous attack, by the forces of Entropy and Chaos…. This…. whatever this is, keeps them at bay in my little corner of Space/Time, as it has for close to four years now…. Join me now, as I once again take up the gauntlet, to do battle with every ounce of reason and rationality I can find…. Often it isn’t much, as is patently obvious…. But, we, or rather I, persevere, though there are times when we wonder why I bother….

Then, I look in the mirror, and see the dregs of sanity lurking there, and I am content…. It’s still a long road before me, so, I’d best get started…. As you might be able to tell from the state of this introductory section, it could be rather an uphill journey today…. Luigi, tell the tower we’re taking off, and not to worry about the fighter escort today. I’m feeling MEAN….

Shall we Pearl?

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

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Image from radiofreeamsterdam.com via Google Images

Yesterday we visited the days of old; today we’re returning to the same era, to listen to another all-time great…. Fats was the MAN, when I was young…. Nobody did it quite the same…. Enjoy, ffolkes; Fats is another cultural icon worth remembering….

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Fats Domino

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https://youtu.be/Z4vbSKOw-0g

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Last year, in 2014, I came up with some pretty decent rants…. Here is one from August of that year, simply because I can, and I’m lazy today….(Whattyamean, today?….)(Oh, hush…) Enjoy, ffolkes….

From 8/31/2014:

“Stupid is as stupid does.” — Mama Gump

Yesterday, during a rant in section one of the Daily Pearl, I made a comment, wherein I accused Bill Clinton of being an idiot, and a husband, in the same breath…. While his persona exhibits elements of both adjectives, neither one fits completely comfortably; if it was a suit, you’d think it was poorly tailored. He IS an idiot of course; letting one’s lust control their actions while in the White House as the President, is kind of a give-away on that…. and he IS a husband; it says so right on the license available for anyone to see somewhere in what, oh, yeah, Arkansas, or Alabama, or wherever it was they got married… Who knows, maybe it was in D.C. after they left Little Rock, or whatever… But, obviously, he isn’t terribly good at either one….

Any who, I wanted to clarify that, while also acknowledging that, in truth, Bill is a VERY smart guy…. I don’t care who you are, you don’t get to be a Rhodes Scholar if you don’t have a few neurons to bump together… He also plays a pretty mean sax, which is also an indicator of superior, or at least multi-talented, intelligence…. All of which goes to prove that intelligence alone has little, if any, survival value. Possessing a high IQ does not give one the ability, necessarily, to USE it in a way that helps one advance, in any respect….

Ethically, morally, or in terms of worldly success, as in being rich, famous, or celebrated in some fashion, smart guys don’t always win against the mundanes, simply because they are often not paying attention to what is important to those with less on their minds… In Bill’s case, he tried to take his multi-tasking to a new level, and failed, miserably…. Common sense often escapes the most intelligent members of this species; they tend to be a little less balanced out on the fringes of the bell curve…. too much going on in their heads, that ends up distracting them from what they’re doing in the real world, and that they are being watched, always…

That’s all…. just sayin’….. Smart don’t mean smart, if you know what I mean…. Sometimes, a little bit of street cred, a little low animal cunning, as it were, can go a long way to being more useful than having a degree, or being able to quote poetry…. Unfortunately, when someone like that learns the law, then turns to politics, there is no end to the harm they can cause…. Witness just about every president in my lifetime…. Most of them weren’t the most intelligent, though smart enough to get through law school; they are definitely the most corrupt, and the most vicious sociopaths, that is for sure and for certain, but, overly intelligent, they were NOT…..

Sorry, but, I just calls ’em as I sees ’em, ffolkes, and that’s the way it’s been for my life; I can count, on fewer than the fingers on only ONE of my hands, the number of presidents I respect, at all, and only one of those is still alive…. That one will go down in history as an ineffective president, because he had the unfortunate quality of possessing both intelligence, and integrity, not to mention compassion…. which are three qualities that no other president since 1962 has possessed. to any appreciable degree, and definitely not together in the same man, other than the one…. If you disagree, fine…. comment, and tell me why, so we can discuss it…. But, please, make it worth my time, because there isn’t a lot of evidence I’m aware of for you to choose from..

Any who, that’s it…. just wanted to make clear why I thought Bill was an idiot husband…. I’ll avoid any comments as to WHY he is uncomfortable as a husband, married to a woman who is just as sociopathic as he is…. a woman completely lacking any sort of real compassion for others, because it is subsumed in the vast furnace of their ambition….

There is no room for compassion in one who wishes to lead a nation, especially one with the power and resources of this one, along with the historically traditional imperative, and true national pastime, of proselytizing democracy, and our twisted versions of Christianity, on anyone in the world who doesn’t have them…. whether they want them, or not….

Sometimes, that interference in the lives and interests of other nations in the world in the guise of business, to spread our capitalist markets, which require constant expansion to prevent collapsing under their own weight…. Or, our insistence on playing busybody is justified with the pretense of humanitarianism, with rationalizations ranging from saving them from godless communism, to fighting the evil of “muslim extremists, and/or rebel insurgents” who are fighting terrorist civil wars, “killing their own people, including, gasp, children and old people!”

These wars, though being fought over what seem to me to be all-too-familiar sounding, minute, yet firmly idiotic differences of interpretation of scripture, are still CIVIL wars, even if religiously motivated …. I won’t comment on this scripture, allegedly also “divine” in origin, in the book of collected dogmatic delusions that were left to guide them by their version of a mortal, yet, somehow, also immortal, and, thus, divine, (by the time-tested use of “ipse dixit” reasoning) prophet of the ONLY god, or Allah, or Baha’u’lah, or whomever they worship/idolize/follow/are enslaved by…. Well, I wasn’t planning to comment, but, I suppose I just did….

However, my point remains valid, despite my opinion of Islam, or Christianity, or Hinduism, or Buddhism, or any other religion…. As far as I’m concerned, they are ALL the possessors of a SMALL piece of the Truth about Reality in this Universe, but, they have erroneously chosen to misinterpret the meaning of their piece, and have beaten their dead horses, killed by that error, into a sad, bloody pulp, unrecognizable, and useless for anything other than making everyone’s life more difficult, and divisive…. I can’t say it much clearer than that, about religion, or politics, either….

Instead I’ll say that it’s a shame there is probably no one to run against Hillary who can win, because she’ll be, unfortunately, as cruelly self-serving, as dishonest as, well, a politician, as unaware of, and as little concerned with the plight of the common man, and as falsely “transparent” in their actions and words, as any man who has ever held the office…. including Tricky Dicky and LBJ, who were about as underhanded, and corrupt as any politician who ever lived….

The scary part of that, if not the scariest part of the whole shebang we call the future? If there IS anyone who can win against her, things in this sad old country, and, no doubt, the rest of this sad, old world, will go from bad, to very much worse, in a very short time…. Think about it….

Just watch…. I hate being right in these cases, but, my track record is, sadly, practically unblemished, as I have called just about every election at the national level, for all those years of repetitive foolishness I’ve witnessed….

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

“…there are periods of history when the visions of madmen and dope fiends are a better guide to reality than the common-sense interpretation of data
available to the so-called normal mind. This is one such period, if you haven’t noticed already.” — The Illuminatus! Trilogy — Robert Anton Wilson

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Three final notes on this subject from 2015, as it becomes more relevant each day:

“If you ever see me getting beaten by the police, put down the video camera and come help me.” — Bobcat Goldthwait

“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. — Douglas Adams, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” — Edmund Burke (1729-1797), in a letter to William Smith

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As noted in the previous section, I’m feeling a bit lazy today; hence this antiquated poem from the archives…. Enjoy, for what it’s worth… Written sometime in 2013, it’s one of my favorites, such as they are….

Accentuated Lessons

Bold statements of calculated intent
Become common rule of the malcontent.
Avarice assumes such attractive wear
Beguiling deception, illusory and fair.

Grasping and pulling with ghostly hands
Legally proper in all the signatory lands.
Seeking and finding each vulnerable soul
Anguish as payment for exacting the toll.

Wraiths of commerce’s invisible dead guards
Still haunt the dreams left in sad empty yards.
While absentee nobles sit in stiffly elegant splendor
Served by sad-faced detainees in abject surrender.

Escape from reality is illusory at best
Often we falter and fail its daily test.
Only when focused on inner strength
Does peace stay with us for any length.

Peace lies within, always…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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Today’s final old-school pearl is a tricky one…. All of the following are observations on Life at Large, in a manner of speaking…. At least one of them is a trick pearl…. It looks okay, and sounds okay, but, when one stops to look more closely at the concept, it turns silly on you…. which, somehow, doesn’t detract from its rightness…. Go figure, and, of course, which pearl that may be is left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…. You should KNOW you never get out of here without having to use at least three neurons!…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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

“Cato said the best way to keep good acts in memory was to refresh them with new.” — Francis Bacon (1561-1626) — Apothegms, No, 247

“It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are willing to search for it.” — Goethe

“With two hearts do people live; a small one of deep softness, the other of steel. And kindness is too often a shield, generosity too often a sword.” — Kahlil Gibran

“I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there.” — Richard Feynman

“You’re never too old to learn something stupid.” — Smart Bee

“The best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost

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Today’s process of creation felt a little choppy, but, hey…. we’re done. Y’all know what that means right? You’re on you own again…. Go do something constructive, or, at minimum, patently explainable in small words, of three or fewer syllables. Wouldn’t want to confuse anyone, now, would you? No, of course not…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can dodge the bullets….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

She won’t start for toffy…

Posted on May 22, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

~~ Socrates ~~

Ursa Major ~~ The Big Dipper

Image from Space.com

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

Shall we Pearl?

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

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

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

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

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Classical Music for Reading

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https://youtu.be/n_0Qix6qf5g

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

From 2/24/2014:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“intelligence from a Homeland Security Department investigation also helped”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Doctor, Tell Me

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

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

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

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

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

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

Doctor, tell me, has Picasso gone home?

~~ Maggie Mae ~~

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

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

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

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

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

~~Smart Bee ~~

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

He not busy being born

Is busy dying.

~~ Bob Dylan ~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

There arose a great tumult….

Posted on May 17, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

and one only evil, namely, ignorance.”

~~ Diogenes Laertius — Socrates, xiv ~~

Image by Manish Mamtani from Space.com

http://www.manishmamtani.com/

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

Shall we Pearl?

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

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

yakko__wakko__and_dot_by_slomoto-d5qotz9

Image from slowmoto at deviantart.com via Google Free Images

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

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

Yakko, Wakko, & Dot

The Animaniacs

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

https://youtu.be/DVyo7FuU4pU?list=PLorl-IXETJHEfkP2oSc0tNvFtRlaXBmrL

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

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

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

~~ Calvin ~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ Plutarch ~~

~~ On the Tranquility of the Mind ~~

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

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

Elemental, dear Watson….

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

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

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

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

Fuck.

It
hurts.

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

He isn’t?
Oh,
Well….

Ante up.
Deal.

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

I say,

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

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

because

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

I
will
take the complaints.

After all,
they
are
my bones.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 9/14/2014.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Burdened with atrophied sensibilities….

Posted on May 12, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“To see what is right and not to do it is cowardice.”

~~ Cervantes ~~

Artist’s rendition of water plumes on the surface of Europa

Image from Space.com

Good morning, ffolkes….

Just a short note, to give fair warning…. Gird your grid for a big one…. and, keep your wits about you.

Shall we Pearl?

“Who sees all beings in his own Self, and his own Self in all beings, loses all fear.” — Isa Upanishad

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

The Stones who are still Rolling

Image from wallpaperhere.com via Google Images

Yesterday, ’twas the Beatles; it’s only right today we include their contemporaries, who, somehow, are still going strong…. The Stones will be going on tour again this year… I’ve seen them live on stage a number of times through the years, and can’t think of any concerts I enjoyed more….Think of it; a stage full of 70 year old rockers, still making kick-ass, down & dirty rock and roll…. still rocking the world, fifty years on…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. Nothing else is quite like time spent getting down with the Stones…. and, I managed to find more than two hours of their best early work, to start your day right….

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

The Rolling Stones

Hampton Coliseum 12/18/81

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

https://youtu.be/PFPh5PL2c8Y

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

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

“What is it the Bible teaches us? – rapine, cruelty, and murder. What is it the Testament teaches us? – to believe that the Almighty committed debauchery with a woman engaged to be married, and the belief of this debauchery is called faith.” — Thomas Paine — The Age of Reason

Ffolkes, I don’t think there is anyone, of a ffolkes-y nature, or, just folks, who would be able to disagree when I say the world today has gone stark, raving mad…. All one needs to do is take a daily trip through the international news, whether of a liberal, conservative, radical, or silly bias (ALL of them are biased; it’s the nature of the beast), to see the evidence is clear…. In too many places on the map to count, war is raging, killing both the guilty and the innocent, for the entertainment and profit of the arms dealers, none of whom ever participate in any of the conflagrations, being satisfied to watch it all safely from a distance, while they count their rubles, or marks, or pounds, or yuan, or dollars, pouring in from nations and organizations around the entire planet….

Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Iran, Africa, nearly every continent on Earth is witnessing daily wars, or violent acts of terror. The governments of every country are spying on their citizens, and each other, hiding their real intentions from all, moving us closer to another world war. This while constantly trumpeting every sort of danger they can think of to keep the public distracted, too busy to think about what is actually being done, to them, and to society at large.

Society itself displays all the symptoms of a dying organism. The members of our species prey upon the weak, and vulnerable among us without compunction, as the sex trafficking trade in women and children, used to satisfy the perverted urges of pedophiles, misogynists, and men of every walk of life, who have been encouraged all their life to treat women as property, or anything but a human being, worthy of respect, dignity, and love. Churches claim to help the poor, while all the while buying their gold-lined robes, standing up behind their gold plated icons, preaching earthly obedience, to church and state authority, so they can be rewarded when they die, for being such idiots…

I’m sick of it all; obviously, not ranting for a while has built up a bit of pressure, as I seem to be attacking on all fronts at the moment…. I am so sick and tired of the STUPID ASSHOLES, the elite oligarchs who control the world’s resources for their own aggrandizement, manipulating everyone else in the world by whatever means are effective (disinformation, violence, betrayal, legal theft, all those ways governments and corporations have of colluding to cheat the public….), without ever considering what they are doing to the rest of us, or to the planet…. Fucking dicks….

Then. there are the so-called men of our species, who, mostly, are misogynist, bigoted racists, who take pride in being able to fart the national anthem, or prove their manhood by abusing anyone weaker than they; children, women, animals…. Bah, humbug! I can’t do this any more…. I find myself falling into name calling, spewing bile over people who not only won’t ever see it, (their reading is generally confined to thin books with small amounts of small easy-to-read words, and many large. colorful pictures, often of a prurient nature… which they wouldn’t understand as a euphemism for vulgar….), but, really aren’t worth the effort of abusing…. What I would really like to do is take my knives, my crossbow, and my lariat, to go hunting at night, on the streets….

SIGH…. It’s certainly inconvenient, not to mention occasionally frustrating, being honorable….

Now, since I can’t go hunting just now, I’ll sublimate…. Normally when I say that, you would see an old school pearl. Today, here is a link, to a blog I’ve recently begun to follow. The author and I have struck a common chord; he feels much the same as I do regarding our society’s persistent denial of a problem that has been with us far to long….. By failing to acknowledge the existence of a problem, there is a consistent failure to act, thus giving tacit approval, to what I consider the most vile flaw in human nature, for a man, i.e., the ability to rationalize misogyny, and/or physical or emotional violence toward women.

For the author, obviously, this was a very personal story to write; he wanted me to know, a comment of mine from a day or two ago, on another story of his in the same vein, along with another comment from another like-minded reader, had prompted him to write this story, with the added honor of including both of us as a character…. He gave me the name, Bob, which, though he didn’t know it, is my father’s name; most appropriate, since my attitudes on this come directly from him.

Ffolkes, this is a difficult story to read, but, the message it delivers is important, not to mention powerful…. If you are a male human being, with any sense of honor, and/or justice, you MUST read this…. You may as well do it now… Tissues will be issued, if needed, and they will be… Even you guys will need them… The story is called,

Psychosphere

https://p33d33.wordpress.com/2015/05/10/psychosphere/#comment-241

After reading that, I find myself with little to say; it’s pretty clear, as well as powerfully written…. Since I’ve already used up quite a bit of space, without even counting the reading involved in following the link, we’ll bring this to a close for now. It’s a subject you’ll see, here on ECR, (Exploring Consensual Reality), again, again, and again, until it stops, or, I’ve reached the limit of my tolerance for inaction by the rest of society, & gone hunting….

What the hell? I’m getting old, & I’ve got nothing better to do with the time I have left to me….

So be it.

gigoid has spoken….

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

Momentary Terror

Absently casual, memories pester endlessly
leaving only bleeding remnants, amiable and loving.
Coming awake, I cry to still the pain, shamelessly.

Elsewhen, time gives surcease, if only to live,
shoring broken pilings, worn and gray.
Passing on, I laugh at the pain, accept all it will give.

Time will build a shelter, warm and ever safe
save for Fate’s busy hands.
Enduring, I follow the pain, knowing it will chafe.

Fixed against a darkened sky of starry black
such beauty brings us to our knees.
Entranced, I welcome the pain, ’tis all I lack…..

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 2/4/2013.

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

Today’s final pearl comes with a chance to accumulate some bonus points. If you know the identity of the person quoted in the fifth pearl in the group, we will award one thousand points. The points are good for the final Quiz; you can trade them in for answers. (It’s an American Quiz, corruption is part of it…. Only five hundred thirty-tree thousand points per short answer, limit of one for the entire twelve thousand question test….)

But, don’t worry…. just memorize the quote, and think about it; not only will you know the answer, thus saving the points, but, you won’t much care who the author(ess) was…. All of these, you may rest assured, will be on that Final Quiz….

“All is mystery; but he is a slave who will not struggle to penetrate the dark veil.” — Benjamin Disraeli

“Desires and longings are the root cause of all suffering.” — Meher Baba

“All anger arises from obstructed desire.” — Krishna to Arjuna, Bhagavad Gita

“Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.” — Henry James

“The one unforgivable sin, the offense against one’s own integrity, is to accept anything at all simply on authority.” — Maureen Johnson Long

“Clay is moulded to make a vessel, but the utility of the vessel lies in the space where there is nothing. … Thus, taking advantage of what is, we recognize the utility of what is not.” — Lao Tzu

“If it isn’t Scottish…it’s CRRRRRAP!” — Smart Bee

Oops! How’d that slip by me? Forget that one; Smart Bee was trying to be funny…. Though, really, if you look at it, it fits…. Oh, well, here is the correct finishing pearl for this group….

“Blah, blah, blah….” — Smart Bee

Now, STOP THAT!…. Sheesh…. Gerroudofit!…. Here, let’s try again…. The CORRECT finishing pearl….

“When subtlety fails us we must make do with cream pies.” — David Brin

“Hand me a pair of leather pants and a CASIO keyboard — I’m living for today!” — Zippy the Pinhead

SIGH….. Ffolkes, I apologize…. Smart Bee has gone over the edge, not to mention way over the top…. I’ll have to usurp his connectors for a while, and finish this up with a choice of my own…. Here, then, is an appropriate finishing pearl for such a formerly dignified, relevant, wise group of comments on living with honor and dignity…. Don’t worry, I put SB to bed; try to recapture the train of thought here, okay?….

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

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

I’m not going to say this Pearl is special; I won’t even say it’s good. It is, however, to the best of my perceptions, done. For me, here and now, that’s good enough… After all, that IS the very essence of Axiom # 1 of my very own philosophy, right?…. “I think I am. That’s good enough.” Yep, that’s what it says, and I’m going to take it as a given…. Besides, I’m hungry…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should the authorities fail to find and capture me….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

gigoid

Ned Moore, aka gigoid, is a 70 year-old, (!!!… When did that happen?….), retired dilettante, who would rather read than eat, most days. His first blog, "gigoid’s folly", has been emailed out to folks he knows for about 18 years now. He still considers it his best defense against angst, and the ever-present specter of sheer insanity..... Due to rigorous curmudgeon training requirements, he has discontinued his Facebook presence, but still indulges in the occasional Twitter session... In essence, he's socialized, but, not overly sociable; all labels and stereotypes are forbidden in his presence... and he doesn't care what anyone thinks about that..... In fact, he doesn't want to talk anymore.... If you feel you MUST contact gigoid, his email address is: alphagigoid@gmail.com You can go read now.... Go on, beat it.... gigoid, the dubious

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