Ffolkes,
Having slept, I arise. Rising, I begin to think… or, a reasonable facsimile thereof. It doesn’t help, just as expected, but, with admirable perseverance, I booted up the computer anyway…. You may thank me, either now, or later, but, have no doubt, you will do so, either for what I’ve said, or for having stopped in the telling. It will be, as always, your choice, though, I’m guessing, it won’t make the decision any simpler, or cause any less fear in your heart…. though “fear” may not be the exact word to describe the depth of your feelings about what has transpired….
There, are y’all nervous now? If not, I’ve done this wrong…. Since the intro today isn’t normal, by any means, I suppose I should try to explain. But, I won’t, because I don’t understand what is happening any more than y’all do; my fingers seem to by doing just fine without my input. I would guess it has something to do with today’s rant, which is a subject of large importance in my world…. Whatever the reason for it, it’s playing hell with this morning’s routine, which was already a bit off kilter due to yesterday’s bout of shoulder and hand pain, which reached some new highs….
Today, though, is not as bad as that, so far, but, I’d hoped to begin differently…. So much for my obviously mistaken idea of being in control of this process; my subconscious has clearly decided to assume its own degree of control, without bothering to let me know here on the conscious level, where I had THOUGHT we were to spend the day…. But, NOOOOO, there has to be a new direction, chosen without any conscious input, which is guaranteed to piss me off…. I mean, it isn’t too smart to think it could put it past me like this, without at least making a token effort to give me a head’s up…. I AM in charge of this ship, even if there is some doubt in some quarters as to the veracity of that statement…. I’ve got it in writing, so there….
Yes, yes, I know it’s getting a bit thick in here; tell it to the monitors…. I’m just trying to wrest back the steering wheel from my subconscious, which has the erroneous idea it’s going to be in charge today…. In fact, it’s being so insistent, we’re going to have to take a moment here, so I can draw it aside, to let it know, in no uncertain terms, what will happen if it doesn’t straighten up and fly right…. In fact, I’m going to do that now, as it is the perfect moment to retake control…. Hang on a moment, please, while we go into the other room to discuss this….
Okay, I’m back, and everything is squared away…. We’ll get the message out as to the rant my subconscious has in mind, but, I will be the one directing the bus, not my subconscious, which, though it believes otherwise, has no talent at all for driving a bus of this size and complexity…. Driving a toy version isn’t sufficient training, not when there are others involved, whose presence on the bus my subconscious tends to discount, or resent…. It isn’t their fault; they just don’t spend enough time in Reality to have a good grip on what is needed to survive there…. which is why they call it the SUB conscious mind, after all…
Okay, now that we’re fairly well lost, I’ll take over, and get us off this path, and back on the correct one to lead us where we need to go today…. Hopefully, it didn’t take so long we lost our morning group of Gentle Readers…. In any case, I see our opening coming up, so, let’s get on with it, okay? I need to get this slow on the road…..
Shall we Pearl?
“We who revel in nature’s diversity and feel instructed by every animal tend to brand Homo sapiens as the greatest catastrophe since the Cretaceous extinction.” — Stephen Jay Gould
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I’m in the mood for some classic rock, and there is no better example than this album, from the glory days of that genre….. This album is considered by aficianados to be one of the best examples of a live concert album ever created…. not to mention the tour, which was considered to be one of the best all-time performances by a live band…. On the page where this is found on You Tube, there are a number of fine albums from the period, which should provide y’all with some great music for your day…. Enjoy!…..
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In the last week, one of America’s most revered cultural icons, Bill Cosby, has been revealed as a serial rapist…. Now, there are many people out there, even some reading this, who might think it is premature to name him as such, given the lack of legal convictions, or even charges brought against him in the past…. However, I am of a mind with Abe Lincoln, one of of many who famously believed, “if it looks like a dog, it smells like a dog, barks like a dog, AND, as an added bonus, wags its tail, then it’s a pretty sure bet it IS a dog”…. Let’s be realistic, ffolkes….
Even if only one woman had come forward, or two, it would still be a charge worth investigating, since it DOES, in spite of long-term denial by most of society, comprise the single worst crime I can think of; when more than ten women all tell the same story, with little variation in spite of years between incidents, there seems to me to be little doubt they are telling the truth, given what I know to be true of human nature, and the unwillingness of society to acknowledge the depth of this problem…. (See the comment above, by Jimmy Carter….)
Having known a great many women who were raped, in my work as a psychiatric technician, I know it is all too common for those victims of rape to never report the crime, because American society, long run by men, with men’s rules, immediately begins a campaign to implicate the victim in their own crime, by implying, complete with snide accusations, the woman invited her attack…. I’ve read record after record after record, all with the same story, of a woman sexually abused, multiple times in their lives, yet never believed…. Whenever I hear a man saying a woman is responsible for being raped, in any fashion, I immediately suspect anything that man says…
If anyone out there can provide me with ANY evidence to refute the above allegations, feel free to say so in the comment section; I defy ANYONE to find proof my contention is erroneous. This society is sick, sick, sick, in the way women in general are treated…. Moreover, it is frightened, childish petulant MEN who have infested society with their ignorant, cowardly misogyny, writing their lies and rationalizations right into the fabric of the laws they claim protect the weak and innocent…. when, in fact, most laws are designed to protect ONLY the rights of men, largely regarding property, which includes, in most men’s eyes, women….
Fucking assholes…. Here are two articles, from a UK news outlet; I also perused another British organization, which also had complete coverage of the ongoing issue with Fat Albert’s alter ego, and his serial victimization of young/old/he wasn’t picky, seems like, women…. Almost every international news organization had coverage, while the American media, as you’ll see below, has, as far as they could, tried to ignore it, or play it down, for the most part…. The only article I found this morning was in the NY Times, written by a woman, and I’m thinking the only reason it made it past the editors of the Times was that it was about jokes, and the TV media coverage of the issue, which, so far, has been pretty mild, and careful not to offend Dr. Huxatable’s image….
I did see where some hack quoted one of the child stars of that show, who said he never bothered her…. but, then, predators usually don’t hunt in their own pack; they go elsewhere for their prey….
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/21/bill-cosby-rape-accusers-women-stories
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/20/bill-cosby-acused-sexual-assault-seventh-woman
I checked the NY Times, Time Magazine, Yahoo, and Reuters News Services, where this was the ONLY article about the subject…. It makes me think the American media is avoiding the issue altogether, while most of the cultural outrage and shock is discussed openly outside the borders of Bill’s influence….
Oops…. I should have refreshed earlier…. though I don’t back away from what I’ve already said about media coverage, I did find one more reasonable discussion of the Cosby issue, from what seems to be a reasonably rational man…. Of course, we all should remember this IS the internet, so, someone’s actual existence is not proven until we can touch them ourselves…. But. this is well written, and well-thought out, so, it is worth a read, if only to add information relevant to the discussion….
Later in the day, more updates, with the American media finally chiming in to add to the numbers (now there are *at least* 17 accusers identified in the press around the world, all of whom indicated a similar pattern of stories, and further implications of the serial nature of the offenses….)
Of course, Bill isn’t the only sexual predator, or the only one in society who assumes it is normal to abuse women; society itself allows a culture to be fostered which encourages sexual abuse, such as rape, by consistent denial of the problem, made worse by official tacit approval of acts of individual oppression, by refusing to punish offenders, as well as allowing victims to suffer further abuse for speaking out…. and I am not the only one who is tired of it….
Our male-dominated society makes it difficult for anyone who feels differently to make themselves heard; the way it accomplishes this ties right into the same methods used to oppress women, or any other group of vulnerable individuals, with denial, ridicule, and derisive verbal attacks from the ignorant and cruel as the primary weapons used against anyone who dares to speak out against men, or politicians, or police, or any of the protected members of the Asininnies… The very laws we live by were written by men, for the benefit of men only…. women, children, animals, and the planet at large are of no concern to these selfish assholes….
The following final link is just ONE example of how they maintain the atmosphere of fear that keeps the general public in line….
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/nov/20/police-legal-action-snooping-journalists
“There’s a tendency today to absolve individuals from moral responsibility and treat them as victims of social circumstance. You buy that, you pay with your soul. It’s not men who limit women, it’s not straights who limit gays, it’s not whites who limit blacks. What limits people is lack of character. What limits people is that they don’t have the fucking nerve or imagination to star in their own movie, let alone direct it.” — Bernard Mickey Wrangle
I see this rant has become a bit disorganized; this is partially due to the ubiquitous nature of the problem, which infests every level of society. It is such an infuriating subject for me, I tend to devolve into verbal abuse myself, though aimed at the perpetrators of these offenses, rather than the usual targets, the victims…. I get so angry, the only response I can come up with to resolve my anger at men in general is to go out, buy a weapon, and start the process of removing the culprits from this plane of existence, one by one…. It probably wouldn’t work very well, for very long, but, I’d sure feel a lot better for having relieved some of my anger against those who deserve it the most….
For now, though, I’ll let y’all get on with your day…. But, I’ll ask that you at least think about this, and try to see how the tacit approval of the problem by those who will not speak out is the basis of how the problem might be solved…. which will NOT happen until all those who now remain silent begin to speak up in defense of the weak and vulnerable among us…. In short, YOU, and I will have to make the changes, for those in power will never change, until they are made to do so by the rest of us….
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Here is a poem of mine that goes perfectly with the above rant; it was written with the subject matter firmly in mind….
It’s all too, too much, he cried
I can take no more!
It’s all crazy, my brain is fried,
battered, bloody, and sore.
Talking heads shout out hatred and fear
jam for my morning toast.
Pointing fingers far, middle, and near
enemies everywhere, almost.
Women, gays, and seniors fall prey,
easy targets, slow and weak.
Convenient fools, wanting only to play,
used, and abused, even as we speak.
It enough to drive me floridly insane,
or want to buy a gun.
I may end up in jail, or in massive pain,
but, oh, it would be fun….
~~ gigoid ~~
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I’ve been so involved this morning in completing the rant, I feel like I need to shower before continuing to write…. Instead, I’ll sublimate by asking SB to find some pearls that are somewhat more optimistic about Life, and show human nature in a somewhat more attractive light…. There has to be SOME kind of redeeming quality to our nature, else why would we have all this potential goodness within us?…. Let’s see what we can see….
“Food, sleep, fear, propagation; each is the common property of men with brutes. Virtue is really their additional distinction; devoid of virtue, they are equal with brutes.” — The Hitopadesa (600?-1100? A.D.)
“It is an unhappy lot which finds no enemies.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 499
“If a man has talent and cannot use it, he has failed.” — Thomas Wolfe
“Remember what Simonides said,–that he never repented that he had held his tongue, but often that he had spoken.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD)
— Rules for the Preservation of Health, 7
“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
“One man with courage is a majority.” — Thomas Jefferson
“[Freedom is] the power to live as you will. Who then lives as he wills?” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)
“Have in readiness this saying of Solon, “But we will not give up our virtue in exchange for their wealth.”” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — How to profit by our Enemies
“I must stand up in search of the truth, if I don’t I only roll with the flow of the lie and make it stronger.” — Sovereign
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I’ve procrastinated to the limit allowed by law; being thus constrained, I shall yield to the demands of reality, to bring this to a close, ready or not…. I suppose, given what I’ve already done today, it is enough. I’ll see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
gigoid, the dubious
PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.
À bientôt, mon cherí….
gigoid 