Tag Archives: Taoism

One sure thing we know for certain about Life…. it’s always fatal….

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Ffolkes,

“Dreaming permits each and everyone of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.” — Charles William Dement

Wandering through endless halls of wondrous elegance, with classical paintings adorning the walls, and chandeliers providing brilliant light to bring out the beauty of the surroundings. I try to avoid bumping into any of the what seems like millions of people, all naked from the waist up, but wearing slacks, skirts, shorts, etc. with shoes…. A few even wore hats, though we were indoors…. All very odd looking, but, not at all off-putting, except, perhaps, for the gang-bangers, whose sagging pants and sideways cap are as stupid-looking in dreams as they are on the streets….. Everyone was dancing, to an old waltz, familiar, but just out of memory’s reach….

I knew somehow, (as we always seem to know, in our dreams…) if I could just find one person, all the others would be okay, and no harm would come to them…. but, as it usually goes in dreams, I didn’t know who I was to look for…. I also knew that, if they didn’t dance, they’d never be given back their shirt tops, coats, and/or their blouses; why the dancing was supposed to kept their hopes alive, I have no clue….. As I moved from one massive ballroom to the next, the haunting, melancholy music that had been playing changed to a rag-time tune, whereupon all the half-dressed, frenetic dancers began jumping around in something that resembled the Charleston…..

This went on for hours, it seemed, until I turned in my sleep, and a stab of pain in my back woke me up, bringing me out of the dream, and into full awareness…. All in all, it was one of the strangest dreams I’ve ever had…. That is actually saying a lot, because my dreams, when I remember them at all, are ALWAYS strange…. I once asked the psychiatrist I was seeing, when I was off work due to the incident that shattered the last remnants of my sanity, why my dreams were so infrequent, and yet so strange when they came…. He said nobody understands dreams, and I was just lucky I didn’t dream more often….

I believed him, this time, without having to perform any further research into dreams, as I had done that already, when I was in high school… In our sophomore English class, the teacher assigned us to write a term research paper, college style, due at the end of the year…. He taught us how to do that type of paper, then let us go to whatever libraries we wished to use for our research….

The subject I chose was Telepathy, Dreams, and Paranormal Activity, which, though actually too large a subject, worked out well for one so unpracticed at the paper’s method of construction…. It gave me enough range of subject matter that the length of the paper (A minimum of 25 full pages, with footnotes and bibliography… the whole nine yards….) became moot; there was PLENTY of material to choose from…. at the University of California, Berkeley’s main library…

This was because I talked my father into driving me to Berkeley, to the UC there, so I could use their main library, which gave me a LOT of books to pick from, as well as extensive help from the librarians…. I used the reasoning that I would be able to look around the campus with him for living spaces and resources, as I had made up my mind, even in my sophomore year, that UCB was going to be my school…. I had known that ever since I learned that they had the best reputation in astronomy and sciences degrees in the world, along with a few others such as MIT, Cal Tech, Stanford, and a very few others…. I figured, why not go for the BEST?….

To bring us back toward some kind of rational end point here in the present, I’ll merely say that I already knew a lot about the subject of dreams, or, at least, more than most people, so it wasn’t really a surprise to hear a well-educated psychiatrist admit to ignorance in the field…. Since the medical pundits DON’T claim to possess a lot of knowledge about how the brain works, especially in sleeping mode, I really asked for rhetorical purposes, to see if he could perhaps shed some light….

Alas, no; I still wonder why my dreams are so infrequent… I suppose their infrequency is a factor in why they are so vivid in my memory, as they certainly create an impression on my unconscious mind…. Oh well, this is one of those things we can’t do anything about, so, I’ll take the advice of Epictetus, and not worry about it….

I will also note at this point that we shot right past the legal minimum for an intro, so we’re good to go for today… We even have enough coffee on board to make anything I write more coherent…. Glory Be!….. I think, maybe, y’all had best fasten those belts, tight, and hang on, because this could be quite a ride…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“I don’t think it would have all got me down quite so much if just once in a while- just once in a while- there was at least some polite little perfunctory implication that knowledge should lead to wisdom, and that if it doesn’t, it’s just a disgusting waste of time.” — J.D. Salinger, Franny & Zooey
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I’ve made an executive decision regarding the format of today’s Pearl…. I’m tired of ranting every day, and I’m positive ffolkes are tired of me ranting every day about the same stuff, relevant as it may be…. Anything gets old after a time, and it isn’t as if I were writing short, easy pieces…. No, I have to go all verbose, and saddle my poor readers with seemingly greater portions of angst every day…. “BASTA!”, he cried…. “Enough! Let them eat cake!”

Okay, well, no cake, but what I WILL do is create TWO old-school pearls to go along with the most excellent poem I found for this morning’s missive…. For those of my Gentle Readers who come by often, it will be what I’m sure will be a most welcome change, as well as a little break for me, and my arthritic fingers… In this first pearl, let’s see what Smart Bee can come up with when I ask for quotes about Asininnies, and their jobs…. (e.g., doctors, lawyers, judges, police, etc…. you know, the Asininnies…)

“A thing either is what it appears to be; or it is not, but yet appears to be; or it is, but does not appear to be; or it is not, and does not appear to be.” — Epictetus

“A physician, after he had felt the pulse of Pausanias, and considered his constitution, saying, “He ails nothing,” “It is because, sir,” he replied, “I use none of your physic.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Of Pausanias the Son of Phistoanax

“He is running for Congress … Do you know why he will be elected? Because all the gun owners will vote for him. Why will they vote for him? Because  he is against any new law which will require registration of firearms. He claims that if there is a war, we might be invaded by Communists. And we will all need guns. With nuts like that in Congress, it could happen.” — Larry Siegel

“Of the various executive abilities, no one excited more anxious concern than that of placing the interests of our fellow-citizens in the hands of honest men, with understanding sufficient for their stations.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) — Letter to Elias Shipman and others of New Haven, July 12, 1801

“There is no happiness where there is no wisdom.” — Sophocles

“As the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on Christian religion…” — Joel Barlow (1754-1812) — Treaty with Tripoli (signed 1797)

“In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.” — Napoleon Bonaparte

I couldn’t have said it better myself….
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Today’s poem is from an author who is new to me…. I like the rhyming in this poem; it reminds me of more than one of my own poems, in that respect…. I also enjoyed the sense of metaphor, and the use of imagery that uses such metaphor to make it’s point…. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did….

The Alchemist in the City

My window shews the travelling clouds,
Leaves spent, new seasons, alter’d sky,
The making and the melting crowds:
The whole world passes; I stand by.

They do not waste their meted hours,
But men and masters plan and build:
I see the crowning of their towers,
And happy promises fulfill’d.

And I – perhaps if my intent
Could count on prediluvian age,
The labours I should then have spent
Might so attain their heritage,

But now before the pot can glow
With not to be discover’d gold,
At length the bellows shall not blow,
The furnace shall at last be cold.

Yet it is now too late to heal
The incapable and cumbrous shame
Which makes me when with men I deal
More powerless than the blind or lame.

No, I should love the city less
Even than this my thankless lore;
But I desire the wilderness
Or weeded landslips of the shore.

I walk my breezy belvedere
To watch the low or levant sun,
I see the city pigeons veer,
I mark the tower swallows run

Between the tower-top and the ground
Below me in the bearing air;
Then find in the horizon-round
One spot and hunger to be there.

And then I hate the most that lore
That holds no promise of success;
Then sweetest seems the houseless shore,
Then free and kind the wilderness,

Or ancient mounds that cover bones,
Or rocks where rockdoves do repair
And trees of terebinth and stones
And silence and a gulf of air.

There on a long and squared height
After the sunset I would lie,
And pierce the yellow waxen light
With free long looking, ere I die.

~~ Gerard Manley Hopkins  ~~

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Okay, so…. Lately, I’ve been bringing up old religirants from the archives, since I seem to have covered most of the bases at various times in the past…. It saves me time and energy, and the rants I’ve revived were all still valid in terms of what they bespoke…..

Bully for me, but, in the long run, boring for y’all…. So…. Here is a link to another of Mark Morford’s brilliant takes on religious dogma, and the stranglehold with which it has gripped the throat of humanity for thousands of years…. After the link, I’ve created another old-school pearl, which will focus on those deluded asininnies who insist on sharing their ignorance with everyone else….. or else….

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2014/03/04/how-to-sucker-a-billion-christians/

“Yeah, God is dead, he laughed himself to death.” — Smart Bee

“Science does not promise absolute truth, nor does it consider that such a thing necessarily exists.  Science does not even promise that everything in the Universe is amenable to the scientific process.” — Isaac Asimov

(Which is the very reason it is superior to religion as a means of understanding the Universe, AS IT IS, without the unnecessary inclusion of supernatural forces to control our destiny…. thus, handily relieving us of all responsibility for our own actions…. Nice scam, eh?….)

“Science has proof without any certainty.  Creationists have certainty without any proof.” — Ashley Montague

“There is nothing so stupid or dangerous or painful that people won’t eagerly do it, if by doing it they will make others believe they are better or stronger or more honorable.” — Jason Worthing (Orson Scott Card, “The Worthing Chronicle”)

(This concept includes going along with a delusion so one will be accepted as part of the flock….)

“Humility is a virtue all preach, none practice, and yet everybody is content to hear. The master thinks it good doctrine for his servant, the laity for the clergy, and the clergy for the laity.” — John Selden (1584-1654) — Humility

“I figure that if God actually does exist, He’s big enough to understand an honest difference of opinion.”  – Isaac Asimov

“Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true.” — Demosthenes
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A perfect Pearl is one that fulfills all of the rules and regulations in my mind for how a blog with my name on it, user- or real-, OUGHT to be…. Those rules and regs, of course, are somewhat amorphous, but, they DO exist….

Today’s Pearl may just be one of them, if I’m any judge, and, who better? Except, of course, you, my Gentle Readers…. If you enjoyed today’s effort more than usual, please feel free to leave a comment, & let me know… I’ll enter that data into the records, along with my own for today, which will give us…. GASP, why, look at that!  It’s a consensus!….. Right here on Exploring Consensual Reality!….

Hmmph….. Riiiight…. See ya……

🙂

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

In order to create, one must first destroy….

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Ffolkes,

Nearly a crisis today, upon arising, but, matters were resolved before any major explosions occurred; all is serene once more…. which leaves me in the usual delicate position of being up, with nothing particularly helpful in my head to get this going…. I could have started this with a fictional opening; I’ve got several percolating in my head, (a really cool one about this orphaned telekinetic girl child on Antares IV, who is trying to find her way back to Earth, has been in there, but, the gimmick isn’t quite right, so it needs to simmer a while….), but, nothing really feels like it will do the trick. I could start rambling and blathering, but, all of my random BS is currently in use on other projects, so….

I suppose I could actually go ahead and write a real introduction, with hints of what is to come, and little verbal tricks to engage your interests, thus pulling you into the rest of today’s effort, before you realize you’ve been captured. But then you might get mad, and just leave halfway through, and we can’t have that; readus interruptus is no picnic, believe me. The shock that gives the nervous system has been known to put me in bed for a week, last time I got mad and left in the middle like that….. I wouldn’t want ANYONE to have to go through that, so, that’s out….

Maybe I could…. no, I forgot…. the sheriff told me I couldn’t use that one anymore because of how the neighbors react…. too many calls to dispatch about the colored lights and strange noises coming out of my cat…. Since that’s out, perhaps we should just let it all go, book a suite on the Queen Mary, and head out for a world cruise…. But, that would use up all the money I saved for taxes, and Uncle Sammy gets kinda upset when you tell him he can’t have his tax money when he wants it…. Not that upsetting him would make me cry very hard….

Since all of that stuff won’t do, I suppose we’ll just have to do like we always do, and fake it…. At least today it’s a relatively short fake, and doesn’t have so much involved that it will leave any marks, or cause any extra trips to the dry cleaner. In fact, this may be one of the cleanest intro’s I’ve put out in many moons, what with all the overt nonsense I DIDN’T put in here today….. On most days when I fall back on this particular technique, there are a lot more instances of JPS phrases and/or concepts (JPS = Just Plain Strange), which tend to create more of a party atmosphere; thankfully, no parties this morning!…..

In fact, not only is there no party, we’re done…. We’ve reached one of the federally mandated limits for introductory sections in blogging sites of this nature, so, I’m taking the money, and running for the border…. Well, sort of…. Actually, this is a variation on emergency intro ending #4, where I blame the feds for it all, and just leave, like this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.” — The Beatles, The last lyric of their last song
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Today’s rant is in section three…. It’s a combination of an archived rant, followed by comments from a more current viewpoint, in a form of mild cheating…. This, of course, means that this section will find itself the home of today’s old-school pearl, picked fresh from the depths of the Smart Bee database, under the random direction of my own imagination, down the esoteric paths to where our virtual wisdom may be found…. Or, not… Either way, it’s all good fun, which is something the universe is kind enough to furnish for us, to balance out the crap it puts us through…. Let’s see what we can find today….

“Lawyers: the larval form of politicians.” — Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 53rd edition, 2025 (After the revolution….)

“I HAVE to buy a new “DODGE MISER” and two dozen JORDACHE  JEANS because my view screen is “USER-FRIENDLY”!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“I am NOT a nut….” — Zippy the Pinhead

Accidents cause History: “If Sigismund Unbuckle had taken a walk in 1426 and met Wat Tyler, the Peasant’s Revolt would never have happened and the motor car would not have been invented until 2026, which would have meant that all the oil could have been used for lamps, thus saving the electric light bulb and the whale, and nobody would have caught Moby Dick or Billy Budd.” — Mike Harding, “The Armchair Anarchist’s Almanac”

He that will not reason is a bigot.
He that cannot reason is a fool.
He that dares not reason is a slave.

— William Drummond, “Academical Questions”

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone renounced violence forever? I could then conquer the whole stupid planet with just a butter knife.” — Smart Bee

Non carborundum illegitimi.  (Don’t let the bastards wear you down.) — Job, 2433 B.C.

Okay…. I know I have to take responsibility for that…. I don’t want to, but, I’d have to give up my ranting license if I tried to blame Smart Bee for all of it…. I’m busted; I DID make up some of the author’s names…. there…. Nobody can accuse me of dishonesty…. Of course, I can’t speak to the somewhat eclectic nature of the involved concepts, or how the pearls fit together (though, trust me, they do…), but, I’ll take the blame anyway, since it’s still only the first section, and the pilot’s not here today…. Now we know the guilty party, shall we continue?….
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As I begin this section today, I have no clue about what poem to put in…. Usually I have some idea of what I want, but, my mind/body composite is a bit, shall we say, discombobulated (love that word…. so accurate at times….), so the exact nature of that (what I want, exactly….) can’t currently be determined…. I guess it’s kind of like when the Network Administrator shuts down a server for maintenance or upgrade, and you can’t access certain programs while it’s being used…. you can’t get there from here…. Hence, I haven’t a fucking clue about what I want right now….

S’okay…. If I did, it probably would cause some sort of annoying emotional response…. Been there, done that, not goin’ back…. All this is merely to let you know that whatever follows may be a trifle suspect, being, as it is, the unfortunate result of a very weary, yet somehow concurrently enervated  mind’s less-than-completely-frenetic search for peace…. in all the wrong places, patently….

Perhaps its a sign that the day will now take a turn for the better….. In my search, I went with an impulse, and went first to my own stash of bloody pieces of my soul, which I keep in the Poetry folder on my computer…. The first one that caught my eye was this one, and, upon reading it, I understand why…. No worries, it isn’t necessary for y’all to know exactly why, because the poem is good enough (in my estimation) to make it worth reading…. even if it doesn’t rhyme, like most of my poetry…. I hope you enjoy it…. it made me feel better, so, good enough…

Early Observations

Until I knew there was more,
I wanted to know God.
They said he was a nice guy,
& would let me live forever.

All I had to do, they said,
was live my life for Him,
always living by scripture
cleaving only to His Way.

But, everyone I saw in church,
acted different at home.
Living wild, cussin’, and fussin’,
nobody lived like they said.

Still, I tried to be like Jesus,
he was sort of cool.
He never hurt nobody
& walked on the right path.

‘Course they killed him for that,
they couldn’t stand his example.
Turned him into a martyr,
 hid his real words among their own.

Then I found the Buddha,
and met Lao Tzu at the gate.
They saw things real different,
showed me how to see straight.

Right thought, and right action
replace blind obedience and faith.
Reality becomes manageable,
fear retreats, the universe expands.

Brother John said it pretty well,
“Imagine there’s no heaven,
it’s easy if you try.”
Sounds like he knew why.

Day to day, life is grand,
we walk in eternal beauty.
Open your eyes and hearts,
find yourself already immortal.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

“Everything in the universe exists in duality…. light/dark, life/death, etc. Which side of reality is good, and which is bad, is all in the mind of the folks looking at it…. For some reason, those folks, to wit: we humans, always seem to insist on making judgments about which is which. This is part of why a lot of folks have problems dealing with reality, because reality doesn’t care one way or the other; things are not good OR bad, they just ARE.…” — gigoid

I first wrote the above aphorism on 6/30/2012, as part of a reply to a comment from my friend, and fellow blogger, Willowdot21, which she made after reading the Pearl posted that day, specifically, the following, which comprised section two or three of the Pearl for that date…. I like it, so, here ’tis again, just because I can….

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

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

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

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

Yeah? Is that right? You say there is some hidden purpose to those actions, so deep and mysterious we don’t understand? Well, fuck God then. I don’t care a whit if there is some hidden purpose; there is NO ACCEPTABLE REASON to suppose that a merciful God would condone child molesters, or rapists, or torture, (even during war). I don’t believe it; it is neither logical, nor rational….

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

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

This kind of zealotry continues in today’s world, with the current Republican candidate all set to bring the US right back into the Stone Age, should he, through some cruel quirk of fate, be elected as POTUS. If that happens, I’d wager serious money Armageddon will be close behind, as I don’t think the rest of the world is going to sit still long enough for him to cram his own faith down their throats.  Hell, right here at home, should he be elected, I’d be very surprised if there ISN’T a revolutionary upheaval, within a few months of the election.

I know I would certainly be considering assassination as a viable political tool…. It’s now legal for us to use torture as a resource, (if you question this assertion, just perform a Google search of the words “water boarding”…. & read any of the several thousand examples of our government’s use of torture since 2001…), why should we balk at assassination?

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

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Note from the future: Apparently, things in Reality haven’t changed a lot since the election…. I seem to recall mentioning that it is time to consider revolution as little as a day or two ago, so the events and issues that have arisen over the period of time since the last presidential election haven’t served to convince me there is any less of a need for it to take place…. the sooner the better, as is true in the case of ANY needed revolution…..

The American government, as far as I can see, has been usurped from the control of the people, and has become an oligarchy, with only the rich and powerful allowed to participate in any decision making processes that involve all of society…. The common man is no longer a part of the American governing process, even as voters…

This isn’t merely a claim, by the way…. The gap in the income levels of the average American and those who get elected to office in this country is larger than it’s ever been, and growing each day, as the 1%, (Y’know, it’s actually far less than 1% of over 7 billion people, which would be what, 70 million people? Yeah, that’s correct….)

The truth is, the number of people making those decisions is more like maybe, oh, 1000 to 2000 people, or thereabout, world-wide, who actually make the crucial decisions about EVERYTHING that occurs in society….), who control 99% of the money and physical resources in the world, make their daily inroads into controlling the rest of it, as well. In the US Senate alone, well over half of the Senators are millionaires, with the rest making well over $100, 000 per year…. the average joe on the streets pulls down, maybe, if they’re lucky, $15,000-20,000 per year…..

It’s actually worse than that, ffolkes, because the ones who get themselves elected are merely the front men for the actual rulers of society…. They aren’t even the most well-paid of the lot the shadowy corporate slave masters have working for them, even though they have to be in the spotlight. They’re just the most easily manipulated of the elite, themselves under the control of those few who have the real power. 

None of the actual rulers of mankind have faces familiar to anyone outside their immediate circle; they can’t afford to let people know who they are for sure, as they’d be dead within moments, if their machinations were revealed to those they oppress, as they have done for thousands of years, as a matter of course…..

Corporation: “An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility.” — Ambrose Bierce: “The Devil’s Dictionary”

And, corporations are just the LATEST innovation those shadowy masters of society came up with in their reign over mankind…. Ah well, we got past the election to which I refer above, but, the running dog lackey that got elected isn’t much different, on the bottom line, than the one he defeated at the polls….

In defense of that statement, I refer you to the NDAA, signed in secret so the public couldn’t object to any of its provisions, and to the Eric Snowden fiasco, which pulled the president’s covers again, revealing him to be just another myrmidon of the slave masters, doing their bidding while preaching about how much they are helping the people (a process George Carlin rightly identified as “The Fucking of America”….)….

SIGH…. Enough ranting against the Asininnies for one day…. They’ll still be here tomorrow, and will have, no doubt, furnished me with yet more of their egregious lies to expose…. They’ve managed to do it every day of my life so far; I have no fear of them missing one…. In the meantime, keep your powder dry, ffolkes, and for goodness’ sake, take off those rose-colored glasses Obama tricked you into donning, and take a look around at how things actually are, rather than how they tell you they are….

Y’know, I just realized, part of the reason I never give up ALL hope that we (humanity) will find a way to survive is summarized in the following pearl, which, I think, speaks to something about which the Asininnies DON’T think often enough… If they did, they’d realize just how fruitless their selfish cowardice is, in the ultimate sense, for they, too, will come up against the one characteristic we all share as part of humanity, to wit: we’re ALL going to die, naked and alone, just like we came in to this world….

“Pale death approaches with an equal step, and knocks indiscriminately at the door of the cottage, and the portals of the palace.” — Horace (65-8 B.C.)
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Well, THAT was something! Exactly what that something might be, I wouldn’t be so bold as to hazard even a guess in jest…. Today’s Pearl may just have reached that state where it defies all description in any usual sense…. Pretty cool, huh? Since I’m a smart guy, I’m leaving it at that…. See ya next time….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Eighteen of one, a dozen & a half of another….

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2

Ffolkes,

Having spoken previously about the power of routine, it only makes sense for me to relate, as further evidence of the importance of such routines in our lives, how difficult it can be once a favored, or at minimum, comfortable routine has been broken.

In the past month or two, I’ve begun to sleep better, in the sense that I’m sleeping without being half-awake for half the night, and spending more time in good, solid sleep, from not waking up so often. Since beginning to use cannabinoids to help me get to sleep, and to stay there, I’ve had more, better sleep than in the prior twelve years or more…. Hell, sometimes, it seems like twenty or thirty years….

Come to think of it, it has been about twenty years or so since I hurt my back the last time…. I had forgotten that…. I had also blocked awareness of the four years it took to get my back pain to a level where I could return to work, and how it never really got any better after reaching the point the courts call “permanent and stationary”. I’d forgotten the grinding, wrenching pain in my hips and lower back, that I got when I would walk….

Most of all, I’ve blocked out how much the pain drove me crazy with its unrelenting nature…. There were NO breaks at all from the pain, for a while…. It was full out ON, for days, and weeks, and months at a time, before it got better, and calmed down enough to start some healing…

The routines I had built up, up to a couple months ago seemed to work as well as anything, but, I was getting very fatigued, from not sleeping well over a course of years…. The two years I spent waiting for my SS, living in near-poverty, was particularly hard in terms of sleeping, as my PTSD, and my pain, were my only companions for a long time…. It didn’t make me any fonder of either of them, but, I learned to endure the nights without sleeping, and the days without end…. These Pearls, of course, kept me sane, for the most part, though, some might question HOW sane I was, much of the time….

As I said, though, that’s all done now…. I’m still trying different cannabis products to see how they work with the others, and what they’ll help to deal with, but, all in all, I’m happy with the results, because I feel a whole lot more rested, and whole…. It’s amazing what a bit of good sleep can do….

But, as I said above, now my routines are all screwed up, by this new long-term sleeping I must work into my schedule each day, about which, previously, I didn’t have to think… Of late, I’ve gotten in the habit of falling out around dark (about 5-6 PM at this time of year…), arising around 3 or 4 AM, ready to go; it’s been great in terms of how I feel, when sleeping, AND when I wake up….

But, it’s getting kind of lonely, as my lady is on a completely different schedule; she stays up watching TV until about 2, then sleeps until about 9 or 10 AM…. We’re about seven or eight hours off each other’s schedule, so, we miss each other during about sixteen hours of the day…. Fortunately, the time we’re both awake does overlap a ways, so, it’s not all bad, just not as much interaction as I’d like, if you see what I mean….

Well, that’s about all of the chatty, intimate personal bullshite I’ve got on tap for this morning…. I actually didn’t mean to get so far into the subject as I did, but you know me, when I get rambling…. I can’t seem to shut it off sometimes…. Regardless, it got us to this point, all without any hesitation, and without any of the usual buildup of angst over what to write…. No ranting, either, which is good, as there’s a good one below…. On that note…

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Behold the fool saith, “Put not all thine eggs in the one basket” — which is but a manner of saying, “Scatter your money and your attention”; but the wise man saith, “Put all your eggs in the one basket and — watch that basket!” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)
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“Whenever you hear a man speak of his love for his country, it is a sure sign he expects to be paid for it.” — H. L. Mencken

Does anyone else remember what Tom Jefferson had to say about “professional politicians”, and “bankers”, as being the most dangerous threats to a democracy? I remember the tone of it, and the meaning of what he expressed, in a number of letters to others of his contemporaries, even if even if I don’t remember the exact wording in the letters…..

Believe me, every single one of the people who inhabit the halls of the White House, the Congressional House and Senate, and the Federal Court system would have been very lucky if Tom had only called them by their true name, that of TRAITOR….. As I recall from my reading about Tom, he was a bit of a hothead, by reputation, and he might have decided to start shooting before speaking, if I read him right…. and, I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment that might have prompted him to start firing away….

It’s funny, (ha ha AND weird, both types…) how the mind plays tricks on itself, even going so far as to use one’s own memories in manipulating to have its way…. however obscure that way may be….

Yesterday, in the rant in section three, (I think…. that’s how unsure I am of my own memory right now; memories as close as yesterday are currently suspect, due to the very issue under discussion IN THIS SENTENCE, thus, demonstrating once again how slippery our hold on Reality is, just all the damn time….), I mentioned the rant from the day before, in which, I was supposed to have spoken about the NSA, and its shenanigans….

That, of course, was either mistaken belief on my part, or just laziness in thinking about what actually was written, as I was writing something else for that post at the time…. I know, it’s all very confusing, and maybe even moot, but, I have to explain this, or I’ll go crazy…

Crazy, as you know, is always a risk around here…. Anyway…. The rant to which I referred as being about the NSA, (as yesterday’s rant from the archives actually happened to be), was NOT about that, specifically, though that agency WAS mentioned…. No, that rant was about the Shrubs, and the events of 9/11/01 considered as a conspiracy to misdirect the public attention away from election results of the previous two elections, in which certain disputed voting irregularities “fixed” the election in favor of the Republican ticket….

A conspiracy, I will add, whose very existence, due to the very professional, comprehensive planning, and execution, by the elder Shrub’s minions, in eliminating and/or explaining away any evidence of such a conspiracy, is completely unknown to the majority of the American public…. That’s how good they are at this…

My intent in saying the above, long and complicated as it turned out to be, was to be honest, with y’all, and with myself…. and to keep things straight….

There are two different issues at hand in my rants from the last week or so, (Two, at the very least…. most likely more, if truth be told…), with the only connection being the fact that both issues are a result of previously clandestine, illegal, selfish, paranoid actions by the same set of shadowy corporate slave masters, and their political minions….

Thanks to the actions of a single patriotic citizen with a conscience, (E. Snowden), SOME of their actions are now a matter of public record, a fact which they are desperately working to remove from the public’s awareness….

Right now, they’re using the stone wall technique…. They aren’t making comments on any part of the issues, and they won’t address any questions they’re given by journalists on the subject. They’ve planted the seeds they wished to plant, with their lies about intended reforms to the NDAA regulations, and about Eric Snowden’s incompetence, and possible (fabricated) ties to Russian spies….

“All men can be led to believe the lie they want to believe.” — Italo Bombolini

Since that last outrageous, ‘ipse dixit’ proclamation from the House Intelligence Committee’s lead Republican, (….. Wow, talk about an oxymoron!…), about the infamous, totally made-up Soviet spies who “tricked” Eric Snowden into hacking those files, the White House, and every other public mouthpiece in DC, has been giving their best impression of an uncooked clam about the entire issue….. They don’t want to confuse the issue by introducing too many other ideas, especially if they might be found to be true….

They’re letting the lies they told sit and percolate, so it is the last discussion in the public mind; that way, when they come back to re-address the same issue again, those minds, of the mundanes among us, will have already been primed with the previous lies….. Hence, their next round of fabrications can not only be even more outrageous, but, in their minds, will have the additional advantage of being more easily believed by those parts of the public that bought into their previous (false) statements…. ‘Tis an unfortunate truth that it will probably work….

“These activities have their own rules and methods of concealment which seek to mislead and obscure.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower (1960)

Even if only a few people buy into their lies and machinations, they’re content…. They know that, because of human nature, the people who DO fall for that line of crap are generally the loudest, most stridently vocal of their supporters, those who have a strong investment in believing what they’re told by the talking heads on TV, primarily so they don’t appear to be so FUCKING STUPID to the rest of us….

Sorry…. didn’t mean to shout. I just get so frustrated, thinking about the lack of intelligence it takes to NOT be able to see how often these people are lying to us. This rant sort of evolved, all by itself. on Monday morning, as I sat reading the original line from Mr. Mencken, who happens to be one of the most prolific social philosophers of the twentieth century….

Mencken had a sharp eye, a nimble mind, and he wasn’t afraid to call a spade a spade, which, in the end, gets more done than calling it what it isn’t…. His honesty, and his willingness to “call ’em as he saw ’em” is why he was relatively unpopular with, and feared by, the governing elite of his era…. Too many sharp barbs and exposed truths for their taste….

I just wish I could figure out how to convince all the Numbnoids to use their minds, for something more than just carrying their bladders around from toilet, to table, to toilet…. Oh well, I’ll keep at it, and maybe, someday, one of the tabloids, or one of the mainstream papers, or even, GASP!, maybe a major player, like PEOPLE magazine, will pick up one of my rants, it will go viral, and the world will be saved from the all-too-frequently ignored effects of practicing ignorance, and the crushing soulless presence of Evil in our society’s most powerful denizens, who take advantage of that ignorance among the masses to maintain their own supremacy….

Or, maybe not…. Either way, I’ll keep on pointing out what I see, even if it doesn’t get very far…. Better out than in, I always say….

“Lord, defend me from my friends; I can account for my enemies.” — D’Hericault
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Since today’s post features a fresh rant, (…. In the unlikely, but possible, event that you skipped down to here, wishing to avoid the big pile of nasty-looking, hard-to-pronounce words above, the rant is in the previous section…. )….I’ll include one of my own poems, so there’s nobody else to blame for whatever happens today…. Enjoy!….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Written 11/1/13:

Time, and again….

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

Oh boy! Now I get to have some fun…. Though ranting is its own sort of reward, fun is better. I’m going to go to Smart Bee, cap in hand, and respectfully beg to be given a group of the finest pearls that are there to be found, hoping the humility will throw it off enough for me to get what I need…. which, in this case, is a group of pearls with just one parameter…. fun…. Let’s see what we can find, shall we?….

“Every man is wise when attacked by a mad dog; fewer when pursued by a mad woman; only the wisest survive when attacked by a mad notion.” — Robertson Davies

“I hope they never find out that lightning has a lot of vitamins in it, because do you hide from it or not?” — Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

“Never die while doing something stupid. That will be what people remember about you.” — Smart Bee

“Plumbing is one of the easier of do-it-yourself activities, requiring only a few simple tools and a willingness to stick your arm into a clogged toilet.  In fact, you can solve many home plumbing problems, such as annoying faucet drip, merely by turning up the radio.  But before we get into specific techniques, let’s look at how plumbing works….. A plumbing system is very much like your electrical system, except that instead of electricity, it has water, and instead of wires, it has pipes, and instead of radios and waffle irons, it has faucets and toilets.  So the truth is that your plumbing systems is nothing at all like your electrical system, which is good, because electricity can kill you.” — Dave Barry, The Taming of the Screw

“By the time you’re eighty years old you’ve learned everything. You only have to remember it.” — George Burns (1896-1996)

“I hope something GOOD came in the mail today so I have a REASON to live!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” — H. L. Mencken

Well, ffolkes, there you have it…. I had fun, even if nobody else did… especially when I consider the last line, and how often I feel just like that….
_____________________________

Oops…. slight tactical error here…. or, maybe a flaw in the strategy being employed…. Either way, here ’tis, just 0515, (that’s in the AM…) and I’m pretty much done with this Pearl…. NOW what am I going to do? Ah well, I’m sure I can find SOME sort of trouble to cause, or perhaps, some time I can carve out to search for an imperialist running dog lackey, whom I can capture and torment for a while…. Now, THAT sounds like fun!…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Historical examples of perversity are rife among the ruling classes…..

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3

Ffolkes,

I think I broke my brain…. without it, it’s hard to tell…. It’s that, or I’ve managed somehow to get switched with somebody else’s brain, and it doesn’t get my commands…. Most likely, though, it’s just doing one of its imitations of the Windows operating system, which can freeze up at any time, without warning, only to sit there, blankly staring at you out of a blue screen, undoubtedly getting a big kick out of watching you tear out what remaining hair you have…. Well, that’s the way it feels, anyway…. If only I could find my chutzpah, I’d be fine….

Without it, I have a hard time convincing myself that anyone out there wants to hear what I have to say…..Then, I remember that I don’t really care if anyone reads it, as long as it gets this shit out of my head before it explodes in there, or ferments to the point of rottenness….. I still have moments in my life when sanity is far, far away; at those moments, it all seems rather silly to try to get people to listen to what is most likely the most sensible crap they hear, just so they can save their sorry asses from their own stupidity. Most of the folks who are causing all the trouble are folks I’d rather didn’t survive any cataclysm that is coming, so I often wonder why I try….

Then, I remember I’m supposed to be compassionate to all creatures, even the dull and ignorant…. Okay, I can live with that….

But, I’m sorry, ffolkes, but there are a number of people in the world, a small, but important list, on which are listed those people for whom I am NEVER going to feel any compassion…. Pimps, rapists, murderers, pedophiles, and all the other proven enemies of society are on that list….. and, I’m NOT talking about convicted criminals….. Most of the others on the list will never face prosecution for their crimes…

You’ll note, if you please, the phrase, “other enemies of society”…. You see, to me, this group includes ALL politicians, ALL preachers, priests, imams, sadhus, and all the other varieties of holy-rollers, 98% of the lawyers, 90% of the police, at least half the military, and most importantly, ALL of those whom I would label as shadowy corporate slave masters, the small group of mega-rich assholes who control 99% of all the money and resources on the planet….

Okay, except for them, I’ll feel compassion for all…. The folks on my list of those who would be ‘persona non grata’ in the New World order would see nothing from me but the back of me hand…. As I’ve said before, they’ve been fucking with the rest of us for millennia, so, I say, fuck them, hard, dirty, and as often as you can…. They’ll still never get anywhere near enough payback for what they’ve done, even if we tortured them for years….

Okay, I’ve ranted already, and I had no intention of doing so in the intro today…. I guess my sense of outrage is on full alert, what with all this BS going on in the Ukraine, with all the corporate assholes arguing over who’s going to exploit the Ukrainians…. Will it be the East, the West, or are they going to just fuck themselves over like little marionettes?  The last choice seems as likely as any of the others, as I don’t see very many factions there who are any more acceptable than any of the others…. It’s all just an argument, as I noted, about who will get the franchise to fuck them over….

Before I get started again, on this new outbreak of insanity on the other side of the world, I’d better get on with the rest of today’s Pearl…. It isn’t going to write itself, I suppose…. I am a little bit prepared, as I have some archived material ready to put in, but, it still takes some time to edit, buff, polish, and update for current news, in the case of a rant about a specific issue like gun control…. Any who, let’s get on with it….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Instead of all of this energy and effort directed at the war to end drugs, how about a little attention to drugs which will end war?” — Albert Hofmann
_____________________________

In the early days of this blog, the format of the Daily Pearls was somewhat different than it is now…. There was an intro section, followed by five more sections, each with a single pearl, and a discussion of that pearl…. Some were short, some longer, but, it worked for what I was doing at the time, still developing the chops I needed to get this stuff out of my head before it rots….

Later, when I began writing longer discussions, and began ranting more often, I switched over to the current format, as the Pearls were getting way too long…. They’re still growing in length, but that is now a factor of my skills having advanced to the point where I’m faster, and get stuff out more efficiently, if not with more style….

I found this pearl, which I think will give you a good idea of how they looked back then…. It’s a decent little blurb, and I’m kind of proud of it, as part of my learning process….

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

From 2/29/2012:

“Waiting is.” — Robert A. Heinlein, ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’

Taken by itself, in this format, without the supportive structure of the book from which it was taken, this seems a bit obtuse, too inscrutable. But when one adds in the philosophical background from which this statement springs, a direction is given to the path one’s thoughts must take to find and absorb the meaning, and the lesson, that these two words hold.

Even without the book’s help, using the phrase as a focus of meditation is very soothing, almost healing. It may be the shortest koan known to man; I can’t think of any I’ve seen that are simpler or deeper than this. And using it is so simple! Merely close the eyes, relax, and say the words, inflecting them as a question, and follow the march of your thoughts and images as they lead you further inward, toward the center, where balance lives….

(Note from the future: In retrospect, I find that a slightly better meditation technique is to say the words silently, in the mind, and changing the inflection in an alternating fashion, as a question, then as an answer, then again in query, and so on…. This technique is also useful in leading to a place of great serenity and inner peace…. I can personally testify as to the truth of that….)
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While cruising the archives, where I found the above, I also came across the following, from April of 2013, written during the National Poetry Writing Challenge…. Enjoy!….

Haiku VIII

Softly steals the night,
everywhere is darkness,
but for in the heart.

~~ gigoid ~~

I know I’m in the now, if only…..

Oh, there it is again, fiddle faddle;
  Begone, I said, vamoose, skedaddle!
It looked at me as if I were insane:
  Scoffed, it did, filled me up with pain.

Where does it come from?
Where does it live?
I’d stick out my thumb,
if I had more to give.

If only, should, would, could it be?
  It went away again, this time free.
It will be back again, this I know;
  or I’m wrong, and it won’t show.

Who cares?
Who hears?
Such goings on wobble the sphere,
I wish it wouldn’t do that here.

I’ve been wrong before…..

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

Yesterday’s Pearl had a fresh rant, talking about the NSA, and the illegal spying by the US government, brought to light by Eric Snowden, the whistle blower who formerly worked at the NSA….

The rant was stimulated because a book on the subject was published, entitled “The Snowden Files”, written by one Luke Harding, a journalist who works for the Guardian, a tabloid newspaper in the UK, the publication in which the spying revelations were first revealed to the public….

Late last year, I wrote another rant on that same subject, regarding an article that came out at the time I wrote it…. It’s still quite valid, and in light of the new book, bears repeating, if only to keep the material fresh in people’s minds, where it belongs….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From 10/31/13:

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

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

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

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

(Note from the future: As it appears now, the purported restrictions the potUS was supposedly putting in place were merely a sop to the outrage. The restrictions, as such, don’t restrict much at all, and, as of now, five or so months later, they’re still covering it up, and nothing has been actually DONE about putting any restrictions on the NSA’s spying…. It was all just a charade, put out so the public believes that something will actually happen, when in reality, they’re going to stonewall it for as long as they possibly can….)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For me, all of it is dross and spittle…. I believe, absolutely, that if there is an official statement made by anyone in the government printed in the news, it needs to be examined in the light of what it is NOT saying, to ascertain about what it is lying, or what it is trying to hide by distraction, not merely for what it says….

Their motivation in making ANY public statement is manipulation of public attitudes; they’re not trying to make anything better. They lie, they leave stuff out, they point us in all kinds of useless directions, but they almost NEVER tell us what is actually going on, unless we’ve already caught them at it… In those cases, we see all sorts of backing and filling, as they come up with all sorts of “plausible deniability” in order to convince the public that their lies are really the truth…

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

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

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

Well… it seems that I’ve cheated my way to a complete Pearl…. The only fresh material today is in the intro section, a few introductory remarks for each section, and some commentary that was inserted at various points in the material; all of the rest is from the archives…. Strangely enough, it all is also quite valid and up-to-date, in terms of how it relates to current events….

Sadly, this has an obvious and unfortunate implication…. It is clear, from a standpoint of considering the ethical and/or moral evolution in people at large,  which is a sea-change desperately needed to be made to our inner spirit, made necessary for us to survive in this universe by our own selfish actions…. well, ffolkes, it’s pretty obvious nothing much is changing over time….

We, as a culture, are still pursuing the same ignorant modes of behavior and interaction that will eventually kill us all…. a behavior which, as has been proven throughout history, is the sign of a dying culture, one which spends enormous amounts of negative energy to maintain the status quo, rather than embracing the change that is natural to the flow of Reality….

Okay, so there’s a mini-rant for you, right there at the end, where you can easily step past it to get to the door leading out, and away from this nonsense…. You may as well, because we’re done, and I’m outta here…. See ya…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Ah…. I see…. It’s the masticating jelly ….

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2

Ffolkes,

A powerful vortex begins to form in the open space in the air above the machine, outlined by crossing beams of laser-light, spinning swiftly, a maelstrom of flashing colors and shadows, assaulting the eyes with vibrating images sans identifiable form, nearly mesmerizing in their intensity. As the vortex spins, it begins to grow larger, until the edges push against walls of the machine, straining to break free of the light beams holding it at the size and shape to which it had grown, an oblong spheroid, about 6 feet long, by four feet wide through the middle…. A strong sense of Evil permeates the air of the room, seemingly emanating from the spinning shape, which is pulsing like a beating heart as it madly turns….. Doctor Mephistopheles looks over at me, grinning widely…. “Well,”, he says with satisfaction, “there’s your Doomsday Weapon, as requested.”…..

I’m not sure what prompted such an opening today…. I mean, it’s obvious, to me, what it is about, and what internal issues stimulated the mental images that bled out of my head…. I enjoy making up fictional beginnings for Pearls, as I like to think of myself as a writer of diverse skills, one of which is descriptive prose, that describes a physical scene, or an interaction between people… Of course, that opinion is most likely just a factor of my own gullibility, leading me to believe what isn’t remotely true….

No worries, mates, we all have our own set of delusions about Reality, which we use at our discretion to keep ourselves amused, and all of us tend to make those delusions a bit grandiose, given half a chance…. I may be smarter than the average bear, but, that doesn’t deter me from being a Bozo…. not at all…. Just look at my nose!….

That being said, and acknowledged, it may explain WHY the first paragraph came to be, but completely ignores HOW….. which is also okay, because, quite frankly, Scarlett, I don’t give a damn…. Y’all know by now this section is where I experiment with any number of techniques for introducing the rest of these Pearls, so whatever happens here is pretty much okay, since it’s all going to be ignored later, and nobody is being charged for any of it, in spite of the (almost) negligible costs involved…. I reconciled myself to that long ago, with no resentment at all, realizing from the start that a certain amount of sacrifice would be necessary….

Now, at this point, y’all are most likely wondering just WHAT THE HELL IS HE BABBLING ABOUT NOW? Hell, your guess is as good as mine…. I’ve slipped into a trance-like state, typing away madly, words going onto the screen, but, I really don’t have a clue as to any of what they’re saying, or where it might take us if it continues much longer…. it could be just about anywhere….

As I type, most of my mind is thinking about breakfast, or perhaps, a morning worship session at the throne; it’s all a blur, when observed from a third-party viewpoint. I suppose I could use one of the emergency methods again, as this seems to have burst its buttons, and no longer bears any resemblance to anything remotely appropriate for ANY style of literature….. Hell, at this point, a poem probably couldn’t save this….

Whoa, Nellie! What the hell was that? I think, ffolkes, I’ve completely lost all control, as well as my bearings. (That’s the loud, chalkboard-scraping, nerve-bending, strident noise you hear, like metal scraping on metal…..) Now I KNOW we’re going to have to go with an emergency ending for this…. In fact, I’m breaking out #4 right now…. Stand back, please….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Everywhere I look I see NEGATIVITY and ASPHALT…” — Zippy the Pinhead
_____________________________

“Feeling good about government is like looking on the bright side of any catastrophe. When you quit looking on the bright side, the catastrophe is still there.” — P. J. O’Rourke, Parliament of Whores (1991)

Of late, I’ve been using a lot of old material, from my archives…. I’ve ranted so much in the last two and a half years I feel as if I’m repeating myself, too often. This is frustrating, to some degree, because I really do want things to change, and my rants are intended to cause enough of a disturbance that people notice, and read what I have to say, thus, hopefully on my part, making some kind of difference in what is to come…. That is the intent, anyway…. Today, then, I give you the following freshly composed rant, about a rather old subject involving conspiracies at the highest levels of society, that were covered up as part of the circus of fear that accompanied the events of 9/11/01…..

Eric Snowden performed an act that will someday go down in history as one of two figures, depending on who gets to write the books…. Either he was a traitor of the first water, or his actions were an example of what patriotism REALLY means…. To my way of looking at the evidence, he obviously deserves to be included in the latter category, and I believe that will HAVE to be the eventual outcome, given the FACT that what he revealed is all the TRUTH…. and the TRUTH will always make itself known, one way or another…. It may or may not affect Reality, not enough to stimulate any changes, but, it will always be made clear…. even if I have to tell it myself….

That, of course, is my opinion, one not shared by those in the Beloved Ruling Class, who are bearing the brunt of the outrage over the information he revealed about our government’s illegal, immoral, and unethical spying on its own people, as well as on the rest of the world. He caused them no end of discombobulation and embarrassment, pulling the covers they had used to hide their activities for ten years, since the clandestine attack on 9/11/01, an event the BRC used to further its ends faster, and further, than it had ever before been able to accomplish….

In one short day, in the acts of a few hours time, the shadowy corporate slave masters forged the most valuable tool for control over others they’d ever had…. A massive outbreak of unreasoning fear, outrage and anger, felt by the entire nation, fresh and strong, all accomplished with a few thousand dollars, and the manipulation of some idiotic, fanatic, pathetic Jihadists, whose own set of delusions made them easy prey for those who wished to take advantage of the events that transpired that day…..

What? What’s that you ask? Where did I get the idea that 9/11 was a conspiracy? Oh, honey, I knew that was true the day it happened…. You mean you can’t see that? I clued into that the first time I saw that airplane hit the tower….

You can’t see how easily the whole scenario fell into place? Did anyone ever go look for the money? Who paid for the assholes who carried out the attacks? Who gave them the idea to attack the West using our own airplane in the first place? Who maintains a world-wide aura of anger and hatred against themselves, for the aggressive bombing, and ubiquitous meddling in the affairs of whomever we wish to oppress?

And, most suspiciously, why were the Saudis (whose rulers just HAPPENED to be in Washington DC, visiting their old friend, GWB Sr, the original shrub, who just HAPPENS to be an ex-CIA director….), able to get advance information on the attacks, such that they were advised to leave the country just prior to them?

A lot of other little discrepancies in the stories that emerged that day made it clear to me the whole set of terrorist acts had been planned, and probably paid for, by someone with an interest in diverting the public’s attention away from what was happening at the time on the political stage….

I do know the attacks came at what had to be the absolute most advantageous time to save the sorry ass of GWB Jr., whose butt was about to be put in a tight sling, for having cheated in a national election, stealing it through the egregious use of clandestine poll shenanigans, that caused a vital swing state to vote in the (idiotic) electoral college for Bush, when a vote for Gore would have swung the election the other way (remember the “broken” voting machines in Ohio?… No? Well, I do….).

In the days and weeks just prior to the attacks on 9/11, the office of the US Attorney General had announced it would be investigating the claims of election fixing on the part of the Bush camp, seeking to find out if they had manipulated the voting process to win the state in Ohio, and others…. This came with the intimation that, depending on the results of that investigation, the same would possibly be applied to examine the results of the previous election, in 2000, when voting irregularities in Florida gave the state’s electoral votes to the Bush campaign, as did the shenanigans in Ohio in 2004…. It was clear to me, at the time, that the Republican Party was in deep shit….

But, then came the attacks, and plans for any and all such investigations were lost in the flaring outrage that enveloped the entire country, the aftereffects of which are still being felt today, thanks to our egregiously selfish ruling class, and their shadowy masters behind the scenes…. This country has, in the past thirteen short years, lost the protection of more of the Bill of Rights than it had in the previous two hundred years, thanks to the events of that day, and I, for one, am not terribly happy about that…. In fact, I’ve gone beyond unhappy, through a bit upset, and on into downright pissed off….

…..and I don’t intend to stop feeling pissed off, until I start to see some of the people responsible start falling into the holes in the ground we’ve prepared for them, as they get picked off, one by one, by the soldiers of the upcoming revolution…. This world is ripe for revolution, ffolkes, anyone with half a brain can see that…. The gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider all the time…. when it gets to a certain point, the lines of human connection that keep society from bursting at the seams will be stretched beyond their strength, and they will break….

At that point, CHANGE will occur, whether we, (that means you, or I…. ), or the shadowy corporate slave masters and their myrmidons, wish it to do so, or not…. After all, the actual, true definition of the word “revolution” IS “change”….

I haven’t read the book listed below yet, (the link leads to a review), though I intend to do so….. Meanwhile, from looking at the review, this tome about Eric Snowden, one of the first to come out since his revelations became public, seems to present a fair-minded, equable view of the events leading up to the exposure of the illegal spying, as well as an accurate, even-handed look at the events since then. I intend to read it, if only to get some more details of what Mr. Snowden accomplished….

http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/The-Snowden-Files-by-Luke-Harding-5278264.php

I recommend y’all check it out, and think seriously about the stuff I’ve related in the above rant, about the Shrubs, (and their allies, all super-rich, arrogant, selfish, entitled assholes much like himself, and his idiot offspring….) and their chicanery….

I regard the senior Shrub as, perhaps, the single most egregiously dangerous, patently EVIL man alive, due to his background in dirty tricks (ex-CIA director), his proven complete lack of any kind of moral compass, and his painfully obvious absolute disregard for the rights of ANYONE else in the world…. but, that’s just me…. Nonetheless, I believe him to be personally responsible for most of the attacks on the Bill or Rights in the last 40 years…. In my less than humble opinion, he deserves every bit of disrespect and vituperation I can fling his way….

“There never was a bad man that had ability for good service.” — Edmund Burke (1729-1797) — Reflections on the Revolution in France, — Speech in opening the Impeachment of Warren Hastings, Third Day, — Vol. x, p. 54

Oh, by the way….. I may as well get this out of the way now….

Hi there, illegal spying drones of the NSA…. which means, hi to the CIA, FBI and anyone else you’re sharing my metadata with…. Hail, thou foul denizens of some basement in DC, somewhere in the depths of the US Cybersecurity complex, at an unknown location! Welcome to my blog! Enjoy the atmosphere, and feel free to record anything you want…. as if you weren’t already doing so….

😆
_____________________________

First posted in June, 2012, & again in November, 2013, as presented both times:

“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, ‘O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless–of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life? Answer. That you are here – that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.’ That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?” — John Keating, Dead Poet’s Society

Early Observations

Until I knew there was more,
I wanted to know God.
They said he was a nice guy,
and would let me live forever.

All I had to do, they said,
was live my life for Him,
always living by scripture
cleaving only to his Way.

But, everyone I saw in church,
acted different at home.
Living wild, cussin’ and fussin’,
nobody lived like they said.

Still, I tried to be like Jesus,
he was sort of cool.
He never hurt nobody
and walked on the right path.

‘Course they killed him for that,
they couldn’t stand his example.
Turned him into a martyr,
 hid his real words among their own.

Then I found the Buddha,
and met Lao Tzu at the gate.
They saw things real different,
showed me how to see straight.

Right thought, and right action
replace blind obedience and faith.
Reality becomes manageable,
fear retreats, the universe expands.

Brother John said it pretty well,
“Imagine there’s no heaven,
it’s easy if you try.”
Sounds like he knew why.

Day to day, life is grand,
we walk in eternal beauty.
Open your eyes and hearts,
find yourself already immortal.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

Having found that somewhat belated (belated in the sense that it’s way to late to do much about all of it now….) rant in my head this morning, I suppose it means this section will need to become an old-school pearl, for the balance such a charmingly structured pile of virtual wisdom provides, to a Pearl that might otherwise become wobbly (can’t have that!….)…..

Since all of what we do here at ECR is designed to support the universe in its quest to refrain from any such wobbles, I have no problem with going old-school…. In fact, it’s always one of my favorite activities to dispel the mild, but bothersome after-rant depression that can occur in some cases….

So, let’s take our fate firmly in hand, and go see what Smart Bee has for us today….

“Everything flows and nothing abides; everything gives way and nothing stays fixed.” — Heraclitus

“I found one day in school a boy of medium size ill-treating a smaller boy. I expostulated, but he replied: ‘The bigs hit me, so I hit the babies; that’s fair.’ In these words he epitomized the history of the human race.  — Bertrand Russell, Education and the Social Order

“You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.” — Erica Jong

“Civilization, like an airplane in flight, survives only as it keeps going forward.” — Edward Abbey

“I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than on the opinions of others.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“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

“You offend Shai-Hulud by sheathing your crysknife without having  drawn blood.” — Fremen proverb (from Dune, by Frank Herbert)

Ffolkes…. I gotta tell ya…. Sometimes, I just don’t know how these pearls will come out; other times, I’m confident of whatever may come. This pearl came together in a way that tells me it is special, so, pay close attention to the point that surfaces in your mind after absorbing the final line, while still holding there the jumble of thoughts from the previous six pearls…. I think what you find floating up into your consciousness is an idea, a concept, if you will, that you may find both stimulating, and enlightening, if not actually a revelation…. Of course, it may not happen at all, whereupon, you’ll find yourself in a quandary, bemusedly wondering where you went wrong….

No worries, young paduans, this one won’t be on the Quiz…. It may, however, be on your next reality check; tell them you got it here, and they’ll give you a discount…
_____________________________

Well…. Hmm…. I hope y’all had your restraining belts fastened…. that one was quite a ride…. I’d decided yesterday to make this one completely original, in terms of the actual material under discussion, and managed to do that, only having to go to the archives for an original poem…. So, today’s effort, though not perfectly fresh, is all original, so, I’m happy with it, no matter how it came out…. which, having gone over it a number of times trying to proof it, seems pretty okay to me…. So be it…. gigoid has spoken.  See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Hardly softened, barely covered, finally started, & completely unfinished….

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Ffolkes,

“Darling!”, cried the woman at the next table, “You look fabulous! Where did you get your hair done?” As she continued to gush at her companion, I tuned out her voice, while looking toward the door, hoping to see my own appointment waiting there. No luck there, so I let my eyes scan the dining room of the very upscale restaurant in London’s East End, idly noting the few other early diners at tables around the room, several of which sat in front of windows overlooking the busy street below. Catching the eye of a roving waiter, I ordered a drink, and sat back to await the arrival of the man who was going to provide me with the means to destroy millions of people, over a very fine dinner…. I couldn’t wait….

Well, that’s quite enough of THAT….. I’m no more impressed than you probably are, or aren’t…. Not my best effort, to be sure, in spite of the copious amounts of blood that accompanied its creation…. That one HURT to get out, and, after reading it, I can see why…. My sub-conscious mind, having already made its judgment of this little piece of crap, tried to clue me in the entire time I was writing, but, I was determined to finish it, with the result, as you can see, that I’ve managed to completely waste my time, and possibly yours…

S’okay, though, we’re all good…. Even though my morning routines seem to have been wiped out, and I’m operating totally on instinct today, I’m sure I can fix this, and make it into what will someday be called an ordinary Pearl…. I say ‘ordinary’ because it will have 1500-3000 words, with some ranting, a poem, and some pearls of virtual wisdom to chew on…. The quality of that content is, as you know, subject to a wide range of both good and bad, and, since such judgments are entirely personal, anyway, I won’t even bother to consider that when performing the fix….

How, you may ask, am I going to save this? I’ll admit, it won’t be easy, or simple, and it may just leave me with a lot less blood than I started out with today…. But, I’m committed, and ready to make any sacrifices I must, to save this Pearl from becoming just another blog…. Of course, this may mean y’all will have to walk home, but, I don’t mind sacrificing the Reality-Mobile, if we can get this Pearl to breathe again….

Oh, wait, that’s right, I forgot…. Y’all could take the zip-lines back to the mainstream, if you have the cojones to zip five miles from the heights of reason down to the mundane flats of complacency….. The lines are free to all, they’ll supply y’all with free gloves, and there’s a shuttle to the top of the line from here…. it’s not far, only a couple of miles up the mountain….

There, with that taken care of, I can now concentrate on the delicate matter at hand…. While I do this, please stay back a few feet…. even the noise of your heartbeats can frighten the ‘puir wee beasties’, and they’re skittish enough today…. Okay, here we go…

Shall we Pearl?…..

“I don’t mind occasionally having to reinvent a wheel; I don’t even mind using someone’s reinvented wheel occasionally.   But it helps a lot if it is symmetric, contains no fewer than ten sides, and has the axle centered.  I do tire of trapezoidal wheels with offset axles” — Joseph M. Newcomer
_____________________________

“The truth is on the march and nothing will stop it.” — Emile Zola (1840-1902), “J’Accuse!”

I found the following article in the news a day or two ago, and set it here to form the nucleus of a rant I planned to write, on gun control, and the 2nd Amendment issue at large…. However, while waiting for today to arrive, I found the following rant from last year, and decided it says part of what I wish to say very well, so, I’ve put it immediately after, as a prelude to any fresh comments…. if I can find any in this less than completely cooperative text editor I call my mind….

For now, please read the article, keeping an open mind about both sides of what this implies…. If those sides aren’t clear to you, the key words to look for that will identify the players for each team are words such as “critics” or “supporters”, or more simply, “cops”, and “victims”….. (Sorry….. please,  DO try to keep an open mind, even if I tend NOT to practice that myself, quite so well as I may preach…. a perfectly human habit, I might add…)….

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/6-San-Francisco-police-officers-indicted-5273906.php

From April 20, 2013:

Quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? [Who guards the Guardians?] — Smart Bee

This is the perfect opening for a discussion of gun control, for me, as I believe strongly this is the bottom line issue for that particular subject…… Sure, taking guns out of the hands of people who are insane is a good thing; nobody, I think, can argue that. The problem lies in figuring out WHO gets to decide what sanity is, the same issue that comes up in discussing getting rid of firearms altogether.

You see, I’m sorry, but, I just can’t bring myself to trust the Beloved Ruling Class to decide who is sane, and who isn’t. Part of this stems from the fact that I don’t consider anyone in public office to have a very tight grip on sanity to begin with…. How effective can it be to have insane people making the rules for deciding who is insane? Not very, I suspect….

Yet, I read many articles that profess the belief that the police, and the army, who naturally would have to have guns (Why? If nobody is supposed to have them, why would they need them?), are more trustworthy than the common citizen. I’m sorry, but, just what planet did you say you came from? It certainly isn’t Earth, because, last time I looked,  here on Earth, all the police, and all the folks in the army, and the folks who tell them what to do, are all PEOPLE, just like anyone else…..

They’re all suffering the same fears, the same delusions or preconceptions, and the same lack of morality, as does the average joe on the streets. In fact, in light of my experience observing and identifying psychiatric symptoms common to the insane, I can honestly state I see a higher percentage of police and military personnel who display a distinct lack of a strong, internalized moral compass, based on  a rational compassion for others, than I see in the general public.

Part of the problem is exemplified by what I DO see, which is, police and military institutions, as they are organized and run, become attractive to the type of person who enjoys having power over others, whose self-image requires them to be in a position of authority, in order for them to be able to view themselves in a positive light, to see themselves as successful individuals. They equate money, and the power to control other people, with the concept of success, thus gravitating naturally to those sectors of society that deal in those commodities.

Normal, stable personality types seldom need to exercise power over others, and never do so out of a personal neurotic need, and so avoid such pastimes as bullying, or aggressive interactions as a rule of thumb…. To the selfish, and the sociopathic, however, the police and the army are seen as a path to what they term as success. If you see a flaw in this logic, please, enlighten me…. Until I see some evidence to the contrary, though, I find this to be a valuable, and accurate summation of the situation, thereby affording myself the opportunity to avoid the majority of their machinations, at least in a directly personal sense….

We all have to deal with them eventually though, so it’s good, I think, to be aware of the above arguments, as it will forewarn anyone who absorbs it, and takes it to heart, allowing them to defend themselves from the worst of the BRC’s attempts at repression, or oppression, if not all.  Maintain a high level of doubt when considering announcements and decrees, stay alert to the news, and the meaning behind what you see there, and be ready to jump when the balloon goes up.

Things out in the Big Blue Room are getting a little bit pretty damn serious in spots, with potentially disastrous possibilities being threatened on a lot of different fronts, so, for those of us who wish to survive, it would be a good thing to be ready for whatever may take place, no matter how insane…. And remember, guard yourself, against the Guardians themselves, if need be…..

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

We return now to the Consensual Reality currently in place today, March 1, 2014….. no better, and much worse off in general, than we were when this was first written, eleven months ago….. If I were to begin here, taking this rant to the places it conceivably could go, we’d all be here far longer than any of us wished…. Me, because I’d have to speak to the other implications of gun control, and I’m already burnt out for today…. and you, because you, too, have, no doubt, had quite enough of this, thank you very much…. One can only be serious so long before one requires a bit of a break, what?

Well, I do….. require a break, that is…. So, onward…. Stay alert, ffolkes, and keep your powder dry, because you just can’t trust ANYONE who SAYS they have YOUR best interests at heart…. unless, maybe, it’s your mum, dad, brother, or sister, or loyal lover….. and they could still get it wrong, right?…. Nobody’s perfect….

“We make so much sense around here it’s frightening!” — Smart Bee
_____________________________

I’m afraid y’all have pulled my covers, but, only because I’m such a shameless egoist I encourage such humiliations; I consider it part of curmudgeon training, adding just the right tones of bitterness and resentment on my part, and righteous indignation and disgust on yours…. which hopefully does not also get on your shoes…. There, now you can’t say I never make myself look foolish….

Staying with that theme, I now present to you my entry for the 19th day of April last, during the National Month of Poetry Challenge, when writers all over WordPress, and other blogging sites on the Web, all committed to write and publish a poem a day for the entire 30 days…. I missed a day or two, but, managed to write a lot of not-too-shabby poems, and several excellent haiku, if I do say so myself…. which, obviously, I have just done…. duh…..   Enjoy, please….

From April 19 , 2013:

Haiku VIIThe sun has come up,
once more we rise, and then shine.
Standard issue day.

~~ gigoid ~~

Fatal Supplication

But what becomes of our deepest dangerous dreams?
Does fantasy rescue any part of life’s imperiled favor?
Reality becomes but silvery pairs of mismatched teams,
Dining with affable elegance, such diffident waste to savor.

Who decides what sorrows to carry bravely to term?
Will fragrant moments of sanity make hasty manifestation?
Only Time’s patient mutability sends messages so firm,
Yet salient impersonal vexation lends credence to ripe imagination.

Can folly bring out sadness and rampant visions of beauty?
What kindness can be found in distant open relations?
With countless faces the dead disturb with dire impunity,
From separate caches of wisdom come simple stylish privations.

Shall shallow emotion serve to provide such explanation?
When does avaricious intensity assume primary focus?
Plain answers slide softly through with multiple mitigation,
While conceptually indignant concepts engage a fatally personal locus.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

The die is cast, and reality has taken the shape it will hold, until it changes again…. All we can do is go along with what the universe has in store for us, helpless to make changes anywhere but in our own minds, to our own character…. Reality itself, in spite of our delusions to the contrary, is NOT amenable to our desires, and only matches them randomly….

It’s best to learn to get along with that piece of information, because it is one that isn’t going to ever change…. In fact, our own inability to change reality may possibly be the only thing in the entire universe that is NOT subject to change… Hmm… That will take a bit of deeper thought, I think, before we can call that one a truism…

Philosophical, and/or metaphysical, or even metaphorical, considerations aside, it’s time for an old-school pearl, if for no other reason than my own wish to keep from having to rant overmuch…. I’m trying to cut down, for my health… so to speak…. For now, let it suffice to say, shall we dive for some pearls?…. I think it would be for the best….

“Within the oyster’s shell uncouth
The purest pearl may hide,
Trust me you’ll find a heart of truth
Within that rough inside.”

— Mrs. Osgood

“I don’t want to die! Existence is one of my stronger points!” — Ron Warren Evans

Remembrance and reflection how allied!
What thin partitions sense from thought divide!

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 225

“Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.” — Charlie Chaplin

It’s got to be the goin’,
Not the gettin’ there that’s good.

— Harry Chapin

“The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.” — Mark Twain

Are there not, dear Michal,
Two points in the adventure of the diver,–
One, when a beggar he prepares to plunge;
One, when a prince he rises with his pearl?
Festus, I plunge.

— Robert Browning (1812-1890) — Paracelsus, Part i

Perfect! A pearl, book ended by two pearls about pearls, creating a pearl of pearls, with the power to cause ecstatic cognitive trance states at the drop of a metaphor!…. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did….
_____________________________

Well, THAT was fun…. sort of…. Actually, I did have a bit of fun today, and nobody got hurt, that I can see…. I call that a good day of writing. Whether or not that is something that reality can agree with is, at this late point in the process, rather moot…. Which, convoluted as it may or may not be, is merely another way of saying, it’s done, and, I’m outta here…. See y’all tomorrow, most likely….

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

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

Which is Why….

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.gigoid the dubious

dozer3

If X, then Y; add lo & phone, & you’ve got music…

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Ffolkes,

“I will show you a philtre without potions, without herbs, without any witch’s incantation – if you wish to be loved, love.” — Seneca

One of the reasons I like aphorisms so much is demonstrated perfectly by this one, from our old friend Seneca, whose contributions to historical wisdom frequently grace these pages. Without fuss, without bother, and with great clarity, he delivers one short, pithy statement, that serves to provide the reader with a piece of knowledge that will serve them well their entire life, if they are able to absorb it, meld it into their own beliefs, and use it as a guide for moral, ethical, or merely honorable behavior…. In other words, good advice in a few words…..

It isn’t as simple, or as easy as it appears; I know, I’ve tried…. I’ve come up with a few, but, I’ve noticed that even those are a matter of recycling knowledge that has been part of human lore for generations. There is good reason behind the old adage about “nothing new under the sun”…. I find countless examples of statements from historical figures, like Seneca, or Plutarch, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, or any of their contemporaries, where the same idea has been re-stated, sometimes in a better way, others not so much….

But, no matter who said it, or how well it was said, many of these sages gave us pearls, of Real wisdom, that have proved their worth by their survival into the present, with the same degree of truth and relevance they held when they were first uttered. They also demonstrate another point that comes up here at ECR regularly, which is how little human nature has changed over the centuries since mankind first began making observations about himself as a species….

Each of the names I mentioned above, at one time or another, has given us some statement that describes a problem they faced in their society, usually from the pre-Christian era, which makes it well over 2000 years ago. I find that virtually every kind of issue that was described as being a problem for them remains as troublesome today, for us, as it was for them….

Mostly, those things are involved with how people get along, or not, i.e. the results of how they treat each other…. It seems we’ve always been plagued with a certain percentage of assholes in the demographics of our populations, whether we were living in caves, or in magnificent cities….. The assholes have always been with us, and have always made their presence known in such a way that we still hear about it today….

This is the primary reason for my own skepticism about the future; if we haven’t been able to find any viable, permanent solutions to the actions of those few of us who don’t give a shit about the others in the 5000 years or more we’ve been talking about it, then what makes us think we’ll be able to solve those issues now? Well, nothing, really…. I don’t think we will be able to solve that issue, and I don’t think we’re going to make it, in the long run…. not without making some major changes, and I don’t see any way that will happen….

All of this, I suppose, was a long winded, ranty sort of way to try to find something interesting to write about for an opening…. I didn’t really intend to come to such a moribund, morbid conclusion, at least, not so early, and not without some more lucrative ranting (lucrative in terms of venting more angst than this mild-mannered outburst could ever provide….), but, I suppose logic dictated the outcome more than desire, so, we’ll just have to deal….

I note, however, with some small degree of pride and satisfaction that yes, we DO have enough to call this an intro, even if it really doesn’t resemble one much at all…. For today, it’s the best I’ve got, and it will have to do…. I’ll try to be a bit more optimistic in what comes after, okay?…. More like the original pearl from Seneca….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Those whom true love has held, it will go on holding.” — Seneca
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It’s going to be an “interesting” day…. I can feel it in my bones, which are, this morning, quite sensitive, almost radar-like in their ability to sense the tenor of the near future…. Of course, that may just be a side effect of the spinal degeneration I suffer from, but, hey, I like to think positively…. Well, I like to TELL myself that a lot, anyway, even if it isn’t so…. Regardless of all that, I’ve made another unilateral decision about the structure of today’s effort….. We’re going to go old-school here in section one, saving the final section for whatever today’s designated ranting session may produce….

I DID, unfortunately, possibly blunt any such ranting that may occur, what with the depressive little meander through the intro, down the lane of logic to that maudlin, if all-too-realistic conclusion….. But, we’ll see how it goes…. The mood I’m in, anything could happen…. For now, I’ll let Smart Bee have his head to pick out some likely-looking pearls for you to chew on this morning with your granola, and, hopefully, coffee…. If you’re at all like me, NOTHING happens without coffee, first…. Any who, let’s dive….

“Why, when no honest man will deny in private that every ultimate problem is wrapped in the profoundest mystery, do honest men proclaim in pulpits that unhesitating certainty is the duty of the most foolish and ignorant?  Is it not a spectacle to make the angels laugh?We are a company of ignorant beings, feeling our way through mists and darkness, learning only be incessantly repeated blunders, obtaining a glimmering of truth by falling into every conceivable error, dimly discerning light enough for our daily needs, but hopelessly differing whenever we attempt to describe the ultimate origin or end of our paths; and yet, when one of us ventures to declare that we don’t know the map of the universe as well as the map of our infinitesimal parish, he is hooted, reviled, and perhaps told that he will be damned to all eternity for his faithlessness…” — Leslie Stephen (1832-1904), “An agnostic’s Apology”, — Fortnightly Review, 1876

“Death is just the ultimate expression of radical solipsism.” — Smart Bee

“Except for our thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power.” — Descartes

“Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.” — Jerry Garcia (1942-1995), Musician, the Greatful Dead — Rolling Stone magazine, (November 30, 1989)

“If you shut up truth, and bury it underground, it will but grow.” — Emile Zola

“Archimedes had stated, that given the force, any given weight might be moved; and even boasted that if there were another earth, by going into it he could remove this.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Marcellus

“Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other.” — Edmund Burke (1729-1797) — Reflections on the Revolution in France, — Letter i, On a Regicide Peace, Vol. v, p. 331

“The best measure of a man’s honesty isn’t his income tax return.  It’s the zero adjust on his bathroom scale.” — Arthur C. Clarke

“It is one of the commonest of mistakes to consider that the limit of our power of perception is also the limit of all there is to perceive.” — C. W. Leadbeater

See? I told you today would be “interesting”…. This is a very good pearl, all in all, but, as you can see, it took NINE pearls to reach the point it was trying to make….. I knew that if I let SB have his head, it would work out fine, and, well, I was right…. Yay….
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I’m including this poem today for the simple reason that I enjoy this format for poems…. I’ve seen about a half dozen of these ‘trilogy’ poems, with three complete poems in one (Each side, by itself, is one poem, making two; together, they make another complete poem, which completes the trilogy….); each time, I am impressed by the discipline and creativity of the authors….. This one is a bit shorter than others I’ve seen, but, nonetheless, is quite as amusing as any I’ve read…. I hope you find it as interesting as I do….

Against Idleness and Mischief

How doth the little busy bee         How skillfully she builds her cell!
Improve each shining hour,           How neat she spreads the wax!
And gather honey all the day         And labours hard to store it well
From every opening flower!          With the sweet food she makes.

In works of labour or of skill     In books, or work, or healthful play,
I would be busy too;                 Let my first years be passed,
For Satan finds some mischief still    That I may give for every day
For idle hands to do.                Some good account at last.

 ~~ Isaac Watts (1674-1748) ~~
Divine Songs, Song xx

_____________________________

My searches through the archives of old Pearls turned up this little discussion of the Tao, which, in the mood I’m in today, will serve to complete the day’s effort, much better than if I tried to use my current state of mind to create something fresher….. If nothing else, it’s less morbid than any ranting I could do, and therefore, fits in with our pledge to try to be more positive today….

Besides, as we all know, I’m lazy, and don’t much feel like working up the energy to rant…. This morning, I’m more in the mood to blow off the day altogether, so, completing this pearl, even WITH the archived material, will allow me to at least SAY that I disciplined myself, as much as I intend to do at all…..

In other words…. Here, read this, and enjoy…. because, it’s what I’ve got, and it will have to do….

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From 12/15/12:

“Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right actions arises by itself?” — Lao Tzu

Ever since being first exposed to the precepts of Taoism, back when I was in college in the late 60’s, it has always appealed to my sense of rightness, because, as a philosophy, it makes the closest approach to what I personally believe about the Universe at large.

Not the mystical parts, those that catered to the religious order of the time, when the concept was first was clarified by Lao Tzu, but, rather,  the essence of the concept of reality, as being both within our perception, and unknown to us as beyond our understanding. We may not possess the necessary sense to be capable of receiving such information, whether about reality or fantasy, and if we assume the omnipotence of a god, then we would not be able to comprehend their existence, lacking the tools to perceive them with our five or six senses…..

This knowledge, however, is tempered by the deduction that, as a physical part of the universe, we are connected to it, and to every other part, if only by sharing that existence. The connection, intuitively, is deeper than merely the physical; it extends somehow into the spiritual plane, which, though not tangible, is nonetheless a proven part of our mental reality. (What IS the mind?)

It is this very lack of the ability to explain by which we may know the connection exists, as it echoes the nature of reality itself, which cannot be explained in words. Goodness knows why I’m trying, to be sure…. this is getting pretty esoteric, although, so far, it is consistently rational, if not entirely illuminating.

“Since everything in life is but an experience perfect in being what it is, having nothing to do with good or bad, acceptance or rejection, one may well burst out in laughter.” — Long Chen Pa

What better way to acknowledge, and celebrate, the perfection that we can see, or hear, feel, smell, taste, or imagine?…… Laughter is certainly preferable to a long, dusty discussion of esoteric concepts, and will encourage enlightenment just as efficiently, if not quite so verbally. In some way, I’m always looking for the perfect quote, the ultimate aphorism, that delivers that cosmic truth we are all seeking in one swell foop…. The above line from Long Chen Pa comes very close to it, especially when considered in the light of what we were able to conclude, from considering the answers to the first two questions today. As a Westerner who has learned to appreciate what the East brings us, the following resonates very well….

“Somehow, in the midst of their horrid history, the best among the “gaijin” learned a wonderful lesson.  They learned to distrust themselves, to doubt even what they were taught to believe or what their egos make them yearn to see.  To know that even truth must be scrutinized, it was a great discovery, almost as great as the treasure we of the East have to offer them in return, the gift of harmony.” — David Brin – Dr. Pak’s Preschool

There’s the key, ffolkes, right there in front of you…. Even Truth must be scrutinized, or the universe will have its way with you, and you may never find the gift of harmony that is also there for the taking….. There, not so esoteric, after all…. not too shabby, eh what?…..

“The ancient Taoist sages were poised…. like ice on the verge of melting.” — Taoist proverb
_____________________________

Having already been treated to more discussion of my mood than is either healthy or wise, I’ll forgo any further references to that, and just say this in response to all of the above….. Hmm….

That being said, I’m outta here….. See y’all tomorrow, providing fortune continues to smile upon us….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Paleolithic cave art on Buchanan Street….

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Ffolkes,

In the course of normal events, we would have no real interest in finishing sentences, unless they are of the type given on conviction of a pundit for chicanery…. Since what takes place here on a regular, daily basis couldn’t ever be described as normal, or even in the same universe as normal, that has never caused us any particular difficulties…. until now…. What’s so different about today? Well, I’ll tell ya….

Not a damn thing I can see…. It’s just another in a long series of non-sequitur beginnings to these Pearls, applied, as always, with a certain degree of reluctance, lest anyone notice it isn’t exactly legal…. How? Well, how the hell would I know? Am I a legislator, or a lawyer, who would give half a shit about the law? No, I’m not, so quit asking so damn many questions…. It’s plainly written on the door outside when the lawyers will be in their offices, so stop bothering me with all this extraneous BS, okay?….

Sorry, I don’t mean to be grumpy…. I’m a bit foggy today, and the coffee doesn’t seem to be cutting through it quite so efficiently as usual….. Hence this odd, stop & start, just plain weird beginning to what otherwise would be an excellent day…. My business in the BBR yesterday went well, (I found a doctor that not only listened to me, but actually was able to understand me without having to bring a dictionary with them), and my pain today isn’t too bad so far…. Life is good….

Such an auspicious start to the day makes me nervous, as you may know, because it CAN mean our old friend, Murphy, has something delightful planned for me later on…. I’ve had far too many days in my life like this to feel completely comfortable when things go so smoothly; Reality has exploded on me enough times to make me wary of trusting it, particularly when it tries to convince me it resembles a baby’s bottom, and that I can trust things will go smoothly…. I’m just a little too old to fall for that one…. Hence, my skittishness, and this broken, misbegotten, sorry excuse for an intro…. Remember, all you can do, is all you can do…. At this point, this is all I can do….

That being the case, it’s probably best if we just get on with it….. I’ll stop trying to rescue this, and y’all can get rid of any trash you accumulated on the, no doubt, longer-than-necessary time spent in getting to this point, while we wait for the pilot to finish moving the plane into the takeoff position…. Oh, didn’t I tell you? Today, we’re flying off to a previously uncharted, incredibly rich, bed of oysters I found, somewhere out in the South Pacific…. I’m going to dive there today, to try to find some new and exciting pearls, while y’all hang out on the nearby resort island, sipping daiquiris until I’m done, okay? Sounds like a plan to me…..

Shall we Pearl?….

The question was once put to him, how we ought to behave to our friends; and the answer he gave was, “As we should wish our friends to behave to us.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Aristotle, xi
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Recently, there have been some articles in the news regarding a huge business merger, one so bit it is being examined for monopoly and trust issues by the government agency that has oversight in that arena…. A large corporation, Comcast, was approved to purchase, and merge with, another very large communication corporation, Time-Warner, in a deal that gives them control of about 35% of the entire cable market, including the provision of internet access to users…. This same company now wants to make a deal with another large company in the entertainment field, a deal which would improve the bottom line for both, but, at the same time, indicates that the consumer is going to suffer the indignity of price fixing, and reduction of net neutrality,  as the company explores its new ability to discriminate in the way it provides access, a perk awarded by the courts….

It’s a complex legal issue, and one that is guaranteed to put any of the public who try to pay attention right to sleep in their chairs…. deliberately, because these companies don’t really WANT the public to know what they’re up to, not until it is “fait accompli”, and nothing can be done to change it. Sadly enough, it’s also so boring and complex, I don’t feel up to breaking it down enough for exploration today, nor do I feel up to the task of pointing out the need to stop things like this from happening, or we won’t have our free internet to play with anymore….

Since I DON’T feel up to ranting today, (my level of curmudgeonry is kinda low…… plenty of outrage, but not much angst, and definitely not enough clarity of mind….), this will have to revert to an old-school format, or nothing…. Since that isn’t an option any more, (we already have SOMETHING, thus, ’tis impossible to have nothing….), I’m going to go for a dive, and see what I can find…. wish me luck, y’all…

“There is an enormous oyster here with its shell tightly closed. Interesting. Interesting. There seems to be something written on the underside of the oyster.”….. — Smart Bee

“It is better to copulate than never.” — Lazarus Long

“As long as you live, keep learning how to live.” — Seneca

“The important thing is not to stop questioning.  Curiosity has its own reason for existing.  One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of  reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day.  Never lose a holy curiosity.” — Albert Einstein

“Humankind cannot stand very much reality.” — T.S. Eliot

Dionysus the Elder, being asked whether he was at leisure, he replied, “God forbid that it should ever befall me!” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Dionysus

“C is for cookie, it’s good enough for me; oh cookie cookie cookie starts with C.” — Cookie Monster

There…. If THAT doesn’t tickle your fancy, I don’t have one…..
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This poem is one of my personal favorites, which is a big part of why it is being used here, again…. Besides, how can one lose, with poetry such as this in their head, and thus, in their spirit?…. That’s correct…. in that case, one cannot lose….

A Draught Of Sunshine

Hence Burgundy, Claret, and Port,
Away with old Hock and madeira,
Too earthly ye are for my sport;
There’s a beverage brighter and clearer.
Instead of a pitiful rummer,
My wine overbrims a whole summer;
My bowl is the sky,
And I drink at my eye,
Till I feel in the brain
A Delphian pain –
Then follow, my Caius! then follow:
On the green of the hill
We will drink our fill
Of golden sunshine,
Till our brains intertwine
With the glory and grace of Apollo!
God of the Meridian,
And of the East and West,
To thee my soul is flown,
And my body is earthward press’d. –
It is an awful mission,
A terrible division;
And leaves a gulph austere
To be fill’d with worldly fear.
Aye, when the soul is fled
To high above our head,
Affrighted do we gaze
After its airy maze,
As doth a mother wild,
When her young infant child
Is in an eagle’s claws –
And is not this the cause
Of madness? – God of Song,
Thou bearest me along
Through sights I scarce can bear:
O let me, let me share
With the hot lyre and thee,
The staid Philosophy.
Temper my lonely hours,
And let me see thy bowers
More unalarm’d!

~~ John Keats ~~

_____________________________

I’ve been cheating a lot lately…. That, I imagine, is partly a function of having written so much in the last three years or so…. I’ve got too much in my head every day to get ALL of it down on the screen to share, and some mornings, such as today, my brain doesn’t want to cooperate with the program, by exerting itself enough to rant…. I guess I’m getting mellow in my old age, eh?……

Nah, not really much chance of THAT happening…. but, I AM still plenty lazy, (it’s all part and parcel of being smarter than the average bear, you know? We’re always looking for an easier way to do stuff…..)….. which I don’t mind a bit, as long as I can still get done all I wish to do…. which I do, having decided long ago that whatever I did was okay by me…. It’s really a damn good policy, you ought to try it…..

Any who…. here is a pretty good religirant, from a couple of years ago, in December, a month that, apparently, I spent writing some pretty decent rants…. Enjoy!…..

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From 12/7/2012:

“Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.” — Mark Twain

As is his stock in trade, Mr. Twain once again gives humanity a solid poke in the ribs, in a humorous, even comfortable way that makes us want to laugh about our all-too-human foibles, instead of crying, which would really be more appropriate. In his assessment of both the character of most men, and most dogs, he is absolutely correct, and shows in one simple, sardonic phrase, just how ugly people can be. In fact, I can honestly say that, in my life, I have met many more dogs who deserve to go to Heaven, than I have men or women. Of course, I wouldn’t wish that on any dog, but, you know what I mean. Dogs are better ffolkes than most folks, in the world I see around me….

This, naturally, leads me to a perfect jump-off point for a religirant…. “Heaven goes by favor”  This is all too accurate; in order to get into the club, one has to meet a certain standard, that of faith. Of course that standard is pretty easy to meet, as all it requires is a verbal commitment ( accompanied,  I suppose by a heart-felt commitment….) that one believes in JC, or Mohammed, or Buddha, or whomever, and will try to follow their teachings. No pressure to actually do so, just commit to it, and you’re in. Or, go ahead and live your life walking the path of evil, then convert on the deathbed, and you’re in…. according to their rules…. Or, in other words, it’s all who you know…..

“An ancient buddha said, Mountains are mountains; waters are waters. These words do not mean mountains are mountains; they mean mountains are mountains.” — Dogen

I’ve recently been reading an author whose work I had read in my youth, when I was devouring science fiction on a daily basis. Samuel R. Delany wrote a number of powerful novels, as well as shorter works. The most recent I read, Babel-17, uses the structure and meaning of words in language as the basis for the plot.

In the book, he relates how important perception is to meaning, and how the way we use language can actually work to program the brain, just like the organic computer it is. What struck me is how the process he describes, which is what can be observed in people, if you look closely, shows just how powerful a tool language can be, when used in full consciousness of what it means, and what it CAN do…..

People base their entire existence on a few words, and what those words mean to them. If someone else (say, a preacher?) is able to influence the person’s choice of the words that have that power, then that person becomes the willing slave of whomever supplies him with the words.

This is a subtle process, that operates below the level of consciousness that most folks are aware of; they don’t realize how they are being manipulated by the very words they use, into thinking along certain lines, and in certain ways, all of which benefit the manipulator in some way, much more than they do the one whose thoughts are being channeled.

“This is Daddy’s bedtime secret for today: Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue.” — Eugene O’Neill

Mr. O’Neill was a decent playwright, but as a philosopher, he sucked, plain and simple. This is merely a parroting of the basic Christian dogma, and, as such, stands as a perfect example of how religious institutions tend to lie to their constituents….. I can say this because I have my own secret for today: Man is NOT born broken….. He is born as a blank slate; what is written upon that slate is only what he is taught to write, by other men. Since the first premise is false, the rest of the train of thought thus becomes irrelevant….You can easily see where it is just an attempt to get people to accept the untruths, and keep their patterns of thought within the boundaries drawn by dogma….

Sorry if such an idea is offensive, but, I don’t need to be “born again”, I did just fine the first time. I’m not broken. I’m not guilty of original sin, any more than is anyone else. That single concept, original sin, has been the most destructive idea Man has come up with in all of our long history, and, in my less-than-humble opinion, is therefore responsible for virtually ALL of the torture, warfare, and egregiously evil events perpetrated by religious fervor, of the last 3000 years.

I kid you not…. That simple lie, that we are all, somehow, for some insane, neurotic reason, born inherently sinful, and guilty of something, is pure hogwash, and is the most blatant falsehood to have been thought up, and perpetrated upon the rest of mankind, EVER!

What a ridiculous idea! To think that a newborn, of any species, should bear the guilt for an action performed before their birth, is just plain stupid, and self-serving. Of course, this doesn’t mention, that the act we are supposedly guilty of, is the acquisition of knowledge, an act which, to me, NOT something for which we should be punished, but rather deserve to be rewarded. Of course, knowledge is its own reward, so that really doesn’t matter, either….

But, in order to gain control over others, preachers have, since the beginning of history, tried to convince the rest of us that they are the only ones who have the right answer, all based on a bald-faced lie, and a false assumption….. And, since a large percentage of mankind is too lazy to think for themselves, or to risk thinking independently of others, THEY FALL FOR IT!  It almost makes me ashamed to be human, to be truthful….

But, we have dogs as our companions, and they love us, so we must not be ALL bad…. right? Right…. so, just follow your dog’s example, and just BE moral, don’t try to follow what others may tell you is moral. You’ll do a lot better, in life, and when it counts, after life…..

“Go back. Everything you need to know is in the first seven axioms.” ~~ Peruaosophy, Axiom #8, by gigoid
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Today’s Pearl came together in a very odd way, but, it got done, so, I’m good with that…. Comfortable or not, it’s reasonably well written, and has some fairly decent thinking included, if not exactly overloaded with complete coherency…. So be it….. See you tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

A Swift Kick In The Pants, Inc….

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Ffolkes,

Terrible things could happen now…. they could, you know. And, we’ll deserve every second we experience of mind-numbing, soul-chilling, petrifying terror, because, hey, we’re the ones who left the door wide open, inviting it to enter our domain, bringing with it our ultimate doom…. Yes, it’s our own damn fault, and we will know the truth of the matter, because we have been warned, having previously been given wisdom such as this….

“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” — Albert Einstein

Albert E & true sin(A bit more powerful a message when combined with the graphic art, isn’t it?….)

This is not new wisdom, that we’ve never before seen or suspected; history has provided us with innumerable instances proving the truth of this particular aphorism….. Time after time throughout our relatively short span of existence on this world, we find nearly innumerable examples of men or women who had prior knowledge of an issue of questionable morality,, and, by their silence, for whatever reason, allowed it to take place, to the detriment of all….

It doesn’t make it right, knowing how common a problem it is, but, it is certainly not an uncommon issue for mankind…. Such issues are not, perhaps, of those we are given by Reality, our favorite gifts, …. In fact, many don’t look on this, or any knowledge, as gifts, and THAT is a big part of the entire problem….

Our problem, then, can be seen as a failure of spirit, that has to do with a basic virtue, one that has been claimed as the basis for all other virtues; without this characteristic, none of our finer qualities are ever seen in the light of day…. That pillar upon which all other virtue rests, then, is Courage…. Yes, plain and simple, courage….

I have found, in my fairly long life, that most of mankind are cowards…. Sad to say, but, true nonetheless, since all the evidence is clear…. I say this, as well, knowing I’m not an exception, though it IS something I’ve tried hard to mitigate, in order to feel I have the right to call myself honorable, and meet my own eyes each morning in the mirror…. Fear is a hard thing for most of us to admit, even though it isn’t considered abnormal; it’s strength, and the way it causes us to lose control frightens us…

However, that is also its saving grace, as the guilt one feels, for having given in to it, can, and does, stimulate us to greater effort, whereupon we can find that courage within ourselves, the next time we are in danger of giving in…. This is how almost everything we do, and have done, of an ethical nature, ever gets done…. because someone discovers they DO have the courage to act when there is danger, moral, ethical, or physical, threatening them, or threatening those for whom they care…..

That is what it takes, you see…. No virtuous act can ever take place, unless good people have the courage to act in the face of the Evil that exists, in spite of the fear they feel in the presence of that Evil. If they don’t summon, or find somewhere with themselves, the courage to act ethically, or morally, if that is needed, then Evil has free rein to let itself out to play in human affairs, to the detriment of us all….

Each of us has to find that courage within ourselves, the courage to put aside our fear, to carry on with what we know to be right, even though expediency and comfort are left behind in such cases…. Living with honor and integrity is never the easiest path we can take; it is always fraught with danger, because it doesn’t avoid evil, because it’s too hard, but, rather, confronts it, endeavoring to deal with it in a straightforward, upright fashion…. thus, preserving one’s own honor, when forced to have truck with what always leaves us feeling a bit dirty….

Now that we have wandered so far afield this morning, I’m not sure what will happen to this Pearl…. Minor ranting isn’t uncommon in the intro, but, I do try to limit it to no more than eight or ten paragraphs, so we don’t take forever to get into just the first section…. a resolution which, this morning, is NOT unfolding according to plan…. Allow me to sum up, and get on with it, if you will…

All of what I wrote above is true and complete, to the best of my knowledge, and constitutes a fairly accurate assessment of today’s situation here on planet Earth…. Evil is out there, and when we… that’s you, and me…. fail to stand up to it, look it in the eye, and tell it to “fuck off, you bloody sod!”, then it will continue to manifest its existence, causing untold pain and suffering for us all…. So, be brave, ffolkes, and don’t let Evil have its way without at least some token resistance, ‘kay?…. ‘Kay!…..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Asked what he gained from philosophy, he answered, “To do without being commanded what others do from fear of the laws.”” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Aristotle, xi
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Today’s pearl is one that I’ve worked on ahead of time, so, the fact that I’m up later than usual, and got a slow start, won’t have much effect on when it gets posted today…. all in all, a good thing…. It DOES mean that I’m ahead of myself, and need to slow down a little, or I’ll be bumping into myself from behind…. which is not only hard on me, but isn’t so good for the space-time continuum…. I’ve seen some pretty bad cosmic aftershocks from that kind of metaphorical/metaphysical dust-up….

To counteract any possible chance of THAT taking place, (my insurance guy told me I can’t afford ANY more repair bills for space and time…. those metaphysical construction guys charge OUTRAGEOUS prices to fix things!….), this will be an old-school Pearl, attempting to balance out the mini-rant in the intro, and the religirant from the archives  in section three…. So, here is a group of fine pearls, fresh and shiny…. just for y’all….

“Solon used to say that speech was the image of actions;… that laws were like cobwebs,–for that if any trifling or powerless thing fell into them, they held it fast; while if it were something weightier, it broke through them and was off.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Solon, x

(So much for the concept of legislating morality, eh?….   Remember, ffolkes, Solon was the first human to codify and bring order to the concept of the Law, so, he should know…. gigoid….)

“If you were going to shoot a mime, would you use a silencer?” — Steven Wright

(I wouldn’t…. I’d want everyone to know….  gigoid)

“Life is a great surprise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one.” — Vladimir Nabokov, quoted in “Time”, 1981

(“Me, too”… gigoid again…. I guess I’m commenting on these pearls….    🙄     )

“A generation which ignores history has no past and no future.” — Robert Heinlein, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long

(Just as an exercise…. when was the last time you heard a modern politician use a historical basis for anything they are going to do? And, how many of them are aware they are repeating some of history’s most well-recorded cultural patterns with their own actions?…. I can answer both…. the correct number of those of our leaders who either pay attention to the forces and lessons of history, or have any idea of their own part in that, is ZERO…..)

“Do not try to live forever. You will not succeed.” — George Bernard Shaw

(Good point….)

Enjoy the present hour,
Be thankful for the past,
And neither fear nor wish
Th’ approaches of the last.

— Abraham Cowley (1618-1667)

“It’s all in there, don’t y’know?…. All there inside us already…. Happiness, love, serenity, peace, courage, compassion, all are waiting for us to discover them, right there where they have always been, inside us, abiding until we find them again…..”  ~~ gigoid the dubious

(This last pearl is one I wrote as the final line for a mild religirant back a couple of years ago…. It is my own first attempt at an aphorism, of any real success, which makes it worth mention…. to me, and, after all, it IS my blog…. gigoid, delving deeply into egoism….)
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In cruising through the archives of past Pearls, I came across this poem, one of my own, (today only, I’ll say it…. “one of my own, of course”….) first posted in October of 2012…. It’s better than I remember it to be, which means I did something right…. It’s also got a lot of ME in it, if you know what I mean…. Enjoy….

Raging at Aging

As old as you feel, we are told, is old as you are,
custom assures such vision will carry us far.
Reality begs to differ, may it be so bold
it’s really quite painful, and very, very cold.

The power and strength we felt in our halcyon youth
desert us with age, yet another unwelcome truth.
Irony rules our time here on this bountiful earth
as we reflect the changes, over time since our birth.

As physical powers fade from this fragile shell,
we learn our mind can serve us, quite as well.
The strength that once filled our bones and hearts
is now applied by will, to more arcane arts.

Life’s greatest gift is our freedom of choice;
no matter how often we forget, we still get a voice.
Energy, or apathy, by our will we may choose,
failing to do so, our only way to lose.

Each of us lives in the grip of time and space,
always seeking our balance, our own chosen place.
One must accept reality, for, ’tis true at the core,
all we can do, is all we can do, and nothing more.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

As noted above, I was reading through some Pearls from a couple years ago, and came across some old rants I’ll be recycling, due to their continuing relevance, as well as because they’re good rants… This one is fairly mild, in all, but does hit the point to made squarely on the head…. Enjoy….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From 12/12/12:

“He who proselytizes in the cause of unbelief is basically a man in need of belief.” — Eric Hoffer

This is true…. you never see an atheist going door to door, trying to convert the pious to their unbelief. However, I would go further on this train of thought, and add that, “He who proselytizes, in any cause, in basically a man in need of a life.” I’m sure it occurred to Mr. Hoffer, but he was too busy trying to explain this statement to somebody who didn’t understand the word ‘proselytize’…..

For my own case, I have never, ever understood why people feel compelled to go door to door to try to get other people to believe what they believe; it’s one of the most persistent delusional systems I’ve ever witnessed, to believe that anyone wants to hear what they have to say, much less they will find their beliefs palatable to others, or find anyone who believes them to be superior to their own…..

“More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying they made them.” — Smart Bee

Humans seem to have an immense blind spot when it comes to their own actions and beliefs. Most of them never seem to question the things they are told, even when those things are presented with no evidence other than faith. Of course, the people who are invested in the religious system, to wit: the preachers, begin their indoctrination when their constituents are very young, when they are still prone to accept whatever an adult says as truth.

This ensures a life-long predilection for being simple to control…. or, in short, mental slavery, if you will. Unless there is some sort of rebellion of spirit, where new knowledge is injected, these poor saps will spend their entire lives believing that what they have been told is real, when, in fact, they are fitting themselves with shackles, that will forever imprison their minds, and their imagination…..

“To defend one’s self against fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced.” — James Baldwin

In my life-long quest for the truth, I’ve come to believe that religions, while originally intended to benefit people, (by their iconic progenitors, anyway…. I’m sure Jesus was a quite nice man, and wanted the best for those to whom he preached his own philosophy of compassion….), have historically been taken over by the predators who live to control others.

To be fair, some of those who become priests, or any of the other varieties of religious fanatic that prevail in our society, may indeed believe that their beliefs are true, and act accordingly, but the majority are, as far as I can tell, only concerned with maintaining status quo, thereby benefiting themselves, while never actually allowing any REAL progress in the development of the human condition. They would have society behave as if we were still living in caves, in essence, still cowering in our meager shelter while the storms and lightning are raging outside, terrified of the power of what we do not understand, and, therefore, allow ourselves to fear….

“A universe of death, which God by curse
Created evil, for evil only good;
Where all life dies, death lives,
and Nature breeds Perverse,
all monstrous, all prodigious things,
Abominable, unutterable and worse
Than fables yet have feigned, or fear conceived,
Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimeras dire.”

— Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II

(Side note: I’ll bet Milton had a hard time sleeping….)

The Universe is a big place, and there is a lot to learn. Fearing that knowledge, or fearing what changes that knowing will always bring, is the act of a coward, to my mind, and should not be encouraged. Supernatural beings of unlimited power are not a required component to the understanding of Nature and the Universe; we need not fear that our lack of knowledge of how things work is unattainable. Just because we do not understand a part of reality does not mean that whatever it is, is beyond our understanding.

It is not necessary to ask for exemptions, or intervention by our own personal gods, for us to achieve happiness, or even contentment; that is completely within our own power, if we but acknowledge that part of us that is free, and connected to everything else we can perceive. The connections may not be fully understood, but they are there, and if we can only learn to recognize it, the power to change reality lies within us, all the time…. As Epictetus said, “Happiness lies in learning to accept a simple truth. There are some things you can change. And there are some things you cannot.” It’s really quite that easy, you know, once one learns to accept this fact of life…. No dogma required…..

“If brains were outlawed, nothing would change.” — Smart Bee
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As things turned out, this may be one of my best all-around efforts to date…. Balanced, but with enough lightness of spirit to keep it afloat, I think… Whatever the reason, I’m happy with it, and it’s done, so, hey, we know what that means, don’t we? Yep…. See ya, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Freeze-dried chipmunks? No,thanks, we prefer ferrets….

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2

Ffolkes,

“For a true master,
Sitting on a throne
Is no different than
Sitting on dirt.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

This is what I would consider a perfect pearl…. Short, sweet, to the point, and deep as Rush Limbaugh’s bigotry…. which is mighty deep, as he demonstrates so well on a daily basis…. I like it especially because it expresses a point of virtue, one that most people don’t want to have to accept…. It sometimes amazes me how people can lose touch with the more basic parts of life, such as, well, dirt….

It cracks me up to see young mothers panicking when their kids get dirty, even though I shouldn’t laugh at such ignorance, but should rather try to educate…. I suppose the whole idea of dirt being bad for us is another example of how just a little bit of knowledge can get one in trouble, if the individual hasn’t learned yet to try to learn anything BEYOND what they are initially told by someone in authority…. This whole believing authority business, as you can see, has its own drawbacks, as those who are in the habit of accepting what a TV pundit says unequivocally may often find themselves dealing with a LACK of sufficient knowledge to deal with whatever the problem may be.

So, these young mothers hear one phrase, “dirt has germs”, and without any further information, make their decisions based on this incomplete picture, which doesn’t tell even HALF the story of germs, and how they can affect us…. In fact, just hearing that much gives a FALSE picture, as the truth of the matter is that the more we expose our children to the dirt on this planet, the better off they are, as they will develop the proper defenses against the germs that ARE present, by exposure to them….. If the body isn’t exposed to the germs, it doesn’t learn how to fight it off….

I had a bad case of the flu at a young age (10), which, miserable as it kept me for a week, taught my immune system how to fight those particular kinds of bacteria very well…. Well enough that I haven’t had a single case of the flu since, no matter how virulent the current year’s mutation has been…. my body has the proper defenses to keep it at bay….

Now that we have wandered so far afield right out of the gate, I’d best try to bring this back around to some point we can dive from…. I’m not sure just how I got off on that tangent…. I hadn’t really intended to start writing about immune systems first thing…. I guess the quote from Deng Ming Dao got me thinking…. See? I told you it was a perfect pearl…. I think maybe we should find some more, and see what they can do for us, in the way of illumination, elucidation, and edification of our spirits….

Shall we Pearl?…..

Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;
Still by himself abused or disabused;
Created half to rise, and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled,–
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle ii, Line 13
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“Alienation without must be accompanied by alienation within; that is the law for every social level, even individuals. To harm one’s fellows, even one’s enemies, harms you, takes away some essential element from your self-respect and self-image.” — Greg Bear

“In keeping with my non-Aristotelian or relativist-Existentialist bias, I do not classify ideas as simply “true” or “false.” I prefer to assign them probabilities, on a scale from 0 (the Aristotelian “false”) to 10 (the Aristotelian “true”). A rating of 5 means that I am still sitting geometrically on the middle of the fence, above 5 means that I presently lean somewhat toward belief and below 5 means that today I lean somewhat toward finding no value in this gloss at all (for me). I admit cheerfully that I am such an advanced case of Aggravated Agnosticism that whenever I do move something into 0 or 10, I get nervous, wonder if I am becoming as simple-minded as the Pope or Dr. Carl Sagan and start looking for evidence to move that meme toward 1 or 9. — Robert Anton Wilson, in the Introduction to his play “Wilhelm Reich in Hell”

Of late, I’ve been wondering why I rant so much about the world’s problems, or, as Jimmy Buffet expressed it so eloquently, why have I spent so much of my life, “looking for answers, to questions, that bothered him so….”? (from his song, “A Pirate Looks at Forty”….) Back a couple of years ago, about half-a-year after starting this blog, I guess I had been thinking along the same lines, as I wrote the following little piece, for a Pearl in the Five-Star Format that I was using at the time, with five shorter but more pungent and wide ranging sections to each daily Pearl, each section based on its own pearl.

This post, providentially found by the WP related-post bot, provides me with a ready reference list for any of the subjects that need to be addressed in today’s world, if we are ever to grow up and reach our maturity as a species…. It’ll be handy, just in case I’m having trouble, in the mornings, coming up with something toward which I can turn the poison in my pen….

At this point in time, two years in the future, I can see that, not only have we made very little progress at resolving any of the listed issues, there are several that could be added to the list that have surfaced in the intervening years. Since doing so will depress me, I’m not even going to think about the additions, until AFTER reading the list as it is…. At the other end, I’ll add some issues that I have seen come up in the period since this was posted…..

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

From April 2, 2012, on the very day the world’s most famous author of unknown works, Anonymous, assumed the new user name of Smart Bee….. Well, that’s what we call him/her on this blog…. :

“Conscious is when you are aware of something and conscience is when you wish you weren’t.” — Smart Bee (Anonymous, by any other name, smells as sweet…)

Insane politicians (is there another kind?). Human trafficking. Racism. Bigotry. Child abuse. Spousal abuse. Slavery. Crack cocaine, heroin, morphine, or other drug abuse. War on crime. War on women. Televangelists. Fundamentalist zealots. National Security Agency. FBI. CIA. Untold trillions of dollars of national debt.  Genetically modified food. Military Industrial Complex. The 1%/99% Society. Taxes. Global warming. Air pollution. The oceans are dying. Terrorism. Nuclear accidents. Massive global weather changes. Ozone depletion. Overpopulation. AIDS. Mutating viruses. The Bohemian Club. Reaganomics. Nationalism. Elitism. Illuminati Conspiracy. Women’s reproductive rights. Bill of Rights (or rather, loss of same). War on the US Constitution.  Rampant ignorance. Lawyers. Priests. Rabbis. Imams.  Puppy mills. Wall Street. Corporate personhood. The IRS. Insane politicians. (Did I say that already? Well, it deserves mentioning twice….)  Rising incidence of halitosis.

Except for the last, which is more of a personal foible, I’d say that’s a fairly extensive, and mostly complete, list of stuff I am aware of that I wish I weren’t…..  all right off the top of my head, no research.  It certainly keeps my sense of outrage in good shape….. which is why we all need to practice the following sentiment at every opportunity…. otherwise, we are all going to be up Shit Creek without a paddle, proverbial or otherwise…..

“Speak out. You’ve got to speak out against the madness.” — Steven Stills

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Back in the Future: 2/22/14

Here are some additions to the list, also taken off the top of my head…. which, to me, is possibly the most depressing part of this pearl, to know that I am so tuned in to what is wrong in the world, and that there is just so FUCKING MUCH of it I see that is, simply, Evil, and even more sadly, Useless….. Some of these are repeats, as the issues haven’t been resolved, or seen any progress toward resolution….

More NSA. Edward Snowden. Gun control madness on both sides of the question. Corporate shenanigans of every ilk. Bank convictions, for crimes against customers, for which minuscule fines are paid, and nobody goes to jail. Sexual slavery/Abuse of Women (continued….). Abuse of Children. Abuse of Animals. Abuse of the Disabled. Abuse of Humanity. Human rights violations. Pedophiliac priests, enabled by pedophiliac bishops and cardinals. Mass extinction of animal, insect, and plant species due to pollution by Man. Religious fanatics using government positions to further insane fundamentalist agendas…. Signs of societal breakdown as seen in epidemics of bullying, flash mobs, new, increasingly bizarre psychiatric disorders, loss of manners, loss of any sense of honor, divorce rates, increases in prison populations, and numerous other obvious signs of a distressed, decayed culture….

I could sit here for hours, and never stop coming up with more stuff that adds to the evidence of such a complete lack of morality and organization, all of it merely more evidence that we are virtually guaranteed to see the eventual complete breakdown of society, and the impending extinction of our species, along with many others, from the increasingly irreversible toxic effects of global warming, and over-population…. all off the top of my head….

Goodness only knows what could happen if I tried to codify this evidence, using researched statistics and scientific study results…. Maybe, if the list got long enough, and scary enough, someone would listen….. I kind of doubt it, though….. According to all the overt indications, and, all the covert, ‘between-the-lines’ evidence that exists, for those with the wit to perceive it, well…. it all says that nobody has heard any of this yet, and nobody is at all likely to hear what I’m trying to say in the future…. because, nobody WANTS to accept what is right in front of their faces….

That happens a lot with the Truth…. ever notice?…..

“We believe that an informed citizenry will act for life and not for death.” — Albert Einstein on atomic energy, Jan. 22, 1947

If Albert could be so wrong, what hope is there for the rest of us?….

FOOL, n.  A person who pervades the domain of intellectual speculation and diffuses himself through the channels of moral activity.  He is omnific, omniform, omnipercipient, omniscient, omnipotent.  He it was who invented letters, printing, the railroad, the steamboat, the telegraph, the platitude and the circle of the sciences.  He created patriotism and taught the nations war — founded theology, philosophy, law, medicine and Chicago.  He established monarchical and republican government.  He is from everlasting to everlasting — such as creation’s dawn beheld he fooleth now.  In the morning of time he sang upon primitive hills, and in the noonday of existence headed the procession of being.  His grandmotherly hand was warmly tucked-in the set sun of civilization, and in the twilight he prepares Man’s evening meal of milk-and-morality and turns down the covers of the universal grave.  And after the rest of us shall have retired for the night of eternal oblivion he will sit up to write a history of human civilization. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”
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I suppose one of the reasons I continue to rant, in spite of how obviously my heavy-handed approach is driving readers away, is that I am a sucker, a patsy, when it comes to people…. I AM one, and, I can’t help but love them, and feel badly that there is so much pain and misery in our world, all caused by such a small percentage of assholes, who seem to not care at all about other people….

Often, I fantasize, dreaming of how I would like to treat some of the corporate sharks, misogynist politicians, peodphiliac priests, or overly-entitled myrmidons, if I had them in a position where I could “educate” them a bit…. Sadly, my fantasies probably resemble the torture they put us through, as I tend to be a bit vengeful when I think about the lack of compassion, or connection to other humans, these asininnies show every day.

Since it would be unethical to treat them as they treat others, (I have NO wish to resemble them in ANY way….), I find myself at an impasse, with frustration mounting as I observe the world at the mercy of these assholes…. Since I have, thus far, refused to buy a gun, lest I give in to the temptation to use it, I turn to poetry, to try to find a moment of peace among all the reasons to feel anxious about the future…. On a good day, like today, I’ll find something like this…..

No Man Is An Island

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

~~ John Donne ~~

_____________________________

Having thus completed the obligatory rant, and poem, we will now turn to the old-school for our final section today, as is our habit…. Smart Bee has been a bit unpredictable this morning, with a lot of dross thrown out along with the good stuff…. But, I trust it to use its own good judgment, so I’ll let it set its own parameters today, and trust it will find some pearls of good luster for us to consider….

Ah, wait a second…. You there, in the floral print shorts…. your mask is cracked; you’ll need to replace it from the spares before you jump in…. Don’t want to have that go out on you at a depth of 30 feet, do we?…. No, we don’t…. Got it? Everybody got their knives, for any stray barracuda that show up? Okay, let’s go for a dive, ffolkes, and find some oysters….

“As good almost kill a man as kill a good book: who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God’s image; but he who destroys a good book kills reason itself.” — John Milton (1608-1674) — Areopagitica

“The world is full of fools, and he who would not see it should live alone and smash his mirror.” — Claude le Petite

“Men know that if a woman had to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant’s life, she would probably save the infant’s life, without even considering whether there were men on base.” — Dave Barry

SATIRE, n.  An obsolete kind of literary composition in which the vices and follies of the author’s enemies were expounded with imperfect tenderness.  In this country satire never had more than a sickly and uncertain existence, for the soul of it is wit, wherein we are dolefully deficient, the humor that we mistake for it, like all humor, being tolerant and sympathetic.  Moreover, although Americans are “endowed by their Creator” with abundant vice and folly, it is not generally known that these are reprehensible qualities, wherefore the satirist is popularly regarded as a soul-spirited knave, and his ever victim’s outcry for co-defendants evokes a national assent.

Hail Satire! be thy praises ever sung
In the dead language of a mummy’s tongue,
For thou thyself art dead, and damned as well —
Thy spirit (usefully employed) in Hell.
Had it been such as consecrates the Bible
Thou hadst not perished by the law of libel.
Barney Stims

— Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood.” — H. L. Mencken

“Life is not the way it is supposed to be. It is the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.” — Virginia Satir

Sometimes, SB outdoes itself, and this is one of those times…. A brilliant pearl, almost a necklace, it’s so well constructed…. If I were you, ffolkes, I’d spend a bit of time, if necessary, in decoding the message this pearl delivers…. Not only will it be on the Quiz when it is given, you will find yourself enjoying the process of finding the encryption algorithm…..
_____________________________

Perhaps it is because I wrote this, but, I like it…. That being the case, I’m going to go with my instincts, and let this go out as it is, and not fret over any possible consequences…. It’s a bit like life, in that metaphorical sense…. which is, after all, what we do here, play with our metaphorical senses…. See ya tomorrow, ffolkes, if they give me another chance….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

dozer3