A special sale on Dear John letters…..

Posted on October 13, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

In just a couple of weeks, I’ll be celebrating my 63rd birthday….. Perhaps ‘celebrating’ is not the right word; let’s say I’ll acknowledge it, and let it go at that…. In truth, though, I’m not typical in how I look at birthdays; I actually enjoy aging, from an intellectual standpoint. However, I don’t feel old, at this moment, though, physically, I do feel my age frequently….. But, in my mind, I still feel as if I am 25 years old, and can still do anything at all with my body… which, back then, I did so, a lot. That’s why I’m so frail now, according to my doctor, but that’s neither here nor there… In most ways, I don’t feel as if death is near, even though I am aware of entering his neighborhood, so to speak….

I don’t believe that paragraph says what I am trying to say very well. That could be due to the hour of the day, or the insufficient number of ounces of coffee thus far consumed; most likely it’s my normal confusion expressing itself, in its own inimitable way. I suppose I’m trying to say that even though I’m getting older all the time, it only seems to affect my body, and not my mind…. For this I can only be grateful, as there are many, many things the mind can figure out how to do without having the full use of physical attributes. There is very little the body can do to make up for not having one’s mental faculties in full working order….. I mean, any complex math is out, if one has to count higher than 20, or so, and no way I’m trusting my body to write a Pearl…. It’s already hard enough to get them to work in tandem….

Okay, that’s silly, but, you get the drift, I hope…. I’m fresh out of cliches and aphorisms to get it said in any elegant way, so, what has transpired will have to do for the nonce. Since we are already at the cusp of giving up altogether (this is starting to look a bit like one that will go in the trash, and get started over…..), I’d best decide how much further I’ll go in trying to get to my point…. a point, I will add, that is now getting pretty foggy itself, and may have been lost completely by the time I get to the end of this paragraph…. It certainly has retreated well into the background, while I go through all these wordy contortions, trying to find my way back to my original thought….

I see that I’ve reached nearly enough material to call this an intro, even though nothing has been either introduced, or begun well, in any fashion. Maybe THIS is the mental deterioration people often speak of when talking about getting old; it certainly happens often enough to look that way. You COULD say this has been coming on for some time; if I go back over the Pearls from the recent past, I see that this section has undergone some rather odd changes over the course of this year….

I wander from subject to subject much more frequently, usually AWAY from any coherency…. I lose track of my thoughts, as I write them…. I cover that up by being silly, not even caring how it makes me look…. I tend to fall easily into ranting, though without providing as much factual evidence as opinion, which is fine, in and of itself, but, not a good policy over time…. people want proof. And, I’m easily distracted, as the ranting indicates…. Hmm….. all of these are symptomatic of age related issues, so, I guess this means what I’d hoped it didn’t….. Hell, I didn’t even go into how many trips to the bathroom I make, compared to my younger self….

I’m old, and there’s no way around it, so I may as well just go with the flow…. If that flow means verbal diarrhea for up to six complete paragraphs, such as this morning, well, then, I’ll just let it take me away, just as if I were pleased about it all…. I wonder, though, is it going with the flow, or getting flushed? I think…. that I don’t want to think about that one any further…. Instead, I’ll just say this…. Yeah, I’m old, but, so fucking what? I’m tough, too, and stubborn, and full of curmudgeonly passion…. and I’ve still got a lot to say about the people in this world who have it in for everyone else…. So, take it, or leave it, but, that’s the way it is….

Shall we Pearl?….

“I used to wonder about the meaning of life. But I looked it up in the dictionary under L and there it was, the meaning of life. It was less than I expected.” — Dogbert
_____________________________

Yesterday, I thought my rant was pretty accurate, showing how the BRC, the priestly hierarchies, and all those who manipulate others solely for their own benefit have worked together over centuries to enslave mankind…. I’m not going to claim any conspiracy to do so, even though the act itself, of controlling others, is evidence enough of intent to conspire; the system that exists today in the world has evolved rather than been constructed… Those who have the urge to power have always pursued it, and the rest of us have always suffered for it….

Now, we’ve come to a point in our history where each act of this nature assumes greater importance in the overall scheme of things; the more the shadowy masters of society work to keep their acts secret, the harder people try to uncover them…. and, since the ones who have all the power aren’t technicians, they have to depend on some of the unwashed masses to perform certain tasks…. As they suspected, that was a risk, which has led to the recent revelations in the news about how much our governments spy on us, and not unsurprisingly to some of us, showing how much of what the government does is NOT being honest.

Below I’ve put another link to an article, which, to me, is very good in its intent and delivery, but doesn’t go far enough in its implied criticism…. Eric Snowden, the NSA tech who blew the whistle on the NSA, makes one statement, (included just after the link below…), that outlines very well what I think; it’s a good summary statement of what our POTUS has done during his reign of office….. Not that this POTUS is any worse than any of the Shrubs, or for that matter, any of them…. But, he IS the one who got himself elected mainly by stating he would make changes long overdue…. As far as I can see, NONE of those necessary changes have occurred, at least, not so far….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Snowden-mass-surveillance-making-us-less-safe-4890413.php

“Snowden said the U.S. government was “unwilling to prosecute high officials who lied to Congress and the country on camera, but they’ll stop at nothing to persecute someone who told them the truth.” ”

This is truth, ffolkes….. The Obama administration, according to the article I put here yesterday, has instituted more prosecutions of security leaks against writers, news organizations, and anyone who showed how deeply the spying has been thrust into our lives, than ANY previous administration, which is having a very serious effect on how willing reporters are to exposing those leaks, or to even use them for material…. This is their policy, in spite of the fact that what they are doing is ILLEGAL, even according to the asinine Patriot Act that is at the root of the problem…. This administration has exceeded the limits of that Act ever since it was signed, deliberately; they don’t even bother to conceal it, as the proof has already been published, with documented emails and policy statements that make it clear they KNEW they were exceeding their authority….

“To disarm the people – that was the best and most effective way to enslave them ….” — George Mason ( Framer of the Declaration of Rights, Virginia, 1776, — which became the basis for the U.S. Bill of Rights ) — 3 Elliot, Debate at 380.

George is right in this, but he forgot another method for disarming the people, one that is just as effective in controlling the populace…., the one that is currently being used…. The people’s only and best weapon against depredations by the government is not guns, though they are useful, and essential in any free society… But, guns are only useful for enforcing one’s beliefs. Knowledge, and information about what is being done, is actually the most powerful weapon we have, as well as the most powerful tool the BRC has to keep us under their control… If we don’t KNOW what they’re doing, we can’t stop it. If we don’t KNOW they are fucking us over, we can’t stop them….

In this modern world, aptly called the Age of Information, correct data, or more accurately, the truth, is the most powerful weapon at anyone’s disposal… If the government continues to operate in the way they are now, then we won’t even KNOW that they’ve done something to us, until it’s all done… Our only real protection is the freedom of the press, and of speech, and the freedom to act to find redress for acts of infamy against us…. Those acts are now being perpetrated mostly by our own leaders, and if we don’t have the guts to stop them, well, then they are going to keep on controlling us all right into our graves….

I know this rant sounds a bit disorganized; I did that deliberately, because it is another form of get-back at the BRC…. If they’re going to take the time to look at what I write, to keep track of yet another dissatisfied citizen, who could conceivably cause them problems, should any significant number of people ever start listening to my ideas, well, then, I’m going to make it as long and complex as I can, just to thumb my nose at them…. They’ll have to dig through all this to get at whatever they see as the nuggets of seditious material, so I like to dress it up pretty for them…. and, bury it deep, so they have to sweat a bit to dig it out…

“What you see but can’t see over is as good as infinite.” — Thomas Carlyle

I’m going to end this here, not because I’ve run out of anger, or of material, but because I’m over-amped, and it’s too early for this kind of emotional storm…. It’s getting hard to NOT become angry at what I see in the news each day; though I am not a spring chicken, and don’t expect everything to go my way in the world, it would be nice to be able to count on something, or someone, in the real world to be truthful, or honest, or at least, not completely DIS-honest…. But, I guess that’s expecting a lot of human nature, given its track record….. There isn’t a lot of historical evidence of that kind of behavior, especially at the higher levels of government, or the higher levels of the priesthood….

Stay alert, ffolkes…. As axiom #7 says…. “Do your Duty. Respect Life. Honor the Truth. Share your Love.”,….. and watch your data…. Enough!….

“I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.” — H. L. Mencken

“If you’re facing the richest and most disgusting conspiracy in history, you have to do more than stick up two fingers and say “peace”.” — Ben Elton, Stark
_____________________________

Given the subject matter in today’s rant, I was going to put in another of my poems, with a clear message to the PTB… But, in looking for it, I came across this one, and it feels like a better one for today… With poetry, I tend to go with feelings more consistently than I do with reason, so….

Honorable Request

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

Having dutifully, and necessarily, given in to the urge to rant, BEFORE I read the day’s headlines, I am now fully authorized to move on to a more light-hearted duty, to find the perfect string of pearls to make a necklace of virtual wisdom, one that shines with enough beauty to illuminate, and inspire… Or, if nothing else, give us a bit of a chuckle…. The Irish are fond of of saying, “A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.”….

“Any mental functions attempted in this area must be re- evaluated during a subsequent period. It has been discovered that standard logic works sideways in this area due to the influence of the occupant.” — Smart Bee

“That which leads us to the performance of duty by offering pleasure as its reward, is not virtue, but a deceptive copy and imitation of virtue.” — Cicero (B.C. 106-43)

“It [the Bible] is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies.” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) — Letters from the Earth (1905-1909)

PRESIDENT, n. The leading figure in a small group of men of whom — and of whom only — it is positively known that immense numbers of their countrymen did not want any of them for President.

If that’s an honor surely ’tis a greater
To have been a simple and undamned spectator.
Behold in me a man of mark and note
Whom no elector e’er denied a vote! —
An undiscredited, unhooted gent
Who might, for all we know, be President
By acclimation. Cheer, ye varlets, cheer —
I’m passing with a wide and open ear!
Jonathan Fomry

— Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“The purpose and function of government is not to preside over change but to prevent change. By political methods when unavoidable, by violence when convenient.” — Edward Abbey

“It is hard to let old beliefs go. They are familiar. We are comfortable with them and have spent years building systems and developing habits that depend on them. Like a man who has worn eyeglasses so long that he forgets he has them on, we forget that the world looks to us the way it does because we have become used to seeing it that way through a particular set of lenses. Today, however, we need new lenses. And we need to throw the old ones away.” — Kenich Ohmae, The Borderless World

“People fashion their God after their own understanding. They make their God first and worship him afterwards.” — Oscar Wilde

“Giving power and money to the government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” — P.J. O’Rourke, former Gulf War correspondent, — summing up what he learned — during two years of research on how our government functions

Well, rather than going for humor, it seems as if Smart Bee was paying attention earlier, and decided to collect a group of pearls that are obviously related to the rant above, if only in the indictment, by several of history’s more rational minds, of both the BRC, and the unholy perpetrators of any of the major religions…. I don’t know about y’all, but, I like it, so, it stays….
_____________________________

Someday, I suppose, I’ll figure this out, and just sit down each day to write, knowing in advance how it will go; today, however, has been typical for me, in that I’ve no clue as to how it got done, really…. but, there it is, so I’d best go proof it, so as not to embarrass myself any further than is absolutely necessary….

I’m shocked, shocked I tell you… This isn’t bad. It isn’t necessarily brilliant, but, it will do until brilliant comes along, for me anyway…. This means that once again, I’m done, and I didn’t even know it… See ya, got stuff to pack for the trip…. 🙂

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

We’ll titrate the phone books, THEN we’ll marinate….

Posted on October 12, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I should, perhaps, know better than to begin while still free of coffee…. Aha, I know…. I’ll go peruse the headlines, to see what I can find to rant about today…. Be back when I’m lucid….

Lucid I may be, but, bursting with energy, I’m not, sad to say…. It’s funny, actually; as soon as I started gulping down my coffee, I started yawning, my eyes began to droop, and I started feeling as if going back to bed is the right thing to do (it’s still only 5:15 AM, so it’s not as if it’s too late…). Or, maybe, a bit of a lie-down on the couch would do the trick… We’ll try that first, before I make a complete fool of myself here… Shoot, too late for that, huh?… Oh well….

Laying down wasn’t the answer, either, it seems….. I’m here, though, and I’ve had coffee, so I may as well get started….. Let’s try this…..

Spinning darkly, madly through wild spaces, shouting defiance, the weight of Ramistolia, the Axe of Invincibility, heavy at my belt, I begin to curse, slowly, with great passion, at the strange methods used by wizards to move people to where they need to be. I think then of home, and Mira, my wife….. Sleeping now, I hoped, dreaming her gentle dreams of love and beauty, about to awaken…. Flushed in the pale light of dawn, her long tresses tumbled, she will arise, moving slowly to the bath as her handmaiden throws a robe over her milky white shoulders. She’ll think of me then, and smile, not knowing that I had already left her, to meet the destiny set out for me…… IF I managed to survive Alizander’s terrifying mode of transport….

Well, that’s enough of that… it’s okay, but not the best I’ve ever come up with…. I haven’t actually done one of those in a while, which is odd, because I always enjoy it, even though I never do finish any of them. I keep telling myself that one of these days, I’ll sit down, and outline a story to go along with one of them, but, so far, I’ve not done so…. Obviously, it’s not as important to me as I had imagined it to be, which is fine…. I’m actually pretty content with life just now, and it’s hard to get worked up over much of anything….

My contentment may be a contributing factor in the difficulties I’m encountering in this process…. For ranting, it is necessary to feel at least a bit of discontent down in the deeper parts of the psyche, and, right now, mine is pretty happy, for the most part…. Oh, like everyone, I have my moments of angst and bitterness, but, mostly, of late, I can avoid them, or pass them off without any fuss, or lasting effects…. After a lifetime of passionate involvement, and volatile relations with women (I always did find passion to be irresistible…), I am quite content to live more peaceably….

Now, if only the pundits and talking heads would just go crawl back under the rocks from whence they came, all would be well in my world…. But, no, they have to go through all the asinine contortions they can, while continuing to act out their insane personal agendas, taking society down with them, on their completely unnecessary trip to Hell…. The idiot assholes, or asshole idiots, take your pick, on both sides of the political fence, are still exhibiting massive amounts of blind stupidity, and have yet to give any indication they are getting any smarter with time…. Personally, I’m kind of happy with parts of the shutdown, as it does mean they aren’t up to much of anything at all in government, which HAS to be good for all of us….

There, that’s my rant for the day, such as it is…. and now that this intro section has climbed up to a new plateau of chaotic oddity, I guess I should get on with whatever I plan for the rest of it…. Such is life before the rest of the worlds returns from the ‘little death’, into which we slip each night, searching for Endymion…. If you like, you can choose your own metaphor for that, but, I’ll stick with that one, because, hey, it’s done, right?….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Ignorance of one’s misfortunes is clear gain.” — Euripides
_____________________________

Bloggers, it seems to me, are a group of people who should have a good grasp of the importance of freedom of speech in a democratic society. Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, Thomas Paine, Ben Franklin, all of whom were part of the founding process of this nation, and our particular brand of democracy, wrote many letters, essays, and comments on the subject, as it is considered to be one of the most important keys to the survival of a democracy, in the face of the attempts made daily by corporations, priests, aristocrats, and all the other immoral, unethical pirates, who live to control others, and who continuously strive to maintain, and increase, their ability to manipulate and control society for their own benefit.

“We can’t allow the people to interfere with the smooth flow of democracy.” — Kitchener city council member

This might seem like a funny statement, until you realize that he wasn’t being facetious, , or even ignorant; rather, he was clearly and honestly (a mistake I’m sure, and the reason his name is now forgotten….) expressing the prevalent attitude among virtually all of the elected officials in this country. Thomas Jefferson particularly warned us, on a number of occasions, to be watchful for attempts by corporations to manipulate the law, as did others of the founding fathers….

Unfortunately, we didn’t listen to them well enough, and along about the middle of the nineteenth century, the corporations found, and used, the most corrupt federal judge they could bribe, influencing him to establish legal justification, and pass judgments on certain laws, creating legal precedents that would forever put the government under their power and control…. If you think that is a bit simplistic a view, or that it is essentially wrong somehow, please, please, show me your evidence…. As proof of my assertion, just consider the modern legal definition of “corporate personhood”, to get a clue as to what I’m talking about…..

“When I want to buy up any politicians I always find the anti-monopolists the most purchasable. They don’t come so high.” — William H. Vanderbilt (1821-1885)

Now, we see the net result of those manipulations, as our country is being held hostage to those politicians who are most heavily influenced by corporate philosophy, and corporate money…. In addition, this administration, which was elected partly due to their promise of transparency and accountability in government, has proven once again that we have fallen prey to some very persuasive liars, as the following link to an article will demonstrate…. Please read this article, which ran a few days ago on SFGATE…. The implications herein are terrifyingly real, and support what I’ve been saying all along, that even though Obama is very good at distraction, always telling the public what they want to hear, his actual agenda is not as transparent, or as beneficial to the public as he has claimed…. Read it, please, then I’ll continue….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Report-Obama-brings-chilling-effect-on-journalism-4884506.php

Pretty scary stuff, isn’t it? I don’t like to gloat, but, I DID warn y’all, back in 2009, when Obama was first sworn in, that what you were seeing in him was NOT what you were actually getting…. That became clear when one of his first acts when he got into office was to renew the provisions of the Patriot Act (which could more accurately be called the Paranoid Act….), first pushed on the American people in the wake of 9/11/01, an event completely blown out of proportion by the then extant President Shrub, and his band of good ol’ boy cronies (I won’t bother to mention the timing of the attacks, which were conveniently distracting to the public, drawing their attention from the other news of the day…. which included the possible investigation, by the US Department of Justice, into the 2004 elections, to seek further evidence of illegal voting and election tactics by the Republican Party ….).

Obama’s first significant act as President, then, was to reinforce the LACK of transparency fostered by the Shrub’s administrations, and to further limit the power of the US Bill of Rights to protect our citizens from their own government…..

“I want the ability to monitor high-tech communications among far-flung terrorists. I want to be able to have our people learn their plans before they strike. That’s the key.” — US President Bill Clinton, radio address, Saturday, May 20, 1995

Oops! What’s this? Yet more indication of how long this charade has been going on? Yep, you got it, ffolkes….. In fact, without trying terribly hard, I could go back over the past 75 years of American political history, and show exactly how much the rights of the American people have been eroded, and how many lies have been told in the process of that erosion…. It’s isn’t hard, because I only use the public newspapers and TV news for my evidence, which anyone may access….

Believe me, it’s a lot of lies, and they continue right up to today….. It amazes me, sometimes, to see just how easy it is to get the public to fall in line…. All one has to do is make people afraid, and they will accept whatever loss of freedom is asked of them, in order to save themselves from thinking, or from admitting their history of being duped….

“What George Washington did for us was to throw out the British, so that we wouldn’t have a fat, insensitive government running our country. Nice try anyway, George.” — D.J. on KSFO/KYA

Normally, and, of late, mostly, I pick on the Republican Party, due in part to their lack of finesse in lying, and due to their more open disregard for the people…. But, the Democrats are no better, ffolkes… They have merely learned how to lie more smoothly, telling people what they wish to hear, and making them believe that they are working for the people’s benefit….

Frankly, and simply put, they’re not interested in any of that sort of thing…. They have merely discovered an old method, of giving something desired, something of small and insignificant meaning, very publicly, to the people, with great fanfare, while, with the other hand, they are clandestinely searching our emails, and profiling our citizens in search of the mulligan, terrorists….

Yes, I said mulligan…. the threat of terrorist activity is very small, as they are very few, and not well funded, generally…. Any who are so funded, you may be sure, are well controlled by those who are in true power, for they control the flow of money, and the availability of weaponry, both of which are needed to foment rebellion. They know this, and since they, quite simply control all the money, they control the terrorists…. No, the terrorists are what they show you in one hand, while the true actions of significance are happening behind closed doors, and in shadowy corners where no one looks….

“… But when he [the people’s champion] has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.), “The Republic”

I guess I’ve ranted enough for one day…. I’ll leave you with this…. The US government has been controlled by corporate interests (i.e., money) for a very long time…. The quote below gives us a clue as to how long it has gone on, though it started long before 1950…. By that time, though, the corporations were in control enough so that, even though there was no military need, or justifiable rationalization, to drop the atomic bomb, the government was persuaded to do so…. It’s a pretty clear picture, when one sees that the highest ranked military leaders saw no need for it, but, the politicos, and their corporate masters, just HAD to see what their new toy would do….

“It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons. …The lethal possibilities of atomic warfare in the future are frightening. My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children. We were the first to have this weapon in our possession, and the first to use it. There is a practical certainty that potential enemies will have it in the future and that atomic bombs will sometime be used against us.” — Admiral William D. Leahy, — Chief of Staff to Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, I Was There, 1950

Stay alert ffolkes, this old ball of mud doesn’t have a lot of turns left where we’ll be joining in the song of life…. These idiots, who operate their lives on a basis of complete self-indulgence, and blind belief in their own invincibility, are getting closer and closer to the time when the physical laws of nature will take over, and complete the job of suicide of the species that they have begun…. We can’t keep pumping carbon into the atmosphere, whether it’s monoxide, dioxide, or any other oxide, and expect nothing to happen…. Our lungs don’t use that stuff, and it will eventually kill us…. So, stay alert, and maybe we’ll get a chance to turn things around…. Here’s hoping….

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

I have the feeling that any responsibility or today’s effort shouldn’t be shared, lest whatever happens affect the reputation of whomever I chose to display here in the poetry section…. So, you’ll have to settle for one of mine, as the new one is still cooking…. I hope you enjoy it….

After the odyssey….

Portraits of iconic symbols, crashing, singing, forgotten;
evolving into mature innovation, as yet pale, and rotten.
Still water justly breeds, impenetrable primal verses resound;
unholy moments tarry, emotion swirls in passion unbound

Spiritual ovulation precedes each pregnant pause;
gravid, time moves on, following destiny’s cause.
Cast adrift on waves of confusion, to a final, damp landing;
salvation beckons sweetly, fed well on understanding.

Dreams directly fall, in night’s grey bower, unbidden;
lingering flavors in simple taste, lovingly, cleverly hidden.
Childish laughter sounds, joyful, bright, and clear;
no need ever to hide, no more monsters to fear.

Temper most foul arrives under unregistered mail;
forgotten taunts live on, lashed by an ancient flail.
Plain dealing delivers such lasting specks of honest hate;
savage in retrospect, never hasty, always running late.

Forever, cries an ambient lover of the pending night;
his pale, weak issue forms its own failing light.
Still, fortune favors such as those who apprehend;
Sweet love of Gaia, let it never end.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

I’ve ranted sufficiently for one day, so I won’t bother you with yet another…. As is our wont, we’ll go default, meaning old-school style…. It may be default, but, it’s MY default, so deal…. 😆

“Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door.” — Emily Dickinson

“I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We’ve created life in our own image.” — Stephen Hawking

“In real life, unlike in Shakespeare, the sweetness of the rose depends upon the name it bears. Things are not only what they are. They are, in very important respects, what they seem to be.” — Hubert H. Humphrey (1911-78)

“Time carves all. Let yourself be carved to attain your true nature.” — Master Po

“A right is not what someone gives you; it’s what no one can take from you.” — Ramsey Clark

“I think the dragon’s asleep.” — Famous Last Words

A word is dead
When it is said
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.
— Emily Dickinson

In the words of the Colonel, “I love it when a plan comes together….” Nothing like a balanced pearl of virtual wisdom to start, or end, your day….
_____________________________

I have a feeling that this one is better than it seems from over here…. let’s take a closer look….. I might be right about that. Since, however, I’m not the best judge of my own work, I’ll just do as I always do, which is to post it, and damn the consequences…. 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

Post-adenoidal adolescent fantasies for sale or trade….

Posted on October 10, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I like to think that I’m a tolerant man in many ways, though there are a number of human behaviors that test that tolerance on a regular basis. Take, for example, being lied to…. When someone lies to me, my first reaction is akin to emotional pain, a sense of betrayal that hits me in my most vulnerable area, my sense of trust. Like everyone else, I’ve been lied to in my life; I’ve been fairly lucky in some respects with that, but, the very nature of trust is such that one cannot stop trusting, just because that trust is betrayed…. The result is wariness, and a lessening of the impulse to trust on faith….

“Appearances to the mind are of four kinds. Things either are what they appear to be; or they neither are, nor appear to be; or they are, and do not appear to be; or they are not, and yet appear to be. Rightly to aim in all these cases is the wise man’s task.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap. xxvii

Epictetus seems to have covered all the bases with this statement, showing perfectly the choices we must make in order to trust, once we’ve had a taste of lies…. which, if my case is any indication, started at about the age of 3 or 4 years, when I first had occasion to deal with the world at large, outside family. I can’t recall if I was exposed to any significant lying before that; I must have been, for siblings are competitive, if nothing else, and will not always tell the truth when confronted with their misbehaviors….Those occasions were overseen by parents, and resolved according to their parameters, giving us the lesson of truth amongst ourselves…. But, out in the real world, even at that tender age, I learned very quickly that not everyone had my dad’s commitment to honesty….

I remember going to church one Sunday, and listening to the preacher’s sermon about something or other, and even though I was only about 5, I remember thinking to myself, “That CAN’T be true!”, when he made some statement or another about God, or the Devil, or some such fantasy…. I guess my “crap detector” was on full that day, because I distinctly remember the feeling of confusion, and even youthful anger, at some adult NOT telling the truth, while pretending they were…. It seemed obvious to me that the preacher didn’t totally believe all he was relating, and I thought it wrong to be telling people to believe stuff that he didn’t believe himself….

But, hey, that’s just me, and we all know how far off the beaten track I’ve wandered in my life…. Maybe learning the world is full of lies at age 5 is unusual, but, to my mind, I’m a lucky man, to have, first, been raised by a man, and woman, who believed in the power of honor, and honesty, and taught those qualities to me, and my sibs (though, to be candid, I’m not sure how well a couple of them took it; they always skated the edge on that…. 😉 If any of them read this, they will know of whom I speak….), and second, to have, as a result, a sure-fire standard against which to measure the truthfulness of others, thereby protecting me from the worst effects of lies, and the pain of being lied to by those who would take advantage of my trust…..

SIGH…. I did it again, didn’t I? I jumped right into a rant, barely pausing long enough to suck down some coffee before sounding off…. I keep forgetting this is the intro section, and that the ranting should come later, when I’m more lucid, and not so emotionally charged as when I first get up. Of course, ranting this way DOES put a lot of words on the screen, which gets me through the introductory section in a hurry, but, I’m not sure what it is doing to the flow of it all…. Maybe one of y’all could let me know how it seems?…. I’d appreciate some feedback on that…. or not…. Whatever is clever, ffolkes…

I suppose, though, this means that I have no further excuses for not getting started on today’s outburst, which you can see, has already burst out…. Shall we Pearl?….

“If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got.” — W.L. Bateman

“The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.” — Jean-Paul Sartre

Sorry, both seemed appropriate, and I waffled on making a decision, so, rather than spend too much time over it, you get both…. consider it a bonus….. 😀
_____________________________

In the past few days, I’ve put out a lot of words, ranting and railing against those fools in Washington, who are making such a display of idiocy that one can barely rationalize spending money to go to the circus, when the same show plays for free on all the network channels every day…. It’s kind of fun, actually, and easy, too, as those asinine fools just keep saying and doing the most outrageously stupid stuff, it’s like shooting ducks in a pond to find rantable material….

Apparently, as the above intro section indicates, I’m on full out rant mode these days, finding it very easy to take my shots at the public figures who so deserve all I can throw at them…. However, I’m going to be a nice guy today, and forgo another rant in this section, thereby relieving you of the need to gird your grid for another one. Instead, I’m going to refer you to another fine article penned by one of my favorite columnists, Mark Morford, who writes for the SF Chronicle website, SFGATE, as well as in the paper itself; he’s published a couple of books, and has put up a couple of websites that display his interests, which are, to be sure, esoteric, and a bit kinky, like his writing…

This article is one of the best I’ve ever seen, from him, or from anyone else…. and, if you know how much I read, you’ll know that is saying a LOT…. I mean it, though, because this one is special…. In it, you will find the Secret of Life…. Oh, I know, you’ve heard that claim before, and it never turns out to be quite what you expected, or hoped for…. This, however, is the real deal…. The article speaks about, and clearly states, a principle of living that anyone can adopt, and by doing so, can achieve the serenity and inner peace that are so deservedly touted by the sages of the ages…. S’truth, for sure, ffolkes… Read it, and you’ll see what I’m talking about…. I won’t prejudice your minds any further, or try to convince you, but, it’s all true, so, READ IT….

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2013/10/08/how-to-get-lucky/

See? What did I tell you?….
_____________________________

I’m feeling more than a little lazy today, so lazy I don’t even want to spend the energy to Google… which means we’ll be going with one of my own poems today…. I can feel a new one percolating; it’s been simmering now for several days, but, apparently, isn’t ready to come out to play yet… This one, though not the most elegant of my work, is one of my true favorites, just because it’s so real, and so true…. I hope you enjoy it….

Ah Ain’t Sho, but Mebbe So….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

Since I’m the one who put it here, I suppose this was in the back of my mind when I wrote today’s introduction, about lies… This article, to which I’ve supplied the link below, discusses the shutdown of a secure email client by the NSA, in response to their persecution. The article is a very complete, and erudite, examination of a complex issue the government is doing their best to cover up, or at least keep from the public awareness as much as possible.

The information contained herein is completely scary, in its implications of just how far the spying on the public has become a part of the governments usual order of business…. It is also frightening in that it shows clearly the extent to which the BRC will go to protect its soft underbelly of clandestine operations, none of which we are supposed to see, or hear of…

The extent to which the government is pursuing the whistle blowers who are revealing their hidden agendas, and the campaign against both the people who are supporting and aiding those whistle blowers, and against the public, who wants to know about all this, has reached what I consider to be not just immoral, but illegal, and ultimately, treasonous behavior against the citizens of this country….

The US government, by all that is implied in this article, has declared war on the unwashed masses of the American public sector, using the same techniques of spying and clandestine operations that are being perpetrated in wartime, against our country’s sworn enemies. The quest for complete access to the communications of terrorists has led the agencies involved to treat their own people as the enemy, and gather all the information possible to monitor the public’s private communications, ostensibly to catch terrorists, but, in reality, to look for reasons to prosecute, and persecute, normal, honest citizens, who just “happen” to disagree with that government, and have the temerity to say so in public…

I could go on for days on this, as there are now far too many examples of their chicanery for them to hide; many of those acts are detailed herein…. What disturbs me more than most of it is the way the government is using the Patriot Act to ignore the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, in their blundering about in search of the bad guys, which, of course, only they can see, and which, according to them, only they can find, and only if they are allowed do whatever they want….

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/10/how-lavabit-edward-snowden-email-service-melted-down.html

Pretty scary stuff, eh? Did you know that the government not only has access to your private email, but can, if they so desire, prosecute you for what you write in it, all without ever letting anyone else know about it? Yep…. It hasn’t quite come to it yet, but, if they ever get their greedy, grasping hands on Ed Snowden, you will see just how little they care about what the public thinks, as they will use all the power of the law at their disposal to bury him, and, if possible, will never even tell the public they’ve done so… If the CIA, or the NSA, or any other of our acronymical clandestine agencies, should ever find him, they will spirit him away from the public eye, and he will never be seen again…. Mark my words, this is not a guess, ffolkes, this is what they’ll do, if they can….

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

Eric Snowden is free, for the moment…. how long he stays free is up to us, I think….

The government, which is essentially under the control of corporate masters whose names you’ll never know, are getting bolder all the time in their continuing efforts to reduce the number and extent of our basic rights; we already have lost at least half of the Bill of Rights, and they’re working on eliminating the rest as fast as can be…. The whole time, they smile, and smile, and tell us they’re doing it all for our benefit…. What a load of crap!….

In the intro section, I mentioned my “crap detector”, which all humans have installed; many just never learn to use it, or are too lazy to listen to it. Mine tells me that we are being lied to more each day, as more of what is being done under cover is brought to light; it also tells me to be careful, because, if they can, these assholes are going to kill themselves with their deliberate ignorance, and their delusional belief that they are immune to the laws of nature. Not only are they doing so, but, they’re trying to drag the rest of us down into oblivion with them…

I, for one, don’t plan on making it easy for them….. To round this off, here is a five star pearl to drive these points home…. or, at least, toss them up into the face of the nearest NSA analyst…. bless their little black hearts….

“Our contemporary Tories (sub: politicians, or talking heads… gigoid…) prefer the term “ordered liberty” to “freedom”. The word “freedom” scares them; it has too much of a paleolithic ring to it.” — Edward Abbey

“Hatred is the coward’s revenge for being intimidated” — George Bernard Shaw

“Your own safety is at stake when your neighbor’s house is in flames.” — Horace

“A criminal is a person with predatory instincts who has not sufficient capital to form a corporation.” — Howard Scott, Economist

“But it’s a sad reminder when your organ grinder has to come to you for the rent, and all you’ve got to give him is the use of your sideshow tent.” — Mark Knopfler
_____________________________

Well, here we have another rambling, loosely coherent entry into the archives of nearly wasted words that makes up the Pearls of Virtual Wisdom library… let’s see how it came out, from an objective standpoint, should one be available….

I have to admit, I never seem to run out of stuff to say, do I? Oh well, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone (who doesn’t deserve it…), and as long as I stick to the truth of any matter I discuss, I’ll keep on saying it, because I can, and because I think it needs to be said…. Y’all will just have to take your chances along with the rest of us as to how that goes over…. Whatever that end result may be, or may not be, this one is done, and for that, we can all be thankful, yes?…. 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

Exercising your legal option to forage….

Posted on February 11, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
I remember what happened just recently when I tried to write pre-coffee, and since I promised not to allow it to happen again, hang on a second….. Oh, bless me, that’s good….. Okay, we’re good to go now…. Having consumed that first, life-giving sip, of “dark brown morning nectar”, (thanks, Doc….), I can now turn my mind to more productive matters…. Damn, that first sip is just so…… good! And the next few ain’t too shabby, either, as the world continues to come into sharper focus…..

Okay, now what? We are firmly ensconced in front of the keyboard, and the morning is bursting with promise…. Of course, we don’t necessarily know if that promise will be something we want, but, hey, you take what you can get, right? It’s always best to face the world with a touch of fatalism, especially when one’s subconscious mind wakes one up at 0533, with tears flowing down one’s cheeks, and no clue as to what the tears are for….. Most upsetting, without even going into the embarrassment factor….. I mean, how humiliating can it get? I’m 62 years old, a full-grown man, and my emotions are SUPPOSED to be under my control, not laying out there on my sleeve for the world to pluck at…..

Now, 20 minutes later, the tears are gone, but the fragility remains, along with the excessive amount of fluids in the head, that the body creates just to make things messier….. and that damn asshole Murphy KNOWS that I have that unreasonable fear of Kleenex, from that incident as a child, that I still can’t talk about much…. I think I told you about it….. You know, that time with the clown, the priest, the pony, and the convention of county sheriffs from around the US. It was a mess…… So, any who, I’m stuck using TP to wipe my nose, which is really hard on it, as TP is NOT as soft as it claims…. Sometimes, this whole circus doesn’t seem worth getting out of bed for, you know?…..

But then I think about Pearls…. and I realize they are what make my life worthwhile…. The process of creating them each day has kept me sane now for going on two (or was it twelve?…) years, and I’m hoping it will stretch to include the next few months, until my SS comes through, so I don’t end up in a locked facility somewhere, babbling to myself and smiling at the butterflies only I can see…. They’re quite beautiful, you know…. Since most ffolkes, or folks, either, can’t see them, I tend to keep them to myself, though…. It’s just easier that way…. People can be so harsh…..

Now that I’ve reached the point of nearly pulling my covers completely off, I think it would be best if I just gave up trying to make any sense out of this intro, and get on with today’s dive…… Oh, look, over there!…. it’s Madonna! Oh, no, wait….. never mind, false alarm…. it was only Lady Gaga….. Oh well, I’ve got their autographs already, anyway…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“Disco oil bussing will create a throbbing Naugahyde pipeline running straight to the tropics from the rug producing regions and devalue the dollar!” — Zippy the Pinhead

So, a few days ago, the POTUS said that one of his priorities for his final term would be the issues surrounding climate change and global warming, to try to make an effort to halt the greenhouse effect, caused by the particulate emissions from billions of motor vehicles, that is threatening our very existence. He then proceeded to make it clear that he was just kidding, as he also indicated that he will most likely approve the new, massively-destructive-to-the-environment XP Pipeline, that is proposed to be built from the Arctic to the US, because it will help the economy by producing, get this, about 6000 jobs for Americans.

6000….. That’s it…. There are over 20,000,000 (twenty MILLION) people out of work in this country, so we’re talking about a percentage increase of…. hold on, gotta find a pencil & paper….. okay, that’s .0003%….. In English, three ten-thousandth of a percent. So, basically, we’re talking about giving in to the fat cats, who want the billions of dollars of profits they will make, at the expense of the environment, out of our pockets, by the completion of this project, for an increase that barely registers on the scale at all…. What I am wondering is just how many of those billions of dollars made their covert way into the POTUS’s re-election campaign treasury…..

The XP Pipeline project has been labeled as a disastrous idea by almost every environmental agency in the country, and the world; there is no doubt whatsoever that building it will adversely affect hundreds of species of animals, reducing their habitat, and will further add to the already massive amounts of pollution going into the air every moment. It will only provide a minuscule number of jobs, jobs that could easily be created by the enhancement of the alternative energy industry, or by instituting programs that would repair our national infrastructure of roads, dams, and other public facilities, all of which are in need of renovation.

No, instead, the POTUS, in a move that gives away his real agenda in office, has agreed to allow the fat cats to have their pipeline, in exchange for a reduction in the amount of static they give him on other issues, of less vital interest to the rest of us, but have a greater PR value. I am disappointed, to say the least, but not particularly surprised…. I do believe that Barry has a higher degree of morality than the average politician…. but, it MUST be remembered that he shares one important characteristic with every other politician…. he WANTED the job…. That kind of ambition is, in and of itself, an indication of a type of insanity common to our leadership, all the more dangerous because he APPEARS to be concerned for the people….. And, if he believes his own hype, that makes him the most dangerous of politicians…. remember what is said about the Road to Hell, and what it is paved with….

Regardless of that, how can anyone claim to be concerned about the rights of the little man, and still approve the Patriot Act, or whatever they’re calling it now, large parts of which are in direct opposition to the Bill of Rights….. He signed that off on his first day of office, in his FIRST term…. That act, to me, was a dead giveaway that all was not as it seemed, in his case…. Subsequent events have proven that my initial unease was, and is, well-deserved, as he continues to smile and play to the people’s desires on one hand, his left, while covertly screwing them by signing them into slavery with his right hand…..

“The only guarantee of the Bill of Rights which continues to have any force and effect is the one prohibiting quartering troops on citizens in time of peace.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956), 1951

Ah well, I don’t suppose I’m surprised by these revelations; there have been hints and clues to be found since his first term as POTUS, and probably before…. I am, however, pretty disappointed, because I had held out some hope that he was different, and that the changes he would try to get done would be of help to the common man, i.e., me, and the rest of us here in the trenches of reality….. I had hoped that he would NOT compromise with the !%, standing up for the people instead….

I should have known better….

“If doctors ever tell you that you’ve “flipped out,” don’t believe them, and just keep on doing what you were doing, because something tells me “the Man” is behind this.” — Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

“If I’ve offended anyone, my efforts have been rewarded.” — Smart Bee

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

Democracy

Democracy will not come
Today, this year
Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.

I have as much right
As the other fellow has
To stand
On my two feet
And own the land.

I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I’m dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread.

Freedom
Is a strong seed
Planted
In a great need.

I live here, too.
I want freedom
Just as you.

~~ Langston Hughes
__________________________________

” — I’d love to, but… there’s a disturbance in the Force.” — 13 of 101 Easy Ways To Say NO

I’m going to remember this one…. We all have times when we need an excuse to say no to someone who asks for our time, especially as once you give in to them, they won’t stop asking…. I would say “that’s human nature” but you might think I meant it as an excuse. Let me assure you, I don’t…. or rather, I do…. or,…. hell, I don’t know what I meant…. but, it ain’t no excuse….

People will take advantage of others at every opportunity, it seems, and I don’t regard that as an acceptable characteristic, and hate to encourage it by giving in to the emotional blackmail that almost everyone resorts to to try to motivate people into doing their will….

Robert Heinlein made what I consider to be the best summary of this issue when he wrote:

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

“But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants “just a few minutes of your time, please — this won’t take long.” Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time — and squawk for more!”

“So learn to say No – and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you. (This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don’t do it because it is “expected” of you.)”

None of us likes to refuse what others ask of us, but you must learn to differentiate between altruism, which is an indulgence we can little afford, or exercising our personal choice, which may, or may not, meet the other person’s needs…. But, then, their needs aren’t really your problem, are they?…. Nope, they aren’t…. no matter how much, or how often, those others may try to get you to buy into it….. Or, in other words, you have to CHOOSE to feel guilty, ffolkes…. nobody can do that for you, no matter what they tell you….

So be it…. gigoid has spoken….. 🙂
__________________________________

Well, it’s done, but that may be the best I can say about it…. In fact, I’m taking a chance here, and letting it go, in full appreciation of the risk I’m taking in doing so…. I could seriously damage whatever credibility I may have created with this one…. Oh well…. It’s a good thing I don’t do it for profit, or for fame…. sanity is good enough for me, and that’s all I hope for at the end of each Pearl….. Currently, I have to admit, the jury is still out….. 🙂

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

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

gigoid

Fluent in nearly dead languages…..

Posted on January 26, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Apparently, sitting here, staring at the computer screen doesn’t work very well at producing viable ideas about which to write…. (Sometimes, being grammatically correct doesn’t come out very well,either, does it?…..) Who knew? I thought, when I first started creating a daily blog, that ideas would flow like water from a glass,, not knowing at the time that the process resembles more a volcano’s slowly moving lava, which only moves at all as long as it’s hot….. same as an idea. And, gad! Could I be any more simplistic and boring with my example? No, I didn’t think so….

Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to read the mail first thing today, rather than keeping a clear mind. The email about the Facebook Class Action Settlement got my head all worked up first thing, before I even had sufficient coffee to grunt in appreciation.

It seems that somebody objected to FB using their images to sell stuff, and sued them to the tune of 20 million or so (that’s the settlement payout, anyway…)…. So, anybody who files a valid claim with the court can get at least $10, and possibly more, if not many people file a claim; the 20 million is to be split equally among the claimants, depending on how many file.

I doubt I’ve got a valid claim, and don’t really care much either way, but somebody could get real lucky, and it’s nice to see a big company get burned for their chicanery…. That doesn’t happen often, and probably would never have happened at all if the company were older, and part of the “good old boy” circle of folks who are rich as Croesus…. They protect themselves, and would never lose such a suit….

(Now, seriously, did you think I’d pass up a chance to take a poke at the BRC or one of the hidden masters of evil? Fat chance….)

The companies that are a part of that group would never have allowed the suit to reach court in the first place, much less allow it to lose….. and if you have to ask how they can do that, you haven’t been paying attention…..

Ah well, such is life in Amurrica, land of the whee….. if nothing else, we have a good time, right? It seems sometimes as if our culture is centered around that idea, i.e., having “fun”. So much of our energy is poured into activities designed to de-stress people after working that it becomes obsessive, and seems to take over.

The quest for “fun” becomes not just a pastime, but an avocation, nearly as important as the work that provides the means to have the fun, which, due to the BRC and our lovely advertising industry, is where most people tend to put their “disposable income”. Partying and seeking a good time are our cultural goals, it seems, and a lot of money goes into that quest, more money than is prudent, no doubt…..

I’ve stumbled into a mini-rant again, it seems, and once again have usurped the intro section for concepts better fitted for a pearl. Oh well…. that’s life here at Exploring Consensual Reality; we never know ahead of time where this whole thing may lead us. That’s why we dress for any type of weather and/or terrain, and always have a towel and an umbrella close at hand. (Not to mention a flask of adult beverage, for emergencies…..) It also explains the odd expressions on the folks who are observing from the shadows, a good thing, in my estimation….. Shadow people should never be catered to, in any fashion, so confusing them suits me just fine….

Now that the ambient confusion level has risen to a satisfactory number, I think it is time to gather up our equipment, such as it is, and dive in…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

Say NOPE (Not On Planet Earth) to NIMBY — Smart Bee

As acronyms go, both of these are pretty typical, but I’ve included them here to make a point about the power of words…. NIMBY, of course, stands for Not In My Back Yard, the cry of the modern suburbanite when confronted with any of the less than savory aspects of society. Prisons, hospitals, government buildings, schools, businesses, churches, anything at all becomes intrusive in their eyes, when it is suggested it be built near where these people want to live. They read the Constitution, back in school, and are firmly convinced of their right to not be bothered by anything they don’t like….. and they certainly don’t want to have to think about any of the issues that necessitate the unwanted neighbors’ moving to their area.

This selfishness is prevalent in many segments of society, and there are a large number of people who think it is perfectly acceptable to make laws that discriminate against certain parts of society, as long as it isn’t their part. These are the people who have embraced the rights that are given by the Constitution, but are not willing to take the responsibility for maintaining those rights for anyone but themselves. They go beyond the intent of the Constitution, in that they assume that the rules therein are written ONLY for their benefit, and not for the benefit of anyone else. They do not, in other words, accept the basic premise of the Declaration of Independence, to wit: ALL men are created with equal rights…..

“Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” — Albus Dumbledore, in The Deathly Hallows, the movie based on the novel written by J.K. Rowling

The magic that is in the words of the Declaration, in the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution lies in their universal application to human experience. These rules, that we have, by dint of our living here, adopted as our legacy of rights, are only powerful when they are used for all. Every modification of one of these laws, every new law, that lessens that universal validity decreases their power, and their magic, and will ultimately lead to the loss of those rights we now enjoy. And, it will happen because people don’t understand, or are not able to deal with, the power of language and words….

You see, the BRC, and the people in society who are behind the scenes, controlling the media, and the banks, and the news outlets, are very adept at using words for their own purposes. They can lie without a qualm, masking their lies behind attractive phrases that create belief, never letting on that the new words will have the effect of perverting whatever the subject matter is, to a point where any advantage to be gained is gained by those who made the alterations to the original statement.

There are a myriad of techniques to twist words into whatever shape and meaning one desires, as any writer can tell you…. Hell, that’s our gig…. and the BRC knows every one of those techniques, having been responsible for creating most of them. To put it most simply, they lie, and they lie so well that they have been able to control society to their satisfaction for several thousand years now….. This is fact, not supposition, and is demonstrated daily in clear signs, if one is able to interpret those signs…. One of the signs to look for is to wonder what isn’t there…. We see the news that is put out each day, and it can be a very good thing to look at what ISN”T there…. Sometimes the music is made clearer by the silence between the notes, you know?…..

“I finally got it altogether, and found out that rental space for it was far more expensive than anticipated.” — Smart Bee

I can only agree with this, with the caveat that the price is worth it, whatever it is….. This pearl has gone wonky on me…. I had intended to issue a scathing report, chastising society for the daily abrogation of responsibility that I see in so many people, for allowing the BRC and the masters of evil to have such a strong hold over their lives.

But, I find myself in a place where my compassion for a lot of those people outweighs my anger at their cupidity; it isn’t their fault that they get lied to, and I guess I have to say I know it isn’t always their fault they fall for those lies. I would, but I can’t say that I haven’t done so myself, a time or two, and can empathize with the feeling of shame at having fallen for that crap, and not wanting to either admit to it, or even think about it….

So, I can’t really chastise so much as commiserate, and hope that talking about this kind of stuff will stimulate at least a few ffolkes to look around the bunches of stuff they see each day, and try to pick out the lies and perversions to which we are regularly subjected, on so many levels of communication. It’s not like they try to hide it or anything; it’s all right out there, if you know what to look for….. If they say, “Trust me..”, or, “Studies show…”, or, almost anything, you can bet they’re about to tell you a lie…. Hell, with most politicians, just opening their mouths pretty much guarantees one will be lied to…. that isn’t a joke, or an accusation, that’s a matter of public record, checkable by anyone….

I guess all this makes the hardest part of modern life the process of trying to decide who is telling us the truth, and who is lying to us…. and we all have to make those decisions for ourselves. It would probably be a good thing to at least think about how to go about doing that, as it may just end up saving your ass….

Dare to be true: nothing can need a lie;
A fault which needs it most, grows two thereby.
— George Herbert (1593-1633) — The Church Porch
__________________________________

I’ve wanted to include some of Ms. Plath’s poems for some time, but couldn’t find a site that published them, due to copyright issues, until yesterday….Now that I have, you’ll be seeing more of her work in the months ahead…. She was brilliant!….

Morning Song

Love set you going like a fat gold watch.
The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry
Took its place among the elements.

Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue.
In a drafty museum, your nakedness
Shadows our safety. We stand round blankly as walls.

I’m no more your mother
Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow
Effacement at the wind’s hand.

All night your moth-breath
Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen:
A far sea moves in my ear.

One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral
In my Victorian nightgown.
Your mouth opens clean as a cat’s. The window square

Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try
Your handful of notes;
The clear vowels rise like balloons.

~~ Sylvia Plath
__________________________________

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” — T. S. Eliot

T.S. has put his finger right on an issue that I see as a large factor in the state of affairs in society today, the issue of courage. He recognizes that only having the courage to face the unknown can eliminate the fear that comes with ignorance, and how showing courage is essential to making any progress in life. One cannot enjoy the sunlight and still be afraid of the dark…. I think I said that right…. Regardless, I think you know what I mean…. it takes some strength of will, and a willingness to endure risk, in order to gain the experience needed to come to terms with Reality…. which, as we all know, can be pretty scary….

Most folks, sadly, never find the courage to really question what happens to them. Most folks accept whatever they’re told by those in authority over them…. parents, teachers, politicians, preachers, all are ready, willing, and able to tell them how they should dress, or think, or what they should believe, and whom they should believe, all “for their own good.”

Not only do most people accept what they’re told, they never even consider that there just might be any other way to see the world, because it is more comfortable, and, they think, safer, to just go along with what they’re told. In one respect, it IS safer, in that as long as they continue to go along with the program, they won’t be asked to put themselves out, or have to go through the effort of learning, or thinking….

Our society does not encourage children to think; in fact, our entire system of education is designed to prevent that very thing. Well, perhaps saying it is designed that way is a bit harsh…. A lot of quite moral people do contribute their ideas and talents to the educational process, with good intentions, but their efforts are, and always will be, blunted by the powers that be, none of whom are invested, or have any interest, in having a population capable of critical thought.

Having a large number of people who question authority isn’t in their best interests, and you can rest assured that the systems they set up to educate the young are NOT going to create an atmosphere that encourages any such thing…. As George Carlin so aptly pointed out, all they need is people who are smart enough to operate the machines, but not smart enough to question why they get paid so little for doing so….

The advent of the Internet put a big dent in the machine that the BRC has built over the centuries to keep society under their control, and they are still scrambling, trying to get a handle on the now uncontrollable flood of information readily available to people who never before had any idea that they were so ignorant.

A lot of smart ffolkes are out there in the world, and more and more of them are now able to share their knowledge of what is Truth with the world at large… a lot more than ever before in history. I am positive this makes the BRC and the masters of evil quite nervous, as shown by the daily attempts to curtail the flow of information through legislation and fear mongering over “identity theft” and “national security concerns”.

But, the Genie is out of the bottle, and I don’t think they’ll ever be able to get it back in as completely as before. The world now has access to more knowledge, on a wider basis than ever before in history, and that spread of knowledge is going to have an effect. It may not be obvious yet, but, it will happen, and the world will become a different place, with different rules, none of which can be guessed at now.

The question remains as to whether the changes that are coming to society will happen in time to save us from the physical effects our specie’s foolishness is forcing on us, and as to whether or not the process will proceed without the need for violent revolution. I can’t see the BRC or the masters of evil giving up their grasp on the rest of us without a struggle….

The question, then, is this… do we have the courage to take responsibility for our own lives into our own hands? Or will we just accept whatever Reality subjects us to, without any attempt to gain control over our own destiny?….. Time will tell, and I hope we all are still around to hear the answer….

“We can lie in the language of dress or try to tell the truth; but unless we are naked and bald, it is impossible to be silent.” — Alison Lurie
__________________________________

I’m really not sure how to look at today’s effort…. While writing it, it felt fragmented, and it seemed to be a struggle to keep on track. After proofing and polishing, I can see it didn’t come out too badly, and managed to make a good point or two… If nothing else, the Morning Song is worth sitting through the rest of it, I’m sure…. Besides, where else could you find so many confident assertions, totally unsupported by facts and figures, but here?… Oh, right, just about anywhere…. Oh, well..

I’m going to go see if I can cause some trouble out in the Big Blue Room. (Don’t fret, to me, trouble = twisting reality’s tail, not anything immoral, or cruel…. just fooling with folk’s minds whenever possible, & inviting them to join me in either thinking, or laughing….Harmless fun, that’s all….) Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Tether ball rules still apply….

Posted on September 19, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Yesterday was a wash, computer-wise. I managed to post, by going to the library, but had no extra time to read any blogs, or answer any comments, as life intervened to eat up all the extra time I thought I had. But, that event also brought in a bit of cash, so I can spend more time today, at the coffee shop with the Wi-Fi node, and even enjoy a bagel with my morning writing and surfing. Also didn’t have time for email yesterday, as the library network isn’t appreciated by my email browser, so that will be another task for today’s session….

Chatty housekeeping done, we should probably just go on to the diving portion of the program, not that diving is very deep, what with no Smart Bee to peruse. The old, unused pearls are there for a reason, that reason being that they didn’t make the grade the first time around, and it’s a longer process to find something usable. It’s a good thing I am a patient man, in the final analysis, or I’d be my own worst enemy….. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“Beauty as we feel it is something indescribable; what it is or what it means can never be said.” — George Santayana

This observation by Mssr. Santayana seems to me to explain most of the movies that come out of Hollywood, or anywhere else. Each of us, though we cannot always say what we see as beautiful, knows what it looks like when we encounter it; every movie made is an attempt to attract people with visions of commonality, beauty that all can agree on, and, of course, pay money to see. It’s a manufactured market, only there because people want to experience those feelings, and are convinced that they can by participating in the public viewing of someone’s idea of beauty (or comedy, or evil, or any other intriguing related emotional experience)….

It reminds me of the concept of perfection…. We all have heard that “nobody is perfect”, or “nothing is perfect”, and there are numerous philosophical treatises that attempt to prove that perfection is beyond human attainment. My question for these people is this: if there is no such thing as perfection, then why do we have its image in our minds? It seems more logical to me that perfection is merely very rare, but examples of it are bound to occur, just by the law of averages, and when it does, we have the perceptive ability to see it, to acknowledge and appreciate its perfection….

The statement also can be viewed as another way of looking at the nature of reality, or the Tao of life. Is not the very first line of the Tao Teh Ching a paraphrase of the above? “The Tao that can be named is not the true Tao.” It touches on the very base of natural law, of how reality is not what we can say of it; it is more than just the description of it. By observing what is real, our perceptions remove the part of what has occurred that gives it body and substance, what makes it real…. If Albert Einstein’s God is the true one, then He left clues to this aspect of reality all over, but especially in physics, as noted by the famed Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, which so poignantly points out the folly of placing one’s total faith in what is perceived…. because by seeing it, it has already changed, to suit another of reality’s aspects, Change….

Axiom # 2 of Peruaosophy states: “The Nature of the Universe is Change. Unpredictable, innovative transformation of Reality is the Norm. If you have a problem with this, you are in for a rough ride.” Since Peruaosophy is my own philosophy, I can tell you, without fear of lying, that the axiom is absolutely true. It has been tested by every method I could think of, all through my life, and I can assure you that it is a factual statement. Trust me….

Okay, so you don’t have to take my word for it…. test it yourself. If you can find a single time when you can say that it is untrue, you document that, and send it to me. I’ll check it out, if any are sent in, but I have serious doubt that I’ll get any replies, as I’m confident of the axiom and its veracity. It doesn’t mean it is better, or more real than any other viewpoint or world view, but I’d wager it stands up to any of them without flinching or looking away….

Now see what I’ve done? I’ve talked myself into a corner, and can’t figure out how to tie all this mental meandering together with any aplomb. I’m sadly short of quotes, so we’ll have to make do with whatever I can come up with on short notice….. let it suffice to say that I believe in beauty, as little as it can be described, and I believe in perfection, in reality, and in the nature of everything….

After all, to be perfect, one would need to also be perfectly imperfect, else how would one tell? And I know for a fact that many of us are imperfect; at times, I am so myself, on rare occasions….. 🙂 Besides, nature itself is full of examples of perfect beauty, anyway…. just take a walk in a garden when it is blooming with roses, and you will find any number of physical examples of the concept……

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart: the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned….

— William Butler Yeats, The Second Coming

His head,
Not yet by time completely silver’d o’er,
Bespoke him past the bounds of freakish youth,
But strong for service still, and unimpair’d.

— William Cowper (1731-1800) — The Task, Book ii, The Timepiece, Line 702
__________________________________

A new (to me) poet, talking about my favorite gems, in metaphor, of course…..

Chain Of Pearls

Mother, I shall weave a chain of pearls for thy neck
with my tears of sorrow.

The stars have wrought their anklets of light to deck thy feet,
but mine will hang upon thy breast.

Wealth and fame come from thee
and it is for thee to give or to withhold them.
But this my sorrow is absolutely mine own,
and when I bring it to thee as my offering
thou rewardest me with thy grace.

Rabindranath Tagore

From Poemhunter.com….. Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region’s literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its “profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse”, he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature. In translation his poetry was viewed as spiritual and mercurial; his seemingly mesmeric personality, flowing hair, and other-worldly dress earned him a prophet-like reputation in the West. His “elegant prose and magical poetry” remain largely unknown outside Bengal.
__________________________________

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

In Response to a Proposed 35th Amendment

From the blog site at:

A Proposal for a New Bill of Rights

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

Sir, or madam,

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

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

Therefore it is my suggestion that you forget #35, in favor of the Second Amendment already in place in the Bill of Rights; this concept is based on a false assumption, and making a flat statement of what (YOU believe) my rights are, or should be, is not acceptable to me as a citizen of this republic, or as a human being responsible for my own actions .Bearing arms is not a privilege, nor will I, and most likely at least 150 million, or more, other people in this country, accept that idea for a moment, a fact that should be obvious to any one with practical understanding of reality. I do not, nor will I ever believe that Federal, State, or Local jurisdiction have either the right, nor the authority to say differently, and I doubt seriously that there are very many in this country who do believe that. I reject utterly the statement that they, or you, or anyone else, has the right to decide for me what I will or will not own, or keep, or use in my defense. After guns, free speech would be the next to go….any bets?

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

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

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

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

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

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

It took some doing, but it all got done, and done well, as far as I can tell…. but, then, it’s mine, so what do I know?….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Malevolent nannies spotted in Cannes…..

Posted on August 14, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
I lost a day somewhere…. I looked up at my little desk calendar thingie, and noted that the day was wrong…. which always disorients me until I get it right….. I’m also running very late today, and have a bunch of stuff I need to get done toward moving at the end of the month…. meet the new landlord to sign a lease, clean my floors so company coming later in the week won’t puke on sight of it, and a couple other tedious little chores like that….. so I’d best get right to putting this Pearl together…..

Actually, I’ve just now decided to pull an old literary trick out of the hat…. let me check this out…. be right back….. Okay, this will work…. I’m late and in a hurry, and I’ve got over 800 pages of material from the last year here…. so, without further ado, I give you now the Pearl of Virtual Wisdom from January 3, 2012…..

Any Use of This Product, in Any Manner Whatsoever, Will Increase the Amount of Disorder in the Universe. Although No Liability Is Implied Herein, the Consumer Is Warned That This Process Will Ultimately Lead to the Heat Death of the Universe. — PUBLIC NOTICE AS REQUIRED BY LAW

Ffolkes,
I plan on living forever. So far, so good. (It’s a joke, okay? Sheesh…) As of yesterday, however, reaching that goal may become problematic in the relatively near future, especially for those of us who disapprove of the way the government is doing things. They (yes, they…) took away my rights day before yesterday. Yours too. The United States Bill of Rights, comprising the first ten Amendments to the US Constitution, was figuratively vaporized; the rights guaranteed therein were declared null and void by the National Defense Authorization Act, as signed off by the President of the United States, effective January 1, 2012.

Under the provisions of this act, I, and/or essentially every other American citizen (i.e., you…), may legally be taken from their home by the US military, and taken to an undisclosed location to be tortured for whatever information I might possess, merely for being “suspected” of traitorous activities. Which activities are defined as traitorous are not specified; ‘they’ are the only ones to whom it must be justified, they need not report to anyone. Nor are ‘they’ required to tell anyone at all what their suspicions are. No lawyer for the accused, no court of law, no oversight. Just you (or more likely, me), them, and the waterboard. I tell you now, if any of them come for me, I will not go quietly, and that is a plain and simple fact…..let’s go on to more light-hearted matters, shall we?……

“It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error.” — Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954), U.S. Judge

If the government doesn’t trust us with our guns, why should we trust them with theirs? — Smart Bee (Now, there’s a thought…..)

Ned, draco braz mento; compile 13….command 003: Insert brain, then type…..
___________________________________

What a wonderfully obtuse little word salad! Epictetus outdid himself here. This takes the mind on a beautifully complex, winding trail of thoughts, stopping here, looking over there, and generally winding about with no seeming purpose. Then, if you can wind your way to the end, it’s all tied together with a cute little bow, and voilá, instant wisdom.

Though its a bit painful to use, this Pearl is one of my favorites. I say painful because you have to exercise mental muscles that don’t often get much of it, and there will be some stiffness and soreness to let you know they don’t appreciate it. You must ignore that, and work them again tomorrow, lest they fall back into apathy, which is easily done; they’re lazy, just like the rest of us. This inherent laziness has its evolutionary purpose; it drives us to find easier ways to do things, and as such can be valuable. But, mostly it just reinforces our genetic tendency to loaf whenever possible…….
___________________________________

I stood
Among them, but not of them; in a shroud
Of thoughts which were not their thoughts.
— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto iii, Stanza 113

I often feel this way in today’s society. I have all these thoughts running through my head, and when I look around me, I can see that everyone else has their own inner promptings to pay attention to as well. But, when I observe their actions, it becomes clear that what they were thinking, and what was going on in my mind, are two entirely different universes. What did you say was the name of the planet you live on?

It’s a rare day indeed when I encounter anyone whose thoughts run any deeper than wondering what to wear on their date tonight, or how to keep the kids entertained while cooking dinner. I’m not saying that what is going on in my head is any better than what they are considering. Far from it. In fact, in some respects, I am jealous, and wish that I didn’t perceive the evidence all around us that our society is dying.

I wish the leaders of the world weren’t so obviously motivated by avarice, prejudice, and fear. I really do wish I could spend my mental energy on something a bit more comforting. But, I can’t. And I won’t. It’s getting really dangerous out there, folks, for anybody who is the least bit different in their outlook, and I will keep shouting out the warning as long as I have breath to shout….
___________________________________

“Dad, how come old photographs are always black and white? Didn’t they have color film back then?”
“Sure they did. In fact, those old photographs ARE in color. It’s just the WORLD was black and white then.”
“Really?”
“Yep. The world didn’t turn color until sometime in the 1930’s, and it was pretty grainy color for a while, too.”
“That’s really weird.”
“Well, truth is stranger than fiction.”
“But then why are old PAINTINGS in color?! If the world was black and white, wouldn’t artists have painted it that way?”
“Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane.”
“But… but how could they have painted in color anyway? Wouldn’t their paints have been shades of gray back then?”
“Of course, but they turned colors like everything else did in the 30’s.”
“So why didn’t old black and white photos turn color too?”
“Because they were color pictures of black and white, remember?” — Calvin and Dad, “Calvin and Hobbes”, 29 October 89

Brilliant! Absolutely, positively, not a damn doubt, ruddy frzlicxz brilliant. If more fathers had the courage to be so creatively honest with their sons, the world would be a far, far different place than it is now, wouldn’t you agree?…….

“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.”– Willie Wonka
___________________________________

“Free people, remember this maxim: We may acquire liberty, but it is never recovered if it is once lost.” — Rousseau

I won’t regale you with further long, outrageous reports of today’s menu of political chicanery; there’s plenty enough out there for you to see without having me shove it down your gullet. But these two quotes are important to remember, mainly because, if there is a chance at all to deflect some of the chaos that is coming, it will have to come from us. Those individuals who can think, and do, will need to stand up for our right to do so without censure or threat, and we’ll need all of us to do it. So, please, take heed……

If you wanna be free, keep your eyes open and think for yourself.– Smart Bee
___________________________________

Knowing others is wisdom;
Knowing the self is enlightenment.
Mastering others requires force;
Mastering the self requires strength.
He who knows he has enough is rich.
Perseverance is a sign of will power.
He who stays where he is endures.
To die but not to perish is to be eternally present.
— Lao-tzu (c604-c531 BC)

Obviously, this requires nothing from me to make it complete. Nor does it request my comments; just as well, I have none, as none are needed…..
___________________________________

Another fine mess I’ve created here, eh? A veritable hodge-podge of mixed metaphors and clever cliches, and colorful to boot! What more could I ask for before breakfast? I suppose I should start cleaning it up….. in the meantime, stay alert. Y’all be careful out there….

___________________________________

In case you are not confused enough by now, this is me again, speaking from the future…. or at least from the present…. it’s only future in relation to the most excellently long Pearl above…. I think it was a pretty good one…. how about y’all?

Tomorrow, I’ll be back, caught up enough to compose a fresh Pearl…. at least, that’s the plan. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Bagels never travel in first class….

Posted on July 23, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
My mind’s eye is clouded and grey this morning. No visions of beauty, or even of horror. No trite phrases, no witty repartee, and worst of all, no nonsense floating around in my head, clamoring for release. It’s all a void, empty space that I may have to try to rent out. I have fallen into writer’s limbo, that terrifying landscape where ideas run off the moment they arrive, and creativity is limited to sock colors. Where material is not merely hard to find, but actively resistant in spite of all efforts on my part to find something, anything to write about……

A hundred sinister eyes peered out from the darkness surrounding the traveler, closely following his progress on the road leading to the castle of the local lord. The traveler took no notice, his hooded face hidden as he stared downward at the back of his horse, seemingly asleep. In the darkness ahead, the vague outline of a building took shape, growing clearer as he approached, until a gatehouse revealed itself, tall and grim, seeming to lean over the roadway leading to the bridge over the river, which was now audible, as a low rumbling just at the edge of consciousness. In the swirling mist crawling out of the river, the traveler sensed a presence……

See, even my fantasies are failing me…. in re-reading this, it is apparent that this might make an entry for the Bulwer-Lytton Contest next year… that is the contest to find the worst opening paragraph that can be written each year, with a monetary prize for the top three entries, along with notice from publishers who follow such contests, looking for new talent. It’s certainly bad enough, and that second sentence in the second paragraph definitely stretches the boundaries of good writing; it is a run on-sentence of major proportions…..

Ah, well, fuck it…. let’s go Pearl, instead……
___________________________________

“I must decline your invitation owing to a subsequent engagement.” — Oscar Wilde

Ah, Oscar! Such a wonderful way with insults he had! This is so subtle that I believe 99% of the English speaking world would accept this from him and never realize they had been insulted…. I’ll have to remember this one the next time I get invited to attend Sunday services somewhere….

Shoot, I know for sure I could say this to my own brother, and he wouldn’t realize it….until he was sitting in church, and took a moment to reflect upon it…. but then he’d decide he must have mis-heard what I said, and would forget it…. He’s not the brightest bulb in the box, my brother….but he is very good hearted, one of the few Christians I can tolerate for more than a few minutes…. And if you ever repeat what I said about him, I’ll deny it, right up to the point where you show it to him online…. then, I’d just grin and tell him he’s heard worse…. which he has….

I’ve always enjoyed insults, as a study, not as a habit. I do use them on occasion, when deserved, but generally I try to be play nicely with others. A well-delivered subtle insult, the kind I like best, is like this one from Oscar; couched in words that outwardly appear to be quite amicable and friendly, yet devastatingly sharp upon reflection. The very best will not even be recognized as an insult at all, but I like them when they wait an hour or two, and then come back and poke the recipient right in the mind’s eye….. after I am safely in another part of town……

I used to collect insults, and once had a list of the 100 most effective put-downs, as collected by the publishers of Mad magazine…. Some of them were pretty corny, even for me….such as “You should be on the stage…. There’s one leaving in an hour….” That’s just sad, when you think of it…. but, it does get the point across. Then there is this type…. “So, did they ever catch the guy?” “What guy?” “The one who ran over your face….” Pretty silly, yes? Yes….

And silly is a word that could probably be accurately applied to this pearl. So accurate, it struck home, and I’m now no longer in the mood for insults…. we’ll just have to go on to something else a bit more engaging….. Shall we?….
___________________________________

“You govern a kingdom by normal rules;
You fight a war by exceptional moves;
But you win the world by letting alone,
How do I know that this is so?
By what is within me!
The more taboo and inhibitions there are in the world,
The poorer the people become.
The sharper the weapons the people posses,
The greater confusion reigns in the realm.
The more clever and crafty the men,
The oftener strange things happen.
The more articulate the laws and ordinances,
The more robbers and thieves arise.”
— Tao Teh Ching #57, Lao Tzu

This is obvious. But don’t look at it too carefully, or it becomes unobvious, until you look at it for a long time, when it becomes obvious again. –Smart Bee

The above two pearls were sent to me by Murphy, so I have to write about them. How do I know he sent them? Well, when I was cruising my dB of quotes, the excerpt from the Tao Teh Ching was the very first quote that came into view after opening the program. I debated a discussion, as it is one of the most important of the lessons in that book.

But, I decided to go on, and find something a bit more amenable…. So I hit the key to bring up the next quote, and the second quote, the message from Smart Bee, came into view….. obviously, at least to me, the two were from Murphy, hence their presence here for me to comment….. although I don’t know why I should, since Murphy is such an ass. But, knowing him, if I don’t, I’ll pay for it, so…. here we go…

Each of the assertions in the above quote from Lao Tzu’s book is a subtle lesson, designed to teach the reader about the nature of the Tao. As it says in the very first chapter of the Tao Teh Ching, the Tao that can be named is not the true Tao. To the Occidental mind, this seems to be a contradiction, and achieving an understanding requires a loosening of the rigid patterns of thought that are typical of the western mind. One must learn to hold two seemingly contradictory ideas in their mind simultaneously, to allow the meaning of each to mingle, and blend with the other, until the true nature of Tao is revealed, even though it cannot be touched, or seen, or heard.

This subtle process is difficult for westerners to use, as we tend to think in a straight line, from a to b; to understand the Tao, one must first understand that, to the eastern mind, a IS b. Instead of viewing the world as subject to cause and effect, the eastern way of looking at the world views cause and effect as the same concept, but looked at from a different vantage. As I said, subtle, but not completely inscrutable….

And now I know why Murphy sent them to me…. If one considers the second quote, and uses the lines from the Tao Teh Ching as the subject of discussion, then it is obvious. But don’t look at it too carefully, or it becomes unobvious, until you look at it for a long time, when it becomes obvious again…..

🙂 Murphy was obviously telling us that, in order to understand the eastern way of thought, use the second quote as the process for examination of the idea, and one can find their way through to an understanding that they formerly could not see….See, now what was so hard about that?…..
___________________________________

“Eternal Vigilance Is The Price of Liberty” used to mean we watched the government – not the other way around.” — Bill Stewart

I don’t know who this Bill Stewart is, but he sure nailed this one…. but then, the American public lost its will to vigilance some years back, and we are now reaping the results of that lack of attention to what is important. The PTB, (Powers That Be) comprised of the beloved ruling class and their myrmidons, the priestly hierarchies, have been brainwashing the American public now for oh, I’d say about a hundred and fifty years or so. Since the confusion generated by the Civil War in the mid-1850’s, the PTB have relentlessly waged war on each of the freedoms that are guaranteed to us by the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

First, a corrupt Federal judge made a landmark decision regarding businesses, and the rights thereof, giving “corporate personhood” to any corporation, but most specifically to those who paid him for that decision. This, in its essence, makes profit a right for these corporations, and just about any kind of process they may use to make that profit is made legal by this law. In other words, the law guarantees them a profit, no matter how much they may lie about their products, or to what lengths they may go to obtain a profit….

Since the beginning of the 20th century, this country has been involved in at least four major conflicts, and they all took place in the first half of the century. WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam shoved the nation into war time culture, exactly as Field Marshall Goering, of the the Third Reich, explained when he was tried at Nuremberg for his war crimes. The PTB convinced the public that our nation was under attack by the forces of Evil…. Evil that was given a different face for each war. And, at the end, each war found the rights of the average citizen curtailed just a little bit more….

In the latter half of the century, the country was not forced into battle until our oil supplies became problematic. The PTB were having a harder time coming up with a face to put on the ones who are reportedly attacking us, until Saddam came along. Since the first intervention in Vietnam in the 50’s and 60’s, to the intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts in the 1990’s, to now in 2012, all of our wars have been illegal, in my mind, according to our Constitution.

Ostensibly, Congress is the only entity who is authorized to declare war. But, time after time, beginning in Vietnam, the President of this country has used his Executive powers as the Commander in Chief to engage in wars in Kuwait, Irag, Afghanistan, and probably a few places that haven’t been published.

Each time we are dragged into another conflict, using the same old tired story of being under attack, the PTB manage to place more restrictions on the unsuspecting public, until many of the rights we were given in the Bill of Rights have now been eliminated.

We can no longer gather to protest the government’s actions; if we do, we are “disturbing the public peace” or we are “serving the interests of our enemies”, thereby turning ordinary American citizens into criminals for actions that used to be protected by the Constitution. It is no longer considered legal to criticize the PTB; it’s unAmerican and a threat to National Security….

Our vigilance has been spotty at best, and the PTB are very well versed in the scientific methods of controlling large numbers of people; they have been practicing their skills for thousands of years. They know exactly how to phrase their words to inflame the public, to make them afraid, and thus set themselves up as the saviors of society. And they know exactly who to target with their rhetoric…..

Their primary targets are the same people who look at Mitt Romney as a man of character, and cheer him on as he makes his bid to get into the highest seat of power in the land, never realizing that they will be counted as his very first victims…. This man has NO interest in making things better of the average American. His words and actions have clearly shown that he is one of the elite, the super rich, who are not subject to the laws the rest of us must follow, and if elected, he will waste no time in making life a living hell for anybody making less than $250,000 a year….

I’ve been watching the government now for about 60 years, and every word of what I’ve written above is based upon what I’ve seen and heard from them in that time. None of it is made up. The PTB in this country, and in every country in the world, live only for their own aggrandizement, and have no interest in making life better for the average man or woman. They are only interested in maintaining the power that they have, and seek only to solidify their stranglehold on the remainder of society.

If you think otherwise, I challenge you to offer some kind of evidence for that. All the evidence that I have gathered, and witnessed, tells me that I am not wrong to mistrust the politicians and priests, because everything they do is designed to keep me , and you, and the rest of society in the role of victim. They’re good at it, they’ve practiced a lot….

Obviously, this is a subject I can rant about for days, which only makes sense, as I have a lot of years of experience at watching the ruling class in action. But, the rest of the day calls me, and my butt is getting tired of this chair….. so, I’ll leave this here, and merely say this…The situation in the world today is a result of NOT being vigilant, of not paying attention to the PTB, and assuming that they are looking out for our interests.

Well, we were wrong, and now we are paying the price, in the loss of those freedoms that made this country the world’s example of how the common man can be free. Now we are merely another example of how the wicked and corrupted in society can completely dominate the law-abiding masses, who allow themselves to be turned into sheep….. SIGH, and we showed such promise!…..

“When you stay on the tracks, ignoring the facts, you can’t blame the wreck on the train”. — from the song, “You Can’t Blame . . ”
___________________________________

Well, I certainly had a bit to get off my chest, didn’t I? Hopefully, I didn’t put anybody to sleep; I do tend to get carried away when I’m in the flow. But, we can all heave a big sigh of relief, and get on with the day….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

It can only be cannon fodder….

Posted on May 3, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Light and dark chased each other through the night in my dreams, laughing and playing existential tag up and down the stairs. We watched, smiling, as they cavorted, pleased to see them together again, after so many ages of standing apart, ignoring the other. Reality had assumed a more pleasing configuration, and the stars smiled…..

Such is what dribbles out when I sit to type some days. It’s not bad, but a bit amorphous, and I’m not sure where it might go. Light, dark, Reality, it’s quite an eclectic group of characters, and could be interesting to develop, were I so inclined…. Fortunately for us all, I’m not so inclined at the moment. I say fortunate because I have the feeling that what would come out of it would not be something I’d care to write…. it could get pretty sappy, or even go romantic. Shudder….. not really, just being silly. But, still, not going there this early in the morning……. it could sour my coffee…..

I think I’m dithering, and that appalls me; I do try to maintain some slight degree of dignity, most of the time, when I’m not indulging in whimsy. If I’m not careful, I can see that this could easily get away from me today, so I think we’ll just dive in and get on with it… shall we Pearl?….
___________________________________

Ladies’ Sewing Circle And Terrorist Society — Smart Bee

I chuckled mildly when I saw this; it’s pretty good contrasting of two images in one phrase, producing a delightful little intellectual shock. Plus, I figured this way I can include the word “terrorist” as one of the tags, which will no doubt draw the attention of those NSA covert information gatherers who are now keeping track of all the terrorists’ communications on the internet. Of course, this is NOT a communication from one terrorist to another, not even in code. But I figure the more times I use the word in this section, and add it to the tag cloud, it should draw their attention like a moth to a bright lamp at night…..

Why, you may ask, do I wish to draw the attention of the covert assholes who are denying my right to privacy? (Well, this is published, so maybe not privacy, but freedom of speech for sure….) I’m not certain, actually. I’ve been a little bored lately, maybe that’s it…. Naw, I never get bored! I guess I’m just feeling a bit cranky after several days of fighting my own body, and I need something outside myself upon which to focus my angst and resentment. They seem to be a likely target for venting my spleen…. and if not, well, we’ll have a chance to see if my preparations for confrontations of this nature have been effective, eh?

In at least one respect, I’m baiting them, for sure…. I’ve not said anything particularly seditious here up to this point, though it would have been simple to do so; I’m trying to be careful not to cross the line over into the actual statement of action that would trigger their overreaction. It’s another test, of sorts, to see how much they will tolerate before taking some sort of action. I post every day, pain or no pain, so if you don’t see a post from me some morning, you’ll know the experiment had an unfortunate, if not unforeseen, result, and they’ve come to take me away for questioning and reconditioning…. a thinly disguised pair of euphemisms for torture, which is now an authorized tool in the tool bags issued to our police forces, and is now an interrogation technique cleared for use on US citizens, such as you, or me….

There, that should do it. Four paragraphs should be enough to draw their attention, and I’ve been careful not to say anything that is illegal, at least not under the Constitution I know. If it doesn’t suit their new ideas of what people are “allowed” to say in public (and when has THAT phrase ever applied in this country, I ask?), well, they’ll do what they do, I suppose… So keep your eyes on this space, and we’ll have at least one picture in a frame to indicate the current health of the First Amendment in our country…. or we’ll have a missing writer, disappeared into some federal enclave, never to be seen again…. but, you’ll know where to start looking, at least….
___________________________________

“Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you “like hell. — Edna St. Vincent Millay

When my former wife decided to leave the family we had created, shortly before my daughter was to graduate high school, I was devastated, badly. There was also a sense of relief at not having to be confronted on a daily basis with all that was wrong in the relationship, but it was mostly overshadowed by the depression caused by failing in my duty. You see, to me, being married was not just a labor of love, it was a duty I had assumed, and I was taught that to fail in one’s duty is the worst thing that a man can do in life. Whether or not that failure was my own, or due to the efforts of others, is immaterial in the final analysis. Duty is duty. So, when I saw this from Ms. St. Vincent Millay (a favorite sf/fantasy author, as well as poetess) I felt an immediate connection to it, as it is a very accurate description of the form that my depression assumed.

“There is not so agonizing a feeling in the whole catalogue of human suffering, as the first conviction that the heart of the being whom we most tenderly love is estranged from us.” — Bulwer

And, in spite of the 12+ years that have passed, I feel this way still. She never believed me when I told her that my love for her was stronger every day; that may have been the source of the entire problem. I don’t know why, as I thought that 20+ years of faithful marriage was pretty good proof of my intentions. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what the issue may have been; she did what she did, and we all know there is no going back in time.

So, I still spend some time every day walking around the hole that is still there in my world, and still spend time at night not sleeping because I have no one next to me to whom I can turn.

Though I had thought for a time that I had found another woman, an honest one, that also turned out to be not true, as she ended up removing me surgically from her life in two days, and never even bothered to give me a reason…. Though it hurt, it was so viciously dishonest that the pain of the betrayal hasn’t lasted as long.

We all have our holes to walk around, and fall into. Sometimes they never go away, and we just have to learn to make new pathways around them. But, it still hurts….. and that, too, is Life…. and in Life, Love can regrow, as it can be metaphorically equated to a Rose…. so there is always hope.

When the night has been too lonely, and the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong,
Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows,
Lies the seed, that with the sun’s love, in the spring becomes The Rose.
— The Rose, sung by Bette Midler
___________________________________

“Duct Tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together. The only difference is that “May The Force be with you” sounds a lot nicer than “May you be covered in duct tape.” — Carl Swanzig

I love this! Not just because it is whimsical, which is a good thing, but because it is a good comparison. Best of all, it lends itself to a long series (6 movies worth) of images it can create using the dialog from those flicks.

Imagine this… Luke is barreling down the pathway on the Death Star, getting ready to fire the missile that will destroy it, when Darth Vader comes up behind to threaten him. Obi-wan says, “Use the Duct Tape, Luke!” So, Luke reaches back to Darth’s Tie-fighter and telekinetically causes a piece of Tape to detach itself from the dashboard (where it had been holding together a crack) and covers Darth Vader’s helmet, causing him to lose control of his ship, allowing Luke to fire his missile…. end of Death Star, thanks to Duct Tape….

Or, when Darth kills Obi-wan, the line would have been, “If you kill me Darth, I shall become stickier that you can possibly imagine!” The possibilities are endless, and think of how much money could have been saved on special effects using Duct Tape rather than movie magic to hold things in place, or move them about invisibly. Probably a LOT….

Ah well, maybe some day George Lucas will produce a comedy re-make using the idea…. It might not be the blockbuster that Star Wars was, but I’ll bet it would more than break even…. Hell, I’d pay good money to see it today…. I could use the laughs…..
___________________________________

Wake up all you citizens, hear your country’s call,
Not to arms and violence, But peace for one and all.
Crush out hate and prejudice, fear and greed and sin,
Help bring back her dignity, restore her faith again.

Work hard for a common cause, don’t let our country fall.
Make her proud and strong again, democracy for all.
Yes, make our country strong again, keep our flag unfurled.
Make our country well again, respected by the world.

Make her whole and beautiful, work from sun to sun.
Stand tall and labor side by side, because there’s so much to be done.
Yes, make her whole and beautiful, united strong and free,
Wake up, all you citizens, It’s up to you and me.
— Pansy Myers Schroeder

No comments from me here… this is not great poetry, but it is good. It is also a very clear statement of what this country needs, period. Enough said…. for now….

“Governing a large country is like frying a small fish. You spoil it with too much poking.” — Lao-Tze

“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.” — Sun Tzu
___________________________________

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. — Smart Bee

Although this didn’t have attribution, it sounds just like something the current Dalai Lama might say. It is certainly a truism, in my world, though possibly the most difficult thing for me to actually practice all the time. I tend to indulge my curmudgeon, and let my cynicism have its way with me while I’m typing, so it probably looks like I am a fairly judgmental person.

In reality, I am not. Fortunately for us all, life is not what I type, much as I try to get close to it when I do, so my darker impulses seldom get carried into practice in the world outside my computer. Besides, as I know just how dark that side of me is, I never go there, even in my writing; just being there makes me want to take a shower, and the hot water heater is on the fritz, so I’m reduced to sink baths for the nonce.

In truth, what is above is what I shoot for when I think of other people, and the world at large. Though not perfect, I am mostly successful, unless the object of my consideration is totally devoid of any reason to offer compassion, such as a politician. It is that compassion, actually, that prompts much of my outrage at what unprincipled people do to those who know them not for what they are.

Most people, as far as I can see, are just regular, nice folks who are trying to get by in a world where almost everything is set up to take advantage of regular, nice folks. As a result, over time, their own principles become degraded, as they try to cope with the cheating and greed that is the common practice in modern culture.

Our politicians lie to us; we expect it, and keep voting for them anyway. Banks cheat us, and we have no recourse in law, because the lawmakers are “honest politicians” and stay loyal to those who have bought them, those self-same banks. Lawyers, who should be a buffer between the average Joe and the law, instead use it to their own benefit, and are reviled, mostly, by those they are supposed to serve.

Doctors are in much the same condition; even those true healers among them still must go along with the system, charging such outrageous amounts, and surrendering so much power to the giant medical and pharmaceutical companies in order to be able to treat people, they can never effect any positive changes. So, the field ends up attracting the worst sort of men and women, who are more interested in the money and fame to be attained than they are in helping other people, i.e., showing compassion….

Still, compassion is not dead in the world; there are still a lot of folks who not only feel it, but give it away freely. Many of them will read this piece, and I know this, because they all follow my blog here on WordPress, and I have proof of their existence, in their own writings, both on their blogs, and in their comments here….

A lot of compassion has been expressed to me for my pain, and for that I am truly grateful. Such is the power of compassion that receiving it like that only makes me want to show more of it in my life… and so I shall…. with the caveat that I will continue to withhold it from those who refuse to exhibit it themselves, whenever I encounter them….
___________________________________

Today’s Pearl just goes to show that one never knows when there is a rant lurking just near the exit door in my mind, just waiting to pop out and pontificate…. But, it’s all good, as I don’t think I can disagree at all with any of it, upon reflection. It will just have to fly as is, once again, fatalist that I am….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…. Don’t forget the Duct Tape, either, it’s always handy to have around….

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Sad songs get put next to the Edsel…

Posted on May 1, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Today is May Day…. I think I’ll be skipping my usual dance around the Maypole this morning, attractive as that sounds. Without giving TMI on the last two lost days, I’ll merely say that today is better…. not yet good, but better, and hopefully up to a Pearl. I may have to start making Pearls a bit shorter, as the 1000-2000 words I’ve been putting out on a daily basis may no longer be practical for me to get done in one morning, since I can’t sit for as long as has been my wont. Ah well, perhaps, perhaps not…. I’ll just have to see what the day brings, as far as pain goes, and make that decision when it becomes critical. For now, I intend to just Pearl, so let’s get started with no further delay…..

“Life is too short to be taken seriously.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
___________________________________

“Necessity is the plea of every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” — William Pitt (1759-1806) speech on the India Bill, Nov. 18, 1783

I had not intended to start with a political rant, but this just came up, so here we go…. This is as true today as it was in 1783, perhaps even more so. Since 9/11/01, when those fanatic idiots carried out their insane delusions of grandeur on the world stage, the “necessity” for Homeland Security has been the watchword of the political pundits who unfortunately are in charge of the legislative and executive branches of our government. Bill after bill after bill keeps coming down the pike and bulling their way through into becoming law, or even worse, is created by executive order, without the benefit of review by Congress, useless as that may be.

The entire incident that happened that day was blown completely out of proportion by the media. Yes, it was a tragedy, in which something over 3000 American lives were lost, in three separate incidents. The videos of those planes hitting the buildings in New York must have been replayed a thousand times before noon, all over the country, until every American who had access to a TV was informed of what had occurred…. We, as a nation, are not accustomed to being attacked on our own ground, though why we should be any different than those we attack is unclear to me.

The American media, and the political machinery that manipulates it so effectively, then proceeded to flood every channel with the after effects, making sure that the sorrow and fear of every person they could find willing to speak of it on camera was put on the evening news, and ensuring that no rational, dispassionate examination of the events would ever take place.

Before the first day had passed, the national reaction had been whipped to a frenzy, stirring the fears of every paranoid in society, and making it seem as if the entire nation was filled with anger and vengeful righteousness. Though I didn’t join in the paranoia, I could feel it happening all around me, as normally intelligent people became so angry they lost all sense of proportion, or for that matter, all sense of truth.

In the ensuing years, whenever the politicians have wanted to distract the nation from what they were actually doing, all they needed to do was mention the word terrorism, or national security, to immediately put attention off of them, and onto the pitiful group of fanatical Muslims they blamed for the attacks (completely ignoring all the reasons those same politicians had provided those fanatics with to attack in the first place….). And thus, the Hunt for Osama bin Laden was on!

In this country, as a result of those attacks, approximately 5000 American lives were lost (that figure is larger than the actual number, purposely…. it is near enough to correct to make the point…). At this time, in the quest to find bin Laden in Afghanistan, over 50,000 Afghanis have been killed. In Iraq, which we somehow decided to invade, even though they had nothing to do with 9/11, well over 250,000 have died to soothe our national pride. In that same period, we lost another 1000 or so soldiers in fighting and bombings. And, as a side effect, the US Bill of Rights has been effectively eliminated, by Executive Order, disguised as Homeland Security.

“Hatred is the coward’s revenge for being intimidated” — George Bernard Shaw

So, what is my point here? My point is this…. those pathetic fanatics killed more than they had ever been able to kill, one time. Since that one time, our country has killed over 300,000 civilians and military in retaliation (you call it what you like, I call it schoolyard revenge by bullies), and every politician in this country has wrapped themselves in the flag, not to proclaim their patriotism, but to manipulate the unreasonable fear they created in the public to keep them from realizing the truth of the matter.

That truth is this: we are in no real danger from Al Qaida, or from any other splinter faction terrorist group. They may be able to pull off stunts such as that one occasionally, but for the most part, the world has gotten pretty good at either catching them in hiding, or stopping their plots before they actually carry them out. Governments have a LOT more resources than terrorists, no matter how rich they may be personally.

No, the pathetic, desperate people who become terrorists are created by those same political pundits who are reviling them and hunting them down. They are not a real threat to anyone, as they don’t have the wherewithal to perform more than one act of violence at a time; they cannot wage a war, they can only try to act as guerrilla forces, at best. Mostly, they are just sad schemers, planning glorious deaths that ultimately have no meaning, other than to provide the Western politicos another unreasonable fear to use against the American public, in order to continue their raping and pillaging among their own people.

The entire issue is one that is repugnant to me; I have watched in horror, not as terrorists have been hunted, but as the rights of the American people have been taken away in the name of “security”. Security from what? We don’t need more security from terrorists; those techniques for dealing with it are well-established, and effective, as they employ the very same methods used by the fanatics to achieve their ends. No, we need more security from our own pundits, who have utilized this tragic events for their own benefit, to the everlasting regret of every true patriot….. bloody assholes, every one of them…..

“I have formed a very clear conception of patriotism. I have generally found it thrust into the foreground by some fellow who has something to hide in the background. I have seen a great deal of patriotism; and I have generally found it the last refuge of the scoundrel.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Judgement of Dr. Johnson, Act III
___________________________________

“Always store beer in a dark place.” — Lazarus Long

At first look, this does not seem like much, does it? A short statement that apparently has to do with beer, and how to best keep it. But, by applying just a tad of metaphor, it becomes much more…. Perhaps the easiest way to show this is to ask a simple question, to wit: Why? Why should beer be kept in the dark? Well, that is pretty simple to check out…. just put some beer in a bright place, and wait a while to see what happens….

So, what happens? Well, the results vary a bit, depending on just how much light we are dealing with. For just a little light, the effects are minor; just a slight change in the flavor of the beer, but a change that is NOT an improvement. Also, after time, in the light, the carbonation in the beer will tend to dissipate, making it flat, which, as we know, does NOT improve the beer. It’s the reason it comes in dark containers, to reduce the effects of light on the beer.

The most dramatic effect, though, can be seen by leaving the beer in the direct sunlight, whereupon, after a minimal amount of time, it blows up! Boom, the tops fly off, and the beer fizzes itself right out of the bottles, due to the too-rapid heating of the gas in bubble form. A tragedy, and a terrible waste of good beer….

Thus we can see that this little piece of home-spun wisdom is much deeper than it seems, especially when one uses the metaphor previously mentioned, likening human relations to beer. (I know, a bit of a stretch, but not so much as trying to believe that a small number of delusional fanatics are capable of seriously harming this country….) And if nothing else, it will help you to keep your beer safe, and stored correctly until you want it for your evening libation….. still in the bottle…
___________________________________

Ode to an Indispensable Man

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

I’ve also heard one that says, “If you are feeling important, try telling someone else’s dog to do something.” This is here solely because it is good advice…. no embellishment needed, just pay heed…. it will save you a lot of grief in the long run….
___________________________________

Always we hope
Someone else has the answer
Some other place will be better
Some other time it will all work out.
This is it.
No one else has the answer
No other place will be better
And it has already turned out.
At the center of your being
You have the answer;
You know who you are and what you want.
There is no need to turn outside
For better seeing.
Rather abide at the center of your being
For the more you leave it
The less you learn.
Search your own heart and see
the way to do is to be.
— Lao Tzu

This is another piece that needs no additional comment, as with many of the precepts in Taoism. The Way that can be known is not the true Way, is it?….
___________________________________

“I wish to say what I think and feel today, with the proviso that tomorrow perhaps I shall contradict it all.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph hit a nail right on the head with this one…. It’s part of being human to change our minds, and this merely acknowledges that. I can relate, for sure, in at least one sense. Since our minds are the only thing in Reality that we have the power to change, then it behooves us to be aware of both the desirability and the danger of just that. In the end, all we really have is what we think; everything else is ephemeral, even more so than we are, and will pass away. Asi es la vida, si? Si….
___________________________________

It is a strange morning, to be sure…. I’ve made it through to the end of this Pearl, and know not what I have done. Well, I know, but I don’t care… Shortening the Pearls may be a good idea, if only temporarily; I find myself fighting myself to get it done before I cannot sit any more, which distracts me from giving this my full attention. But, enough of my whining…

I’m going to let this fly, though in some ways it is not up to my usual standards. The rant is pretty good, though it could use a bit more filling. Or maybe some sauce. And it’s hard to beat Lao Tzu for providing food for thought. So, the rest of it will just have to do as it exists now, because, stick a fork in me, I’m done…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

gigoid

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

View Full Profile →

	katiemiafrederick on Are those Foster Grants to blo…
	katiemiafrederick on Funk-o-matic accessories are o…
	katiemiafrederick on Dodge those taxes with dignity…
	katiemiafrederick on Dodge those taxes with dignity…
	katiemiafrederick on But…. but…. what a…

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: