Ffolkes,
“Hello again, Peabody here…”
~~ Mister Peabody ~~
Yes, Will, all the lawyers, too… Now, normally, I would not claim any relationship with the title of these Pearls, but, this one was too perfect to pass up…. Given my opinion of the Asininnies, particularly those most guilty parties, the bankers, and the lawyers, both of whom describe a segment of humans who, to the average of about 90%, are complicit in the ongoing oppression and suffering so prevalent in our society. I’d wager, of the 1%, or less, of the world’s population who control 99% of the money and resources, well over half are lawyers and/or bankers, often both at once….
Any more, I am not using the word “maybe”, or “someday” to refer to the possibility of world-wide revolution against those snakeheads who hold power over the masses, wielded in secrecy from the hidden compounds, and anonymous corporate estates, surrounded by high walls and an army of mercenaries to protect them, where they hide from the world, to protect themselves from those on whom they prey. These ‘people’, and I use the term loosely, are well aware, if the rest of the world ever finds out A) who they are, and/or B) where they live, connecting that with their implicit responsibility for the state of the world, well, they wouldn’t stand a chance in hell of surviving the next five minutes….
Hey, we all have our dreams, right? That’s one of mine, but, the intro probably isn’t the best place to start in on persuading the rest of humanity to rise up to throw the assholes into the pit they deserve. Not that such a probability ever stopped me before, but, I do try to show SOME discretion, when I remember…. Hmm, let’s see how else we can screw it up…
Maybe I should…. no. I tried that yesterday, and the day before. Not only didn’t it work, but, I was forced to go through all sorts of contortions, just to remove it, so y’all wouldn’t even know I had tried. I managed to do so, but, it was a pain, so, we’ll forgo that little side trip today. Perhaps we should…. no. That won’t do at all; it doesn’t even float, and we end up in the water on a daily basis, so, not a good idea…. Well, that shoots it, right in the brisket…
My left hand is now numb, demanding I finish this, to take a break, so we have at least a minimal chance of getting done today. In order to do so with some degree of aplomb, I’ll merely point out the upcoming entry portal, ask y’all to finish your cocktails, and, return rapidly to your seats. (Yes, it’s still okay to throw the glass into the fireplace…just be quick about it….) We’re going in, right now…. Duck, please…. Okay, here we are. Please exit the amphibious vehicle in an orderly fashion; you’ll find your flippers and masks on the dock….
Shall we Pearl?
“Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Speaker, 12/15/00
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I enjoyed yesterday’s journey into my past, specifically to those Saturday mornings when the real world held no sway, no power to charm, until AFTER the Saturday morning cartoons were done. Even baseball had to wait on cartoons….. Here is a favorite show; the page to which I’ve linked has a good compilation/collection of this pair’s shows, with links to other pages with even more…. Enjoy, ffolkes; the eternal chase is on…..
Road Runner & Wile E Coyote
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The man that lays his hand upon a woman,
Save in the way of kindness, is a wretch
Whom ‘t were gross flattery to name a coward.
~~ John Tobin (1770-1804) — The Honeymoon, Act ii, Sc. 1 ~~
In my mind, the worst part of reading such a poem, related to the harsh reality it describes, is the mere existence of the issue it addresses, to wit: violence against women, not only in individual acts, but, in the overall treatment of women by men in society. Such acts generally indicate a deeper lack of human compassion than just how the man treats women; such cowards usually treat children, animals, or any creature weaker than they with abusive aggression and violence, if only verbal, as in emotional abuse, or the passive-aggressive violence of neglect. I cannot say I even care how such attitudes are first promulgated in any individual, but, I can say I abhor the degree of frequency with which it appears to manifest.
Our entire culture is infected with this sort of elitist, gender-oriented entitlement, based, almost always, on fear of their own inner feelings of inadequacy. In short, most men are cowardly dogs, not fit for wiping their own ass, and certainly without any understanding of what existing as a man of honor and integrity might mean. Since I do know what it means, in intent, if not perfectly so in practice, I can say without any pride, merely shame, one time in my life I lost control of my emotions, to the point of raising my hand to a woman; no justification is either claimed nor blamed on any provocation I may have had, so I take full responsibility, and am glad I stopped myself before actually harming her, slapping at her once without hitting her, then realizing my mistake…. I consider it one of three events in my life of which I am truly ashamed, and wish I had chosen other alternatives to what I actually did.
None of the vituperation poured on me, nor the accusations of non-existent grievances, none of the deliberate bumps, or pushes, or slaps, nor the shoe thrown in my face, taken singly, or all as one, none of it is an excuse for my loss of control, however temporary. In retrospect, I saw a number of times I could have walked away to disengage from the altercation; hindsight is always accurate. It still doesn’t make me feel any better to know I broke my own standards of behavior, or, worse, to know my father would be disappointed in me.
This event also had the salutary effect of strengthening my own set of standards for relationships with anyone, not merely women, for whom I’ve never had anything but deep respect and love. (Well, some frustration, too, at times, but, that will happen when two consciousnesses, of any kind, cross paths, due to the inherent differences in perception… Lack of understanding doesn’t have to create fear, or resentment; it can stimulate curiosity and affection as well…) I realized anew what I’d always known, thanks to my father, which can be most simply stated as the concept of personal responsibility, in relation to the related concept of Duty. One cannot exist without the other….
Most men in today’s world do not know this, about themselves, or in general, at all, for, they were not ever taught about honor, or duty, or respect by their own fathers. I know I am fortunate in that respect…. so, I hold myself responsible for the events I can control, and don’t, or didn’t, without shirking that responsibility. I may not always be capable of fixing whatever it was, as it happened in the past. I can, and certainly do, make sure it never happens again, as well as attempting to atone in the present, by making it a self-appointed task to make some noise about the treatment of women in the world of today, which is so completely corrupted by the insanity of a powerful, cowardly men…. and, as the original quote above maintains, ’tis being kind to name them cowards….
You see, it is only fear which makes these men the way they are; they fear their own weakness, they fear their own sexuality, they fear the control that women can have over them, assuming that unless they dominate them, oppressing them in every way, to keep them from ever threatening their cowardly little egos, they cannot truly be men. The truth is, they never will be real men, for real men are not afraid…. especially not of women, who are our complement in nature, not our enemy….
When viewed from a less unnaturally fearful perspective, one of common cause as members of the same species, it is simple to see those qualities in women which are the perfect complement to the qualities possessed by men, by virtue of the differences in each gender’s native physiological and biochemical makeup. Each and every person, male or female, is different from the other, mentally and physically; these differences, between male and female, do not make us adversaries, but, rather, two individuals on the same path, each with naturally complementary qualities that enhance the survival chances of each one, as well as the species.
The same pattern of two genders, each complementary to the other in their functional differences, exists in every species with the same type of reproductive makeup, possessing the same biological imperatives. Other species besides ours are not naturally monogamous, any more than are we, though there are exceptions in every species, but, every other earthly species’ genders show each other the respect of common cause, not a pattern of consistent abuse and/or oppression, simply because of cowardly fear….
For millennia, the male of our species has consistently chosen to ignore the reality of existence as it has evolved, perverting society and culture to reflect their own weaknesses, adding fuel to the fire of insanity which has been consuming mankind for thousands of years…. It is exactly as Jimmy Carter, former US President, and one of the rarest of people, one who actually lives by the precepts of Jesus Christ, that great reformer whose ideals have been corrupted since shortly after his death….
Their intransigent cowardice of men who refuse to acknowledge their own ignorance in this issue, or, who through that ignorance, merely accept and go along with what they’ve always been taught, is a large contributor factor to the issues which threaten our survival; moreover, the threat is not only to our species, but, very real for many others along with us….. By ignoring the signs of pervasive abuse, or by simply doing nothing, most men are tacitly giving their approval to the cowardice being displayed, manifesting in real life as persistent abuse and oppression of women, children, or anything weaker, simply because it is unnatural for the species to behave this way, contrary to the forces of nature which have dictated our own inner nature…. This sort of apathy of spirit, this attitude of indifference to the injustice done to women is, unfortunately, not confined to women…. As Albert Einstein observed, and this picture so clearly illustrates,
This all-too-commonly male attitude of indifference, of divisive elitism, bigotry, chauvinism, or other kind of deliberate ignorance based on cowardice and fear, should be repellent to every man…. just as it is repellent to its victims, i.e., every man, woman, child, and animal to whom it is displayed…. These ignoramae perpetuate their ignorance by belittling women, turning them into objects, which can then be despised without guilt, using such shop-worn divisiveness as implied in statements such as “Men and women are two different species, descended from different animals.”, pretending it is a joke. Or, they make women the object of vulgarity, thus ensuring they can feel superior, with disgusting, idiotic nonsense, such as the ever popular “What do you call useless flesh around a pussy? Woman….” I can think of no better term for such idiots than “fucking assholes”, or, in its more elegant faux-Latin form, “assholios supremos”…..
Sadly, most men never consider those who suffer because of their inaction…. They figure as long as they personally don’t make a habit of hitting women, or abusing animals, or children, or discriminating against the gender-different, or even other races of humans, in an active way, they’re not a part of the problem….
They are dead wrong…. and, I am as ashamed of them, as I am ashamed of myself, for those times in my life I have either acted in such a way, (once, as noted), or failed to act when I should, (twice, irrelevant to this discussion, but, the lesson I learned is intact). I will never forgive myself, for there is no such thing as forgiveness for such crimes in my world; there is only acceptance of responsibility, and enduring any consequences that may justly come to pass. I will also never forgive any man who acts in such a manner, actively, or passively, or, who fails to act when he should…. Nor should he ever consider forgiving himself…
If I did, I couldn’t look myself in the eye each morning in the mirror…. could you?….
True to my tendency toward loquaciousness, I will leave this discussion with the following three thoughts, which I feel are appropriate to the moment….
“Every person is an individual; we all have a set of designer genes.”
~~ Smart Bee ~~
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“He is the freeman whom the truth makes free.”
~ William Cowper — The Task, Book v, The Winter Morning Walk, Line 733 ~~
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Injustice, swift, erect, and unconfin’d,
Sweeps the wide earth, and tramples o’er mankind.
~~ Alexander Pope — The Iliad of Homer, Book ix, Line 628 ~~
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Let there be an end to this madness!
gigoid has spoken….
So be it.
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Here is another old one of mine, used for the reasons given yesterday, to wit: no blame for anyone else….. Enjoy, please
Unheralded Sagacity…
To many, who will not see beyond their nose
the world becomes a dangerous place,
a bullet in every gun, a thorn with every rose,
no magic comes to save us, reality leaves no trace.
Minds closed, wrapped tight in manufactured fears,
men become clay, easily molded into complacent form.
No chains needed, held in thrall for years,
lies become gospel, when dishonesty is the norm.
Shed the chains you wear in durance, in kind;
Oh, ye of little faith, and much doubt
Strength is found in an unfettered mind,
Cry “freedom” with a great shout.
No help from any gods can hinder so much
as our own lack of confidence;
finding the light within, knowing it as such
confirms us, becoming consequence.
Illumination…..
~~ gigoid ~~
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“I’m worried that the universe will soon need replacing. It’s not holding a charge.” — Edward Chilton
I know exactly how Mr. Chilton feels; I’ve felt the same at frequent moments in my life, quite frequently of late, it seems. Since I have observed reality for some time, I am convinced our time here on this planet is limited, so, I thought it would be helpful, perhaps, to pass along a few of the lessons I’ve learned in my life, about living life, about how to approach life, about, oh, everything we need to know, as far as I have been able to figure out, and, can still remember…. Yes, I could have been more vague, but, I figured this would be confusing enough….
I hope you enjoy this little grouping, and please, no comments from the gallery re: smarm, or re: sap, or, most importantly, re: bozoid tendencies…. Each of these is something I’ve learned about living, and really is a group y’all should pay some close attention to, if for no other reason than to give you ammunition for the expected jeering…. I’d rather have cheers, but, we take what we can get, as long as a response is stimulated….
“Beware of that person who is slow to anger. For when it is long in coming, it stays longer and is warmer and dies not so easily. Abused patience is a very strong fuel for a fire not easily put out by any known means.” — Smart Bee
“How difficult it is to save the bark of reputation from the rocks of ignorance.” — Petrarch
Shame is an improper emotion invented by pietists to oppress the human race.” — Robert Preston [Toddy], “Victor/Victoria”
“Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”
If a person deceives you once, shame on that person. If a person deceives you twice, shame on you! For of all hard things to bear and grin, the hardest is being taken in. — Smart Bee
“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.” — E. E. Cummings
“Do not be intimidated by reality.” — Master Sergeant R.H. Moore
The last pearl, by the way, is one my Dad taught me, (to wit: Msgt. Moore). He never actually SAID this; it’s just the way he lived, thus, teaching me by example….
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Having completed much of this yesterday, between ranting to myself about the soulless indifference of corporate assholes, currently so ubiquitous in my life, and suffering silently, completing today’s Pearl really didn’t take long, for which I’m thankful, as the long weeks of battle are starting to wear on me…. But, we’re done for now, and, it’s good. I’ll see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I wake up in time….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
gigoid, the dubious
PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.
“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch
À bientôt, mon cherí….
gigoid 