Tag Archives: Winnie the Pooh

Plagiarizing from life…..

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Ffolkes,
I am finding my PTSD to be more of an inconvenience these days, now that it has chosen to re-activate itself as a significant factor in my life. The stress of living in poverty, with the uncertainty of whether it will ever change, has brought me to this point, and I can’t say that I am real happy about it…. I’m not sleeping well at all, and the days are longer and longer, especially when I’m tired all the damn time. It’s not like I have any important stuff to do, other than to make sure the stuff is done for my disability case, and that only takes a few minutes of time, separated by months and months of waiting for them to do something with what I submit to them….

Now, I’m once again on hold while they meander through their inanities, taking their sweet time, and I sit here fuming…. I now have to go on November 8th to an appointment with a psychiatrist, so he can generate a report on the status of my PTSD….. all because I happened to mention it in one of the papers I submitted, and they don’t have any record of treatment for it….. Well, of course they don’t…. I haven’t been able to afford to go to a psychiatrist for years, not at $30 or more a pop for the co-payment; I can’t afford to take all of the medications ordered for me, much less add on an expense like that. So, I’ve had to just live with it, just like I live with the constant pain in my back and hips, or the constant fatigue I feel from my diverticulosis…. and, I’ve learned to cope with the constant feeling of impending doom, and the edge of hysteria just under the surface, ready to have me burst into tears at the drop of an emotional hat.

Once this doctor gives them his opinion, I may just be able to get some kind of real decision as to my whether or not to award my disability….. if they deny it a second time, I am not sure just how badly I will react…. I am already living on the edge, and suffering another delay will just about be a final straw….. and I find it to be a bit ominous that my mind refuses to think about it…..

It’s like it is hiding from me exactly what it plans to do if that kind of obstacle is thrown up in front of me…. and if it is hiding that knowledge from ME, it means it knows that I won’t approve, which means the planned explosion is more violent than even I will consider, if in my right mind…. The trouble is, if this happens like that, I know I WON’T be in my right mind…. The fantasies that I have envisioned at times in my head, thinking about what I’d like to do to those bureaucratic assholes, are, to be honest, pretty graphically horrendous…. bloody body parts are a minor issue, believe me…..

Ah well, I guess my violent fantasies will have to wait…. again. Throughout a fairly long life, I’ve managed to avoid violent behavior pretty well, outside of work; dealing with violence at work was, for a long time, the order of the day, but that is another story for another time. Mostly, I was able to find other methods of dealing with my problems in life; I’ve always believed what Salvor Hardin said, (one of the protagonists in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series of books), to wit: “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”  But, it has always been there, and I’ve dealt with it, on my terms, as well as its own…. and I’m pretty damn good at it, when I choose to engage….

I suppose I’m just going to have to take it as it plays out, and make my decisions “ala carte”, so to speak. It is what I end up doing every time, anyway….. as do we all. Life changes on us, every day, every way, and we can either hold on and learn to enjoy the ride, or spend our time picking ourselves up from wherever we have been tossed, and trying to clamber back aboard…. I guess blowing up the train won’t help this time…. Such is life in the fast lane, ffolkes….. I’m done whining now, so…. Shall we Pearl?….

“Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.” — Things We Can Learn From Dogs
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“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.” — Alexander Frazer Tyler (1748-1813), — The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic

It has been established pretty well that the premises as presented in this scholarly tome from the 19th century are essentially true; most scholars agree with Mssr. Tyler’s assessment of historical forces as they have played out, with very little to pick at that doesn’t reek of jealousy for not having written it themselves. In light of this, it then becomes the task of the moment to run a comparative study, to gauge the current temper of the country we inhabit, and form an opinion as to where on the scale we are living now….. This, of course, will no doubt engender as many different responses as their are responders….. fortunately for the time factor involved, the number of responses is naturally limited to one…. my own. You may, of course, use the comments section to respond, and are welcome, even encouraged to do so…. but, if not, here is my take on it….

I thought for a time that we should be placed in the “apathy” stage, or possibly the “complacency” level. But, then I realized that, no, we are most certainly caught, as we have been for some time, in the “selfish” stage…. It began, really, with Nixon, obviously, as he was the perfect example of a man who went into public service for purely selfish reasons…. he loved the power that being President, or any other public office, gave him, and the simple fact that, as a public official, people HAD to pay attention to him. My whole life, I always saw him as that geeky kid nobody would ever pick for their team, who discovered the attraction that being an elected official had for that kind of emotional neediness.

It is dangerous, I know, to be critical of Nixon’s replacement, JFK; his assassination guaranteed his martyr status for the liberal left. But, regardless, he was far from perfect, and in fact, was one of the most effective manipulators of public opinion ever to grace the White House. His relatively liberal political agenda favored the middle class, not because of his overpowering virtue, but because he saw that as his power base, and was, in some ways, fundamentally opposed to much of the agenda of the political right. That opposition is why the corporate masters had him killed; they already had their paid lackey, LBJ, in place to assume the role they wished him to play, so, all in all, they lost very little time at all in the solidification of the corporate grasp on the throat of America….

Then, of course, came Saint Ronnie…. the very heart of evil. A man who smiled really big, as he repeatedly drove his knife into the backs of the American middle and lower classes. He probably actually believed the whole “trickle down” theory of economics that he postulated and forced on the American people; I can see him being that actively, deliberately stupid; he did, after all, graduate from USC…. that unashamed cradle of the 1%, where virtually the entire graduating law classes step right into politically connected positions with prestigious firms who act as the defenders of the elite. I don’t think that the legal term, pro bono, is even taught at USC; doing something for nothing doesn’t compute in their world….it’s all about the billable hours….

Ah, well, I could spout off for a long time, listing the crimes perpetrated on the American public over the last 50 years by the corporate masters who control the world; even those who get into power with ideas of reform are either ridiculed for manufactured immorality, blocked by oppositional lawmakers, or victimized by lies and innuendo spread maliciously by the conservative right, that easily manipulable segment of the population so beloved by the ruling classes for their sheer stupidity, and the ease with which they can be misled.

But, trying to let folks know about the people out there who are screwing them left and right is kind of like shouting into the wind; tiring, and not very productive. Let it suffice to say that I believe we are deeply ensconced in the stage of history known as “selfish” according to the above scale. I don’t think there is much doubt of it, though I’m willing to hear arguments…. feel free to comment below. In the mean time, I’m going to let this thousand or so words on the subject speak for themselves…. Don’t forget to vote, little as it means…. it is the only gesture we have to make, so make it count….

“I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education.” — Wilson Mizner

As smart as a politician/lawyer is honest. — Smart Bee
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“What do you want me to do?  Say it again in worse English?” — Robert Frost, when asked about the meaning of one of his poems.

A Late Walk

When I go up through the mowing field,
The headless aftermath,
Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
Half closes the garden path.

And when I come to the garden ground,
The whir of sober birds
Up from the tangle of withered weeds
Is sadder than any words

A tree beside the wall stands bare,
But a leaf that lingered brown,
Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
Comes softly rattling down.

I end not far from my going forth
By picking the faded blue
Of the last remaining aster flower
To carry again to you.

Robert Frost
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WARNING: X-Rated Material below…. If the following offends you, well, hey, don’t read it…. I happen to think it’s funny, so, deal with it….  🙂

I know I’ve spoken to you before about the darker side of Pooh…. He’s actually, for a Bear with Very Little Brains, a pretty swinging guy, and stays active in a part of town that I’m don’t even go to…. In fact, he has been caught en flagrante delecto on numerous occasions, and has never shown a bit of regret, or a shred of remorse. He is an incorrigible sex addict, which is, when you stop to think about it, really, really sick…. I give you now more examples of just how nasty he has been known to be….

— Bother! said Pooh, with a sexy grin, as he tied up his favorite redhead!!

— Bother! said Pooh, as Macgyver ran to him with his pants down.

— Bother! said Pooh, when Christopher Robin came in his mouth.

— Bother! said Pooh, as Piglet pulled out the Anal Intruder.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he rolled over and lit a cigarette.

And, worst of all…..

— Bother! said Pooh, as he flashed a group of nuns.

I wouldn’t have believed it, if I didn’t see them there in black and white….. Hey, it’s not any harder to believe this, than it is to believe some of the shit coming out of Mitt the Twitt’s mouth, now, is it?….   🙂
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Well, it is definitely not the best Pearl to ever come down the Pike, but, it has the advantage of being finished, so it will have to do. Now I hope I can get it published without too much hassle…. In any case, it has been a bit of a struggle, so I’m counting this one as a win….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Mired in the prime of strife…..

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Ffolkes,
Ah yes, the delights of awakening to the tender mercies of emotional distress…. Within 10 minutes of getting up today (Thursday, the 19th), at the reasonable hour of 0755, I received a call from Social Security, to ask me, in essence, whether I would like to extend the time it takes to secure my disability benefits, another six months, by adding on a visit to a psychiatrist to determine the status of my PTSD….. As you might expect, this caused my emotions to boil over instantly, whereupon I treated the case analyst who had called to a graphic example of just what state I’m in, PTSD-wise, blubbering in incoherent anger, bemoaning in no uncertain terms the federal government’s apparent desire to put me in a grave before letting go of my money….. It was NOT the way I would have chosen to start my morning, to say the least….

Now I have no idea how much longer this will take; I’ll need to talk with my lawyer now, and that can be stressful as well, so I may as well prepare myself for a period of insensibility, as my mind tends to want to shut down when stuff like this threatens my equilibrium. But, sadly, it looks as if I may as well resign myself to another long period of waiting in the dark, and can pretty much kiss the idea of Christmas goodbye for another year….. Too bad, really…. I had hoped to be able to actually go to a store and buy something for my kids for the occasion, but, I guess I’ll once again be trying to ignore the whole scene, and making do with giving them one of my own pieces of family history as a gift, or perhaps writing a poem for them…. not exactly the most thrilling of gifts, but, it’s the thought that counts, right?

Yesterday, the 18th, I didn’t post again, for the second time since starting this blog. It felt weird to not post, just like it did last month when it happened for the first time. As the poor federal case worker found out this morning, there is a lot of pressurized material stuffed into my head, and it needs to come out on a regular basis…. I did complete a Pearl yesterday, but couldn’t get to the library in time to post it, due to waiting for other folks to get stuff done…. SIGH….. Add a few more hit points to that stress level, ffolkes, and start counting!…..

Being a day behind, even though ahead, this will get posted on the 20th of October, 2012…. which, had he lived, would be my father’s 100th birthday…. and is now my youngest brother’s 57th, 58th, or 59th, I can never keep him and my younger sister’s ages straight…. Any who, happy happy to Kevin, and to my Dad’s memory….

As a result of this morning’s folderol, I am retreating, and will start looking for pearls as a substitute for going out to look for a victim; I always find beating up on somebody to be liberating, but inconvenient, what with all the criminal charges and all…. Instead, I’ll just pour all that angst into a rant, or a poem, or something…. maybe even a piece on Zippy, or Pooh, to bring out a few smiles. They (smiles) are buried pretty deep right now, but, a bit of Zippy can do wonders…. Let’s get to it….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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Raquel Welch:  36-24-36
Bo Derek:  35-24-36
Ann-Margaret:  37-25-36
Bette Middler:  37-25-36
Marilyn Monroe:  37-24-37
Jane Russell:  39-27-38
Jayne Mansfield: 40-23-37
Sophia Loren:  37-25-36

— Smart Bee (?)

So, sue me. It isn’t what you think, unless you are thinking what I’m thinking. I’m not going to say that isn’t possible, or even unlikely…. unless you  are thinking it is about some sexist premise that identifies women as objects. Being male, I’m not an expert on spotting or exposing that, but I’ve been around a long time, and have never held with most of what society holds as true about women, unless spoken by a woman who hasn’t proved to be one of the brainwashed….

No, this list is only here to note that what society seems to project, in magazines and advertising, through fashions and trends sponsored by those who determine such matters (i.e., the moneymen…) as the image of beauty, is not the same as what public opinion obviously feels about what makes a woman beautiful, in terms of weight and shape. All of the women in the above list were, and/or are, considered to be the visual pinnacle of what the public believes is beautiful, as evidenced by the popularity of their work, in film or on stage…. but none of them are at all similar to what the manipulators of fashion would have us believe is the ideal shape…. Whereas models can only be described as slender or willowy, all these women are what we might call zaftig, or rubenesque, in their visual proportions….. Personally, I agree with the public…. I find Ann Margaret to be much more pleasant to look at than any model in a magazine that I have EVER seen….. And, the fact that I feel entitled to make a judgment makes me as guilty of objectifying women as a man who utilizes brothels for sex…

Thus, if we grant the truth of that revelation, the mere existence of the list becomes the most objectionable piece of it….. It illustrates that the process of objectification is subtle; just applying such standards to women at all tends to cause people to think of them as objects, rather than as people. Society has been male-oriented for a very long time, a state of affairs justified as “might makes right.” Sadly; a lot of what is wrong in the world can be traced to that unfortunate fact. Men have, out of their own insecurities and fears, set things up so that women have very little say about what happens to them in life; those decisions are made for them by fathers, brothers, or husbands in most of the world. In order to do this, and not suffer pangs of guilt at every turn, men, and women, are taught that it is okay to objectify women, and to treat them as if they are property…. and property needs to be labeled, hence lists such as the one above….

Yesterday, rmott62 posted a blog, (http://rmott62.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/your-lies-are-part-of-our-genocide/), which I re-blogged on my site, speaking about this very subject, to wit: how the language we choose can objectify those of whom it speaks.  You can probably get a better idea of how insidiously the issue of victimizing women permeates society by visiting her blog; she speaks powerfully, with no punches pulled, from experience, and with great insight, much more forcefully than I ever can, so I recommend to you very strongly that you go to her site, and read what she has to say…. It will change the way you look at much of what passes in our society for normal, and make you ashamed for not noticing…. if not, it should, for we are all guilty of perpetrating the evil, if only by not acting or speaking up, for as long as the victimization of women, and the entire prostitution industry, continues to objectify, demean, and drag women of all ages into perpetual slavery…..

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I keep hoping, but the poem I feel in my head isn’t ready to come out yet, and time is passing (at the leisurely pace so beloved of the federal bureaucracies…..)….. so, if I want to get this Pearl posted today, I’d best be coming up with another poem for this space. I’ve become somewhat addicted to this morning dose of verse; it seems to make the prose taste better somehow….. Whatever the reason, I like it…. Here, then, is another fine piece from the annals of history, with some whimsy applied as the primary search criterion…. hell, whimsy could easily be construed as an algorithm, almost, in this sense…. Besides, the poem I’ve found is the perfect choice to follow the first pearl’s message. Any who, sensible nonsense aside, enjoy!…..

Men

When I was young, I used to
Watch behind the curtains
As men walked up and down the street. Wino men, old men.
Young men sharp as mustard.
See them. Men are always
Going somewhere.
They knew I was there. Fifteen
Years old and starving for them.
Under my window, they would pauses,
Their shoulders high like the
Breasts of a young girl,
Jacket tails slapping over
Those behinds,
Men.

One day they hold you in the
Palms of their hands, gentle, as if you
Were the last raw egg in the world. Then
They tighten up. Just a little. The
First squeeze is nice. A quick hug.
Soft into your defenselessness. A little
More. The hurt begins. Wrench out a
Smile that slides around the fear. When the
Air disappears,
Your mind pops, exploding fiercely, briefly,
Like the head of a kitchen match. Shattered.
It is your juice
That runs down their legs. Staining their shoes.
When the earth rights itself again,
And taste tries to return to the tongue,
Your body has slammed shut. Forever.
No keys exist.

Then the window draws full upon
Your mind. There, just beyond
The sway of curtains, men walk.
Knowing something.
Going someplace.
But this time, I will simply
Stand and watch.

Maybe.

Maya Angelou

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As always, when lacking the wherewithal to rant, or to discourse intelligently (if that can be said to ever happen….) I retreat into the wisdom of the ages, developing an idea with pearls that says, well, whatever it says…. I do try to make it enlightening in some fashion, even if only by providing some comic relief to the sober nature of much of the other material here. Here, then, are some pearls that spoke to me about enlightenment, each in its own little whisper….

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), “Lady Windermere’s Fan”, 1892

With virtue you cannot be entirely poor… Without it you cannot be really rich. — Chinese Proverb

A master programmer passed a novice programmer one day.  The master noted the novice’s preoccupation with a hand-held computer game.  “Excuse me”, he said, “may I examine it?”   The novice bolted to attention and handed the device to the master. “I see that the device claims to have three levels of play: Easy, Medium, and Hard”, said the master.  “Yet every such device has another level of play, where the device seeks not to conquer the human, nor to be conquered by the human.”  “Pray, great master,” implored the novice, “how does one find this mysterious setting?”   The master dropped the device to the ground and crushed it under foot. And suddenly the novice was enlightened. — Geoffrey James, “The Tao of Programming”

“God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent- it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks, please. Cash, and in small bills.” — Lazarus Long

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” — Alvin Toffler

“Avoid fried foods which angry up the blood.” — Satchel Paige, early to mid-20th century sage

“The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower.  To think otherwise is to demean the Buddha — which is to demean oneself.” — Robert Pirsig, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”

“Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst.” — Thomas Paine

The Journey is the Reward, Not the Destination. — Zen Koan

A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: “Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time.” When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, “The one I feed the most.” — George Bernard Shaw

Well, there you go…. If you’re not enlightened by now, well, you’re on your own, because that’s the best I’ve got in stock. Hmm…. gee, you don’t get the impression this is a metaphoric manipulation, do you? …….  Nah! Trust me!  No hidden agendas here, or metaphoric stimuli intended to create moments of zazen illumination….It’s all the real deal, and used properly, has been known to produce wonderful results…. and, well, the price is right, yes? Free advice is always worth what you pay for it….. Ta for now, luvs…..
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Well, the gods of literature can relax now…. I didn’t need to resort to either Zippy, or Pooh to get the Pearl done. I even managed to avoid using Will Shakespeare again…. though I do have a LOT of material of his that is appropriate for target shooting, it wasn’t needed today. Some might be thankful for that, but, they’re just jealous, for not thinking of it first….. Today we are back in waiting mode, with the added hope that the federal game of slow-them-down-as-much-as-possible won’t be able to find the dice, and won’t hold things up any more than they already have been….. Fat chance, I know, but, hey, gotta have our groundless hope, eh?…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

In the humble palace of the Gopher King…..

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Ffolkes,
One never knows, do one? We are told that feast follows famine, and joy follows pain; but they were wrong when they told us that. Reality is more like a cat than a dog; it really doesn’t give a crap for what we think we know, and is quite happy to let us know that, right upside the head, whenever we are feeling like taking things for granted. Personally, I wish it would just leave those of us, who AREN’T trying to aggrandize ourselves, alone a bit more often. It’s no fun learning lessons we already know….. and I’m tired of the price of tuition…..

That being said, I will leave the semi-whine behind. Reality doesn’t give a crap…. So Be It. I can adjust to most of what is thrown at me, and I’ll adjust to this, too, whatever it may be. (I’m trying to be discreet, without falling all the way into inscrutability…..) Most likely, the best idea is to just ignore the whole issue, and get on with pearling. This particular activity has been my salvation for over a year now, so I’ll take advantage of that right now…..

Hmm…. I could rant, I suppose. I saw some police in action last night, and what I observed only confirmed my opinion of most of them I’ve seen lately….. All of the officers I’ve seen in action in this town seem to be more concerned with maintaining their image, and exercising their sense of entitlement, than they are with public safety. I’m standing out front, watching the rush hour traffic, when a police car goes down the hill toward the signal to my left. As it comes up behind the second car in line at the signal, a little white car shoots up the hill, going a bit fast, but less so than much of the normal traffic flow, which tends to speed along this section. Well, the noise of the little car sounded like it was going bat crazy for hell leather fast, but, as I said, not as fast as I’ve seen many times, including MOST of the police cruisers going up the hill…. it was just a bit loud…..

Well, the two cowboys in the cruiser decided they would save us all from the massive danger of a tiny car going fast. So, as the little car slowed down, signaled, and turned right at the next block, the police cruiser performed a hasty, wide, badly executed 3 point turn to get turned around, then punched it and raced up the hill after the miscreant. From what I could hear, the little car had either slowed way down after going around the corner, or it had parked immediately, as I could no longer hear its little sewing machine engine. The cops raced to the corner, took it in a wide, fast turn, and raced away, hell-bent on doing their duty, and making the owner of the little white car have a miserable, and probably expensive, night.

Now, I might not get so upset at police doing their duty, if it were a matter of just that. But, I see cars flying up that hill all day and night, with never a cruiser in sight. Indeed, 98% of the cruisers go by at such a speed that I wonder how they can even SEE what is happening on the sidewalks. They certainly never slow down for any of it, as I’d estimate the average speed of a police car up the hill is about 50-55 mph, when the speed limit is posted at either 30 or 35 mph…. it IS a residential district. Plus, after living in this city for a bit over two years now, I can truthfully say that I have NEVER ONCE seen a police car give a turn signal. Not once….

That is annoying to me, as they are SUPPOSED to set a good example when they are in public.  Plus, there is the way I see the few of them who are actually out of their cars, walking up to people on the street. They walk like they are John Wayne on his way to kick some bad guy ass; big and ponderous, with an expression of disdain in place before they even speak. The couple of times I heard their conversations, they sounded as if they were being pretty antagonistic toward the person they were questioning, which to me looked like some random homeless guy, poorly dressed and groomed, with a very scared face…..

Okay, so there isn’t much I can do about it right now, except little rants like this to let off steam. One of these days, though, I think I’ll toddle over to a city council meeting, and drop a dime or two on the police, and give them the observations I’ve made over the last couple of years of watching them operate. In those two years, in this small town, there have been more than 10 officer involved shooting deaths, with the greatest number of them involving people who were either not armed, or armed with toys, rather than real weapons. Those numbers alone give an indication that the officers are not well-trained, and the other items that I have noted definitely support that theory….. They need more officers, and they need to take away their sense of entitlement, and replace it with some genuine public concern….

Rant over, thank goodness…. the police here in Vallejo probably aren’t much worse than other places. But, I have to point out that the city of Berkeley has, for many, many years now, required that all of their officers have a college degree, without exception. They then train those well-educated young men in how to deal with the extremely varied population of a world-famous University town, with intelligence, and dignity for all concerned, public and officers alike. It seems to be a good policy; you very seldom hear of a problem between the BPD and the public, and any shootings are completely justified by the review boards. Perhaps other cities could learn from that decades long record of exemplary police work…. and it certainly couldn’t hurt…..

While we’re waiting for reality to catch up to what we need from it (like THAT will ever happen….) I think it’s time….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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In keeping with our long-held belief in public spirit, I have included below for your perusal and enjoyment a series of statements, made at various times, in various situations, by our beloved, most Uncarved Block, Pooh Bear…. who, as you will come to see, has a darker side that many in the world do not know…. It is sinister, indeed, how many different ways Pooh has explored the Dark Side, but, as you will see, he is quite adept at navigating his way there, and isn’t afraid to involve himself in things unsuitable for a Bear with Very Little Brain…. He seems to like it though, so how can we deny him his illicit pleasures?…. it’s got to be hard to maintain that saccharine attitude all the time…. I’m surprised he hasn’t gone off on Barney before this…. ah well, it’s all good to know, so, here are some of his less known adventures, summarized, so to speak…..

— Bother! said Pooh, as they clear cut the Hundred Acre Wood.

— Bother! said Pooh, as the firing squad took aim.

— Bother! said Pooh, as his lock-on indicator wailed.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he stomped Barney’s butt to Jello.

— Bother! said Pooh, as Rabbit pushed him off the speeding train.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he assembled the Grand Grimoire.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he denied paternity.

and finally, for his latest adventure, in two parts…..

— Bother! said Pooh, as he crashed through the police road block.

— Bother! said Pooh, We’d better nuke ’em from orbit.

Okay, so I’m weird…. but, I gotta admit, I like this Pooh much better than the one who gets so worked up over honey….
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Tuesday’s Child, from an Oblique Angle

When I really stop to think, it isn’t too much to expect
a warm bed, a bite of food, a loving smile to reflect.
We all need such comfort and supportive attention,
so basic to our soul, there is no real need to mention.

Life often offers us opportunities disguised very well,
illusions are rampant, what is real can be hard to tell.
To honor old ties may seem like the only thing one can do,
but evidence is real, despite one’s wish it were untrue.

Those who love us truly, without thought of any gain,
hate for us to experience life’s portions of pain.
They also know we each must follow our own chosen way,
for the lessons we learn, we all have our own price to pay.

Still, wishing and hoping can’t do any true harm
and wishing good things to friends feels welcome, and warm.
The pageant of society will pass on to the next day
what surprises it will bring me, thankfully, I can’t say.

~~ gigoid
__________________________________

It’s not every day I’m compelled to write about religion, politics, philosophy, and the Unified Field Theory, unless in separate pearls…. Taking them all on together might seem a bit egocentric of me, but I’ve never been one to dismiss a challenge, unless it was one that didn’t interest me… this one definitely hits all the high points of my particular bent, or bents, so what the hell, let’s see what happens…..

“Each religion, by the help of more or less myth which it takes more or less seriously, proposes some method of fortifying the human soul and enabling it to make its peace with its destiny.” — George Santayana

This idea is one that makes it possible for me to get through a lot of days without becoming homicidal toward a lot of people who bandy their religious beliefs about as if I were at all interested in them. I am aware that there have been a lot of good people throughout history, including current times, who are devout believers in one religion or another, and are sincere in their beliefs, and in their efforts to live their lives according to the precepts of their religions.

Some of them are even preachers, or priests of one sort or another, but the percentage in those categories of sincere belief is most certainly smaller than in the general public…. Let’s face it, most of those who go into the business do it because they aren’t any good at anything else, and the work is pretty easy…. Being a preacher is only hard if it gets taken seriously enough to try to help other folks, but most of the ones I’ve met are more concerned with convincing everyone of their piety to worry about actually helping…. and to most of them, the process of proving their own piety is accomplished by challenging everyone else’s beliefs, and sticking their noses into other people’s business….

One of the most insidious attractions of religion to many people, sad to say, is that it provides such a convenient vehicle for going through life without ever having to come up with an original thought or feeling. Every system of religious dogma, from no matter what cult, or division, or schism, or whatever it may be called, is designed to give people answers to their questions about life and all the things that happen that they don’t understand, thus creating a sense of dependency. This is very convenient for political pundits, who manage to take advantage every time the preachers pull another scam on the public….

“The mockingbird can change its tune eighty-seven times in seven minutes. Politicians regard this interesting fact with envy.” — Smart Bee

Unfortunately, those answers, comforting as they may be, seldom reflect reality very well, but are based rather on how that particular sect views the issue at hand…. and you can rest assured that those answers are designed to benefit the sect, and the preacher, in rather more ways than they will benefit the person with the questions…. But, I’m sure it is very comforting to know that if you just go along with what they say, you are somehow guaranteed something….. I never could understand that part very well, as there was nobody who could tell me just what was being promised…. other than I’d have to wait until I was dead in order to see it…. (The politicians like this one as well, because it gets people used to being promised something,  i.e. campaign promises, then having those promises unfulfilled…. )

“There are so many ways that we sabotage our own divinity, our own possibilities. and the mythologies of race and gender may well head the list.” — Callan Williams

Ah yes, the mythologies of race and gender…. Consider this…. each of us who are of the genus homo sapiens is a unique individual, no matter what color our skin, or whether we are male or female. Unique in our own right, beginning with the pattern of DNA that dictates and defines the characteristics of the organism that is each one of us. Unique. This is indisputable scientific fact. And yet, there are still people who choose to believe that there are characteristics shared by certain groups of homo sapiens that make them somehow superior or inferior to another group. Which of those characteristics they claim as exclusive is always based on articles of faith, and never on any physical evidence. The basis for these articles of faith are outlined in the myths, myths that ignorance breeds, born out of fear of the unknown….

These fears are pretty formless, as the people who have them don’t like to think about them. First, because then they feel uncomfortable, and being comfortable is preferable to thinking, no matter how much it may alleviate the fear.  Second, it is also hard to clearly define something that one rejects all evidence of knowing about; the fear is a known factor, and knowledge is not. These behaviors are a very childish reaction to serious adult issues, but then, a large number of people never learn to deal with life after a certain age; the techniques of denial and avoidance that children rely on are hard for some to give up, especially in matters of emotional or psychological import.

“The ability to accept responsibility is the measure of the man.”  — Roy L. Smith

This is very true, and actually would be claimed as their own by many folks who make a habit of refusing to even consider being responsible for anything outside their own little world. The flaw in their world-view is that they firmly hold that what they perceive is the only true way that the world CAN be perceived; they seem to be constitutionally unable to entertain any idea to the contrary. It makes compromise with them somewhat of a difficult proposition, as their belief in their own rightness gives them a feeling of entitlement, of believing that they can lie and cheat others without consequence, because the “others” are, as unbelievers, not worthy of honorable treatment. (Hmm, I can’t decide if this sounds more like a fundamentalist Christian, a ruthless rich business man (is there another kind?), or a politician….. since it fits all three, I guess it fits Romney like a second skin…..)

“It is a great advantage for a system of philosophy to be substantially true.” — George Santayana

This second quote from Mssr. Santayana points out another flaw in the philosophy held by those who follow many religions, under their own interpretations of the scriptures that are used by them. This flaw is obviously based on the relatively inarguable fact that all of them are faith-based philosophies…. grand, and grandiose, well considered, beautifully constructed philosophies, whose basic premise is an entity whose existence cannot be evidenced in the physical world.

There are innumerable thoughtful and elegant “proofs” of the existence of these entities, all of which, again, are constructed entirely of words and ideas. Some use logic, some history, some use hope, some use delusion, and some use an amorphous idea that cannot be pinned down…. none of them have actual pieces of physical evidence that incontrovertibly points to the existence of such an entity. If anyone knows of one, or two, or more, please let me know of it/them; I would be very interested in the information, and its provenance, to be sure….

I have wandered far afield indeed in the realms of human thought today, and I’ll bet you thought I’d forget about the Unified Field Theory…. For those unfamiliar with the phrase, let me explain as succinctly as I can; this has gone on a long time, and I’m sure we all have better stuff to do, but, hey, I’m here, you’re here, so…. Any who, the Unified Field theory is a mathematical model of the universe that, in essence, explains and describes all the different types of energy that we know to exist in the Universe; Gravitational energy, Magnetic energy, Electric energy, Electromagnetic energy, Kinetic energy, Biochemical energy, life energy….

All are known to us, but we do not understand, even minimally, how they all interact, and how they are all inter-related as part of the Universe at large…. hence the unified theory. It hasn’t been written yet; it is still just a concept for the future of scientific endeavor, though Stephen Hawking is said to be working on coming up with one before he dies…. if anyone can, it is him.

In short, one theory to explain how it all works…. There are many, including Mr. Hawking, who believe that knowing this can possibly lead us to a closer idea of the answer to the Why it all works the way it does…. by design, or by chance? Did God lose a bet, or win one? Or is there some as yet unknown reason beyond our current ability to understand? Being able to SEE and KNOW how it all works can only give us clues about the origins of it all.  Even if it doesn’t give us all the answers we seek, we will have a better understanding of the Universe, and ourselves, and thus, perhaps, a better idea of our true place in all of what we see…..

Whew! If you made it to here, you are indeed worthy…. and probably tired, confused, and a bit troubled, with doubts as to my sanity. S’okay, I understand…. and I don’t blame you. I should have handed out warning notices at the beginning…. Ah well, t’was fun for me, and that will do….. Stop me, please, I can’t seem to shut up….. wait, don’t pull that pl……
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Well, it’s really too bad I’m not charging by the word, now, isn’t it? I could retire with ease in a couple of weeks at this rate….. I’m not sure where it all came from, or how long it has been percolating in there, but it’s obviously been a while now…. You know how I feel about it, though…. better out than in, at least from my standpoint…. everyone else is on their own, in this respect…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Scratching at the nadir of indifference….

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11

Ffolkes,
I’ve always known that Murphy was an asshole, but this month he has gone to new, extreme lengths to mess with my head, and I really don’t appreciate it.  As a non-corporeal entity, he no doubt feels safe from any retribution on my part, but I swear, I will figure out how to have a negative effect on an iconic force of nature, and he will pay, and pay, and pay for all the crap he puts me through….. and if not, well, it’s fun to think about it…..

I suspect that he really doesn’t have to extend himself very far to get cooperation from the USPS; they’re set up to aid his kind of purpose by the very nature of their business. They are responsible for carrying dreams and hopes to people who are desperately waiting for them to arrive, and it only takes a minimum of effort to slow that process down, thus putting the people waiting through a world of pain and anguish, merely by the act of being later than expected, or reasonably desired. And, the work is so mindlessly boring, once the routines are learned, that the people who move the mail generally end up slowing things down just to amuse themselves, not caring who is being screwed over by their lack of integrity….. SIGH…. I HATE Murphy, with a passion as great as any I’ve ever felt, and I WILL figure out a way to hurt him….

That being said, we may as well get on with the business at hand, which, while it may not be as important as what is coming in the mail, it is at least as interesting, in its way…. it’s too bad it has to wait until I can get online to get finished, but, I’m just not finding what I need without the resources there…. for the nonce, interest will have to be enough…. Shall we Pearl?……
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George Carlin was the most accurate, the most loved, and the most honest social and political philosopher of the twentieth century, without peer, and may well hold the same distinction for the twenty-first century. He pulled no punches, spared no feelings, and was as honest as the day is long. Nothing he ever said, in any of his monologues, or in what he wrote, was ever inaccurate; he spoke only of what had actually occurred, and what everyone could see around them in society. He was pitiless in his condemnation of stupidity and ignorance, and all of its proponents, who, as we know, are legion. Nobody in the public eye was spared the sharpness of his wit, or ignored and thereby enabled because they were too powerful; he speared them all, just as he does in the above statement……

Mitt Romney is one of the people (and I use the term advisedly…) who is in The Big Club…. He’s a relatively new member, but is well-liked by the others in the club, because he doesn’t seem to be bothered by people thinking this kind of stuff of him; he almost seems to enjoy being put into the elitist category, and almost smiles when he is vilified by the poor or vulnerable. Proof positive lies in the off-the-cuff statements he made last week at the fund-raising dinner, where he thought he was among friends, and could say what he really believes; it is obvious that it is not just that 47% of Americans about whom he was talking that he disrespects. It is ALL Americans who don’t make more than $100 million a year who have his disdain….. and that includes about 99% of the available people…. He doesn’t really care about ANY of them, even his own family…. they are just props for him to make him appear like the rest of America; they don’t really mean anything to him, beyond their images….

Romney and his cronies want to consolidate the power they already have, bringing their greed and total lack of compassion to new heights of calumny. They want to lower taxes for the rich, and raise them for the poor and middle classes; they want to take back the money I, and millions like me, have put into Social Security, and, like George says, put it back in the pockets of Wall Street’s denizens, thereby casting the most vulnerable part of the population, senior citizens, into poverty. They want to turn back the clock to the days when women, and people of color, and immigrants, were second-class citizens; they want to marginalize well over half of the population of this country, all in the name of the almighty dollar. They want to make being gay, lesbian, or transgender a crime; Paul Ryan has stated that he supports a law making it a crime for a woman to become pregnant without being married. They want to impose the religious beliefs of what is now a minority of citizens on all 330 million of us, no matter what our religious beliefs might be; their only concern is to maintain their own ascendancy…..

All of the statements I just made in the above paragraph are absolute truth; you can check out the veracity quite simply, by reading the Official Platform of the Republican Party for the 2012 election. It’s all there is black and white…. and yet, there are millions of STUPID, STUPID people who are going to vote for him, just because he isn’t black. It totally amazes me how these people, with the evidence right in front of them, will give their support to a man who will proceed to fuck them over royally as soon as he is in office. He holds as much, or more, disdain for them as he does for the rest of America, because he knows that they are so ignorant and bigoted they will let their fears of a “black President” overcome their common sense, and give their vote to him, merely because he is white…. and you thought racism was a thing of the past!…….

This country is, whether it realizes it or not, is at a crossroads, a nexus in time, where the fate of not just this country, but humanity at large is riding in the balance. If the election goes to the Republicans (who are making every attempt to control the vote in their favor, by passing illegal voter suppression laws that are continuously being struck down in court….) the overall effects on society will be felt over the entire world. This country will become even more isolated and at odds with the rest of the world than it is now, and the possibility of a world-wide conflagration is not entirely impossible….

So, as an American, each of us needs to make a decision…. Are we going to give in to the elitists who want to completely control the rest of us to their advantage, and take the chance of an end-of-time scenario, or will we make the choice to take back the controls they have usurped, and return the power to the people, where it properly resides? I can only hope that there are enough of us shouting out the truth to get the attention of all those who think they can let it go, that things will get better on their own…. otherwise, we are ALL up shit creek, and no paddles in sight……

“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Abigail Adams, Paris, Feb. 22, 1787
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Fatal Supplication

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid

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Due to the unfortunate demise of Smart Bee, I am forced to search through my older Pearls for material…. I came across these gems, two consecutive  Pearls from sometime around April of 2008, while I was working at the state hospital…. they kind of fit in with today’s earlier themes, so I’ve included both below…. pearls were shorter then, but, hopefully, no less compellingly true…. enjoy!…..

Babbling brook

Ffolkes,
Generally I refrain from picking on politicians; it’s too easy. But, the American political arena has consistently made a hobby of attempting to legislate morality (to impress the great mass of religious sheep who habitually vote), and this hobby has created an unfortunate cultural phenomenon, what I like to call “warped honesty”.

I was listening this morning to a commercial (for a car which shall remain unnamed, for fairness’ sake). (the heck with it, it was rude….Subaru Forester). The announcer gleefully touted about 8 features of the car that demonstrated its’ superiority over other vehicles, speaking for about 38 seconds. The remaining 22 seconds in a full minute were taken up by one of those announcers who can speak 500 words a minute who gave the legal disclaimer, which consisted of a disclaimer for all 8 talking points in the advertisement. Amazing! Nothing in the commercial was true, but because of the disclaimers, they could say it anyway. It boggles the mind. Obviously, none of these people (the ad folks, the car sellers, or the politicians) have ever heard of axiom #4, or worse yet, #7. (#4: Excellence is its’ own reward. #7: Do your Duty. Honor the Truth. Respect Life.  Share your Love.) The sad part is, most folks haven’t heard of them. Sigh……

“In the mountains the shortest way is from peak to peak: but for that one must have long legs. Aphorisms should be peaks.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

Be alert folks……Y’all take care out there…..

yesterday, continued

Ffolkes,
There were some good responses to yesterday’s offering, and today I just want to finish up the line of reasoning begun. The two quotes below explain a lot about human nature, which is, without a doubt, our greatest handicap as well as our salvation. Enjoy!

“Morality is the best of devices for leading Mankind by the nose.”–Friederich Nietsche

“If stupidity got us into this mess, why can’t it get us out?”–Will Rogers

And never forget…

“Those who are clever, who have a brain, never understand anything.”–Winnie the Pooh

Y’all take care out there….

Not too bad for a flash from the past…..
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Such as it is, it is what it is, and cannot be more…. So be it…. It’s another Pearl fashioned on the run, and posted in haste…. hopefully, this will not detract from its relevance and veracity…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

It’s the sordid truth for you, boyo….

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3

Ffolkes,
Say what you will about it, moving from one house to another is upsetting to the psyche. Maybe it’s just me, but I am, to say the least, discombobulated. (And isn’t THAT a great word?….) Plus, I’m really tired of being poor. I sure wish there was a way to stimulate the federal bureaucracy in such a way that one specific part of it would stop acting as if it is doing us a favor by doing their job in a timely fashion. I applied for my SS last year some time, and keep getting told stuff like “the department responsible for those forms is 148 days behind in their work,” which translates into “nothing is being done, and won’t start being done until we feel like it, 6 fucking months from now.”

Okay, enough whining. Lots of folks have it much worse than I, so I’m the one who ends up sounding the twerp here. Any who, I’m alive, and that’s all that really matters…..

“I’m having an emotional outburst!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

There, I think that is enough drivel for one morning; any more and it will be piled so high I won’t be able to see the keyboard….. Shall we Pearl?….

— “Bother!” said Pooh, as he ripped the fabric of Time and Space. — Smart Bee
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“There is a higher law than the Constitution.” — William H. Seward (1801-1872) — Speech, March 11, 1850

After searching awhile, I was getting the feeling there wasn’t anything worth ranting over this morning. Then I saw this….. Have you ever encountered this? I call it “mouthing platitudes”, and see it most often in the speech of faith-based individuals, especially those of a political bent. Candidates for public office make many speeches filled to the brim with this type of insidious lying, couched in language that makes it sound as if it should be true. I regard this practice as completely reprehensible, fit only for the criminal mind to consider using in real life……

Paul Ryan’s speech at the recent RNC was a perfect example of this type of statement, along with just about every other type of lie he could come up with; lying by omission, lying by generalization of a specific, lying by making it up, lying by taking out of context, and just plain old lying through his teeth, he hit them all. It was masterful, in a way; one seldom witnesses such complete lack of truth in one convention, much less in one speech.

In THIS country, there is no higher law than the Constitution. Our forefathers made sure of that when they deliberately kept Church and State as two separate entities; they had the experience of kind of trouble that is found when the two are conjoined. That is why they came to these shores in the first place….

Mouthing such untruths as above, in the mistaken assumption that saying it as an assertion proves its truth, the speakers are trying to undo the separation of the two institutions, as they, the bankers, the priests, and the beloved ruling class, have tried to undo the Constitution’s precepts since the moment they became law.

That attempt to return the populace to slavery continues today, with the advent of two individuals who are under the complete influence of their religious beliefs, and are determined in their efforts to take over the government, effectively sending us back to the middle ages.

What they have brought forth as their platform resembles very much the same kind of law that was in place in the years prior to Christ’s birth two thousand years ago; it’s quite Old Testament flavored. One can only hope that there are enough citizens who are immune to this type of persuasion, and will hopefully come out to vote in record numbers, to show the rest of the world that not all Americans are idiots, trying to live with their heads so far up their ass, they taste their coffee twice….

If not, well, it’s a big world out there, and there must be a few places left where a man can live without having to constantly be on guard against fools…. there MUST be! And if there is, I’ll find it, as will many others, I would assume.

Ah well, I suppose by now I should be used to this; it’s been going on a long time, and the folks who spend their lives trying to avoid personal responsibility for everything are everywhere. All my life I’ve had to watch the show in the public arena as it goes through the contortions and reconfigurations every four to eight years. In a way, I suppose it just goes to show the accuracy of that old saw, “For every new foolproof invention there is a new and improved fool.” Or something like that…. it all boils down to “Stay alert out there, ffolkes”, and be sure to vote this November, whether you are voting to return to the 1700’s, or to find our way further into the 21st century…..

And never, ever forget….. Jesus was killed by a Moral Majority……
___________________________________

Piraeus calls me, silently

Sizzle, sizzle, crash, bang, boom.
Intellect burning with subsequent doom.
Lingering long over decisive style,
Whistling up chaos all the while.

Such frozen thoughts may shatter,
Should we infer, but, no matter.
Firing blanks is children at play
Blooded sages all gasp in dismay.

Nonsense is good sense at times
Mundane idols trip lightly in rhymes.
Fallen angels dance on a pin
Until each sinner enters within.

Fast moments with natural rain
Bring ashes, yet still must remain.
Final thoughts clamor for more
Find them only on a far distant shore.

~~ gigoid

Hmm….. weird. Subtle, and well-rhymed, but weird, nonetheless. I’ll take it….. wrap it to go, please…..
___________________________________

Old school, old school, just follow the bouncing thought…..

“Christ believed in hell. I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment.” — Bertrand Russell

“Facts are stubborn things.” — Alain Rene Le Sage (1668-1747) — Gil Blas, Book x, Chap. i

Faith:  not wanting to know what is true.” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900)

Hail holy light! offspring of heav’n first-born. — John Milton (1608-1674) — Paradise Lost, Book iii, Line 1

“If I had a plantation in Georgia and a home in Hell, I’d sell the plantation and go home.” — Eugene P. Gallagher

“Half a bubble off plumb.” — attributed to Mark Twain
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If this material is offensive to you, and admittedly it will be offensive to someone, than you should take time out to contemplate this truth. Seriousness is the refuge of the truly shallow! — Smart Bee

I’m pretty certain I can do more damage, so I’m cutting it off here. It’s been real, if nothing else, eh? Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Emerald green tofu makes better ballast…..

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2

Ffolkes,
All attempts to establish routine are now considered futile; only random acts that resist routine will be allowed. And damn! I wish I could find a comfortable chair in which to sit…. Yes, I know that sounds stilted and pompous, but grammar is grammar, so whattya gonna do?

Any who, back to routine, or lack thereof….. Waking in the middle of the night, sobbing over a dream, is not what I’d call conducive to making a routine. It took me an hour, and two or four solid shots to get back to a state where I could fall asleep again, and consequently gave me a late start this morning…..SIGH…. (That’s a west-county Irish sigh, a long full breath, and slow exhale, accompanied by a sorrowful expression and a sad shake of the head….)

I should probably be getting used to this randomness in my life; not having to work, or to spend any significant time worrying about what other folks need or want, is both the greatest perk, and the most stinging curse of retirement. The outer world no longer has a say in when I do something, or even what I do. I make my own schedule, and thus have no one to blame if it doesn’t suit me…. which, I’m sure you can see, is a reflection of that blessing/curse relationship. Ah well, such is life….

Since I’m late, and will be later, given the upcoming events this morning, we should get to the searching portion of the process, as it is the most time-consuming part. So…. shall we Pearl? Anything has got to be better than what has been happening thus far…..

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” — Lao-Tzu, Tao Teh Ching
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The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. — Old Testament — Job i, 21

I don’t know if it actually was Job who first said this particular phrase, but, given what God eventually did to him, all on a bet with Satan, it could have been…. If so, it goes to show, one shouldn’t go too long in the desert sun without finding some shade….

Here we have a statement that purports to provide reason for worship, a justification of why we should bow our heads in prayer to the heavens…. in short it says, “God is unpredictable, and omnipotent; it makes good sense to kowtow to Him…. he likes appeasement.” Well, maybe not, but you get the idea. We are theoretically in the power of a mad God, one who will fuck with his creation at the drop of a hat, just to entertain himself and the Devil over a wager.

He put Job through some outrageous times…. boils, plagues, genocide, hordes of locusts, deformity, God really did a number on Job, trying to see if his mind-conditioning would hold…. Since, according to the story, Job did hold out, and suffered all he did at God’s hand, and still wouldn’t curse him, we see that it did hold fast. What a dolt he must have been! No, I meant Job, but you may be right…. God surely acted like a dickhead in this one….

Sorry, but along about the third time God took everything away from me (had I been his chosen target instead of that stubborn boob, Job…), I would have started trying to figure out some way to fire back a few warning rounds, just to let Him know I’d had enough of that kind of treatment. A certain amount of leeway should be given, of course, but nobody gets more than three, I don’t care who they think they are…. By the act of persecution of Job, in my mind, He gave up any rights to worship, or even belief…. and He ought to know that, as he made me the way I am (according to the theory as given in Genesis).

I’d make this piece longer, but I think I’ve probably offended the Christians out there enough for one day…. also, the next section is a great poem, by my favorite poet, and I’d as soon you read it all, long as it is…. onward…..
___________________________________

This poem is rather long…. but I hope you read it all; it’s a great follow to the previous pearl, and well worth the time it takes….. enjoy!

A Tale Of The Thirteenth Floor

The hands of the clock were reaching high
In an old midtown hotel;
I name no name, but its sordid fame
Is table talk in hell.
I name no name, but hell’s own flame
Illumes the lobby garish,
A gilded snare just off Times Square
For the maidens of the parish.

The revolving door swept the grimy floor
Like a crinoline grotesque,
And a lowly bum from an ancient slum
Crept furtively past the desk.
His footsteps sift into the lift
As a knife in the sheath is slipped,
Stealthy and swift into the lift
As a vampire into a crypt.

Old Maxie, the elevator boy,
Was reading an ode by Shelley,
But he dropped the ode as it were a toad
When the gun jammed into his belly.
There came a whisper as soft as mud
In the bed of an old canal:
“Take me up to the suite of Pinball Pete,
The rat who betrayed my gal.”

The lift doth rise with groans and sighs
Like a duchess for the waltz,
Then in middle shaft, like a duchess daft,
It changes its mind and halts.
The bum bites lip as the landlocked ship
Doth neither fall nor rise,
But Maxie the elevator boy
Regards him with burning eyes.
“First, to explore the thirteenth floor,”
Says Maxie, “would be wise.”

Quoth the bum, “There is moss on your double cross,
I have been this way before,
I have cased the joint at every point,
And there is no thirteenth floor.
The architect he skipped direct
From twelve unto fourteen,
There is twelve below and fourteen above,
And nothing in between,
For the vermin who dwell in this hotel
Could never abide thirteen.”

Said Max, “Thirteen, that floor obscene,
Is hidden from human sight;
But once a year it doth appear,
On this Walpurgis Night.
Ere you peril your soul in murderer’s role,
Heed those who sinned of yore;
The path they trod led away from God,
And onto the thirteenth floor,
Where those they slew, a grisly crew,
Reproach them forevermore.

“We are higher than twelve and below fourteen,”
Said Maxie to the bum,
“And the sickening draft that taints the shaft
Is a whiff of kingdom come.
The sickening draft that taints the shaft
Blows through the devil’s door!”
And he squashed the latch like a fungus patch,
And revealed the thirteenth floor.

It was cheap cigars like lurid scars
That glowed in the rancid gloom,
The murk was a-boil with fusel oil
And the reek of stale perfume.
And round and round there dragged and wound
A loathsome conga chain,
The square and the hep in slow lock step,
The slayer and the slain.
(For the souls of the victims ascend on high,
But their bodies below remain.)

The clean souls fly to their home in the sky,
But their bodies remain below
To pursue the Cain who each has slain
And harry him to and fro.
When life is extinct each corpse is linked
To its gibbering murderer,
As a chicken is bound with wire around
The neck of a killer cur.

Handcuffed to Hate come Doctor Waite
(He tastes the poison now),
And Ruth and Judd and a head of blood
With horns upon its brow.
Up sashays Nan with her feathery fan
From Floradora bright;
She never hung for Caesar Young
But she’s dancing with him tonight.

Here’s the bulging hip and the foam-flecked lip
Of the mad dog, Vincent Coll,
And over there that ill-met pair,
Becker and Rosenthal,
Here’s Legs and Dutch and a dozen such
Of braggart bullies and brutes,
And each one bends ‘neath the weight of friends
Who are wearing concrete suits.

Now the damned make way for the double-damned
Who emerge with shuffling pace
From the nightmare zone of persons unknown,
With neither name nor face.
And poor Dot King to one doth cling,
Joined in a ghastly jig,
While Elwell doth jape at a goblin shape
And tickle it with his wig.

See Rothstein pass like breath on a glass,
The original Black Sox kid;
He riffles the pack, riding piggyback
On the killer whose name he hid.
And smeared like brine on a slavering swine,
Starr Faithful, once so fair,
Drawn from the sea to her debauchee,
With the salt sand in her hair.

And still they come, and from the bum
The icy sweat doth spray;
His white lips scream as in a dream,
“For God’s sake, let’s away!
If ever I meet with Pinball Pete
I will not seek his gore,
Lest a treadmill grim I must trudge with him
On the hideous thirteenth floor.”

“For you I rejoice,” said Maxie’s voice,
“And I bid you go in peace,
But I am late for a dancing date
That nevermore will cease.
So remember, friend, as your way you wend,
That it would have happened to you,
But I turned the heat on Pinball Pete;
You see – I had a daughter, too!”

The bum reached out and he tried to shout,
But the door in his face was slammed,
And silent as stone he rode down alone
From the floor of the double-damned.

Ogden Nash
___________________________________

The following is an old-school pearl, with a specific thought in mind for you to deduce….. for the sake of everyone’s blood pressure, that specific thought will be revealed at the end…. I don’t usually, but thought I’d give a treat, just ’cause I’m a nice guy…. really, I am……

Child:  “Supreme Being, why is there evil in the world?”
Supreme Being (Sir John Gielgud in a Savile Row suit): “Oh, dear, I can’t remember, exactly. . . something to do with free will, I believe.”
— Terry Gilliam, _The Time Bandits_

“The character of human life, like the character of the human condition, like the character of all life, is “ambiguity”: the inseparable mixture of good and evil, the true and false, the creative and destructive forces — both individual and social.” — Paul Tillich

Halfway down the stairs
Is a stair
Where I sit.
There isn’t any
Other stair
Quite like
It.
I’m not at the bottom,
I’m not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop.
— A.A. Milne

“Belief gets in the way of learning.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Truth, in the matters of religion, is simply the opinion that has survived.” — Oscar Wilde

“SANTA CLAUS comes down a FIRE ESCAPE wearing bright  blue LEG WARMERS.  He scrubs the POPE with a mild soap or detergent for 15 minutes, starring JANE FONDA!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

You may be asking yourself at this point, just what have I gotten myself into? Well, relax, it’s no big deal….. all of the foregoing is intended to lead you to the following….. which WILL be on the quiz…..

An it harms none, do what thou will. — Wiccan Credo

Alternate answer, also correct:

There’s little in taking or giving,
There’s little in water or wine:
This living, this living, this living,
Was never a project of mine.
Oh, hard is the struggle, and sparse is
The gain of the one at the top,
For art is a form of catharsis,
And love is a permanent flop,
And work is the province of cattle,
And rest’s for a clam in a shell,
So I’m thinking of throwing the battle —
Would you kindly direct me to hell?

— Dorothy Parker

“Birth, school, work, death.  About sums it up, I think.” — Smart Bee
___________________________________

For a rush job, this didn’t come out too badly…. it will have to do, anyway, so let’s get on with it….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you……

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

A sample vortex coalesced on the stairs….

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3

Ffolkes,
A day passes, one seemingly identical to another, over the course of a long life. Yet from one day to the next the entire world may turn upside down, leaving us to scramble for the nearest point to hold on for dear life, or fall, jumbled and tumbled around with the rest of our lives.

Five days ago, I was content and comfortable. Now, I am anxious and on edge, and will be until I can find another place to live…. Yep, that’s right, I got the ol’ 30 day notice a few days ago, and must find another lodging, as this one is being foreclosed by the lien-holder, no doubt some fat cat banker who doesn’t care that 6 people now must rearrange their entire existence in the space of one month. Just another typical tale of the 21st century here in America, as the economy continues its self-destruction right before our eyes….

It may be a product of my youth, but I hate to move. When my dad was in the Army, before I was 10, we moved every few years, to wherever the Army sent him, in their commonly capricious manner. By the age of 10, I had lived in California (two army bases, and two towns), Washington (Fort Lewis), and Japan for seven months. My older siblings had, prior to my birth, also lived in Georgia and, I believe, Texas. It is an adventure, to be sure, to move a family of four to seven people and all their belongings, from one end of California to another, or, just as likely, from one coast to another. An adventure that I, and my siblings, found to be a major pain, after the initial rush of excitement.

So, once more, I have to find a place, negotiate to get in, then box up all I own, and find somebody to transport it to the new place for me, as I can no longer do the lifting myself. Piece o’cake, right? Riiiiiight…. NOT!  I’m already bummed out about it, and now must find a way to motivate myself to not procrastinate…. otherwise I’ll be staring at the end of the month with no place to go….

Ah, me, Life is such a joy, is it not?…. Murphy has obviously been planning this one for a while, and is, no doubt, hovering around somewhere, laughing his ass off at the idea of the poor old fool and his meager possessions being on the street, even if only for a short time…. it’s all funny to him….

Ah, the hell with it, I’m going diving. Want to come along? Let’s go find some pearls, and create today’s Pearl……
___________________________________

On Monday, when the sun is hot,
I wonder to myself a lot;
‘Now is it true, or is it not,
‘That what is which and which is what?’

“On Tuesday, when it hails and snows,
The feeling on me grows and grows
That hardly anybody knows
If those are these or these are those.”

“On Wednesday, when the sky is blue,
And I have nothing else to do,
I sometimes wonder if it’s true
That who is what and what is who.”

— A.A. Milne, Winnie The Pooh

Winnie seems to have been channeling the future for Dr. Seuss, and has hit the perfect note of nonsensical sense. Much of this little poem could conceivably have been included in “Horton Hears a Hoo”, or “A Cat in a Hat” (I may have gotten the titles wrong; it’s been a while since I read the good doctor’s books….)

Regardless, I like this little poem a lot, as it expresses so well how all of us feel at times…. at least, those of us who remember to let out our inner child on a regular basis…. It is unfortunate that many folks read this, and dismiss it as being “childish”, and not suitable for adult consideration… for they are losing out on experiencing a completely different side of reality than the one they normally inhabit…. and as Willie Wonka said, “A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.”….. Yes, indeed it is…..
___________________________________

“The advocates of the pornography victims compensation bill seem to think that if we stop showing rape in movies people will stop committing it in real life. Anthropologists call this ‘magical thinking’. It’s the same impulse that makes people stick pins in voodoo dolls, hoping to cripple an enemy.  It feels logical, but it does not work.” — New York Times Article

This is propaganda, in its worst form…… First, it is presented as a legitimate article with the attached charismatic factor of being published in (gasp!) the New York Times. If it’s in there, it must be true, right?…. Bullshit. The Times gets it wrong just as often as the National Enquirer; remember a few years back when one of their most popular reporters was busted for making up all his stories, for years? One would do well to always remember to believe only about 25% of what is read, and only then if you know of corroborating information…. otherwise, you are bound to eventually be disappointed in your trust…..

Second, it makes an assertion that is completely false, in order to ridicule the supporters of the legislation they are  opposing. I have no doubt this was written by a male, and that he very likely misogynistic. He first accuses the supporters of the pornography victims compensation bill of sloppy, wishful thinking, which he claims is called ‘magical thinking’ by (gasp!) Anthropologists (whom we all know to be the Final Authority when it comes to labeling the parts of society…) According to the author of the article, “it feels logical, but it does not work.”  Hmph. I suppose he has already tried it himself. And, of course, we can consider him an expert on what is logical, because, by golly, he said so….

This is typical propaganda, written to pull the unwary into feeling a kinship with the author. The author makes statements, and claims, that sound pretty bad, in a way that says to the readers, “hey, look, you and me, we’re different than this poor fool!”, and calls on experts, who in reality are, a) not experts and b) didn’t, and wouldn’t, necessarily say what they are claimed to have said….. In reality, Anthropologists would probably agree that movies DO have an effect on societal behavior, and CAN help stop this kind of issue, because it ceases to glorify, and make acceptable, actions that are evil and completely derogatory to women.

If it is made illegal to ban showing rape in movies, it WILL help stop such behavior in society. How can it be considered wrong to rape, when movies glorify it, often showing it as a natural result of the WOMAN’s actions, that inflamed the man beyond his ability to control, thus making her responsible for being raped? How can it be illegal to rape, and yet be legal to show rape in movies? THAT is what doesn’t make sense, unless one accepts the lie that movies don’t affect behavior.

Banning the filming of rape, or any other sexual crime, (of which there are more than enough examples in real life), is NOT THE SAME as “magical thinking”. Nor is it the same as “voodoo” believers’ beliefs in unprovable principles. Rape is NOT a subject for films, especially when they glorify it, as being something natural. It is only natural to misogynists and sexual predators; normal men do not feel like watching a rape for entertainment purposes.

This statement, and the article, are typical of the kind of lies that those who perpetrate the sex slave trafficking in women and children of both sexes. They couch their lies in logical, dispassionate terminology, and quote societal experts to support their lies with scientific proof.

The simple truth is that these men are animals, sexual predators of the worst kind, and their only interest is in continuing the ongoing slavery of millions of women who have been trapped into a life of prostitution, and brainwashed into feeling that they are nothing, worth only what their bodies can be sold for, and forced to be raped on a daily basis….. and the general public doesn’t seem to care….
    The whole issue is a hot button for me. I start crying, like now, every time I think of the pain and anguish that is felt by these women who are nothing more than slaves to their male animal masters. I am ashamed of my gender, and of my species, for allowing this kind of activity to not only persist, but to assume some kind of acceptance by society at large.

Supposedly enlightened people talk about “victimless crimes” and as above, they spout off about “magical thinking” to distract the general public into believing the issue is not a problem; these enlightened IDIOTS are fools, and can be considered to be in the same category as those who deliberately pursue this kind of activity, by default….

Next time you read some article supporting the sex trade, remember that for every ONE woman who voluntarily enters the business of selling themselves for sex, there are, easily, a MILLION women who are not given any choice in the matter, who suffer daily beatings and rapes, and who are treated as if they are cattle, with no rights and no hope of change….

But, there is hope, if they are fortunate; there are women who, by dint of their own strength, and their own will to be free, have successfully exited the business. And those women are carrying their message to a thus-far indifferent public; they are on blogs all over the world, telling their experiences of being slaves, and showing the way to set themselves free…. 

So far, these voices are a mere drop in a bucket, and will remain so, as long as articles like the one above continue to make their ridiculously dangerous, pseudo-logical arguments to an unwitting public, and the public continues to accept the lies….

But then, the American public is pretty good at accepting lies, aren’t they?……
___________________________________

And, finally, we will use some Art to disguise this last Pearl…. these three photos, all found on Facebook, shall act as this morning’s political commentary…. enjoy!
    I think that will serve to make my point…. if not, well, just think on it a while, and it will come to you….
___________________________________

And so we come to the end of another day’s effort…. So be it. I’m not even going to go back and edit, beyond checking for typos…. So, y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Has anyone felt my milquetoast?

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Ffolkes,
I’m not sure why, but I woke up in a foul, fragile mood, which makes me want to bite something, or preferably somebody.  I actually do have an idea why, but only the final event really matters; it is one that is not for publication. I’m finding myself enjoying (if that is the word) some newish side benefits, perks, if you will, of being the proud possessor of PTSD, in all its ugly glory…..

The last few weeks have been a bit rough, in terms of physical pain and financial stress. I’m getting really, really fed up with trying to subsist on the amount of money I was making when I was 22.  Add that stress to the pain I’ve been fighting, and you get the diffuse anxiety, depressive thoughts, and emotional fragility that causes me to burst into tears without any warning…. like right now….. S’cuse me a minute…..

Sorry ’bout that…. any who….. The latest news that has me stressed out is that my landlord is having a problem refinancing the property, and may lose it. So, as of the first of this month, I might have to move, if his refinance isn’t approved. I really don’t want to move…. I’ve grown to hate the process severely. I can no longer do most of it myself, because of my back, so I must find someone to help me. Since I live like a hermit, that will be problematic, and just adds to the stress.

“It’s exhilarating to be alive in a time of awakening consciousness; it can also be confusing, disorienting, and painful.” — Adrienne Rich

That’s enough self pity, I think…. I hate to indulge in it, and don’t really want to put my problems out there for all to see. But, today, I don’t care what people think about it, I just need to vent, and this is my only source for that service….. I’ll try to keep it lighter from this point, ‘kay?….

Shall we Pearl? That is, after all, what I am here for……

Truths would you teach, or save a sinking land?
All fear, none aid you, and few understand.
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744)– Essay on Man, Epistle iv, Line 261
___________________________________

Better stop short than fill to the brim.
Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt.
Amass a store of gold and jade, and no one can protect it.
Claim wealth and titles, and disaster will follow.
Retire when the work is done.
This is the way of heaven.
— Tao Te Ching

In discussing religions, I have always avoided showing a preference for one over another. It may seem like I pick on Christianity a lot, but that, I believe, merely reflects the fact that I was raised as one, so I am more familiar with its intransigences. All of them are based on false assumptions, so, to my mind, they are all delusional at their base.

Taoism, on the other hand, is NOT a religion, as it does not promote any particular concept of a dyslexic Dog, and speaks of Heaven only as a reflection of the Tao, an ideal, as it were, without supposing the presence of a supernatural policeman enforcing delusional behavior.

REPENTANCE, n.  The faithful attendant and follower of Punishment.  It is usually manifest in a degree of reformation that is not inconsistent with continuity of sin.

Desirous to avoid the pains of Hell,
You will repent and join the Church, Parnell?
How needless! — Nick will keep you off the coals
And add you to the woes of other souls.
Jomater Abemy
— Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

Instead of attempting to get people to behave acceptably by offering rewards and punishments, Taoism provides suggestions and observations regarding the way to approach reality to achieve a desired result. There is no promise of everlasting life for following the rules set down, nor any threat of a fiery Hell if those rules are broached. There is only the author’s wisdom regarding his approach to life, with suggestions for behavior that lead to desirous results in reality. It is an appeal to reason, rather than treating adults as children with a mad, capricious parent, inconsistent from one moment to the next…..

“Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

All of the above suggestions are very good advice, and all obviously based on experience. They have been tested by reality, and found to be accurate in every case. If you have ever filled a glass with liquid to the brim, then tried to carry it somewhere, the first line is one you will agree with right away; it is actually a technique taught in food service to waitrons, to always leave some room at the top of the glass, so that it becomes easy to carry, rather than stressful, and messy. The others are equally relevant, as I can attest, and, as can be seen by reading history books, and the daily news, evidence is ubiquitous in both.

On a personal level, I find Taoism to be incredibly useful in dealing with everyday events. It requires the development of new ways of thinking, and getting rid of habitual patterns of behavior based on dysfunctional concepts and institutions, but I can attest that it is entirely worth the effort.

Using these precepts as the basis for all one’s actions is actually a soothing, uplifting process; I find today that merely discussing the differences has improved my emotional state. This can theoretically be extended into every corner of our lives, and provide us with a source of serenity and peace in a world full of strife and confusion…..

“To YOU I’m an atheist; to God, I’m the Loyal Opposition.” — Woody Allen (Well, sort of….)
___________________________________

Yesterday, I wrote one of several pieces on Will Shakespeare…. Murphy has apparently decided to be helpful, in his own way, and keeps shoving into my face more and more examples that demonstrate the extent of the crap he produced.

Rather that piss him off, I’ll put some more in today’s Pearl, to further my campaign to remove him from the pantheon of literary gods, and return him to where he belongs, somewhere in the middle of the pack of writers in the world, a worthy compatriot of Jacqueline Suzanne and the author of “Twilight”……

He arrests him on it;
And follows close the rigour of the statute,
To make him an example.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Measure for Measure — Act i, Sc. 4

“Convey,” the wise it call. “Steal!” foh! a fico for the phrase!
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Merry Wives of Windsor — Act i, Sc. 3

I hold you as a thing ensky’d and sainted.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Measure for Measure — Act i, Sc. 4

Can such things be,
And overcome us like a summer’s cloud,
Without our special wonder?
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Macbeth — Act iii, Sc. 4

Ap. My poverty, but not my will, consents.
Rom. I pay thy poverty, and not thy will.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Romeo and Juliet — Act v, Sc. 1

That is probably enough…. these five all strike me as nonsense. Perhaps they show more meaning if put into the context of the plays, but, are still far more obscure than they need to be…. I’ll stop now because Will has taken quite a few hits here the last two days, and is starting to look a bit bedraggled and bloody. Of course, he has a reputation that can probably stand up to that….. Ah well, my suggestion is, if you want to see a good play, go see something that Tennessee Williams wrote, or better yet, Neil Simon….
___________________________________

A Last Confession

What lively lad most pleasured me
Of all that with me lay?
I answer that I gave my soul
And loved in misery,
But had great pleasure with a lad
That I loved bodily.

Flinging from his arms I laughed
To think his passion such
He fancied that I gave a soul
Did but our bodies touch,
And laughed upon his breast to think
Beast gave beast as much.

I gave what other women gave
That stepped out of their clothes.
But when this soul, its body off,
Naked to naked goes,
He it has found shall find therein
What none other knows,

And give his own and take his own
And rule in his own right;
And though it loved in misery
Close and cling so tight,
There’s not a bird of day that dare
Extinguish that delight.

William Butler Yeats

And now the emotional repair job is complete. A bit of light, happy making poetry from Mssr. Yeats, and all is well….. Enjoy!
___________________________________

So be it…. today’s effort was mostly therapeutic, for me, at least by intent. Hopefully, it will bring some light into your life as well…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Hastening Armageddon for pennies a day….

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Ffolkes,
With a clear eye, and a somewhat less than clear conscience, I take up the gauntlet once more, seeking new and innovative ways to befuddle the reading audience. Well, either befuddle, or titillate, take your pick; both are on sale today…..

That’s right, we’re having a sale. I have all this excess verbiage laying around, and I figured, “Hey, maybe somebody can use some of this stuff!”  Then I thought to myself, “Hey, maybe I can fool, er, talk them into paying for it! It’s worth a shot, right?”  So, I’ve taken some time to organize and label a bunch of stuff, and put prices on them.

Please, during your visit today, please take a moment to to look through the catalog on the table over there, and see if there isn’t a metaphor, or a witty response, or a partial poem, or a joke, or maybe even, gasp, an original idea, that you can use in your work…. all priced very reasonably….  Plus, if you buy your needed accessories to crime here, there is no guilt factor, so you can save the money you would have spent on plagiarism insurance. Every word will be shipped via email, so that cost is also zero…. How can you lose?

The bonus factor for me is a couple bucks extra to go into the old refrigerator….. No, I don’t mean I put my money in the fridge; I mean I’ll buy food, and put it in there….. although, come to think of it, I do know a lot of folks who think hiding money in the fridge is one NOBODY will ever think of…. I never bother to tell them it is the first place any experienced cop, guard, technician, or junkie will search in their quest for illegal substances or hidden treasures, mainly because EVERYBODY thinks that nobody else knows this…. another fine example of the quality of most folk’s thinking processes….

That’s probably enough silliness for one morning, or at least for intentional silliness. It starts to annoy even me after a bit…. What say we dive in and start the morning Pearl?….. Keeping in mind, of course, the morning words of wisdom….

PARANOIA: A healthy understanding of the way the universe works. — Smart Bee
___________________________________

ART, n.  This word has no definition.  Its origin is related as follows by the ingenious Father Gassalasca Jape, S.J.

One day a wag — what would the wretch be at? —
Shifted a letter of the cipher RAT,
And said it was a god’s name!  Straight arose
Fantastic priests and postulates (with shows,
And mysteries, and mummeries, and hymns,
And disputations dire that lamed their limbs)
To serve his temple and maintain the fires,
Expound the law, manipulate the wires.
Amazed, the populace that rites attend,
Believe whate’er they cannot comprehend,
And, only edified to learn that two
Half-hairs joined so and so (as Art can do)
Have sweeter values and a grace more fit
Than Nature’s hairs that never have been split,
Bring cakes and wines for sacrificial feasts,
And sell their garments to support the priests.

— Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

It seems that Mr. Bierce’s talent was not limited to merely prose with a sharp point, but displayed just as precisely, and pointedly, as poetry. Quite excellent poetry too, with couplets all a-rhyme, scansion dancing around the pole made of irony, with streamers of wit….. I’m impressed, more and more, each time I read from the Dictionary….

I guess I wasn’t quite done with being Silly….
___________________________________

“Ignore the man behind the screen.” — The All Seeing, All Powerful, Wonderful Wizard of Oz

As the time passes and we draw ever nearer to the election this year, this becomes increasingly relevant. It is important to remember that ALL the political candidates are guilty of using the art of prestidigitation in their communications with the public. Of course, Mitt the Twitt and the GOP are showing particularly egregious new heights to which they are willing to take the art; they have paraded a series of lies before the public that are not even hidden lies. They don’t seem to care; they just deny, ignore, and issue their next false accusation or made up statistics….

‘Shit Happens’ according to… Denialism:      What shit? — Smart Bee

The Democrats aren’t completely free of this syndrome, either, and if you believe they are, then you have entered the Twilight Zone, and may have trouble finding your way back to the real world. I admire Obama, much the same way I did Carter; they are both basically decent men trying to do an impossible job, while constantly having to contend with an entire segment of those who are supposed to support him as loyal opposition, who, instead, are attempting to thwart his every reform, simply for the sake of divisiveness. In the fight to get ANYTHING done, the incumbents have had to resort to chicanery of their own. I figure they, at least, feel a bit of guilt about it, whereas I can see no such reaction from Mitt or any of the GOP spokesbozos…. They just deny and ignore any such suggestions of wrong-doing….

Let’s consider Mitt the Twitt for a moment. Here is a man who admits to being rich as Croesus, yet finds it necessary to hide at least half of his real worth, as if it would tarnish his image of someone who can relate to the common man. I think the common man, to Mitt, is someone who only has $50,000 worth of investments, to go along with the house they own, their three cars, and the vacation home in Maine. In contrast to EVERY OTHER candidate’s policy of publishing their taxes, he continues to refuse to release any returns beyond the last one; there are inconsistencies and red flag items of interest to the public in that one, too, but he refuses to discuss any of it…

This is the same man who tied his dog to a kennel on the roof of a car, and went off on vacation, without ever thinking of how terrified the dog might be, barreling along at 80 mph, with the wind blowing straight through the kennel. He laughs about it, and turns questions about it to other subjects, refusing to even comment on it. This is the same man who, when asked about a serious incident of bullying and gay bashing during his last year in high school, shrugged it off as “youthful pranks and high spirits”…..

This is the same man who…. well, never mind. I could go on most of the day, and not get to all the little incidents from just the last few months that indicate the Twitt’s complete disregard for the majority of Americans, and show clearly how entrenched he is in the 1%, and how committed he is to solidifying the stranglehold that the banks and corporations have on the rest of American society. His total focus is on the agenda of the rich, to the detriment of the poor, and I am totally astounded at just how many IDIOTS are out there in this country supporting him, in the mistaken belief that he gives a shit about them….

No politician is acting in the best interests of the people they govern. None of them. But people continue to act as if they do, and it is driving me crazy! Normal, intelligent people are backing this asshole, thinking that he isn’t going to screw them over. It is incomprehensible to me how people can blind themselves to the obvious so completely that they would fall for this shit….  I will say it one more time, and I hope they can understand it….

And then shall many be offended,… — Matthew 24:10

You are being lied to, by every politician who is currently seeking office, and by every one currently in office. If you don’t see that, if you don’t believe that, then you are deliberately fucking yourself in the place it will most hurt, and apparently, enjoying it…. The man, the party, and 99% of everyone you see on TV is LYING TO YOU!!!!! They are doing so every day, every hour, every minute, and you are accepting it like you are a starving sheep and what they are saying is manna from heaven.

WAKE UP!…..  I’m stopping here, my blood pressure is spiking, and I’m starting to type in all caps to show I’m shouting, rather than just as contextual importance. That’s how worked up I get when I think of how deliberately stupid people can be…. I don’t so much mind the stupid part, but the fact that they have to CHOOSE to not see what is right in front of their face just sets me off…. So much indignation, righteous or not, is giving me indigestion….. stay alert, ffolkes, the politicians are coming, and they’re dangerous when unregulated….
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Certain passages in several laws have always defied interpretation and the most inexplicable must be a matter of opinion. A judge of the Court of Session of Scotland has sent the editors of this book his candidate which reads, “In the Nuts (unground), (other than ground nuts) Order, the expression nuts shall have reference to such nuts, other than ground nuts, as would but for this amending Order not qualify as nuts (unground)(other than ground nuts) by reason of their being nuts (unground).” — from the Guinness Book of World Records, 1973

I’m almost speechless. (I know, you’ll believe it when you see it…. I did say ‘almost’…. that’s something…) It’s absolutely beautiful! Perfectly priceless absolute nonsense, dressed only in legal briefs…. It is so impenetrable, I can’t tell if it is the law itself, or the judge’s written opinion on the law, or a passage from Nightmare on Elm Street! Which I’ve never seen, by the way….

How’s that for tangential? Any who, this was included today as a finishing touch to my Twitt-rant above. This goes to show exactly how the political hacks we are burdened with today work their verbal magic, to distract us from looking at things they don’t want us to see. Bureaucratese is what I’ve heard it called, a language, and skill set, that society has had practiced on them since the days of ancient Greece.

When a document such as the one above reaches a certain level of impenetrability, the majority of people alive will either fall asleep halfway through reading it, or totally ignore it after reading the first 11 words or so. It’s a classic piece of distraction, and is probably used in courses for political science majors in college, especially in law schools, as an example of how to carry off the trick.

To me, what this law indicates is that one, or more, of the people involved in writing the law have a monetary interest in being able to obfuscate the definition of “Nuts”, in order for them to achieve some financial reward owing to the indicated distinctions in that definition. In other words, a loophole or three is created, so the “Nut” vendors can make more money, charging more for each kind of Nut than could be accomplished without the legislation.

It’s similar to the law in this country that was pushed through the Federal Courts back in the mid-1800’s, when a corrupt Federal judge awarded “personhood” to corporations, after being paid handsomely by those corporations for his verdict…. Same, same, alla same…. Evil is loose in the world….

— Bother! said Pooh, as he had another plate of Piglet sausage. — Smart Bee (Remember Mitt the Twitt at the NAACP?…..As Jueseppi, the Obabmacrat says, “he was jivin’, shuckin’ and jivin”….. with a mouth full of sausage….)

I suppose all I’m trying to say here is, once again….. Wake up ffolkes…. the beloved ruling class, the priestly hierarchies, and the corporate “persons” in the shape of banks and multinational corporations, are continue to hide from all of us the actual business they are pursuing, which has everything to do with benefiting them, nothing to do with benefiting the public; it’s all about screwing everyone else as much as they will allow…. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m about done with allowing ANY of it….

“I’m not tense, just terribly alert.” — Smart Bee

So, please…. DON’T ignore the man behind the screen…. he’s the one who is killing us all….
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I’ll take it…. I don’t know about y’all, but I feel better for having gotten that out….. sorry if any of it got on your clothing. I don’t think any of it is toxic…. maybe a bit vitriolic, but vitriol won’t actually harm anything, unless it applies to the reader as well as the subject matter…. Was that obscure enough?… So be it. Mr. Crusher, make it so….

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

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Our best quality yak butter is on sale….

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Ffolkes,
Apple Brown Betty. Sounds good, doesn’t it? It’s one of my favorite desserts. What it has to do with creating a morning Pearl is somewhat unclear to me just now. When I typed it a moment ago, I had a reason, a lead-in for this missive, but, it is now gone wherever those fleeting thoughts go, and I’m left holding the empty bag, again. If I weren’t already confused, this would have done it, and did……

It must be the Beast. Or, the aftermath of the Beast, to be more accurate. Last night, to celebrate making it through another month, I took myself out to dinner, and, in the process, consumed an adult beverage, or three. It has been such a long time since I went out, I believe my capacity for hard liquor went south, because I’m feeling more than just a little foggy this morning. One might think I’d never had a hangover before, if one didn’t know better…. and this one is old enough to know better…

“Drinking makes such fools of people, and people are such fools to begin with, that it’s compounding a felony.” — Robert Benchley

Hung over or no, I still am here to Pearl, not to complain, so I think we’ll just get to the meat of the matter, before I sink into the miasma…. great word, eh? Miasma…. it just trips so smoothly off the lips….. never mind. Sorry, distracted for a moment…. so, shall we Pearl?……..
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A Hymn To God The Father

Wilt thou forgive that sin where I begun,
Which was my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt thou forgive that sin, through which I run,
And do run still, though still I do deplore?
When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
For I have more.

Wilt thou forgive that sin which I have won
Others to sin, and made my sin their door?
Wilt thou forgive that sin which I did shun
A year or two, but wallow’d in, a score?
When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
For I have more.

I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore;
But swear by thyself, that at my death thy Son
Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore;
And, having done that, thou hast done;
I fear no more.

John Donne

One of the characteristics of an honorable man is the ability to accept ideas that he doesn’t agree with, without becoming emotionally engaged in challenging the idea’s verity. I consider myself to be honorable in that sense, so it isn’t difficult for me to accept the idea that Christianity, while having had an extremely deleterious effect on society at large, still provided, and provides, the impetus for many an artist to display their talent in praise of the Christian ethos. A large number of exquisitely beautiful cathedrals exist, all over the world, as visible proof of this idea. This poem is another perfect example of how faith can produce beautiful expressions of art, even though the faith it celebrates is, to my mind, an illusory belief. That illusion doesn’t detract from the beauty of these words…..
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Everybody knows Winnie the Pooh. He is, without a doubt, one of modern society’s Uncarved Blocks. There have been complete books written, just to explore the depth of Zen philosophy Pooh demonstrates with his little aphorisms. But most folks don’t know that Pooh has a dark side, as well…. and it is very dark indeed! I have listed below some of the aphorisms collected to show just how scary this little Bear of Little Brain can be….

— Bother! said Pooh, as he sold Eeyore to the glue factory.

— Bother! said Pooh, as Tenebrae fed him to Cthulhu.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he flooded the computer room with nerve gas.

— Bother! said Pooh, as Q destroyed the universe.

— Bother! said Pooh, as the Monitor blew up in his face.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he hid Piglet’s corpse with Roo’s.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he was arrested for indecent exposure.

— Bother! said Pooh, and lit another joint.

— Bother! said Pooh, as the Romulan Warbird uncloaked.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he sold crack in the school yard.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he destroyed the human race.

— Bother! said Pooh, as he misquoted the druidic Spell of Making.

I guess it’s just one more piece of proof that things are not always what they seem…..  😉
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    I found this on Facebook, and found after reading the list, that all of them were a part of my earliest training from my father. He was an old-fashioned gentleman, even though he wasn’t an officer. But then, he declined the promotion to captain, preferring to remain a  Master-Sergeant. More proof of the old saw about the sergeants running the army…. Every one of these items is good advice, and together comprise an excellent approach to living with honor….
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If I traveled to the end of the rainbow
As Dame Fortune did intend,
Murphy would be there to tell me
The pot’s at the other end.
— Bert Whitney

I found this poem just as I was finishing up today’s Pearl, and thought it would make an excellent closing thought. One of these days, I’m going to catch Murphy in the act, and there will be a come-uppance, for one of us. He may be a force of Nature, but he’s been messing with me for a very long time, and force or no force, he WILL pay….. In the meantime, y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!