Ffolkes,

“I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together!”

~~ The Beatles, “I Am The Walrus ~~

Foxy the Stump….

Hajime…. Today is…. blank? Hmm. As I sat to begin, my mind felt full of relatively creative urges; when I began to type, it all went away. This, of course, tells me our old friend Murphy is hanging somewhere about the premises, looking for trouble. This isn’t to say we can do much about it, except to try to be mindful, so he doesn’t catch us completely flat-footed. It does mean I should speed up this intro a bit, in order to keep ahead of him as long as we can…

I suppose I could abandon all formality, & just dump y’all down the page. But, we’ve got some good stuff here today, so, I’ll ease you in as best I can, with a little prep. For your listening pleasure, I’ve included an hour of Wolfie Mozart, with two of his best pieces one after the other. Our ranting section today is filled with a most excellent guest piece, by our friend Dean Baker, with one of the finest takes on modern culture I’ve seen. Period. There’s also a rather nice old-school pearl, bringing us to the closing section with dispatch if not aplomb. Not bad for an old drunk curmudgeon, eh?

What? Oh, drunk… no, not now, but, much of last night was spent at some level of that condition; kind of fun, & makes sleep come quick…. I guess I could do without the mild hangover, but, the price has to be paid, one way or another, eh? A hot shower, a bit of mild walking, & I’ll be fine. To get moving toward completing some of that, I’ll end this here with my new-found sense of ruthlessness, which, though still a bit uncomfortable, works quite well for this sort of thing…. It works just like this, as you well know….

Shall we pearl?….

“It’s like brother Nietzsche said –being human is a complicated gig,
so give that dark night of the soul a hug and howl the eternal yes.”

~~ Chris, DJ, Northern Exposure ~~

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Wolfie M….

Today’s musical selection is simple. The two symphonies you’ll hear are both from Wolfgang Mozart, the last two he wrote, considered two of his best. Together, they give us an hour of delightful noise, as fine as any ever produced by humans…. I hope you enjoy it….

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphonies 40 & 41

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https://tormentingthemonkey.wordpress.com/2016/07/14/suicide-citizens-and-lethal-force/

Yesterday, after procrastinating a bit for a day or so, I finally checked out the post of an author/writer/poet/musician/scholar/curmudgeon/magician named Dean J. Baker. I am privileged to be able to call him friend, as I consider him one of the finest artistic souls of our generation. (As a side note of some personal satisfaction, I can safely say I know at least three such souls, none of whom are celebrities in the normal sense, but, are those who, in my more than normal experience, exhibit the qualities I know to be, in human terms, eternal… I guess that will need to be explained further, but, that can be for another time…. To return to reality, real-time…

I found, upon relieving the stress of procrastinating, a literary gem. I’m going to reproduce it today, but, you can read the original at the link above. Considering the recent news, and all the hullabaloo in the news regarding violence in society between the police and the public (which I’ll point out is a mask/metaphor for the true battle, between the narcissist sociopaths and the rational humanists, comprising the two most influential segments of the human bell curve….), this is both an extremely timely examination, as well as both exacting an indictment, and offering a potential direction to take…. I give you, Dean Baker….

Suicide Citizens, and Lethal Force

How stupid do you have to be to get shot by the Police?

Things are obvious. You get stopped. Stopped, not interrupted. Stopped by legal representatives of the Law who are empowered to shoot, and kill you.
They are not going to wait or hesitate to see if you have a gun, if you make a movement. They aren’t saying to themselves, ‘Hey, maybe this guy or girl is reaching for a gummi bear to alleviate their tension at being stopped, so maybe they won’t fire off a quick shot and if they do maybe I won’t get hit.’

Whether or not they’re mean themselves or generally helpful outside the situation has nothing to do with anything. You’re stopped, you stop.

Whether or not the situation dictates that they should shoot you a few more times once you’re down is a legitimate reason for a fast debate since there is reason from examples that they not only shoot to stop you from shooting them, but that they shoot to kill you.

But really, what kind of special retard do you have to be to move, shift, disobey directions meant to keep you safe, them safe, and prevent you from being shot?

Consider this: you likely have one or two .40 caliber guns pointed right at you. In less than five seconds, you can be dead. The news is full of unlawful victims, righteous shootings, and the use basically of lethal force.

Are you an idiot who cannot read? Are you blind that you cannot see these? Or maybe you climbed off the Special Bus that says ‘none of that real world stuff applies to me.’

Then consider the fact that on the side of the Police there is likely an assumption that you are half way intelligent, and/or aware.
And then you move..

Certainly the rules of, and teachings for, policing may need to be reviewed immediately – and more than casually.

I’m not in favor of getting shot, certainly. I detest the idea that people, stupid or not, are getting shot, resulting in trauma all around. What’s going to happen? A citizen-ruled committee that says we must trust that you are a well-intentioned person who may or may not have made an error, so we’ll wait to see.

Duh, no.

The entire idea of policing in regards to stops is to establish bona fides, or not.

The vulnerability rests in the fact that in this society there is a built-in idiot factor.
Doctors won’t inform on a colleague who may be doing irreparable harm. Schools won’t fire a teacher who likely ought to be taking, not teaching, classes. Bureaucracies employ idiots.

You know what I mean – you probably have a relative or friend you know who needs being replaced.

And cops won’t say yeh, some of us are true assholes who ought to be arrested because with their training and knowledge they’re more dangerous than some ignorant citizen.

Until that idiot factor is corrected you’re going to have wrong doing on both sides of the law.

The other side of that idiot factor is punishment that does not fit the crime.

When it’s light, there’s outrage. When it doesn’t exist, and seems to cater to authority, even greater outrage.

People do talk about justice, but make no mistake: there’s also a need for vengeance legally administered. The only real debate is on whether the degree is sufficient to satisfy the counter balanced requirement for justice and revenge combined.

And yes, there are morons who merely want their criminals to say they’re sorry. They’re all sorry they got caught, and those fools who require only acknowledgment are victims-in-waiting.

As for incidents where there are a group of police and one antagonist with a knife, I would think citizens would say ok, disarm the crazy, although from recent reports the Police would say, screw that, kill them.

Citizens would hope that their Police would make an effort to beanbag, taser, or beat the perpetrator. Not simply shoot, then shoot again when they are down as has happened too many times.

If a citizen can defend against such a crazy by shooting them, where’s the difference between them and the Police who do the same if they are in a group?

That sounds and looks like Police rules, not law.

Cops ought to have greater and more useful methods and manners of dealing with the wild ones, most especially if they are contained by being surrounded, or trapped in a vehicle unable to get out because they’re surrounded.

Otherwise, let’s admit to a truth: if you have a knife, and may or may not be crazy, and there is a group of Police around you, rather than finding a way to disarm you, they will kill you instead – all the talk and persuasion is a false idea of Police work when the end result is no different from what a citizen can accomplish.

Let’s at least recognize the idiot factor so changes can be effected, even if it would be stupid to assume people will alter their inclinations.

And as for the retard instigators who are merely glorifying themselves – establishing the fact that they need an authority to rebel against – know that they are simply the other side of authority, without the empowerment, and without the knowledge and practical applications, and thus even more dangerous than what they protest.

Where are they before any incidents? Are they stupid, waiting for a mess to occur before they channel their outrage when it’s more than likely it won’t be organized and thus effective at change? At most that is intellectually lazy and at least it’s a passive violence. Are they really self-servingly waiting for an excuse to exact a self-righteous rage, and thus not to be taken seriously?

However, if they choose the proper channels, establish a grouping of citizens to establish a fair protest against unfair rules and rulings, then to challenge authorities afterwards is as legitimate as the method in which this nation was founded.

Don’t be a tool of the media which enflames for its own end.

Nor the billionaires who fund movements for their own selfish reasons: which are never to the good of the individual citizen. You’re being manipulated by the self-righteous who are getting paid.

©Dean J. Baker

You can purchase Dean’s Books here:

https://deanjbaker.wordpress.com/awards/all-print-books-links/

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“Poetry is what gets lost in translation.” — Robert Frost

Placidly falling in amber waves: old friends

Whiskey, oh, whiskey, I’d forgotten thy balm,
thy loving spread of lassitude, and nature’s own calm.
Misery and pain flee in squalid disorganization,
leaving mirth, happily embraced, in just consolation.

James, old friend, thou has not abandoned me at all,
steadfast and loyal, ever ready to answer my softest call.
Ephemeral illusions of normality come at your instigation
blessed moments of peaceful joy, sans vilification.

Gasps of coherence pound at the door to conscious thought,
muffled explosive memories of battles already fought.
Malleable as the changeable airs of time and circumstance
plaintive calls to reason stand not a single, honest chance.

Sober again, reality’s cold reign brings a new day
ringing in old changes in a new-fashioned way.
To know true freedom’s release from our everyday pain
Is worth a bit of headache, even in the cold, pouring rain.

~~ gigoid, two sheets to the wind, and back ~~

“You will find poetry nowhere, unless you bring some with you.” — Joseph Joubert

12/2/2012

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Naked Pearls

Simple Truths

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“You can observe a lot by just watching.”

~~ Berra’s Law ~~

~~ Yogi Berra [Brooklyn Dodger’s Catcher & Major League Philosopher] ~~

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“Be not afraid of going slowly; be only afraid of standing still.”

~~ Chinese Proverb~~

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“Safety is on the shore, but the pearl is in the ocean.”

~~ Chinese Proverb ~~

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“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 ~~

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“If there is no wind, row.”

~~ Latin Proverb ~~

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“Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within;
there lies the power to persuade, there the life,
–there, if one must speak out, the real man.”

~~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, x, 38 ~~

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“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

~~ Confucius (551-479 BC) ~~

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“Costing not less than everything. “

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

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“Love;
While you have life to give
Live;
While you have love to give.”

~~ Piet Hiem ~~

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Thankfully, this came together well, in spite of my hung over state, and the ubiquitous threat of Murphy hanging about. To show my appreciation in the most relevant way, I’ll end it now, here. I will, however, be back tomorrow to torment, er, try this again. See ya, ffolkes; take that as you will….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….