Tag Archives: Zen

Astrogation isn’t for amateurs….

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Ffolkes,

“Aw, gee, Wally . . .”

~~ Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver ~~

Zack at Christmas 12-28-2012 003

Sunrise on the Road


Warning/Disclaimer: Any mental functions attempted in this area must be re-evaluated during a subsequent period. It has been discovered that standard logic works sideways in this area, if it works at all, due to the influence of the occupant.

Good morning, ffolkes….

Today’s opening picture is one of my own, and, it’s got a cute little story to it…. If you look closely at the left side of the picture, you’ll note the ray of light that comes directly at the area where the picture was taken. In the normal way, one might guess it was a trick of refraction, due to the shape of the camera lens, and the passage of the light through the atmosphere; in the normal way, you’d be right, too. But, this was NOT a ray of light from the sun, which traveled 92 million miles through space to reach me; it was actually a laser guide sight, from a ship hiding behind the clouds on the horizon….

You might think I’ve slipped over the edge, but, if you go to that spot (I can tell you where), you’ll see the big hole in the ground where the laser hit the telephone pole, just out of sight on the left, causing it to explode, nearly sending me into orbit…. Fortunately for me, just as I took this shot, a tractor beam, from another ship out of camera to the right, grabbed me, yanked me away, & deposited me in a safe spot some ways away before I could even blink. (The aliens who saved me told me this right afterward, after they’d destroyed the evil alien ship, then covered the whole area with a field of mental energy which cleared the events from everyone’s memory…. Kind of the techno equivalent of the Memory Spell in the Harry Potter world, eh?….) Lucky, wasn’t I?….

You may ask, first, if I’m getting any treatment for this…. No, silly, why would I? Most people suffer from being insane; I revel in it.

Secondly, you’ll no doubt ask how I can expect anyone to believe it’s true; the truth is, I don’t much care, because I expect that. The aliens told me I could talk about it if I wanted; nobody would believe me…. They were right, weren’t they?

Hah!

Okay, let’s get on with the REAL nonsense we have planned for today…. Who knows? Maybe some of it will be less illusory…. I wouldn’t put too much money on it, though, without some decent odds…. Who’s gonna give those around here?….

Shall we Pearl?

An older student came to Otis and said, “I have been to see a great number of teachers and I have given up a great number of pleasures. I have fasted, been celibate and stayed awake nights seeking enlightenment. I have given up everything I was asked to give up and I have suffered, but I have not been enlightened. What should I do?” Otis replied, “Give up suffering.” — Camden Benares, “Zen Without Zen Masters”

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A-laughing-girl-and-her-camel

    I’m in the mood for some mild fantasy, and a little fun…. How about an old favorite movie? This one may pull my covers a bit, threatening my status as a curmudgeon, but, what the hell…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this is a better story and movie than it seems… It also has one of the first movie attempts at combining animation and live actors in the same film sequence; the only flaw in I see is its Disney-esque blandness to the dialogue; a lot of the jokes could have used a bit of innuendo, or some spicy language…..


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Bedknobs and Broomsticks

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dodo

    Once you read the pearl(s), you’ll understand the picture…. Well, I’d hope you will….

“…to emphasize the afterlife is to deny life. To concentrate on Heaven is to create hell. In their desperate longing to transcend the disorderliness, friction, and unpredictability that pesters life; in their desire for a fresh start in a tidy habitat, germ-free and secured by angels, religious multitudes are gambling the only life they may ever have on a dark horse in a race that has no finish line.” — Tom Robbins, — Skinny Legs and All, p. 305.

“In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.” — Buddha

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

“In the beginning was nonsense, and the nonsense was with God, and the nonsense was God.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.” — Charles Darwin

“History is little else than a picture of human crimes and misfortunes.” — Voltaire — L’Ingenu, Chap. x

“History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.” — Lazarus Long, Time Enough for Love (1972) by Robert Heinlein

I was going to leave it at that, figuring it would do the trick…. But, I see it needs to move further along the train of thought, so, we’ll keep at it, until we find the right pearls to complete the necklace, er, composite of ideas as metaphor….

“If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war.” — Pentagon official, on why US military censored graphic footage from the Gulf War

“A “peace-loving nation” is one which bans fireworks and manufactures hydrogen bombs.” — Smart Bee

“Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness “positively”, by uniting our affections, the latter “negatively”, by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last is a punisher. Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one…. — Thomas Paine, opening lines of “Common Sense” — 1776

Men of ill judgment oft ignore the good

That lies within their hands, till they have lost it.

~~ Sophocles ~~


Well, there you go…. It’s a bit murky, but, hey, it’s better than a rant, and, you still get to see who is responsible, and how it happened…. It’s a start….

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Comedy_Tragedy

    Here’s another one from the archives, since the one percolating seems to have filed itself in an unknown folder…. SIGH…. If only it was a conscious process for me….

November Dreams of Spring

Crass and cold, the beggar finds me swollen, so frail and fat
with painful stepping motions, running, like a Republicrat.
Building with straw and spittle, should artists come aground,
we all pay heavily, a billion for a bloody pound.

Too desperate, too ashamed to play such a part
We ask for belief, and sweet liberty, dressing up so smart.
It falls between the simple cracks, always in a hurry
To find a shrunken ego, ashen, swift, and full of worry.

Never there was a more penitent group, such a sterling way
To fast in luxury, making sure the guilty enter, but do not stay.
Forgotten gods can find their diffident suitors tonight
With dream-fitted convention, and a natural sense of delight.

For all the silken babies cried, to see the broken dreams of power
forgiven moments of certitude serve, filling up the maiden’s bower.
All the patient, loving veterans of ancient foreign time,
give up their first impressions, dying, dying for a rhyme.

~~ gigoid ~~


Written 9/19/2012.

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buddah-out-to-lunch_s

    Today’s final old-school pearl will finish off our discussion of the power of dubiousity…. Enjoy, ffolkes; you may not realize it, but, this is a fairly good look into my soul….

“I love to doubt as well as know.”

~~ Dante ~~


“The fundamental cause of trouble in the world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” — Bertrand Russell

“The majority of mankind is lazy-minded, incurious, absorbed in vanities and tepid in emotion, and is therefore incapable of either much doubt or much
faith.” — TS Eliot

“If a person offend you and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures. Simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick.” — Mark Twain, Advice to Youth Speech, 1882

“Faith which does not doubt is dead faith.” — Miguel de Unamuno

“Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right.” — Laurens Van der Post, The Lost World of the Kalahari (1958)

”  There lives more faith in honest doubt,

Believe me, than in half the creeds.”

~~ Alfred Tennyson — In Memoriam, xcvi, Stanza 3 ~~


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Most of today’s effort was done ahead of time, so, I’m not sure how seamless it may all be; as is our habit, we can only say, “Oh, well!”. We’ll have to work on that. But, that’s a task for another day; this one is already shot to hell…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, provided Reality cooperates…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Baldly factual assertions, drying in the wind….

			
						

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Ffolkes,


Yesterday’s outburst, one would think, would have been enough to soothe the urge to rant that comes over me at the reading of these reports on the idiocy prevalent among the elected glitterati in this country. The amount of sheer stupidity, of outright deliberate denial of facts in favor of paranoid delusions, the display of asininity and selfish, avaricious cupidity that has been reported in the news, JUST in the House of Representatives over the last two weeks, is enough to weigh upon anyone with a brain, much less a sensitive, patriotic minded fool such as myself. It is seriously painful to observe the degree of idiocy the Retardican Party has tapped into of late, while trying to justify their racism and bigotry, which they typically try to disguise as concern over what should be non-issues….


Obviously, as indicated by the tone and content of the first paragraph, all of that rant didn’t get put down on screen yesterday, and it continues to burn a hole in the bag I’m holding it in, demanding to be put out into the light of day, where it can scream epithets and derogatory statements about relatives at the idiots who keep assaulting all of us with their intransigent asininity.


I mean, are these fools living in a different world than the rest of us? Can they not see the same evidence that the rest of us see? Can they continue to deny reality in the face of all the opposition that has been generated against them by just about every other demographic category in existence? I often wonder how many of these seemingly obvious questions, so obvious they are really rhetorical in nature, can be answered with a yes, when describing the current crop of Tea Party-supported fools in the Retardican Party…. you know, the idiots causing all the trouble in society right now, with their blind, fascistic insistence on opposing any and all reforms proposed by a black man, whose very existence as POTUS is a fact they are unable to accept….


I ask you this…. How long is the rest of this country, consisting of people like me, who believe in the true American Dream, a group that includes more than merely the White, Christian sub-group as its proponents, a Dream which acknowledges the diversity that actually exists in Reality, of Whites, Blacks, Browns, Greens, Purples, Rainbows, Latinos, Asians, LGBT’s, women, and everyone else the Tea Party would like to believe isn’t entitled to participate in their delusion…. How long are we going to allow these ASSHOLES to continue to try to force their vision on everyone else?


These people, as policy, lie, and cheat, and will resort to almost any act, no matter how egregiously immoral, to keep things as they want them to be, where their desires and entitlements are the only ones allowed. This has been proven by historical fact, and continues now, as they keep attempting to legislate morality, change congressional voting districts to favor themselves, and generally do anything they can to keep the rest of the people in this country from achieving any real societal diversity….


Hmm… I seem to have let this get away from me again, but, it just pisses me off so much when I look at the news each day, and see another example of how the ignorance and bigotry of the right-wing Retardicans is being shoved into the face of American politics, with the concomitant splatters of shit flying everywhere…. Their intransigent stupidity, and arrogance, is getting very old to me, and, I’m sure, to a lot of other people, and I wish to hell they’d just crawl back in their holes, and leave everyone else alone…. Not to mention shutting the hell UP!….


But, they won’t, so we will have to continue to put up with their noise, and the sheer lies and nonsense they throw out on a regular basis, to confuse and distract, if nothing else….. Me, I’m about ready to DO something about it, but, it will have to wait until I finish this Pearl, which, by the looks of it, may not ever get started, if I can’t shut myself up…. Okay, if I can’t stop at the end of this paragraph, I’ll institute emergency procedure #5…. I hope I don’t have to, though…. #5 is a messy one….


Shall we Pearl?…..


“If an ass goes traveling he will not come home a horse.” — Thomas Fuller


(The more I let this little statement echo around in my head, the more angles, depths, and meanings float up, into my awareness…. To keep from adding undue length where it is least needed, I will just say this… I wish the BRC wouldn’t spend as much time trying to convince the public that this statement is false, as they currently do. Since the statement is demonstrably and unarguably true, in so many ways, that could be construed as an impossible task… unless, of course, you help them by believing it…..)

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Having begun my rant in the intro, I don’t think it would go over well to continue it here…. So, we’ll go old school, which, as you know, is my default position in these instances….. I’m uncertain still if that meets with the approval of my readership, but, hey, I’ve been operating in the dark here for a long time, in that respect, so, it’s nothing new, and nothing to get huffed about…. As long as I can continue to pretend to some sort of relevance, and keep y’all unaware of how little I really know, well, I’ll be doing as well as the average politician, right? Right…. Let’s see what SB has for us today…..


“The typewriting machine, when played with expression, is no more annoying than the piano when played by a sister or near relation.” — Oscar Wilde

(Ouch! Now, THAT’S sarcasm!…. At which, of course, Oscar was the master….) (You don’t think he’s…. wait!?…. He’s not talking about ME, is he?…. Nah!…. No way!….)


“I’m continually AMAZED at th’breathtaking effects of WIND EROSION!!” — Zippy the Pinhead


“The ruthlessness born of self-seeking is ineffectual compared with the ruthlessness sustained by dedication to a holy cause. “God wishes,” said Calvin, “that one should put aside all humanity when it is a question of striving for His glory.” ” — Eric Hoffer


“The only thing I know for sure is that I know nothing at all, for sure.” — Socrates


“Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and, above all, love of the truth.” — H.L. Mencken


“Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.” — Buffalo Springfield


“If you can’t laugh at yourself, you’re missing the joke.” — Smart Bee, with gigoid’s complete agreement….


When this pearl was about halfway done, I had no idea where it was headed, and still don’t know exactly how it got to where it ended up… but, then, I don’t know a lot of stuff about reality, so, we’ll just go on, as we were, no doubt, meant to do anyway…. I don’t encourage the belief that fate is unavoidable, but, when it happens, it’s best not to fight it too hard… One must learn how to “go with the flow”, as it were, or severe mental injuries may occur, even in the best of families….

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Today’s poem chose itself…. I went searching, on the internet, for an appropriate poem for today, but, couldn’t seem to settle on anything I read, from a number of poets I visited…. until this one. It reached out, grabbed me, and said, essentially, “Use me, again….”  I should have known it would know it has been here before…. so, here ’tis again….




And Death Shall Have No Dominion


And death shall have no dominion.

Dead man naked they shall be one

With the man in the wind and the west moon; 

When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,

They shall have stars at elbow and foot; 

Though they go mad they shall be sane,

Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again; 

Though lovers be lost love shall not; 

And death shall have no dominion.


And death shall have no dominion.

Under the windings of the sea

They lying long shall not die windily; 

Twisting on racks when sinews give way,

Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break; 

Faith in their hands shall snap in two,

And the unicorn evils run them through; 

Split all ends up they shan’t crack; 

And death shall have no dominion.


And death shall have no dominion.

No more may gulls cry at their ears

Or waves break loud on the seashores; 

Where blew a flower may a flower no more

Lift its head to the blows of the rain; 

Though they be mad and dead as nails,

Heads of the characters hammer through daisies; 

Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,

And death shall have no dominion.


~~ Dylan Thomas ~~


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Today’s your lucky day…. Nothing in the news this morning has prompted an upsurge of angst or outrage to parallel the rant in the intro section… which means we get to go back to old-school. I know, the law doesn’t say we HAVE to go there, but, around here, it’s what we do…. So, deal…. and, preferably, enjoy!    😆


“He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts.” — Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)


“Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today.” — Mark Twain


“The beauty of a pun is in the “Oy!” of the beholder.” — Smart Bee

“Puns can groan on you” — Yep, where else? Smart Bee

(A true two-fer, that counts as one pearl….)


“Each time Time torments me, I tell myself that one of us must back down, that it is impossible for this cruel confrontation to go on indefinitely.” — E.M. Cioran


Before enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood.

After enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood.


— Zen Proverb


Ooh, ooh, Teacher! Can I answer?…. See, it shoulda used the Buddha quote, then it would all be clearer…. Teacher: “Y, know, you may be right…. but, that would be unethical, now, wouldn’t it? Resorting to Buddha, when Zippy will do?…” Sorry, Teacher…. I’ll pick two more, to fix it….


An American scientist once visited the offices of the great Nobel prize winning physicist, Niels Bohr, in Copenhagen.  He was amazed to find that over Bohr’s desk was a horseshoe, securely nailed to the wall, with the open end up in the approved manner (so it would catch the good luck and not let it spill out).  The American said with a nervous laugh,  “Surely you don’t believe the horseshoe will bring you good luck, do you, Professor Bohr?  After all, as a scientist–”  Bohr chuckled.  “I believe no such thing, my good friend.  Not at all.  I am scarcely likely to believe in such foolish nonsense.  However, I am told that a horseshoe will bring you good luck whether you believe in it or not.” — found in Smart Bee, without attribution


“For him who has conquered the mind,  the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so,  his mind will be the greatest enemy.” — Bhagavad Gita (c. B.C. 400)

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Please save the above drivel for future reference!


At this point, there is little point in not admitting defeat, and slinking away with head bowed in shame…. or, at the very least, embarrassment for having allowed this to occur, without giving ffolkes the proper warnings…. Let’s see if it has any redeeming qualities..


I’m pretty certain none of the above is toxic, so, we’re going to let it fly, solo…. One can’t always be two places at once, can one?….. Whatever that may mean, and it may or may not mean anything, we are still outta here…. now…..


Y’all take care out there,

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….




—

Sometimes I sits and thinks,

and sometimes

I just sits.


gigoid


dozer3





		
	
					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Happy, carefree moments in subliminal advertising….

			
						

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Ffolkes,


Lovely, simply lovely…. It’s always a joy to find myself in the throes of an emotional storm first thing upon arising, but, I’ll tell ya, it’s a joy I could do without, for, oh, say, the rest of my life….. I should know better than to do battle with an HMO bureaucracy before I’ve consumed at least two cups of coffee, but, nooooo, I had to call Kaiser right off this morning, to find out a piece of information about a medication I ordered…..


Little did I know when I dialed the number for the automatic system that I’d be getting into a fifteen minute quest to find a human voice…. Murphy must have been grinning maniacally, dancing in place and rubbing his hands together in glee, to see me trying to find a person to talk to so early in the day, on a system where the most you can hope for is to get out without more psychiatric damage….. SIGH….


Today’s Pearl may end up somewhat abbreviated, and, possibly, more than just a little strange, for a number of reasons, which I refuse to relate, they being none of your business…. No, honest, I didn’t mean that; just fooling around. But, it will be a bit less copious than usual, as my sleep seems to have become erratic again; I was up very late, getting up quite late as a consequence, and I just can’t seem to pull my head together enough to get going here…. It might surprise you to know that getting this far into today’s post, a mere one and a half paragraphs, has taken me over 50 minutes, of struggle and confusion, as I try to cudgel my brain into doing what I tell it to do…


Of course, I could go off into a discussion of why I think it’s necessary to post at all…. I mean, my sanity is intact, (technically), and the need for this kind of blather has become less critical in order for me to stay in a state of relative normality, or, as close to that state as I ever get….. This is giving me some minor motivational fits, as I try to talk myself into the mind-set needed to compose Pearls, which, though not far away, is rather subtle and complex, and doesn’t lend itself to “simple”, or “easy” in regards to ANYTHING to do with writing, or thinking…. I’m not sure, exactly, where this mind-set resides inside me, nor do I always know the right way to get it moving when I find it…. Today is a perfect example of that…..


I’m wandering around the intro section, saying absolutely nothing that has any real meaning, or relevance, for anyone but myself, and trying to make it look as if I am a writer, performing the actions that make up the process of writing…. How am I doin’? No? I didn’t think so…. Well, regardless of how it’s turning out, it’s how it’s going to be today, so, we’ll all just have to learn to deal with it, n’est pas? Oui….


Oh, and not only abbreviated (well, sort of….), but, probably, also pulled from the archives…. I’m not up to ranting, obviously, and I’m not sure if I can even get a normal, old-school pearl done….. we’ll see, I guess. But, if it doesn’t go well, I’m going straight to the archives, because I don’t have any patience at all today…. 


Any who, just wanted to let y’all know how it is today, and give you an opportunity to either bail, or buckle up…. Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to keep us out of any of the places where our survival becomes a question, at least for the first half of the trip…. Once the poem is in there, though, you’ll have to take your chances with the rest of us, because, by then, we’ll have gone too far to turn back….


Shall we Pearl?…..


“Normal is boring.” — Fido Dido

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Okay, so, not surprisingly, I was wrong…. It didn’t take long at all to put together an old-school pearl, so, that’s what you get…. The primary focus of this one should be pretty obvious, and if not, well, join the ranks of those about whom the pearl speaks…. This one is pretty straightforward, ffolkes…. don’t over think it, or it just slips away…. like trying to squeeze a fistful of sand…. And, yes, bracketing the five main pearls with two from Lazarus WAS intentional, and, yes, you can take that however you like….


“All men are created unequal.” — Lazarus Long


But evil is wrought by want of thought,

As well as want of heart.


— Thomas Hood (1798-1845) — The Lady’s Dream


“After enlightenment, do the laundry.” — Zen proverb


“Every man I meet is in some way my superior.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson


How various his employments whom the world

Calls idle, and who justly in return

Esteems that busy world an idler too!


— William Cowper (1731-1800) — The Task, Book iii, The Garden, Line 352


“Baby, after considerable thought I’ve reached the conclusion that the only conceivable legitimate answer to the Universe as constituted is a peal of hysterical laughter.” — Keith Laumer, _Night of Delusions_


Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.” — Lazarus Long

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When I’m in a mood such as this one, only one poet will do for me….




I felt a funeral in my brain,

   And mourners, to and fro,

Kept treading, treading, till it seemed

   That sense was breaking through.


And when they all were seated,

   A service like a drum 

Kept beating, beating, till I thought

   My mind was going numb


And then I heard them lift a box,

   And creak across my soul

With those same boots of lead, again.

   Then space began to toll


As all the heavens were a bell,

   And being, but an ear,

And I and Silence some strange Race

   Wrecked, solitary, here. 


~~ Emily Dickinson ~~


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Hard as it may be to believe, my mood is deteriorating, rapidly, and I can see that soon I’ll be unfit for human interaction…. So, in the interests of getting done, here is an old rant on gun control issues, just for fun…. The fact I can use the word ‘fun’ in the same sentence as the words ‘gun control’ goes to show just how far down in the dumps my mood has sunk….


“Gun control is not about guns. It is about control.” — Smart Bee


You had to know I couldn’t let this one go….. Yesterday, the POTUS signed several “Executive Orders” regarding the subject of gun control, addressing the issues that much of the American public is focused on directed to be focused on, by the BRC and the media….. Putting aside for the moment the issue of gun control itself, I wish to make it clear that the “Executive Orders” that were used to create the new regulations are a clear and obvious circumvention of the Constitution, and a direct attempt to bypass the checks and balances that our three-pronged government is supposed to be subject to thereby. It seems to be escaping everyone’s notice that the Executive Branch of the government is now MAKING LAWS, not just enforcing them.


The whole system that has grown up around the concept of Executive Orders is, as far as I can see, completely illegal, according to Constitutional law. The President does NOT have the right to make laws, no matter how much urgency is seen to be present, or how much expediency is needed to address a situation. Congress is the body that is supposed to make laws, and the enforcement of those laws is the responsibility of the Executive Branch, with the oversight of both to be accomplished by the Federal Courts…. 


That is the way it was designed, and that is the way it has worked, to protect our rights as citizens for over 200 years….Now, because of public fear, due mostly to the media frenzy at the behest of the BRC, and the manipulative dishonesty of the corporate masters of that same BRC, the rights we have enjoyed as Americans are now just about all gone. 


The assholes who run this country, the corporate masters who pull all the strings from behind the curtains, have successfully created a climate of fear amongst the general populace, and have neatly manipulated events so that it is the public itself clamoring for protection….. from itself. The media have so effectively spread the fear and horror, that the people on the streets are actually asking to have their rights curtailed, “for the good of society”…… What a load of bilge!


I am amazed at times at how naive people can be. The world is a dangerous place, and always has been, as human nature is anything but civilized. Yet people expect the government to be able to eliminate all danger from the public venue. They expect there to never be people who go crazy, and start shooting at everything they see, or attacking their delusional enemies. They expect there to never be an instance where police shoot unarmed citizens, just because they can. They actually expect members of the Beloved Ruling Class to have concern for what is important to them, instead of blithely pursuing their own agendas….. Such naivete is sadly all too common, and is the reason the rest of us will be forced to go along with the repressive regulations that are surely coming….


Yesterday, in discussing the gun control issue with a neighbor, it became clear just how naive, and unwilling to think, the general populace is…. This person is, I’d say, a pretty average citizen, perhaps less educated than some, but with more innate intelligence than many I know of. She actually said “yes” when I asked her if she trusted the police to be more ethical than the average citizen…. 


When I pointed out the multitude of incidents that occur every day that show police officers to be much less moral than the average joe, she acknowledged the point, but still would not voice mistrust of the police over the citizenry. She actually believes that policemen and women are more capable of carrying a gun, and not using it unethically, than are average folks…. A very, very foolish assumption, to my way of thinking, based on faith, not facts…..


So, what we have now is a dual issue… 


First, the government wants to limit the citizenry’s access to certain types of guns, a direct abrogation of the Second Amendment to the Constitution. (Read it…. it says the right to bear arms will “not be abridged.” Period.) 


Second, the executive branch of government is being allowed to make law, another direct abrogation of the Constitution, which assigns that function to Congress. If nothing else, these two subjects are going to provide the impetus for a shit-load of public discussion, for sure (Well, I can hope… I guess that’s my own form of naivete)…. 


The trickiest part of all this is to be able to winnow out the wheat from the chaff, for there will be a LOT of chaff thrown up, much of it by the BRC, as they do all they can to obfuscate the issues, and hide their own manipulative interactions.


You will, I’m sure, see and hear more on this, both here on this blog, and out there in the Big Blue Room. I’m not done ranting on either of these issues, you can count on that. For the moment, I’m going to go search out some pearls to use in the discussions, and leave you to chew on what I’ve already brought up. Don’t worry, I’ll be back, to chew on these bones some more…..


“I have the power to HALT PRODUCTION on all TEENAGE SEX COMEDIES!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

_____________________________


Well, so I was wrong about the length, too… oh, well. Breaks my heart, it does, to be wrong, but, in this case, it works out okay, so, I’ll try not to let it ruin the day…  🙂    


Actually, given my state of mind and body when beginning this morning, this came out pretty well. I’m pretty sure nobody will suggest waking up the Pulitzer Committee to let them know it’s done, but, it makes me feel good to have gotten this far without any major blood loss, which is just as good, right? Right…. Before I say something I’ll regret, I’ll bid the adieu, until tomorrow…..


Y’all take care out there,

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest  Carole…

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


dozer3



					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Only in feverish dreams do we dance….

			
						

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Ffolkes,

With all due apologies to the fish sauce, another morning dawns…. As is often the case, my head is a bit befuddled so soon after arising, yet, here I am, typing away as if I knew just what to say. Which, of course, I do and I don’t, being a child of the 60’s. Very convenient, that….. I just have to mention it once, and all kinds of sympathetic concern is generated…. Shoot, if I tell folks I was actually AT People’s Park in Berkeley in 1969, why, nobody ever expects anything normal from me, especially written; they all KNOW my brain was fried back then…..


That’s my secret, you see…. I actually was there, but I survived with mind and memory intact, and no lingering states of confusion due to drugs….. Oh, I won’t bother to tell you I didn’t use them, but I never got so far into it that it became an issue with daily living or cognitive deficits…. So far, as all the evidence clearly indicates, my cognitive powers are completely intact…. They may be ALL I have intact, for that matter, as my body continues to give out at an alarming rate, which has more to do with being too athletic than with overdoing recreational drugs. My doctor tells me NOW that if I’d been less active when younger, I wouldn’t be paying the price I am now….. NOW they tell me…..


C’est la vie, I suppose…. There isn’t a lot I can do about it now, in any case, so I just live with the pain, and try to get on…. and in that spirit, I think we should get on with today’s Pearl…. after this bit of housekeeping…..


Correction, maybe…. Yesterday, I attributed a piece of poetry to Thomas Cowper… I am currently unsure, but that may have been in error. I have evidence that suggests it may have been William Cowper. I will research, and let y’all know…. Silly Smart Bee listed it merely as Cowper, and I filled in the Thomas out of memory…. which I now find may have been wrong…. alas, I am human, damn it!…


“That was Zen, this is Tao.” — Peter da Silva, April 24, 1993


Shall we Pearl?…..

__________________________________


I’ve been very lucky with my latest incarnation of Smart Bee…. it seems to be giving me a higher percentage of usable quotes than it did before I had trouble with it. In fact, so many quotes are worth saving that I’m starting to group them into subject lots…. Here are a significant number of intriguing and/or interestingly accurate observations on modern life in America, land of the marginally civilized….


Homosexuality is *not* a sickness.  Bigotry is. — Smart Bee


“Whether you have an abortion, what you put in your own body, with whom you have sex – these are not the affairs of the state.  A government does not exist to control the citizens.  When it does, it is a tyranny, and must be fought.  The tree of liberty, Jefferson warned us, must be refreshed with the blood of tyrants and patriots.” — Gore Vidal


I swear to the Lord

I still can’t see

Why Democracy means

Everybody but me.


— (Langston Hughes) The Black Man Speaks


“Government is about coercion. Limiting government is the single most important instrument for guaranteeing liberty. We’re working on a third generation which has little in the way of education about what our Constitution means and why it was written. Thus, we’ve fallen easy prey to charlatans, quacks, and hustlers.” — Dr. Walter Williams


“The discovery of America was the occasion of the greatest outburst of cruelty and reckless greed known in history.” — Joseph Conrad


“Democracy is government by the people with open discussion and free speech. This allows those with no ideas to unload their thinking in the most tedious and lengthy manner. After this, a vote is taken, and the least informed will oppose the most confused. The result, inevitably, will be known as model legislation. In time, it will proliferate, and eventually a commission will be formed to review what has been done and why it isn’t working and it will recommend reforms of the previous efforts. All of this will be published in various government journals and cause great debate. There will be a veritable waterfall of newspaper editorials and Johnny Carson will use the whole thing as a part of his monologue. In the end, the reforms will be defeated. –Smart Bee


“Christianity:  Please help find the cure.” — Smart Bee


(Sorry, I couldn’t resist…. A few days ago, as I sat in a shady spot outside on a beautiful California day, I began to think, for some misbegotten reason, about Christianity in this country, and I wondered about exactly how many different definitions of the word “Christian” there would be. There are so many different interpretations of the Bible, and so many different definitions of what is “Christ-like”, that I can see no hope of any consensus answer to this question. A conservative guess would be about 5,000 different churches, and varying interpretations of scripture; it’s more likely that Los Angeles and New York City alone contain that many, and the number nation-wide is probably closer to a hundred thousand….. None, I repeat, NONE, of the people who embrace the dogma associated with each of these various cults {yes, cults, by definition…look it up….} are at all willing to even consider any truth in any of the others, and they ostensibly are all worshiping the same dude…. It’s a bit pathetic, when one stops to look at the broader picture…. SIGH… ah well, back to general culture, and the caricaturization thereof…..)


— You may be redneck… if you refer to Mason jars as “the good glasses.” — Smart Bee


“Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)


On that note, we will go ever onward, seeking approbation, or at least hoping for poor aim….

__________________________________


First I thought, “Keats, or Yeats, or Pope” for this morning, as I don’t have a poem ready for bleeding…. Then I had the irreverent but accurate thought, “Long time no Pope….”, so, here is a selection from one of my favorite poets, whom I also consider to be possibly the best ever, from a technical and creative standpoint…. He wrote A LOT, and almost all of it is wonderful…. He definitely makes the star of humanity shine brighter in the heavens….. enjoy!


Chorus of Youths and Virgins


Semichorus.

Oh Tyrant Love! hast thou possest

The prudent, learn’d, and virtuous breast?

Wisdom and wit in vain reclaim,

And Arts but soften us to feel thy flame.

Love, soft intruder, enters here,

But ent’ring learns to be sincere.

Marcus with blushes owns he loves,

And Brutus tenderly reproves.

Why, Virtue, dost thou blame desire,

Which Nature has imprest?

Why, Nature, dost thou soonest fire

The mild and gen’rous breast?


Chorus.

Love’s purer flames the Gods approve;

The Gods and Brutus bent to love:

Brutus for absent Portia sighs,

And sterner Cassius melts at Junia’s eyes.

What is loose love? a transient gust,

Spent in a sudden storm of lust,

A vapour fed from wild desire,

A wand’ring, self-consuming fire,

But Hymen’s kinder flames unite;

And burn for ever one;

Chaste as cold Cynthia’s virgin light,

Productive as the Sun.


Semichorus.

Oh source of ev’ry social tie,

United wish, and mutual joy!

What various joys on one attend,

As son, as father, brother husband, friend?

Whether his hoary sire he spies,

While thousand grateful thoughts arise;

Or meets his spouse’s fonder eye;

Or views his smiling progeny;

What tender passions take their turns,

What home-felt raptures move?

His heart now melts, now leaps, now burns,

With rev’rence, hope, and love.


Chorus.

Hence guilty joys, distastes, surmises,

Hence false tears, deceits, disguises,

Dangers, doubts, delays, surprises;

Fires that scorch, yet dare not shine

Purest love’s unwasting treasure,

Constant faith, fair hope, long leisure,

Days of ease, and nights of pleasure;

Sacred Hymen! these are thine.


Alexander Pope

_________________________________


“Purity engenders Wisdom, Passion avarice, and Ignorance folly, infatuation and darkness.” — Bhagavad Gita (c. B.C. 400)


I first read the Bhagavad Gita sometime in my twenties, or possibly just before, while studying at UC Berkeley. I remember my sense of wonder at the depth of the insight into human nature, and my feeling of awe that the words I was reading were written well over two thousand years ago. Here was knowledge that, if commonly understood, could change the very face of human civilization. In my naivete, I couldn’t believe that this wasn’t the basis for everything that society believed, or that any of what I had read was not commonly held by everyone who ever went to school, or had read or heard the words spoken by Krishna to Arjuna……


The words in this little treasure-trove of wisdom had changed the world, when first written, I’m sure, with lasting effects on the culture of India at the time, effects that have carried over into modern times. Unfortunately, these effects have survived in altered state, changed to suit the priests and preachers with the same kinds of twists and perversions as happened to the teachings of a later sage, Jesus of Nazareth. The insight contained in the lessons of both Krishna and Jesus were used to benefit the only the institutions created by the icons, instead of being used to benefit all of mankind, as they were intended…..


The statement quoted above out of the ancient text, regardless of the degradations enabled by the avaricious, remains as true today as when first written. And, as proof of these assertions, I offer the following piece of BRILLIANCE….. pay close attention, it’s subtle….


I took Brad Templeton out to lunch one day, and afterwards, we stopped by a bakery to bring eleven doughnuts back to the office.  The baker offered a free sticky bun to pad our order to an even dozen, and Brad refused the bun.  After we left, I asked why.  He said that he never selects buns, especially pad buns. — Smart Bee


Sorry, I’m incorrigible. Don’t incorrige me…..  🙂    Just a little fun…. any who, if one looks closely enough, the truth is hidden in what has been said here…. hidden right in plain sight, in fact…. Like any such magical gem, it is visible to those who can see…..

__________________________________


Not bad for a Pearl with no rant…. Mitt the Twitt, and Mr. Lyin’ Ryan have obviously been told to shut the f__k up until after the debates, because they’ve been missing from the front pages in the last few days…. too many days in a row where they were pissing in their own corner, I guess, and their handlers got tired of the clean-up. It’s a nice break for my ears and my sense of outrage, but it’s probably hard on the writers who depend on politics for all their material…. Ah well, the election is almost here, and then Scary Black President can get back to frightening the poor Republicans….. stay alert, ffolkes, and make sure you know where your polling place is…..  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!



					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Daisy Oats & Lazy Boats….

			
						

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Ffolkes,

Good morning, and welcome to my little corner of the Big Blue Room, such as it is…..


“Much of what sophisticates loftily refer to as the “complexity” of the real world is in fact the inconsistency in their own minds.” — Thomas Sowell


There is still a lot of controversy among philosophers, who live for just that reason, i.e., to discuss at length whatever small differences of opinion they may find. The controversy to which I refer deals with the nature of Reality, and its degree of complexity. Mr. Sowell above chimes in with his two cents to argue in favor of simplicity, saying the universe, or ‘real world’ is less complex than some would have us believe, due to their own preconceived misconceptions, of which I am sure Mr. Sowell does not suffer. (NOT!) Other philosophers might tell us that Reality is very complex, far too complex for our puny minds to comprehend without their first giving us their interpretation of that complexity. And, as always, the true answer to such a question is somewhere in the middle of these two camps of alleged thought.




Truth, for some reason probably tied into the nature of that Reality we try to understand, almost always will fall right in the middle of two opposing theories that attempt to ascertain its exact parameters. It is absolutely pitiless in its unconcern with whatever set of rules we may try to develop that reflect what we believe to be its nature. Nor will it care if those rules are wrong; it will merely squash like a little bug whomever tries to use them. Most often, when people try to make rules about Reality, we get punched in the figurative nose, a surefire method for establishing a parameter.




What do I think? I think that it is best not to define Reality, but rather just to take it at face value. Sometimes it is horrendously complex, and I will feel overwhelmed with trying to sort out all the little pieces of whatever I’ve encountered. Other times, it is ridiculously simple, so simple we think it is too easy, and feel a sense of unease, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. So, in my mind, it is best to not try to hard to understand, but rather learn to accept without understanding. It tends to cause less bloodshed that way……


I’m going to disconnect your brain.


Brain disconnection sounds pretty scary, but in actuality it is a very valuable ability to possess. That sounds somewhat dubious, I’m sure, but is accurate nonetheless, and I’m gonna tell you why. You see, the mind is housed in the brain, and we may thus say it is connected to it directly. The mind, however, is not simply connected to the brain; by virtue of our senses, it is also connected to Reality, the outside world, the Big Blue Room. (For the uninitiated, the Big Blue Room is everything outside the computer room.) This connection is monitored by whatever part of the mind (which has many layers, and can multi-task endlessly) we choose, using a set of rules we develop over our formative years. These rules, fashioned by that part of the mind that reasons, determine how successful we are in dealing with whatever Reality throws at us. For different activities and situations, there are different sets of rules, all figured out in the subconscious, which sees all, hears all, and thinks about it a lot, using a variety of thought patterns and intuitive guesswork to ascertain which rules are useful, and which are not in responding to the current challenge from Reality.




By disconnecting the brain, then, we mean that the connection to the outside world is suspended, as is the conscious mind, and the subconscious mind then is free to act without restraint, processing Reality in order to render it either acceptable, or manipulable through application of pertinent rules. Zen philosophy has promulgated this ability to ‘disconnect’, even having a word to describe the state of mind one assumes when our mind enters the disconnect modality. The word is zazen, and means the state of mind one enters when One with Reality. Western civilization calls this experience an epiphany, a moment when one experiences true Reality, and understands all. The difference between the two cultures, East and West, is best shown in this comparative analysis; to the Western mind, this mind state occurs randomly, whereas Zen philosophy teaches that zazen can be induced by meditation and deep thought.


    Regardless of whether one believes it can be induced, or merely accepted when encountered, is immaterial; the knowledge is there, available to those who would find it of use. Being able to induce this state of deep understanding within ourselves can be seen then, as an extremely valuable skill to develop……


Some people drive as if turn signals were an option.


Hey, if I can’t use this forum to complain about those things in life that just burn my ass, what is it good for, right? Right…..driving around on the roads today is very different than it was when I first began driving back in 1966. In that era, we were just beginning to get an inkling of how city driving would change in the next few years, turning from mildly congested traffic to continual and frequent gridlock. Unfortunately, as the number of cars on the road has grown, the use of driving techniques we were all taught to make the roads safe for all have slowly disappeared from use. The use of turn signals, or more accurately the disuse of turn signals, is probably the most ubiquitous of these sadly missing habits. The practice of not paying any attention to other drivers on the road extends even into the police, who are by far the worst offenders in this category of bad habits. These days, I feel a big surprise when I see a police vehicle, or anyone else for that matter, give a correct signal of a lane change, or to turn a corner. Not signaling has become de rigeur; nobody bothers with it anymore, except me, and I do it mainly out of irritation. So few people signal anymore, it is almost annoying when they do, because I can’t trust that they didn’t mean it, or trust that they will actually do what they are signaling they will do. Driving in today’s world is becoming one long irritation after another, as the ‘Entitled Ones’ scurry around in their Escalades, Beemers, and Mercedes, completely ignoring everyone else on the road.  Hmph! Now I feel grumpy. I’m gonna go flip some driver the bird……


And just so I don’t carry that grumpiness any further into the day, we will call a halt, even though I could carry on in this vein for another thousand words easily…..So….y’all take care out there……


—

Sometimes I sits and thinks,

and sometimes

I just sits.


gigoid




Dozer
Kowabunga!