Tag Archives: Zippy the Pinhead

One of the new Innuendo Class ships…..

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Ffolkes,

Knew I not better, it would be my guess Murphy is in cahoots with Mother Nature; how else to explain such weather? Unless, of course, one wishes to believe the global warming theories, which, based as they are on scientific principles, and the collection of accurate data, don’t stand a tinker’s chance against the ignorant denial which so many of our democratic brethren bring to bear upon the issue….. Nope, one American idiot can put serious hurt to all of the ideas so presented, especially as so many of them are elected members of our national congress (of crows?…. Well, they do both sound alike, and both make as much obscene noise as any sane person can tolerate…)….

Once again, it seems the urge to rant grabbed me before I had a chance to stop it, or to throw a password on the keyboard…. That’s the only explanation I can give for the above opening paragraph…. Dry, stilted, poorly judged attempts at humor, with barely enough vitriol to annoy a congressional aide, much less a Senator, all of whom are practiced at not listening to what is said to them….

They’re special, you know, and aren’t required to waste their precious time listening to what peons may think…. even if those peons elected them. They know, or believe, anyway, that the fools who elected them the first time will continue to pull the wool over their own eyes, thus perpetuating the entire mess for yet another elective cycle….

“If you get somebody to give you a dollar, they’ll vote for you for the rest of their lives.” — Hugh Parmer, Democratic candidate for the 1990 U.S. Senate, from Texas

Wow…. I must have let my angst build up for too long…. I’m having a hard time getting through a single paragraph without falling right back into ranting mode… This is going to make it tough to get very far…. I do enjoy the ranting process as it manifests in me, mostly, but, it can be a trifle disconcerting to anyone watching it happen from the outside…. not to mention the degree of splash that makes it such a messy modus operandi…. But, since I’m a guy, messes are second nature, and that part of it has always been a snap….

Of course, one must also maintain a certain degree of clinical objectivity to rant; if I want to do a decent job of tearing down our leaders, I can’t afford to have sympathy for them, now, can I? No, of course not; that would be counter-productive, to say the least, not to mention the confusion it could cause for them…. the congresspersons, I mean….

Wait a minute…. confusion, congress…. hmm…. actually, it sounds as if ranting at them, in the final analysis, may be the best thing we can do for them, as it allows them to indulge themselves in their favorite, most natural state, i.e., deep confusion, and paralyzing ignorance, without any feelings of inadequacy, due to our lambasting of their integrity, their honesty, and their very nature, which is ugly, ugly, ugly….

Or, it that just Paul Ryan? It sounds like him….

Oops, did I just get personal? Oh my…. I’m ashamed of myself….. NOT! Ha! Oh well, just consider that my opening shot for the 2016 presidential election, an event of significant importance for all of us in the modern world, and not only in THIS country…. It is also an event of note for humanity as a species, one I predict may just be, barely, a precursor to the upcoming revolution….

Oh, no, I’m not referring the one the people of the world will be having sometime soon…. No, I’m talking about the one Mother Nature has in store for us, sometime in the next 100 years or so, when the atmosphere we breathe changes, becoming increasingly toxic to us…… It’s all of a piece, you know…. everything is connected, and what happens in the upcoming years leading up to the election will play a big part in how the next few years unfold out in the real world….

Okay, I think I’ve rambled and blathered long enough on this, or any subject…. As a rant, the above falls way short of the usual sort; in fact, it’s rather broken up, without any real organization, which always tends to devalue the effect it may have on a reader…. That’s what happens, when I allow such vituperation and angst to show in the intro, without any attempt to turn it into something useful…. I guess it’s all of a piece today…. In fact, it’s a pretty fair picture of just how confused I am this morning…. I’m surprised I’ve been able to get this far….. Typing on autopilot, I guess…

Since this isn’t going anywhere particularly valuable, or attractive, we’ll abandon all hope of saving any of it, and just get on with the rest of today’s effort…. That, actually, will probably be for the best, as this is going nowhere, fast….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters.
To beguile the time,
Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under ‘t.”

— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Macbeth — Act i, Sc. 5

Lately, Will’s quotes have been fitting in nicely with my themes…. He was so damn prolific a writer, SOME of what he wrote HAD to come out okay, though I’m still of the opinion that most of what he wrote is way over-rated…. This, however, is a perfect set of lines to go with my shot at our newest Republican presidential hopeful, Paul “I’m just a regular asshole” Ryan…. and I didn’t have to pay the million monkeys for it!…..

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As I noted above, I’m a bit disorganized this morning; I’m so discombobulated (what a great word!….) (…. and such a perfect description of how I’m feeling!….), that I’m forced into the archives for self-protection…. But, I’ll be nice, and give you this, which is a discussion of the concept of forgiveness…. First posted on 12/31/2012, this one is pretty good, so, pay attention, please…..

🙂

Forgiveness. How does a person without faith in a higher power obtain this boon? Certainly not from themselves…. I know, if I have done something for which I feel the need, or desire, to be forgiven, then I most likely don’t deserve it, and refuse to give in to self-indulgence.

According to the preachers, God forgives all, but damn me if I can see any reason to do so, no matter how ‘merciful’ he/she/it might be. How can anyone expect moral behavior, if even our most grievous sins are forgiven? Because of the promise of reward for compliance, or threat of punishment for refusal to conform? I agree with Albert Einstein, that any such philosophy is not realistic, and certainly not moral…..

“In his private heart no man much respects himself.” — Mark Twain

All of us, without exception, have things we hide inside ourselves, secrets that nobody else will ever be told. Whether it is a memory of an act one is not proud of, or a bit of severe foolishness, or something so shameful that to share it would be to become a pariah, all of us humans have secrets. I would guess that almost all of them are akin to what is described in the first paragraph, to wit: acts that want, or request forgiveness, but do not deserve it.

I believe that this may be a method by which one can tell another person’s outlook on religion, for almost all religions are based on this principle, of divine forgiveness. Even though we may do things in life that are unforgivable, the gods, or God, for the monotheistic among us, are so merciful, that they will do so, if you but acknowledge their divinity, and admit they are your higher power…..

It’s a good deal, all in all, if one buys it. Myself, I’m a bit sanguine about it, since I only have the word of the preachers that it is so; there is no real evidence to be found that supports the theory, and the scientist in me wants at least a little bit of proof before accepting something as truth. I’m not going to buy anything just on someone else’s word, or assertion of truth; I’ve been alive long enough to know that doing things like that can only lead to losing something, if only the advantage of self-respect.

“His ignorance covers the world like a blanket, and there’s scarcely a hole in it anywhere.” — Mark Twain

Wait, I thought we were talking about religion, not the last Republican President, Shrub, the Junior….. Sorry, couldn’t resist…. Any who, it all comes back to the basic idea of how we view reality, in terms of the concept of God, or a power greater than ourselves, that is responsible somehow for everything that exists, and thus, for us. By giving away that responsibility, I think, we are showing our own cowardice; I’m not willing to do that, not without more compelling evidence than hearsay.

I’m not blind to the other evidence that many religionists claim as being proof of God and his will; I’ve burst into tears myself at the sight of a particularly vivid sunrise, without knowing why, other than the beauty of it was so arrestingly powerful. I’ve seen good things happen everywhere, in human interaction, and in Nature. I’ve witnessed what priests like to call “grace”, and will admit that such events are not always explainable by ordinary means.

I’ve also witnessed the other side of existence, where human nature turns dark and cruel, while Nature reveals its own complete indifference for human suffering, and cannot accept that the same entity would dare to assume, or want responsibility for such a wicked universe, even if the balance of good and evil is maintained by the presence of the other.

That assumption is purely human, and thus does not qualify, in my mind, as evidence of divinity in the form of God, by any of the visions held by any of the churches of Mankind. Unless, of course, one goes beyond doctrine, into philosophy, where the above contradictions do not apply, or can be explained by one further assumption. That assumption is a hard one for most humans, as it involves taking responsibility for EVERYTHING that they do, and for everything that happens to them. (Yep, that’s a paraphrase of the basic principle of Karma…)

In other words, as Robert Heinlein put it so aptly in Stranger In a Strange Land, “Thou art God.”  I know, it’s blasphemous, but, hey, been there, done that, let’s get past it…. It is the only explanation that fits ALL the facts in evidence, and even if a bit grandiose, really isn’t, because we are, after all, just a bunch of bozos on the bus.

Being God, though, would be a really boring job, the way the job descriptions in all the churches read, and I don’t think I want to take that on, particularly. It may be the only way I can find any forgiveness for those things I’ve done in my long life of which I am not proud, but, since I don’t feel that I SHOULD be forgiven for them, I think I’ll just accept the responsibility, along with the consequence, a certain lessening of my self-esteem, and try to act in the future in ways that won’t make me feel that way….

It really isn’t hard to be good, in reality, as long as you care…. The problem is, not enough people care, or even think about stuff like this….. Me, I can’t help myself…… Caring, to me, is what being human is about; those who don’t care aren’t fully human, and won’t be until they do…..

“I am covered with pure vegetable oil and I am writing a best seller!”  — Zippy the Pinhead

Note from the future: I don’t know about the best seller, but I kind of like the vegetable oil concept….. what do you think?…. Actually, I think it would be best if we just go on to the next section….

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Today certainly resembles a dream, which I am desperately struggling to keep from becoming a nightmare…. In hope of helping with that, here is a classic poem from a classic poet…. a bit of a dreamer, was Poe, but, elegantly so…..

A Dream Within A Dream

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

~~ Edgar Allan Poe ~~

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Aha! Made it!….. There were moments today when I wasn’t sure I would get this far; it’s been touch and go ever since I first got up….. That’s all good, now, so I can relax, and enjoy the process here in section three, where we find ourselves in preparation for a dive to find today’s old-school variety pearl…. I’m pretty sure that if I dared to set any strict parameters, the whole damn thing would probably explode, in a fireball much resembling the Big Bang, from a couple of billion years ago…..

Far be it from me to take chances with the lives of my Gentle Readers….. plus, who needs a new Big Bang? We haven’t yet figured out what to do about the first one, so another would just be more than we can deal with…. So, I’ll go for a nice, refreshing dive, to see what SB has for us today….

Man, in the unsearchable darkness, knoweth one thing
That as he is, so was he made; and if the Essence
And characteristic faculty of humanity
Is our conscient Reason and our desire of knowledge
That was Nature’s Purpose in the making of man.

— Robert Bridges

“I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.” — George Bernard Shaw

“A politician has to be able to see both sides of an issue, so he can get around it.” — Smart Bee

“All religions are founded on the fear of the many and the cleverness of the few.” — Stendhal

The villa’s and the chapel’s where
I learned with little labor
The way to love my fellow man
And hate my next-door neighbor.

— Gilbert K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

“It is not every question that deserves an answer.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 581

“If our behavior is strict, we do not need fun!” — Zippy the Pinhead

When I began putting together pearls of virtual wisdom, I had no idea the process itself would become as critical as the end result; I suppose that was naive of me, as almost everything in life obeys that rule, to wit: The journey is more important than the destination…. In today’s case, that rule has been proven yet again…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this one is a good one…..

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Today’s Pearl has been brought to you by the letter D, and the number 42, for better or for worse…. No metaphors were harmed in the production of this blog, though we tried our hardest…. All is serene on the home front, so, I’ll be taking this show on the road now, again, for better, or for worse…. I’ll see you tomorrow, unless, of course, you see me first…. Dosvedanya, gospodin…. I THINK I spelled that right….

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 the dubious

dozer3

YOW! The Zipster said he’d let us sift some of his debris!…

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Ffolkes,

In the course of human events, logic and/or intelligent design aren’t included in the blueprints, though there are some among us who pride themselves on having or using both…. Those poor deluded souls are usually the ones struggling the hardest to find either one in themselves…..

Those of us who actually LIVE with those elements, as part of the fabric we have woven, know better than to expect it from the normal run of human; it just isn’t part of their bag of tools, or as some call them, tricks….  Expecting them to show logical behavior is a pointless exercise, because it’s just not in them….

There, I said it…. Now will you leave me be? Oh, hi, ffolkes, come on in…. Don’t mind him, he’s just an iconic force of nature, who forced his way in here to start badgering me about ranting, for some unknown reason, at this ungodly hour of the day…. A PITA, to be sure…. but, I’ve given him what he demanded, a short, pointed statement on the 90% of humanity who reside on the sloped portion of that famous bell curve, upon which humanity’s every characteristic may be described as falling….. Which bell curve? Okay, I’ll tell ya….

In humans, almost every one of the characteristics that describe how our species exists, our species’ characteristics, in terms of the efficacy of our thinking, sort of, can be said to be accurately portrayed by the use of a bell curve, that mathematical model which best matches our nature…. In this model, about 5% of mankind are genius, on one end of the curve, while another 5% exhibit less than normal intelligence, at the other end; in between are the 90%, the bulk of mankind, whose minds are relatively normal…. On a straight-line curve, it would look like this….

— Genius –Talented — Average — Challenged — Stupid —

Obviously, that’s a bit simple, but, it gives y’all the general idea…

Of course, such simplistic models are necessary, to keep the questions to a minimum, and to present such arguments without creating any MORE resentment among those whose level of intelligence is part of that 90% that possesses less than what might be called optimum IQ….

Plus, it’s hard to have any discussion of this, without questions of motivation arising, a process that, once started, has no good ending…. In fact, discussions about this subject tend to be fraught with all kinds of potential to go wrong, thus, they end up creating more misunderstanding than is cleared up…. which, in my haste to find an intro, I forgot…

So, I am going to be a coward, albeit a smart coward, having resolved to drop this whole subject, as one I don’t really want to pursue…. Nothing useful can come of it, so, hey, why not bow to reality? It’s not as if I had so much invested in it that I’m unwilling to give up on the effort, is it?

Nope, cuz, as it is plainly obvious, to me, at least, just how LITTLE interest in finishing it I really had…. I’m not sure why I started in on that in the first place…. I guess the sight of all that blank whiteness threw me off for a minute, fooling me into thinking I needed to be serious, and sober…. Piss on THAT, eh?

In fact, I see by the above that I’ve managed to spew out enough BS to fill up the intro again…. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I’d planned it this way…. Nah! No way that much thought went into this!….. Whatever the case may be, as to motivation, and/or execution, we made it this far, and that, in the final analysis, is all that matters….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Always obey your superiors–if you have any.’ — Mark Twain

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Having thus given away the whole secret right there, with that quote from Twain, I will now tell you the GOOD news, which is that I’m not up to a rant today; not a fresh one, anyway…. I also don’t feel like spending the time & energy to go find something appropriate in the archives…. In point of fact, I’m feeling altogether lazy, which makes me a bit nervous re: the outcome of this Pearl…. But, I am smothering my fears, as I type, since I’ve decided that there is nothing wrong with being lazy…. Not a thing….

Truth be told, I’m feeling very CAT-like today; I really, really don’t give a shit…..about much of anything. I don’t feel like ranting, or pearling at all, for that matter; it’s only my damned sense of duty that keeps me chained to this desk, with periodic breaks for pain relief measures, until I get this done each day…. I guess today is no exception…. So, to save further issues of any kind from developing, I’m now going for a dive, and I won’t be back until I’ve found a seven-star pearl to fill this section…. Parameters? What parameters? I’m just going to hold a gun to SB’s head until I get what I want….

“Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s worth the effort.” — Goebel’s Law of Useless Difficulty

“It’s good to be just plain happy; it’s a little better to know that you’re happy; but to understand that you’re happy and to know why and how, in what way, because of what concatenation of events or circumstances, and still be happy, be happy in the being and the knowing, well, that is beyond happiness — that is bliss, and if you have any sense you ought to kill yourself on the spot and be done with it.” — Henry Miller, “The Colossus of Maroussi”

“Find time still to be learning somewhat good, and give up being desultory.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ii, 7

“All the world’s a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.” — Sean O’Casey

“We get into the habit of living before acquiring the habit of thinking…” — Albert Camus

Cynic, n.: A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.  Hence the custom among the Scythians of plucking out a cynic’s eyes to improve his vision. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“In the bigger scheme of things, the universe is not asking us to do something, the universe is asking us to be something. And that’s a whole different thing.” — Lucille Clifton

Not bloody bad for a pick-up-sticks kind of day, eh? That first quote, to my way of thinking, may just be the best definition of modern American politics I’ve ever seen…. Okay, so I’m a cynic, which is okay, because I have no plans to travel anywhere near Scythia….

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As stated above, my laziness today is legion…. You’ll have to put up with another of my old poems…. In fact, I’m SO lazy today, you get a two-fer, all because I couldn’t work up the energy to decide which one to use…..

Yoda says, “learn to like it, you must, or forever will you lump it…”

I know I’m in the now, if only…..

Oh, there it is again, fiddle faddle;
  Begone, I said, vamoose, skedaddle!
It looked at me as if I were insane:
  Scoffed, it did, filled me with pain.

Where does it come from?
Where does it live?
I’d stick out my thumb,
if I had more to give.

If only, should, would, could it be?
  It went away again, this time free.
It will be back again, this I know;
  or I’m wrong, and it won’t show.

Who cares?
Who hears?
Such goings on wobble the sphere,
I wish it wouldn’t do that here.

I’ve been wrong before…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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Intelligent Crimes

The value of wit is often said to cause harm,
for those who think, such is its greatest charm.
The new and the bold cannot be fulfilled
if innovation and change is left unwilled.

Society behaves at its base as a mob
conformity and submission its primary job.
Any sign of rebellion against the mob’s rule
is met with resentment, naming such rebel the fool.

Intellect and talent are looked at askance,
expressing artistry stands nary a chance.
To stand out from the rest of mankind
is fraught with danger, for body and mind.

Often I stand to watch in solemn dismay
as beauty and joy are left by the way,
ignored and reviled by the unwashed masses
who prefer darkness, and acting like asses.

With shouts of derision the normals make known
their fear of intelligence, greater than their own.
They hope to stop all semblance of progress;
for thoughts and ideas, they couldn’t care less.

The world struggles on in spite of all opposition,
managing to maintain its advanced position.
Pulling the foolish along in spite of reluctance,
helping each to learn the survival dance.

Hard though it may be to keep up with the future
genius manages its plans to develop and nurture.
In the final analysis, those who live by reason
enjoy life the most, season to season.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Today’s final pearl will be of the odd-duck variety, our newest incarnation, complete with link, a great deal of chutzpah, and a five-star old school pearl to make the point of the missing rant…. Here for your reading pleasure is the latest article from Mark Morford, lexicographer and vocabularian extraordinaire, with a very cogent take on the latest example of a corporate sleaze-bucket parading his bigotry in public…. Read this first, then enjoy the pearl that follows, all about assholes like the one who owns the Clippers….

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2014/04/29/rich-white-thugs-begone/

“I sense that much of this historic moment is escaping you.” — Brain

“Hit the road, Jack, and don’t you come back no more, no more, no more, no more.” — Ray Charles, and the Raylettes

MYRMIDON, n.  A follower of Achilles — particularly when he didn’t lead. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“If the whole human race lay in one grave, the epitaph on its headstone might well be: `It seemed like a good idea at the time.'” — Rebecca West

Angels and ministers of grace, defend us!
Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn’d,
Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell,
Be thy intents wicked or charitable,
Thou comest in such a questionable shape
That I will speak to thee: I ‘ll call thee Hamlet,
King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me!
Let me not burst in ignorance, but tell
Why thy canonized bones, hearsed in death,
Have burst their cerements; why the sepulchre,
Wherein we saw thee quietly inurn’d,
Hath oped his ponderous and marble jaws
To cast thee up again. What may this mean,
That thou, dead corpse, again in complete steel
Revisit’st thus the glimpses of the moon,
Making night hideous,
So horridly to shake our disposition
With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls?

— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act i, Sc. 4

I know this one doesn’t SEEM very vituperative, at first glance; as well, it MAY just be a bit TOO esoteric for even my Gentle Readers, who should be used to me by now…. However, it gave me a chance to use what I believe to be Will’s BEST piece of work, while the rest of the entries performed the stimulation a good pearl needs…. If that seems like a lot to read into five little quotes, well, maybe we need to practice more…. This is a very good pearl, ffolkes, so absorb it, even if you don’t ‘get it’ right off…. The power of metaphor can be abstruse, and slow-acting, but, it’s like a river that floods its banks…. inexorable….

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“I hope something GOOD came in the mail today so I have a REASON to live!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

It probably says something about me, that such statements from Bill and Zippy strike me as so apt, at certain moments in time…. This one just jumped up into my face out of Smart Bee, demanding I use it here, in the closing section…. Actually, it tried to bully its way into the last pearl, but, I made it wait for the proper venue, and time, while distracting Zippy with a shiny coin…

Now that I seem to have purged myself of all the nonsense and crap that built up in there since yesterday, I’m going to, as they say, cut my losses, and hit the proverbial road…. Oh, don’t worry, I’ll proof first, but, I’ll do that in stealth mode, so it won’t disturb the natives, or, any of you….. See y’all tomorrow….

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 the dubious

dozer3

Baklava, balaclava, it’s all Greek to an Armenian….

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Ffolkes,

NOOOOO!…. I’m MELTING!….. Well, perhaps not, but, it sure feels that way….. it’s almost like a bad flashback, like those we saw in the propaganda films back in the 60’s, where they showed the guy’s face melting in the mirror as he watched, horrifyingly stoned to the gills on LSD, or “acid”, as those who used it named it…. Or, maybe like the Wicked Witch of the East in “Dorothy In The Land of Oz”, the classic child’s horror story by L. Frank Baum….

What? You think the Oz books weren’t horror stories? Who are you kidding? Have you actually read them, because, if you have, you’d know they’re some of the scariest books for children ever written… In the original book, those flying monkeys were NOT cute, nor cuddly, at all; their favorite battle technique was to dismember their opponents, ripping off their arms, legs, and heads…. Nasty creatures, and not what I’d call the makings of a fanciful daydream for a child….

I’m not sure how I got off into that little foray into book criticism, but, I’m cutting it off here, as I’m experiencing some rather new and disturbing pain messages from my body…. Now, my right thumb is getting extremely painful, as I type; each time I hit the space bar with my thumb, a shot of excruciating pain shoots through to my wrist, and the whole joint feels stiff and arthritic, which, I suppose, it is…. That, and the swollen tendon, that has occurred before, back when I was cooking for work…. It comes from a tendon over the thumb-pad, that gets strained and swollen from overuse….

Back in the day, when I was cooking, it would start to catch on another ligament, freezing the thumb in place, painfully…. It isn’t quite that bad yet, which is good, because, then, the only cure was a shot of cortisone in the joint, which hurt like hell, but provided amazing relief for the condition…. Since it isn’t that bad yet, I just need to rest it, which I’ll do, once this Pearl is done…. I guess the typing is getting to the joint, after almost three million words created, and placed on screen…

Many of those words have been crafted right here, in the introductory section of these Pearls, as they’ve gone from short, to long, to medium, all searching for that one consistent format that I could use daily…. That has never been found, but, I keep managing to put down enough CRAP to fill up the page, so, that’s something, I would suppose…. I’d say it’s better than the alternative, which would eventually have driven me completely bonkers, without the advantage of doing so in an orderly fashion, as I do here at ECR….

Why, look! I’ve done it again…. I’ve blathered and spewed sufficiently to meet all the requirement, so, since each word takes me to a new level of pain, we’ll cut this off here, and get on with the rest of today’s effort…. I’m thinking it would be the wisest course, given the predictable ending…. Well, it’s predictable for me, cuz I’m writing it, but, even the dimmest bulb in the box can see I’d be stretching the limits of believability if I tried to tell you it wasn’t…. Or, I would, if I could, but, I can’t, so I won’t…. so there…

Shall we Pearl?…. Actually, I think we better go do that NOW….

“We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.” — Carl Sagan

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Since a lot of typing has been removed from today’s equation, I’ll adjust the format a bit, and keep my personal ranting to a minimum…. First, some links, to articles in the recent news, from some European and American sources…. Each one demonstrates yet another aspect of modern life that shows how the BRC and their shadowy masters are running around, killing, stealing, lying, buying court decisions and legislators, and generally doing pretty much whatever they want to do, as long as it benefits them more than anyone else….

Just read the articles with a big load of salt nearby, to supply an adequate number grains of it to balance out the lies and bullshit being poured upon our heads by our beloved leaders…. I’m not even going to comment, until afterward, and even then, we’ll pull from the archives for the arguments of indictment …. For now, just be aware of this….

The governments of this world, ALL of them, ours especially, are NOT concerned, at all, in taking care of, or protecting, or helping, or in any way benefiting the people over whom they rule…. They are concerned with filling their own pockets, increasing their own sense of control over others, and justifying their own sense of entitlement…. If the people benefit, even the tiniest bit, you can bet it is because they have calculated that it is MORE beneficial for them, or it wouldn’t be happening….

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/28/drone-civilian-casualties-senate-bill-feinstein-clapper?CMP=ema_565

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Sheriff-s-deputy-not-charged-in-fatal-crash-5437026.php?cmpid=hp-hc-bayarea

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/downton-abbey/10796808/Julian-Fellowes-Modern-version-of-wealth-and-power-can-be-very-ugly.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10793543/Story-of-four-year-olds-near-death-experience-transfixes-America.html

Sorry, I HAVE to comment on this one…. The most significant statement in this article came from a quote regarding the film made by a self-proclaimed atheist, who said, “”Only in America could a book like this be classified as non-fiction…..“At age four, an inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality is charming. But among American adults, widespread identification with the mind of a pre-schooler is scary.”

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/29/supreme-court-cellphones-privacy-search-seizure

All of the above are pretty scary, taken either individually, or as a group; the implications for society of the flaws exposed by such reports is, to me, just about as obvious, and as frighteningly real, as it can be…. especially the last article, which examines our own Supreme Court, in an article written published in a British news outlet, but with what is apparently a very clear-sighted view of the issues….

It also points up how the asshole who is the Chief Justice of that court is, in my opinion, the most egregious example of a judge who has been bought and paid for by corporate interests…. His every legal opinion, for his entire judicial career, has been obviously motivated by the need to protect his business dealings, and his corporate masters….

Oops, caught me ranting, didn’t you? Okay, I’m done for now…. Instead, here is an older politirant, that, oddly enough, still makes perfect sense…. well, it does, to me, anyway…. Enjoy…. or, if not, pay attention, because it’s all true shit, and shouldn’t be forgotten, or ignored…. We do so at our own risk….

From 4/14/2012:

“We, the people, are not free.  Our democracy is but a name.  We vote? What does that mean?  We choose between Tweedledum and Tweedledee.” — Helen Keller

Odd, don’t you think, that the most insightful views of society are often presented by those who have no sight at all? Helen Keller was, obviously, an intelligent woman; no matter how patient the teacher, a stupid person could not have become the woman Ms. Keller became, without at least a modicum of basic ability to think. To think well, one must learn to observe well, and she has definitely got that down, for in no other way could this statement have been made. And that, to me, is the point. She is(was) a smart woman, and this observation can be considered to be true. (Differences of opinion on that point may be presented, and welcome, but for another discussion…. for now, lets discuss this….)  If so, why isn’t anyone doing anything to address the issue?

Well, I’ll tell ya, pardner, it’s like this…. Tweedledum and Tweedledee already fixed the election, and nobody noticed. Yup. It’s true. I would say that the voting process in this country has been a sham for oh, about 49 years, give or take a month or two. It got shot to hell, right about the same moment the rifle bullet struck the back of Jack Kennedy’s neck on that fateful day in 1963 when he was assassinated, and the last hope of the American people died with him……

When LBJ took office, it was the end of democracy as we know it. From that time to now, there has been NO candidate for the Presidency of this country who would be allowed to run, if the true rulers of the nation did not approve. Our true rulers have been underground, in the background, for a long time; they don’t like the public’s eye turned upon them, for they know that if the light falls on them, it won’t take long for all their evil to start to show. These men (there are no women in the group, other than those who become even more male than their counterparts, in their vicious disregard for the rest of humanity) have been in effective control of the political process for even longer; it just became more obvious at the time of Kennedy’s demise, and has been harder to cover up ever since.

I find it disturbing to see Mitt Romney out there, seemingly with their approval, as he is far too close to what one of their inner circle looks like, and they aren’t shutting him up. This implies they no longer care if anyone sees their manipulations, and that they believe they don’t need to hide as much as before, because there is NOTHING anyone can do to change the outcome that they have already decided on. Or, it could be a sort of sleight of hand…. present Romney for people to watch, then get Obama safely elected, and settle right back into the process of eliminating the Bill of Rights, a project they’ve been working on for some time now.

I feel I must point out to all the folks out there who believe our current president to be a new hope, that this is the same man who signed the National Defense Authorization Act into effect on New Year’s Eve, while the American public was busy drinking and celebrating the new year, completely unaware that their oh-so-liberal president had just handed the Bill of Rights over to the National Security Agency, and its myrmidons, to do with as it pleased….. If you doubt me, check the news from that day…. It’s a fact, it happened, and it is now too late…. officially.

The first and middle rounds are done folks. It is now the final rounds, and we are now officially at war with our own government, by their own decree. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m stocking up on ammunition, food, water, and body armor…… because the day of the final showdown is not far away. One of these days, and it is not far off, the gloves are going to come off all the way, and you will see the government of this country firing weapons at its own citizens, in the name of “public security”….

I’d think about this, if I were y’all, and think seriously. Try not to believe whatever they tell you; examine anything with a critical eye, and speak up. But, be ready to duck, because I have a feeling they are no longer going to even give a warning shot, or yell, before they fire at us….. If you look at them, you will see that the ‘executive orders’ in the NDAA say they are not required to do so….

Don’t be distracted, ffolkes, by all the yammering going on about taxes, or healthcare, or racism, or any of the other bullshite that is currently touted as “what the American people care about”.  I care about my rights. I care about being able to live my life as I choose. I care about human dignity, and freedom, and compassion for others. But this election isn’t about any of those things, not what is in the papers, and not what s in the people’s hearts. It is about control over society, and money. That’s it.

It has been about that for a long time now. Unless the American public comes to its senses, it isn’t going to change, either, until Mama Nature steps in, and sends us all back to the drawing board as another failed biological experiment. That is Reality folks, and is not subject to our manipulation. We can control what we see of Reality, but we can’t change its nature, and it will end us as surely as the sun comes up every morning, if we don’t make some drastic changes. And, unfortunately, none of those changes will be allowed by the beloved ruling class, so….. end game…… Deal with it….

Once you’ve tried to change the world you find it’s a whole bunch easier to change your mind. — Smart Bee

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I’m in the mood for gritty…. so, we’ll go with my own stuff… to save time, and embarrassment for anyone else’s reputation…..

Geezer to Congress, with Love

Politicos don’t care much ’bout seniors and their ilk,
except for their money, I thinks;
Though they talk as if they’d cozen them in silk,
what they actually do, it stinks.

“The banks are failing, we can’t allow that!”,
steal from the aged, that’s their plan.
“Their life’s ending, that’s plainly where they’re at,”
lie shamelessly, because they can.

Maybe just once, if we all act together,
it couldn’t miss.
Right on their shoes, no matter the weather,
take careful aim, and piss.

Why the hell not?
It’s worth a shot!

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s been a while since I ranted on religion, though I’ve managed to include them in some of the recent politirants, as supporting cast members of the show to which we are treated daily on the public stage…. Reminds me of Punch and Judy, sometimes… Any who, relax, I’m not going to rant now; what happened in section one fulfilled all the daily requirements, and I’m not motivated for that just now….

So, old-school, of course, but with the parameters set to find aphorisms, quotes, taglines, or punch lines about those happy, deluded creatures, the preachers, priests, pastors, vicars, reverends, cardinals, bishops, popes, shamans, imams, sadhu, or, whatever other titles are accorded to those who encourage others to buy into their divinely inspired delusional systems…. Enjoy, and be careful not to step in any of it….

“Our hope of immortality does not come from any religion, but nearly all religions come from that hope.” — Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-1899)

“I believe in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it.” — Garrison Keillor

“THINK! Your brain’s only evolutionary advantage over sponge cake!” — Smart Bee

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” — Charles Darwin

“Beware of altruism. It is based on self-deception, the root of all evil.” — Lazarus Long

“Men have fiendishly conceived a heaven only to find it insipid, and a hell only to find it ridiculous.” — George Santayana

“Boys, you have ALL been selected to LEAVE th’ PLANET in 15 minutes!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

THAT was simply amazing! The entire group of pears for this section, minus the first one, which I found yesterday, came up in SB in less than two minutes, and the whole seven-star version was completed in five…. It may be, for a pearl of this quality and shine, the fastest ever….

And, as a bonus, all of the chosen aphorisms are perfectly appropriate, without the usual smarm…. well, maybe there’s a little smarm, but, not so much it will call for a trip to the dry cleaners…. That, by itself, shows the beneficial nature of this pearl, and proves my point nicely…. Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did…. and do….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is most likely for the best that I’m already done with this…. Since I barely noticed it while in the process of creating it, it’s probably appropriate that I have no clue about what it may be like, or much of what is in it, to be honest…. Maybe if I proof it….

Well, that was fun, but, I’m still not sure about what happened here…. but, I’m not going to let it worry me, because, hey, it’s done, right? Right…. And, since I’m in charge, I get to say this, on my way out the door….. See ya, ffolkes….

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 the dubious

dozer3

Lonely, the severed head spoke from where it dwells, atop the garden gate….

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Ffolkes,

Forlorn, empty of all hope, Barnabas Pettigrew trudged along the dusty highway, cursing every step with every breath, vowing to never again….. what? Blank, echoing vastness is all I see now, as Barnabas trudges along for no good reason, heading off into nowhere, presumably to give my head a good excuse for being up again at this ridiculous hour of the day…..

What is it about 3:00 AM that is so damned attractive, anyway? And why am I asking you? If I can’t figure out why my subconscious mind is out to get me, what chance will you have?…. Ah well, such is life in the blogosphere, where such absurdity may now be considered the norm, of sorts, for a great many otherwise stable personalities…. Honk, honk….

Now that the initial awkwardness is passing, let me ask you a question…. No, let’s change that…. Let me give you some advice…. No, that’s not a good idea; I forgot that my lawyer told me to stop doing that, or somebody was going to remember that I was the one who told them to do that, which might lead to more legal troubles than I already have….

Okay, so we’ll go another route…. if I can find one… I seem to be coming up against some kind of objection to every opening I’ve tried today. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that Murphy was hanging around, having fun, but, I happen to know he went on a short trip…. something about seeing a man about a dog, or something….

Hmm, now what? I’m unwilling to jump into just anything, or start on any subject at all today, at least, not here in the intro section, because, of late, whenever I do that, it turns into a rant; I’m trying to maintain a bit of discipline regarding structure, if at all possible, so almost anything that contains a shred of controversy is out, for the nonce.

(God, I LOVE that word!… “nonce”… and just LOOK at that sentence structure?…. Brilliant!…..I know, I’m strange…. deal with it, ffolkes, it’s too late to back out now; I’ve got your credit cards….)

It’s been so long since I tried to write about anything that WASN’T controversial, I’m finding it hard to even identify a subject worth investigating….. which isn’t all that surprising, given my usual fare here at ECR (for the uninitiated, that’s Exploring Consensual Reality, the actual title of this blog….).

I’m bored with this, which is a word I NEVER use…. Many moons ago, back before I even got into my teens, I made a conscious decision to eliminate boredom from my life, for the simple reason that it has no identifiable purpose, thus, it has no place in the life of anyone who uses their mind for more than merely existing.

To be bored, one must first admit that they are tired of what is going on in their own head,  an admission I refuse to make…. In short, one must DECIDE to be bored; it doesn’t just happen because we walked into the wrong room. We have to make that conscious decision to feel the ennui that settles over us when we fall prey to this self-indulgence, so, I refuse to entertain any such thoughts, thus, avoiding the entire issue, with all its concomitant troublesome side-effects upon the emotions, and on the degree of turbulence we experience in our life….

So, there’s your advice for the day, okay? Are y’all happy now, you’ve tricked me into divulging such inanities before I’ve even purged my mind? I’ll bet you are, you silly monkeys….. For that, I’m going to have to punish y’all severely, or, perhaps, just a little? Or not…. You know, I’m thinking, at this point, I’d better just give up on this intro, and get on with today’s dive…. Yes, I think that would be for the best….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“By this story [The Fox and the Raven] it is shown how much ingenuity avails, and how wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.” — Phaedrus (c. 8 A.D.) — Book i, Fable 13, 13

The question immediately arises, “What does one who has neither ingenuity, nor strength, do to avail himself?”

Oh, plus, “What the hell does “avail” mean, in this instance? How much can a word’s meaning change in only 2000 years?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Power, like the diamond, dazzles the beholder, and also the wearer; it dignifies meanness; to what is contemptible, it gives authority; to what is low, exaltation.” — Charles Caleb Colton

I found this article tucked away in one of the lower sections of SFGATE, kind of like being on the next-to-last page in a newspaper, before the opinions, in the bottom corner of a page where nobody reads much…. I’m not sure why it’s buried there, because this subject is liable to be one of the more volatile that the court takes up this year, (though it hardly compares to the gay marriage issue, or the corporate personhood issue, both of which tend to bring out the worst in everyone….), because almost EVERYONE has feelings about TV… Almost all of us alive now DID grow up with it, so we have long-standing, firm ideas about how it should operate, and how it should be regulated, if at all….

First, read the article, then we’ll talk….

http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Will-the-Supreme-Court-promote-innovation-in-TV-5371849.php?cmpid=hp-hc-nationworld

“Did you hear they removed the word gullible from the dictionary?” — Smart Bee

I will be watching closely to see how the Supremes handle this decision; it will go a long way toward identifying just how much corruption the justices have condescended to allow themselves to show to the public…. By that, I mean just what it sounds as if I mean…. It is my contention that the Supreme Court, along with many of the other levels of Federal courts (District, Circuit, etc…..) has been purchased outright by the bankers and shadowy corporate masters of society, to the point where they no longer even try to hide their predilection for making legal decisions that favor business over people, in almost every case that comes before them…

The conservative justices who were appointed to the various courts around the US by the two Shrubs are starting to make their insane power-hungry beliefs a matter of public record, making decision after decision that perpetuates the myth of corporate personhood, solidifying the idea that in this country, profit is guaranteed by law, protected from being altered or diminished by any such mundane factors as public wishes, or the concept of the common good in society….

This is how PAC’s have sprung into existence, those no-longer hidden bastions of corporate greed that throw money at all the elections they wish to influence, unrestrained by any limits on how much they can spend to bribe their chosen politicians…. This egregious display of ugly judicial, and political corruption, now legalized by the courts, illustrates exactly why this nation is now recognized by the rest of the planet as being a failed democracy….

This nation is now officially an oligarchy, bought and paid for by the rich, fat (headed, if naught else…), mostly white, misogynistic bigots, those shadowy slave masters, snakeheads by name, the real rulers of society, who spend their days telling the politicians what they want done….

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

Hell, some of them probably have posted lists, that show their lineup of Congressmen, Senators, and Federal Court judges who are on their payroll…. Maybe, all those pictures you see on the politicians’ walls, or those of CEO’s, with them posing with various public figures, are their way of posting the list of their acquisitions…. Makes sense to me…. Kind of like trophies, but they take up less space in the office….

Any who, now, the decision as to whether or not the big broadcast companies will have to actually live up to the deal they made, back before the Internet came along, is going to be made by the highest court (in THIS country); it will be very interesting indeed to see what direction it takes….

I don’t like to predict what the Supremes will do, because, if that court ever becomes predictable, then our form of government is finished…. Nobody should be able to say ahead of time what the court may decide; if it is predictable, then we have lost the balance on the bench that is required for them to remain objective about the law….

“Capitalism in the United States has undergone profound modification, not just under the New Deal, but through a consensus that continued to grow after the New Deal. Government in the U. S. today is a senior partner in every business in the country.” — Norman Cousins

Unfortunately, I’m thinking that in today’s world, it may just be that the court, the last hold-out against the corporate asininnies who would control us all, from cradle to grave, has been compromised, and will now begin the relatively short process of bringing this nation to its knees, in abject surrender to the forces of corporate avarice that control so much of our world. We’ll wait, of course, to see what takes place…. but, I’m pretty well convinced that we may have seen the last of real liberty in this country, and are now just waiting around to see when the revolution will begin, and how it will all fall out….

“Cheshire-Puss,” she began, “would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t care much where–” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re quite sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”

— Lewis Carroll, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”

The ball is now in the Supreme’s court…. let’s see which way they go from here, shall we?….. I suppose, if we wait, or walk long enough, we’ll end up somewhere….

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After ranting in such a sober fashion, a classic poem sounds like just the right next step for today…. Here is one that most of us have read, or seen, at one time or another in our lives, if only in sophomore English class…. I liked it then, and still do…. Enjoy!….

Death Be Not Proud

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not soe,
For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill mee.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

~~ John Donne ~~

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Before I started today, I had already planted an old rant, of sorts, in this section, from last February, a discussion of ethics and morality that came out fairly well…. but, after the rant above, I thought it might be too much sobriety for one day, and nobody needs to be THAT dedicated…. Quality of life isn’t about having justice, though it is good to have that, but, rather, it’s about having experiences that improve our spirit, making us want to become better people, while learning to enjoy the process of doing so….

In light of that concept, we’ll go for an old-school pearl, with loose parameters to keep it from becoming too constricting, or judgmental…. We’ll shoot for ideas from other cultures that can meld with our own ideas, to help us become more complete human beings… which might be a lot to ask from a group of aphorisms, but, hey, we’re nothing, if not ambitious, around here, right?…. Right….

“You white people are so strange.  We think it is very primitive for a child to have only two parents.” — Australian Aboriginal Elder

Happily may I walk.
May it be beautiful before me.
May it be beautiful behind me.
May it be beautiful below me.
May it be beautiful above me.
May it be beautiful all around me.
In beauty it is finished.

— Navajo (Anasazi) Night Chant

“Alas, reason is not effective against faith, or against searches for miracles by the desperate.” — Dr. Michael B. Shimkin

“There is no road or ready way to virtue.” — Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682) — Religio Medici, Part i, Sect. lv

Remembrance and reflection how allied!
What thin partitions sense from thought divide!

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 225

“Who, being loved, is poor?’ — Oscar Wilde

Folly, thou conquerest, and I must yield!
Against stupidity the very gods
Themselves contend in vain. Exalted reason,
Resplendent daughter of the head divine,
Wise foundress of the system of the world,
Guide of the stars, who are thou then, if thou,
Bound to the tail of folly’s uncurb’d steed,
Must, vainly shrieking, with the drunken crowd,
Eyes open, plunge down headlong in the abyss.

— Johann Christian Friedrich von Schiller, The Maid of Orleans

Astounded, I stare into the mirror, wondering how I could ever have doubted serendipity…..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“My face is new, my license is expired, and I’m under a doctor’s care!!!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Sometimes, the words Zippy gives us (Thank you, Bill Griffith!…) seem to connect to reality in my mind in a most satisfying, accurate fashion; this quote hits the nail squarely on the head for this morning, giving a quite exact description of my state of being after composing all of the above…. Save for the poem by Donne, and the authorship of the quotes, it’s all fresh, and well-purged, if I do say so myself….

Well, I feel better, anyway, so, I’m hoping that carries over into your life and times today, as well…. If not, well, I’m content; if you got even one chuckle, or even a querulous smile, from reading what I’ve written today, that will do nicely…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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 the dubious

dozer3

Growing signs of increasingly bizarre pistachios….

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Ffolkes,

Oh carp! I mean, crap! Typographic fish just don’t afford the same degree of release as a good, strong vulgarity, do they? Probably doesn’t sound quite as formidable, either…. Either way, it may or may not be a good sign to have to begin the day with an expletive, delivered with enough emotive power to show just how irked I am today….

Awakening in an irk is somewhat less than my usual degree of angst, but, not so much I didn’t recognize the change in the level in the tank…. Of course, that doesn’t mean I am ready, willing, OR able to deal with that effectively, much less efficiently, I think we’ll just use the good old American technique for dealing with any kind of unpleasantness, to wit: we’ll pretend it doesn’t exist….

Denial, in this country, is an art form, highly developed by a number of different organizations and categories of people, the foremost of which reside in the halls of Congress, and in the many fine churches they have built in their own praise. The governing body, and virtually ALL the religious organizations, who vie for the public trust in this country are all quite adept at denial, and, in fact, have based their entire existence on the denial of many parts of reality that the rest of us take as truth…. Evolution, for example, and global warming/climate change caused by humans come immediately to mind, as does the whole concept of a supernatural creator based on NO perceptible evidence….

Stop, already! I told myself when I sat down I would NOT rant in the intro, and here we are, three paragraphs in, and I’m already lining up the shots, getting them ready to sling at their oh-so-deserving targets….. I promised myself I wouldn’t do that today, even if yesterday’s Easter Pearl, which DID rant extensively in the intro section, came out fairly well….

I’m guessing, though, it’s just too much to ask of my readership, to have to cope with that amount of passion and/or angst so early in the day, even if I do try to make up for it with the old-school pearls that generally follow such rants. I’m not certain that is what is keeping ffolkes away, but, chances are that’s why a lot of people are not coming to read….. it’s just too much for the mornings, and when I start in right off the bat, I suppose it gets old rather quickly….

Whatever the reason, it’s strange…. I am averaging, perhaps, four or five “Likes” per day, sometimes less, yet stats indicate I continue to garner new followers, as I am now up to almost 400 (398, as of yesterday, I believe….)…. But, that’s okay, as I still don’t write to get followers…. I write to take advantage of the spew effect…. purging the stuff that builds up in my head all the time is a necessary component of my overall level of mental health… If I DON’T spew every day, it can build up to dangerous levels; when it comes out, people are not happy, and the world becomes a more dangerous place….

But, I do write, and all is well in this corner of reality, as long as I do….. I won’t bother to mention that if I didn’t do this, the edges of reality begin to fray, but, they do, so, be thankful I do get up each day, no matter what time it is, to do what I can to protect reality, and the fabric of space-time we all depend on for our existence….

Shall we Pearl? Or should I continue to weave fantasies and delusions?…. Nah, let’s Pearl…..

“The most pathetic person in the world is a person who has sight but has no vision.” — Helen Keller

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Life is short. Get it right.” — Smart Bee

Before reading the following article, please engage your crap detectors; you’ll need them, as this short article has just about as many obvious lies and attempts at misdirection as is possible in so few words….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Drone-in-Yemen-kills-at-least-9-al-Qaida-members-5414550.php?cmpid=hp-hc-nationworld

This little propaganda piece, which, had it been printed in a newspaper, would have been buried on the next to last page, bottom corner, was found at SFGATE, where it was put out just as if it were some kind of announcement of a meeting by a board of supervisors…. Very bland, straightforward, with no comments by the author….. If one paid attention only to the tone and volume of the post, one would believe it was completely unimportant, not worthy of thinking about…. It’s only a short little tale of murder, and terrorism, and hypocrisy, but, hey, who’s counting?….

Think a moment about what the story details…. Our nation has been, for some time now, killing people in other countries, countries with whom we are NOT at war (I don’t recall Congress declaring any in the last fifty years, do you? Only Congress is supposed to do that…. well, according to that pesky old Constitution thingie, anyway….), using unmanned, but heavily armed drones, with the targets picked on the basis of intelligence obtained…. how? Well, they don’t say…. In fact, if you look at the article with open eyes and mind, there are a couple of things that aren’t said, that perhaps should have been at least queried….

Who decided these people needed to be killed by us? Was that decision unilateral? How was the information on which the decision was based obtained? Why is it now okay for us to kill citizens of other countries with no regard for the laws of this country, or for the laws of the other countries? Who decided this was legal? Who decided that assassination was a tool this country would use? Shall we talk about water-boarding? (To mention just a FEW of those that occurred to me….)

It has always been my understanding that our values as a nation precluded the use of such ignoble forms of warfare; I have always liked being part of a nation that would NOT stoop to the vileness so prevalent in the history of other nations. I had pride in the virtue we have mostly displayed throughout history, having, until recently, declined to use torture, or assassination, or other anomalies of human behavior that would indicate a loss of morality….

Somehow, since 9/11, it seems to be okay with the people of this nation to use torture, to kill indiscriminately, targeting those who “threaten our way of life”, apparently giving us the green light to use even the most egregiously vicious and perverted forms of warfare, and espionage, justifying any and all of our transgressions with the phrase, “homeland security”, a catch-all to justify the use of the most immoral, illegal, and downright insane techniques of warfare available…. The assholes who run this nation have taken the words of Reichmarshall Göring completely to heart, when he said….

“Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America nor, for that matter, in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship. … [V]oice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.” — Hermann Göring

There you have it, ffolkes…. The way our country now behaves on the world stage is exactly the way the Nazi Party in Germany would have done, had we not first bombed them into submission. If you believe there is ANY difference at all in the way the two governments have reacted to the press of world events, I’d be happy to listen to your evidence….

But, it seems to me that the political assholes in this country have decided for us; according to their paranoid reasoning, we no longer need live up to any such values as those the country was founded upon…. We are no longer justified when we call ourselves an example for the rest of the world, because we are no longer acting with any morality, or any virtue at all, much less enough to make anyone look at us as being anything other than the bullies we have become…. I think I would give just about anything to see a piece in the news such as this, from our old friend Isaac….

United Nations, New York, December 25. — “The peace and joy of the Christmas season was marred by a proclamation of a general strike of all the military forces of the world.  Panic reigns in the hearts of all the patriots of every persuasion. Meanwhile, fears of universal disaster sank to an all-time low over the world.” — Isaac Asimov

Fat chance of that, eh?  Oh, well….. Stay alert, ffolkes, they’re all crazy, and they have WAY too much money for their own good…. If you don’t watch out, they’ll do their best to take all YOU have, as well, and then tell you to be happy to live in such a free country…. “Free”, meaning they are free to rob, cheat, lie, and steal from whomever they wish, with no consequences…. and if you think that is an exaggeration, then, baby, you are NOT paying attention….

It is clear and obvious to the rest of the world that this nation has become an oligarchy; it’s time as a democracy is past. Our government has been bought and paid for by the rich, fat cats who control most of the resources in the world, most of whom are white Christian bigots, who have little to no interest in sharing any of what they have with anyone, especially anyone who is brown, or not Christian…. Oh, they’re still making noises as if we live in a country that cares about the middle and lower classes, but the reality is much different…. Life is demonstrably less comfortable for those who live in the bottom half of society than it is for those at the top, who are all working very hard to make sure it stays that way….

I’m done…. I can’t say much more to convince anyone of the truth of this; if you don’t see it by now, you don’t WANT to see it, and I wish you a happy time in your ignorance…. because it will be short lived. We are all up against the wall, ffolkes, the rich as well as the less so…. In fifty years, the atmosphere of this planet won’t be breathable for anyone, including them, unless they give up their intransigence, and the rest of us give up our lack of courage…. If things don’t change, then change is going to kill us all; it is that simple, even if people don’t wish to see that…. Mother Nature won’t care whether we see it, and accept it, or not…. it’s just the way it is, so, get used to it…..

Unless, of course, you wish to survive…. If we do, then I’d suggest we get off our butts, and get the revolution started as soon as we can, before it is too late (which it may already be….)….. Think about it, ffolkes…. it’s about time we did so, because the clock is ticking, and it won’t stop for anyone….

“There is but one element of government, and that is THE PEOPLE.  From this element spring all governments.  “For a nation to be free, it is only necessary that she wills it.”  For a nation to be slave, it is only necessary that she wills it.” — John Adams (1735-1826), Letter to John Taylor, 1814

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Just because I’m a nice guy, here is a two-fer, from a modern voice, straight from the street level of society…. Those who enjoy using their minds for more than merely finding the way from toilet to kitchen to toilet may enjoy these poems, but, I’ll warn any who don’t consistently exercise those neurons to be cautious, as poetry like this can cause anyone who reads it to experience the awakening of long-dormant brain cells, a process which is bound to be painful for those unaccustomed to such exercise…. Regardless of how you approach them, these are excellent, thought-provoking pieces, and well-worth a few moments of your time and mental energy….

Cause And Effect

the best often die by their own hand
just to get away,
and those left behind
can never quite understand
why anybody
would ever want to
get away
from
them

~~ Charles Bukowski ~~

Alone With Everybody

the flesh covers the bone
and they put a mind
in there and
sometimes a soul,
and the women break
vases against the walls
and the men drink too
much
and nobody finds the
one
but keep
looking
crawling in and out
of beds.
flesh covers
the bone and the
flesh searches
for more than
flesh.

there’s no chance
at all:
we are all trapped
by a singular
fate.

nobody ever finds
the one.

the city dumps fill
the junkyards fill
the madhouses fill
the hospitals fill
the graveyards fill

nothing else
fills.

~~ Charles Bukowski ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay…. I ranted above, so, obviously, this section should be an old-school pearl…. and will be, if I ever get around to it…. Okay, there, that’s done…. Hi, there…. I’m back, from the daunting yet necessary task that has engaged my full attention for the past half-hour, ready now to don the sacred tanks of air, to go diving in the holy bed of oysters, searching for pearls we need to finish out the day with a bit of dignity…. At minimum, we are shooting for an engaging degree of chutzpah, or, alternately, all the charm we can muster…. Let’s see what Smart Bee can do for us today…..

“Before you have sex you have to be elected to a high government position.” — Zippy

“The essence of Christianity is told us in the Garden of Eden history. The fruit that was forbidden was on the tree of knowledge. The subtext is, All the suffering you have is because you wanted to find out what was going on. You could be in the Garden of Eden if you had just keep your fucking mouth shut and hadn’t asked any questions.” — Frank Zappa Playboy Interview, April 1993

“It is common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active.” — Smart Bee

“The meaning of here and now is beautifully illustrated by a Zen story of a monk who was being chased by two tigers. He came to the edge of a cliff. He looked back – the tigers were almost upon him. Noticing a vine leading over the cliff, he quickly crawled over the edge and began to let himself down the vine. Then as he checked below, he saw two tigers waiting for him at the bottom of the cliff. He looked up and observed that two mice were gnawing away at the vine. Just then, he saw a beautiful strawberry within arm’s reach. He picked it and enjoyed the best tasting strawberry in his whole life!” — Ken Keyes

“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased.” — Kehlog Albran, The Profit

“The trouble with always trying to preserve the health of the body is that it is so difficult to do without destroying the health of the mind.” — G. K. Chesterton

“It is ridiculous to lay the blame of our wrong actions upon external causes, rather than on the facility with which we ourselves are caught by such causes.” — Aristotle

Well, ffolkes, it took a while, but, this pearl will someday be known as “that special one”, for its completeness, pearl-wise…. “‘Nuff said, she said.” Handle with care….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, this one took a long time, requiring numerous breaks to keep the old gluteus maximae from turning to stone, but, it’s done, and just in time, as the sun is up, and the day is starting to roll…. I’ve done all I can do, so, I’m done…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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


gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Feeling exposed, Barney hid behind a leaky pulpit….

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Ffolkes,

Today’s Pearl of Virtual Wisdom will be an example of how burnt out a brain can get…. I’m going to cheat, big-time, and there’s little I can do about it now, other than issue this spoiler….

It’s already after 6 AM, & I have been up only a little while, desperately trying to catch up to the routine I’ve built over the last few months…. However, it seems that more than two hours late getting up is an insurmountable obstacle, and I WON’T be catching up…. A few minutes in, after some coffee, my mind cleared, and I realized I would have to cheat…. Hence, this disclaimer, to let you know that this intro, such as it may be, will be the ONLY fresh material you’ll find today….

Not that this is necessarily a handicap, or in any respect a bad thing….. Far from it, as trying to create a Pearl with my head in this state would be more than just a little dangerous, for me, and definitely for y’all, and I’m not willing to put you in that much danger, even given my less than compassionate nature…. Hey, I’m human…. I may not be a pundit, or a preacher, or even an asshole, but, I am still one of the specimens of Homo  Australopithecus who are busy killing this planet, though, with some reluctance on my part….

All that nonsense aside, I just don’t have it in me today, and I’m too late to go find it…. So, below this you will find my version of a Re-Blog…. Everything you see below this intro consists of the Pearl of Virtual Wisdom posted on November 3, 2011, almost three full years ago (well, close enough for government work….)…. I spent some time finding one I think will do, and figure if nothing else, this one is both good enough, and long enough, to distract you from how stale it may be, from sitting so long without being read….

With no further BS, or any further ado, (Whatever that is…. What is “ado”, and why don’t we want any further episodes of it? Sometimes I wonder about stuff like that….), I give you, in its entirety, the POVW posted on…. well, you see the date right there, so no need for me to be any more pompous than I already am…. Enjoy, ffolkes, & I’ll be up earlier tomorrow…. maybe…. I kind of like this sleeping stuff, it’s rather refreshing….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11/3/12
Ffolkes,
As the moon looked down with massive disdain, several large specimens of domestic droid came rolling down the street. Each the size of a large dog, the droids bristled with cleaning arms and brushes, rolling on a strange assortment of wheels that looked like rubber balls on racks. One by one, they peeled off from the street to move toward houses on each side of the street, most rolling around to the back to enter.

The spare shadows from the moon’s pale light gave the scene a soft, romantic air, as if the droids were off to visit their own true loves. But, even in this, a deep winter night in 2088, droids didn’t yet have girlfriends, and the man watching the parade of mechanicals was not interested in fanciful thoughts of droids in love. He only had one thought, and that thought was murder…..

Well, J.D. Robb could probably use it as a start to another novel about Eve Dallas and Roarke, but who knows if Lt. Dallas will still be a cop in 2088?…. She would only be in her late fifties to early sixties, and given the state of medical science, most likely would still be on the job. But, maybe Roarke will have convinced her to retire with him to another planet, where they’ll raise exotic food plants and little Roarkes and Eves…. Just as well, as these intro paragraphs are well away from her usual opening chapters, which generally start after the murder is done…. But, it got that stuff out of my head, and that is all that really matters at this point….

Today will be another oddly constructed pearl, as I still haven’t finished the poem, and no other material has surfaced as yet….. Thus, we must begin the day searching for something about which to write. With the election so close, it might be time for a rant on politics, to drive home the need for everyone to make sure to get out there to cast their opinion, wrong-headed though it may be…. Just let me ask each of you heading to the polls to use your noggin to make you choices, not your fears or bigotry, should you be saddled with such.

Use that brain for something other than sitting on, and make the logical choice to vote for the incumbent. No President, good or bad, ever gets much done in just four years, and this one deserves more time to continue with the positive changes that he’s been able to accomplish in spite of all the partisan opposition he has suffered due to the Republican party’s stated racist platform….. Don’t blame me, just go read what it says, and the racism is obvious…. even their own pundits are getting disgusted with it, as one of them so lucidly stated the other day…

Okay, wrong place to start ranting…. I’ll leave it for later, if that is what comes up in this morning’s dive…. I’ll quit fooling around now, and get on with the program…. Shall we Pearl?…..

Were I so tall to reach the pole,
Or grasp the ocean with my span,
I must be measured by my soul:
The mind ‘s the standard of the man.

— Isaac Watts (1674-1748) — Horae Lyricae, Book ii, False Greatness
__________________________________

“Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves?  Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. It is better to know even if the knowledge endures only for the moment that comes before destruction than to gain eternal life at the price of a dull and swinish lack of comprehension of a universe that swirls unseen before us in all its wonder. That was the choice of Achilles, and it is mine, too.” — Isaac Asimov, The New Hugo Winners

In the intro section above, I started a rant, which mentioned the four years that the current President has had to try to accomplish his reforms. In that I mentioned the partisan opposition he has suffered at the hands of the Republican party. What Mr. Asimov states above may be considered as a large part of the reason that the Republicans have been so dead set against allowing him to make any progress.

Bigotry and racism are a direct outgrowth of ignorance; this is not something disputable, or subject to debate. It is fact…. and bigotry and racism are the real reasons that these people are so set on defeating Obama. They don’t care at all about how he is doing, or whether or not his policies are good for the country or not…. they don’t even attempt to address those issues, other than to create great outcries at every little issue that comes up in the news, when it suits them to make noise about it.

The Republican party has spent four years blocking all legislation proposed by the White House. This is legislation that would have created millions of jobs, and gone a long way to repairing the damage that eight years of Bush’s unlimited spending and economic disaster caused, but, his opponents have blocked all of it, in spite of the millions of Americans who might have benefited from the bills.

Their stated purpose, as outlined four years ago, right after the election in 2008, was to make Obama a one-term president, AT ANY COST, and using any means, including lying. Especially lying…. they’ve reduced that particular act to a science, and are not afraid to use it to their purpose at all. In pursuit of their ignorant, racist agenda, they have absolutely no shame…. It’s quite disgusting, actually, to those of us with more than two functioning brain cells….

“The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions.” — James Russell Lowell

I have been noticing the people on Facebook who are posting political articles for others to read, and have noted a distinct difference in the two styles each side has shown. The liberals who support the incumbent post videos, mostly, that show the Republican candidates stating one of their asinine, dishonest attacks on the President, or an inspirational message from a supporter of the President.

In addition, there have been a lot of videos of Republican candidates around the country who have bee voicing their party’s war on women lately, with these idiotic statements about rape, which, quite simply, is something to which they are not even entitled to an opinion, much less policy making powers. Any who, the liberals post this kind of stuff about half the time, along with another half that is supportive stuff that shows off the progress made by Obama, with a message of unity and hope for the future….

None of the Republican supporters I see have come out with anything at all on the “rape” issues…. no comments at all. It’s like they are in total denial, and think that if they ignore it, (hmm… wonder what ignoring leads to?…. could it be…. ignorance?), it won’t be true, or will go away. I also see no ads that show Romney, or Ryan, as doing ANYTHING. Period.

They have stopped talking to the public, and refuse to talk to reporters. They don’t want to make any more mistakes, as almost every time they’ve opened their mouths, it has benefited the liberals, because of the depth of stupidity shown every time. There are no admiring ads touting how wonderful a leader Mitt the Twitt would be….

There are no detailed explanations of his proposed policies, because every detailed study of those policies has shown them to be totally inadequate, lacking in any understanding of the issues involved, and in some cases, pure lies…. These were independent studies, by the way, not funded by the liberals.

No, the only things the Republicans are posting are negative attack ads on Obama, for all kinds of little BS, from the recent terrorist attack in Bhengazi, to birther nonsense (yes, it STILL gets thrown out there….), to thinly disguised references to his skin color, which just goes to show their real fear….

These people are scared to death because a BLACK man is President, and they will do literally ANYTHING to get him out of that position…. One of the most highly recognizable pundits from the Republican party recently came out to express his dismay at the outright racism and bigotry of the Republican campaign, and to acknowledge the despicable nature of the ignorance that is being displayed.

Yet, the polls (which I regard as purely fictional, and merely another attempt by the media to assert their own form of mind control….. I am of the firm opinion that publishing a poll before the election should be illegal…. let us go to the polls without any precognition…. which is how it is supposed to work, now, isn’t it?…)…. the polls say that the race is close, and that it may be decided in the electoral college, rather than at the polls themselves.

Which is, to me, another opportunity for the Republicans to try to work their manipulation and voter suppression techniques to try to affect the outcome in their favor…. They did it successfully with GW Bush, twice, so it’s not like it hasn’t already been tested as a viable method of winning elections. It’s just that in this case, there is a distinct danger of the entire country falling back into the middle ages, should their cheating ways prevail again….

So, what I am suggesting, to all those out there with any shred of common sense and intelligence,  is that we remove that issue, by going to the polls in such numbers as to make their ignorance and bigotry immaterial. Let us show them that there are more of us than they think there are, and we are not going to allow them to drag us back over a hundred years, eliminating all the progress in social issues that we have struggled so hard to obtain in the last fifty years.

The fate of millions of seniors, women, people of color, gays, and just about anyone who isn’t a rich white male will be seriously threatened by a Republican win in three days…. so let us remove their chances of winning, by going out to vote for Obama in record numbers everywhere, and make the electoral college  a matter of form. (Then we can start the process to get rid of the college altogether…. should’ve happened fifty years ago… it’s a relic of the past, and should stay there….)

Go vote, ffolkes, and please, get it right!…..

(Note from the future: Well, they got it mostly right, as the voters managed to choose the lesser of the two evils presented…. Sadly, that’s still evil, if you hadn’t noticed….)
__________________________________

Days and Nights of Eire

Wondrously comforting, a dream creeps oft into my mind
On the elven hills of Eire lives the vision I will find.
Elegant, gracious, everlastingly draped in beauty
Just payment of simple homage lives as joyous duty.

Fairies and druids walk abroad in ghostly parade
Gracing each hearth with its own welcoming shade.
Castles and heroes still live in tale and song
Proving love for the land in each heart strong.

From cold of winter into glorious young spring
Brown, and gray, to emerald green songs to sing
Soft rains always follow winter’s great tempest
As Eire dons an emerald coat from east to west.

Old and strong, connections call out in dreams
Nothing that was known remains as it seems.
Immersion in ancient runes and battle hymns
Offering sanity in place of grievous whims.

Time and place can tell a much different tale
Judgment should never be a final sale.
Yet something solid and real calls me to go see
Where dreams of loving beauty may actually be….

~~ gigoid ~~


Whew! Finally…. Well, there you go… I hope it was worth the wait…. Actually, it may grow again; it’s okay, but feels not quite done, somehow… ah well, time will tell….
__________________________________

:GIGO: /gi:’goh/ [acronym] 1. `Garbage In, Garbage Out’ — usually said in response to {luser}s who complain that a program didn’t “do the right thing” when given imperfect input or otherwise mistreated in some way.  Also commonly used to describe failures in human decision making due to faulty, incomplete, or imprecise data.  2. `Garbage In, Gospel Out’: this more recent expansion is a sardonic comment on the tendency human beings have to put excessive trust in `computerized’ data. — from The on-line Hacker Jargon File V423

Many years ago, I adopted the user name gigoid, taking it from the above definition, and adding an “id” for, of course, identification purposes; with that suffix, I am assured of human status, i.e. hominid, humanoid, etc.  I chose this acronym because it is the perfect reminder of the basic integrity that is built into all computers, i.e., they can only do what we tell them to do, and cannot lie. Thus, if our results are wrong, the error lies in our input, not in the computer; this automatically cuts in half the number of places to look for the problem.

I like to think that my awareness of this principle characteristic is what has allowed me to use computers without suffering many of the common difficulties such as crashes, freezes, and blue screens of death. Only once have I ever encountered one of those on my own computer, and that was the result of a virus my defenses missed… my fault, of course, I hadn’t updated soon enough…

Oh, I’ve encountered that famous blue screen before, when I worked as a computer tech back in the late 90’s, setting up LAN’s and office systems for H&R Block…. a significant percentage of machines were dead soon after coming out of the factory box. But, on my own computers, I am very careful never to break any of the basic rules that govern those kinds of mishaps…. and I owe it all to a wise choice of user name…. Well, it’s fun to think about it that way anyway….

So, who is gigoid? Well, if you’ve hung about this blog site for long, I’ve certainly given y’all enough of my inner workings to look at, in my rants, and in my old school pearls, as well as in my poetry, which is quite revealing, to me….. but, then, if it wasn’t, I most likely couldn’t write it…. Any who, to give the short answer to that question, I’ll post below some pearls that give insight into what I believe to be true, and how I try to live….

Like any weak human, I don’t always succeed at being as moral or ethical as I can be, but, I do try, and I do feel pangs of regret when I don’t, so cut me some slack, eh? Just kidding…. What I am is all what I am, though I’m not Popeye…. and these pearls are what I see in the mirror…..

“They are able because they think they are able.” — Virgil

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.  We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly.  We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” — Aristotle

“An epigram often flashes light into regions where reason shines but dimly.” — E. P. Whipple

It is my firm belief that it is a mistake to hold firm beliefs. — Smart Bee

Computers can never replace human stupidity. — Smart Bee

“Do not confuse “duty” with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.
But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants “just a few minutes of your time, please — this won’t take long.” Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time — and squawk for more!
So learn to say No – and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you. (This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don’t do it because it is “expected” of you.) ”

— Lazarus Long, from Time Enough for Love, by Robert Heinlein

“Do I look like someone who cares about what God thinks?” — Zippy the Pinhead

Well, that’s enough about me…. Hope this helps clear up any confusion, and if not, well, hey, life goes on…. all we can do is all we can do, and no more….
__________________________________

Odd, indeed…. and long, too. I wasn’t sure the poem was going to make it, and it may not be all the way done, but, it’s out, and will stand as is for now…. I’m not sure about it right now, I’m too close to it to judge impartially…. so, I’ll take a chance, and let it go out as it is. I’m brave, sometimes…. but,then, what can happen, besides somebody hating it? I can handle that okay, so…. any who, enough of my rambling for one day…. I see that I have possibly gone a bit overboard in that respect today. Such is life, or as the French would say, literally, c’est la vie…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here endeth today’s Pearl, probably long after what might have been the most auspicious point for doing so…. which fits right in with the pomposity and heavy-handed style that still permeated my writing back then…. But, it saved me from having to come up with anything new and fresh, so, we’ll take it, and be happy…. and so will you…. See you tomorrow, ffolkes, hopefully a bit earlier than today…..

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 the dubious

dozer3

Drowning democracy in an ocean of cash….

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Ffolkes,

So, there I was, in my bed, sleeping away, and what happens?…. Oh, wait, I can’t use that; I forgot I promised not to do that sort of stuff anymore, after it caused such a hullabaloo last time…. The authorities were NOT happy with me for all the overtime they had to put in rounding up those mental patients, who just “happened” to break out of the maximum security hospital at the same moment I perpetrated my apparently unwelcome outrage upon the written word, and the resulting mess became a bit more than they could handle with ease, or even unease….. It wasn’t MY fault, but, they didn’t feel that way about it, and you know how those authority-types can be when they are discommoded in any way…. assholes, every one of ’em….

As you can tell, I woke up today in a bit of a curmudgeonly state of mind; I’m thinking “grump” will be my status quo statement, if anyone dares to even ask…. My general appearance is somewhat large and intimidating anyway, and when I assume grump status, my expression and demeanor seems to have the effect of keeping people at a distance that seems safe to them, generally about fifty paces…. or, if they don’t feel quite comfortable that close, a short taxi ride takes them out of range in jig time…. I don’t mind, and I keep a cab on call…. it’s safer for everyone, and my insurance rates stay down that way….

I’m so on edge today, it took me about 15 minutes, and a number of curses, to decide on today’s title, which is obviously not as meaningless as is usually the case….. What you see is the compromise worked out with my angst-ridden sub-conscious, which wanted to make the title a rant in itself…. The rant-like state it displays is the least offensive of all I came up with, the best I could do under the circumstances, with anger driving the bus I’m on…. Feel lucky, it could have been a LOT worse….

As it is, I may get people today coming in with expectations of reading a treatise, or discussion about democracy, and it’s state in today’s world…. but, all they’ll find is this blathering mess, so, I’d best get on with putting together a Pearl worthy of the name, so as not to cause TOO much disappointment…. there’s always quite enough of THAT going on as a matter of course, without any help from me…. But, that, again, is not MY fault, nor is it my sole responsibility to clean it up for consumption…. I’ll assume that onus for my own words, but, I’m not copping to what Murphy does, no fucking way….

That being said….. There really isn’t anything better to do, so we may as well get on with this….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“I’m pretending I’m pulling in a TROUT!  Am I doing it correctly??” — Zippy the Pinhead

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As noted above, I am in the mood to rant…. However, the depth of my anger today is beyond all reason; I’m feeling extremely homicidal…. It will take ALL of my will power to NOT become proactive…. Think about that, and you’ll see I’m not in a very good mood at all; in fact, it’s been hard to keep myself from casually booting the cat through the window, or some other powerful release of what is bubbling and churning in my head and gut…. To go there, in a real sense, I would have to have already purchased the weaponry that is part of my ultimate plan, which, sadly, I haven’t completed yet…. It’s harder than it seems to find just the “right” weapon(s) for the purposes to which I plan to put it/them….

“Frankly,” he said, “I’m just trying to get to the end of my life without becoming an asshole again.” The Buddha couldn’t have said it better. — Slomo, aka John Kitchin, San Diego, last lines of the Mark Morford column, 4/16/14…. ( http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2014/04/15/the-saddest-job-in-the-world/ )

“Me, too”, he said…. The above article is a good one; it kept me from killing anyone for three whole days, before I had to replace the old restraining thought patterns that keep me from breaking down, & carrying out one of the many fantasies that parade through my head whenever I start thinking about the BRC, the Asininnies in general, or the state of the world at large…. It makes me positively homicidal….

Every time I look at the big picture, extrapolating what I perceive out into the future, I see our species ending its short stay on Earth in the all-too-near future, ignominiously choking out our last painful breaths of a now toxic atmosphere, dying in sheer agony, in a world gone mad, broken and sad, from trying to contain our common insanity….. I see the real world, full of uncaring, selfish, avaricious thieves who prey upon the rest of mankind, to the detriment of all, knowing, but not caring how much pain and misery they cause others….

When I look at these images in my mind this morning, I am enraged…. so much so, I must go take a short break…. When I return, I’ll put together an old-school pearl…. Maybe that will allow me to calm down enough to make them fit just the way I like…. I’ll be right back, ffolkes, after I calm down a bit…. God! I HATE adrenalin….. I spent way too much of my life under its influence, and it just pisses me off when it rears its ugly head again…. Ah well, I’ll be back….

“… And yet the true creator is necessity, which is the mother of invention.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.), “The Republic”, Book II. 369C

There! I feel better already…. finding a good pearl, that describes reality so closely in our current state, is always a good thing, in my book…. For the remainder of this group, let’s see what rant-like material regarding my favorite targets we can find today…. Enjoy…. and you can thank me later for not ranting….

“Feeling good about government is like looking on the bright side of any catastrophe. When you quit looking on the bright side, the catastrophe is still there.” — P. J. O’Rourke, Parliament of Whores (1991)

“Democracy can learn some things from Communism: for example, when a Communist politician is through, he is through.” — Jacoby Smirnoff

“In this world there is always danger for those who are afraid of it.” — George Bernard Shaw

“Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation. Stupidity is not a sin; the victim can’t help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.” — Robert A. Heinlein — Lazarus Long

“The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.” — Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)

“Government [is] an illusion the governed should not encourage.” — John Updike, Couples

“I am Porky of Borg. You will be assim…bdeh…assim…I’m takin’ over!”– Smart Bee

This is, perhaps, the strangest pearl I’ve ever composed….. I like it….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I’m in this sort of mood, there is only one thing that will eventually bring me some peace of mind, and that, thanks to my bozoid nature, is always handy, and always welcome…. If you can’t guess, well, okay….. I’m talking about nonsense; I’m thinking a good strong dose of it is called for, so we’ll go with what we all know to be a classic of that genre….. “Go ask Alice….”, right? Right….. Enjoy!…. I intend to….

Jabberwocky

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

‘Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!’

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought —
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood a while in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One two! One two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

‘And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’
He chortled in his joy.

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

~~ Lewis Carroll ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I may not be burbling, but, I’ve been known to “stand in uffish thought”, which is just as good, in my book….. To finish off today, I’m going with more nonsense, this time from whatever Smart Bee can find for us with such a simple parameter…. Rest easy, ffolkes, it won’t always be like this, and old-school pearls are much safer when I’m in this mood, believe me…. Here you go….

I changed my mind (big surprise…)….. Here is a rant from last year, on gun control, which will serve, for the moment, to take a bit of the pressure off, so I can get on with my day, minus all this angst…. It’s a bit long, but, worth it…. to me, if nobody else….

From 6/5/13:

“Is this an out-take from the “BRADY BUNCH”?” — Zippy the Pinhead

I’m rather hoping it is, in sooth…. if not, we all are in serious trouble, up the proverbial creek without a hint of a paddle. Not that it should be anything new or unfamiliar, as most of our history has been spent thus occupied. Of course, previous centuries didn’t have the distinct advantage of having either the Brady’s, or Zippy, in all his insane wisdom, as cultural icons, as well as ethical touchstones….. They had to make do with Socrates, and Plato, and stuffy old guys like that….. Aristotle was practically a rock star in his day, and remains a pretty smart dude, by all evidence, but I still prefer Carlin, I think, for the most cogent philosophy for modern times….

“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.” — The Constitution of the United States of America Amendment 6, 1791

For a moment, I wondered what my unconscious mind was thinking when it made me copy and paste this amendment into the pearl, as a pearl…. especially as it seems to be in conjunction with the Zippy quote…. Here I am, five minutes later, still wondering what the hell I was thinking…. It happens that way sometimes…. just give me a few moments here, and I’ll come up with it…. Aha! Got it! Naturally, I only needed to go back to basics…. The answer to the question of how the two quotes are related is…. Reality….

Aye, that’s right, Reality. It’s what we do here, explore Reality, and all its implications, ramifications, and delineations. Also, it’s temperature. Well, perhaps that isn’t the right word, but…. Reality, as is clear and obvious to the most casual observer, exists in varying degrees (hence: temperature…. see?). The degree of Reality that is included in an out-take from the Brady Bunch is clearly not the same degree of Reality that is implied in the Sixth Amendment. I’d say, the Amendment would hit around 8 or 9 on the real scale, with 10 being the Reality of Amber, where all roads lead. (See Roger Zelazny’s book, The Courts of Amber…..), whereas the highest the Brady’s could hope for would be a 2 or a 3 on that same scale. They’re too oppositional in nature to be rated otherwise, as well as being on opposite ends of the scale of Relative Importance to ME and YOU…..

Now we get to the meat of this matter…. Of late, there has been a lot of public discourse regarding gun control, as a result of the media’s steadfast love of gore and manipulation. Another school shooting took place a few weeks ago, wherein some crazy idiot got hold of some firearms and used them in an insane manner. This, of course, all morality aside, is still a reprehensible act, and, IMHO, most easily solved by just taking one of his own guns and using it on him, at the time of his crime. Bang, problem solved, and since he’s standing there over the bodies he has made, no question of guilt. In such cases, the why of his guilt should not matter; whatever it is, it is reason enough to put him down, in defense of humanity. The other questions can be answered after the children have been defended….

Sadly, there are two segments of humanity who don’t agree with this logical outcome. One segment is what I term the humanitarians, a misleading term, since it usually involves the denial of much of human nature. The other, of course, is our old nemesis, the BRC…. our Beloved Ruling Class…. Neither of these groups will agree that allowing people to have guns should be allowed, or that killing the killers is a proper solution for the issue. In both of these positions, they are dead wrong, and, more, they know they are. This serves to make their arguments more shrill, more emotionally based, and, in their eyes, more valid, in some strange form of weird logic….

“Everybody in this room is wearing a uniform, so don’t kid yourself…” — Frank Zappa

One of the most edifying parts of this discussion, for me, is how it makes it so easy to identify those who are wearing the uniforms, and from what camp they are from, according to their colors and insignia. You can tell the humanitarians, they’re the ones wearing the faux-camouflage pants, in support of the troops, they’ll assure you; they want the police to be the only ones who carry guns, believing, for some unknown reason, that police are somehow more moral or ethical than other people. (Of course, they also would have trouble if you asked them to define the words, “moral”, or “ethical”, in any other terms than those used in a philosophy paper they memorized in college, or in seminary….)

The BRC are always easy to spot, as their sense of entitlement provides them with all the armor against opinion, or law, they ever need. They want guns to be only held by the militia, (which they control), or the police (whom they also control), because it makes them nervous as hell to know there are guns out in the land, in the hands of people who would use them, for certain, if they attempt to perform their illegal lying, cheating, and stealing anywhere in their presence. It also makes them nervous knowing that they would be in danger for real, if the truth about what they do is ever made public with enough evidence to convince the masses to act…. They don’t want to have to worry they will be over-matched in firepower when that day comes along….

SIGH…. I’ve opened a can of worms, again, I know it….. I’m not going to claim to have all the right answers to the situation we find ourselves in today. Though it is a different world, technologically and culturally, from the time when the Second Amendment was written, deciding to abandon its precepts on that basis is not, and should never be, enough to justify any change in a law that is so important to the common man, the very people for whom the laws were created, to protect them from the self-same usurpation that is now being attempted. Once the law is amended, and weakened, the term “slippery slope” becomes very real, and a valid fear for those people.

To put a cap on it for now, I’ll say this…. Quite simply, I do not trust those who would take the right to bear arms from the people (added later: I reserve the same lack of trust for those who wish to amend, or limit in any way, the right to bear arms; ANY kind of change will ultimately be used as the basis for arguments designed to completely take the right away…). I have seen NO evidence, in history, or in recent current events, that ANY governing body, or ANY group, or ANY single person, of ANY persuasion can be trusted to have guns, and use them solely for the benefit of the people, without turning them to their own purposes, first. NONE. You can’t show me any, either…. Go ahead, I’m listening….

I have studied people every day of my life, and I know too much of human nature to ever believe what I’m told of another person’s intentions; even the best intentions can change in mid-stream, turning its back completely on any commitments made previously. People lie, they cheat, they break in their minds, and they can’t, as a whole, ever be trusted to act rationally on a consistent basis….. at least, not any more rationally than can I myself….

“In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.” — Oscar Wilde

Such being the case, I’d rather keep my guns, thanks. I’ll accept the risks that go with that freedom, which includes the risk of bad people getting their hands on guns, and doing bad things to others. Don’t worry, if they do it in front of me, I’ll help…. and not by running away and hiding…. Life is dangerous, ffolkes, and one either learns to get along with that idea, or one spends a lot of time worrying about shit that can’t be changed…. A very unhappy state of affairs, to my way of thinking, and not very realistic in the long run….

“When the panorama of human existence becomes chaotic and confused, it is quite soothing to watch the sun rise in the East.” ~~ gigoid

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This Pearl, having been composed under what may be termed as extreme duress, didn’t come out too badly….. I cheated a little, by going back into the archives, but, given the circumstances today, that is all for the best…. In fact, I am compelled at this point to admit that there isn’t anything more I can do, either to improve matters, or to make them worse…. That being the case, I’m outta here until tomorrow…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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


gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Vast featureless mountains of personal data…. with a side of fried gravy, please….

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2

Ffolkes,

 

Since there IS no routine, this section of today’s Pearl will be a struggle, even more than usual for around here…. I say there is no routine because there isn’t one, not anywhere in my life…. Sad, but, true…. This, I think, is a direct result of one of the aspects of reality about which we can do nothing; we can’t change some things, and, as Epictetus reminded us, knowing what those things are is valuable in making decisions…. All this really means is that, once more, I’m at a loss as to what should go here to start the day….

Much of today’s effort took place yesterday…. The rant in section one is a consequence of watching one of those little news videos that are always on the strip next to the articles being shown…. After watching it, my angst level shot through the roof, which added to the time it took to deal with it, as after ranting for a while, I had to make the repairs to the roof, before night fell, bringing with it the demons who infest the darkness…. One doesn’t wish one’s roof to be an open invitation for them to enter….

Was that fanciful enough? No? Ah, I see…. no set-up for it. Okay, I’ll remember that…. Any who, where was I? Oh, yeah, nowhere…. Here I am, yet again, deep into three relatively weird, uninformative paragraphs blathering about nothing in particular, with a bit of nonsense and fantasy woven through them indiscriminately as the only thing to show for the time spent…. which is just as pathetic as it usually is, to my eye…. Maybe it looks different from out there, but, to my jaundiced eye, it all seems tacky, if strangely compelling…

Compelling, however, doesn’t get the windows washed, nor does it get the baby rescued from the bath water. And, really, none of any of this matters a whit, a snit, or a tiny little bit, not to the iconic forces of nature who determine how our days progress; if Reality wants to take a dump in your vicinity, well, it’s too late to charge a dime to let them into the room with the porcelain throne….. You may as well just toss in your towel, and take your lumps… I know what it’s like to be on Reality’s bad side…. As Tommy Toilet has been known to say about rectal itch, it’s no picnic…

Speaking of picnics, I think now would be a good time to try to escape from this section; it’s getting a bit thick in here, and there’s no telling what might happen if I don’t at least make an attempt to regain control, even if I have to wrest it from Murphy’s cold, dead hands…. In hopes of receiving some encouragement along those lines from Mother Nature, I’m going to stop now, and get on with today’s creation of another fine mess…

Shall we Pearl?….

“YOW!!  What should the entire human race DO??  Consume a fifth of CHIVAS REGAL, ski NUDE down MT. EVEREST, and have a wild SEX WEEKEND!” — Zippy the Pinhead

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Was There A Time
Was there a time when dancers with their fiddles
In children’s circuses could stay their troubles?
There was a time they could cry over books,
But time has set its maggot on their track.
Under the arc of the sky they are unsafe.
What’s never known is safest in this life.
Under the skysigns they who have no arms
Have cleanest hands, and, as the heartless ghost
Alone’s unhurt, so the blind man sees best. ~~ Dylan Thomas  ~~


Yesterday, I watched a video news report online, put there by a company called the Bloomberg news network… A reporter claimed to have uncovered evidence, using services and data supplied by a free online security utility site, called Ghostery (which I fully intend to check out….), which found that the NSA, (yes, our old friends at Homeland CyberSecurity…..) have not only known about the Heartbleed code flaw recently discovered, that makes all internet users vulnerable to identity and data theft, for TWO FULL YEARS….. Not only did they know about it, they HAVE BEEN ACTIVELY EXPLOITING THE FLAW, using the conveniently provided back door into sources of data on the internet FOR THAT ENTIRE TIME….

The agency has apparently done this without ever notifying ANYONE in the public, or in the halls of government the flaw was there, much less letting anyone know how they were using it to discover unauthorized data, steal data. The site mentioned in the news blurb, Ghostery, (found here: https://www.ghostery.com/en/ ), shows the code that powers the net, and allows people to see where they’ve been, who is tracking them, how others track them, and manage the amount of data that is vulnerable…. According to what the reporter found, the NSA allegedly has known about Heartbleed for over two years, as the code shows them using the back door repeatedly to access data to which they had no right….

Why am I NOT surprised? Oh, I don’t know…. Maybe it’s all the evidence laying right out in public for people to see that makes me jaded to learn about this…. It fits right in with the other psychopathic behaviors the agency displays, such as spying on their own citizens, the leaders and citizens of other countries, and whomever else their paranoid little minds can conceive of who might, in some fantasy world of their own, present some risk to their insane world view, and their insane need to control EVERY FUCKING THING THEY PERCEIVE…..

It outrages me, on a regular basis, to be living in a society in which shadowy, cowardly, self-serving, avaricious sociopaths control the rest of the populace through the use of economic oppression, and the time-tested political skills based on using fear of the unknown, and the elusive, ambiguous  threat of terrorism, which, in reality, exists only in the minds of those who do not know how to use their power of reason, to see that the most serious threat to their own liberty is their own government, and the insane assholes who use their money to control it….

When I look at the way our modern government functions, at the sheer effrontery, the unmitigated gall with which they lie to the public, and at almost all the actions of those who call themselves our leaders, I am incensed…. It enrages me to have to admit the dream of our Founding Fathers has been usurped, corrupted and perverted by the clandestine corporate snakeheads who control all the money and resources, enforced by their paid minions, aka political gigolos, with the full knowledge and support of the clergy of all religions, and the military and police myrmidons, who find in public police work a way to act out their aggressive, bullying  natures with official sanction….

In short, I am BEYOND angry, because the people like myself, in this country, and in the world at large, who DON’T have any desire for power over others, live with less freedom today than the original colonists had in the England they fled, to find and make their own way in a new world, free of the oppression of those who would control their every act, and their every thought, if they could….

Those Founding Fathers placed a responsibility in our hands, which we have shirked, so long we are now at the point of being unable to organize, or to gather enough people to fight back…. There are not enough people alive today who are willing to make the sacrifices that were made on their behalf, not enough people willing to accept Thomas Jefferson’s challenge, to nurture the Tree of Liberty by the sacrifice of the blood of patriots.

People in today’s society would rather just stay indoors, nodding their heads, docilely going along with whatever the talking heads on TV tell them to do, which is to waste half of their available, active neuronic connections playing with their smart phones, which makes them FEEL as if they have some control over the world…. when, in reality, these little mini-computers are merely a complicated hammer, which is currently in use as a tool in the project the pundits have going, to dismantle the US Bill of Rights, and the Constitution of the United States….

And they’re doing it right in front of our faces, ffolkes…. If you don’t see it, then, I’m sorry, but you’re just not paying attention to the right information, and will join the rest of mankind on the path to our own extinction, without ever having had a clue that anything was at all wrong…. SIGH… It makes me sad, and it makes me mad, so I rant, and I blather, and I take my shots at the BRC whenever I can…. The rest of the time, I am just like anyone else, just trying to stay within myself long enough to find the peace, of mind, and spirit, that I know is there…. somewhere….

“Get up, stand up, Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, Never give up the fight.” — Bob Marley

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Originally, I first posted this classical poem on this site on June 25, 2012, though it is much older than that…. I realize this is fairly long, but some pearls just shine more brightly than others….. In fact, this is so good, I see no reason to wish you enjoyment in reading it, because I know you will… as have, no doubt, literally millions of people, in the time since it was first penned, in the nineteenth century….

A Gleam of Sunshine
This is the place. Stand still, my steed,
Let me review the scene,
And summon from the shadowy Past
The forms that once have been. The Past and Present here unite
Beneath Time’s flowing tide,
Like footprints hidden by a brook,
But seen on either side. Here runs the highway to the town;
There the green lane descends,
Through which I walked to church with thee,
O gentlest of my friends!

The shadow of the linden-trees
Lay moving on the grass;
Between them and the moving boughs,
A shadow, thou didst pass.

Thy dress was like the lilies,
And thy heart as pure as they:
One of God’s holy messengers
Did walk with me that day.

I saw the branches of the trees
Bend down thy touch to meet,
The clover-blossoms in the grass
Rise up to kiss thy feet,

“Sleep, sleep to-day, tormenting cares,
Of earth and folly born!”
Solemnly sang the village choir
On that sweet Sabbath morn.

Through the closed blinds the golden sun
Poured in a dusty beam,
Like the celestial ladder seen
By Jacob in his dream.

And ever and anon, the wind,
Sweet-scented with the hay,
Turned o’er the hymn-book’s fluttering leaves
That on the window lay.

Long was the good man’s sermon,
Yet it seemed not so to me;
For he spake of Ruth the beautiful,
And still I thought of thee.

Long was the prayer he uttered,
Yet it seemed not so to me;
For in my heart I prayed with him,
And still I thought of thee.

But now, alas! the place seems changed;
Thou art no longer here:
Part of the sunshine of the scene
With thee did disappear.

Though thoughts, deep-rooted in my heart,
Like pine-trees dark and high,
Subdue the light of noon, and breathe
A low and ceaseless sigh;

This memory brightens o’er the past,
As when the sun, concealed
Behind some cloud that near us hangs
Shines on a distant field.

~~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ~~


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In searching through the SB database for appropriate pearls to accompany the rant in section one, I found some rather good pearls that obviously went together, so, here they are, on a subject that like the Truth, will make itself known, if you are open to finding and accepting it….

“By learning you will teach; by teaching you will learn.” — Latin Proverb

“A lie isn’t a lie if it’s in reply to a question the questioner has no right to ask.” — Rex Stout

(Do you see the flaw in this? I hope so…. If not, you may now join the ranks of Americans who haven’t a clue as to the true meaning of the word “honor”, “truth”, or “virtue”, a very large number that has grown much faster of late, as the overall level of virtue in our society drops…. Sorry, ffolkes, but, a lie is a lie, no matter what color one tries to paint it, or what false justification one manufactures…. Believing such illogic can lead one to believe almost anything that SOUNDS as if it should be true…)

(My second thought when reading this was, I wonder if Rex feels the same when someone applies this piece of illogic, unfortunately commonplace in our culture, to HIS questions…. If I were asked such a question, it seems to me the most virtuous response would have to be something along the lines of, “I won’t answer that, because I feel you have no right to ask.”…. Direct, honest, communicative…. with the added advantage of being the absolute truth…. Telling a lie justified by this belief lowers one to the level of those who manipulate others for their own benefit….)

“It is inconceivable that a judicious observer from another solar system would see in our species — which has tended to be cruel, destructive, wasteful, and irrational — the crown and apex of cosmic evolution. Viewing us as the culmination of *anything* is grotesque; viewing us as a transitional species makes more sense — and gives us more hope.  — Betty McCollister, “Our Transitional Species”,  — Free Inquiry magazine, Vol. 8, No. 1

“Many men fancy that what they experience they also understand.” — Goethe

“There are some remedies worse than the disease.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 301

“To accuse others for one’s own misfortunes is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one’s education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one’s education is complete.” — Epictetus

“That proves you are unusual,” returned the Scarecrow “, and I am convinced the  only people worthy of consideration in this world are the unusual ones.  For the common folks are like the leaves of a tree, and live and die unnoticed.” — L. Frank Baum, “The Land of Oz”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today’s Pearl, having come together in an unprecedented fashion, seamlessly combining the old and the new to produce a quite acceptable post, may now be considered done, and done well…. Well, I like it, and that’s all that really matters in the final analysis….. Of course, then one must acknowledge the inevitability of analysis, which, I find, is somewhat limiting…. so, I won’t. Regardless of my own philosophical anomalies, or idiosyncracies, as we like to call them, we’re done here…. “I kinna do nae more, lads!”, to paraphrase Robbie Burns at his broguish best…. See ya, ffolkes, if you don’t see me coming first….

 

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 the dubious

dozer3

Standing in the pentagram, she began to chant….

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3

Ffolkes,

In ringing dulcet tones, a fanfare sounds above the muted roar of the crowd, heralding the entrance of a stunning couple, tall and golden….. The room sighs in admiration as they saunter with ineffable elegance through the massive ballroom’s doors. Hand in hand, they cross to their host, offering their obeisance; though we are in Hollywood, royalty is royalty, and jealous of its privilege.

As I watched the swirling dancers and milling celebrities, rubbing shoulders in a good cause, all I could think about was the woman I’d seen on my way to the door, rummaging in the garbage in the back of the mansion in which we all stood….. I wondered what any of these elegantly dressed swells would say about their good cause, if they knew the woman had once lived here….

Hmm…. well, it’s not Faulkner, by any means, but, it got me here, to this paragraph, so I can count it a success, as that was its only task…. I hadn’t tried my hand at a fictional opening for some time, and figured, what the hell, it’s only 3:30 AM, & I’ve got plenty of time…. It’s not the best I’ve ever done, though it has its points of merit; I’ll let it fly, & not expect much from it…. That way, when it bombs, I can say I knew it all the time…. Hey, it’s a small victory, but, a man’s gotta take what he can get at this time of the day….

Why am I up again at 3 AM? Well, honey, I’ve given up trying to figure it out…. The cat, of course, played a part, by trying to get under the covers, but, that shouldn’t have been enough to make it so I couldn’t sleep any more… Even if I DID go to bed at about 8 PM, I should have been….. Oh, wait…. that’s right….. That makes seven full hours, doesn’t it? Okay, so maybe I WAS done sleeping, and was right to get up…. I sure wish I would tell myself this stuff earlier, before I go making a fool of myself…. Bozoid tendencies or no, it’s too damn early to be making that sort of mistake in my own story…. One could get the impression I’m not altogether “with it”, don’t y’know?…

In spite of all evidence to the contrary, I DO know whereof I am existent, though that perception can change in a heart beat; I’ve always been subject to unpredictable moments of perceptual convulsion, wherein the Universe seems to expand rapidly, then shrink…. Oh, wait, the Universe IS expanding and shrinking…. what was I thinking? Okay, now I’m pissed…. Who got me started on this? I want them in my office, NOW!…. I could have been seriously injured by the explosion!….

Sorry about all that, ffolkes…. It can be hard getting good help these days, even if I do pay more than minimum wage. Of course, in the process of bringing all the above into some sort of proper perspective, you may find yourself a bit confused, but, no worries, that’s to be expected on mornings such as this…. The emergency clinic has been mad aware of the potentially dangerous situation, and will be standing by to treat any possible further episodes of convulsive reasoning, which can be not only debilitating, but serves as a delicious and healthful snack….

What? You wanted sober reasoning…. Sorry, ffolkes, all I’ve got today is the convulsive sort. You’ll have to make do, as I’m already showing you how it needs to be done, in order to fulfill all the legal requirements. Not that we worry much about that; we’ve avoided getting any citations for years, ever since the last time when we had that little accident…. The poor deputy they sent is still receiving treatment for his psychosis….. Honest, we didn’t mean to let out the choir while he was in the foyer trying to decipher the warrant; they just started in on him, & after ten minutes of holistic hosannas,  he was never the same….

Okay…. I think I’m done for the moment…. All morning, since sitting down to stare at the blank screen, snuffling and aching until the morning doses of caffeine & cannabis had a chance to take effect, I’ve been in a strange mood, even for me…. It’s hard to pinpoint a reason, as we humans are complex creatures, and our motivation for anything we do can be pretty obscure, even to ourselves….. which may be an unconscious indicator pointing to the whole problem we humans have in getting by in the world without causing so much damage, to the world, and to each other…. Ah well, I don’t think I’ve got anywhere NEAR enough drugs in me to start on THAT subject…. Instead, we’ll do this……..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Costing not less than everything.” — T.S. Eliot

“Everybody gets free BORSCHT!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Hmm, again…. It seems I’m even odder than usual today, because I could NOT decide which of these was more appropriate to put here…. which is why you see both….  Be warned, ffolkes…. it might get a little strange today….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maybe, if I include something from an old Pearl, things might have a chance to settle, and we’ll be better able to see what we’re about…. We can hope, anyway…. here is a religirant from last year’s files…. Enjoy!…. I did….

From 5/28/2013:

What do you think? Is it time for a rant, perhaps, a religirant? I think so…. They haven’t done anything particularly stupid in public of late; some of the fundamentalists must have broken down and started listening to their lawyers. They’ve been careful lately about saying stuff that not only infuriates the rest of the country, but are probably legally actionable as slander. But, they’ll still ask you to send money, so they can afford to carry on God’s work…..

“They say give your money to God, but they give you THEIR address.” — Smart Bee

On my recent trip to Texas, I went by a church by the highway, and did a complete and classic double-take when the name on the sign registered. I don’t know if it is the one that keeps getting itself in the news, but it said it was the Westboro Baptist Church, home of the world’s most clueless, hateful, and ignorant preacher. Well, the sign didn’t say the last part, that was mine, but it’s still true, if it IS the church that has, for the last three or four years, made itself infamous, and the target of every other Christian in the US, for dragging the good name of Christians in general through some pretty dark mud, and flinging the rest of the mud on everyone it can see…..

These folks, and the idiot who leads them into their idiocy, are perhaps the stupidest people on the planet, if a willingness to display that stupidity, time after time, on national TV, is any indication, all in spite of the constant and strident statements from the entire rest of the world that they are not just wrong, but stupidly wrong, in each and every one of their stated objectives. Wrong, that is, according to every other interpretation of the Bible’s words by every Christian scholar in the world, except themselves.

These ignoramae refuse to even look at what they are doing, and have absolutely no clue of how completely ridiculous they appear to everyone else in the world. In a way, it is really sad, or would be, but for their vicious vindictiveness, and the vulnerability of their victims, the people they label as blasphemers and devils, just for being different in some way. In their ignorant blundering around like bulls in a china shop, they hurt the feelings of people who are already suffering, and do so deliberately…. Not just stupid, these assholes, but cruelly so….

“Some men become proud and insolent because they ride a fine horse, wear a feather in their hat or are dressed in a fine suit of clothes. Who does not see the folly of this? If there be any glory in such things, the glory belongs to the horse, the bird and the tailor.” — St. Frances de Sales

This is their justification, their rationalization for their actions, which they MUST KNOW to be wrong; no one breathing could possibly be THAT stupid, so much so as to not know their own cruelty. But, like all Christians do to at least some degree, in order to maintain faith, they can rationalize anything, as long as it supports their belief in their own rightness…. This is a necessary attribute for anyone attempting to live in reality according to the rules dictated by a delusion, and, in fact, is most likely a purely human characteristic, common to the believers of ANY religion.

“Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech.” — Martin Fraquhar Tupper

At this point in this discussion, I think this final quote can point the way out of such a distasteful subject. My hands already will need to be washed thoroughly after this stuff, so I may as well close it by saying this…. The people in the world who have decided to allow fear to dictate their entire approach to Life, and submerge their intelligence in the pursuit of an idea that has no real connection to the real world, in order to spare themselves the effort of dealing with life directly, by condescending to use their own minds. That being said, I can finally give them their precise due, which means, I no longer need consider them, at all…. which also means I don’t have to waste my time talking about them any more….. Bully good news for y’all, don’t you think?…. I’m going now….. See?…. I’m already gone…..

“To perceive is to suffer.” — Aristotle, De Anima

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is one of Poe’s better works…. yes, I’m opinionated. Deal….

Dreams

Oh! that my young life were a lasting dream!
My spirit not awakening, till the beam
Of an Eternity should bring the morrow.
Yes! tho’ that long dream were of hopeless sorrow,
‘Twere better than the cold reality
Of waking life, to him whose heart must be,
And hath been still, upon the lovely earth,
A chaos of deep passion, from his birth.
But should it be- that dream eternally
Continuing- as dreams have been to me
In my young boyhood- should it thus be given,
‘Twere folly still to hope for higher Heaven.
For I have revell’d, when the sun was bright
I’ the summer sky, in dreams of living light
And loveliness,- have left my very heart
In climes of my imagining, apart
From mine own home, with beings that have been
Of mine own thought- what more could I have seen?
‘Twas once- and only once- and the wild hour
From my remembrance shall not pass- some power
Or spell had bound me- ’twas the chilly wind
Came o’er me in the night, and left behind
Its image on my spirit- or the moon
Shone on my slumbers in her lofty noon
Too coldly- or the stars- howe’er it was
That dream was as that night-wind- let it pass.

I have been happy, tho’ in a dream.
I have been happy- and I love the theme:
Dreams! in their vivid coloring of life,
As in that fleeting, shadowy, misty strife
Of semblance with reality, which brings
To the delirious eye, more lovely things
Of Paradise and Love- and all our own!
Than young Hope in his sunniest hour hath known.

~~ Edgar Allan Poe  ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Due to the unpredictable nature of my mood today, I’ve avoided creating anything fresh….. I’m too familiar with the results of indulging such moods to allow one to affect today’s effort, which is already hovering around the “too weird even for gigoid” category. To assuage any lingering guilt for having shamelessly used the archives to fill in today’s post, here is a random, harlequin pearl to finish off this mess…. So much for vaulting ambition, eh?….. Let’s go see what SB can come up with for us today….

“Time is the great legalizer, even in the field of morals.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956), “A Book of Prefaces”, 1917

“Be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work, risking, and not quite knowing what you’re doing. What you’ll discover will be wonderful: yourself.” — Alan Alda

“If we don’t know life, how can we know death?” — Confucius

“The Tree of Learning bears the noblest fruit, but noble fruit tastes bad.” — Smart Bee

“It is a maxim universally agreed upon in agriculture, that nothing must be done too late; and again, that everything must be done at its proper season; while there is a third precept which reminds us that opportunities lost can never be regained.” — Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) — Natural History, Book xviii, Sect. 44

“It is never too late to give up your prejudices.’ — Henry David Thoreau, Walden

“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” — Aristotle, Ethica nicomachea II (c. 325 B.C.)

I keep telling you…. it’s all in the wrist, see?….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Given the state of my mind this morning, I’m pretty well satisfied with this effort…. Nothing here will cause any bleeding, unless, of course, one rolls it up and strikes oneself in the face with it. I’d suggest NOT going that route, as it can lead to unwarranted accusations of self-abuse, a tough start to any day. Better to just read it with a certain degree of suspended judgment, and leave any build-up of angst and/or resentment to those simple folks who cannot comprehend their own ignorance….

Thus, having adeptly alienated anyone who doesn’t speak piffle, or at least another language that can help them to translate my alt-English into spoken, or written English, I will do the merciful thing, and end this here…. Y’all should probably check yourselves in the mirror before heading out into the public; it got a bit messy in here today…. See ya, tomorrow, I’m hoping….

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 the dubious

dozer3

Watching the Founding Fathers spin like a top….

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Ffolkes,

Having long been cognizant of the danger involved in living a life of free will, I accept that danger, without qualm or resentment, as the just cost it represents for the boon of living free. As our favorite Founding Father, Tommy J, was fond of saying, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance; it’s cost is counted only in the blood of its defenders.” Well, I think he said it; it might have been one of the others…. but, it SOUNDS like mi amigo Tomas, so I’m going with that. The danger, as it turns out, is not from the world at large, so much as from the Australopithecan inhabitants of that world, specifically a certain small part of the impossibly fecund  group of naked, hairless apes who infest the surface of the planet with me….

Now, this may sound as if I have a rather poor opinion of my fellow man…. In that, you would be right, insofar as it goes. Individually I like some of them very much, and tend to try to spend what time I have to interact with those whom I can get along with, just like everyone else… The rest of them, as far as I am concerned, are pretty much superfluous, in most ways, and I figure the world would be a nicer place if they’d all just go away somewhere where they won’t bother those of us who only wish to get along, without trying to take advantage of anyone else….

The small group to whom I refer above, however, make the process of living with them a veritable pain the bloody ass, as they have no more desire in Life than to steal from everyone else….. These assholes will lie, cheat, & ultimately, will act, literally, in any way they feel will get them what they want, no matter how unethical, or immoral it may be. Their entire purpose in life is to see that THEY, and they alone, are in control of other people, and of the resources our society uses to maintain life and culture; in that purpose they are single-minded, quite ruthless, deliberately heedless, and completely uncaring, as to how much pain and misery they may cause to other people in the process of achieving their goals.

Now, the assholes who act like this are not a very large group of people…. but, for all of our history on this world, over 5,000 years, at least, this small group of snakeheads have conspired against the rest of humanity, diligently working to set themselves up as the oppressive, shadowy forces behind the Powers That Be in life, a task at which, for the most part, they have been quite successful. The number of people in the world who are in essential control is much smaller than the grand majority of people are aware…… These are NOT the people who get elected, or however they are chosen to lead a nation; the real power lies with those who control those leaders from behind the scenes, telling them what they can and cannot do…..

This number, of the true masters of our society, is, realistically, far less than a thousand men and/or women, world-wide…. Once the structure of control has been established, it doesn’t take a lot of manpower to maintain the status quo, since the vast majority of people in the world are not aware of the true picture of how society is arranged…..

This cluelessness, I might add, is a sufficient degree of ignorance to enable those in power to remain there as long as they wish…. They have had a very long time to practice the skills they need to remain both in charge, and in the background, and they are VERY, VERY GOOD at them, believe me…..

I know these people are out there; I also know that they know they are not completely invisible, due in part to others such as myself, who refuse to leave in place any of the wool they keep trying to pull over our eyes. They know exactly what writers and/or ffolkes are out there in the world, who are watching them WITHOUT being fooled…. Hell, they probably have our addresses, and an idea of how many weapons we keep on hand….

They don’t care, as long as they are able to maintain their control, and their obscurity from the public eye…. If, by chance, the majority of the blind, ignorant public became aware of how much they are controlled, and for how long they have been the dupes of these human predatory vultures….. well, those shadowy snakeheads wouldn’t last very long…. A mob of humans is an ugly thing, with no conscience at all, once it has been set in action….. There is little chance of it ever happening, but, hey, there’s always hope, right?….

I note from the above that my rant for today can be considered as done…. Since, despite the evidence presented thus far, my brain is NOT in what I’d call “sharp” status, I think I’ll take this as it lies, & not worry too much about how it got there… That’s probably for the best, as I don’t have a bloody clue as to how it all came to be…. Hell, I’m not sure exactly what I’m doing right at this moment, much less have I kept track up to now…. it didn’t seem necessary, and, now, it would be more dangerous than what we’ve already done, so, we’ll stop here….

Whew! Thank goodness…. it almost got away from me there…. Now that we’re back in the saddle, so to speak, let’s ride, or, dive, whichever is more appropriate…. I think we’ll dive, as we have the scuba gear, and nothing to ride, anyway…..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” — Marcus Aurelius

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Come hether freind, I am ashamed to hear that what I hear of you… You have almost attayned to the age of nyne yeeres, at least to eight and a halfe, and seeing that you knowe your dutie, if you neglect it your deserve greater punishment then he which though ignorance doth it not. Think not that the nobilitie of your Ancestors doth free you to doe all that you list, contrary-wise, it bindeth you more to follow vertue.” — Pierre Brondell

When I found this, I thought it would make a good beginning to a rant, since it speaks to the concept of responsibility for one’s actions as a leader…. Then, I saw this one….

“Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other.” — Edmund Burke (1729-1797) — Reflections on the Revolution in France, — Letter i, On a Regicide Peace, Vol. v, p. 331

Recognizing the truth of this, I realized that, as in the rant in the intro section, I’m wasting my time, not even preaching to the choir, but to the flock of geese in the yard….. SIGH….. Oh, well, I suppose it had to happen sometime….. So, rather than bore y’all any further with such superfluous agitation, we’ll go with an old-school style pearl, to try to set some sort of example, to teach something about the true nature of our Beloved Ruling Class, and the shadowy corporate snakeheads who tell them what to do…. Let’s see what SB can find for us today, shall we?….

“Of all the forces in the universe, the hardest to overcome is the force of habit. Gravity is easy-peasy by comparison.” — Solomon Einstein (Terry Pratchett, “Johnny and the Dead”)

“The difference between fantasy and science fiction is that one hast honest politicians scrupulous lawyers, and altruistic doctors, while the other only has beings from outer space.” — William John Watkins

“Is it a bigger crime to rob a bank or to open one?” — Smart Bee

“Let thine occupations be few,” saith the sage. — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 24

(I was going to put in an explanation of this pearl from Marcus Aurelius, but, I decided, no, you should figure out for yourself just WHY it is here….)

“Government lies, and newspapers lie, but in a democracy they are different lies.” — Smart Bee

“In the United States…politics is purged of all menace, all sinister quality, all genuine significance, and stuffed with such gorgeous humors, such inordinate farce that one comes to the end of a campaign with one’s ribs loose, and ready for “King Lear,” or a hanging, or a course of medical journals.” — H. L. Mencken

“As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government.  I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.” — George Washington

SIGH…. as for the last quote, all I can say is, so much for THAT idea….. Good idea, George, but, nobody’s interested in that stuff anymore…. At least, nobody in OUR government….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“All poets are mad.” — Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy

Robert is, as we all know, correct in this assessment…. But, who’s counting, anyway?….. Here is another of my old poems, because nobody else deserves a fate like this today…. Here is one, written back in 2012, in reaction to the advancing effects of aging on my health and well-being…. Call it a lament, or call it a paean to patience…. You can call it what you like…. I just call it a poem….

Raging at Aging

As old as you feel, we are told, is old as you are,
custom assures such vision will carry us far.
Reality begs to differ, may it be so bold
it is really quite painful, and very, very cold.

The power and strength felt in our halcyon youth
desert us with age, yet another unwelcome truth.
Irony rules our time here on this bountiful earth
as we reflect the changes over time since our birth.

As physical powers fade from this fragile shell,
we learn our mind can serve us quite as well.
The strength that once filled our bones and hearts
is now applied by our will, to more arcane arts.

Life’s greatest gift is our freedom of choice
no matter how often we forget, we still get a voice.
Energy, or apathy, by our will we may choose,
failing to do so, our only way to lose.

Each of us lives in the grip of time and space,
always seeking our balance, our own chosen place.
One must accept reality, for it is true at the core,
all we can do, is all we can do, and nothing more.

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It may be said that his wit shines at the expense of his memory.” — Alain Rene Le Sage (1668-1747) — Gil Blas, Book iii, Chap. xi

“A wit with dunces, and a dunce with wits.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Dunciad, Book iv, Line 90

“Ahhh.   A man with a sharp wit.  Someone ought to take it away from him before he cuts himself.” — Peter da Silva

Aha! I finally found a place for these!….. I’ve been holding these three connected pearls for some weeks now, trying to find a place for them…. Since I’ve treated y’all today to a perfect example of the point of these three little barbs, I’ll just say that, all of these, taken together, form an idea that fits me like a Texas catheter, which, if y’all know anything about nursing, is an article of medical purpose which, once applied, will NOT fall off the appendage to which it is strapped, until it is meant to…. which is a delicate way of saying y’all should be careful when I’m slinging pearls around…. They can, if not respected for the damage they can do, make y’all wish you were never born….

That being said, here is another old-school pearl, whose only parameters for inclusion were set at “odd”, and “funny”…. Of course, you have to go by MY standards on both of those, but, hey, you’ll like it….. Trust me…

“Everything takes longer than you think it will.” — Murphy’s Law Corollary  2

(Including completing the consumption of this Pearl…..)

“During the invasion of Sicily in World War II, General George (“Blood ‘n’ Guts”) Patton was preparing to take the city of Palermo.  He checked with his meteorologists and learned the day he had chosen would be incredibly rainy.  So he issued an order to place copies of the New York “Times” immediately beneath the tailgates of the transports carrying his troops. In this way the men could keep their feet dry. His staff was mystified.  Why the “Times”?  Why not the New York “Daily News”?  Patton was adamant; and one did not argue with the General.  As five tons of old copies of the “Times” were being loaded, the General issued one of his greatest quotes to the assembled war correspondents: “THESE ARE THE ‘TIMES’ THAT DRY MEN’S SOLES.” –Smart Bee

(My abject apologies for that…. but, I couldn’t resist…. You may groan as loudly as you wish; you may even voice as many epithets as you desire….. Just don’t throw any of the articles from the pocket in the seat back in front of you…. Thanks….)

“Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own.” — Aristotle

“America will tolerate the taking of a human life without giving it a second thought. But don’t misuse a household pet.” — Dick Gregory, The Shadow that Scares Me, 1968

The Preacher, the Politician, the Teacher,
Were each of them once a kiddie.
A child, indeed, is a wonderful creature.
Do I want one?  God Forbiddie!

— Ogden Nash

“The believer is happy.  The doubter is wise.’ — Hungarian proverb

“Go on, EMOTE!  I was RAISED on thought balloons!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

I really love it when a plan comes together….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having thus completed the obligatory number of rants, or rant-like substances, including two old-school pearls, I am now authorized to bring this to a close, without fear of annoying any of the bureaucrats who keep tabs on this sort of function…. The poem was a bonus inclusion, due to the habit of those same bureaucrats to completely ignore all poetry, as being outside their purview and/or perception. Now, aren’t you glad you stayed to the end?….

Okay, I’ll shut down my incredibly over-zealous ego now, putting the lie to the old saw about never knowing when to shut up…. I can bust a preconceived notion with the best of them, as long as I have something with which I can replace it, in the traditional pantheon of necessary incongruities, with which reality is decorated whenever we gather like this…. Plus, it gave me one last opportunity to practice my nonsense and blather, without actually having to open a new package….. On that obscure note, I will release you from all bondage, and begone….. See ya, ffolkes, if I’m still relatively sane tomorrow….

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 the dubious

dozer3