Some new bruising along the jaw….

Ffolkes,

    Today’s opening pearl is perfectly descriptive of how I feel…. I just don’t have it today…. I thought, yesterday, when I chose the picture, I could use its energy to stimulate something about which to write. Just look at the face of that young lioness cub, and the pose her mother assumes…. That is one boisterous child, I would guess, and Mama has a hard time keeping up with all the things she wants to get into…. When I first saw it, several years ago, I named the cub “Moxie”, because she looks like she has plenty…. The pic, by the way, was taken from the SFGATE Day in Pictures, many moons ago, and the photographer’s name is right there on it….

As for the wolf, whose ears I am gripping desperately, it may consume me before I can get to this, so, if today’s post never shows up, you’ll know why…. Oh, well, I guess that can’t be true, can it? I always forget about that negative reality shit, you know…. It comes from believing too much in such songs as Jimmy Buffet’s “If the phone doesn’t ring, it’s me!”….. If I let go of the wolf’s ears, long enough to type, he/she’s going to turn on me, and in my current state, the outcome would be fairly random, but, I’m pretty sure the wolf would win….. Generally, I’d give myself the edge, but, not today….

Without going into TMI, suffice it to say, I’m not in the best of moods, nor am I feeling particularly humorous or compassionate…. This can make for a strange day, not just for me, but for y’all, as well, as my feelings often crawl aboard whatever I’m creating, whether I wish it or not. It’s just something any artist has to learn, as the creative process can’t happen at all without some contribution of flesh and/or blood from the artist…. It just doesn’t compute, and whatever is created without that is bland, and devoid of any power….

Nonetheless, nothing much of a creative nature is going to come out of THIS head today, so, I’ll be filling in part of today’s effort with something from the archives….. In fact, I have a good idea for a piece, if I can find it….. One of these days, maybe I’ll go back and create an index of the Pearls, so I know which Pearl has what material, but, that won’t happen soon, as I’m not overly concerned with it…. I kind of like the surprises I get whenever I go through the stuff from the past three years or so…. I told you I was easily entertained….

For now, though, I see we’ve made it far enough to call this a wrap, or finished, or whatever little phrase we choose to indicate the end of another intro section, such as it may be…. It probably didn’t live up to the promise that Moxie’s portrait showed, but, it will have to do, as I’m NOT going to do it over…. I do have SOME pride, if only a smidgen…. It keeps me from getting overly strung out about all this, anyway, as I DO have to take responsibility; too much my father’s son, I suppose, to let someone else take the blame…. At any rate, since we’re already here, and ready,…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Heaven embraces the horizon. No matter how jagged the profile,the sky faithfully conforms.” — Deng Ming-Dao

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“I live by Louis Pasteur’s advice that “Chance favors the prepared mind,” and my own, “The two most common elements in the known universe are hydrogen and stupidity.” — Harlan Ellison

“Dragon?  What dragon?” — Famous Last Words

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/08/unsealed-us-sought-permission-change-historical-record-public-court-proceeding

Okay, here’s the deal…. I wasn’t going to rant today; I’m just not ready for it. But, this article set me off, after I received the link in an email from EFF, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an internet watchdog organization, dedicated to keeping the Internet free, and fighting against the illegal use of spying over that internet as being perpetrated upon the public by the NSA, and the asshole politicians who hold their leash…. which has actually been removed, to allow the clandestine spying to take place in every possible illegal fashion….

In this article, you will be shown how the administration, yes, this “transparent” administration, is now so out of control, they believe they have the RIGHT to spy on us, and to lie to us about it…. I’m so pissed off about this one, I CAN’T rant; I’m almost speechless with rage, that the government of this country would go so far as to attempt to lie, in court, and to request the court to not only allow them to lie, but to not tell the other side of the suit against them that they made the request to redact material, AFTER it had already been related….

Such chutzpah! It takes a lot of gall, not to mention disrespect, to lie like that to the very people who elected you…. As it turns out, their paranoid redactions weren’t even necessary, as they hadn’t released the information they believed they had…. but, it served to highlight the lack of respect, the willingness to lie, and the sheer dishonesty that is being displayed, in a number of arenas, by this administration, and by our government at large…. They are not OUR government any longer, ffolkes….. They are off the leash, and out of control, believing they can do ANYTHING they want to do, without fear of consequence….

I don’t know about y’all, but, I’m getting damn tired of being lied to….. Let’s make a pearl, shall we?…. I can’t think of anything better to do with this angst just now, and ranting would just push my blood pressure through the rood again…. Let’s see what Smart Bee can find to help me work some of this off….

“President? President? We don’t need no stinking president.” — Smart Bee

“True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.” — Socrates

“Just because information has been published doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be classified.” — Lincoln D. Faurer, NSA director

“Government corruption will always be reported in the past tense.” — The Watergate Principle

“Discourse on virtue and they pass by in droves. Whistle and dance the shimmy, and you’ve got an audience.” — Diogenes

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful until it became risky.” — C.S. Lewis  _The Screwtape Letters_

“Beautify America – Deport Congress!” — Smart Bee

So be it…. gigoid has spoken…..

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I know, I know, y’all are tired of my stuff, but, I don’t have the time or the energy to seek out anything else this morning, so, oh well…. Deal….. or, do like I do when I’m not feeling up to a poem, and skip down to section three…. I won’t mind….

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“The foolish ask questions that the wise cannot answer.” — Oscar Wilde

Oscar hit the nail with this one, for sure; hell, I’ve been known to do this to myself!…. I gave ample warning of going into the archives for part of today’s Pearl, so, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise…. It’s not exactly a rant, but, more of a discussion of a point made by Gurdijeff, a twentieth century philosopher…. What could be more appropriate, on a day when we are taking pot shots at our Beloved Ruling Class, and the fine mess they’ve gotten us into…. Enjoy, please….

From 5/19/2012:

“If a sufficient number of people who wanted to stop war really did gather together, they would first of all begin by making war upon those who disagreed with them.  And it is still more certain that they would make war on people who also want to stop wars but in another way.” — Gurdjieff (1873-1949)

Actually, this is not so much of a predictive statement as an observational one. It certainly matches what I know of much of history, and how little the actual reasons for fighting wars are understood by either those who fight in them, or those who cause them to be fought. Neither of those two groups are mutually inclusive, as well, so the reasons that one group may have, or believe they have, for fighting may be (and probably are…) much different from the other groups reasons, stated or actual.

Now, if I can be any less clear in my meaning, please let me know, because I think that paragraph is pretty well obscured…. What I’m trying to say is, the folks who get talked into fighting wars don’t fight for the same reasons as the folks who asked, or told, them to fight. That is because the folks who end up fighting are the honorable, dedicated men (and women) who believe that they are protecting the people they love. The folks who send them to fight are not as honorable, and their reasons for initiating the conflicts are seldom related to people, but rather to money or power, which is what they love. It is a perverted love, yes, but it is nonetheless the primary motivating factor for those who would have power over others, for money equals power in the reality they inhabit.

Gurdijeff’s statement is, I find, too limited in its scope; it doesn’t account for all the different reasons that people are motivated to fight wars. It is a fair and accurate assessment of what is a likely progression of events if men of little purpose beyond their own prejudices are united in cause, because, hey, humans here, not rational creatures by any means, especially in groups….. But humanity is comprised of more than just these folks, and all of the different kinds of people in our species have historically resorted to violent means to settle large disputes. It’s a human thing…. not pretty, but there it is, just like a pimple that won’t go away…..

So how does one stop war? Hmm… well, I can’t claim to have the answer to a question that several thousand years of human history has shown to be somewhat hard to solve with any lasting effect. I’ve managed to avoid taking part in the warlike actions that our country has involved itself in in my lifetime, having seen none that I could honestly say was as important to fight as the government was trying to tell me it was. If I’m going to die, it will be for an honorable goal, not for someone’s profit margin….

War isn’t going to stop unless we change the whole structure of our culture, and remove the benefits of one person having power over another. It’s a very deep, subtle, and pretty well impossible change, its success resting as it does in changing human nature…. That hasn’t happened in all of history so far, and I don’t see it happening anytime soon… so we’d best stay alert to avoid the worst of the fallout from whatever happens….

“If a lawyer and an IRS agent were both drowning, and you could only save one of them, would you go to lunch or read the paper?”– Smart Bee (It’s a subtle connection, but it’s there, trust me….)

There, now, wasn’t that SPECIAL?….. (Thank you, Gilda….)

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Today, I’m going to leave you with some Art…. This is an artist’s rendition, found in an article on Space.com, which explored the various theoretical methods of achieving interstellar travel, such as the one pictured, to wit: using an artificially created worm hole…. It really doesn’t have any particular meaning, not one that is connected to what has been discussed today…. It’s just that, the idea of space travel is one I’ve dreamed of my entire life, so, any kind of material that gives me hope of it happening, even if only in the far future, makes me feel better…. and, I like the picture, too….

As for the rest of today’s Pearl, well, it will just have to do, just the way it is, because it isn’t going to be done over, nor am I willing to forgo posting for a day I’m not ill or incapacitated…. Such as it is, here it is, so, please enjoy it, and I’ll 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….