Rant

Although electrons now are streaming froth with disaster and woe-is-us video fortified with blustery putinous warnings of our empire’s downfall and their empire’s upchuck, and

meanwhile back at the middle kingdom ranch, techie-tok wizards collect data like robber barons used to collect cash back in the day, and

although bellicose bullying bee-ss is broadly flung forth through this-twitter and that faceblob as the big cheese strains to trump said putinous bluster and middlekingdom xi-nanigns, and  

although thousands, maybe millions, of our citizens assemble in the streets to demand justice and equality and employment and relief from covid and relief from centuries of oppression and mistreatment, and

although it is all very exciting to see on vid and hear about from the kids, new kids on the block, as we ole boomers just fade away even as the ole soldiers of greatest generation did all they could to stop them dam nazis and finally defeat the frickin fascists before  taking their exits from earthly existence, and

althought the dam nazis and the frickin fascists are once again comin out of the woodwork like mice when the house is dark,

I’m about ready to put a lid on it all and fuhgedaboudit, hence:

  Traveler's Rest

Glass half-Full

The meaning of suffering

In this life, suffering is part of the territory.
We must learn to deal with it.
God told Cain that sin was crouching at his door and that he must “master it.”
Cain did not oppose the bitter/resentful part of himself. Rather, he took his bitterness out on someone else—his brother. He killed Abel.
People who allow the bitter badness of this life to defeat their attitude--those people end up taking their frustration out on other people.
A person who has been corrupted by his own bitterness/anger will likely turn to destructive behavior to express his/her frustration. That person may concoct an evil plan to hurt/ kill some person who has gotten in their way. Or worse yet, that person may go ballistic, sociopathic, and decide to go on shooting spree before turning the gun on himself.
If we do not cope with suffering, if we do not contend the resulting resentment, it will master us, instead of us mastering it. 
If and when that happens—if the urge to extract vengeance takes control of us—instead of us controlling it—we buckle under the pressure and things get worse.
Such evil also manifests collectively in historical ways. In the 1930’s-40’s, the Nazis took out their bitterness agains other Europeans who had previously defeated them militarily. They also embodied depravity by inflicting their hyped-up vengeance against Jews, because they entertained the lie that Jews were responsible for their social/cultural failures.
The fundamental struggle in this life—both individually and collectively— is to somehow accept that shit happens (we will have a certain amount of suffering) and then contend against our own bitterness, and thereby defeat the urge to take out our troubles on others.
This requires a certain acceptance of suffering. No person escapes it entirely.
Understand that suffering is a part of life. Trouble is built in, because (in my view) opposing it builds godly character.
So we must overcome the urge to blame others for our troubles. We need to take responsibility for our own lives—our own failures, as well as our own successes.
But it’s not easy; we need help.
The follower of Christ realizes that we cannot undertake that battle without our Creator’s help.
Like it or not, God has constructed this life in such a way that we must admit our inadequacy and turn to Him for help, so as to overcome the destructive influences of this world instead of turning those destructions on other people.
And he has given us his Son, who contended with evil and suffering to the nth degree—to the very end of his own tortured life—in order to demonstrate that suffering is not meaningless. It’s just part of the territory in this world, especially if we resolve to do any "good."
Furthermore, the inevitable death that is the result of this troublesome life--that dreaded death lands us--if you can allow yourself to believe it-- in a place that is even greater than this present life—resurrection into eternal life.
So accept that this life is difficult, and suffering is part of the territory, and don’t take out your anger on others. Do unto them what you would have them do unto you.
Life ain't no bowl of cherries. That much is plain to see. It's no walk in the park.
Deal with it. Master it. Turn it over to the one who endured the absolute worst suffering as a consequence of his living  life totally void of destructive resentment. Otherwise you may hurt yourself badly; and if that is not enough you may hurt someone else. Don’t go down that path.
Rather,  when you find yourself at the crossroads of bitterness and injustice, take up the deepest challenge that this life presents. Accept your suffering  willingly. Endure, persevere while manifesting love and goodwill, and thereby defeat the urge to do wrong to others and to yourself.

King of Soul

Tear me up.

Tear me up, life,

just tear me up,

stomp on me if you want to

pick me up and throw me 'cross the world.

I don't care.

Go on now,

get on with it.

Watch me like a hawk,

and when I'm at my tenderest,

most vulnerable point,

pounce!

Take your best shot!

What you do not see

is the One who died for me.

His sacrifice has made all the difference,

and will yet again

when I rise with Him.

So just get along now.

Go find someone else to pick on.

You think I don't see you.

But I do.

And I will.

Glass half-Full

The Fall of Man--Past or Future?

This world is a mess, isn't it? It's a screwed-up place. How in the hell did it get this way? Who's responsible for this mess?

Among my people, the Christians, we generally attribute this world's fallen condition to a collusion between the devil and a couple of homo sapiens named Adam and Eve. We read in our sacred book a story of how this presently messed-up arrangement of things originated in a place called the garden of Eden where the devil, shapeshifting as a serpent, tricked Eve and Adam into eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, whatever that is.

That book, the Book of Genesis, was written by Moses.

Moses' impact on mankind has been huge. His writings have had more influence on human belief and behavior than just anybody else I can think of. His best-seller, the first five books of the Bible, is still more widely-read than any other written work. Moses' ancient influence has outdone all the masters of modern storytelling, even heavyweights such as Shakespeare, Melville, Twain, Dickens, Hemingway, Tolkien, Crichton, Grisham, Rowling and even Stephen King.

But Moses' chief contender these days for the role of Primary Explanator of the human condition is an Arabian prophet who has been around for 14 centuries: Mohammed. All around the world the advocates for Mohammed are giving Moses a run for his money. We shall see how this turns out.

As for me and my house--my money is on Moses. More importantly, my faith is in Jesus Christ. But I have to tell you--I think Moses was really onto something.

He, and his predecessor Abraham, had latched onto some pretty potent stuff. That is to say, some real truth. As for the Arabian, we shall see how all that plays out. Seems to me his deal is quite legalistic and compulsory, instead of being, say, benevolent and full of grace.

Consider Moses and his legacy.

His writings, and the writings of those who followed in his revelation, eventually became what we call the Judaeo-Christian heritage, generally associated with the Western World. When Mohammed came along, about 620 C.E., he sought to place himself into that Abrahamic/Mosaic stream of revelation. And as I said before, we shall see how that all works out. As for me and my house, I'm not into the Mohammedan thing, but the Mohammedans can do what they want. You go your way and I'll go mine, okay?

Getting back to my original question of how or why the world got to be such a screwed-up place, I would have to direct you to an appraisal of some recent human history. About a hundred years ago, the whole damn world started to blow up with powerful new technologies that had been applied to human conflict. World War I was no walk in the park, and World War II wasn't either. In fact, both of those conflagrations were pretty horrendous blow-ups that caused, in an historically unprecedented way, a lot of damage and pain and strife among the peoples of the world.

I mean, looking back on it. The whole damn 20th-century--and even up to now in the 21st--is shown to be powerful evidence that the human race is fallen, depraved, or, as they say in the Red states, screwed-up, or as they say in the Blue states, dysfunctional. Something is wrong with us. Human history proves it.

So, as I pointed out above, Moses was correct in his assessment when he brought forth the story about the Fall of Man.

Now Moses was a Jew and that has gotten him into trouble.

The modern historical nemesis of Moses and all the Jewish people was a bestial man from Austria named Adolf Hitler. History has shown that Hitler's diabolical hatred of the Jews, and probably his hatred of all the rest us who don't measure up to his Aryan bullshit standards, turned the whole world upside down with war and destruction for a period of about five years, back in the 1940's.

Hitler had spent his youth in artistic pursuits. He fancied himself an artist. During that first 20th-century decade before World War I, he had tried to break into the art world and become a recognized artist. While living in Vienna and trying to promote his art, he encountered some Jewish critics who did not appreciate his work. This became a big problem for Hitler. He acted out his inner resentment against them in such an extremely phobic way that his hatred for Jews became an obsession. One thing led to another, and, you know the rest of the story.

The point I am making is that Hitler blamed all the world's trouble and dysfunction on the Jews. And he damn-near destroyed the civilized world just to prove his point.

Look what happened as a result--another world war, millions of people dead. In some ways, it is still going on, although the names and the faces have changed.

But let's learn from history. The problem is not with the Jews. The problem is with all of us.

As far as the present arrangement of things goes, in 2016, there have been some interesting developments.

Take the Climate-bangers, for instance. They met in Kyoto, then in several other major cities, most recently Copenhagen, Lima, and Paris.

They're working toward a worldwide implementation of their program to save the world by phasing out Carbon Emissions.

Good luck with that, Naomi.

Now some of their rhetoric is quite legalistic, even repressive. Sounds like it could even morph into a police-state kind of .gov program.

If they think they can correct this world by regulating everybody into enforced, low-carbon poverty, I have to say, respectfully, I beg to differ.

Over a hundred years ago, the Marxists were all hot and bothered with their new theory about what would straighten this mess out. They wanted to organize and equip the working people of the world to take control of the Means of Production--that is-- to take all the resource-converting industrial/financial/gov infrastructure away from the Capitalists and let the proletariat run the show and this would evolve into the golden era of human brotherhood and thereby true communism.

History has shown, however, through the bloody regimes of Stalin, Mao, Pol-Pot, Kim Jong-Un and other delusionary demagogues, that their theoretical Plan for our deliverance from oppressive Capitalism, while it looks credible on paper, does not actually work according to plan.

Why not? The problem is Fallen Man. We screw it up every time.

Nobody, not even God Him/Her self, will ever get all homo sapiens together on the same page working together to correct our messed-up world.

Now consider the problem of Climate Change. This is a lot like the old problem of Capitalist Exploitation.

The Climate-bangers' doctrine we see evolving among world-class Academics involves a strategy similar to the Marxist prescription that was supposed to render Capitalism obsolete. This new Regimen calls for Taking Control of the Means of Emission--which is, practically speaking, the same as the Means of Production. But this has not happened under the Communist banner and it will not happen under the Climate banner. It'll never happen.

Men are emitters--always have been, always will be. We are guilty of flatulence every day, in oh so many ways, whether through an exhaust pipe, a coal stack, or an anal expulsion.

Men are sinners--always have been, always will be. We are guilty of murder every day, in oh so many ways, whether through the gun, the bomb, or the polluted environment.

Word from the Tower is if we don't get a hold of this Carbon thing it will be the end of us.

So now the Climate-bangers have predicted an Apocalypse of Carbon destruction. It arises from Man's inability to get his shit together and properly disposed of, based on the 2% increase Plan, or even the 1 1/2% plan. Our goose is cooked. The train is about to derail. The jig is up and that's all she wrote. It's curtains for us, unless we can get everybody together on the same regs to curb our carbon flatulence.

But there is another Apocalypse scenario that is just as likely to happen, if you think about it. For many centuries, we Christians have read and taught from our scriptures, the last book of which describes an Apocalypse that befalls us as a result of our depravity. Now, in the 20th-century, we religious types who warn of a possibly impending Tribulation, which is a result of our human carbon emission sin-- we are thought to be on the lunatic fringe because we are seen as doomsayers.

So as it turns out--it's history's little joke on us-- we Bible-thumpers are not the only ones on the street with a Repent the End is Near sign.

But hey, we're all in this together. Come, let us reason together.

Just lighten up, and let's all try to get along here. I'll minimize my emissions if you'll minimize yours.

And by 'n by, we shall see how this all pans out. But be careful; try not to fall on your way out of this mess.



Smoke

The Ambiguous Shirking Syndrome (ASS)

It started with like.

"I was like, watching this show, and this guy was trying to, like, jump on a trampoline, but it wasn't a trampoline; it was, like, a stack of foam rubber cushions with whipped cream all over it and there were these other people standing around trying to, like, keeping him from falling, to keep him from. . ."

In the above example, we see that the incredible versatility of the the like filler-phoneme phenomenon has rendered that little word weary and wornout from overuse, and so a linguatic trainer was sent in to give, like, a break; they sent in two second-stringers to replace him. Like was, like, the only filler word ever, who it took two other words to replace him--he was that famous--and so the trainer sent in you know. . .

"and these other people standing around are trying to, you know, trying to keep him from falling off the stack of foam rubber pads. They were supposed to keep his feet from touching the ground because if his feet touched the ground then he would be, you know, eliminated and they would vote him off the show or, you know, something like that. It was so funny--how he was trying to keep his feet up on the pads so his feet wouldn't touch the ground. But some of the people that were supposed to help him started licking the whipped cream off of him just for, you know, a joke or something and so finally while this one weird guy was like getting into the whipped cream thing and he wasn't paying attention and so the guy's feet touched the ground and the facilitator blew the whistle and everything stopped and all the people were laughing except for him because he was, you know, out of the game and he could never come back. It was sad in a way but it was, you know. . ."

Now the meteoric rise of another Celebrity utteral excloratory filler has, within our lifetime, added yet another star-quality persona to the filler-phoneme phenom:

". . .kinda funny. It was sad in a way, but it was kinda funny."

This slangified stripped-down contraction of the classic "kind of" adjectivo-preppisitionative filler has really taken over. I mean, it went viral a couple years ago, gettin' a thousand hits a minute because its like, you know, well who wants to go to all that trouble and say "kind of" when you can just blurt out kinda whatever you're feeling at the time or whatever floats your boat, or maybe you can't think of the right word because, well, you know. . .

whatever. That's another one: whatever. Absolute epitome of the ambiguous shirking syndrome. Perfect example of an ASS.

But I digress. . . You can call it whatever you want. Fuhgedaboudit. I mean, it's all over the map with this stuff. But it IS, you know, a class thing. I mean . . . you won't hear the elite saying it. No way Hozay. Their philler-phoneme of choice is:

sort of

This euphemistic philler-phoneme is a highly favored linguatic device among journalists and talking heads who don't have all their ducks in row, which is to say, they, sort of don't have all their facts. Or else maybe they just don't want to appear to, sort of make value judgements that aren't politically correct or something like that. An example from a recent talking heads discussion could be:

"These extremists were posting their gruesome executions online and the videos would immediately go viral, and people didn't know what to make of it because it was, like, unprecedented. I mean, nothing like this has ever happened before. People in the West were getting sort of freaked about it."

They might even be worse than them fundamentalist right-to-lifers who are so OCD about preventing infanticide. Or maybe they're like them wild-eyed IRA guys in Belfast back to their old tricks, or the new IRA guys who want to value of their IRAs and 401-Ks.

Actually, history is full of this kind of thing. It's called the depravity of Man. The difference just now is that this video-promoted beheading practice--in all it's full-blown barbarism--has gone viral online. And this development is . . . sort of, a bad sign of what may be coming. There could be, like, trouble or something.

Some of the talking heads were recently talking about this viral video beheading phenomenon, and the fatal terrorist shootups in Paris and San Bernadino, and wherever else this type of jihadic atrocity is about to happen. The journalists were trying to decide among themselves what the correct nomenclature would be, whether the shooters and head-choppers should be called terrorists, or political extremists or jihdists or. . .and these people all claim to be . . . sort of, Islamic, but that doesn't, of course, make them Islamic terrorists. So you can see what the problem is here.

What to call them. And our dedicated, professional infomatic journalistic commentators are addressing the problem. For more about this, tune into News at 11.



In signing off from this edition of the Linguatic Report, I'll leave you with our Definition of the Week. This week's word is:

um

Um is a filler-phoneme word that sharpens and clarifies the classically hesitant, filler adverb, uh, which has for many decades been in common use. Found most frequently among academics and well-informed opinionators such as Noam Chomsky or Barak Obama, this very concise, procrastinative filler excloratory is solidly packed with a well-understood but unspoken message, the content of which is:

I'm not finished with my very weighty proclamation yet, so you other members of the panel and you students and so forth who are hanging on my every word please don't interrupt me until I'm done speaking this important next word, which is, um. . . this never should have been what is has become.

Be that as it may, and that said. . . that's the history of the world for you. Never should have been what is has become. Nevertheless there it is . . . whatever you call it. If it was a snake, the damn would have bit you already. Ask Churchill or Eisenhower about it.

But they're not answering the phone.

Smoke

Tunis truth to Tehran torts

.
Teams together in Tunis turned
their tide of crescent history
toward tasting liberty,
but not totally.

Then did their trajectory
of twittering destiny
take Tahrir in a torrent swift
't'would turn even Tutankhamen in a facebook shift.

Now on toward treacherous Tripoli
did their turbulent testing try to be
but this time in a tragic tale
of tripping on the tyrant's tail.

Recalling Turkish triumphs and Tbilisi tanks
and all Trafalgar cartographers aside, no thanks,
shariah shots ring through Teheran
turning Persian poets totali-tarian.

While Tobiah's treacherous taunts turn tough,
Sanballat's sandy tirades are stiff enough
to twist even stable Saudi traits
to Taliban sands in emirates.

If taqiyah tells a tale that's not so true
this troublesome tide taunts the Israeli Jew
whose talking Torah tradition crashes
against the swathe of crescent slashes.

To turn the tide now 't'would be tough.

Arrested Destiny

Will the people of Egypt now have their collective destiny arrested while the Islamists and the liberators vie for control of the levers of power?
Will the citizens of Wisconsin now have their state government held hostage while national politicians play their stage like a puppet show?
Does a bear shit in the woods?
Does a bull carefully consider his path in a China shop?

Glass Chimera

between i ran and a hard place

Could it be that the chinese are pulling the plug on yankee credit because uncle sam is getting cold feet on holding the line in the sand in persia?