“The Gods Of The Copybook Headings”

Written by a man who was renowned for both all his written work, from novels, and stories, to poetry. The more I read of his wordsmithery (is there such a word, there should be) the more I find to enjoy.
Sadly, in the case of the above, he appears to be somewhat prophetic. Though perhaps it is little more than the ever more elusive quality, called common sense. Or at the very least, “learned wisdom from previous generations”.

So, prophetic or common sense, Read on, and you decide.

As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market-Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall.
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn.
That water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision, and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorilas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither clud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market-Place;
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch.
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch.
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings.
So we worshiped the Gods of the Market Who promiced these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promiced perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: ‘Stick to the Devil you know.’

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promiced the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbor and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: ‘The Wages of Sin is Death/’

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selective Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: ‘If you don’t work you die.’

The the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tounged wizards withdrew,
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to belive it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four—
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man—
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began:—
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her mire,
And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;
And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

Together Again

As of 12:30 on the morning of Dec 5th, a fiery red head found herself in front a house she had not seen in decades. She seemed somewhat disorientated, the house was familiar, but she seemed to recall the last time she saw it, the paint did not look as fresh, the grass so green …

Rose headed toward the front door, paused, and felt the need to go around to the breezeway between house and garage, entering there instead.

The house was alive with sounds of people in conversations, pots and pans being moved about, and aromas perhaps coming from the kitchen. All this wrapped itself around Rose as she entered the breezeway. She was still a bit unclear, a fog of sorts prevented everything from falling into place. Yet Rose felt drawn to the place, and the mixture of sounds and smells not only called, but seemed to comfort her. She took the two steps up to the door of the house proper, screwed up her courage, and opened the door.

12:34 Dec 5th

As Rose entered, the fog lifted. Uncertainty replaced with clarity, Her sisters, Betty and Nibs turned almost as one and embraced her. Her Mom and Grandmother followed suit. The kitchen was almost to capacity with humanity and joy.

It looked like Christmas as Rose remembered from years past. As she remembered from years past! And I recognize everyone immediately….Rose remembers everything! It was all but gone, just before arriving at the house….her house…the one she spent many happy times in before marrying, and for many years after.

But outside was more like a sunny spring day….yet inside Yuletide reigned.
After greeting her kitchen people, Rose headed to the dining room. The table was set for a feast. And turning toward the living room, she saw the tree decorated, and someone one else. He turned, a gentle smile on his face, and looking like he did years….decades ago… he took her in his arms.
It was a Merry Christmas in a time and place close by, yet so very far away.

12;46 Dec 5th. Rose Marie Sochor passed from this life into the next, I hope that the above is what took place. She is now whole and complete. About the best, unselfish Christmas present I can think of for mom.

It Seems To Be A World Away

So here we are, six years and around 2 months from the last time I tossed words at the Harbor wall, and see what stuck.
And so much has changed.
It doesn’t feel like six years. It feels like a lifetime.
1. There is no longer a “First Mate”. Deb was called away to begin a new chapter in her journey. It is my belief she is now free of all pain, physical and mental/emotional. That new horizons afforded her, will be beyond her wildest imaginings. I hope she is aware of as imperfect as those of us left behind are, we loved her with all our hearts. And I hope she has come to embrace all friends and family who went before her, with the greater compassion and understanding afforded one in her new state of being, grow as close as possible to all of them.

2. Tangent to the above, at some point in the not too distant future, I expect to be heading toward new digs of my own. Have a few ideas/locations in mind, time will tell as there are still some things here which need to be brought to a close. Once this happens, I expect I will do a make over on this sight, there is a lot of dust and cobwebs which need to be addressed here. More on this when and as it happens.

3. Why try and return to blogging? With the advent of Facebook, Twitter, MeWe, and the like, it seemed like the immediacy of responses and interaction between any and everyone, would bring a whole new level to the internet. It did. And blogging …, with it’s more providing of content to be digested by anyone who happened to know you were there …. provided you were on enough other persons sidebar …. and or occasionally mentioned by same, or better yet, got the occasional nod from the top tier folks. Which brought more folks at least looking at your stuff, and with any luck, comment on same. Blogs lost their fair haired status..
Unfortunately, over time, civility also declined. You might have your posts on Facebook or Twitter be reached by anyone, and they could comment on same. But you lost your ability to filter as easily as you could on a blog. And If your content offended those of a more sensitive nature (regardless if said content was true or not) it was up to the whim of the powers that be at any of the major outlets to either “fact check” your content, and/or outright temporarily ban you, or remove you entirely. Granted your hosting service could remove you for cause. But those terms were usually up front when you signed up, and usually hinged on potential legal issues and not I don’t agree with your point of view.
So that is why I am dusting this puppy off and giving it another go. I have always felt free to express myself without fear I was going to be blocked or banned at the whim of the SWJ/PC masses or their masters.
4. The world has changed since last I chronicled here. This has been especially true within the past four years or so. So much so, that had you told me, 50 years ago, what life would be like in the US (and to some extent, the world) today, I would have shook my head in disbelief and probably said you were crazy.
I will be addressing this, from my point of view, in future posts.

Finally, I will be posting again. Time and circumstance will dictate when this will be. And it may be some time before I get the Harbor back up to full speed ahead. But it will happen, unless 2021 has a few more nasty tricks up it’s sleeve,

In the mean time, welcome (back) aboard!

And We Sit

14 years ago, yesterday.

The world waited.

Would the United States send some sort of response immediately to points, yet unknown, in the middle east? A response for the acts of aggression taken against this country, it’s people, it’s culture (indeed the culture of Western Man written large across that particular metropolitan skyline).  An act of aggression not seen in such scope or scale since nearly 60 years previous.

That action, at least taken against a uniformed opponent, not aimed almost exclusively at an unarmed and unknowing civilian populace, started an armed conflict stretching across four years, it’s ending punctuated with two atomic exclamation points.

Could this…would this monstrous transgression propel us to the same course of action, up to and including the use of much stronger punctuation at it’s end? (Or sooner…much sooner.)

It did not.

And so now we sit.  Those of us who still chose to remember, seemingly becoming a smaller group, as the years go by.  A smaller voice.   Where once we were at least given the courtesy, of perhaps having a valid course of action, of remembering what our forefathers did, of what the generation previous to mine did.  That when faced with adversity, the kind which demanded you take no other course of action than of meeting your enemy on the field of battle.   That honor demanded….dignity demanded…moral reciprocity towards the Creator who bestowed upon all men such fundamental human rights…demanded, we act accordingly when any or all  are called into question.

Now we are treated ilke an eccentric Uncle … who after one too many beers … is relegated to the card table on the back porch, to eat his dinner alone…away from the more “diversified” adults….and far away from impressionable children.

Now we sit.   While an individual who was, at the very least,  exposed and indoctrinated, in the very ideology behind the events of 14 years ago, occupies the Oval Office.  Who for all we know, based on biased news and government sponsored PR reports, has been aiding and abetting said enemy up to and including giving them the keys to nuclear exploitation.

Now we sit.  While untold tens of thousands of the ideology of hate, behind the  events of 14 years ago, are allowed to enter this country freely.  And as our traditional rule of law crumbles and cracks, eroding away, they seek to impose their own brand of law over any and all who will allow for same.

If we sit much longer, the “war”  all but formally started 14 years ago, will have been lost.  With little more than regional battles fought in countries who have known little peace since their inception (at the end of WWI) amongst people, tribes, and cultures who have known little, if any,  peace in thousands of years.

We have done little to stem the tide.  At the very least, cause them to stay “self-contained” in their respective little hell holes of 7th-century sand and ignorance, ensuring they were unwelcome and unwanted in any part of the civilized world.  We couldn’t, or wouldn’t even do that.

And so…14 years after airborne jihad…  they have very nearly won, or are well on their way to doing so.  This will have been brought about by their doing the one thing we seem unwilling to do.  Having the will to fight…to advance their cause, their beliefs, their will, over any and all who do not believe as they do.  And it appears, to do any and everything, in order to achieve their goals.

And we sit.     And we wonder what’s next.  And we look to the political landscape pondering who will be next to take the helm of this nation.  To direct our affairs nationally and internationally.   And we look at the rest of the world … Europe is perhaps less than a generation away from existing … at least as we would have remembered her.   Israel perhaps a year away from same.  The economies of the world on the brink of collapse.   And perhaps the biggest agent, directly and indirectly behind all of these ills, is allowed to thrive and grow.

The same agent which was behind all which transpired on the 11th of September 2001.

In 14 years, it has grown stronger, more virulent.

In 14 years, we have not.

14 years from now…

Will it matter?

Media Bombardment

Though this is nothing new, it sure seems like we are being inundated with one crisis after another these days. Any one of which is guaranteed to cause your blood to boil, cause you to break out in a severe case of righteous indignation, or make you run straight back to bed, get into the fetal position, and pull the covers over your head, hoping all of this will “just go away”.

It has gotten to the point were instead of saying “I can’t believe this is happening” or “I can’t believe (he/she/they) just did that”, to a more numbed out; *Sigh* “what’s next?!”

1. President Obama Brokers a Nuke Deal with Iran.

The administration claims there will be language in place preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power (ie: having the “bomb”), and there is nothing to worry about. Any number of sources question that. Israel, obviously feels otherwise. As well they should. Somewhere, in one of the eight circles of Hell, Nevel Chamberlin has to be smiling. For much like Jimmy Carter no longer having to carry the albatross of being “The worst President this country has ever seen”, having passed that mantle to the current occupant of the Oval Office, Chamberlin’s “Peace in our time” fiasco has now been trumped by Kerry and company. History may not exactly repeat itself, but it does produce amazingly close reminders.

2. Donald Trump running for President.

I am reminded of the “spoiler” from back when Carter ran. Sharp business mind, charismatic, pro-America/strong defense. Spoke his mind. Ross Perot. Yeah, we saw how well that worked out in keeping the Dems from the Oval Office. Like Trump or hate him, it doesn’t matter. He is going to be attacked from both sides of the professional political club, and (when they figure it is most advantageous to do so) from all branches of the media as well. If nothing else, unless the actual debates are, actually debates, and not manufactured puff pieces, he will be an entertaining diversion from what is really going on in the world.

3. Hillary Clinton

All you need to know is that everything she says is a lie. Everything she does is for/to her own advantage/advancement. And … and … damn that Bernie Sanders, doesn’t he know it’s my turn! I earned this, I am owed this (I’m married to Bill for crying out loud!!). Well, you get the idea. She is evil in a pants suit, and the media will fawn over her… until they are told not to. More diversion from the real problems/issues out there. (The exception being her involvement in any number of them, not that she will come to any political or personal harm because of that.)

4. Gay Marriage
It’s their RIGHT!! The Supreme’s (the court, not the Motown artists) say so!! No hidden agenda(s) here…keep moving along. Oh, and be careful who you refuse to bake a cake for, and if you want to “taste the rainbow”…hey, that’s your business and I don’t wanna know about it.

5. Islam is still a religion of Peace

Unless you are an American, Western Europian, white, female, or working in a gun free zone…or Jewish, you have nothing to fear from them…nothing at all. That’s why we are allowing so many of them to immigrate over here. This can only go well.

6. Planned Parenthood

In yet another of the eight circles of Hell (I assume, not near Nevel Chamberlin, see above), Margaret Sanger , is also smiling. While enjoying a nice chianti .

What do all the above have in common? Besides the sad picture of humanity and or the sad state of western civilization, and the feeding frenzy of the various media outlets in getting their spin on it ASAP (the truth behind any given story being at best a secondary consideration, if at all). The evil present in each and every story. Or as a by-product of same. It is there, it is real, and it is working.

If you, like me and countless others, are becoming numb to what is happing around you, your city, your state, your country, and to some extent the world at large, this is a by-product of evil. That we become not so much blinded but anesthetized to that…that which but a generation ago would have been something causing massive outrage, which now only merits a “meh”.

The title of this post, “Media Bombardment”, for those who are of an evil mind/heart, this is a very effective tool. Folks want to stay informed, especially when there are so many players out there who are acting against one’s best interests. At the same time, this constant saturation of legitimate news mixed with divisive and diversionary content (who gives a rats ass about Kim Kardashian anyhow) can grind a person down. I guess one has to pick the wheat from the chaff, doing their best to try and see what is really going on out there. And it isn’t pretty. Or easy.

More to come as I get the rust off the keyboard. I refuse to go quietly into the night.

GOP Core Values…because if we change the words a bit…maybe you’ll come back.

It’s time for some more tom-foolery from our friends at the GOP!

Yes, I received an email (unsolicited) from the Grand Old Party today. It seems they have “based on my feedback”, “compiled a list of what it means to be a Republican”.

That I haven’t directly talked with, texted, or mailed (e-mail or otherwise) any “feedback” to any individual member of said party, or to the party itself, I am assuming they are qualifying that statement as being “feedback received from their membership at large”, and not any one particular individual.

So let’s take a look at the “New and Improved” ™ “ GOP “Core Values”!!

“I believe that our:

County is exceptional

(Oh, I see, you left out) “…but not for long. “ There, fixed it for you. As based on the actions of most of the senior members of the GOP in the house and senate, this would certainly be the case.

Spring Has Sprung…

the grass has riz, I wonder where the flowers

I wonder where the flowers is?

`Unknown.

So here we are at the end of April, out in the hinterlands of Northern Illinois.  Baseball is in full swing, the Cubs are above 500., and both the Bulls, and the Blackhawks are in their respective playoffs.  Oh, and it hasn’t snowed for at least 3 days now!

Life in our little hamlet goes on.

Dodged some major weather a week or so back….folks just to our southeast/east of us were not so lucky. An F4 tornado took out a restaurant and a few miles further down the road, another little farming community. It cut quite the swath, by the grace of God, only two people lost their lives.  There have been, and are, ongoing acts of kindness and charity to provide assistance and help to all who were impacted by this storm, from all parts of our county, and from all corners of the state as well.  Makes one feel a bit better about (at least the local version of) humanity.

Life in our little hamlet goes on.

You may have noticed, there is no political commentary, or observations, of either the State or national level anywhere in this post so far.  Yes, I am still an election judge, as long as they see fit to allow me to do so.  And our local exercising of the franchise goes on with no worries about hanging chads or folks voting multiple times…or from the great beyond.  Aside from that, don’t know when I will post about such goings on, at least at the  State/National level.

Frankly, it all flat pisses me off.  No…more than that…it .. the whole mess, from all three branches of government…at all levels beyond the local…they are corrupted beyond repair.  “They”, and there are exceptions, but they are getting harder to find, are all the same.  No longer legitimately looking out for their constituents and or the welfare of this once great nation, they are only looking to either advance the agenda(s) of those who “bought them out” or of their respective political overlords (upper level party hacks) , or to do what is best for themselves.

And to all of them, the Constitution….is a joke.

Our borders are … a joke.

Our (pick any one or all) amendment “rights”… are a joke

Our civilization crumbles around us.  Fueled by the willful ignorance of an ever increasing number of it’s supposed members. And the “any excuse is good enough” mentality which saw Ferguson Mo. go up in flames, and now sees Baltimore heading in the same direction. (Though I will grant, in the case of Baltimore, at it appears they may have some justification for at least protesting….but if they are going to riot…why are they attacking innocent people…and not taking their chances against the agents of the State who ALLEGEDLY caused the concern they are supposedly protesting, in the first place?)

An aging olympiad sauntering towards a sex-change garners massive media attention, while those in power are degrading our ability to prevent (via military and diplomatic means) or at least avert for now, the eruption of war at various “hot spots” around the globe.  And we, for the most part, the public at large…are blissfully unaware as to what is really going on.

Nero isn’t fiddling…he’s using a damn flame thrower.

I have become uncomfortably numb…and it’s better for my health (physical and mental) to focus on what is going on here at home.

I think, from beyond  the grave, the founding fathers are no longer spinning at a high rate of rpms.  They are giving us all the collective finger.   And I can’t say as I blame them.

Odds and Ends, Random Neuron Madness on a Monday

1. It seems we finally received around an inch of the white stuff today. The weather guessers were forecasting anywhere from 3-5 inches. Once again proving you can have a job which pays good money, requiring you to be correct only 20-50 percent of the time.

2. The latest news (at around 1pm this afternoon) is the Grand Jury for the shooting in Ferguson MO has reached a decision …when this will be released to the general public is anyones guess. If the media spin is to be believed (yeah, right), the protesters, rioters, looters, their fellow travelers, and any who enable same, will be ready to give us a hot time in the boarded up town tonight! (Or, perhaps tomorrow?) Oh, wait perhaps this might give the more cautious ones cause to refrain…

Get your popcorn ready kids.

3. And let’s close out this bit of randomness, with a comment or two.

Some of this is perhaps a bit dated…but I have been away from the keyboard for a bit.

If the owner of a professional sports franchise wants to name his team “The (Washington) Redskins”, or the “Peter Puffers”, that should be his choice, and his choice alone. The State, assorted victims groups, and or those with agenda(s) of their own, should just shut the hell up. If the public at large finds it objectionable they have the right to “vote with their feet/pocketbook”. Vacant stands, low viewership ratings, and the like will either cause him to rethink the necessitate for the current name…or he may continue on with same knowing he is not going to be making any money off of same (or perhaps not as much money as he would like).

The same is true for any business.

I liked smoking in bars. It seemed like a very logical place to do so. If I had the money, time, and opportunity, I would have had a bar, and there would have been smoking allowed. If you don’t like it (smoking), and I understand there are many reasons for not wanting to be around same, that’s fine. But you wouldn’t see me “turning off the smoking lamp” anytime soon. Rather than banning the use of tobacco products in bars and restaurants, here’s a thought, let the market decide. If I can’t get enough patrons for my establishment, then I will face the same choices the Washington Redskins fella would above.

The State needs to be out of the “bandaging the buttheart by enacting idiotic lows”. It was never about the children, or second hand smoke. It was (always) about control, and or increasing revenue for the State. This is as true (give em time, they will figure out a way to pressure the Redskin’s owner into changing their name) with the Redskins kerfuffle as it was with the smoking. Hey, just give the LGBT community a bit of time, and you may see them attacking Green Bay in much the same manner. (At least when you put “Fudge” in front of my teams name, it sounds like a candy.)

Crossposted at League of Outlaw Bloggers

League of Outlaw Bloggers

It appears I will have to start posting a bit more often, now that the good Mr. Porretto has been unusually kind in allowing this old retired Sailor to post over here.   There is a nice little group there now…and would not be surprised to see the number grow.  Given the (very) non-PC stance, and the tacit (if not official) understanding that “butthurt” and “offended” will be two words only, and not a state of being …at least for all interested parties, it sounds like a perfect fit.

Click on the sigil off to the right hand side, I don’t think you will be disappointed.

And thanks again Fran!!

Hell is paved with good intentions.

Or so the old saying (correctly) goes. This being the case, there must be not only a major housing shortage in the empire of the damned, but a preponderance of progressives as well.

Just a thought, while listening/reading about the current goings on inside the beltway. It seems the Senate has “re-written” the rules as to what constitutes a majority … effectively all but killing off the filibuster as a tool. There were supposed “good intentions” behind this, in reality it was little more than an exercise in exerting control, of grabbing (more) power.

Meanwhile, the Pretender in Chief, in between golf outings and jet setting hither and yon, stopped to deliver a speech commemorating the events of some 150 years ago, at a little place called Gettysburg. A number of folks around the net, and elsewhere, noted the petulant POTUS neglected to include the words “Under God” in quoting Lincoln’s original address. After having been exposed to the former part-time Senator from the People’s Republik of Illinois (“Where our governors make our license plates!” © ), up to the present day, why is this surprising? His past record indicates he has no real affiliation with the Judeo-Christian God, other than lip service and snoozing through the twisted theological ramblings of his “former paster”, on the south side of Chicago. There is a stronger case to be made he is, if not a practicing Muslim, at least via childhood indoctrination, very favorably predisposed to same.

Add to this mix the various rumblings of impeachments (to either the AG, Holder, and or POTUS himself), if one believes the various links provided by Drudge and others. Or the threat of charges (criminal or otherwise) against other members of Obama’s clown car cabinet/administration.

Is it any wonder why so many have given up the ghost as far as blogging goes? Aside from the fact it has become increasingly hard to keep up with what new indiscretion, transgression, or acts of suppression are brought to light with each passing day. There comes a point when it all sends one beyond a sense of surrealism … and straight into the Twilight Zone. (Bypassing the Outer Limits entirely!)

It has past the point of becoming enraged after hearing all of the above, and each new “misadventure” with each passing day.

President is either in direct violation of, is out and out ignoring, or both, any number of sections and or amendments to the Constitution. “Congress and the Senate, after deliberation, follow suit.”

Any number of passed cabinet members and or leaders of the various “alphabet agencies” are alleged/suspected of doing same.

The charge of Treason, as proscribed in the Constitution, has been met or exceeded by any number of the above, up to and including POTUS.

Yet nothing is done. Words are spoken, air is moved, ink (real or virtual) is allowed to dry on paper.

I fear we, as Americans, are far too comfortable, that our standard of living is so high, there is a much longer distance to fall before we become willing to bring about the real change needed to make those who are allowed to govern realize they serve at our pleasure, and not theirs.

My desire to write is returning. Perhaps not so much out of anger, as it is a somewhat sadden bemusement. I am old enough to remember what it was like to live in a time when we at least thought we had some control over our collective destiny? When one thought their vote still mattered (at least outside the city of Chicago and the county of Cook). Where you may have suspected there was some level of corruption going on in government, but that at the end of the day, even those bastards recognized “We are America damn it! And when we recognize a threat to us, our culture, our country, we will stop the internal bickering and collectively kick your ass!”

Heck, file this whole thing as a bit of rambling from an old retired Sailor…trying to get away from good intentions…going straight to “I aim to misbehave!”