Are you who/what you think you are?

Greetings good citizen, most of us don't spend a lot of time in 'self-reflection' often referred to as 'navel gazing' [some people are obsessed with it but that's a different subject altogether.]

Many if not most are so wrapped up in living up to the expectations of others that we never even contemplate who WE really are.

Sort of a bummer considering we live in the world of I! Here you are, living YOUR life to someone else's standards!

Does it help to know you're just like Bozo because you 'admired' what he/she represents [remember, in YOUR head! It may not have been true at all!]

While we are all, um,(often insufferable) 'mimics' [we tend to imitate whatever strikes us as 'insert your current favorite adverb here'.] To make matters worse, this follows 'fads' or 'trends' so it's changing all the time as schizo's seize on their favorite new meme and try it on for size.

Here's one most of you NEVER 'try on' [mostly because you're clueless where to begin...] The 'base' is always and always will be HUMAN.

STOP!

The glazed look in your eye tells me your asking why you read this far, well, Gegner rewards and YOU shall not be disappointed!

A tad 'dehumanizing' but each and every one of us 'reads' like a 'scorecard'. Start with a 'blank' human, give it a name, then tag it with a religion (or not as the trend suggests...most kids born after 9/11 don't get religious, er, training/indoctrination thanks to the stated cause of 9/11, religious extremism. [but I digress]

Are you still with me? Next we toss in an ideology. This starts off being whatever the parents belief system is but soon becomes whatever the Kool Kids are parroting on any given day.

Which is to point to a phenomenon that has been happening since the dawn of sentience, we LOVE to try on new things!

[Sidebar: How frightening is it that today's poorly socialized kids get their 'heroes' from video games? Worse, has anyone else noticed the rise in the er, 'adoration of bad guys'?]

While I point to the (disturbing) trend of people being [no candy coating it] 'dissatisfied' with who they are, we have/are becoming a society of chameleons!

Is it any wonder the media has reached the [obviously false] conclusion that we are 'divided'?

Ready for your 'reward'?

Here it is.

You [and EVERYBODY ELSE capable of putting on a 'pose'] ARE HUMAN FIRST!

No other 'label' applies. [Despite the 'artificially wealthy' sneering at you for not being as 'successful' a thief as they are] This is the 'MOTHER' of all 'posing'!

Where do YOU end and the 'pose' begin?

People who are 'comfortable in their own skin' don't bother with this exercise in 'void filling'.

I was prompted to craft this piece when I saw a news story last night regarding a student at MIT who was, er, dunno what they DID to him but they did take him downtown...and a random student they interviewed in connection with the discovery of an armory on campus.

The kid didn't look sure he knew he was MALE but right there on TV he apologized to the world for being A.) Republican and B.) being happy the 'Nanny State' intervened and removed the potential 'threat' to his fellow students.

So we arrive at the question...are you, YOU or are you the whatever you happen to admire this week?

How much of you are YOU and how much is Rin Tin-Tin? [and yeah, if you're under fifty-five you're gonna have to look that one up!]

Screwed up world? Small wonder, isn't it...

Thanks for letting me inside (one of) your head (s)

Gegner

You know what day it is...

Greetings good citizen, no post today because a series of events have conspired to keep me AFK for pretty much the bulk of the day.

We can start with the procedure at the hospital, then my 'honey dew' projects for my wife, followed by a gig that lands me square in rush hour traffic on the worst night of the week.

[Sadly/ironically there's nothing 'unusual' about that and thankfully most of these people are familiar enough with the area that they know they aren't going anywhere, sparing me from having to dust off that old chestnut, 'Sorry Maam, they won't tell me where the button is that makes the car fly.']

If you caught the news it appears we just collided head-first with 'reality' as almost ALL of Trumps appointees have come out in opposition to the promises he made on the campaign trail that broke with 'Republican tradition'...

Who else thinks we're 'doing this wrong?'

Even when we elect one thing we end up with something else.

[Um, I'm that jerk that interjects, 'I didn't vote for him!' when everybody else is grumbling about those damn liberals and how they're always mucking things up!]

That said I can't resist the opportunity to DUMMY SLAP you all and remind you WHO caused this whole mess...Republicans, starting with the ACTOR who slept through 8 years in the White House, just like his most recent successor.

Anyway, Thanks for letting me inside your head, no post today.

Gegner

The 5 W's

Greetings good citizen, most of you are familiar with the 5 W's from the Disney film Gallagher, about a 'cub reporter' chasing leads into danger back at the turn of the last century...

Too young for that? Doesn't matter. The 5 w's are known to professional journalists everywhere, some clever son of a gun worked them into the theme song for this particular Disney flick...circa 1966 if you're having a hard time remembering...it's likely because you don't.

Who, what, when, where and why...followed/coupled with 'how'.

EVERY (good) news story touches all of these stones. Probably why we have a society where everybody walks around with half-baked ideas in their head, placed there by journalists that glossed over one of the five (actually six, but one of them doesn't start with W) critical factors

Depending on the type of story (or the creativity of the reporter) usually determines which of the five they 'lead' with.

If it's scandalous, they lead with 'Who'. If it's curious they lead with 'What'. If it's an issue (or a sermon) They lead with 'Why'...which is to point out that When and Where are often only supporting factors, things the reader wants to know but have little bearing on the information being imparted.

STOP! I know you've already come up with some 'excellent exceptions' to these 'guidelines' [How ironic the first rule of writing is the same as the first rule of fighting...and that is there are no rules!]

While the guidelines make for 'good writing' (reporting) good reading comes from the control and judicial use of 'exposition'.

Humans, having unnaturally short attention spans, like to get their info [given the current slant/emphasis on entertainment I hesitate to use the suffix 'mation' when it is more likely 'tainment'...creative fluff that is either trivial, false/only partially true or both.

That said, it is I who frequently laments not getting to the 'point' of these rants in the first couple of paragraphs.

Shall we walk through the 5 W's of my favorite hobby horse?

Let's start with 'Who', okay?

This is (naturally) a two-sided story, one of victims and perps. Since 'specifics' aren't available we will have to use 'generalizations' as writers often do, using terms like the Haves and the Have Nots; although for this particular exercise I prefer 'Citizens' (most of you) and Criminals (the One Percent and their legion of lackeys.)

We can do this in almost any order so I'll knock out 'where & when' in a single statement, 'here and now'.

This clears the path for What, another multi-parter. Depending on where you're sitting it's either our messed up and stubbornly immutable political apparatus OR it's the obvious mismanagement that plagues our society from top to bottom.

Even the rich know they have 'more than they can spend' Why doesn't it occur to them to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?

Money sitting in bank accounts collecting nothing is doing them zero good yet, inexplicably, we have MILLIONS of homeless nationally and billions worldwide.

What's causing it? Is it 'politics' or 'mismanagement' [attributable to colossal STUPIDITY!] One thing's for sure, it's not 'invisible', EVERYONE can see it.

Never occurs to the 'blessed' that the afflicted, freezing and starving in squalor, look upon the idle untold riches of the, er, [fill-in-the-blank] and ask 'Why'?

It would take but a tiny bit to relieve the suffering of the destitute but those managing our society 'feel' (nobody accuses this bunch of THINKING) it's 'better' to keep 'em hungry. That way they'll be more 'agreeable' when a short term gig comes along.

The 'insecurity' of our 'hand to mouth' existence has become commonplace, just look at the Heck's, America's new 'average family' being parodied in a sitcom.

I suspect one of the thing that makes the show so popular is most people can 'relate' to it.

Now I'll ask YOU WHAT that says about our [badly mismanaged] society?

Almost done, the only thing left is HOW...

To which I redirect your flagging attention to the question each of us must answer upon opening our eyes each and every day.

'How will I live?'

Do you mentally hit the 'autoplay button in your head and rock out to the tune 'let the bodies hit the floor' as you shuffle into the kitchen to brew a pot of go-juice?

Or do you hope it ain't too cold (or warm) to go 'dumpster diving'?

Oh, you've got a steady gig? Well, that makes things simple...but honestly, how many times do you get up in the morning wondering if the rumors are true? [The one that seems to NEVER leave ANY workplace, ever, the one that says 'they're going to have a lay-off on Friday!'

You know your continued 'well-being' relies on being invited back to play again tomorrow.

Now let me ask you, honestly. Is this any way to live?

Short answer...[hint, it's shorter than yes.]

The 5 W's good citizen, think about it!

Thanks once again for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

On Message

Greetings good citizen, I'm sure most of you 'tuned out' when the exiting president issued his farewell speech last night. You'd think he have something to say considering he's as much a part of the reason why his 'make believe party' got trounced in the recent elections but no.

He spent his fading moments in the spotlight pedaling the same 'tripe' that landed him the presidency, the 'audacity of hope'.

Think about that good citizen. He wrote a book that shares this, er, 'mission statement'.

Audacity means daring and if there is one thing we learned, it is that 'audacity' is NEVER well received.

Let's look at this a little more closely. Is it 'dare to be brave'? No. It means how dare you be so STUPID to 'hope for change', never mind 'change you can believe in'! How deluded are you?

Wait good citizen, it gets better because if you were paying attention we got clobbered with both sides of the political mallet! First, this [national impasse] is all 'our fault' for not paying enough 'attention to the facts'...in essence claiming we 'voted wrong' when the system itself is to blame.

[Said the guy that twiddled his thumbs for eight years while criminals walked all over us!]

Second, it is also 'our fault' for not seizing control of the political process and 'being the change' we'd like to see!

Does numb-numb not realize we can't ALL be elected?

Worse, facing reality the problem isn't the chicken-shit politicians, it's the 'process' THAT EXISTS TO DENY YOU CHOICE that is the source of the problem!

UNDERSTAND we will NEVER see changes to the political process [until a dictator steps up to the plate and then it could be centuries before the opportunity to be free from tyranny presents itself again...(so deep does stupid run in our species!)]

YOUR HANDS ARE TIED. WHOEVER 'OWNS' the media gets to tell YOU what reality is!

A very small group owns pretty much everything and by extension, they also own YOU.

UNTIL THIS CHANGES [Human Anti-Exploitation Law anyone?] NOTHING ELSE WILL!

You'll be born into debt and die in debt so the few can be rich...until the system itself collapses under its own weight.

How frustrating is it good citizen that the existing system has enough 'inertia' to rebuild itself and start all over again?

Even now, the calls for revolt are not calls for 'change'. The 'right wing extremists' want 'what the founders intended' [like anybody has a clue!] with THEM in charge.

One of the 'founding principles' of the people who set up our current form of government was "Let those who own the land, rule the land!"

Quote, unquote John Jay. Look it up!

The media confirms we 'elected' the guy that spent the past eight years twiddling his thumbs doing NONE of the things we elected him to do...such as REPEAL THE PATRIOT ACT, PROSECUTE THE BANKSTERS, PROSECUTE AND JAIL/EXECUTE THE WAR CRIMINALS, REINSTATE GLASS STEAGAL AND INSTITUTE 'SINGLE PAYER' HEALTHCARE!

He did none of those things BECAUSE 'the people who 'own' this land didn't want him to...'

Wake up and smell the Napalm, good citizen, this isn't about you, it's about THEM and what THEY want!

Not a 'great idea' regardless of how you pretend to 'candy coat it.'

We're all in this together...and the ones who are 'in it for themselves' need to be tossed overboard,[EXILE] pronto!

No trial or hearings, they made their choices and now they're going to have to live with them!

You know what comes next, have at it!

Thanks for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

Police Procedural

Greetings good citizen, today we find the curious incident of a shoplifting suspect, handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser, still managed to shoot himself TO DEATH with his own gun!

AFTER an officer reads you your Miranda rights (although not necessarily AFTER. Once they decide you're headed downtown, they FRISK you...you know, not for a cheap sexual thrill but to ascertain if you have a concealed weapon.

Again, from the looks of it, seems the officer tasked with driving the suspect downtown WASN'T one of the arresting officers.

Even the article goes on to speculate it would have been an entirely different story had the, er, 'suspect' turned his weapon on the driver of the police vehicle...

Apparently this guy wasn't clear on the concept of 'suicide by cop'. You have to provide the officer with a clear cut reason to shoot you as opposed to shooting yourself in their presence.

Sure, this guy definitely made big trouble for the moron that 'forgot' to frisk the perp before tossing him into the back of an unsuspecting co-worker's patrol car but it's 'too little too late' for our SHOPLIFTER.

Which leads us to what, good citizen? A truth that is rarely raised on the media advertised 'blood-soaked streets' of Anytown, USA.

And this incident took place in TEXAS! (Where everyone thinks even your Grandma packs heat!)

What small factoid does the media overlook (religiously?)

From the way the NUTS carry on about it, you'd think the gentleman's checklist included the line 'magnum autoloader', that we are all packing (unless we're going swimming. There's no place to hide it in your swimsuit and you can't leave the damn thing on the beach, the kids will play Marco - Blam with it!)

Our errant officer, trained from the beginning to treat EVERYONE as 'armed and dangerous', must have slipped into 'fire horse mode' because 99% of the time the people they regularly encounter, even petty thieves like our now deceased shoplifter, DON'T subject themselves to the 'hassle' of lugging a shooting iron around with them.

Part of our personal 'mental health' is provided by the knowledge that MOST PEOPLE don't subject themselves to the 'inconvenience' of having to babysit a weapon just to run down the street for a moment.

Then there's the 'what if something happens' question? What if you're involved in a wreck and the first responders learn/see that you are armed?

Could their 'hesitation' cost you your life? Somewhat ironic but a very real concern.

What am I saying here? Most people aren't armed so this somewhat rare incident is precisely that, rare! I originally clicked on the article thinking [from the headline] that it was yet another incident of blatant police brutality but my 'bloodlust' wasn't rewarded.

Being found shot to death, HANDCUFFED in the back of a police car USUALLY leads to an entirely different story, we are, after all, neck deep in stupid around here...rivaled only by a 'vicious streak' ten miles wide.

Which should serve as a reminder to us all, our more than somewhat lazy troupe of simian opportunists should ALWAYS be considered, armed or not, DANGEROUS.

How does that song go? "I don't need a gun"...and how right they are, most of us don't.

Pity the fool that mis-underestimates us!

Still the bought and paid for media paints a picture that you'll encounter a dozen armed and dangerous 'desperados' between your home and the local supermarket.

What the pencil-necks don't tell you is your local bank is a refuge for desperados...not so much at the tellers window but their corporate headquarters. That's someplace you don't want to venture without your body armor [the one with the titanium alloyed cod-piece!]

The 'Shadow Armies' in the nation's 'murder capitals' are something else altogether and reflect upon our badly broken social system [odd if viewed from the 'winners and losers' standpoint, the 'system' works 'as designed'.

Which is to once again opine that if you're seeking 'change' the ballot box isn't where you'll find it.

I keep edging back towards the monetary crisis hinted at in yesterday's post BECAUSE it is the 'easiest' way to, er, 'destabilize' society.

Today's post illustrates how things AREN'T 'as advertised' and the media's complicity in pushing mankind off of its fragile perch.

We need only find a mirror to locate our own 'worst enemy'.

Isn't it time we united for a better planet?

Thanks for letting me inside YOUR head!

Gegner

Flip Flop (or it's OK if you're a Republican!)

Greetings good citizen, the latest on the financial front is, son of a gun, turns out Mother Nature ISN'T demanding the budget be balanced after all! [Now that the Rethugs have regained control of both houses and the presidency again.]

Geez, who else has been carrying on about 'all money is funny'?

Oh, that would be ME!

Understand, MONEY as it is currently 'mismanaged' could turn into confetti, pretty much instantly, [if they keep up the crap.]

Like all 'cons', money is heavily reliant on 'confidence'. Erode that confidence and suddenly you have a 'panic' on your hands.

Not encouraging words considering we have a society run by morons and led by idiots.

A situation made worse because it's all a 'con'. If there is such a thing as 'too much truth', what 'EVERYBODY KNOWS' is made that much more frightening because everybody knows but almost nobody realizes it's TRUE! [That you're being played for a chump!]

We all 'think' we're wise but like the old adage goes, none are so blind as those who 'believe they are free'.

Imagine good citizen, your 'freedom' is being stripped from you under the banner of 'public safety' but who will keep us safe from our 'protectors'?

Two names spring to mind, Mister Smith and his partner, Mister Wesson. This assumes YOU possess the, er, 'intestinal fortitude' to do the necessary when our protectors turn their gaze in your direction as they try to preform their perceived 'duty' [as zealously as they can.]

In manufacturing we used to call this phenomenon 'inspect to reject'...we all know full well the same phenomenon exists when it comes to 'law enforcement' and that standard is 'inspect to arrest'.

That's why the boob that pulls you over because you have a burnt out brake light has his hand on the butt of his sidearm like you're one of the FBI's ten most wanted!

What does overzealous policing and the impending collapse of our currency have to do with one another?

Since both are 'cons' [newsflash: they aren't cracking down to keep YOU safe, they're cracking down so their overlords will be 'safe'. YOU they're trying to kill before they have to fight us off 'enmass' in a revolt/panic.

Yes, good citizen, what you have long suspected is true...just as the mathematically impossible Republican victories are also 'fabricated' [for your further confusion/delusion.]

EVERYTHING makes perfect sense if you apply the most jaded perception you can imagine.

Because THAT'S WHO IS RUNNING THNGS, good citizen. People that HONESTLY BELIEVE YOU are a WASTE of perfectly good butt-wipe! [Oxygen too, while we're on the subject!]

Did we 'elect' these people? No, their 'power' comes from political appointees, that most dangerous of all, er, 'predators'.

How do we rid ourselves of them?

There is but one way...PURGE!

The 'good thing' is this won't 'cost' us a cent. It [figuratively speaking] cost a ton to 'insert' these wastrels into the process but removing them will be painless [for us anyway.]

This also provides the foundation for my case to 'replace' our entire form of government. The whole process of 'electing others' to make decisions in our name without ever consulting us is plain batshit crazy!

It only 'works' for those who 'pull the strings' from the shadows.

Let's end 'political gridlock' by voting directly on the laws themselves! If we must live under the law we should have a say in what they set forth!

AND all proposed legislation must first pass muster with the Human Anti-Exploitation Law.

I shouldn't digress like that but coming as it does, on the heels of yesterday's tirade about unemployment and our youth's stolen future, we truly are 'neck deep in stupid around here!'

Um, if you haven't yet, I highly recommend you READ today's headlines...especially the article about Jeff Sessions for an eye opening look at how 'Great' America is about to become.

Who thought appointing a man who thinks our badly broken judicial system isn't executing enough people fast enough would be a 'good pick' for US Attorney General

[Does anyone else wonder why I'd abolish the entire professional practice of law? Shouldn't have a 'price tag' on it and, by the way, the law BY NECESSITY shouldn't be 'complicated'.

Failure to understand the law brings into to question if the law passes the 'just' test. How can it be 'just' if the average person doesn't understand it?

We could try simple laws for the simple people and NO LAWS for the 'smart' people because they'll just figure out a way around them anyway...

Now try that using the Anti-Exploitation Law. Can't do it, can you?

How sad is it we'd advance our species considerably by just implementing those two changes. Abolish lawyers and make every law pass the human anti-exploitation test.

What a wonderful world it could be!

Sadder still is the fact we have a better chance of meeting fictional 'Spirit in the Sky' than we do of EVER seeing that happen!

Welcome to Hell, good citizen!

Thanks once again for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

Pick your poison

Greetings good citizen, you can find all manners of drivel on the net, including this so no one should be surprised when the 'one step removed from Faux News' [MSN] publishes this 'infotainment' piece.

The headline promises you are ignorant of why MOST college 'grads' move home with Mom & Dad...although it DOES point to the 75 year high which the 'failure to launch' rate has risen to. The last time it was this bad was during the 'original' great depression.

We are now experiencing the Greater Depression but, politically speaking, the Republicans were banished from congress for forty years for causing the first one.

What do you suppose would happen if it was discovered they 'crashed' the global economy twice in a single century?

What do you suppose the big 'secret' is behind college aged children moving back in with their parents?

This article is about the 'flunkies', the DOUBLE failed to launch that get thrown out of school and where the heck else are they going to go?

Then it goes on to drag the 'racial divide' into the mix...so poor white children, all PROMISED that a college degree would ASSURE them a successful future, wouldn't feel 'victimized' by a system set up to pillage them from an early age.


Like many 'infotainment' pieces, it merely belabors the obvious rather than broadening your horizons.

Some of you [rare as you are] view my pieces with similar disdain...sometimes because you already know and other times because you could care less. Sure it's occurred to you but 'one guy' can't fix it.

No, but if ENOUGH guys and gals are motivated we can fix the whole bucket of worms in one swoop!

Funny how an(d)[damn autocorrect!] article about one topic can pinwheel to another and that would be the 'predatory nature' of our, er, 'economic system'.

Most of you don't think it needs fixing and the few that do KNOW you can't do it alone...so it starts here, with 'talking about it'.

I'd LOVE to think you all agree with me 100% and my solutions are 'perfect' but then I'd be wondering what branch of hell I had slipped into...

[excuse the pause, just got a snow shovel shoved up my backside!]

I soon have to go do my 'gig' so I'll be brief.

If not us, who and if not now, when?

Something to ponder as the changes are about to come faster and more furious than before...won't do to let you get your feet under you, especially when you have finally realized who has been poking you in the eye with that damn sharp stick!

Thanks for letting me inside YOUR head,

Gegner