the brigadoom

civilization

2011-12-29T15:59:00.001-05:00

	" The first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said "This is mine," and found people naïve enough to believe him, that man was the true founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars, and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not any one have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows: Beware of listening to this impostor; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody."	”
	— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1754

where am i going (resurrected)

2011-06-14T09:08:00.000-04:00

unrequited

how much longer must i squat

before i submit

the spirit rot

beneath the bar

chained to the pain

addicted to the quest for perfection.

its a dead end my friend

alas in vain

muscle and might i will not gain.

o god of iron yes set me free

let me go

its not me.

DREAM LIFE

2011-06-12T18:26:00.000-04:00

by Frank Zane

Life is a dream
life is real
a dream is a dream
a dream is real
when you're having it
when you're not
its just a dream.
Life is real when you're living it
what about when you're not?

Frank Zane, now 69, is a bodybuilder whose prime was in the 60's and 70's. He beat out Arnold Scwharzenegger for Mr. Universe in 1968. Won Mr. Olympia 1977, 78, 79.

everyday Insanity

2011-06-12T13:26:00.022-04:00

Over the past fifty years:

Fashion.

War on Drugs.

Wearing hats indoors.
Baseball caps for everyone, everywhere.

clothing must have logo prominently displayed.

Mechanical Bulls.
Hats on Backwards.
Droopy Drawers.

Hats on Sideways.
Wall Street.
SUV's in the city, everywhere.

Cowboy hats and Pickup Trucks in New Jersey.

Don't ask, don't tell.
The search for "WMD's".
Re-electing George Bush.

Facebook.
Texting.
Cammies on the street, everyone, everywhere.

What's Real ?

Lets go back to
Peace, Love, and Good Vibrations.

what ever happened to Randolph Scott ?

2011-03-23T08:37:00.026-04:00

[and] Gene and Tex and Roy and Rex, The Durango kid?

Does anybody remember them, and then, and the Statler Brothers who sang those lyrics? Does anybody care?

Each generation pines nostalgically about the days when they were young (and naive). Things definitely change, but do they get better or worse?

Its all according to what you look at and the way you look at it.

We do know that we have more people, more machines, more guns, more gadgets, more information, etc.. Thus it seems that the world is more complex and confusing each year. Human behavior may change but human nature has remained essentially the same. Technological "progress" has given us more ways to screw things up.

A person defines "old" and "new" in terms of his or her own life experience.
Thus old becomes new and then the new becomes the old.

A person defines normal in terms of his own personality and environment.
Thus insanity becomes the norm and then the norm becomes insanity.

Its all according to what you look at and the way you look at it.

Condoleezza, G-dubyah, Obama? These are the good old days.

why do i run ?

2011-03-11T15:00:00.014-05:00

Why do I run ?

Why do I run? Tain’t no mystery
Wanna have a good
Medical history.

Doctor told me running is great
Helps them blood cells
Circulate.

Great for the lungs
Great for the ticker
Can’t nothin’ getcha in
Better shape quicker.

Feels so healthy, feels so sweet
Pumping my arms and
Flappin’ my feet.

Keeps me youthful
Keeps me loose
Tightens my tummy and
Shrinks my caboose.

Beats being sluggish, beats being lazy
Why do I run?
Maybe I’m crazy !

written by L.T. Pierson

Lee Pierson was a co-worker and fellow runner when when we both worked for the FAA in Atlantic City NJ. He didn't want to take credit for his work, but it is definitely a keeper.

dedicated to uncommon sense

2011-03-05T11:00:00.000-05:00

I started my computer career, yes with punch cards and Fortran, mainframes and dumb terminals, when the internet was in its infancy; endured through the age of the PC, the commercialization of the internet, wireless networking, etc, what next?
I started my first personal web site in 1996 (facebook?), my first blog in 2002. So I haven't graduated to twitter and texting - I am not interested in the most absolutely current, more so in that which endures. Thus the blog endures.
( I was also in the navy when we had wooden ships and navigated by the stars. )
So I dedicate this blog to the proliferation of wisdom and uncommon sense. Its time to let my little light shine, no apologies.

My posts will be brief, in hopes that someone somewhere may actually read the whole thing. So you will have to read between the words and lines, detecting the irony.

Thank you.

Man in Black

2011-03-01T13:34:00.002-05:00

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

John R. Cash, 1971

"What is Truth?"

2011-03-01T13:34:00.001-05:00

The old man turned off the radio, said:
"Where did all of the old songs go?
"Kids sure play funny music these days.
"They play it in the strangest ways".
Said: "It looks to me like they've all gone wild.
"It was peaceful back when I was a child."
Well, man could it be that the girls and boys,
Are trying to be heard above your noise?
And the lonely voice of youth cries:
"What is truth?"

A little boy of three sittin' on the floor,
Looks up and says: "Daddy, what is war?"
"Son, that's when people fight and die."
A little boy of three says: "Daddy, why?"
A young man of seventeen in Sunday school,
Being taught the golden rule.
And by the time another year has gone around,
It may be his turn to lay his life down.
Can you blame the voice of youth for asking:
"What is truth?"

A young man sittin' on the witness stand,
The man with the book says: "Raise your hand.
"Repeat after me: I solemnly swear."
The man looked down at his long hair.
And although the young man solemnly swore,
Nobody seemed to hear anymore.
And it didn't really matter if the truth was there:
It was the cut of his clothes and the length of his hair.
And the lonely voice of youth cries:
"What is truth?"

The young girl dancing to the latest beat,
Has found new ways to move her feet.
The young man speaking in the city square,
Is trying to tell somebody that he cares.
Yeah, the ones that you're calling wild,
Are going to be the leaders in a little while.
This whole world's wakin' to a new born day,
And I solemnly swear that it'll be their way.
You better help that voice of youth find:
"What is truth."
And the lonely voice of youth cries:
"What is Truth?"

Written by John R. Cash.
(© Songs of Cash/Bughouse.)
Single release: © 1970, CBS Records.

vanity

2010-07-19T07:45:00.000-04:00

"I have seen everything that is done under the sun,
and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind."

Ecclesiastes 1:14 [Christian Bible, Revised Standard Version, 1952]

perspective

2010-07-19T07:35:00.000-04:00

"The universe that we see is a projection of our own mind."

Yogi Shanti Desai

Wither too

2010-07-15T07:26:00.000-04:00

A couple of years ago I wrote down these words:

"Is it
the sands of time,
or the healing hands of time?"

I thought it might be the seed for a poem.

Several months later I came across a poem by a fellow named George Wither(1588-1667, English):

I grow and wither
both together.

Can it get more concise?

A few months later I came across another poem, author unknown:

There once was a fisherman named Devine
He said life's a cafeteria
You get one trip through the line.

The Skeptic (resurrected)

2010-07-11T08:50:00.000-04:00

Brig's Maxims

Don't believe everything you see - it's quite possibly an illusion.
Don't believe anything you hear - it might be another's imagination.
Don't believe everything you think - it's quite possibly a delusion.
Don't believe everything you read - it's only ink on paper.
DO believe in what you do - it becomes the truth.

and don't forget:
Everything is relative.
Everything is temporary.
Its all subject to interpretation;

although,
It depends.

but remember:
reality is a perception,
or, is perception reality?

"I think, therefore I am." Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

Sea Change

2010-03-12T11:09:00.000-05:00

I realize now that "Climate Change" is the preferred name for "Global Warming". What I intend to do here is to inject a little uncommon sense into the discussion.
We can look at the Earth's atmosphere as a sea of air, an ocean made up of of various gases, with a top and a bottom, a finite volume. The portion of of the atmosphere which interacts with the earth is relatively very small; roughly 80 percent of the mass of the atmosphere is contained in a layer approximately 10 miles high. Almost all surface weather occurs within these lower 10 miles. Virtually all gases and particles released at the earth's surface remain within a smaller layer extending approximately 1 mile high. Thus we can see that everything pertaining to weather and climate results from activity within a relatively small defined area, relative being as compared to the total size of the atmosphere, which is about 60 miles high, the point of transition to "outer space." [ For comparison, consider that the average depth of the all the oceans is 2.2 miles, covering 70% of the earth's surface. ]

Now consider this lower atmosphere as an ocean of air 1 mile deep covering the entire earth, one which traps all gases and particles as well as the heat. Humans have been continuously pumping man-made garbage into the atmosphere for nearly 150 years. Just like the rivers and seas, the atmosphere seemed boundless, with infinite capacity to absorb or disperse any and all foreign substances. Did we not find that the sea was not a bottomless pit, that we could not only measure but also see the effects of pollution? Didn't we also shake our heads in dismay at the pictures of the LA smog back in the sixties?

Well what we have now is layer of smog covering the entire surface of the earth, though maybe not discernible by the human eye. We long past the point at which the atmosphere could disperse or absorb without consequence anything released at the earth's surface; thus we keep filling it up with whatever we keep pumping into it.

Does this sound like a desirable condition, shall we just let the good times roll?
You decide.

gerbil warning

2010-03-02T10:16:00.000-05:00

I squirm every time someone draws a conclusion about global warming based on the current weather in their locality. The determination of a global warming or cooling trend must factor in the average temperatures of thousands of locations worldwide, taken over a significant time period, the longer the better, at minimum 50 years. It is easy to see that during the same year one could be having a cold winter in Texas, and a warmer (above average temp.) winter or New Jersey, a cold winter in Montreal and a warmer(above average temp.) winter in N. Korea; and on and on. Global trends cannot be determined by personal observation, only by scientific method and mountains of data. Ice may be disappearing in the Northern hemisphere while ice mass is increasing in the Southern. We must look at the net effect as a trend over time. Lets not forget the temperatures of the oceans which cover 71% of the earth's surface.
Most people have very selective or sporadic memories. When it comes to weather, many seem to remember negative things, i.e. colder, wetter, etc.. For example, having experienced a rainy cool June and July, even though a hot dry August and September, the usual comment is "what a lousy summer". This is only my observation, but as you can see it could work either way. Consider also that “cold”, “colder”, “warm”, etc., are subjective and relative terms based on an individual feeling.
To determine a warm year or cold year one has to find the average temp each day for 365 days. For example, a day's low temp could be 28 deg and the high 88, yielding an average temp of 58. Is this hot or cold, above or below average? Only careful analysis can provide an answer.

The above is so obvious that it seems barely worth stating, but apparently many people do not get it, so here it is, straight out of the brig.