Canadian Border Control ~ per Conan O'Brien

 

Canadian Border Control 

~ per Conan O'Brien ~ 

 

Standing Strong with UKRAINE ! ~ Hénock Gugsa

 

Standing Strong with UKRAINE !

~ by Hénock Gugsa ~ 

 

An Ideal World ~ by Hénock Gugsa

 

An Ideal World *

~ by Hénock Gugsa ~

 [On a serenely peaceful wintry landscape, a lone bear encounters a lone wolf!]

    “Are you lost?” asked Bear.

    “No, I’m not lost. Are you?” asked Wolf.

    “No, I’m not lost. I’m out for a walk to feel the cold on my face, and to enjoy the quiet of the woods when it snows. What are you doing?”

    “I’m out for a walk to feel the cold under my paws, and to listen to the crunching of the snow as I walk.”

    “Do you want to walk with me?” asked Bear.

    “Sure,” said Wolf.

And so they head into the woods furry side by furry side, wet nose near wet nose, aware that they are “both creatures made to be comfortable in the very cold.” They savor the splendor of this forest world they share, smelling “the wet bark on the trees,” listening to “the small sounds” of the snowflakes falling on their fur, looking closely at the multitude of shapes.
_____________________________________________________
*  Source: extracted from Daniel Salmieri's "Bear and Wolf" by Maria Popova in the Marginalian.org

 

 

The Active Bee Market ~ by TPO

 

The Active Bee Market ~ by TPO *

* Source: Piogre on Reddit

 

Hands down, the best prankster !~ by TPO

 

Hands down, the best prankster ! ~ by TPO 

😀😀😃😃

 From the scintillatingly brilliant mind (IQ=152) of a British beauty, 

Kate Beckinsdale! 

🌟🌟

 

 

Foundations of Alienation ~ per Amelia Horgan

 

Foundations of Alienation 

~per Amelia Horgan~ *

     Karl Marx (1818-1883) is most famous as a critic of capitalism, but at the heart of his critique can be found a desperate plea for the transformation of work. People, he argues, express themselves and create the world through creative and collective activity. This natural tendency is twisted into something unrecognizable in work under capitalism. He didn’t just think work around him was bad because it took place in noisy and dangerous conditions, or for low wages and long hours. The problem of work was a fundamental one: under capitalism, work takes something human and turns it into something monstrous. The forces of capital become ravenous, eating up all that is human, sucking on the very lifeblood of society.
*~ Amelia Horgan, Lost in Work: Escaping Capitalism  

 

The True Believer ~ according to Eric Hoffer

 

The True Believer ~ according to Eric Hoffer *

by TPO

     Eric Hoffer came to public attention with the 1951 publication of his first book, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, which consists of a preface and 125 sections, which are divided into 18 chapters. Hoffer analyzes the phenomenon of "mass movements," a general term that he applies to revolutionary parties, nationalistic movements, and religious movements.  

     He summarizes his thesis in §113: "A movement is pioneered by men of words, materialized by fanatics and consolidated by men of actions."    

     Hoffer argues that fanatical and extremist cultural movements, whether religious, social, or national, arise when large numbers of frustrated people, believing their own individual lives to be worthless or spoiled, join a movement demanding radical change. But the real attraction for this population is an escape from the self, not a realization of individual hopes: "A mass movement attracts and holds a following not because it can satisfy the desire for self-advancement, but because it can satisfy the passion for self-renunciation."

     Hoffer consequently argues that the appeal of mass movements is interchangeable: in the Germany of the 1920s and the 1930s, for example, the Communists and National Socialists were ostensibly enemies, but sometimes enlisted each other's members, since they competed for the same kind of marginalized, angry, frustrated people. For the "true believer," Hoffer argues that particular beliefs are less important than escaping from the burden of the autonomous self.

      Harvard historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. said of The True Believer: "This brilliant and original inquiry into the nature of mass movements is a genuine contribution to our social thought." 

* WIKIPEDIA
---------------------------------------------------------------
     In my opinion, "true believers" are crazed people who eventually realize the futility of their ideas or ideals and then become cynical counterrevolutionaries!  My best go-to poet, William Butler Yeats, forever put this little catchy poem in my head:
      The Great Day 

      Hurrah for revolution and more cannon-shot!
      A beggar upon horseback lashes a beggar on foot.
      Hurrah for revolution and cannon come again!
      The beggars have changed places, but the lash goes on.

 

The Honey Hunter --- The Lost Soul ! ~ by Hénock Gugsa

 

   The Honey Hunter – The Lost Soul !
~ story from Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia ~
Compiled, revised and presented

 by Hénock Gugsa ( ሄኖክ  ጉግሣ )
=============================================

     Once there was a man who made his living by collecting honey from forests and caves and selling it at the market place.  In those olden times, there were no hives, but bees made use of certain hollow places on trees and crevices on cave walls.  He was helped by a friendly bird who gave him directions to where honey may be found.

     One day, he saw some bees buzzing around a tree, and naturally, he concluded that there was some honey to be had. So he gathered a bunch of kindling and lit a small fire to create smoke to distract the bees.  Having directed the smoke inside the hollow tree, he was able to garner large swaths of honey.  As it happened, he had not had the foresight to bring a goatskin sack which could accommodate a big haul.  So, he left what amount of honey he had collected on the ground at the bottom of the tree, and he went off to look for a sack.

     Upon his return with a sack, he discovered that all the honey was gone. What had happened was that a porcupine, a 'jart' (ጃርት), had taken the honey and hidden it in a nearby cave.  She was planning to call all her friends and throw a party where they would engorge their tummies with the godsend honey!

     The unfortunate victim of the dastardly theft  began scouring the surrounding area for a possible cache of the stolen honey.  As the man approached the entrance of the thief's cave, he heard a noise.

     “Someone who took my honey is in there,” he thought.

     He entered the cave and saw an evil spirit, a 'zar' (ዛር), disguised as a woman. She was baking and fermenting cereals to prepare t’ala (ጠላ).

     The 'zar' snarled, “What do you want?”

     The hunter said, “I had gathered some honey and went to look for a sack. When I came back, all the honey was gone. At first, I thought the thief was a man, but then I decided it was a porcupine because I saw her footprints near this cave. Porcupines are my enemies and I want to destroy them.”

     The 'zar' frowned and hissed.  “These porcupines are food for us zars. They are like sheep and goats to us. So if you harm them, a bad spell will fall upon you. Look elsewhere for others who might have stolen your honey. Leave the porcupines alone!”

     She gave him some hard unleavened bread, k’it’a (ቂጣ). As soon as he went out the door, he was immediately turned into a porcupine. Instead of two legs he now had four and the thorns of the porcupine stood up all over his body!

     There was nothing to do but seek some of his men friends for help with his predicament.  As it happened, on his way he found himself in the middle of a big fire that had broken out of nowhere.  He got very badly burnt but managed to flee.  He ran and ran and jumped into the sea. When he came back out of the sea, he was changed back into a man.

     Having then learned his lesson, he began to live in the bushes, eating berries and natural foods from trees.  He was now neither like a porcupine nor like a human being.  And so he was lost and unapproachable ... to all living things!

     He lived like a savage hermit.  It is believed he still lives to this day!

 

Jennifer Garner wins Hasty Pudding Award!

 

Jennifer Garner wins Hasty Pudding Award! *

*Source: Instagram/JenniferGarner

 

The Best Place for Crying ~ by TPO

 

 

The Best Place for Crying ~ by TPO 

//// <><><> \\\\ 

🌟🌟🌟 Shower is the best place for crying.*
============================

The best place I have found to cry
is in the shower
You become one with the water
It drinks your tears faster than they come
You don’t feel them
You only feel what’s necessary
Your sorrow
Your grief
The shower envelopes you
Hugs you
Holds you
In it’s also
Tearful embrace
-------------------------------------------
* Dara Louisa Karadag on tumblr.com

 

Baby What You Want Me To Do - by Elvis Presley

  

Baby What You Want Me To Do - by Elvis Presley 

{} {} {} *** {} {} {}

Wisdom from Einstein ~ by TPO

 

 

Wisdom from Einstein ~ by TPO 

😩 💢 😏 

Einstein's deceptively simple but irrefutably solid observation of our fallibility !

Happiness Spreader ~ by Hénock Gugsa

 

Happiness Spreader ! ~ by Hénock Gugsa 

😃  💗  😃 

"Whoever is happy will make others happy too." ~ Anne Frank
source: Soul Academy

 

The Great Land of Finland ~ by TPO

 

 The Great Land of Finland ~ by TPO 

Go Finland, go! 👍 🙂  🇫🇮 

 

The Fuel of Suffering ~ by TPO

 

The Fuel of Suffering ~ by TPO 

 

The Amazing Ruth Negga ~ by Hénock Gugsa

 

The Amazing Ruth Negga ~ by Hénock Gugsa

💗 😊 💗 

 

"Facebook Friends" Vetting Methods ~ by Hénock Gugsa

 

*

"Facebook Friends" Vetting Methods 

~ by Hénock Gugsa ~

~ I recommend the following to a friend ----
🤔 🙂 🙂 😛 🌟
Some of the vetting methods I employ are based on simple common-sense.  Others are more subtle and relate to my inner instincts and feelings of likes/dislikes (i.e., first impressions).  Fundamentally, of-course, you have to consider logical reasons for the friends you enlist and invest in on Facebook.
     1 - Common Sense:  Is there any logical reason for the friend-request?  Is the person interesting?  Does the person identify himself/herself as a real person with a photo (photos), where they're from, or where they went to school?!  Does he (she) have an "interesting" background, and make "interesting" contributions (i.e. postings)?  Is the person overly political?  Is there variety and serious, intelligent effort in their posts?  Is there a modicum of originality or creativity that can be appreciated?  Is there intelligent humor?  
     2 - Instinctive reaction:  Is the friend-request just another idle, meaningless action on the part of the requestor, especially if they already have 800 friends?!  Do they even read and/or understand what I am posting?!  If they don't show any response or reaction and always just passively observe like creepy voyeurs, then who needs their friendship?  Generally, we can get a sense if a requestor is a good person, but if you have doubts, the default reaction should be "to reject".
     3 - Logical Considerations:  How many people can you have as "friends" on any day of your life whose names or faces you can instantaneously name or recall in any fashion?  If you say 50, it is probably reasonable ... if you say 100, it may be a bit of a stretch, but it is still doable!  Of-course, on Facebook the term "friend" is loosely bandied about!  In reality, our "friends" can be grouped under :  Real friends, casual acquaintances, re-connections, and new relations via 3rd party introductions.  The reasonable (logical) number of friends I have on Facebook should be no greater than what I do in Real Life!

*I shall attempt to explain .... The blue-uniformed shady person is the best approximation to a Facebook denizen I could come up with on short notice.  The original had a murky white background that I didn't like, so I selected beige from the "Paint" app to replace it, but I could not perfectly cover the field.  Instead, I was left with patches all over the place.  I did not want to overdo things for fear I'd smear up the person's profile.  As far as 'hand in pocket' is concerned, he realizes he is always on precarious ground in the world of Facebook.  Any minute, any amount of craziness may blow up in his face.  He is always 'en garde' ! 

 

Homme au Balcon ~ de Gustave Caillebotte

 

 

Gustave Caillebotte: Homme au balcon, Boulevard Haussmann  -  1880

Gustave Caillebotte (1848 –1894) was a French painter, member of the impressionists although he painted in a more realistic manner than many other impressionists.
He is buried at Père Lachaise cemetery.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
~ source: https://www.facebook.com/afriendinparis/

 

A hill of beans ?! ~ by Hénock Gugsa

 

 

A hill of beans ?! ~ by Hénock Gugsa 

🤔 😕 😟 

This problem does "amount to a hill of beans"!

Un escroc sophistiqué ~ par TPO

 

Un escroc sophistiqué ~ par TPO 

()()()()()()