New struggles

— After Buddha was dead,
his shadow was still shown for centuries
in a cave
     –a tremendous,
          gruesome shadow.

God is dead;

but given the way of men,
there may still be caves for thousands of years
in which his shadow will be shown.

–And we
     –we still have to vanquish
          his shadow, too.

–excerpt The Gay Science, Book 3, Section 108 by Friedrich Nietzsche

Got up this morning with mind-fog.  The cold medication worked and I had a dreamless sleep.  As with all technology there is a cost.  You cannot pick up just one end of the stick…  I walked into Starbucks feeling stoned.  Now the fog is lifting.

Today I will attend a public demonstration held on the bridge that crosses the Fox River in Geneva.  The demonstration is to protest the legality of assault rifles.  There are many AR-15 type rifles legally possessed by God-fearing citizens, all good people.  They are “good people” until good sense, sanity is shattered by life.   Then the weapon is used to slaughter hapless children and teachers at a school.

Perhaps you can “see,” intuit the right-to-bear-arms connection with the God N’ Country way of thinking…  An identical sense of things also obtains when it comes to the effort to interfere with women’s freedom and health care, in order to ban abortion.  Add to the list the bias against freedom of inquiry in education, anti-gay and transgender attitudes, book banning at libraries, etc…

The shadow-show goes on.  There is a great deal of work to be done.

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I think that Nietzsche would have liked this tune:  Karn Evil No. 9, 1st Impression Part 2, by Emerson Lake and Palmer, covered by Rachel Flowers.

Karn Evil 9, 1st Impression Part II

By Emerson Lake and Palmer

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends
We’re so glad you could attend
Come inside! Come inside!
There behind a glass is a real blade of grass
be careful as you pass.
Move along! Move along!

Come inside, the show’s about to start
guaranteed to blow your head apart
Rest assured you’ll get your money’s worth
The greatest show in Heaven, Hell or Earth.
You’ve got to see the show, it’s a dynamo.
You’ve got to see the show, it’s rock and roll ….

Right before your eyes we pull laughter from the skies
And he laughs until he cries then he dies then he dies
Come inside the shows about to start
Guaranteed to blow your head apart

You gotta see the show
It’s a dynamo
You gotta see the show
It’s rock and roll

Soon the Gypsy Queen in a glaze of Vaseline
Will perform on guillotine
What a scene! What a scene!
Next up on the stand
Would you please extend a hand
To Alexander’s Ragtime Band
Dixieland Dixieland
Roll up, roll up, roll up, see the show

Performing on a stool we’ve a sight to make you drool
Seven virgins and a mule
Keep it cool. Keep it cool.
We would like it to be known the exhibits that were shown
were exclusively our own,
All our own. All our own.
Come and see the show! Come and see the show! Come and see the show!
See the show!