Individuals Count

Revolutions are the periods of history when individuals count most.

-- Norman Mailer (1923 - 2007), American novelist, playwright, and film director, Barbary Shore (1951) McLeod, in Ch. 29

Layers

Does President Trump understand money?  Not money as in cash, but the supply of money, the price of money as measured by interest rates, and their impact on inflation?  The answer would appear to be no after Mr. Trump called for lower interest rates on Wednesday -- the same day the Labor Department reported an increase in inflation for the third straight month.

"Interest Rates should be lowered, something which would go hand in hand with upcoming Tariffs!!!" Mr. Trump posted on his social-media site.  The layers of intellectual confusion here are hard to parse, especially since higher tariffs will mean higher prices on the affected goods.  But perhaps the President wants the public to look elsewhere when assigning blame for rising prices.

-- Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, alleging economic blunders by President Trump for the second time in three days, "Trumponomics and Rising Inflation" (12 February 2025)

Without Fear Or Favor

I received a memorandum from acting Deputy AG Emil Bove, directing me to dismiss the indictment against Mayor Eric Adams without prejudice, subject to certain conditions, which would require leave of court.  I do not repeat here the evidence against Adams that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed federal crimes; ... the case team conducted this investigation with integrity and the charges against Adams are serious and supported by fact and law.  Mr. Bove's memo, however, which directs me to dismiss an indictment returned by a duly constituted grand jury for reasons having nothing to do with the strength of the case, raises serious concerns that render the contemplated dismissal inconsistent with my ability and duty to prosecute federal crimes without fear or favor and to advance good-faith arguments before the courts.

When I took my oath of office three weeks ago, I vowed to well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I was about to enter.  In carrying out that responsibility, I am guided by, among other things, the Principles of Federal Prosecution set forth in the Justice Manual and your recent memoranda instructing attorneys for the Department of Justice to make only good-faith arguments and not to use the criminal enforcement authority of the United States to achieve political objectives or other improper aims.  I am also guided by the values that have defined my over ten years of public service. ...  I have always considered it my obligation to pursue justice impartially, without favor to the wealthy or those who occupy important public office, or harsher treatment for the less powerful.

I therefore deem it necessary to the faithful discharge of my duties to raise the concerns expressed in this letter with you and to request an opportunity to meet to discuss them further.  I cannot fulfill my obligations, effectively lead my office in carrying out the Department's priorities, or credibly represent the Government before the courts, if I seek to dismiss the Adams case on this record.

-- Danielle R. Sassoon, Acting Manhattan U.S. attorney, writing to US AG Pam Bondi, refusing to drop the case against Mayor Eric Adams (12 February 2025)

As He Threatens

President Trump gave the economy another jolt of uncertainty on Monday when he signed executive orders imposing 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports.  His advisers say these tariffs are economically "strategic" rather than a bargaining chip for some other goal.  Is the strategy to harm U.S. manufacturers and workers?

That's what his first-term tariffs did, and it's worth revisiting the damage of that blunder as he threatens to repeat it. 

-- Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, "The Truth About Trump's Steel Tariffs" (10 February 2025)

I Like Work

I like work: it fascinates me.  I can sit and look at it for hours.

-- Jerome K. Jerome (1859 - 1927), English author, Three Men in a Boat (1889)

The Ideal Strong Person

As I become Strong, Strength gives me Autonomy.  Now that I have Autonomy, I must act with Integrity so that I do not infringe on other individuals acting autonomously and with integrity.  This forbearance from interfering with the autonomy of others is Justice, which I expect from them in return.  In choosing among goals with Integrity, I must willfully embrace Right Prioritization, choosing to choose with Integrity.  A society of individuals acting in this way will be Interdependently Effective.

-- Don Appleman, in my essay "The Ideal Strong Person", submitted with my application to test in April for 4th Dan in Taekwondo (8 February 2025)

First Of All Pleasures

Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

-- François-Marie Arouet (1694 - 1778), most famous under his pen name Voltaire, French writer and philosopher, from the satirical poem "The Maid of Orleans" (1756)

Information Loss

Disintegration of structure equals information loss.

-- Gregory Benford (1941 -), American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine, In the Ocean of Night (1977) The Snark, a member of a machine-intelligence civilization, p. 195

Enshittification

Enshittification, also known as crapification and platform decay, is the term used to describe the pattern in which online products and services decline in quality over time.  Initially, vendors create high-quality offerings to attract users, then they degrade those offerings to better serve business customers, and finally degrade their services to users and business customers to maximize profits for shareholders.

Writer Cory Doctorow coined the neologism enshittification in November 2022, though he was not the first to describe and label the concept.  The American Dialect Society selected it as its 2023 Word of the Year, with Macquarie Dictionary following suit for 2024.

-- WikiPedia entry for Enshittification, describing a process just witnessed at Twitter, after its takeover by Elon Musk, and now being experienced by all in America, after its takeover by Elon Musk, where he seems to believe that he and Donald Trump are the shareholders

Our Closest Friends

Tonight, first, I want to speak directly to Americans, our closest friends and neighbours. 

As I have consistently said, tariffs against Canada will put your jobs at risk, potentially shutting down American auto assembly plants and other manufacturing facilities.  They will raise costs for you, including food at the grocery stores and gas at the pump.  They will impede your access to an affordable supply of vital goods, crucial for U.S. security such as nickel, potash, uranium, steel and aluminum.  They will violate the free trade agreement that the president and I, along with our Mexican partner, negotiated and signed a few years ago.

But it doesn't have to be this way.  As President John F. Kennedy said many years ago, "geography has made us neighbours, history has made us friends, economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies."

That rang true for many decades prior to President Kennedy's time in office and in the decades since.  From the beaches of Normandy, to the mountains of the Korean Peninsula, from the fields of Flanders, to the streets of Kandahar, we have fought and died alongside you.

Together we've built the most successful economic, military and security partnership the world has ever seen, a relationship that has been the envy of the world. Yes, we've had our differences in the past, but we've always found a way to get past them.

Unfortunately the actions taken today by the White House split us apart instead of bringing us together.

Canada is home to bountiful resources, breathtaking beauty and a proud people who've come from every corner of the globe to forge a nation with a unique identity worth embracing and celebrating.  We don't pretend to be perfect but Canada is the best country on Earth.  There's nowhere else that I and our 41 million strong family would rather be, and we will get through this challenge just as we've done countless times before, together.  Thank you.  Merci.  Vive le Canada. 

-- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressing media following the announcement of a raft of tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump against Canada, Mexico, and China (2 February 2025)

Not Young Enough

I'm not young enough to know everything.

-- Sir James Matthew (J. M.) Barrie (1860 - 1937), Scottish novelist and dramatist, The Admirable Crichton, Act I (1903)

Too Much

Danger breeds best on too much confidence.

-- Pierre Corneille (1606 - 1684), French tragedian, Le Cid (1636)

Most Powerful

Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.

-- Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936), English short-story writer, poet, novelist, and journalist, born in India; 1907 Nobel laureate in Literature, the first English language writer to receive it, Speech, quoted in The Times (15 February 1923)

But Once

I expect to pass through this world but once.  Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now.  Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again.

-- Stephen Grellet (1773 - 1855), prominent Quaker missionary, attributed

No Passion Is Stronger

No passion is stronger in the breast of man than the desire to make others believe as he believes.  Nothing so cuts at the root of his happiness and fills him with rage as the sense that another rates low what he prizes high.

-- Virginia Woolf (1882 - 1941), British author, Orlando: A Biography (1928) Chapter 3

Study Carefully

Study carefully, the character of the one you recommend, lest their misconduct bring you shame.

-- Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65 BC - 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace, lyric poet, Epistles (c. 20 BC and 14 BC) Book I, epistle xviii, line 76 

It Happened

It's almost like he was trying to say it didn't happen.  And it happened.  I did those things, and they weren't pardonable.  I don't want the pardon.  And I also learned that I can reject the pardon.  And I did reject the pardon because I'm thinking down the road [if] an employer looks in my background, they see misdemeanors --  Misdemeanors with a presidential pardon -- I think that tends to draw more attention.  And I'm sure that's fine in the MAGA world with whoever supports Trump, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life wondering if the job I'm applying to, if they like Trump.

I'm a recovering alcoholic.  And I also had some other mental health problems.  That's a bad mix, it's a vicious cycle.  I got rid of drinking, and now I have no problem.  I'm able to handle my mental health problems, but I still just can't help but think of all the the suicides amongst the Capitol Police officers since the riot.  I can empathize.  I just can't imagine -- it's got to be real hard for anyone working in that department with him coming back into office and now pardoning 1,500 people who assaulted their brothers and sisters on that day.  And I think about them.

-- Jason Riddle, who served time in jail for his participation in the 2021 riot, in an inteview with Rick Ganley on New Hampshire Public Radio, "Keene man arrested for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 rejects Trump's pardon" (24 January 2025)

Willing To Admit

Science doesn't stop when it comes up with a nice answer.  It looks for more data.  It comes up with new ideas.  It's willing to admit it's wrong.

-- Guy Consolmagno (1952 -), American astronomer, physicist, Jesuit, and director of the Vatican Observatory, "From MIT to Specola Vaticana: Guy Consolmagno at TEDxViadellaConcialiazione" (24 April 2013)

An Insult

Accepting the pardon would be an insult to the Capitol Police officers, to the rule of law, to our nation.  The J6 criminals are trying to rewrite history by saying that it was not a riot, it wasn't an insurrection.  I don't want to be a part of their trying to rewrite what happened that day.

We are not victims, we were volunteers.  Nobody went up to them with a gun to their head and said, "You're going to go break a window.  You're going to go destroy property.  You're going to push an officer."  They had a choice.

I got my critical thinking back and started doing my own research, which I'm guilty of not doing back then because they gaslight you so much.  It's really weird when you come out of a cult.  It's like you look back and you go, what was I thinking?

-- 71-year-old Boise resident Pamela Hemphill, once nicknamed "the MAGA Granny", who already served her 60-day misdemeanor sentence, on rejecting the pardon offered her by President Trump, Idaho Statesman, "‘Trying to rewrite history’: Boise woman guilty in Capitol riot rejects Trump pardon" (22 January 2025)

Can Neither Make Nor Destroy

Princes may make laws and repeal them, but they can neither make nor destroy virtue, and how indeed should they be able to do what is impossible to the Deity himself?  Virtue being as immutable in its nature as the divine will which is the ground of it.

-- Ethan Allen (1738 -  1789), farmer, businessman, philosopher, and patriot hero during the era of the Vermont Republic, Reason: The Only Oracle Of Man (1784) Ch. IV, Section II - Containing a Disquisition of the Law of Nature, as it respects the Moral System, interspersed with Observations on Subsequent Religions

Obviously

If you committed violence on [January 6th], obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.

-- Vice president-elect JD Vance on "Fox News Sunday" (12 January 2025)

Legacy Code

"Legacy code" often differs from its suggested alternative by actually working and scaling.

-- Bjarne Stroustrup (30 December 1950 -), computer scientist and creator of the C++ programming language, Bjarne Stroustrup's FAQ: (2007 - present) What is "legacy code"?

Farewell Address

Before I begin, let me speak to important news from earlier today.  After eight months of nonstop negotiation by my administration, a ceasefire and a hostage deal has been reached by Israel and Hamas, the elements of which I laid out in great detail in May of this year.  This plan was developed and negotiated by my team and will be largely implemented by the incoming administration. That's why I told my team to keep the incoming administration fully informed, because that's how it should be: working together as Americans.

This will be my final address to you -- the American people -- from the Oval Office, from this desk as president.  And I've been thinking a lot about who we are and, maybe more importantly, who we should be. ...

Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.  We see the consequences all across America.  And we've seen it before, more than a century ago.  But the American people stood up to the robber barons back then and busted the trusts.

People should be able to make as much as they can, but play by the same rules, pay their fair share in taxes.  You know, we've proven we don't have to choose between protecting the environment and growing the economy.  We're doing both.  But powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps we've taken to tackle the climate crisis to serve their own interest for power and profit.  We must not be bullied into sacrificing the future, the future of our children and our grandchildren.  We must keep pushing forward and push faster.  There is no time to waste.

Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power.  The free press is crumbling.  Editors are disappearing.  Social media is giving up on fact-checking.  The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.

We must reform the tax code -- not by giving the biggest tax cuts to billionaires, but by making them begin to pay their fair share.  We need to get dark money -- that's that hidden funding behind too many campaigns' contributions -- we need to get it out of our politics.

A fair shot is what makes America, America.  Everyone is entitled to a fair shot -- not a guarantee, but just a fair shot, an even playing field -- going as far as your hard work and talent can take you.  We can never lose that essential truth -- remain who we are.  Now it's your turn to stand guard.  May you all be the keeper of the flame.  May you keep the faith.

I love America.  You love it too.  God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops.  Thank you for this great honor.

-- Excerpts from President Biden's Farewell Address to the Nation (15 January 2025)

If We Want

If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.

-- Giuseppe Tomasi, Duke of Palma di Montechiaro and Prince of Lampedusa (1896 - 1957), Italian novelist, short-story writer and critic, The Leopard (1958) page 29

The Throughline

As set forth in the original and superseding indictments, when it became clear that Mr. Trump had lost the election and that lawful means of challenging the election results had failed, he resorted to a series of criminal efforts to retain power.  This included attempts to induce state officials to ignore true vote counts; to manufacture fraudulent slates of presidential electors in seven states that he had lost; to force Justice Department officials and his own Vice President, Michael R. Pence, to act in contravention of their oaths and to instead advance Mr. Trump's personal interests; and, on January 6, 2021, to direct an angry mob to the United States Capitol to obstruct the congressional certification of the presidential election and then leverage rioters' violence to further delay it.  In service of these efforts, Mr. Trump worked with other people to achieve a common plan: to overturn the election results and perpetuate himself in office.  The throughline of all of Mr. Trump's criminal efforts was deceit -- knowingly false claims of election fraud -- and the evidence shows that Mr. Trump used these lies as a weapon to defeat a federal government function foundational to the United States' democratic process. 

-- Special Counsel Jack Smith, in his Final Report of the Special Counsel, Volume One: The Election Case, The Results Of The Investigation, pp 2-4 (7 January 2025)

A Peculiar Talent

Benevolence alone will not make a teacher, nor will learning alone do it.  The gift of teaching is a peculiar talent, and implies a need and a craving in the teacher himself.

-- John Jay Chapman (1862 - 1933), American writer and essayist, Memories and Milestones (1915) page 110

Imposition Of Sentence

Mr. Trump, you appear before this court today to conclude this criminal proceeding by the imposition of sentence.  Although I have taken the unusual step of informing you in advance of my inclinations before imposing sentence, I believe it is important for you as well as those observing these proceedings to understand my reasoning for the sentence I am about to impose.

[N]ever before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances.  Indeed, it can be viewed fairly that this has been a truly extraordinary case.  There was unprecedented media attention, public interest, and heightened security involving various agencies.  And yet, the trial was a bit of a paradox, because once the courtroom doors were closed, the trial itself was no more special, unique or extraordinary than the other 32 criminal trials that took place in this courthouse at the same exact time.

To be clear, the protections afforded to the office of the president are not a mitigating factor.  They do not reduce the seriousness of the crime or justify its commission in any way.  The protections are, however, a legal mandate which, pursuant to the rule of law, this court must respect and follow.  However, despite the extraordinary breadth of those protections, one power they do not provide is a power to erase a jury verdict.

After careful analysis in obedience to governing mandates and pursuant to the rule of law, this court has determined that the only lawful sentence that permits entry of a judgment of conviction without encroaching upon the highest office in the land is an unconditional discharge, which the New York State Legislature has determined is a lawful and permissible sentence for the crime of falsifying business records in the first degree.

Therefore, at this time I impose that sentence to cover all 34 counts.

-- New York State Judge Juan Merchan, at the sentencing hearing for president-elect Donald Trump (10 January 2025)

No Sovereignty

For the sake of goodness and love, man shall let death have no sovereignty over his thoughts.

-- Thomas Mann (1875 - 1955), German novelist and short story writer, 1929 Nobel laureate in Literature, The Magic Mountain (1924) Ch. 6

A Steady Rhythm

I have an epic, not a dramatic nature.  My disposition and my desires call for peace to spin my thread, for a steady rhythm in life and art.

-- Thomas Mann (1875 - 1955), German novelist and short story writer, 1929 Nobel laureate in Literature, Nobel Banquet Speech (10 December 1929)

Can't Change The Truth

Donald, this is not the Soviet Union.  You can't change the truth and you cannot silence us.  Remember all your lies about the voting machines, the election workers, your countless allegations of fraud that never happened?  Many of your lawyers have been sanctioned, disciplined, or disbarred, the courts ruled against you, and dozens of your own White House, administration, and campaign aides testified against you.  Remember how you sent a mob to our Capitol and then watched the violence on television and refused for hours to instruct the mob to leave?  Remember how your former Vice President prevented you from overturning our Republic?  We remember.

And now, as you take office again, the American people need to reject your latest malicious falsehoods and stand as the guardrails of our Constitutional Republic -- to protect the America we love from you.

-- Former Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) responding to recent attempts by president-elect Donald Trump to downplay the events of January 6th 2021 (3 January 2025)

See The Process Unfold

I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide, competitive process.  Last night I asked the president of the Liberal Party to begin that process.

This country deserves a real choice in the next election and it has become clear to me that if I'm having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election.

I am excited to see the process unfold in the months ahead.

-- Justin Trudeau, announcing he will step down as Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the governing Liberal party after nine years in office, in a speech outside his Rideau Cottage residence in Ottawa

Only We Mortals

Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunderstorm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year.  Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols.

-- Thomas Mann (1875 - 1955), German novelist and short story writer, 1929 Nobel laureate in Literature, The Magic Mountain (1924) Ch. 5

Anger And Jealousy

Anger and jealousy can no more bear to lose sight of their objects than love.

-- George Eliot (born Mary Ann Evans; 1819 - 1880), English novelist and poet, The Mill on the Floss (1860) Book I, Chapter X

To Begin Is Half The Work

Begin; to begin is half the work.  Let half still remain; again begin this, and thou wilt have finished.

-- Decimus Magnus Ausonius (c. 310 - c. 395), Gallo-Roman poet, rhetorician, and consul, Epigrams, LXXXI 1