Kickin' It Old School

In the past few weeks I've heard more news commentators mistakenly say the word "Soviet" when they meant "Russian" than ever before. Putin's machinations with respect to Georgia, and now Poland, have that old-school feeling of Soviet aggression.

Words Strain

Words strain,
    Crack and sometimes break, under the burden,
  Under the tension, slip, slide, perish,
    Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place,
Will not stay still.

-- T.S. Eliot, poet (1888-1965)

Don't Invade

In the Twenty-first Century, nations don't invade other nations.

-- Presidential candidate Senator John McCain, 13 August 2008, on Russia's invasion of Georgia

Too Depressing

The Current State of Copyright Law is too depressing

I regard myself as a centrist. I believe very much that in proper doses copyright is essential for certain classes of works, especially commercial movies, commercial sound recordings, and commercial books, the core copyright industries. I accept that the level of proper doses will vary from person to person and that my recommended dose may be lower (or higher) than others. But in my view, and that of my cherished brother Sir Hugh Laddie, we are well past the healthy dose stage and into the serious illness stage. Much like the U.S. economy, things are getting worse, not better. Copyright law has abandoned its reason for being: to encourage learning and the creation of new works. Instead, its principal functions now are to preserve existing failed business models, to suppress new business models and technologies, and to obtain, if possible, enormous windfall profits from activity that not only causes no harm, but which is beneficial to copyright owners. Like Humpty-Dumpty, the copyright law we used to know can never be put back together again: multilateral and trade agreements have ensured that, and quite deliberately.

-- Google's copyright man, William Patry, on ending his blog on copyright

Hamdan Sentencing

Mr. Hamdan, I hope the day comes that you are able to return to your wife and daughters and your country.

-- Military Judge Keith J. Allred, after the sentencing of Salim Ahmed Hamdan at Guantanamo Bay, New York Times, 8 August 2008.

RIP Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

It is not the level of prosperity that makes for happiness but the kinship of heart to heart and the way we look at the world. Both attitudes are within the power, so that a man is happy so long as he chooses to be happy, and no one can stop him.

-- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (11 December 1918 - 3 August 2008), Russian novelist, dramatist and historian

Real ID

Do you want our government to have the ability to track where you went, how you went, how you got there and when you got home? It would be naive for someone to think this information will not be abused in the future. Virtually every decade these kinds of files have been used to violate people's privacy.

-- Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, in a letter to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, explaining why Montana will not participate in Real ID, reported in Canada Free Press, 31 July 2008

--

More from the article: After Chertoff called the governor and told Schweitzer that Montana residents would be banned from airplanes, or subjected to severe, time-consuming inspections at airports, Schweitzer replied, "How about we both go on 60 Minutes a few days after the DHS starts patting down Montana driver's license-holders who are trying to get on the planes and both of us can tell our side of the story." Chertoff backed down. As of the May 11 deadline for implementation, no state is in compliance with the Real ID Act.

Paris For President?

Hey America, I'm Paris Hilton and I'm a celebrity, too. Only I'm not from the olden days and I'm not promising change like that other guy. I'm just hot. But then that wrinkly, white-haired guy used me in his campaign ad, which I guess means I'm running for president. So thanks for the endorsement white-haired dude ... I want America to know that I'm, like, totally ready to lead.

-- Paris Hilton, in a mock campaign ad in response to McCain's attack ad comparing Barack Obama to Paris Hilton & Brittney Spears

Champaign Park District Mini Triathlon

On Saturday 08-02-08 I participated for the second time in the annual Champaign Park District mini-triathlon. I did OK, though I didn't win any prizes. It was a 400 meter swim, 6 mile bike ride, and 2 mile run. My time was 48:41.4, an improvement of 4:23 over my previous performance.

I finished 5th of 17 in my age group (men age 44-49), 56th of 142 among men of all ages, and 82nd of 305 among all men and women for the entire event. Of the 223 people I beat, 187 were younger. Of the 86 men I beat, 74 were younger.

I hate running, but I like both swimming and biking. If I can convince myself to do some training next summer, I should be able to improve on both my time and my placing.

I signed up 8 weeks ahead of time, but the event was full, and I was #43 on the waiting list. Usually only a handful of people drop out in time for the people on the waiting list to be helped. This year, I got a call with just 17 days to go stating that they were expanding the field by 50, so I was in. I hadn't been running at all, but was able to leg out a number of 2-mile runs to get ready.

Bill Of Rights - Amendment X

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Bill Of Rights - Amendment IX

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Bill Of Rights - Amendment VIII

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Bill Of Rights - Amendment VII

Amendment VII

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Bill Of Rights - Amendment VI

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Bill Of Rights - Amendment V

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Bill Of Rights - Amendment IV

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Bill Of Rights - Amendment III

Amendment III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Bill Of Rights - Amendment II

Amendment II

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Bill Of Rights - Amendment I

The Conventions of a number of the States having, at the time of adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added, and as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution; Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States; all or any of which articles, when ratified by three-fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the said Constitution, namely:

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Obama At 2004 DNC

The pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue states, red states for Republicans, blue states for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too: We worship an awesome God in the blue states and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the red states. We coach Little League in the blue states and, yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

-- Senator Barack Obama, address at the Democratic National Convention, Boston, 27 July 2004

Mistakes

Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from.

-- Al Franken, "Oh, the Things I Know", 2002

Fascism

Fascism: Philosophy of government that stresses the primacy and glory of the state, unquestioning obedience to its leader, subordination of the individual will to the state's authority, and harsh suppression of dissent. Martial virtues are celebrated, while liberal and democratic values are disparaged.

-- Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, via answers.com

Borrowing To Buy To Burn

We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that has to change.

-- Former Vice President Al Gore, urging that the United States abandon the use of carbon-based fuels for electricity within 10 years, New York Times, 18 July 2008

16 Months

Obama's remarks that -- if he takes office -- in 16 months he would withdraw the forces, we think that this period could increase or decrease a little, but that it could be suitable to end the presence of the forces in Iraq. Who wants to exit in a quicker way has a better assessment of the situation in Iraq.

-- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki, New York Times, 19 July 2008

Long Walk

I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended.

-- Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918-), South African political activist, co-winner of Nobel Peace Prize with F.W. de Klerk in 1993; in 1994, first President of South Africa elected in fully representative democratic elections, Long Walk to Freedom (1995)

As President

As president, I will order an immediate review of our overseas deployments - in dozens of countries. The longstanding commitments we have made to our allies are the strong foundation of our current peace. I will keep these pledges to defend friends from aggression. The problem comes with open-ended deployments and unclear military missions. In these cases we will ask, "What is our goal, can it be met, and when do we leave?" As I've said before, I will work hard to find political solutions that allow an orderly and timely withdrawal from places like Kosovo and Bosnia. We will encourage our allies to take a broader role. We will not be hasty. But we will not be permanent peacekeepers, dividing warring parties. This is not our strength or our calling.

-- Candidate George W. Bush, Thursday, September 23, 1999

Knock Yourself On The Head

Do not think of knocking out another person's brains because he differs in opinion from you. It would be as rational to knock yourself on the head because you differ from yourself ten years ago.

-- Horace Mann, educational reformer (1796-1859)

Fairly Straightforward

When I was young American politics were fairly straightforward: conservatives let you keep all your money in return for telling you how to live your life, while liberals let you live as you pleased in return for all your money. Now the only difference is whether they want your money or your life first.

-- D.A. Ridgely, positiveliberty.com

Awful Privilege

An awful privilege, and an awful responsibility, that we should help to create the world in which posterity will live.

-- William K. Clifford (4 May 1845 - 3 March 1879), English mathematician and philosopher, The Ethics of Belief (1877)

No Chaste Minds

There are no chaste minds. Minds copulate wherever they meet.

-- Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (1902-1983)

Lost Our Collective Minds

Back before we lost our collective minds and began shrieking with horror at the thought of kids having fun on their own (as in not part of an official league or otherwise organized activity), they used to do things like find a vacant field, turn it into a makeshift diamond and spend glorious hours in the summer sun.

-- The Greenwich Time newspaper, in an editorial in support of youths who built a wiffle ball field on an empty, city-owned lot in Greenwich, CT, 9 July 2008

More Wisdom

In no part of the Constitution is more wisdom to be found, than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace to the legislature, and not to the executive department.

-- James Madison (16 March 1751 - 28 June 1836), fourth US president (1809-1817), co-author of the Federalist Papers, traditionally regarded as the Father of the US Constitution, 1793

RIP Bozo The Clown

We didn't have satellite, syndication and networking like today. So, I created my own network of local clowns and productions, a cross-country operation that kept me on the road for 50 weeks a year for decades.

-- Lawrence Weiss (2 January 1925 - 3 July 2008), American entertainer better known by the stage names Larry Harmon and Bozo the Clown, on training 200 actors to portray the clown for local TV stations and other programs franchised around the country

Jesse Helms Exit

I've been portrayed as a caveman by some. That's not true. I'm a conservative progressive, and that means I think all men are equal, be they Slants, Beaners, or Niggers.

-- Jesse Alexander Helms (18 October 1921 - 4 July 2008) 5-term U.S. Senator (R-NC), North Carolina Progressive, February 6, 1985

False Confessions

What makes this document doubly stunning is that these were techniques to get false confessions. People say we need intelligence, and we do. But we don't need false intelligence.

-- Senator Carl Levin, on a military interrogation class that was based on a 1957 Air Force study of how China obtained confessions, many of them false, from American prisoners, New York Times, 2 July 2008

Asterisk

Bonds' 756th homer ball lands in Hall, finally
By Ben Walker, AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Now branded with an asterisk, the ball Barry Bonds launched for his record 756th home run nearly a year ago landed Tuesday night in the Hall of Fame.

[snip]

Where Have All The Leaders Gone?

You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.

I'm going to speak up because it's my patriotic duty -- I'm hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote because they don't trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey, America, wake up. These guys work for us.

Why are we in this mess? How did we end up with this crowd in Washington? Well, we voted for them -- or at least some of us did. But I'll tell you what we didn't do. We didn't agree to suspend the Constitution. We didn't agree to stop asking questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason. Where I come from that's a dictatorship, not a democracy.

And don't tell me it's all the fault of right-wing Republicans or liberal Democrats. That's an intellectually lazy argument, and it's part of the reason we're in this stew. We're not just a nation of factions. We're a people. We share common principles and ideals. And we rise and fall together.

There was a time in this country when the voices of great leaders lifted us up and made us want to do better. Where have all the leaders gone?

-- Lee Iacocca, in his book "Where Have All The Leaders Gone?"

Tunguska

One hundred years ago today, the so-called Tunguska Event, apparently a mid-air explosion of a meteor, levelled the trees across an area of more than a half million acres (~830 square miles).

500 Year Flood

I'm not sure how much wisdom there is in staying because these are floods that are supposed to come every 500 years and they're coming every 15 years.

-- Joe Behounek, whose house in Chelsea, Iowa, was flooded this week and in 1993

Fryer Grease

Fryer grease has become gold. And just over a year ago, I had to pay someone to take it away.

-- Nick Damianidis, an owner of the Olympia Pizza and Pasta Restaurant in Arlington, Wash., on grease thefts, New York Times, 30 May 2008

Code For The Maintainer

Always code as if the person who ends up maintaining your code is a violent psychopath who knows where you live.

-- From theC2 Wiki Page, http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?CodeForTheMaintainer

Only God Who Appointed Me

Only God who appointed me will remove me -- not the [opposition party] MDC, not the British. ... We will never allow an event like an election reverse our independence, our sovereignty, our sweat, and all that we fought for, all that our comrades died fighting for.

-- Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe, in power since 1980, regarding his presidential run-off vs. MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai

RIP George Carlin

I love and treasure individuals as I meet them; I loathe and despise the groups they identify with and belong to.

-- George Carlin (12 May 1937 - 22 June 2008), Grammy-winning American stand-up comedian, actor, and author, "Ready or Not, Here Comes Another Book", Georgecarlin.com, 2007-01-19

Windshield Vs. Bug

Some days you're the windshield, some days you're the bug.

-- Captain Phillip Ash, commander, Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, Ramadi, Iraq, New York Times, 23 October 2005

Eight To Twelve Minutes? No Way

The Unhealthiest Drink in America
Baskin Robbins Large Heath Bar Shake (32 oz)
2,310 calories
266 g sugar
108 g fat (64 g saturated)

Let's look at America's Worst Drink in numbers:

73: The number of ingredients that go into this milkshake.
66: The number of teaspoons of sugar this drink contains.
11: The number of Heath Bars you would have to eat to equal the number of calories found in one Baskin Robbins Large Heath Bar Shake.
8-12: The average number of minutes it takes to consume this drink.
240: The number of minutes you'd need to spend on a treadmill burning it off, running at a moderate pace.

-- Mens' Health Magazine, via health.yahoo.com,
19 May 2008

Earlids

The best thing about radio is that people were born without earlids. You can't close your ears to it.

-- Anthony Schwartz (19 August 1923 - 15 June 2008), American sound archivist and advertising creator, best known for the controversial Daisy TV ad for the 1964 Lyndon Johnson campaign

Habeas

The test for determining the scope of this provision must not be subject to manipulation by those whose power it is designed to restrain.

-- From the Supreme Court's decision restoring the writ of habeas corpus to prisoners at Gitmo

Worst?

The United States Supreme Court yesterday rendered a decision which I think is one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.

-- John McCain, NBC 13 June 2008, regarding the recent "Habeas" ruling by SCOTUS

Oh No!

I've been doing everything I can to kill him off for 30 years, but he seems to be coming back.

-- Walter Williams, on Mr. Bill, the character he created for "Saturday Night Live" who will appear in a MasterCard ad campaign, New York Times, 3 June 2008

Cheaper Oil

The greatest thing to come out of [the Iraq War] for the world economy, if you could put it that way, would be $20 a barrel for oil. That's bigger than any tax cut in the any country.

-- Rupert Murdoch, Guardian newspaper, 11 February 2003, when oil sold for $34.53 per barrel (it's $134.31 today)

Burden Of Proof

Any curtailment of freedom has a burden of proof.

-- Noam Chomsky, Media Matters, 6 June 2008

Ridiculous

Imagine a world in which generations of human beings come to believe that certain films were made by God or that specific software was coded by him. Imagine a future in which millions of our descendants murder each other over rival interpretations of Star Wars or Windows 98. Could anything -- anything -- be more ridiculous? And yet, this would be no more ridiculous than the world we are living in.

-- Sam Harris, author (1967- )

HRC Bows Out

The way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand, is to take our energy, our passion and our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States.

-- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, bowing out of the presidential race, NY Times 8 June 2008

Violence

Victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. ... [W]hen you teach a man to hate and to fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color, or his beliefs or the policies that he pursues, when you teach that those who are different from you threaten your freedom or your job or your home or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens, but as enemies. Our lives on this planet are too short, the work to be done is too great. But we can perhaps remember, that those who live with us are our brothers, that they share with us the same short moment of life, that they seek as do we, nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and in happiness. Surely this bond of common fate, this bond of common roles can begin to teach us something, that we can begin to work a little harder, to become in our hearts brothers and countrymen once again.

-- Robert Francis Kennedy (20 November 1925 - 6 June 1968), American politician, "On the Mindless Menace of Violence", speech, City Club of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio, 5 April 1968, the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated

Tetris In Real Life

I got a job at Fed Ex and it is like playing tetris in real life.

-- Kim Compton, Champaign, IL, 22 May 2008

269m

Eddy Merckx: 49.431km in 1 hour.

In 1972 Eddy Merckx flew to Mexico City to attempt one of the most challenging monuments in sport: the hour record.

Before the advent of advanced carbon materials, disc wheels and lightweight components, the hour record stood as the ultimate measure of man-powered machine.

The day's effort has only been topped twice by traditional bicycles as recognized by the UCI. In 36 years the distance traveled in one hour has grown only 269 meters.

-- Spoke 'N' Word blog

Extent To Which You Resist

The state can't give you freedom, and the state can't take it away. Freedom is something you're born with, and then one day someone tries to deny it. The extent to which you resist is the extent to which you are free.

-- Bruce "Utah" Phillips (1935 - 2008), labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller, poet; "Golden Voice of the Great Southwest"

Fat Chance

But if it's true that the only true life I had was the life of my brain, what sense does it make to hand that brain to somebody for eight hours a day for their particular use on the presumption that, at the end of the day, they will give it back in an unmutilated condition? Fat chance!

-- Bruce "Utah" Phillips (1935 - 2008), labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller, poet; "Golden Voice of the Great Southwest"

RIP Utah Phillips

It takes a long time just to plain shut up and listen.

-- Bruce "Utah" Phillips (May 15, 1935 - May 23, 2008), labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller, poet, and self-described "Golden Voice of the Great Southwest", 2004 Democracy Now interview, on the difficulty of learning the lessons of life

If You Want To Feel Proud

If you want to feel proud of yourself, you need to do things of which to feel proud. Feelings follow actions.

-- Oseola McCarty (1908-1999), washerwoman in Hattiesburg, MI, famous for her bequest to Southern Miss

Test The Depths

When you want to test the depths of a stream, don't use both feet.

-- Chinese Proverb

Take It As It Happens

You have to take it as it happens, but you should try to make it happen the way you want to take it.

-- German proverb

Best Way To Give Advice

I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.

-- Harry S Truman

Dying?

Somebody ought to tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit every minute of every day. Do it, I say, whatever you want to do, do it now.

-- Michael Landon (1936-1991), American actor, director

Begin Now

Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand - and melting like a snowflake.

-- Marie Beyon Ray

We Hate Change

Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.

-- Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) British-born U. S. journalist and author

Risk Anything

Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.

-- Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) New Zealander modernist writer

And Yet

We do not know what we want and yet we are responsible for what we are -- that is the fact.

-- Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), French existentialist philosopher, dramatist & novelist

Abstinent

People can be abstinent, and it's not weird.

-- Jami Waite, a teenager in Hallsville, Texas, New York Times, 18 July 2007

Ethanol Gold Rush

This is a bit like a gold rush. There are unintended consequences of this euphoria to expand ethanol production at this pace that people are not considering.

-- Warren R. Staley, chief executive of Cargill, the multinational agricultural company, New York Times, 25 June 2006

Probably Not Food

I'd probably give up my cellphone. Probably not food. That's really tough. I like food.

-- Ryan Holt, 21-year-old student at the University of Northern Colorado, on the sacrifices he would make to buy a great video game, NY Times, 29 April 2008

Irony

Humor is everywhere, in that there's irony in just about anything a human does.

-- Bill Nye, Interview with Wired.com, April 2005

No Regrets

We should have no regrets. The past is finished. There is nothing to be gained by going over it. Whatever it gave us in the experiences it brought us was something we had to know.

-- Rebecca Beard, physician, speaker, author

Wasted

You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted.

-- Ruth E. Renkl

Not How Old You Are

It is not how old you are, but how you are old.

-- Jules Renard, writer (1864-1910)

Impenetrable

Nothing is so impenetrable as laughter in a language you don't understand.

-- William G. Golding, novelist (1911-1993)

Make Them Laugh

If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh; otherwise, they'll kill you.

-- Oscar Wilde

RIP Albert Hofmann

Deliberate provocation of mystical experience, particularly by LSD and related hallucinogens, in contrast to spontaneous visionary experiences, entails dangers that must not be underestimated. Practitioners must take into account the peculiar effects of these substances, namely their ability to influence our consciousness, the innermost essence of our being. The history of LSD to date amply demonstrates the catastrophic consequences that can ensue when its profound effect is misjudged and the substance is mistaken for a pleasure drug. Special internal and external advance preparations are required; with them, an LSD experiment can become a meaningful experience. Wrong and inappropriate use has caused LSD to become my problem child.

-- Albert Hofmann (11 January 1906 - 29 April 2008), Swiss scientist best known for first synthesizing Lysergic acid diethylamide, "LSD: My Problem Child" (1980) Foreword

Laugh At It

The more you find out about the world, the more opportunities there are to laugh at it.

-- Bill Nye (the science guy), Interview with Wired.com, April 2005

Maturity

Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything.

-- Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle

A Skeleton In Your Closet

If you have a skeleton in your closet, take it out and dance with it.

-- Carolyn MacKenzie

Consider Every Day Lost

We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once, and we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.

-- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), German Philosopher

Tax Freedom Day

Congratulations, you're now working for yourself. The Tax Foundation declares that today is Tax Freedom Day. From January 1 to today you were working for the government. From today through the end of the year, you'll be working for yourself.

-- Downsizer Dispatch, 23 April 2008, http://www.downsizedc.org

You Can Dance

If you can walk, you can dance. If you can talk, you can sing.

-- Zimbabwean Proverb

The Art Of Living

The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.

-- Marcus Aurelius

Make Sense Of Change

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

-- Alan W. Watts (6 January 1915 - 16 November 1973), philosopher, writer, speaker, and student of comparative religion

Right Reasons

Some people are lonely for all the right reasons.

-- Meg Rosoff (1956-) American author, "How I Live Now"

Liberty

The shallow consider liberty a release from all law, from every constraint. The wise see in it, on the contrary, the potent Law of Laws.

-- Walt Whitman ("Notes Left Over" 1881)

Ready To Cope

All living souls welcome whatever they are ready to cope with; all else they ignore, or pronounce to be monstrous and wrong, or deny to be possible.

-- George Santayana, philosopher (1863-1952)

Torch Of Truth

It is almost impossible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody's beard.

-- Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, scientist and philosopher (1742-1799)

Out The Window

Half of the modern drugs could well be thrown out of the window, except that the birds might eat them.

-- Dr. Martin Henry Fischer

New Questions

The New Questions to ask your physician:

1. If I don't have any symptoms, how are you going to keep me healthy?

2. How would you treat me if you didn't have your prescription pad?

3. How are you going to find and treat the cause of my disease, not just the symptoms?

4. Will changing my food habits and life style contribute to healing me faster?

5. Do you keep records of the treatment prescribed by you to me?

-- Dr. Amit K. Saiya, 2 April 2008, blog excerpt

http://dailymusingsofamit.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-questions-to-ask-your-physician.html

Should We Wander

Should we wander [from the essential principles of our government] in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety.

-- Thomas Jefferson, upon repealing the Alien and Sedition Acts

Political Rights

Political rights do not exist because they have been legally set down on a piece of paper, but only when they have become the in-grown habit of a people, and when any attempt to impair them will meet with the violent resistance of the populace. Where this is not the case, there is no help in any parliamentary Opposition or any Platonic appeals to the constitution. One compels respect from others when he knows how to defend his dignity as a human being. This is not only true in private life; it has always been the same in political life as well.

The peoples owe all the political rights and privileges which we enjoy today in greater or lesser measure, not to the good will of their governments, but to their own strength.

-- Rudolf Rocker (25 March 1873 - 19 September 1958) anarcho-syndicalist writer, historian, social activist, "Anarcho-Syndicalism" (1938)

RIP Charlton Heston

Take your stinking paws off of me, you damned dirty ape!

-- Charlton Heston (4 October 1923 - 5 April, 2008) as astronaut Colonel George Taylor in "Planet of the Apes" (1968)

Equal Before The Law

We are all equal before the law, but not before those appointed to apply it.

-- Stanislaw J. Lec, poet and aphorist (1909-1966)

Duck Rape

So there are these ducks that live along the Boulware Trail, a walking path near my office that runs parallel to a creek. The ducks are Mallards, and there are two pairs (that I know of) that live along the creek on the 1/2 mile or so of path that I occasionally walk as a break from work.

Today there was quite a ruckus. One of the pairs of Mallards was being attacked by a third, male Mallard. As I watched, the interloper tried again and again to copulate with the one female. She resisted by trying to fly away, but was overpowered. Her mate resisted by attacking the interloper, biting him on the head and pushing him underwater.

After a few minutes of this, the attacking male apparently got what he came for and broke off. The original pair then swam away together. And it turns out this isn't so rare. Mallard rape is well documented, and male and female duck genitalia have evolved to address this problem.

See "Duck genitals locked in arms race" (with pictures!)

Google has 1.37M results for "duck rape", including YouTube videos.

Keep It From The American People

The OLC Torture Memo as a Failure of the Classification System
Date:Thursday 03 April 2008 09:55
Author:Steven Aftergood

The Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel memo on interrogation of enemy combatants that was declassified this week "exemplifies the political abuse of classification authority," Secrecy News suggested yesterday. J. William Leonard, the nation's top classification oversight official from 2002-2007, concurred.

"The disappointment I feel with respect to the abuse of the classification system in this instance is profound," said Mr. Leonard, who recently retired as director of the Information Security Oversight Office, which reports to the President on classification and declassification policy. "The document in question (pdf) is purely a legal analysis," he said, and it contains "nothing which would justify classification."

Beyond that crucial fact, the binding technical requirements of classification were ignored.

Thus, he explained: There were no portion markings, identifying which paragraphs were classified at what level. The original classifier was not identified on the cover page by name or position. The duration of classification was not given. A concise basis for classification was not specified. Yet all of these are explicitly required by the President's executive order on classification.

"It is not even apparent that [John] Yoo [who authored the memo] had original classification authority," Mr. Leonard said.

"All too often, government officials simply assert classification. To enjoy the legal safeguards of the classification system, you need to do more than that. Those basic, elemental steps were not followed in this instance."

"Also, for the Department of Defense to declassify a Department of Justice document," as in this case, "is highly irregular," Mr. Leonard said.

[snip]

Violations of classification policy pale in comparison to the policy deviations authorized by the Justice Department memo, which was ultimately rescinded. Nevertheless, such classification violations are significant because they enabled the Administration to pursue its interrogation policies without independent scrutiny or accountability.

"To learn that such a document is classified has the same effect for me as waking up one morning and learning that after all these years there is a 'secret' Article IV to the Constitution that the American people did not even know about," said Mr. Leonard.

"There is no information contained in this document which gives an advantage to the enemy," he said. "The only possible rationale for making it secret was to keep it from the American people."

Copyright 2008 Secrecy News.

Nott Was Shot And Shott Was Not

A duel was fought in Texas lately, by Alexander Shott and John S. Nott. Nott was shot and Shott was not. In this case it was better to be Shott than Nott. There was a rumor that Nott was not shot, but Shott swears he shot Nott, which proves either that the shot Shott shot at Nott was not shot, or that Nott is shot notwithstanding.

-- Rootsweb Review, January 2001, submitted by Horst Reschke, who writes "I found [this] item in the April 1867 issue of 'Printers' Circular'"

Cannot Be Reversed

Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.

-- Cesar Estrada Chavez (31 March 1927 - 23 April 1993) Labor organizer, social activist; Speech, 9 November 1984