Nine Out Of Five

Wall Street indexes predicted nine out of the last five recessions.

-- Paul Samuelson, (1915-2009), American economist, "Science and Stocks", Newsweek, 19 September 1966, p. 92

Distill It Down

Let me see if I get the logic behind this. The problem with this whole thing has been there's too much partisan gridlock in Washington. So what we're going to do is distill it down to the real stars of partisan gridlock, and that's going to get something done.

-- Charlie Pierce (1953-), American writer and author, on the congressional supercommittee, on NPR's Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me quiz show, 6 August 2011

Having Rules

Simply having rules does not change the things that people want to do. You have to change incentives.

-- Jimmy Wales (8 August 1966), US Internet entrepreneur, founder of WikiPedia, Interview with Reason magazine (June 2007)

A Little More Luck

It felt like this was my moment. I don't feel like a failure at all. But we needed a little more luck.

-- Diana Nyad (22 August 1949-), ending her attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida, which she first tried in 1978. She holds the record of 102.5 miles for a 1979 shark-cageless, open-sea swim, when she stroked from the Bahamas to Florida, 8 August 2011

Printing Dollars

Of course, since U.S. debt is payable in dollars, and the U.S. government controls the printing of dollars, it is not clear what a downgrade could even mean. As long as the U.S. government knows how to print dollars, it will always be able to make the interest and principal payments on its debt.

-- Dean Baker, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Statement on the S&P Downgrade (8 August 2011)

Common Good

The progressive-liberal values are America's values, and we need to go back to them. The heart of progressive-liberal values is simple: empathy (caring about and for people) and responsibility (acting responsibly on that empathy). These values translate into a simple principle: Use the common wealth for the common good to better all our lives. In short, promoting the common good is the central role of government.

-- George P. Lakoff (1941-), professor of cognitive linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, "The Post-Katrina Era" at Alternet.org (6 September 2005)

http://www.alternet.org/story/25099/

Good To Their Brothers

Men, said the Devil,
are good to their brothers:
they don't want to mend
their own ways, but each other's.

-- Piet Hein (1905-1996), Danish poet and scientist, Grooks - Mankind

Dissipate Certainty

Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance.

-- Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), British mathematician, philosopher, and logician, Unpopular Essays, Chapter 2 (1950)

Focus

The ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence.

-- Robert J. Shiller (1946-), American economist, academic, and author, Irrational Exuberance (2006)

It Will Not Be Humans

I'd like to widen people's awareness of the tremendous timespan lying ahead -- for our planet, and for life itself. Most educated people are aware that we're the outcome of nearly 4 billion years of Darwinian selection, but many tend to think that humans are somehow the culmination. Our sun, however, is less than halfway through its lifespan. Six billion years from now, it will not be humans who watch the sun's demise. Any creatures that then exist will be as different from us as we are from bacteria or amoebae.

-- Martin Rees (1942-), English cosmologist and astrophysicist, Our Final Hour (2003)

Tyrrany Of The Status Quo

There is enormous inertia -- a tyranny of the status quo -- in private and especially governmental arrangements. Only a crisis -- actual or perceived -- produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable.

-- Milton Friedman (1912-2006), American economist, Capitalism and Freedom (1962), Preface

In Retrospect

You know, in retrospect, I question the inclusion of a self-destruct button in the first place.

-- Ferb, after Perry accidentally hits the self-destruct button on the Rainbowinator, on the Disney cartoon Phineas & Ferb, Season 1, Episode 47 (Hail Doofania!)

Outstanding Faults

The outstanding faults of the economic society in which we live are its failure to provide for full employment and its arbitrary and inequitable distribution of wealth and incomes.

-- John Maynard Keynes, (1883-1946), British economist, The General Theory of Employment Interest and Money (1935), Book 6, Chapter 24, Section 1

Effective Antidote

Mortal danger is an effective antidote for fixed ideas.

-- Erwin Rommel (1891-1944), German Field Marshal and commander of the Deutsches Afrika Korps in World War II, as quoted in The Rommel Papers (1982) edited by Basil Henry Liddell Hart

Nutters?

The irony of the situation at the moment, with markets opening tomorrow morning, is that the biggest threat to the world financial system comes from a few right-wing nutters in the American congress rather than the euro zone.

-- UK Business Secretary Vince Cable, after European leaders agreed a second rescue package for Greece, BBC Television, 24 July 2011

Nothing More Unequal

There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequals.

-- Thomas Jefferson (attributed)

A Floor, A Ceiling?

Are you really sure that a floor can't also be a ceiling?

-- Maurits Cornelis (M.C.) Escher (1898-1972), Dutch artist, M.C. Escher, His Life and Complete Graphic Work: with a fully illustrated catalogue, Volume 1982, Part 1, H. N. Abrams (1982)

It Is Easy

The Taliban said they were proud to kill my brother. My message for the Taliban is that, my countrymen, my brothers, stop killing your own people. It is easy to kill, and anyone can do it, but the real man is the one who can save people's lives.

-- Afghan President Hamid Karzai, on the occasion of his brother's funeral, 13 July 2011

Jens

Shut up, legs!

-- Jens Voigt (17 September 1971-), German professional road cyclist for Leopard-Trek, speaking to his legs during a climb in the Tour de France

In Charge

The lunatics end up in charge of everything. Sane, normal people don't need power trips.

-- James P. Hogan (1941-2010), British science fiction author, Paths to Otherwhere, Chapter 28 (1996)

Plato Promotes PLATO

Do not train [children] to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.

-- Plato (c 427 BC - 347 BC), Greek philosopher, student of Socrates, teacher of Aristotle, founder of the Academy of Athens, in The Republic, Book VII, section 16

Nothing More

There is nothing more agreeable in life than to make peace with the Establishment -- and nothing more corrupting.

-- Alan John Percivale (AJP) Taylor (1906-1990), British historian of the 20th Century, "William Cobbett", New Statesman (London, 1953)

Neptune's First Anniversary

Yesterday was the first anniversary of the discovery of Neptune -- in Neptune years. 11 July 2011 marks the first full orbit of the planet Neptune since its discovery on the night of September 23-24, 1846.

-- Charlie Jane Anders, io9.com, based on an article by Tammy Plotner, universetoday.com, 11 July 2011

2**18 Miles

Last week my car hit 2**18 miles. I'd like to hit 2**19, but I don't think that's going to happen. Of course, when I hit 2**17, I didn't really expect to make it this far.

Don Appleman

Panetta Channels Bush/Cheney

The reason you guys are here is because on 9/11 the United States got attacked. And 3,000 Americans - 3,000 not just Americans, 3,000 human beings, innocent human beings - got killed because of Al Qaeda. And we've been fighting as a result of that.

-- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaking to troops in Iraq, contradicting the White House, the 9/11 Commission, and independent specialists who have said there is no evidence Al Qaeda had a presence in Iraq before the US-led invasion in 2003, Washington Post, 12 July 2011

Space Isn't Remote

Space isn't remote at all. It's only an hour's drive away if your car could go straight upwards.

-- Fred Hoyle (1915-2001), British astronomer and science fiction author, "Sayings of the Week", The Observer (9 September 1979)

Completing A Chapter

We're not ending the journey today, we're completing a chapter of a journey that will never end. Let's light this shuttle one more time ... and witness this nation at its best. The crew of Atlantis is ready to launch.

-- Atlantis Commander Chris Ferguson, just before the 11:29:29am EDT launch of STS-135, the final Space Shuttle mission, 8 July 2011

Life Is Like A Ten-Speed Bicycle

Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears that we never use.

-- Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000), American cartoonist, Linus in the comic strip "Peanuts" (29 May, 1981)

Get A Bicycle

Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live.

-- Mark Twain (1835-1910), American humorist, novelist, writer, and lecturer, Taming the Bicycle (1917)

The Amazing Rodrigo Martins

Yesterday my family said farewell to Rodrigo Martins, our foreign exchange student for the past 10+ months. Rodrigo is from Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, and turned 17 this May while living with us in Bement.

The decision to host a foreign exchange student was made almost on the spur of the moment, and it turned into one of the most positive experiences my family has had. For this, all the credit is due to Rodrigo himself, as he proved to be a bright, sensitive, and engaging young man, who I am sure is destined for great success.

My family and the many friends Rodrigo made while living in Bement look forward to the day when he is able to return for a visit.

Equal Creation

We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

-- Thomas Jefferson, (1743 - 1826), draft of the Declaration of Independence, 21 June 1776

Credit Is Due

Always give credit where credit is due
if you didn't write it, don't say it's by you
just copy the credit along with the work
or else you'll come off as an arrogant jerk

Always give credit where credit belongs
we know that you didn't write Beethoven's songs
pretending you did makes you look like a fool
unless you're Beethoven -- in that case, it's cool

A transparent system makes cheating unwise
the simplest web search exposes your lies
no one wants their reputation besmirched
which happens to liars when they are web-searched

Proper citation will make you a star
it shows that you know that we know who you are
Plagiarization will only harm you
so always give credit where credit is due!

-- Credit is Due (The Attribution Song), by Nina Paley

Check out the video:
http://blog.ninapaley.com/2011/06/27/credit-is-due/

Equality

I think you're going to see this message resonate all across the country now. If New York can do it, it's OK for every other place to do it.

-- New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, speaking at New York City's gay pride parade about the legalization of same-sex marriage, New York Times, 27 June 2011

A Little Bit Less

Among the many lessons that I've learned from this whole experience is to try to speak a little bit less.

-- Former Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich, after being convicted of 17 counts in a corruption case, New York Times, 28 June 2011

LulzSec Manifesto

Do you think every hacker announces everything they've hacked? We certainly haven't, and we're damn sure others are playing the silent game. Do you feel safe with your Facebook accounts, your Google Mail accounts, your Skype accounts? What makes you think a hacker isn't silently sitting inside all of these right now, sniping out individual people, or perhaps selling them off?

This is what you should be fearful of, not us releasing things publicly, but the fact that someone hasn't released something publicly.

This is the Internet, where we screw each other over for a jolt of satisfaction.

Lulz Security

-- "Hacker" group LulzSec, from their 1000th tweet statement, 17 June 2011 (pastebin.com/HZtH523f); interestingly LulzSec apparently went out of business over the weekend

Constitution

A constitution is not the act of a government, but of a people constituting a government; and government without a constitution is power without a right. All power exercised over a nation, must have some beginning. It must be either delegated, or assumed. There are not other sources. All delegated power is trust, and all assumed power is usurpation. Time does not alter the nature and quality of either.

-- Thomas Paine (1737-1809), Rights of Man (1791)

Administer Justice

In a free society the state does not administer the affairs of men. It administers justice among men who conduct their own affairs.

-- Walter Lippmann (1889-1974), "An Inquiry into the Principles of the Good Society" (1937)

Old Crises Never End

If one looks at what's happening in today's world, we are seeing a multiplication of new crises -- since the beginning of the year, Cote d'Ivoire, Libya, Syria, Yemen. And at the same time, it seems that old crises never end. Look at what's happening in Afghanistan, more than 20 years of fighting; in Somalia, again, 20 years of fighting; in the Democratic Republic of Congo. New crises multiply. Old crises never end.

-- Antonio Guterres, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, reporting that the current 44 million refugees is a 15-year high, 21 June 2011

First Principle

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.

-- Richard Feynman (1918-1988), American physicist, What is and What Should be the Role of Scientific Culture in Modern Society", lecture at the Galileo Symposium in Italy (1964)

In A Cave

It's probably tough to count votes when you're in a cave.

-- Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on the 7 weeks it took Al Qaeda to name Ayman al-Zawahri to succeed Osama bin Laden, final Pentagon press conference, 16 June 2011

Fathers Day

The good-enough father is not simply a knight in shining armor galloping to the occasional rescue; he is there through good times and bad, insisting on and delighting in his paternity every pleasurable and painful step of the way.

-- Victoria Secunda, American psychologist and author, Women and Their Fathers, ch. 4 (1992)

Sunset

The best thing we did with the Patriot Act was to sunset it. Almost 800 foreign nationals, immigrants, mostly Arab-Americans or people who looked like Arab-Americans, were arrested, put in jail, held without charges, no notification for their families and no right to counsel. That's un-American and I'll fight to end that. If we fight the terrorists who attacked us because of our liberties by compromising our liberties, shame on us.

-- Senator Joe Lieberman I-CT (1942-), American politician, CNN "Rock the Vote", Nov 5, 2003

Creativity V. Art

Creativity is allowing oneself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.

-- Scott Adams (1957-), American cartoonist and satirist, The Dilbert Principle (1996)

Inaction

Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.

-- Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance architect and artist, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci I, English translation by Jean Paul Richter (1888)

Unable To Recognize Truth

A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies, becomes unable to recognize truth, either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself and for others.

-- Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881), Russian novelist, The Brothers Karamazov (1879-1880)

A Happy Chance

We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.

-- William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), English playwright, novelist, and short story writer, The Summing Up (1938)

A Perilous Affair

Why is it that one can look at a lion or a planet or an owl or at someone's finger as long as one pleases, but looking into the eyes of another person is, if prolonged past a second, a perilous affair?

-- Walker Percy (1916-1990), author, Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book (1983)

Tiger's Blood

Trial or not, John Edwards is the Charlie Sheen of American politics -- great hair and no chance for rehabilitation.

-- Democratic consultant Jack Quinn, John Edwards' indictment in the cover-up of an extra-marital affair, 3 June 2011

Paid To Go Slower

In our job we get paid more when we go faster, but (with) lawyers, it seems to be the other way round.

-- Cyclist Cadel Evans, on the delayed hearing of Tour winner Alberto Contador's doping case, 26 May 2011

Revolution

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.

-- Gil Scott-Heron (1 April 1949 - 27 May 2011), American poet, musician, and author, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" (1970)