Checking in......................

 

....................................with Chris Lynch:

People have said that every great fortune is based on a crime. Most of the members of Congress are millionaires. Just saying... 

As mottos go........................

The family adopted a motto: "Live dangerously—carefully."

-Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk

On skipping............................

 ............................the word salad.

Likely true............................

 In the Midwest if someone says, "I'll let you know" - that means they're not coming.

-Chris Lynch

Complicated geniuses........................

 ...............Social norms are for normal people.

As slogans go.........................

.............................this one may be difficult to top.  Got my vote.

A politician's pledge.................

      As the nation mourned the loss of its leader and grappled with its third presidential murder in just thirty-six years, young Theodore Roosevelt took hold of the government with unbridled self-assurance.  He promptly issued what one biographer called "a solemn pledge" to be "one in purpose" with his predecessor.  "In this hour of deep and terrible bereavement," said the new president, "I wish to state that I shall continue absolutely unbroken the policy of President McKinley for peace, prosperity, and the honor of the country."  Within twenty-four hours, however, Roosevelt demonstrated that his pledge wasn't so solemnly given after all.  It seems fear of a stock market swoon contributed more to his expression than any sincere regard for the dead leader or the mandate he had extracted from the voters.

-Robert W. Merry,  President McKinley:  Architect of the American Century

Makes perfect sense to me................

"There’s an old saying that history doesn’t rhyme but it does retweet."

-Ben Carlson, as extracted from this post about delivering on your promises.

Pooh.............................

       via

Funny, this never worked with my kids..........

via

Peace.......................

"He that would live in peace and at ease, must not speak all he knows, nor judge all he sees."

-Benjamin Franklin

On being for something..............

"Don’t fight against the problem.  Fight for a solution."

-Patrick Rhone

“I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there.”

-Mother Teresa

A pretty tough standard..........

“You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say” 

-Martin Luther

Opening paragraphs..................

I was arrested at Eno's diner.  At twelve o'clock.  I was eating eggs and drinking coffee.  A late breakfast, not lunch.  I was wet and tired after a long walk in heavy rain.  All the way from the highway to the edge of town.

-Lee Child,  Killing Floor

Ed. Comment:  If you enjoy Child's Jack Reacher tales, this is the first one.  If you buy the paperback edition it may also contain a preface from Child about the why, how, and who of Jack Reacher.  You might also then share my utter disdain for whoever thought it was a good idea to cast Tom Cruise as the cinematic Reacher.

Just saying.............................

.................................The Mighty E offers some wise counsel.

Checking in with Mencken..............

He explained that he lived in America for the same reason that people went to zoos.

     Here the general average of intelligence, of knowledge, of 
     competence, of integrity, of self-respect, of honor is so low that
     any man who knows his trade, does not fear ghosts, has read 
     fifty good books, and practices the common decencies stands 
     out as brilliantly as a wart on a bald head, and is thrown willy- 
     nilly into a meager and exclusive aristocracy.  And here, more
     than anywhere else that I know of have heard of , the daily
     panorama of human existence, of private and communal folly -
     the unending procession of governmental extortions and
     chicaneries, of commercial brigandages and throat-slittings,
     of theological buffooneries, of aesthetic ribaldries, of legal
     swindles and harlotries, of miscellaneous rogueries, villainies,
     imbecilities, grotesqueries, and extravagances - is so
     inordinately gross and preposterous, so perfectly brought up
     to the highest conceivable amperage, so steadily enriched
     with an almost fabulous daring and originality, that only the
     man who was born with a petrified diaphragm can fail to 
     laugh himself to sleep every night, and to wake every morning
     with the eager, unflagging expectation of a Sunday-school
     superintendent touring the Paris peep-shows.

-H. L. Mencken, as quoted in D. G. Hart's Damning Words:  the life and religious times of H. L. Mencken

An Off-the-Cuff Observation...........

One cannot observe markets without coming away mightily impressed with the ....

One cannot observe politics without coming away mightily distressed at the ...

-Don Boudreaux, whose full, but short, post is here

My technology skills.....................

.................pretty much begin and end with the on/off button, so I may not be the best judge, but color me long-term doubtful about this one:

And with net neutrality potentially being eradicated under Trump, market forces will increasingly favor incumbents over new disruptors. The alignment of the press, the government, and the public embracing the ideals of Silicon Valley lasted just long enough for a handful of megacorporations to take control of the digital world.

-Victor Luckerson, as excerpted from this essay, The End of Tech Optimism

Did you know..................

............that I once read on the Internet (so you know it must be true) that we should always accept the responsiblity for what happens to our ownselves?  Makes sense if you stop and think about it.  If the happening is my responsibilty, I can do something about it.  Fix it, accept it, change how I think about it, change my behavior, change my attitude, or make whatever other change might be necessary.  If the "fault" is outside of me, then I am merely a "victim," helpless to make meaningful change in my life.   Current societal fashion notwithstanding, there is no long-term power, glory, happiness, success, peace, or enlightenment in being a victim and blaming others.  The choice is ours.  Just saying.

via

Be careful what you wish for....................

"America is, and always has been, undecided about whether it will be the United States of Tom or the United States of Huck. The United States of Tom looks at misery and says: Hey, I didn't do it. It looks at inequity and says: All my life I busted my butt to get where I am, so don't come crying to me. Tom likes kings, codified nobility, unquestioned privilege. Huck likes people, fair play, spreading the truck around. Whereas Tom knows, Huck wonders. Whereas Huck hopes, Tom presumes. Whereas Huck cares, Tom denies. These two parts of the American Psyche have been at war since the beginning of the nation, and come to think of it, these two parts of the World Psyche have been at war since the beginning of the world, and the hope of the nation and of the world is to embrace the Huck part and send the Tom part back up the river, where it belongs."

-George Saunders

Don't know about you, but, the obvious over-simplification aside, it seems from here that we need both Tom and Huck.  Let the "war" continue.