I knew being......................

 

............a history major would pay off:

By contrast, the invaluable abilities to distinguish fact from opinion, organize a logical argument, think creatively, and express oneself orally and in writing with clarity and verve — all of which a good liberal education bestows — never suffer obsolescence. Rather, these capacities equip liberal-arts graduates for high-paying positions by mid-career in management, law, and other fields, offering students durable advantages in work and in life. They are gained through exposure to a broad and rich curriculum, through the accretion of specific knowledge and concepts from the earliest grades.

Stellar Pacman............................?

 

    enlargeable photo and explanation here

a merger of stability..................

 

     As early as 1826, there were proposals to amend the Constitution by members who saw the legislative elections as fraught with corruption and delay.  At the start of the twentieth century, William Jennings Bryan and others pushed for direct elections, and many argued that the Senate was " a sort of aristocratic body too far removed from the people, beyond their reach, and with no special interest in their welfare."  It was an interesting argument, since that was precisely what it was designed to do.  The framers wanted to merge the stability of oligarchic and democratic systems.  This marriage was perfectly captured in a House with short terms of popular-election members and a Senate with longe terms of legislatively selected members.  That changed in 1913 with the Seventeenth Amendment specifying that senators would be chosen, like House members, in direct elections.  While there were clearly good arguments for direct elections to make senators more accountable to the voters, the change removed arguably the most important control of states in Congress.  With the expansive interpretation given interstate commerce, states would face increasing federal authority and decreasing political control.

-Jonathan Turley, Rage and the Republic:  The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution

On the importance.......................

 

................................of schools teaching writing.

Writing for an audience is a completely different cognitive exercise than writing for yourself. When you write for yourself, you can skip the hard parts. You already know what you mean when you say something, you don’t have to explain your logic, and you can be as elliptical and associative as you want. When you write for an audience, you have to think about what they need to understand. You have to structure your argument so it actually lands. You have to use a sentence that communicates, not just a sentence that feels right in your head.

AI..............................

 

...................................................washing.

(Except when noted, this blog remains AI-free)

Tiny Thoughts....................

 

We spend time chasing money, then spend money chasing time.

-Shane Parrish, from this edition

In the background.................

 

          Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky....Symphony No. 6

We've evolved a bit...........................

 

     The State Governments may be regarded as constituent and essential parts of the federal Government; whilst the latter is nowise essential to the operation or organisation of the former.  Without the intervention of the State Legislatures, the President of the United States cannot be elected at all.*  They must in all cases have a great share in his appointment, and will perhaps in most cases of themselves determine it.  The Senate will be elected absolutely and exclusively by the State Legislatures.**  Even the House of Representatives, though drawn immediately from the people, will be chose very much under the influence of that class of men, whose influence over the people obtains for themselves an election into the State Legislatures.  Thus each of the principal branches of the federal Government will owe its existence more or less to the favor of the State Governments, and must consequently feel a dependence, which is much more likely to beget a disposition too obsequious, than too overbearing towards them.  On the other side, the component parts of the State Governments will in no instance be indebted for their appointment to the direct agency of the federal government, and very little if at all, to the local influence of its members.

-The Federalist #45, James Madison, January 26, 1788

*in 1800, the President was elected by the Electoral College.  In ten states, at that time, the Electors representing that state, were appointed by the State Legislatures.

**the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1913, established the direct election of U. S. senators in each state.

Aging.........................

 

................................like a fine wine:

The main culprit here is something called “genomic instability.” This is science’s polite way of saying that as we age, our cells go on a bender. They’re mutating left and right, spiraling out of control. Your cells go from reliable employees to either early retirees or anarchists, and the repair crew is phoning it in.

On Congress and money...................

 

In the end, the $300 billion question isn't really about Iran. It's about whether Congress will admit that nothing the federal government does is free, and that the bill always comes due. The only choice is who pays for it and when.

-Veronique de Rugy, from here

via

It bears repeating........................

 

.................If mainstream media (or Intertunnel) coverage of the various on-going wars doesn't satisfy your desire for knowing, visit The Institute for the Study of War.  It has become a daily stop.

Sippican.......................

 

Men need a god. Otherwise they get confused and start worshiping themselves. They climb into a booster seat in the back of Beelzebub’s Dodge Caravan and think they’re driving.

Activist judges......................?

 

And what I dare say our cunning Chief Justice [Marshall] would swear to, and find as many sophisms to twist it out of the general terms of our Declarations of rights, and even the stricter text of the Virginia 'act for the freedom of religion' as he did to twist Burr's neck out of the halter of treason.  May we not say then with him who was all candor and benevolence 'Woe unto you, ye lawyers, for ye lade men with burdens grievous to bear.'

-Thomas Jefferson, from his 1/14/1814 letter to John Adams

duties...............

 

You are not an isolated entity, but a unique, irreplaceable part of the cosmos.  Don't forget this.  You are an essential piece of the puzzle of humanity.  Each of us is a part of a vast, intricate, and perfectly ordered human community.  But where do you fit into this web of humanity?  To whom are you beholden?

     Look for and come to understand your connections to other people.  We properly locate ourselves within the cosmic scheme by recognizing our natural relations to one another and thereby identifying our duties.  Our duties naturally emerge from such fundamental relations as our families, neighborhoods, workplaces, our state or nation.  Make it your regular habit to consider your roles—parent, child, neighbor, citizen, leader—and the natural duties that arise from them.  Once you know who you are and to whom you are linked, you will know what to do.

-Epictetus, A Manual for Living

Even more............................

.....................................memes: 

In the background.......................

 

                   the Jesus Christ Superstar album

The 85% rule.....................

 

If you push and strain at maximum effort at all times, you set yourself up for burnout and bad results.

When you adopt a mindset of smooth, balanced, relaxed effort, you stay in the game long enough to let compounding work its magic. You achieve higher heights.

-Sahil Bloom, from this effort

Us history majors...............

 

...........typically spend little time thinking about the interplay between comparative advantage and competitive advantage.  But, we are pleased that people like Noah Smith do.

Yes and no................

 

Saying yes to one thing is always saying no to something else. The cost of a bad yes isn't just the time it takes. It's whatever could have grown in that space instead.

The point isn't to say no to everything, but simply to recognize the difference between a good yes and a bad yes. Then, try to improve the ratio in your life.

-James Clear, from this edition

It's a brave new world.......................

 

1) "We are living through the first alt-war: a conflict in which the war fought online and the war fought in reality have diverged so completely that they might as well be happening on different planets. It’s not that people lack information, it’s more that they are constructing an entirely different alternate reality — one that confirms what they already believe."

-full post is here

Happy Memeday...................

 

more fun here

I still have.......................

 

................................a lot of work to do.

Minimizing regret, or..........................

 

.................................learning from Alfred Nobel.

On the art (and importance)...........

 

............................................of breaking dumb rules.

Noting the difference between................

 

..............................good advice and effective advice.

a sense of self...................

 

That's why having a strong sense of identity is important because everyday the world will try to convince you into being somebody you're not. Authenticity leads to divine order & success.

-via this Thrive post

Pondering.............................

 

...........................................utopia.

There is a tyranny in the womb of every Utopia.

-Bertrand De Jouvenel

In praise of friction......................

 

Easy isn’t always better. Sometimes it just gets you to the wrong place quickly.

three treasures.....................

 

Lao Tzu once said. “Simplicity. Patience. Compassion. These are your greatest treasures. He’s right and this has been known for thousands of years. Make these three treasures habits in your every day life.

-culled from Chris Lynch's substack

a mark.......................

 

It is the mark of an educated man to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

-Attributed to Aristotle

A lifetime of.........................

 

.........................................Kobayashi Maru:

Spent much of Saturday............................

 

............................................rearranging mine:

the quest........................

 

     Life is full of experiences—touching and seeing and looking and doing and acting—but you're going to lose the lessons of those experiences if you don't take time to reflect.

     We can all learn to gather up the past and invest in the future.  Gather up today and invest it in tomorrow.  Gather up this week and invest it in the next week.  Gather up this year and invest it in the next year.  Many people simply hang on one more year.  They are just hanging in there, seeing what's going to happen.  I am asking you to choose a different path, to learn, study, and reflect.  This is a major part of personal development: the quest to become better than you are now.

-Jim Rohn

proportionate....................

 

"Our rewards in life will always be in direct proportion to our contribution."  This is the law that stands as the supporting structure of all economics and of our personal well being. . . .

Most people concentrate on the bowl marked "Rewards."  That is, they want things—more money, a better home, education for the kids, travel, retirement and so on—all rewards.  They're hungering for the rewards, but the rewards aren't materializing because they're forgetting the bowl marked "Contributions."  In other words, they're concentrating on the wrong bowl.  They're like the man who sat in front of the stove and said, "Give me heat, and then I'll give you wood."  He could sit there until he froze to death.  Stoves don't work that way, and neither does life or economics.

-Earl Nightingale

I have wanted more......................

 

..............more than a few of the things on this list.

via

The best possible way to.............................

 

......................................argue about politics.

The promise of more to come...........

 

When drinking largely sobers us..............

 

A little learning is a dangerous thing;

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:

There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,

And drinking largely sobers us again.

Fired at first sight with what the Muse imparts,

In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Arts;

While from the bounded level of our mind

Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind,

But, more advanced, behold with strange surprise

New distant scenes of endless science rise!

So pleased at first the towering Alps we try,

Mount o’er the vales, and seem to tread the sky;

The eternal snows appear already past,

And the first clouds and mountains seem the last;

But those attained, we tremble to survey

The growing labours of the lengthened way;

The increasing prospect tires our wandering eyes,

Hills peep o’er hills, and Alps on Alps arise! -Alexander Pope

Fire............................

 

...........................................meant everything.

If the Little Red hen asked......................

 

................................................I would come help.

Two old pals........................

....................................................hanging out.

 

The word for..........................

 

........................................yesterday.

A different sort..............................

 

.....................................of vocabulary.

Familiar..........................

 

......................................choices.

A (wait for it) sleeping aid...............

 

...........................................that never fails.