Chuck Yeager...............................

Michael Wade posted a quote by Chuck Yeager.  Yeager's story is here.  Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff brought Yeager, the first person to pilot a plane through the "sound barrier", into the limelight of public attention.  Here are a few more quotes:

You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can't, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don't give up.

What good does it do to be afraid? It doesn't help anything. You better try and figure out what's happening and correct it.

Rules are made for people who aren't willing to make up their own.

The one word you use in military flying is duty. It's your duty. You have no control over outcome, no control over pick-and-choose. It's duty.

If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing.

One of the iconic moments in The Right Stuff  was when Yeager, pushed the NF-104 Starfighter beyond its capacity:

Yeager posing inspecting the NF-105 Starfighter

Yeager flew the Starfighter some 104,000 feet above the earth

The plane couldn't function at that altitude

the movie version of that flight, with Sam Shepard channeling Yeager, is here.

Scott is on a hot streak.....................

..........................do give Sensory Dispensary a looksee.

Heineken..............................

................................has a little fun with Bond, James Bond.

That silver bird can take us away..........

Blackfoot...............................................................Fly Away



#16 on this list

....not the worst.............................

“Death is not the worst that can happen to men.” 
-Plato

If you doubt that, remember this curse from Leonidas in the 300

Purple policies.............................

Bankers Anonymous offers a book review of The Clash of Generations.  The book offers "four 'purple' policy proposals – 'purple' meaning meant to appeal to both red and blue sides of the American political spectrum."  Fancying myself as a purple sort of fellow, I read the review.  Since my parents taught me at an early age to share, here is my favorite part of the reveiw:

Kotlikoff and Burns advocate a radical simplification of banking functions. Their proposal says that any and all banks (plus insurance companies, brokerages, credit unions, private equity firms) must fund themselves and be regulated as “mutual funds,” taking in actual deposits for every dollar invested in loans. No borrowing, full stop. Any company that prefers to leverage itself (hedge funds might want to) must operate under a “full-liability” regime, meaning losses are guaranteed personally by the business owners and executives. You can see why this is kind of appealing in the wake of the 2008 crisis and bailout of Wall Street.

[Incidentally, my own radical ‘purple plan’ addresses this same post-2008 moral hazard problem, but in a different way. My rule is: Any financial firm over a certain size (I don’t know how many would qualify but let’s say the biggest 25 firms, and any that are considered ‘systemically important’) get regulated like public utilities, with massive restrictions on executive pay. Of course, all financial firms are invited to get smaller through divestiture, sales, breakups, whatever, to get under the size limit and become systemically irrelevant. At that point, executives at the newly smaller firms can go back to paying themselves whatever they want. That’s my solution to the problem of “profits get privately enjoyed via executive compensation but any liabilities get socialized” when a systemically important financial institution gets bailed out.]

Fifty years ago..............................

Roy Orbison..........................................................Ride Away

Ouch...........................

"In other words, they are counting on her being untrustworthy.  If they had reason to doubt her mendacity, then they would start to worry."
-guess who he is talking about

Ban............................

"What do the acolytes of the State want to ban this week? Which bootlace eyelet will they lubricate with eager spittle? Oh, the usual stuff. Fun. Your fun. "
-as culled from here

Now here is a concept......................

............we can all rally around:  Strategic apathy.

"It’s better to choose to care about things that are important to you AND things that you can influence or control. Choosing not to think or worry about things you can’t influence or control is apathy: strategic apathy. Apathy in the name of sanity, efficiency, and effectiveness."
-as excerpted from this Ben Carlson post

Blossom Music Center, 1981................

Michael Stanley Band...............................Don't Stop The Music



#6 on this list

Soundtracks of your life.................

Kurt posts an essential mix of 42 songs from his high school days.  I'm only twelve years older, but it is amazing how different the soundtracks of our lives are.  I'm not complaining about his list, mind you.  It's a great list. I'm familiar with most of the artists and tunes.  It is just different.  No Beatles, no Motown, no Beach Boys, no Creedence, no Dylan.  The times, they have a habit of changing.

aliquo philosophorum......................

Nihil tam absurde dici potest, quod non dicatur ab aliquo philosophorum.
There is nothing so absurd that it has not been said by some philosopher.
-Marcus Tullius Cicero (44 BC)

cartoon via

Do they know something we don't know........

......................Apparently our foreign friends from China , Russia, etc. are selling U. S. Treasuries.  Maybe they just need the cash.  Back story here.  It is interesting to read who is buying.  It is also interesting to note that the author doesn't think this will cause interest rates to go up.  Hmmm.   One would assume that since formerly voracious buyers of our debt are now selling the notes they own, they probably will not be buying Treasuries soon.  Are not new notes are also coming on the market as we finance our debt?  Let's see..............more Treasuries available and fewer buyers.  I don't claim to know much, but won't yields have to increase to entice more buyers?  Just wondering.

Fifty years ago.........................................

The Beatles............................................................Yesterday

Paradise............................

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library. 
-Charlie Munger

And here I thought.........................

...........................I was the only one who did such things.

Party................................

"I believe that when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade — and then try to find someone whose life is giving them vodka, and have a party."
 -Ron White

cartoon via

Beginning........................

Revolutionary...........................

“In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” 
-George Orwell

cartoon via

Fifty years ago.....................

The Supremes.......................................Tumbling Tumbleweeds

For....................................

"Discipline is not what you do to someone, but what you do for them."
-Lou Holtz, as extracted from Wins, Losses, and Lessons:  An Autobiography

Mad......................................

“You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you mad.” 
-Aldous Huxley

cartoon via

Well, that explains a lot......................

Seek.....................................

"The truth is not for all men, but only for those who seek it."
-Ayn Rand

cartoon via

Doo-Wop.....................................

The Twenty Greatest Doo-Wop Songs...............................?

Each one knows, - not I........................

      "The two lines met and broke and mingled in the shock.  The crush of musketry gave way to cuts and thrusts, grapplings and wrestlings.  The edge of the conflict swayed to and fro, with wild whirlpools and eddies.  At times I saw around me more of the enemy than of my own men; gaps opening, swallowing, closing again with sharp convulsive energy;  squads of stalwart men who had cut their way through us, disappearing as if translated.  All around, strange mingled roar - shouts of defiance, rally, and desperation;  and underneath, murmured entreaty and stifled moans,;  gasping prayers, snatches of Sabbath song, whispers of loved names; everywhere men torn and broken, staggering, reeping, quivering on the earth, and dead faces with strangely fixed eyes staring stark into the sky.  Things which cannot be told - nor dreamed.  How men held on, each one knows, - not I.  But manhood commands attention.
-Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, writing in Through Blood and Fire as quoted in In The Hands of Providence:  Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and The American Civil War

The inscrutability of fortune cookies.....

via

Please tell me this is meant as satire.......

"It’s long been obvious that the most acute problem facing America’s education system is recess: Too many children engage in rough-and-tumble games during school play periods."
-as excerpted from this post at The American Interest

Fifty years ago..........................

The Who..............................................................My Generation

... the necessary thing......................

“It seems that the necessary thing to do is not to fear mistakes, to plunge in, to do the best that one can, hoping to learn enough from blunders to correct them eventually.” 
-Abraham Maslow

We are also hard-headed...............

A pretty fair theme song.................

Ennio Morricone.....................The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Self...................................

"... the only highly sustainable source of self-confidence comes from deep self-knowledge and blatant self-honesty."
-Chade-Meng Tan, Search Inside Yourself:  The Unexpected Path To Achieving Success, Happiness (And World Peace)

Divine intervention........................

via

Important choices..........................

"What you do when you are not working may affect your career more than what you do during the workday."
-Michael Wade, from his latest collection of Random Thoughts.

Fifty years ago...................

At the movies...................................................That Darn Cat!

Fun with the language...................

“Grammar, which is the art of using words properly, comprises four parts: Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody.” 
-Dr. Samuel Johnson,  A Grammar of the English Tongue (free on Kindle)

As a public service:

all definitions courtesy of Merriam-Webster

Harder than it sounds..................

“True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline.” 
-Mortimer J. Adler, How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading

The wheel of heaven turns.............

Mark Knopfler..................................................Our Shangri La

We could talk for hours.........................

..............and not get to all the factors influencing these charts.

via

However, from recent experience.............

.........................if you subtract both soda pop and OJ from your diet and if you don't eat any bread after lunch, weight loss is almost a certainty.  Ice cream is another matter.

My point with my nutrition myth posts is that you should eat whatever you enjoy. If you have a weight problem or a health problem, that's another matter. Just don't pretend, for example, that an OJ is any "healthier" than a Pepsi, or brown bread is "healthier" than white bread. That is just marketing to the low-info shopper.
-as excerpted from here

Fifty years ago.....................

The Olympics.......................................................Good Lovin'

As it should be...........................

 “We want to clean our air, our water, our energy, our environment,” he said, but noted that “[p]overty reduction is our top priority. Providing power in the next 2,000 days is our priority. We want faster development. My people have a right to grow.”
-as excerpted from this post suggesting India believes it should work for its people today rather than chase the green phantom.

With a little joie de vivre.......................

via

On our way...............................

Mark Knopfler.......................................Sailing To Philadelphia

The "modern man" controversy..............

..................The original proposition and first rebuttal are here

One wonders if the original was a satire, although since it was published in the NYT, probably not.  Real men respond to these sorts of things whenever they feel like it, which is not right now.

I'll show you how............................

Santana.......................................................Open Invitation

Good questions, all........................

Why is it that entrenched players, with all their resources, can’t seem to innovate?   Why do outsiders seem to respond better to disruption and changes?  How does one learn to spot transformative opportunities?
-as asked by Ryan Holiday in this post on " the story of a central truth of history: that strength often becomes a weakness and weakness can be transformed into strength. "

I don't remember it being this way.............

................................................way back in the early 1970's:

Student activists are now far too willing to pursue administrative means to address their complaints, failing to understand that administrative responses will always serve the needs of institutions, not of protesters. Indeed, by pursuing such complaints through the official channels, they are almost always going to be neutering their efforts, sacrificing them to red tape, bureaucratic procedure, and the self-protective instincts of large institutions.
-as taken from this interesting Fredrik deBoer essay

Fifty years ago.........................

The Who..................................................The Kids Are Alright

Will it be different this time.......................?

Nate Silver gives us Donald Trump's Six Stages of Doom.  

Am I the only one who thinks that the World has become a vastly more interesting place here of late?

Am I vexing and annoying..................?

sorry Jess

Can we get an Amen.............................?

Great Wealth is Bad Only When It Comes from Cronyism Instead of Creating Consumer Value

-Reads the heading of this blog post

Just so you know, I belong to the school of thought that the gravest danger to capitalism comes not from socialism but from crony capitalism.   Crony capitalism is a corruption that, like termites, stealthily destroys the foundation of a great structure.   Just saying.

Where does Santa go in the summertime......?

Leading from the Heartland.................

So let’s talk about this “Reality” thing a little more.

Some people would say that only what you can tangibly sense is real … if you cannot see, smell, touch, hear, or taste something, it does not really exist.  Well, there goes most of the useful expressions of human emotion and existence.  Yes, you can hear an angry tone in someone’s voice or see their face get red, but you cannot tangibly sense the underlying emotion … you only get the symptoms.

KNOWING SOMEONE IS ANGRY IS NOT THE SAME AS UNDERSTANDING WHY THEY FEEL THAT ANGER …

Any approach which leaves out the emotional side of life seems incomplete.

-John E. Smith, as excerpted from here

Fifty years ago.....................

The Animals......................................Bring It On Home To Me

Counter intuitive.....................................?

"Look at where the bullet holes are and put extra armor every place else."

During World War II, the statistician Abraham Wald tried to determine where one should add extra armor to airplanes.  Based on the pattern of bullet holes in returning airplanes, he suggested that the parts not hit should be protected with extra armor.  How could he reach such a conclusion?  Because he also considered planes that didn't return.  Assume that all planes had been hit more or less uniformly.  Some planes hit in marked areas were still able to return.  This means that planes that didn't return were most likely hit somewhere else - in unmarked places.  Those were the places that needed more armor.
-Peter Bevelin, as extracted from Seeking Wisdom:  From Darwin to Munger

Hate it when that happens...............

“Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.” 
-attributed to Henry Kissinger, as excerpted from this very positive book review.  It was enough for me to dial up Amazon.

On the unsettled science of weather..........

The computer models can't seem to agree about Joaquin's path.

One of these lucky contestants will surely earn bragging rights.  More on the story here.

via KPC

Be a friend to man........................

The House By The Side Of The Road

There are hermit
souls that live withdrawn
In the peace of their self-content;
There are souls, like stars, that dwell apart,
In a fellowless firmament;
There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths
Where highways never ran;-
But let me live by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

Let me live in a house
by the side of the road,
Where the race of men go by-
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner’s seat,
Or hurl the cynic’s ban;-
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I see from my house
by the side of the road,
By the side of the highway of life,
The men who press with the ardor of hope,
The men who are faint with the strife.
But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears-
Both parts of an infinite plan;-
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I know there are brook-gladdened
meadows ahead
And mountains of wearisome height;
That the road passes on through the long afternoon
And stretches away to the night.
But still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice,
And weep with the strangers that moan,
Nor live in my house by the side of the road
Like a man who dwells alone.

Let me live in my
house by the side of the road
Where the race of men go by-
They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,
Wise, foolish- so am I.
Then why should I sit in the scorner’s seat
Or hurl the cynic’s ban?-
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

- Sam Walter Foss (1858-1911)

thanks nancy

Never forget, the higher purpose..........

thanks kurt

When have they ever....................?

“The economics have changed and there’s no promise things will come back to the way they were,”
-as extracted from this post about the looming "Oil-Sands" glut.

thanks craig

Fifty years ago....................

A montage of the #1 hits......................................................

Some people come for the fantasy.......

Bruce Hornsby........................................Walk In The Sun

Crucial..............................

"Some of the most crucial conversations you will ever have will be with yourself.   Slow down sufficiently to make this possible."
-as extracted from here

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

When I die and people realize that I will not be resurrected in three days, they will forget me.   That is the way it should be.   For reasons known only to God, I was asked to write an autobiography.  Most people who knew me growing up didn't think I would ever read a book, let alone write one.  Anyway, here goes:   I was born January 6, 1937, eight years after Wall Street crashed, and two years before John Steinbeck published The Grapes of Wrath, his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the plight of a family during the Great Depression.  How bad was it?  Well, we weren't Okies, in the sense that we weren't from Oklahoma, but in every other respect the Holtzes of West Virginia could easily have been mistaken for the Joads of the dust bowl South.

-Lou Holtz,  Wins, Losses, and Lessons:  An Autobiography

Not all progress is really progress......

      You couldn't survive in our time and not learn somehow to focus on what was really important in life.  People's priorities were different two or three generations ago.  Not a news cycle goes by today when someone isn't in front of a camera or behind a microphone complaining about a violation of his or her rights.  Spill coffee in your lap?  Sue the restaurant that served you.  Want to prance around your high school in a headdress, disrupting the learning environment?  Plenty of lawyers are ready to take your case - free expression and all.  These were not issues fifty or sixty years ago.  People my age and older weren't concerned about their rights and privileges;  we were conscious of our obligations and responsibilities.   I learned early that I had an obligation to contribute to the family, and any income I earned would go straight to the family budget.  Sure, it might not have been "fair" for a nine-year-old to carry that kind of burden, but that was simply the way life was.  If you contributed nothing to society, you were not entitled to the rewards.  Work hard and you earned certain perks.  Do nothing and you got nothing.  I learned that before I could write my name (and trust me, L-O-U wasn't that tough).  The nebulous concept of "rights" never entered my mind until much later, and any thoughts that I might actually have rights didn't dawn on me until young adulthood.

-Lou Holtz,  Wins, Losses, and Lessons:  An Autobiography

On rungs and ladders..................

"The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity."
-attributed to Ayn Rand

Fifty years ago...........................

The Beatles.........................................................Nowhere Man

This may be the only....................

.................................thing I ever post concerning Hillary Clinton.

I'm guessing that...................

...............George Will will not be climbing on the Trump bandwagon:

"Trump believes he should be president because of his business savvy. But he has, in effect, shrunk the large inheritance he received from his father. In 1982, Forbes reported Trump's net worth at $200 million. Vox calculates that if he had put that in an index fund "at a 0.15 percent fee, he'd have $6.3 billion today after dividend taxes, almost certainly more than he actually does." And an Associated Press analysis showed that if in 1988 he had put his money in an index fund he would have $13 billion. (He has not really revealed his net worth, but any Trump reticence is as welcome as it is rare.)"
-as excerpted from here

Yes, it does.................................

via

Beauty......................................

Long John Baldry...........................I've Got My Mojo Working
(with The Beatles doing background vocals)

Self-knowledge.................................

"The most effective way to genuinely reduce risk is to know what you are doing."
-Tren Griffen, Charlie Munger:  The Complete Investor

Some strategy............................

"Three things ruin people:  drugs, liquor, and leverage."
-Charlie Munger

On rational thinking...................

"Rationality is the best antidote to making psychological and emotional errors....Being rational is neither simple nor easy."
-Tren Griffin,  Charlie Munger:  The Complete Investor

Along the journey.............................

"Tendency is not always destiny, and knowing the tendencies and their antidotes can often help  prevent trouble that would otherwise occur."
-Charlie Munger

cartoon via

Legacies..............................

"If you want to get rich, you'll need a few decent ideas where you really know what you're doing.  Then you've got to have the courage to stick with them and take the ups and downs.  Not very complicated, and it's very old-fashioned."
-Charlie Munger


cartoon via

Fifty years ago...........................

The Supremes............a longish version of Nothing But Heartaches

At six thought a minute.............

"If something is too hard, we move on to something else.  What could be simpler than that?"

"You don't have to hire out your thinking if you keep it simple"

"People calculate too much and think too little.

-Charlie Munger, quotes from here

Extent...................................

"Confucius said that real knowledge is knowing the extent of one's ignorance."
-Charlie Munger

Change.....................................

"Munger likes to say that a year in which you do not change your mind on some big idea that is important to you is a wasted year."
-Tren Griffin,  Charlie Munger:  The Complete Investor

Contravening a breach of the peace.....

Long John Baldry.............Don't Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie
                                                   On The King Of Rock & Roll