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Archive for January, 2014

Who knows nothing base,
Fears nothing known.
   —    Owen Meredith
From his poem:  “A Great Man
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On This Day In:
2022 Sometimes I’m Confused
2021 You Need Me On That Wall
Counting Bees And Chasing Clouds
2020 Precious Life
2019 Nothing Is Too Difficult For Me
Patterns Of Caring
2018 And May Never Be
2017 Don’t Forget
2016 I Was A Percentage Man
2015 It Waits Patiently
2014 Unknown
2013 Explaining Love?
2012 Echoes of 1%
2011 Salaam, Egypt!!
Where Do You Learn?

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Roughly two years ago, my brother was diagnosed with cancer on his tongue.  They operated on his tongue and removed a good chunk and they had a good look around inside his throat glands.  They hoped they got it all, but a few weeks ago another lump started to appear.
Today they had their second go at him.  They removed the lump and the immediate biopsy was negative for cancer!  (Yea!!)
They’ve kept him over-night for observation and for his dialysis.  He usually goes Tues / Thurs / Sat, but with the procedure today, he got pushed back a day.
Anyway, we’re all relieved and praying for a speedy recovery.
God is great and God’s blessings are many!
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On This Day In:
2022 There Is No Fate But What You Make
2021 The Silent Word
Touched My Hand
2020 Releasing Their Fears
2019 17 Days Until The Next Government Shutdown
2018 Disciplined Models
2017 We Cannot Afford Enemies
2016 Love Is Just A State Of Mind
2015 Waiting?
2014 Big C, Little B (II)
Where God Has Not
2013 Chasing His Dragon
Shaped And Molded
2012 Believe In Yourself
2011 Cultural Equivalence
Why Not?
Books About Books
The Basis For Adult Continuing Education

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In men whom men condemn as ill
I find so much of goodness still.
In men whom men pronounce divine
I find so much of sin and blot
I do not dare to draw a line
Between the two, where God has not.
    —    Joaquin Miller
A poem honoring Burns and Byron in his book:  “Songs of the Sierras
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On This Day In:
2022 There Is No Fate But What You Make
2021 The Silent Word
Touched My Hand
2020 Releasing Their Fears
2019 17 Days Until The Next Government Shutdown
2018 Disciplined Models
2017 We Cannot Afford Enemies
2016 Love Is Just A State Of Mind
2015 Waiting?
2014 Big C, Little B (II)
Where God Has Not
2013 Chasing His Dragon
Shaped And Molded
2012 Believe In Yourself
2011 Cultural Equivalence
Why Not?
Books About Books
The Basis For Adult Continuing Education

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A benighted creature who has the folly to worship something that he can see and feel.
    —    Ambrose Bierce
From his book:  “The Devil’s Dictionary
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On This Day In:
2022 A Murmuring Note
2021 Satisfied If Not Fulfilled
You Don’t Know
Urban Ballroom
2020 R.I.P. Kobe
2019 Looks A Lot Like #45
2018 Trying To Stay Young
2017 Seems Reasonable To Me
2016 We Can Get Through This Together (In Time)
2015 How Long Is A Piece Of String?
2014 Heathen, n.
2013 Wisdom’s Folly
2012 When The Student Is Ready
Disconnected Leadership
2011 The Complex Richness Of Life

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The tendency of all bodies to approach one another with a strength proportioned to the quantity of matter they contain – the quantity of matter they contain being ascertained by the strength of their tendency to approach one another.  This is a lovely and edifying illustration of how science, having made A proof of B, makes B the proof of A.
    —    Ambrose Bierce
From his book:  “The Devil’s Dictionary
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On This Day In:
2022 A Happy Realization
2021 Is Science Cumulative?
We’re Aging With Time
2020 Where #45 Is Leading The Republican Party
2019 Your Own Blog Posts
The Man With A Code
2018 Choose Goodness
2017 Developing Translations
2016 Think Like A Hero
2015 Reductionism
2014 Gravitation, n.
2013 Ups And Downs
2012 Nerd Heard – And Good-Bye
Your Continuum
2011 Career Tips (Part 2)

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For the first time, we have an index of change.  If you’ve had many changes in your life within a short time, this places a great challenge on your body…  An enormous number of changes within a short period might overwhelm its coping mechanisms.
It is clear that there is a connection between the body’s defenses and the demands for change that society imposes.  We are in a continuous dynamic equilibrium…  Various ‘noxious’ elements, both internal and external, are always present, always seeking to explode into disease.  For example, certain viruses live in the body and cause disease only when the defenses of the body wear down.  There may well be generalized body defense systems that prove inadequate to cope with the flood of demands for change that come pulsing through the nervous and endocrine systems.
   —    Commander Ransom J. Arthur
Former head of the U.S. Navy Medical Neuropsychiatric Research Unit at San Diego
(quoted by:  Alvin Toffler in his book:   “Future Shock“)
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On This Day In:
2022 Are You Confused?
2021 Working On The Ordinary
Smoothed My Jagged Edges
2020 Republican Senators Should Vote For Conviction Of #45
2019 Carry It
2018 Simple
2017 Knowledge Pays
2016 Brief Glimpses And Full Glances
2015 Pursuing Perspective
2014 Wearing Down?
2013 Labouring Under A Curse
2012 Listen To Yourself
2011 Career Tips (Part 1)
No Captain Dunsel

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The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man’s foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher.
    —    Thomas Huxley
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On This Day In:
2022 An Experiment Without A Control Group
2021 Seeking Center
Your Love Is Near
2020 You Mean I’m STILL In School?
2019 Finishing Work
2018 Diversity
2017 Timely Planning
2016 Just Too Easy To Know Fewer And Fewer
2015 A Fine Balance
2014 Next Rung
2013 Super Bowl Prep
Romantics
A Goal For Zen?
2012 Mutant Powers Of Obsession
2011 Federal Stars
Mud Pie

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Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.   Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way.
   —    President Abraham Lincoln
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On This Day In:
2022 The Fight Continues…
2021 Short, Swift, Haste
Another Friend’s Passing
2020 Can We At Least Set The Bar Higher Than An Incompetent Liar In The Oval Office?
2019 Uncertain Times
And Government Shutdowns, Too
2018 Satisfied
2017 In The Mind
2016 Dreaming
2015 The Best Medicine Is Also Contagious
2014 Eyes Off
2013 The More Things Change…
2012 The Delicate Moment Of Giving
2011 Ready, Shoot, Aim!!

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What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other?
   —    Mary Anne Evans
(pen name:  George Eliot)
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On This Day In:
2022 By Any Other Name (Or Description)
2021 Democracy, Pandemic, Economy And Climate Change
Heaven Is…
2020 Hoping For #46 In January 2021
2019 Interesting, But Not Fascinating
But Try To Eat The Low-Hanging First
2018 Me, Too
2017 Apt Enough?
2016 Now Or Ever
21, Pause, Restart
2015 I Am Shocked, Sir, Shocked…
Lucy & FSND-2
2014 Less Difficult
2013 The Spirit Of Liberty
2012 The Essential Freedom Of Aloneness
2011 A Problem Of Scale
Fred Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
2010 Another Book, Another Jog…

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Beyond that, the civilian leadership did not rally the country round the war;  it insisted on both guns and butter, a short-term, short-sighted formulation that created awful psychological dilemmas, among both those who served and those who did not.  Among them was the inequality of sacrifice.  It was a bankrupt policy, fundamentally immoral and essentially divisive.
    —    Ward Just
From his book:  “Military Men
[If you close your eyes, you can still picture President Bush standing in front of a sign saying “Mission Accomplished” or (shortly after 9-11) hearing him advise Americans to show the terrorists they can’t win by going out to the nearest mall and doing some shopping.
For the first time in American history the country went to war and refused to pay for it.  In fact, the Bush Administration carried the cost of the war (and other national security costs) “off books” so it would not be “considered” part of the national budget.  We have now been engaged in Afghanistan for over a decade and are only recently out of Iraq.  We have tens of thousands of unemployed and injured veterans, and, on television, we see private charities asking for funds to assist the injured vets and their families.
What we should be doing is raising the taxes on the “one-percent” to fully pay for the on-going war effort, the retraining of veterans who have chosen to return to civilian life, and for those injured vets and their families, full pay for their recovery and support.  No family should be out of pocket one-red-cent to be housed near a veteran recovering from a war-related injury.
But what do I know?  I’m just a liberal Democrat…
Actually, Mr. Ward’s book was written back in the early 1970’s and this quote is describing U.S. participation in the Vietnam War, not our recent conflicts in the middle-East and Asia.   —   kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022 And Even Fewer Regrets
2021 Today Counts
I Hope You’ll Understand
2020 Maybe #IncompetentDonald Really Is A Great Manager
2019 Your Only Choice
2018 A Good Definition
2017 Getting It Done
2016 Getting To Know Me
2015 Why I Pay Taxes
2014 Inequality Of Sacrifice
2013 I Never Saw A Moor
2012 Fill In The Blank
Not For Naught
Cliff Notes To Life?
2011 Conference Games Sunday

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The fact is, all primate groups create — cannot exist without — leaders.  If there isn’t one, there’s a period of immense tension and uncertainty, and work doesn’t get done.  Decisions about the wider set of environmental influences don’t get made.  All of the group’s energy is spent on internal jockeying for dominance.
From the article:  “All In A Day’s Work
Moderated by:  Harris Collingwood and Julia Kirby
Originally published in:  Harvard Business Review, December 2001
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On This Day In:
2022 Enduring Success
2021 Dealing With Trumpism, Racism and Fascism In America
Just Wondering
2020 And So Must Good Government
2019 Are You Done Watching?
2018 Spineless Capitulation By The Democrats
Woe Is Me…
2017 Sincerely Yours
2016 Only Good To Say
2015 A Series Of Temporary Conditions
2014 Gaps
2013 Duty
2012 Cost Not Price
Superheroes
2011 The Simple Normalcy Of Everyday Life – “Squirrel!”

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If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to go to the forest to gather wood, saw it, and nail the planks together.  Instead, teach them the desire for the sea.
   —    Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
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On This Day In:
2022 End The Filibuster
2021 Be Creative, Question Assumptions
By No Means
2020 I’ll Eat To That (Gemütlichkeit)
To The Front
2019 #ContinueToResist
Except Willful Ignorance And Prideful Stupidity
2018 More Executive Time For #DumbDonald
2017 Watched The Inauguration
Two Geniuses
2016 Come Dance And Laugh With Me
2015 Looks Good To Me
2014 Desire For The Sea
2013 The Fierce Urgency Of NOW
Happy Inauguration Day!
2012 One Path
Sorrow And Joy
The Seven Year View
2011 Emergent Practicality

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The work is not yours to finish;  but neither are you free to take no part in it.
     —    Rabbi Tarfon
From:  “Ethics of the Fathers
As quoted in:  “This Is My God
Written by:   Herman Wouk
[The path to equality in America has not been completed.  There is still much work to do until all are able to share in the philosophy that all Americans are equal under the law.  Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!   —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022 Biden Starts His Second Year
2021 DIY: Outdoor Gym Modifications (2)
Inauguration Day 2021
(Hopefully) Good-Bye To The Trump Dark Ages
2020 Posting As A Continual Exercise
2019 Border Security – Yes, Border Wall – No
2018 Supporting Survival Values
2017 Inauguration Day 2017   [Sometimes, I hate it when I’m right!   —   kmab]
2016 Or A Pot Of Gold After The Storm
2015 One, Two, Three…
2014 Lend Your Hand
2013 Amnesty, n.
2012 Best Resolv’d
The Clock Is Running
2011 Magic

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The control of knowledge is the crux of tomorrow’s worldwide struggle for power in every human institution.
   —    Alvin Toffler
From his book:  “Future Shock
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On This Day In:
2022 Pass A Voting Rights Act For Democracy’s Sake
2021 Tomorrow President Biden Starts Wrestling
Good-Bye #45
2020 The Burden Of Faith
On To Superbowl LIV (54)!!
2019 Are Your Dogs Barking?
Dangerous Waistcoats
2018 And 40+ Years Later?
2017 He Is Alone
2016 Compensation
2015 Charlie Redux
2014 The Crux
2013 Erosion And Rechannelling
Alliance, n.
2012 How Many Thought… (One I Know Of)
Choices And Decisions
2011 Speed Spoils
Simply Intended
2010 A Second 4 Hour Jog

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There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.
    ―    Niccolò Machiavelli
From:  “The Prince
Every time I look at you I get a fierce desire to be lonesome.
    ―    Oscar Levant
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On This Day In:
2022 Do It
2021 The Honor Is To Serve…
I Don’t Know That I Will
Only So Long
2020 Each Meaning
2019 The Deep End
Is Anyone ELSE Out There Listening?
2018 Defining Characteristic
2017 Just Asking
2016 Still A Burden
15 And Counting
2015 All A Game
2014 Two Thoughts
2013 RIP – Dear Abby
Half-Life Problems
2012 To The Soul…
2011 Reverted!!

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