Light In Darkness

When Reason speaks to you, harken what she says, and you shall be saved.  Make good use of her utterances, and you shall be as one armed.
For the Lord has given you no better guide than Reason, no stronger arm than Reason.
When Reason speaks to your inmost self, you are proof against Desire.
For Reason is a prudent minister, a loyal guide, and a wise counsellor.  Reason is light in darkness, as anger is darkness amidst light.
Be wise — let Reason, not Impulse, be your guide.
Yet be mindful that even if Reason be at your side, she is helpless without the aid of Knowledge.
Without her blood-sister, Knowledge, Reason is like houseless poverty, and Knowledge without Reason is like a house unguarded.  And even Love, Justice, and Goodness avail little if Reason be not there too.
—    Kahlil Gibran
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On This Day In:
2013	How ‘Bout Just Obeying The Law?
2012	Or Maybe Not
2011	My Interval Is Too Short!

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Get Wisdom

Wisdom is the principal thing;  therefore get wisdom:  and with all thy getting get understanding.
Exalt her, and she shall promote thee:  she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace:  a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings;  and the years of thy life shall be many.
I have taught thee in the way of wisdom;  I have led thee in right paths.
When thou goest, thy steps shall be straitened;  and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
Take fast hold of instruction;  let her not go:  keep her;  for she is thy life.
—    Proverbs 4: 7-13 (KJV)
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On This Day In:
2013	Enjoying The View?
2012	Adam’s Rib
2011	I’m Sure I Remember That…
	Memorial Day, 2011

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Back When I Was A Firebrand

You ask of me:  “Why change?“
I can only answer:  “Why not?“
I do not demand change for its own sake, or even for my own sake;  I demand it for the sake of those who must follow.  For the sake of those who hunger for food or thirst for knowledge.  For the old, the tired, the broken, and the breaking.  For all those in need of change — I demand it.
I demand change because in these times, to stand still is to fall behind.  I demand change because I am here, and speaking, and you are there, and listening.  I demand change because if a culture can change, it can survive, it can advance.  And advance is progress.  Above all else, I demand progress.  I demand it!
––     KMAB
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On This Day In:
2013	Pen In Hand
	Word Up!
2012	Disturbing
	Trying To Keep Up
2011	Unreliable And Selective
2010	Adult-Onset Athlete

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The Writer’s Dilemma

That is the young writer’s dilemma as I see it.  Not just his, but all our problems, is to save mankind from being desouled as the stallion or boar or bull is gelded;  to save the individual from anonymity before it is too late and humanity has vanished from the animal called man.  And who better to save man’s humanity than the writer, the poet, the artist, since who should fear the loss of it more since the humanity of man is the artist’s life’s blood.
—    William Faulkner
From:  “A Word to Young Writers“
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On This Day In:
2013	Just Paying The Rent
2012	Remembering…
2011	A Little Farther

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Dawn, n.

The time when men of reason go to bed.  Certain old men prefer to rise at about that time, taking a cold bath and a long walk with an empty stomach, and otherwise mortifying the flesh.  They then point with pride to these practices as the cause of their sturdy health and ripe years;  the truth being that they are hearty and old, not because of their habits, but in spite of them.  The reason we find only robust persons doing this thing is that it has killed all the others who have tried it.
––    Ambrose Bierce
From his book:  “The Devil’s Dictionary“
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On This Day In:
2013	Ouch!
2012	Just Lookin’ Around
	Still Growing
2011	But Do You Want To?

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Memorial Day – 2014

For all those who have served (and especially those who gave that “last full measure of devotion”) for those who are currently serving, a grateful nation remembers and prays for you and your families…
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On This Day In:
2013	Memorial Day Video
	Equal = Equal
2012	Congrats, Nephew!!
	Doggie Vision Networks
	The Flash: Omnibus
	JLI: vol 1
	Flash: Rebirth
	Burning Images
	What Do You Believe?
2011	Are We Still At War With The Poor?

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Perfection

You ask me, my brother, when will man reach
perfection. Hear my answer:
Man approaches perfection when he
feels that he is an infinite space and a sea
without a shore,
An everlasting fire, an unquenchable
light,
A calm wind or a raging tempest, a thundering
sky or a rainy heaven,
A singing brook or a wailing rivulet, a tree abloom
in Spring, or a naked sapling
in Autumn.
A rising mountain or a descending valley,
A fertile plain or a desert.
When man feels all these, he has already
reached halfway to perfection. To attain his goal
he must then perceive
that he is a child dependent upon his mother,
a father responsible for his family,
A youth lost in love,
An ancient wrestling against his past,
A worshipper in his temple, a criminal in
his prison,
A scholar amidst his parchments,
An ignorant soul stumbling between the darkness of his
night and the obscurity of his day,
A nun suffering between the flowers of her faith and
the thistles of her loneliness,
A prostitute caught between the fangs of her
weakness and the claws of her needs,
A poor man trapped between his bitterness and his
submission,
A rich man between his greed and his conscience,
A poet between the mist of his twilight and the
rays of his dawn.
Who can experience, see, and understand
these things can reach perfection and
become a shadow of God’s Shadow.
—    Kahlil Gibran
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On This Day In:
2013	Memorial Day Video
	Equal = Equal
2012	Congrats, Nephew!!
	Doggie Vision Networks
	The Flash: Omnibus
	JLI: vol 1
	Flash: Rebirth
	Burning Images
	What Do You Believe?
2011	Are We Still At War With The Poor?

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I Resemble That Remark

This may sound ‘old-man-ish’, but I believe steady advancement in whatever work you choose;  growing knowledge of many things;  creative imagination put to constructive use;  the growing respect and consequent advance in responsibility from your employers if you’re working for someone, or from you neighbors if you’re in business for yourself – those things are, in my opinion, of much greater value than the mere accumulation of money.  And the best part of it is, that if you grow in those ways, that extra money will come to you, but merely as corollary to the greater achievements.
—    E. Everett Evans
From his book:  “Man of Many Minds“
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On This Day In:
2013	Long Range Exploration
2012	UBI
2011	Opportunity

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Sounds Like Faux News To Me

When you have no basis for an argument, abuse the plaintiff.
—     Cicero
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On This Day In:
2013	Reasons
2012	American Libertarianism
2011	The Goal

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Do I Have To Fall In Love?

Women apparently achieve happiness more easily with energetic and virile men, men achieve it more easily with women who are affectionate and willing to be led.  Very young women declare that they want to marry men whom they can dominate, but I have never discovered a woman who was truly happy with a man she did not admire for his strength and courage, nor a normal man who was perfectly happy with an Amazon.  The fact is that the element of chance in these matters rarely allows a man or a woman to choose a life companion by an act of pure volition, and it is better so;  instinct, despite its mistakes, is surer here than intelligence.  The question, “Do I have to fall in love?” should not be asked;  one must feel the answer to it within oneself.  The birth of love, like all other births, is the work of nature.
—    André Maurois
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On This Day In:
2013	More Democracy, Please
2012	Speaking Of Love
2011	Limits

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Your Gain

When you have convinced thinking men that it is right, and humane men that it is just, you will gain your cause.  Men always lose half of what is gained by violence.  What is gained by argument, is gained forever.
—    Wendell Phillips
[Until circumstances change.  Then it’s all back up for grabs…    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2013	Look Up
2012	Count Me In
2011	Pirates Four, Three Songs
	Sir Charles
	Look First, Not Last
2010	Par-a-diddle

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Fun To Play God

Over the weekend I discovered a new (to me) used book store.  The store is named:  Berkshire Books.  It turns out it’s been there just over ten years, but I don’t often get on that road and when I do, I tend to be looking the other way, so I just never saw it before.  Soooo, I popped in to see what’s up.  The store is pretty poorly lit and has that old book musty smell.  Now, to my taste, that’s bad and great.  There’s no place to sit because there are books everywhere – and I do mean everywhere.  To be honest, except for the lighting, I kinda felt like I’d died and when to heaven.  Anyway, the prices aren’t great, but they’re not too bad either.  I will definitely be going back, but not to buy stacks at a time like I can from the two dollar racks at my local Half-Price Books store.
My selection was an oldie, but a goodie:  “The Power“, written by Frank M. Robinson.  The original version is copywrited in 1956, while the revised version is 1999©.  I don’t think the book was intended to be a children’s book, but I first read it back in the mid-1960’s when I was around 11 or 12.  It is considered to be a “classic” of SciFi literature.  The book was adapted into a movie (released in 1968) which starred George Hamilton as the principal character and Michael Rennie (“Klaatu, Barada Nikto”) as the bad guy.  This was the first time I remember ever reading a book before seeing the movie and then being sharply disappointed that the movie didn’t live up to my imagination.
Anyhow, the book is about a team of scientists who discover there are “super” men among us who can control us physically (via telekinesis) and who can also implant thoughts and remove memories.  They also possess superior strength and reflexes themselves.  The main character must try to discover which team member is the super-man while living long enough to kill him.  Of course, all the while, the super-man is killing off the rest of the team.
When I found the book, I thought, “Wow! This was from my childhood!“.  It wasn’t until later that I discovered it wasn’t the “same” book at all.  This was the “revised” version, basically the same, but updated with comments about Vietnam and the first Gulf War.  Did it make a difference?  Ultimately, I think it did.  As I read the book, I began to doubt my memories.  Some of the books passages prompted vivid memories – like when you eat or smell something and you’re instantly transported back to another place and time.  Other times, it was: “Huh?“
I do believe the book is a legitimate classic in the SciFi genre, but I would say it is more of a young adult book than a mature adult book.  It is about 220 pages and a very fast read.  Highly recommended!
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On This Day In:
2013	Legal (Almost)
2012	Great Scots!
2011	The GI Bill – A Simple History Lesson
	Breaking Even

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Of Anything

That which is incapable of proof itself is no proof of anything else.
—    Percy Bysshe Shelley
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On This Day In:
2013	Legal (Almost)
2012	Great Scots!
2011	The GI Bill – A Simple History Lesson
	Breaking Even

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Hard Evidence

The churches used to win their arguments against atheism, agnosticism, and other burning issues by burning the ismists, which is fine proof that there is a devil, but hardly evidence that there is a God.
—    Wainwright Evans
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On This Day In:
2013	Full Participation
2012	Roving (Again)
	Ooops, Again
2011	Why Not?

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And Then I Met Her

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
—    Kahlil Gibran
[Thirty years ago today, I met my lovely wife Hilary.  I have no words to adequately express the gratitude I feel for the gifts of her love and our three wonderful children.  It seems so small a thing to simply say:  “I love you now, more than ever.  And…  I will love you forever.  And…  God Only Knows what I’d do without you.”    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2013	Defining Maleness
	The Run Continues
2012	All Set
2011	Not Always

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