17 Days Until The Next Government Shutdown

If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple.  But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.
―    George Bernard Shaw
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On This Day In:
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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No Reason To Turn

If you can’t completely eradicate wrong ideas, or deal with inveterate vices as effectively as you wish, that’s no reason for turning your back on public life altogether.  You wouldn’t abandon ship in a storm just because you couldn’t control the winds.
—    Sir (also Saint) Thomas More
From his book: “Utopia“
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On This Day In:
2017	Talking Knuth
	Seeing It Through
2016	Hoping For The Best Come January
2015	Adaptive Security
2014	Wants
2013	Side Effects
2012	Just Trying To Earn A Living
2011	Productive Worry

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And Blog Posts, Too

One always has a better book in one’s mind than one can manage to get onto paper.
––    Michael Cunningham
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On This Day In:
2017	Just Doin’ It
2016	Definitely Not Bell Shaped
2015	Dreadful Pity
2014	Worse Than Useless
2013	Personal Prisons
2012	So, Not Yet Then
2011	Real Love

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Not Sure Anyway…

We are writers, and we never ask one another where we get our ideas; we know we don’t know.
—    Stephen King
From his book:  “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft“
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On This Day In:
2017	Forms Of Conservation
2016	Oh, So Lacking
2015	e pluribus unum
2014	Nothing So Far Removed
2013	Positions
2012	Two Errors
2011	Long Live The King!

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New And Old

I can’t understand why people are frightened by new ideas.  I’m frightened of old ones.
—    John Cage
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On This Day In:
2017	Ever
2016	At The Center
2015	True Value In Life
2014	A Potential To Be Concerned
2013	Fine No More
2012	Have You Checked Your Height Lately?
2011	Are You Convinced?

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Opposites Attract

The cleverly expressed opposite of any generally accepted idea is worth a fortune to somebody.
—    F. Scott Fitzgerald
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On This Day In:
2016	Completely Unreasonable
	Starting To Be A Reacher
2015	Avengers Assemble II
	But If I Had To Perish Twice…
2014	Turning Pages
2013	We Are All Accountable
2012	American Sign Language
2011	Happy Disproof
2010	Book Review – Managing Your Government Career

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We Need To Continue Experimenting

This is a more fruitful approach than trying to erase dialog from the Internet altogether.  We can all agree that material that incites violence doesn’t belong online.  But when ISIS raises questions about the world, you can’t just wipe that from the Internet.  Ideas need to be raised and confronted and disputed.  Right now, it can feel dangerous to challenge extremism online.  ­ People get shouted down, harassed, or worse.  That gives power to the bad guys, because it shuts reasonable people out of the conversation, leaving just the violent voices.
We haven’t seen a terrorist organization as digitally savvy as ISIS before, but when you think about it, much of what it’s doing isn’t all that different from what any teenager can do; you wouldn’t be surprised if your 14-year-old daughter made a video and put it online.  It’s only surprising because we have this idea of terrorists as old, bearded men hiding out in the mountains.  Terrorist groups are evolving like the rest of us.  We need to continue experimenting with solutions that meet these groups where they connect with the rest of the world.
—    Yasmin Green
Quoted by:   Jason Tanz
In his article: “A To-Do List For The Tech Industry“
Appearing in: Wired Magazine, dtd: November 2016
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On This Day In:
2016	Consistently
2015	We Must Dissent
2014	Now What?
2013	Judgement
2012	Stuck In My Mind
	Life’s Hope
2011	Just Getting Up
	Directions Please

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Begin Combat

The way to combat noxious ideas is with other ideas.  The way to combat falsehoods is with truth.
—    Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas
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On This Day In:
2014	Just Dig ‘N It, Why?
2013	Additions
	The Object Of Instruction
2012	Telling Her
2011	On Torture

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