Unstable Emergence

My father once told me that respect for the truth comes close to being the basis for all morality.  “Something cannot emerge from nothing,” he said.  This is profound thinking if you understand how unstable the truth can be.
—    Frank Herbert
From his novel:  “Dune“
[The lessons we learn from our parents last a lifetime.  In my case, from my single parent.  Happy Birthday to my mother.  Love Always, your son Kevin    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2023	Or Failure (See: #45, For Example)
2022	Guitar Music
	Yesterday
2021	Maybe Faith Is Based On Hope
	I Want To See You Smile (Happier)
2020	Thank You (To Those Who Serve)
	Hanging In There
2019	Her Job, Too (That’s My Job)
2018	Just Another Song I Like (When You Say Nothing At All)
	Earlier Still
2017	Ten To Go
2016	Unstable Emergence
2015	88
2014	Some One-Liners Are Too Easy
2013	Greatness
2012	Memories Of Arlington
2011	Wake Up

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Still Seeking (Believe It Or Not)

Believe those who are seeking the truth.  Doubt those who find it.
—   Andre Gide
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On This Day In:
2022	Probably (Bloggers, Too)
2021	A Long Way Down The Road
	All It Said (One Tin Soldier)
2020	I Am Defined
	Pure Flavor Vis-à-vis Enthusiasm (Oye Como Va)
	Insect Instinct
2019	Bigger Hearts
2018	Signaled Progress
2017	No Progress, But Still Unreasonable
2016	Notes Unsaid
2015	Still Seeking (Believe It Or Not)
2014	Guidelines For Bureaucrats
2013	Failing At Normalization
2012	Are You An Expert?
2011	Joy!

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Global Climate Change May Test This Statement

You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.
―    C.S. Lewis
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On This Day In:
2022	Five Down, Two To Go
2021	Four Down, Three To Go
	It Still Ain’t (Fortunate Son)
	Boosted
2020	Three Down, Four To Go
	Twenty-Four ‘Til You (Roundabout)
2019	Two Down, Five To Go
2018	Year One, Done!
2017	First Day Of Retirement!
2016	Revere And Criticize
2015	Global Climate Change May Test This Statement
2014	Adaptability Won
2013	Disappeared
2012	Fuller
	Life On The Range
	More Classics
2011	Stoned Again?
2010	Insubordination… And That’s Why I Love Her!
	Losing – Week One

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Sometimes The Truth Hurts

The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you.  You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.
—    Bob Marley
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On This Day In:
2023	Reveal And Conceal
	Heart Update (+30 Days)
2022	The Edge Of Today
2021	Why I’m Wrinkled With Age
	Is There A Generic Available? (Love Potion #9)
2020	I Feel Noblesse Oblige
2019	Live For Something
2018	My Dogs Beat ‘Em Up
	Is Your Sky Falling?
2017	Unseen Here, Too
2016	Criticized Anyway
2015	Sometimes The Truth Hurts
2014	All Agreed, Say “Aye”
2013	Two Books, Two Movies
	Just Because
2012	God’s Requirements
2011	Greater Purity

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A Little Cover

Most truths are so naked that people feel sorry for them and cover them up, at least a little bit.
—    Edward R. Murrow
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On This Day In:
2023	Give Freedom
2022	8 And 9 (40)
	Prescient (Or Not?)
2021	Or Faith In A Creator…
	It Seemed The Taste Was Not So Sweet (Changes)
2020	Nearer My God To Thee, By George
	I’ve Got To Keep Working On It
2019	Laugh With Me
2018	Both Sides, Mr. President?
2017	Republicans Better Wake Up
2016	Truth Telling
2015	To Be Effective In The Modern World
2014	A Little Cover
2013	Binding
2012	Lift
2011	Another Good Movie, Another Excellent Book
	miSFits
	I’m Just Not Sure

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Unless

This is the character of truth:  it is of all time, it is for all men, it has only to show itself to be recognized, and one cannot argue against it.  A long dispute means that both parties are wrong.
—    Voltaire
From:  “Philosophical Dictionary“
[This presupposes that both parties are seeking truth.  In philosophy, that may be the case.  In politics, religion and commerce, that is rarely the case.  Rather, opposing sides are seeking to improve (or maintain) the positions of their representative constituencies.  It is rarely the case that a politician will side with the preponderance of truth when it runs against the economic interests of those who support him (or her) financially.  Nor should we ever expect it to be so for more than the briefest of times.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2023	Blogging, Too
2022	Under My Fingertips…
	Seeking The Divine
2021	And My Sister Is Taxing
	What Did The Wise Men Say? (Can’t Help Falling In Love)
2020	One Phrase
2019	Why #LyingDonald Can’t Trust Any Honorable Person
2018	An Old Style Conservative
2017	John Q.
2016	In Trembling Hope Repose
2015	Let There Be Light
2014	Unless
2013	Divergent Roads To Similarity?
2012	In The Process
2011	What Do You Emphasize?

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Two Thoughts

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:
2023	Just Perspective
2022	Do It
2021	The Honor Is To Serve…
	I Don’t Know That I Will (Solitary Man)
	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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Patriotic == Tell The Truth

Patriotism means to stand by the country.  It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country.  It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country.  It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country.  In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.
—    Theodore Roosevelt
(A Republican President known as “The Trust Buster” because he championed the breakup of monopolies.)
[This is the problem I have with the modern “Tea-Party” led Republican Party:  they profess patriotism, yet are unable to tell the truth.  The judgment of history will be far kinder to President Obama than it will be to a Tea-Party demented (I mean dominated) GOP.     —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022	One Great Secret
2021	The Real World Effect Of Fox News’ Lies
	Anymore (It Doesn’t Matter Anymore)
2020	#45: White House Turnover
	R.I.P.: Eddie Van Halen (Dance The Night Away)
	Gee Whiz (All I Have To Do Is Dream)
2019	Two Peace
2018	The Sensation Of Human Intimacy
2017	One Night In A Thousand Years
2016	A Considerable Amount Of Work
2015	Panzer Soldier
2014	Babies (I)
2013	Patriotic == Tell The Truth
2012	30 Days To Go
2011	Altering The Course

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Children Will Judge

We cannot say whether the emerging world will be mostly “good” or mostly “evil” because the very definitions of these terms will change, and it is not we, but our children and their children who will do the judging, according to their own values.
—     Alvin Toffler
From his book:  “Future Shock“
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On This Day In:
2022	…The More Things Stay The Same
2021	To Trust Providence
	Exactly (What’s Exactly The Matter With Me?)
2020	I Am Learning
	Plus Plus (Counting Your Blessings)
2019	Day 2: All Things Considered
	The Path To Reward
2018	Ryan, McConnell & The Republican Controlled Congress
	The Proud Dad
	Day 35: Five(5) Weeks Completed!
2017	Serving Is Proving Harder Than Winning For #DumbDonald
2016	Come Again…
2015	At Five
2014	Touching The Past
	The Supreme Question
2013	Children Will Judge
2012	Liar, n.
2011	Freedom To Doubt

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Unravelling

Things come apart so easily when they have been held together with lies.
―     Dorothy Allison
A half-truth is the most cowardly of lies.
―     Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2022	Fundamentally Rooted Routine
2021	And Due To Be More Fluid
	Still Reading Between The Lines (I Want To Know What Love Is)
2020	A Humbling Learning Process
	They Are All Good (For The Good Times)
2019	Another Thought On #45’s Poor Education
2018	As Long As You Survive Each Experience
	WordPress to Facebook Test…
	Day 7: Oh, Yeah!
2017	A Good Habit
2016	The Minds Of Trumpism
2015	Expressing Nonsense
2014	A Real Fight
2013	Unravelling
2012	I Resolve
2011	Practice, Practice, Practice
2009	Phoenix Trip (July ’09)

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Exceptional

Is is always the best policy to speak the truth, unless of course you are an exceptionally good liar.
—   Jerome K. Jerome
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On This Day In:
2023	Faith Is A Challenge For All
2022	Looking For Solutions To Climate Change
	4 – 40hrs
2021	Our Identity Crisis Continues
	There’s No Hiding Place (Don’t Look Back)
2020	In Need Of Concerted Action
2019	Anything / Everything
2018	Touching A Nerve
	Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
	I Have Realities In My Past
2017	Did I See You In Chapter 13?
2016	As I Recall (I Got It Honest)
2015	Less And More Irritation
2014	That Marvelous Feeling
2013	Exceptional
2012	A Wild And Crazy Believer
2011	A Lack Of Scarcity
	The Joy Of Prevention

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Obviously Longer

The obscure we see eventually.  The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.
—     Edward R. Murrow
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On This Day In:
2023	8 to 12 Hours Per Day
2022	True Measures
2021	Moments With You
	I Remember I Told My Sorrow (Just Can’t Get You Out Of My Mind)
2020	A Post-Valentine Thought
2019	A Little Magic
	‘Cause It Makes Me Feel Happy (Send Me On My Way)
	The Mark Against Your Name
2018	Nice To Meet You
2017	All Nations & Religions
2016	Given The Choice
	Why Is He Wearing Red?
2015	Within The System
2014	None But…
2013	Obviously Longer
2012	A Childhood Poem
	Who Are You Callin’ Leather-Faced?
2011	In No Particular Order
	The Need For Proof

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Eloquence

If truth were self-evident, eloquence would not be necessary.
—    Cicero
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On This Day In:
2022	Supporters Of #45 – The Big Liar
2021	Incomplete And Probably Inaccurate
	I’ve Made A Few Mistakes (Ooh Baby Baby)
2020	One Of Your Responsibilities
	God Is Watching Us (From A Distance)
2019	Just Asking…
2018	Or Attacks On A Free Press
	Day 26: Life
2017	Still Looking For The Key
2016	Not So Much Anymore, Boss
2015	Green Binge
2014	Overdone
2013	The Courage To Remake The World
2012	Minor Gifts
2011	I Love It When A Plan Comes Together…
2010	Eloquence
	Cleaning the Chalk Board

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