The Blue Grotto

Here's a Nice Little Poem I Spotted. . . .

     In April of 2006, I was lucky enough to spend a week fishing and beaching it in Costa Rica with host Christopher L. and guests Mary Beth O'K. (now Mrs. Christopher L.), Darcey Y., and Juan Seitz. 

     Hanging on the wall of the guesthouse I shared with Juan was this little poem.  I love it.  I find it to be very soothing and relaxing:

     It reads:

    If I ever become a rich man

    or if ever I grow to be old

    I will build a house with a deep thatch

    to shelter me from the cold.

    I will hold my house in the high wood

    within a walk of the sea

    And the men that were boys when I was a boy

    Shall sit and drink with me.

     The house on which this quote hung did indeed have a beautiful, dramatic view of the sea.

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Quote of the Day. . .

     Interesting, is it not, that no one considers it necessary to insist that "the debate has ended" about whether the Earth is round.  People only insist that a debate stop when they are afraid of what might be learned if it continues.

     George Will, in a recent column

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"Big Government Pie-in-the-Sky vs. Free Markets" Quote of the Day. . .

     P.J. O'Rourke has a new book out called On The Wealth of Nations, in which he walks the reader through Adam Smith's phonebook-sized treatise.  Here's a quote from page 11:

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"Scientific Observation" Quote of the Day. . .

     ". . . We are taught from childhood to notice how the perfect oak grows from the acorn and to forget that the acorn itself was dropped by a perfect oak.  We are reminded constantly that the adult human being was an embryo, never that the life of the embryo came from two adult human beings.  We love to notice that the  express engine of today is the descendant of the "Rocket"; we do not equally remember that the "Rocket" springs not from some even more rudimentary engine, but from something much more perfect and complicated than itself - namely, a man of genius."

     C.S. Lewis, from The Weight of Glory

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Quote of the Day. . .

     I like this quote because it blows the whistle on what is so annoying about many people who find great pleasure and satisfaction in protesting things and marching around complaining about sweeping injustices.  I remember sitting on the lawn at Georgetown one sunny day while a bunch of students marched by, banging on pots and pans, protesting the U.S.'s involvement in El Salvador.  I guarantee you that less than 30% of these idiots could identify El Salvador on a map.  It simply made them feel good to get out there and pretend they were doing their little part to furthur the cause of justice on Planet Earth.  Likewise, how many of the hippies who marched around in the Sixties protesting this and that were doing it because they were making an honest effort to do something, and how many of them were doing it because it was more fun than working hard at a job or anything else?

     Here's the quote:

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     "I have received no assurance that anything we can do will eradicate suffering.  I think the best results are obtained by people who work quietly away at limited objectives, such as the abolition of the slave trade, or prison reform, or factory acts, or tuberculosis, not by those who think they can achieve universal justice, or health, or peace.  I think the art of life consists in tackling each immediate evil as well as we can.  To avert or postpone one particular war by wise policy, or to render one particular campaign shorter by strength and skill or less terrible by mercy to the conquered and the civilians is more useful than all the proposals for universal peace that have ever been made; just as the dentist who can stop one toothache has deserved better of humanity than all the men who think they have some scheme for producing a perfectly healthy race."  C.S. Lewis

Here's a Fitting Quote for August 2007. . . .

     "Liquidity is an illusion.  It's always there when you don't need it, and rarely there when you do."

Michael Milken

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Dog Quote / Pic of the Day!

"When the man waked up he said,

What is Wild Dog doing here?

And the woman said,

His name is not Wild Dog anymore,

but the First Friend,

because he will be our friend

for always and always and always."

Rudyard Kipling

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     Here's a picture of the great statue of Balto in Central Park:

Sculptor: Frederick George Richard Roth
1872-1944 • USA

Balto, a favorite statue of children in Central
Park has one of the most facinating stories.
In January 1925 Nome, Alaska had a
terrible outbreak of diphtheria. The only
source of anti-toxin serum was Anchorage
which was 1000 miles away. Ice bound,
the city was effectively cut off from the
precious medication.
A train from Anchorage was able to reach
the city of Nenana which was still 667
miles away from Nome.
The only way to deliver the serum was
over the treacherous ice bound tundra
and the only means to this end was with
a musher and a dogsled team.
In blizzard conditions 20 teams with over
200 dogs traveled along the Iditarod mail
route in minus 50 degree temperatures
at roughly 6 miles an hour.
The world followed the events of this trek
to Nome over their radios and in newspaper
accounts.
It was, however, the last musher, Gunnar
Kasson and his lead dog Balto, a black and
white Alaskan malamute who captured the
world's imagination by racing onward to
the stricken city in a record breaking
five days and seven hours.
Just a few days after the arrival of the
serum the epidemic that claimed five lives
was over. This was a gift of life to the 300
people who were exposed to the disease.
Located next to the Willowdell Arch and
mounted on top of a small rock outcropping,
this harnessed dog with a panting tongue
appeals to children who love to climb up
and sit on his back while their parents take
their photos. Years of stroking and caressing
have created a glowing sheen on his ears,
nose, body and tail. A bas-relief plaque on
the stone below shows the seven sled dogs
on their historic run with the inscribed
words “Endurance Fidelity Intelligence.”

Abraham Lincoln Pro-Capitalism Quote of the Day!

    

     One of the most annoying falsehoods that anti-capitalist liberals like to lob out there is the view that the economic situation of a given American is a sort of static condition that determines the person's life from cradle to grave.  This dumb outlook misses the whole point of America itself!  It was certainly largely true in most of the world for century upon century, but not in America. 

     Here's what Lincoln said in an 1859 speaking tour, laying out the Republicans' vision:

     "The prudent, penniless beginner in the world labors for wages a while, saves a surplus with which to buy tools or land, for himself, then labors on his own account another while, and at length hires another new beginner to help him. . . .  Many independent men, in this assembly, doubtless a few years ago were hired laborers. . . ."

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These Prophecies Were a Little Off. . . .

     Thanks to Grotto friend Ted B. for these:

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"Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances."   Dr. Lee DeForest, "Father of Radio & Grandfather of Television."

"The  Atomic bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives."   Admiral William Leahy, US Atomic Bomb Project

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."   Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."   Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year."   The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

"But what is it good for?"   Engineer at the Advanced ComputingSystems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

"640K ought to be enough for anybody."   Bill Gates, 1981

"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us."   Western Union internal memo, 1876

"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"   David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible."   A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper."   Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With The Wind."

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."   Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil?  You're crazy."   Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.

"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."   Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value."   Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre, France.

"The super computer is technologically impossible. It would take all of the water that flows over Niagara Falls to cool the heat generated by the number of vacuum tubes required."   Professor of Electrical Engineering, New York University

"I don't know what use any one could find for a machine that would make copies of documents. It certainly couldn't be a feasible business by itself."   The head of IBM, refusing to back the idea, forcing the inventor to found Xerox.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."   Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.

Quote of the Day

"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms . . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes . . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." – Thomas Jefferson

Quote of the Day

"Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike." 

Alexander Hamilton

Appeasement-Related Quotes of the Day

"Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong."  Ronald Reagan

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"And that prince who bases his power entirely on. . . words, finding himself completely without other preparations, comes to ruin."  Niccolo Machiavelli

   

Quote of the Day for March 24th. . .

     So, I was catching up by phone yesterday with my buddy George N. who, like so many of my friends, has recently welcomed a second child into his family.  I asked him about the transition from a one child household to a two-child household and he said:

     "Well, it's like going from zone defense to man-to-man. . . ." 

Quote of the Day (U.S. Congress Subcategory)

     "Liberals define a 'cut' as any appropriation that is less than what was asked for, regardless of whether it is more than anyone ever appropriated before."  (Thomas Sowell)

Appeasement-Related Quote of the Day

     "Enemies are explicit in their desire to destroy us.  We are sleepwalking through this as if diplomatic engagement will create a fiesta where we will all love one another."  (Newt Gingrich, speaking in Israel last week about Iran)

Quote of the Day for January 16th

     "Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and just give her a house."  (Rod Stewart)

Here's a Clever and Alarmingly-Accurate Quote I Heard on CNBC Today.

"An emerging market is a market you can't emerge from in an emergency."

Quotes of the Day for December 17th

Here are a couple of gems:

1)  Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. in 1982:  Those "in the United States who think the Soviet Union is on the verge of economic and social collapse are kidding themselves."

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2)  John Kenneth Galbraith in 1984:  "That the Soviet system has made great material progress in recent years is evident both from the statistics and from the general urban scene."

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You tell 'em, fellas!

Quote of the Day for December 16th

     "Stalin was a banner of creativity, of humanism and an edifying picture of peace and heroism! Everything he did, he did in service of the people. Our father Stalin has died but in remembering his example our affection for him will cause our arms to grow strong towards building a grand tomorrow—to insure a future in memory of his grand example!"  -  Salvador Allende (Chilean president later overthrown by Pinochet) at a 1953 "Homage to Stalin" rally in Santiago

Quote of the Day for November 26th

"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office."  (Aesop)

Quote of the Day

"Search every park in every city of the world and you will never, ever, see a statue of a committee."  (Anon)

Here's a Good Quote I Came Across

"Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a pool."  (Anon)

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Multiculturalism Quote of the Day

     With everyone terrified these days of coming off as intolerant bigots if they even hint out loud that they think one culture’s traditions might not be on a moral par with those of another, I liked the following quote.

     The British in India were faced with the practice of "suttee" -- the tradition of burning widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands.

The practice of suttee

     General Sir Charles Napier was impeccably multicultural in his riposte:

     ''You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: When men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows.You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."

Quote of the Day for August 12th

"Religion did not originate in the need to guarantee social solidarity.  That is like saying that the cathedrals were built in order to promote tourism."  (Nicolas Gomez Davila, 1913-1994)

Quote of the Day for June 7th

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and their dogs should relax and get used to the idea."  (Robert A. Heinlein)

Quote of the Day for May 15th

"We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare.  And in return, dogs give us their all.  It's the best deal man has ever made."  (M. Acklam)

Quotes of the Day for May 7th

"Of all the wonders of nature, a tree in summer is perhaps the most remarkable; with the possible exception of a moose singing 'Embraceable You'' in spats."  (Woody Allen)

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From The Naked Gun:

[Frank Drebin is emptying out his files after being kicked off the force]
Frank: Hey! The missing evidence in the Kelner case! My God, he really was innocent!
Ed: He went to the chair two years ago, Frank.
Frank: Well, uh...
[Frank Drebin quickly shoves the evidence back into the file cabinet]

Quotes of the Day for May 4th

"There is perhaps no phenomenon which contains so much destructive feeling as 'moral indignation', which permits envy or hate to be acted out under the guise of virtue."  (Erich Fromm)

"Near this spot are deposited the remains of one who possessed Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity, and all the Virtues of Man without his Vices. This praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery, if inscribed over human ashes, is but a just Tribute to the Memory of Boatswain, a Dog."  (John Cam Hobhouse)

Quotes of the Day for May 1st

"We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet: and, amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog, has made an alliance with us."  (Maurice Maeterlinck, 1862-1949)

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last."  (Churchill)

The real democratic American idea is, not that every man shall be on a level with every other man, but that every man shall have the liberty to be what God made him, without hindrance.  (Henry Ward Beecher, 1813-1887)

Quotes of the Day for April 29th

"She looked as if she had been poured into her clothes and had forgotten to say 'when'."  (P.G. Wodehouse)

"The only really good vegetable is Tabasco sauce.  Put Tabasco sauce in everything.  Tabasco sauce is to bachelor cooking what forgiveness is to sin."  (P.J. O'Rourke)

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you."  (Dale Carnegie)