Politics, Inane and Serious Ramblings, Philosophy, miscl. crap
politicsandramblings.htm

 

This page contains all sorts of ramblings.   It may or may not reflect my own true beliefs.  The purpose of this page is to get you riled up, to make you think, ponder, consider.   Blow holes in arguments or statements presented on this page if you wish.  Comment to me, if you wish:    Snowbum@JPS.NET

 

I usually place SOMEthing at the top of this looooong page, so, before the rest of the meat...I offer THIS:

Famous Predictions :

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

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

"There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom." -- Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923

"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 Computing Systems 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.  Sarnoff headed RCA.

"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."

"A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make," -- Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies.

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

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible," -- Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.

"If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this," - - Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M "Post-It" Notepads.

"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, EcoleSuperieure de Guerre, France.

"Everything that can be invented has been invented," -- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899.

"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.

"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction." -- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872

"The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon," -- Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria, 1873.

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

 (1) A Texan, a Frenchman and an Israeli are on a plane flying over the Pacific Ocean when the engines stop functioning. The plane crash lands on a Pacific Island and the 3 are immediately captured by a tribe of cannibals and taken to their village.

The Chief tells the 3 captives that these cannibals are civilized and they have a custom on their island that before they eat anyone, they grant that person his or her last wishes, no matter what they are.

He asks the Texan, "What is your last wish?" The Texan  replies, "I  want a 2 inch thick steak with all the trimmings, Cajun fries and a case O' Longnecks." The Chief motions to some of his tribesmen who immediately run into the jungle and come back with the steak, the fries and the beer. The Texan eats his meal and he is thrown in the pot.

The Frenchman is asked, "What is your last wish?" He replies, "I'd like a case of Dom Perignon and I'd also like a big plate of escargots cooked in the French manner." The Chief motions to his tribesmen who immediately rush off into the jungle and bring back everything the Frenchman asked for.  He eats and drinks his fill, and he is then thrown  in the pot.

The Chief turns to the Israeli and asks, "And what is your wish?"
The Israeli looks the Chief squarely in the eyes and replies, "I want you to kick me in the behind as hard as you can."  The Chief is bewildered and asks the Israeli again, only to receive the same reply, "I want you to kick me in the behind as hard as you can." The Chief shrugs his shoulders, asks the Israeli to turn around, and kicks him as hard as he can.  With that, the Israeli pulls out a gun and kills the Chief and all of the other cannibals.

The Texan and the Frenchman get out of the pot, look at the Israeli and say, "If you had that gun why didn't you do anything sooner?"

The Israeli replies: "What? And risk being condemned by the UN, EU, and the U. S. State Department for 'overreacting' to insufficient provocation?"



(2)  Don't let yourself be victimized by the age you live in.  It's not the times that will bring us down any more than it is Society.  When you put the blame on Society, then you end up turning to Society for the solution.  There is a GREAT tendency today, especially in the United States, to absolve individuals of moral responsibility and treat them as victims of social circumstance.  You buy that, you pay with your soul.  IT IS NOT MEN WHO LIMIT WOMEN, IT IS NOT STRAIGHTS WHO LIMIT GAYS, IT IS NOT WHITES WHO LIMIT BLACKS.  WHAT LIMITS PEOPLE IS LACK OF CHARACTER...THEY DON'T HAVE THE FUCKING NERVE OR IMAGINATION TO STAR IN THEIR OWN MOVIE.....LET ALONE DIRECT IT.

"It is MY RIGHT to be UNCOMMON....if I can, and if I dare.  I seek opportunity....not security.  I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me.  I want to take the calculated risk; to dream, to build, to fail, and to succeed.  I refuse to barter incentive for a dole.  I prefer the challenge of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the state calm of utopia.  Let me sing, dance, laugh, play, in my own way.  Let me paint, listen to music, sit in the sun, read a good book, or just look up and watch the stars.  Let me enjoy my quiet inner nature.  I WILL NOT trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout.  I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.  It is my heritage to stand erect, proud, and unafraid:  to think and act for myself, enjoy the benefits of my creations and to face the world boldly and say:  THIS I HAVE DONE.  All this...and more...is what it SHOULD MEAN to be an American."

The source of the above quotation has been ascribed to several folks.  I don't know for sure who wrote it, but I edited it, and that is my edited version above.

(3) A wee science fiction story I once wrote, never published.  Click HERE.

(4) How do you get a turtle out of its shell, so you can cook him?
....You take him to a psychiatrist.

(5) meum dictum pactum     Kind of old-fashioned, but are YOU the type of person that it fits??  why not?

(6) For collectors of trivia:
       For those of the 60's generation of dopers and protesters, etc......the name Alice B. Toklas....from which came 'taking a toke'....was a real person.   Alice B. Toklas and her 'companion'  (as they put it in those days)....was Gertrude Stein....they were QUITE the pair.  They lived in a French Village, and were often seen at the end of WWII, walking with their white poodle Babette, or their dog Basket...or their hound, named Polype.    They also had a cat named Hitler.

(7) Sometimes Friendship is like a bowl of wax fruit, it's beautiful until you put the bite on it.   
    The purpose of an open mind is to close it on something.  
    To heck with whether a glass is half full or half empty...are YOU going to fill my glass, or not?   
    Veritas odit moras.  
    There are two roads in life, the twisty one is more fun.
    Bureaucratic Utopia is when the government takes in more in taxes than the citizens earn.  

(8) The MAHAYANAS, a Buddhist sect, tell the story of a man who often stood on a river bank near his home, looking across the river at the distant opposite shore.  It was often only dimly visible through a foggy mist, but could be seen as unspeakably beautiful.  The hills were lushly green, the trees were all in blossom.  Deer and other forest animals were browsing. Often this man had gazed at this sight, always thinking of how wonderful it might be to live there. 

On a particularly nice day, he found a raft tied at the river's edge.  he untied the raft and paddled towards that distant shore.  The Journey took awhile, as the currents in midstream were swift.  Because of fog and mist, from near the center of the river both shores were often lost from view, and at times he was not sure of the direction he was going.  With considerable effort he continued on, and eventually reached land. 

He stepped out upon the green covered earth with wondrous feelings.  He noticed the green hills, the blossoming trees, the sounds of birds, the browsing deer.

Then, he looked back, but could not see the opposite shore from whence he had departed, due to the fog and mist.  For a moment he was astonished, as there was NO RIVER to be seen, NOR was there any raft!!   ....then, he understood.

Most everyone reading that story will get the first impression that the moral is that one should remember that 'the grass is always greener on the other side of the street'.   Or, perhaps that 'you can't see the forest for the trees'.  Those FEW of you that TRULY understand, will smile differently. 

(9) I allowed my mind without restraint to think of whatever it pleased and my mouth to talk about whatever it pleased.  I forgot the "this and not-this" was mine or other's; whether the gain or loss was mine or other's.  I forgot who was my teacher and who was my friend.  I transformed in and out; and the eye became the ear, the ear like the nose, the nose as the mouth....and there was nothing that was not identified.  The mind was concentrated, the form dissolved, the bones and flesh all thawed away;  I did not know where my form was supported, where my feet treaded.  I just moved with the wind, like a leaf detached from the tree branch.  I was not conscious of whether I was riding the wind or the wind riding on me.
Lieh-tzu

(10) Obituary for the late Mr. Common Sense

We mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the  worm; Life isn't always fair; and Maybe it WAS my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn); reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6 year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. His health declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or a Band-Aid to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.   He'd already taken a beating when Judges ruled that you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and that the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 3 stepbrothers; "I Know My Rights", "Someone Else Is To Blame", and "I'm A Victim", and a step-sister "I come first".

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

(11)   Islam, religious fanatics in general, etc.: 

A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can ...or at least SHOULD....guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

 "Very few people were true Nazis "he said," but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools.... So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."

We are told again and again by "experts" and "talking heads" that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace.  Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.  It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. The hard quantifiable fact is that the "peaceful majority", the "silent majority", is cowed and irrelevant.

Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.  The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.   Rwanda collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were "peace loving"?

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of  points: Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.   Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like the man from Germany , they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have  begun.   Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghanis, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.  As for us who watch it all unfold; we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

(12)   Blatantly copied....about the controversy over illegal immigration (lightly edited by me and very minor comments inserted by me in red):
"The majority of newspapers in this country are Leftist, and won't print "politically incorrect" items or which don't agree with the philosophy they are pushing on the public. This woman wrote a great letter to the editor that should have been published, but with your help it will get published via cyberspace!


New Immigrants
From: "David LaBonte"

My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC (Orange County) Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to "print" it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined.


Dave LaBonte (signed)

Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:

Dear Editor:

So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.

Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr.Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.

They had waved good-bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture.

Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of  prosperity. Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight  over from Germany, Italy, France and Japan. None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United States of America as one people. When we liberated France, no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It  would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.

And here we are in 2006 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.

And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.
(signed) Rosemary LaBonte

 

(13)   The Soul of Wit:
        Promulgating your esoteric cogitations or articulating your superficial sentimentalities and amicable, philosophical, or psychological observations, beware of platitudinous ponderosity!   Let your conversational commmunications demonstrate a clarified conciseness, a compact comprehensibleness, no coalescent conglomerations of preciose garrulity, jejune bafflement and asinine affectations.  Let your extemporaneous verbal evaporations and expatiations have lucidity, intelligibility and veracious vivacity without rodomontade or Thespian bombast.
        Sedulously avoid all polysyllabic profundity, pompous propensity, psittaceous vacuity, ventriloquial verbosity and vaniloquent vapidity. 
        Shun double-entendre, obnoxious jocosity and pestiferous profanity, observable.....or apparent.

((in other words, say what you mean, and don't use big words))