INSPIRATIONAL: The public domain is a priceless resource … … 

Monday, December 15, 2025

https://standardebooks.org/about/standard-ebooks-and-the-public-domain

*** begin quote ***

The public domain is a priceless resource for all of us, and for the generations after us. It’s a free repository of our culture going back centuries—a way for us to see where we came from and to chart where we’re going. It represents our collective cultural heritage.

In the past, copyright was a limited boon, designed not to enrich a creator and their children’s children a hundred years from now, but rather to allow a creator to profit by granting a temporary monopoly on reproduction, in exchange for their work to be returned to the public after a few years. Our ancestors—in fact, the framers of the U.S. Constitution—recognized that art builds on art, and that locking up culture benefits a handful but harms the greater public.

Today, large corporations are putting a lot of money into twisting our laws to slowly but surely strangle the public domain, making it increasingly remote and inaccessible so they can continue seeking rent on ideas and culture nearly a century old. Today laws lock up work not just for the author’s entire lifetime, but for the lifetime of their children, and their children. Copyright can’t enrich the dead, but it can enrich powerful corporations … at our—at everyone’s—expense.

*** end quote ***

This site has lots of free classic content. (It has to be in the 100,000’s count.) I like it for old SciFi classics that I read as a child. It’s a shame that Big Publishing keeps locking up content with ever expanding copyright legislation. I wish this was available when I was in school. Now if they just had textbooks, then I’d never have had to take the subway to the library, Laugh!

P.S.: I put a little money into this site to keep it going.

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INSPIRATIONAL: Nikolai Vavilov was.a pioneer that was killed for his efforts

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

https://nautil.us/the-botanist-who-defied-stalin-238183/

The Botanist Who Defied Stalin

  • His dream of feeding the world died in prison. His dream of a seed bank lives on.

By Lee Alan Dugatkin April 21, 2021

*** begin quote ***

Vavilov, and those who starved at the VIR, could only have dreamed of the technology required to build and maintain a seed vault inside a mountain that sits in the permafrost of Spitsbergen, a remote Norwegian island 1,300 kilometers north of the Arctic circle. But the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is the futuristic version of what Vavilov had begun in 1921. Dubbed the Doomsday Vault, with a proclaimed mission to serve as “a global seed vault to serve as a backup storage facility … to store duplicates (backups) of seed samples from the world’s crop collections,” it opened in 2008, as a repository that would ultimately contain all the world’s crop plant genetic diversity. That vault is capable of storing 4.5 million different varieties of plants within its temperature controlled, -18 degrees Celsius facilities: With an average of 500 seeds per sample, that’s 2.5 billion seeds. Precisely the sort of place that Vavilov had dreamed of.

As of today, 1,074,537 samples from around the globe sit in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Among those samples are 60 boxes from depositor 1739365, the N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Plant Industry. In those boxes lay samples from 148 species and 41 genera of domesticated plants collected from 109 countries. Many are the descendants of the seeds Vavilov himself collected.

*** end quote ***

Reading this article, one can only wonder what could have been if he was in a “capitalist” country like at the time England or the USA was.  Hard to imagine what he went thru to collect samples.  Humanity may not know his name, but his genetic “children” live on forever.

So sad to read all these dedicated people dying of basically starvation and political persecution.  

Next time someone extolls Communism or Socialism, they should be directed to read this.

“Capitalism” may be “bad” and have “flaws”, but Communism, and Socialism aka Communism “lite”, are horrendously worse.  

“The greatest fallacy of democracy is that everyone’s opinion is worth the same.” — Robert A. Heinlein

“Capitalism is a moral system because it offers individual freedom. You choose what you want. You choose your money and where you want it to go. You can be yourself. Socialism is groupthink. Step outside the group straightjacket and freedom ends.” —Stuart Varney

“The answer certainly isn’t socialism. Middle-class voters currently presume that elites already control the government—so why would they want to give the bureaucracy any more power?” — RAHM EMANUEL was the 44th mayor of Chicago

“We all too often have socialism for the rich and rugged free market capitalism for the poor.” — Martin Luther King Jr

This man was an outstanding example of courage and determinatiom.  We should all be like him even in the smallest ways possible.

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INSPIRATIONAL: The Stockdale Paradox: A Philosophic Principle for Tough Times

Thursday, November 6, 2025

https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/advice/stockdale-paradox/

Brett & Kate McKay • October 27, 2025
The Stockdale Paradox: A Philosophic Principle for Tough Times

*** begin quote ***

Years later, when his plane was shot down and he was imprisoned in the infamous POW camp known as the “Hanoi Hilton,” Epictetus’s Enchiridion would become a survival manual for Stockdale and the men he led. It would also help birth a guiding principle that got Stockdale through seven and a half years — four of them in solitary confinement — of torture and debasement: what’s now called the “Stockdale Paradox.”

*** and ***

Stockdale paused and said:

You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

That single sentence became known as the Stockdale Paradox.

In practice, it meant living in two opposing realities at once: facing the brutal truth of the moment while maintaining unbreakable faith in the eventual positive outcome.

*** end quote ***

Brutal honesty and unshakeable faith?

Not sure that if presented with a test like the Hanoi Hilton, then I could conduct myself so well.  One can only hope.  I’d pray make my “tests” small in proportion to my character.

I remember the “Perot – Stockdale” ticket.  

I can’t look into Ross Perot’s soul but I believe he was there as a “spoiler” to allow Bill Clinton to defeat both Bush and Bob Dole.  Near the end of the campaign, I remember Perot’s antics to distroy his chances of winning.  To me it was an obvious prize fighter’s “dive” because the fix was in.

It’s a shame and a national disgrace that “democracy” is really an “oligarchy”.  The Dead Old White Guys must be rolling over.

Sigh!

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INSPIRATIONAL: Bodhana Sivanandan, 10, secured a win over world champion Mariya Muzychuk

Thursday, October 30, 2025

https://www.aol.com/articles/10-old-girl-wonder-chess-042728885.html?guccounter=1

10-Year-Old ‘Girl Wonder’ Chess Prodigy Plays ‘Near Perfect Game’ to Defeat Former Grandmaster
People
Madison E. Goldberg
Wed, October 22, 2025 at 12:27 AM EDT

*** begin quote ***

NEED TO KNOW

  • “Girl wonder” chess prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan, 10, secured a win over world champion Mariya Muzychuk on Oct. 19
  • Sivanandan started playing chess during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • She is on track to potentially become the youngest grandmaster, the highest title possible in professional chess

A 10-year-old British chess prodigy defeated world champion Mariya Muzychuk — putting her one step closer to becoming the youngest grandmaster.

Bodhana Sivanandan has been described as a “girl wonder,” according to British news outlet The Times. Sivanandan, who is from Harrow in northwest London, defeated Muzychuk in what experts called a “near perfect game.”

Sivanandan secured her victory on Oct. 19 at the European Chess Club Cup hosted in Rhodes, Greece, per the outlet. After taking up chess during the COVID-19 when a family member gifted her an old chess board, she became the youngest female player in history to beat a grandmaster — and she did it while sitting on a booster sit to reach the board, according to The Times.

*** end quote ***

I used to play a lot of chess in my much younger days.  Until I found that playing bridge was much more “lucrative”. Laugh! 

Ran into a few great players in Greenwich Village.  Never really cared about rankings.  I realized that it would take a lot of time and study to become really good enough to break into the elite ranks.For the most part, I specialized in “Queen’s Gambit Declined” because most of the players I ran into never played against it and it was often described as a “stifling crowded” opening that frustrated player used to “action”.  It had several “traps” in its opening sequence that the unfamiliar player would blunder into and be easily defeated.  In all my time playing black, no one ever opened with it against me.  Perhaps they knew better. 

Anyway, this young lady’s accomplishments have me in awe of her talent.

I also loved the Netflix trial “Queen’s Gambit” — the role of the fictional “Beth Harmon” was played by a stunning Anya Taylor-Joy — which had nothing to do with the opening and did not accurately report the exploits of Nona Gaprindashvili, who had played competitive chess with men.  

If you haven’t seen it, then you are missing a real winner.

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INSPIRATIONAL: Some times you can use your image to your advantage and do good for the world

Saturday, September 13, 2025

{tip of the old tin foil hat to <Stephen E. Phelps Jr.> for sharing!}

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1A3MmpKyce/

True Stories

Dolly Parton once walked into a boardroom full of men in rhinestones and heels — and walked out owning her own masters. The executives thought she was a naïve country girl who’d sign anything. Instead, she quietly bought back her publishing rights, a move so rare at the time that even industry sharks didn’t see it coming. Decades later, when Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” sold 20 million copies, the checks went to Dolly. She didn’t just write the song — she owned it.

That’s the paradox of Dolly. She leaned into the dumb-blonde jokes, the wigs, the over-the-top curves — and used them as camouflage. People underestimated her, and she liked it that way. Behind the glitter was one of the shrewdest business operators in music. She built Dollywood in rural Tennessee, turning her home into a tourist empire. She funneled money into children’s literacy programs, giving away more than 200 million books. And she did it all while letting the world laugh at her “backwoods Barbie” image.

The kicker? She admitted the caricature was intentional. “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap,” she quipped. The hair, the nails, the laugh — they were her armor, her Trojan horse. She could sparkle her way past prejudice and still walk out with the contract that made her untouchable.

Even Elvis tried to own her. When Colonel Tom Parker demanded half the rights to “I Will Always Love You” for Presley to record it, Dolly said no — sobbing in her car, heartbroken, but unyielding. It may be the single most profitable “no” in music history.

Dolly Parton’s story isn’t about a country diva in sequins. It’s about a woman who weaponized underestimation, sold the world a joke it wanted to hear, and laughed all the way to the bank — while handing out books to children on the side.

# – # – # – # – # 

Way back when, in the 70s, some of my friends were playing a game.  I think it was called “Facts in Five”?  One of the challenges was to name the smartest person you knew of.  My wife assured everyone that she had my answer cold. “Einstein”!  Nope, I had written down “Dolly Parton”.  She went nuts and the entire group.  I explained that she was the shrewdest business lady and the most charitable. I knew of Dollywood and her book donations. 

This story reminded me of that game and added some details about Ms. Parton IDK. 

— 30 —

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INSPIRATIONAL: “We’re talking about recovery, dignity, transformation.”

Sunday, July 27, 2025

https://reasonstobecheerful.world/homeless-san-diegans-bicycle-rides/?utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4b9c55d78644b3a882a4d

Homeless San Diegans Are Bicycling Toward Independence

  • After cycling 100 miles with the group, participants in a unique weekly ride receive a bike of their own.

By: Michaela Haas
July 11, 2025

*** begin quote ***

On a sunlit Thursday morning in downtown San Diego, the sidewalk in front of Father Joe’s Villages buzzes with an excited energy. Nearly two-dozen people, dressed in everything from street clothes to aerodynamic Lycra, gather around a lineup of bicycles and tricycles. Among them are experienced riders from local clubs like Major Taylor and first-timers tentatively gripping handlebars. Towering above most, clad in a neon yellow cycling jersey, is Deacon John Roberts — chaplain, cyclist and the force behind a growing movement that is, quite literally, helping people out of homelessness one mile at a time.

*** and ***

Back at the Villages, Roberts oversees not only the cycling program but the center’s broader spiritual and wellness efforts. With about 50 volunteers, he coordinates meditation groups, music and arts therapy, and spiritual counseling. The bicycle rides are an extension of this work — a chance to connect the physical act of movement with emotional healing and community care.

“We’re not just talking about getting people from point A to point B,” he says. “We’re talking about recovery, dignity, transformation.”

He also offers free maintenance days and partners with several local organizations for support, including the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, Rick Beasley’s 4Wheel BikeShop, the nonprofit Padyak racing team and ReBike San Diego, a nonprofit that collects, repairs and donates bikes. 

*** end quote ***

I love non-Gooferment solutions.  It never ceases to amaze me what motivated individuals can come up with to solve problems.  

If Gooferment politicians and bureaucrats want to REALLY solve problems, they should seek to replicate solutions that private citizens implemented.

— 30 —

 

— 30 —

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INSPIRATIONAL: Red Skelton’s Pledge of Allegiance

Friday, July 4, 2025

https://youtu.be/pGcwRnQUmUw?si=fcL2zf6rcYMx9CQc

Red Skelton’s Pledge of Allegiance

In 1969, Red Skelton performed … a salute to Old Glory, we revisit an all-time classic rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance.

# – # – # – # – # 

I remember that on TV.  Who would miss Red Skelton?  Like Johnny Carson, unmissable!

— 30 —

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INSPIRATIONAL: 17,000 traditional folk songs preserved by Alan Lomax

Thursday, July 3, 2025

FROM 1440 https://join1440.com/

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2025/6/one-man-recorded-over-17000-traditional-folk-songs-to-preserve-the-true-sound-of-america?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4b9c55d78644b3a882a4d

One man recorded over 17,000 traditional folk songs to preserve the true sound of America
By Katherine Gross
Published 13 June 2025

*** begin quote ***

To take a break from his studies, at 17 he joined his father on a work trip sponsored by the Library of Congress to collect folk songs around America. It was from this trip in 1934 that Alan’s legacy as an ethnomusicologist would blossom – over the course of his nearly 70-year career, he would document over 17,000 traditional songs, dances, interviews, and social practices from independent cultures within America to preserve the traditions and diversity of our heritage. 

*** and ***

His life work was collected by the Library of Congress in 2004, and can be explored in the Lomax Digital Archive.

*** end quote ***

I vaguely remember hearing some of these in 1972-1974 when I was stationed in DC.  While the recordings were far from the pristine sound we get today, they were fascinating.  Like saving the Library at Alexandria, humans have a rich history that needs to be preserved.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: Maybe we should change the incentives?

Thursday, March 13, 2025

Found on XTwitter

Image

# – # – # – # – # 

Seems like a great idea!

As a gun owning pro-life pro-choice little L libertarian, I really objected when Gooferment bureaucrats made a big deal out of adoptions by “those people” (i.e., gay, lesbian, single parent).  I’d rather see those children adopted into a loving home than stuck in the “system”.  

https://reinkefaceslife.com/2018/05/05/kansas-oklahoma-approve-religious-veto-on-lgbt-adoptions/

If they are truly so concerned, then schedule follow up visits and such.

But the “system” is no place for children.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: “Archimedes” is a metaphor for the unsolvable problem of how to avoid an unavoidable war

Friday, February 7, 2025

https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B09742MWY9/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

*** begin quote ***

The Great War of Archimedes

Pre-WWII, the Japanese Navy commissioned the creation of impressive “supership” Yamato, strongly opposed by a top official insisting on more strategic and battle-ready warships. After being ignored without cause, Admiral Yamamoto recruits a math genius to help uncover what he soon suspects is a massive 

*** and ***

Customer Review

    B.A. Bengard

    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Movie of the Philosophy of Japan & Humanity

    Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2024

    Verified Purchase

    Not usually a fan of historical fiction, but this Japanese made movie incorporates mixtures of reality, ideology and humanity. Knowing the history of the Pacific war, the culture mindset of imperial Japan and the more ancient ideas behind bushido and the engineering genius of the Yamato, is mixed with fictional characters who have a deeper realization of the effect of war of humanity, especially as it pertains to Japanese cultural mindset. It’s NOT a war movie, but “Archimedes” is a metaphor for the unsolvable problem of how to avoid an unavoidable war. 

*** end quote ***

It is really captivating in the story.  Not sure how real it is but Pearl Harbor was a fact.  And regardless of what the beliefs of the key players really were, they were powerless to stop it.

Kind of like the vets today with the USA involving us in all sorts of “foreign adventures”, when in every vet’s heart, mind, and soul, we know how wrong this is.

Dona Nobis Pacem

And aren’t today’s carriers like the WWII battleships, obsolete. Vulnerable to cheap drones and hypersonic missles Yet the USA keeps building them.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: You can feel the emotions in this writing

Friday, November 15, 2024

https://daringfireball.net/2024/11/how_it_went

How It Went
By John Gruber
Friday, 8 November 2024

*** begin quote ***

My mom died at the end of June this year.

I know, and I’m sorry — that’s a hell of a way to open a piece ostensibly about a depressing, worrisome, frightening election result. But here’s the thing I want to emphasize right up front: my mom’s death was OK. It really was. She was 78, which isn’t that old, but her health had not been great. She was hospitalized for several days in May, just a month prior, after she had collapsed at home, too weak to stand, and for days it wasn’t clear what was wrong. Then some more test results came back and we had the answer. She had ovarian cancer, bad. It had already metastasized. The prognosis was grim: months to live, at best. And those months, toward the end, would inexorably grow ever more painful and profoundly sad.

*** and ***

So, when my dad called me Tuesday morning, I thought it would be the election on his mind. It was all that was on my mind, that’s for sure. He had, in fact, just come back from voting, but it was something else. His voice was chipper, upbeat, but I could tell it wasn’t a good story. I know him too well.

Turns out, he had gone out to eat, by himself, Monday evening. In fact, at the very same restaurant where he and my mom ate their last meal together. He ate, drove home, and once home went to wash his hands before going to bed. That’s when he noticed his wedding band was missing from his finger.

It was lost.

He looked around to no avail, and went to bed without it. In the morning light, he retraced his steps. He felt certain he had it on while at the restaurant — not because he took any note of it while dining, but because he knows he’d have noticed its absence. If you wear a ring every day on the same finger, you know how true that is. He almost never took that ring off.

At some point when I was a little kid, my dad told me he had never once removed his ring since my mom put it on his finger at their wedding, the year before I was born. 

*** and ***

I told my wife about my dad’s ring and she almost burst into tears. She loves him so much. “He just lost your mom”, she said.

*** end quote ***

Maybe I’ve just had too much emotion this week.  A lot of deaths since last Thanksgiving, a lot of deaths of people near me, a lot of deaths of celebrities I “knew” as a child, and even deaths of fellow alumni I never knew.  Sigh!

In recounting the death of the author’s Mom, I could feel again the pain that it brings. Sadness can be overwhelming.

Not sure what lesson to take away from this.  

But one can NOT wallow in self-pity.  It happens to everyone everywhere in every age.

“My love, were it in my power, I would sadly grant thee this boon. But, we have to continue to follow His Plan for us. Let’s go forth and speak no more of this. Who ever is last will be last. It will be His choice; not ours. We’re but humble custodians of His temple on earth. It’s not our place to trump His plan. Whatever that plan be, know that I will be with you to my last breath.” — character “John” in CHURCH 10●19●62 Volume 2 Page 399

That’s all I can say now. “Who ever is last will be last.”

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: So you think you’re so smart? These young ladies put us to shame

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

https://www.livescience.com/physics-mathematics/mathematics/high-school-students-who-came-up-with-impossible-proof-of-pythagorean-theorem-discover-9-more-solutions-to-the-problem?utm_placement=newsletter

High school students who came up with ‘impossible’ proof of Pythagorean theorem discover 9 more solutions to the problem

By Sascha Pare published 2 days ago

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2024-10-28>>

*** begin quote ***

In a new peer-reviewed study, Ne’Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson outlined 10 ways to solve the Pythagorean theorem using trigonometry, including a proof they discovered in high school.

Two students who discovered a seemingly impossible proof to the Pythagorean theorem in 2022 have wowed the math community again with nine completely new solutions to the problem.

While still in high school, Ne’Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson from Louisiana used trigonometry to prove the 2,000-year-old Pythagorean theorem, which states that the sum of the squares of a right triangle’s two shorter sides are equal to the square of the triangle’s longest side (the hypotenuse). Mathematicians had long thought that using trigonometry to prove the theorem was unworkable, given that the fundamental formulas for trigonometry are based on the assumption that the theorem is true.

Jackson and Johnson came up with their “impossible” proof in answer to a bonus question in a school math contest. They presented their work at an American Mathematical Society meeting in 2023, but the proof hadn’t been thoroughly scrutinized at that point. Now, a new paper published Monday (Oct. 28) in the journal American Mathematical Monthly shows their solution held up to peer review. Not only that, but the two students also outlined nine more proofs to the Pythagorean theorem using trigonometry.

*** end quote ***

These young ladies make me feel dumb. Wonder how many hidden young talents are out there? Lost over the decades because humans as a species are really “dumb” too.

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INSPIRATIONAL: The greatest books of wisdom are available free — a donation would be appreciated

Saturday, November 2, 2024

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-social-contract/g-d-h-cole

The Social Contract
Jean-Jacques Rousseau

  • 56,521 words (3 hours 26 minutes) with a reading ease of 50.91 (fairly difficult)
  • Translated by G. D. H. Cole.
  • Part of the Encyclopædia Britannica’s Great Books of the Western World set.  

*** begin quote ***

In The Social Contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau presents a political philosophy based on the principle that legitimate authority originates from the consent of the people. Individuals willingly surrender their rights in order to create a collective sovereign, which embodies the general will of the people.

Rousseau examines different forms of government, addresses the challenges of ensuring that a government executes the general will of the people, and addresses the need for safeguards against the abuse of power. He demonstrates that active citizenship and a strong social compact are crucial for maintaining a just and free society.

*** end quote ***

I read this in High School because it was on a summer reading list.  (Those Christian Brothers really knew how to ruin a boy’s summer.  Bless their souls.  It sunk in after one or more decades.) I had to go to the library to read it.  (It was only available in an expensive hard cover.  My money went to comic books.)  At the library I saw a complete set of the Great Books of the Western World from the Encyclopædia Britannica.  I was awed by the row.  Didn’t read them but I could have. (Shoulda, coulda, and woulda!)

It is amazing at the “riches” the net provides if it’s just used properly.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: Ultimately, life ends in a loss – the loss of you

Monday, October 21, 2024

https://www.casinocitytimes.com/frank-scoblete/article/quit-when-youre-ahead-68816

casinocitytimes.com
Quit When You’re Ahead
Frank Scoblete 

*** begin quote ***

When it comes to casino games? Here is the truth: You will lose after a few decisions or you’ll lose today or tonight or after a few days or finally at some time or other or after your very first bet never to get to the world of the winner.

The casino knows that too. And you should know that too if you understand how the casino structures the games to give themselves the edge.

Ultimately, life ends in a loss – the loss of you. So, enjoy your time in a sane way and don’t give yourself an impossible criterion to live up to. You have enough crazy things to live up to.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

*** end quote ***

Pretty “inspiring” advice.  But, taken to heart, it makes one not take “stuff” to seriously.

As I reach “the end of my personal trail” as the cowboys say in the old TV westerns, I’m becoming much more “philosophical’.

New tires, sure who cares.  More political “Barbara streisand”, why tolerate it.  Maybe this is the new me?  Look forward to more rants!

—30— 

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INSPIRATIONAL: How to be a good father to your ex and your children

Sunday, October 13, 2024

FROM QUORA

*** begin quote ***

Regular People & Their Amazing Stories
Posted by Richard Strachan

“”This is my ex. This right here is more valuable than gold.

This is a man who doesn’t pay a dime through the state because when my son needs new clothes, I just call him.

This is a man who buys a bundle of kids’ movies on Vudu so even I can enjoy them with my son in my own home.

A man who drops off the $45 box of pull-ups at my front door so I don’t have to load my son up and go to the store.

One who takes his son in on 10 minute notice, far more often than he should, because I have too much to get done or just need a nap.

This is a man who listens to me cry because I’m stressed out.

This is a man who tells his son not to forget mommy’s boyfriend when he lists his favorite people off the top of his head.

A man who rushes over because we got locked out of the house, or spends his evening fixing something for us.

This is a man who labeled the presents he bought his son from ‘mommy’ because mommy couldn’t get him as many.

A man who still watches my sister’s kids so our son can be with his cousins.

One who accompanies me to meet strangers from Craigslist to ensure we are safe.

This is the diaper-bag-wearing, chocolate-milk-making, selfless, protective, generous, accomplished FATHER to my son.

The amount of obstacles we’ve had to overcome to get to this point are tremendous. This was not easy; this was a choice. Stop giving excuses and come together for your children. I’m the most stubborn person I know and forgiveness came easy to us for the sake of our son. And because of that, I see my son every single day. We always welcome each other’s presence.

In case I haven’t told you lately, I’m grateful for you. Most importantly, for the motivated individual you are and how you provide Pierson with a phenomenal role model despite the foundation you once had. I love the amount of love my son will always have from you.””

Credit: Jessica Singleton

*** end quote ***

I’ve seen lot of broken homes and this “ex” should be the exemplar that we all seek to emulate.

Makes me sad to think of what could have been.

In my own life and those of many many others.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: “Tests” and school should NOT obsure the real purpose of education

Sunday, October 6, 2024

FROM QUORA

*** begin quote ***

Regular People & Their Amazing Stories
Posted by Taresa Strachan

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“I gave my 10 year old a math test today. He spent nearly an hour and used four sheets of scratch paper. He worked each problem with intense concentration. And then with a deep breath he handed it to me to be graded.

I quickly worked my way through the test and calculated his score.

“It’s an 89” I said, “that’s a high B.”

Immediately his eyes filled with tears. He had done his best work, given his greatest effort and had still come up short.

I looked at my boy and back down at his paper.

And then I ripped it in half.

My boy is amazing in the kitchen. He can cook a meal for the entire family without breaking a sweat.

My boy is incredible at putting things together. He uses tools like a skilled craftsman.

My boy is a founding member of the mother/son debate team, (I just made that up) he can persuade me into doing things I never planned to do.

My boy is hilarious. He is always the first one to make a joke at the dinner table.

My boy is a sensitive soul. He’s kind and gentle when that sort of thing is necessary.

My boy is diligent. He will work at something until he feels it’s as good as it can be.

My boy is NOT defined by the grade on his math paper.

When I ripped that paper up, I looked my boy in the eyes and I told him how I had watched him. How I saw him give his best, how he considered each problem and checked each one until he felt it was complete. I watched him erase and rework problems he was unsure of. I watched him pour every bit of effort in his little body into that test.

And I told him I had never been more proud.

Children are so much more than test scores. They are so much more than their reading level. They are so much more than the box we try to mold them in to.

School is important, education is important but it’s not of highest importance.

I am more concerned with how he treats others, with his level of integrity and his desire to serve Jesus than any score on any test.

I am more concerned with his ability to learn how to use his talents to earn money for his family.

I am more concerned with the character that we are building than the division facts on the paper.

Our children should have an opportunity to show us where they excel, especially in the elementary years.

I was shocked at the pressure he felt to do well on that test. I never imagined the tears of disappointment that would fall. I admire his ambition and his desire to do well.

I have never been more proud of an 89 on a math test.”

Credit: Sprinkles In My Closet

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Just the other night I saw a seven year old ADHD boy master “counting by twos” page of homework.  He got in a rhythm, had fun, big smile,and was so pleased with himself.  I gave him a round of applause and he was even prouder.  

Not that he still won’t get in trouble for doing dumb things, but he says “he hates math because it’s hard”, I’ll remind him of “adding twos”. 

It’s more important that he seeks that endorphin filled moment of accomplishment so that when life’s problems face him  — as they do for us all  — he can slog through them without being discouraged.

I’m sure he’ll remember these formative positive moments long after his adults are gone.

That’s the essential human teaching to leave behind.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: Tom Wodds gives his product away for free

Sunday, July 14, 2024

FROM TOM WOODS’ EMAIL

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In this atmosphere, I have decided not to charge for my US history courses anymore but instead to give them away for free.

If you want them, they’re yours. If you suffered from educational malpractice, here’s how to learn what they should have taught you but didn’t:

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https://www.WoodsHistory.com

# – # – # – # – # 

What a gift!  The gift of dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom) free from Tom’s own pocket.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: Saving the past for the future

Sunday, June 23, 2024

https://mymodernmet.com/sakya-monastery-library/?utm_placement=newsletter

Ancient Library in Tibet Creating Digital Archive of Its 84,000 Scriptures
By Regina Sienra on June 15, 2024

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Tibet’s Sakya Monastery is home to many wonders. Founded in 1073, its collection includes some of the oldest Tibetan artwork, as well as 84,000 ancient manuscripts and books. Given its remote location, the contents of this library may seem out of reach for international scholars. Luckily, in an attempt to preserve these ancient documents, the Sakya Monastery Library began digitizing its assets in 2011 and is well underway in its mission.

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No one has any idea what “treasure” or “trash” can be found in this library.  But preserving it ensures that The Future might learn from The Past.  Given the advances in AI, who knows what dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom) is in this archive of human thought.  It might take another 1,000 years to unlock it but “books” are the essence of the human experience.  Maybe there is a cure for cancer, athlete’s foot, or just an inspiring poem.  It’s important that it will be no longer “lost”.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: Perhaps we can learn the elephants’ names?

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00797-z

NEWS
10 June 2024
Do elephants have names for each other?

  • Machine learning and careful observation suggest that some of the animals’ calls are specific to individuals, similar to a person’s name.

By Gemma Conroy 

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Call Me By My Name

A study yesterday revealed wild elephants may address each other by name, becoming one of only a handful of animals known to use unique sounds to address one another. 

The study examined 469 low-rumble sounds recorded from female African savanna elephants and their offspring from 1988 to 2022. A machine-learning model (see overview) analyzing the sounds was able to identify the elephant being addressed 27.5% of the time, a much higher rate than when the model was fed random audio. Researchers playing the audio clips in the wild elicited responses from the elephants in question, including movement toward the speaker as well as ear flapping and trunk movements.

It’s not clear which parts of the audio are the “names” or how naming conventions might work. Bottlenose dolphins and orange-fronted parakeets mimic each other’s signature noises (w/video) to get each other’s attention, while humans use naming conventions and dogs respond when called.

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How little we know about our world and the things in it!

Not sure if this doesn’t mean that these are sentient intelligent creatures of God.

Sure makes me wonder.  Gobsmacked is another word for this finding. 

Makes its ones step closer to being Doctor Dolittle.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: WWOBD is the exemplar of “be the change you want to be”

Saturday, April 27, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/04/17/entertainment/mariska-hargitay-helps-lost-child-find-her-parent-while-filming-law-and-order-svu-in-nyc/

 ‘Law & Order: SVU’ star Mariska Hargitay mistaken for real-life cop by lost child

  • Mariska Hargitay helps lost child find her parent while filming ‘Law and Order: SVU’ in NYC

By Jack Hobbs
Published April 17, 2024, 3:06 p.m. ET

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Shortly before the 25th season premiere, Hargitay told People how the show has impacted her.

“We’ve been on a parallel journey,” she said. “There’s a thing: WWOBD, ‘What would Olivia Benson do?’ The fans would always talk about it, and one day it hit me. I also have those moments where I’ve sort of slipped into her.”

“If there’s a crisis, I just take over and lead like that. Being strong and fearless. It’s sort of this perfect feminist story.”

*** end quote ***

Life imitates art or visa verso.

The lesson is that if you pretend to be “strong and fearless”, then you can become “strong and fearless” IRL.

Interesting and inspirational to have this concept echoed in a beautiful story.

WWOBD. WWJD.  What Would <insert your personal hero> Do.

Maybe “What Should I Do” that would make my Mom proud?

Only you can answer.

—30—

 

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INSPIRATIONAL: WWOBD is the exemplar of “be the change you want to be”

Saturday, April 27, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/04/17/entertainment/mariska-hargitay-helps-lost-child-find-her-parent-while-filming-law-and-order-svu-in-nyc/

 ‘Law & Order: SVU’ star Mariska Hargitay mistaken for real-life cop by lost child

  • Mariska Hargitay helps lost child find her parent while filming ‘Law and Order: SVU’ in NYC

By Jack Hobbs
Published April 17, 2024, 3:06 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

Shortly before the 25th season premiere, Hargitay told People how the show has impacted her.

“We’ve been on a parallel journey,” she said. “There’s a thing: WWOBD, ‘What would Olivia Benson do?’ The fans would always talk about it, and one day it hit me. I also have those moments where I’ve sort of slipped into her.”

“If there’s a crisis, I just take over and lead like that. Being strong and fearless. It’s sort of this perfect feminist story.”

*** end quote ***

Life imitates art or visa verso.

The lesson is that if you pretend to be “strong and fearless”, then you can become “strong and fearless” IRL.

Interesting and inspirational to have this concept echoed in a beautiful story.

WWOBD. WWJD.  What Would <insert your personal hero> Do.

Maybe “What Should I Do” that would make my Mom proud?

Only you can answer.

—30—

 

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INSPIRATIONAL: WWOBD is the exemplar of “be the change you want to be”

Saturday, April 27, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/04/17/entertainment/mariska-hargitay-helps-lost-child-find-her-parent-while-filming-law-and-order-svu-in-nyc/

 ‘Law & Order: SVU’ star Mariska Hargitay mistaken for real-life cop by lost child

  • Mariska Hargitay helps lost child find her parent while filming ‘Law and Order: SVU’ in NYC

By Jack Hobbs
Published April 17, 2024, 3:06 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

Shortly before the 25th season premiere, Hargitay told People how the show has impacted her.

“We’ve been on a parallel journey,” she said. “There’s a thing: WWOBD, ‘What would Olivia Benson do?’ The fans would always talk about it, and one day it hit me. I also have those moments where I’ve sort of slipped into her.”

“If there’s a crisis, I just take over and lead like that. Being strong and fearless. It’s sort of this perfect feminist story.”

*** end quote ***

Life imitates art or visa verso.

The lesson is that if you pretend to be “strong and fearless”, then you can become “strong and fearless” IRL.

Interesting and inspirational to have this concept echoed in a beautiful story.

WWOBD. WWJD.  What Would <insert your personal hero> Do.

Maybe “What Should I Do” that would make my Mom proud?

Only you can answer.

—30—

 

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INSPIRATIONAL: Is DJT the “Gray Champion” of the The Fourth Turning?

Thursday, April 25, 2024

https://sashastone.substack.com/p/the-lawfare-made-me-a-trump-supporter

The Lawfare made me a Trump supporter

  • The Grifters are red-pilling Americans by the day…

Sasha Stone Apr 13, 2024

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Gray Champions aren’t born. They are made.

Neil Howe was asked back in 2016 if he thought Trump was the Gray Champion of his book The Fourth Turning.

He points out that Trump is a Baby Boomer, which is usually what we’d expect from a Gray Champion, though it’s not absolute.

Here is how Neil Howe describes the Gray Champion in The Fourth Turning is Here, his follow-up to the first book:

“What are the typical attributes of the Gray Champion? Boundless self-confidence. Uncompromising principle. Contempt for the status quo. Inability to back down or give up. Yet also a simplicity of manner and a serenity of soul. And the charismatic ability to reconnect the rising generation with its cultural heritage. Oriented toward final ends, the Gray Champion can be careless about the human or material cost of attaining them.

Who else but a Gray Champion would challenge the results of a corrupt election? Who would ever have the nerve to do such a thing? Who would ever run again for office after two impeachments and four indictments? Well, a Gray Champion would.

One thing we know for sure is that it isn’t Joe Biden.

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I’m not a fan of DJT but he is our last best hope to save America.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: Several therapy dogs bring children happiness during tought times

Monday, April 8, 2024

https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-therapy-dog-at-ann-arbors-mott-childrens-hospital/?ICID=ref_fark

Health
A day in the life of a therapy dog at Ann Arbor’s Mott Children’s Hospital
By Meredith Bruckner
Updated on: April 2, 2024 / 9:10 AM EDT / CBS Detroit 

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Dashiel is a three-year-old therapy dog who works primarily with oncology patients. 

Carly Reeves is about to receive an infusion when she sees a familiar face. 

“Dashiel!” she shouts down the hall. 

Reeves’ mom, Cassandra Mansfield, said Dash has been a steady presence during her time in the hospital. 

“He’s a good therapy dog,” said Mansfield. “He’s helped a lot through our treatment process.” 

Alanna Rock’s son, Jack, has been in the hospital for nearly two years. 

She said seeing the dogs lifts her mood. 

“No matter how bad of a day you’re having, there’s just something about a dog for me anyway,” said Rock. “You see them with their little golden retriever waddle walking around, and it just makes you laugh.” 

*** end quote ***

Seems like this should be standard MO at all children’s hospitals.  Like combining children’s day care with assisted living, or housing students in elder villages, sometimes ideas need to “come together”.

Can’t cost that much to change our views.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith states the American ideal

Thursday, April 4, 2024

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2024/03/28/everybody-doesnt-deserve-same-espns-stephen-a-smith-promotes-equality-of-opportunity-over-outcome/

‘Everybody Doesn’t Deserve the Same’: ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith Promotes ‘Equality of Opportunity’ over Outcome

Paul Bois  —  28 Mar 2024

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ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith recently promoted the idea of “equality of opportunity” over the more egalitarian “Equality of Outcome” that left-leaning theorists extoll.

Smith made his somewhat surprising position on the subject known during an interview on the PBD Podcast hosted by Patrick Bet-David, in which he said that “people who produce more ultimately end up more successful than those who don’t.”

“One of the things that I have a problem with when I look at things that are transpiring in this country, you can’t in the same breath talk about capitalism, talk about how it’s equal opportunity that we want, but everybody doesn’t deserve the same, it’s about your level of production,” he said.

“Some people are high-end earners, some people are high-level producers and stuff. And you know, they’re getting treated, they might earn more than somebody that just don’t have that skill set. That’s the world we’re living in,” he added.

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I was pleased that someone repeats Doctor King’s wish about “content of character” rather than color.

The NBA is a classic example of the best rise to the top.  Is the system perfect?  No.  But it does demonstrate what is possible when we have “equal opportunity”.

Now if we could just have equality in the law, then we ca get back to doing productive work.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: All senior residences should have child care included

Saturday, March 9, 2024

https://www.boredpanda.com/nursery-elderly-care-home-happiness/

Wholesome

Feb 28, 2024

All Heaven Broke Loose When Preschool Opened Inside Of Care Home

Margo Butautaite

BoredPanda staff

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Do you remember your childhood when the days seemed sunnier and longer? Perhaps now, the smell of pancakes with strawberry jam or a particular flower takes you back to your grandparents’ place. In those memories, your grandparents seem younger and healthier, which was definitely the case – the presence of children makes the elderly more active and reminds them of wonderful days gone by. So, it wasn’t surprising that when a nursery opened in an elderly care home, both age groups saw immense benefits.

Sadness and loneliness among elderly people at this care home are becoming a thing of the past thanks to new, innovative ideas

*** end quote ***

Seems obvious and good for all involved.

—30—

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