Let’s get out of this country ( Read more... )

"As far as the education of children is concerned I think they should be taught not the little virtues but the great ones. Not thrift but generosity and an indifference to money; not caution but courage and a contempt for danger; not shrewdness but frankness and a love of truth; not tact but love for one's neighbour and self-denial; not a desire ( Read more... )

Forward the Far-Right Brigade!
Was there a man dismayed?
No, though the soldier knew
Someone had blundered:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the Valley of Death
Drove the one thousand...

U.S. Toll in Iraq Reaches Grim Milestone(Reuters) - The American death toll in Iraq topped 1,000 on Tuesday ( Read more... )

The city of Sophronia is made up of two half-cities. In one there is the great roller coaster with its steep humps, the carousel with its chain spokes, the Ferris wheel of spinning cages, the death-ride with crouching motorcyclists, the big top with the clump of trapezes hanging in the middle. The other half-city is of stone and marble and cement, ( Read more... )

In the process of unifying China, the "first emperor" Qin Shi Huang Di attempted to crushed all dissent and debate. The great Chinese historian Sima Qian records the Qin Emperor's chief adviser, Li Si, saying thus ( Read more... )

My sister left for Australia yesterday. She'll spend a semester studying at the University of Tasmania, in Hobart. She called today, seems to like the place. Apparently it reminds her a bit of Sausalito.

In my Blakean year ( Read more... )

A friend of mine gave birth to her second child last month. She would not be pleased with the following story, which I found in Motley Fool:

"According to an ABC News report published last Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) first postponed, then watered down, a series of TV ads promoting breast-feeding of infants -- at the ( Read more... )

On Friday, I dusted the cobwebs from my bike and rode along PCH to San Clemente. I hadn't planned to make it there, but I felt like going after reaching Laguna Beach, and then Dana Point. The weather was unusually cool for June, and the cloud cover was helpful. I made a number of short detours, the first at my friend Albert's place in a new ( Read more... )

Today I returned to my main job-like activity for the past two plus months: working as a small-claims mediator at Orange County Superior Court. It's nice to be active again, using the Alternate Dispute Resolution skills I learned during law school, and providing a needed service to the community ( Read more... )