On Love, Loss, Logic, Lackadaisy, and Lessons
On February 14th in 1884, Teddy Roosevelt's mother died from typhoid, and a few hours later his wife died from Bright's Disease, only two days after having given birth to their son. I'm not even going to tell you what his journal entry from that day said. (Check the addendum, if you dare.)
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I hope your Valentine's Day isn't any worse than his!
February 14, 2023
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A lot of people are worried about the risks of the vaccine, but seem unconcerned about the risks covid. They read about the one person who had a negative effect and think they are the normal example.
A good friend did some research recently and said that at our age with no co-morbidities, we stand a 1in 90 chance of dying if we get it. He actually had it at the time. That is like playing Russian roulette with one bullet and 15 six-shooters. Not great odds when your life hangs in the balance!
Somehow I don't think that the vaccine is going to cause hundreds of thousands of deaths. Even if the vaccine gives us a 1 in 91 chance of dying, strictly due to the vaccine, those are better odds than living through covid.
Fear of the vaccine based on a few specific cases in the news is known as the availability cognitive bias. We give disproportionate weight to info we have access to. We might focus on one article where the vaccine affected someone negatively, while ignoring the hundreds of thousands it saved because there aren't articles written about them.
Cognitive biases and logical fallacies... one could write an Encyclopedia Britannica-sized book on their applicability over the past year.
February 14, 2021
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"It is what it is."
Thankfully Raskin rescued the phrase from Trump who used it a few months ago to minimize Covid deaths, and since then I haven't been able to use it. It's one of my go-to nothing statement to bring things to a close. Now I can use it again, although Seinfeld wouldn't think much of me. From his special, 23 Hours To Kill:
We like to give our thoughts, our comments, our opinions. Sometimes, we run out of opinions. We make them up. “It is what it is” is a very popular opinion statement nowadays. I’m sure some idiot said it to you today. You can’t get through a day without somebody going, “Well, it is what it is.” Why are you alive? To just say air words that fill the room with meaningless sounds? I’d rather someone blew clear air into my face than said, “It is what it is” to me one more time. Just come up to me and go [blowing air] ‘Cause I get the same data from that! People like to say those things. “It is what it is.” You see, if you repeat a word twice in a sentence, you can say that with a lot of confidence. “Business is business.” “Rules are rules.” “Deal’s a deal.” “When we go in there, as long as we know what’s what and who’s who, whatever happens, happens, and it is what it is.”
February 14, 2021
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Mitch McConnell's speech condemning Trump should be read by all. He accepted the substance of every point made by the house managers, and the first half of his speech could serve as their closing arguments. Mitch is more politics than human, and he deserves exactly zero credit for his meager attempt to do what is right. Nevertheless, his speech crystallizes the fact that this is not a left vs right issue. As far as I'm concerned, his speech is the Republican Senate's position on the substance of the case, and any Trump supporter's claims of tribalism can be pointed directly to it.
The constitutionality portion of their argument can be ignored, particularly by any so-called constitutional originalist wishing to pretend that at the time the Constitution was written that impeachments weren't conducted after people left office, to keep them from returning to office.
But nevertheless, read the good part of what he said:
January 6th was a disgrace.
American citizens attacked their own government. They used terrorism to try to stop a specific piece of democratic business they did not like.
Fellow Americans beat and bloodied our own police. They stormed the Senate floor. They tried to hunt down the Speaker of the House. They built a gallows and chanted about murdering the Vice President.
They did this because they had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth — because he was angry he'd lost an election.
Former President Trump's actions preceding the riot were a disgraceful dereliction of duty.
The House accused the former President of, quote, 'incitement.' That is a specific term from the criminal law.
Let me put that to the side for one moment and reiterate something I said weeks ago: There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day.
The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their President.
And their having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories, and reckless hyperbole which the defeated President kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth.
The issue is not only the President's intemperate language on January 6th.
It is not just his endorsement of remarks in which an associate urged 'trial by combat.'
It was also the entire manufactured atmosphere of looming catastrophe; the increasingly wild myths about a reverse landslide election that was being stolen in some secret coup by our now-President.
I defended the President's right to bring any complaints to our legal system. The legal system spoke. The Electoral College spoke. As I stood up and said clearly at the time, the election was settled.
But that reality just opened a new chapter of even wilder and more unfounded claims.
The leader of the free world cannot spend weeks thundering that shadowy forces are stealing our country and then feign surprise when people believe him and do reckless things.
Sadly, many politicians sometimes make overheated comments or use metaphors that unhinged listeners might take literally.
This was different.
This was an intensifying crescendo of conspiracy theories, orchestrated by an outgoing president who seemed determined to either overturn the voters' decision or else torch our institutions on the way out.
The unconscionable behavior did not end when the violence began.
Whatever our ex-President claims he thought might happen that day... whatever reaction he says he meant to produce... by that afternoon, he was watching the same live television as the rest of the world.
A mob was assaulting the Capitol in his name. These criminals were carrying his banners, hanging his flags, and screaming their loyalty to him.
It was obvious that only President Trump could end this.
Former aides publicly begged him to do so. Loyal allies frantically called the Administration.
But the President did not act swiftly. He did not do his job. He didn't take steps so federal law could be faithfully executed, and order restored.
Instead, according to public reports, he watched television happily as the chaos unfolded. He kept pressing his scheme to overturn the election!
Even after it was clear to any reasonable observer that Vice President Pence was in danger... even as the mob carrying Trump banners was beating cops and breaching perimeters... the President sent a further tweet attacking his Vice President.
Predictably and foreseeably under the circumstances, members of the mob seemed to interpret this as further inspiration to lawlessness and violence.
Later, even when the President did halfheartedly begin calling for peace, he did not call right away for the riot to end. He did not tell the mob to depart until even later.
And even then, with police officers bleeding and broken glass covering Capitol floors, he kept repeating election lies and praising the criminals.
In recent weeks, our ex-President's associates have tried to use the 74 million Americans who voted to re-elect him as a kind of human shield against criticism.
Anyone who decries his awful behavior is accused of insulting millions of voters.
That is an absurd deflection.
74 million Americans did not invade the Capitol. Several hundred rioters did.
And 74 million Americans did not engineer the campaign of disinformation and rage that provoked it.
One person did.
"I have made my view of this episode very plain."
February 14, 2021
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Just crossed my mind that we used to talk on the phone long distance all the time for a fortune, and now that it's free we never talk at all.
February 14, 2018
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Scientific Valentines, by Stephanie Burrows.
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Lesson learned: never hire Swamp Thing to drain the swamp.
February 14, 2017
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But seriously, as this Trump/Russia thing continues to get fleshed out, what will the guy do to try to deflect focus? What cards has he not shown? Scary to consider...
February 14, 2017
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I just asked Gretel who this is. She said, "Daddy!" Then I asked her who the pig is. She said, "Daddy!"
February 14, 2016
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Granted, I'm not the greatest legal mind of my generation, but here's my analysis of Scalia's Constitutional Originalism, as it applies to things that have come up since the Constitution was written (human rights, gay marriage, super PACs, assault weapons, etc.)
If he liked something a lower court disallowed, he determined the Constitution didn't forbid it. If he didn't like something a lower court allowed, he determined the Constitution didn't explicitly allow it. So through a semantic trick, he got the Constitution to support all of his personal beliefs.
February 14, 2016
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Happy Mandatory Valentines Day!
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If you pray to a god you don't believe in, does it still count?
February 14, 2010
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On this day in 1779, James Cook was killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.
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James Knox Polk was photographed on this day in 1849, the first serving president to have his photograph taken.
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The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre took place on this day in 1929. Seven rivals of Al Capone's gang were murdered in Chicago. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I hope your Valentine's Day isn't any worse than theirs!
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On this day in 1989, Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini sent a Valentine's fatwa to Salman Rushdie, encouraging Muslims to kill him for publishing The Satanic Verses.
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It's YouTube's birthday, launched on this day in 2005.
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What???
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Welsh international footballer, Dick Richards, was born on this day in 1895. He sounds like an asshole.
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Florence Henderson was born on this day in 1934.
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Jim Jefferies joined us on this day in 1977. His new special comes out today on Netflix- High and Dry. But I've already seen it in person!
"The bible, that’s God's book, as far as I know the devil hasn’t brought out a book yet, haven’t heard his side of the argument. God’s just writing shit about him, and the devil’s being the bigger man and saying I’m not even going to comment, talking shit about me like that."
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Other notable birthdays- Thelma Ritter (1905), Mel Allen (1913), Jimmy Hoffa (1913), Carl Bernstein (1944), Terry Gross (1951)
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The mathematician, physicist, and philosopher David Hilbert left us on this day in 1943.
"The infinite! No other question has ever moved so profoundly the spirit of man."
When he found out that a student left mathematics to study poetry he said, "Good, he did not have enough imagination to become a mathematician."
He also said, "Mathematics is a game played according to certain simple rules with meaningless marks on paper."
In my history of mathematics class in college, the professor put this picture up on the overhead projector and said that he felt it was important that we were exposed to it.
I was the only one who laughed, but maybe it wasn't a joke.
His epitaph was his response to the Latin maxim: "Ignoramus et ignorabimus," meaning "We do not know and we shall not know":
We must know.
We shall know.
(Wir müssen wissen.
Wir werden wissen.)
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P. G. Wodehouse left us as well on this day in 1975.
"He had the look of one who had drunk the cup of life and found a dead beetle at the bottom."
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Buddy Knox left us on this day in 1999. I've always loved this transcendent oldie. (Second Knox in this post.)
PARTY DOLL
Well all I want is a party doll
To come along with me when I'm feelin' wild
To be everlovin', true and fair
To run her fingers through my hair
Come along and be my party doll
Come along and be my party doll
Come along and be my party doll
I'll make love to you, to you, I'll make love to you
Well I saw a gal walkin' down the street
The kind of a gal I'd love to meet
She had blond hair and eyes of blue
Baby, I wanna have a party with you
Come along and be my party doll
Come along and be my party doll
Come along and be my party doll
I'll make love to you, to you, I'll make love to you
Every man has got to have a party doll
To be with him when he's feelin' wild
To be everlovin', true and fair
To run her fingers through his hair
To run her fingers through his hair
Come along and be my party doll
Come along and be my party doll
Come along and be my party doll
I'll make love to you, to you, I'll make love to you
Come along and be my party doll
Come along and be my party doll
Come along and be my party doll
I'll make love to you, to you, I'll make love to you
https://youtu.be/NL7MJ-a2Kx4
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When I saw Johnny Weir, I thought Pee Wee Herman was playing a super-gay greaser in some sort of modern remake of the Outsiders.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/13/johnny-weir-threats-very-_n_461367.html
February 14, 2010
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Ebaums World- 24 Creepy Vintage Photos That Will Haunt Your Dreams
Wow. What it says will happen will happen. Check them out.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/view/83877453/
February 14, 2014
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Michael Shermer- Unweaving the Heart
Happy Valentine's Day, in a sense.
https://michaelshermer.com/sciam-columns/unweaving-the-heart/#more-64
Feb 14, 2014 5:36:50pm
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Buzzfeed- 58 Romantic Comedies You Need To See Before You Die
It might surprise you how strongly this list starts (including Harold and Maude at #9), but then it falls to pieces after the mid-teens.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/romantic-comedies-you-need-to-see-before-you-die
February 14, 2014
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The Marginalian- What Is Love? Great Definitions from 400 Years of Great Literature
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/01/01/what-is-love/
February 14, 2014
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Independent- These Werner Herzog motivational posters will make you feel suitably misanthropic
Also for Valentine's Day...
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/these-werner-herzog-motivational-posters-will-make-you-feel-suitably-misanthropic-10040547.html
February 14, 2015
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Sorry
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Vivian Maier
Chauncey???
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E.E. Cummings, 100 Selected Poems
What if a dawn of a doom of a dream
bites this universe in two,
peels forever out of his grave,
and sprinkles nowhere with me and you?
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Albert Schweitzer- “In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.”
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Lewis black:
“I don’t care where you are, the weather in February is supposed to be awful. The weather should be gray — rainy gray, snow gray, horrible gray, everyday. It just gets grayer and grayer. You finally call up your boss, go, ‘I'm not coming in.’
“Boss goes, ‘Why? Are you sick?’
“‘No, it’s too gray. I don’t know if it’s dawn or dusk. Why does the sun bother to come out?’
“And then you wake up on Valentine’s Day, and it’s so gray out you actually look at your wrist and think, ‘Hey, maybe I should slit them to see color.’”
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H.L. Mencken, In Defense Of Women- "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary."
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Lincoln- "The best way to predict your future is to create it."
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William S. Burroughs- “Love is a haunting melody that I have never mastered, and I fear I never will.”
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Kant- "Treat people as an end, and never as a means to an end."
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Ernest Hemingway, 88 Poems:
If my Valentine you won't be,
I'll hang myself on your Christmas tree.
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Adam Young:
He- "Whale you be my valentine?"
She- "Dolphinitely.
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Bob Dylan:
“My love she speaks like silence,
Without ideals or violence,
She doesn't have to say she's faithful,
Yet she's true, like ice, like fire.
People carry roses,
Make promises by the hours,
My love she laughs like the flowers,
Valentines can't buy her.”
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On this day in 1945, the United States and Britain fire-bombed Dresden while Kurt Vonnegut took refuge in a slaughterhouse. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I hope your Valentine's Day isn't any worse than his!
Addendum
Addendum
Myspace Blog
February 14, 2007
Left Clearfield, PA this morning despite the worst weather report I've ever heard. Ended up stocking 10 inches of brochures at 3 different rest stops. Drove 250 miles at 25-45 miles per hour to make it back to my work. The interstate I nearly chose ended up being closed down. Scraped three inches of ice off my car. Shovelled myself out for a half hour. The 10 mile drive home took an hour and a half. I nearly had to cut open my tauntaun and sleep in his belly. Roads were drifting shut worse than I've ever seen. I made it to my house with no parking spots. Got stuck in an alley. Nice people freed me. Parked at a church (sanctuary!) and walked a few blocks home. And here I am. A Valentine's Day miracle!
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