Remarkable Images from Eyjafjallajokull

Click here to see a remarkable series of photos Eyjafjallajokull

Meinhardt Raabe, actor who played Munchkin coroner in ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ dies at 94 in Fla.

Meinhardt Raabe, actor who played Munchkin coroner in ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ dies at 94 in Fla.

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The only viable strategy for the Vatican

The only viable strategy for the Vatican

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Glorious Insults

Perhaps "insults" are not the most edifying or high-minded way to express one's loneliness for a well-loved use of the English language.

And perhaps this list is old and known by too many.

In case not, I could not resist posting these here, an ode to a loving respect for the written and spoken word.

These glorious insults are from an era before the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words.

"He had delusions of adequacy."
Walter Kerr

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."
Winston Churchill

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure."
Clarence Darrow

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary."
William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).

'Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?'
Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it."
Moses Hadas

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it."
Mark Twain

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends."
Oscar Wilde

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one."
George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one."
Winston Churchill, in response.

"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here."
Stephen Bishop

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial."
Irvin S. Cobb

"He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others."
Samuel Johnson

"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up."
Paul Keating

"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.."
Forrest Tucker

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork."
Mae West

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go."
Oscar Wilde

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination."
Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it."
Groucho Marx

'There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure.'
Jack E. Leonard

'He has the attention span of a lightning bolt.'
Robert Redford

'They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge.'
Thomas Brackett Reed

"He has Van Gogh's ear for music.'
Billy Wilder

'He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.'
Abraham Lincoln

'A modest little person, with much to be modest about. '
Winston Churchill

The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor:

She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison."

He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease."

"That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."

This from a friend

Apparently it takes 4 hours to do a hand

(You can click on the slide show to go to the (larger) pictures themselves.)

Enjoy

Atheists 'just as ethical as churchgoers'

Why did we somehow suspect this already.

What is important for pro-religious people, I believe, has always been to establish the value of religious life and spiritual practice independently from claims that religion positively impacts morals and ethics. The consistently problematic behavior of believers has long suggested these results now argued by researchers as well.

Atheists are just as ethical and have as strong a moral compass as churchgoers, new research shows.

People who have no religion know right from wrong just as well as regular worshipers, according to the study.

But people who did not have a religious background still appeared to have intuitive judgments of right and wrong in common with believers, according to the findings, published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

Dr Hauser added: "The research suggests that intuitive judgments of right and wrong seem to operate independently of explicit religious commitments.

Obama Hopes 2011 Budget Proposal Will Bring Recovery

I am no expert on economic matters. I credit these thoughts and reflections on the influence of Gordon Anderson and his positions expressed in much of his writings including Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, Version 4.0.

Here is today's news:

WASHINGTON (Feb. 1) -- President Barack Obama sends a record $3.8 trillion budget to Congress today that he hopes will move the nation from recession to recovery by creating millions of new jobs and spark investments in education, clean energy, infrastructure and research.

The 2011 budget estimates the deficit at $1.3 trillion, or 8.3 percent of gross domestic product. Deficits are projected to continue for the next decade but will shrink as a percentage of GDP, going from 10.6 percent this year to 4.2 percent in 2020. The numbers are based on the assumption that the nation's economy will rebound and grow.

"This is a budget that makes tough choices while investing in programs to produce jobs," Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, told reporters in a conference call. "This is not a left-wing budget. This is not a right-wing budget. It's a pragmatic budget."
http://fwd4.me/DnI

There is everything wrong here. Governing is not a wealth producing activity, so it cannot produce jobs in the real sense. Jobs are created by government at the expense of the economy, not to its benefit.

The claim of WH communications director Dan Pfeiffer is false. This is a left wing budget (even if Republicans aid and abet). The right wing believes that smaller government creates opportunity for free citizens to produce wealth.

It is one thing for the United States to go into so much debt that it will collapse under the weight of it. If the citizens allow that, so be it. But at least we should be honest. Creation of jobs is integrated into the creation of wealth. Governing does not create wealth. It is confiscatory. It depends on seizing wealth earned elsewhere.