Going beyond being busy →

Published September 11, 2013  ·  All posts on Sep 11

Going on about how busy you are isn’t conversation and doesn’t lead anywhere—except making your conversation partner bored, or worse, peeved. People who act super busy send the same message, making time spent with them never feel quite whole. Interestingly, I find that most people who are legitimately occupied – with their work, or family, or art, or what-have-you—rarely play the “too busy” card, or go out of their way to make time for meaningful connection exactly because they’ve been busy.

~ Janet Choi from, How to Escape the Cult of “Busy” | Lifehacker

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Part of a whole →

Published September 9, 2013  ·  All posts on Sep 9  ·  

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

~ Albert Einstein

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The only comparison you should make →

Published September 7, 2013  ·  All posts on Sep 7  ·  

Now, I am not saying this to downplay their hard work to get to where they are; I don’t want you saying things like, “I don’t have their genetics or resources, so why even bother?”

Instead, I want you to know that there will ALWAYS be somebody leaner, bigger, faster, or stronger than you. There will always be somebody who’s younger, better looking, and had more success than you. Until you learn to accept that, you’ll never be truly happy.

~ Steve Kamb from, The ONE Comparison You Should Make Today | Nerd Fitness

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NASA probe launching tonight 11:27pm eastern time →

Published September 6, 2013  ·  All posts on Sep 6

LADEEAt 11:27pm eastern tonight, NASA is launching a car-size probe named LADEE to the moon. They’re using a new launch facility at Wallops Island in Viriginia. About 85 million people on the east coast might be able to see it. Go outside at 11:20 and look towards Virginia… :)

For more details, see 85 Million Have A Shot At Seeing Tonight’s Moon Launch

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Contentment →

Published September 5, 2013  ·  All posts on Sep 5

And while many might say, “Sure, you can say that now that you’ve reached a certain level of success,” I think that’s wrong. Many people who achieve success don’t find contentment, and are always driven to want more, and are unhappy with themselves. Many people who are poor or don’t have a “successful” career have also found contentment. And what’s more, I think finding contentment has actually driven any success that I’ve found — it helped me get out of debt, it helped me change my habits, it has made me a better husband, father, friend and collaborator, perhaps even a better writer.

~ Leo Babauta from, A Guide to Practical Contentment – Zen Habits Website

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Our energy predicament in charts →

Published September 3, 2013  ·  All posts on Sep 3

There is considerable evidence that we are already reaching the situation where governments are encountering financial distress of the type shown in Figure 18. With wages being depressing in recent years (Figure 16), it is difficult to collect as much taxes as required. At the same time, expenses are elevated to handle the many issues that arise (such as payments to the unemployed, subsidies for alternative energy, and the higher costs of road repairs due to higher asphalt costs). The big gap between revenue and expense makes it hard to fix our current financial predicament, and increases the likelihood of political problems.

~ Gail Tverberg from, Our Energy Predicament in Charts

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Self-confidence →

Published September 2, 2013  ·  All posts on Sep 2  ·  

The quickest way to self-confidence is to do exactly what you are afraid to do.

~ unknown

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Absorb what is useful →

Published September 1, 2013  ·  All posts on Sep 1  ·  

Because of styles, people are separated. Research your own experience, absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is essentially your own.

~ Bruce Lee

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Cult of self esteem? →

Published August 30, 2013  ·  All posts on Aug 30  ·  

In addition to disparaging routine labor, these films discount the hard work that enables individuals to reach the top of their professions. Turbo and Dusty don’t need to hone their craft for years in minor-league circuits like their racing peers presumably did. It’s enough for them simply to show up with no experience at the world’s most competitive races, dig deep within themselves, and out-believe their opponents. They are, in many ways, the perfect role models for a generation weaned on instant gratification.

~ Luke Epplin from, You Can Do Anything: Must Every Kids’ Movie Reinforce the Cult of Self-Esteem? – The Atlantic

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Here we go, again? →

Published August 29, 2013  ·  All posts on Aug 29

The authors of the Constitution were explicit on this point. As James Madison noted, “In no part of the Constitution is more wisdom to be found, than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace to the legislature, and not to the executive department. . . . Those who are to conduct a war cannot in the nature of things, be proper or safe judges whether a war ought to be commenced, continued, or concluded.” Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist that there was a clear distinction between the U.S. president’s authority as commander-in-chief, which involved “nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces” and that of the British king, who could declare war unilaterally.

~ John Fund from, Obama Embraces the Imperial Presidency | National Review

To which I will add that the quote from James Madison is not taken out of context. You can read it for yourself, in letter number 4 of his “Letters of Helvidius.

You can also learn a metric ton of useful stuff about our nation, it’s birth and our constitution by sitting down with a copy of The Federalist. Which is a series of essays by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison.

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