October 2011
1 post
5 tags
Arguments between die-hard “conservatives” and die-hard “liberals” remind me of arguments between Star Wars geeks and Star Trek geeks, in that both involve arguments between people who believe wholly in the merits of a universe not based on observable fact.
December 2010
2 posts
Selfish people will expend tremendous effort and pay almost any cost to avoid contributing even a little to the good of others.
Some people like to talk about “choice” as if everything in our lives depends upon only the decisions that we ourselves make. This viewpoint necessarily ignores the choices that other people make that affect our lives. And not everyone has the same set of choices arrayed before them. Nor does everyone have the same ability to exploit or even recognize all the choices available.
November 2010
4 posts
10 tags
The secret to progress is to loosen our grip on what we think we possess.
Everybody is nice at first.
The “American Dream” is really nothing more than an extended marketing campaign.
The secret to being unique is to not try to be like anybody else while simultaneously not trying to be different than anyone else.
October 2010
8 posts
14 tags
It is telling that the greater is the proportion of self-absorbed adults, the greater is the proportion of mentally ill children.
12 tags
Action without knowledge is stupid, sometimes dangerous.
13 tags
There will be no peace in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as long as there is money to be made there in construction and arms trafficking.
9 tags
Stupid is 10% lack of inspiration and 90% lack of perspiration.
11 tags
Some “good” people are like crocodiles who are just waiting for the hippo to leave.
9 tags
Most people having learned how to do something correctly, will persist in doing it in the way with which they are familiar.
13 tags
Most people do not actively seek out healthy, connected relationships. They actively seek out enabling relationships.
15 tags
Men who are convinced that they have good aim, have never cleaned around their own toilet.
September 2010
3 posts
11 tags
Healthy pleasures are those that are based in need. Unhealthy pleasures are those based in a desire for pleasure.
10 tags
Those who talk the best talks, don’t have to walk much of a walk, and generally don’t.
11 tags
Everyone leads by example whether they intend to or not.
August 2010
6 posts
14 tags
In the name of “freedom” those calling themselves “Conservative” and “Liberal” will gladly take away the basic rights of others and be the first ones in line to voluntarily give up their own.
16 tags
The ‘cost’ of consumption is always paid by someone. When both the consumer and the producer refuse to pay directly (the consumer through higher prices, the producer through reduced profits) then attempts will be made to ‘externalize’ the cost. That’s business lingo for “tricking or forcing someone who had no direct role in the production of the cost and may...
11 tags
Nobody will ever build an idiotproof device because there is no level of precaution which an idiot cannot overcome.
10 tags
Many people love others not despite their flaws, but because of them; because they look good by comparison.
11 tags
The phrase “rugged individualism” in the way it is most commonly used is a euphemism for “avarice.”
10 tags
The voter has not nearly so much power as the consumer.
July 2010
10 posts
12 tags
Condiments and dressings are for people who don’t know about or don’t have access to freshly grown herbs.
11 tags
If the threat of sanctions is a person’s primary inducement to treat others with kindess and basic respect, then that person is a bad one.
17 tags
A great many people would rather hear that there is something wrong with their child than that there is something wrong with their parenting.
9 tags
Flawless logic only convinces those who are in the habit of coming to their own conclusions; the rest are unimpressed.
12 tags
The English language needs a a new word that means: Something most people hold to be true, but which is actually false. (not Misconception)
11 tags
I sometimes lose debates for two reasons. Firstly, because I am not an idiot. And Secondly, because I am no fool.
12 tags
When I was young I was smart and unwise. Now that I am older I am less smart and less unwise.
18 tags
Surviving the San Francisco summer is a matter of not cooking in the sun while simultaneously not freezing in the wind.
13 tags
The morality of a corporations actions is the aggregate of the personal morality of that corporation’s board of directors and executives.
11 tags
Some people believe in personal responsibility; others believe in denial of responsibility.
June 2010
12 posts
11 tags
It is important to enjoy what you are doing.
Certainty often stems from a certain lack of information.
10 tags
“Corporautomaton” is a word I’d like to hear people use more often.
15 tags
San Francisco is like a dog’s nose, when everything is as it should be, it is cold and damp.
9 tags
The world is yours for the changing.
8 tags
I have a firm belief that people are basically good (when they think they’re being watched).
11 tags
People who claim to be enlightened rarely are.
8 tags
Accumulated power leads to abuse.
9 tags
Lazy people do nothing to decrease their own workload, while doing much to increase that of others.
12 tags
Everybody is the only exception to the rule.
“Whenever you do something for the first time, you’re either a pioneer or...”
– Emilio Barlocco (Italian dude, 2007)
