Home » Posts tagged 'two ice floes'
Tag Archives: two ice floes
Coming Up For Air
COMING UP FOR AIR “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” – Originally attributed to Thomas Jefferson, but the actual author is now in question. “That’s another (fine) mess you’ve gotten me into.” – Laurel & Hardy catchphrase. Even though I’ve written […]
Coming Up For Air
COMING UP FOR AIR “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” – Originally attributed to Thomas Jefferson, but the actual author is now in question. “That’s another (fine) mess you’ve gotten me into.” – Laurel & Hardy catchphrase. Even though I’ve written […]
A Few Bananas Short of a Bunch
A FEW BANANAS SHORT OF A BUNCH “You’ve been living in a dream world, Neo.” – Morpheus “How did you go (morally) bankrupt?” Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.” ― With abject apologies to Ernest Hemingway and his “The Sun Also Rises” “I reject your reality and substitute my own.” – Adam Savage from Mythbusters I have this […]
Getting Out of Dodge
GETTING OUT OF DODGE Recently I received an email from a reader who asked for some feedback regarding a decision he was about to make. He’s in his early 50’s, single with an adult child and is considering resigning from his well paid and secure job in order to gain access to his substantial pension […]
Penalizing Prudence
PENALIZING PRUDENCE “Economy, prudence, and a simple life are the sure masters of need, and will often accomplish that which, their opposites, with a fortune at hand, will fail to do.” – Clara Barton “Affairs are easier of entrance than of exit; and it is but common prudence to see our way out before we venture […]
Perhaps a Crumble Rather Than a Collapse–Chapter One
PERHAPS A CRUMBLE RATHER THAN A COLLAPSE – CHAPTER ONE “…we can endure neither our vices nor the remedies needed to cure them.” ― Livy, The History of Rome, Books 1-5: The Early History of Rome Why even question the obvious? When contemplating a complex subject, especially one in which I hold a strong emotional investment, I […]
The Flim-Flam Men
The Flim-Flam Men I suspect if average Joe or Jane were asked to identify modern examples of ‘Flim-Flam Men’, many would point to Bernie Madoff or Allen Stanford. (Remember them from the last “Great Financial Crisis” of 2008?) Or even to a long list of Too Big To Fail bank CEO’s past and present, plus various corporate, […]
Papers Please!
Papers Please! For those who may not know, Mrs. Cog and I live in the mountains of Southwestern Virginia, near the intersection of the three poorest counties in the Commonwealth. While that fact doesn’t directly affect us, either financially or physically, it does for many who live within our local community. The area is basically […]
Empire in Decline – Propaganda and the American Myth
Empire in Decline – Propaganda and the American Myth “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive…ourselves.” – With apologies to Sir Walter Scott. If only life was as neat and orderly as my ancient history text book showed it to be. There it was on glossy paper, spread out […]
Deaf, Dumb and Blind: Who is Better at Conceding They Are Wrong–Conservative or Liberal Extremists?
DEAF, DUMB AND BLIND : WHO IS BETTER AT CONCEDING THEY ARE WRONG – CONSERVATIVE OR LIBERAL EXTREMISTS? For those readers who wish to confirm their cemented bias or simply don’t read past the first paragraph or two, here is the down and dirty answer to the question posed in the title. The answer is…neither! […]
Perhaps It’s Time to Believe the Impossible
PERHAPS IT’S TIME TO BELIEVE THE IMPOSSIBLE “Alice laughed: “There’s no use trying,” she said; “one can’t believe impossible things.” “I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before […]
The Essence of Control Is Its Concealment
The Essence of Control Is Its Concealment For thousands of years “control” of humans, both at the micro individual and macro collective level, was obvious and institutionalized. It was the way the world worked, with pharaohs, chiefs, kings and queens, along with their sycophant and supporting courts, wielding power and control at the top. Arrayed […]
There Will Be Blood…And Many More Lies
THERE WILL BE BLOOD…AND MANY MORE LIES I suppose if we randomly stopped people in the street and asked if they were an honest person, the vast majority of answers would be in the affirmative. And if we applied a generous and flexible definition to the word “honest”, I suspect people might actually be considered […]
A Few Screws Loose
A FEW SCREWS LOOSE Twice a year, usually in the spring and fall, I haul out one of my extension ladders, fill my back pockets with various wrenches and screwdrivers, and venture up onto our log cabin roof. My purpose is always the same; tighten any loose nuts and bolts on our solar array and […]
