People are more disposed to suffer than right themselves by resistance. John Locke
John Locke (1632-1704) was an English physician and philosopher. He is considered by most classically trained philosophers to be the first of the British empiricists, while practical thinkers know him as a man who believed that while books were nice, real knowledge came from experience. Despite not liking either the regiment or the subjects taught at school, Locke, unlike some of this ilk, was a good student and received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. His influence on thinkers since, including America’s Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence, was, and remains, strong. Today’s Thought Continues Here
The Daily Dose/August 25, 2018 By Gaylon Kent America’s Funniest Guy
In The News One of the more interesting tidbits revealed after the death of Aretha Franklin was that she died without a will, a situation that appears to be not uncommon among entertainers. After deducting the first $11.5 million dollars the government allows, her heirs will be obliged to pay a 40 percent tax on what remains.
40 percent!
That’s an awfully high tax burden for someone who is merely trying to pass on their good fortune to their heirs. But taxes have become so routine in this country that no one gives it a second thought, especially nowadays when it is popular in some circles to want to tax the rich. Consider this though: inherited money is money that has been earned by someone and has already had taxes paid on it. Why should the government get 40 percent of it?
They shouldn’t. Money that goes to the government is money that is taken out of the economy, that is not going to earn interest, not going to be invested and not going to be spent. The inheritance tax should be eliminated.
Today At The Site Today on The Diary of a Nobody, Sparrow’stooth is still hanging in there, as the countdown to his new smile is inside of three weeks, Sparrow declines two (2) returns at the retailer and there is a new, temporary general manager at Hotel A.
Evan Thomas, writing about President Eisenhower’s ability to reserve knowledge for himself and keep his own counsel, has The Thought for the Day.
On This Date In 2012 – Voyager 1 becomes the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space, though this wasn’t known at the time and this date was reckoned by NASA the following month. Voyager 1 was launched in September 1977, reached Jupiter in March 1979 and Saturn in November 1980. At approximately 13.83 billion miles from Earth, it remains the most distant spacecraft from Earth and radio communications with the spacecraft take 19 hours and 48 minutes one way.
In 1922 – The Chicago Cubs defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 26-23. The Cubs got one run in the first, ten in the second and 14 in the fourth to lead 25-6. The Phillies would make it close by getting three in the 5th, eight in the 8th and six more in the 9th before leaving the bases loaded at the end of the game. The 49 runs and 51 hits establish ML records that still stand.
1979 – My Sharona by the Knack moves into the #1 spot for the first of six weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100. The song also went to #1 in Italy, Canada and Australia and was Billboard’s #1 song of 1979, and the 10th biggest song of the 1970’s. At the time the Knack had been compared to the Beatles because of the quick impact they had on the charts, but the Knack would only hit the Top 40 two more times, neither song making the Top 1o.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question Three songs have spent 18 weeks at #1 on Billboard’s R&B chart: The Honeydripper (Parts 1&2) by Joe Liggins and His Honeydrippers, Choo Choo Ch’Boogie by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five and Once Dance by Drake featuring Wizkid and Kyla.
Today’s Stumper What was the original name of Billboard’s R&B chart? – Answer next time!
Shameless Plugs Backstairs at the Monte Carlo: A Vegas Memoir!: Clock in with the graveyard crew at the Monte Carlo Security Department on the glamorous Las Vegas Strip. You’ll meet drunks, reprobates and scoundrels, and those are just the officers! The funniest Vegas memoir ever! Promise!
The Regular Guys: Meet Lenny and Larry, two comedians who team up more or less out of desperation and become the biggest in show business. As funny as you would expect from Gaylon, and poignant, too.
Click here to read previews of both! Click here to subscribe and get your all-access pass.
Ike was careful not to reveal his most intimate thoughts about a weapon he abhorred but might have to use. Evan Thomas Ike’s Bluff: President Eisenhower’s Secret Battle to Save the World
Evan Thomas (b. 1951) is an American historian and writer who has written on everything from the CIA to Robert Kennedy to Richard Nixon and John Paul Jones. Ike’s Bluff is a really good book about the national security and foreign policy aspects of Eisenhower’s presidency, providing a compelling and detailed look at Ike, including detailing Eisenhower’s ability to draw on his patience and self-confidence in momentous times. Click Here For More
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The Daily Dose/August 24, 2018 By Gaylon Kent America’s Funniest Guy
In The News Mexican authorities opened 2,599 murder investigations in July, their most ever for a calendar month. That’s a lot of murders, about four times the murder rate here in the United States and so far this year the murder rate in Mexico is up 14 percent from 2017.
A lot of these murders are committed by drug dealers fighting for control of drug trafficking routes, not to mention the usual things dealers of illegal drugs fight about. With US backing, the Mexican government is getting involved, too, sending soldiers into the streets, some of whom are themselves murdered.
We learned nothing from Prohibition, that 1920’s era act that banned booze in the US. It did nothing to stem demand, it merely made the criminals who filled the need rich.
The same is true of our current drug war. If drugs were legal in America, the number of homicide investigations Mexico is obliged to open falls enormously. Dealers who right now are arch-criminals become mere vendors trying to move some product into a country where there is a high demand for it. The sooner we eliminate the penalties associated with drug production, importation and use, the sooner people stop dying because of drug violence.
Today At The Site Sparrow and The Wife spend a pleasant afternoon at the hot springs in town on today’s edition The Diary of a Nobody. Plus, Sparrow’s pesky tooth still hasn’t come out and he is too chicken to pull it out, so he has soup for every meal today.
Deng Ming-Dao, author of one of our favorite books, 365 Tao, has The Thought for the Day, a reminder that whether we become the ash or the phoenix is up to us.
On This Date In 2006 – The International Astronomical Union, whoever they are, redefines what a planet is, resulting in Pluto to be reclassified a dwarf planet, leaving the Solar System with eight planets. The staff here at The Daily Dose has always disagreed with this decision. Without getting too technical, Pluto met the requirements of being round and orbiting the sun, but was done in by the fact it is not gravitationaly dominant in its area, as both Pluto and its moons rotate around another point, called a barycenter in the trade.
In 1919 – Cleveland Indians pitcher Ray Caldwell is struck by lightning with two outs in the ninth inning of a game at Cleveland. After being knocked out for five minutes, Caldwell is recovered enough to finish the game, a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia A’s.
In 1959 – The Browns, a family act from Arkansas, are at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with The Three Bells. The song would spend three weeks at #1, would also go #1 country and Top 10 on the Soul chart, then known as the R&B Sides chart. It was the Browns only #1 song. They were members of the Grand Ole Opry and were elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question There was not a Trivia feature last time, silly.
Today’s Stumper What song(s) have spent the most time at #1 on Billboard’s R&B chart? – Answer next time!
Shameless Plugs Backstairs at the Monte Carlo: A Vegas Memoir!: Clock in with the graveyard crew at the Monte Carlo Security Department on the glamorous Las Vegas Strip. You’ll meet drunks, reprobates and scoundrels, and those are just the officers! The funniest Vegas memoir ever! Promise!
The Regular Guys: Meet Lenny and Larry, two comedians who team up more or less out of desperation and become the biggest in show business. As funny as you would expect from Gaylon, and poignant, too.
Click here to read previews of both! Click here to subscribe and get your all-access pass.
Whether we remain ash or become the phoenix is up to us. Deng Ming-Dao 365 Tao
Deng Ming-Dao is an American writer and, though he might well disdain the term, philosopher, of Chinese descent and is a regular contributor to this feature. 365 Tao is a book of daily meditations that has been a part of our lives for many years that – and this might surprise you – talks about following your path, putting nature and circumstance to work for you and making your time serve you. We have read other books of Mr Deng’s, however we keep coming back to this splendid work and we’ve always thought anyone, regardless of religious beliefs or spiritual path, will find this book useful. Today’s Thought Continues Here
The Daily Dose/August 23, 2018 By Gaylon Kent America’s Funniest Guy
In The News At least those that run Ohio State University are transparent. With the suspension, instead of, say, firing, of head football coach Urban Meyer, they’ve reinforced what we already know: that a winning football program trumps everything. Meyer produces playoff appearances and national championships and that’s what Ohio State has long demanded out of the men who run their football program.
A lesser coach, one that has not produced conference and national championships would have been fired. Any other employee would have been fired. Meyer should have been fired, too.
Lately in this space we’ve noted some institutions that should just go away, like the Republican Party and the Catholic Church. Let’s add the NCAA to that list. They are utterly incapable of running a major division athletics program that is not a complete and utter cesspool.
Don’t blame them, though. The fault is ours. We like our college sports, so we tolerate this crap and even enable it. When we demand better, we will get better.
Today At The Site Sparrow spends most of the day playing with his loose tooth on today’s edition of The Diary of a Nobody. It’s coming out and being replaced soon enough, but the tooth is tough, still hanging in there when Sparrow called it a day. Also, there is a snitty customer at the retailer.
Len Deighton, one of our planet’s best spy novelists, has The Thought for the Day, a quote about how putting an apple in an orange box doesn’t make it an orange.
On This Date On This Date will return.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question To date, 162 people have been released from death row in the US because it was shown they had not committed the crimes they were condemned for. Source: deathpenaltyinfo.org
Today’s Stumper The Trivia feature will return.
Shameless Plugs Backstairs at the Monte Carlo: A Vegas Memoir!: Clock in with the graveyard crew at the Monte Carlo Security Department on the glamorous Las Vegas Strip. You’ll meet drunks, reprobates and scoundrels, and those are just the officers! The funniest Vegas memoir ever! Promise!
The Regular Guys: Meet Lenny and Larry, two comedians who team up more or less out of desperation and become the biggest in show business. As funny as you would expect from Gaylon, and poignant, too.
Click here to read previews of both! Click here to subscribe and get your all-access pass.
If you were born in an orange box, would that make you an orange? Len Deighton Spy Hook
Len Deighton, now 89, is a British writer, primarily known for his spy novels, though he is also, among other things, an accomplished military historian. The son of a chauffeur and a cook, the Deighton’s lived next to a spy named Anna Wolkoff, and when he was 11, Deighton witnessed her arrest. Later, he would serve his country honorably as a photographer in His Majesty’s Royal Air Force. As he should be, he is mentioned in the same breath as Britain’s two other great spy writers, Ian Fleming and John le Carre. Click Here For More Wisdom
