The Importance of a Single Vote

On this date in 1867 the United States purchased Alaska from Russia for the price of $7 million which worked out to about $.02 per acre. This purchase was known at the time as Seward's Folly after Secretary of State William Seward who arranged the purchase. Seward was also in charge of trying to get the Senate to ratify the treaty authorizing the purchase. The treaty was ratified on April 9th but it passed by a single vote. 

Think of that. If one person changed their vote from yes to no - Alaska might not be part of the US today.

Eric Idle - The Philosopher's Song

 

Happy 80th to the Monty Python legend.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Welcoming our new Chatbot Overlords.  People should recognize that there's a world of difference between AI (a tool) and AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) which is where sentience will reside. We are a long way from AGI.

- The Biden Administration's war on large appliances.

- The IRS visiting Matt Taibbi's home the same day he was testifying to Congress is not a coincidence. The weaponization of government is becoming more overt.

- Hollywood's Great Awakening. Little skeptical since Christian films are still "niche" in Hollywood but I would not be surprised about a general Christian awakening in America as many are in desperate need of community.

A Modest Proposal

Here's a modest proposal to help fix education in America in a few short steps.

Problem solved. What do you think?

Please Subscribe (reminder - its FREE), hit the Like button, and please if you liked the article share it with others.

Farnam Street Knowledge

 

Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son.

Timeless advice.

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"I dream with my eyes open." - Jules Verne

"Your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing." - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"The reward for our work is not what we get, but what we become." - Paulo Coelho

"Only a totalitarian society would even claim absolute safety as a worthy ideal. Because it would require total state control over its citizens' lives. Liberty has meaning only if we still believe in it when terrible things happen and a false government security blanket beckons." - Ron Paul

Life Advice from Steve McQueen

Via

Nearly 25% of Adult White Women are on Antidepressants

Would love to see these numbers further broken down by political party affiliation. Please note the data is five years old. The percentages are probably higher now. (Chart via)

2023 Tax Burden by State

Source: WalletHub

Interesting data. Surprised by Maine being third on the list. Scroll over your State to see your rank. Was also surprised my State - Taxachusetts was 20th. (HT Newmark's Door)

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Interesting timeline of Cannabis Legislation in the US. Looks to be legal in all states in near future.

- Speaking of cannabis.

- How people get rich now. (Paul Graham post from 2021 but worth revisiting)

- The Simulation

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"The modern mind is overstimulated and the modern body is understimulated and overfed. Meditation, exercise, and fasting restore an ancient balance." - Naval Ravikant

"May you live a thousand years, and never be a worse judge of the right sort than you are at the present moment of your life!" - Charles Dickens

"In your prayers substitute 'protect us from evil' with 'protect us from those who improve things for a salary.'" - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

"In America, the young are always ready to give to those who are older than themselves the full benefits of their inexperience." - Oscar Wilde

Farnam Street Knowledge

Via

Life Expectancy in the US

The sad state of US life expectancy. "American life expectancy is lower than that of Cuba, Lebanon, and Chechnya." Chechnya!

Monday Flotsam and Jetsam

Have a new miscellaneous thoughts and observations post up on Substack.

Guess the people who thought that NIL (name, image, and likeness) in college sports would only lead to the richer getting richer will have a hard time explaining this years' Final Four in basketball. As always please Subscribe, hit the Like button or share with others. 

Farnam Street Knowledge

 

The Most Respectful Interpretation.

Always try to be generous and optimistic in outlook.

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"Movement is life, and as we move we get continuous feedback - which leads to discovery, wonder, joy, and all the other experiences you can have throughout life's great adventure. When you are no longer able to process energy, you will be declared dead and your adventure will be over," - Bill Perkins

"Never confuse education with intelligence, you can have a PhD and still be an idiot." - Richard Feynman

"I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do." - Robert Heinlein

"Energy and persistence conquer all things." - Benjamin Franklin

The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger Still Funny After All These Years

Top NHL Goal Songs

 

The Athletic has their List of the Top 10 NHL Goal Songs (subscription required). The above is the snippet of Zombie Nation that plays after each Boston goal and as  a Bruins fan this has a special place in my heart. The Athletic reluctantly has this listed 6th on their list (as an aside I thought Zombie Nation was the name of the song but its actually KernKraft 400 by Zombie Nation).

Here's what The Athletic had as their Top 5 songs:

1. Seattle Kraken - Lithium by Nirvana

2. Ottawa Senators - Song 2 by Blur

3. Chicago Blackhawks - Chelsea Dagger by the Fratellis (perhaps the funkiest of the choices)

4. New York Rangers - Slapshot byRay Castoldi (Meh)

5. Minnesota Wild - Shout by The Isley Brothers (old school)

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Jimmy Stewart reads a touching poem about his dog Beau.

- Heh Heh

- Interesting look at the history between Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Open AI

- Interesting question - why not put chip manufacturing plants in Canada?

Sadly True

Via

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Darth Vader goes to Walmart (completely scripted and produced by AI)

-  Oliver Stone coming out with pro-nuclear energy film, "Nuclear Now"

- Satoshi, Bitcoin, and FDR's Executive Order 6102

- Which countries hold the most US debt?

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"It doesn't take much to convince us that we are smart and healthy, but it takes a lot of facts to convince us of the opposite." - Dan Gilbert

"When people are trying to see how far they can push things, that is the time to let them know that they have already pushed things too far." - Thomas Sowell

"Being alive is great, you can eat at Denny's, you can wear a hat whenever you want to, it's wonderful." - Norm Macdonald

"Hard work isn't punishment. Hard work is the price of admission for the opportunity to reach excellence." - Jay Bilas

78 Years Ago Today the US Marines Secured the Island of Iwo Jima

 

"We were Marines. They say you go - you go." Semper Fi.

Remember

MozArt Group - Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

Find Something Beautiful Today

A full rainbow photographed at 30,000 feet. Rainbows are actually full circles but we normally only see half. (Photo via) Headline stolen borrowed from Execupundit.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The Road Not Taken perhaps the most misread poem in history

- Heh Heh

- As we come up on the 2023 Masters a reminder that past Masters are available for viewing on YouTube

- WTF? Bedtime cereal? This must be aimed at people who still wear masks while driving alone.

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"Doctors won't make you healthy. Nutritionists won't make you slim. Teachers won't make you smart. Gurus won't make you calm. Mentors won't make you rich. Trainers won't make you fit. Ultimately, you have to take responsibility. Save yourself." - Naval Ravikant

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty." - Maya Angelou

"Man has been reduced not even to a digestive tube, but to a bag of money that gradually is losing its value... This is both economic history and the history of a spiritual decadence." - Ezra Pound 

"Your desires would diminish drastically if you didn't need to impress anyone. - Derren Brown

Reminder

Rand Paul vs Moderna CEO

 

Rand Paul is a hero!

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Banking crisis far from over - now its Deutsch Bank in trouble. (Of course it could be much worse by the time this posts.)

- Its time to end the speed limit in US airspace. Agree 100%.

- Khan Academy adding AI to help with education.

- Florida State Rep reads fake names into the official record. Mike Hunt and Dick Hertz from Holden could not be reached for comment.

Why Bruins Fans Love Brad Marchand

"You don't hit our captain late. That was a three-second late hit. I love that Marchand did that." - Bruins Coach Jim Montgomery (Photo via)

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- 20,000 years ago our ancestors had the speed of Olympic sprinters but were barefoot running in sand. 

- Ford sees $3 billion pretax loss on EV business this year. Only Tesla seems to be able to make a profit on EV sales.

- A real man of genius

- Coinbase asked the SEC what rules they may be in violation of but got threats back instead. The people who brought you the latest banking crisis don't want anyone escaping their grasp via crypto.

Quotes for Today

 Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own." - Albert Ellis

"Whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together." - Jonathan Swift

"A decline in courage may be the most striking feature that an outside observer notices in the West today." - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

"I'd rather be a poor master of my own fate than a rich servant of someone else's." - Michael Caine

Naval Knowledge