Don't speak for anyone else.
Don't criticize others.
Put the team first.
Pay attention to the details.
Avoid drama.
Focus on getting better than yesterday.
Repeat.
- Shane Parrish
Saturday, July 02, 2022
Friday, July 01, 2022
The New Big 10 is Crazy!
Friday Flotsam and Jetsam
Have a new miscellaneous thoughts and observations post up on Substack.
July is American Beer Month. Looking forward to all the flags celebrating the diversity of American beer and all the corporations giving employees time off to drink. Please subscribe, hit the Like button, and share the link with others.
Charge of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment
Col. Joshua Chamberlain at Little Roundtop at Gettysburg 159-years ago today. Gives me chills - every time.
Quotes for Today - Beer Edition
July is American Beer Month. Here are some beer related quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Beer is proof God loves us." - Benjamin Franklin
"Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer." - Dave Barry
"God made yeast, as well as dough, and loves fermentation just as clearly as he loves vegetation." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Beer, of course, is actually a depressant, but poor people will never stop hoping otherwise." - Kurt Vonnegut
"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading." - Henny Youngman
"Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza." - Dave Barry
Thursday, June 30, 2022
America Is More Fragile Than the Left Understands
VDH with a pessimistic but accurate look at the self-inflicted wounds America is dealing with.
I remain more hopeful and optimistic than the good professor seems to be. I've seen NYC be a dumpster fire of crime and filth before only to see it bounce back. I've seen America sink under Jimmy Carter only to emerge into a "Morning in America" under Ronald Reagan. I think we'll see that again in the cities and states where voters learn not to to touch the hot stove of progressivism again.
Remembering Gettysburg
This is an essay I wrote a couple of years ago. Posting it on Substack in hopes of reaching a larger audience. This time of year is also a reminder to me to re-read Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels. My personal way of remembering and being grateful.
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Work is the only good thing." - John Steinbeck
"Be aware there are no 'adults.' Everyone makes it up as they go along. You have to find your own path, picking, choosing, and discarding as you see fit. Figure it out yourself, and do it." - Naval Ravikant
"I have a flat stomach. It's just that the 'L' is silent." - Anonymous
"You are tough when your mood is not dependent on your conditions." - James Clear
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
RIP Woody Williams
Williams was the last surviving MOH recipient from WWII - all 472 have now passed. Woody won his MOH in part for destroying "enemy emplacements with a flamethrower, going forward alone into machinegun fire, covered only by four riflemen."
Where do we find such men?
Turkey Lifts Objections to Finland and Sweden Joining NATO
Turkey on Tuesday after negotiations lifted its objection to Finland and Sweden joining NATO. Any support for the Kurdish people in Turkey was the price of admission. When the full details of the negotiations are known I wonder how history will judge this transaction?
As for me - I would have agreed to let Norway and Sweden in but only if we got to kick Canada out as long as they have Justin Trudeau as PM.
You Have to Be a Studio
Writing and life advice from Steven Pressfield.
"We have to have the same professional attitude they have - about finances, about contingencies, about material." Amen - be professional and be prepared!
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"There was never any lockdown - there were just middle class people hiding while working class people brought them things." - JJ Charlesworth
"Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom." - George S. Patton
"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else." - Judy Garland
"Don't take yourself so seriously. You're just a monkey with a plan." - Naval Ravikant
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
Idle Hands are the Devil's Playthings
I freely admit I'm a man with vices. And I enjoy my vices. Right now with both the NBA and NHL playoffs over and football still a ways off in the distance what's a man like me who enjoys sports betting to do?
The obvious and correct answer is bet on baseball which is what I plan to do. I know Las Vegas loves bettors with "systems" but I plan to play a very simple system from today until the start of football. I'm going to bet on the Red Sox, Yankees, and Dodgers but only following a loss. I will also bet on whoever lost the first game of a double-header to win the second game of the double-dip no matter the team. A pretty straight forward system that takes all decision making away.
Both the Red Sox and Dodgers lost last night so today I'm taking Red Sox (+$110) and Dodgers (-$220). All small bets throughout the summer. I'm doing this for fun not to lose the mortgage.
China’s ‘Very Dangerous Trajectory’
Why international companies have not decoupled with China yet is a mystery to me. The warning signs are all over the place. Don't trust Xi Jinping - Xi Jinping is asshole!
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"It is not enough to have great qualities, we should also have the management of them." - Francois de La Rochefoucauld
"The world just reflects your own feelings back at you. Reality is neutral. Reality has no judgements." - Naval Ravikant
"You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time." - Donald Rumsfeld
"Everyone seems to think the censorship movement won't come for them. If you think for yourself, it eventually will." - Matt Taibbi
Mel Brooks
Happy 96th birthday to funnyman and American icon Mel Brooks.
Be sure to re-watch his moves before they are all cancelled by people with zero sense of humor.Monday, June 27, 2022
McDonald's $42 Billion Real Estate Empire Explained.
McDonald's is often called a real estate firm dressed up as a fast food chain - it's true.
Interesting look at how the building is the real profit center for McDonald's not the burger being sold.
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Sometimes success is 3% brains and 97% not getting distracted by the Internet." - Shane Parrish
"Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?" - Charles Bukowski
"Happiness is what's there when you remove the sense that something is missing in your life." - Naval Ravikant
"Every high civilization decays by forgetting obvious things." - G.K. Chesterton
Fun Physics History
"James Chadwick discovered the neutron under the leadership of Ernest Rutherford in 1932. Rutherford, who in 1911 discovered the proton, was the student of Joseph John Thomson. Thomson discovered the electron in 1897." Via Physics in History
Sunday, June 26, 2022
James Garner: An Appreciation
James Garner - the Oklahoman anti-hero with a heart of gold.
Garner was perhaps my favorite actor growing up and Maverick my favorite TV series even though it first aired before I was born.
What Was Drug Use Like in Viking Culture?
Interesting look at what drugs Viking Berserkers may have taken before battle.
If you've ever listened to Joe Rogan's podcast - you probably guessed mushrooms but it also could have been henbane.
Sunday Flotsam and Jetsam
Have a new miscellaneous thoughts and observations post up on Substack.
I feel the need - the need for speed! Hope you feel the need to subscribe, hit the Like button or share the post with others. Have a great Sunday!
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Happiness, love, and passion - aren't things you find - they're choices you make." - Naval Ravikant
"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." - E.E. Cummings.
"Nature never deceives us, it is we who deceive ourselves." - Jean-Jacques Rousseau
"Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow." - Plato
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