April 2017 Quotations (63)

"I think that God in creating man somewhat overestimated his ability."
~~ Oscar Wilde [1854-1900]

"The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live."
~~ philosopher Ayn Rand [1905-82]

"The truth is that the insurance and pharmaceutical companies in this country are bribing the United States Congress."
~~ Sen. Bernie Sanders

"Lord, the money we do spend on Government and it's not one bit better than the government we got for one-third the money twenty years ago."
~~ Will Rogers [1879-1935]

“Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness.”
~~ James Thurber [1894-1961]

“The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.”
~~ Blaise Pascal [1623-62]

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”
~~ Sir Winston Churchill [1874-1965]

“Don't talk unless you can improve the silence.”
~~ Jorge Luis Borges [1899-1986]

“Joy shared is twice the joy. Sorrow shared is half the sorrow.”
~~ Swedish proverb

“Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.”
~~ Bertrand Russell [1872-1970]

“If you want to be happy, do not dwell in the past, do not worry about the future, focus on living fully in the present.”
~~ Roy T. Bennett

“You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are heavy. So let them go, let go of them. I tie no weights to my ankles.”
~~ C. JoyBell C.

"For 240 years it’s been a terrible mistake to bet against America, and now is no time to start."
~~ American capitalist Warren Buffett

“I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve.”
~~ Jane Austen [1775-1817]

"When the other is lacking in fidelity in any and all of its forms, loyalty is foolish and as such speaks to vice, not virtue."
~~ Prof. Elly Pirocacos of Greece & Canada

"Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that."
~~ Norman Vincent Peale [1898-1993]

"All that is worth cherishing begins in the heart, not the head."
~~ Prof. Suzanne Chapin of Boston University

“Without property rights, no other rights are possible.”
~~ philosopher Ayn Rand [1905-82]

"Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions."
~~ Albert Einstein [1879-1955]

"The mind can make substance, and people planets of its own with beings brighter than have been, and give a breath to forms which can outlive all flesh."
~~ George Gordon, Lord Byron [1788-1824]

"Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope."
~~ Dr. Seuss {Theodor Geisel 1904-91}

"Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one."
~~ Terry Pratchett [1948-2015]

“I have too many fantasies to be a housewife . . . I guess I am a fantasy.”
~~ Marilyn Monroe [1926-62]

"All good stories deserve embellishment."
~~ character Gandalf, as written by J.R.R. Tolkien [1892-1973], in "The Hobbit" [1937]

“Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.”
~~ Jean-Paul Sartre [1905-80]

"Remember, no matter where you go, there you are."
~~ Chinese philosopher Confucius [551-479 B.C.E.]

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends."
~~ character Professor Albus Dumbledore, as written by J.K. Rowling

"You got to do something they don't got'em in the world."
~~ Simon Rodia [1879-1965], builder of the Watts Towers, 1921-1954

"If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall."
~~ Nadine Stair {based on a 1953 poem by Don Herold [1889-1966]}

"I don't believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."
~~ J.K. Rowling

“The reason I talk to myself is because I’m the only one whose answers I accept.”
~~ George Carlin [1937-2008]

“Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.”
~~ Aldous Huxley [1894-1963]

“The whole world is a series of miracles . . . but we’re so used to them we call them ordinary things.”
~~ Hans Christian Anderson [1805-75]

“We accept and welcome . . . as conditions to which we must accommodate ourselves, great inequality of environment; the concentration of business, industrial and commercial, in the hands of a few; and the law of competition between these, as being not only beneficial, but essential for the future progress of the race.”
~~ Andrew Carnegie [1835-1919]

“There’s a certain part of the contented majority who love anybody who is worth a billion dollars.”
~~ John Kenneth Galbraith [1908-2006]

“Money is in some respects life's fire: it is a very excellent servant, but a terrible master.”
~~ showman Phineas Taylor 'P.T.' Barnum [1810-91]

"My favorite literary heroine is Jo March. It is hard to overstate what she meant to a small, plain girl called Jo, who had a hot temper and a burning ambition to be a writer."
~~ J.K. Rowling

“Never close your lips to those whom you have already opened your heart.”
~~ Charles Dickens [1812-70]

"I have always felt that if you know in advance what you are doing, then you are not going to do it."
~~ architect Frank Gehry

"You cannot change things by fighting existing reality: To change things you must build a new model to make the existing model obsolete."
~~ R. Buckminster Fuller [1895-1983]

"At the end of the day, cinema is an art form being, at the same time, a circus, a voyage to our souls, a mirage, and an illusion of life itself."
~~ Federico Fellini [1920-93]

“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”
~~ Margaret Mead [1901-78]

"The difference between coffee and your opinion is that I asked for coffee."
~~ anonymous

"The logic of facts is always superior to any other logic."
~~ Sri Aurobindo [1872-1950]

"Don't run after this world thinking this is paradise when Adam was sent here as a punishment."
~~ Islamic proverb

"My friends tell me [that] I have an intimacy problem. But they don't really know me."
~~ Gary Shandling [ 1949-2016]

"Don't let the negatives of life control you. Rise above them. Use them as your stepping stones to go higher than you ever dreamed possible."
~~ cosmetics tycoon Mary Kay Ash [1918-2001]

"Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."
~~ C.S. Lewis [1898-1963]

"You know that you're a book geek when you still get upset thinking about the Library of Alexandria."
~~ internet meme (with other variations)

"Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is Man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful."
~~ U.C.L.A. coach John R. Wooden [1910-2010]

"The secret of all great undertakings is hard work and self-reliance."
~~ meat-packing baron Gustavus Franklin Swift [1839-1903]

"Welders are always in heat" ~~ bumper sticker

"If you think organic food is expensive, have you priced cancer lately?"
~~ Joel Salatin

"I used to jog, but the ice cubes kept falling out of my glass."
~~ David Lee Roth

"Everyone should know how to program a computer, because it teaches you how to think."
~~ Steve Jobs [1955-2011], co-founder of Apple, Inc. [est. 1975]

"My mother said to me, 'If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.' Instead, I was a painter and became Picasso."
~~ Pablo Picasso [1881-1973]

"Quality means do it right when no one is looking."
~~ Henry Ford [1863-1947]

"I always start writing with a clean sheet of paper and a dirty mind."
~~ Patrick Dennis [1921-76], creator of "Auntie Mame" [1955]

"It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell."
~~ Gautama Buddha [5th Century BCE]

"Love and work, work and love . . . that's all there is."
~~ Sigmund Freud [1856-1939]

"Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing."
~~ Robert Benchley [1889-1945]

"If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people."
~~ TV character Gregory House, MD

"Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success."
~~ Thomas Alva Edison [1847-1931]

{each set of posted quotations are then posted at the Working Minds website, alphabetical by author}

Alternate Facts?

Only reality is real.

The concept of an alternate reality is held only by propagandists and the fools who believe them.

False realities are very common and is the source of great havoc among humans.

Individuals have true power only to the extent that their worldview is consistent with objective reality.

Groups have pseudo-power by use of the force inherent in their large numbers.

The failure of these groups derives from the use of that force, which is proof of the absence of Reason.
Copyright 2017 by G.E. Nordell, all rights reserved

Emperor Trump's Fake Missile Attack In Syria

On April 6, Emperor Trump faked a missile attack on Syria's Shayrat airfield as retaliation for the illegal chemical bombing attacks by Syrian military on civilians on April 4th. Two U.S. Navy warships were ordered to fire Tomahawk missiles at the airfield; per officials, 59 missiles were launched (one fell into the sea). Russian military later said that only 23 missiles reached their target.

So here's the math: each Tomahawk missile costs $1.87M x 59 launched, so that was $110.33 million of taxpayer money on the surface (plus costs for ships & personnel, etc.) – for no purpose other than a P/R boost for Trump.

So what's fake about this? According to several reports, Emperor Trump called his hero dictator Vladimir Putin to warn of the pending attack; Putin called his sidekick dictator Assad of Syria to warn him; Assad ordered all planes parked in their bunkers; and finally, not one missile landed on the runways, which would be the objective in a real military action. One pundit describes the event as 'Trump's fireworks show'.

While the middle steps are composed of rumor and conjecture, the White House confirmed that 'more than two dozen' members of Congress were notified in advance of the strike; the U.S. also notified several countries in advance of the strike thru international channels, including Canada, the U.K., Australia, and Russia ('to minimize any chance of Russian casualties').

The final factoid has a basis in fact: Syrian air forces launched further bombing raids from the targeted airbase the very next day: i.e. no damage to the runways.

(ADDED: Went to an appointment at the V.A. hospital the next day after posting this and an employee pointed out that Trump owns stock in Raytheon, the main manufacturer of Tomahawk missiles; not surprisingly, shares of Raytheon have spiked, meaning Trump is directly profiting from his Syria 'attack'.)

Copyright 2017 by G.E. Nordell, all rights reserved

The G.O.P. Economic Meltdown Continues . . .

You thought that the G.O.P. Economic Meltdown of 2008 was over?
Pah!

* January 2016: Barnes and Noble booksellers announced plans to close 197 bookstores over the next five years.
* January 2016: Finish Line, Inc. announced that it is closing the lowest-performing 150 of its 600 name-brand 'athleisure' clothing stores.
* January 2016: Wal-Mart, Inc. announced that it plans to close all of its 102 Wal-Mart Express stores as well as 52 full-size U.S. locations, while stepping up its digital sales efforts.
* March 2016: Sports Authority filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced plans to close 140 stores.
* March 2016: After reporting a 20% drop in fourth quarter profit, the Kohl's department store chain announced that it is closing 18 stores and laying off more than 1,500 employees.
* May 2016: The Aeropostale teen apparel chain filed for bankruptcy and said that it will close 154 stores; the plan was later expanded to closing 570 of its 800 stores.
* May 2016: After failing to find a buyer, Sports Authority announced closing & liquidation of all its 460+ locations in the U.S.
* June 2016: Luxury fashion brand Ralph Lauren announced plans to cut about 1,000 jobs (8% of its workforce) while closing more than 50 stores. (The retailer's sales fell in every quarter in fiscal 2016, leading to a full-year sales decline of nearly 3%.)
* July 2016: After Hastings Entertainment filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and failed to find a buyer, the seller of books & DVDs decided to liquidate all 126 stores.
* August 2016: After already closing 400 stores during the Office Max - Office Depot merger, Office Depot announced plans to close 300 more stores in the next three years. (The proposed merger with larger Staples was scrapped over antitrust concerns.)
* November 2016: After suffering seven consecutive quarters of declining sales, The Gap's North American operations announced plans to close 65 stores across its Gap, Gap Kids, Old Navy, and Banana Republic retail clothing brands; they already pulled the Old Navy brand out of Japan entirely, closing over 50 stores.

These chains announced closings in December 2016:
* Sears announced that it will close 17 Sears locations and 34 Kmart stores in early 2017 (liquidation sales to begin in January, closings between late March and mid-April). This latest round brings the total number of Sears stores closed this fiscal year to more than 200, and means that the retailer will have fewer than 1,500 stores left by early 2017, down nearly 60% from 2011 when Sears had more than 3,500 stores.
* Clothing retailer Children's Place closed 125 stores in 2016 and plans to close 200 more in 2017; it operates about 1,000 stores throughout the U.S.
* Tailored Brands, which operates the Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Banks stores, is closing as many as 250 stores.
* Chico’s FAS, which operates the Chico’s, White House Black Market, and Soma stores, announced that it will cut 240 jobs and close 120 stores by the end of 2017.
* American Eagle Outfitters is continuing its 2014 three-year initiative to close as many as 150 stores.

* January 2017: Macy’s Department Stores announced a plan to cut costs by closing stores and slashing 10,000 jobs.
* January 2017: The Limited women's apparel chain announced plans to close all of its 250 stores, with loss of about 4,000 jobs.
* January 2017: The Wet Seal teen fashions chain of California announced plans to close the last 170 of its stores; two years ago the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, closed two-thirds of its locations, and laid off almost 3,700 workers.
* January 2017: Walgreens and Rite Aid revised their proposed merger deal, slashing more than $2 billion from the purchase price and pushing the closing date back six months while they await regulatory approval; the tentative deal is now scheduled to close July 31. Walgreens originally agreed to pay $9 per share for Rite Aid's common stock, but has now agreed to pay $7 per share if 1,000 or fewer stores have to be sold, and $6.50 per share if 1,200 stores must be sold.

* February 2017: J.C. Penney will close up to 140 stores, offering buyouts to many employees.
* March 2017: Staples announced plans to close 70 more stores; the latest store closings come on the heels of 48 closings last year, and a combined 242 stores closed in the two prior years; at the start of the current fiscal year, Staples had 1,255 U.S. stores and 304 Canadian locations.
* March 2017: RadioShack [est. 1921] filed for bankruptcy for the second time and is closing 552 (36 percent) of its stores.
* April 2017: Payless ShoeSource [est. 1956] filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced a restructuring plan that includes the immediate closure of 400 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico.
* *          * *          * *          * *Meanwhile, the stock market continues to expand the inevitable bubble. 2016's year-end numbers were: Dow Jones Industrial Average Index closed at $19,762.60 (its best year since 2013); the Standard & Poor's 500 closed at $2,238.83; and the NASDAQ Composite Index closed at $5,383.12.

Then on January 25, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index rose above $20,000 for the first time, closing for the day at $19,912.71 and the S&P 500 broke above $2,300 for the first time.

But in March, the stock markets suffered a week of selloffs based on the cancellation of the A.H.C.A. 'TrumpCare' vote, then recovered slightly on March 24: the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index closed at $20,596.72, the S&P 500 Index closed at $2,343.98, and the NASDAQ Composite Index closed at $5,828.74 – all still down for the week.
Those levels continued thru April.

Copyright 2017 by G.E. Nordell, all rights reserved

New Al Gore Movie "An Inconvenient Sequel"

Notice was sent out a couple days ago about Al Gore, Jr.'s new movie that is called "An Inconvenient Sequel", which is, of course, a follow-up to his 2006 hit film and bestselling book "An Inconvenient Truth". The new movie was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in January and received two standing ovations. There will be a companion book; both book & movie will be available in July.

It appears that the film begins with a report on the dire situation regarding climate changes on our planet but ends with hope that the rapidly-expanding renewable energy industry may yet save the day.

Not everyone may know that when Al Gore studied at University of California at San Diego, one of his teachers was Roger Revelle, the first scientist to use the term 'greenhouse effect'. Al Gore has stated that since he had access to the political realm thru his father, a U.S. Congressman and Senator from Tennessee, he decided to enter politics himself in order to battle climate change.

official sequel movie site
sequel movie credits at Internet Movie Database
watch 3/2017 official sequel trailer [2:31] online at YouTube

companion book by Al Gore, Jr. [2017]
Kindle Edition from Rodale Books [DUE July 2017] pre-order for $9.99
Rodale Books pb [DUE July 2017] pre-order for $16.97

Also recently added on YouTube is an Al Gore interview by Amy Goodman at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival
watch full 1/2017 segment [11:26] online at YouTube

And lots more info on the Al Gore, Jr. Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

Copyright 2017 by G.E. Nordell, all rights reserved