DaVinci, Franklin, Monet, Darwin, early humans, aliens if possible. ---- There are grounds for cautious optimism that we may now be near the end of the search for the ultimate laws of nature. ---- The obstacles to vitality may lie in the desiccating powers of modern science or in the encrustations of traditional religion. ---- How is it that 'experience' could be split off from the self, rather than remaining the ground of being in which the self is embedded? ---- War provides a real test of character and creates a pool of leaders for the nation, while peace increases our peril, by making discipline less urgent and encouraging some of our worst instincts, dooming us to become one of those effeminate republics. We are back in the moral universe of Theodore Roosevelt. Once again, old men are at their desks and in their clubs, singing the praises of war, while young men are experiencing the exquisite impact of steel on flesh. ---- Americans embrace regenerative violence, but usually concealed by lust for combat in clouds of providential rhetoric about the nation's missionary role in the world. ---- 'My old friend, I recall, the times we had hanging on my wall. I would't trade them for gold. Cause they laugh and they cry me. And somehow sanctify me. Woven in the stories I have told, and tell again. My old friend, I apologize for the years that have past since the last time you and I dusted off those memories.' ----- To have memories of those you've loved and lost is perhaps worse than having no memory at all. ---- Willie Nelson, Eisley, Alison Krauss, John Fogerty, Coldplay, James Taylor, Steve Miller, Pat Green, McGraw and Hill, America, Notwist, Ben Folds, Blink, Alabama, David Gray, All Classic Rock! ---- Back to the Future. Hoosiers. Blow. Fear and Loathing. Rat Race. Me, myself, and Irene. Dazed and Confused. Traffic. Resident Evil. Casino. Who framed Roger Rabbit. Shawshank Redemption. Thomas Crown Affair. Boondock Saints. Groundhog Day. Heist. Full Metal Jacket. Stripes. There are just too many to list them all. ---- I Love Lucy. I love Family Guy. All news. All sports. All science. All history. ---- I read the dictionary. 'We are being robbed of primal, unmediated contact with the palpitating forces of real life' -Stephen Hawking ---- My heros have always been cowboys. ---- When they took the fourth amendment, I was quiet because I didn't deal drugs. When they took the sixth amendment, I was quiet because I was innocent. When they took the second amendment, I was quiet because I didn't own a gun. Now they've taken the first amendment, and I can say nothing about it.