Our scars have the power to remind us that the past was real. -- Dr. Hannibal Lecter, from the film "Red Dragon" The line above could have been written by Thomas Harris, author of books such as Black Sunday and Silence of the Lambs. Of course, the quote might have been scripted by Ted Tally, the man who wrote the screenplay for the movie Red Dragon. Since I don't have a copy of the book handy to see if the line originated there but I know it was in the film that was based on the novel, I'll give partial credit to both, as well as to Sir Anthony Hopkins, who so memorably played Hannibal Lecter in the movies. Great lines are perceived to be great because they succinctly summarize some true and astute observation of life. I can remember the accident or specific event that caused each of my most significant scars. Over the years, my body has accumulated a number of interesting ones. My mother used to say that if all my scars simultaneously turned back into open wounds, my body would fall apart like a rag doll. I have been stitched up more than my fair share. There was a point in my life where the nurses in the emergency room at St. Joseph's Hospital in Savannah recognized me on sight, I visited them so often. Combine a relatively high threshold for pain with a healthy desire to live life to the fullest, you might acquire a few scars like these yourself. The hard truth is that real world doesn't forgive very many mistakes without giving us a scar as a reminder. Edmund Burke famously said these true words: "Those who don't know history are doomed to … [Read more...]
The Pearl: 25 March 2015
Common sense is the genius of humanity. -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe This quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is significant because he was a genius. Experts have estimated his IQ was over 200. Obviously, this brilliant literary mind placed great value on common sense, as did my own dad. My father always differentiated between what he called "book sense", meaning formal education, and common sense, by which he meant the ability to figure things out and function in the real world. As the Pearl from several days ago suggested, the United States of America would probably not exist as a nation, if it were not for Thomas Paine's Common Sense. Simply stated, common sense is very underrated. … [Read more...]
The Pearl: 24 May 2015
Familiarity breeds contempt - and children. -- Mark Twain Once upon a time, my wife and I had two young children at home aged 8 and 3, and a border collie named Maggie who loved to herd the munchkins. One night Maggie got a little too excited while following her instincts and nipped at one of our daughter's friends, so my wife and I took our most excellent little sheepdog to obedience training. The lady at obedience school told us, "One problem is that your dog doesn't respect your children." To which I honestly replied, "Most of the time, we don't either." The trainer seemed to think that was a significant contributing factor to our dog's bad behavior. … [Read more...]
The Pearl: 23 March 2015
Some super-calculating intellect must have designed the properties of the carbon atom; otherwise the chance of my finding such an atom through the blind forces of nature would be utterly minuscule. A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question. -- Fred Hoyle Sir Fred Hoyle was probably the most brilliant scientist of the 20th century who never became world famous. He was the man who coined the term "big bang" to describe the small, incredibly hot beginning of the universe. However, Sir Fred was ridiculing the theory because he rejected the Big Bang. Hoyle didn't believe an origin of the universe was possible, probably due to his atheism. Even after the discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation supported Hubble's observations of redshift, which indicated the universe not static, but expanding. In the quote above, Hoyle is referring to his prediction about the carbon 12 atom, which was an extraordinary accomplishment, for which fellow physicists William Alfred Fowler and Chandra Wickramasinghe won the 1983 Nobel Prize in physics. Hoyle was famously snubbed and excluded from sharing the honor he so richly deserved, allegedly because he alienated and annoyed so many of his peers with his more controversial opinions. Author Simon Singh wrote the following about Hoyle: After ten … [Read more...]
The Pearl: 22 March 2015
Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need. – Khalil Gibran David Piccioli is a man without pride. He wants a $30,000 pension -- for working one day as a substitute teacher. One day. This will be in addition to two other pensions Mr. Piccioli is already collecting, each in excess of $30,000. The private sector taxpayers in the state of Illinois are being robbed blind by union thugs like Piccioli. The state of Illinois currently has $331 billion dollars in unfunded pension liabilities. Largely due to the greed of crooks like David Piccioli. … [Read more...]
