archive of the ‘today’s thought’ topic



today’s thought

Regarding adulation of Facebook and its founder in news articles highlighting Facebook’s economic growth and its pending Initial Public Offering of common stock:

“This is the pinnacle of achievement and admiration in the 21st century? I can click the mouse and “friend” someone or “like” something? Give me a break. What about people who have found ways to cure illness, tackle violence and hatred in society, … Of course, the Salks, Gandhis, and Einsteins of the world didn’t make a lot of money, which is what most of this admiration is really about.” – K. Powell of Tucson, Arizona

Bring the troops home!

U.S. Secretary of Offense Leon Panetta said today that U.S. military forces will withdraw from combat in Afghanistan as early as middle of 2013, more than a year before all American troops had been scheduled to come home. This is the first statement of an intended withdrawal ‘date.’

this date in history

On this date in 1948, Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi was murdered by a Hindu extremist.

puns for fun

ARBITRATOR:    A cook that leaves Arby’s to work at McDonalds.
AVOIDABLE:  What a bullfighter tries to do.
BERNADETTE:  The act of torching a mortgage.
BURGLARIZE:  What a crook sees with.
CONTROL:  A short, ugly inmate.
COUNTERFEITERS:  Workers who put together kitchen cabinets.
ECLIPSE:  What a Britsh barber does for a living.
EYEDROPPER:  A clumsy ophthalmologist.
HEROES:  What a guy in a boat does.
LEFT BANK:  What the robber did when he’d gotten the money.
MISTY:  How golfers create divots.
PARADOX:  Two physicians.
PARASITES:  What you see from the top of the Eiffel Tower.
PHARMACIST:  A helper on the farm.
POLARIZE:  What penguins see with.
PRIMATE:  Remove a spouse from the TV.
RELIEF:  What trees do in the spring.
RUBBERNECK:  What you do to relax your wife.
SELFISH:  What the owner of a seafood store does.
SUDAFED:  Brought litigation against a governmental official.

today’s thought

Decide to be your best.

In the long run the world is going to want and have the best, and that might as well be you.

- Booker Washington

today’s thought

The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body,

his information and his recreation, his love and his religion.

He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing.

To him he’s always doing both.  - James Michener

MLK quiz

A Florida State University survey:

How old was Doctor Martin King, Junior when he earned a baccalaureate degree?

15 years

30 years

26 years

22 years

another age

Of 3353 respondents, 18 percent of us (including me) answered correctly, “15 years.”

Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!

In the face of overwhelming opposition from other presidential wannabes, Jon Huntsman, Junior has reportedly told his advisers that he will quit competing for Republican nomination for the U.S. presidency.

Tim Pawlenty

Michelle Bachman

Herman Cain

Jon Huntsman

League of Nations, second try

On this date in 1946, the first General Assembly of the United Nations convened in London.

today’s thought

Ten years ago we had Steve Jobs, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash.

Now we have no Jobs, no Hope, and no Cash.

this date in history

On this date in 1914, Henry Ford introduced a minimum wage of $5 per day, more than doubling the wages for most Ford Motor Company employees.

today’s thought

The world can always benefit from more achievement.

And you are just the person to make that achievement happen.

Life is all about making a difference.

And you are in a position right now to make a positive difference in life.

This day, this situation is filled with many challenges and problems.

And behind each challenge, behind each problem, are valuable opportunities.

The surest and most positive way forward is through meaningful achievement.

Make a difference that truly means something to you, and you’ll lift up all of life.

It’s not selfish or greedy to achieve your most deeply felt desires.

What’s selfish is to do nothing, to accept less than you could be, when you could be making a difference.

Make the commitment, make the effort, make a difference, and achieve.

Lift your own life higher, and pull all of life along with you.

Ralph Marston

Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!

Michelle Bachmann quit her quest for the U.S. presidency. I have decided to stand aside.

Tim Pawlenty

Herman Cain

Michelle Bachman

this date in history

On this date in 1959, U.S. President Eisenhower admitted Alaska to the United States of America as the forty-ninth state.

Recently, in a Virginia, U.S.A. grocery store:

customer: Excuse me. I have a question about your wild Alaskan Salmon. Why does the package say it’s a product of the United States?!

store clerk: Because it’s made in the United States.”

customer: But if it’s a product of the U.S., it’s not really Alaskan salmon, right?

store clerk: The label’s correct, ma’am.

customer: So, it’s not from Alaska?

store clerk: Alaska is part of the United States. The salmon is fresh from Alaska.

customer: Oh, okay… (rolls eyes and leaves)

today’s thought

Everything you want should be yours: the type of work you want; the relationships you need; the social, mental, and aesthetic stimulation that will make you happy and fulfilled; the money you require for the lifestyle that is appropriate to you; and any requirement that you may (or may not) have for achievement or service to others. If you don’t aim for it all, you’ll never get it all. To aim for it requires that you know what you want.  – Richard Koch

HAPPY NEW ¥€@R!

Brian in a bayou Dec 31 2011 »→

Can we learn from history?

On this date in 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.

today’s thought

How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.  George Washington Carver

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