spookypeople - quote category

Grace Hopper Quote

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 02:35:57 GMT

"It's better to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission."--The Late Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, who led the effort to create COBOL

From BYTE.com

Thomas Jefferson

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 20:34:46 GMT

There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government, and provisions should be made to prevent its ascendancy.
-Thomas Jefferson, third US president, architect and author (1743-1826)

I would rather be the offspring of two apes...

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 16:47:10 GMT

"I would rather be the offspring of two apes than be a man and afraid to face the truth."

Worth a visit just of the follow up posts.

real conservative

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 22:37:15 GMT

The great fraud being perpetrated in our political discourse is the concerted attempt by movement conservatives, now that the Bush presidency lay irreversibly in ruins, to repudiate George Bush by claiming that he is not, and never has been, a "real conservative." This con game is being perpetrated by the very same conservatives who -- when his presidency looked to be an epic success -- glorified George W. Bush, ensured both of his election victories, depicted him as the heroic Second Coming of Ronald Reagan, and celebrated him as the embodiment of True Conservatism.

Glenn Greenwald - Salon

I agree with Greenwald. A while ago I pointed that when the first conservatives (Sullivan comes to mind) broke from the Bush camp, movement conservatives started calling them liberals. Once Bush's approval rating dropped to the point that he was only a burden to the movement, they've started calling Bush a liberal. Greenwald does a nice job showing how some of the same people who are claiming that Bush isn't a real conservative supported the disastrous Bush tax cuts, the disastrous Bush foreign policy choices, the incompetents Bush appointments and much of the other Bush policy debacles. And now they realize that Bush wasn't a conservative after all. How convenient.

What is really silly is that so many of what Bush has done comes from the Reagan play book. Tax cuts. Deregulation. Having industry insiders run the departments that regulate them. Cozy relationships with industry. Privatizing government functions. I see very little that Bush has done that Reagan wouldn't have done. Or didn't try to do.

I'm reminded of this quote:

Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others. - Groucho Marx

Londo Mollari on Iran?

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 17:29:21 GMT

The recent saber rattling with Iran has reminded of a quote from Londo Mollari of Babylon 5:

"Only a fool fights a war on two fronts. Only the heir to the kingdom of fools fights a war on twelve fronts!"

There are three classic military blunders.

Getting into a land war in Asia.
Opening a second front when the first front hasn't been secured.
Going to war with with Italian Army on your side.

Bush went three for three.

James Madison Quote

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 20:11:31 GMT

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.
-James Madison, fourth US president (1751-1836)

Nostradamus had nothing on Madison.

Robert T. Pirsig quote

Sat, 23 Dec 2006 15:40:17 GMT

When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kind of dogmas or goals, it's always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt. -Robert T. Pirsig, author and philosopher (1928- )

Chuck Reid Quote

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 16:56:14 GMT

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; In practice, there is."
- Chuck Reid

Lee Iacocca Quote

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 21:32:00 GMT

In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have.
-Lee Iacocca, automobile executive (1924- )

John Steinbeck Quote

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 14:35:28 GMT

Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.
-John Steinbeck, novelist, Nobel laureate (1902-1968)

Mocking Bush is my patriotic duty

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 20:55:14 GMT

Anyone who opposes the indefinite occupation of Iraq shouldn't be labeled an al-Qaida supporter. That's like saying that if I tell my exterminator that there are more efficient ways to rid the house of vermin than hitting them with a hammer, I'm "for the rats."

Bill Maher on Salon

Benjamin Franklin Quote

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 13:39:37 GMT

Half the truth is often a great lie. -Benjamin Franklin, statesman, author, and inventor (1706-1790)

Blaise Pascal Quote

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 19:20:07 GMT

Words differently arranged have different meanings, and meanings differently arranged have a different effect.
-Blaise Pascal, philosopher and mathematician (1623-1662)

Edmund Burke Quote

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 23:36:38 GMT

They defend their errors as if they were defending their inheritance.
Edmund Burke, statesman and writer (1729-1797)

Once again, Burke seems to sum up a modern political situation perfectly. Its almost like he speaking about the UAE port situation, the failures in Iraq and the growing financial crisis from beyond the grave.

Carl Sagan Quote

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 17:33:05 GMT

For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner ... on an unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. ... That is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for us to understand that.
-Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer (1934-1996)

Chris Matthews

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 18:48:38 GMT

You'd think the only focus tonight would be on destroying Osama Bin Laden, not comparing him to an American who opposes the war whether you like him or not. You want a real debate that America needs? Here goes: If the administration had done the job right in Tora Bora we might not be having discussions on Hardball about a new Bin Laden tape. How dare Scott McClellan tell America that this Administration puts terrorists out of business when had they put Osama Bin Laden out of business in Afghanistan when our troops wanted to, we wouldn't have to hear this barbarian's voice on tape. That's what we should be talking about in America. -- John Kerry

More here and here

This is the typical GOPer tactic. Applaud hateful comments aimed at your opponents while calling any comment from any GOP critic hate.

But Moore gets the last laugh

Theodore Roosevelt Quote

Mon, 19 Dec 2005 21:42:03 GMT

I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart, and that is softness of head.
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President (1858-1919)

George Washington versus Bill O'Reilly

Wed, 14 Dec 2005 14:43:40 GMT

"There's a very secret plan ... to diminish Christian philosophy in the U.S.A."

So says, Bill O'Reilly. I hate to say it, but Bill is right. And that plot was started by George, (not Soros)

"The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion."

George Washington

So 210+ years later and the forces of Secularism still haven't destroyed Christianity and its influence here in America. Makes me wonder if the original George W had it all wrong; and the separating Church and State actually works to protect both rather than eliminate the latter. The other possibility is that the wall between Church and State was never meant to destroy Christianity. Perhaps Secularists are motivated by some other goal totally unrelated to any alleged hatred of religion. Perhaps, motivated by a healthy distrust of government; they wish to limit its influence in this critical area of faith and other matters of conscience. One would think that limiting Government intervention in those matters would be an area of common ground between Liberals and Conservatives rather than such a divisive fault line.

traveling with toys

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 15:40:49 GMT

Of course it's airline policy never to imply ownership in the case of a dildo. We always use the indefinite article. A dildo, never your dildo.

FDR Quote

Thu, 10 Nov 2005 15:12:32 GMT

Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd US President (1882-1945)

Makes me wonder why anyone would be against the McCain amendment

no person in the custody or under effective control of the Department of Defense or under detention in a Department of Defense facility shall be subject any treatment or technique of interrogation not authorized by and listed in the United States Army Field manual on intelligence interrogation.

That's it. What exactly is objectionable about it?