The Exercise of Vital Powers

He put himself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.

Science fiction author Arthur C Clarke dies aged 90:

Science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke has died aged 90 in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, it was confirmed tonight.

The visionary author of over 100 books, who predicted the existence of satellites, was most famous for his short story “The Sentinel,” which was expanded into the novel on which Stanley Kubricks “2001: A Space Odyssey” was based.

He was also credited with inventing the concept of communications satellites in 1945, decades before they became a reality.

He first introduced me to the concept of the Space Elevator.

On the first day on January,
Eighteen ninety-two,
They opened Ellis Island and they let
The people through.
And the first to cross the treshold
Of that isle of hope and tears,
Was Annie Moore from Ireland
Who was all of fifteen years.

Isle of hope, isle of tears,
Isle of freedom, isle of fears,
But it’s not the isle you left behind.
That isle of hunger, isle of pain,
Isle you’ll never see again
But the isle of home is always on your mind.

In a little bag she carried
All her past and history,
And her dreams for the future
In the land of liberty.
And courage is the passport
When your old world disappears
But there’s no future in the past
When you’re fifteen years

Isle of hope, isle of tears,
Isle of freedom, isle of fears,
But it’s not the isle you left behind.
That isle of hunger, isle of pain,
Isle you’ll never see again
But the isle of home is always on your mind.

When they closed down Ellis Island
In nineteen fourty-three,
Seventeen million people
Had come there for sanctuary.
And in Springtime when I came here
And I stepped onto it’s piers,
I thought of how it must have been
When you’re fifteen years.

Isle of hope, isle of tears,
Isle of freedom, isle of fears,
But it’s not the isle you left behind.
That isle of hunger, isle of pain,
Isle you’ll never see again
But the isle of home is always on your mind.

“Lyon Tyler, whom John Tyler sired at the spry young age of 63, went on to continue the family tradition and in 1928, at the age of 75, fathered a child himself. That son, Harrison Tyler (at right, in 2006) is still alive. The grandson of the tenth president of the United States, the grandson of a man born in 1790, is alive today. He currently lives on his grandfather’s estate, Sherwood Forest, in Virginia. And ladies, if you’re interested, he may be looking to continue the family legacy.” From :mental_floss magazine – Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix

The folks at Catallarchy The Distributed Republic are doing their annual Day of Remembrance for the victims of Communism and Socialism.

“This Cold War-era cartoon uses humor to tout the dangers of Communism and the benefits of capitalism.” Enjoy the glorious Technicolor cartoon production by Harding College, complete with a snake oil salesman hawking “ism”s and lots of catcalls at hot (animated) 1940s babes.

H/T: Reason Magazine – Hit & Run

A voice from the past

“It appears we have appointed our worst generals to command forces, and our most gifted and brilliant to edit newspapers! In fact, I discovered by reading newspapers that these editor/geniuses plainly saw all my strategic defects from the start, yet failed to inform me until it was too late.

Accordingly, I’m readily willing to yield my command to these obviously superior intellects, and I’ll, in turn, do my best for the Cause by writing editorials – after the fact.”

Robert E. Lee, 1863

HT: The Braden Files

Apparently the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church wasn’t driving from Istanbul (Was Constantinople, now it’s Instabul) after 1453. Instead the Caliphs allowed him to remain. Now is seems the Government of Turkey has taken steps to get rid of him by attrition.

Georgia Legislative Watch » HR415 – Government of Turkey; urge to grant the Ecumenical Patriarch international recognition

Story

In other news, the British Government will be re-attaching the head of Ann Boylin.

On this day in 1707 the Act of Union was signed, ending Scottish Independence and forming the United Kingdom.

Happy 300th birthday!

The Instapundit lead me to this story that I never recalled hearing but think need repeating. Often.

In 1998 when Kip Kinkel decided to take out his anger at the world on his fellow classmates, it wasn’t the Springfield SWAT team that ended the killing spree. It was one 17 year old Boy Scout, his brother and two friends who heard the sound of a rifle dry-fire and decided to tackle the shooter. Oh, and the 17 year old had been shot in the chest before he made his move.

In 2001, “Our first victory in the war on terror”, as our President calls it, was not done by our government. It was done by several airline passengers who decided that it was better to plow into a field in Pennsylvania than into an occupied office building in Washington or New York.

2003 brings us some local heros who restrained a knife welding assailant intent on killing their Spanish teacher.

In 2005 when FEMA couldn’t find its ass form its elbow, a kid from the ghetto found a bus, decided now was the time to learn to drive it, picked up a bus load of refugees, and managed to get to Houston’s Astrodome hours ahead of the Government convoy.

Its good to know when the excrement hits the turbine that Americans will still stand up and do whats right, in spite of our overtly paternalistic government, lousy educational system, and pundit class that teaches us to all be victims.