There is an ancient idiom in Chinese culture that encourages taking the long view; meaning, look beyond the immediate towards long-range consequences and/or results of a particular action. Hong Kong is an excellent example. In 1898, the British “leased” Hong Kong and its territories from China for 99 years, with the region released to China …
Read the full post →“Law #8 – Honey, Vinegar, or Poo / Also, Hey DJ”
Seems fitting that a guy with no real talent, vision, or intellect would affix the name of America’s greatest (Serbian) inventor to his self-piloted, suicidal automobile. Was this old when discovered that Nikola Tesla not only pioneered the AC system of electricity (inapposite to and more effective/efficient than Edison’s preferred DC) but his patent was …
In 2004, the world received its very first celebrity sex tape. “One Night in Paris” is a grainy, night-vision, cringefest starring a neo-celebutante hotel heiress and some random meatstick with whom she was drugging and smacking uglies. Methinks “viral” is the appropriate term, in all the possible ways. A few years later a similar mess …
Back in the … my heavens 1980’s? (shuddercringe) there was this really good cop show called “Hill Street Blues.” My favorite character was (of course) the cop who bit people but overall the entire cast was really, really good. One character who really stood out was Sgt. Phil Esterhaus, a gentle, no-nonsense giant who genuinely …
Read the full post →“Law #5 – Perception is Reality; or, You Are What Others Think”
Louis XIV (the very same he who would banish Darling Nicky) was legendary for being extremely taciturn; he kept his thoughts, opinions, and fears to himself, revealing his decision only in deed. After agonizing over matters of state, his advisors would finally settle on a few alternatives to present to the French king, and reportedly …
Read the full post →“Law #4 – Hold Your Tongue; see Proverbs 21:23”
In our age of oversharing, TMI, and the quest for external validation of every inner thought, this next law of power will be anathema to those beyond the Boomer. By concealing true intentions, it is more likely to achieve the ultimate goal. Everyone likes to be a spoiler, but one cannot spoil the unseen, the …
Read the full post →“Law #3 – Never Let ‘Em See You Coming or, for that Matter … Going”
At some point during the ninth century A.D., a young man named Michael (through the machinations and duplicitousness of his uncle) was thrust onto the throne of the Byzantine Empire. Michael had a buddy named Basilius, from peasant stock who worked in the horse stables, and Basilius – right place, right time – saved Michael …
Methinks excellence shall inevitably be punished. How very disheartening. In mid-1660’s France, there lived two very vain men … Nicolas Fouquet, and King Louis XIV. Both loved money, and ostentation, and spectacle, but only one could punish the other for his preference. Bit of a backstory: someone high up in the king’s cabinet died, and …
A while ago I started reading Robert Greene’s “48 Laws of Power” and have to say … mucho disturbio. Is the world really this corrupt? Are people really this horrible? Am I really that naïve? It appears the answer to all of those questions is a resounding “Yes!” Sigh. Well, the banality of evil is a …
theKid recently expressed some frustration with the foolishness of grown folks … and youth sports. Yeh, the kids think the parents are dumb too. And kids always bear the burden of a parent’s mistakes. Ergo, to wit: my parents split before I hit kindergarten, totally destroyed the family, and the scars from that destruction have …
Read the full post →“Points, Practice, Physics … and Politics”
