Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

At Breakfast, 1914 by Zinaida Serebriakova

At Breakfast, 1914 by Zinaida Serebriakova (Russia, 1884-1967)





















Click to enlarge. 

Monday, March 30, 2026

History

 

An Insight

 

I see wonderful things

 

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

Evidence? I am weary of evidence. Only rouse a man and make him feel the truth of his religion.


And what has been the consequence? An increasing unwillingness to contemplate the Supreme Being in his personal attributes: and thence a distaste to all the peculiar doctrines of the Christian Faith, the Trinity, the Incarnation of the Son of God, and Redemption. The young and ardent, ever too apt to mistake the inward triumph in the detection of error for a positive love of truth, are among the first and most frequent victims to this epidemic fastidium. Alas! even the sincerest seekers after light are not safe from the contagion. Some have I known, constitutionally religious—I speak feelingly; for I {271}speak of that which for a brief period was my own state—who under this unhealthful influence have been so estranged from the heavenly Father, the Living God, as even to shrink from the personal pronouns as applied to the Deity. But many do I know, and yearly meet with, in whom a false and sickly taste co-operates with the prevailing fashion: many, who find the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, far too real, too substantial; who feel it more in harmony with their indefinite sensations

To worship Nature in the hill and valley,
Not knowing what they love:—

and (to use the language, but not the sense or purpose of the great poet of our age) would fain substitute for the Jehovah of their Bible

A sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air;
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things!

Wordsworth.

And this from having been educated to understand the Divine Omnipresence in any sense rather than the alone safe and legitimate one, the presence of all things to God!

Be it, however, that the number of such men is comparatively small! And be it (as in fact it often is) but a brief stage, a transitional state, in the process of intellectual Growth! Yet among a numerous and increasing class of the higher and middle ranks, there is an inward withdrawing from the Life and Personal Being of God, a turning of the thoughts exclusively to the so-called physical attributes, to the Omnipresence in the counterfeit form of ubiquity, to the Immensity, the Infinity, the Immutability;—the attributes of space with a notion of Power as their substratum, a Fate, in short, not a Moral Creator and Governor! Let intelligence be imagined, and wherein does the conception of God differ essentially from that of Gravitation (conceived as the cause of Gravity) in the understanding of those, who represent the Deity not only as a necessary but as a necessitated Being; those, for whom justice is but a scheme {272}of general laws; and holiness, and the divine hatred of sin, yea and sin itself, are words without meaning or accommodations to a rude and barbarous race? Hence, I more than fear, the prevailing taste for books of Natural Theology, Physico-Theology, Demonstrations of God from Nature, Evidences of Christianity, and the like. Evidences of Christianity! I am weary of the word. Make a man feel the want of it; rouse him, if you can, to the self-knowledge of his need only the express declaration of Christ himself: No man cometh to me, unless the Father leadeth him. Whatever more is desirable—I speak now with reference to Christians generally, and not to professed students of theology—may, in my judgment, be far more safely and profitably taught, without controversy or the supposition of infidel antagonists, in the form of Ecclesiastical history.

I often see the concluding thought paraphrased as:

Evidence? I am weary of evidence. Only rouse a man and make him feel the truth of his religion.

Palm Sunday messaging

I was just reading Deuteronomy 2:32-36 yesterday.  

32 Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.

33 And the Lord our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.

34 And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:

35 Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took.

36 From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the Lord our God delivered all unto us.

When I am waiting for the service to commence, I will often flip randomly to a passage to consider in addition to whatever the day's readings are.  Deuteronomy 2:32-36 wasn't particularly consonant with the spirit of Palm Sunday and the Lord's Passion but knowing the whole is always more challenging than dealing in the parts.  

Unbeknownst to me, the Pope was simultaneously making a Palm Sunday, Lord's Passion statement.  
Of course this is in part just the eternal tension between the Old Testament of judgment, war and tragedy and the New Testament of forgiveness, peace and hope.  But it was a striking contrast between what I was reading while waiting for the service to begin and what the Pope was opining.  

And of course, Babylon Bee goes to town.
 

A Cafe Scene, 1934 by Sylvia Gosse

A Cafe Scene, 1934 by Sylvia Gosse (England, 1881–1968)































Click to enlarge.

Sunday, March 29, 2026

History

 

An Insight

 

I see wonderful things

 

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

Snow Spruce by A. J. Casson

Snow Spruce by A. J. Casson (Canada, 1898-1992) 





















Click to enlarge.

Saturday, March 28, 2026

History

 

An Insight

 

I see wonderful things

 

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

Snowy night at Urayasu by Kawase Hasui

Snowy night at Urayasu by Kawase Hasui (Japan, 1883-1957)




































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In Love, 1888 by Marcus Stone

In Love, 1888 by Marcus Stone (England, 1840-1921)

















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Friday, March 27, 2026

History

 

An Insight

 

I see wonderful things

 

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

Woman with Spanish Shawl, c. 1926 by J.C. Leyendecker

Woman with Spanish Shawl, c. 1926 by J.C. Leyendecker (Germany/America, 1874-1941)

































Click to enlarge.

Thursday, March 26, 2026

History

 

An Insight

 

I see wonderful things

 

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

Spring, the Interior of the artist's studio, 1933 by Leon Jan Wyczółkowski

Spring, the Interior of the artist's studio, 1933 by Leon Jan Wyczółkowski (Poland, 1852-1936)






















Click to enlarge.

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

History

 

An Insight

 

I see wonderful things

 

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

Interior with Two Glasses, 1923 by Marius Borgeaud

 Interior with Two Glasses, 1923 by Marius Borgeaud (Switzerland, 1861-1924)



















Click to enlarge.

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

History

 

An Insight

 

I see wonderful things

 

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

Méditation 2, 2024 by Thomas Bossard

Méditation 2, 2024 by Thomas Bossard (France, 1971 - )


































Click to enlarge.

Monday, March 23, 2026

History

 

An Insight

 

I see wonderful things

 

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

The Human Condition by René Magritte

The Human Condition by René Magritte (Belgium, 1898-1967)



















Click to enlarge.

Sunday, March 22, 2026

Chuck Norris facts are the only facts worth remembering.

One of my sons went through a Chuck Norris Facts phase circa 8-12 years old.  It seems fitting to note Norris's passing with some of these from Wikipedia's Chuck Norris facts.  I recognize most of them even these many years later.  Maybe there's a new one - Chuck Norris facts are the only facts worth remembering.  

Chuck Norris was once bitten by a king cobra; after ten excruciating minutes, the cobra died. – Believed to be the first Chuck Norris "fact"

They tried to put Chuck Norris's face on Mount Rushmore, but the granite wasn't tough enough for his beard. – Stated by Norris to be his personal favorite "fact".

When Chuck Norris does push-ups, he doesn't push himself up, he pushes the Earth down.

Chuck Norris has a polar bear rug at home. It's not dead; it's just afraid to move.

Chuck Norris once threw a hand grenade and killed fifty people; then it exploded.

When Chuck Norris goes swimming, he doesn’t get wet – the water gets Chuck Norris.

When Chuck Norris looks in a mirror it shatters. Because not even glass is foolish enough to get between Chuck Norris and Chuck Norris.

There was once a street named after Chuck Norris, but the name was changed as nobody crosses Chuck Norris and lives.

Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

Chuck Norris doesn't own a stove, oven, or microwave, because revenge is dish best served cold.

Chuck Norris won an arm wrestling tournament, with both hands tied behind his back.

Chuck Norris plays Jenga with Stonehenge.

The Flash discovered how to run at the speed of light when he found out Chuck Norris was looking for him.

Beneath Chuck Norris's beard is another fist.

When the bogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

The flu gets a Chuck Norris shot every year.

The Swiss Army uses Chuck Norris knives.

Ghosts tell Chuck Norris stories around the campfire.

Chuck Norris's Social Security number is the last nine digits of pi.

There is no such thing as evolution, only a list of species Chuck Norris has allowed to live.

The dinosaurs looked at Chuck Norris the wrong way. You know how that turned out.

In the Beginning, there was nothing. Then Chuck Norris roundhouse kicked nothing and told it to get a job.

Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked a coal mine and turned it into a diamond mine.

Chuck Norris actually died 20 years ago, but Death hasn't built up the courage to tell him yet.

Death was once badly shaken by a near-Chuck Norris experience.

Chuck Norris can believe it's not butter.

Chuck Norris makes onions cry.

Chuck Norris beat the Sun in a staring contest.

Chuck Norris once played Russian roulette with a fully-loaded gun and won.

Chuck Norris can divide by zero.

Chuck Norris can speak Braille and hear sign language.

Chuck Norris's diary is called the Guinness Book of World Records.

Chuck Norris is the only man that can slam a revolving door.

Chuck Norris can dribble a bowling ball.

If you have $5 and Chuck Norris has $5, Chuck Norris has more money than you.

Chuck Norris once killed 2 stones with one bird.

The Sun wears Chuck Norris glasses.

Astrophysicists have determined that the amount of energy released during the Big Bang was equivalent to 0.8794 CNʳʰK (Chuck Norris Roundhouse Kicks).

The only time Chuck Norris was ever wrong was the one time that he imagined that he was mistaken.

When Chuck Norris walks into a room, he does not turn on the light. He turns off the dark.

Jesus could walk on water. Chuck Norris could swim on land.

History

 

An Insight

 

I see wonderful things

 

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

Still Life - Buddleja, 1985 by Lars Swane

Still Life - Buddleja, 1985 by Lars Swane (Denmark, 1913–2002)





























Click to enlarge.

Men only want one thing and it’s disgusting.

From Men Only Want One Thing.  The subheading is And it's disgusting. 

Men only want one thing and it’s disgusting: To run away from home at seventeen and offer their services as a deckhand on a ship bound for the New World. To take a drag of a hand-rolled cigarette as they look out over their cattle herd, cowboy hat tipped to shade from the rising sun, tin cup of gritty black coffee in their hand. To build a Roman Castrum while on campaign in Gaul. To feel the sea spray against their beard as they prepare for raiding. To step foot on another celestial body.

Men only want one thing and it’s disgusting: To lead a cavalry charge into enemy ranks. To feed their blood lust with the boiling anger inside of them. To stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their brothers in a shield wall. To defend the ramparts against the storming enemy. To use the violence inherent to them. To find themselves standing victorious on a battlefield scattered with bodies. To make a heroic last stand. To bleed out contentedly in a liminal place, knowing that they’ve successfully protected their family.

Men only want one thing and it’s disgusting: To be left alone. To fish in silence for a couple of hours, nothing but the sound of water lapping to keep them company. To reflect on their mistakes, and to forgive themselves. To remember their father and knowingly nod as they finally understand him. To devote themselves in their entirety to a project, and to finish that project with a feeling of deserved pride. To leave something behind.

Saturday, March 21, 2026

History

 

History

 

An Insight

 

I see wonderful things

 

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

The White Room, 1924 by Marius Borgeaud

The White Room, 1924 by Marius Borgeaud (Switzerland, 1861-1924)





















Click to enlarge.

Friday, March 20, 2026

History

 

An Insight

 

I see wonderful things

 

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

The Kass, 1975 by Andrew Wyeth

The Kass, 1975 by Andrew Wyeth (America, 1917–2009) 




















Clcik to enlarge.

Thursday, March 19, 2026

History

 

An Insight

 

I see wonderful things

 

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

Kilauea Fire Fountain, 1884 by Jules Tavernier

Kilauea Fire Fountain, 1884 by Jules Tavernier (France/America, 1844-1889)



















Click to enlarge.

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

History

 

An Insight

 

Any monoculture in higher education would be bad. It just turns out that the particular monoculture we have is horrible.

Via Culture Links, 3/18/2026 by Arnold Kling

Yascha Mounk writes,

If it looks like a professional, talks like a professional, and earns like a professional, then it is probably a professional—with all the cultural and ideological accoutrements that nowadays come with that status.

…the Brooklynization of the Bourgeoisie. Its ultimate harm stems from the representation gap that has opened up between ordinary citizens and those calling the shots in society—and the counterproductive rebellion it inspired.

all the schools at the top range of prestige have over the past decades come to resemble each other to a remarkable degree. However much their respective college tour guides may wax lyrical to visiting high school seniors about their idiosyncratic local traditions, Harvard and Princeton, Yale and Stanford, Duke and Columbia are all examples of what biologists call “convergent evolution.” It is not just in the substance of their prevailing views that they constantly copy and emulate each other; it is also in the design of their curricula, in the way they finance their institutions, and in the criteria they use to select their undergraduate classes.

If you visit American suburbia, you will see a flattening of the culture. The same shopping malls, the same restaurant and retail chains the same eateries. College has flattened similarly—right down to the eateries. In 1963, the culture at Princeton differed from that at Yale or Harvard or Swarthmore. Now, they have homogenized. Everywhere there are the same upper-middle-class amenities (fitness centers, performing arts centers) and the same administrators hovering over “student life.”

Mounk talks about the need for viewpoint diversity. But I see a broader need for diversity in higher education. Any monoculture in higher education would be bad. It just turns out that the particular monoculture we have is horrible.

I see wonderful things

 

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

Seascape with Reflection, 1907 by Léon Spilliaert

Seascape with Reflection, 1907 by Léon Spilliaert (Belgium, 1881-1946)




















Click to enlarge.

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

History

 

An Insight

 

Three months resolving three bi-decadal sevens global threats from 67, 47, and 27 years ago.

It just registered with me.

In the first quarter of 2026, President Trump appears to be well on the way to resolving three generational international issues which have defied the capabilities of multiple presidents, Secretaries of State and innumerable foreign policy experts.  Things might still go wrong in any one of these situations but . . . right now each of these problems appear to be on pathways towards success and security achieved at lower risk and cost and in defiance of the institutional establishments of Washington, D.C. 

Communist Cuba - Fidel Castro came to power violently in 1959 during President Eisenhower's administration.  This is perhaps the most significant ideological victory, Cuba being one of the last holdovers of the Cold War.  Trump seems on his way to resolving this international and national security challenge which has defied twelve other administrations for sixty-seven years.

Theocratic Nuclear Iran - The Shah fell in 1979 during President Carter's administration.  There is an ongoing war currently, but Trump seems well on his way to finally resolving the global threat of a nuclear armed messianic theocracy.  This is probably the most significant achievement in terms of the Global War on Terror and national security which has defied six other administrations for forty-seven years.

Failed Narco-Dictatorship Venezuela - Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999 during President Clinton's administration, helping drive the global drug catastrophe and immiserating a whole generation of Venezuelans in the process.  Chavez and his successor Maduro have defied four other administrations for twenty-seven years.  

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.'s infamous phrase from Buck v. Bell can be repurposed.  Three generations of institutional foreign policy imbeciles are enough.  No wonder they are so irate with Trump.  He is well on his way towards having undone three generations of dangerous problems in three months.  

I see wonderful things

 

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

Theseus in the Minotaur's labyrinth, 1861 by Edward Burne-Jones

Theseus in the Minotaur's labyrinth, 1861 by Edward Burne-Jones (England, 1833-1898)


























Click to enlarge.

Monday, March 16, 2026

History

 

An Insight

 

I see wonderful things

 

Offbeat Humor

 

Data Talks

 

Fly Me to the Moon, 2022 by Evgeniy Monahov

Fly Me to the Moon, 2022 by Evgeniy Monahov (Russia, 1974 - )

























Click to enlarge.

Premature - "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means

I saw this in my feed this morning.
Profoundly revealing.

This past week CNN and most the other legacy Mainstream Media have repeatedly beclowned themselves by trying to make Iran and individual terrorists into sympathetic characters.  Trying so hard that they keep having to rewrite headlines multiple times and stealth edit the articles.  It is just a mockery of the profession of journalism.  

The claim that mainstream media writers are enemies of America is patently absurd; but they keep providing evidence to support the claim.

And it seems like half of their errors are entirely unconscious.  They are so steeped in old Gramscian falsehoods that they don't see themselves stating obvious falsehoods.

In this instance, the headline in the tweet was so egregious that I assumed it must be AI generated.  I went to the NYT site and, sure enough, it is legit.


."












Click to enlarge.

The profound but perhaps easily overlooked error is in the subheading.  "But he faced criticism when his predictions proved premature."

His predictions were not criticized because they were premature.  They were criticized because they were wrong.  Ehrlich was a neo-Malthusian.  

Malthus (1766-1834) was an economist who had the misfortune to base his economic theories on the entirety of human history up to his time.  And while they had some use and accuracy in describing that past, his theories were entirely invalidated by the triumvirate of Age of Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, and the Scientific Revolution, all of which blossomed in his lifetime.

Humankind prosperity, productivity, longevity, health and growth all inflected into a rocket-like climb between 1750 and 1850.  Theories from the beforetime had not validity in the new reality of the successful world created by the Age of Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, and the Scientific Revolution.  Malthus had an excuse - he couldn't see that the new world emerging around was categorically different from the entirety of human history on which he based his theories. 

Paul Ehrlich never had the excuse of not being able to see the evidence emerging around him.  Malthus was wrong from the time he wrote and there has been 150 years of evidence as to how wrong he was by the time Ehrlich, a neo-Malthusian, was writing in the 1960s.  Ehrlich had a flare for dramatic claims of disaster which then never occurred.  He was not even a Cassandra because he was never right.

Systematically and categorically wrong about everything across his entire oeuvre.  But his theories appealed to the anti-Age of Enlightenment, anti-Industrial Revolution, and the anti-Scientific Revolution biases of the clerissy and chattering classes nestled in academia and legacy mainstream media.

Biases which the headline reveal are still strongly rooted in the sterile mind of writers.  Ehrlich was not premature.  He was wrong because he never understood that the world changed between 1750 and 1850.  He was anchored in an antique mindset that one hundred and fifty years of evidence had not budged.  

Hailed as a prophet by the clerissy and chattering class, he was a prophet with no useful prophesies.  He was always wrong for obvious reasons.

We would never describe a weatherman repeatedly forecasting since 1965 balmy weather in the eighties next week in Antartica as having made premature forecasts.  His forecasts were always wrong.  Ehrlich is that weatherman.  His forecasts were always as confident as they were wrong.  

The use of the word "premature" in the headline betrays at best profound ignorance on the part of the editor/journalist.  At worst it is a knowing propaganda for a long overturned ideology.  Trying to change the world by changing the meaning of words is always a red flag.  

The Pyramids of Giza in the Evening Light, 1910 by Ernst Karl Eugen Koerner

The Pyramids of Giza in the Evening Light, 1910 by Ernst Karl Eugen Koerner (Poland/German, 1846-1927)

















Click to enlarge.

Sunday, March 15, 2026

Unknown Unknowns by Donald Rumsfeld

Unknown Unknowns
by Donald Rumsfeld

As we know, 
There are known knowns. 
There are things we know we know. 

We also know 
There are known unknowns. 
That is to say 
We know there are some things 
We do not know. 

But there are also unknown unknowns, 
The ones we don't know 
We don't know.