Following are titles and quotes from my “Positive Changes That Are Occurring” articles from 2019.
January 6, 2019 - Society-wide changes for the better within the character and conscience of humankind
"We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.”
From “ The Abolition of Man ”, by C.S. Lewis, 1943
January 6, 2019 - Soda consumption has dropped for 13 straight years
“An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.”
- Thomas Paine
January 8, 2019 - Women with higher measured exposure levels of magnetic field non-ionizing radiation have a risk of miscarriage nearly three times higher than those with the lowest measured exposure levels
“The high object of our mission, the consciousness that it was unselfish and chivalrous, the villainous character of our opponent, all added to the sporting interest of the adventure. Far from feeling guilty, I rejoiced and exulted in our dangers.”
Dr. Watson, from “ The Adventures of Charles August Milverton ”, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1904
January 10, 2019 - Belarus’ rapeseed oil exports increased over 400% January-November 2018
“Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details.”
Sherlock Holmes, from “ The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ”, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1892
January 11, 2019 - The weight of the world-record Northern Snakehead fish increased by a bit less than one percent from 2004 to 2014, and then increased by just over 11% from 2014 to 2018
“It has always been my habit to hide none of my methods, either from my friend Watson or from anyone who might take an intelligent interest in them.”
Sherlock Holmes, from “ The Reigate Puzzle ”, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1893
January 12, 2019 - “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but having new eyes.”
- Marcel Proust
January 13, 2019 - Homicides dropped 25% in San Francisco, California in 2018
“Suddenly the dreamer disappeared, and Holmes, the man of action, sprang from his chair.”
From “ Sherlock Holmes: Adventure of the Creeping Man ”, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1923
January 14, 2019 - “Mr. Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: ‘Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action’.”
Auric Goldfinger, from “ Goldfinger ”, by Ian Fleming, 1959
January 16, 2019 - The growth of rate trees in the Colville National Forest increased 1.6% per year from 1999 until 2015, when that rate suddenly increased tenfold for each of the next two years, then tripled again from 2017 to 2018
“And now that you have seen a really evil man, you will know how evil they can be and you will go after them to destroy them in order to protect yourself and the people you love. You won’t wait to argue about it. You know what they look like now and what they can do to people.”
James Bond’s French colleague, Mathis, From “ Casino Royale ”, by Ian Fleming , 1953
January 17, 2019 - Last weekend, more snow fell on Springfield, Illinois than ever before in history. The new record, broken after 55 years, is 27% above the old. Such records are usually broken by tiny margins.
“And don’t get hurt,’ [Dexter] added. 'There’s no one to help you up there. And don’t go stirring up a lot of trouble for us. This case isn’t ripe yet. Until it is, our policy with Mr. Big is ‘live and let live’.”
Bond looked quizzically at Captain Dexter.
“In my job,’ he said, 'when I come up against a man like this one, I have another motto. It’s ‘live and let die’.”
From “ Live and Let Die ”, by Ian Fleming, 1954
January 18, 2019 - The current state record blue catfish for the state of Georgia is 37% larger than the previous record holder from 1979. Such records are usually broken by tiny margins.
[Q explains the devices on Bond’s Aston Martin DB5]
Q: Now this one I’m particularly keen about. You see the gear lever here? [points to transmission lever] Now, if you take the top off, you will find a little red button. Whatever you do, don’t touch it!
Bond: Why not?
Q: Because you’ll release [points out roof] this section of the roof, and engage and then fire the passenger ejector seat. Whish!
Bond: Ejector seat? You’re joking!
Q: I never joke about my work, 007. [Bond falls silent]
From the film “ Goldfinger ”, written by Richard Maibaum & Paul Dehn, 1964, based on the novel by Ian Fleming
January 18, 2019 - The current Michigan state record black buffalo fish, caught in 2018, was 40% larger than the state record fish from 2004. Such records are usually broken by tiny margins.
Sherlock Holmes: [enters Moriarty’s study, a record is playing] “Fischerweise”, Schubert, 1826. [quotes from the song]
“Gib auf nur deine Tücke, Den Fisch betrügst du nicht. Give up your foolish trickery…”
Professor James Moriarty: [smiling, finishes for him] “…This fish you cannot cheat.”
[Holmes, in written form, to Moriarty, as he vanquishes him, both tactically and in chess]
"Be careful what you fish for.”
From the film “ Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows ”, written by Kieran Mulroney and Michele Mulroney, 2011
January 20, 2019 - The current Wyoming state record freshwater drum fish is almost twice as large as a previous record holder from 1993
“Today’s issue contained a statement of the actual output, from which it appeared that the forecasts were in every instance grossly wrong. Winston’s job was to rectify the original figures by making them agree with the later ones. As for the third message, it referred to a very simple error which could be set right in a couple of minutes. As short a time ago as February, the Ministry of Plenty had issued a promise (a ‘categorical pledge’ were the official words) that there would be no reduction of the chocolate ration during 1984. Actually, as Winston was aware, the chocolate ration was to be reduced from thirty grammes to twenty at the end of the present week. All that was needed was to substitute for the original promise a warning that it would probably be necessary to reduce the ration at some time in April.”
From “ 1984 ”, by George Orwell, 1949
January 21, 2019 - “THIS IS THE MOST DURABLE FISHING ROD PEN EVER MADE!”
“The swing of his nature took him from extreme languor to devouring energy; and as I knew well, he was never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him that afternoon so enwrapped in the music of St. James’s Hall I felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set himself to hunt down.”
Dr. Watson, from “ The Red Headed League ”, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1891
January 22, 2019 - The folks in charge are not your friends, and are lying to you about basically everything, including bacon, eggs, mayonnaise and heavy cream
“We may find in the long run that tinned food is a deadlier weapon than the machine gun.”
From “ The Road to Wigan Pier ”, by George Orwell, 1937
January 23, 2019 - Malignant brain tumors in the U.K. increased 140% - more than doubled – from 1995 to 2016
“He took his scribbling pad on his knee and pushed back his chair so as to get as far away from the telescreen as possible. To keep your face expressionless was not difficult, and even your breathing could be controlled, with an effort: but you could not control the beating of your heart, and the telescreen was quite delicate enough to pick it up.”
From " 1984 ", by George Orwell, 1949
January 24, 2019 - “The mere sight of the jiggly, devil-paste makes my skin crawl.”
“Treachery and violence are spears pointed at both ends: they wound those who resort to them, worse than their enemies.”
From “Wuthering Heights”, by Emily Brontë, 1847
January 25, 2019 - The distinguished Ornithologist described the record-setting, 50% increase in the number of robins counted in Ontario in 2019 as “interesting.”
“In politics, all abstract terms conceal treachery.”
From “ The Black Jacobins ”, by C.L.R. James, 1938
January 30, 2019 - In the last eleven years, shootings in Los Angeles are down almost 90%
“Between ourselves, Watson, it’s a sporting duel between this fellow Milverton and me. He had, as you saw, the best of the first exchanges, but my self-respect and my reputation are concerned to fight it to the finish.”
From “ The Adventures of Charles Agustus Milverton ”, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1904
January 31, 2019 - The number of British who drink has dropped by over a third in the past five years
“Honest pioneer work in the field of science has always been, and will continue to be, life’s pilot. On all sides, life is surrounded by hostility. This puts us under an obligation.”
- Wilhelm Reich
February 1, 2019 - The global smartphone market just dropped 15% in less than a year, and is projected to drop another 19% in the first quarter of 2019
“Women are made to be loved, not understood.”
- Oscar Wilde
February 1, 2019 - “There was a path, but how he was to get up the slope to it he did not know.”
Sam drew a deep breath. There was a path, but how he was to get up the slope to it he did not know. First he must ease his aching back. He lay flat beside Frodo for a while. Neither spoke. Slowly the light grew. Suddenly a sense of urgency which he did not understand came to Sam. It was almost as if he had been called: ‘Now, now, or it will be too late!’ He braced himself and got up. Frodo also seemed to have felt the call. He struggled to his knees.
‘I’ll crawl, Sam,’ he gasped.
So foot by foot, like small grey insects, they crept up the slope.
From “ The Return of the King ”, by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
February 2, 2019 - Toronto, Canada’s new snowfall record for January 29 is 97% higher than the previous record.
“It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so express it, that mental lying has produced in society. When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime.”
- Thomas Paine
February 2, 2019 - Ozone and particle days in Los Angeles dropped 70% from 2016 to 2018
“The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation. These contradictions are not accidental, nor do they result from from ordinary hypocrisy: they are deliberate exercises in doublethink.”
From “ 1984 ”, by George Orwell, 1949
October 2 ,2014 - Cancer-causing pollutants have dropped over 50% on average since 2005, the last time the South Coast Air Quality Management District checked air quality extensively.
February 3, 2019 - Whale numbers migrating up the coast of New South Wales in Australia increased 68% from 2016 to 2017
Bleating and babbling we fell on his neck with a scream
Wave upon wave of demented avengers
March cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream
Have you heard the news?
The dogs are dead
You better stay home
And do as you’re told
Get out of the road if you want to grow old
Pink Floyd, from “ Sheep ”, 1977
Io! Paean! Io! sing.
To the finny people’s king.
Not a mightier whale than this
In the vast Atlantic is;
Not a fatter fish than he,
Flounders round the Polar Sea.
From “ The Triumph of the Whale ”, by Charles Lamb, 1812
February 3, 2019 - Distrust in health technology increased 600% in the three years from 2014 to 2017
“Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.”
From " 1984 ", by George Orwell, 1949
February 22, 2016 – We cannot trust our government, so we must trust the technology
Apple’s battle with the FBI is not about privacy vs security, but a conflict created by the US failure to legitimately oversee its security service post Snowden
October 11, 2018 – How Tech Swagger Triggered the Era of Distrust in Government – Wired
February 4, 2019 - The percentage of the Cabbagetown neighborhood in Toronto that was biking to work almost tripled from 2006 to 2016
“As long as I breathe, I attack”
– Bernard Hinault
February 5, 2019 - Alcohol consumption in Belarus, the greatest alcohol consuming nation on Earth, fell by almost a third from 2005 to 2016
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”
- Ernest Hemingway
February 6, 2019 - U.S. life expectancy dropped for the third straight year in 2017, a trend that hasn’t been observed in 100 years
Well I’m accustomed to a smooth ride
Or maybe I’m a dog who’s lost its bite
I don’t expect to be treated like a fool no more
I don’t expect to sleep through the night
Some people say a lie is just a lie
But I say why
Why deny the obvious child?
Why deny the obvious child?
From " The Obvious Child ", by Paul Simon, 1990
February 7, 2019 - Year-over-year sales growth of electric vehicles in the U.S. is forecast to drop 85% in 2019
"Sauron was become now a sorcerer of dreadful power, master of shadows and of phantoms, foul in wisdom, cruel in strength, misshaping what he touched, twisting what he ruled, lord of werewolves; his dominion was torment.”
From " The Silmarillion ", by J.R.R. Tolkien, Edited by Christopher Tolkien, 1977
February 8, 2019 - Hungary’s agricultural output increased 40% from 2011 to 2015
“The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall.”
― Thomas Paine
February 9, 2019 - Coca-Cola’s annual revenue dropped 38% from 2014 to 2018
“A mass of Latin words falls upon the facts like soft snow, blurring the outline and covering up all the details. The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink. In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics’. All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer.”
From " Politics and the English Language ", by George Orwell, 1946
February 15, 2019 - The new January record for snowfall in Caribou, Maine, set just last month, is 34% above the previous record, set in 1991. Such records are usually broken by tiny margins.
“Why you fool, it’s the educated reader who CAN be gulled. All our difficulty comes with the others. When did you meet a workman who believes the papers? He takes it for granted that they’re all propaganda and skips the leading articles. He buys his paper for the football results and the little paragraphs about girls falling out of windows and corpses found in Mayfair flats. He is our problem. We have to recondition him. But the educated public, the people who read the high-brow weeklies, don’t need reconditioning. They’re all right already. They’ll believe anything.”
From " That Hideous Strength ", by C.S. Lewis, 1945
February 20, 2019 - The new world-record oceanic puffer fish, caught in 2019, is 37% larger than the previous record holder, which was caught in 1979. Such records are usually broken by tiny margins.
“Power, no matter what kind of power it is, without a foundation in truth, is a dictatorship, more or less and in one way or another, for it is always based on man’s fear of the social responsibility and personal burden that “freedom” entails.”
From “ The Mass Psychology of Fascism ”, by Wilhelm Reich, 1933
February 21, 2019 - The Indian flip phone market doubled in the first quarter of 2018, while its “smart”phone market remained flat year-over-year
The revolution will not be right back after a message
About a white tornado, white lightning, or white people
You will not have to worry about a germ on your Bedroom
a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl
The revolution will not go better with Coke
The revolution will not fight the germs that cause bad breath
The revolution WILL put you in the driver’s seat
The revolution will not be televised
WILL not be televised, WILL NOT BE TELEVISED
The revolution will be no re-run brothers
The revolution will be live
Gil Scott-Heron, from “ The Revolution Will Not Be Televised ”, 1970
February 22, 2019 - Water, concrete, web de-optimization specialists and mayonnaise
Professor James Moriarty: Now, are you sure you want to play this game?
Sherlock Holmes: I’m afraid, you would lose.
From “ Sherlock Holmes, Game of Shadows ”, written by Michele Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney, 2011, Based on characters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
February 23, 2019 - Organic food sales more than doubled in the U.S. from 2011 to 2016
“I think that there are certain crimes which the law cannot touch, and which therefore, to some extent, justify private revenge.”
From " The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton ", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1904
February 25, 2019 - “That I would!—and moreover that I will!"
THE NEXT day Joan wanted to go against the enemy again, but it was the feast of the Ascension, and the holy council of bandit generals were too pious to be willing to profane it with bloodshed. But privately they profaned it with plottings, a sort of industry just in their line. They decided to do the only thing proper to do now in the new circumstances of the case—feign an attack on the most important bastille on the Orleans side, and then, if the English weakened the far more important fortresses on the other side of the river to come to its help, cross in force and capture those works. This would give them the bridge and free communication with the Sologne, which was French territory. They decided to keep this latter part of the program secret from Joan.
Joan intruded and took them by surprise. She asked them what they were about and what they had resolved upon. They said they had resolved to attack the most important of the English bastilles on the Orleans side next morning—and there the spokesman stopped. Joan said:
“Well, go on.”
“There is nothing more. That is all.”
“Am I to believe this? That is to say, am I to believe that you have lost your wits?” She turned to Dunois, and said, “Bastard, you have sense, answer me this: if this attack is made and the bastille taken, how much better off would we be than we are now?”
The Bastard hesitated, and then began some rambling talk not quite germane to the question. Joan interrupted him and said:
“That will not do, good Bastard, you have answered. Since the Bastard is not able to mention any advantage to be gained by taking that bastille and stopping there, it is not likely that any of you could better the matter. You waste much time here in inventing plans that lead to nothing, and making delays that are a damage. Are you concealing something from me? Bastard, this council has a general plan, I take it; without going into details, what is it?”
“It is the same it was in the beginning, seven months ago—to get provisions for a long siege, then sit down and tire the English out.”
“In the name of God! As if seven months was not enough, you want to provide for a year of it. Now ye shall drop these pusillanimous dreams—the English shall go in three days!”
Several exclaimed:
“Ah, General, General, be prudent!”
“Be prudent and starve? Do ye call that war? I tell you this, if you do not already know it: The new circumstances have changed the face of matters. The true point of attack has shifted; it is on the other side of the river now. One must take the fortifications that command the bridge. The English know that if we are not fools and cowards we will try to do that. They are grateful for your piety in wasting this day. They will reinforce the bridge forts from this side to-night, knowing what ought to happen to-morrow. You have but lost a day and made our task harder, for we will cross and take the bridge forts. Bastard, tell me the truth—does not this council know that there is no other course for us than the one I am speaking of?”
Dunois conceded that the council did know it to be the most desirable, but considered it impracticable; and he excused the council as well as he could by saying that inasmuch as nothing was really and rationally to be hoped for but a long continuance of the siege and wearying out of the English, they were naturally a little afraid of Joan’s impetuous notions.
He said:
“You see, we are sure that the waiting game is the best, whereas you would carry everything by storm.”
“That I would!—and moreover that I will! You have my orders—here and now. We will move upon the forts of the south bank to-morrow at dawn.”
“And carry them by storm?”
“Yes, carry them by storm!”
From “Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte”, by Mark Twain, 1896
February 25, 2019 - “Point Fermin has been the scene of scores of deaths over the years despite the addition of fencing and larger warning signs about the dangers posed by the cliffs.”
Malibu Police Chief: Mr. Treehorn draws a lot of water in this town. You don’t draw shit, Lebowski. Now we got a nice, quiet little beach community here, and I aim to keep it nice and quiet. So let me make something plain. I don’t like you sucking around, bothering our citizens, Lebowski. I don’t like your jerk-off name. I don’t like your jerk-off face. I don’t like your jerk-off behavior, and I don’t like you, jerk-off. Do I make myself clear?
The Dude: [after a pause] I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening.
From " The Big Lebowski ", by Joel and Ethan Coen, 1998
February 26, 2019 - The childhood obesity rate in the U.S. dropped 43% from 2004 to 2014
Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run through a country. All nations and ages have been subject to them. Britain has trembled like an ague at the report of a French fleet of flat-bottomed boats; and in the fifteenth century the whole English army, after ravaging the kingdom of France, was driven back like men petrified with fear; and this brave exploit was performed by a few broken forces collected and headed by a woman, Joan of Arc. Would that heaven might inspire some Jersey maid to spirit up her countrymen, and save her fair fellow sufferers from ravage and ravishment!
Yet panics, in some cases, have their uses; they produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is always short; the mind soon grows through them, and acquires a firmer habit than before. But their peculiar advantage is, that they are the touchstones of sincerity and hypocrisy, and bring things and men to light, which might otherwise have lain forever undiscovered. In fact, they have the same effect on secret traitors, which an imaginary apparition would have upon a private murderer. They sift out the hidden thoughts of man, and hold them up in public to the world. Many a disguised Tory has lately shown his head, that shall penitentially solemnize with curses the day on which Howe arrived upon the Delaware.
From “ The American Crisis, No. 1 ”, by Thomas Paine, 1776
February 27, 2019 - 2019 - This winter’s rainfall in Los Angeles is thus far 55% above average, and 603% above last year’s
“Of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived.”
From " Common Sense ", by Thomas Paine, 1776
February 28, 2020 - Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft still declines to credit the Wright brothers as first in powered flight
I rarely remember a book about which I have had such violent arguments. Nobody seems to have a moderate opinion: either, like myself, people find it a masterpiece of its genre or they cannot abide it, and among the hostile there are some, I must confess, for whose literary judgment I have great respect. A few of these may have been put off by the first forty pages of the first chapter of the first volume in which the daily life of the hobbits is described; this is light comedy and light comedy is not Mr. Tolkien’s forte. In most cases, however, the objection must go far deeper. I can only suppose that some people object to Heroic Quests and Imaginary Worlds on principle; such, they feel, cannot be anything but light “escapist” reading. That a man like Mr. Tolkien, the English philologist who teaches at Oxford, should lavish such incredible pains upon a genre which is, for them, trifling by definition, is, therefore, very shocking.
From “ At the End of the Quest, Victory ”, by W. H. Auden, in The New York Times (22 January 1956)
March 1, 2019 - Something caused the growth rate of Buffalo Sucker fish in Ohio to more than double from 2013 to 2018, compared to the rate seen from 1983 to 2013
Vincent: A “please” would be nice.
The Wolf: Come again?
Vincent: I said a “please” would be nice.
The Wolf: Get it straight, Buster. I’m not here to say “please”. I’m here to tell you what to do. And if self-preservation is an instinct you possess, you better fucking do it and do it quick. I’m here to help. If my help’s not appreciated, lots of luck, gentlemen.
Jules: No no, Mr. Wolfe, it’s not like that. Your help is definitely appreciated.
Vincent: Look, Mr. Wolfe, I respect you. I just don’t like people barking orders at me, that’s all.
The Wolf: If I’m curt with you, it’s because time is a factor. I think fast, I talk fast, and I need you two guys to act fast if you want to get out of this. So pretty please, with sugar on top, clean the fucking car.
From “ Pulp Fiction ”, by Quentin Tarantino, 1994
March 1, 2019 - “The great threat from Jeff Miller with his good news.”
Captain Bart Mancuso: All back full.
Helm: Captain, say again.
Mancuso: I said all back full!
Helm: Back full. Aye, sir. Engines back full.
Jones: We’re cavitating. He can hear us!
Mancuso: Conn, aye. All stop.
Dallas Conn: All stop, aye.
Mancuso: All right. We just unzipped our fly. Mr. Thompson, open the outer doors. Firing point procedures. Now, if that bastard so much as twitches, I’m going to blow him right to Mars.\
Captain Borodin: All stop rudder amid ship.
Marko Ramius: What’s going on? Can you identify the contact?
Red October Sonar: American Los Angeles-class attack submarine bearing - Captain, he may be trying to open his torpedo tube doors.
Dallas Fire Control: Outer doors are open on tubes one and two. We’re ready to shoot.
Mancuso: Very well. My orders are specific, Mr. Ryan.
Borodin: He’s opened his outer doors. He’s preparing to fire.
Ramius: Flood tubes three and four and plot a solution.
Red October Fire Control: Captain, flood tubes three and four. Plot solution. Shall I open the torpedo tube door, sir? Captain, shall I open outer doors?
Ramius: No. Lock the firing solution into the computer. Do not open the doors.
Red October Fire Control: Aye, Captain. Lock solution into computer.
Jones: Conn, Sonar. Target’s flooded his tubes.
Mancuso: Has he opened his outer doors?
Jones: Negative, Captain. He’s just sitting there. Hold on. Target’s coming shallow.
Jack Ryan: What’s that mean?
Mancuso: That means he’s a very cool customer, your Russian. He knows we’re here and ready to shoot. He’s not provoking us. He’s heading to periscope depth to see what’s on the surface.
We’ll play along.
From “The Hunt For Red October”, written by , 19
March 2, 2019 - “There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the “wisdom” of earlier ages.”
There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the “wisdom” of earlier ages. For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men; the solution is a technique.
From “ The Abolition of Man ”, by C.S. Lewis, 1943
March 5, 2019 - Smoking dropped 10% in Greece from 2013 to 2017, and dropped 21% in the U.S. during the same time period
Jamie: You can’t get ‘em all, Josey!
Josey Wales: That’s a fact.
Jamie: Then why are you doing this?
Josey Wales: Because I ain’t got nothing better to do.
From “ The Outlaw Josey Wales ”, 1976
March 6, 2019 - Striking at the root
“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”
Henry David Thoreau
March 9, 2019 - The current Pennsylvania state record yellow perch, from 2016, is 18% larger than the former record holder from 1992
“By George!" cried the inspector. “How did you ever see that?”
"Because I looked for it.”
From " The Adventure of the Dancing Men ", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903
March 10, 2019 - The current Missouri state record white crappie, from 2016, is 75% larger than the previous record holder, from 1993
“What one man can invent, another can discover.”
Sherlock Holmes, from " The Adventure of the Dancing Men ", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903
March 11, 2019 - Alcohol consumption in the U.S dropped for the third straight year in 2018
“I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense.”
- Thomas Paine
March 12, 2019 - The current Vermont state record redhorse sucker fish, from 2018, is 20% larger than a previous record holder from 2015
“The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning.”
Sherlock Holmes, from “ The Sign of the Four ”, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1890
March 13, 2019 - The current West Virginia state record yellow perch, from 2019, is 10% larger than a previous record holder from 1985
“The larger crimes are apt to be the simpler, for the bigger the crime, the more obvious, as a rule, is the motive.”
From “ The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – A Case of Identity ”, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1892
March 14, 2019 - The catch rate for Chinook salmon in Lake Ontario from April through June 2018 was 227 percent higher than the previous five-year average.
“However much you deny the truth, the truth goes on existing.”
- George Orwell
March 16, 2019 - Murders in New York dropped 50% in February 2019 compared to February 2018
“Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations.”
― George Orwell
March 23, 2019 - The bars could not hold me, force could not control me now
“The world is big enough for us. No ghosts need apply.”
Sherlock Holmes, from " The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire ", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1924
Yes me friend, me friend, me friend
Dem set me free again
The bars could not hold me
Force could not control me now
Bob Marley, from " Duppy Conqueror ", 1973
(“Duppy” means “ghost” in Jamaican. - ed)
April 22, 2019 - “the essential act of the Party is to use conscious deception while retaining the firmness of purpose that goes with complete honesty.”
“Doublethink lies at the very heart of Ingsoc, since the essential act of the Party is to use conscious deception while retaining the firmness of purpose that goes with complete honesty.”
From “ 1984 ”, by George Orwell, 1949
February 5, 2019 - Smartphone sales drop due to growing cost
February 21, 2019 - Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said that the company is “rethinking” iPhone prices outside of the United States and may lower prices to boost sales.
March 23, 2019 - “Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different.”
From “ Prince Caspian ”, by C.S. Lewis, 1951
April 25, 2019 - “I warn you now that before seven years a disaster will smite the English, oh, many fold greater than the fall of Orleans!”
“Do you acknowledge that you dictated this proclamation?”
“I do.”
“Have you repented of it? Do you retract it?”
Ah, then she was indignant!
“No! Not even these chains”—and she shook them—“not even these chains can chill the hopes that I uttered there. And more!”—she rose, and stood a moment with a divine strange light kindling in her face, then her words burst forth as in a flood—“I warn you now that before seven years a disaster will smite the English, oh, many fold greater than the fall of Orleans! and—”
“Silence! Sit down!”
“—and then, soon after, they will lose all France!”
Now consider these things. The French armies no longer existed. The French cause was standing still, our King was standing still, there was no hint that by and by the Constable Richemont would come forward and take up the great work of Joan of Arc and finish it. In face of all this, Joan made that prophecy—made it with perfect confidence—and it came true. For within five years Paris fell—1436—and our King marched into it flying the victor’s flag. So the first part of the prophecy was then fulfilled—in fact, almost the entire prophecy; for, with Paris in our hands, the fulfillment of the rest of it was assured.
Twenty years later all France was ours excepting a single town—Calais.
Now that will remind you of an earlier prophecy of Joan’s. At the time that she wanted to take Paris and could have done it with ease if our King had but consented, she said that that was the golden time; that, with Paris ours, all France would be ours in six months. But if this golden opportunity to recover France was wasted, said she, “I give you twenty years to do it in.”
She was right. After Paris fell, in 1436, the rest of the work had to be done city by city, castle by castle, and it took twenty years to finish it.
Yes, it was the first day of March, 1431, there in the court, that she stood in the view of everybody and uttered that strange and incredible prediction. Now and then, in this world, somebody’s prophecy turns up correct, but when you come to look into it there is sure to be considerable room for suspicion that the prophecy was made after the fact. But here the matter is different. There in that court Joan’s prophecy was set down in the official record at the hour and moment of its utterance, years before the fulfilment, and there you may read it to this day.
Twenty-five years after Joan’s death the record was produced in the great Court of the Rehabilitation and verified under oath by Manchon and me, and surviving judges of our court confirmed the exactness of the record in their testimony.”
From “Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc”, by Mark Twain, 1896
April 26, 2019 - “Nay, it is the last move in a great jeopardy, and for one side or the other it will bring the end of the game.”
“And when they had reckoned up all their strength and taken thought for the journeys they should make and the roads they should choose, Imrahil suddenly laughed aloud.
‘Surely,’ he cried, ‘this is the greatest jest in all the history of Gondor: that we should ride with seven thousands, scarce as many as the vanguard of its army in the days of its power, to assail the mountains and the impenetrable gate of the Black Land! So might a child threaten a mail-clad knight with a bow of string and green willow! If the Dark Lord knows so much as you say, Mithrandir, will he not rather smile than fear, and with his little finger crush us like a fly that tries to sting him?’
‘No, he will try to trap the fly and take the sting,’ said Gandalf. ‘And there are names among us that are worth more than a thousand mail-clad knights apiece. No, he will not smile.’
‘Neither shall we,’ said Aragorn. ‘If this be jest, then it is too bitter for laughter. Nay, it is the last move in a great jeopardy, and for one side or the other it will bring the end of the game.’ Then he drew Anduril and held it up glittering in the sun. ‘You shall not be sheathed again until the last battle is fought,’ he said.
From “ The Return of the King ”, by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
April 28, 2019 - "And what happened, then? Well, in Whoville they say – that the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day.”
From “ The Hoobub and the Grinch ”, by Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Giesel, 1955
April 29, 2019 - You’ve been played, I’m afraid
“My business is that of every other good citizen – to uphold the law.”
Sherlock Holmes, from “ The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes ”, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1927
May 3, 2019 - “what is out of the common is usually a guide rather than a hindrance”
“I have already explained to you that what is out of the common is usually a guide rather than a hindrance. In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backwards. That is a very useful accomplishment, and a very easy one, but people do not practise it much. In the every-day affairs of life it is more useful to reason forwards, and so the other comes to be neglected. There are fifty who can reason synthetically for one who can reason analytically.”
Sherlock Holmes, from " A Study in Scarlet ", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1887
May 7, 2019 - “Now our time and turn is come, and perhaps the finishing stroke is reserved for us.”
“You have too much at stake to hesitate. You ought not to think an hour upon the matter, but to spring to action at once…Now our time and turn is come, and perhaps the finishing stroke is reserved for us. When we look back on the dangers we have been saved from, and reflect on the success we have been blessed with, it would be sinful either to be idle or to despair.”
From “ The Crisis No. IV ”, by Thomas Paine, 1777
May 8, 2019 - PC Shipments have fallen for seven straight years
“But suddenly the Mirror went altogether dark, as dark as if a hole had opened in the world of sight, and Frodo looked into emptiness. In the black abyss there appeared a single Eye that slowly grew, until it filled nearly all the Mirror. So terrible was it that Frodo stood rooted, unable to cry out or to withdraw his gaze. The Eye was rimmed with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat’s, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing.”
From “ The Fellowship of the Ring ”, by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1954
May 8, 2019 - There are nearly twice as many juvenile crabs in Chesapeake Bay waters as there were a year ago
“Orthodoxy means not thinking–not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.”
From " 1984 ", by George Orwell, 1949
May 9, 2019 - The annual growth rate of the Pennsylvania flathead catfish from 2006 to 2019 was 69% higher than it was from 1985 to 2006
“It’s every man’s business to see justice done.”
From “ The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ”, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1893
May 10, 2019 - The amount of corn harvested in Brazil increased 73% from 2011 to 2019
Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk
I’m a woman’s man, no time to talk
Music loud and women warm, I’ve been kicked around
Since I was born
And now it’s alright, it’s okay
And you may look the other way
We can try to understand
The New York Times’ effect on man
From “ Stayin’ Alive ”, by Morris Gibb, Robin Gibb and Barry Gibb, 1977
May 10, 2019 - Flip phone sales increased 5% last year, have grown for four consecutive quarters and currently comprise roughly a quarter of all phones shipped
"Sauron was become now a sorcerer of dreadful power, master of shadows and of phantoms, foul in wisdom, cruel in strength, misshaping what he touched, twisting what he ruled, lord of werewolves; his dominion was torment.”
From “ The Silmarillion ”, by J.R.R. Tolkien, Edited by Christopher Tolkien, 1977
May 13, 2019 - Ontario’s average soybean yield per acre increased 36% from 2015 to 2018
“Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, — and all it wants, — is the liberty of appearing."
From “ The Rights of Man ”, by Thomas Paine, 1791
May 13, 2020 - We’re much closer to the goal line here than most of us realize
“Doublethink lies at the very heart of Ingsoc, since the essential act of the Party is to use conscious deception while retaining the firmness of purpose that goes with complete honesty.”
From " 1984 ", by George Orwell, 1949
May 14 2019 - The current Oklahoma state record smallmouth buffalo fish is 78% larger than a previous record holder from 2003
“It is never to be expected in a revolution that every man is to change his opinion at the same moment. There never yet was any truth or any principle so irresistibly obvious that all men believed it at once. Time and reason must cooperate with each other to the final establishment of any principle; and therefore those who may happen to be first convinced have not a right to persecute others, on whom conviction operates more slowly. The moral principle of revolutions is to instruct, not to destroy.”
From “ Dissertation on First-principles of Government ”, by Thomas Paine, 1795
May 14, 2019 - “The state record book is not in law and is kept at the department’s discretion. ‘We wouldn’t even have to keep a record book, quite frankly’.”
“Very science has for its basis a system of principles as fixed and unalterable as those by which the universe is regulated and governed. Man cannot make principles; he can only discover them.”
From “ The Age of Reason, Part One ”, by Thomas Paine, 1794
May 14, 2020 - The growth rate of the blue catfish in Georgia is increasing, going forward in time, when the opposite should be the case
“The less he understands something, the more firmly he believes in it.”
From “ Listen, Little Man! ”, by Wilhelm Reich, 1946
May 14, 2020 - Crime in the city of Poughkeepsie, New York has dropped by 50% in the last ten years
“Between ourselves, Watson, it’s a sporting duel between this fellow Milverton and me. He had, as you saw, the best of the first exchanges, but my self-respect and my reputation are concerned to fight it to the finish.”
From “ The Adventures of Charles Agustus Milverton ”, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1904
May 15, 2019 - The folks in charge are not your friends, and are lying to you about basically everything, including cancer-driving Genetically Modified Organisms
Carpetbagger: Your young friend could use some help.
[holds up a bottle of patent medicine]
Carpetbagger: This is it… one dollar a bottle. It works wonders on wounds.
Josey Wales: Works wonders on just about everything, eh?
Carpetbagger: It can do most anything.
Josey Wales: [spits tobacco juice on the carpetbagger’s white coat] How is it with stains?
From “ The Outlaw Josey Wales ”, 1976
May 17, 2019 - Teenagers who spend 5 hours a day on electronic devices are 71% more likely to have suicide risk factors than those with one-hour use
“If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
From George Orwell’s proposed preface to ‘ Animal Farm ’, ‘ The Freedom of the Press ’, 1945
May 17, 2019 - “We are men of action. Lies do not become us.”
Westley, from “ The Princess Bride ”, by William Goldman, 1973
May 21, 2019 - Skrei Cod exports from Norway increased 27% last year
“A nation under a well-regulated government, should permit none to remain uninstructed. It is monarchical and aristocratical government only that requires ignorance for its support.”
- Thomas Paine
May 22, 2019 - The age-adjusted death rate from Alzheimer’s disease in the United States increased by 39 percent from 2000 through 2010
“The Grecians and Romans were strongly possessed of the spirit of liberty but not the principle, for at the time they were determined not to be slaves themselves, they employed their power to enslave the rest of mankind.”
~ Thomas Paine
May 22, 2019 - The kill rate at the San Angelo shelter in Los Angeles dropped 58% in the last ten years
“The Press, Watson, is a most valuable institution, if you only know how to use it.”
Sherlock Holmes, from “ The Adventure of the Six Napoleons ”, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1904
May 24, 2019 - The smoking rate among young adults in the U.S. dropped 20% from 2017 to 2018
“If you fail at the large things it means you have not large ambitions. Concentration, focus - that is all. The aptitudes come, the tools forge themselves.”
From “ Doctor No ”, by Ian Fleming, 1963
May 28, 2019 - "It’s never too early to start winning.”
“Bond remembered the dictum of the pros: ‘It’s never too early to start winning.”
From “ Goldfinger ”, by Ian Fleming, 1964
May 30, 2019 - "better to have too much force than too little, when so great an object is at stake.”
“I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state or that state, but on every state; up and help us; lay your shoulders to the wheel; better to have too much force than too little, when so great an object is at stake.”
- Thomas Paine
June 1, 2019 - The current Maryland state record bullhead catfish is 37% larger than the previous record holder from 2007
June 3, 2019 - Brazil’s murder rate dropped 13 percent between 2017 and 2018. Homicides there fell by 25 percent in the first two months of 2019
“Like all harsh, cold men, he was easily tipped over into sentiment.”
From " Casino Royale ", by Ian Fleming, 1953
June 6, 2019 - The record Lake Jackson, Georgia blue catfish has increased in size by 52% over its two most recent iterations
“When the odds are hopeless, when all seems to be lost, then is the time to be calm, to make a show of authority – at least of indifference.”
From " On Her Majesty’s Secret Service ", by Ian Fleming, 1963
June 7, 2019 - Last month was Denver’s coldest May in 24 years And May finishes as Denver’s wettest overall month in two years
“I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of “Admin.” The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid “dens of crime” that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."
From the Preface of " The Screwtape Letters ", by C.S. Lewis, 1942
June 8, 2019 - Crab numbers in the Chesapeake Bay increased 60% from 2018 to 2019, while juvenile crab numbers almost doubled, up 93%, in one year
Meet Doctor well, well, well,
And Cool Papa Bell,
The fastest man on Earth did dwell as
Cool Papa Bell
From “Cool Papa Bell”, by Paul Simon
"James ‘Cool Papa’ Bell of the St. Louis Stars, the fastest man ever to play baseball.”
From " The Complete Book of Baseball’s Negro Leagues ", by John Holway
“If Cool Papa had known about colleges or if colleges had known about Cool Papa, Jesse Owens would have looked like he was walking.”
—Satchel Paige
“If he bunts and it bounces twice, put it in your pocket.”
—Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe
“If he hits one back to the pitcher, everyone yelled, ‘Hurry!’”
—Jimmie Crutchfield
“…When we play the Homestead Grays and Cool Papa gets on second base and Jerry Benjamin comes up and lays a bunt down the third base line that’s all you need cause Cool gonna dust off at home plate.”
—Bill “Ready” Cash
Bell was documented to have scored from second on a fly ball, going from first-to-third on a bunt, beating the throw on two hoppers in the infield, stealing two bases on one pitch, and scoring from first on a bunt against major leaguers.
June 9, 2020 - Phone addicts spend 28% of their driving time actively ignoring the road; of those considered phone addicts, 93% said they are “pretty safe” or “extremely safe” drivers
“I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”
- Ian Fleming
June 10, 2019 - The new world record skate is 40% larger than the previous record holder, caught 50 years ago
“He awoke in the evening completely refreshed. After a cold shower, Bond walked over to the Casino. Since the night before he had lost the mood of the tables. He needed to re-establish that focus which is half mathematical and half intuitive and which, with a slow pulse and a sanguine temperament, Bond knew to be the essential equipment of any gambler who was set on winning.”
From " Casino Royale ", by Ian Fleming, 1953
June 12, 2019 - “No asylum for traitors or cowards”
“When all other rights are taken away, the right of rebellion is made perfect.”
- Thomas Paine
In 1791 Congress placed an excise tax on whiskey to raise money to pay off Revolutionary War debt. The East Coast distilleries made almost no objection to the excise. However, farmers on the frontier - then anything west of the Allegheny Mountains - protested, leading to a stillborn rebellion.
The Whiskey Rebels used various flags during their rebellion, most quite simple with an anti-Federal theme. The most common were a white flag with red stripes and a flag bearing the inscription “Equal Taxation and no Excise – No Asylum for Traitors and Cowards.” Very few examples survive today, however one of the more elaborate ones still exists. This Whiskey Rebellion Flag hung on the wall in the bar of the Century Inn in Scenery Hill, Pennsylvania. The flag has a blue field with an eagle carrying a red and white striped ribbon in its beak with thirteen six-pointed stars scattered about the field. Sadly the building burned in 2015, however quick thinking owners grabbed the Whiskey Rebellion flag and saved it from the fire.
June 13, 2019 - “Don’t sit too close to the Television!”
“Every person of learning is finally his own teacher.”
- Thomas Paine
June 14, 2019 - Earthquakes of 4.0 or larger in Oregon and Washington dropped by 50% in the last decade, compared to the the three decades from 1969 to 1999. Earthquakes of 3.0 or larger in Oklahoma dropped 78% from 2015 to 2018.
'I wonder if this is a contrivance of the Enemy,’ said Boromir. ‘They say in my land that he can govern the storms in the Mountains of Shadow that stand upon the borders of Mordor. He has strange powers and many allies.’
‘His arm has grown long indeed,’ said Gimli, ‘if he can draw snow down from the North to trouble us here three hundred leagues away.’
‘His arm has grown long,’ said Gandalf.
From " The Fellowship of the Ring ", by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1954
June 15, 2019 - Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes dropped 76% in Iowa from 1998 to 2018, and in 2018 they were 68% below the long-term average, there
“Threats to freedom of speech, writing and action, though often trivial in isolation, are cumulative in their effect and, unless checked, lead to a general disrespect for the rights of the citizen.”
From " It is what I think, 1947-1948 ", by George Orwell, 1999
June 17, 2019 - The average annual growth rate of the Michigan state record bigmouth buffalo fish was .37% per year from 2009 to 2017, then increased exponentially to 9.5% per year from 2017 to 2019
Orders had been issued for the march toward Blois. It was a clear, sharp, beautiful morning. As our showy great company trotted out in column, riding two and two, Joan and the Duke of Alençon in the lead, D’Aulon and the big standard-bearer next, and so on, we made a handsome spectacle, as you may well imagine; and as we plowed through the cheering crowds, with Joan bowing her plumed head to left and right and the sun glinting from her silver mail, the spectators realized that the curtain was rolling up before their eyes upon the first act of a prodigious drama, and their rising hopes were expressed in an enthusiasm that increased with each moment, until at last one seemed to even physically feel the concussion of the huzzas as well as hear them.
Far down the street we heard the softened strains of wind-blown music, and saw a cloud of lancers moving, the sun glowing with a subdued light upon the massed armor, but striking bright upon the soaring lance-heads—a vaguely luminous nebula, so to speak, with a constellation twinkling above it—and that was our guard of honor. It joined us, the procession was complete, the first war-march of Joan of Arc was begun, the curtain was up.
From " Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc ", by Mark Twain, 1895
June 18, 2019 - The risk for glioma brain tumors triples with long-term cell phone use, and the odds of getting one steadily increase with hours of use
“The essential English leadership secret does not depend on particular intelligence. Rather, it depends on a remarkably stupid thick-headedness. The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.”
From " Churchill’s Lie Factory ", by Joseph Goebbels, 1941
June 19, 2019 - “Bishop to bishop 8, discovered check, and, incidentally, mate.”
Sherlock Holmes, from the film " Sherlock Holmes, Game of Shadows ", 2011
June 20, 2019 - “It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.”
"All this was inspired by the principle—which is quite true within itself—that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.
It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying."
From " Mein Kampf ", by Adolf Hitler, 1925
