Thought For the Day: To Survive In Peace and Harmony, United and Strong, We Must Have One People, One Nation, One Flag

“To survive in peace and harmony, united and strong, we must have one people, one nation, one flag.” – Pauline Hanson

Happy Flag Day!

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First Principles: When We Honor Our Flag, We Honor What We Stand For As A Nation – Freedom, Equality, Justice, and Hope

“When we honor our flag, we honor what we stand for as a nation—freedom, equality, justice, and hope.” – Ronald Reagan

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Lapsed Into Vulnerability

Lapsed Into Vulnerability
by Michael Doyle

For most of my life, it's been grasp and capability
Now we've followed the Silent Generation into vulnerability.
Our straightforward path toward security and prosperity
Lent itself to jaded jokes that were mostly others' jealousy.

The sky was the limit in the width and breadth of imagination.
We were the first generation to live in an era of innovation
That seemed to put us into a relaxed feeling and easy stride.
Suddenly, we are reminded that there is no such free ride.

Spending more than we had has led to a new age of austerity.
Everything we were certain of, seems to be in jeopardy.
The jagged edges of the possible loss of Social Security
Has become a truth that hits harder for some than simple policy.

So many of us Boomers are one shock away from living in poverty.
It's hard to remain confident in an age of living absurdity.
We worked hard and paid our share for something in our future.
How were we to know spending hawks forgot what to nurture?

What's not talked about in all these scare talks are steps taken
To increase the wealth of the nation and fix what's mistaken.
There will be challenges ahead as everyone has openly said
But hope and optimism are not forsaken or even nearly dead.

(c) June 13, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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Thought For the Day: He Wanders, Like A Day-Appearing Dream. Through the Dim Wilderness of the Mind; Through the Desert Woods and Tracts

“He wanders, like a day-appearing dream, Through the dim wildernesses of the mind; Through desert woods and tracts, which seem Like ocean, homeless, boundless, unconfined.” – Percy Bysshe Shelley

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First Principles: There Can Be No Greater Error Than To Expect, Or Calculate Upon Real Favours From Nation to Nation. ‘Tis An Illusion Which Experience Must Cure

“There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate upon real favours from Nation to Nation. ’Tis an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.” – George Washington (1796)

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In Full Identity

In Full Identity
by Michael Doyle

See your path
And stay your course.
Let's do the math,
And you'll find the resource.

Let no one get between happiness
Or caring for your own needs.
These images bring life's bliss.
It allows your soul to be freed.

It's a part of the process -
To find yourself, then, what you'll do.
Steps on the walk of progress,
And to your own self, you must be true.

It feels uncomplicated,
To walk within integrity.
Yet, so much of the world is fated
By choices imposed and not authenticity.

Everyone talks at us like they know
The who that we're meant to be.
Your path is between your shadow and soul.
This is who we are in our full identity.

(c) June 12, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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Thought For the Day: Kindness Is the Language Which the Deaf Can Hear and the Blind Can See

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” – Mark Twain

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First Principles: Immigration Is Not Just A Link To America’s Past; It’s Also a Bridge To America’s Future

“Nearly all Americans have ancestors who braved the oceans-liberty-loving risk takers in search of an ideal-the largest voluntary migrations in recorded history. Across the Pacific, across the Atlantic, they came from every point on the compass-many passing beneath the Statue of Liberty-with fear and vision, with sorrow and adventure, fleeing tyranny or terror, seeking haven, and all seeking hope…Immigration is not just a link to America’s past; it’s also a bridge to America’s future.” – George H.W. Bush (June 12, 1924 – November 30, 2018)

(Legal immigration is encouraged from all corners of the earth. Illegal Immigration Is Not.)

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Love and Mercy On A Summer’s Day

Love and Mercy On Summer's Day
by Michael Doyle

In these lean times of heroes and villains found
On the dirty streets of LA traveled around,
He fell into the cliche of cause and correlation.
Addiction to unheard sounds became an attraction.

There inside the labyrinth of Brian's tortured soul,
He sought after but only sometimes gained control.
Stream of consciousness is the life we live in,
And there's so much unintentional to be forgiven.

When I was young, I found love and mercy on a summer's day,
It was found in the vinyl to which I would sing and play.
Mesmerized by the lay of every note right in its pocket to hear,
There was a special kind of magic in the songs I held dear.

Brian Wilson's tunes were more than just simple imitation,
They were masterpieces that were majestic in their creation.
This was especially true of the pet sounds beyond simplicity,
It was the charted course into modern music's complicity.

Drones of endless noise and snippets of well-meaning speech
Brought the Muse closer to madness and its slippery reach.
There was something there like an internal lotus unfolding.
A meditative stranglehold revealed the hand felt scolding.

Tonight, under the closeness of June's Strawberry Moon,
I sang his songs loudly at the thought they ended too soon.
But isn't that the way it is when we feel the music inside?
It has to come out because there is really nowhere to hide.

It seems it's the scars we grow along our life's journey
That edges us ever closer toward the happenstance of destiny.
From 1966, there were no one-off singles for the maestro,
And finally, he's taken his last bow before he turned to go.

(c) June 11, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
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First Principles: Knowledge of the Oceans Is More Than A Matter of Curiosity. Our Very Survival May Hinge Upon It

“Knowledge of the oceans is more than a matter of curiosity. Our very survival may hinge upon it.” – John F. Kennedy

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