“The confidence of the people will easily be gained by a good administration. This is the true touchstone.” – Alexander Hamilton (1788)
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First Principles: The Confidence of the People Will Easily Be Gained By A Good Administration. This Is the True Touchstone.
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Alexander Hamilton, Confidence, First Principles, Gain, Good Administration, The People, True Touchstone
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Thought For the Day: All Your Life, You Will Be Faced With A Choice. You Can Choose Love Or Hate…I Choose Love
“All your life, you will be faced with a choice. You can choose love or hate . . . I choose love.” – Johnny Cash
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged All, Choice, Choose, Face, Hate, Johnny Cash, Love, Thought For the Day, Your Life
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Quenching the Fires of Los Angeles
Quenching the Fires of Los Angeles
by Michael Doyle
I saw a wise old hippy on the stage
Singing about clouds as she turned the page
Staring out with love at the approach of death
She sang her heart to her last breath
It seemed like a show of rare courage
Keeping time with her cane to encourage
All of us to live our lives as meant to be
Or at least, that's how it seemed to me
Reduced to ash and rubble, burned down by fire
Blessings kept down to the rusty wire
We joined hands to fight this thing
Fleeing from our losses with all we could bring
Doors that stand as gateways to love
We press on with our faith in the above
It's a special trace, in a sense of sadness
We stand firm in all of this madness
We're going to rebuild our graceless city
We'll shine it up into something new and pretty
Our hearts are filled with its living memories
As we fight shoulder to shoulder with our families
(c) January 31, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Above, Approach, Ash, Blessings, Cane, Clouds, Death, Doors, Encourage, Faith, Families, Fight, Fire, Fires, Gateways To Love, Graceless City, Heart, Hearts, Hippy, Joined Hands, Keeping Tim, Last Breath, Live, Living Memories, Los Angeles, Loss, Love, Madness, Meant, New and Pretty, Page, Poetry and Poems, Press On, Quench, Rare Courage, Rebuild, Rubble, Rusty Wire, Sense of Sadness, Shine, Shoulder to Shoulder, Show, Special Trace, Stage, Stand Firm
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Thought For the Day: There Is Nothing On This Earth More To Be Prized Than True Friendship
“There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.” – Thomas Aquinas
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Earth, Nothing, Prize, Thomas Aquinas, Thought For the Day, True Friendship
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First Principles: Laws, To Be Just, Must Give A Reciprocation of Right; That Without This, They are Mere Arbitrary Rules of Conduct, Founded In Force, And Not In Conscience
“We lay it down as a fundamental, that laws, to be just, must give a reciprocation of right; that, without this, they are mere arbitrary rules of conduct, founded in force, and not in conscience.” – Thomas Jefferson (1782)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Arbitrary, Conscience, First Principles, Force, Fundamental, Just, Law, Reciprocation of Right, Rules of Conduct
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I Thought Myself An Eagle
I Thought Myself An Eagle
by Michael Doyle
I thought myself an eagle
And built me a nest in solitude
Above where I could watch beauty
And very few might intrude
The disappointments I've known
Have dried up my springs of hope
I retreat to that comfort shown
And survive by learning to cope
Music is a refuge between the notes
Being inside myself is what I own
Where imagination is better than rote
And all my private sins I might atone
There is something in the discovery
In these times that my soul walks
Searching for all that is life's beauty
And the wordless words that talk
Revealing secrets that offer their surprise
Waffled in moments needing a decision
It's not an absence of love in my steady eyes
But the need for studied precision
It is a leap of faith to make a connection
And at times, my faith feels shattered and broken
It's not a defect to wait for the right direction
But the complement to my love quietly spoken
In this hypertensive world, we are pulled apart
As would-be travelers set out on life's journey
I sometimes seek shelter deep within my heart
Hoping against all hope for a bit of beauty
(c) January 30, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Absence of Love, Atone, Beauty, Broken, Comfort, Complement, Connection, Cope, Decision, Defect, Disappointments, Discovery, Eagle, Heart, Hope, Hypertensive World, Imagination, Inside Myself, Intrude, Jouney, Known, Leap of Faith, Life, Moments, Music, My Love, Nest, Notes, Own, Poetry and Poems, Precision, Private Sins, Pulled Apart, Refuge, Retreat, Revea;, Right Direction, Rote, Search, Secrets, Shattered, Shelter, Shown, Solitude, Soul, Spoken, Springs of Hope, Steady Eyes, Surprise, Survive, Talk, Thought, Times, Walk, Watch, Wordless Words, Would-Be Travelers
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First Principles: By Our Form of Government, the Christian Religion Is the Established Religion
“Religion is of general and public concern, and on its support depend, in great measure, the peace and good order of government, the safety and happiness of the people. By our form of government, the Christian religion is the established religion; and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed upon the same equal footing, and are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty.” – Samuel Chase, Runkel v. Winemiller (1799)
(It seems to go without saying that the principles of religious liberty has since this decision greatly expanded the doctrine of equal footing to other belief systems, too.)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Christian Religion, Equal Footing, Established Religion, First Principles, Form of Government, Government, Happiness, Peace and Good Order, Protection, Public Concern, Religion, Religious Liberty, Runkel v. Winemiller (1799), Safety, Samuel Chase, Sects and Denominations of Christians, The People
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Thought For the Day: Creativity Is A Wild Mind and A Disciplined Eye
“Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.” – Dorothy Parker
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Creativity, Discipline, Dorothy Parker, Eye, Thought For the Day, Wild Mind
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The Truth of Why We Fight
The Truth of Why We Fight
by Michael Doyle
In different times
How might it end?
Could it have been
We might have been good friends?
Your job and mine
Here on the frontline
It's a killing job to be done
Yet, you are somebody's son
There is the truth of why we fight
Mostly, it hasn't been about wrong or right
It's more about doing as told
But doesn't this killing business get old?
A string quartet plays its shame
Good guys, bad guys; it's just a name
We clean the rubble out of the courtyard
As life becomes death and hits us hard
It's a heck of a way to die
Jumping into glory without the question why
Beware of enemy territory
At least that's the moral of my story
(c) January 29, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Bad Guys, Beware, Courtyard, Death, Die, Different Times, Done, End, Enemy Territory, Fight, Frontline, Glory, Good Friends, Good Guys, Hard, Jumping, Killing Business, Killing Job, Life, Mine, Moral, My Story, Name, Old, Poetry and Poems, Question Why, Rubble, Shame, Somebody's Son, String Quartet, Told, Truth, Wrong or Right, Your Job
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Happy Lunar New Year!
January 29, 2025, marks the new year for the lunar calendar for China and many other Asian nations. It is also referred to as the Spring Festival. This is the Year of the Snake. We have to love a tradition that celebrates the New Year for a month, right?
To be more precise, this is the Year of the Wood Snake. What does that mean? I am glad you asked this.
A cursory look at the 12 animals and their related elements suggests an emphasis on adaptability, diversity, and lateral growth. In this tradition, the Snake is a symbol of wisdom. What could be wiser than shedding old habits, embracing intuition above overthinking, and viewing change as the opportunity to evolve that it can be and is if we allow it to be so. The element Wood represents growth, much like any plant in Spring. The snake overall is linked with wisdom, mystery, introspection, and elegance. That seems to point to a very interesting year ahead. Doesn’t it? Come on and join me in this second celebration of the new year. Let’s make the most of it!
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Adaptability, Asia, Astrology, Change, China, Chinese New Year, chinese-astrology, chinese-zodiac, Diversity, Elegance, Element, Emphasis, Growth, Healing, Introspection, Intuition, January 29 2025, Lateral Growth, Lunar Calendar, Lunar New Year, Month, Old Habits, Opportunity, Spirituality, Spring Festival, Thought For the Day, Wisdom, Wood, Wood Snake
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ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 