“A fondness for power is implanted, in most men, and it is natural to abuse it, when acquired.” – Alexander Hamilton (1775)
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First Principles: A Fondness For Power Is Implanted, In Most Men, and It is Natural To Abuse It, When Acquired
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Abuse, Acquire, Alexander Hamilton, First Principles, Fondness, Implant, Mandkind, Natural, Power
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Thought For the Day: You Cannot Define Electricity. The Same Can Be Said of Art. It Is A Kind of Inner Current In A Human Being, Or Something That Needs No Definition
“You cannot define electricity. The same can be said of art. It is a kind of inner current in a human being, or something which needs no definition.” – Marcel Duchamp
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Art, Define, Eelecdtrity, Human Being, Inner Current, Kind, Marcel Duchamp, Need, No Definition, Thought For the Day
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Intoxicatingly Lost
Intoxicatingly Lost
by Michael Doyle
We paraded all of our songs
Singing on the trail to each other
Strumming our tunes to one another
Wondering where we might belong
We were tripping over the cost
Feeling intoxicatingly lost
As we fished for the stars
Inventing our stories on our guitars
Like butterflies in metamorphosis
We drifted in our focus and emphasis
Telling each other's lost dreams
We'd be the stars on gilded screens
Or maybe at least a moment on MTV
Our 15 minutes would be eventually
Until then, it was good just to conspire
Seated there around the ringed fire
By the time we were done
Like vampires, we traded glory for the sun
Like so many, the fools you and I were
It didn't even once occur
That however fast our fingers
We weren't born to be rock's gunslingers
We were just a couple of troubadours
We set out to sonically explore
The world might be a blue stone
In which we held court, never done
But as two pyrotechnics that played
Half as hot as the derring-do we displayed
It was all made worthless, the day you died
I sat there motionless and silently cried
Alone in the dark with nothing left to leave
And nothing left to hang onto and believe
Gothic cathedrals leave their lonely shadows
Like a full moon blazing over the moonbow
I guess that we took our bows and chances
Lost up in the universe's cosmic dances
The bamboo flute song floated on the wind
That night that I lost my best friend
Now, the darkness runs in the tides of the moon
And life, lived and loved, ends far too soon
(c) August 2, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged 15 Minutes, Bamboo Flute, Believe, Belong, Best Friend, Blue Stone, Bows, Butterflies, Chances, Conspire, Cosmic Dances, Cost, Court, Darkness, Ends, Eventually, Explore, Fast, Fingers, Fire, Float, Focus and Emphasis, Fools, Full Moon, Gilded Screens, Glory, Gothic Cathedrals, Guitars, Gun Slingers, Intoxicatingly Lost, Life, Lived and Loved, Lonely Shadows, Lost Dreams, Metamorphosis, Moment, Moonbow, MTV, Night, Occur, Paraade, Poetry and Poems, Pyrotechnics, Ring, Rock, Seat, Sing, Songs, Sonic, Stars, Stories, Strum, Sun, Tell, Tides of the Moon, Too Soon, Trail, Trip, Troubadours, Tunes, Vampire, Wind, Wonder, World, You and I
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First Principles: The Spirit of Encroachment Tends To Consolidate the Powers of All the Departments In One, and Thus To Create Whatever the Form of Government, A Real Despotism
“”The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create whatever the form of government, a real despotism.” – George Washington
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Consolidate, Create, Encroachment, First Principles, Form of Government, George Washington, One, Powers, Real Despotism, Spirit
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Thought For the Day: So Long As Men Worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons Will Duly Arise and Make Them Miserable
“So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly rise and make them miserable.” – Aldous Huxley, novelist (26 Jul 1894-1963)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Aldous Huxley, Arise, Casesar, Men, Miserable, Napoleon, Thought For the Day, Worship
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This Love Is Here To Stay
This Love Is Here To Stay
by Michael Doyle
In our final steps toward the altar
I feel that sometimes we falter
It seems for all purposes and intents
The pressure is on, and it's getting intense
Many factors lead to some off-days
That leaves us side-tracked in a daze
Maybe no is the answer in the analysis
As we feel the struggle of our paralysis
Broken trust is the deal that busts
The deal that must be kept if it's not to burst
When black is white and up is down
There's no way to that victory crown
All the struggles that we've worked through
You are my person - I'm in love with you
We've had so much thinking to work through
I'm certain that nobody else will ever do
I know that I'll never be above you
It shows that I'm not there below you
Yes, I know that I'm right here with you
Through thick or thin, no one else will do
Broken trust is the deal that busts
The deal that must be kept if it's not to burst
When black is white and up is down
There's no way to that victory crown
You'll be my bride, I'll be your groom-to-be
It's perfectly flawless, this sentimentality
With a twist of fate and a smiling look
We're ready for another chapter in life's book
Everyone has their ideals about working it out
To move beyond the flaws and costly doubts
There comes a time to have it no other way
One more look says, this love is here to stay
Broken trust is the deal that busts
The deal that must be kept if it's not to burst
When black is white and up is down
There's no way to that victory crown
(c) August 1, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Above, Altar, Analysis, Below, Bride, Broken Trust, Chapter, Daze, Falter, Final Steps, Flawless, Groom, Intense, Life's Book, Love, Off-Days, Paralysis, Poetry and Poems, Right Here With You, Sentimentality, Smile, Stay, Struggle, Thick Or Thin, Twist of Fate
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First Principles: Be A Free Thinker and Don’t Accept Everything You Hear As Truth. Be Critical and Evaluate What You Believe In
“Be a free thinker and don’t accept everything you hear as truth. Be critical and evaluate what you believe in.” – Aristotle
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Accept, Aristotle, Believe, Critical, Evaluate, First Principles, Free Thinker, Truth
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Thought For the Day: Your Time Is Limited, So Don’t Waste It Living Someone Else’s Life
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” – Steve Jobs
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Courage, Dogma, Heart and Intuition, Inner Voice, Limited, Noise, Opinions, Other People's Thinking, Someone Else's Life, Steve Jobs, Thought For the Day, Time, Trap, Waste
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Pass the Torch (This Revolution Is Over)
Pass the Torch (This Revolution Is Over)
by Michael Doyle
Over the course of many stolid years
I have listened to a tsunami of tears
Over how socialism turned chevere to chimbo
The Land of Grace defiled blow by blow
The Land of the Orchids and the Sun
Had become one, its people felt was done
Like South America's eternal spring
Venezuela is a country of people born to sing
The people have told Maduro to step down
Voting to remove this jester's stolen crown
Selling their empanadas to another candidate
Forcing a win that cannot and will not wait
Bolivar and gauchos know angelic contrasts
But there is nothing good in the Marxist masks
That have ruled over this beautiful land
Placing everyone under near -totalitarian command
The people face bullets with their flowers
One by one, the people stand firm in these hours
Though promised a bloodbath again and again
The people are determined that they will win
The people have told Maduro to step down
Voting to remove this jester's stolen crown
Selling their empanadas to another candidate
Forcing a win that cannot and will not wait
Facing this bloody dictatorship with courage
They frame their hope as they seek another page
Many of the army have taken to the street of history
Braving reprisals to stand against this tyranny
Economic mismanagement is the bloodbath of socialism
We have faced this in the US with great pessimism
It has been an election cycle of hope and repression
These policies can only lead to national depression
The people have told Maduro to step down
Voting to remove this jester's stolen crown
Selling their empanadas to another candidate
Forcing a win that cannot and will not wait
Intimidating and imprisoning those of daring dissent
Is madness and buffoonery forcing a people to relent
But no more however much standing brings jeopardy
The people will stand for their freedom and liberty
Los Llanos has stood and will stand in its defiance
Resting on the people's will in genuine reliance
As the poor have come to greater loss and poverty
At the hands of those who promised a false prosperity
The people have told Maduro to step down
Voting to remove this jester's stolen crown
Selling their empanadas to another candidate
Forcing a win that cannot and will not wait
... the people of Venezuela cannot withstand
those who would kill the best of their land
we on the outside must stand with them now
Let's help Venezuelans prevail somehow...
(c) July 31, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Angelic Contrast, Army, Beautiful Land, Bloodbath, Bloody Dictatorship, Bolivar, Bullets, Candidate, Courage, Course, Defiance, Dissent, Done, Economic Mismanagement, Election Cycle, Empanadas, Eternal Spring, False Prosperity, Firm, Flowers, Food, Freedom and Liberty, Gauchos, Greater Loss, Hope, Hours, Imprisoning, Intimidating, Jeopdardy, Jester, Kill, Los Llanos, Madness and Buffoonery, Maduro, Marxist Masks, National Depression, Orchids, Outside, Page, Pass the Torch, People's Will, Pessimism, Poetry, Poetry and Poems, Policies, Poverty, Prevail, Promise, recipes, Relent, Reliance, Repression, Reprisals, Revolution, Sing, Socialism, South America, Standing, Step Down, Stolen Crown, Street of History, Sun, Tears, The Poor, Totalitarian Comman, Travel, Tsunami, Tyranny, Venezuela, Withstand, Writing
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First Principles: Laws Are Made For Men of Ordinary Understanding and Should, Therefore, Be Construed By the Ordinary Rules of Common Sense
“Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties which may make anything mean everything or nothing at pleasure.” – Thomas Jefferson (1823)
ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 