First Principles: The Time To Guard Against Corruption and Tyranny, Is Before They Shall Have Gotten Hold of Us

Posted on July 12, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“Mankind soon learn to make interested uses of every right and power which they possess, or may assume. The public money and public liberty, intended to have been deposited with three branches of magistracy, but found inadvertently to be in the hands of one only, will soon be discovered to be sources of wealth and dominion to those who hold them… They [the assembly] should look forward to a time, and that not a distant one, when a corruption in this, as in the country from which we derive our origin, will have seized the heads of government, and be spread by them through the body of the people; when they will purchase the voices of the people, and make them pay the price. Human nature is the same on every side of the Atlantic, and will be alike influenced by the same causes. The time to guard against corruption and tyranny, is before they shall have gotten hold of us. It is better to keep the wolf out of the fold, than to trust to drawing his teeth and talons after he shall have entered.” – Thomas Jefferson (1785)

Jefferson tried to warn us about the inherent dangers of administrative agencies.

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Taking It Deep

Posted on July 11, 2024 by alohapromisesforever
Events Presents: Vile Victorians - Ride or Die 
Taking It Deep
by Michael Doyle

We shoot the shot
Giving it all we got
I would call it living the dream
But sometimes, it makes me scream

Revealing the secrets at all costs
Finding our way, however, lost
We find the real that all depends
And rely on the advice of sisters and friends

Slow it down; don't be a clown
Get it right and wear victory's crown
We find that the one to keep
Is the ride and die that takes it deep

It's the feel in the moment of filling in blanks
With words of gratitude and thoughts of thanks
It turns out it's truly a game of trust
If we're going to live the love we must

All of this comes down to communication
From a place of love and ceaseless dedication
To do otherwise is to play with burning fire
It doesn't matter the level of desire

Slow it down, don't be a clown
Get it right and wear victory's crown
We find that the one to keep
Is the ride and die that takes it deep

I've seen the future inside your eyes
There's nothing to life's frugal disguise
It doesn't take a genius to subtly recognize
My best tomorrow is spent looking in your eyes

Suspicions can only drag us spinning down
To believe in you is to be heaven-bound
Is that your halo or my future queen's crown
I  live in gratitude for what I've found

Slow it down, don't be a clown
Get it right and wear victory's crown
We find that the one to keep
Is the ride and die that takes it deep

(c) July 11, 2024   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Borkum - Red Crowned Crane Greeting

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First Principles: The Foundation of National Morality Must Be Laid In Private Families

Posted on July 11, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“The foundation of national morality must be laid in private families.”  – John Adams (1778)

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Thought For the Day: The World Is Full of People Who Have Never, Since Childhood, Met an Open Doorway With an Open Mind

Posted on July 11, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“The world is full of people who have never, since childhood, met an open doorway with an open mind.” – E.B. White

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The Best of We

Posted on July 10, 2024 by alohapromisesforever 
The Best of We
by Michael Doyle

There are things sometimes said
That could be put a better way
Emotions ricochet off the tapes in our heads
Better-chosen words keep the ball in play

The fights fought are a step forward
On the path that moves us ever toward
Finding ourselves together for eternity
Even when our words are hurting you and me

Buckle up, baby, we're in for a ride
Sometimes, we drive each other a little crazy
But these feelings are feelings that I can't hide
You and I are two of a kind and the best of we

Pushed up to the limits of our pop psychology
We struggle forward to fight constructively
Step by step, we find our effective strategy
Love is blind, but let's not make this our legacy

The pros and cons are a good indication
That we've found our hearts' worth of dedication
The and the bad help us to truly know
The love taps and raps that will help us grow

Buckle up, baby, we're in for a ride
Sometimes, we drive each other a little crazy
But these feelings are feelings that I can't hide
You and I are two of a kind and the best of we

It's that half-expected spin in life dance
That acceptance of flaws that feeds romance
It's the laughs and smiles that show we care
That will be the things that allow us to share

The twist of forever that removes any doubts
And lets us see what we're truly all about
As we sit down at life's big pants table
We know the path forward to keep this stable

Buckle up, baby, we're in for a ride
Sometimes, we drive each other a little crazy
But these feelings are feelings that I can't hide
You and I are two of a kind and the very best of we

(c) July 10, 2024  Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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First Principles: Guard With Jealous Attention the Public Liberty. Suspect Every One Who Approaches That Jewel

Posted on July 10, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel.” -Patrick Henry (1788)

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Thought For the Day: I Do Not Think There Is Any Thrill That Can Go Through the Human Heart Like That Felt By The Inventor As He Sees Some Creation of the Brain Unfolding To Success

Posted on July 10, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success… Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.” – Nikola Tesla, electrical engineer and inventor (10 Jul 1856-1943)

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A Reach and Twitch

Posted on July 9, 2024 by alohapromisesforever 
A Reach and Twitch
by Michael Doyle

A hand reaches out and twitches
Held out toward the unseen switches
As a life comes and then is gone
As easy as a light turned off and on

We come into this life crying
Screaming out for more and trying
Hoping for the attention we needed
And crying a little louder if not heeded

Do you hear me holler (holler)
Just trying to earn a dollar (dollar)
Looking for some scratch to call my own
When you die on the street you're on your own

Down on the Lower East End
it's hard to tell a soldier from a friend
We scramble to make it feel reverent
Because the truth is we don't know different

A dollar is a dollar, no matter how earned
Life doesn't get better than crash and burned
Crawling out from the wreckage is your fantasy
There will be no good coming from the likes of me

Do you hear me holler (holler)
Just trying to earn a dollar (dollar)
Looking for some scratch to call my own
When you die on the street you're on your own

I've heard that some come to earnestly worship
Me and my kind, we're just looking for relationship
Trying our best to make some kind of name
While our pointed fingers hold ourselves to blame

I see your gun as you point it at me
I accept the outcome fatalistically
What is, simply is, as it's meant to be
I die for myself, no gang is dying for me

Do you hear me holler (holler)
Just trying to earn a dollar (dollar)
Looking for some scratch to call my own
When you die on the street you're on your own

The corner boys shuffle for the pennies down
While those with balloons wear death's jester crowns
No one ever gets out of this alive or whole
The struggle lives as it leaves a mark on our souls

I spent my life with my world burning on fire
There is no escape from this dark-winged desire
Death comes like that phantasm that we fear
Embraced in the arms of the God others revere

Do you hear me holler (holler)
Just trying to earn a dollar (dollar)
Looking for some scratch to call my own
When you die on the street you're on your own

With a swish, snitch, out goes my light
Shots fired brings my end of night
There's no one left to tell my tale
The worth of life has grown permanently stale

Will anybody cry for my lost soul?
With my last prayer, the Devil's taken control
In the end, all of us sinners hear his call
Isn't this temptation how Eden began its fall? 

Do you hear me holler (holler)
Just trying to earn a dollar (dollar)
Looking for some scratch to call my own
When you die on the street you're on you're own

(c) July 9, 2024   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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First Principles: The Essence of Government Is Power; and Power, Lodged As It Must Be In Human Hands, Will Ever Be Liable To Abuse

Posted on July 9, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.” – James Madison (1829)

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Thought For the Day: Be Advised That All Flatterers Live At the Expense of Those Who Listen To Them

Posted on July 9, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“Be advised that all flatterers live at the expense of those who listen to them.” -Jean de la Fontaine, poet and fabulist (8 Jul 1621-1695)

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