______ __
/ ____/___ _____/ /___ ______ ___
/ /_ / __ \/ ___/ __/ / / / __ \/ _ \
/ __/ / /_/ / / / /_/ /_/ / / / / __/
/_/ \____/_/ \__/\__,_/_/ /_/\___/
Garbage In -- Gospel Out.
Pardon this fortune. Database under reconstruction.
Speaking of the philosophy involved in moving humanity into space:
Furniture will be a largely obsolete concept. Take for example the dresser my
mom bought for me when I was a kid. I still have it, and by the standards of
its era, it's an admirable household fixture. It is a massive construction of
maple wood, expertly joined with cunningly fit pieces, fitted and glued with
the strength of iron. It is set with massive brass fixtures, and looks today
-- discounting the dust -- as new as the day it was purchased, a quarter
century ago. So far, so good; a fine piece of furniture, you might say. But
let's look at it objectively, as a machine, as an object with a purpose. Here
sit a hundred pounds of hardwood with a compressive strength of 1500 psi,
jointed by an expert craftsman into a rigid box that would easily support a
bull elephant. And what is the sole purpose of this massive crate, this
monument to a dead tree? -- it holds my socks.
Not only is it blind engineering overkill of epic proportions, it is also an
environmental disaster. The home to generations of squirrels, a sentinel post
for falcons, an autumnal banner of golden glory, a living creature, was chopped
down to enshrine some underwear. This, my friends, is no way to run a planet.
-- Marshall T. Savage, from The Millennial Project:
Colonizing the Galaxy -- In Eight Easy Steps
Anoint, v.:
To grease a king or other great functionary already
sufficiently slippery.
-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
Mophobia, n.:
Fear of being verbally abused by a Mississippian.
From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving,
Whatever gods may be,
That no life lives forever,
That dead men rise up never,
That even the weariest river winds somewhere safe to sea.
-- Swinburne
If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.
-- Maslow
Boston State House is the hub of the Solar System. You couldn't pry
that out of a Boston man if you had the tire of all creation
straightened out for a crowbar.
-- O. W. Holmes
Monday, 19 January 2026 Michael J. Chappell Contact me at:
mcsuper5@freeshell.org
