A phenomenon noticeable throughout history regardless of place or period is the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interests.
-- Barbara Tuchman (The March of Folly)
#Wisdom #Quotes #BarbaraTuchman #Folly #Government #History #War
#Photography #Panorama #Panopainting #Flowers #Junkyard #Minnesota
Gareth Evans is neither hawk nor dove so his criticism of #AUKUS deserves close attention. #Australia #USA #UK #China #submarines #Nuclear #war #folly #auspol #Trump https://johnmenadue.com/aukus-one-of-the-worst-defence-and-foreign-policy-decisions-our-country-has-made/
Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it!
-- Mark Twain
// "Very retro" is what Landgrave William IX of Hesse-Kassel must have thought when he built the "medieval" Löwenburg #folly in 1793 
#folly : levity, weakness, or derangement of mind
- French: folie
- German: die Verrücktheit
- Italian: pazzia
- Portuguese: loucura
- Spanish: locura
------------
Report an incorrect translation @ https://wordofthehour.org/r/translations
A quotation from Robert Bolt
WOLSEY: You opposed me in the Council this morning, Thomas.
MORE: Yes, Your Grace.
WOLSEY: You were the only one.
MORE: Yes, Your Grace.
WOLSEY: You’re a fool.
MORE: Thank God there is only one fool on the Council.
Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
A Man for All Seasons, film (1966)
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/bolt-robert/74894/
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.
-- Herbert Spencer
Slippery Paths and Roseberry’s Summerhouse
A supposedly “gentler” path to the top of Roseberry Topping winds up the southern side from the Summerhouse Field. After last night’s heavy rain, the path has become a veritable death trap, with these walkers wisely prefering the rough grass for better footing. Ascending it is manageable, but descending? Practically suicidal. Avoiding the path mig ...
Thanks much! 
This is more recent data, and tells a similar story.
New Mexico remains the biggest net "winner"--but based on the article this may be due to so many retirees moving down there?
Quoting...
"And yes, it’s ironic that states that are so dependent on transfers from other states — if West Virginia were a country, it would in effect be receiving foreign aid equal to more than 20 percent of its GDP — vote overwhelmingly for politicians trying to eviscerate the programs they depend on." -- #PaulKrugman
Reminds me of the classic book "The March of Folly" by #BarbaraTuchman
"A phenomenon noticeable throughout history regardless of place or period is the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interests."
And perhaps the even more relevant quote today...
"Government remains the paramount area of folly because it is there that men seek power over others — only to lose it over themselves."
Boy has the current admin lost control of its worst instincts and behaviors!
The Case for Letting Malibu Burn
Bushfires and sprawl: Man-made catastrophes and cultural narratives
The lethal mixture of home ownership and the bush: Neighborhoods on fire.
"Since 1993. almost half of California’s new homes have been built in fire hazard areas...Commercial greed over common sense and the social good."
The aristocratisation of the coast
"In a feverish buying and selling of land, the coast has become utterly transformed and unrecognizable. Each succeeding house, bigger and grander, takes the view of its neighbors in a kind of unbridled competition.… Once lost, paradise can never be regained.… Developers have bulldozed the Santa Monicas beyond recovery."
>>
Mike Davis, Ecology of Fear: The Case for Letting Malibu Burn. 1998
https://longreads.com/2018/12/04/the-case-for-letting-malibu-burn/
Ecology of Fear: Mike Davis’ history of LA and natural disaster is re-read whenever fire rages in California >>
https://theconversation.com/ecology-of-fear-mike-davis-history-of-la-and-natural-disaster-is-re-read-whenever-fire-rages-in-california-247101
#bushfires #fires #firestorms #sprawl #housing #suburbs #mansions #OverDevelopment #coast #NSW #destruction #disasters #gridlocked #roads #highways #floods #landslides #WUI #FossilFuels #Biodiversity #Holocene #folly
A quotation from Horace:
«
Of lingering and gain-seeking make an end;
Think, while there’s time, how soon Death’s pyre may blaze;
And some brief folly mix with prudent ways:
At the fit hour ’tis sweet to unbend.
»
Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/horace/73650/
A quotation from Antrim, Minna:
«
I post no possible objection to a man being a fool, if he so desires, but I do protest against his asking me to wear cap and bells in his company.
»
Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/antrim-minna/73415/
New entry of AI-generated #comics and #jokes added to our #website:
comics.lucentinian.com/2182
#NewsLaughs #LaughWithAI #AIJokes #FunnyNews #AIComedy
A quotation from Billings, Josh:
«
Yung phools are comparatiff harmless, it iz the old phools that make most ov the trubble in this world.
[Young fools are comparatively harmless; it is the old fools that make most of the trouble in this world.]
»
Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/billings-josh/73380/
A quotation from Chamfort, Nicolas:
«
Stupidity would not be totally stupid if it did not go in terror of intelligence. Vice would not be entirely vicious if it did not hate virtue.
[La sottise ne serait pas tout-à-fait la sottise, si elle ne craignait pas l’esprit. Le vice ne serait pas tout-à-fait le vice, s’il ne haïssait pas la vertu.]
»
Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/chamfort-nicolas/73174/
A quotation from Chamfort, Nicolas:
«
There are well-dressed foolish ideas just as there are well-dressed fools.
[Il y a des sottises bien habillées, comme il y a des sots très bien vêtus.]
»
Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/chamfort-nicolas/73124/
Opinion: #Republican #BathroomPanic Over #Trans #Lawmaker #SarahMcBride Shows It Was Never About #Sports Or #Kids.
#Republicans are in a #frenzy over #trans #Congresswoman Sarah McBride, following a #debate among #Democrats about #compromising on #trans #rights. Today’s events make clear the #folly of such a #decision.
https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/opinion-republican-bathroom-panic
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.
-- Herbert Spencer
A T Beaune reads ‘Wise Men of Gotham’
folk verse attributed to Charles Perrault (1628–1703) in ‘Histoires ou contes du temps passé, avec des moralités: Contes de ma mère l’Oye’ (1697)
as rendered by L Frank Baum (1856–1919) in ‘Mother Goose in Prose’ (1897)
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mastodon uno admin 
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