Quotations

Your current safe boundaries were once unknown frontiers. - Unknown

Change in all things is sweet. - Aristotle

Life itself is the proper binge.  - Julia Child

A strong oak is just a nut that stood fast. - Unknown

When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge. - Tuli Kupferberg 

Learn from yesterday. 
Live for today. 
Hope for tomorrow.  - Unknown

Change yourself, change your fortunes. – Portuguese proverb 

Life is change. 

Growth is optional. 

Choose wisely.  - Karen Kaiser Clark

Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be. - John Wooden 

In order to change we must be sick and tired of being sick and tired.  - Author unknown

Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be.  - Abraham Lincoln

First, say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.  - Epictetus

Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it. – Buddha

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here we should dance. - Unknown

Amidst the worldly comings and goings, observe how endings become beginnings.  - Tao Te Ching

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. – Chinese Proverb

Promise yourself to live your life as a revolution and not just a process of evolution.   - Anthony J DÁngelo

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.  - Maria Robinson

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. 
Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.   - Indian saying

Too much sanity may be madness. 
And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be!  - Miguel de Cervantes 

Unless you are prepared to give up something valuable you will never be able to truly change at all, because you’ll be forever in the control of things you can’t give up.  - Andy Law

Life does not accommodate you, it shatters you. 
It is meant to, and it couldn’t do it better. 
Every seed destroys its container or else there would be no fruition. - Florida Scott - Maxwell

Time is the coin of your life. 
It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. 
Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.   - Carl Sandburg

Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. 
Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them — every day begin the task anew.  - Saint Francis de Sales

A reporter interviewing A.J. Muste, who during the Vietnam War stood in front of the White House night after night with a candle, one rainy night asked,” Mr. Muste, do you really think you are going to change the policies of this country by standing out here alone at night with a candle?”  
Muste replied, “Oh, I don’t do it to change the country, I do it so the country won’t change me.”

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.  - Nelson Mandela

Leap years

Did you know?
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The year 2012 is a leap year, the extra day being the 29th of February
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If you look at a 2012 calendar, you will see that February has five Fridays, the month begins and ends on a Friday.
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Between the years 1904 and 2096, leap years that share the same day of week for each date repeat only every 28 years.
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The most recent year in which February comprised five Fridays was in 1980 and the next occurrence will be in February 2036
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And what is a leap year?
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A leap year is a year in which one extra day has been inserted, or intercalated, at the end of February.
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A leap year consists of 366 days, whereas other years, called common years, have 365 days
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And which years are leap years?
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In the Gregorian calendar, the calendar used by most modern countries, the following three criteria determine which years will be leap years:

1. Every year that is divisible by four is a leap year;
2. of those years, if it can be divided by 100, it is NOT a leap year, unless the year is divisible by 400. Then it is a leap year.
3. According to the above criteria, that means that years 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300 and 2500 are NOT leap years, while year 2000 and 2400 are leap years. 
4. It is interesting to note that 2000 was somewhat special as it was the first instance when the third criterion was used in most parts of the world.

In the Julian calendar – introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC and patterned after the Roman calendar – there was only one rule: any year divisible by four would be a leap year.
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This calendar was used before the Gregorian calendar was adopted.
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Why are leap years needed?
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Leap years are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the earth's revolutions around the sun.
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Details

Note: The illustration is not to scale.

The vernal equinox is the time when the sun is directly above the Earth's equator, moving from the southern to the northern hemisphere.

The mean time between two successive vernal equinoxes is called a tropical year–also known as a solar year–and is about 365.2422 days long.

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Using a calendar with 365 days every year would result in a loss of 0.2422 days, or almost six hours per year.
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After 100 years, this calendar would be more than 24 days ahead of the season (tropical year), which is not desirable or accurate.
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It is desirable to align the calendar with the seasons and to make any difference as insignificant as possible.
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By adding a leap year approximately every fourth year, the difference between the calendar and the seasons can be reduced significantly, and the calendar will align with the seasons much more accurately.
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(The term "day" is used to mean "solar day"–which is the mean time between two transits of the sun across the meridian of the observer.)
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So there you have it, you are now better informed.

Questions for you

Q. Why do men's clothes have buttons on the right while women's clothes have buttons on the left?
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A. When buttons were invented, they were very expensive and worn primarily by the rich. 
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Since most people are right-handed, it is easier to push buttons on the right through holes on the left. 
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Because wealthy women were dressed by maids, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid's right! 
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And that's where women's buttons have remained since.
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Q. Why do ships and aircraft use 'mayday' as their call for help?
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A. This comes from the French word m'aidez - meaning 'help me' - and is pronounced approximately, 'mayday.'
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Q. Why are zero scores in tennis called 'love'?
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A. In France , where tennis became popular, round zero on the scoreboard looked like an egg and was called 'l'oeuf,' which is French for 'egg.' 
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When tennis was introduced in the US , Americans (mis)pronounced it 'love.'
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Q. Why do X's at the end of a letter signify kisses?
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A. In the Middle Ages, when many people were unable to read or write, documents were often signed using an X. 
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Kissing the X represented an oath to fulfill obligations specified in the document. 
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The X and the kiss eventually became synonymous.
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Q. Why is shifting responsibility to someone else called 'passing the buck'?
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A. In card games, it was once customary to pass an item, called a buck, from player to player to indicate whose turn it was to deal. 
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If a player did not wish to assume the responsibility of dealing, he would 'pass the buck' to the next player.
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Q. Why do people clink their glasses before drinking a toast?
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A. It used to be common for someone to try to kill an enemy by offering him a poisoned drink. 
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To prove to a guest that a drink was safe, it became customary for a guest to pour a small amount of his drink into the glass of the host. 
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Both men would drink it simultaneously. 
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When a guest trusted his host, he would only touch or clink the host's glass with his own.
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Q. Why are people in the public eye said to be 'in the limelight'?
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A. Invented in 1825,limelight was used in lighthouses and theatres by burning a cylinder of lime which produced a brilliant light. In the theatre, a performer 'in the limelight' was the center of attention.
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Q. Why is someone who is feeling great 'on cloud nine'?
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A. Types of clouds are numbered according to the altitudes they attain, with nine being the highest cloud 
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If someone is said to be on cloud nine, that person is floating well above worldly cares.
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Q. In golf, where did the term 'Caddie' come from?
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A. When Mary Queen of Scots went to France as a young girl, Louis, King of France, learned that she loved the Scots game 'golf.' 
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So he had the first course outside of Scotland built for her enjoyment. 
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To make sure she was properly chaperoned (and guarded) while she played, Louis hired cadets from a military school to accompany her.
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Mary liked this a lot and when returned to Scotland (not a very good idea in the long run), she took the practice with her. 
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In French, the word cadet is pronounced 'ca-day' and the Scots changed it into 'caddie.
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Q. Why are many coin banks shaped like pigs?
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A. Long ago, dishes and cookware in Europe were made of a dense orange clay called 'pygg'. 
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When people saved coins in jars made of this clay, the jars became known as 'pygg banks.' 

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When an English potter misunderstood the word, he made a container that resembled a pig. 
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And it caught on.
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Q. Did you ever wonder why dimes, quarters and half dollars have notches (milling), while pennies and nickels do not?
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A. The US Mint began putting notches on the edges of coins containing gold and silver to discourage holders from shaving off small quantities of the precious metals. 
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Dimes, quarters and half dollars are notched because they used to contain silver. 
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Pennies and nickels aren't notched because the metals they contain are not valuable enough to shave.

Addicted to money

When someone has stolen billions why does he go on stealing more?

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Often he is a ruler, despot, autocrat.

Whatever name we call him by he is a thief.
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The question that intrigues me is this:
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Why when he has stolen more than he and his direct descendants for untold generations could possibly ever spend or use does he go on stealing?
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Why does he not do something to improve the place he runs?
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Why does he not improve the lives of his people?
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Build some infrastructure
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Some new schools
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Improve the arts
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Create a nicer fairer society.
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At  least do something to be remembered by other than crude theft?
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The answer it seems is that he is addicted, 
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At a certain point it appears money addicts people,
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A fear of having none or losing it all might have been true early on.
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However after the first hundred million or so something changes.
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Money becomes numbers.
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Often it has no meaning as many mega rich are also very mean.
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Not just with others but also often with themselves.
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Seeing the inside of their lives one scratches ones head at the poverty on display.
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A poverty of imagination.
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Poverty of art in any shape or form.
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A poverty of texture, colour, life even.
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A distinct poverty of life energy present around them and their possessions.
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Their houses and homes containing all the latest and most expensive toys.
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And yet nothing personal.
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You might as well be in a five star hotel, and in essence this is what they are.
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Empty trophies to their power and money.
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And the addiction?
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Just wanting more ever more and never stopping.
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And because money is merely an energy these people often get cancer.
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Why?
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Because if you block energy (money) then it will bite you.
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One way or another karma creates the situation where your refusal to let it flow is adjusted.
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Money addiction is not one to enter into lightly.
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Simply because like all addictions you do not win.
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Add in paranoia and you have a poor life.
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Maybe it is simpler still.
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Once embarked upon their life of theft they cannot stop.
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The cronies around them ensure this.
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A web of corruption  devouring all in its path.
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The only way to stop it is to destroy it.
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And that is just what happens finally to all those who fit this pattern
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Look around the world now from Libya to Syria and many other countries beyond.
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And if we want to be less politically correct how about Wall Street and the rest of them?
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The same addiction is there as well.

Dissolution of community

Has been an accelerating feature of life on Planet Earth over the last fifty years or more.

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In sharp contrast to the monetized world of financial security.
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Which inexorably separates everyone from everyone else.
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An alternative gift economy is an economy of obligation and dependence.

Financial security is not true independence, but merely dependence on strangers.
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Who will only do the things necessary for your survival if you pay them.

Would you rather be dependent on strangers, or on people you know?

Well, that probably depends on how you treat the people you know.

Thus the monetized life removes some of the incentives for people to adhere to social and ethical norms.

Dissolution of community is built in to our system of money.

The monetization of life dissolves communities, and the dissolution of community necessitates the further monetization of life.
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Charles Eisenstein
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Until we arrive at today where there is little left to monetize
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Where there are few new markets to conquer.
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And where the insatiable greed of financial markets is hell bent on self destruction.
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Where politicians dither and dather not wanting to upset their financial backers overt or covert.
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What a time to be alive.
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A time when genuine change is unavoidable
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The question being which way will we go?
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Hang on to control or try to break free?