Author Archive: Paul Epps

Barack Obama’s Impersonation of Harry Truman

by  on 
 

What has defined us as a nation since our founding is the capacity to shape our destiny–our determination to fight for the America we want for our children. Even if we’re unsure exactly what that looks like. Even if we don’t yet know precisely how we’re going to get there. We know we’ll get there. — Barack Obama, “Remarks by the President to the Nation on the BP Oil Spill”   Or, as Harry Truman might have put it: There is as yet no consensus on where the buck stops. And so I’ve established a national commission to understand the buck’s velocity and the degree of kinetic friction between the buck and the surface across which it is traveling. Even if we don’t know precisely where the buck is going to stop, we know it’ll get there. — Best of the Web Today Read more →

Happy Father’s Day

by  on 
 

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. — Mark Twain A wise son maketh a glad father. — Proverbs 10:1 Sherman made the terrible discovery that men make about their fathers sooner or later . . . that the man before him was not an aging father but a boy, a boy much like himself, a boy who grew up and had a child of his own and, as best he could, out of a sense of duty and, perhaps love, adopted a role called ‘Being a Father’ so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a Protector, who would keep a lid on all the chaotic and catastrophic possibilities of life. —Tom… Read more →

Lakers 83, Celtics 79

by  on 
 

“I’m really going to be sad if the Lakers lose,” my son said before the game. “Yeah,” I said, “a lot of people are going to be sad. Of course, a lot of people are going to be sad if the Celtics lose too, but at least it will be the right people.” Read more →

Not Much to Show for Myself

by  on 
 

My wife gives the boy a plate of donettes as he comes down for breakfast. Then she asks me, “Do you have 10 dollars you can give him?” Checking my fund supply, I find that I have a five-dollar bill and two ones. “I have seven dollars,” I say, holding up the bills. “Fifty years of life and this is what I have to show for it. Seven dollars.” The boy jumps into the conversation at this point. “There’s only five donuts here,” he says. “These definitely come in a package of six.” “Okay, I modify my statement,” I say. “Fifty years of life has given me seven dollars and a donut. Not even a large donut. A donette.” Read more →

No One Listened

by  on 
 

Today, I will introduce the Free Housing Market Enhancement Act, which removes government subsidies from the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and the National Home Loan Bank Board. . . . Congress should act to remove taxpayer support from the housing GSEs before the bubble bursts and taxpayers are once again forced to bail out investors who were misled by foolish government interference in the market. — Ron Paul, 2003 [HT: Steven Landsburg] Read more →

Libertarianism

by  on 
 

Libertarianism rests on two bedrock beliefs: human freedom is a great good and the public sector tends to screw things up. The first belief is based more on faith than empirical result; the second derives from millennia of human experience. — Edward L. Glaeser Read more →

Twitter: 2010-06-13

by  on 
 

RT @eddiepepitone: The 3 hour nap I took today barely scratched the surface of my contempt for life. # RT @eddiepepitone: Toy story due out in a few days-man is marmaduke going to take a fucking hit. # Read more →

Don’t Look Back

by  on 
 

In uncertain conditions the main question should not be: “Why didn’t your performance yesterday conform to the original plan?” Rather, it should be: “What kind of feedback can help you learn faster and perform better tomorrow?” — “Ninety-Nine Rules for Managing ‘Faster, Better, Cheaper’ Projects” Read more →

BE THE HAMMER!

by  on 
 

I’m a special teams coach. I get guys to run 60 miles an hour into each other and like it. I always tell my players: Be the hammer. Not the nail. — USC special teams coach John Baxter FIGHT ON! Read more →

The Illusion of Control

by  on 
 

More paperwork does not ensure greater information reliability or accuracy — it only adds to the non-value-added cost. It only seems that adding more measurement and reporting means better control. The illusion of control may partially explain an obsession with control. — “Ninety-Nine Rules for Managing ‘Faster, Better, Cheaper’ Projects” Read more →

Employee Surveys

by  on 
 

It’s Employee Survey Day! The surveys are completely anonymous. Don’t write your name on them and please seal them in the envelope in front of you. Oh and — solely for statistical purposes — please indicate the department you work in, your job title, age and how long you’ve worked here. (Ha ha, I’m sure everything’s on the up and up but I wrote everything left-handed anyway . . . to maintain some deniability . . .) Read more →

President Nero

by  on 
 

Last weeks jobs report tanked the stock market; the president took weeks to assert control of the oil spill that threatens doom on the Gulf Coast — but at the White House the Gatsby-like parties roll on as if happy days were here again. — John Gibson – NYPOST.com Read more →

« Previous Page — Next Page »