Clipmarks | Life Clips

Life, Liberty, Property > Law

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 03:46:42 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks: From F. Bastiat's book, The Law.

Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.

If this is true, then nothing can be more evident than this: The law is the organization of the natural right of lawful defense. It is the substitution of a common force for individual forces. And this common force is to do only what the individual forces have a natural and lawful right to do: to protect persons, liberties, and properties; to maintain the right of each, and to cause justice to reign over us all.

But, unfortunately, law by no means confines itself to its proper functions.

The law has placed the collective force at the disposal of the unscrupulous who wish, without risk, to exploit the person, liberty, and property of others.

It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this: the conversion of the law into an instrument of plunder.

Dinner Bell Rings for Financial Feeding Frenzy

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 23:09:01 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: AIG today revealed what many private-equity firms, banks and asset managers want to know about the company’s asset sales to pay back an $85 billion government loan: What’s for dinner?

AIG CEO Edward Liddy put an end to the suspense today. Here is what AIG is putting on the block: the U.S. life, retirement and pensions businesses, the personal-lines property-casualty business and at least a minority stake in its foreign life insurance business. All of AIG’s non-insurance businesses, including aircraft leasing, consumer finance division, U.S. auto insurance, a reinsurance business and asset manager, are also likely to be put on the block.

Clip Source: blogs.wsj.com

Nearly every major private equity firm with an interest in finance, including Hellman & Friedman, TPG and Corsair Capital, are expected to pore very closely over AIG’s portfolio. AIG CEO Edward Liddy knows that this has been the sale that many have been waiting for. On a conference call today, he said “dozens and dozens” of acquirers would step up and that “demand for these properties will be very high.”

AIG will sell nearly its entire life insurance business, which includes its life insurance operations in the U.S., Latin America and Japan, but will keep a controlling stake in AIA, its life insurance division in China, India, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The company expects earnings growth of around 20% in those developing markets.

Clip Source: blogs.wsj.com

Afternoon Reading: Hell Hath No Fury Like a Citi Scorned

Clip Source: blogs.wsj.com

Winners & Losers in Wells Fargo's Bid for Wachovia

Clip Source: blogs.wsj.com

WSJ Video: Analyzing the Bailout Bill

Clip Source: view.atdmt.com

Tags: aig $85 bn loan, major equity firms, life insurance

GUILTY: OJ Simpson

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 07:58:45 GMT

clipped by: BitDrifter
clipper's remarks: Could spend rest of life in prision.

Clip Source: www.breitbart.com

O.J. Simpson, who went from American sports idol to celebrity-in-exile after he was acquitted of murder in 1995, was found guilty Friday of robbing two sports-memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room.

Simpson, 61, could spend the rest of his life in prison. Sentenced was set for Dec. 5.

Americans now fleeing to Mexico

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:07:50 GMT

clipped by: kkcapricorn
clipper's remarks: Unconfirmed Sources political satire and news story parodies as represented above are written as satire or parody. They are, of course, fictitious.

Clip Source: www.unconfirmedsources.com

A group of young, former Lehman Bros. executives make plans to cross the border into Mexico.

Faced with seemingly insurmountable financial and personal hurdles, Americans have been streaming across the border into Mexico in the hopes of finding a better quality of life.

Mexican border patrol agents have abandoned searching for Mexicans crossing into the US and are now focused on Americans crossing into Mexico.

One American who was caught crossing the border was former Lehman Bros. Financier Ralph Goldman. "I just want a better life for my wife and kids", Goldman tearfully explained to the Mexican border patrol agent. "All the money and jobs have come here. The weather is nicer. Houses are cheaper. The banks haven't failed. I could have a life here".

Lame Duck President George W. Bush promised those who remain in America a $25 McDonald's gift certificate in addition to their economic stimulus checks. However, the House and Senate have not yet verified the gift certificate offer.

Tags: satire, unconfirmedsources

14 useless insurance policies

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:09:41 GMT

clipped by: Lexica

Clip Source: www.bankrate.com

But on more than a dozen policies -- especially narrowly focused single-purpose coverage on things like accidental death, cancer, credit card fraud and mortgages -- we simply fall victim to fear and salesmanship and purchase coverage that is redundant, unnecessary, impractical or downright wasteful.

What's worse, 19 percent to 25 percent of us overpay for insurance by purchasing coverage with zero or low deductibles

Almost always, you should get a high deductible rather than a low deductible.

Here, in alphabetical order, are 14 policies you can probably scale back -- or live without.

14 useless insurance policies

1.	Accidental death insurance
2.	Automobile collision
3.	Automobile medical
4.	Cancer/dreaded disease insurance
5.	Credit card fraud insurance
6.	Credit card insurance
7.	Extended warranties
8.	Flight insurance
9.	Flood insurance
10.	Life insurance for a child
11.	Mortgage life insurance
12.	Optional group life insurance
13.	Rental car damage insurance
14.	Scheduled property

Tags: budget, frugality, insurance

Magical Thinking

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:12:45 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: "Although I'm a rational man, I'm a scientist, I'm studying this phenomenon, there are some events in your life that you cannot explain rationall"

Clip Source: beinart.org

Clip Source: www.psychologytoday.com

Even hard-core skeptics can't help but find sympathy in the fabric of the universe—and occasionally try to pull its strings.

Emotional stress and events of personal significance push us strongly toward magical meaning-making.

"There are many layers of belief," psychologist Carol Nemeroff says. "And the answer for many people, especially with regard to magic, is, 'Most of me doesn't believe but some of me does.'

Clip Source: www.psychologytoday.com

What makes something sacred is not its material makeup but its unique history

Clip Source: www.psychologytoday.com

there's a key chemical involved in magical thinking. Dopamine, a neurotransmitter that the brain uses to tag experiences as meaningful, floods the brains of schizophrenics, who see significance in everything, but merely trickles in many depressives, who struggle to find value in everyday life

Clip Source: www.psychologytoday.com

Although I'm a rational man, I'm a scientist, I'm studying this phenomenon, there are some events in your life that you cannot explain rationall

Religion: why do people believe in God?

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:41:46 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Religion: why do people believe in God?

For all of us, life is full of uncertainties and difficulties, and it ends in death. Every religion claims to overcome death, to provide certainty, and reward us for being good. So great is our fear of life and death that most of us allow hope to override our intellect.

A sense of justice leads us to choose standards, and in doing so we condemn ourselves to living this life in terms of the next. If you set standards which you can easily reach, you limit the amount of self-inflicted pain you will suffer, but if you acquire, say, a Calvinist conscience you set yourself impossible standards, and berate yourself for your constant failure to live up to them.

No religion accepts us as the person we know ourselves to be. Rather, we are told that we are inadequate, unsatisfactory and helpless. We fear that this is so, and to give us hope we, like Ella, construct a fantasy about how we are superior to those who do not share our views.

Tags: religion, god, belief

Charlie Chaplin’s Guide to Picking Yourself Up When Life Knocks You Down

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:38:59 GMT

clipped by: mugofcoffee
clipper's remarks: Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of oneself. — Charlie Chaplin

very good site this...

Clip Source: www.successsoul.com

Filed Under Soul of Inspiration

Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain. — Charlie Chaplin

You’ll never find rainbows if you’re looking down. — Charlie Chaplin

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot. — Charlie Chaplin

Nothing is permanent in this wicked world — not even our troubles. — Charlie Chaplin

You have to believe in yourself, that’s the secret. Even when I was in the orphanage, when I was roaming the street trying to find enough to eat, even then I thought of myself as the greatest actor in the world. —- Charlie Chaplin

Life is a beautiful magnificent thing, even to a jelly fish. … The trouble is you won’t fight. You’ve given up. But there’s something just as inevitable as death. And that’s life. Think of the power of the universe — turning the earth, growing the trees. That’s the same power within you — if you’ll only have the courage and the will to use it. — Charlie Chaplin

Death Row Realism

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:45:11 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "Why should we pay to keep him locked up for life? I hear that question constantly. Few people know the answer: It's cheaper -- much, much cheaper than execution.
If we condemn the worst offenders, like Massie, to permanent imprisonment, resources now spent on the death penalty could be used to investigate unsolved homicides, modernize crime labs and expand effective violence prevention programs, especially in at-risk communities. The money also could be used to intervene in the lives of children at risk and to invest in their education -- to stop future victimization.

To take a life in order to prove how much we value another life does not strengthen our society. It is a public policy that devalues our very being and detracts crucial resources from programs that could truly make our communities safe."

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

As the warden of San Quentin, I presided over four executions. After each one, someone on the staff would ask, "Is the world safer because of what we did tonight?"

We knew the answer: No.

I didn't reach that conclusion because I'm soft on crime. My No. 1 concern is public safety. I want my children and grandchildren to have the safety and freedom to pursue their dreams. I know from firsthand experience that some people are dangerous and must be removed from society forever -- people such as Robert Lee Massie.

I did my job, but I don't believe it was the right thing to have done. We should have condemned Massie to permanent imprisonment -- that would have made the world safer. But on the night we executed him, when the question was asked, "Did this make the world safer?" the answer remained no. Massie needed to be kept away from society, but we did not need to kill him.

Sadly Unrealistic

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:39:21 GMT

clipped by: Sheroug

Clip Source: rickshawdiaries.wordpress.com

The search for continuous happiness, for a life wholly without reflection, melancholy, or pain strikes me as unrealistic and, well, sad…Plus, I rather like the longing in my heart for a permanence which is impossible in this life and only possible in the next. I wouldn’t want any pill to blot that yearning out.

The Goldilocks Enigma and a self engineered universe

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 09:55:16 GMT

clipped by: jimbo1000
clipper's remarks: This guy is something else. This paragraph sits in the middle of an erudite blog and the fact that it ends in an exclamation mark is out of character with the rest, he doesn't normally get excited. Don't ask me what panexperientialism means. I like Davies' book.

Clip Source: panexperientialism.blogspot.com

Davies proposes that the universe may contain a 'life principle' that constrains the universe to evolve towards life and mind. This , of course, invokes a teleological aspect to cosmic evolution. Davies introduces this teleological element without abandoning naturalistic explanation by invoking quantum theory and backwards in time causation. By extending the delayed choice experiment from the scale of photons to the scale of the universe, Davies proposes that if the entire universe could evolve until it is permeated by mind and life, then it could engineer its own creation and evolution through backwards in time calibration of its initial conditions. This has the added bonus of forming a self-explanatory loop explaining the issue of why the universe exists at all!

Tags: science, theology, philosophy

Life After Democracy Arrived

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:07:12 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken

Clip Source: photo.net

Tags: afghanistan

Diamonds May Be Life's Birthstone

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:46:31 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: A good read if interested in how life began.

Clip Source: www.space.com

One of the hurdles in origin-of-life theories is that the pieces that make up complex biomolecules do not readily come together by themselves. A group of scientists proposes that diamonds provided a kind of "workbench" for biomolecule manufacturing on early Earth.

Not long after its formation, our planet was — according to astrobiologists — awash in a primordial soup that contained the rudimentary ingredients of life. The fly in the "soup" theory, however, is that the small molecular bits likely needed outside help in order to latch together into the long, complex biomolecules that living organisms use.

Some scientists have suggested that the surfaces of minerals on the early Earth provided an organizing platform upon which the building blocks of life could assemble. Recent studies of diamond suggest that its surface would be especially good for this.

discovered that a certain type of diamond, called hydrogenated diamond, imposes a rigid order on molecules near its surface. They suggest,

Tags: the, uncle, of, someone, i, know

Quotations about Life

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:40:08 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee,
And I'll forgive Thy great big one on me.
~ Robert Frost

Lots more at the source.

Clip Source: www.quotegarden.com

Quotations about Life

The purpose of life is a life of purpose.

Life is simple, its just not easy.

A life without cause is a life without effect.

Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you're alive, it isn't.

Life's not always fair.

I hope life isn't a big joke, because I don't get it.

In spite of the cost of living, it's still popular.

Life is the hyphen between matter and spirit.

My life has a superb cast but I can't figure out the plot.

Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets.

I think I've discovered the secret of life - you just hang around until you get used to it.

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.

I have a simple philosophy: Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches.

Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once.

We are born wet, naked, and hungry. Then things get worse.

Life is what we make it

The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

Journaling Life Exercise article

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:00:33 GMT

clipped by: bjkeltz
clipper's remarks: My article

Clip Source: www.writeyourmindjournals.com

There are some things we cannot change about our lives…a divorce, a disability, or perhaps a loss that cannot be replaced. In such cases, your objective is to find a new happiness. We humans are incredibly adaptable people. Given the chance, most of us will find happiness again.

Tags: life, changes, hopes, dreams, disatisfaction, direction, career, personal enrichment