Popular Mechanics has twenty ways. They left out the most important one, though:

It is instructive, and educational (particularly for those who haven’t seen it since high-school civics class, if then) to read aloud Jefferson’s work of genius, the Declaration of Independence. In so doing, we are reminded of the principles on which this country was founded, the offenses committed against our ancestors by the English king, and the reasons that we forged our own nation.

So, I hope that you thank the founders who solemnly pledged “their Lives, their Fortunes, and their sacred Honor“–who sacrificed so much, and actually underwent bombardment by true explosives, so that you could enjoy your barbecued ribs and potato salad, and the benign burning of colorful chemicals launched on rockets.

Today is the hundred and forty fourth anniversary of the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. In the three bloody days of that battle, on the Union side alone, we had about as many casualties, killed and wounded as we’ve had in over four years in Iraq.

It’s been twenty years since Ronald Reagan stood by the Brandenburg Gate and demanded the beginning of the liberation of eastern Europe. Only two and a half years later, the wall came down. I remember listening to radio reports about it, and for one of the few times in my life, I had a very real sense of history being made.

[Update in the afternoon]

Apparently, it was neither the first, or the last time that Reagan called for the wall to come down. It was almost a lifetime habit, right up until it actually fell.

It’s been twenty years since Ronald Reagan stood by the Brandenburg Gate and demanded the beginning of the liberation of eastern Europe. Only two and a half years later, the wall came down. I remember listening to radio reports about it, and for one of the few times in my life, I had a very real sense of history being made.

[Update in the afternoon]

Apparently, it was neither the first, or the last time that Reagan called for the wall to come down. It was almost a lifetime habit, right up until it actually fell.

It’s been twenty years since Ronald Reagan stood by the Brandenburg Gate and demanded the beginning of the liberation of eastern Europe. Only two and a half years later, the wall came down. I remember listening to radio reports about it, and for one of the few times in my life, I had a very real sense of history being made.

[Update in the afternoon]

Apparently, it was neither the first, or the last time that Reagan called for the wall to come down. It was almost a lifetime habit, right up until it actually fell.

From the May 2007 and May 1857 issue of Scientific American:

We believe that no particular use is made of the fluid petroleum, from the ‘tar springs’ of California, except as a lotion for bruises and rheumatic affections. It has a pungent odor, and although it can be made to burn with a pretty good light, its smell is offensive. This, perhaps, may be obviated by distilling it with some acid; we believe that this is not impossible in this age of advanced chemistry. If the offensive odor could be removed, a valuable and profitable business might be carried on in manufacturing burning fluid from it.

I find the hubris that we can predict we know what energy we will be using for lighting in 150 years astonishing. But whatever it is, if we project economically viable reserves vs. current usage, we can project we will run out of it. It’s a good thing we found a replacement for whale oil and tallow in time.

I think scientists and journalists misunderstand what ‘finite’ means when it comes to resources. Even a compact finite sphere can seem infinite if as you approach the edge, you slow down, the sphere grows, or your direction changes. When resources get scarce, price rises slows down usage, viable reserves grow, substitutes change usage patterns and magically–as if stayed by an invisible hand–we never run out of anything.

For thousands of years the only thing consistently getting more expensive is the value of human attention (Simon).

[Update from Rand, Saturday afternoon]

Per a comment:

Now, I consider myself a moderate libertarian and thus strongly disagree with them on this but while I am a strong believer in innovation and technological progress, the argument about finite resources does give me pause at times. What about industrial metal ores etc…?

Could we not at some point simply run out of materials to use?

I would point out that there’s no such thing as a non-renewable resource. Except, of course, time, and (ultimately) energy. It will be a very long time, though, before we run out of either, at least as a species.

By the way, Sam. What’s with all the marathon posting? Did you just lose your job? Not that I don’t appreciate it. Just sayin’…

And the left continues to attempt to rewrite the history of the Six-Day War. I remember the war, and some of the jokes about it afterward (it was so short because the Israelis were renting their tanks from Hertz), though it was no laughing matter at the time–I had many Jewish schoolmates. And in a sense, of course, the war goes on, because Israel’s enemies refuse to abandon their goal of destruction of the Jewish state.

[Update in the late afternoon]

And predictably, the Arabs blame all their problems on their failed attempt to destroy Israel four decades ago.

When a leader has been responsible for a military disaster in a misbegotten war, it’s time for him to resign.

Most familiar with the history of the second world war are aware of the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in 1944. But this is the first time I heard of one a year earlier. If the story is true, it’s ironic that the Fuehrer was saved by a British bombing raid.

…by the Marines happened 231 years ago, in the Bahamas. Before they were the US Marines.