Quotes & Philosophy

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As the sun rises through the mist, a pair of swans and their seven cygnets glide majestically along in a scene that evokes the end of the hottest summer on record.
The stunning photograph was taken by James MacDonald on his smartphone when he spotted the birds’ stately, single file procession during a morning run in Bushy Park, south-west London.

Mr MacDonald, 40, a mapmaker for DK Travel guides who lives near the park, said: ‘They were on the move along an inlet from a small pond to a larger lake. I’d seen swans with their young in the park earlier in the year, when the parents are still very protective and won’t let you get near, so it was nice to be able to get close enough to take a picture of these now they are bigger.’

Richard Martin-Barton, of forecasters MeteoGroup, said: ‘It will feel a little bit Mediterranean, thanks to slightly warmer air moving in from Northern Spain. But it’s going to be a case of enjoy it while you can if you live in south-east England because – by the middle of next week – they will see the cooler, wetter conditions the rest of the country will be having.’

Emmy-winning 'Born To Explore' shares passion for adventure
Richard Wiese travels to Windsor, England to participate in a swan rescue for an episode of the Westport-produced travel program, "Born To Explore." The program, which airs Saturdays on ABC, recently took home an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Single Camera Photography.  read more »

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10 of Benjamin Franklin’s Lesser-Known Feats of Awesomeness
4. HE WAS NO DEBTOR.
Franklin was terrified of debt and viewed it as similar to slavery because he believed that, through the acquisition of debt, man essentially sold his own freedom. He was so anti-debt that he often spoke (seriously) about forming an international organization called The Society of the Free and Easy for virtuous individuals who, among other things, were free of debt and, therefore, easy in spirit.

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Image courtesy pearlsofprofundity.wordpress.com

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SCOTUS rejects warrantless cellphone location tracking in Carpenter v. United States.
In a blockbuster 5-4 decision issued today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that warrantless government tracking of cellphone users via their cellphone location records violates the Fourth Amendment. "A person does not surrender all Fourth Amendment protection by venturing into the public sphere," declared the majority opinion of Chief Justice John Roberts. "We decline to grant the state unrestricted access to a wireless carrier's database of physical location information."

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Photo courtesy reason.com

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A Louisiana second-grader's homework assignment is going viral and making parents across the nation question if they spend too much time on their cell phones.
Teacher Jen Adams Beason wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post that she assigned her students to write about an invention they wish had never been created.
She posted an essay in which one of her students picked the cell phone.
"I don't like the phone because my [parents] are on their phone every day ... I hate my mom's phone and I wish she never had one," the student wrote.

Texas boy, 10, pens hilarious thank you note to Fulshear officer who pulled mom over: 'She deserved it'
Police officers in Texas were so tickled by a 10-year-old boy's handwritten thank you letter that they decided to share it on social media.
"We received the letter last Friday from a young man who attends Huggins Elementary School in Fulshear," Captain Mike McCoy with the Fulshear Police Department told Fox News. "During National Police Week, students from this school write us many letters of support. This one, obviously, stood out."

The boy's letter to a "Fulshear Police Officer" expressed gratitude for his mother getting stopped.
"Thank you for pulling my mom over because she deserved it because she took my phone away and I did not like it and how she always brags about how good of a driver she is," the student said. "And it just annoys me."

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Bitcoin is 'rat poison,' "I like it when my country steps hard on idiot booms instead of fanning the flame," Berkshire's Munger: interview on "Countdown to the Closing Bell."
Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, described digital currency as a nonproductive asset.

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Image courtesy youbrandinc.com