Moment to moment

Random picture of a Vermont llama.

El Cabrero has often expressed a fondness for the Stoics, an ancient Greco-Roman school of philosophy the leading exponents of which included a slave, Epictetus, and an emperor, Marcus Aurelius.

This isn't the first time this classic line by Epictetus shows up here, but I think it's worth repeating and committing to memory:

Some things are in our control and others not.

The clear implication is that we would do better to focus on the former rather than the latter. Among other things, doing so might help keep people from feeling overwhelmed and needlessly wasting energy.

Laurence Gonzales, author of Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why, shares a soft spot for the Stoics and notes that many people who have endured extreme situations took a leaf from their notebook:

They deal with what is within their power from moment to moment, hour to hour, day by day. They leave the rest behind.

HOW LOW WILL IT GO? Here's Krugman on the depth of the recession.

THAT'S WHERE THE MONEY IS. Here's another call for cutting over the top Pentagon spending.

BEATING A DEAD HORSE. A group representing what El Cabrero thinks of as the Taliban/wahabi/jihad version of Christianity is attempting to ignite a culture war in WV, but the so far the results have been underwhelming.

URGENT FLYING DINOSAUR UPDATE here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED