My mother used to remind me after two events had occurred that "things always come in threes!"
One, two ... and this coming weekend ... three!One thing that my brother, Richard from Connecticut, and I can agree on is that our mother (most beloved among all the true "ladies" on this earth and someone whom I really miss this Christmas season) used to state emphatically that "things came in threes" ... especially deaths. And this week we lost (1) a great President, (2) the "Godfather" of soul (and deep-down rock) music and (3) [likely within three days as the week comes to an end] a brutal dictator who almost seemed human during the past months as he ranted and raved in his cage "on the block" before and while he was sentenced to be hanged.
There's little more that I can say about Gerald Ford beyond what you all will be hearing on your television sets ... except that the running commentaries coming from the liberal "talking heads" on TV ... of his posthumous kick in the ass at/to GWB over the Iraq War (next posting ... probably tomorrow) will give added poignancy to the funeral services over the weekend.
As For James Brown, his music speaks for itself. My favorite was actually what most might call a combination between rhythm & blues and soul rock -- "Living in America" which I listened to during some difficult times in the late 1980s. Being that he was 73 when he died earlier this week, he reminds me now of my own mortality -- I'm in my 73rd year also.
As for Saddam Hussein, I actually feel badly for the old rascal ... even in light of the hundreds of murders he committed in his efforts to stay in power.
But the "rule of threes" is sacrosanct and die he must -- also to take with him to his grave his secret dealings with the US in decades past for weaponry which both the Iranians and Kurds saw ... highly lethal ... both loud and at times silent ... and up close.
But the world will go on and a funkier rap star than James Brown will come along, a more humble president of the US than even President Gerald Ford will emerge and (sadly) a more brutal dictator than Saddam Hussein will also surface somewhere in this vast world. Nothing remains the most or least ... or best or worst ... for very long.
That's life ... ain't it, mom?
posted by Dr. Joe @ 9:02 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I'm not sure an execution would qualify in the Rule of Three. Having grown up hearing this rule, I took it to mean the natural deaths of well-known, i.e., news-worthy, people.
What causes us to take notice in the first place is when two well-known people die within 48 hours or so of each other and make the news.
Thinking upon this matter, I'm absolutely convinced we look for the third person to complete the triad and ignore the fourth, fifth, etc., deaths that of course follow since famous people are dropping all the time. We naturally fit the data to our theory. Afterall, the OBSERVER is a part of every EXPERIMENT!!
Quite true ... to an extent. The actual "rule of three" as stated in most Real Variable Theory texts specifies a time limit between the sec0ond and third deaths which is usually taken to be a number of hours times the square root of the difference in ages of the second and third to die (in nearest number of years) ... for the "rule of three" to apply.
But then, you are right in stating that the observer is indeed a part of most (not all) experiments.
MWN
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