All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing but blog about it.

On the way home from work today, I stopped at the supermarket to pick up a few groceries. While I was waiting to use one of the self-check-out machines, I witnessed a young woman at one of the machines shoplift a few items. And I just stood by and watched.

What she did was, after she had paid for her items and picked up her bag, she added a few additional, unpaid-for items to the bag. She did it very casually—no nervous looking about to see if anyone was watching. I'm sure she's done it before, and I'm sure she'll do it again. Maybe one day she'll get caught, maybe not.

Now if I had seen this same young woman pick someone's pocket, I'm sure I would have said something. Robbing an unsuspecting individual seems like a different sort of offense. But watching her steal from the store, I found myself wondering if it was really my place to inject myself into the situation. I mean, that's what they have security cameras and employees for, right? If their security isn't up to snuff, somebody will certainly be robbing them. And how do I know that she really didn't pay for those items?

Thusly I rationalized my non-interventionist policy.

p.s. Nobody knows who first said or wrote the thing about good men's inaction leading to the triumph of evil.

Titles that J.D. Salinger considered but ultimately rejected before settling on Catcher in the Rye:

• Pitcher in the Millet
• Shortstop in the Barley
• First Baseman in the Winter Wheat
• Utility Infielder in the Flax
• Third Base Coach in the Triticale
• Umpire in the Oats
• Bat Boy in the Amaranth

A partial list of things which, as a result of disinterest so profound it borders on the hostile, I hereby publicly express an unwillingness to give:

• a hoot
• a fig
• a dang
• a darn
• a damn
• a tinker's cuss
• a crap
• a good God damn
• a shit
• a rat's ass
• a fuck¹

1: neither the flying variety nor the more common flightless variety shall be given

Not a bad way to spend an evening.

I'm sitting alone in a dark room, with not a stitch of clothing on me, singing, playing the piano and sipping malt whiskey. At least, that's what I was doing before I decided to come share the experience with you, the Internet.

Just wondering . . .

My colleague the Giant Mutant Cockroach has made a stunning insight into Newt Gingrich's behavior.

What if Newt Gingrich is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand inter-dimensional slime leeches from Galaxy 12 can you begin to piece together his actions?

I believe that is the most accurate, predictive model for his behavior.