Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3, . . .

Is this thing on?

[Name Redacted] I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down

. . . but you're still the one pool where I'd happily drown.

D.A.T., R.I.P.

The great David A. Trampier has passed away.

Strangely enough, I'd spent much of the past week scouring the Internet for online examples of his artwork. (I'm sure anyone of a certain age who played AD&D has a few favorite Trampier drawings etched into the back of their minds.) I had no idea that, in the middle of my revived obsession with his work, he was departing the world.

He was a true artist. Thanks, Dave, for giving us a glimpse into your world. Farewell.

The first sentence must capture the reader's attention.

Paul Krugman knows how to write a good first sentence:

Regular readers know that I talk quite a lot about zombies, but also occasionally talk about cockroaches.

Or, in the words of Ferris Bueller, "'Ism's in my opinion are not good."

Nice bit from Charlie Stross in a post titled "Why I want Bitcoin to die in a fire", (which is worth reading in its entirety.)

. . . I tend to take the stance that Libertarianism is like Leninism: a fascinating, internally consistent political theory with some good underlying points that, regrettably, makes prescriptions about how to run human society that can only work if we replace real messy human beings with frictionless spherical humanoids of uniform density (because it relies on simplifying assumptions about human behaviour which are unfortunately wrong).

At one p.m. . . . Central . . . Standard . . . Time.

The motorcade sped on.
 

Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome!

Mutant Cockroaches Learn to Avoid Sugar to Outsmart Traps

A question for Mr. Romney regarding his views on foreign policy.

WMYBSALC?

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