This blog

This blog is out of business temporarily. I've moved and will have no Internet access until February 2008.

Orson Scott Card

I once heard a tale of a man who split himself in two. The one part never changed at all; the other grew and grew. The changeless part was always true, the growing part was always new, and I wondered, when the tale was through, which part was me, and which was you.

The Chinese haunted house.

A ten year old mystery explained. Two brothers purchased a large house for a pittance, $6,500, because a series of previous owners believed it was haunted. After an investigation lasting several evenings, the brothers discovered the cause of the mysterious noises that had frightened away the previous owners. Located in a sewer pipe underneath the bottom floor, a family of catfish were in residence. Apparently, the first owner of the house had enjoyed catfish dinners and two escaped, providing the genesis of a dynasty.

http://www.weirdasianews.com/2007/12/22/10-year-chinese-haunting-finally-debunked/

Training Santa Claus

It is an arduous and difficult path to travel, should one try to become a Santa Claus.

Brendan Gill

Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious.

Boris Marshalov

"Congress is so strange. A man gets up to speak and says nothing. Nobody listens -- and then everybody disagrees."

J. R. R. Tolkien

I wish life was not so short,' he thought. 'Languages take such a time, and so do all the things one wants to know about.'
The Lost Road

How to kill an American

This video purports to be a training film for those who want to kill Americans.

To Kill an American

Too much skepticism.

Skepticism is somewhat defined as a doubting or questioning attitude or state of mind. Many have adopted the mindset as a means analyzing information; sort of an open inquiry directed towards what life has to offer. However, is it possible to be too skeptical? Presumably, there is a theoretical point where sufficient information is collected to infer that an argument is correct. However, for some that point is set excessively high, José Hidalgo of Spain may be one of the perpetually unconvinced. Apparently, Hidalgo and some associates were debating the merits of a poster that warned against eating poisonous mushrooms. Hidalgo, taking the negative of the argument, began to consume mushrooms of the amanita phalloides variety in an attempt to prove his point. Somewhere between the second bite when he appeared drunk and the bite that turned him yellow and made him vomit, one of his associates called an ambulance. After two days in an intensive care unit, the concern now is to what extent Hidalgo may have suffered permanent liver damage.

Amanita phalloides, also known as the Death Cap mushroom, is similar in appearance to several edible species. Because of that similarity, it has been responsible for most of the deaths that occur when mushroom species are confused. Apparently, it also was responsible for a handful of dead Roman emperors as well, although only their family members, slaves, and taste testers could attest to any confusion. Originating in Europe, the Death Cap mushroom is now widespread throughout the world.

Abraham Lincoln

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.

Devil Incarnate