Sago Boulevard

An interview between a potential juror and the judge illustrates the famous Liar’s Paradox. Daniel Ellis was trying to get out of jury duty. So on the questionnare given to potential jurors, he confessed to not liking homosexuals and blacks. In the interview with Judge Nickson, Ellis added that “I’m frequently found to be a liar, too. I can’t really help it.”

But how can we trust the words of a self-proclaimed liar? The judge then asked Ellis, “So, are you lying to me now?” Ellis answered “Well, I don’t know. I might be.” He then confessed to intentionally trying to avoid jury duty and was taken into custody. He may face perjury charges.

If you’re in a war, instead of throwing a hand grenade at the enemy, throw one of those small pumpkins. Maybe it’ll make everyone think about how stupid war is, and while they are thinking, you can throw a real grenade at them.

Maybe we should try that in Iraq.

See Rob Harvilla’s brilliant logical analysis of the breakout single from Mims, “This is Why I’m Hot”.

Gary Larson, in The Prehistory of the Far Side:

[T]he key element in any attempt at humor is conflict. Our brain is suddenly jolted into trying to accept something that is unacceptable. The punch line of a joke is the part that conflicts with the first part, thereby surprising us and throwing our synapses into some kind of fire drill… And the emotional response to this kind of conflict can range from laughter to a broken nose. In any humorous vehicle (comedy, cartoons, Pintos, etc.), this conflict, whether subtle or blunt, is mandatory.

What will you be doing tomorrow, between 10AM and noon?

Nuclear Plant or Retirement Community?

1. Palo Verde
2. Vista del Rio
3. Turkey Point
4. Braidwood
5. River Bend
6. Monticello
7. Sterling Glen
8. Curtis Creek
9. Hope Creek
10. Peach Bottom
11. Pinegate
12. Seabrook
13. Thunderbird
14. Point Beach
15. Wolf Creek

Nuclear plants: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15
Retirement communities: 2, 7, 8, 11, 13

Ben Franklin (quoted here):

Our People set about catching Cod, & haul’d up a great many. Hitherto I had stuck to my Resolution of not eating animal Food; and on this Occasion, I consider’d . . . the taking every Fish as a kind of unprovok’d Murder, since none of them had or ever could do us any Injury that might justify the Slaughter. All this seem’d very reasonable. But I had formerly been a great Lover of Fish, & when this came hot out of the Frying Pan, it smeled admirably well. I balanc’d some time between Principle & Inclination: till I recollected, that when the Fish were opened, I saw smaller Fish taken out of their Stomachs: Then thought I, if you eat one another, I don’t see why we mayn’t eat you. So I din’d upon Cod very heartily and continu’d to eat with other People, returning only now & then occasionally to a vegetable Diet. So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do.

Anybody surprised? Didn’t think so. Via AnalPhilosopher.

Ikea Product or Lord of the Rings Character:

1. Faramir
2. Freden
3. Grundtal
4. Boromir
5. Molger
6. Galdor
7. Freda
8. Agerum
9. Babord
10. Frodo
11. Grima
12. Akurum
13. Brunkrissla
14. Sultan Högbo
15. Deagol
16. Grimbold

Lord of the Rings characters: 1, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 15, 16.
Ikea products: 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14.

What’s your nerd score? (via Johnny-Dee)

From Seinfeld, “The Alternate Side”:

Sid: Well I’m going down to visit my sister in Virginia next Wednesday, for a
week […]

Jerry: This Wednesday?

Sid: No, next Wednesday, week after this Wednesday.

Jerry: But the Wednesday two days from now is the next Wednesday.

Sid: If I meant this Wednesday, I would have said this Wednesday. It’s the
week after this Wednesday.

It came to me while watching this episode last night. “Next Wednesday” is just short for “the Wednesday of next week”. Makes sense, right? Just thought I’d share that.

I’ve been tagged by Romach: How did I break my fast on Thursday (17th of Tammuz)? Romach broke on “on pizza and potato borekas”. Coincidentally, I had the exact same thing! What a world.

The best Ann Coulter interview I’ve ever heard (via zuzu).

Thomas Edward Lawrence (of Arabia) on day-dreaming (”Seven Pillars of Wisdom”):

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.

The Beatles, Sesame Street style.

Yep yep yep yep yep yep yep yep yep yep yep yep.

(via zuzu)

Here’s an IQ test that’s supposedly given to some job applicants in Japan.

The rules:

Only 2 persons on the raft at a time;

The father can not stay with any of the daughters without their mother’s presence;

The mother can not stay with any of the sons without their father’s presence;

The thief (striped shirt) can not stay with any family member if The Policeman is not there;

Only the Father, the Mother and the Policeman know how to operate the raft;

To start click on the big blue circle on the right.

To move the people click on them.

To move the raft click on the pole on the opposite side of the river.

Thanks to my brother Scott for the link.

Scientists conclude: Egg came first. Evolutionary genetics specialist, John Brookfield explains:

The living organism inside the eggshell would have had the same DNA as the chicken it would develop into, he said.

“Therefore, the first living thing which we could say unequivocally was a member of the species would be this first egg,” he added. “So, I would conclude that the egg came first.”

(via Clayton)

I’ve been tagged by Romach:

Accent: None. That’s something other people have.

Booze: Don’t drink.

Chore I hate: All of them

Dogs/Cats: Dogs

Essential Electronics: Computer & iPod

Favorite Perfume/Cologne: No idea.

Gold and Silver: Um, I think my watch has some silver.

Hometown: Plainview, Long Island

Insomnia: I can fall asleep on demand.

Job Title: Student

Kids: No

Living Arrangements: Apartment, one roommate. Soon moving to a new one.

Most Admired Trait: You’ll have to ask my friends.

Number of Sexual Partners: Haha, none.

Overnight Hospital Stays: Appendectomy when I was in fifth grade.

Phobia: Nothing specific comes to mind.

Quote: “My dear ones, why do we quarrel, try to outshine each other and keep grudges against each other? Let’s go straight into the garden, walk and play there, love, appreciate and kiss each other, and glorify life.”
-The Brothers Karamazov

Religion: Jewish

Siblings: Two younger brothers (they’re twins).

Time I usually wake up: Varies from day to day.

Unusual Talent: Define “unusual”.

Vegetable I Refuse to Eat: Well, potatoes are pretty much the only ones I do eat.

Worst Habit: Procrastinating

X-Rays: Yes, many.

Yummy Foods: Chulent

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

I tag Seth.

Let us know who you are in the comments.

You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 85% Superman 65% Robin 55% The Flash 50% Hulk 45% Supergirl 40% Wonder Woman 30% Green Lantern 30% Iron Man 25% Catwoman 20% Batman 10%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

(via Johnny-Dee)

Design your own Simpsons character (via Professor Bainbridge).

From Monday’s The Daily Show (via Cicero):

Jon Stewart: “Yes, as you’ve just heard, a near-tragedy over the weekend in south Texas. Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a man during a quail hunt at a political supporter’s ranch. Making 78-year-old Harry Whittington the first person shot by a sitting VP since Alexander Hamilton.

“Hamilton, of course, shot in a duel with Aaron Burr over issues of honor, integrity and political maneuvering. Whittington? Mistaken for a bird.
…
Jon Stewart: “I’m joined now by our own vice-presidential firearms mishap analyst, Rob Corddry. Rob, obviously a very unfortunate situation. How is the vice president handling it?

Rob Corddry: “Jon, tonight the vice president is standing by his decision to shoot Harry Wittington. According to the best intelligence available, there were quail hidden in the brush. Everyone believed at the time there were quail in the brush.

“And while the quail turned out to be a 78-year-old man, even knowing that today, Mr. Cheney insists he still would have shot Mr. Whittington in the face. He believes the world is a better place for his spreading buckshot throughout the entire region of Mr. Whittington’s face.”

Jon Stewart: “But why, Rob? If he had known Mr. Whittington was not a bird, why would he still have shot him?”

Rob Corddry: “Jon, in a post-9-11 world, the American people expect their leaders to be decisive. To not have shot his friend in the face would have sent a message to the quail that America is weak.”

Doesn’t this belong in The Onion?

This week’s question for The Ethicist:

I am a subspecialty physician without primary responsibility for patients. I consulted on the care of the C.E.O. of a major company, the seriousness of whose illness was not being fully disclosed to shareholders. I own stock in this company. Once I complete my consultation, may I ethically sell my shares, motivated by the information I gained as a doctor?

The Ethicist answers:

Medical ethics do not forbid this trade, but investor ethics - a curious phrase, given recent headlines - do, so you may not make this sale.
…
“The physician runs a very serious risk that his stock trade could be deemed illegal insider trading under what we call the ‘misappropriation’ theory,”… That is, material gained in a confidential relationship like that between a doctor and patient may not be used to trade stock.

Now I understand that insider trading gives an unfair advantage. But in this case, the doctor came across the information entirely by accident. If you work for a public corporation, you tacitly consent to the limit on your ability to freely buy and sell stocks. The doctor didn’t. What if somebody is on the hospital bed next to the CEO when such a conversation takes place. Is he also now bound by insider-trading regulations?

This also may not be a case of “material gained in a confidential relationship”. The doctor-patient relationship certainly is, but what if the information in question came out of an informal aside? I don’t mean to split hairs here but I think Cohen is doing exactly that.

The ethical claim against selling the stock seem dubious. Of course, if in fact it’s illegal, that’s a different story.

T. E. Lawrence (”Lawrence of Arabia”) in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom:

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.