Driving in to work behind a pickup with Texas plates, I observed the following bumper stickers:
On the left:
And on the right:
More evidence for my hypothesis that bumper stickers commonly reflect the intelligence of the driver.
Category: Items of Interest
Sometimes I do not enjoy being right
I did not see this article until I had drafted, edited, and posted my piece on Airport Body Scanners. Included in that piece was a speculative note (note 2; read the notes people) about the disconnect between “our” definition of a successful attack and the definition of a “successful” attack by terror networks.
So much for speculation. It turns out that “our” definition is not “their” definition. In fact, Al Qaeda is using what we would call a failed “attack” as an example of a successful attack:
Al Qaeda’s choice of a demonstration was to use parcel bombs (called Operation Hemorrhage — a classic name for a systems disruption attack). These low cost parcel bombs, were inserted into the international air mail system to generate a security response by western governments. It worked. The global security response to this new threat was massive. –John Hood
Brilliant Beyond Words
Randall Munroe can blow your mind in under five minutes. Not fair. Here’s hoping his family illness concerns are resolved quickly and happily.
#IAmSpartacus
I’m wondering if the folks participating in the #IAmSpartacus protest of the “Twitter Joke Trial” remember that the original* “I am Spartacus” protesters were all crucified for their trouble.
*Incidentally, for similar reasons, I have no interest in running a marathon, as the original Marathon-er (Pheidippides) died after running a “marathon” from the battlefield (at Marathon) to Athens.
Complainers
We’ve all heard, and perhaps uttered, some variety of a line designed to dismiss whiners along the lines of:
“Don’t complain unless you have a better solution.”
–someone named “virago”
For the sake of consistency in my life, I just phoned my wife and informed her that she is no longer entitled to tell me if the sink is leaking*.
*My lovely and talented soul-mate is both lovely and talented in a variety of areas. Plumbing is not one of them. We divide up responsibilities in our household, based on the distribution of skills. Therefore, I take the plumbing duties and she takes the singing duties, the latter of which, with small children, is the more important tasks.
The Finch and Pea 