Avogadro's Number

Just about anything

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Our Elected Officials

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Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hard-working, honest Americans. It’s the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then – we elected them.
—Lily Tomlin

It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress.
—Mark Twain

If we ever pass out as a great nation we ought to put on our tombstone, ‘America died from a delusion that she has moral leadership.’
—Will Rogers

I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace; that two are called a law firm, and that three or more become a Congress!
—From 1776, the musical

Tools of Conquest

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“The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts… attitudes… prejudices. To be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy, and the thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own for the children, and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to The Twilight Zone.”

Closing narration by Rod Serling from The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street. Read it again, and hear Rod Serling’s voice and delivery. [Read more…]

Business BS Bingo

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I received, read, laughed, and forwarded a list of “50 office-speak phrases you love to hate” from BBC News. Some of us also call them phrases for Business Bullshit Bingo. They’re both hilarious and painful. In reply, I got this from my uncle:

It is amazing the lengths people will go to in order to make everyone as confused as they are. One of the people who contributed to this noted that their unfavorite saying was “There are no problems, only opportunities” (or something to that effect). The following actually happened to me back in the mid 60’s: [Read more…]

Fear Itself

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Of all the liers in the world, sometimes the worst are your own fears.
—Rudyard Kipling

Can I ask you a question?

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A friend just sent me an email, listing nine things “I hate about everyone.” One of the items was “People who ask ‘Can I ask you a question?’…. ”

When asked that, my reply is, “You just did.”

I actually had someone, call him John, say, “Can I ask you another question?” [Read more…]