Minutiae

I've been doing a lot more long-form posts lately, but since everyone seems to be circling like buzzards over what's going to happen with the elections today, and since I'm so determined not to make any predictions right now, it seems like as good a time as any to dig into the minor stuff that I flagged earlier but never posted.

• Remember that episode of The Simpsons where the Krusty doll was trying to kill Homer? No longer quite so fictional. Elmo doesn't have a "good/evil" switch. The question is, does this make that episode more funny, or less?
  
  
• Gary Gygax, one of the creators of Dungeons & Dragons, has died. I never got into role-playing, but a few years ago a friend of mine made a case (succinctly reiterated in that post) for role-playing as one of the best outlets for creativity around, since you can essentially create your own reality. It was fairly convincing at the time, but we both had a few drinks under our belts, and I suspect that might have made me a bit easier to persuade.
  
  
• A very thoughtful post on libraries, freedom of information, sex offenders, the overpopulation of prisons, and the legalization of marijuana. Surprisingly, those seemingly diverse issues come together in a strikingly thoughtful ethical discussion. Thanks to Anna for sharing.
  
  
• Reason tipped me off to a spectacular quotation from William F. Buckley, articulating very clearly why he's so far above and beyond some of the dunces that call themselves his followers.
  

  "Conservatives pride themselves on resisting change, which is as it should be. But intelligent deference to tradition and stability can evolve into intellectual sloth and moral fanaticism, as when conservatives simply decline to look up from dogma because the effort to raise their heads and reconsider is too great."

  
  For as staunch of a liberal as I am, I acknowledge the place that conservatism has in the political discussion, and I value the creativity inspired by amicable disagreement. There needs to be a conservative movement to make sure the baby stays where it is when we dump the bathwater. But Buckley realized that you have to listen to your opponents, otherwise it's not a debate, no one learns anything and everyone who has to abide by the decisions of the bullheaded fools making them loses. Of course, as Harry Reid taught us, willingness to listen to your opponents is not the same as taking orders from them. Why does he still have a job?
  
  
• If this is what job training is like in Salt Lake City, I am really glad Mitt Romney won't be president. I'm alright with filling out a W-2 and giving a copy of my driver's license when I'm hired somewhere, but I don't want that to be accompanied by any bamboo under my fingernails.
  
  
• Don't blame outsourcing for the economy. Blame the war in Iraq.
  
  
• The Mukasey Paradox: A president can do no wrong.