Pun Salad

Just sent an e-missive to my Congresscritter, Jeb Bradley:

I hope you'll vote for John Shadegg for Majority Leader. For purposes of distancing the Republican Party from scandal and undue influence, and bringing it back to the ideals of smaller Federal government and spending restraint, he seems like the best choice.

… so we'll see how that works out. More info at Instapundit.

• I wouldn't have expected Catherine Seipp to write about Richard Feynman, but she did, and the results are great.

  What you don't necessarily get about Feynman from reading about him: he was utterly unpretentious, and talked like a Brooklyn cabdriver. If you didn't know he was a genius, you wouldn't pick it up from his mannerisms. I sat next to him at dinner once, and (since it was expected of those in such a setting) I asked him a physics question. Which, by the way, I now realize was not a very smart question, and I'm too embarrassed about that to repeat it. He answered my dumb question, however, with grace, clarity, and detail. One of life's high points.

  Update: So I'm reading Instapundit, and—holy crap—he's quoted and linked to this entry. As I've seen on other blogs, but never quite imagined I'd ever type: Welcome, Instapundit readers. Thanks to Glenn. I am not worthy.

• Glenn Harlan Reynolds, pbuh, has a reaction essay to Jaron Lanier; Glenn is much kinder to Jaron than Eric Raymond, was, mainly because he focuses on points where he and Lanier concur.
• Radley Balko lists the "pettiest, silliest, most intrusive, God-awfullest legislation set for either a vote, or set to take effect this month" in the great state of New Hampshire. Example:

  Remote control toy boats may soon be required to obey the same speed limits as lifesize watercraft. Bonus points to the lawmaker who introduced this one for invoking "the children" in urging its enactment.

  Also, peonage is apparently enough of a threat here in New Hampshire to make our legistators introduce a bill to ban that (here, not in Massachusetts, as Radley incorrectly states).

  The pumpkin as state fruit? Why not? Obviously this will mend a glaring hole in our panoply of state symbols.

  Although Radley doesn't provide a link, his article is apparently based on this Boston Globe article. None of the laws have been passed, looks like they're all currently in committee, and who knows what will happen, although I'd wager a small sum that the answer is "nothing" in most cases.

  My personal favorite, not mentioned by Radley: straight ahead on red! Vroom! Live Free or Dieeeeee!

• And in the wish-I'd-written Department, we have Joel Achenbach:

  I don't want to make too much of this James Frey case, and get all hysterical and high-horsey and sanctimonious. But any ethical person would find the whole thing to be a harbinger of the end of Western Civilization.

  After a decent period elapses, I might steal that. (The rest is good too, go read.)