"Historically, a story about people inside impressive buildings ignoring or even taunting people standing outside shouting at them turns out to be a story with an unhappy ending."

Thirteen Observations made by Lemony Snicket while watching Occupy Wall Street from a Discreet Distance
Lemony Snicket, OccupyWriters.com

"I no longer expect to see boot prints on Mars during my lifetime, nor do I expect that whoever eventually makes those boot prints will be drawing a paycheck from NASA, or even speaking English.

During shuttle missions, you couldn’t wander past the old Saturn 5 rockets sitting outside at the Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers and not wonder in awe what giants had built these rockets that had sent humans all the way to the Moon. I can’t help feeling that someday we’ll walk past those shuttles now on their way to museums and admire their creature comforts and flexibility and the aerodynamic research that went into learning how to fly at Mach 25. And wonder who built them.

I wish Commander Christopher Ferguson and his comrades a safe and glorious flight aboard their flawed but magnificent chariot.

And bigger and braver dreams for us all in the future."

As Shuttle Era Ends, Dreams of Space Linger
Dennis Overbye, New York Times

"The interest that you receive or that is credited to you is exempt from Canadian withholding tax if the payer is dealing at arm’s length with you."

Non-Residents and Income Tax 2010
Canada Revenue Agency

"Funny how we handle risk in our society. Wall Street has irrevocably messed up the lives of millions of Americans. Based on the lack of regulation on Wall Street, our other rules seem silly.

If we treated other parts of American society the way we do the financial industry we should have speed limit-free autobahns, heroin at the check-out counter and "honor system" tax collection.

Wall Street flies under the radar as long as other people can lead their (relatively simple) lives. But when Wall Street thrives while Main Street dies, there will be consequences.

Part of Obama's problem is he has not demonstrated what those consequences (if any) will be. Thus a vacuum -- and thus our current politics."

On Wall Street: All Reward, No Risk
Readers' Comments, New York Times

"Suppose I say to you in English that “I spent yesterday evening with a neighbor.” You may well wonder whether my companion was male or female, but I have the right to tell you politely that it’s none of your business. But if we were speaking French or German, I wouldn’t have the privilege to equivocate in this way, because I would be obliged by the grammar of language to choose between voisin or voisine; Nachbar or Nachbarin. These languages compel me to inform you about the sex of my companion whether or not I feel it is remotely your concern. This does not mean, of course, that English speakers are unable to understand the differences between evenings spent with male or female neighbors, but it does mean that they do not have to consider the sexes of neighbors, friends, teachers and a host of other persons each time they come up in a conversation, whereas speakers of some languages are obliged to do so."

Does Your Language Shape How You Think?
Guy Deutscher, New York Times

"I remind myself of the story about the truck stuck under the bridge because it was a few inches too tall.  As the experts and engineers devised elaborate plans to remove the bridge or cut away the truck, a child asked: why don't you just let the air out of the tires?"

Times Readers Suggest Fixes for Oil Spill
Jim Viviano, Readers' comment

"We need to choose a starting value for x, so let's choose x = 1 because that is the average number of times Excel crashes on me per week."

Found while reading non-linear algorithms