Pun Salad

… the New York Times' effect on man:

• P. J. O'Rourke looks at the New York Times' coverage of the Arizona mass murder.
  In the matter of self-serving, bitter, calculated cynicism, there wouldn’t seem to be much left to prove against the Times. Judging by what I’ve heard from my fellow conservatives, the issue is decided. The New York Times is a worthless, truthless, vicious institution. But I disagree. I think things are worse than that.

  Not a pretty picture, but it's hard to disagree.

• Tom the Dancing Bug brings you the Classix Comix^TM version of Huck Finn (corrected to reflect modern sensibilities). Don't miss the study questions at the bottom.

• Both Granite Geek and Bad Astronomy are somewhat less than amused about the Zodiac sign-changing story that's making the rounds. Yes, folks, the changed signs are old news, and even if your sign is "changed", it doesn't make astrology any less full of beans.

• I'm a never-miss fan of Jeopardy!, and I was looking forward to next month's episodes where a computer (IBM's "Watson") is going to go head-to-CPU against former champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.

  They have video of a short practice round here, and … whoa! That bucket of bits is pretty sharp. Ken and Brad are going to have to bring their A game, which might not be enough.