The Lighter Side: Humor

French kids mulling over what pieces of "ancient" technology might be. (HT: Yglesias)

Apparently Justice Scalia is the funniest person on the Supreme Court, though he is known for repeating jokes. Speaking of humorous SCOTUS decisions, in one timeline they decided that Superman was born in an artificial womb on US soil, so was eligible to run for President. Remember, "the case of Uatu v. Lewis (1993, supra) firmly established that counterfactual legal precedents are binding on lower courts until explicitly overruled by the Supreme Court."

I reported earlier on unusual incentives to get married in Haiti. In Cuba, the unusual incentive is to be able to move. It may be true that 85% of the population has a home, but that doesn't mean they are allowed to sell it. They can only trade homes for one of equivalent value with difficult-to-acquire state approval. Orrrr they can marry the owner of a better home, move the deed to their name, and then divorce.

Another response to the Chinese mother article:

If you're Asian American -- or if you have close Asian friends -- you know that a staple of Asian American humor is stories about over-the-top maternal expectations and demands. Black folks tell "yo momma" jokes; Asian folks tell "my momma" jokes.

 Yes, we really do know that fast food is always bad for us ... just not always?

Me: “Welcome to our store, would you like to try out fruit oatmeal today?”
Customer: “Wait, that actually sounds healthy. I’m confused.”

While sentences like this "my goal for 2011 is to fail more" and this "I have a ‘failure resume’" are not intended to be funny, humor is part of what helps us accept our failures and move forward with hope.