Get Cynical

Nevertheless, the Minutemen have come to Vermont.

They began scouting out potential sites several weeks ago, poking around this hamlet with a downtown almost directly on the border. It was in Derby Line that they had their first problem with the elusive border. On one scouting expedition, member Bob Casimiro said they became, for a moment, illegal visitors in Canada.

Then came their first official patrol two weekends ago, which was dogged by protesters who assembled downtown and shouted slogans such as “Take your hate out of our state.” The Minutemen had to patrol a bike path away from town, and then — as the Boston Globe reported — got lost and had to ask a local for directions.

Honore De Balzac [1799-1850] French Author – Believed to have choked on too much coffee.

Ambrose Bierce [1842-1914?] American Author – Disappeared in Mexico while reporting on the Pancho Villa’s rebellion. May have been murdered by bandits.

Tennessee Williams [1911-1983] American Playwright – Choked on a bottle cap while trying to get hands on some barbiturates.

The first player in tic-tac-toe, conventionally labelled X, has a choice of one of nine squares in which to place his marker. The opposing player O then has a choice of one of the remaining eight squares. On X’s next turn again he has a choice of seven squares, and so forth. There are thus a total of 9! possible series of moves (9 factorial: 9 x 8 x 7 x … x 1), giving us 9! possible tic-tac-toe games. Some of these are wins for X, some for O, and some draws (wins for neither player). The fractal image shown in Figure 1, sections of which are progressively enlarged in Figure 2, offers an analytic presentation of all possible tic-tac-toe games.

The apparent suicide of a woman found hanging from a tree went unreported for hours because passers-by thought the body was a Halloween decoration, authorities said.

The 42-year-old woman used rope to hang herself across the street from some homes on a moderately busy road late Tuesday or early Wednesday, state police said.

The body, suspended about 15 feet above the ground, could be easily seen from passing vehicles.

State police spokesman Cpl. Jeff Oldham and neighbors said people noticed the body at breakfast time Wednesday but dismissed it as a holiday prank. Authorities were called to the scene more than three hours later.