WISH 55 (original) asks about names: How do you choose character names? What makes a good or bad name for a character? What are three examples of really good (or really bad) character names, and why are they so good or bad? I just kick names around until they feel right. I tend to use baby name books and sources often, thanks to Gretchen’s pernicious influence. I have an archived copy of the Onomastikon which has been very useful for culturally appropriate names. I don’t think my names are ever particularly stellar, but they work. ...

I’m overwhelmed. The Library of Congress put its Prints & Photographs Catalog online. Look, it’s turn of the century Boston!

Rick Jones wrote up some rules for Wushu Falkenstein (original) over on RPGnet, which should interest at least a few of my readers. His magic rules are excellent. Also on the topic of Wushu (original), the author turns out to be a regular poster on RPGnet. And here’s a post on running Exalted with Wushu rules. I’m still trying to figure out the over the top problem. Here’s another take on it: Embellishments don’t have to be flashy. “I slip through the night, varying the rhythm of my footsteps irregularly, my black suit blending with the shadows, avoiding leaves and other noisy footing.” As a GM, nothing is forcing me to present the players with obstacles which invite flashy solutions — what if the fight takes place next to a sleeping giant?

Wal-Mart took a step away from RFID by cancelling a consumer-level trial of the technology, but their other RFID plans seem to still be in place. I’d say that’s a victory for privacy concerns. Whether or not it’s a major one remains to be seen.

Oh, for heaven’s sake. Remember that Iraqi children’s prison? It was a big deal. It was proof that we were right to go into Iraq. It was a noble, shining moment. It was an orphanage. A really bad one (original), but not a prison, and not someplace kids were sent for refusing to join the Ba’ath Party. And hey — if we’re in the business of liberating facilities which treat children horribly, maybe we should start here. It’s run out of Utah (original). We can start at home.

It’s pretty belated, but I didn’t particularly want to just post the Declaration of Independence. Or even the Declaration of Independence with snide comments about the current Administration. Yeah, but it’s too easy, you know? I came at last to Mencken’s translation (original), which pleases me no end. WHEN THINGS get so balled up that the people of a country got to cut loose from some other country, and go it on their own hook, without asking no permission from nobody, excepting maybe God Almighty, then they ought to let everybody know why they done it, so that everybody can see they are not trying to put nothing over on nobody. ...

CNN’s headline for this story reads, quote, “Bush: crime of slavery ultimately ‘set America free’”. Which has, to my eye, somewhat questionable implications. In fact, what he really said was “The stolen sons and daughters of Africa helped to awaken the conscience of America. The very people traded into slavery helped to set America free.” The crime itself didn’t set people free; rather, the people we wronged helped set us free. Very different meaning, there. ...

David Neiwert’s excellent series of essays, Rush, Newspeak and Fascism, is finally available as a PDF. He’s asking five bucks as a donation if you download it. It’s worth more than that. Neiwert is further to the left than I am; I don’t agree with the idea, for example, that the government is “the one entity that has the capability to protect them [middle and lower-class workers] from the ravages of wealthy class warriors and swarms of corporate wolves.” But that’s really beside the point. Even if you disagree with his politics, you should read this pamphlet for what he has to say about the effects of Limbaugh and his poisonous ilk. ...

Justin Achilli has spilled a few beans about his new fantasy setting. Elsewhere, he said simply “Frostholm. First quarter 2005.” In a way I sort of miss hanging out in the kind of crowd that picks up on news like this within seconds and savages it to within an inch of its life, but in a lot of ways I don’t. Regardless, the setting looks like the kind of thing that I might well like a lot. On the other hand, I’ll continue to bet that the market for grim campaign settings is not all that huge, and Midnight might have locked it up by then. But we’ll see.

In February, 2002, the CIA asked an old Africa hand to visit Niger and look into the allegations that Niger sold uranium to Iraq. He reported that the allegations were highly doubtful (original). In January, 2003, Bush made those allegations as statements of fact. Said Africa hand, Joseph Wilson, has a nice op-ed in today’s New York Times.