The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds, by George de la Tour, c. 1635. Louvre Museum, Paris.

Swindle & Fraud

Volume VIII, Number 2 | spring 2015

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Miscellany

Most children begin forming full sentences between the ages of two and three, and recent studies have shown that around the same time they start to lie, usually to avoid anticipated punishment. By the age of three children begin telling white lies to avoid hurting others’ feelings.

The poor man is ruined as soon as he begins to ape the rich.

—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BC
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Lapham’sDaily

A telescopic image of the formalhault solar system. A bright dot is surrounded by a cloud of smaller red dots. An inset shows a close-up of what looks like a planet, labeled Formalhault b.

DÉjÀ Vu

Space Oddities

2020:

Exoplanet revealed to be nothing but a large cloud of dust.

1903:

Supposed irrigation canals on Mars are merely optical illusions.

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The World in Time

Peter Fritzsche

Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of Hitler’s First Hundred Days: When Germans Embraced the Third Reich. More