To Flag Pin the Lapel or not to Flag Pin the Lapel...

That is the question - and apparently according to this article on salon.com, Flag pins are for losers -- literally.

It essentially boils down to this:
"For these past six years and more, men with those bright little flags apparently riveted to their lapels have fed the voters a daily diet of fear, secrecy, lies and a cruel war with neither point nor end.

No sensible politician would want to march under this tiny, metallic banner. Just look at all the fallen stars who did."

A Simple Truth

After winning the Oscar for Best Song (for "Falling Slowly" from Once), Markéta Irglová closed her acceptance with the following statement:

"Hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are..."

How awesome is that? That will stick in my conscience for some time to come...

When politicians go pop

Stephen King has written a very intresting artile for EW.com on the Celeb-ing of the President 2008.

A Super Tuesday (and beyond) must read.

Perspicuity Matters

So a couple of Christmases ago, my sister-in-law gave me the coolest tshirt ever. (Unfortunately, she will probably never read this...) It has this picture on it. I was wearing it today, and took note of the website listed:

http://www.perspicuity.com/

There is actually some pretty cool stuff here. Everyone should check it out.

When doctors compete, you win!

I know on one hand it might sound kind of hokey to be able to shop online for health care like airline tickets, but at the same time the health care crisis in this country is approaching a critical mass, and somedbody needs to find ways to reinvent the system to make it more cost-effective for everyone involved.

Maybe, the ideas behind carol.com are a good start.

Pearls Before Breakfast

My friend Rob, who is Still in Japan, posted this article from the Washington Post.

WHOA!

What a profound experiment! It is unfortunate that it turned out the way it did. However, honestly, I am not terribly surprised at the dismal reflection on American society/culture. We really are too much of a head down, go go go, no time time to chat, places to go, people to see, fast-paced, instant gratification society. To say that we typically have our priorities in the wrong place could spawn more sidebar tangents then I care to engage in here, but I am going to say it anyway.

"We typically have our priorities in the wrong place".

The sad thing about it is, you probably aren't going to get us to change - at least not for the better...

"The Compact" - Too Extreme?

This is a very interesting idea, not buying anything new, that I hadn't heard about before. Or at least not in some formalized way. Personally, I think it might be a bit extreme, and I don't think I could completely commit. But, I do think there is a lesson that can be learned and general principles that could be applied.

However, I do shudder at the thought of what the economic ripple would be if a large enough segment of our population embraced this idea in our consumer-driven economy...

Alternate history

The Impeachment and Trial of John F. Kennedy is by far the most intriguing alternate history concept I've ever heard.

1. Suppose JFK survived the assassination attempt unharmed.
2. The investigation would have been, perhaps, more intense.
3. As a result, a lot of the potentially scandalous stuff about JFK's life become public knowledge all at once, rather than the trips and drabs we've gotten in real life.
4. And some of that stuff was potentially impeachable offenses...

It's by Harry Turtledove and Bryce Zabel, and a good chunk of it is online at the linked site.