You're paying? I'll take two.

The always interesting Malcolm Gladwell's latest, making the case that the problem with the U.S. health care system is that insurance companies (and therefore their paid lobbyists) are more concerned about moral hazard problems than with the health outcomes of their customers (or non-customers, as the case may be).

Oh. Never mind.

Flash - we all just misunderstood Pat Roberston when he called for the assasination of a head of state. Thanks for clearing that up.

Make Mine a Tall Vanilla Latte

Apparently, American families are doing so well that a political group found this way to spend its resources and attention. You can get the whole story here. As a shareholder and customer, I think I'll write to Starbucks and let them know I hope they keep putting such worthwhile reading material on their cups. (Although aren't they difficult to read once you slide on the java jacket?)

Crackpot Snaps Tether, Reaffirms Status

OK - now can we all agree that Pat Robertson should never again be considered a legitimate spokesperson for people of faith?

Yes, but are they comfortable?

Talk about delayed reaction. Dolce & Gabbana unveiled their extremely low-riding "pubic" jeans last January and it's taken until today for the firestorm of criticism to hit the MSM (thanks to Drudge). It'll probably take less than 24 hours to hear from him or him.

Hot. Cold. Mustard.

I have seen the future of comedy and its name is Andy Milonakis. His show on MTV consists of short, zany films in which he (seemingly impromptu) delivers some non sequitur or goes into a rap. He's part Jonathan Winters and part Tom Green - but without the latter's raunch or bad taste. One example: he gets into the shower, fully clothed-including his ubiquitous red tartan plaid shirt- and instead of the hot or cold knob, he turns on the mustard knob - and stands under a shower of yellow mustard. His sketches are short, not mean-spirited, and completely original. Watch for him.

New technology on the way...

For the past month or so I’ve been obsessed with TabletPCs. It all started when I read about a professor who used the ink/handwriting features of one to grade his students’ papers electronically. As I was about to receive via e-mail 57 final exams from my own students’ , I had an “A-ha!” moment: if I had a TablePC I wouldn’t have to download, print, staple, and carry them around. Instead, I could keep the entire process electronic and e-mail the marked up and graded exam to each student (added bonus for the students: the exams are returned much sooner). So, after much hunting on the Web, reading discussion groups, even listening to a bunch of podcasts , I’ve made the lead. I chose a Fujitsu 4020, the latest model from one of the first and best producers of TabletPCs. With any luck, it’ll be here in a week or so. I’ll post updates about my transition to this new (to me) technology. Like somany others these days, I expect it to make me more efficient and productive. Time will tell….

RIP: Nate Fisher, 1965-2005

Couldn't the writers of HBO's Six Feet Under have found an alternative direction for the show in its final episodes than to kill its lead character? I mean, I get the layers of irony: he's a funeral director, he reluctantly returned to the family business after his father dies, his wife was murdered, he escaped death in Season 2 ; but honestly, did he have to die?

Jesus wept; didn't Mohammad?

I am numbed as I read about the barbaric execution of two Iranian teenagers for having gay sex. Can a nation long survive with one foot in modernity and another is the Dark Ages? Can the U.S. ever have normal relations, including commerce, with a government and a people ho support the murder of my brothers?

Don't blame me....

Finally, an explanation on the Op-Ed pages of the New York Times for why gay marriage is simply another step in the evolution of an institution that, regardless of its sanctity or lack thereof, has been changing in profound ways for the past century.

Irony, Hollywood -style

From Today's New York Times:

On the front page, we learn that for the 18th weekend in a row box office receipts are down year-over-year.

Over in the business pages, there's a piece about how commercials shown before feature films in theaters are here to stay.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist tosee the connection. Why do theater-owners expect that they can charge us $10.25 to have us sit through ads we can see for free at home? Or miss entirely by watching pay-per-view?

Requiem in Pace

The news of Anne Bancroft's death leaves me sad for her suffering (she died of uterine cancer) and for her family's loss, but most of all at the thought that we'll never see a her in a new role on any screen large or small. Most people remembering her will talk about Mrs. Robinson and The Graduate in the coming hours, but my two favorite roles of hers were Gilbert's mother in Garbo Talks and Mrs. Cage, a one-act that appeared on PBS and isn't yet out on video (and may never be). I hope TCM will soon schedule a tribute to her; that'd be a marathon worth watching.