And a few other loose threads

+ Speaking of kottke, Jason noted once that now he doesn't link to his sources as much because he reads things in tabs. I forget if he mentioned feed readers, but that's certainly how I read these days. The consolation for both of us is that we link our most common sources in our sidebars. If
even kottke admits such behavior, it must be alright, right? ;-)

+ It's obvious to me that Google should revamp its Gmail labels a little bit to function more like tags. Then I could just enter a new one without having to Create A New Label.

+ Did you hear the story of Brad Kasal on NPR last week? I thought it was very moving:

An Iowa Marine is receiving widespread praise for his bravery after leading a daring rescue mission in Iraq last fall.

Sgt. Brad Kasal, of Afton, said he learned three fellow Marines were wounded inside an enemy-controlled house during house-to-house battles with insurgents in Fallujah on Nov. 13. source

Afton is west of Osceola (which is west of Chariton (home of Hy-Vee)) and east of Creston.

+ I respect the pope a lot. But it's time for him to resign.

+ Why I'm not worried about social security: NPR profiled 3 solutions i could live with. That leaves me hopeful that there are decent solutions out there. Hopefully we'll get to one in the next 20 years.

+ All three major universities in Iowa have a team in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, along with Iowa State's women.

+ However, '42 of the 65 teams playing in the men's NCAA tournament graduated less than 50 percent of their players' source. I can't allow myself to enjoy anything unreservedly. Always have to see the down side. Anyway, there's one.

+ Hard to believe picking Wolfowitz to helm the World Bank is a diplomatic gesture towards our European allies. Add to that a journalist from Texas heading up public diplomacy at State and re-nominating judges who were already refused by the Congress and I Just Don't Get It. That's not even accounting for this unmandated Social Security push. Our president is committing political suicide, in my humble opinion.