On Men in the Army

The New York Times had an article about what men in the Army (no women mentioned in the article) do in their spare time.  It sounds slightly cliche, but I admire what they do.  See: http://nyti.ms/gQmbiX.

Cross Country Uniforms

As a former high school cross country runner (and I remember we were only allowed to wear white T-shirts in addition to our uniforms), I can relate to this article.  Someone in my high school wore a different colored hair band and was disqualified.  While on the one hand, rules are rules, I'm not entirely sure what the point of the rule is.  I mean, so long as one team isn't trying to disguise itself as another team, I don't see why there can't be a slight variation in uniforms.

Country Music Song About the Economy

A country music singer, John Rich, who, according to Wikipedia, used to play in the country music band Lonestar, has come up with a song about the current economic situation. While I don't think it's ever going to gain the same historical traction as some of Woody Guthrie's songs, I do think the song is pretty good. His website has a streaming version of it.

Another country music song that discusses economics is Cafe Down on the Corner by Sawyer Brown. That's much older.

On Why People Didn't Evacuate During Hurricane Ike

NPR had a good commentary by someone on why people did not evacuate during Hurricane Ike.  While I don't really agree with their reasoning on not evacuating, the essay is, nonetheless, very good (in particular the last paragraph).  I think it's more powerful listening to it than reading it. 

Front Pages from Around The World

I have been going to concerts at the National Gallery of Art recently and, on my way back to the Gallery Place China-town Metro, I've been stopping at the front of the Newseum to view the newspapers that they have on display from across the nation and world. But, you don't have to make the trek to see them, because you can see them online too. Hopefully they'll keep this up after they open on 11 April, but it looks like they may not.

Presidential Dollar Coins

As Jerry points out on Jerry and Tammy, the US Mint has just -- again -- come out with a new variety of dollar coins, this time featuring the US Presidents. I think that this experiment is going to fail, for the same reason most people don't use Susan B. Anthony dollar coins, and most people don't use the Sacajawea dollar coins. The dollar coins, whether they are gold or not, are too similar to the quarter in size and shape. They are not easily distinguishable, and that will make it difficult to catch on. Canadian dollar coins have caught on. First, they took the dollar bill out of circulation, second they are a different shape from other coins and don't look like a Canadian quarter (or any other Canadian coin for that matter)
The US coins are bad for another reason. Unless you are at the post office or traveling on the Long Island Railroad, most vending machines don't take them. I know someone, who will remain anonymous, who tells me he likes to watch people use the Long Island Railroad ticket vending machines with a twenty dollar bill buy an eight dollar ticket and receive twelve dollars worth of dollar coins back. That's why I always use a credit card with the Long Island Railroad and won't use a twenty dollar bill to buy stamps from a post office vending machine.
Update: My brother has de-anonymized himself. See the comments.
Ok, wow, I just put a bluebook style cite in a blog entry. Sigh.