Peanut Air Allergy = Natural Selection

• What I'm Watching/Listening To/Reading:
• Though it happened in 1993, it was posted to YouTube in 2007, so this video was "The Soup"'s most over the top moment of the year. It's worth watching if you haven't (or have) seen it.
  
• I watched Hollywoodland this evening. It's a pretty good film noir starring Adrien Brody, Ben Affleck, and Diane Lane. Brody is really great and Affleck isn't quite as bad as he usually is. It's the first feature directed by Allen Coulter, who did a bunch of "Sopranos" and "Sex In The City" episodes. I look forward to more of his work.
• I made mention a while ago, but you really must read The Tipping Point. I'm sorry that I hadn't read it sooner.
• There is no worse show on TV for bad cliff-hangers and whore-ish product placement than "The Biggest Loser". One of the contestants, upon visiting her family and deciding to eat out, of all places, at Subway, actually said, "I couldn't believe that Subway has eight sandwiches with less then six grams of fat!"
  
• Random Thoughts/Links:
• From an Associated Press article on good guy Tom DeLay's appearance at Oxford last week:
  

  DeLay warned that a Clinton victory would result in higher taxes and bloated government. He also said she would seek to create a British-style publicly funded health care system, a prediction that was met with thunderous applause.

  "By the way, there's no one denied health care in America. There are 47 million people who don't have health insurance, but no American is denied health care in America," he said to derisive laughter.
• DeLay should see Sicko (or just freaking not shut out reality).
• Thinking about DeLay reminds me of a somewhat-related story. Maybe a year ago, I went to a sales presentation by Convio (an e-fundraising provider) for non-profits in the D.C. area. Very nice lunch at the Willard. A woman sits down next to me and we start talking about our respective organizations. When I ask her where she's from, she replies, "The Heritage Foundation." Apparently my phony smile was pretty good because she remained friendly and we talked, while all that was running through my mind was, "Dear God, I'm sitting next to one of Satan's minions."
  

• Daily Rant:
• I admit that I didn't watch "60 Minutes" on Sunday, but I have to point out their main story. Do you know about the Millenials? This is the generation that is 23 and under and just now beginning to enter the workplace. These are the kids who can't breathe peanut air and have not been allowed to lose or fail, getting ribbons no matter what place they come in. Some kids in Fairfax County Schools have two sets of textbooks -- one for school and one for home -- so that they don't hurt themselves carrying books back and forth. Can you believe that? Kids in the D.C. Public Schools don't have one set! Anyways, how does this coddling manifest itself as the kids grow older? Parents go on job interviews with kids! A bad performance appraisal leads to parents calling the manager to complain! At lunch today, my HR director admitted that she has had parents call to respond to a job listing for their child. In what kind of f***ed up world would anyone actually think that would work? It drives me so crazy that I can't really think of more to say, but rest assured, my angry Sauron-like eye will fall on these brats in the future.