Intriguing Presidential/VP Combos

Obama and Warren Buffett
Obama and Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google)
Obama and Jeffrey Immelt (CEO of GE)
McCain and Dianne Feinstein
Obama and Rahm Emanuel
Obama and Chuck Schumer
Obama and McCain
McCain and Obama
Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton
Obama and Bill Clinton
Obama and Hillary Clinton
Clinton and Obama
Obama and Bloomberg
Obama and David Gergen
Obama and Lou Dobbs
McCain and Christopher Hitchens
McCain and Newt Gingrich
Any candidate and me

My newest entrepreneurial idea

Convert a cafe that is located near a university into a "Town Hall Cafe" where, every hour, patrons discuss a different topic of current interest.

Why "Live in the Moment" is such potent advice

The advice to live in the moment is ubiquitous but has merit. Reasons:  

• It gives you a fresh start--without the baggage of your past or fears of your future

• It precludes your being overwhelmed--If you're only contemplating your next one-second task, you're unlikely to feel overwhelmed.
• It maximizes pleasure: You are fully savoring what you're eating, reading, feeling, listening to.

It can even work while you're working. For example, as I'm writing this, I'm not particularly enjoying the effort to figure out what to say. But I make sure to take a moment of pleasure with every completed paragraph, when I'm done with the first draft, when I reread it and find ways to improve it, when I click, "publish post" and see it published, and whenever I get a positive or edifying comment on that post.

Me on NPR's Talk of the Nation

I was discussing my article in the Chronicle of Higher Education: America's Most Overrated Product.

Here's the link to the audio interview

The Most Deadly Double Standard

Men die far earlier from heart disease, indeed from all causes. Men live 5 1/2 years shorter than women and spend their last decade in worse health.

Yet the vast majority of gender-specific health research and education are for women. Think of the sea of pink ribbons for breast cancer research. Where are the ribbons for the many more men who die earlier of sudden heart attack?

It's sexist and unfair. Imagine that all literacy programs were aimed at whites, even though Blacks have a much higher illiteracy rate. It would never come to be, or if it did, would trigger national outrage and the program pulled. But when women are the beneficiary, there's no problem. Think about it.

Why the Political Campaign is So Repulsive...And a Better Approach YOU can take

You've probably never heard of George Lakoff's Rockridge Institute nor political consultant, Drew Westin nor pollster Frank Luntz.

They are the Josef Goebbels of American politics--teaching candidates manipulative propaganda techniques to obfuscate the issues. They replace facts with focus-group and even MRI-tested manipulative phrases. It disgusts me.

We can't ban them but, please, avoid listening to the candidates--they are robots merely mouthing the focus-group tested phrases. Read commentaries from all quarters.

I cited my favorite sites in an earlier post, but here are some recent worthy articles:

FROM A LIBERAL PUBLICATION
The New York Times' comparison of candidates on the issues

Salon's recent take on the Obama and Clinton campaigns.

FROM A CENTRIST PUBLICATION
The Economist's endorsement of Obama for the nomination but not necessarily the presidency.

FROM A CONSERVATIVE PUBLICATION
Charles Krauthammer's support of Clinton for the nomination (in the National Review.)

FROM A LIBERTARIAN PERSPECTIVE
A call for a Libertarian-oriented president by the editor of the libertarian Reason magazine. (This was published in the L.A. Times.)