"Health care is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges. A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That’s because there isn’t any. This “right” has never existed in America.

"Even in countries like Canada and the U.K., there is no intrinsic right to health care. Rather, citizens in these countries are told by government bureaucrats what health-care treatments they are eligible to receive and when they can receive them. All countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce treatments."

"Making government a bigger player in the health-care process means that health-care decisions are increasingly political decisions, which, in turn, means that people and companies turn ever more toward political acts—like protests and lobbying—in order to participate. Obama has repeatedly talked about moving the country beyond politics. But the health-care reforms he supports would, in fact, further politicize the health-care system."

A somewhat insider's look at the Netflix warehouse that serves the greater Chicago area.

All I could think of while reading this was "This is news? This guy is surprised by the response?"

Lee Child is one of my favorite authors; I've read all thirteen of the Jack Reacher novels. I didn't know that Reacher was born out of Child's being laid off from a movie production company, however. Or if I did, I'd forgotten. Here is an inspiring piece by Child about that experience, offering hope for those worried about losing their job, or already have.

Thomas Baekdal with some tips on keeping up with the latest buzz, or keeping up with what people are saying about you, your products, or your competitors.

"Centralization is in many ways the worst part. It's the core of the cloud computing model, and anything that takes down the centralized service--network failures, massive malware hit, denial-of-service attack, and so forth--affects everyone who uses that service. When the documents and the tools both live in the cloud, there's no way for someone to continue working in this failure state. If users don't (or can't) have their own personal backups, and don't (or can't) have other tools with which to access their backups, they're stuck.

"The cloud computing model may be a wonderful system when it works, but it's a nightmare when it fails. And the more people who come to depend upon it, the bigger the nightmare."

"In the same breath that it used to announce a $213 million second-quarter loss, Continental said it will add a $5 surcharge to bag fees paid at the airport. Passengers can avoid the surcharge by paying the fee online. The new airport fees, which come to $20 for the first bag and $30 for the second, are effective immediately for travel August 19 and beyond.

"Delta is also adding a $5 surcharge, effective for tickets booked on or after July 16 for travel on or after August 4. Delta's airport bag fees will also jump to $20 for the first bag and $30 for the second."

That's right, you pay a fee for paying a fee. Have these buffoons give any thought to the fact that part of their profit losses may have to do with the incredibly crappy customer service they deliver? Just keep sending more business to Southwest, morons.

"[W]e’ve been taught to believe that e-books are, you know, just like books, only better. Already, we’ve learned that they’re not really like books, in that once we’re finished reading them, we can’t resell or even donate them. But now we learn that all sales may not even be final.

"As one of my readers noted, it’s like Barnes & Noble sneaking into our homes in the middle of the night, taking some books that we’ve been reading off our nightstands, and leaving us a check on the coffee table."

"Because your iPhone knows your location, the app can show you nearby places to eat, stay and explore, as recommended by the Dopplr community. It also comes with built-in recommendations for 250 popular cities around the world.

"With a single tap, you can add new places you've discovered to the Dopplr Social Atlas. You'll be able to confirm these additions, and enter more details, next time you log in to dopplr.com.

"The app is a great pocket travel guide even if you do not have a Dopplr account; but if you do, it offers much more. You can keep track of your fellow travellers, find out where they are now, and what future trips they have planned. You can even contact them directly from inside the app. You can view your own planned trips, and find co-incidences where fellow travellers will be nearby."

"But one thing George Bush did not get that Barack Obama is getting from Major League Baseball is a platform to espouse his policy positions. Some of us would like a few areas in life where politics, like the Mets, get shut out. This should be one of them."

A collection of fees beyond your ticket for each airline, from checked bags to snacks to onboard wifi. As the article says, no one's charging to use the lavatory. Yet.

Andy Chung's typeface Neighbourhood is "an ultra simple sans serif text(ish) face with a large set of alternates which when combined with the regular characters create a new graphic display look."

Forgot to post this back in May when it was published. A very interesting report from an anonymous naval aviator aboard the USS Eisenhower.

A complete list of all the Twitter accounts the Borg operate. Looks like there's one for each Google product except, oddly enough, Gmail.

Manjoo's argument is that the pervasive search box in browser windows nearly renders the vanity domain unnecessary. I'm still not giving up retrophis.ch.

"DateLine is a small, simple app which displays a linear calendar on your desktop in a transparent window. It provides easy access to iCal by double clicking on a day. The background and text colors are customizable with support for transparency."

The key words in this article are "adult size". (If you listen closely, you can hear my inner geek squeal with glee.)

Duct tape on the moon. Duct tape on the moon. Duct tape on the MOON. Used for actual repairs. Is this not the greatest invention in our solar system or what?

"[P]eople who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen."

Derrick Story: "At first glance, the recently announced Olympus E-P1 digital camera looks like a classic rangefinder from the film era. But in fact, the camera has much in common with a modern digital SLR, including interchangeable lenses, a 12.3-megapixel image sensor, and even support for Raw and 720p video recording. As a bonus, it comes neatly packaged in a body closer to the size of a compact point-and-shoot."

I am *very* pleased with my recent point-and-shoot purchase, but this indeed looks like the type of camera to fill the role between point-and-shoot and full-blown SLR.

Mostly with regard to paper, with a business/office life focus.

I cannot express how badly my technolust has been inflamed by this product.

(Yes, even with the six grand price tag. Though I think I'd prefer a 500 GB 7200rpm hard drive over the 256 GB solid state drive.)

Only ten will be produced.

They're not talking about fun games. Rather, "how office politics sabotage the workplace".

I have seen many examples of some of the games mentioned here, both in a Fortune 100 company and in a medium-sized business.

Oh. Yeah.

Features a 42″ Vizio Flat Panel LCD HDTV; three (3!) 26″ Vizio Flat Panel LCD HDTVs; a 1000-watt Panasonic 5.1 Home Theater System; DVD player with 5-CD changer; iPod docking station; two wireless surround sound speakers; a live, 7-foot sports ticker, with built-in computer; a year's free service for the aforementioned sports ticker; a full-size, built-in, refrigerated beer keg with tap; a 1000-watt microwave oven; two cigar humidors (holds 25 cigars each), complete with gauges; and a 32-bottle wine rack. Price? Only $14,900.

Plus shipping.

This is a handy app which allows you to specify what you want your Mac to do when you attach photo-capable devices. For instance, you may want iPhoto to open when you connect your iPhone or point-and-shoot digital camera, but Aperture or Lightroom to launch when you attach your dSLR. Or maybe you don't want iPhoto to launch when you connect your iPhone. You just tell Cameras what you want to happen.

"Old Map App allows an iPhone user to explore the effects of time on geography and urban development. "The application displays layers of geo-referenced historical maps projected onto a modern coordinate system, so that the same location can be compared over time. Layers can be faded, adjusted, and explored freely. If the user is located within the region of the historical map, the user's position will be mapped on the old maps to the position of the compass indicator.

"Several maps of New York City & Region are included from the 17th to 19th centuries. All are high-resolution images from the Library of Congress."

Not yet released to the iTunes App Store, but you can sign up to be notified and possibly participate in the beta test. Looks really great.

"In recent years, at least three broadcasters have decided that the dead-center camera is worth the trouble. Tom Mee, who directs Cardinals telecasts for Fox Sports Midwest, says he decided to ditch the offset view in 2006 when the team's video coach showed him the difference between the two angles. The Red Sox went dead-center midway through last year at the behest of team owner John Henry. The Twins also switched last summer on an experimental basis and have since decided to keep the setup when they move into a new stadium next year. Minnesota color analyst Bert Blyleven is a fan of the new view, saying the camera makes it easier for him to convey the game's subtleties, like the tail of a fastball or a pitcher's positioning on the rubber. 'As an analyst, you're an educator,' he says. 'Having the camera directly over the pitcher gives the fan at home a better perspective of what pitching is and the game within the game.'"

"We're done with the tired old fontstacks of yesteryear. Enough with the limitations of the web, we won't have it. It's time to raise our standards. Here, you'll find only the most well-made, free & open-source, @font-face ready fonts."

I really like Chunk and Junction.