And now for something completely unrelated.

Three very unrelated but all interesting items:

• Unselfishness makes business partnerships work. Actually, it makes a lot of partnerships work. And unselfish people usually don't happen by accident.
  

• Rarely do we see the gap between reality and PhotoShop, but this article has a few brilliantly raw examples of the chasm. It makes me angry that an entire industry lives and breathes on our desire to look like that, when that doesn't actually exist. And it would be one thing if it only targeted adults, but it doesn't. The impact can be lifelong and devastating, especially for young women. And I'm not ok with that. Just saying.

• I have always sort of admired, in a weird way, the crass swashbuckling White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel, and his brazen-yet-pragmatic political methods. Looks like Obama should probably start listening to him a bit more.
  

And there is Tuesday's news & tidbits roundup by Amy...enjoy!

Too Much Greece is Bad For Your Fiscal Health

The unfolding drama of the possibility that Greece will default on its debt is a harrowing and messy one. Which made me all the more appreciative that Robert J. Samuelson wrote this beautifully concise piece in today's Washington Post, on both the reasons for and meaning of the Greek fiscal tragedy.

"Almost every advanced country -- the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, France, Japan, Belgium and others -- faces some combination of huge budget deficits, high debts, aging populations and political paralysis. It's an unstable mix. Present deficits may aid economic recovery, but the persistence of those deficits threatens long-term prosperity. The same unpleasant choices confronting Greece await most wealthy nations, even if they pretend otherwise. "

Dear Boomers, I love you. Also I hate you.

The contract that binds generations together for the purpose of caring for one another in vulnerable stages of life has persisted in formal and informal means since, roughly, the beginning of time. The assumption that parents will take care of children, who will grow up and take care of parents, keeps society from fraying at the edges in a variety of ways.

A new provocative book, however, argues that the Baby Boomer generation (those born between 1945 and 1960) might put a unbearable strain on that human contract. Entitled The Pinch: How the Baby Boomers Took their Children’s Future—and Why They Should Give it Back, it looks like quite the read. (For starters, check out The Economist's review.)

Not only did the Boomers transform (for better or worse) everything they touched, they also lived and worked and put their kids through college and bought house(s) and cars and generally poured productivity and dollars into the American economy since the late 1960s. And now the darlings want to retire, en masse, and although they've got some savings - it's certainly not enough to last as long as they will likely live, nor at the scale most envision as "active retirement."

All of which will make for quite an interesting working life for my age cohort. I doubt that I can count on any Social Security for myself, but I might spend my working years paying for the broken wealth transfer system to Boomers. And we thought the 1960s were turbulent...

Well, that pretty much sums it up

I would write about the Tim Tebow commercial, or the firestorm surrounding it, but I'm pretty sure the Washington Post's Sally Jenkins hit this one out of the park. (Sorry had to use at least one sports metaphor, Sally.)

Tebow's Super Bowl Ad Isn't Intolerant; Its Critics Are

I think this is my favorite line: If the pro-choice stance is so precarious that a story about someone who chose to carry a risky pregnancy to term undermines it, then CBS is not the problem.

Exactly. The NARAL/NOW crowd's hold on American mindshare is actually that precarious. And that's kind of amazing.