What could the tipping point be for a third political party? People are definitely sick of the current two. But, an independent vote (save the case of Joe Lieberman) is typically a complete waste. And right now, when people think third party, they think green, environment, pot. I would suggest a different party. Perhaps a true John F. Kennedy party, or a true Ronald Reagan party, even though both Democrats and Republicans, respectively, claim these icons as their own, they're really not. What could tip it? Could it be a candidate's personality? Could it be a push back to state rights? Thoughts?

"My father is a staunch believer in hard work. That's why the only handouts he gives to homeless people are pistachios."

Please read yesterday's post before this one. What I am looking for are possible "Tipping Point" suggestions for curing an ill in society, or furthering a good. My suggestion for today looks at the ill of prostitution in our society. Policies made over the years to quench prostitution have ranged from legalizing it, to raising the minimum wage to de-incentivize it, to religious protestors yelling God's wrath at them. But, to little success, there has not yet been a tipping point that has "cured" prostitution. How 'bout this? People start calling up escort services, hiring out a lady for the evening, and treating her like it's your first date with a movie star. Take her out to a nice dinner, a movie perhaps, and ask her about her life. No goodnight kiss either gents. What could that do?

The Tipping Point, written by Malcom Gladwell, discusses how the effects of a seemingly "small" thing can be the tipping point that turns a virus into an epidemic, for things both good and bad. You may have heard of the 'broken windows' theory. Studies found that crime rates go up drastically in neighborhoods where there are broken windows in houses and buildings. So, instead of hiring more policeman, some cities have simply been replacing windows in run-down areas to tremendous success. (Note: Some people use the 'broken windows' theory to say that people are not responsible for their actions since their actions are only a result of their environment...that's not where I'm going with this.) New York City had a crime problem on the subway. Some guy suggested repainting all of the trains and repainting the cars the second they were graffiti vandalized. The crime rates plummeted. A particular STD in the city of Philadelphia spread rapidly in a short period of time. It turned out that a half-dozen homosexual men were by and large the culprits. AirWalks, a shoe for skateboarders became wildy popular overnight, and can be attributed to a few skateboarders in California. The big idea is that it's the little ideas that can go a long way. These ideas have captivated marketers, trying to determine how they can 'tip' their product. But, how 'bout we try discussing how we can do something little that can stop, start or cause something big. Let's go.

I watched an independent documentary last night entitled, WalMart: The High Cost of Low Price. The film made some very good points and defaming accusations about the legality of WalMart's practices, those that WalMart certainly needs to change. Such as forcing workers to work off the clock, well, maybe that was the only one. But, most of the film centered upon the small hardware stores that were closing because WalMart came to town. A common argument by these small store owners was, "I'm no communist, but this just isn't fair." They're right. It's not 'fair'. And it is sad that these owners felt like they could do the same thing for 43 years and stay in business. But, the people have spoken, and they have chosen the giant stores. They are showing that they value inexpensive goods over friendly service and professional expertise. So, my question is, "If WalMart started acting completely legally in its hiring and compensation practices", do you have a compelling economic (NOT SOCIAL) reason against the WalMartization of the world? That's what I rented the movie to find, and I didn't.

To be sold at Business Casual, athletic soled dress shoes will give the appearance of fancy, business appropriate footwear while being comfortable enough on the inside to play basketball in.

"The will of the people is always right."

Al Gore's crew runs into a few problems when trying to convince us animal-haters that global warming exists for the following reasons. 1) We don't really care too much about animals. We hear about penguins and polar bears drowning and don't care. 2) Rising water levels don't scare us. Just by numbers, the majority of people are land-locked, and do not live in fear of tidal waves wiping out their cities. 3) We don't think the Earth is fragile. Some would contend that humans destroying/permanently damaging the Earth is an improbable if not impossible order. So, how does Al Gore reach this selfish, crazy market? Well, he could show us cities in California that are filled with smog so much that children are developing asthma and lung conditions at scary rates. He could show mercury levels in drinking water around the country that are life-threatening. These are actual proven scenarios where the cause and effect is apparent, where we don't have to rely on rock stars and politicians to teach us predictive science. In this way, we can actually focus on tangible solutions, less drastic than completely shutting down America's system of commerce.

The little phenomenon of 'Flash Mobbing' has now struck the iPod community. I first heard about this idea a couple of years ago when roughly 100 people gathered in downtown Peoria one night at some random street corner, yelled something like "Blue Raccoon" at 7:36, and then all went their separate ways. My initial impression was, "That's awesome." Kind of like when I saw Fight Club for the first time. For a large part of my life, I have held the position that if someone does something that I have not yet thought of, it's genius. The idea of being clever...it was everything. What's better than being more clever than everyone? But, now I'm tired of being so amused by cleverness. The 'Blue Racoon' mob did nothing. But, they all went home thinking they were clever, a part of something maybe, a rebellion against the system, who knows. But, whatever they went home thinking, they were wrong. They did nothing. The iPod article above refers to a group of people who advertised a flash mob online, and ended up with a couple hundred of people in a subway station who started dancing (silently) to their iPods (with headphones) all at the same time. Why do I still think this is clever? What is this thing deceiving me into wanting me to waste my time thinking of ways to be clever? Why can't we be clever AND useful?

"The Bible always contradicts itself when people want it to say something it doesn't."