Apparently I live in the laziest state in the country:

Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas are in the Lower Mississippi Delta region, which is "very poor, has poor medical service, and is hot, humid, and has few opportunities for physical activity."

There's also this:

The challenges to getting people up and moving are complex. Outside the big cities is a dearth of public transportation, bike paths, and sidewalks.

As a resident of Louisiana's second biggest city, I would say that inside the big cities is a dearth of public transportation, bike paths, and sidewalks. Especially sidewalks.

Sports, redemption, and Manute Bol:

Bol's life and death throws into sharp relief the trivialized manner in which sports journalists employ the concept of redemption. In the world of sports media players are redeemed when they overcome some prior "humiliation" by playing well. Redemption then is deeply connected to personal gain and celebrity. It leads to fatter contracts, shoe endorsements, and adoring women.

We need a new voting method. Maybe modeled after ancient Sparta:

Count each candidate’s stars or points, and the winner is the one with the highest average score [...]. This is known as range voting, and it goes back to an idea considered by Laplace at the start of the nineteenth century. It also resembles ancient forms of acclamation in Sparta. The more you like something, the louder you bash your shield with your spear, and the biggest noise wins.

Range voting is in some sense the best, but I like approval voting better because of its simplicity.

Besides fixing the voting system, math can rescue democracy in another way this year. We just finished a census, so now state legislatures will decide how to redistrict congressional seats. We can do better.

A board game rock star:

A queue of autograph hunters forms at the Kosmos company’s stand: Klaus Teuber has arrived. Teuber, once a manufacturer of dental supplies, is an unlikely star. [...] But for four days in Essen, he is the biggest name of all: the designer of the multimillion-selling blockbuster board game, The Settlers of Catan.

Why do Germans make good board games?

“There are two schools of thought as to why the Germans love board games,” says Martin Wallace of Warfrog. “The Germans are of the opinion that it’s down to their superior education system. We English are of the opinion that it’s because German TV is [expletive].”

I enjoy Catan and other European-style board games. I also sometimes get annoyed that "European-style" often seems to mean "good" - bike lanes, board games, car size, food. If you feel the same, you might get some evil pleasure from this slide show.

Seems that somebody is working on fall crawfish.

Actually, one of the things I like about the crawfish thing is that it's seasonal. Makes it seem more real, gives cajun life a rhythm.

Every year, various publications publish lists of the best colleges and universities. I like the Chronicle of Higher Education's list and comments. It includes such famous academic juggernauts as Raritan Valley Community College, Berea College, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, and Western Oregon University.

Oh, yeah, and my alma mater:

The University of Colorado is capable of doing some things right. For example, in the undergraduate course, "Physics for Everyday Life," founded by the Nobel Prize winner Carl Wieman, the lessons are broken down into modules. A feedback system employing computers and clickers means that the lecturer never moves faster than the students.

College students don't work as hard as they used to. Then again, neither do professors:

Instead of a dynamic where a professor sets standards and students try to meet them, the more common scenario these days, they suggest, is one in which both sides hope to do as little as possible.