Friday miscellaneous (10/25)

As usual, we'll start off with some political articles before getting to the really important stuff.

The Tea Party revolution may be fostering an establishment counterrevolution.

The Obamacare rollout is resulting in mass cancellations of existing health insurance policies.

And this one was excellent on the failure of the Republican message to connect with white middle-class voters:

Today’s conservative movement increasingly emphasizes “getting ahead,” “owning your own business,” and economic dynamism as essential to the American dream. That’s what “you built that” was all about. For whites without any college education, however, these are largely alien concepts. 

On the cultural landscape, Harvard students are turning to ancient Chinese philosophy.

And Neil Gaiman talks about the vital importance of children reading and libraries.

Now, for the really important stuff

Legoland may be coming to Virginia.

Jewel covered skeletons may sound like something out of a Pirates movie, but you can actually find them in small churches all over Europe.

And for school administrators: you may want to put some boundaries on bring your pet to school day.

And finally, the most important part of this post. How long does it take a blu-ray laser to pop 100 black balloons?