No. It's conformity that killed the cat.

My most standards, recycled homebuilder Dan Phillips seems like the quirkiest guy in the room ... until you hear him talk about his guerilla construction philosophy. Then, you realize he's the sanest man on the planet.

And now for a little North Polarization

This cartoon originally appeared in an earlier Synonumb post, but fits here too. Click the image to enlarge.

My wife and I are Palm Beach County Floridians who have friends in Alaska. On several occasions, we've had the good fortune to travel across the continent and see how the other half lives. It's quite different.

During the brief few months of spring and summer, Alaska explodes with the cycle of life, death and renewal. It should be no surprise that this is also deeply ingrained in culture of Alaskans. Many of them mount expeditions to net copious amounts of salmon and hunt deer, caribou and moose. All of these require special licenses. 

Having a successful hunt requires a great deal of preparation and effort, and one doesn't always come away with the prize. But when you do, it provides the healthiest meat anyone can put in their mouths. Stocking up also helps defray ever rising heating fuel costs during the long winter months.

In particular, it is hard to bag a caribou. They usually can only be reached by packing deep into the wilderness. If you manage to find, and then have the skill to kill one, you must then pack hundreds of pounds of meat back out — definitely not like a trip to the grocery store.

That's why this recent very popular blog by Aaron Sorkin on the Huffington Post is the pot calling the kettle black. Infinitely more "snotty" than Sarah Palin's defensive quip, it is utterly hypocritical. But worse, it is blatantly designed to increase polarization and perpetuate intolerance toward the diversity of American's culture.

I'm not a big fan of Sarah Palin, but she is an Alaskan. Heck, a lot of Alaskans don't like her politics or her grandstanding either, but the last thing they would criticize her for is bagging a caribou.