–We may be raising a nation of wimps. Perhaps this a curse/opportunity afforded by wealth? My own brainstorm: it seems like weakness, like environmentalism, is a luxury good. That is, parental overprotectiveness would not happen to such an extent in a less prosperous nation. This small bit in particular is one of the most interesting: “Children are far less integrated into adult society than they used to be at every step of the way”.
–Emotionally stunted, perhaps… but we’re larger and healthier than our ancestors even just a few generations back. Another benefit of wealth and productivity. [via mr]
–A large archive of free (out of copyright/ public domain) movies, including a nice little selection of the old Bugs Bunny and Superman cartoons. [via digg]
–College athletes are “ethically impaired“. Interesting notion here: “In measurements of college athletes’ moral reasoning, players of team sports Äî and in particular, team contact sports Äî fare significantly worse than those who play individual sports… partly because team-sport athletes often do not make as many decisions during games.”
—Escape from awkward situations with the Popularity Dialer.
–The New York Public Library offers a digital gallery of almost 500,000 of their photo and print collections. I could spend all day in there, and come back the next day for more.
Mark Larson 
I have had direct experience with the “nation of wimps” phenomenon, as I am sure you have as well, when working for University Housing. I wonder if there is an argument to be made about leaving an inheritance for your kids- the strong parent works hard and betters their economic situation, by the bootstraps if you will, but then leaves the kid with enough money to never need to struggle. So what does the kid learn about budgeting, hard work or fiscial responsibility. The kid invests the money, earns more, leaves their kid even more money . . . generations later, we have multi-millionaires with no self-restraint (a la Paris Hilton.)This stuff is good reading. I plan on checking back whenever I’m bored at work.Rebekah
Rebekah: Thanks for your kind words. I’m still curious about the parental motivations for such protectiveness. Maybe just societal paranoia about the dangers of the world? Maybe it’s a Lake Wobegon-like misconception that “every child is above average” and therefore deserves [insert something you have to work for: passing grades, a decent roommate relationship, a trophy for 4th place, etc].