Kodak announced today that it is selling its Eastman Gelatine plant in Peabody, Mass. Could this be the beginning of a big sell-off?

At the time of a fantastic 1999 Wall Street Journal article (which I can now find online only here), Eastman was processing 80 million pounds of bovine skeletal remains a year to keep up with the world demand for photographic film. (And selling the rejects to make Jell-O, which apparently does not necessitate the same level of purity as the photo industry.)

I try my best to ignore election-related news coverage in non-election years such as this one. It’s distracting and counterproductive. But it can be hard to tune out—especially when the list of apparently viable contenders for the Republican ticket include such, um, brilliant minds as Herman Cain and Michelle Bachman.

There are two phenomena at play that I have trouble understanding. First, who would rally behind a presidential candidate that lacks a top-notch knowledge of law, policymaking, foreign policy issues, and economics? (Isn’t this supposed to be the hardest job in the world?) Secondly, why does the Republican vetting system seem to revolve around publicly questioning the candidates on whether they are conservative enough? (Can there be no room for compromise in a functioning two-party system?)

Fortunately, someone has written a funny and interesting essay exploring both topics: “Why Republicans Embrace Simpletons and How it Hurts America.”

Andy Rooney died today. I’ve always felt a strange sort of connection with the guy. In my TV-watching days, I would regularly tune in for his 60 Minutes commentary. I have read most of his books.

The popular opinion has pronounced him the archetype of the grumpy old man, but those who look more carefully will find that his voice—his writer’s voice, that is—was something quite different. Rooney was a keen observer of the world around him. He wasn’t just curmudgeonly in his pieces—he was incisive and witty and clever. He was also a serious woodworker with a deep appreciation for craftsmanship.

His best book, My War, is one of my favorites. It offers a deeply personal and completely fresh perspective of life in World War II. Go out and read it!

F told me about a new protest technique hatched by the Occupy Wall Street types: using the pre-paid return evelopes enclosed with credit card offers to send messages back to big banks. I have decided to do this, although I harbor no illusions of changing the financial system. My dream: a mailbox with fewer credit card offers in it.

If I can help to keep the US Postal Service solvent on someone else’s dime, that’s not a bad outcome either.