Day after Labor Day links.

* The U.S. drops to second-place in international competitiveness, behind the hated Swiss.

* Food flags.

* Washington Monthly foretells the death of the university in favor of trade schools like ITT. MeFi debates.

* Also at MeFi: Google Maps Monopoly and a time-travel linkdump.

* Gawker reports Facebook makes you smart and Twitter makes you stupid. Be advised.

* And a commenter on my Flickr account asks the real question: what's a young George W. Bush doing in my current blog icon?

Sorry there's been so many linkdumps and so little of everything else lately. I'll get back to business soon.

* Watchmen settlement reached!

* Top ten other science fiction films for the thinking man.

* Duke's "Hoof 'n' Horn" is running Superman: The Musical this week and next. Need I say more?

* It's a show I don't watch anymore, but nonetheless I'm greatly angered to discover that The Simpsons completely retconned the history of Homer and Marge's marriage. I'm aware it happened last year. WORST EPISODE EVER.

* 'The Turning Point: How the Susan Crawford interview changes everything we know about torture.' Via Matt Yglesias. More on torture at Glenn Greenwald. I still haven't decided whether prosecutions are better than a truth and reconciliation commission, but there has to be a reckoning.

* The headline reads, "History May See Lincoln-Like Greatness in George W. Bush." Suuuuuuure.

* The facts are in: college is expensive. Very expensive. How else could I make such mad bank?