Bridge to Nowhere

This is a small bridge being built to connect two islands in Alaska.

Gawain and the Green Knight

Gawain set out on All Saints Day in search of The Green Knight, whose head Gawain had severed 12 months earlier. Gawain had taken the place of King Authur in a deadly game and was to meet with The Green Knight to finish the game of one blow each with the axe. His goal changed by the end of his quest. Instead of just fulfilling this promise to take a blow by the axe, his goal is to "always be true to his word."

Gawain had to face his fears in the Abyss. He was afraid of fighting the Green Knight. Had he not accepted the green girdle from the Green Knight's wife he would not have been struck by the Green Knight's axe.

From his encounter with the Green Knight, Gawain learns that he is not as brave as he thought he was, but he needs to be true to his word in all aspects of life.

The Brotherhood of the Round Table benefits from Gawain's journey because they have another story of bravery and survival by a knight to add to their mystic.

Zakaria

I agree with Zakaria's premise that our nation needs to save more and consume less. As a nation we sell our resources to a vast majority of other countries. We also consume food, fuel, and other luxury items, like the plague. The answers seem so clear to the rest of us who are watching our nation become further and further in debt. It's almost like those representatives in Washington have their own agenda, and it has nothing to do with bettering our nation. Yes, I agree we need checks and balances, but to a point. Our government seems to be working against itself. This group and that group refusing to agree on simple agenda items because of some other entirely unrelated issue. Even though the decision is right for the nation, they can't seem to see past their own ideals of what they think is best.

Especially during election times, the democrats and republicans never seem to want to agree on anything. How does anything ever get done in Washington? Every time the President has a good idea for getting us out of this or that situation, the Congress votes it down or has to tack on some unrelated issue that they want passed too. Everytime the majority of the House wants to solve an issue with legislation, the President vetoes it because it doesn't fit into his agenda. They all seem to be working against each other.

I think Zakaria is trying to say "no one wants to work together" in the nicest possible way. He makes jokes and alludes to visual images that ties into problem solving. The only thing Zakaria doesn't seem to understand is that our government will probably never work it out. They'll always be pitted against eachother, but eternally bound for better or for worse.