February has been American Heart Month since 1963, and it's surely no coincidence that February features Valentine's Day. For the American Heart Association, it's a month devoted to increasing public awareness of heart health and raising money.

In support of such a good cause, a gentleman from Ohio (Jeff Ondash) raised money for heart health by giving away free hugs outside a Las Vegas casino. After 7,777 hugs in 24 hours, he had surpassed the previous Guinness record of 5,000. Mr. Ondash, who is 51, was motivated by the memory of his father and brother, who died prematurely of heart problems.

The National Football League (NFL) commissioned a survey on the incidence of dementia and other memory-related diseases among its retired players. The results that came back showed early-onset dementia occurring "vastly more often" compared to the national population. The NLF dismissed the study as unreliable.

The data comes from the 88 Plan, a financial assistance plan for retired players with dementia. Confidential data from the plan indicates that the rate of dementia among football retirees is several times higher than the general population. The rate may actually be much higher than the data indicate, however, since many retirees are reluctant to admit they have a problem. Even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell admits that the 88 Plan data underestimates the problem.

Malcom Gladwell (of Outliers, Blink, and The Tipping Point fame) has an article in the New Yorker called "Offensive Play." The subtitle is "How different are dogfighting and football?"

In dogfighting, the dogs are injured and suffer permanent damage. It's becoming clear that the same is true for professional football players.

The damage Gladwell talks about is not the typical and obvious athletic injuries -- sprains, dislocations, broken bones, and an arthritic old age. He's talking about what happens when the brain is subjected to repeated traumas - high speed collisions with massive bodies. Gladwell estimates that linemen are hit in the head 1000 times in a single season. Over the course of a career, that could add up to 8000 blows.

The current emotional polarization around health care reform is not so much about specific issues - rising medical costs, reprehensible insurance industry practices, the number of uninsured. It reflects a deep division in American culture that began in the sixties.

Forty years after Woodstock, it's clear that a major shift happened in that decade, politically, socially and psychologically. Despite the communal love fest, Americans had begun "bowling alone." Crime rates started to rise, as did divorce rates. Quite suddenly, in 1965, a vast majority of people stopped identifying themselves as Democrats or Republicans and became Independents.

A few holiday gifts to share.

Here's one of my favorite YouTube videos, Free Hugs. It's 3:39 minutes, the length of the Sick Puppies song, All the Same.

This one, Free Parking, has a theme similar to Free Hugs, but it's by filmmaker Kurt Kuenne and is quite a bit longer, 16:23. Watch the beginning and see if you want to continue. It has a (minimal) plot.

Here's a description of Appreciative Inquiry, an organization development practice related to the message of Free Parking:

The rise of the health culture in the seventies and eighties was not gradual and imperceptible. It was abrupt and noticeable. Many commentators - journalists, doctors, sociologists -tried to understand its significance and implications. Here's an example of how preoccupation with health made its way into fiction, from a Sue Grafton mystery published in 1992.

Kinsey Milhone's dapper, 83-year-old neighbor, Henry, is a featured character in many Sue Grafton mysteries. In 'I' Is for Innocent, Henry's brother William comes to visit. Over drinks at Rosie's, Henry complains to Kinsey about his brother's preoccupation with his health:

"His health regimen occupied our entire day. Every hour on the hour, he takes a pill or drinks a glass of water . . . flushing his system out. He does yoga to relax. He does calisthenics to wake up. He takes his blood pressure twice a day. He uses little strip tests to check his urine for glucose and protein. He keeps up a running account of all his body functions. Every minor itch and pain. If his stomach gurgles, it's a symptom. If he breaks wind, he issues a bulletin. Like I didn't notice already."