I believe the job of a President is not only to create opportunity, but also to create hope. Do you believe that the most "well-liked president", a "unifier", could actually help the economy through a positive national attitude more than they might hurt it through economic decisions you may disagree with?

So, I've noticed that a lot of nerds participate in martial arts. This is not at all to say that martial arts is inherently "nerdy" more than it is saying that Star Wars is inherently nerdy. Both of these things just happen to call out to the socially alienated among us. But, here's my point. Let's say there's a guy, 5 ft. 6, 165 pds, black belt in several martial arts. Could this guy beat up Brian Urlacher, middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears? This karate-man knows exactly where to punch and exactly where to block. But, couldn't Urlacher just rush him and kill him with one blow? My real point is...should I be scared of the IT guys at my workplace?

I'm currently reading the book, "A Briefer History of Time" by Stephen Hawking. Not to be confused with a "Brief" History, this is an updated version for the really stupid people. And yet it still goes over my head from time to time. Hence today's question from a thought brought up recently by jmc. How did the human eye evolve from nothing? I can't comprehend the natural selection of a human eye. I understand the Darwinian idea that tall giraffes beat out short giraffes, hence, only tall giraffes today. But, I don't understand how an eyeless creature formed an eye? Any evolutionists out there?

So, if you work at a company, there's probably a refrigerator full of lunch bags just sitting there every morning. So, if you're bored with what's in your lunch, grab a string cheese from one of the bags or a yogurt from another. In fact, depending on the size of the company you work for, you might not even have to bring a lunch anymore. But, don't keep taking deserts from the same bags everyday. You'll blow your cover. But if your theft is varied and sporadic, they're likely to not even remember they packed that particular item. And to REALLY help your cause, ADD something to their lunch bag every once in a while. Then, they'll have to accept the fact that they're crazy, and won't even question it anymore.

(continuation) #2: John Adams In 1798, Adams signed four bills into law entitled the "Alien and Sedition Acts" in hopes of diminishing the voice of his opposition. These acts made it more difficult for immigrants become citizens, and threatened with fines and imprisonment, anyone who "shall write, print, utter or publish...scandalous writings against the government...or the President". Due to the obvious frightening rejection of basic liberties these bills espoused, all four were repealed by 1802.

So, the new Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John Roberts has had a lot of 5-4 decisions lately, signifying that this Court is conservative-leaning. A guy at work told me that he hated all of these decisions lately. I asked him whether he just hated the result or the logic and judicial reasoning behind the decision as well. He replied, "aren't they one in the same?" My contention is no. Frankly, I would be elated if a Supreme Court justice in his majority opinion said, "Man, I really hate this outcome. But, the law is crystal clear on this. So, I have to judge it this way. But, I suggest our congressmen and women look into this and see if a new law needs to be created." I would make that person king. Oh wait, if they're already on the Court, they kind of are?

So, I got made fun of the other day for saying that I used to have crushes on Candice Bergen (Murphy Brown) and Phylicia Rashad (Mrs. Cosby/Huxtable). So, someone said that perhaps I liked smart women. A news reporter, a lawyer, etc. That made sense to me at first, but then I realized something and changed my defense to the following: Ranking is a simple matter of human nature. I didn't really have a crush on Murphy Brown, nor did I have one on Mrs. Huxtable. I simply ranked them each a respective first in each of those sitcom worlds they inhabited for those 30 minutes a week. If Candice Bergen suddenly changed shows, to Full House for example, she would obviously be trumped by Lori Loughlin (Aunt Becky). And if Lori Loughlin came to my house to visit, she would of course be trumped by my beautiful wife.

On Saturday, Live Earth concerts across 7 continents brought millions of people together for a single cause, stopping global warming. How did this issue "tip" so quickly? Only two years ago, I would say that most of my friends were at best, largely skeptical of the idea that humans were largely responsible for global temperature increase. So, how can we emulate what these global warming guys have done over the last 2 years? Let's say your cause is animal rights, Jesus, AIDS research, local poverty...how can we get people on board regarding the gravity of these situations as well as Al Gore has done?

So, a non-major city wants to bring in a minor league baseball team and build a brand new ball-park in the downtown area. No private companies have made this investment so far, because they don't believe that ticket revenues, etc. would make up for the huge cost of the stadium and believe it to be a non-viable investment decision. What other financial considerations need to be looked at before a city nixes the idea of taking on this project with city money?

So, last week when we were on vacation, one of my wife's patients gave us a couple of free passes to this local private pool/waterpark nearby. So, we head off there one afternoon thinking that we're about to enter the world of "haughty-taughty". The pool was beautiful, but the people didn't quite match the country-club atmosphere. See, we live in a far SouthWest suburb of Chicago since the property values are so much more affordable there. So, we live in a very nice neighborhood full of blue-collared folk. I wrongly assumed that redneck social skills were a product of economic condition and not a lifestyle choice. I was wrong. Last night proved it again. We were sitting out on our back porch last night and got to witness about 8 different firework shows coming from houses all over the neighborhood. And these were NICE fireworks. So either you can't buy your way out of a lifestyle, or these people simply see no reason to. Either way, I enjoyed the show, and next year maybe I'll sell tickets.