Some men look back at their adolescent years with regret, wishing they had sowed more wild oats before settling down. Let's break that logic today. The only reason this idea works is that once you experience "it", "settling down" looks a whole lot better. It's not like "it" is some ecstasy experience you partake of once and then, like a monk, selflessly resign yourself over to a life of estheticism. No one would do that. The only reason getting "it" out of your system works is that you realize how crappy "it" really is. And we can see that even without experiencing it ourselves, due to the fact that so few men choose to reside in that state of life permanently. You don't need to experience AIDS for yourself to realize it sucks. Learn from other's mistakes.

Why are books valued more than television? As if the written word is more intrinsically valuable than visual communication?

...for damage caused by carts. I have seen this sign up in several grocery store parking lots. Really? I don't think just putting up a sign abstains you from legitimate legal action. Because if it does, next time I'm walking into that store with a "I am not responsible for theft." t-shirt.

I bought these sunglasses online, and received the package in the mail yesterday. When I opened it, and saw the black carrying purse that came with them, I knew something was wrong. As always, I fought the fact that I might be in error, and tried to force these sunglasses to be uni-sex. Unable to convince myself, I went to the store to exchange them. As I was trying on new frames, the teenage girl sales clerk said, "Wait, did you buy these for yourself!!??" Then, when her manager came to help her put the return in the computer, she felt the need to explain the entire situation to him. My question is, what in that picture would tip you off to the fact that they're lady-frames?

What are teenagers going to do this summer? I'm not sure there are going to be any jobs our there for them. So, let's play a Freakonomics-inspired game of predicting some economic results that will stem from this. I'll start. With more and more teenagers looking to self-entertain themselves this summer, I predict that more will experiment with sex than usual. And with less personal economic resources and with parents with less economic resources, I predict that this summer will likely result in one of the highest abortion rates ever.

Let's say you're Iceland. When international laws are created, e.g. making it illegal to poach an animal close to falling on the endangered species list, you feel much pressure to obey it. Even if the hunting of this animal is a sizable industry for your country, other countries can respond by imposing trade sanctions on you, etc. to the point where it simply isn't worth it to fight them. But, if you're bigger than the country who could impose the sanction on you, they would be afraid to do anything in fear of any economic retaliation. Yes, you know what I'm hinting at. It's time to take Canada.

Every time I use my credit card, the business has to pay a 3% fee on the total purchase to the credit card company. The only reason I use my credit card is because I get 1% cash back through my dividends credit card. So, what if I was given a different incentive? Let's say my local Chinese restaurant offers me a 1.5% discount on my purchase if I use my debit card? I still don't have to carry cash, which I hate. He cuts his transaction costs in half (with a debit card, the retailer usually pays a nominal $0.10 fee per transaction). And I get 50% more cash back on every purchase.

Bill O'Reilly recently made some interesting logic in defense of torture. I think the logic is good, but should bring us to the exact opposite conclusion he makes. Here's the scenario. Our armed forces have become big fans of using unmanned Predator aircrafts in Pakistan. These drone planes fly in remotely, and are quite good at taking out their target. Unfortunately, there are quite often civilian casualties. But, most people, including a recent guest on O'Reilly's show, claim that to be "acceptable collateral damage", because of how it has allowed us to decimate Al-Qaeda's leadership. So, this guy O'Reilly's interviewing starts railing at O'Reilly for not coming down against waterboarding. O'Reilly paraphrases with, "If we believe this guy has information that will allow us to track down key Al-Qaeda leaders, why wouldn't we?" The guest responds with, "I can't believe you're even thinking about allowing torture." O'Reilly ends with, "You just ok'd the killing of women and children in pursuit of the same result."

You hear stories about Dominican ballplayers in Major League Baseball, where their mother finally flies up to the states to watch their son play for the very first time, and they hit two home runs in the game. I would definitely strike out every time. When my wife and I are playing tennis recreationally at the high school down the street, I get nervous when people walking by glance over. When I ran cross country and played basketball in school, I preferred for my parents not to show up. My question is, can I switch? Are there people born scared who learn to not only get over it, but thrive under the spotlight?

I'm a Jon & Kate Plus 8 fan. This reality show chronicles the life of a family with twin girls, and sextuplets. It's good television A) because the kids are ridiculously adorable B) because the mother is entertainingly neurotic C) because the family is amazing. The kids are so polite and personable, and the parents are so good with them. I feel like I'm getting free future parenting lessons, and would quickly give gold medals to each parent for their abilities. Just last year, Jon & Kate traveled to Hawaii to renew their vows. Today, they admit to heading for a possible divorce. After watching these people for so long, you do feel like you know them. And I was quite angry/sad/hurt when I found out about it. A couple of days separated from that, and now I'm just left with the understanding that marriage is fragile. Our emotions are powerful. Our memories can be selective. And just like, something so beautiful can be lost. Keep your guard up.