"The Republican Party has had its success over the years, because it's supposed to stand for something, whether or not it ever does. The reason the Democratic Party never stays in power is because it stands for everything." If I asked you what the idealized Republican Party stands for, you'd probably say something to the effect of small government, low taxes, strong defense, right? If I asked you what the idealized Democratic Party stands for, I'd get a thousand different answers. That's a huge marketing problem. If you don't believe me, let's try it.

...as a political end game. A democracy simply allows for the tyranny of the majority, rather than the whims of a single man. In the democracy of the United States, this leaves us with a fairly free nation. In the democracy of Palestine, this leaves us with Hamas. Even our democracies must be checked by a limited-government constitution. One that does not allow for the many to vote themselves money from the few. One that does not allow for the many to strip the rights of the few. One that does not allow for the many to make decisions for the few. It is up to us to not allow our constitution to "evolve" to meet the needs of the present. That's what love is for.

This commercial has been out for a while, but I want you to look beyond the physical comedy this time and listen to the message. The First Diet Cola for Men. It's brilliant. Because that's precisely the messaging someone like me needs to hear. Seeing a male drinking a Diet Pepsi out of those old sky blue cans literally made me feel uncomfortable. Obviously this is silly, and a character flaw on my part, but it's reality, too. And bravo to Pepsi for trying to exploit it. In fact, I was so impressed by this commercial that I actually picked up a 2-liter of Diet Pepsi Max the other day at the store. But, after seeing it contained aspartame, I quickly put it back. It gives me headaches.

Seriously? As people are becoming more and more health-conscious, you design a breakfast food that looks like a twinkie? Everything about this idea grosses me out.

"I always give persistence a try. And if doesn't work out, I move on to something else."

Let's say the U.S. starts to regulate carbon emissions on individual motor vehicles, and new catalytic converters are developed and mandated on new model cars in order to meet these regulations. Now, let's say you could, with some technical know-how, manually remove this converter and save 10% on your fuel efficiency. However, your carbon emissions go up ten-fold. Would you do it?

Here's the problem. I don't believe anything my politicians or media personalities tell me anymore unless I want to hear it. If they tell me a politician I dislike has been caught in corruption, I am quick to accept it because it fits the mold I have in my head. If they tell me there's a dangerous pandemic on the loose, I don't take it seriously beacuse a) they usually grossly exaggerate these things, and have a good incentive to do so in the case of media (ratings), and b) i don't want there to be a dangerous pandemic on the loose. So, if one actually comes, will we even believe it?

Have you looked at the official list of swine flu symptoms? Fever, Cough, Sore Throat, Body Aches, Headache, Chills, Fatigue. Bet you didn't even know you had it. You're welcome.

"St. John's College is a co-educational, four year liberal arts college known for its distinctive "great books" curriculum. There are no majors and no departments; all students follow the same program. Students study from the classics of literature, philosophy, theology, psychology, political science, economics, history, mathematics, laboratory sciences, and music. No textbooks are used. The books are read in roughly chronological order, beginning with ancient Greece and continuing to modern times." So, what do you think? Personally, I wish I had gone there. But, perhaps it took me getting my degree to wish for a school like that. And this business degree does get me in the door for a lot of different job opportunities that I doubt the general degree from St. Johns does. But, undoubtedly, the students who graduate from this program are better equipped for most jobs than I was after earning my degree. Right?

Since getting laid off earlier this year, I've started to do freelance marketing work and recently decided to try and create a business out of it. To aid in this pursuit, I downloaded a trial version of Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 and checked out Dreamweaver CS4 for Dummies and Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 Digital Classroom from my local library. Within a day and a half of reading through the first book, I had my site up and running. The second book is a bit more detailed, so it's taking me a few days to get through, and I'm really learning a lot. I'll likely update the site once I'm done. Both books have been tremendously helpful, and I highly recommend them both to anyone who's looking to learn Dreamweaver. The one other book I checked out, Dreamweaver CS4: Visual Quickstart Guide, was confusing and poorly laid out. Here's my point. I'm doing in one week what it's probably taking kids a semester or more to do at a university. I'm working at my own pace. Using tremendously helpful textbooks, some of which contain video tutorials. Stopping where I'm having trouble. Speeding past things I understand. And most importantly, I'm really learning this stuff. If one was truly self-motivated, how many collegiate degrees would be better served by simply giving the student a computer and a library card?