I may end up being entirely a solo author. I have yet to experience an academic keeping his or her word when it really mattered to me.

America is behind the rest of the world on climate change. OK. I agree. Here are five other things we are behind the rest of the world on. If we work hard, I'm sure we can catch up.

1. Communism

2. Genocide

3. Euthanasia

4. A. I. D. S.

5. Terrorism

I have become the official Obama apologist. How did this happen? I don't really know. It kinda crept up on me. It concerns this recent trip to Denmark to persuade the Olympic Committee to have the Olympics here, instead of elsewhere in the world. Granted, the Olympics are of dubious financial value, but hosting them is very prestigious for the city and country involved. Here are some things I've heard said about him, this trip, and the Olympics, and my responses.

1. The Olympics are not profitable. So?

2. It's not the President's job. True, but he chose to do it, and it would have benefitted the country had he succeeded, so, in the current Internet parlance STFU.

3. Presidents don't do something like this unless the outcome is already known. Apparently that is not true of this president. Are we going to condemn him for trying rather than praising the bravery it took to put himself on the line? The outcome is rarely known when one makes a sales pitch, and that is exactly what he was doing.

4. Dailey made him do it. Really? If Dailey does have the dirt on Obama (and I do not discount that theory) would he destroy his own party by taking down a sitting President? And besides, the three letter organizations at the President's beck and call could wash a lot of dirty laundry (and I'm sure the Clinton's would tell him EXACTLY how to accomplish it).

5. It was a smokescreen to talk to the general in charge of Afghanistan. OK, this is just liberal apologists. The President doesn't need a smokescreen to talk to a general, he needs a phone.

6. The Olympics were a vehicle for Resko and others to profit personally. Maybe, but I don't care. People win and lose all the time. You think there are some players in Rio who now own some suddenly valuable real estate? You think it was chance? I doubt it.

7. They should not have used government money for the trip. Promoting the nation is a form of advertising, at the very least. Even our draconian tax laws allow writing off advertising expense.

8. He handled it badly. Agreed. He and Michelle placed the focus on themselves, and to a lesser extent, Chicago in their 'impassioned pleas.' It's a common mistake people in sales make. The focus should have been on the athletes and the experience, with the underlying focus on the actual customer, the IOC. This would be a delicate pitch for even the very best. That it was not handled perfectly by someone who has never done anything remotely like this should not be surprising. I was impressed at how well he did do as a a matter of fact, given his lack of experience. Even so, I would not have used a teleprompter. He needs to learn to give a speech without crutches.

9. It wasn't a good use of time. I have to agree with this one. We're pushing 10% unemployment here in the US, and even though he did give Afghanistan some time he is woefully behind in managing that part of his presidency. If I were advising him I would have suggested he give it a pass, but that's the great thing about our democracy. We are able to make different decisions and still get along. Oh, and if he needed another reason not to go, more insane people are nuking up....

10. Oprah ate Denmark. Near as I can tell, this one's true.

Take care friends. And remember, don't cheapen your hatred of someone by prejudice. There are plenty of reasons to hate people individually. :-)

I found out this morning that the Republican health plan is: Don't get sick, and if you do Die Quickly. In response I'm going to post some song lyrics from a pretty liberal guy, one that I admire for a host of reasons.

In Europe and America, there's a growing feeling of hysteria

Conditioned to respond to all the threats

In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets

Mr. Krushchev said we will bury you

I don't subscribe to this point of view

It would be such an ignorant thing to do

If the Russians love their children too

How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer's deadly toy

There is no monopoly in common sense

On either side of the political fence

We share the same biology

Regardless of ideology

Believe me when I say to you

I hope the Russians love their children too

There is no historical precedent

To put the words in the mouth of the President

There's no such thing as a winnable war

It's a lie that we don't believe anymore

Mr. Reagan says we will protect you

I don't subscribe to this point of view

Believe me when I say to you

I hope the Russians love their children too

We share the same biology

Regardless of ideology

What might save us, me, and you

Is if the Russians love their children too

I love my children. That's why I want to be in charge of providing their health care. I want decisions made based on what is best for them, not what is best for the country as a whole. I don't think that makes me someone that hates America. It just means I love my children. I know, from watching someone with no insurance rack up half a million dollars in hospital debt that NO ONE IN AMERICA THAT NEEDS HEALTH CARE GOES WITHOUT. Attaching hateful rhetoric to a non-issue like health care and polarizing the country is shameful, and it won't change any one's opinion, on either side of the isle.

As Flava-Flav would say, WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! It has been a while since I wrote anything here. It is amazing what a time suck real life is. Really it's just this dissertation. It's fighting me right now but I will win. Packing my writing in between driving back and forth to Louisville, meeting with advisers, and my new hobby (roulette) is pretty difficult. But I made a decision a while back to enjoy my life. I have lived so long for the future, knowing, then thinking, then hoping, then desperately clinging to a future that would be the time and the place to live. The only time and place to live is now. I can not believe that I have spent the first half of my life chasing the second half, only to find out that there was more to chase in the second half than in the first. If I teach my kids nothing else, this lesson will be passed on. The future is not always what you make it. Sometimes it makes itself, and there is nothing you can do to change that. So, here is a list of things that I enjoy whenever I can:

cool sheets, white russians, lattes, interesting music, looking people in the eye and seeing their reactions, my research, making love, cooking, my wife sleeping on my chest, petting my dogs when they sleep, helping my children with their homework, fencing with ideas, taking pictures, especially in the fall and winter, travelling, the sound of poker chips clicking against each other, the surf on my feet, writing, listening to comedians, the moment when resistance folds, a fire in my back yard, or anywhere, driving fast with my heart in my throat, air conditioning, french manicures (not on me), girls who are confident enough to wear little black dresses, the feel of a quality firearm in my hands, or on my shoulder, Excellence in just about anything, my Movado wristwatch, my oroborus ring, relaxing in a house that I built with my own two hands, kissing, solving problems that no one else thinks to solve, South Park, independent coffee houses, improvisational theatre, dance music, technology, the endless list of friends I've made, and long baths.

Not a complete list, by any stretch, but some things that I thought up on the spur of the moment. I was going to write about America needing to grow a pair and embrace the change that they all wanted a few short months ago, but my heart wasn't really in it. I have some great artful things to say that could be repeated at cocktail parties to shut blowhards down, but it's obvious by the reaction of the American people that even though they were told who they were electing, they didn't believe. It's too fast for them to have changed their minds. And so some Americans are very happy, some are stuck with buyer's remorse, and the rest are parroting Limbaugh with 'See I told you So.' At least some are still happy.

Well, I have to buy airline tickets for DC, and prepare an abstract for a conference in Switzerland. Wish me luck! I really want to go to Switzerland, even though I'll be paying my own way. I want very much to succeed at the Babson Conference.

I received an unsolicited offer to interview today from University of California Fullerton. Funny how the world works. A few years ago I would have given anything for a ready made job there. Of course there's only one thing really worth going to California for, and that's why I would have been going. That thing is to blathe, which everyone knows means to bluff, and it probably would have turned out as badly as most bluffs do. Now, having been twice last year to within 20 miles of this campus I'm torn. It's beautiful. Truely. But could I even survive there without constantly thinking I was ten years too late?

Just watched Burn Notice. I love that show. My wife loves House, and that other medical show, The doctor in the Hamptons, whatever it's called. She loves NCIS. I loved the A-Team. I loved Fame. My grandparents loved Barney Miller. Their generation adored Dragnet and Perry Mason. THEY ARE ALL THE SAME SHOW. Let me say it again, softer. They are all the same show. They are excellence, in all its superlative glory, on display for us to admire. There is something in us that craves excellence. It's why we watch professional baseball, basketball, football, even bowling. Bowling for chrissakes. Quad amputees can bowl with their chins and an inclined plane. The blind can golf. But we watch those that are as near perfect as can be. Children do not emulate Leon Wood on the basketball court. 6 years after he retired, they're still emulating Michael Jordan. And they should. Excellence is worth emulating. It's what we want isn't it, for our kids to be excellent?

What is the carrot for excellence, and what is the stick? The stick is that if you are not excellent, you are ordinary. Most adults are ok with that. They have made peace with their 'normalcy.' Kids, not so much. They all want to be Jordan, or Madame Curie, or Watson, or Crick, or Edison, or for some slightly warped 80's children Gordon Gecko. Where does that go to die in us? When do we stop expecting the exceptional? When do we allow television to fill the void that could be filled by our efforts? Check out today's New York Post for one thing that kills it. Why achieve, when over half of what you accomplish will belong to the government, claimed by the government's guns and the 'need' of those less talented and/or hardworking. Why create when the end result is confiscation? John D. Rockefeller once famously said that he would rather have 1% of 100 men's efforts than 100% of his own, and I understand what he meant, but are we not entitled to the fruits of our own labor? When you tax to the point that the majority goes not to the producers, but to those who live off the government largess (THE LOOTERS FOR MY FELLOW OBJECTIVISTS), do you not invite inaction on the part of the producers? Let's examine Michael Jordan's stats in light of the Federal/State/NYC tax burden. Of basketball players we will agree that he is in the very top percentile. That, translated to the NY Post article referenced earlier is 58.68%.

Points per game before tax: 30.1 After tax: 12.43

Rebounds per game before tax: 6.2 After tax: 2.56

I could go on. Now, what would happen if his points were taxed (CONFISCATED) and distributed to the other teams in the league? Absurd? Really? How do we keep score in this world? Surely the other teams suffered from a lack of talent, compared to the Bulls in their glory days. They were slogging along in mediocrity. Is that not who redistribution is supposed to help, the middle class? If you added the proper share of a few high earners points to the other teams, the Bulls might not have had six championships. They could have been divided up between the Knicks, the Pacers and the Pistons. As a life long Pacers fan there is a part of me that would have welcomed this abomination. But the part of me that realizes that you don't get something for nothing would have been repulsed. It's not yours unless you make it folks. Period. And I guaran-goddamn-tee that Rick Smits and Reggie Miller would agree with me. If you don't see how this links to the world today, then go read Chicken Little or Something. Good night.