It was an especially hot summer day growing up in rural Tennessee! Relief from the heat was nowhere to be found—unless we disobeyed my mother’s direct command, “Do not go swimming in that nasty cow pond!” Boys will be boys, the saying goes, as five brothers formulated a resourceful and cunning plan to go swimming without getting caught.

President Elect Barack Obama campaigned on the platform of change.  Throughout the year he spoke at hundreds of rallies across the country, promoting his ideas for a better tomorrow and launching his goals for change to the American people.

An item caught my eye in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's front page on December 5th.  It was an article on Iraqis and Afghans who have recently moved to the United States.  While some have faced hardship here, they love their adopted country.  (For all America's faults – and perhaps because of some of them – it is still a country that many dream of coming to.)

Eighty years ago, President Herbert Hoover famously promised, "A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage" if elected.  On the 80th anniversary of that promise, what is our ability to fulfill that pledge for the average American?

In 2008, an epochal event passed mostly unnoticed.  For the first time in history, more than 50% of humanity now lives in cities.  What are some issues and some predictions for our growing cities, and for civilization as a whole?