It is a well known myth that while fires destroyed the great city of Rome, the emporer Nero sat on his rooftop playing his lyre and watching the flames engulf the heart of his empire. Whether true or not, the image persists and the popular saying “Nero fiddled while Rome burned” is readily applied to […]

Regular readers may have been wondering what’s been going on with Common Sense. My last post was a month ago, and that’s a long stretch, even for me. As you can see, Common Sense has undergone a facelift. After 3 1/2 years, I felt it was time for a change. I hope you like it. […]

My family of three spends about $400 a month at grocery stores for food and probably another $200 a month dining out or buying extras for cook-outs. Included in this budget is fresh produce and meat, organic dairy products, and a small assortment of snack (junk food) items. Also included in this budget is non-consumables […]

Proving once again to have their collective finger on the pulse of what really matters, the federal government has begun dispensing $40 coupons to households in the effort to make sure that no American will go without their precious television shows. All told, up to $1.5 BILLION has been set aside to protect the interests […]

Higher fuel costs are increasing the cost of food. The push towards corn-based biofuels has increased the cost of food too. And a stagnant economy has tightened the budgets of Americans everywhere. Economic numbers put forth by the government never account for food and fuel costs when determining the “state of the economy,” allowing them […]

This week is “Green Week” on NBC, a television network owned by General Electric, maker of all those fine, sparkly things that makes America the most materialistically enjoyable place to live in the world. On one hand, I have to commend NBC and GE for bringing to light the plight of global climate change and […]

When I wrote three days ago that the president was insane, I had no idea that the First Lady was equally insane too. In an interview yesterday on NBC’s Today Show, while talking about viewing television coverage of the Iraq war, Mrs. Bush shared this bit of information with Ann Curry and the rest of […]

(Author’s Note: This article was originally posted by me in March 2005 here. It was subsequently posted here at Bring It On! in August of 2006. Both times it was posted it enjoyed some good conversation in the comments section. Since today is Earth Day, and because of the increase in general discussion about the […]

  I get a lot of junk mail. Almost 140 pieces last month alone. I thought spam was supposed to get rid of junk mail. Instead, I also get about 350 pieces of e-mail spam a month in addition to the junk mail I get in my physical box. Most of the spam gets caught […]

Spring…a time of growth, or regrowth if you will… From our first footsteps as modern humans, our species has moved forward, stretching our potential as we improved our mortal condition, each new step taking thousands of years before its imprint could be seen. It took humanity about 190,000 years to move from the Stone Age […]