Where do new ideas come from? One thery is that they come from the conflict between older ideas. Hegel's famous dialectic went as follows: Thesis meets anti-thesis creating synthesis. Someone puts forward an idea, someone else opposes it and out of the conflict comes a new idea. I think that we see this in politics. Presiden Bush suggested a plan to reform Social Security. Some people opposed it. They try to knock holes in it. The President and his supporters rebutt. Out of the two idea...

I'm a secularist. I teach Sunday School at a Secular Humanist institution. But I'm not an atheist and I am certainly not immoral or amoral. There are so many misconceptions about what Secular Humanism is, I thought that I would clear the air. We are not atheists. You can be an atheist and a Secular Humanist, but you can also have strong religious beliefs. In fact my group is a Jewish Secular Humanist one. We do think that an individual's relationship with God (or lack thereof) is a privat...

Tomorrow at noon I am going to pick up "my best girl," my 9-year old daughter Lauren, and take her with me to donate blood at Red Cross. This will be my 23rd donation since 1994 according to Red Cross. Actually, I think that they missed some, but who is counting? If the donation of blood isn't a sufficient good deed, I get to be a role model at the same time! Bonus!!! Plus, I just like sharing the experience. Anything I do with my kids around is good. It makes me feel good. I will be hap...