Parkinson's Law, in its original form, states that "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." This was a humorous attempt at mathematically describing the rate at which bureaucracies expand over time -- the consequence of which is something that Washington is now dealing with. Hence the mania over the so-called "fiscal cliff" as the clock is ticking towards the January 1st and 2nd deadlines.

You know them as MasoniChip, or perhaps you've been led to believe it was a state and provincial endeavor intended to protect your little ones. They set up fairs, forge partnerships with law enforcement and even strive to distribute their services through North American public school systems. In Massachusetts this Freemason program was promoted by CBS News from the steps of the official State House and included their police dog, coincidentally named Mason. Reporters only failed to mention the private nod to those promoting him or that government had little to do with it.

While we debate economic momentum in the U.S., how much slower the Chinese economy will become and whether the downtrend in multiples has more to go, expect to see the stock market a little more shaky in the coming weeks and months. Yep, I said it -- more volatility.

Virtually every new business today tries to come up with a company name that will fit a dot-com domain name. Some of the new domain names work quite well -- like .org for governments, .edu for education and the newly minted ".xxx" for, well, you know. But businesses still love the dot-com.

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With the installation of Islamists in Libya, the election of so called "moderate" Islamists (whatever that means) and the upcoming Muslim Brotherhood takeover of Egypt, Osama bin Laden must be smiling in his watery grave at the bottom of the Arabian Sea.

Who is listening to the folks camping out in downtown Manhattan? President Obama should call out the root cause of his shortcomings at the polls, but is otherwise engaged in retaining Wall Street support for his re-election campaign. And what of us, informed and active, democracy-loving citizens?

It's no wonder that our political leaders are having such a difficult time introducing the policies needed to reduce greenhouse gases. They would not see the climate effects of this policy realized during their political career. In fact, they may not be realized in their entire lifetime.

As the global economy continues to struggle, the image of heroic leadership has waned. President Obama falls into this category, exhorting Americans to buy his economic agenda but running into the obstacles presented by Congress and a cynical and deeply divided public.

A Kids in the Hall skit once offered this pithy observation: "Americans know as much about Canada as straight people do about gays."