Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in New York last week to address students at Columbia University and to speak at the General Assembly of the United Nations. In his remarks introducing the Iranian President, Lee Bollinger, President of Columbia University, criticized the Iranian leader saying that he “exhibits all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator.” Ballinger’s criticism was probably the result of the incredible criticism and public image problems associated with inviting Ahmadinejad to Columbia.

Mahmoud just can’t seem to keep his pie hole shut and welcomes any opportunity to flap his jaws. His most controversial remarks fall into two categories; the denial of the holocaust and the destruction of Israel.

December, 2005. “The west has given more significance to the myth of the genocide of the Jews, even more significant than God, religion, and the prophets.” Speech in the Iranian city of Zahedan. Source: Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

October, 2005. Quoting from remarks made by Ayatollah Khomeini, Ahmadinejad says, that Israel “must be wiped out from the map of the world.” Source: Islamic Republic News Agency.

When asked by Columbia University students whether or not he favored the destruction of Israel, Ahmadinejad refused to answer. He also replied that “If the holocaust is a reality of our time” it should be researched from “different perspectives.”

Perhaps the highlight of the one-hour session came when Ahmadinejad responded to a question about the treatment of homosexuals in Iran. His reply: “In Iran we don’t have homosexuals like in your country.” This brought a well-deserved outburst of mocking laughter from the student audience. In one instant any remaining possibility that Ahmadinejad would be considered to be even a slightly rational human being went out the window. All of a sudden it didn’t look like Columbia University had errored by inviting Ahmadinejad. It looked instead like Columbia had cleverly set a trap into which the Iranian leader had willingly entered, only to be exposed as a charlatan.

Freedom of expression has a way of exposing con men. Rational discourse soon separates those with facts from those who are illusionary. In coming to Columbia University Ahmadinejad figured he would have a worldwide stage to express his radical views; he was right. Now the entire world, including impressionable college students who are sometimes easily mislead, understand his true nature. Ahmadinejad is indeed a fool, and a dangerous one as well.

As of the time this blog was published the Chicago Cubs were leading the national league central division by a slim 2.5 games over the amazing, young Milwaukee Brewers. Never mind that the NL Central is the weakest division in baseball; there’s playoff fever in Wrigleyville!

This year the competition for playoff spots is going right down to the wire, especially in the National League. Some races are so tight that even a single win might be the difference between going to the post-season and cleaning out the lockers. In baseball, every game counts, whether it’s being played in chilly April or on the last day of the September. Baseball isn’t like the national hockey league where the regular season is meaningless because just about every team makes the playoffs. In baseball you earn the right to be in the playoffs by winning your division, plain and simple.

Baseball season is a lot like life itself; it’s not a sprint, but a marathon. Each team plays 162 games; 81 at home and 81 on the road. By All Star break in early July some teams are already hopelessly out of the pennant race. For those teams and their fans the rest of the season must seem like an eternity; the only excitement being the possibility of playing the “spoiler” to a division contender at the end of the season. In those cities, fans dream of “next year” when hope blooms again like the spring flowers.

That’s what Septembers are usually like in Wrigleyville; thoughts drifting off to next year. But this year there is actually a pretty good chance that the hapless Cubs will win their division and earn a spot in the playoffs. The pundits don’t believe that any NL central team will progress beyond the first round, but look what happened to St. Louis last year. The cards were considered a weak team, but got hot and won the World Series!

On Sheffield Avenue, right across the street from the right field bleachers, is a sign on one of the bleachered Greystones with the Latin words Eamus Catili (Let’s Go Cubs). Below that sign is the inscription AC046299. AC stands for Anno Catuli (In the year of the Cubs). The first two numbers (04) indicate the number of years since the Cubs won the central division in the National league, which last happened in 2003. The second two digits (62) indicate the number of years since the Cubs have appeared in a World Series, which last occurred in 1945. The last two digits (99) indicate the number of years since the Cubs have won a World Series, which hasn’t been since 1908. Yes, folks, that’s 1908, four years before Wrigley field was built! Two world wars have been fought since the Cubs have won a World Series. Cub’s legendary announcer Harry Carey was born, lived, and died without witnessing the Cubs win a World Series.

In the 1945 World Series the Cubs lost to the Detroit Tigers. It was during the 1945 Series that Chicago bar owner Billy Sianis brought his pet Billy Goat to the game. Billy and the Goat had box seat tickets. However, as the game wore on the objectionable odor of the Goat became an issue and Sianis and the goat were ejected. Sianis cursed the Cubs, saying that they would never again play in a World Series at Wrigley Field. Sianis’ World Series Billy Goat curse still stands today.

Despite the fact that the Cubs are always long shots to get into the World Series, just the fact that they have a chance to get into the playoffs this year brings a fountain of optimism to Wrigleyville. Early in the morning on game days, beer truck drivers can be seen wheeling endless kegs of beer into local taverns. As the brown line EL train rumbles overhead to merge with the red line tracks heading south to the Loop, restaurant workers hose down sidewalks and set up tables and chairs for the thousands of fans that will eat and drink in Wrigleyville this day. Over at the Salt & Pepper Diner on Clark Street, longtime waitress Karen serves up a Popeye Omelet to a customer who seems more intent on reading the front page of the Chicago Tribune. Karen knows that this will be a big tip day for her. In fact, everyone who works in Wrigleyville today will make money.

Oblivious as to whether this is a game day or not, Ernesto drives his old pickup down the alley, honking as he turns corners. He looks for anything metal that residents have left alongside for him to recycle. Air conditioners, old pipes, discarded steel furniture; you name it, if it is metal, Ernesto takes it. It’s tough being an illegal alien, but driving a truck down alleys looking for scrap metal allows Ernesto to send more money weekly to his Mother in Mexico than she can earn in a month.

An hour before game time Pete rides his bicycle up Seminary street to Addison street and then down Clark street to Roscoe street, where he ducks into the alley behind his house. He’s checking to see how full the parking lots are. Ron’s lot on Seminary and Clark is almost full. Bob and Ivy are parking the last of their block-in slots. Pete knows that full lots mean that he’ll get as much as $50 for each of the three cars that he can legally park behind his garage. Half-full lots might mean that he’ll have to settle for $30, unless there is a mad panic after the game starts. Pete knows that if the Cubs make the playoffs this year he’ll get at least $60 per car. He might even charge $80 if some guy is crazy enough to bring a Hummer, Escalade, or dual axel pickup down to Wrigleyville. He always gets more money for the big vehicles.

An hour before game time Billy stands on the southeast corner of Clark and Addison, just across the street from the friendly confines. A wiry black man with an infectious, cheery countenance, he’s got a large tray strapped to his back, crammed with large bags of peanuts. At $5 for a large bag, fans can get at least three-times as many nuts for the money from Billy as they would from vendors inside the park. It’s legal to take the peanuts inside the “Friendly Confines”, so Billy always does a land office business. Billy stands on the curb with his back to the traffic, facing the fans that are waiting for the traffic light to change. For about 45 seconds he’s got a captive audience. He skillfully chants out his sales pitch for the peanuts, but unlike many vendors, Billy’s words have a sweet, even loving, tone. He truly enjoys this job and it shows. Once, between light changes, he whispered in my ear that “The corner of Addison and Clark is the finest place in the world. There is no place that I would rather be.”

Xiao makes her last inspection of the kitchen as the woks hit the fire at Penny’s Noodles on the corner of Roscoe and Sheffield. All days are busy as Penny’s but today she will get busy earlier than normal because of the Cub’s 1:20 start. Petite and pleasant, Xiao has worked at Penny’s for twelve years. Across the street at Redmond’s Tavern, Bouncer Cory Pavek stands outside, checking ID’s. Things will be pretty mellow until the game lets out and then he’ll have to diplomatically turn away those who have already consumed too much Old Style. However, he looks forward to today’s shift. It will be easier because of the fact that it’s a week day and many of the bar’s patrons will leave early because they have to report for work tomorrow.

After the game ends, fans sing “Go Cubs Go” as they watch the hoisting of the big white flag with a blue “W” from the flagpole at the top of the center field scoreboard. The “W” signifies a Cubs win. If the Cubs lose, a flag with a large “L” is hoisted. Soon, crews smother the old ballpark, quickly disposing of discarded beer cups, crackerjack bags, cotton candy sticks, frosty malt containers, and pretzel parts. It’s a pleasant evening. The firemen of Engine Company 78, located in the shadow of Wrigley’s left field wall, sit in lawn chairs with the door open. Neighborhood residents bring their dogs by the firehouse and chat with Chicago’s finest, while their canines drink from a big white bucket of water that is constantly refreshed from the dribblings of a hydrant spicket. As the sun recedes, greystones and brownstones cast shadows of historic elegance on the cracked pavement. It is peaceful for now. Another day has passed in Wrigleyville, home of the Chicago Cubs.

Last week my Vice President of Sales came back from Washington State, where they manufacture, among other things, the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. He had visited one of our customers, a firm that manufactures components for the big superliner. The owner of that firm, swamped with business, expressed his frustration about being able to hire good people in his manufacturing facility. Despite the fact that his average wage is well over $18 per hour with health care coverage and other fringe benefits, he has difficulty hiring people that he can count on.

Another customer of ours in Louisiana has the same problem, unable to hire even unskilled young workers who are willing to show up every day and take their jobs seriously. In our shop a high school graduate can come to work for us. If he is serious about his duties we will put him through technical school or assist him with a four-year degree in engineering. After he graduates we will provide him with a job that will lead to an excellent career with our company. For any ambitious young man or woman, the pay and benefits are good. By the time they have spent a few years with our company, their skills will be real and they will be in tremendous demand. That’s why we need to pay them more and more, to keep their skill sets in our company.

It would be one thing if you had to be a rocket scientist to get a good job, but that’s simply not the case. Manufacturing people all over the country are saying to me, “Give me a person that will show up for work on time every day. If that person has a good attitude and is enthusiastic about learning, I’ll teach him the skills that he needs to literally write his own ticket in our company.”

Some young people are told that there are no opportunities available to them in this country. This is true if you’re lazy, have no ambition, speak some sort of jive talk that doesn’t resemble English and don’t want to learn or sacrifice for a brighter future. But if you are a reasonably intelligent, forward-thinking, and responsible, all you need to do is show up and try; the job will be waiting for you. In fact, I think that developing a promising career is easier for today’s young people than for those of any previous generation. One reason is that companies need good young people more than ever before. The other reason is that today’s young people don’t have much competition among their peers, many of whom idle away their time in wasteful pursuits.

Some advice for young people: Take your job seriously. Don’t think that you know it all; you probably have overestimated your knowledge. Listen to veteran workers; they may be old, but they have learned a lot of “tricks” through the years and you will benefit by learning from their hard-won experience. Be respectful to your boss, but don’t forget to be equally respectful of your co-workers. Don’t burn any bridges; this always comes back to haunt you later in your career. If you’re not challenged, tell you boss that you want more work, or more difficult work. Don’t worry if you’re criticized by those who lack ambition; they are going nowhere; you are going somewhere. Be bold; sometimes it is easier (and smarter) to beg forgiveness than to ask permission. Remember that your value in the workplace is only as good as your skills; it is the people who actually know how to do something that go places.

If you don’t believe me when I say that the world is your oyster with a good attitude and a work ethic, e-mail me. I’ve got a job for you! And I’m Serious!

In 1920, at the beginning of the Prohibition era, the Reverend Billy Sunday made a bold prediction about it’s success saying, “The reign of tears is over. The slums will soon be a memory. We will turn our prisons into factories and our jails into storehouses and corncribs. Men will walk upright now, women will smile and children will laugh.”

From 1920 – 1933 the passage of the 18th Amendment to the U.S, Constitution prohibited the manufacture, distribution and consumption of alcohol. However, Billy Sunday’s “noble experiment” did not reduce crime or solve social problems as he had claimed. Nor did Prohibition improve health and hygiene in the United States. As a result, alcohol was re-established as a legal drug with the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 and it remains legal to this day.

To economists, prohibition of voluntary exchanges between a willing buyer and seller is pure folly, whether we are talking about the “War on Drugs” or the illegality of prostitution and gambling. In the entire history of humankind no government has ever successfully stopped such activities and no government ever will. The public would be better served if government legalized (or at least decriminalized) these activities, raked in the tax revenue from their consumption, and used a good portion of that revenue to treat the unfortunate souls addicted to these substances and/or activities.

The majority of Americans are in favor of prohibiting drugs like cocaine, heroin, met amphetamine, and even marijuana yet they give alcohol a pass. In fact, many people don’t even regard alcohol as a drug. Rather than coming to grips with the fact that alcohol use is directly correlated with traffic deaths, job loss, domestic abuse, and crime, alcoholic beverages are celebrated as a “right of passage” to adulthood. Many parents accept underage drinking on the part of their teenagers as a “fact of life”, having done it themselves and expecting that their sons and daughters will do the same. While colleges and universities make conscious efforts to educate their 18-22 year old customer base about the dangers of binge drinking, admonitions for moderation are largely ignored by college students who are away from home for the first time with plenty of access to beer and hard liquor.

Sometimes the irresponsible use of alcohol causes minor inconveniences. Living in the same neighborhood as a medium-sized university, my wife and I must cable down all of our furniture on our front porch. Our pots containing flowers must be bolted to the porch or cement. Leaving lawn sprinklers outside overnight invites about a 50% chance that they will be missing in the morning. Newly planted trees with a trunk diameter of less than two inches must be supported by iron rods, less they be snapped off by roving drunks. When we were raising our children they learned the “bad words” at a very young age, due to the incessant late-night yelling of potty-mouthed youths. The irony is that these same students, when sober, are almost always respectful, intelligent and enjoyable human beings. Alcohol turns them into little monsters.

Other times the use of alcohol is deadly. Two good friends of mine were almost killed by a drunken driver a couple of years ago. Their rehabilitation took months and months, exacting upon them a terrific economic and psychological toll. The drunk driver was a high school student who had previously never been in trouble, a relatively “innocent” offender. Last week in Chicago a young man with a criminal record decided, while heavily intoxicated, to push a 62-year old Vietnamese immigrant off a pier at Montrose beach. The fisherman didn’t know how to swim and drowned, despite the efforts of bystanders to save him. The drunken fool who pushed the fisherman had previously indicated to bystanders that he was going to “give a fisherman a swim.” He is now incarcerated and charged with first-degree murder. He will probably spend the rest of his life in prison, sparing the rest of society the injury or death that he would likely have caused in the future. Where alcohol is concerned it doesn’t matter if an innocent teenager or a dangerous thug misuses it, you may end up dead in either case.

Regardless of the cavalier attitudes displayed by many in our society, alcohol is a serious mind-altering substance. It is a drug. Common sense and historical perspective indicate that prohibition is not the answer. Alcohol should remain legal. However, we should have zero tolerance about accepting the consumption of alcoholic beverages as an excuse for any crime. Sentences should never be lightened because the perpetrator was “under the influence of alcohol and didn’t realize what he/she was doing.” When you use alcohol you accept the fact that your judgment is going to be impaired. As such, you must accept the full consequences of the impairment, period. No further discussion should be necessary.

Last week was the first day of classes at Winona State University; an exciting time to meet my new students and start the regimen of the fall semester. For students, college life presents the challenge of balancing class attendance, study time, necessary rest, social activities and sometimes even part-time work or athletic activities into a 24 hour day. Some of them do a masterful job of it and others fail miserably.

During my freshman year in college there was this kid in our dorm named Lenny. I never saw Lenny study. He went to bed real late and slept in till noon almost every day. The interesting thing about Lenny was that any time of the night you could find him if you wanted to play some ping pong down in the recreation room or play cards in the lounge. I know most of this from the testimony of my other dorm mates because my waking hours didn’t jive much with Lenny’s, but they all told me that Lenny was available every night of the week, as long as you wanted to mess around between midnight and 4 a.m. After the first semester some rumors circulated that Lenny was on academic probation. The only thing I know for sure about Lenny is that he never returned for his sophomore year in college. He was a real nice guy, friendly and accommodating, but I never saw him again.

Fortunately most college students manage their time much better than Lenny managed his, but most of them don’t get the full benefit of University life due to inefficient use of time. At the beginning of the semester I often ask the students in my classes what they would be doing if they weren’t in college. Most of the time they say they would be working some kind of full-time job, Monday through Friday, 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week. Then I ask them a simple question, “What would your life be like in college if you worked a 40-hour week?” They seem a bit puzzled at first and then I explain that a 40-hour week may be the key to academic and social success in college.

I call my program the “Lunchbox Plan for Collegiate Success.” My proposition is simple; just like most other workers, I recommend that college students go to work Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with an hour off for lunch. Every hour they spend in class or studying their academic subjects counts as an hour of “work.” All other time is “leisure.” For example, if they get up at 7 a.m. they have time to eat breakfast and start their day at 8 a.m. If their first class is at 10 a.m. they should spend from 8-10 a.m. studying academic subjects in a private cubicle in the library. At 10 a.m. they go to their first class, followed by a class at 11 a.m. By noon they’ve got four hours of “work” completed. After a leisurely lunch over noon hour, they study from 1-2 p.m. at the library before attending their two-hour class at 2 p.m. After dismissal from that class at 4 p.m. they go back to the library to study another hour from 4-5 p.m. The eight-hour work day is over. They now have time to eat dinner, go out with their friends, attend a movie, or engage in other leisurely activities.

Under my famous “eight hour student work day” collegians have every evening free after 5 p.m. They also have every weekend free, all weekend! Furthermore, the quality of leisure is better for those on my “Lunchbox” plan. While their friends party, nagged by the knowledge that they have uncompleted papers or homework that will be due on Monday, the Lunchbox students have already completed their work and can party all weekend if they wish, “guilt free.”

Some minor revisions to the plan might be helpful. I realize understand that like hamsters, college students are basically nocturnal, preferring to stay up late at night. Perhaps a student will want to start his work day at 10 a.m. and work till 7 p.m. That’s fine, as long as he puts in his 8 hours every day, between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. There may be, on occasion, the necessity to brush up on Sunday evening for a Monday exam, but honestly, if the student has “worked his forty” he shouldn’t have the need to cram for an exam.

Many students, when presented with the freedom of planning their daily activities, stay up late into the night, causing them to be less than “mentally sharp” when they attend classes. Late nights and sleep deprivation cause some students skip classes too often. Many students regularly neglect their studies when presented with opportunities for leisure. All of the above are formulas for both academic and personal disaster. The problem is that, free from the shackles of parental monitoring, there is no daily regimen or routine in the lives of some students. They become less than efficient, sleeping till eleven o’clock in the morning while their “Lunchbox” competitors have already completed three hours of “work.”

My professorial “Lunchbox Plan” for students hasn’t caught on very well. Most students snicker when they first hear about it, but some students are masters at planning their days. Student athletes, in particular, are forced to plan carefully due to the fact that they must spend several hours a day in training. They have little time for leisure and are forced to plan their days more carefully. It is the students with too much time on their hands that are the worst planners. The irony of my “Lunchbox” plan is that I’m not asking students to do anything that they wouldn’t already be doing if they weren’t in college; or am I asking them to do anything different that they will be doing after they leave University life.