Open Letter to Al Gore:

Dear Al,

This is to inform you that the symposium on global warming scheduled for February 16 in Chicago, Illinois, has been canceled due to severe winter weather conditions. We suggest you try another topic.

Coins or Paper?

There seems to be a real tug-of-war going on between congress and the American people. It appears that congress is determined to present us with a dollar coin; it also appears that the American people are not interested in this item.

During 2008, the United States Mint will issue $1 coins honoring four past presidents: Monroe, Adams, Jackson and Van Buren.

I like this idea, as it might cause some people to learn more about the past of our great country. The question is, how do we get the coins into the hands of the American public? In my opinion, the solution to this problem is to stop printing paper dollars. This will help the vending machine industry, as it can recognize coins more efficiently than paper money. It will require a real education campaign to get this idea off the ground.

As an after-thought to this discussion, I find it sad that our American dollar has taken such a beating on the international market. That’s a discussion for another day.

You’re invited to share your thoughts.