One Decision

It's been so long since Dwight last updated this blog. I can't blame him, I can't blame me - we're both busy fellows (to see what's happening with my life, visit www.vado-torva.blogspot.com).

One decision can change your life forever, or it can change every single corner of the universe as we know it. Read on, this is a pretty long post.

Get into character - as the president of the world. The year 2084, and the nations of the world, in an effort to forever quell international disputes, have united to form one single nation called the world. The leaders of state of each nation have convened in the world's capital city, Peace Point, to elect the leader of the newly-formed state.

The convention is declared a success, that a new leader of the world has been elected by unanimous decision. But it is decided to keep him faceless, unknown. The only marks of his leadership will be the decisions he (or she) makes.

And so we have a president of the world, disembodied but damn powerful nonetheless.


Fast forward twenty-six months later, when the two hundred ten-member World Senate has passed fifty new laws and the five hundred-member World Congress has helped build a new world. The skyscrapers of Peace Point scrape the sky - the tallest being the government center, New Babel Building.

You're in a suburban home just outside of Peace Point, which by the way lies in an enormous artifical island. You pick up the newspaper on your doorstep, and you're greeted by a surprising frontpage headline:

"PRESIDENT FALLS ILL"
President of the world rushed to infirmary; world temporarily leaderless

Just then, the phone rings. You rush to the living room and pick it up.

"Is this the home of [your name here]?" the female voice asks.
"This is me. May I help you?"
"I'm Jane Doe, public affairs spokesperson for the Office of the President. Have you read today's news?"
"Yeah. What's with the faceless president?"
"He's sick, in his private infirmary. Further details cannot be disclosed."
"What do you want from me?"
"The National Name Database contains seventy-eight billion names. The president said to install a temporary leader in his absence, a RANDOM person. So, I accessed the database and set a randomized selection process, telling the servers to only provide me with a random person between 18 and 60 years old.
Interesting, huh? Seventy-seven billion, nine hundred ninety-nine million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine other names were not selected. Instead, you were."
A moment of silence passes. "Yeah, right. Go fool someone else."
"In this time of adversity, do you really think there is time to joke around? I am serious. Come to the New Babel NOW." the line goes dead.

So you jump into your 2086 Picanto and gun the engine. The Picanto hovers fifty feet in the air, and you set autopilot to the New Babel. In ten seconds flat you're transported thirty miles away to the New Babel's parking pad. You head straight for the office of the spokesperson.

You enter the lavish office, where on an oak wood table on the far end there is a woman sitting. "Are you Jane Doe?" you ask.

She stands up, not bothering to answer your question. "You're [your name here]. Sit down."
You take a seat on a divan in front of the table. "You really aren't kidding."
"You're high above the clouds, sitting on a divan inside the Office of the Spokesperson of the President. Now, we have no choice but to install you as temporary leader, as the president demands."
You don't object, and she administers three oaths. After it is done, she declares, "you are the temporary leader."
"Alright, get me to my office! Let's start!" you say, excitedly.
"Hold on. Did I forget to mention? The president said you only get to make one decision, after which your term as temporary leader ends."
"ONE DECISION ONLY?"
"Yes."

Here it is. If you had the power to make one decision as temporary president of the entire world, what would it be?

Would You Rather...?

I just bought a game by this name for my son. There's only one rule: you have to choose among the choices given. Perhaps, it'd be be fun to pose and ponder a few scenarios here. So, think about it. Would you rather...

A) ...have a superhero power? If so, what power? Remember the 'hero' part, not just the 'super' part. I played this with my son and knowing a particular situation helped. Describe the situation in which the power would be, well, powerful.

B) ...be a religious leader? If so, what religion, which can be made up, and what would your religion teach or do? How would you inspire others, or would you bother? How would you deal with criticism about your religion?

C) ...be an explorer? If so, what would you explore? Would you prefer to explore alone or with a team? What equipment and/or talents (human, of course) would you require? What would be your motivation to keep going?

D) ...have an obscene amount of money, but no friends? And, yes, the old adage is true - you can't buy friends. What would be the cause of your not having friends? Would not having friends enable you to do things you couldn't do otherwise, like travel and mingle with different cultures?

Oh! By the way - this is going to be a growing blog. How? Well, after answering the above questions, post your own "Would you rather...?" scenario. Then, post another comment to answer a scenario in the comments of others.

A call from the president

Whew... it's been a while since this blog was last updated. Anyway, I'm here, so let's get going!

Picture yourself as a sixty-something businessman who owns a small estate in an undisclosed location in Europe. You are sleeping well in your elegant bed when your state-of-the-art telephone suddenly rings.

You get up, still half-asleep. Your gold-lined bedside clock reads 11.30 PM, United States Time (you're from the United States... you want a little piece of home to always be with you).

Turning on the lamp designed especially for you by the world's greatest artists, you pick up the phone.

"Hello, is this [insert name here]?" a familiar voice asks.
"Yeah, it's me," you reply, still trying to figure out who the voice is. "Your voice sounds really familiar. Who are you?"
"I'm the President of the United States!" he says, in a whisper.

Then you suddenly remember. In the past few weeks the United States had been all over CNN, Fox, and other news networks. Russia and its allies have declared success in designing and building an ultimately destructive bomb that can destroy the whole United States and part of Canada. They further stated that if their demands, which were already communicated to the White House, would not be met in three months they would drop the bomb - literally - in the geographical center of the United States, destroying the world superpower.

The White House had expressed their doubts. On their website, they had said, "imagine a bomb that could destroy the whole United States. Is that really possible? If we, the world superpower, cannot build any weapon of such magnitude, then who can?"

The president continues talking. "Anyway, [insert name here], I need your advice. You're a businessman and great thinker. Now, no-one outside of my cabinet knows what Russia's demand is, but I'm going to tell you. They want us to declare ourselves a Russian state, then they'll destroy our economy, and re-award independence! It's crazy, wacko!

"Now, I can't say I ain't afraid of the bomb-destroying-the-United-States thing, but I'm not entirely convinced. I'm calling you to ask your advice. I'll follow whatever you say, 'coz I trust you more than my whole friggin' cabinet. I've heard what you've done with your business empire. So, what do you say?"

It's your time to decide.

Do you tell him to submit to Russia's authority, or do you tell him to 'stop with all this crap! It's obviously a fake, pointless scare tactic!'?

OR, do you tell him to ask someone else for advice - this is too big of a deal for you to call?

p.s. This is all fake! There is no such crisis going on!

Masculine Marital Mentoring

Now let's get the man's POV. (But women are welcome to chime in.) A friend of mine sought advice from other men about his marriage. Exactly - Yikes! I knew it was trouble right away. It's almost like answering the dreaded question from your wife, "Does this dress make me look fat?" Here's the scenario...

Friend: "I can't go to the game with you tonight. Sorry, pal."

You: "Why not? Everything alright? You sound depressed, man."

Friend: "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that I went out with some guys after work yesterday 'cause a guy from our office was leaving. And, well, my wife doesn't want me going out two nights in a row."

You: (Uh oh. You get a sense that you know where this is going, so you try to cover the bases.) "Well, I guess I could understand if it was spontaneous. Especially if she had other plans, like a nice quiet evening with you."

Friend: "Oh no. She knew about the work outing weeks ago. I forgot to tell her until recently about the game, though. We didn't really have anything planned. She thinks that I already spend too much time out of the house doing my own thing."

You: "Hmph."

Friend: "She said she spoke to a couple of her friends and asked them how often I should have a night to myself to do whatever I want, like go to a game or jazz club with friends, and they said once or twice a month."

You: "Wow!" (Unable to restrain the disbelief at the small number.) "I would think [rate of outings omitted] would be good for both of you. How often do you stay home so she can get a night out?"

Friend: "That's just it. She doesn't really have any interests in going out. She'd rather stay at home and watch TV or read or talk. I have a lot of interests, though - sporting events, getting together with friends, book clubs, local concerts. I have things I want to do. What do you think is a reasonable number of nights in a week or a month to do those things?"

That was it: the dreaded question. Now, you're smack in the middle. However, unlike sitting in front of your friend who you fear is going to go back to his wife and say, "so-and-so said x number of times is healthy," for which you'd immediately end up on her 'most unwanted' list, this blog is a safe place to answer it honestly.

Would you go to the game anyway? What would you say? How would you answer the question your friend asked? How often should spouses pursue their own interests? (Hint: your answer doesn't have to be a number.)

A Bad Hair Day... of all days!

Hey, it's me, Phil.

Alright, let's set you up on the situation for the day, and let's tackle it from a female POV.

Finally, your best friend is getting married, and you have been chosen as a bridesmaid. Of course you have to look pretty and all (you'll never know - your future groom may be amongst the crowd in attendance), so you get your hair styled by a close friend.

During the hairstyling process, she asks you not to look at the mirror (she wants it to be a "surprise"). After two hours of painstaking hairstyling, she gives you the go-ahead to check yourself out.

Indeed, you are surprised, but not in a good way - your hairstyle isn't the "hot, hot, hot" effect your hairstylist friend described, but rather the "just woke up" disaster.

Things get worse. According to your beautiful silver watch, there's only one and a half hour left before the wedding starts.

Do you head for the wedding and hope they don't think it's that bad, or do you head for the parlor and hope your situation can be fixed in less than 1 and 1/2 hours? Or, worst of all, do you decide to ditch the wedding altogether?