In the mega best seller of the Renaissance, Das Narrenschiff, German theologian Sebastian Brant in 1494 satirized the pretensions, delusions and follies of his day through descriptions of passengers on a ship bound for the fool's paradise of "Narragonia." Brant's depiction of humanity as a ship of fools sailing without rudder or compass captured our imagination then and now, inspiring a painting by Hieronymous Bosch, a song by the Grateful Dead. So when the research ship Akademik Shokalskiy got stuck in the ice about 40 miles from Antarctica, those who knew the purpose of its voyage dubbed it the "Ship of Fools." "It would take a heart of stone not to laugh," said British journalist Leo McKinstry. Aboard the vessel were 22 scientists headed by Chris Turney, a professor of climate change at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia; his wife and two children; four journalists, and 26 tourists. During the eight days he awaited rescue, Prof. Turney continued to assert Antarctic sea ice is melting.  It's been growing for 35 years, but Prof. Turney evidently concluded that if what he saw contradicted his climate model, his eyes must be lying. There are no believers like true believers.  Prof. Turney could have been captain of Das Narrenschiff.

The deadliest folly in history began 100 years ago this August. The 20th Century dawned with more hope and promise than any before it.  Living standards were rising rapidly.  During it, poverty, disease and war could be eradicated, many intellectuals believed. Until August, 1914.  More than 9 million soldiers and 16 million civilians died during World War I -- an appalling butcher's bill for a war no one wanted. Our world is very different.  Surely national leaders now wouldn't "sleepwalk into war" as Kaiser Wilhelm, Czar Nicholas, et. al. did back then?  A growing number of military scholars and historians aren't sure - such as Sir Max Hastings, who is hearing "echoes of 1914." The world is teeming with those echoes, from the Middle East to China - and they are reverberating loudly due to the incompetence and fecklessness of Barack Hussein Obama.

The struggle between the productive and the destructive never ends. The productive are those who add more value and wealth than they consume, and the destructive are those who destroy more value and wealth than they create. Will 2014 be a year of production or destruction? Those private individuals, firms or institutions such as the Federal Reserve and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that make economic forecasts for the United States or the global economy are actually making judgments about the outcomes of the struggles between the productive and the destructive. The good news is that most people will work hard and honestly to create more wealth for their families in 2014 -- whether they are creating a new business or product, or just doing a really good job. The bad news is that in the United States, individuals and businesses now face $54 billion more in new federal taxes and a torrent of new regulations and rules that, for the most part, make life harder.

The Green Bay Packers paid quarterback Aaron Rodgers $12 million last year.  That was 750 percent more than the average salary for all 72 players on the active roster, practice squad and injured reserve ($1.6 million); 1,850 percent more than the median salary ($647,840), and 117.7 times (11,770 percent) more than the lowest paid Packer ($102,000). Rodgers is worth every penny, most Packer fans think.  I'm quite sure Mae, the TTP Forum's #1 Packer fan does. Green Bay was trailing the Chicago Bears, 28-27, with just 46 seconds left in the game on Sunday (12/29) when Rodgers, facing an all-out blitz on fourth and 8, threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb, propelling the Packers into the playoffs. "You have to marvel at the fact that he was going to his left and made that kind of throw," said Bears coach Marc Trestmann. Packer players don't begrudge Aaron Rodgers his much higher salary, because they know his pay is based on extraordinary performance, which puts money in their pockets.  Because they made the playoffs, each Packer will be paid about $22,000 more -- equivalent to a 21 percent bonus for the lowest paid players. If Democrats, most especially their leader Mr. Zero, had as little concern about "income inequality" as do football players, coaches and fans, we'd be a lot better off.