1) Fluoride, an OK idea at best for protecting teeth, should not be dumped into the public water supply. Dumping hydrofluorosilicic acid, an industrial waste generated by the phosphate industry, into the water supply makes as much sense as putting rocket fuel in breast milk.

2) Vaccines, a great idea, should not be mandatory for school unless the disease it prevents is communicable in a school setting. Unless the students are involuntarily boffing in the hallways, Hepatitis B vaccine and Gardisil should not be mandatory. Not saying they're not a good idea--just saying they should not be mandatory.

3) College should be for expanding ideas, sharing thoughts, and learning. If you're going to college to get a job, well, don't look at the statistics. You'll only get depressed. If you're going to learn about snake poems, you're in luck. D.H. Lawrence's words haunt me still.

4) Bottled water, tainted by BPA and a ridiculous price tag, should be sought by the same people who seek Trinity Yachts and Sevruga caviar. Those of us who paddle and drink ale should just use tap water. Not only is it safer, it's a magnitude cheaper as well. And no, there is no (as in NO!) evidence that you need 8 glasses of water a day.

5) SMART Boards are fun, as are yo-yo's, and about as useful in a classroom. Once you get past the groovy factor, neither contributes much to thought. Invest your money in the poor man's white board instead. If you can't teach well using the back of a napkin, you can't teach well.

6) Walk. Really, just walk. Driving will get you killed.

7) Milk is for baby mammals. Cow's milk is for calves, human milk for infants. This should be glaringly obvious. That it's not is a testament the National Dairy Council's financial clout. Got Milk? should be replaced by Got a Brain?

8) Only an industrial society could think that developing a vaccine from a healthy aborted baby merits no debate. The rubella vaccine here in the States uses cell lines from abortuses. This is not the rant of a mad man, nor the rant of a frothing Catholic.

9) If your young child spends more time in front of monitors than at the family dinner table, you will get the child you deserve. Parenting is hard, but it matters. Get it right.

10) The designated hitter rule destroyed Major League Baseball.

The cow boob is from Natalie Dee, of course....

Runners up? Howard Gardner's intelligences,
BP's cleaning efforts, the NJEA, American Exceptionalism, unmanned drones,
the raised ceiling on estate taxes, and the striped bass' insistence on staying just off shore this fall. Really....