Universities have long been considered hotbeds of liberalism. Radical protests, dreary PC speech codes, far-left professors and outright attacks on conservatism are not just common but expected. Academia has become so stridently left-wing, faculty views even a single ember of center-right thought as a dangerous wildfire.

Saturday night, millions of people around the globe will turn off their lights from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. to honor Earth Hour. Since 2007, environmental activists have promoted this Gaia-appeasing sacrifice to conserve energy and raise awareness about apocalyptic climate change.

It has been four months since the election and Republicans are still in a funk. Whether hanging out at CPAC, in the local GOP office or on social media, wherever two or more are gathered in the Elephant’s name, the mood is downright dark. If Dr. Roget released his thesaurus today, under “conservative” you’d find blue, bummed, crestfallen, dejected, despondent, disconsolate, glum, lugubrious, morose, pessimistic and woebegone.

Finally, I cleaned out my Gmail inbox, one of the several email accounts I own. Since I rarely login to this particular service, there was a digital pile of 782 unread messages waiting for the delete button.

As Republicans were starting the 113th Congress, I offered them some unsolicited advice from my years in marketing. Noting the overwhelmingly pro-Obama bias of the mainstream media, I recommended they use a little messaging jujitsu. They could use the president’s rhetoric against him and win over a frustrated electorate at the same time.

Keep your word. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Don’t spend more than you have. This is common sense for most people. But in Washington, D.C., these grade-school lessons are considered downright radical.

Detroit serves as a cautionary tale warning of long-term liberal leadership. As Michigan’s governor prepares a state takeover of the terminally troubled city, many blame the short-sighted policies of the local Democratic machine. To be sure, runaway pensions, red ink and union obstinance have helped hollow out the once-mighty Motor City.

It's been a rough day so the boss lets you head home early. As you near your house, you see an unmarked van idling in your driveway. You park on the street and carefully open your front door to find a team of government agents digging through your bookcases, file drawers and medicine cabinets. Mail is scattered everywhere.“Who are you and what are you doing?” you ask.“Oh… you weren’t supposed to know about this,” the bureaucrat replies. “You never interrupted us before. Get off work early?”“But what are you looking for?”

Government makes us pay for a lot of stuff we don’t want. Cowboy poetry and robot squirrels and gherkin specifications and… look, there’s plenty of stupid out there.

Hallie Kuperman loves to dance. But what she loves even more is sharing this passion with visitors to her social dancing club, the Century Ballroom.Hallie purchased the vintage dancing space 16 years ago, turning it into a Seattle institution. The Century Ballroom not only teaches swing, tango and the foxtrot, it also hosts cabarets and other live performances for an eclectic crowd of all ages. The club’s trendsetting owner has become a prominent and beloved figure in the community.