I promise to get back to motorcycles soon, but first I have to share a dream about the 2012 Presidential Debate...

I have this persistent daydream that is set during the 2012 elections, in some debate between the Democratic nominee -- presumably Barack Obama but who knows? -- and the Republiban (er, make that 'Republican') nominee, To Be Determined.

In my dream, the structure of the debate allows the candidates themselves to pose questions of each other. The Democrat, when it's his turn, says this...

"I'd like to pose a question that does not relate to this campaign in particular or even politics in general Instead, I'd like to ask you to answer a simple question of fact. Biblical scholars have determined that, according to the Book of Genesis, the Earth is about 5,000 years old. By contrast, virtually all scientists including all of the scientists -- geologists -- who specifically study the earth, have concluded that it's about five billion years old. So there's a profound disagreement there; it's not as if the scientists think the earth's ten, or even a hundred or a thousand times older than the earth's age according to fundamentalists. No, scientists think the earth's a million times older than it is, according to the Bible. 


"So my question to you, sir, is simply this: How old is the earth? Is it more like 5,000 years old? Or more like five billion?"