People ask me why on earth I gave up a perfectly good job at a national security consulting firm to become a teacher. A special ed teacher. A MIDDLE SCHOOL special ed teacher.

My typical answer: "Insanity runs in the family."

Because I risk sounding like an idealistic kook if I confess the real reason: that after 15 years of thinking about all the ways that people can destroy each other, I eventually figured out that  the only way to win wars is not to fight them ... and the only way I can think to prevent wars is to make sure we have a citizenry smart enough to demand that our government find other ways to resolve disputes. Even if I have to educate them myself.

Remember the movie War Games? "The only way to win is not to play." 15 years of drafting reports on everything from space warfare to nanotechnology & I'm making major life changes because Matthew Broderick (in one of his LESSER movie roles) told me to.

But then, I already mentioned the genetic predisposition to insanity, didn't I?