Plain and simple: I LOVE CHEESE. So when my wife told me there was a cheese tasting (I prefer to call it a cheese rave) happening on the south side this past weekend, I immediately put it on my calendar and ensured that nothing would derail visiting the GREAT AMERICAN CHEESE COLLECTION.

For my EMBA class "The Weave", our professor assigned for reading a John Templeton Foundation Conversation called "Does The Free Market Corrode Moral Character?" We were then tasked with choosing which author's position was most aligned with ours. After reading them all, I most agreed with John Gray. Gray is right when he says, "An economic system is good to the extent that it harnesses human imperfections in the service of human welfare." I would also add that we ought not look to free markets or central planning to correct the failings of man.

I am off to Atlanta shortly for the Urban Land Institute's Spring Council Forum. This should be an interesting session as we are almost a year into the beginning of the noticeable signs of the recession. The impact has been huge on the real estate interests that serve on a variety of the councils. It will be interesting to see who has survived. I know many of our friends will not be joining us this year.

Thought folks might be interested in following my reporting on the Examiner.com on the topic of NIMBYism in the Chicagoland area and soon to be the nation. My first post is up on the Chicago Examiner page. You can read it here.