The next pressure point comes this spring and summer, when Congress will have to raise the federal debt limit or else let the U.S. Treasury run out of cash to pay its bills.
With an overabundance of highly motivated graduates with impressive degrees entering the work force each spring, Major League Baseball can capitalize on the apprehensions of young adults when it comes to pursuing traditional and unstable careers in banking, financial services and law.
And, of course, this Arab Spring and the transitions now underway in several countries present both opportunities and urgent challenges when it comes to freedom of religion.
What will happen when the sun finally comes out and the snow stops and the ice melts and the whole landscape is transformed into spring and stuff is blooming and farmers are running their gigantic combines up and down the long rows?