This month seems to have market the beginning of the 2012 US Presidential elections. Over the past few months, our President has markedly shifted to campaign mode, and his field of challengers is emerging from the pre-season fog of speculation and noncommittal. The press is spooling up, with editorial pages laced with venom for the party they traditionally opposed, and heaps of praise coming out for their favored candidate.

I've never been in another country for an entire election cycle, but it seems we have drawn them out in the US to the point of diminishing returns. A first-term President has two years to actually govern the country, then seems to suspend any meaningful efforts to govern in order to campaign for another four years in office, effectively ignoring his primary responsibly for half of his term in the case of a one-term President, or 25% of the term for a two-term President, the maximum allowed in the United States.

I can think of few other jobs where 50% of one's time on the job is spent securing future employment, save for my profession of consulting. Perhaps I should be more sympathetic to the sitting President, since at least I do not face the constant condemnation, peppered with occasional lavish praise, from an overzealous press corps!

For little more than entertainment value, I love a good conspiracy theory. From aliens hidden in a mysterious government warehouse, to a purported room full of "captains of industry" controlling the world's affairs, there seems to be a new tall tale or convoluted yarn arriving in my junk folder, or breathlessly recounted at a social gathering every few weeks.

I've often wondered about the motivation for spreading conspiracy theories. Do those that rail on about the death rays implanted in our household appliances have a legitimate concern for others, and does the email promising thousands of dollars from a kindly celebrity for each forward cause some to temporarily suspend what otherwise seems like good judgment? Perhaps we are able to absolve ourselves for lack of success or an occasional bad lot in life by assuming evil and unseen government or industrial forces have stacked the deck against us?

I have witnessed a few conspiracies in my career, although their most notable feature was raw buffoonery rather than aliens, secret helicopters, or mind-control devices. In most, greed was the motivation, and the tools were nothing more sophisticated than white-out, and grade-school level subterfuge. Even the infamous Madoff scandal was just as unsophisticated as it was unscrupulous.

While greed is certainly an element to most of these conspiracies, so is the concept that the simplest explanation is also the most likely. There is probably no room of old men controlling the world's events (who could ever keep that secret), and world peace will likely not be achieved merely by forwarding a series of emails. While conspiracy theories make for an interesting "modern mythology" of sorts, beware staking your future on end of the world pronouncements, or the like.

In case you missed them, my regular column on CBS' Tech Republic contained the following articles in the month of June:

Why is IT so reluctant to look at itself?
Just get it done!
'Personality tests' are a dangerous hiring shortcut
An executive's guide to tablets

Attention Podcast Fans! The Foresight Newsletter is now available in Podcast format on www.itbswatch.com as well as via iTunes. I make no warranties about the quality of the host however!

I met up with a longtime friend this month in West Virginia on my motorcycle, for a weekend of riding, camping, and catching up. I've never spent much time in the state, and intentionally planned a route that avoided interstate highways in the hopes of seeing a bit of the place.

Rugged hills and small mountains dotted the landscape, and small communities hugged riverbanks. What impressed me most was the coal mining operations I came across, with long conveyer belts running coal from mountains into huge piles or waiting train cars. At our camp, trains rumbled through every few hours, wheels squealing shrilly when empty, and engines straining noticeably when their cars were full. Having never given much consideration to coal, it was amazing to see the vast quantities of it extracted and moved through the area, and the dependence of the local communities on the mines.