Buh-bye 2004

This was not the best of years.

It was not a particularly good year for Democrats, members of our armed forces, or poor people everywhere.

It was an especially bad year for people living along the coastal regions of the Eastern Indian Ocean.

Members of the Republican party did rather well for themselves, and the wealthiest 10% of the world's people generally became richer, even as the rest of us became poorer. If you were fortunate enough to be a Republican AND rich, you probably think 2004 was a pretty good year - assuming you managed to avoid buying that waterfront timeshare in Sumatra.

I like to think that 2005 will be better. It probably won't - in fact it could well be worse. Global Warming is going to be demonstrating itself to us in new and interesting ways, I'm sure. But more immediate is the problem that most of the people on Earth think that we, in the United States of America, are EVIL!

I want to assure you all that we are not EVIL. At least not all of us. Okay, some of us are greedy, selfish bastards who drive SUVs, drink lattes and send our kids to private schools while we cheat on our taxes and oppress minorities with undisguised glee. But not all of us are like that.

At least I'm not. So, don't blow me up.

Please.

Thanks...

Between Holidays

After Christmas & before New Year's Day is one of the most depressing weeks of the year. People yell at each other more. More divorces start. More people commit suicide, or homocide.

Think about it: You've just spent a pile of money on cool stuff for other people, and received, in return, stuff they obviously thought was something you might like but actually wish you could take back so you could have some money for yourself.

And then you have to wait a week before you can get drunk enough to get over it.

I think people should spend this week getting drunk, then spending New Year's sobering up. That way you can look at the past year with a clear head, and plan your revenge for the year to come...