A New Year Begins

Funny, I don't feel that much older. Like so many of my generation, I didn't really expect to live past the millennium, so anything beyond 2000 is pure gravy.

It sure sucks to be living in the Ukraine right now. You agree to pay your bill, then talks with Russia breaks down again over the future price to be paid for oil. The end result is Russia turning off the spigot. Russia wanted to do this no matter what, and if it didn't find this way to punish you it would have made up another. Not that I'm saying that Putin is becoming richer than the Russian State, or is a petty, petty man, but I'm not sure how you will keep warm during the rest of this winter.

And it sure sucks to be living in the scenic Gaza strip right now. Or worse, you could be a leader of Hamas, having your peers killed off by precision bombings, hiding out in mosques and hospitals pretending to be innocent civilians, while everyone else scurries about like rats. Perhaps now is the right time to reconsider wanting the elimination of the Israeli State. Oh yeah, and have you and your uneducated goober friends stop lighting off those Chinese made fireworks and rockets when you get high on hashish. After all, can't we all just get along?

It must suck to be clueless. Alberto Gonzales is going to write a tell all about his time in the bush administration. It's been estimated to be about three pages long containing the phrase "I don't recall" repeated 64 times. In a recent interview from the Wall Street Journal, he claimed not to understand why people were unhappy with him, that he, too, was a victim of terrorism. The other problem is that he can't get another job, nor does he have a publisher lined up.

Speaking of being clueless, the Republican National Committee is entertaining a motion proclaiming to be against the economic bailout, condemning Bush and other administration Republicans for engaging in socialism. Socialism is a scary word to people older than myself, it creates visions of living in Sweden inside their heads, no wait, it creates visions of a monolithic one party state that tries to bully its opponents and makes false accusations against them, much like they have tried to create during the past 20 years. They don't realize that younger folks are more tolerant of different ideas, and make fun of the old critters scurrying along with their walkers, muttering to one another outdated slogans. So, it sure must suck to be an old Republican, oh, wait, I am one...

Notice how things like the FBI report that says there are definate links from the Mumbai bombings back to Pakistan are being shoved to the wayside?

The UN is trying to set up a cease-fire followed by a truce between Israel and Hamas. This is being engineered by the Saudis. Australia is sending 3,5 million dollars in aid to Gaza, sent in through proper channels. I thought they were going to have the yacht Dignity deliver them, but Cynthia McKinney heard of some pirates that need their help in Somalia...