Goodbye 2011

Hard to believe another year has passed. There is a sneaky law of life that states: the speed with which a calendar year passes is directly related to your age; the older you get, the faster it goes. That's kind of a bummer because older people need more time to do things, not less. Maybe we should adopt the plot to that movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, where he was born old and grew younger as time went by. That sounds nice because as we got wiser, we would also get physically stronger...youth would NOT be wasted on the young!

2011 was an interesting year. The world is trying to recover from decades of reckless spending, and we have some serious debt to work down. Whether it's nations providing ridiculous benefits to their citizens with no revenue to fund them, or the families who put five grand down on $800,000 houses, and mortgage their future, sooner or later the piper must be paid. It would be bad enough if only those who engaged in this folly had to suffer the consequences; at least they would reap what they sowed. But why do I have to reap their whirlwind? It's called liberalism, socialism or any name you can give to the stupid idea of income redistribution. Instead of occupying Wall Street and blaming others for our failures, we should be occupying schools and employment offices to claim our share of the American dream.

We got rid of some serious bad guys in 2011 including Osama Bin Laden, Moammar Gadhafi, and Kim Jong Il. Good riddance to trash. These despotic men kept their boot on the necks of their people for too long. Maybe the time has finally come for the Middle East to step out of the Middle Ages. It will be a long and probably bloody process with no guarantees at the end. We can only hope that the human rights long due these people will finally be theirs, and that they don't wind up with yet another power-mad fanatic to beat them back down. The area will be in flux for a while, especially with the U.S. pulling out its troops. We need a more stable world so resources might be spent feeding people instead of killing them.

Weather extremes continue to be a concern. 2011 saw earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and other natural disasters claim too many lives. The debate rages about how much these events are due to man's polluting the environment and changing climactic conditions. Depending on whose studies you read, we are either not at all responsible, or totally to blame. I'm no scientist, but I tend to side with those who say that man is arrogant to believe that his activities can alter weather patterns that have remained essentially unchanged for millions of years. Yes, we should be careful where we build structures like nuclear plants, and do what is reasonable to keep our air and water clean, but the loons who live like it's 1820 to reduce their carbon footprint need to dial it down a bit.

Finally, we need to demand more of our leaders. It's frustrating to watch while a once third-rate power like China takes over the world's economic reins. We have exported too many jobs and technologies. American labor unions have painted themselves into a corner and are now fighting for their lives. Health care costs are spiraling out of control with no real solutions in sight. Politicians are so busy fighting among themselves that they forgot that they are supposed to be making the country better and not worse. President Obama had his shot, no doubt did his best, but he's failed. We need a leader with a plan who will not waver with every poll result. I know there's another Ronald Reagan or Harry Truman out there...please step up and save us.

Hope 2012 is a good year for my wonderful family and friends. May good health, happiness and prosperity be yours.

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