As we close out 2008 and usher in the New Year, I would like to thank all of my readers – even those who posted negative comments – for adding to the discussion.

As I said in my first blog entry, this blog was an experiment in personal communication and was meant as a stop-gap measure to keep me from “yelling at the television” and “pounding the dash of my car.”

There is no doubt that we are living in challenging times …

Most of us can hardly trust our elected officials and government bureaucrats to tell us the truth, let alone make decisions free from the taint of personal or special interests.

Likewise, most of us can hardly trust the media to tell us the truth in a fair and balanced manner. Corporate interests and personal political agendas have badly warped any idea of journalistic ethics.

Our enemies, both foreign and domestic, who do not wish us well are openly celebrating the soon-to-be Obama Administration which they, rightly or wrongly, believe will convey substantial support, prestige and funding to their causes.

Our financial system is in a shambles. Conflicting accounting standards, different rules for the same event abound. There is a paralysis affecting our regulatory agencies who seem unwilling to enforce existing laws or punish those who are politically connected for their financial misdeeds.

Both political parties are in disarray, riddled with self-serving corruption in their pursuit of political power and funding.

And our savings and investments have been severely impacted by those in whom we placed our trust.

But on the other hand …

The great majority of our nation is beginning to realize the degree of toxicity brought about by today’s politicians.

We are, as we have been in the past, united in our ability to get things done in spite of all past, present and future obstacles to progress.

And, in spite of the rhetoric and dire warnings about the upcoming Administration, our forefathers were wise enough to insure that there will always be some checks and balances present in the system. One such check will be the upcoming election in 2010 when we can turn out all members of Congress that are up for election – if need be. How far can a President go to thwart the will of the people when he knows that he needs the support of the people in 2012 and may lose the support of Congress in 2010. Ditto for governors and others who may be part of the problem rather than the solution.

On the financial front, recessions always end in a period of prosperity and progress for those best equipped to take advantage of the opportunities presented.

Personally speaking …

As for my personal goals: other than the obvious, lose weight, more exercise, eliminate the clutter of daily living, etc.; I am considering changing the design and possibly the emphasis of this blog. The scheduled date for such a change is projected to be April 15th when I will have written over 1,000 individual blog entries and spanned a period of two years of daily blog entries. Of course, I am open to suggestions and comments on what might be used to make this blog better now and in the future.

Again, I would like to thank those who helped me see the error of my ways, corrected my logic or who have simply put forth another viewpoint for me to consider.

Be safe and be well.

-- steve

Quote of the day: “If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane.” -- Jimmy Buffett

A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius