Hey, it's a new dawn in America. Or should I say....Obamanation? It actually happened. Obama got elected!! It wasn't exactly a landslide on the popular vote side, but it was certainly a wipe out in electoral college land. Democrats took states that had been in the R column for decades. Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina and even good 'ol new Mexico. It's been a couple of weeks now after the election, so I've had a chance to sit back and bask in the victory, gloat at the right-wing noise machines impotent whines and consider how much President Obama has on his yet-to-be-inaugurated plate.

So what does the world look like as we cruise into the end of '08. It's getting closer and closer to the teenage years of this century, and it's pretty grim. Our retirement has lost almost 40% of its value, and unemployment is inching up. The US automobile industry is circling the drain, and has been forced to go to Congress to plead for a loan in order to stay in business. Wow. I guess that's what happens when you basically build cars that no one wants to buy and leave yourself totally extended in legacy retirement costs. I'm going to place a small amount of blame at the auto union's feet, as I don't know exactly what concessions they have made in order to keep the industry, and their own jobs, going. I'm pretty much in the camp of letting the big three declare bankruptcy so they can restructure and continue operations with as little disruption as possible. I don't understand how loaning them money is going to force their hand to streamline their operations and rethink how they build cars. It's kind of funny, sort of, that american cars are actually pretty good vehicles and have been getting better reliability ratings as well as gas mileage for some time now. But no one is buying them. Wierd. Perception is everything, and the competition, especially from asia, is really tough.

There are still a couple of wars going on, and hopefully the new Pres. et al can figure out a way to back the US out. Its mind boggling to think how much has been spent over there, in human lives as well as legal tender. Has it been worth it. Absolutely not!! What a horrendous waste. What a crime.

Peace.