Just keep swimming

Today is the Sixteenth of January. On this day in 1547, Ivan Grozny ('the Terrible;' the IVth Ivan) proclaimed himself first Tsar of Russia.

In 1605, the first edition of Book One of Don Quixote was published.

It's been a long eight years. I still get apoplectic when I think about the 2000 selection, ferchrissake. It's been a long eight years, and that's all I'm going to say about it, right now.

I'll breathe more easily after the inauguration. I've felt like I was in limbo since the first of the month. Sure, you're thinking "whoaa, he's taking this all way too seriously," and maybe you're right, but I've just got a lot of (metaphorical) balls in the air right now (juggling balls -get your head out of the bed, sheesh), and I'm waiting to see which ones come down first. Of course I'm optimistic about the new administration and the new congress, but I'm also optimistic about the projects I've got going, and their prospects in the new year and the phoenix of our economy.

News is on hold.

Today is the Fifteenth of January. As far as I'm concerned, the news is on hold until some time next week. Citibank breaking up to better face the crumbling economy, you say? My retort, complete with my fingers in my ears:

"LA LA LA LA LA! I CAN'T HEAR YOU...."

I know that a new administration won't turn the economy around overnight. I know that a President Obama won't instantly restore bankers' faith in borrowers, and that even with a Democratic-controlled Congress, real legislative change will not be coming in a hurry...

but...

I do know that the mere presence of a good leader can do a lot for morale. And further, I know that morale is very closely related to faith, and to confidence. Faith (that cash will once again flow) and confidence (on the part of banks, regarding their clients' ability to pay them back in a timely manner, as well as confidence in our leadership) are at the core of our economic difficulties right now.

More importantly in the short term, though, is the sense of optimism and possibility that Obama seems to signify to so many. That hope and optimism will start to show, almost immediately. It will be the first sign of the Big Thaw.

It will start out subliminal: maybe a little more courtesy between strangers, a little more patience on the roads. Maybe tithing will go up. I suspect that bars, restaurants and grocery stores will feel it first, as the most-common-denominators of our culture. That money- a significant amount of it in the form of cash tips-- will spread out into the wider mercantile culture and stimulate other businesses. Bigger changes will have to be helped along from above: banks will need to free up credit for businesses so those businesses can expand their payrolls again, but that will happen as sales go up again. Good, healthy changes are on the way. I can feel it.

And- oh this is the best part-- the Rule of Law might just prevail again. I say "might," because I'm almost afraid to hope, for fear of disappointment. It is the government, after all.

And yeah, I know I said the news is on hold, but this caught my attention, and it seems like it could develop into something important. It always seems just a bit strange when a denial precedes the accusation.

Whatever else happens, we still have to cope with our national shame: a legacy of torture.


On this day in 1919, a "tidal wave" of two-and-a-half million gallons of molasses killed 21 people in Boston.


Recent British UFO flap, condensed version

Remarkably similar events reported in Indonesia and Argentina

V-shaped craft low flying over Chicago