Rasterra

It's a New Year, 2009, and I have faith this will be the best year yet. I've tried to shed the superfluous crud from around me, we normally call this Spring cleaning but I felt there needed to be a jump on it. I have a superstition that your beginnings need to be fresh and clean so my New Year was brought in together with my lovely wife Tamara. I took the day to end endeavors I felt were fruitless and to begin new and better ones. These will remain personal until I've gotten a foothold in them and feel that divulging won't be a detriment. These are never bad so you needn't worry for my health and well being, just keep me in mind when you speak your innermost hopes and wishes to the higher power. Know that I have kept you all in mind during my conversations with them and prayed for great things for us all this year.There a many new things on the horizon for 2009, most importantly is the inauguration of Barack Obama. I must implore all of you to not expect miracles. He is neither the messiah, nor the moshiach, and is inheriting the country in turmoil so do not place superhuman expectations upon him. If you're apolitical you must realize that politics are inescapable, whether we actively participate or not. If you see something that doesn't sit well with you speak up. I've realized from the Bush Presidency that no one in a position of power cares to speak out against the injustices performed by his administration. However I do expect to hear much adversity when Obama does something unfavorable solely because of his ethnic heritage and Muslim name. You realize that much prejudice is ingrained within us. I recently heard from a school bus driver how an 8 year old boy calls her a 'fat African Bitch!' I doubt that they've started teaching grade school children to say this in class so it must be coming from their parents. Maybe take this New Year, this new opportunity to look at yourself in the mirror to see if you're guilty of perpetuating this prejudice. The worst thing you can do is teach the next generation hate. Follow in the footsteps of Obama, 'yes, we can change.'I just caught a news program talking about the new laws which came into effect with the New Year. Everything from making it illegal to text message while you're driving to making computer repair persons responsible for ratting your porn stashes out to the local police. It's frightening how the government turns us against each other so easily, $100 for turning in a co-worker, $2,500 for turning in a suspected criminal, etc. Just realize that there are an awful lot of wrongfully convicted people filling up prison cells. DNA evidence has helped exonerate some but not without substantial public interest pushing for a retrial. In other words, don't expect many decisions overturned. I'll speak more about this all in a blog later.Make your New Years resolutions, but not too many. I say this to help you achieve them, and don't make them a mission impossible either. You've heard the acronym K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid)? Keep that in mind when making your list of resolutions. The more complicated something is the more likely it'll breakdown. Remember, everything with a hard drive crashes!