The world today...

Ok, so since this is somewhat a historical document, let's set the scene. Here's my view of the world at the end of 2007:

Globally, the US remains the lone superpower, but it's image has been tarnished by 2 terms of what I am sure will be viewed as one of our worst presidents ever. The war in Afghanistan made a lot of sense. The war in Iraq could have made sense if we had done so many things differently... Now it's a mess that Bush will pass on to the next president.

Europe has recently voted in pro American heads of state in France and Germany, so our European relations are bound to improve. Russia is flush with power once again thanks to petrodollars, and seems intent on rebuilding it's military so it can project that power. They already hold a tight noose on natural gas for most of Europe, and they recently sent their lone carrier squadron into the Black Sea, something they haven't done since the fall of the evil empire.

China holds the bulk of American debt. Politicians like to mouth off about China to constituents who are annoyed that everything is manufactured there (we've gone through several toy recalls this year), but our economies are so inextricably bound together, we have almost no leverage to threaten them. Frankly we need them more than they need us, China-US relations are far more important than people think.

As mentioned earlier, the US is mired in two wars, one in the Middle East, the other in lower Asia. The war in Afghanistan has left us too dependent on a Pakistani president who is essentially a dictator. He just recently took off his military uniform and went civilian, but he seems unlikely to give up power any time soon. Our ties to him give us yet another black mark to the Muslim masses who don't believe we practice what we preach (because we don't).

Most entertaining politician out there right now would be Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. He has perfected the 'evil Americans keep us down' theory of political existence. He was recently slapped down in a narrow election loss on measures that would have allowed him to be president for life, amongst other socialist initiatives. I wish we would minimize him more by not paying so much attention.

Iran also has a colorful leader, worthy of ridicule, but I don't want to go search for the correct spelling of his name :) Iran has some of the most pro-American people on the planet, and yet it's leadership probably hates us the most. I hope the next president can open up dialog with them, they cause us nothing but problems now, but a reformed Iran has greater potential for good in the region than a reconstituted Iraq, mainly because it's a more homogenous population. Iraq clearly doesn't identify itself as a single entity, we should probably stop trying to keep it that way.

Let's see... that's enough ramblings about the world. Domestically the mortgage crisis is the number one issue. As I work for the largest mortgage lender out there, Countrywide, this is of particular importance to me. In a nutshell, so many people made so much money on stupid loans, everyone else decided they must not be so stupid, until stupid was basically the norm. Now all the hens have come to roost, and we all have egg on our face. Hopefully my company (and my job) survive.

As I've mentioned, there's an election coming up. Thankfully we can't elect (or not elect depending on your viewpoint) Bush again. I am on the fence about whether to go with Hilary or Obama. On the Republican side, Huckabee is picking up a lot of steam. He worries me because I've found him very likable in debates. I don't agree with him very much, thus the cause for worry.

Far longer post than intended... Again, these views are my own, caveat emptor and all that.

Song of the day:
Space, 'Female of the species'

You may have noticed the songs have no relation to anything, I just like them. Carry on...