I'm not much of a hand at writing diaries, and I have no breaking news to report.  But in honor of New Years, and since nobody has as yet cast an actual vote, I started to write down some New Years resolutions for use in the political arena, and thought I'd share them with you in the hopes that they might help you keep your head on straight as this process gets underway in earnest.

Interesting think piece from "Scoop" on why the U.S. enjoys the reputation it does in the world today.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0508/S00069.htm