Goong Hee Fat Choy

Greetings and Felicitations! Welcome to the Year of the Rat, according to the Chinese accounting of the lunar calendar.

Things are in such need of qualification these days. Sometimes I long for the days of absolute thinking, but then I think, what fun was that? Eh...

The Rat is a noble creature, bright, witty, wily - not to be confused with rodents on whom I make seasonal war about my abode... My mother was a Rat, again, not to be confused with the lackluster creatures who now torment my existence of occasion. Remember the Rats of N.I.M.H.? Remember Richard Adams' Watership Down? Now those were noble rats, admirable creatures worthy of emulation. Yes, there's nothing quite like romanticization to elevate the mundane.

Be that as it may, this should be a more optimistic, forward-thinking kind of year. Barack Obama has breathed new life into American politics. Whether or not he wins, he has already galvanized a new generation, much as did John F. Kennedy half a century ago. That's pretty cool, and it is exciting to believe that his impact will continue, even as Kennedy's influence has persisted beyond the short life of the man himself. It's also useful as we head into what promises to be an increasingly bleak economic season, more along the lines of Recession and Depression than the euphoria that has led to so much squandering of resources over the past century.

Cheers.