A New Year

Oh, hell. I'm starting to feel like 2009 will actually be even worse than 2008. We started off with a brand new, very old war in Israel/Palestine, Obama is making plans to increase our national debt exponentially, supposedly to help us avoid the pain of an unavoidable recession, unemployment will continue to soar as retailers begin to close after a bad holiday sales season (Macy's already has), even Toyota is closing car plants, credit is tightening even as people's credit scores go down (including mine), and our nation continues to suffer from natural disasters (fires, floods, snow and ice storms). I don't believe it's the apocalypse, and pretty much think all the end-of-the-worlders are nutcases, but man, how bad can it get?
The good news is my job is fairly secure and I'm going to ride out half of 2009 here in Cairo, Egypt. My family is in Texas, where the recession's effects are still fairly muted, plus they have a little more money than usual with my extra pay for overseas duty. My oldest son continues to shine at U of Houston, and that's my number one mission in life now - to get all three of my sons through college.
Predictions for 2009: Economically, things will get worse before they get better. I don't believe we'll have a turnaround this year...MAYBE next year. The world recession will put a lot of pressure on some countries, a few of them our allies, that will result in peaceful or unpeaceful changes in government. India, China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan will all struggle. Israel has poked a stick into the Arab eye again - at some point, they will get sick of it and unify for at least long enough to force us to back off in the Middle East. This may happen this year, maybe next, but I do think it will happen. The polarization of wealth in the US will continue. How can it not? Most of the bailout money is going directly to the haves, while the have-nots get foreclosed on. Things we need will continue to rise in price, including utilities, gas, college, food, but incomes will continue to decline. This isn't Obama's fault - Reagan set most of this in motion, it came to a head under Bush, and now nature will take its course. Chrysler is dead already, but sometime this year they will admit it. Is anything good going to happen? I think we will fall in love with the Obama family - many of us already have. As much as the "conservatives" rant about family values, the Obamas are Ozzie and Harriet, Father Knows Best, all those old-style families that represented the ideal. And the little girls are so CUTE! I think political scandals will decrease, Blago notwithstanding. And I think my son will be an honors program senior by Christmas this year.
So...all is not doom and gloom, but it will seem like that to a lot of people this year.