Michele and I painted our bedroom and my office which has kept me off my computer for the last week or so. It is very nice to have a newly painted bedroom and office with new carpet in the bedroom and wood flooring in the office and even nicer to be able to sit down at the computer.

2012 2010 promises to be an very interesting year. In the Obama Administration's second year, we should get out of Gitmo, start getting out of Iraq, double down on Afghanistan, and  pass some sort of Health Care Bill; in F1, Schumi is back and driving for Mercedes Benz; on the downside, the real economy will probably limp along; but the best news is that the Oughties are over.

For me, the Oughties were a decade of six operations – and that was the good news compared to how Bush screwed the country over. Happy New Decade indeed.

Today, here in Olympic Valley CA – known as Squaw Valley, it is two days after Christmas: December 27, 2009. The day started with a warm front moving through and a soft snow fall.

By the end of the day, the front had moved through, the skies cleared, and people came out to play.

It could not be more peaceful. The country is on vacation, on hold. Sure, life still goes on – some wacko tried to blow up a plan by sewing pentaerythritol tetranitrate into his undies and the US is going after Al Qaeda militants in Yemen. But, by and large, we had a nice Christmas with our biggest worry being the weather.

In Iran, it is the Day of Ashura 1388 and it is not snowing. It is a couple of degrees above freezing in Tehran and almost nobody is thinking about the weather.

They are thinking about revolution and freedom, and teargas. They are thinking about the risk of getting killed to get freedom.