No, not that gift, silly.
That was just the warm-up.
This is a serious gift.
After first learning the tragic news that this is the last Christmas in America from News Junkie, then hearing that this is one of the most depressing, gloomy Christmases that many can remember from Barrister, then discovering that our modern Christmas is just a cheap, commercialized mockery of its former glory from Bird Dog, I realized something.
I realized I had a very special Christmas gift for these very special people.
The gift is, thankfully, you're all dead wrong.
It may not feel like it, but 2012 has been the greatest year in the history of the world. That sounds like an extravagant claim, but it is borne out by evidence. Never has there been less hunger, less disease or more prosperity. The West remains in the economic doldrums, but most developing countries are charging ahead, and people are being lifted out of poverty at the fastest rate ever recorded. The death toll inflicted by war and natural disasters is also mercifully low. We are living in a golden age.
You're very welcome. Merry Christmas, after all.
And greetings from the incredibly awesome state of California.
You remember California, don't you? From the tall virgin forests of the Trinity Alps in the far north, to the Death Valley deserts in the far south. From the eerie volcanic fields of Mt. Lassen in the Sierras, to the pristine white talcum powder sand of Pismo Beach on the central coast. From the majesty of the sharp, towering mountains above Lake Tahoe, to the greatest agricultural valley the world has ever known.
You know. That California.
Current temperature back home in the Florida Keys?
A delightful 71.
Current temperature here in Palo Alto, California?
46.
I sure wish that global warming stuff would hurry up and get going. Overnight would be preferred.
Best Christmas wishes to our readers all around the world.
