Workers get ready to install new light poles at Lyons Stadium even as the Nevada City Council was giving the property away for a 99-year lease.

The Chinese have a curse -- may you live in interesting times. Well it appears that we have been well and truly cursed, locally and nationally.

Interesting times indeed. Locally it seems that ballplayers want to monopolize the city's Parks and Recreation budget for themselves. The voters voted for a new community center but hey, it wouldn't be the first time Nevada voters voted for one thing and got another. Remember the new water reservoir we were to have so we could do away with the deep wells and their pumps?

Interesting times indeed.

On the national level what isn't controversial? Oprah endorses Obama and her viewers rebel. Bill claims Hillary is an agent of change for other people but isn't he her biggest failure? Huckabee does a Christmas commercial with a bookcase in the background and some idiots complain that it looks like a cross. Chuck Norris endorses Huckabee and everyone tells Chuck Norris jokes such as: Chuck Norris's tears can cure cancer, too bad Chuck Norris never cries. When Chuck Norris does push ups he doesn't push himself up, he pushes the earth down.

Interesting times indeed.

George Bush has one of the lowest approval ratings for any president, but before his detractors celebrate they should note that the Democratic Congress only rates half as high as he does. Seems to me people are saying 'Throw the bums out.' I can't disagree. George Bush is term limited, he'll be gone in a tad more than a year no matter what happens. Congress is a different matter. Time to do a LOT of pruning there.

Interesting times indeed.

The United Nations has proven unable to do anything worthwhile anywhere in the world. When they have managed a modest success it is invariably overshadowed by the inevitable corruption of its participants. The organization serves no useful purpose and serves only as a forum for the remaining socialists, communists and islamists who infest it's rotting carcass. Time to throw it on the ash heap of history where it rightly belongs.

Interesting times indeed.

Still I'm optimistic. If I weren't I couldn't get through the day. Governments that have preyed on the people they are set over are as old as governments themselves. Campaigns haven't gotten any more vicious or vacuous than in previous years, they've just changed in minor ways. People have been complaining about Presidents and Congress since the birth of the nation. We'll get by, Daniel Webster would be OK with the answer to his eternal question.