Now that 2008 is over and we can bask in that saying of "Hindsight is always 20/20" how about we go back through some of the more memorable moments of 2008.

Gas prices have been up, down, here, there, and everywhere in between for the whole year, spiking $147.27 in the summer.  Gasoline soared over $4 and $5 per gallon, depending on where you were, and that sure introduced a lot of tension in the air.  Some workplaces cut Friday office days and allowed employees to work at home, people sought out major raises just to get to their place of employment, and everyone thought twice about whether or not it was a good idea buying that 10 mpg SUV.  Best thing I had for them at the time was, "I told you so," as I cruised away in my sedan (though it's certainly not gas friendly).  Then, thanks to the plummeting economy and recession gas is down more than $100 per barrel, to around $35 just before Christmas.  We're seeing gas under $2 per gallon, which I haven't seen since I started driving.  I can't wait for the days of $1.20 per gallon, I want to build a massive tank depot and just buy gas wholesale, store it, and reap the benefits when oil goes back up like a rocket.

The US economy and global economy has been a rollercoaster ride itself this year.  The DJIA dropped from its peak of around 13,500 to under 7,500 and has been up and down all year long.  We've seen weeks of nearly 1,000 point gains/losses as the stock market shakes, rattles, and rolls.  The US is in a recession, unemployment is the highest that it's been in over a quarter of a century with more than 6.7% of the country's workforce unemployed and it's only getting worse.  We've watched financial institution after financial institution fail and get bought up by someone else.  We've been watching our money go out the window as the government pours billions of dollars in bailout money, without accounting for it, to institutions that failed because of their own greed or stupidity or just because they caught windfall of those who were greedy and stupid.  To top it all off, we've watched all of these workers lose their jobs while the CEOs and VPs of their companies still retained their seven-figure pensions and perks out the ying-yang.  It's been fun to see that, despite all of the failings of these company heads, they still get all of their perks and excesses while those who did the nitty-gritty work are out on their ass with nothing.  Now we watch as the auto industry teeters and gets billions more in bailouts, I guess it was their turn for the pie slice.  It's nice to know that the UAW will still get all of their perks and excesses, forcing minimal profits because of all that they receive.  Granted, I'm not against unions and I drive a Chevy, UAW come on, take some concessions instead of pillaging like the rest.  The bailouts are overall just a minor slice of the socialism pie that our government is endeavoring.  Now, with a Democrat controlled everything I can say this, "What we're witnessing now is only the beginning of the end of whatever free-market economy we had left, socialism is on its way!"

Kosovo became independent.  After years of negotiations and talks, they declared independence from Serbia with the recognition of some of the world but not enough just yet.  In the years since the collapse of Yugoslavia, that whole region has been a disaster.  Ethnic cleansing by all sides has created no truly "good guys."  Everyone has their hand in the "bad acts" jar over there and it's a shame on all sides but, hopefully, this move will put an end to it.  Serbia, hopefully, will let the issue be and settle on it.  Granted, territorially, it may be their land and I understand their anger over it; after all, if part of the US declared independence from the rest (with the exception of NYC), I'd be quite angered myself.

Castro resigned!  Yes you read that right.  After many months of ill-health, he formally resigned and transferred power to his equally old brother.  My hopes for getting into Cuba and owning a 1957 Chevy are still alive but unless Raul decides to suddenly embrace democracy that won't be happening anytime soon.  Thanks to his recent warming to Chavez in Venezuela and Russia again I'll have to put that dream back on the backburner.  So how many Presidents did Castro outlast?  Well here's the list: Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and most of Bush Jr.  He's still alive though, which brings me to this completely absurd statement: "That guy is going to live forever!"

Georgia and Russia went to war in another example of Caucasus tension.  With Chechnya very much out of the news, Georgia decided to step in and revive the region's blandness.  Sadly, they screwed up in this instance, took the bait that Russia left out for them, and got curb stomped.  What was fun to watch though is that the Russian military hasn't really improved much despite Putin's yammering on about how mighty Russia's military is.  They are still years behind the US technologically, having to destroy whole buildings or blocks just to get a single target.  GLONASS may have come a long way since the 1990s but it's got a long way to go.  The Russians pillaged the living hell out of Georgia afterwards so now we get to see pictures of Russian soldiers in MARPATs and Hummers (good maybe they'll just adopt the Hummer and we can get something better).  Georgia pretty much just got decimated and then begged the world for help but I will at least smile at the fact that they did manage to bring down a Tu-22M Backfire with a SAM.  Once again, we get to see too how uncivilized that part of the world is (not that any part is really that civilized) with reports of looting, arson, abductions, terror, etc. on the part of both the Russians and the Georgians.  If some alien race ever comes to Earth they'll take one look and think to themselves, "We'll come back another time."

China held the 2008 Summer Olympics and in traditional fashion with anything related to China, all the fun happens.  China, a bastion and global example of freedom, hailed it as a success and, to their credit it was.  Nobody gave any political speeches at the podiums nor did any terrorists attack but then again, it's China, you'd probably just disappear or have an "unfortunate accident" if you gave a political speech.  I'm sure too that athletes were told to shut up, thanks largely to China trading with the whole world but I will say, it was pretty decent to watch.  Obviously, Michael Phelps annihilating the swimming and Usain Bolt tearing up the track (Michael Johnson is still better) were awesome highlights.

Pirates of Somalia…  While not as catchy as Pirates of the Caribbean, piracy off Somalia has received more attention as they seized a number of ships this year, including one with tanks.  They've been quite active this year seizing a lot of ships here and there, so much so that there has been an international task force of destroyers and other warships patrolling the waters to protect shipping for some time now.  Despite it being against international law, which is nonsense anyway, those crews ought to be able to arm and protect themselves.  Somali pirates might think twice if they had a Javelin or a burst of fifty-caliber ammunition headed their way.

The Large Hadron Collider went operational and there was panic that it would destroy the world.  It got tons of media attention (as the media loves to scare you) but unfortunately due to a mechanical failure, the main test didn't occur just yet.  It'll happen, hopefully, next summer, so get ready for the media blast when it does.

Obama got elected.  Hooray for socialism!  Unfortunately, the Republican party chose to put up McCain, who is more of a Democrat than a Republic so obviously there was no chance of him winning.  Now the Democrats control both houses of Congress and the executive and I can't wait to see the leftist socialism that we're about to embark upon during the next four years.  Hopefully, he'll move to the center on many of his policies or else we're in for a real rough time.  America is not Europe and sadly the Democrats want to make us like Europe.  The Republicans really aren't much better either; they'll sell us out just as fast only to a different entity.  Neither party is really out for the best interests of America.  They want to open up the border, cram government down your throat, take as much of your hard-earned money as they can and spend it on bridges to nowhere and failing companies just to further their own interests and bank accounts.  We'll see.  Obama could be what we need but I have a strong feeling he's the opposite and will only make things worse.  We'll see.

A series of terrorist attacks shook Mumbai for several days as Pakistani terrorists murdered and maimed civilians, tourists being their primary goal.  Like most terrorists, they wanted to kill thousands but got off with just over one hundred and sixty.  The Indians did capture one alive so hopefully they'll get enough information out of him to prevent any future attacks from those cells but terrorists are tricky, they roll up one cell and start ten others.

There are tons of other things that happened this year and these were just some highlights that stuck out in my memories of the year.  I look forward to 2009 and the plethora of news and current events that will come my way thanks to the complete ineptitude of the US government and the ever destabilizing situation around the world.  It'll be a good time for political thinkers all around the world and the only hope is that smart enough people prevail to prevent everyone from just destroying everything.

As a side note, to all the Global Warming fanatics make up your mind.  It's either warming or cooling, pick one.  Now it's "Climate Change," I'm told simply because that covers both.  Earth has been going through warming and cooling stages since its inception billions of years ago.  Stop listening to Al Gore and Hollywood stars who cry about carbon footprints when they, themselves, have bigger footprints than whole towns of people have.  They'll obviously buy an offset here and there to make themselves feel better and try to save face but anyone who isn't enthralled by everything they say will obviously see that it's just nonsense.  I just can't wait to smile the next time some giant Global Warming conference gets canceled thanks to a gigantic blizzard.  Thank you Matt Drudge for bringing those issues to press and letting me smile and laugh at the loonies.

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