I’m usually very upbeat at New Year’s, unreasonably optimistic even, but not this year. I have a feeling that 2013 is going to be a bad one for this country, and the world, with grueling challenges for all of us created by our venal and cowardly leaders.

So I’m not drinking champagne tonight, switching instead to a glass of Absinthe, which offers the taste (though not the experience) of remorse, which must be avoided at all costs, no matter what happens, some cheap red wine, for humility, and, upon the stroke of midnight, an Old Fashioned, as a reminder of the timeless virtues and wisdom that can get us through anything.

Cheers!

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