Things I Hope Do and Do Not Happen in 2012

If we all have likes and dislikes about 2011, there are certain events that I, personally, would not like to see happen in 2012. Things that would make our world a worse place for all of us, a little scarier, if that’s possible, or a little less human.

So, here’s my list of Things That Should Not Happen in 2012.

1.   Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan strongman, continues to tighten his grip on South America, with the help of Russia and China.

2.   The Egyptian Army refuses to hand over power to the civilians who wrested it away from Mubarak and them in the first place, because a continued military rule in Egypt would set the stage for similar results all over Middle East hot spots.

3.   Syria’s Bashar al-Assad hangs on to power and uses it to destroy the Syrian opposition, who are the popular voice for moderation and modernization in this powerful Middle East country, because Syria is the key to the Iraq-Iran power play and to the survival of Israel without the need for a war to save her.

4.   Iran is allowed to continue the development of her nuclear capacity unchecked, because the longer the West and the United States dawdles, the more Iran will be convinced that it is a country that the rest of the word fears, and this would lead to war in the Middle East without any doubt.

5.   China continues to refuse to release its political prisoners and allow some greater measure of free speech, because without such a moderation in China’s human rights policies, she cannot be accepted totally into the group of leading powers, where she really belongs if she could just get her act together about personal freedoms and work out how to admit them into her communist society, as Russia has pretty much done, if you think about it, because Russia is still communist, with a patina of human rights and free market economics papered over it.

6.   Barak Obama is not re-elected, being beaten in 2012 by a Republican, probably Mitt Romney, who will restore to America her tradition of personal liberty, free market economics but with needed controls, and technological and military presences that will reassure the world that the America they knew and dream of is still there for all of them.

7.   The Eurozone continues to throw good money after bad trying to save the single currency, because the money both impoverishes every Eurozone country and its citizens and makes the day of reckoning even more costly for those countries, such as Germany and France, who may want to continue in tandem with a single Franco-German single currency.

On a more positive note, here are Some Other Thoughts about 2012:

1.   No matter who is elected president, Ron Paul should not be picked to be ambassador to the United Nations.

2.   Sarah Palin should not try to be the GOP mother figure, but get on with making mega-bucks as a tea partier.

3.   Silvio Berlusconi should fade quietly away from Italian politics instead of trying to form a coalition to take back power.

4.   Angelina Jolie should get her hair cut into a style that reflects both her age and the times.

5.   All men should try once again to shave instead of looking like they just stumbled, razor lacking, out of some Arctic exploration sled.

6.   Just once, we should have a Tour de France without even one drug use incident.

7.   Ireland should admit, now that its glory days as the recipient of enormous European Union funding are over, that she has a lot more in common with the United Kingdom and the United States than she does with the Eurozone, and go back home where she belongs.

8.   At least a few Hollywood stars should boycott violence for violence’s sake in their choice of films this year, because it might make all of us, and especially our children, more human.  

9.   Groups and politicians wanting to eliminate the Second Amendment right to bear arms should give up because it ain’t never gonna happen…find another cause that might actually do some good.

10. Sex in public life, everywhere, should show something except its physical aspects, and in the process teach the world's young people about the value of love in their lives.

11. Muslims and Christians actually have a lot more in common than we imagine in these troubled times, and a group of world leaders ought to find the commonalities and focus on them to try to bring an end to the unthinking fears on both sides that make the elimination of distrust and terrorism impossible…Bill Clinton, do you hear me???