Welcome to my last node of 2011. It has occurred to me that somewhere in the world it is already 2012, and that i live in one of the last places to flip to the new year. I remember reading recently how Samoa has as of this year jumped across the International Date Line so it can be the first to greet the new year instead of being the last to bid adieu to the old. Understandable. It's one thing to wait until the party is in full swing to show up to the party, another thing to show up at the very tail end, after all the fashionable guests have filtered out and the DJ has begun to pack his gear.

I confess, I have low hopes for 2012 being a 'good' year, consumed as I expect it to be with a vitriolic political campaign, resulting in an effective repeat of 2004, with the unpopular incumbent reelected in the face of our late-recovering economy, and an inadequate challenge. Those who know me know my preference is with Ron Paul, but I am quite confident that the GOP establishment is putting the fix in for the most establishment-controllable candidate, Romney. Which, I think, will tear apart the evangelical base, and cause actual damage to Christianity itself, as some will struggle with the notion that their god has willed a Mormon to be its champion. I have been thinking for a while that the biggest threat to Christianity is not from the growing courage of Atheism, but from Mormonism at last emerging as the fourth Abrahamic faith. But Romney will likely be crowned with the nomination on the basis of getting 23-25% of the vote while pulling just ahead of the remaining six-way split.

But I am intrigued by the Libertarian candidacy of Gary Johnson. I think it sad that Ron Paul remains committed to pursuing change through a party so dominated by neocon warmongers and theocratic bedroom-peepers and police state cheerleaders. But we will see how the Libertarian dynamic shapes up. And then there is, naturally, the independent candidacy of Donald Trump to look forward to. Trump signaled long ago that he'd jump in if the GOP nominee was inadequate, and at much the same time exemplified Romney as an inadequate candidate. But Trump is a showman, and his run will be for show, with no real substance or expectation of success.

Enough of politics. One blazing bright spot on the horizon is that 2012 will be a banner year for Pandeism. Knowledge of the theory is spreading, through the oft-referenced pages of the ever-growing Pandeism Index here, through the YouTube PanDeism Channel and the Twitter and Tumblr feeds, and various Pandeist blogs and such. We are gaining new members and new resources every day, and have the 'special' advantage unavailable to more prudish religions of having beautiful women willing to make the case for conversion by demonstrating the beneficial correlation of Pandeism and sexual pleasure. So in sum, I expect the year in politics to be dismal and clownish. But the year in Pandeism ought to be the best yet. Blessings!!