Happy New Year!

We are finally at the last day of the year, December 31, 2015. Oh man, and I’m just beginning to write about it now, at 1:30 p.m. Planning to have this published within two hours. I could keep it short and say all the usual things: “bye-bye 2015, hello 2016!” “I wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year!” But that’s not going to happen.

Do people really mean it when they say they wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year? It’s a silly, nitpicky question. I doubt anyone really wants ISIS, for instance, to have a happy and prosperous new year. Most of us want those people dead, hopefully in the most gruesome and painful ways possible.

Then of course we have our personal disputes — That one guy who did that one thing and screwed up my life for a while — that sort of thing. I used to hold grudges for long periods of time, but I got over that kind of thinking years ago. As the old saying goes: having resentments is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

There are a few people that bug the heck out of me on occasion, but I no longer carry hateful feelings and thoughts for very long. The Republicans and their supporters don’t even get me angry anymore. For the most part they are entertaining, especially the Trump supporters. Someone put a quote from Adolph Hitler on a photo of Trump and the supporters just went nuts with their praise.

“A sack full of amens on that one!” an excited supporter wrote. Another said, “That’s why we love you, Mr. Trump!”

There were many more, but the points being: A: The Trump supporters are so gullible they will believe anything attributed to Trump without checking the facts. B: Trump attracts the most bigoted and dangerous voters in America. He really gives Ted Cruz a run for his money. Actually, Trump just blows Cruz out of the water — except in Iowa where they too like to fry bacon on gun barrels while quoting Scripture.

At any rate, it’s not likely to hurt Trump’s poll numbers. He got another bump in the polls when he declared he was at war with Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton. Trump said Bill Clinton’s infidelities are fair game in this campaign … and immediately people started tweeting and posting all of Trump’s confirmed infidelities. Who remembers Marla Maples?

I’ll predict Trump wins the GOP nomination and the party leadership destroys their party with a brokered convention to make Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio the party’s nomination. They destroy the Republican village to save it.

Then there is Dr. Ben Carson. He was leading the polls briefly and for the longest time trailed Trump by only a few percentage points. Then he was caught lying about his past and it was revealed — by one of his own advisors no less — Carson is fairly ignorant when it comes to foreign affairs. Now, on the last day of the year three of his top advisors, including campaign chairman Barry Bennett, have resigned. In an interview with MSNBC, Bennett said the unrest in the Carson campaign can be laid at the feet of one man: Armstrong Williams.

Carson and Williams had been getting together for campaign strategy sessions without Bennett and other key campaign staffers, resulting in absurd actions , like inviting the Washington Post and Associated Press to Carson’s home to talk about possible campaign shake ups.

So, today the Carson Campaign loses Barry Bennett, communications director Doug Watts and deputy campaign manager Lisa Coen.

Now that’s how you wring out the old year and ring in the new.

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There’s a fire destroying a high-rise hotel in Dubai right now. If you’ve been following the news today you’ve most likely watched at least some of the coverage. The building is 63 stories tall and all the floors are either burning or they have already burned.

Eye witnesses said authorities evacuated the hotel in an orderly manner, but the weirdest part of this story: the government of the United Arab Emirates went ahead with a fireworks display just blocks from the burning hotel. Watching the feeds on MSNBC and CNN it was almost impossible at times to distinguish the fireworks from the burning building.

The New Year’s Eve celebrations have either been cancelled or curtailed in Europe: Paris, Moscow and London, but in New York City millions of revelers are going to pack themselves into Times Square to watch the ball drop.

Can anyone confirm if the NYC authorities have installed porta-potties for people to use? Can you imagine having to use the toilet and there’s none available? And of course the temperature will be 38°f in Times Square at midnight. I pity the people that will have to sit down on those cold, nasty toilet seats. Boys, lift up the toilet seats before you pee, have some decorum.

The ghost of Dick Clark will be there with the New Year’s Rockin’ Eve show, hosted by Ryan Seacrest. Carrie Underwood is the headliner tonight and Taylor Swift will unleash her new video during the broadcast! Meh, I’ll watch it on TV.

Whatever we — I — might say about the Times Square celebration, it is still the best and biggest New Year’s Eve Party.

Here in Southern California people will be partying, going to clubs and hopefully not driving drunk. Or hopefully, law enforcement will catch and arrest all the drunk drivers before they cause accidents. If you’re going out to ring in the New Year at a drunken bacchanalia, give it all you’ve got, party like a rock star, even if you are a rock star, but get home safely. Or wherever you’re going, get there safely.

Enjoy the night and the New Year’s Day Bloody Marys. I’ll be watching from home and most likely will be asleep before midnight.

Look at that: barely over 1,000 words! Happy New Year!