— Bumper sticker of the week: Bush/Cheney 2004: Putting the "con" in conservative.

— Quote of the week: "Party politics, in other words, is unpromising terrain for innovation and change." — The Soul of Capitalism, William Greider

— Tear up your AARP card: The CEO of AARP, Bill Novelli, supported this administration’s first step towards privatizing Medicare. If he wants to be a buddy to Dubya, he should join the administration and get out of AARP. He has turned AARP into an irrelevant social club where a senior citizen can get a 10% retail discount and a 100% government screwing.

— Bush the choreographer: You talk about a show. I wonder how all those cameras got to where Saddam was captured so quickly? There hasn’t been that much coverage of the whole Iraqi fiasco, discounting the entire make-believe capture of Pt. Lynch. What a pitiful spectacle! I still haven’t seen anywhere what Saddam Hussein had to do with 9/11. When Saddam was doing most the killing of his own people, we were backing him. Now all of a sudden he is the scum of the earth. I think the whole thing is put on. Bush and his henchmen should win an Oscar for best choreography of a war.

— I been hanging around with older people lately. Here are some things I’ve picked up on:

• They all look alike.

• I never heard of some of these illnesses.

• The memories of sex seem to linger on.

• These folks get up early, go to bed early, and take naps in-between.

• Older and wiser don’t necessarily mix.

• After age 65, birthdays become important again, as much out of surprise as anything.

• If I had a choice of sitting with young people under age 21 or sitting with old people over age 65, there’s no contest: I’d stay home.

— My New Year Resolutions:

• I’m going to quit being so soft on right-winged Christians.

• I’m through with the mainline news. It’s nothing but a bunch of corporate owned nonsense.

• I’m going to start a think tank to help Galesburg get out of the rut it’s in.

• I’m going to be less skeptical and more pessimistic.

• Every time I hear a right-winged Christian or government official, which seem to be pretty

much one and the same, handing out a line of baloney, I’m going to get in their face.

• I’m going to play harder and work less.

• I’m going to host a Maytag extravaganza on the square the day they close. I’m not going to mention blowing up anything, it makes people nervous, but I would suggest not standing around the appliances.

— Knoxville dumbs down: TIF’s are in. I call them "tax breaks for the rich," or TBFTR’s.

Interesting timing. While the school district is begging for more tax dollars, the city council is giving away the school’s money to businessmen. This is a process of dumbing down commonly called "The Galesburg Syndrome."

— Peever predictions for 2004:

Happy New Year. Remember, if you drink, don’t talk.