• Thanks to everyone who sent in congratulations, kind words and feedback regarding our 25th Anniversary Issue. (I even want to thank the person who complained that we don't print our comics large enough.) The issue was just the first in a series of celebrations we'll be having this year. The next big thing to celebrate: The launch of our all-new Web site, which is just weeks away.
• To those who complained about the fact that our cover two weeks ago featured a model in a swimsuit: Lighten up, folks! We have a tradition of occasionally "illustrating" wonky political stories with swimsuit models. (Just be thankful that we didn't Photoshop the governor's head onto the model's body like we once did.) No women were exploited during the making of the cover, and no children will be harmed should they accidentally catch a glimpse of a woman in a swimsuit. Got it?
• To those people who wrote in to ask who the attractive cover model is: One, we don't know; that picture came from a stock-photo service. And two, please get a life.
• On a completely unrelated note: Are all stock traders batshit crazy and/or severely mentally challenged?
It was big news earlier this week when the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped below 7,000--its lowest point in 12 years, and less than half of the value it had in October 2007.
OK, the economy's bad, but it is NOT so bad that it's only half of what it was 17 months ago.
Stock trading these days is based on panic and emotion, and nothing resembling logic. Therefore, I've decided to ignore all news about stock-market indexes for now, even though I have a good chunk of what's left of my 401(k) invested in stocks.
I just thank God I wasn't planning on retiring any time within the next couple of decades.
