Changes

What is it we cynics say? "Nothing changes on New Year's Day." Okay, so not everyone would put Bono on their list of top ten cynics. Probably not even your top one hundred. It should also be pointed out that scheduling and logistics don't allow for much room on their calendar. Taking that old one down, the one with squirrels on it and replacing it with the one with kittens can make an imperceptible change. Just like a butterfly's wings. How big a butterfly?
2016 is a Leap Year. Coincidentally, or perhaps on purpose, the extra day afforded us will happen during an election year. Three hundred and sixty-six days of Donald Trump? Well, that includes all those post-November 8 days after the ballots have been meticulously counted and/or discarded if you happen to live in Florida. Or maybe the spell that his Trumpishness has cast over a portion of the American electorate will finally be broken. I am one of those who insisted, months ago, that we would all collectively wake up from this terrible dream. I posited reality versus Herman Cain four years ago, suggesting that the New Year would find Mister Cain heading back to the board room of Godfather's Pizza. I can only take a tiny bit of pride away from that assertion, since common sense could have pieced that one together. Somehow that extra day four years ago didn't give the Republicans enough of a head start finding someone more electable. Sorry, Mitt.
There are plenty of other reasons to flinch in anticipation of 2016. New laws go into effect today, such as the need for vaccinations for all students entering California schools. Cheerleaders for professional sports teams need to be treated as employees under state law. If these new bits of legislation sound a little "duh," then imagine how things used to be way back last year. Unvaccinated cheerleaders roaming around without any medical benefits? Thank goodness we have finally restored some order to this chaos.
California is not the only place where change is taking place. Kitten calendars are going up all across this great land of ours. And across the globe. Maybe by putting up a new calendar in that sand covered bunker somewhere in Syria will help those ISIS folks to lighten up a little bit. I don't think a kitten calendar in Trump Plaza will change anything there.