A friend and colleague of mine sent me this opinion from The Times this morning, and I loved it.

It’s not that time isn’t passing or that the night doesn’t show it. The stars are wheeling around Polaris, and the sugar maples that frame the pasture are laying down another cellular increment in their annual rings. The geese stir in the poultry yard. A hemlock sheds its snow. No two nights are ever the same.

I always wonder what it would be like to belong to a species — just for a while — that isn’t so busy indexing its life, that lives wholly within the single long strand of its being. I will never have even an idea of what that’s like.

Thanks, Todd. Happy New Year.

According to The Times, Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon Gono, introduced three new bank notes into circulation yesterday. The new $250,000, $500,000 and $750,000 bills replace the $200,000 note, and should actually alleviate the extreme cash shortage at the moment. There just aren’t enough notes in circulation to keep up with inflation. It’s not terribly important though as there is absolutely nothing in the stores to buy.

200,000 Zimbabwean dollars is the equivalent of $0.12 — yes, twelve cents — in US dollars. And that was yesterday.

Oh shit. This is some bad news.

The African National Congress chose the Zulu politician Jacob G. Zuma as its new leader on Tuesday, handing South Africa’s president, Thabo Mbeki, a resounding defeat. The African National Congress chose the Zulu politician Jacob G. Zuma, center, as its new leader on Tuesday.

After three days of furious politicking at a national conference here, the A.N.C.’s 3,900 delegates voted to oust Mr. Mbeki as leader of the party and award the job to Mr. Zuma, whose popularity has surged despite facing corruption and rape charges last year.

I knew the weather we’ve been having has been unseasonably warm, but this is crazy for December. (And, no, I didn’t Photoshop this… it’s straight off my Dashboard.)

I sent my wife off this morning for the far side of the world. She left at dawn from Denver, and when I checked Delta.com to ensure her flight departed on time, I was presented with the best commercial airline flight status page I’ve seen. Integrating FAA flight status data, Delta’s clean design, and Google Maps, it’s an overall great experience. I’ve been nothing but impressed with this airline since it emerged from Chapter 11 twenty months ago.