First Post of Randomness in 2017

• Barack Obama is the best president of my lifetime. (There presidents in my lifetime haven't been greatest, so maybe the bar is low.)  I wish he had been even better in many ways, but in terms of policy, the way he conducted himself, and what he was able to accomplish with the worst Congress of my lifetime, the contest isn't really that close.
• If you're on Facebook or Twitter or other social media, a good rule of thumb is to ignore any meme that comes from a source that has the word "Patriot" in its name.  It is probably worthless and a lie. Don't waste your time.
• How many Goldman Sachs people is Trump going to appoint?  So glad he is thinking about the little guy like he promised. 
• Unlike some of my progressive comrades, I don't have any illusions that Hillary Clinton didn't lose the election fair and square.  One bone of contention I have, however, is with this whole concocted notion that the media was in Clinton's pocket.  Unlike (I assume) most of my conservative non-comrades, I actually read The New York Times every day, and I can attest without reservation that their coverage of Hillary was relentlessly negative.