Years are like relatives, it’s easier to say goodbye to some than others. 

This one? Well, for most of us, it was actually pretty good.

Most Americans with a responsible work ethic were able to find a job, pay the bills and live better than most of the rest of the world. 

Perfectly, easily or ideally? No, but what about life is perfect, easy or ideal?

Thankfully this year, the “control everything but ourselves” Biden administration and the governor of California’s bully state, were unsuccessful in forcing the rest of us to drive electronic vehicles or pay five bucks a gallon for gas.

The vast majority of our children didn’t sign up for gender transition; soccer star Megan Rapinoe successfully pouted and stumbled herself into retirement; and the absurdity of allowing pretend women to compete in sports against real women finally started getting the challenge it deserves.

Spoiler alert — If you’re interested in affirming the absurdity of biological men in women’s locker rooms, ask yourself why we are not seeing women who have transitioned to being a man stepping into the arena against biological men?

On an exceptionally positive note, Joe Biden continued to thrill the sane by staying mostly alive and thus making sure Kamala Harris didn’t giggle herself into the presidency. 

On the sad end, the Gaza branch of Terror Inc. started a war with Israel that teeters on the edge of a regional or even larger conflict. For Hamas advocates turning a blind eye to murdering, beheading, torturing, raping, kidnapping and otherwise pillaging the innocent, just where do you draw the line on activism? 

If memory serves, I offered predictions on 2023 and was right on every single one.

Remembering that most of you – at least in theory – elected Joe Biden to the White House, please don’t bother to double-checking my claim. At this point, what’s a little memory lapse and ethical faux pas? To the tune of “Auld Lang Syne,” please join with me and sing our new national anthem – “There’s nothing to see here – there’s nothing to see here...”

For distraction purposes, mind if I push on to my 2024 predictions?

• The pain in Israel and Gaza will continue to a conclusion that destroys Hamas. The conflagration will likely be contained. In truth, most of the Muslim world is not enamored with Palestinians and have little interest in dying for them. Palestinians will be exploited for political purposes, but note that in an area with lots of spare space, no one wants to give them any of it.

• Congress and our “please hang in there” president will continue to spend money we don’t have, ignore much needed public policy and entitlement reform, and kick everything down the road as they confuse motion with action, promise something for nothing, and pretend to “work hard for the American people.”

• We will continue to breathlessly thank our veterans for “preserving our freedom” while we invest them in foreign entanglements that persistently have absolutely nothing to do with our freedom. In the interim, an astounding 45 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will continue to pursue a disability check from Uncle Sam.

ʉۢ Our kids and teenagers will accelerate their anti-social decomposition as adults dodge active parenting and surrender their off-spring to algorithm-driven babysitter apps.

• Having allowed gun-control dogma to expose their people to massacre, Israel will dramatically work to re-arm their citizenry. In America, the left will continue to work to do the opposite. To those who say, “It can’t happen here,” have you noticed how much “never happen here” is happening here?

• In the face of spiritual and moral emptiness, leadership incompetency, a rigged economy and a world that needs us but hates us, our culture will continue to struggle with anxiety and depression. Medications and feel-good therapy will not overcome our powerlessness. 

 â€¢ Our drug problem will grow ever darker as we find that legalization and a refusal to intercept the recruitment of new users fails us miserably. Think of it as one of those earthquakes where the tsunami of crime, social issues and lost safety looms ever larger. 

• Biden, Kamala and liberal media will continue to pretend we have a border, while illegal immigrants, drug cartels and a gazillion unscrupulous Chamber of Commerce member-employers capitalize on the fantasy. Terror will come to America with less difficulty than Hamas penetrated Israel. 

• Asheville’s Mayor (Esther) Manheimer and her City Council will continue to escape scrutiny and accountability for absolutely destroying our public safety equation. Stats will be manipulated, crimes ignored and unreported, and our police manpower problem will grow worse on their “progressive” watch.

• The Daily Planet will fire me for being too candidly candid and someone with some talent will finally take over.

Best wishes to you and yours for the coming year. There’s adventure ahead — and it’s a solid bet that there will be economic hurdles, increased dangers and further downgrading of our culture.

That said, our blessings will graphically exceed our hurdles. We, in turn, must look deep enough to see them.

Be especially thankful that, as of this submission, Kamala’s responsibilities are still constrained to giggling.... 

ʉۢ

Carl Mumpower is a practicing psychologist and former member of Asheville City Council. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .