Happy New Year!

As Ghengis is still fighting the flu while I do battle with a cold, we are spending a quiet New Year's Eve at home. This is why I am reading the New York Times Online in the early hours of the night. A passage from the article Fireworks and Sharpshooters Welcome 2004 caught my eye...

"A higher terror alert, issued on Dec. 21 by the Department of Homeland Security, generated the tightest New Year's security controls since 2000, when fears of millennium chaos and terrorism prompted Seattle and Las Vegas to scale back their celebrations sharply."

I am no great fan of New Year's Eve festivities but I was deeply saddened when the "millennial" celebrations that should be have in place to bring in the year 2000 were muted and generally eviscerated because of the fear of Y2K. These fears were to be completely and absolutely unfounded.

And now 2004 promises a life under more fear - under fear based on claims both dubious and serious.

It brings new meaning to the phrase, "Tonight I'm going to party like its 1999". And this year I resolve to do so.