‘00 Turned Into Just a Big Zero

* Call me selfish, but I’m happy 2000 is coming to a close. Neither presidential candidate had the guts to name a woman to the ticket, the stock market is in the toilet, and my sweet 7-year-old son is now an 8-year-old terror.

Now that I’ve gotten all that off my chest, will 2001 be any better? I hope so. First, politics can’t possibly get any stranger, can it? Who dreamed Al Gore would make the speech of his life this year? Only trouble was it happened a month after the election.

Second, I don’t have a clue what resolutions Alan Greenspan is mulling over, but I hope lowering interest rates is high on his list. Third, I’d love it if Disney would drop its teen videos--you know, the ones sandwiched between cartoons, featuring some 14-year-old wannabe grabbing her crotch.

Looking over the last 12 months, who could have predicted that ’00 would be the year that Y2K met AOL? That’s right, we started out the year worrying about computer meltdowns and ended the year worrying about the largest merger in history.

I’m sure plenty of people have a lot to be thankful for this year. As for me, I can’t wait to get on with ’01.

DENNY FREIDENRICH

Laguna Beach

* We live in a country where power dictates and cynicism reigns.

An election is decided by power not votes; company CEOs determine their pay not business successes; lobbyists, not voters, influence legislation; deregulated power companies blackmail consumers.

Where does it stop?

JIM HOOVER

Huntington Beach

* A new term in the political lexicon: the “disenchadfrised.”

JAMES BERGQUIST

Mission Viejo