Thank you for the birthday wishes.

I am not generally one to make a deal out of birthdays, but I do appreciate all the well wishes.

I turn 33 today, and assume there will be many more. Every decade that goes by  has surprised me, for good and ill, and often the years as well.

The two things I can think of that cheer me the most this year are the continued decline of violent crime on average and real public interest in democratic socialism. I hope that society as a whole keeps working on the first and thinking about the second. This is not to discount any of the other social progress or problems that have happened or are being wrestled with, just saying these are my particular happy thoughts today.

God bless and well wishes back to everyone.