Ladies and Gentlemen, the situation is, how shall I put it? So-so. So good, yet so bad. We have so much money but so big debts too, so many successes yet so many failures. Politically we have so many good people as well as so many crooks. Internationally we have so many friends yet so many enemies. Medically we have so many doctors but so many are sick that it is sickening. The field of education is where we really excel – we have so many students yet so many dropouts. Our justice system is probably the best example of this so-so situation – we have so many cops yet so many criminals, so many drug addicts, yet so many drug dealers, so many police officers and so much crime.

As for the future, it too looks so-so. So promising yet so depressing, so bright yet so dark. I am cautiously optimistic yet so desperately pessimistic, but the so-so news is that we still keep on moving in the right direction to nowhere. So if next year I come here and tell you that the situation is still so-so, don’t blame me. I’ve just told you so-so.