It's a pity, but Jimmy Carter probably will never receive the credit he is due during his lifetime. Carter was probably the first US president (certainly during my lifetime) to even make a token effort to try and get Americans to think like people who shared the world with other countries instead of people who were entitled to rule it. I think he was one of the unluckiest presidents of the 20th Century, coming at a time when the game was finally up for the Shah. That didn't stop him coming up with the Camp David Agreement, which created opportunities for peace in the middle east that have sadly been squandered since by both Arabs and Israelis.

For my money, I think a lot of Americans were kidding themselves last November when they thought that voting for a black man was somehow going to redeem America. It didn't and it won't. Race is still the crucial fault-line in American society and it is the fault-line along which American society will inevitably break apart.

If you want to make money in North America, invest in tents. The Canadians are going to need them for the refugees before long.