“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” — Epictetus

If you want to make a change, start now instead of waiting for some arbitrary date on the calendar. Or at least that’s what I tell myself when new year’s resolution time rolls around. Then comes January 17 and March 22 and October 12 and I still haven’t gotten around to setting some modest goals let alone achieving them.
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So, 2018 is one of the rare years I’ll actually write down some resolutions. I haven’t done this in several years, however, so I’ve accumulated so many goals that I’ll fill up several color-coded Excel spreadsheets and need to borrow an architect’s plotter printer for the Gantt chart. Hopefully, I can thin down my list before the clock strikes Midnight.

One year ago, I counseled Trump’s many detractors to pace themselves. Following Donald Trump’s shock election, the permanent political class had gone through the stages of denial, anger, bargaining and depression, but the time had come for acceptance.

Twelve months on and acceptance is nowhere to be found. Every news cycle brings another round of hyperventilation — sometimes two or three rounds.

​Yes, Trump was and remains a very different sort president, especially following a polished politico like Barack Obama. But, as I said back then, “It’s going to be a long four years, and there will be plenty of real decisions to get outraged about. If you keep losing your mind every time Donald Trump acts like Donald Trump, you’re going to guarantee a long eight years.”

My teenage daughters were in a panic. "Why is Trump trying to ruin the internet?" one asked. "My favorite websites will be shut down!" her sister added.

A few days ago, they watched the panicked reactions of their favorite YouTube "stars" and other third-tier celebs to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai's proposal to end the net neutrality rules created two years ago.
Net neutrality is one of those big government ideas that sounds great in theory but creates new problems in execution.
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The net neutrality concept is that all traffic on the internet should be treated equally. Your broadband provider can't block certain websites or slow down the applications you use. They also shouldn't create "fast lanes" that force high-bandwidth services like Netflix or Hulu to pay an extra fee to deliver their content more quickly than the other guys.