2014 is almost over.
Good riddance!
I mean, frankly, this year has pretty much sucked, and I, for one, am not sorry to see it go. The world seems to be going to hell, and in my personal life, things seemed particularly challenging and counterproductive!
First, let's take a look at the news around the world:
Russia, and particularly President Putin, seemed to be at the forefront of news this year. From the Sochi Olympics, to the Russian involvement in Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea, and what at least appears to be the beginning of a second Cold War, as sanctions placed on Russia by the West have been reciprocated, and tensions always seem to be mounting.
This was also the year of ISIS/ISIL/The Islamic State taking over in northern Iraq and Syria, taking advantage of the existing instability in both countries. They looked particularly brutal, and there was even some question about whether or not they may be a genocidal regime. They share some of the same tendencies as fascism, and definitely exhibit a religious intolerance. Where exactly did they come from, and how did they get so powerful, so fast? But one way or another, unfortunately, they definitely were bad, but major, news this year. On the flip side, however, this crisis found Iran and the United States in the unusual position of agreeing with one another over an important issue, although who knows how long that will last. It certainly did not lead to any cooperation or mutual efforts to work at eliminating this threat together. Also, progress in talks over nuclear energy in Iran stalled once again. The more things change....
Of course, the stalemate between Israel and Palestine continued, and instead of moving in a progressive way, it seemed that the situation regressed, with the war over the summer that devastated Gaza. Much of it looked like images of Berlin and other cities in Germany after the war. There were period of truce, but within a couple of minutes of these expiring, Hamas launched missile attacks into Israel, essentially provoking them into responding. Both sides grew more entrenched in their prejudices as a result. Maybe someday, there will be peace in the Mideast. Right now, the immediate prospects for that look grim. Especially when you look at the seemingly redundant, half-hearted efforts towards resolving the crisis on both sides in recent decades.
Germany celebrated 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Gorbachev was one of the honored guests to speak there. He also made news earlier in the year when he expressed support for Putin's annexation of Crimea, as well as a possible increase in Russian activity in eastern Ukraine.
China overtook the United States as the world's leading economy, at least according to the International monetary Fund (IMF). However, this takeover was not entirely complete, as the GDP for the U.S. is still double what it is in China, although even that is supposed to be overtaken within the next decade or so. Also, clearly, human rights in China remain an issue, although the protests in Hong Kong at least have not ended in the way that the protests in Tiananman Square ended a quarter of a century ago.
Right now, a looming financial crisis in Europe over Greece, where people are sick of the austerity measures that have been imposed on the country. However Germany, who has been footing the bill for bail out money and understandably, wants some assurances that more sound and responsible economic practices will be in place, are not seemingly about to relent. They know that if Greece becomes the first exception, than all of the other countries will demand similar eases in austerity, as well. The apparent choice for Greece is to accept continued austerity measures, or to leave the EU altogether. It will be interesting to see how that shakes out in the future. For that matter, there were votes in elections in Europe this past year that seemed to suggest that many are less than thrilled at being members of the EU, as a wave of anti-immigrant and anti-Europe sentiments seemed to gain traction across the continent.
North Korea is back in the news, having shut down the release of Sony's new movie, The Interview. Of course, that news spread like wildfire in the United States, igniting supposedly patriotic sentiments about how one foreign dictator can essentially force the United States into censorship, allegedly. This overblown story effectively cast into the shadows a far more important story: the release of a report detailing methods of what appear to be torture employed by the CIA.
The situation is Africa has not greatly improved. Those girls that were captured in Nigeria by Boko Haram. The civil war there seems to be intensifying. Similar instability was also seen in Central African Republic, as well as Kenya.
There were some strange incidents involving airlines from Asia - particularly Malaysia. One Malaysian Airliner was shot over Ukraine, exacerbating the separate situations for both the airline, as well as the crisis in Ukraine. Of course, there was the big mystery of the plane that disappeared, with a huge search area that stretched from the coasts of Malaysia and Thailand, to western Australia. It does not appear that they will ever find any solid leads in that one. Then, just a few days ago, another airline went missing over the area, although unfortunately, they have recovered parts of that, cementing that it was, indeed, a crash.
Not all of the world news was grim. Why, we had Pope Francis, who I think should at least be a serious candidate, if not the leading contender, for the title of "Man of the Year" award, and almost exclusively for positive things! Here is a man who seems to take the best and most true, ideal, traditional Christian values espoused in the Bible literally. He focuses on easing the burdens of the poor and suffering, and blasts the rich and privileged peoples that try to grab more in their unyielding and unchecked greed. While many have turned away from the Church, this is a man who can help to modernize it, and to make it more accommodating, more positive, and less intrusive and judgmental in the negative and petty ways that it has become over the years.
Other good news: Bolivia seems to be a model for many other countries to follow. Years ago, Bolivia was a country that seemed like a basket case. It was poor, and soaked in debt. The standard of living was low, wages were low, and things appeared grim. But recent efforts to empower the people have allowed their wages and living standards to rise, and the economy seems to be doing well. They are not crippled by debts, and the outlook seems to be brighter!
Also, despite many being unhappy about it, the news that the United States and Cuba were about to begin diplomatic relations again seems to me good news. Finally, the situation is progressing and, predictably, it took the United States to back off a hardline stance that was based on the premise of desiring "regime change." Given the results of previous efforts by Americans toward "regime change" elsewhere in the world, I think the collective wisdom of people that take such a hard and unyielding stance like this should be placed under intense scrutiny and seem with a strong measure of skepticism. The embargo and attempted isolation of Cuba has been going on for many decades now - over half a century! It simply has not worked, and we need to move on. So, not everybody is happy. When will everybody be happy about anything, anyway?
In American politics, it was much more of the same, at least at first. Republicans blocking everything Obama tried to do, and gained steam in popularity polls as a result of their inaction. They won the election big, and were predictably smug afterwards. At least until Obama, to his credit, actually began looking like a president that wants to do things, as he signed an environmental treaty with China, then initiated executive action to reform immigration policy in the country. Also, he recently announced that the United States would open official relations with Cuba, something that I feel was long overdue, and which was yet one more thing that set America apart from so much of the rest of the world for all the wrong reasons.
Science took some large leaps this year, as the European Union successfully launched a probe to the asteroid and landed there. India took a big step in joining the space race. And a NASA probe launched many years ago finally reached Pluto. There was a scientific breakthrough in one area that seemed to be the domain of magic and wizardry, as scientists in Rochester came up with the first working "invisibility cloak" of sorts. I wrote an article about it in the Guardian Liberty Voice, if you are interested:
Invisibility Cloak Breakthrough by Scientists at University of Rochester:
http://guardianlv.com/2014/10/invisibility-cloak-breakthrough-by-scientists-at-university-of-rochester/
It was a brutal winter for the first few months here, as we got used to the term "polar vortex," with unusually frigid temperatures becoming a staple of our winter. So far, this winter has been milder, mercifully.
In sports, the biggest story was surely the World Cup, where Germany made history by crushing the hosts in a historically lopsided semifinal by the score of 7-1! They then won the final against Argentina by a much more modest 1-0, earning their fourth ever World Cup title. The Seahawks emerged dominant in the Super Bowl, but the really big news in the NFL came with all of the highly publicized incidents of domestic violence and rape among many of their stars. Derek Jeter had a highly publicized retirement, and the Kansas City Royals had a dream postseason, until it ended in Game 7 of the World Series, when the San Francisco Giants won it all. The Los Angeles Kings dominated again in the Stanley Cup playoffs, so much so that they began to resemble a budding dynasty. And in basketball, the Miami Heat lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, and convincingly, at that! Then, LeBron James made news by returning to Cleveland. In tennis, Federer tried, but could neither win a Grand Slam title, nor overtake Djokovic as world number one. However, Wawrinka won in Australia, Nadal won a record ninth French Open title, Djokovic beat Federer in a huge and memorable Wimbeledon showdown, and Cilic became the first man not named Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, or Murray to win a Grand Slam since 2009, and only the second man to do so since all the way back in 2005, when Marat Safin took the Australian Open.
There were also changes in my personal life, as well. Some good, although mostly, much of the year felt bad. There were both highlights and lowlights for me.
The lowlights started early, and came more frequently than I wished.
First thing to happen was that I was essentially laid off my weekend job, after just shy of eleven years on the job. We did not even have the dignity of being laid off, however, because that implies some sort of a package for a measure of compensation. No, we part-timers were simply taken off the schedule, even though we did nothing wrong. Those people that implied that nothing would happen if we continued to do our job right said and did nothing when we were let go for no reason. They did not officially lay off any of us, and in some ways, it might have been better if they had. As of my writing this, none of us got so much as a thank you, let alone anything that could allow us to leave the place of our employment on the weekends with any measure of dignity. They simply took us off the schedule, almost one by one, and never put us back on. Everyone in the place that suggested that we only needed to continue to do our jobs, and that nothing would happen, proved to say and do nothing when we were let go.
This would set up a very depressing start to the year, since we all knew that they were trying to get rid of us since a new boss came in on November of last year, and announced very quickly that he intended to get rid of all part-timers. Yet, less than six months after getting rid of us, the old schedule had been re-instituted, complete with part-timers. Essentially, they just wanted to get rid of the old guard.
That was a source of major depression for those of us affected, and I was certainly no exception. It was very depressing, as were the money problems that I went through afterwards. The financial strains that, at times, became rather extreme this year as a result added considerably to the misery. It put a strain on my relationship with my girlfriend, as well, and for quite some time in the fall, it looked like our relationship was falling apart, and about to end. It still does not feel entirely stable as it once did, but that could just be me.
Earlier in the year, the divorce was finalized, which was long overdue. Later in the year, my financial problems were greatly increased when she ran behind on the rent, and I had to help out when it reached an emergency level, as the apartment complex was approaching court proceedings. They were not evicted, ultimately, but came uncomfortably close. My son deserves better, so I did what I could. Still, the strain of stretching myself that thin, when money was tighter than it had been in many, many years, just added to that feeling of this being a miserable, even almost a cursed, year.
There were things that exacerbated the financial situation, including car problems and an emergency visit to a creepy dentist. Both of those proved very costly, and these came just before vacation time, which meant that I did not have nearly as much vacation money as I had hoped and saved up or, having been forced to spend it elsewhere. The whole year felt like a series of mishaps like this.
More recently, I got a phone call from my father, saying that one of the pipes in the basement had a very bad leak, and that the basement was at least partly flooded. Yes, my parents home flooded when a pipe apparently burst, and it had leaked for quite some time apparently prior to that. I had to go down to their basement and clean up the mess. So many things were destroyed in there, it took numerous trips with very heavy bags filled with what amounted to trash to clean it up. There were also some strange pieces of furniture and other things that I could not identify as belonging to anyone in the family. Not a fun way to spend around the holidays and, for a while, I developed a cough from all of the crap that I must have breathed down there.
In all, all of this just made me feel more tired and worn down than any year that I experienced as an adult, if not ever. I do not remember a year feeling as miserable as this since at least 1992, and possibly, ever!
Not all of this year was filled with what at least appeared to be bad news for me, however.
I became a certified writer (at least in the state of Nevada), and that became one of the big highlights for my year. I now have dozens of articles published in the Guardian Liberty Voice, and I welcome any and all of you to please go and take a look! Also, I had my most successful year ever in The Charbor Chronicles and, if you are reading this, you helped to make it so, which means I owe you a personal thanks! I published more blog entries not only than any other year, but more than all of my previous years combined! That, after taking a couple of trips in the summer where I was unable to write anything or publish anything here, as well as a few weeks in the autumn when I was taking the class to become a certified writer for the Guardian Liberty Voice, and the workload there was just so great, that it prevented me from writing anywhere near as much as I would have liked to here on this site. Still, you guys remained patient and, again, I am very thankful for that!
My writing, and particularly my editing, separate from either the Guardian Liberty Voice or The Charbor Chronicles progressed as well, and I will look to make even more progress - far more, hopefully - in 2015!
Seeing my son grow up more, and getting to enjoy it was another major highlight. We started reading the Percy Jackson series together, and just finished the second book on Monday. We will start the third book for the new year and, I am guessing, should finish the fifth and final book sometime in the summer. Also, we went hiking together quite a bit this year, and did some other things, like going to the beach together, as well as trips, which I will expand on now.
There were two trips that I took this year. The first was with my girlfriend and my son, and we went down South, to the Carolinas, and a side excursion to Savannah, Georgia. The second trip was with my brother and my son, and included a mixture of hotels and camping. We traveled through parts of New England and eastern Canada, specifically the Maritimes (New Brunswick and PEI), and well as the Gaspésie peninsula in Québec province.
Those would be the personal highlights.
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