Random Thoughts-72
January 3, 2010

Wow! Two-thousand-ten, twenty-ten, or two-oh-one-oh, or whatever we’re going to call it, is here…already! Where did the last year go? Where did that last decade go!? Have we made any progress? What is progress anyway? So many questions…so few answers.
There were a lot of huge news stories out there for us to review from the past year and from the last decade. From international and Canadian news to regional and local stories as well. From 9/11 and Canada’s role in Afghanistan, to the making of the movie “Rust” in Kipling; with many, many other significant stories in between.
Because of the restrictions of time and space, in a newspaper column, I will only be able to touch on a few of the highlights and lowlights, for me, from the past decade.
The following events are not in any particular order of importance but are just memories that randomly come into my brain.
Deb and I became first-time Grandparents! Okay, that one is very important, thus first on the list, but the rest are all random.
The Yankees won the first World Series of the decade…and the last of the decade!
The Maple Leafs didn’t win anything. At all. Again.
The ‘Riders won their third Grey Cup.
All three of our children graduated high school in the first decade of this century.
The 9/11 attacks were mentioned on the front page of the New York Times for 19 days in a row, a new record. Tiger Woods’ infidelity was mentioned on the front page of the New York Times for 20, that’s right, 20 days in a row, setting a new record for the paper and a new low for priorities in news coverage.
There were billionaire sports figures (see the above mentioned Tiger Woods) and trillion dollar bailouts leaving our heads spinning, again, about the world’s priorities.
Canada didn’t have a federal election this past year. I will leave it to you, Dear Reader, to determine if that was good or bad.
Deb and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary on the same night that our son won a role in a Hollywood movie! Wow!
Saskatchewan became a “have” province and surpassed its highest population in history!
A total of 138 Canadian Forces personnel have been killed since the Afghanistan mission began in 2002, the largest number for any single Canadian military mission since the Korean War.
An African American was elected President of the United States, yet, racism, around the world and in Canada, does not seem to be abating at all. Still confounding us are “Religious Wars” and ”Ethnic Clensing”.
Red Paper Clips and 100-year celebrations, lost grain elevators and lost citizens, a New York Times’ best selling author and a Hollywood star are people and events that defined Kipling from 2000-2009.
What will the next ten years bring? I cannot say. Is it too much to ask for more peace in the world, or a little better distribution of wealth, or a cure for cancer, or a few more grandchildren? Only time will tell.

“WHEN THE POWER OF LOVE IS STRONGER THAN THE LOVE OF POWER, THE WORLD WILL KNOW PEACE.”- Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970).