Before researching my archives, the 4000+ articles saved this year to my hard drive for future reference, I thought it worth the exercise of reviewing 2006 from my own memory as to determine the most important stories of the year by way of which ones made enough of an impact upon me for me to be able to recall them. 2006 is easily the best year of my life, both news-wise and otherwise, without any research needed in order to make such a declaration.
NORTH KOREA NUKE TEST ... easily the most important story of the year and perhaps the decade. In one day, Kim Jung-Il makes a complete mockery of the National Security policy of the "world's only remaining Superpower" as expressed by it's President in his first State of the Union address following September 11th, in which he said "I will not wait on events, while dangers gather. I will not stand by, as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons." A statement President Bush repeated in September 2006. As with most everything he said before and since, it was complete and utter horseshit, as Mr. Kim demonstrated four years and four weeks later, respectively, while Iran's leaders watched, listened, and learned.
ISRAEL ... Sharon, Olmert, and Nasrallah combined to reveal Israel's military and political incompetence and corruption on a scale previously unimaginable. Truly the "birth pangs of a new Middle East", though not the kind Dr. Rice was hoping for.
STEVE IRWIN dies, revealing the depths, pardon the pun, to which American culture and it's ability to recognize character has diminished. As if the outcomes of the past 10 Presidential and 20 Congressional elections were not enough.
YOUTUBE ... When Andy Warhol said "in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes", I suspect that he had some idea of the coming ubiquity of video cameras and the means by which their product could be seen by millions of people each and every day. Now it is so, and the changes coming to cultures worldwide will be greater and faster than anyone can imagine. The heyday of text on the Internet is over and I will have to adapt/evolve accordingly.
CORETTA KING'S FUNERAL ... where for the first time President George W. Bush is certain to have heard contrary opinions of his handling of 'wars'. It was witnessed by millions of Americans through television. George didn't like what he heard, then did not act upon it, which resulted in...
THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS ... revealed the extent to which Americans disagree with the policies and records of their governing 'representatives' from the top to the bottom while simultaneously re-demonstrating how intransigent and stultifying the American system of government is, and how arrogantly unaccountable it's leaders are.
SADDAM / ZARQAWI ... proving that high-tech and low-tech killings of geo-political figures doesn't change a damn thing.
And that is about it for off the top of my head recollections, though I would add that I believe that Afghanistan had another record opium crop this year, there were record temperatures and a notable dearth of Hurricanes, people are now dying as they text message on their cellphones while driving, and the stock market hit a new high while the economy chugged into a lower gear. All of which should make for a rather interesting 2007.
stephenhsmith
31dec2006
