Those of you who know me, will attest that I am not a political activist nor do I post rants about social injustice.


It's not that I don't care about these issues.....but realistically they usually don't effect me in "daisy land" and being a self professed "lazy daisy" I am not as informed as I need to be .

I find that I am more event centered than time oriented. I know where I was when Kennedy was shot! (yes, I'm that old) I remember where I was when John Lennon was killed and I remember well the events of 9/11 . The question mainly to myself: " Will I remember the significant events of 2005?" So without moralizing, demonizing, or throwing stones these are some of the events nationally and globally I want to remember about 2005.

1. Katrina hits the gulf coast devastating New Orleans , and Mississippi coast line. Massive destruction and thousands lost everything. Houston, Dallas, and other large cities taken in refugees. (Note to self: Refugees...other Americans.)
   
2. Disaster upon Disaster beyond U.S. Shores. Southeast Asia started the year with destruction left by the tsunami (Dec.26,2004) and ended the year with millions more in Pakistan and India homeless and more than 80,000 people dead from a massive earthquake. Latin American also had massive mudslides from Hurricane Stan and some entire communities in Guatemala were declared to be mass graves, as it was too dangerous to dig for bodies.
3. The War in Iraq: The first multi party elections in 81 years were held. While this is wonderful for the Iraqi people, the death toll to US military increases daily. This effects me in "daisy land" as many of those "peace keepers" are young men the age of my son.
4. Supreme Court Changes: The US Supreme court Justices had remained unchanged for more than decade. In 2005, Sandra Day O'Conner announced her retirement, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, 80, died and was replaced by John Roberts with a confirmation vote of 78-22. Confirmation hearing start in January for Circuit Appeals Court Judge Samuel Alito.
5. Papal Transitions:Pope John Paul 2 to Benedict 16 A personable, deeply spiritual, well-traveled, and once athletic pope who had endured Nazi occupation, stood firm in communism's face, inspired millions of young people, survived a would-be assassin's bullet and the ravages of Parkinson's disease, in the end fell to flu at age 84.

I'm sure there are lots more than could be added to the list. But considering I've never really looked at the world in this light before these are my top 5. What would you have on your list?

Labels: year in review