Thursday, December 31, 2009

In the Year 2009

After several weeks' silence on this blog, I figured it was only fitting to finish off the decade with a multimedia feature.

The following videos, in my opinion, capture about the right mood for the year that brought us the absurd healthcare town hall meetings, Governor Mark Sanford's apparent penchant for hiking the Appalachian Trail, and Kanye West's inopportune outburst at the VMAs.
Disclaimer: These videos may contain material unsuitable for children, pets, or anyone with an unhealthy amount of nostalgia for the year 2009. Contains bleeped obscenities, simulated consumption of alcohol, and some jokes in very bad taste. Enjoy!




And yet, this year also saw the sobering inauguration of Barack Obama, the triumphal landing in the Hudson of the plane piloted by Chesley B. Sullenberger III and, most recently, a reminder that we have a long way to go in overcoming threats to the safety of the international community, especially when we're airborne several thousand feet above the earth.

In that somber vein, I offer this uplifting article, published in the New York Times.



A MIDEAST BOND, STITCHED BY PAIN AND HEALING
Published: December 30, 2009

JERUSALEM — He can be impulsive. She has a touch of bossiness. Next-door neighbors for nearly a year, they talk, watch television and explore the world together, wandering into each other’s homes without a second thought. She likes his mother’s eggplant dish. He likes her father’s rice and lamb.

Friendship often starts with proximity, but Orel and Marya, both 8, have been thrust together in a way few elsewhere have. Their playground is a hospital corridor. He is an Israeli Jew severely wounded by a Hamas rocket. She is a Palestinian Muslim from Gaza paralyzed by an Israeli missile. Someone forgot to tell them that they are enemies.

Read the rest of the article here.

Happy New Year! Best wishes for a peaceful decade.