Well kids, it’s that time of year again…
NEWS STORY OF THE YEAR – War
What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. Really. That’s it. The world is literally at war
everywhere. Whether its everyday wars in nations that mainstream media doesn’t
care about, tensions in the South China
Sea, Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine,
or Israel pretty much decimating the
Gaza Strip, the World is becoming a
dangerous place rather quickly.
What is so compelling about both these latter conflicts, is
that they are so deep-rooted it doesn’t look there will be a peaceful ending in
sight any time soon. Putin is a megalomaniacal dictator with no one close to
him willing to tell him the truth, which if historically symmetrical, will end
with him in a bunker shooting himself and his girlfriend, as Allied troops close in.
Israel however, presents a much more complicated problem.
The Western states have stood by Israel for decades, and rightfully so. After
World War II the creation of a Jewish
state was necessary. To say that anyone else “was there first” is actually
misleading, given the fact that the
Dome
of the Rock is built on the
Temple
Mount (look it up, I’m exhausted). However, just because you may agree with
Israel’s right to exist, and to defend itself, that does not mean you have to
just blindly agree with
how they are
defending themselves. And that is where I have a problem.
The images coming from Gaza of dead children are disturbing
to say the least, and if it is terrorism you are fighting, then hearts and
minds must be won (a lesson that
the
United States failed to learn in
Iraq
and
Afghanistan), and you do not
win them by killing children or attacking hospitals. Yes
Hamas has illegally used hospitals as headquarters, but these
people are terrorists, they will not follow the rules of war or the
Geneva Convention. Israel is a
recognized state, and they are not behaving like one. And what is worse, from a
tactical standpoint, Israel has one of the best Special Forces units in the
world, and should have used them in operations to mitigate civilian casualties.
Yes that is a risk, but that is the obligation of a civilized nation, and
Israel is failing in that regard. So much so, that they have garnered sympathy
for a terrorist organization like Hamas, here in the US, and that can be very
dangerous.
Remember
Americans
love to have something to scream about, even if they have no idea what the fuck
it is. Just last week there was a march on 5
th Avenue, right in
front of the
Christmas season
tourists, that began as a pro-peace demonstration, and ended up being peppered
with signs of “Fuck Israel” and sympathy towards the government of Gaza, which
is run by Hamas. So Israel’s actions have gotten the ignorant woke mob to
support a terrorist organization. Please do better.
QUOTE OF THE YEAR – “Deeming
race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.”
—U.S. Supreme Court
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissenting opinion on Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard
College, June 29, 2023.
If there is one quote that perfectly summarizes what we are
going through as a nation right now, it is this one. My God we were so close.
To go back so far so fast, is something I never thought I would see happen to a
country I love so much. Who would have thought that in only 5 short years, we
would once again be a nation that unfairly levels the playing field in
academia, and would deny a woman the right to choose what to do with her own
body? Still think your vote doesn’t matter? How is that fashionable
indifference and neutrality working for you now? If you do not know the
importance of this particular
Supreme
Court decision, I don’t have the time or the energy, so look it up. If you
are a person of color and still don’t know what it is, shame on you.
TV SHOW
OF THE YEAR – “Only Murders in the Building”
I would have thought that by now the same premise would not
be entertaining anymore, but these people just seem to find a way to make this
show so enjoyable every time. This year saw the participation of
Paul Rudd and the great
Meryl Streep. I think eventually they are gonna run out of people to kill,
but this is a fun show to watch.
ASSHOLE OF THE YEAR – Rudolph Giuliani
I cannot be the only one who remembers how admired this man
once was. How he held
New York City
together after
9/11. How he brought
down the
Mafia as a prosecutor in
the 1980’s. Never has the expression “how the mighty have fallen” ever been
better personified.
What is worse, is that I will never understand the “why” of
it all. Why would such a seemingly intelligent man hitch his wagon so firmly
behind a criminal traitor and blissful incompetent like Donald Trump (runner up for this award this year, btw)? Not only
that, but even after he declared his loyalty to his Fuhrer, he had so many
chances to bow out, but instead doubled down and is now facing disbarment,
bankruptcy, losing court verdicts, and possibly even jail time. I usually have
no problem laughing at people like this, but this time I actually feel a little
bad for this guy. OK…whew! That passed…yeah he is still an asshole…
PERSON OF THE YEAR – Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve
If there is one thing I HATE is agreeing with any other
publication but my own, and I hate it even more when another publication beats
me to the punch. So glad to say that, TIME
Magazine’s Person of the Year, is Taylor
Swift and mine…is not. No hate, but it’s just not.
I know many of you have probably never heard of him, but let
me tell you why Jerome Powell, who has been Chairman of the Federal Reserve
since February 2018, has won this award: For some inexplicable, non fact based
reason, inflation is something that
President
Joe Biden’s critics have been blaming him for, even though Biden doesn’t
regulate prices. If he did, the GOP would cry too much regulation, the same way
they criticized him last year for, and I’m serious, gas prices being
too low, after they were at first too
high. Powell, unconcerned with politics, has played a key role managing high
inflation in the U.S. One his subtle strategies was the concept of something
called a“soft landing.” This, in theory, reduces inflation by raising interest
rates without causing a recession. If you have ever taken economics, you know
this is no easy task. At the beginning of the year, Republicans were animatedly
reminding the country how high and out of control inflation was, not hearing
much about that now are we? Well you can thank Mr. Powell and his policy for that.
The purchasing power of the United States and the World economies that depend
on it are also grateful I’m sure
BIGOTED ASSHOLE OF THE YEAR - Vivek Ramaswamy, Politician GOP
Presidential Candidate
OK so this asshole is at such a high level of
asshole-ishness, that sometimes I think he is some sort of parody or a
CIA plant. Seriously have you ever seen
such a level of unaware self-loathing on someone who isn’t pathologically
insane? The fact that he doesn’t realize that he is merely a
Desi Uncle Tom that the
GOP just likes to watch dance and will
never take him or his candidacy seriously is enough to make this guy a sad
clown. Then, instead of acknowledging his diversity he actually doubles down on
GOP hate by saying that even children of immigrants born in the US should not
be here, seemingly blissfully unaware that he wouldn’t be here if that were the
case. Maybe he is a vampire and cannot see his own brown ass in a mirror.
OVERUSED PHRASE OF THE YEAR – “Rizz”
OK I know this is short for “charisma” for you young folks,
but maybe think this through a little more. Change one letter and this takes on
a whole different meaning.
MOVIE OF THE YEAR – “Asteroid City”Look everyone knows that I am a huge fan of
Wes Anderson, and that even his
lesser-received films are classics to me. I was hyped just to see
Tom Hanks delivering dead pan lines a
la Anderson, and I have to say I wasn’t disappointed. And yeah, a well-placed
Scarlett Johansson nude scene certainly
doesn’t hurt either.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR – “Hackney Diamonds” – The Rolling Stones.
Ok hear me out: So
Paul
McCartney plays bass on a song on this album.
Ringo is still alive and doesn’t seem to be busy right now.
Bill Wyman is retired and
Charlie Watts is dead…see where I’m going
with this? I even have a great name for this supergroup that incorporates both
their bands. How about
The Rolling Bones?
Get it? They’re old! Ok, don’t unfriend me…
When I thought about this particular entry, I really had to
ask myself whether or not I was being objective. See, this is my all-time
favorite band, and I didn’t want to give them this award unless this album
really was the best music I had heard all year. A year that had some pretty
good stuff come out. Truth is, I didn’t wanna give them this award, but the
record is just too good. I was also thinking maybe next year I’ll make this
section a “Top 3” or something, because Bully,
Depeche Mode, Foo Fighters, and The
National all made really memorable albums this year.
COOLEST SONG BY A MAJOR BAND OR ACT THAT WASN’T A BIG HIT – “Under You” – Foo Fighters.
They are already talking about
“But Here We Are” for Rock album of the year. I personally have a
different choice, but this record is still awesome. I, as all other music heads
are aware, realize that Rock music has gone the way of great jazz music: only
appreciated now by a learned few, but I am still surprised that this record
didn’t make more of an impact this year. Yes I know that
“Rescued” seems to be the song that is getting its proverbial ass
kissed on social media, but this one is my favorite. It just sounds so much
like the band I always knew, and that is very comforting in an age of such
shitty Pop music. Honorable mention goes to
“Somewhere” by
Johnny Marr.
COOLEST SONG OF THE YEAR – “103” – The Kills.
I knew
very
little about this band until this song seemed to just hypnotize me. Oh and
honorable mention goes to “
Mourning
Dove” by
Screaming Females, and
“Tropic Morning News” by
The National.
COOLEST ACT OF THE YEAR – The National.
Other bands had a great year as afore mentioned, but this
band released not one, but two albums in this calendar year, and they were both
really good. Being called “Dad Rock” if Dad is the only one with a functioning,
articulate brain is not ageism I guess.
BOOK OF THE YEAR -
“Tuesdays With Morrie” – Mitch Albom
I always admit that for someone with a library at home, I
really do not read many newly released titles. This year was no exception. I
read nothing published this year, sorry.
However, on my way out the door on my way to the airport, I
decided to take “Tuesdays With Morrie,“ a book first published in 1997, off my
shelf because it was an easy to carry paperback and I had never gotten around
to reading it. How pleasantly surprised I was.
SPORTS TEAM OF THE YEAR
– The Denver Nuggets NBA
Watching any franchise win their first ever championship is a cool
thing, even if you are not a fan of the team. The Nuggets have had many good
teams throughout the years. I remember the high scoring teams of
Alex English in the 1980’s, and the
athletic team lead by
Dikembe Mutombo,
Robert Pack and
Mahmoud Abdul Rauf
that upset the #1 seed
Seattle
Supersonics in the 1994 playoffs. This incarnation is not nearly as flashy,
but they can certainly play. Led by
Nikola
Jokic this team just makes it look easy, and they do it quietly. They
dominated the whole season with little fanfare, on their way to the franchise’s
first ever championship.
ATHLETE OF THE YEAR – Naoya Inoue, Boxing
When was the last time Japan gave us a legit champion caliber
boxer? This guy is rewriting history either way, and I already wanna give him
that whole “pound for pound” thing.
So in 2022 he becomes the champ at 118 pounds, and decides
why not jump to 122, just for the fun of it, right? Well why just do that when
you can fight Stephen Fulton, the
champion at 122, in less than a year? So what does Inoue do? Hands him an 8
round beating and relieves him of his belts. And why settle for that when you
can just, in your next fight, unify the belts by beating Marlon Tapales? So yeah he did that too. Other than that, did
anyone else notice this guy? Don’t worry, you will this year.
DEAD PERSON OF THE YEAR – I always start this entry reflecting
on not just one person, because a loss is only measured by how much the person
who is gone has meant to society, or to our own lives, and that can mean so
many people to so many people, know what I mean? This year, I really can’t come
up with just one person that has meant a monumental loss to society.
Tina Turner was a significant loss to
music.
Norman Lear pretty much
changed how the entire world watches television.
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor made history as the first woman ever to
be appointed to the Supreme Court, and
Rosalynn
Carter made the world a better place alongside her husband, President
Jimmy Carter, in the second act of his
life as an activist and statesman, who even at his advanced age, was still seen
working on construction sites of housing for the homeless. Keep them all in
your heart should you chose to do so…
Here’s hoping the New Year brings you everything you want!
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