2013 News in Review

One of the things I enjoy, and find myself very much drawn to, around this time of year is how the media have features reviewing the events of the calendar year coming to a close.

I am fond of looking back and reflecting upon the events of a given period of time, in this case, the calendar year, with a mind to how these events might be viewed in the years to come.

So as 2013 draws to a close, here's my take on some of the big news events:

President Barack Obama began his second term this year in January--wow, was that only this year?  So much seems to have happened with him at the presidential helm this year.  A sequester took effect on government services around February.  This eventually led to the federal government going into shutdown mode for about half the month of October.  It is definitely unfortunate that happened, as it had a negative impact on many services and people's lives, beyond those of federal employees.

But the main trigger of the shutdown was something else unfortunate: the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, which really does come across as a government takeover of healthcare, and, in effect, people's lives.  The rollout didn't really go all that smoothly.  I hope this leads to our government officials' going back to the drawing board to ponder anew how to better resolve the issue of people not having decent access to healthcare.

Locally, the CTA rolled out its new Ventra system for paying fare, which was plagued with numerous problems.  Meanwhile, the parent company of Dominick's pulled those grocery stores out of the Chicago area after they posted substantial losses.  And the city of Chicago expanded the Divvy bike sharing program.

In the realm of social change, there were advances made in gay rights in this country.  The Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act.  Then a number of states, including Illinois, legally changed the definition of marriage to be between any two people, thereby permitting homosexuals to wed.

But there were some advances in protecting the sanctity of human life.  Despite the chaos erupting the first time it was attempted, Texas passed legislation to protect the unborn and their mothers from grisly abortion procedures, like those done by Kermit Gosnell, who was convicted on murder charges and sentenced to life in prison in May.

Among the departures this year were three world leaders: former British Primer Minister Margaret Thatcher, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, and former South African president and anti-apartheid symbol Nelson Mandela.

South Korea's first woman president, Park Geun-hye, started her term in office.  And Angela Merkel was elected to another term as Germany's chancellor.  She was one of several leaders that the NSA spied on, part of the scandalous revelations of the NSA's spying program on even US citizens, leaked by Edward Snowden, who snuck away from US authorities to Russia.

Locally, Anan Abu-Taleb, owner of the Maya del Sol restaurant, won election to the office of Oak Park Village Board President, running as an independent candidate against the establishment candidate John Hedges.

There was also a change in leadership at the Vatican.  I still remember how shocked I was when I opened my e-mail inbox that morning of Monday, February 11, to see the news of Benedict XVI announcing his abdication in the subject lines of three different e-mails.

But my shock gave way to the eager anticipation of who the next pope would be.  I followed the election proceedings carefully, even to the point of waking up at 6 AM on the 2nd day of the conclave to see if a new pope had been elected.

And what a thrill it was later that day, March 13, just over a month after Benedict's announcement, to see the white smoke go up--a feeling of thrill especially in the initial moment--and then watch the introduction of Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio as Pope Francis.  I was glued to the television for nearly 2 hours watching the coverage.  It's been a delight to follow Francis throughout these months, as I see in him a great leader for the Roman Catholic Church, and a major force for positive change in the world.

We could use something like that in the midst of continuing violence in the world.  The civil war in Syria continued raging.  A mall in Nairobi, Kenya, was attacked by terrorists.  The Boston Marathon's finish line was attacked by two bombs, which led to a very tense week for the Boston area as authorities sought out the perpetrators.

As for the weather, there weren't all that many tornadoes or tropical cyclones that impacted the United States this year.  But the ones that did occur certainly were devastating, in Moore, OK, and Washington, IL.  And in the Pacific Ocean, the devastation of the Philippines by the powerful Supertyphoon Haiyan was heartbreaking.  There were also the forest fires, one of which in the vicinity of Yarnell, AZ, claimed the lives of many firefighters.  During April, there was major flooding in the Chicago area.  And there were some significant winter weather systems, including one in South Dakota in October, and significant ice and snow events in November and December, affecting parts of the South and East.

I'm sure there are many of other events from 2013 that will be remembered for years to come that I haven't mentioned here.  But that's okay, they'll come to mind eventually and I'll muse on their significance a bit.  Indeed, I'm going to keep on musing on 2013, even in a blog post I plan to publish tomorrow on New Year's Eve in which I share about events in my personal life in 2013.

Stay tuned, because I'm only starting to mull over them...