December 31

-1C overcast.
The cold night wasn't expected after the last 2 days.
I finished writing the Tuchodi fire experience but will not be posting it today. Instead I am reposting something I wrote for New Years last year with a bit of 'new' added on. Today I'll work on the Fort Nelson story and hopefully get it finished.


New Years Eve 2011

Once again a year has passed and a new one is stretching out before us.

I looked back and found the New Year message I wrote a year ago, I don’t know if I can really add anything to it so will reproduce it below.

After rereading it a second time, I realize that the tone is perhaps somber but unless mankind miraculously changes that somber or not, that’s the way it is.

The new year is now only hours away for us here on the west coast; every year the same  comments are strewn about like boulders on the beach. What will the New Year bring? This year I'm gonna .... What's your resolutions? This year will be different! Look at all the changes, what will be different this year? I pray for ....
And of course 'Happy New Year!'
There will be new songs and music but none of them will really capture the importance and meaning of 'Auld Lang Syne'; it has lasted for generations and will continue to last for generations to come. Its not just the remembering of past friends and acquaintances but it's also a promise to  remember those of today and tomorrow.
Peace in the world would be a good thing to wish/pray for but peace will never happen. Power, greed and prejudice will always exist and although from time to time there may be brief universal reprieves, the influence of those three things will continue to create the will to dominate and in lesser or greater ways wars will carry on and on.
Even in times of so called peace the dominate powers maintain their secret "services"for how else can they retain their dominance. At the same time the lesser powers train and maintain their secret ones and agendas so that when the opportunity arises or is created they will be ready to step up to the 'power plate'.
Benign power doesn't exist. But some dominators are preferable to the alternatives and I guess that's what we have to 'hang our hats on'. 

To emphasize; take a look at Iraq. After the expense of many lives and years of warfare and occupation, the last troops are out and already within days the tribal fighting and the push for dominance is underway. Take a look at Afghanistan, in an effort to broker power and control we westerners help elect a corrupt government. And now that our troops are being withdrawn after all these years is there anyone that thinks there will be peace and stability in that poor country? If so then I might be able to find a bridge to sell you.

North Korea is once again elevating the concern that already exists.

“Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” Maybe not such a bad philosophy; better than putting your head all the way into the sand.

(apologies for the green above – I hadn’t saved a file copy so when I copied the entry, we get green)