A Look Back

End of another year... Guess it's time to reflect and kick-start 2006 with goals and resolutions

Reflection (at a less personal level): This year has been very eventful, we witnessed -

Great Catastrophes:
Indian Ocean Tsunami killed an estimated 179,000 people, days before the New Year
Katrina, one of the deadliest storms in history, killed well over a thousand people in the US
Earthquake in South Asia, measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, killed more than 70,000 people

Humanity - triumph & defeat
China ratified an anti-secession law aimed at preventing Taiwan from declaring independence
Pope John Paul II died at the age of 84
Live 8, heightened awareness of the Make Poverty History campaign
Bombings at the peak of the morning rush hour in London, killed at least 52 people
Historic pullout from Gaza, ended 38 years of occupation
According to a Gallup poll, six in 10 blacks said if most of hurricane Katrina’s victims were white the rescues would have come faster.
The U.S. death toll in the war in Iraq reached 2,000 in Oct
Civil unrest in France
The WTO concluded in Hong Kong

Amusing Occasions:
Bush in his inaugural address outlined a U.S. policy "with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."
Resignation of Tung Chee Hwa
Anti-Japanese demonstrations in China
Prince Charles & Camilla Parker Bowles Wedding
MJ found not guilty of child molestation
Landslide victory of PM Junichiro Koizumi and party
Opening of the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
The trial of Saddam Hussein

Headline Seizers:
Bird Flu
Same sex Marriages
Oil and Gold Price surge
Violence in Iraq
Kyoto Protocol
The Schiavo debate