My Highlights For The Yearend and Predictions For The Coming Years

“The czar was always sending us commands – you shall not do this and you shall not do that – till there was very little left that we might do, except pay tribute and die.” ~ Mark Antin

WarWith only a few days left to the start of a new year, the majority of the mainstream media and blog-o-sites are busy preparing and displaying either a roundup of major highlights of the past year or predictions on the highlights of the coming year. The Boiling Frogs Post will be doing neither. This is not due to being a contrarian. Okay, to make it more accurate: this is not solely due to me being a contrarian. I may include a few macro highlights, but those highlights cover a much larger time span. I am looking at least a few decades in the past with an emphasis on the last decade. Similarly, I may make a prediction or two, but then again, those won’t be limited to the coming year but rather the coming few years.

Now, if you are getting in a holly jolly mood and don’t want to ruin it, just skip this post. Either don’t read it, or, save it for after the jolly holiday break. However, if you are like me and are able to reflect on grim realities yet enjoy the holiday season with your loved ones, then please be my guest and read this yearend post.

The Expanding Wars at Home & Abroad

Let’s start by saying: “So what’s new? Same-O-Same-O” and be right, shall we? I am not talking about this almost-over year. I am talking about the year before, and the year before that, the decade before, and the decades before that. When was the last time we ended a warless year? Thinking? That’s right, just keep thinking. Let me put it this way: If you were to ask the 15 year olds they’d tell you: I’ve never had such a year. If you ask a 100 year old (assuming their brain functions are still intact) they’d squint, and squint a little more, and then say: a couple of years here and a couple of years there. Now, if you ask a knowledgeable realist who knows his history he’d say: Not in the last hundred years. That’s right: not in the last century.

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