What will we remember most about 2009……….Michael Jackson passing through our lives too quickly (or Jack Rose, Natasha Richardson, Ted KennedyJay Bennett, Patrick Swayze and more), Tiger getting caught leaving us astonished as the bubble burst, one war eases as another escalates, the Ducks beating the Beavers for the Rose Bowl, Swine Flu, Somali pirates…..…..interesting stuff, but don’t worry those people and events were just passing through.
Politically speaking it was a huge year to remember: inaugurating our first black president, few would say they could have foreseen that in their lifetime. Electing President Obama was certainly a milestone in our country, however one might reflect on what exactly has changed since he took office? Where is that healthcare plan?
Many will remember that they made it through the year with the shirt on their back and their health. The gainfully employed are no doubt thankful they are still working and if they are making the same salary they did last year, then they might consider themselves one of the lucky few.
Banks, bailouts and cash for clunkers might be memorable and even more so if the banks would let go of some of the money we gave them. We’re still reeling from the massive stimulus packages….and still waiting for the impact.
Meanwhile the U.S. National Debt has increased an average of $1.65 billion per day since September 30, 2005. Just passing through?
We’d like to suggest that this year was just passing through. We wish it were true. Unfortunately jobs vanishing, housing values decreasing and the investment losses will be felt for years to come.
2009 will be remembered as the worst recession in at least seven decades. There was little we could do to buffer the pain. Our unemployment here in Central Oregon nearly reached 20 percent and perhaps was higher if we were able to get all the data on those not able to find work. Our construction industry, for all intents and purposes, has come to a stop. You will read in this issue that local architects/builders are cautiously optimistic….we wouldn’t expect them, really to say anything else. Optimism and hope is what keeps us all going.
For a decade, Russian academic Igor Panarin has been predicting the U.S. will fall apart in 2010. He suggests that an economic and moral collapse will trigger a civil war and the eventual breakup of the U.S. Few took him seriously until recently.
George Noory of Coast to Coast online magazine predicts that the magnetosphere problems could lead to ultraviolet scorching of food crops. Grain crops will fail, mainly in the Northern Hemisphere, leading to food riots in the winter of 2010/spring of 2011.
Don’t pay attention to those and other alarmists; they’ll mess up your brain.
Valerie Clark, CBN graphic designer, who works hard to help make all of our publications the best that they can be, says she mostly remembers the year trying exciting new things in Central Oregon, from rock climbing to white-water rafting to climbing South Sister. She and husband, Adam Clark, explored all that Oregon has to offer from the mountains to the coast and adds, “I appreciate every moment spent outdoors in the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.”
Kari Pinkerton Silcox, CBN sales executive, who got married this year making it definitely a year she will remember offered this: “I remember how great it was to hear that our December A&E was up from last year, seems pretty incredible in an economy like this. I remember all of our morning meetings where we tried to remain positive and focus on the positive, instead of being brought down by the negative. But the one thing that stands out to me the most is that we\’re still here and we’re open for business and I think that is huge and really says a lot.”
Alrighty then. Since we’re all just passing through, we might as well have a good attitude about it and make the best of what we have!
Here’s to a better year, perhaps not a great year, like we had become accustomed to, but at least a better year than this one. PHA
