Wednesday Night #2233

Written by Diana Thebaud Nicholson // January 1, 2025 // Wednesday Nights // No comments

New year celebrations around the world – in spectacular pictures
Revelers across the globe welcome the arrival of 2025 with fireworks and festivities
It seems that, like us, the whole world welcomes a change from 2024 even though the outlook for 2025 is far from promising.
We invite you to consult our Janus (Looking forward/Looking back) post for year-end reviews and predictions for 2025. Much to think about, discuss and keep for reference. We will be adding entries as appropriate.

President Jimmy Carter (1924-2024)

Jimmy Carter, Peacemaking President Amid Crises, Is Dead at 100
Rising from Georgia farmland to the White House, he oversaw the historic Camp David peace accords, but his one-term presidency was waylaid by troubles at home and abroad.
(NYT) Tributes poured in from presidents, world leaders and many everyday people from around the world who admired not only Mr. Carter’s service during four years in the White House but his four decades of efforts since leaving office to fight disease, broker peace and provide for the poor.
A remarkable humanist; despite some major achievements including the Camp David Accords, his time in office was blighted by the Iran hostage crisis (The 444-day Iran hostage crisis that undid Jimmy Carter’s presidency). Lest we forget, the best era in Canada-US relations ever:
Ken Taylor and the Canadian Caper

As we take a quick survey of the world today, it’s not a very happy place, but be of good cheer, Politico is here with a surprisingly positive take on the World and Donald Trump, especially Ukraine and Putin’s War, Israel/Gaza
Always look on the bright side of life — why 2025 might be better
5 totally not tongue-in-cheek reasons to be optimistic about the year ahead.
…while acknowledging that making predictions is a fool’s game, here are five — not mutually exclusive — scenarios to cheer you up as the clock ticks down on 2024.
Stopping wars – Insurrectionist-in-chief Donald Trump may cut an odd figure as a peacemaker, but he pledged on the campaign trail that he would “stop the wars” raging around the world, including in the Middle East and Ukraine. And he might just do so. …
The author concludes:
“Trump, Musk and MAD -Still unconvinced next year will be better than 2024? The Mutually Assured Disruption that’s inevitable between top dog Trump and his current pal-in-chief Elon Musk should be a grand spectacle. Two cooks in a kitchen…never works well. Two presidents in the Oval Office will be even more delicious.”

Timothy Snyder says world’s richest man is likely to exert uncomfortable influence over White House
More on the Trump-Musk alliance from historian Timothy Snyder who expects that Trump’s soon-to-be home, the White House, will be a stage for uncomfortable and damaging discord between the president-elect and his most powerful ally, the world’s richest man.
“I think we overestimate Trump and we underestimate Musk,” Snyder said.

Is there always a series of tragedies at year-end, or do we pay more attention because most governments (except possibly Israel and Russia?) eschew dramatic action during the festive season? This year has been no exception with the the deadliest global aviation disaster in years of South Korea’s Jeju Air crash on Sunday morning; and the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured Aviation experts say Russia’s air defence fire likely caused Azerbaijan plane crash as nation mourns.
Brussels was gripped by chaos on New Year’s Eve – Nothing to see here Unrest on New Year’s Eve is an annual occurrence in Belgium, with more than 200 people arrested in the capital in 2023 and 160 in 2022.
On New Year’s morning, we woke to the distressing news that the driver of a pickup truck intentionally drove into a large crowd of New Year’s revelers in the Bourbon Street area of New Orleans early Wednesday, killing at least 10 people and injuring at least 35 others. The FBI is, apparently, investigating the possibility of terrorist connections.
And in Moldova, Russia cut off gas to separatists, risking humanitarian crisis

We need only consider this grim list to grasp what a devastating year 2024 has been.
Year-ender 2024: Devastating tragedies that sent shock waves across world – From earthquakes to mass shootings: Here are the most devastating global tragedies of 2024
For most Canadians, the dominant memory is of the Jasper Wildfire, the most devastating to hit the national park in more than a century. and our thoughts are with the residents as they enter new year with hope, anxiety.

Anniversaries worth noting.
31 December 1999
1. Y2K swept the nation 25 years ago: Historical photos show millennium panic in America
and -because that is where I was working
Airline industry glides smoothly into 2000: IATA
2. Panama celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Panama Canal handover as Trump wants to take it back.
A bit of history for those who do not remember
Jimmy Carter gave Panama control of the canal. It’s one of his most controversial achievements
A 50th anniversary we can celebrate on 1 April
3. Environment Canada’s use of Celsius turns 50 years old in 2025.
Happy Birthday, Celsius! Canada marks 50 years of metric-Imperial measurements
4. Jane Austen’s 250th anniversary
many and various celebrations in 2025 will mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen,
A full quarter millennium after her birth, Austen’s astonishing popularity shows no sign of waning: books, films, TV series and stage shows inspired either by her half dozen novels, or by the scant details of her life, arrive every year without fail – a distinction that sets her a world apart from her peers.

Varia
US Death Sentences Commuted
President Biden has granted clemency to 37 of the 40 federal inmates facing death sentences, commuting their sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole.The three inmates who didn’t receive clemency are the convicted murderer in the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting, the gunman at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, and the surviving Boston Marathon bomber.
Meanwhile outgoing North Carolina governor received 89 clemency petitions and has commuted 15 death row sentences. Even after Tuesday’s action, North Carolina has the fifth-largest death row in the country, according to the North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
How an eccentric British inventor imagined 2025 a century ago
In 1925, the British engineer and inventor, Archibald Montgomery Low, published a list of his predictions for the next 100 years, titled The Future. In it, he envisioned a world in which stairs and sidewalks can move, sounds and images are broadcast into our homes through screens and speakers, programmable alarms wake people up in the morning, and women wear pants. …
Something to look forward to
14 February – Canada release date
Paddington in Peru sees beloved bear and Brown family head to the Amazon in search of Aunt Lucy
When Paddington discovers his beloved aunt has gone missing from the Home for Retired Bears, he and the Brown family head to the jungles of Peru to find her.

Good (Long) reads and views
Sam Stein -and his brothers- commented on this Paul Krugman piece Stagnation With Chinese Characteristics – How not to manage a downshifting economy. The economist prefaces the long article: This is a nerdier, wonkier post than usual. Also not about America. Consider yourself warned. For the economists and policy wonks among us.
We have become devotees of The Conversation (Canada) where one finds reasoned and reasonable discussion of a broad range of topics by academics. Highly recommended.
Donna Logan forwarded the link to The ‘Mainstream Media’ Has Already Lost
The newspapers and networks of the 20th century are ceding ground. And the people taking their place aren’t playing by the same rules.
By Helen Lewis
Donna comments: “Would love to know what you think of this piece. It saddens me beyond words to say so but I fear there is a lot of truth to it. I’d like to think the pendulum will swing back but I don’t see it because no one has come up with a viable business model.”
The planet’s melting glaciers are releasing a treasure trove of ancient artifacts
A new book, The Age of Melt: What Glaciers, Ice Mummies, and Ancient Artifacts Teach Us about Climate, Culture, and a Future without Ice, details the ‘race against time’ as archaeologists search ice fields for emerging artifacts. The author, ecologist Lisa Baril, travels the world to understand what our melting ice is revealing about our past—and what it also says about our future.
A very long read – and a keeper for future reference
The Democrats and Republicans Best Positioned — Right Now — for 2028
Yes, we know that the US election is barely over, but consider that Trump cannot run for a third term under the Constitution. Which means the presidential primaries in both parties will be truly wide-open contests, so the 2028 presidential primary is effectively underway, with ambitious politicians in both parties already jockeying for advantage.

We were saddened to learn of the recent death of our friend, and long-time pillar of the Westmount community, George Alevisatos (By George Deli and Catering). No details at this time.

Although happy to see 2024 off, we are deeply worried about what the invasion of Washington by the Cult45s and Muskrats (Robert Reich’s term) will mean for our world in 2025. Let us continue to link hands and minds as we face the future together.

Happy, Healthy, Hope-filled New Year!