December 31, 2005 [LINK]
Looking back on the year: 2005
For me, the Year of Our Lord 2005 was an odd mixture of frustration in terms of politics, as the Bush administration got off track and Republicans in Virginia lost the governors race, coupled with exhuberant triumph in terms of baseball, as I was a witness to the (re)-birth of the Washington Nationals. As for joint marital endeavors, the trip Jacqueline and I made to Central America early in the year was probably the highlight. This having been the first full year in which I have blogged in a consistent fashion, with posts on all topics being integrated into a single archiving system, I thought it would be appropriate to summarize the year's main events and trends in terms of how I saw them at the time. The titles of the following blog entries are listed in chronological order, from January through December:
Major news items
- Judge rules on Theory of Evolution
- Inauguration Day 2005
- Bush: On a roll, not lookin' back
- Highway to hell?
- Clash of titans (70*, 66*, 73*, ...)
- Fissures in the GOP?
- Field of Dream come true
- More Social Stupidity
- What a beautiful, glorious OPENING DAY!
- The fateful "nuclear option"
- Evolution in Kansas
- Filibuster deal: Peace in our time?*
- Democracy On The March... April... May...
- Reactions to "Deep Throat"
- Bolivia on brink of anarchy
- Yankee Stadium: New & improved?
- CAFTA ... and party politics
- Private property, private shmoperty
- The attack on London
- War, law, ethics, and torture
- The Rove-Plame-Wilson-Novak-Cooper-Miller circus
- What to make of carnage in Iraq?
- Discovery: All systems go
- Energy bill: futile, misguided pork
- Republican Hog Fest in Staunton
- Cindy Sheehan and war morale
- Staunton rally: Support the troops!
- Weather of mass destruction
- APSA convention wrap-up
- Almost hell in Iraq
- Fiscal conservatives beg to differ
- Foreign subversion in Bolivia
- And what a year it was!
- All
politicsWAR is local - Republicans under heavy fire
- Houston Marathon
- WS 2005: Ozzie triumphs
- "Scooter" Libby is indicted
- Mehlman at GOP "Family Picnic"
- Partisan hijinks in the Senate
- Riot of the Americas
- Fujimori arrested in Chile!
- Down to the wire in Virginia
- Bad news for Virginia Republicans
- The future of the GOP
- France on the front line
- House rejects anti-war resolution
- Warner vs. Biden on the war
- Letter to the editor on Iraq
- Winter counteroffensive + 64
- More gripes about the GOP
- Various reflections on the war
- Evo Morales wins in Bolivia
- Bush: sober realism on the war
- D.C.'s nightmare before Christmas
Final respects
I noted the passing of the following notable figures over the past year:
- Johnny Carson
- George Kennan
- Terri Schiavo
- Pope John Paul II
- Vine Deloria, Jr.
- Ted Koppel
- Eugene McCarthy
- William Proxmire
I probably should have mentioned William Rehnquist, Rosa Parks, and Richard Pryor.
Birding, travels
- Don't Cry For Me, Costa Rica
- Dedication of YuLee's Trail
- Shenandoah day trip
- Wildlife on Crawford Mountain
- War of the Worlds premier
- Day trip to Todd Lake
- Warbler swarm in Staunton!
- Almost heaven, indeed!
- But wait, there's more!
- Winged migration
- Now that's entertainment!
- Afternoon on Bell's Lane
- Brown creeper, Golden-crowned kinglets
- Lake Moomaw field trip
- Winter arrives, catbird remains
- Winter ducks on Bell's Lane
- Christmas Bird Count 2005
- Sharp-shinned hawk attack
- Wood ducks on the pond