Category Archive: 2021
The Chinese called it the Year of the Ox. The United Nations dubbed 2021 the International Year of Peace and Trust. It was the year that email and the microprocessor turned 50. Tuberculosis vaccinations and insulin turned 100 years old in 2021 which also marked the 100th anniversary of:
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Franklin D. Roosevelt’s paralysis at age 39 as a result of polio
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the creation of the Communist Party of China
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cabin air pressurization for aircraft
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Ontario’s Prohibition(1921-1927) of the manufacture, importation and sale of liquor.
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Mussolini’s creation of the National Fascist Party after his maniacal supporters (Blackshirts) run amok beating and murdering his political opponents in the streets of Italy.
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Hitler’s inaugural use of Brownshirts a group of fascist thugs he would sick on his political opponents.
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The Tulsa, Oklahoma Race Massacre where mobs of white residents attack black residents and businesses.
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the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest labor uprising and the largest peacetime armed uprising in US history
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the General Mills’ Betty Crocker brand / fictional character
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Wonder Bread
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the creation of the Gucci fashion accessories brand
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Chanel No. 5 perfume
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the words Abominable Snowman, fascism, junk mail, sales tax
I’d like to say we’ve come a long way now, but when you consider that 100 years after Hitler and Mussolini turned their fascist thugs loose on their political enemies, that is exactly what Donnie Despot did right from the get go in 2021 when he encouraged his “redhats” to storm the Capitol. And don’t get me started on how far we’ve fallen in the realm of vaccinations acceptance.
Regardless, we’re not here to dwell on ancient history and those little people who cannot get over it. My voices have graciously agreed to come out of lockdown again this year in order to swap stories about our shared experiences and drink whatever it takes to unmask the truth and/or make sense of the nonsense that was the year 2021.
If you have not already done so, please doff your tinfoil tops and don your head lamps because I have a feeling this year’s rabbit hole could be pretty dark.
Republican Mob Storms the US Capitol
Mother Nature
Mother Nature continued to trend toward the extreme over the past year. Arctic Temperatures in Texas. Mediterranean temperatures in the Arctic. Record rainfalls and flooding in Canada’s wettest province. Record Heatwaves (July 2021 was the “world’s” hottest month on record). Oh, and don’t forget the Record droughts, the killer tornadoes appearing later (in December?!) and touching down for longer than ever before, and the host of other natural disasters super-spreading across the globe. Alas, Earth’s ultimate influencer, is still no match for the ongoing cacophony of gorilla dust being raised by the climate denial movement with their army of online influencers, trolls, and lobbyists who will continue to punch well above their weight class until the day they climb (or are flooded) out of their parents’ basements, caves and/or arseholes into what may well be their first (and last) taste of life in the “real” world. Until that day, there is Noah telling what it’s going to take to drown those guys out.
Related stories:
Derek Chauvin Guilty Verdict
Justice is served when the ex-Minneapolis police officer is found guilty on all three charges in the George Floyd murder case. It might have felt better if the judge had ordered the court bailiff to kneel on Derek’s neck until the verdict came back from the jury, but all in all everyone but Derek (and people like him) felt good about the outcome.
Wall Street Introduces Water Futures
For the first time, Wall Street traders are now able to trade in the future value of water, the way they have with other agricultural and mineral commodities. Thirsty for profits, it appears that at least they have realized where real value (and risks) lie because we can’t drink oil, gold, or bitcoins – a point that is being made abundantly clear as Water riots continue spilling onto the streets of Iran as authorities are doing whatever they can to drown out the protestors thirst for whatever is fueling their “Death to Khomeini!” chants.
Runner up:
An Evergrander Existential Threat for China
The ‘Big Jim’ Iron-Air Battery by Form Energy Inc.
An inexpensive battery to meet peak demand when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining. This new and highly efficient battery chemistry is based on one of the most abundant metals in the Earth: iron. It discharges electrons by reacting ambient oxygen with iron, creating rust. Inbound electrical current turns the rust back into iron, releasing oxygen, and recharging the battery.
Best described as Borat’s Subsequent Movie Film meets Bruce Willis’s Armageddon. This is not only the Movie of the Year, but also the movie the best captures the world we were living in over the course of 2021. If you don’t see you and everyone you know somewhere in this movie, you haven’t been paying attention (to 2021).
Honourable Mention: Untold Crime and Penalties: Slap Shot meets The Sopranos in this Netflix documentary. The true story of the Danbury Trashers, a semipro hockey team owned and operated by a mobster. Even if you don’t like hockey (or mobsters) you are probably going to like this flick.
If This is the Last Time by Lany
Honourable mention:
Strangers by Theory of a Deadman (feat. Zero 9:36)
Too Late by Cash Cash (feat. Wiz Khalifa, Lukas Graham)
