Interesting experiment by the UN

The UN is trying something new in Liberia. The conflict-torn country is being patrolled by the first ever all-female peace-keeping force. Liberia, as you may recall, is one of the countries in which UN forces had been accused of sexually exploiting the inhabitants they were supposed to be protecting. Hardly reassuring if you are a woman in a country where rape is already the most prevalent of crimes.

The UN's response was innovative and effective. The Indian contingent arrived in 2007, and it is probably no coincidence that female enrollment in the Liberian police force has climbed since then. That can only be good news for the women and children of Liberia, who obviously have not been able to count on effective protection in the past. And it is always encouraging to see something that actually seems to be working.

Note: I'm closing this post to commenting because of excessive enthusiasm on the part of spammers. Email me if you have something vital to say. ;o)

Thank you, USA

Thank you for a wonderful game that had us scared right till the very end.

But what really made me proud was when the Vancouver crowd cheered for American goalie Ryan Miller as he received his medal. And when the Canadian crowd cheered the American women's team as they received their medals. It's wonderful when your athletes do you proud, but it's even nicer when your people do you proud.

And having watched these Olympics from the US, may I say I was very impressed by NBC's coverage. It was done with a warmth and a generous spirit that I really enjoyed.

Canadian or not, it takes the Olympics though to make me watch two hockey games in one week. I watched the Canada-Russia game and the gold medal game and they were well worth watching.

My apologies for the long silence. I got floored by some rather extreme exhaustion and let my Internet presence slide pretty well across the board. I'm now trying to catch up on the backlog, which is intimidating. The good news is I'm starting here.

For today, just a quick rundown on recent events.

The children's book I mentioned earlier, has been out for some time, and so my name is in a book for the first time, courtesy of Mitchell Lane Publishing.

And in more important news, our first grandchild was born November 4. In keeping with my policy of respecting my family's privacy on this blog, I'm not naming names, but isn't he a little cutie? His father was born with that full head of hair also, so the inevitable remarks about him looking just like his daddy are coming in. But the face is not quite the same, so I'm confident this little guy will be his own person. Likely a very colourful personality, with the parents he's got. Bland conformity is not likely to be on the menu. Unless, of course, he does it just to bug everybody... ;o)

Wishing all of you a very happy New Year and wondering: what were the major events of 2009 for you?