Friday, December 30, 2005

Faces of the year


I was looking at Faces of the year - the men on the BBC website. BBC have Peter Kay, Harold Pinter, Sir Ian Blair, John Sentamu, Pope John Paul II, David Cameron, Lord Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, David Blunkett, Saddam Hussein, Ray Nagin, Pete Doherty, Michael Jackson, Andrew "Freddy" Flintoff, Lord Sebastian Coe and George Galloway.


From that list the people who have interested me the most in 2005 are Sir Ian Blair who post 7th July managed the police well but has also become too active in political discussion for my liking, it was also a great shame that in 2005 Pope John Paul II passed away. While I am not a Christian and did not fully agree with Pope John Paul II all the time I was always inspired by how a man of his age tried to influence world leaders on issues such as global poverty and the death penalty.


David Cameron started the year as the Conservative MP who was asked by Michael Howard to write what to some turned out to be the most right-wing Conservative manifesto in decades and now he ends the year as Leader of the Conservatives.


Andrew "Freddy" Flintoff became the nation's hero when the England all-rounder played really well which helped England defeat the Australians and regain the Ashes for England.


Lord Sebastian Coe replaced Barbara Cassani as the chief of London's 2012 Olympic bid team. At that point Paris and Madrid were in the lead. But Coe and his team manage to change that and get London the 2012 Olympics.


For the Faces of the year - the women the BBC has Kylie Minogue, Katie Price, Sienna Miller, Keira Knightley, Carol Thatcher, Camilla Parker-Bowles, Kate Moss, Michelle Wie, McCartney sisters, Billie Piper, Rebekah Wade, Joan Rivers, Kate Bush, Abigail Witchalls, Angela Merkel and Condoleezza Rice.


Camilla Parker-Bowles had a great year and this summer she became the Duchess of Cornwall on her marriage to the Prince Charles the Prince of Wales. The Queen did not attend the civil ceremony in Windsor but was there for the religious blessing so she also manage to get off to a great start with her mother in law, so I have to respect her for that.


Michelle Wie a young golfer turned pro at the age of 16 in October. I don’t know much about golf but I have respect for the youngster from Hawaii, of Korean parents, who has become a golfing phenomenon without actually having won a title. She has already taken part in male competitions.


The McCartney sisters on the death of their brother due to an attack outside a Belfast bar escalated into the biggest crisis for years for Irish Republicanism when the five sisters of the victim, Robert McCartney, embarked on a campaign to bring his killers to justice. Blaming IRA members for the murder and subsequent interference with evidence and witnesses the McCartney sisters made a plea to the European Parliament in Brussels and visited Washington in 2005.


Angela Merkel became Germany's first female Chancellor and was sworn-in in November after winning a general election in September. After long and detailed negotiations, Merkel managed to take her Christian Democrat party into a "grand coalition" with the Social Democrats of Gerhard Schroder.


In January, Condoleezza Rice became the first African American woman to serve as US Secretary of State. Since then, Dr Rice has maintained a high-profile presence, travelling the world in the service of American interests. In April she criticised Russia for not being democratic enough, visited areas affected by Hurricane Katrina in September and, late in the year, attempted to calm European criticisms of alleged torture in secret US prisons. Could this be the beginning of a presidential campaign???

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home