Harper's Yearly Review

This piece sums up the year that was very nicely. Some highlights:

Thousands of people died in the Iraqi civil war, which was costing the United States $100,000 a minute. U.S. forces began to negotiate with Sunni insurgents, and the Pentagon, short of buglers who can play taps at military funerals, ordered 700 automated digital bugles.

Al Qaeda members were communicating via social networking website MySpace.com, and the Taliban established a “mini-state” in Peshawar.

Yanni was arrested for allegedly hitting his girlfriend, and Keith Richards fell out of a coconut tree.

SAT scores in the United States showed the largest decline in 31 years, and after 15,000 tries a California scientist was able to teach starlings some grammar.

The human population reached 6.5 billion, and scientists found that new infectious diseases were emerging at a faster rate than they had in the past. “These are good times,” said a scientist, “for pathogens.”