2016: 'Like or Dislike?'

At this time of year, news sources feel compelled to feature survey stories 'looking back' ... and 'looking ahead.'

Opinions are widely mixed this year, to put it mildly!
I offer the following four excellent examples:
1. CBC News website has posted an 'Opinion' piece by Scott Reid, for CBC News: 'Think 2016 was bad? 2017 will be worse; Four reasons to despair about 2017.'
His four categories are not surprising:
-- President Trump
-- Global Economy
-- Prejudice
-- Journalism
Perhaps, Dear Reader, some folks might claim that Reid was just getting started!
His closing is sombre: 'It's not a very rosy outlook and human nature runs contrary to much of this analysis. We're wired to look ahead with hope, to dismiss the naysayers and expect that things will somehow work out for the best. But reason tells us that can't always be so. Now and then, the outlook is every bit as grim as it appears.'

Was it really all that bad?
Is it going to get worse?

TV Technicians

My goal from an early age was to work in TV, either in a technical area or even perhaps in front of the camera.
Throughout my high school years during the early 1960s, I had gathered quite a library of written material from a variety of TV sources, near and far.

Most items were related to my fascination with the technical side:
-- catalogues of studio and control room equipment (Marconi, RCA, G-E);
-- detailed yearbooks (from BBC, WGN, Chicago, and CJIC, Sault-Ste-Marie, Ontario);
-- with even a running subscription to the monthly 'Canadian Broadcaster' magazine, full of news from around the country!
I could watch a bit of U-S TV, especially duruing the summer,