Welcome to 2015.  No, I didn't ring in the new year at midnight.  I can't remember when I have ever done that.  Perhaps when I was much, much younger--once or twice.  We don't even mark the event with any special ritual.  Haven't observed the popular habit of making "resolutions" either.  I have always disappointed myself with how dismal my progress on those resolutions were.  Many of the most frequently listed resolutions simply aren't as important to me any more.  Lose weight?  Isn't worth the trouble.  Exercise?  I hate going out to exercise simply to exercise.   And the touted health benefits aren't worth the effort.

Here is one tradition that seems to be going away--a victim of our modern social ills.  Citing the threats of abduction and identity theft, many hospitals won't be identifying the first baby of the year born in their facility.

I can remember a time some forty years ago when researchers enthusiastically predicted that we would soon find a cure for cancer.  Year after year passed and no such cure was found.  Slowly the scientists found that there is no singular cure for a singular disease.  There are many cancers which don't respond with mathematical predictability to any of the so-called cures.  This article goes a long way to explaining why some people get cancer--pure dumb luck.