Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, Janurary 3, 2005.

So I thought we'd start out the New Year with something that doesn't require a lot of explaining. We all experienced the year 2004, with all its sniping and ill-will and harsh words and dogmatic stances and not-so-veiled threats. (And that was just the polite dinner conversations.) It's a brand new year, and it will be interesting to see how much of that carries over.

I would hope that some quiet reflection and the mind-bending destruction of the Asian tsunami might give us all some perspective.

But I'm not gonna make any bets....