As America prepares for a transition of power, it has been anything but peaceful. Disturbing new details of the intent of the Capitol rioters. How fragile is America’s future? And the pandemic. What we’ve learned about COVID-19’s transmissibility. How we’re tracking the more contagious new variants. The new year always brings hope of new beginnings and fresh starts. Who wasn’t ready to turn the page on the pandemic and the politics of 2020. And yet we may have to brace ourselves for what lies ahead in 2021. The second wave of the coronavirus is worse than the first and Canada’s closet ally and neighbour is bracing for more political violence.