My how time flies! 2013 is now officially more than half over. Now that we are on the home stretch of the year, what were the most important world news stories of July 2013? As has been a trend this year, July was full of numerous disturbing news stories. From Detroit becoming the largest city in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy to Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson in the Fox hit Glee, being found dead in a Vancouver hotel room, British Columbia police said late Saturday, 13 July 2013. Monteith, 31, spent time in rehab early this year, checking into a drug addiction treatment facility in April. He had been frank about his struggles with substance abuse, telling Parade magazine in 2011 that he began using drugs at 13, and by 19 went into rehab after his mother and friends intervened. Monteith’s death was caused by “a mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol,” the British Columbia Coroners Service said.
Another notable death occurred when longtime White House correspondent Helen Thomas died. Thomas, 92, was considered the dean of the White House press corps, as she was the longest-serving White House journalist. She reported on administrations since 1960, when she began covering then-President-elect John F. Kennedy and his family. Thomas retired in 2010 after she made controversial comments regarding Jewish people. A third major death was the tragic passing of Dennis Farina, police officer turned star of it-should-not-have-been-cancelled Law & Order. He died at 69, his publicist said on 22 July 2013. A fourth major death was that of Emile Griffith, the first boxer from the U.S. Virgin Islands to become world champion and inducted into the Hall of Fame. He died at 75. Yet what stories had an influence beyond one major city’s economic turmoil or particular individuals passing away? Read on for the rundown!
10. Web Woes and More!
As the year progressed, the importance of online technology continued to expand, not always for the good of civilization. Google and related services were inaccessible to some users this morning, prompting confusion and consternation across the Web. Reports of outages began about 9:30 a.m. ET on 10 July 2013 and quickly spread on Twitter, with users asking if the problem was affecting others as well. Among the services affected were Gmail, Google Plus, Google Drive and YouTube. According to anecdotal reports, the outages appeared to be most prevalent among users in the Southeastern United States.
Yet, it was not all bad news for the internet. Netflix has two shows nominated for Emmy Awards: House of Cards and Arrested Development. It is the first time a series distributed online has been nominated for TV’s top honors. The Emmys will be broadcast Sunday, 22 September 2013 on CBS.
For more information, see http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/10/tech/web/google-down
9. Crucial Criminal Proceedings
July also included a number of major criminal proceedings that attracted considerable media and public interest. The most widely covered story was that of George Zimmerman’s trial for murder. The case drew national attention when Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, was not initially charged in the death of Trayvon Martin, who was African-American. The judge in Zimmerman’s murder trial allowed testimony about Martin’s toxicology results that show the teenager had used marijuana. Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Martin in Sanford, Florida, on 26 February 2012. He told police that night that the teenager looked suspicious and that there had been several break-ins in the neighborhood. The two got into a physical altercation, and Zimmerman said he was forced to draw his gun and kill Martin. Zimmerman’s attorney Don West said Monday, 8 July 2013 the medical examiner says that THC from marijuana would have had some effect on Martin’s thinking. He also pointed out that Zimmerman said Martin looked like he was on “drugs or something.” The defense told Judge Debra Nelson it planned to have a witness testify on this matter on Tuesday, 9 July 2013. Also Monday, a group of defense witnesses testified about the 911 call made the night Martin died. It became a key point of contention in the case. Five witnesses said that they recognized the screams on the 911 call as Zimmerman’s voice. Zimmerman has admitted killing Trayvon Martin, but claims it was self-defense. Defense attorney Mark O’Mara said there was no proof that Zimmerman had acted with any other motive than self-defense. “How many ‘coulda beens’ have you heard from the state in this case?” he asked in his closing argument. “How many ‘what ifs’ have you heard from the state in this case? They don’t get to ask you that. No, no, no.” He implored the jury: “Do not give anybody the benefit of the doubt except for George Zimmerman.” O’Mara said no matter what the jury decides, his client’s “life will never be the same.” A jury of six women acquitted him of charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of Martin, who was killed by a single gunshot. Zimmerman was “justified” in shooting Martin, according to one of the jurors who acquitted Zimmerman. The woman, known as Juror B37, was the first juror to speak publicly about the case. She said, “He didn’t do anything unlawful.” Juror B29 similarly told ABC News. “The law couldn’t prove it.” President Barack Obama released a statement a day after the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, saying the “I know this case has elicited strong passions. And in the wake of the verdict, I know those passions may be running even higher. But we are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken.” In surprise appearance in White House briefing room, Obama said, “Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago,” in his first live comments on the court case. As for Zimmerman, he and another man subsequently helped four people get out of an SUV that had overturned in Sanford, Florida, Seminole County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Heather Smith said.
The second most covered murder case of July 2013 involved Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, accused in the 15 April 2013 bombing at the Boston Marathon, which killed three people and wounded more than 260, and the killing of a MIT police officer days later. The suspect pleaded not guilty to thirty counts, including use of a weapon of mass destruction to kill.
Third, an old case once again reared its ugly head when Boston Strangler suspect Albert DeSalvo’s body was exhumed after a relative’s DNA was linked to evidence. A lab matched DNA recovered from the body of Mary Sullivan almost fifty years ago with that of her suspected killer, confessed “Boston Strangler” Albert DeSalvo, officials said on 19 July 2013. Massachusetts officials say it is the first time that law enforcement has been able to confirm DeSalvo’s culpability in any homicide. DeSalvo had confessed to Sullivan’s killing and about a dozen other murders, but he later recanted. He was stabbed to death in 1973 while serving a life prison term for unrelated rapes.
Finally, a trio of cases concerning abuse and capture of people of varying ages shocked America and the wider world. First, news came out that eight people were held captive in a Houston house, some for up to ten years, police said. Next, in a more publicized case involving people held captive, Ariel Castro agreed to a plea deal, sparing victims from having to testify at a trial in the Cleveland kidnappings case. Castro, who held three women captive in his home for nearly a decade, gets life in prison with no chance for parole. Castro abducted Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Georgina “Gina” DeJesus separately over a two-year period starting in 2002, according to authorities. The women and Berry’s 6-year-old daughter were freed in May after one of the women shouted for help while Castro was away from his 1,400-square-foot home. DNA tests have confirmed that Castro is the rescued child’s father. Finally, with regards to heinous examples of child abuse, in a major crackdown on child prostitution, the FBI announced Monday that more than 150 arrests have been made in Operation Cross Country, rescuing more than 100 children nationwide.
Okay, I guess we can have one more as a sort of footnote… The Nevada Parole Board has granted O.J. Simpson parole on some charges stemming from 2008 armed robbery convictions, but he will not immediately get out of prison.
For more on these stories, go to http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/19/obama-addresses-trayvon-martin-case-in-briefing-room/ and http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/26/plea-deal-talks-underway-in-ohio-kidnapping-case/
8. Notable Sporting News
While the above criminal cases mostly interested Americans and are primarily of importance for their victims, sporting achievements remind us that humans are capable of not just great evil. As such, champion and record-setting athletes are revered as heroes in magazines and in sporting cards and we would rather give them higher ranking than any scumbag criminals. Yet, even sports has its ups and downs…
On the happy front for baseball, on 2 July 2013, Reds pitcher Homer Bailey threw the first no-hitter of the Major League Baseball season in a 3-0 win over the Giants. Bailey also tossed the most recent no-hitter in a win over the Pirates last September. On the not-so-happy front, Ryan Braun was suspended without pay for the rest of the MLB season for violating the league’s drug policy, Commissioner Bud Selig announced. Braun, an outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers, admitted to wrongdoing and apologized for his actions. “I am not perfect,” he said in a statement.
Marion Bartoli of France on Saturday, 6 July 2013 defeated Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-1, 6-4 to win the women’s championship in the women’s final match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London. The victory brought Bartoli her first grand slam title. She had a shot at the Wimbledon championship in 2007, but lost to Venus Williams. UK tennis player Andy Murray, 26, on Sunday, 7 July 2013 defeated Novak Djokovic of Serbia, to win the 2013 Wimbledon championship 6-4, 7-5 , 6-4. He became the first British male to win the tournament at the All England Club since Fred Perry did it in 1936.
Finally, U.S. golfer Phil Mickelson won his first British Open British Open championship after shooting a 66 in the final round and finishing 3 under par overall. The victory gave Mickelson his fifth career major title.
For more information, please see http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2013/07/06/bartoli-beats-lisicki-for-wimbledon-title/
7. Five Top American Politicians Make Bold Career Choices
Few would reasonably deny that American politics has a global influence and as such the political careers of the five individuals discussed below received international coverage.
First, Texas Governor Rick Perry said on 8 July 2013 that he will not run for re-election next year for an unprecedented fourth full term in office. “The time has come to pass on the mantle of leadership,” said Perry. The announcement by the Republican governor opens the door to speculation that Perry will make another bid for the White House in 2016. Perry is the longest-serving governor in Texas history. He assumed the governorship in December 2000, when George W. Bush stepped down to become president. Perry was elected to full four-year terms in 2002, 2006 and 2010.
Next, an administration official confirmed to Fox News that Janet Napolitano resigned as head of Homeland Security and was named as the president of the University of California system, sources told CNN on Friday, 12 July 2013.
Third, Liz Cheney said she is entering the 2014 Republican race for the U.S. Senate in Wyoming, challenging incumbent Senator Michael Enzi. “Instead of cutting deals with the president’s liberal allies, we should be opposing them every step of the way,” the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney said in a video statement.
Fourth, in perhaps the most embarrassing American political career move, New York mayoral candidate and former Representative Anthony Weiner confirmed as real some newly emerged, sexually tinged online exchanges he had with an unnamed woman. “As I have said in the past, these things that I did were wrong and hurtful to my wife and caused us to go through challenges in our marriage that extended past my resignation from Congress,” Weiner said in a statement. “While some things that have been posted today are true and some are not, there is no question that what I did was wrong.” While Weiner did not reference the specific allegations, screenshots of conversations and photographs appeared on a gossip website that were allegedly between Weiner and the woman in August 2012, a year after Weiner resigned from Congress amid a sexting scandal. “I said that the other texts and photos were likely to come out, and today they have,” he said Tuesday, 23 July 2013. Weiner said that some sexually tinged online chats that were published by a gossip website happened after his resignation from Congress in 2011. Standing by his side, his wife publicly backed Weiner and his run for mayor. “What I want to say is: I love him. I have forgiven him. I believe in him and as I have said from the beginning, we are moving forward,” Huma Abedin said at a news conference. Weiner said people have a right to “say whatever they want” and that he is not prepared to “dispute anything that is out there,” but added that he accepted “responsibility” for his actions. And no, the above photograph is not of Weiner’s um, well, you know, but we figured (or at least hope!) it is of something our readers would much rather look at!
Finally, if Weiner above was not bad enough, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, publicly accused of sexual harassment by seven women, said he will enter “a behavior counseling clinic” for two weeks of intensive therapy starting 5 August 2013. His news conference was interrupted by technical problems. Filner shrugged off calls for resignation.
For more on this story, read http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/26/san-diego-mayor-ignores-mounting-calls-to-resign-heads-for-therapy-instead/
6. Asiana Airlines Flight 214 Disaster
While the future career paths of the five politicians above are yet to be traversed, the flight path of an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 took a frightening turn when it crash landed at San Francisco International Airport. Flights into and out of San Francisco International Airport were canceled following the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 from Seoul, the FAA said. Flight 214 left Seoul’s Incheon International Airport earlier Saturday and flew 10 hours and 23 minutes to California, according to FlightAware, a website that offers tracking services for private and commercial air traffic. Anthony Castorani, who saw the flight land from a nearby hotel, said he saw the plane touch the ground then noticed a larger plume of white smoke. Video from the scene posted on YouTube showed dark gray smoke rising from the plane, which appeared to be upright. Evacuation slides could be seen extending from one side of the aircraft, from which there was no apparent smoke. The National Transportation Safety Board sent a “go team” led by chairwoman Deborah Hersman to investigate the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 at San Francisco International Airport, the agency said Saturday, 6 July 2013.
The U.S. Coast Guard transported one person linked to Saturday’s plane crash at San Francisco International Airport to Stanford Hospital, said Corrine Gaines of the Coast Guard. She did not provide additional information on the patient’s status. San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center treated eight adults and two children — all of them in critical condition — who were injured in Saturday’s Asiana Airlines crash at San Francisco International Airport, the hospital said in a statement. Six of the patients were female and four were male. Doctors saw a wide range of injuries after Saturday’s plane crash landing in San Francisco, including “large amounts of abdominal injuries, a huge amount of spine fractures, some of which include paralysis and head trauma,” said Dr. Margaret Knudson, chief of surgery at San Francisco General Hospital. Doctors have also treated “patients who had severe road rash, suggesting that they were dragged,” she said. At least two people have been confirmed dead following the plane crash at San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said. The two people who died in the Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco were Chinese girls, said Yoon Young-doo, the airline’s CEO. Both were in their mid-teens. “I bow my head and sincerely apologize for causing concern to the passengers, families and our people,” Yoon said. A third person also died from injuries sustained in the crash of Flight 214, San Francisco General Hospital spokeswoman Rachael Kagan said. Earlier, a San Francisco Police Department official said that a 16-year-old girl who died in the crash was run over by a fire truck, but that it was unclear whether she was alive at the time. Asiana Airlines Flight 214 passenger Ye Mengyan died of injuries she received from being run over by a San Francisco Fire Department vehicle after the plane crashed at the city’s airport on July 6, San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault and San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White told reporters Friday, 19 July 2013. Ye, 16, was alive when she was hit after she was expelled from the aircraft, Foucrault said. Ye was one of three people who died in the crash at San Francisco’s airport. The other 305 people aboard flight 214 survived, authorities said. Officials said that 182 people were taken to hospitals for treatment. Of the 307 people on board Asiana Airlines Flight 214, only one remains unaccounted for, authorities told reporters. A National Transportation Safety Board team left from Washington for San Francisco to probe the crash, NTSB chairwoman Deborah Hersman told reporters. “We have not determined what the focus of this investigation is yet. … Everything is on the table at this point.” The team includes people focused on operations; human performance; survival factors; airport operations; and aircraft systems, structure and power.
The cockpit voice recorder of Asiana Flight 214 reveals the pilots called to initiate a “go-around” at another landing 1.5 seconds before impact, NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman told reporters on Sunday, 7 July 2013. Four seconds prior to impact, crew members were alerted to the fact that they were approaching a stall, Hersman said. She said a call from a crew member to increase speed was made approximately seven seconds before impact.
As a final note, the above was not the only notable airplane incident of the month. Toward the end of July, the nose gear of a Southwest Airlines jetliner collapsed while landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The FAA initially said there were no reported injuries on Flight 345 from Nashville, but subsequent reports conflicted.
For more information, please see http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/06/boeing-777-crashes-at-san-francisco-international-airport/
22 Comments
1.) the leakers. personally I believe that what america was busted doing, was something everyone kind of assumed they were doing already. however, it is important that proof came out because as people who live in this country I believe we have a right to know. I dont believe they are criminals, if anything I believe they are patriots of a sort. they made a judgement call and stuck to their moral beliefs, It is just interesting to see news stations cling to a certain word with negative annotations such as “whistleblower”.
I believe that the most important story of the year was about the Boston Marathon because it affected and changed such a large group of people’s lives from being hurt to loosing their own life or a family member’s life. It was just a horrible, and unnecessary day that did not have to happen.
I believe the Zimmerman trial was most significant. While the argument can be made that the attention brought to it was just the result of sensationalist journalism, it brings necessary attention to the ever present, but hardly discussed, issues of racial inequalities and persistent racial discrimination in our society. Race relations are difficult and often uncomfortable to discuss, and as such, the topic is often pushed under the rug, or worse, ignored completely. It needs to be discussed, there is still much progress to be made. The Zimmerman case served, and will hopefully continue to serve, as a springboard for those conversations, and ideally, important and meaningful change will follow.
Back in November people voted for Obama Care, now they don’t want it. The delay of the Affordable Care Act is a good example of political deception the U.S. government has on the American people. Deceptions like this occur by manipulating people by giving them freebies (free cell phone) so people will over look what really matters. Obama Care is a failure to the United States of America!
I think the Zimmerman trial is the most important because it has created an even wider gap both politically and racially in this country. Republicans are trying to prove that Zimmerman was justified in having the gun and shooting Martin in self defense, while Democrats are saying he should never have had a gun in the first place, and that he simply murdered a harmless kid. Most white people (even though Zimmerman is hispanic, he is being labeled as white by the majority of this nation) are agreeing that Zimmerman should not be punished for defending himself, while a lot of black people are holding “Justice for Trayvon” rallies saying that Zimmerman should spend his life in jail. A lot of different issues have been brought up or blown up with this class ranging from gun laws to judicial racism, and I think there will be a great impact in this country socially and/or legally due to this case.
Leakers to me is the most important because in our day and age internet is used for everything. Our goverment for prime example, runs our society, governs our lives and serves to protect us yet their secrets for these things can be so easily accessible for someone to get to through the internet. Back in our governments earlier years one would have to sneak into our country and into the white house and make it out alive with paper documentation and even then they would only be able to take so much. Now in our time someone could steal tons of information with the click of a button.
I think the most significant is actually the bonus article, the new prince of Cambridge. There is a lot of history that this kid will have to live up to. Besides that, he will one day rule a country. Whether it is GB or another country. Here in the U.S we have no clue who our next president will be; but the british now have 3 candidates for at least the next decade. Yes, the other 10 articles share equally in importance maybe not so much sports but the other articles do. It seems we look at our world through narrow eyes anymore. We filter out the good news and out weigh it with bad because that’s what we really want to read about. What terrible things are happening. Things like saving those 100 children and prosecuting 150 rapists. That was never brought up in any conversation I had with people. Technology has integrated its way into our lives so much that we almost, dare I say, depend on it. We can’t go five minutes without using it for web searching, keeping in touch, or just writing something down. So when you see something like Google. on of the most highly used and highly recommended websites go down without a warning there is some shock to it. Or to know that agent who once worked for your government shared files willingly that could potentially be a threat to your own safety is really scary. If you think its nothing then you really have no idea of the world outside of the U.S.
We take so much for granted as Americans. Most of us will never leave these beautiful shores or even our birth state. So when someone threatens our security I believe the government should take as much force as possible to bring them down and try to fix what has been leaked. If the bonus article does not count as my number one important article then I would have to choose the leakers because its a very serious threat and I prefer other countries not knowing our security and protocol.
In the grand scheme of things, I don’t think many of these stories will have much long term significance. Don’t get me wrong, many people lost their lives and political inaction is a real problem, but I doubt that most of these will be mentioned in many history books. However, I do think that the Arab Spring and the leakers will have long term effects and will be remembered for a very long time to come. I’m just going to focus on the leaks though, for now.
A lot of the other commenters are talking about this one as well. The opinion of why it is so important seems to be split down the middle. One group thinks it’s important because it reveals corruption in the government. The other is concerned about that it shows that citizens can so easily harm their country by revealing it’s secrets.
It’s really interesting to me how people are divided this way. I’m personally more inclined to be worried about the government spying than the citizen reveals, so I’m a bit biased, but I can see why this is concerning either way. I think this is why this is so important. It’s setting a precedent for the future of privacy.
As technology is getting more and more advanced, privacy is slowly becoming harder and harder to maintain. It’s easy to think of the internet as being anonymous with sites like reddit, 4chan, and wikileaks out there, but in reality, spying has never been easier and than ever before. And it isn’t just average citizens who are suffering from this, the government is too, in a way. A single person with the right information can cause huge problems for the government just by posting it.
A lot of people like to compare the NSA and all this government spying to that novel 1984, but the way I look at it, it’s not even close to the same, because unlike in the book, where the government controls what the people know, today, a single person can easily let the world know something too. It’s a totally new power dynamic. Countries aren’t only vulnerable to other countries now, a single person can have a huge impact, and that’s something the world has never seen before. And I think that’s why it’s so important. In fifty years, no matter how it all turns out, people are going to look back at these events and see how they got where they are then.
9. Crucial Criminal Proceedings
I believe the George Zimmerman – Trayvon Martin trial, and the Boston Marathon bombings are the most significant news stories of the summer because they happened right here on American soil. One, a terrorist attack, and the other a murder of a teenager. Both resulted in lives lost. One bringing the country together, and the other separating it. In the case of the Zimmerman trial, many believe racial profiling to be the issue. Even if Zimmerman acted in pure self-defense, people involving race proves that to this day, race is an issue in this country. The Boston Marathon bombings also show that terrorism is still a possible threat at all times. You never know where it could be coming from next. Unlike Zimmerman trial, people were united by this terrible incident. I feel these are the most important events because of how they bring people together, and how they separate people. Anything that can move the American people as whole and make them feel so strongly about one topic is, in my opinion, a very important issue.
1. The Leakers
Personally, I feel like this story is the most important. Depending on whose side you are on, the leaker is either the hero or the villain. The first problem that we have here is that there is a website called “WikiLeaks”. If America’s classified information is supposed to remain classified, why is it so easy for people to put out information like this? Technology is a huge part of our lives in this day and age, and for everyone to have access to resources that leak out classified government information may just change the amount of information we can access.
1.) The leakers in my opinion are to be the most notable news within the past year. People such as these can be seen as a hero to some and a traitor to others. It depends on your perspective, but either way they will be remembered. I believe this type of open embarrassment on the government will change the way they reveal information and lead to a possible revolution of public knowledge of governmental information. With websites such as wikileaks it makes this information surface much easier and harder to cover up once it is out there. That being said others who in the government can and will start to spring forward information that they believe is vital knowledge to the citizens of the United States will do so. Depending on the governments reaction to such actions upon those who do share the information can change the tide on how citizens view their country and can possibly set a new tone for the government and a possible revolution.
9. Crucial Criminal Proceedings.
I feel the issues of the Zimmerman case and the Boston Marathon bombing are the most important thing to happen in recent news. The Zimmerman case shows America that no matter how diverse and unified we think we are as soon as race got involved everyone picked a side. George Zimmerman who is actually hispanic was referred to by many as white, thus it was a racial issue of a white man killing an African American. This case shows that many people jump to conclusions before they are educated. Although America has came a long way with lowering racial tensions and preventing racism this shows that racism still exist in America.
The Boston Marathon bombing could be the biggest thing to happen in 2013. Since September 9th 2001 terrorism in America had kind of died out. No major attacks had happened within our country since the twin towers. The bombing showed Americans that we are not completely safe. It shows that we need the strict security in places of high population and in airports. Finally it shows that not all attacks are going to come from a foreign person. The bomber was an American and was a college student just like all of us in this class.
Both of these events make the Crucial Criminal Proceedings the most important that has happened in 2013. It shows that American’s are desperate, crime rates are high, and we are not invincible. It also shows that although we are not perfect citizens unified in Boston in the morning of the victims and the rest of America supported the city and raised money to help with relief efforts.
I feel that I am stuck between issue number 10, dealing with Google, and the issue following the George Zimmerman’s trial for murder to be the most important horrible incidents to occur over the past couple of months. Every single person on the face of this earth pretty much involves themselves with technology. It is amazing to me how far technology has come. From the cars that have doors that swing open by a button to every nine year old having Iphones and Ipads. With Google shutting down for even an hour, people think it is literally the end of the world because their phones wont work or their sites aren’t working. People honestly spend way to much time with technology. Technology will do nothing but increase its value and increase risks for the future. Pretty soon this entire earth will be ran by technology. It would not surprise me if robots became teachers. Honestly, technology is a big issue as too some a great advantage. The George Zimmerman’s trial for murder will absolutely be talked about for a long time because of the actions that were made. I don’t agree with Zimmerman not being accounted for this murder. Even though he says it was “self-defense”. Just because a kid looks doped up on drugs does not mean he is about to break into a house. I just don’t agree with the actions that had taken place and I feel that a lot of other people feel the same way that I do and this trial needs to be re-considered and re-examined for the fact that he shouldn’t of pulled a gun out and killed Trayvon Martin for an action that may of not taken place.
7. Five Top American Politicians Make Bold Career Choice
I feel that number 7 and also number 1, is an example of Americans values, morale’s and character that have gone down the drain and is the decline of American politics. I am a older student and amazed that people would still stand behind and continue to support someone like Weiner. By continuing to stand behind someone like this that obviously lacks values, morale’s and character, what does that say about us, as Americans?
6.) Asiana Airlines Flight 214 Disaster
An airplane crash will always be news that becomes historic because of the people who were either on the plane or had loved ones on it. Due to this accident there are people with injuries they have to live with their whole lives. There were reports of passengers being thrown from the aircraft, spinal injuries as well as road rash meaning that they had been dragged. This is a tragic incident that also ended with at least two people dying from the crash. This type of an accident is why so many people refuse to fly on airplanes and people claim how unsafe they are. The more aircraft accidents there are, more and more people will complain. It creates a bad look for airlines as well as many lawsuits.
I find that the most important event is number 1. To find that our country is not nearly as secure with it’s secrets as one may have thought before such a thing happened is a little unsettling. The lack of security in that regard makes me wounder where else something like this could happen. As much attention as this has received i think it will be remembered and looked upon in the future as a small reminder that it could happen again.
1.
In this day in age technology is everywhere. Life has changed just because of technology. For these reasons is why I believe that number one is most important. It is crazy to think how life was just a few years ago when the Internet was not at the tips of your fingers and 7 year olds didn’t have iPhones. Life has drastically changed because technology has evolved. Just take this assignment for example, ten years ago you would not have seen an online assignment like this. So it is no wonder how much of a shock it must have been when common Internet sites, like google, were not working. Google is such a popular search engine, that it is even a term now. Instead of saying, “Oh let me search that” we say, “Oh let me google it”. People probably felt lost with out this common site and many others. Although I did not personally experience any problems, imagine all the people’s worry and frustration when they couldn’t get into their gmail accounts. People rely on their email accounts for important documents or even their jobs.
With glitches like these it really makes you stop and wonder what would happen if it went down more perminately, or if the Internet went down as a whole. People rely heavily on google and other major internet sites. So the real question to leave you with is what would you do without the Internet?
1. and 10.
The world has shrunk with the rise of technology, but the espionage acts that our American citizens engage in, puts the future of this country at risk. The ease and access to the privacy of citizens has been easily given away and the dependence on technology to run this country is entangled with the increase of the internet, and technology. This country as an independent free nation depends upon its individuals.
While I feel that the issues in the Middle East are terrifying and worth all the studying and reporting, I would have to list it at number two. This is because it has, and will be, an issue until the end of the world. That being said, I believe our ancestors would be more interested in stories related to American Political Delays (#4). It is a scary outlook on what the United States is becoming and how it will affect the world.
It is in instances such as The Affordable Care Act that scare me the most, and not because of the policies, but because of how it is being delayed and partially enacted. This shows weakness in our system and sooner or later the decline of America. It is getting to the point that congress is unable to unite to make the crucial decisions because they are not willing to make the difficult and possibly damaging decisions. Politicians that worry about their political image choose the easy way out, not whats best for everyday Americans. The greed and displaced trust among party affiliates taints each and every bill that makes it to the floor (even in deciding what makes it to the floor). For example, The Affordable Care Act, politicians vote it in because their political pals did, most had not read the bill because it was too long. And now the citizens of the most free country in the world are stuck with fees, penalties, and laws; but the Senate and Representatives who voted for it are not affected.
The world is used to either looking up to us as an example, or hating us. No matter how you look at it, these political delays are bad for the world. The countries that see us as a model country are being led astray by our system because of all the hippo critic moves we make. The countries that hate us use the weakness to plot an attack to take us over. If that happens, we will have no influence in the world. The political delays that may seem minuscule now, are likely the beginning to a grim future for everyone if something is not changed to fix the issue.
1. The Leakers
Personally, I think that article number one is the most significant because of how many people’s attention the story caught. We all live with uncertainty as to whether or not to trust the government, because of so many reasons, but here is a guy that basically got away with aiding the enemy. How do we know that there aren’t more people like him in our country? We could have so many more people giving away our information and ‘leaking’ information that should stay within our grounds. I don’t think anyone is going to be able to forget this story; or be able to act as if we’re 100% safe all the time. At any moment, there could be a single person that could have our country/safety destroyed, leaving all of us with more uncertainty then before we saw/read this story.
6.Asiana Airlines Flight 214 Disaster
out of all the articals the incident with flight 214 was the mmost significant and memrobel. when looking back in history this plane crash will be remembered for the lives that were saved instead of the lives that were lost. history is all about politics and war, therefore the other afticals mentioned will be a small bloop in the time continum.
First!
Dead tie between Leakers and Political Delays/Holding Actions.
While localized events such as the Zimmerman Trial and the Arab Spring may have short term effects that ripple through both their regions and the news, I feel they will ultimately amount to little more than a footnote; the Zimmerman trial will find its niche in precedence, and the Arab Spring will whither into an Arab Fall (Not to discount that region entirely, but real, lasting changes seem to be in short supply there unless it’s coupled with a new power grab).
The Leakers and the Political delays go, I believe, hand in hand as maneuvers in an effort to write-in or otherwise impose a redirection of national priorities and interests. While I wish to be careful in my word choice so as to avoid any hat-tip towards unjustified American exceptionalism, I do think it is undeniable that the American economic, political, and military juggernaut has quite a pronounced effect on the world, and changes to any of those three pillars will necessarily ripple into the interests of other nations with which we are intricately and delicately intertwined.
The Affordable Care Act, touted as a solution to the perceived issue that some 42-48 million Americans live without health insurance (though some, such as Prof. Antony Davies, believe the number is as low as 6 million), has seen delays, postponements, an alleged re-write of a provision relating to state exchanges, among other maladies. The merits of the ACA, and the stated goal of the legislation, have been a major point of political contention across the two main parties. This conflict, coupled with a sort of ‘regime uncertainty,’ and the initial delay from passing of the PPACA to the original implementation date, has caused a measurable degree of economic uncertainty (with the metric being the increase of premium rates nationwide, a happening that, interestingly enough, the American People were assured would not happen). It might be argued that the delay of implementation could be a political holding action designed to scale back some of the short-term (and potentially long-term) negative effects of the legislation in order to:
1) hold these effects long enough to achieve either mid-term election success (to avoid repeal) or perhaps even success with the next presidential election
or
2) ensure that the ACA does indeed fail, introducing perhaps a political vacuum with enough potential to introduce a different system (such as perhaps a single-payer system)
or
3) Both.
The Leakers become important in that they have introduced evidence that the American government is quite capable of fulfilling the dreams of conspiracy theorists the country over, especially through the unwarranted and unjustified collection of data relating to email. internet usage, and telephony. With the primary document governing the actions of the Federal level of US government specifically outlawing (“The right of the people to be secure in their . . . effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated” [4th amendment to the US constitution]) the exact actions which they are currently performing, one might reasonably conclude that, given it took a national security leak to expose such activity, there are perhaps other back-room activities that might be taking place that fly in the face of the Constitution.
Both the leakers and the political delays/holding actions tie together in that, as pillars of influence (political, economic, and military), the results of these events can play either for or against us on the global stage. US spying on British citizens (and attempting to seize british secrets), added to a series of almost comical presidential slights (ipod gift, Winston Churchill bust renege, etc), could leave the UK sour towards the US and less willing to commit or aid US forces abroad in the event of another Afghanistan. Poor economic growth in the States leading to an outcry (and later, outrage) among workers might result in punitive, anti-business legislation that pushes producers overseas to ‘greener pastures,’ furthering the perceived plight of the US worker in an evermore aggressive circle.
The end tie-in, though, is that the backlash from American citizens in general has been short, swift, and ultimately ineffective. The Snowden case remains news, but is no longer shocking, and middle-ground america continues on with a collective “oh, well that sucks.” The ACA is delayed, political fallout relating to numerous scandals is manifold, and the outrage is, aside from the extreme edges of the single plane political spectrum, mild.
These two tie in importance in that their ultimate effects show a government willing to disobey law in order to achieve short-term goals, and at the expense of constituents. While a government disobeying law is a laughably (and regrettably) common occurrence, the several instances of such at such a grand level may be indicative of a forced national redirection, which, as the juggernaut described before, might bring a huge chunk of the world down with it if it comes to pass.