Reflecting On This Decade

Wow! I cannot believe it! This decade flew by fast. Gees, when you get older, time flies faster. The 2000’s or “The Oughts” whatever you want to call it is heading down to Memory Lane. What an eventful and turbulent decade it has been. 2000 felt like yesterday for me. Who could remember when some people thought that the year 2000 marked the end of the world in 1999? Nothing serious really happened. 2001 marked the start of the Third Millenium. Together, we witnessed events from 9/11 Terrorist Attacks, Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, Virginia Tech Massacre, Hurricane Ike, and now the Global Recession.

Let us see what happened between 2000-2009.

2000
-The world marks the start of than “Y2K”, which at the time there was fear of the “Y2K” Bug.
-Elian Gonzalez is seized by federal agents.
-Air France Concorde crashes claiming a total of 113 lives.
-Russian submarine Kursk explodes and sinks claiming 118 lives.
-Stock market drops.
-Election is in turmoil in Florida and ends up in the Supreme Court. George W. Bush wins over Al Gore.

2001
-Tropical Storm Allison floods out Texas, Louisiana, Carolinas, and Pennsylvania. It claims a total of 40 lives from Texas to Maine.
-Clear Lake mother, Andrea Yates drowns five of her own children in the bath tub.
-September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack in New York, Arlington, and Shanksville. The attack levels the World Trade Center and leaves the Pentagon burning. 3,000 people died in the terrorist attack as it unfolded on live television.
-America goes to war in Afghanistan in response to 9/11.
-Enron files for the largest ever bankruptcy in US history.
-American Airlines Flight 587 crashes in Queens while taking off from Kennedy International Airport.

2002
-Robert Steinhauser kills 17 people at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt,Germany, before committing suicide.
-China Airlines Flight 611 crashes in the Taiwan Strait with all 225 people dead.
-WorldComm files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
-World marks the first anniversary of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks.
-A Bali night club is bombed and claims 202 lives.

2003
-Space Shuttle Columbia explodes mid-air over Texas. It was landing in Florida when it disintegrated with all seven crews on board.
-America invades Iraq.
-String of tornado outbreaks plague the South and Midwest.
-Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh is assassinated.
-Concorde makes its last flight before being retired.
-Bam, Iran is hit by an earthquake that claims a total of 27,000 lives.

2004
-Bombs explode in Madrid trains claiming 191 lives.
-Muslim terrorists take a Beslan elementary school hostage in a three day siege. It ends in a bloodbath that claims 350 lives, including about 180 children.
-Hurricane Charley, Francis, Ivan, and Jeanne ravage Florida within a 6 week period.
-Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 26, 2004. A strong 9.2 earthquake strikes off the coast of Sumatra Island of Indonesia. A tsunami ensues that affects all of Indian Ocean basin and claims at least 250,000 lives.

2005
-Jeffrey Weise opens fire at Red Lake High School claming 9 lives before committing suicide.
-Pope John Paul II dies and Joseph Ratzinger becomes Pope Benedict XVI.
-Hurricane Katrina makes landfall on Louisiana and Mississippi on August 29, 2005. The storm surge floods out and levels coastal Mississippi and causes levees to breach in the New Orleans area. It leaves the New Orleans area flooded for months and claims more than 2,500 lives.
-2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season is the most active on record and broke many records with the most storms, most hurricanes, most intense, and most costliest ever recorded.

2006
-Israel attacks Lebanon.
-Mumbai train system is attacked by strings of bombing that claims a total of 209 lives on July 11, 2006
-String of school shootings in Quebec, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
-The population of America reaches the 300 million mark.
-Saddam Hussein is executed for crimes against humanity.

2007
-Comet McNaught is the brightest comet in 40 years.
-Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom are brutally tortured and murdered by Lamaricus Davidson, Letalvis Cobbins, George Thomas, Vanessa Coleman, and Eric Boyd.
-Seung-Hui Cho opens fire with two pistols at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. A dormitory, West Ambler-Johnson Hall and a classroom building, Norris Hall are attacked. The massacre claims 32 lives and injures 25 in what is the deadliest single day mass shooting in America.
-The I-35W Bridge over Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapses claiming a total of 13 lives.
-World learns about the Missouri MySpace suicide when 13 year old Megan Meier commits suicide after being harassed by Lori Drew and company.
-Start of the recession.

2008
-Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak claims a total of 57 lives in 24 states that were holding election primary.
-Tropical Cyclone Nargis slams into Burma, claiming 146,000 lives. The world offered help, but the ruling junta denies it.
-A strong earthquake hits Sichuan province of China claiming 80,000 lives.
-Michael Phelps wins 8 gold medals in swimming events at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
-Hurricane Ike makes landfall on the Upper Texas Coast. It leaves 50 people dead and $24 billion of damage, making it the third costliest after Katrina and Andrew.
-Lehman Brothers collapses, which symbolizes the start of the financial crisis.
-World’s stock market drop on “Bloody Monday”.
-Bernard Madoff’s pyramid scheme is revealed due to the recession.

2009
-US Airways Flight 1549 crashes into the Hudson River in New York. All 155 people on board survived.
-Black Friday Wildfires in southern Australia claim a total of 173 lives.
-String of mass shootings in America and Europe.
-Air France Flight 447 mysteriously crashes in the middle of the Atlantic.
-America switches off analog and goes all digital for television broadcast.
-Samoa gets hit by tsunami that claims 189 lives.
-Nadil Hasan attacks Fort Hood near Killeen, Texas, claiming 14 lives.

So many news events in this decade. We witnessed an d remembered them well. So many to remember and know. Some dates and days we will never forget as long as we live. We will remember them to the day we die. In some cases, they changed the world as we know it. Here is what I think are the top events for this decade.

Top 10 News Events of the Decade:
1.) September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks
2.) Indian Ocean Tsunami
3.) Hurricane Katrina
4.) Hurricane Ike
5.) Tropical Cyclone Nargis
6.) Sichuan Earthquake
7.) Virginia Tech Massacre
8.) Fort Hood Attack
9.) Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster
10.) Financial Meltdown

Notice most of them are disasters, either man natural or man made.

This decade saw some people that we just all love to hate. Thankfully, some have passed on. They will not be missed for sure when their time is up.

Worst People of the Decade:
1.) Osama bin Laden-9/11. Need I say more.
2.) Lori Drew-Evil and worthless mom from Hell who harassed Megan Meier to suicide.
3.) John Walker Lindh-American Taliban. Should be burned for being a traitor.
4.) Casey Anthony-Stupid and self-absorbed mother that killed Caylee Anthony.
5.) Fred Phelps-Funeral picketing and severely repressed gay man. The real “fag enabler” is you and come out of the closet and deal with it.
6.) Seung-Hui Cho-Mute boy that massacred 32 people in cold blood.
7.) Bernard Madoff-Psychopath who ran a Ponzi scheme.
8.) Michael Crook-Soldier bashing, America hating, and victim bashing scumbag who admires Fred Phelps. Proof why inbreeding is dangerous.
9.) Anyone Who Blames America For 9/11-Just as bad as the terrorists themselves.
10.) Paris Hilton-Trust fund whore and skank.

This decade also saw good people we grew to love. They did many good and/or heroic deeds. Some have passed on and will be missed. This was a tough one to decide.

Best People of the Decade:
1.) American Soldiers-Our finest men who protect America and maintain our freedoms and way of life. God bless them all!
2.) New York Firefighters and Police on September 11, 2001-They bravely entered the burning World Trade Center to help people evacuate, to only find themselves victims of the horrible terrorist attack.
3.) Pope John Paul II-One of the greatest pope of all times. He help bring down Communism in Eastern Europe and Soviet Union.
4.) Sully Sullenberger-Airline captain that landed in the Hudson River and everyone lived to tell about stories of survival and courage.
5.) Iranian Dissidents-Rose and stood up against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Mullahs following the 2009 Iranian Election.
6.) Byrd and Melanie Billings-A wealthy couple that adopted 16 special needs children, whose lives were cut short by murder.
7.) Aung San Suu Kyi-Burmese dissident who is putting fear to the military junta.
8.) Pat Tillman-A professional football player who turned down multi-million dollar contracts to serve for America. Tragically, his life was cut short.
9.) Susan Boyles-Shows that nothing is too late in life.
10.) Steve Fossett-Adventurer who flew around the world non-stop in an airplane and balloon.
11.) Vince Young-Led Texas Longhorns to glory in the 2005 college football season.
12.) Michael Phelps-Won 8 gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

Time to pop the champagne bottle for the new year! Cheers for a better year and decade. Happy New Years to all!

James Hansen: Climate change akin to ’slavery’ and ‘Nazism’
November 30, 2009
Eric Berger
Houston Chronicles

James Hansen: Climate change akin to ’slavery’ and ‘Nazism’

Below is a snippet from the interview I conducted with prominent climate scientist James Hansen in advance of his visit to Houston next Monday.

I’ll have a comprehensive transcript of the 40-minute in the morning, complete with a dozen or so questions sent in by readers.

Q. I gather from what you were saying earlier about the bills in Congress, you feel the same about President Obama’s proposal for a 17 percent reduction in climate emissions by 2020.

A. Yeah. Obama is a very smart person and the hope was that he would try to understand this problem. But instead his approach seems to be, “Oh let the politicians, let the House and Senate come to some sort of compromise on this.” But this is not something you can compromise on.
Hansen

This is analogous to the situation Abraham Lincoln faced with slavery, or Winston Churchill with Nazism. You can’t compromise and say we’ll reduce the number of slaves by 50 percent or something.

Houston Chronicles-James Hansen: Climate change akin to ’slavery’ and ‘Nazism’

Trying to trivialize slavery and Holocaust. Last time I checked, Nazis were leftist, like those Green Freaks. I swear Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) is a religion to those people. They are really fanatical about it.

School district could backpedal on policy
By DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer
First published in print: Tuesday, September 29, 2009

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Seventh-grader Adam Marino is getting a firsthand lesson in civil disobedience.

The 12-year-old and his mother, Janette Kaddo Marino, are defying Saratoga Springs school policy by biking to Maple Avenue Middle School on Route 9. The Jackson Street residents pedal more than four miles together each way to the middle school on nice days despite being told not to by school officials and police.

“I guess you can say that we continue to do what we feel is our right,” Kaddo Marino said recently. “We feel strongly we have a right to get to school by a mode of transportation we deem appropriate.”

Their methods may be unconventional, but the Marinos are part of a growing number of Americans challenging the sedentary habits of today’s youths and what they view as overanxious “helicopter” parenting. As fewer children walk and bike to school nationwide, parents have started groups like the “Walking School Bus,” which promotes physical activity and fitness in youth by having them walk to school with adults.

Full Article

Why ban bike riding and walking to school? With childhood obesity a problem, bike riding and walking is a good thing. No. How about lifting the policy all together. Helicopter parenting has gone WAY TOO FAR these days. Remember Lori Drew?

I cannot believe it. It has been one year to the day that Ike ravaged our area. We were all battering down the hatches and preparing for Ike’s onslaught. The rain and wind came crashing in. It would get worse through the night. The wind lashing violently and creating storm surge that would flatten Bolivar Peninsula. The rain and wind continue into the morning. Power was out for many. Many suffered property damage. To make matters worse, some lost loved ones. Ike would be the most costliest hurricane besides Katrina and Andrew.

Eight years ago today, the unthinkable happened right in front of our eyes.
A day that felt like yesterday.
Nineteen terrorists from Al-Qaeda were bent on massive destruction and death on America.
Hijacked airplanes crash into the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and a field near Shanksville.
American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower.
All cameras were trained to the burning North Tower.
Than suddenly, the South Tower is attacked by United Airlines Flight 175.
It became apparent a terrorist attack happened.
People trapped above the crash zone in the North Tower jumped out of desperation.
To make matters worse, American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon.
As the Pentagon burns, the South Tower crashes to the ground in a massive cloud of toxic dust and smoke.
Meanwhile on United Airlines Flight 93, passengers fight back.
The terrorists fail and crash it near Shanksville.
The North Tower crashes to the ground and all is caught on live camera.
The whole world saw the terrorist attack unfold in front of our own eyes.
Whether we were waking up, going to school, work, or going to sleep.
The whole world was in shock and in a state of mourning.
3,000 people died on this fateful day.
The World Trade Center wiped out into oblivion.
Never forget September 11, 2001, a day that will live in infamy.

Today is September 9, 2009, which is 9/9/9. Nine is a lucky number for many people, especially in China. Many people are rushing to tie the knot. Las Vegas is expected to have a huge influx of weddings today.

‘Dead’ Baby Found Alive in Coffin
AOL
August 9, 2009

(Aug. 9) – A newborn boy declared dead by doctors in Paraguay was found to be alive hours later after he was taken home for his funeral.

Doctors at a state hospital in Asuncion, Paraguay, told Jose Alvarenga on Friday that his premature baby had been pronounced dead shortly after birth, the Telegraph reported.

The hospital delivered the baby’s body in a temporary coffin to Alvarenga’s home a few hours later.

Full Article

A true miracle! That boy will live to tell about this and will tell his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, friends, and relatives.

Accused cyber bully wants Internet back
Published: Aug. 6, 2009 at 4:36 P
UPI

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 6 (UPI) — A woman accused of cyber-bullying linked to a teen suicide and banned from the Internet has asked permission to go back online for a new job, legal papers say.

Lori Drew has been barred from the Internet since June 16, 2008, when she pleaded not guilty to a federal conspiracy charge and three counts of illegally accessing a protected computer.

A jury in Los Angeles deadlocked on the conspiracy charge and found Drew guilty of the three misdemeanor charges, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said.

Full Article

The most hated woman in the world wants to be back on the Internet. Well, I have news for you, the Internet and the world STILL HATES YOU. I suggest you Google your name up. It is not that hard. There is a lot of vitriol directed AT YOU. I wrote another article linking to another blog by a wonderful gentleman who used computer algorthims and determined that Lori Drew is the world’s worst person, which included Osama bin Laden, Adolf Hitler, and Bernard Madoff, who have committed atrocious acts from killing 3,000 people, exterminating 30 million people, and scamming billions. Lori Drew is about as hated and right up there with the likes of Charles Manson, Fred Phelps, Seung-Hui Cho, and Joseph Stalin. Granted, she did not engage in mass murder or commit genocide, but is worthy of scorn like Gertrude Baniszewski or Leopold and Loeb. I don’t think her time will be long. She will get fired. Who in their right mind would hire her? That’s asking for trouble right there. Unless, she is hired by the Westboro Baptist Church, another abhorrent freaks that they are like she is.

Here is a computer algorithm who are the world’s worst people. The four people compared are Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden, Bernard Madoff, and Lori Drew. Guess who turned out to be the world’s worst person? It is not a terrorist or mass murderer. It is Lori Drew, who got the lowest score. I have covered Lori Drew extensively and my opinion about her is low as Joseph Stalin, Osama bin Laden, Fred Phelps, and Eric Harris/Dylan Klebold. Osama bin Laden came in at a distant second, than Bernard Madoff, and Adolf Hitler last. Granted, Drew’s action is not comparable to killing 3,000 people on live television or committing genocide. Of course, her action is evil and Machiavellian. She felt what she did was justified, like what Bin Laden and Hitler thought was justified in the form of 9/11 and Holocaust.

Drew caused 13 year old Megan Meier to commit suicide by bullying her with her daughter, Sarah, and a co-worker, Ashley Grills. Most people can relate to her because everyone was bullied at some point and she faced a “Term of Service” charge that was dropped by the judge. Most people despise bullies and Lori Drew was a mother with issues of maturity. The outcome for her was nasty and vitriolic comments hurled at her, mixed with ugly insults and death threats. She was compared with the likes of Hitler, Bin Laden, and Charles Manson. The type of vitriol that has not been seen since right after 9/11 with Bin Laden and anyone who blamed America.

On the other hand, bin Laden’s sorry ass is being pursued by the US Military and the 9/11 hijackers got their asses incinerated. Hitler offed himself because the Allies were going to get his ass in Berlin. Madoff did not target a child and some of his victims may have been involved and even enabled it.

Other people that should be considered are Fred Phelps, Michael Crook, Casey Anthony, and John Walker Lindh. I can imagine they could be hated as much as Lori Drew, especially Fred Phelps and Casey Anthony. One flaw with the study is that Hitler is dead, while Bin Laden, Madoff, and Drew are alive. No one is going to argue that Hitler is hated and for good reasons. I could imagine if this was right after 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden would score MUCH lower than Lori Drew.

The TextMap Blog-The World’s Worst Person?

Let’s hope it does.

http://patriotroom.com/article/the-video-that-could-kill-obamacare

We don’t what happens in Canada and Great Britain. It will be abyssmal. Instead we should have a system similar to car insurance, which is required to have by law. Funny thing is there is no government car insurance program that I know of. If there is, let me know. The more healthier and responsible you are, the less you should pay.