Last post of the year and decade. Farewell 2009 and the oughts! Welcome to Memory Lane!

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!

Let’s take a moment and reflect on Veteran’s Day. It takes on an extra special meaning in light of the Fort Hood Terrorist Attack. God bless our veterans and active duty soldiers serving worldwide.

Thousands cheer 20 years since fall of Berlin Wall
November 9, 2009
By MELISSA EDDY and KIRSTEN GRIESHABER (AP) – 3 hours ago

BERLIN — Ulrich Sauff and his wife stared at the mammoth domino pieces marking the path where the Berlin Wall once stood and reminisced about life in the barrier’s shadow.

“It was like a prison,” said Sauff, 73, who lived on the Western side of the wall. “For us ‘Wessis,’ the few kilometers from our old home to our new home (in the East) was unthinkable.”

The Sauffs were among those who gathered Monday to celebrate 20 years of unity, marking the day the wall came down. Thousands cheered as 1,000 colorfully decorated dominoes along a mile-long route were toppled to symbolize both the moment the wall came crashing down and the resulting fall of communist governments in Eastern Europe.

AP-Thousands cheer 20 years since fall of Berlin Wall

The start of good things happening in the world. The collapse of Communism, an evil system. Communism collapsed in relative peace in East Germany and later Poland. Communism ends violently in conflict like Soviet Union, Cambodia, and Romania. There is rarely ever a peaceful transition, like in Pinochet’s Chile and Park’s South Korea. Yes, Park was assassinated, but South Korea did not descend into chaos and bloodshed.

Dispute over seat sparked attack on school bus, student says
By Leah Thorsen and Nicholas J.C. Pistor and Elizabethe Holland
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/15/2009

UPDATED 4:11 P.M.

A student on a Belleville West High School bus was beaten for his choice of seat, not because he was white, according to a witness and police.

“The incident appears now to be more about a couple of bullies on a bus dictating where people sit,” said Belleville Police Capt. Don Sax, who originally said Monday’s attack may have been racially motivated.

D’Vante Lott, 16, said he was on the bus and witnessed the attack by the two black students.

The victim walked onto the bus, looking for an open seat, but students kept turning him down, as D’Vante said happened often with this student.

Full Article

School buses are Hell for sure, especially in middle school. Kids should be taught to fight back. Ignoring bullies NEVER works. The best way to deal with them is to hit them HARD. Bullies are cowards with an inferiority complex. Most bullies either become screw ups, drug addicts, criminals, or die because they have high self-esteem, which gives them no incentive to change. Nobody likes a bully for sure, especially they pick on the weak, Some bullies have grown to be evil and hated like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Osama bin Laden, and Lori Drew, cancers on humanity who are worthy of rotting in the worst layer of Hell.

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.

September 10, 2001.
Do you remember that day?
A Monday that would be unremarkable.
The World Trade Center stands proud in New York.
The Pentagon, the center of American might.
Hurricane Erin was off shore.
Chandra Levy and shark attacks dominated the headlines.
Michael Jordan was considering returning to the NBA.
The news largely trite.
A day that would be the last day of innocence.
All that would change.
The next day, Tuesday, would be a day of infamy and sadness so great.

ZCZC MIATCPAT4 ALL
TTAA00 KNHC DDHHMM
BULLETIN
TROPICAL DEPRESSION NINE ADVISORY NUMBER 1
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL092008
1100 AM AST MON SEP 01 2008

…NEW TROPICAL DEPRESSION FORMS HALF WAY BETWEEN AFRICA AND THE
LEEWARD ISLANDS…COULD BECOME A TROPICAL STORM LATER TODAY…

AT 1100 AM AST…1500Z…THE CENTER OF THE NEWLY FORMED TROPICAL
DEPRESSION NINE WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 17.6 NORTH…LONGITUDE
39.5 WEST OR ABOUT 1470 MILES…2365 KM…EAST OF THE LEEWARD
ISLANDS.

THE DEPRESSION IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 16 MPH…26 KM/HR. A
GENERAL WEST TO WEST-NORTHWEST TRACK IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT
DAY OR TWO.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 35 MPH…55 KM/HR…WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. THE DEPRESSION IS EXPECTED TO BECOME A TROPICAL STORM LATER
TODAY.

ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 1005 MB…29.68 INCHES.

REPEATING THE 1100 AM AST POSITION…17.6 N…39.5 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD…WEST NEAR 16 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS…35 MPH.
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE…1005 MB.

THE NEXT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AT
500 PM AST.

$$
FORECASTER AVILA

NNNN

Tropical Depression 9 would later become Ike. Twelve days later it made landfall on Galveston. It was a disaster.

It’s at the 2:38 mark. It is short, but what a total mess Audrey left for Louisiana. Since KTRK-TV has many newsreels going back to 1957, it would be interesting to see all of them, especially weather and major events.