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!

Astronauts Get Two Christmases in Space
By Clara Moskowitz
December 24, 2009
– Space.com

Each year, the crew gets to choose when to hold their official holiday feast, during which they gather to share special delicacies beyond the scope of their normal daily rations.

Christmas comes twice to the astronauts aboard the International Space Station this year as the multi-nation crew celebrates the traditional Dec. 25 holiday as well as Russian Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7.

Current station commander Jeff Williams of NASA is leading a crew of five, including Russian cosmonauts Maxim Suraev and Oleg Kotov, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, and American spaceflyer Timothy “T.J.” Creamer.

FOX News-Astronauts Get Two Christmases in Space

Celebrating Christmas twice on December 25 and January 7, the 12 Days of Christmas, which it should be celebrated as it is.

South Carolina Family ‘Arrested’ in Louisiana, Given Christmas Gifts
FOX News
Friday, December 25, 2009

JENNINGS, La. — A South Carolina family passing through Jennings on their way to Texas was pulled over, hauled off to a church, “tried” for not stopping to enjoy local hospitality and “sentenced” to gumbo, presents and a tour.

“We do this every year at Christmastime to some unsuspecting out-of-town person,” said Gayle Jones, a member of the Jennings Optimist Club, which has made it part of a more than 30-year holiday tradition.

Neither Leonard nor Lori Pavia of Greer, S.C., could figure out why the deputy had pulled them over as they headed to see friends in McAllen, Texas.

FOX News-South Carolina Family ‘Arrested’ in Louisiana, Given Christmas Gifts

Showing no hospitality should be a crime, when customer service has gotten worse. Here is a way to celebrate Christmas and show hospitality. True Southern Hospitality for ya!

M.D.: Had to Be Drugs that Killed Murphy
CBS News
Dec. 22, 2009

(CBS/AP) Authorities said Monday it appeared actress Brittany Murphy died of natural causes after becoming ill with flulike symptoms in the days before she collapsed in the bathroom of her Hollywood Hills home.

Celebrity Web site TMZ is reporting there were “large amounts of prescription medications” on the nightstand when paramedics arrived at her Hollywood home, and that Murphy was “complaining of shortness of breath and severe abdominal pain” in the week before she died.

“She always denied any relationship to drugs,” US Weekly Entertainment Director Dena Sansing told CBS News. “She said she had never tried it. She said the strongest thing was Sudafed — it wasn’t her thing.”

CBS News-M.D.: Had to Be Drugs that Killed Murphy

RIP Brittany Murphy. She voiced Luanne Platter Kleinschmidt in King of the Hill. Interestingly, at Wikipedia, someone claimed that Luanne would die in one episode. However, that has been removed since than. It shows that drug addiction is dangerous and can kill.

Nathan Myhrvold’s Anti Global Warming Scheme
December 20, 2009 by
Mark Whittington
Associated Content

Nathan Myhrvold is a former technology officer for Microsoft who has found his own company, Intellectual Ventures, which is involved in a number of technology development programs, including new forms of energy generation.

Associated Content-Nathan Myhrvold’s Anti Global Warming Scheme

Pretty stupid idea. Face it. Climate change happens all the time. We cannot control the climate. Let it go!

Grayson Wants Critic Jailed for Claiming to be His Constituent
Updated December 22, 2009
FOXNews.com

Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., is asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to launch an investigation into a Web site launched by a Republican activist that parodies his own re-election site.

My, my, my. Florida Rep. Alan Grayson wants to see one of his critics go directly to jail — all over her use of the word “my.”

In an effort to raise money against the outspoken freshman Democrat, a Republican activist named Angie Langley has launched “mycongressmanisnuts.com” — a Web site that parodies Grayson’s re-election site, “congressmanwithguts.com.”

FOX News-Grayson Wants Critic Jailed for Claiming to be His Constituent

Someone call the Whambulance!

Talk about a whiny crybaby. He is a government official and public figure. Angie Langley is exercising her part for freedom of speech.

Change Nobody Believes In
DECEMBER 21, 2009, 5:13 P.M. ET
WSJ

the last few days before Christmas are the opportune moment for a narrow majority of Democrats to stuff ObamaCare through the Senate to meet an arbitrary White House deadline. Barring some extraordinary reversal, it now seems as if they have the 60 votes they need to jump off this cliff, with one-seventh of the economy in tow.

Mr. Obama promised a new era of transparent good government, yet on Saturday morning Mr. Reid threw out the 2,100-page bill that the world’s greatest deliberative body spent just 17 days debating and replaced it with a new “manager’s amendment” that was stapled together in covert partisan negotiations. Democrats are barely even bothering to pretend to care what’s in it, not that any Senator had the chance to digest it in the 38 hours before the first cloture vote at 1 a.m. this morning. After procedural motions that allow for no amendments, the final vote could come at 9 p.m. on December 24.

WSJ-Change Nobody Believes In

That’s change for ya! In all seriousness, there is no transparency and lots of bribery, which Obama promised against. This so-called health care bill, more like government take over is no good. It does not even take effect until 2014, about four years from now. How is that going to help anyone?

Is a tiger on the loose in Brazoria County?
Gene Apodaca
More: Bio, E-mail, News Team

BRAZORIA COUNTY, TX (KTRK) — Could there be a tiger roaming parts of Brazoria County? Several people say they have seen it, and now authorities are issuing a warning. We first told you about the tiger sightings Thursday night on Eyewitness News. We’re now hearing more about what those eyewitnesses described.

And as you can imagine, residents anywhere near Oyster Creek are talking about it, and being cautious.

Cashier Gay Brown hears a lot of stories in her line of work, but none quite as unusual as the one she heard Tuesday night.

ABC 13-Is a tiger on the loose in Brazoria County?

Tiger Woods must be on the loose in light of his “transgressions”. (Cough!) Adulterous affairs (Cough!) Hopefully, they will find the tiger and no one will get hurt.

NASA reveals first-ever photo of liquid on another world
By Thom Patterson, CNN
December 18, 2009 9:26 p.m. EST

(CNN) — NASA scientists revealed Friday a first-of-its-kind image from space showing reflecting sunlight from a lake on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.

It’s the first visual “smoking gun” evidence of liquid on the northern hemisphere of the moon, scientists said, and the first-ever photo from another world showing a “specular reflection” — which is reflection of light from an extremely smooth surface and in this case, a liquid one.

“This is the first time outside Earth we’ve seen specular reflection from another liquid from another body,” said Ralf Jaumann, a scientist analyzing data from the Cassini unmanned space probe.

CNN-NASA reveals first-ever photo of liquid on another world

Pretty cool. Life does exist in other worlds. They ask the same questions, “Are we alone?”.

Christmas Display Showing Jesus Murdering Santa Under Fire in California
FOX News
Friday, December 18, 2009

A California neighborhood reportedly is up in arms after a resident decorated his lawn with a depiction of Jesus shooting Santa Claus.

The controversial Christmas display shows Jesus pointing a double-barrel shotgun at Santa’s dead body as Rudolph lays sprawled across the hood of a pickup truck nearby, WNCT reported.

Neighbors in Nipomo, Calif., called for the display to be removed, but its maker Ron Lake called it a work of art — in which Santa represents the commercialization of Christmas, the station reported.

FOX News-Christmas Display Showing Jesus Murdering Santa Under Fire in California

Pretty funny stuff right there! I heard he is protesting the over commercialization of Christmas, which is valid.