The Top Ten Stories of 2010
2010 will be recorded in history as the year of the Tea Parties. Note the phrase is plural. The movement that began in April 2009 helped lead to a complete flip of the House of Representatives. Whether the Republicans can hold onto their seats depends on whether they’re willing and able to keep their promises, and whether the Tea Parties will hold them to it. That, then, is the Top Story of 2010.
1. The 2010 Midterm Elections – Republicans gained a remarkable 163 new seats in the House of Representatives, giving them the majority. We promised to put Nancy Pelosi out of her job as Speaker of the House, and we did it. The Democrats are now down to 193 seats. The Republicans picked up five more seats in the Senate, but Democrats picked up six. However, they no longer have that bullet-proof majority they enjoyed during 2010. Finally, Republicans p icked up five more governorships and the Democrats lost six, which is a gain of one for the Republicans. We Tea Partiers mustn’t sit back and spin our tea cozies though; this is a constant battle that can really on be fought at the ground level.
2. Gulf Offshore Oil Rig Explosion Causes Massive Oil Spill - Lies. Deceptions. Mishandling. An oil company that contributed massive donations to the President’s campaign. A deal with the notorious George Soros to sell all the now useless oil rig equipment to Brazil, giving Soros even more money to manipulate our country into a downfall. Refusing to allow foreign tankers to come in and clean up the oil (because they might “leak”). Allowing the crisis to go on long enough to turn an accident into a catastrophe. Sinking the oil down to the ocean floor instead letting it float up and disperse. Environmental groups, who helped contribute to the problem by forcing the closing of refineries and banning offshore drilling closer to shore. The list of villains in this story is as long, and as deep, as the spill itself.
3. Arizona Passes Illegal Immigration Law – Three Huzzahs for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer who acted when the government refused to follow its own laws, and started arresting illegal immigrants. Her constituents were hugely in favor of this law, allowing Arizona law enforcement to follow the laws and arrest those who weren’t following the laws.
4. Obama Signs Healthcare Legislation into Effect – We’ll find out what’s in the law once the law is passed? Quoth Nancy Pelosi, wielding a sledgehammer-sized gavel to pass the law in the House of Representatives. We’ll know what’s in the law next month – er, tomorrow – when we start seeing our taxes rise, our companies shudder at the increases in the cost. Nurses being placed on the same level as doctors? Death panels? Insuring 26 year-old adults? A word to the new Republican House of Representatives – repeal or defund. Just do it!
5. WikiLeaks Reveals U.S. Military, Diplomatic Secrets – “Everyone has a right to know everything about everybody.” That was not Australian publisher Julian Assange; that was the character/newscaster Richard Thornberg to Bonnie Bedelia’s character, Holly McClane in the 1990 movie, Die Hard 2. But it might as well have been. Thanks to the prescient screenwriters for that 20 year-old tip about the future of the barely-born Internet. Can anyone say, "Treason?"
6. Volcanic Ash Disrupts European Air Travel – Moral of this lesson: Always have a Plan B when traveling. On Apr. 14th, the Icelandic volcano on the Eyjafjallokull glacier sent a large volcanic cloud of ash seven miles into the atmosphere which across northern Europe, halting flights across the northern portion of the continent. The United Kingdom has closed its airspace. No flights will be allowed in British air space, except in emergencies, from 1100 GMT until at least 1700 GMT as the ash spreads across the country. Travel continued to be disrupted well into May, closing airports in France, Germany, and Poland.
7. Earthquake Devastates Haiti - On Jan. 12th, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, approximately 16 miles west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. By Jan. 24, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded. An estimated three million people were affected by the quake, with an estimated 230,000 people dead, 300,000 injured and 1,000,000 made homeless. Approximately 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings collapsed or were severely damaged, including the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, and the main jail. Among those killed were Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Joseph Serge Miot and opposition leader Micha Gaillard. The headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), located in the capital, collapsed, killing many, including the Mission's Chief, Hédi Annabi. With statistics like that, who needs war?
8. Polish President Killed in Airplane Crash - Polish president Lech Kaczynski, 60, and his wife Maria were killed in a plane crash on April 10 near Smolensk airport. Including the president and his wife, 132 passengers were killed. The Kaczynski’s were travelling with several senior government figures on a trip to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn forest massacre, in which thousands of Poles were executed by Soviet secret police. As the plane was preparing for landing, en route from Moscow to Smolensk, the Polish president's aircraft did not make it to the landing strip, getting caught up in the tops of trees. The plane fell to the ground and broke up into pieces. There were no survivors in that crash. The head of Russia’s top investigative body, Sergei Markin, said there were a total of 132 people on the plane. Kaczynski became president in December 2005 and was planning to run for a second term in the presidential elections this autumn. Parliament speaker Bronislaw Komorowski, who had been expected to be his main opposition in the race, took over presidential duties according to the Polish constitution. Our condolences to Poland on its loss.
9. Americans Protest Building of Mosque at Ground Zero – Thousands of Americans flooded lower Manhattan’s West Broad several times in 2010 to protest the building of a mosque two blocks from the site of the Sept. 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. The proposed building was given the green light by New York City officials at a contentious zoning council meeting. Family members of the victims and Tea Party members came to express their outrage. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stood firmly behind the decision, defending the First Amendment rights of the builders. The American Center for Law and Justice has filed a lawsuit to prevent the building. Meanwhile, A Manhattan lawyer representing Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah is floating a proposal to officials and community leaders to move the controversial Ground Zero mosque away from its proposed site near the World Trade Center to another Manhattan neighborhood. The plan is to buy shuttered St. Vincent's Medical Center in the West Village and transfer the mosque to a new Islamic cultural center he would build on a plot at the site, say sources who have heard Gaffin's pitch. The proposla would ould also save the hospital, reopening most of the units that closed when St. Vincent's filed for bankruptcy on April 14. The attorney is foating the idea to gauge what the reaction might be -- and to ready a bid to rival the Rudin Organization, which is trying to snap up St. Vincent's in bankruptcy court with an eye on tearing down six hospital buildings for luxury housing.
10. Car Bombing Foiled in NYC’s Times Square – There are some amazing notes about this story: On Apr. 30th, a Muslim tee shirt vendor notified a mounted police officer about a suspicious car belching smoke. The bomb did not go off. A crude car bomb of propane, gasoline and fireworks was discovered in a smoking Nissan Pathfinder in the heart of Times Square on Saturday evening, prompting the evacuation of thousands of tourists and theatergoers on a warm and busy night. Although the device had apparently started to detonate, there was no explosion, and early on Sunday the authorities were still seeking a suspect and motive. A large swath of Midtown, from 43rd Street to 48th Street, and from Sixth to Eighth Avenues, was closed for much of the evening after the Pathfinder was discovered just off Broadway on 45th Street. Several theaters and stores, as well as the South Tower of the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel, were evacuated. A few days later, (On the May 3rd edition of the CBS Evening News, Mayor Bloomberg said, “If I had to bet twenty-five cents this would be exactly that, somebody who’s homegrown, maybe a mentally deranged person, or somebody with a political agenda, that doesn’t like the health care bill or something [was responsible].) authorities arrested Pakistan-born Faisal Shahzad who intended the SUV to explode into a fireball in the Crossroads of the World.
1. The 2010 Midterm Elections – Republicans gained a remarkable 163 new seats in the House of Representatives, giving them the majority. We promised to put Nancy Pelosi out of her job as Speaker of the House, and we did it. The Democrats are now down to 193 seats. The Republicans picked up five more seats in the Senate, but Democrats picked up six. However, they no longer have that bullet-proof majority they enjoyed during 2010. Finally, Republicans p icked up five more governorships and the Democrats lost six, which is a gain of one for the Republicans. We Tea Partiers mustn’t sit back and spin our tea cozies though; this is a constant battle that can really on be fought at the ground level.
2. Gulf Offshore Oil Rig Explosion Causes Massive Oil Spill - Lies. Deceptions. Mishandling. An oil company that contributed massive donations to the President’s campaign. A deal with the notorious George Soros to sell all the now useless oil rig equipment to Brazil, giving Soros even more money to manipulate our country into a downfall. Refusing to allow foreign tankers to come in and clean up the oil (because they might “leak”). Allowing the crisis to go on long enough to turn an accident into a catastrophe. Sinking the oil down to the ocean floor instead letting it float up and disperse. Environmental groups, who helped contribute to the problem by forcing the closing of refineries and banning offshore drilling closer to shore. The list of villains in this story is as long, and as deep, as the spill itself.
3. Arizona Passes Illegal Immigration Law – Three Huzzahs for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer who acted when the government refused to follow its own laws, and started arresting illegal immigrants. Her constituents were hugely in favor of this law, allowing Arizona law enforcement to follow the laws and arrest those who weren’t following the laws.
4. Obama Signs Healthcare Legislation into Effect – We’ll find out what’s in the law once the law is passed? Quoth Nancy Pelosi, wielding a sledgehammer-sized gavel to pass the law in the House of Representatives. We’ll know what’s in the law next month – er, tomorrow – when we start seeing our taxes rise, our companies shudder at the increases in the cost. Nurses being placed on the same level as doctors? Death panels? Insuring 26 year-old adults? A word to the new Republican House of Representatives – repeal or defund. Just do it!
5. WikiLeaks Reveals U.S. Military, Diplomatic Secrets – “Everyone has a right to know everything about everybody.” That was not Australian publisher Julian Assange; that was the character/newscaster Richard Thornberg to Bonnie Bedelia’s character, Holly McClane in the 1990 movie, Die Hard 2. But it might as well have been. Thanks to the prescient screenwriters for that 20 year-old tip about the future of the barely-born Internet. Can anyone say, "Treason?"
6. Volcanic Ash Disrupts European Air Travel – Moral of this lesson: Always have a Plan B when traveling. On Apr. 14th, the Icelandic volcano on the Eyjafjallokull glacier sent a large volcanic cloud of ash seven miles into the atmosphere which across northern Europe, halting flights across the northern portion of the continent. The United Kingdom has closed its airspace. No flights will be allowed in British air space, except in emergencies, from 1100 GMT until at least 1700 GMT as the ash spreads across the country. Travel continued to be disrupted well into May, closing airports in France, Germany, and Poland.
7. Earthquake Devastates Haiti - On Jan. 12th, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, approximately 16 miles west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. By Jan. 24, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded. An estimated three million people were affected by the quake, with an estimated 230,000 people dead, 300,000 injured and 1,000,000 made homeless. Approximately 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings collapsed or were severely damaged, including the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, and the main jail. Among those killed were Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Joseph Serge Miot and opposition leader Micha Gaillard. The headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), located in the capital, collapsed, killing many, including the Mission's Chief, Hédi Annabi. With statistics like that, who needs war?
8. Polish President Killed in Airplane Crash - Polish president Lech Kaczynski, 60, and his wife Maria were killed in a plane crash on April 10 near Smolensk airport. Including the president and his wife, 132 passengers were killed. The Kaczynski’s were travelling with several senior government figures on a trip to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn forest massacre, in which thousands of Poles were executed by Soviet secret police. As the plane was preparing for landing, en route from Moscow to Smolensk, the Polish president's aircraft did not make it to the landing strip, getting caught up in the tops of trees. The plane fell to the ground and broke up into pieces. There were no survivors in that crash. The head of Russia’s top investigative body, Sergei Markin, said there were a total of 132 people on the plane. Kaczynski became president in December 2005 and was planning to run for a second term in the presidential elections this autumn. Parliament speaker Bronislaw Komorowski, who had been expected to be his main opposition in the race, took over presidential duties according to the Polish constitution. Our condolences to Poland on its loss.
9. Americans Protest Building of Mosque at Ground Zero – Thousands of Americans flooded lower Manhattan’s West Broad several times in 2010 to protest the building of a mosque two blocks from the site of the Sept. 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. The proposed building was given the green light by New York City officials at a contentious zoning council meeting. Family members of the victims and Tea Party members came to express their outrage. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stood firmly behind the decision, defending the First Amendment rights of the builders. The American Center for Law and Justice has filed a lawsuit to prevent the building. Meanwhile, A Manhattan lawyer representing Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah is floating a proposal to officials and community leaders to move the controversial Ground Zero mosque away from its proposed site near the World Trade Center to another Manhattan neighborhood. The plan is to buy shuttered St. Vincent's Medical Center in the West Village and transfer the mosque to a new Islamic cultural center he would build on a plot at the site, say sources who have heard Gaffin's pitch. The proposla would ould also save the hospital, reopening most of the units that closed when St. Vincent's filed for bankruptcy on April 14. The attorney is foating the idea to gauge what the reaction might be -- and to ready a bid to rival the Rudin Organization, which is trying to snap up St. Vincent's in bankruptcy court with an eye on tearing down six hospital buildings for luxury housing.
10. Car Bombing Foiled in NYC’s Times Square – There are some amazing notes about this story: On Apr. 30th, a Muslim tee shirt vendor notified a mounted police officer about a suspicious car belching smoke. The bomb did not go off. A crude car bomb of propane, gasoline and fireworks was discovered in a smoking Nissan Pathfinder in the heart of Times Square on Saturday evening, prompting the evacuation of thousands of tourists and theatergoers on a warm and busy night. Although the device had apparently started to detonate, there was no explosion, and early on Sunday the authorities were still seeking a suspect and motive. A large swath of Midtown, from 43rd Street to 48th Street, and from Sixth to Eighth Avenues, was closed for much of the evening after the Pathfinder was discovered just off Broadway on 45th Street. Several theaters and stores, as well as the South Tower of the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel, were evacuated. A few days later, (On the May 3rd edition of the CBS Evening News, Mayor Bloomberg said, “If I had to bet twenty-five cents this would be exactly that, somebody who’s homegrown, maybe a mentally deranged person, or somebody with a political agenda, that doesn’t like the health care bill or something [was responsible].) authorities arrested Pakistan-born Faisal Shahzad who intended the SUV to explode into a fireball in the Crossroads of the World.
posted by Belle | 1:19 PM
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