This Year in Review: 2011
Axewound_omega
Published
12/30/2011
This Year in Review: 2011 C.E.
I was born in 1979 and a great many historically significant events have occurred during my lifetime. Having always had an interest in history and the world I paid plenty of attention to these things. This year however has probably been the most internationally eventful year of my life so far. Let�s take a little tour.
January 14 Tunisian President Zine El Abadine Ben Ali flees to Saudi Arabia, a new government is formed in Tunisia. The �Arab Spring� begins�
January 17 Protests begin in Muscat, Oman demanding economic improvement and an end to government corruption. Status: Ongoing.
February 3 Protests and violent clashes begin in Sanaa, Yemen against the dictatorial government of Ali Abdullah Saleh. Status: Ongoing.
February 11 Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigns. A new government is formed.
February 14 Uprising begins in Al Manama, Bahrain calling for the end of the monarchy of King Hamad. Status: Ongoing.
February 20 Protests begin in Rabat, Morocco against government corruption. Status: Ongoing.
February 28 Charlie Sheen officially loses his f*cking mind, coins catch-phrases such as �WINNING!�, �DING!� and �I�m tired of pretending I�m not special�.
March 11 A 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck Japan, a colossal tsunami devastated the north-eastern coast and set off a nuclear crisis. $235 billion in damage. 5,890 injured. 3,469 missing. 300,000+ displaced. 15, 843 killed.
March 15 Uprising begins in Damascus, Syria denouncing the dictatorship. Status: Ongoing.
April 25-28 Tornado Outbreak in American South and Midwest with 343 confirmed tornados and 300+ fatalities.
April 29 The future King of England, Prince William weds Catherine Middleton, now Princess of Cambridge. The Royal Wedding generated 237 Tweets per second during the course of the ceremony�and one of the funniest South Park episodes of all time, the Royal Pudding. President Obama was not in attendance.
May 1 Official announcement that Osama bin Laden had been assassinated by U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6. Hoo-Ya!
May 18 Scandal released that beloved actor and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger had fathered a child with a former Columbian housekeeper while he was married to Maria Shriver�the latter filed for divorce soon after.
May 22 Joplin, Missouri is devastated by an EF5 multiple-vortex tornado causing 160 deaths and nearly $3 billion in damages. See this link for a side-by-side Before & After video: http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/81646657/
June 15 Canucks riot over Canucks. Riots break out in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada after the city�s hockey team; the Vancouver Canucks lose to the Boston Bruins in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. Other than being totally ridiculous there is one redeeming event from this shameful display. Check out this link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/17/vancouver-riot-kiss-photograph-mystery#
June 27 Former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is sentence to 14 years in prison for 17 counts of douche-baggery including wire fraud, attempted extortion, bribery, extortion conspiracy and bribery conspiracy.
July 5 Casey Marie Anthony is acquitted of the charges she accrued after murdering her 2-yr-old daughter Caylee. Florida�..you SUCK! As a Californian I was embarrassed about the O.J. Simpson fiasco. Floridians, you should have rioted. Vancouver rioted when their hockey team lost.
July 9 A new nation is born. South Sudan becomes independent. Its capital is the city of Juba.
July 22 Bizarre and unprecedented terrorist attacks in Norway. 32-year-old Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik detonated a bomb in a government building in downtown Oslo killing 10 people. Then went on a rampage at an island-bound youth camp killing 82 more people, most of them teenagers.
August 6-10 Full-scale riots in London in response to a questionable police shooting of suspect Mark Duggan. 200 million pound-sterling in damage�as is tradition.
August 23 A 5.8 magnitude Earthquake in Virginia rocks the east coast including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. where it put a visible crack in one of the White House walls.
August 23-28 Hurricane Irene wreaks havoc across eastern seaboard from South Carolina to Vermont. I was in New York when in landed there�it was kinda cool.
The September 11th Memorial opened on the tenth anniversary of the attacks, near the new Freedom Tower in lower Manhattan, NY, NY.
September 17 The Occupy movement began on Wall St. in the financial district of lower Manhattan. It spread to many cities, large and small across the country and through much of the western world. �We are the 99%.� It is still ongoing and has accomplished nothing of consequence.
October 20 Moammar Gadhafi is overthrown and murdered by revolutionaries ending his 42-year reign. A new government is forming in Libya.
November 11 First attempt to assassinate President Barack Obama by 21 year old nutjob Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez.
November 28 The Kuwaiti government resigned under pressure of revolutionary protests. A new government is forming.
December 15 U.S. declares the War in Iraq over (cheap publicity stunt. The war�s been over since Sadam�s army was routed and surrendered May 1st 2003, it�s an occupation and we still have occupying forces in the 12 permanent military bases we built there�and we always will).
December 17 The �Dear Leader� of the Democratic People�s Republic of (North) Korea, Kim Jong-Il died of a heart attack (i.e. assassinated by clandestine forces lol). His son, something of a western culture enthusiast, Kim Jong-un prepares to take his father�s place as the �Great Successor�.
December 22 President Barack Obama compares himself to Lincoln, Johnson and FDR. This is months after he compared himself to Martin Luther King Jr. I couldn�t believe it at first either. It would seem that Obama too, is "tired of pretending he's not special". Here is a great link if you don�t believe me: http://www.rightface.us/forum/topics/obama-compares-himself-to-lincoln-johnson-and-fdr-and-says-that-h?xg_source=activity
December 22 The �Kiss heard around the world� occurred between two lesbian Sailors in the U.S. Navy�I know, I chuckled too. This was to celebrate the Repeal of the �Don�t ask, don�t tell� policy. Because after all, being in the �SERVICE� is all about being who you are and expressing your true self.
This is just my Top 31. Other ongoing �Arab Spring� protests are occurring in Algeria (since Dec. 28 2010), Jordan (since Jan. 7th ), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Sudan, Western Sahara and the Palestine 194 movement. The protests in Iran were put down sharply and swiftly and no media has come out of Iran regarding that issue. Also, I omitted data regarding the 2012 U.S. Presidential campaigns, Euro Zone Financial Crisis and violent protests in Cote di Iviore. Regarding the latter, reporting unrest in Sub-Saharan Africa is like reporting fog in San Francisco.
So this has been quite a year. If there�s one thing I find terribly frustrating�nay, infuriating (other than the Casey Anthony verdict) is that it seems that the greater majority of my countrymen probably hadn�t thought about of many of these things�but they�re up to par on the latest crap about Jersey Shore, the Kardashians, the new (way played out) upcoming season of American Idol and the overwhelming plethora of these crap �Reality Shows�. (*Axewound_omega has seizer, vomits blood, twitches, dies.). My greatest hope is that some of my countrymen will make a New Year�s Resolution for 2012 to be a little less shallow, a little more aware. Treat the brain like a muscle. If you don�t exercise it, it will atrophy into something feeble and unfunctional, capable of only the basest operation.
Happy New Year everybody. May 2012 be joyous and prosperous and wonderful.
~Axewound_omega
I was born in 1979 and a great many historically significant events have occurred during my lifetime. Having always had an interest in history and the world I paid plenty of attention to these things. This year however has probably been the most internationally eventful year of my life so far. Let�s take a little tour.
January 14 Tunisian President Zine El Abadine Ben Ali flees to Saudi Arabia, a new government is formed in Tunisia. The �Arab Spring� begins�
January 17 Protests begin in Muscat, Oman demanding economic improvement and an end to government corruption. Status: Ongoing.
February 3 Protests and violent clashes begin in Sanaa, Yemen against the dictatorial government of Ali Abdullah Saleh. Status: Ongoing.
February 11 Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigns. A new government is formed.
February 14 Uprising begins in Al Manama, Bahrain calling for the end of the monarchy of King Hamad. Status: Ongoing.
February 20 Protests begin in Rabat, Morocco against government corruption. Status: Ongoing.
February 28 Charlie Sheen officially loses his f*cking mind, coins catch-phrases such as �WINNING!�, �DING!� and �I�m tired of pretending I�m not special�.
March 11 A 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck Japan, a colossal tsunami devastated the north-eastern coast and set off a nuclear crisis. $235 billion in damage. 5,890 injured. 3,469 missing. 300,000+ displaced. 15, 843 killed.
March 15 Uprising begins in Damascus, Syria denouncing the dictatorship. Status: Ongoing.
April 25-28 Tornado Outbreak in American South and Midwest with 343 confirmed tornados and 300+ fatalities.
April 29 The future King of England, Prince William weds Catherine Middleton, now Princess of Cambridge. The Royal Wedding generated 237 Tweets per second during the course of the ceremony�and one of the funniest South Park episodes of all time, the Royal Pudding. President Obama was not in attendance.
May 1 Official announcement that Osama bin Laden had been assassinated by U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6. Hoo-Ya!
May 18 Scandal released that beloved actor and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger had fathered a child with a former Columbian housekeeper while he was married to Maria Shriver�the latter filed for divorce soon after.
May 22 Joplin, Missouri is devastated by an EF5 multiple-vortex tornado causing 160 deaths and nearly $3 billion in damages. See this link for a side-by-side Before & After video: http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/81646657/
June 15 Canucks riot over Canucks. Riots break out in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada after the city�s hockey team; the Vancouver Canucks lose to the Boston Bruins in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. Other than being totally ridiculous there is one redeeming event from this shameful display. Check out this link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/17/vancouver-riot-kiss-photograph-mystery#
June 27 Former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is sentence to 14 years in prison for 17 counts of douche-baggery including wire fraud, attempted extortion, bribery, extortion conspiracy and bribery conspiracy.
July 5 Casey Marie Anthony is acquitted of the charges she accrued after murdering her 2-yr-old daughter Caylee. Florida�..you SUCK! As a Californian I was embarrassed about the O.J. Simpson fiasco. Floridians, you should have rioted. Vancouver rioted when their hockey team lost.
July 9 A new nation is born. South Sudan becomes independent. Its capital is the city of Juba.
July 22 Bizarre and unprecedented terrorist attacks in Norway. 32-year-old Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik detonated a bomb in a government building in downtown Oslo killing 10 people. Then went on a rampage at an island-bound youth camp killing 82 more people, most of them teenagers.
August 6-10 Full-scale riots in London in response to a questionable police shooting of suspect Mark Duggan. 200 million pound-sterling in damage�as is tradition.
August 23 A 5.8 magnitude Earthquake in Virginia rocks the east coast including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. where it put a visible crack in one of the White House walls.
August 23-28 Hurricane Irene wreaks havoc across eastern seaboard from South Carolina to Vermont. I was in New York when in landed there�it was kinda cool.
The September 11th Memorial opened on the tenth anniversary of the attacks, near the new Freedom Tower in lower Manhattan, NY, NY.
September 17 The Occupy movement began on Wall St. in the financial district of lower Manhattan. It spread to many cities, large and small across the country and through much of the western world. �We are the 99%.� It is still ongoing and has accomplished nothing of consequence.
October 20 Moammar Gadhafi is overthrown and murdered by revolutionaries ending his 42-year reign. A new government is forming in Libya.
November 11 First attempt to assassinate President Barack Obama by 21 year old nutjob Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez.
November 28 The Kuwaiti government resigned under pressure of revolutionary protests. A new government is forming.
December 15 U.S. declares the War in Iraq over (cheap publicity stunt. The war�s been over since Sadam�s army was routed and surrendered May 1st 2003, it�s an occupation and we still have occupying forces in the 12 permanent military bases we built there�and we always will).
December 17 The �Dear Leader� of the Democratic People�s Republic of (North) Korea, Kim Jong-Il died of a heart attack (i.e. assassinated by clandestine forces lol). His son, something of a western culture enthusiast, Kim Jong-un prepares to take his father�s place as the �Great Successor�.
December 22 President Barack Obama compares himself to Lincoln, Johnson and FDR. This is months after he compared himself to Martin Luther King Jr. I couldn�t believe it at first either. It would seem that Obama too, is "tired of pretending he's not special". Here is a great link if you don�t believe me: http://www.rightface.us/forum/topics/obama-compares-himself-to-lincoln-johnson-and-fdr-and-says-that-h?xg_source=activity
December 22 The �Kiss heard around the world� occurred between two lesbian Sailors in the U.S. Navy�I know, I chuckled too. This was to celebrate the Repeal of the �Don�t ask, don�t tell� policy. Because after all, being in the �SERVICE� is all about being who you are and expressing your true self.
This is just my Top 31. Other ongoing �Arab Spring� protests are occurring in Algeria (since Dec. 28 2010), Jordan (since Jan. 7th ), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Sudan, Western Sahara and the Palestine 194 movement. The protests in Iran were put down sharply and swiftly and no media has come out of Iran regarding that issue. Also, I omitted data regarding the 2012 U.S. Presidential campaigns, Euro Zone Financial Crisis and violent protests in Cote di Iviore. Regarding the latter, reporting unrest in Sub-Saharan Africa is like reporting fog in San Francisco.
So this has been quite a year. If there�s one thing I find terribly frustrating�nay, infuriating (other than the Casey Anthony verdict) is that it seems that the greater majority of my countrymen probably hadn�t thought about of many of these things�but they�re up to par on the latest crap about Jersey Shore, the Kardashians, the new (way played out) upcoming season of American Idol and the overwhelming plethora of these crap �Reality Shows�. (*Axewound_omega has seizer, vomits blood, twitches, dies.). My greatest hope is that some of my countrymen will make a New Year�s Resolution for 2012 to be a little less shallow, a little more aware. Treat the brain like a muscle. If you don�t exercise it, it will atrophy into something feeble and unfunctional, capable of only the basest operation.
Happy New Year everybody. May 2012 be joyous and prosperous and wonderful.
~Axewound_omega
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