2014: The Year in Review Time flies when you’re having fun, right? Here are some of the news-worthy events of the year gone by and New Year’s wishes that 2015 will be even better (or at least as equally interesting!). January 2014: The “Affordable Care Act” or “Obama Care” is launched. The one thing that our federal government has done right in my lifetime and the one thing that separates the United States from being a third world country, yet it is still a contentious subject with the right wing a year later! What gives? The republican’s and wealthy believe it serves no one except for the freeloaders, it may be because the Republican’s are jealous because they could never inact a similar program on their own, or it may be due prejudices towards Obama or other self-serving and misguided agendas. The bottom line: Many new small businesses will be created due to affordable healthcare; and though the Small Business Administration (SBA) has yet to publish any statistics for 2014, I predict a huge spike new businesses will be reported as compared to 2013 due in large part to affordable health care. February 2014: The Superbowl is played in New Jersey, or was it New York? As usual more people are interested in the commercials than the game and there is no immediate confirmation as to who appeared in the game or who actually won it. March 2014: On March 8, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappears somewhere over the Indian Ocean confirming that our oceans are still as vast as everybody once believed. April 2014: Birds Re-Arrange Travel Plans Due to Tornadoes. In April, 84 tornadoes touched down in the southern and central US causing $1 billion in damage and the loss of 35 lives. Scientists reported in December’s “Current Biology” that five radio-tagged Golden Warblers, after just making their 3,000 mile annual migration from Columbia to their nesting grounds in the Appalachians, turned around and flew an additional 700 miles to the Gulf of Mexico, flying just south of the tornadoes path. “They heard it coming” the scientists say. By May 2, the birds were happily nested in Caryville, TN. May 2014: Police Investigate Stowaway Who Reached Hawaii in Landing Gear of 767. Yes, our airline security continues to impress. June 2014: Acclaim was shut down in the month of June for holidays and beside the usual graduations and weddings, there was no news in June. July 2014: Besides the momentary interest in “the most beautiful game”, nobody knows or cares who won the World Cup in Brazil. August 2014: “It Gives You Wings!” Redbull is ordered to pay $13 million in false and misleading advertising since it does not actually give you wings. September 2014: Scotland says “Hell NO!” to Independence. Citing questions concerning UK debt, currency, military, finances, whether the Queen should be head of state, passports/citizenship, relations with NATO, the Commonwealth, the UN, and EU, the Scots decided this was just too much to figure out and decided to play it safe under the care of Great Britain. “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Ben Franklin October 2014: The Ebola Epidemic, experts say, has highlighted dangerous gaps in the world’s ability to respond to deadly pathogens. The three countries hit hardest by the epidemic are among the poorest in the world, with health systems and other infrastructure so decimated by civil war and conflict that they are barely able to provide basic care. At the same time, the WHO has been so ravaged by budget cuts and the loss of staff in recent years that it is “a shadow of its former self, racing to regain its own credibility in this crisis,” said Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations. If it hadn’t been for our ability to respond even at the most rudimentary level, the world would be a much different place right now. November 2014: Politics as usual. December 2014: Though this story actually began 20 years ago it came to fruition in November and continues to impress. The story concerns the Rosetta space probe and the Comet 67P. On Nov 12 the landing portion of Rosetta, Philea, landed on the surface of 67P. If that isn’t mind-blowing enough, the lander is constantly sending back data on the comet’s makeup and will very likely answer questions to the origins of our universe and life on our own planet. If ever in doubt, think about the odds of a project like this succeeding or even getting off the ground for that matter! Who was the guy in 1994 who said “Let’s land a spacecraft on a comet!” Yep, he was definitely thinking out of the box! It is unparalleled even in our wildest imagination and confirms that ANYTHING is now possible. Remember, it’s not the news that defines us, but how we respond to it. Wishing You The Best in 2015!
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 23:42:54 +0000
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