A Year in Review iv
v
vi
ii
III. Europe
Location: Washington, D.C.
Location: Pristina, Kosovo
January 28: President George W. Bush delivers his final State of the Union address. \October 3: President Bush quickly approves a 700-billion dollar bailout package after an initial rejection in the House of Representatives causes the Dow Jones to fall 777 points. How are investors feeling? Uneasy. Very uneasy. November 15: President-Elect Barack Obama delivers his— the First Youtube Address.
iii i
I. North America
Location: San Francisco, CA
vii
April 9: The San Francisco Olympic torch relay, highly organized with hopes of a smooth run, falls into disarray as the first runner curiously disappears into a warehouse for half an hour, only to emerge off a bus a mile away from the original route. June 16: Following a court ruling on May 15 overturning the ban on same-sex marriage, gay marriage becomes available in California. Marriage licenses are changed to display Party A and Party B instead of bride and groom. November 5: California passes Proposition 8 by a narrow 4.6% margin, banning same-sex marriage. 24.4% of registered voters in the state never went to the polls.
Location: San Angelo, Texas
Like any year, 2008 was a year of small victories, mistakes, and shameful apologies. We held peaceful Olympic Games at Beijing and yet failed to prevent Tibetan violence and Georgian conflict; granted Spanish apes the right to life and liberty but denied homosexuals the “pursuit of happiness;” and nominated the young, old and female but saw the failure of elected officials like Ted Stevens and Rod Blagojevich. As the November election approached, the nation questioned and tested its capacities for change and acceptance as we stereotyped and categorized the Presidential candidates: the war veteran, the woman, the black, the mayor, the evangelist, the Mormon, the Ron Paul. If the leader we elect is any indication of a national attitude, it is clear Americans are glad to abandon the last 8 years of policy and go back to the drawing board. And yet during this election the whole world was at the edge of their seats, perhaps an indicator of something more than dissatisfaction. Across the globe, people are working toward the same landmarks that have been achieved in Washington. Kosovo gained its independence from Serbia (no small feat), Cyprus and Malta adopted the euro and China, uncharacteristically environmental, banned plastic shopping bags. While many nations are far from peace, and Cuban rice cookers aren’t quite a social revolution, call 2008 a Year of Evolution. The changes we make ought to start small.
April 18: A Texas judge rules to remove 418 children from the Yearning for Zion Ranch, owned by the Fundamentalist Mormon Church. The raid on the ranch was triggered by a phone-call by a 16-year-old girl to a domestic abuse hotline, which turned out to be a hoax by an adult in Colorado with a history of fake phone calls about sexual and domestic abuse. A Texas appeals court later ordered the return of all the children and says the state overreached by removing them in the first place.
Location: Dayton, Ohio
August 29: Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain picks Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, the first woman to be nominated on a G.O.P. Ticket.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
November 4: Barack Obama is Elected President of the United States, and is the first African-American to achieve this position. December 9: Rod Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff John Harris are arrested on federal corruption charges, after conspiring to sell Barack Obama’s open Senate seat.
II. South America Location: Havana, Cuba
February 20: After nearly 50 years of despotic rule over Cuba, Fidel Castro resigns at the ripe age of 81, handing over power to his “younger brother” Raul (76). Cubans are hoping that Raul Castro will bring big change and reform to the country.
Location: The Amazon (borders Peru&Brazil)
May 29: Brazil’s National Indian Foundation releases a photo of an “uncontacted” tribe in the Amazon, one of many so-called unseen tribes in the Amazon threatened by illegal logging and evangelists.
Location: Bogota, Colombia
July 3: The Colombian government tricks rebel group FARC into handing over high-profile hostage Ingrid Betancourt and 14 others. The hostages, who were kidnapped by FARC in 2002, were flew to freedom in a helicopter by soldiers posing as a non-government organization.
February 17: Backed by the U.S. and other European countries, Kosovo declares independence from Serbia, pledging to become a “democratic, multi-ethnic state.”
Location: Madrid, Spain
holds its first ever national parliamentary elections. It remains a constitutional monarchy.
Location: Myanmar (Burma)
May 3: Cyclone Nargis strikes Myanmar and leaves 138,000 dead or missing. A multi-national effort relays food and water to afflicted regions.
June 25: Spanish Parliament grants Great Apes the right to life and liberty. The measure, which will go into effect June 2009, gives chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans protection from harmful research or exploitation for profit.
Location: Sichuan Province, China
Location: Republic of South Ossetia
August 15: Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Nepal’s first Prime Minister, is sworn in after the country declares itself the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal in May. It had been a monarchy since 1768.
August 7: Georgian armed forces enter breakaway region South Ossetia to assert its governance, prompting Russia to send troops into not only South Ossetia but deeper into Georgia. Within two days, 1,500 are reported dead from intensifying bombings and aerial attacks by both nations.
May 12: An 8.0 earthquake occurs in the Sichuan Province in China, leaving more than 88,000 people dead or missing.
Location: Kathmandu, Nepal
Location: Mumbai, India
IV. Middle East
November 26: Terrorist gunmen attack popular tourist sites in Mumbai, India, leaving at least 100 dead. Police rescue hostages being held in the hotels.
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Location: Tehran, Iran
VI. Africa
January 11: Snow falls in Baghdad for the first time that residents can remember. Iraqis regard it as an omen of peace to come. December 31: Iraq Coalition Casualty Count reports 4219 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq since invasion began on March 20, 2003 February 4: Iran launches a research rocket into space to commemorate the opening of its space center, prompting criticism from the U.S.
Location: Kandahar, Afghanistan
June 12: The Taliban attacks a major prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan, freeing nearly 1200 prisoners including 400 Taliban militants.
V. Asia Location: Beijing, China
August 8-24: The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing commence. September 16: 1,253 infants fall ill in China from melaminelaced Sanlu powdered milk formula. Since then tens of thousands of children have fallen ill and died.
Location: Seoul, Korea
February 11: A 69-year-old man sets fire to South Korea’s landmark, Namdaemun, or the Great South Gate, after harboring resentment about a land dispute. The gate, which dates back to the 14th century, survived Japanese invasion and also the Korean War, is considered one of South Korea’s national treasures.
Location: Hanoi, Vietnam
March 7: Hamsters are banned in Vietnam. Amidst a booming sub-culture of hamster forums and clubs, authorities cite the potential for disease as reason for banning the illegally traded and imported pets.
Location: Lhasa, Tibet
March 10th: Monks march to protest on the 49th Anniversary of Tibet’s failed uprising against Chinese Rule. Some are beaten and arrested. Rioting, looting and burning ensue, escalating on March 14.
Location: Thimphu, Bhutan
March 24: Bhutan, a tiny country nestled in the Himalayas,
December 2: Fallout of the 2006 military coup that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Chinnawat, the anti-Thaksin People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protests the ongoing rule of People’s Power Party (PPP), and has it dissolved. Political turmoil, however, remains.
Location: Coast of Somalia
April 4: Somali pirates seize a French luxury yacht and take all 30 of its crew hostage. French Prime Minister Francois Fillon calls it “a blatant act of piracy.”
Location: Harare, Zimbabwe
June 29: Robert Mugabe is sworn in for his sixth term as President of Zimbabwe in an extremely fishy one-man election, following the pullout of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
VII. Australia Location: Canberra, Australia
February 13: Australia apologizes to its Aborigines. The official apology comes after former Prime Minister John Howard refused to apologize to the ‘stolen generations’ for over a decade, a view that was supported by 30% of Australians according to polls.
Location: Sydney, Australia
July 19: Giving a mass in Sydney, Pope Benedict XVI apologizes for sexual abuses committed by Catholic priests.
Science in the News March 25: New satellite images reveal a 160-sq. mile ice shelf in West Antarctica has collapsed. April 22: Moorfields Eye Hospital in London conducts two successful operations to implant bionic eyes into blind patients. December 15: Researchers in the Amazon forest find the Pirahã tribe, a group of hunter/gatherers, have no words for numbers or concepts like “one,” “two,” or “many.” December 31: The United Nations estimates that by the end of 2008, half the world will be living in cities, for the first time in human history.