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McCain Administration- Winter 2016
Winter 2016
"You know, this would've ended differently if the criminals were anything but white..."
"El Chapo is back where he belongs, but why are drug lords powerful..."
"Wow, this is a pretty big thing for the Churches..."
Election season was coming and the preliminaries were becoming the dominant factor and overtaking the news. The announcement of Sanders and Obama running started a chain reaction of new and young politicans of the left to begin running against the establishment. However, it was also becoming increasingly clear that Sanders and Obama are the dominant powers for the Democrats' presidential primaries. As for the Republicans, Mitt Romney would be running to succeed McCain with the only real competition being George Pataki. Of course, this was the not battlefield of tension within the United States. The year would start off when an armed group of far-right extremists seized and occupied the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge over in Harney County, Oregon, United States. Their occupation continued until law enforcement made the final arrest in the middle in Febuary. However, what made the news more intribuing was on who the leader was. It was Ammon Bundy, who participated in the 2014 Bundy standoff at his father's Nevada ranch and he headed a group of misfits loosely affiliated with non-governmental militias and the sovereign citizen movement. The entire debacle was done to advance a warped agenda in regards to their incorrect assumptions and interpretations of the US Constitution and with Bundy at the helm, it was clearly a retaliation for the Bundy standoff that occurred a few years prior as a result of arson. The entire standoff caught the news media, but in the frame of the elections, something was compared. With the backdrop of police brutality the year prior, it raised the question on how the standoff would've ended if the perpetrators were black. Social media became the hotspot for this spread of talk and even some political pundits were conversing about it. Unsurprisingly, this also made news to the political situation going on.
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters, Oregon
However, this was not the only prominent stand-off and arrest regarding criminals. Around January at the same time was the news that officials and law enforcement were getting close to tracking down Joaquín Guzmán, the infamous drug lord known as "El Chapo". Having escaped back in July of the previous year, he managed to avoid the long arm of the law before he was finally caught once more. Beyond the assistance of Columbian forces, it was pretty notable for his tenacity. The raid did succeed despite the injuries and the various equipment such as armored cars and grenade launchers were found and confiscated. While the arrest brought jubilation and cheer from both nations, the question began racing over the handling of the Drug War. The Gore Administration did relatively little with it while the McCain Administration imposed some slightly harsher penalities, but were more concerned with handling the economic crisis. As such, the question lingered on how to do deal with the War on Drugs. Sanders' support of legalizing drugs made him stand out, but it would prove to be popular, especially as various people spoke on the failures of the War on Drugs and even made comparisons to how the drug lords rose in the same way gangsters did back in the 1920s and 1930s. Prohibition made alcohol a black market affair and they filled in the demand. Now, it was the same with a good bit of drugs. The political atmosphere was fierier than ever.
President Enrique Peña Nieto, accompanied by Cabinet members, holds a press conference in the Palacio Nacional announcing the capture of Joaquín Guzmán
Of course, not everything was negative news in the world after all. For many a faithful, it was actually quite the joyous day in a way. All because of the Havana Declaration. The Havana Declaration or more formally known as The Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill was a meeting in February 2016 between the titular leaders. Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome served as tge pontiff of the Catholic Church while Patriarch Kirill of Moscow was not only the Patriarch of Moscow, but also of all Rus', Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches. This was the first time that the leaders of the Roman Church and the Moscow Patriarchate had met. The meeting was largely seen as a symbolic moment in the history of relations between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches as a community, which had split in the Great Schism of 1054, centuries before the Moscow Patriarchate was even constituted. Of course, not everyone was aware of the details of the great Schism, so the news had plenty of people explain its details. While there was nothing regarding theologic discussed, it did served as a memorable occasion for many of the Christian, even for those who were not Catholic nor Orthodoxy. At the same time, it did serve as a source of humor as some pundits and other commentors did not know what the meeting was about and it painted open an igorance within certain people, especially in the Americas. In fact, more people turned to the net for the information that was needed.
Patriach Kirill & Pope Francis
"You know, this would've ended differently if the criminals were anything but white..."
"El Chapo is back where he belongs, but why are drug lords powerful..."
"Wow, this is a pretty big thing for the Churches..."
Election season was coming and the preliminaries were becoming the dominant factor and overtaking the news. The announcement of Sanders and Obama running started a chain reaction of new and young politicans of the left to begin running against the establishment. However, it was also becoming increasingly clear that Sanders and Obama are the dominant powers for the Democrats' presidential primaries. As for the Republicans, Mitt Romney would be running to succeed McCain with the only real competition being George Pataki. Of course, this was the not battlefield of tension within the United States. The year would start off when an armed group of far-right extremists seized and occupied the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge over in Harney County, Oregon, United States. Their occupation continued until law enforcement made the final arrest in the middle in Febuary. However, what made the news more intribuing was on who the leader was. It was Ammon Bundy, who participated in the 2014 Bundy standoff at his father's Nevada ranch and he headed a group of misfits loosely affiliated with non-governmental militias and the sovereign citizen movement. The entire debacle was done to advance a warped agenda in regards to their incorrect assumptions and interpretations of the US Constitution and with Bundy at the helm, it was clearly a retaliation for the Bundy standoff that occurred a few years prior as a result of arson. The entire standoff caught the news media, but in the frame of the elections, something was compared. With the backdrop of police brutality the year prior, it raised the question on how the standoff would've ended if the perpetrators were black. Social media became the hotspot for this spread of talk and even some political pundits were conversing about it. Unsurprisingly, this also made news to the political situation going on.
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters, Oregon
However, this was not the only prominent stand-off and arrest regarding criminals. Around January at the same time was the news that officials and law enforcement were getting close to tracking down Joaquín Guzmán, the infamous drug lord known as "El Chapo". Having escaped back in July of the previous year, he managed to avoid the long arm of the law before he was finally caught once more. Beyond the assistance of Columbian forces, it was pretty notable for his tenacity. The raid did succeed despite the injuries and the various equipment such as armored cars and grenade launchers were found and confiscated. While the arrest brought jubilation and cheer from both nations, the question began racing over the handling of the Drug War. The Gore Administration did relatively little with it while the McCain Administration imposed some slightly harsher penalities, but were more concerned with handling the economic crisis. As such, the question lingered on how to do deal with the War on Drugs. Sanders' support of legalizing drugs made him stand out, but it would prove to be popular, especially as various people spoke on the failures of the War on Drugs and even made comparisons to how the drug lords rose in the same way gangsters did back in the 1920s and 1930s. Prohibition made alcohol a black market affair and they filled in the demand. Now, it was the same with a good bit of drugs. The political atmosphere was fierier than ever.
President Enrique Peña Nieto, accompanied by Cabinet members, holds a press conference in the Palacio Nacional announcing the capture of Joaquín Guzmán
Of course, not everything was negative news in the world after all. For many a faithful, it was actually quite the joyous day in a way. All because of the Havana Declaration. The Havana Declaration or more formally known as The Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill was a meeting in February 2016 between the titular leaders. Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome served as tge pontiff of the Catholic Church while Patriarch Kirill of Moscow was not only the Patriarch of Moscow, but also of all Rus', Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches. This was the first time that the leaders of the Roman Church and the Moscow Patriarchate had met. The meeting was largely seen as a symbolic moment in the history of relations between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches as a community, which had split in the Great Schism of 1054, centuries before the Moscow Patriarchate was even constituted. Of course, not everyone was aware of the details of the great Schism, so the news had plenty of people explain its details. While there was nothing regarding theologic discussed, it did served as a memorable occasion for many of the Christian, even for those who were not Catholic nor Orthodoxy. At the same time, it did serve as a source of humor as some pundits and other commentors did not know what the meeting was about and it painted open an igorance within certain people, especially in the Americas. In fact, more people turned to the net for the information that was needed.
Patriach Kirill & Pope Francis
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