Thank you very much for your support! Any thoughts or questions?
For a Gore Prosperous Tomorrow
- Thread starter CountDVB
- Start date
-
- Tags
- 9/11 al gore alternate 2000s
McCain Administration- Summer 2015
Summer 2015
"Looks like Obergefell v. Hodges has made it official..."
"Man, did not expect the corruption of FIFA being this deep..."
"On the one hand, it is was legally messed up, but on the other hand..."
The summer of 2015 showed that there were little signs of stopping the train of gay marriage being legalized. After the Irish vote, the Supreme Court would take on the case of Obergefell v. Hodges over the question of gay marriage. The argument being that gay marriage was guaranteed both by the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The case made it up to the Supreme Court due to various plaintaffs filing court cases, all while the past several months saw various marriage bans being struck down by the courts. However, there was also various stalling tactics, perhaps out of fear that the case would be certain given the current stance of the various Supreme Court Justices. At the same time, any plans of leaving it to the states or so on were basically being pummeled and the new blood of the Republicans were more than okay than supporting gay marriage. However, at the end of the day, the ruling rang clear through out the United States of America: that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The ruling of 7-2 requires all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the Insular Areas to perform and recognize the marriages of same-sex couples on the same terms and conditions as the marriages of opposite-sex couples, with all the accompanying rights and responsibilities. Even by that point, the District, Guam and thirty-six states have already declared it legal so many saw it as inevitable. Others found it humorous that it would be under a Republican president this would happen. Hard conservatives bemoaned the loss of "morality" while others tried to fight in different ways. President McCain for the most part, merely noted that the Supreme Court made its statement and it was a strong ruling. For many people, June 26, 2015 was a glorious day.
On the morning of June 26, 2015 outside the Supreme Court, the crowd celebrates the Court's decision.
While the Americans celeberated the land-mark ruling along with various other nations, not everything was good news. Starting in early June, there was the news of scandals involving FIFA and deep levels of corruption. In early June, fourteen people were indicted in connection with an investigation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI) into wire fraud, racketeering, and money laundering. The US Attorney General simultaneously announced the unsealing of the indictments and the prior guilty pleas by four football executives and two corporations. The investigation mostly revolved around collusion between officials of continental football bodies CONMEBOL (South America) and CONCACAF (Caribbean, Central and North America), and sports marketing executives. It turns out that the sports marketing executives were holders of media and marketing rights for high-profile international competitions including the Americas' FIFA World Cup qualifying tournaments, and showpiece tournaments CONCACAF Gold Cup and Copa América. Millions of dollars involved in bribes, the unhappiness regarding the public money in stadiums in Brazil and so on. In particular, the Justice department used the RICO act in regards to approach this rather than bribery, the same RICO Act that weakened Big Tobacco and later wounded Exxon-Mobil. The FIFA President would end up resigning and it was growing to be a colossal ordeal that began turning off people more toward soccer, especially as it spread on social media in the backdrop of the latter years of the Great Recession. "Bread and circuses" became a trending term throughout social media.
Hotel Baur au Lac, Zürich, where seven FIFA officials were arrested on June 3, 2015
However, that was not the only scandal going on. In Juy 2015, a group of hackers obtained the user data of thousands of clientale of the infamous dating website, Ashley Madison. What made the site infamous was that it focused on enabling extramarital affairs and thus, the hacker group threatened to leak the data obtained if the site did not shut down. However, the fear came because of the site's policies on maintaining information, including real names and addresses. As such, when the leak occurred it was chaos. Various different people across the world used it and it became a troublesome ordeal for everyone. Massive ethics questions were raised over the issue; while many said this was the result of using a site for affairs and violating marriage, others have noted how the social media aspect of public shaming could lead to psychological damage. It served as a bit of a view of the "lynch mob" aspects of the netizens and their desire to judge something without nuance and with their own discretion. Some hate crimes along with soe suicides soon followed, which made the entire thing feel even more sour. However, the issue then changed regading cybersecurity when the various law suits targeting Ashley Madison and their sister website, Established Men. Beyond the failures of the companies in handling the safeguard of their client's data, there was also the issue of the potential vast usage of bots and how "fake profiles" can use real data. Even President McCain himself, when asked about the entire ordeal and lawsuits, went instead to focus on cybersecurity and instead asked what-if the group attempted extortion or blackmail with the information along with the fact that if chatbots could be used to further fool people, it would mean they could influence social media to dangerous degrees, especially by foreign powers. This was discussed with his digital cabinet and he in fact was advised to host a meeting with the heads of various social media outlets to discuss matters of cybersecurity and the possibility of chatbots and fake profiles.
Logo of the infamous Ashley Madison website
"Looks like Obergefell v. Hodges has made it official..."
"Man, did not expect the corruption of FIFA being this deep..."
"On the one hand, it is was legally messed up, but on the other hand..."
The summer of 2015 showed that there were little signs of stopping the train of gay marriage being legalized. After the Irish vote, the Supreme Court would take on the case of Obergefell v. Hodges over the question of gay marriage. The argument being that gay marriage was guaranteed both by the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The case made it up to the Supreme Court due to various plaintaffs filing court cases, all while the past several months saw various marriage bans being struck down by the courts. However, there was also various stalling tactics, perhaps out of fear that the case would be certain given the current stance of the various Supreme Court Justices. At the same time, any plans of leaving it to the states or so on were basically being pummeled and the new blood of the Republicans were more than okay than supporting gay marriage. However, at the end of the day, the ruling rang clear through out the United States of America: that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The ruling of 7-2 requires all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the Insular Areas to perform and recognize the marriages of same-sex couples on the same terms and conditions as the marriages of opposite-sex couples, with all the accompanying rights and responsibilities. Even by that point, the District, Guam and thirty-six states have already declared it legal so many saw it as inevitable. Others found it humorous that it would be under a Republican president this would happen. Hard conservatives bemoaned the loss of "morality" while others tried to fight in different ways. President McCain for the most part, merely noted that the Supreme Court made its statement and it was a strong ruling. For many people, June 26, 2015 was a glorious day.
On the morning of June 26, 2015 outside the Supreme Court, the crowd celebrates the Court's decision.
While the Americans celeberated the land-mark ruling along with various other nations, not everything was good news. Starting in early June, there was the news of scandals involving FIFA and deep levels of corruption. In early June, fourteen people were indicted in connection with an investigation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI) into wire fraud, racketeering, and money laundering. The US Attorney General simultaneously announced the unsealing of the indictments and the prior guilty pleas by four football executives and two corporations. The investigation mostly revolved around collusion between officials of continental football bodies CONMEBOL (South America) and CONCACAF (Caribbean, Central and North America), and sports marketing executives. It turns out that the sports marketing executives were holders of media and marketing rights for high-profile international competitions including the Americas' FIFA World Cup qualifying tournaments, and showpiece tournaments CONCACAF Gold Cup and Copa América. Millions of dollars involved in bribes, the unhappiness regarding the public money in stadiums in Brazil and so on. In particular, the Justice department used the RICO act in regards to approach this rather than bribery, the same RICO Act that weakened Big Tobacco and later wounded Exxon-Mobil. The FIFA President would end up resigning and it was growing to be a colossal ordeal that began turning off people more toward soccer, especially as it spread on social media in the backdrop of the latter years of the Great Recession. "Bread and circuses" became a trending term throughout social media.
Hotel Baur au Lac, Zürich, where seven FIFA officials were arrested on June 3, 2015
However, that was not the only scandal going on. In Juy 2015, a group of hackers obtained the user data of thousands of clientale of the infamous dating website, Ashley Madison. What made the site infamous was that it focused on enabling extramarital affairs and thus, the hacker group threatened to leak the data obtained if the site did not shut down. However, the fear came because of the site's policies on maintaining information, including real names and addresses. As such, when the leak occurred it was chaos. Various different people across the world used it and it became a troublesome ordeal for everyone. Massive ethics questions were raised over the issue; while many said this was the result of using a site for affairs and violating marriage, others have noted how the social media aspect of public shaming could lead to psychological damage. It served as a bit of a view of the "lynch mob" aspects of the netizens and their desire to judge something without nuance and with their own discretion. Some hate crimes along with soe suicides soon followed, which made the entire thing feel even more sour. However, the issue then changed regading cybersecurity when the various law suits targeting Ashley Madison and their sister website, Established Men. Beyond the failures of the companies in handling the safeguard of their client's data, there was also the issue of the potential vast usage of bots and how "fake profiles" can use real data. Even President McCain himself, when asked about the entire ordeal and lawsuits, went instead to focus on cybersecurity and instead asked what-if the group attempted extortion or blackmail with the information along with the fact that if chatbots could be used to further fool people, it would mean they could influence social media to dangerous degrees, especially by foreign powers. This was discussed with his digital cabinet and he in fact was advised to host a meeting with the heads of various social media outlets to discuss matters of cybersecurity and the possibility of chatbots and fake profiles.
Logo of the infamous Ashley Madison website
Well yeah. Either that or make a deal with the SNP. Here, they hope to try and make Corbin a sort of fall guy or something.
Like that’ll go well
McCain Administration- Autumn 2015
Autumn 2015
"So the leaders of the two Chinas end up meeting..."
"Diesalgate just proves that big corporations will lie and damage the environment for a buck..."
"And it looks like Jack Layton will remain Prime Minister for a while longer..."
Autumn saw the leaves begin changing and with the end of the year coming, so were the various new things going on the in the year. Many would begin looking at this as perhaps as a sign for what was coming over for the next year. One of the most memorable moments was the "meeting of the two Chinas." Alternately, known as the Li-Ma meeting, it saw the meeting of President of the People's Republic of China, Li Keqiang, meeting up with the President of the Republic of China/Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou. The meeting was the first between the political leaders of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1950 and the first since the meeting between Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong in Chongqing during the Double Tenth Agreement in August 1945. Of course, while the meeting was praised and lauded by various groups on both sides and other nations outside of it, the meeting was not exactly without its complainers. Namely in terms of how Ma previously noted he would meet with the future leaders during his four year tenure and him doing so ended up disappointing some of his supporters. This naturally gave some fodder for the opposition parties. On the other hand, open discourse noted that Li Keqiang did bring North Korea from being a rabid dog to one being under control, so there was at least a bit of a reason to try and negotiate things. The hope was that the nations could try and come an agreement though the atmosphere was still tense and thick in the air.
Images of Republic of China/Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou (left) and People's Republic of China President Li Keqiang
The good news was not the only sign of major changes. Gearheads and autofans would become plagued with a new word... "Diesalgate". It all started when the EPA issued a notice of violation of the "Clean Air Act" to German automaker Volkswagen Group. The agency had found that Volkswagen had intentionally programmed turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines to activate their emissions controls only during laboratory emissions testing which caused the vehicles' NOx output to meet US standards during regulatory testing, but emit up to 40 times more NOx in real-world driving. Volkswagen deployed this software in about 11 million cars worldwide, including 500,000 in the United States, in model years 2009 through 2015. In layman's terms, they programmed their car to sense when they were being tested and change how they operated. Suspicions started back in 2014 thanks to the work done by the California Air Regulations Board. Multiple investigations occur, Volkswagon stocks plummeted and the CEO would be forced to resign. Being painfully similar to the events of what happened with Exxon-Mobil, it stirred up a sort of familiar rage in people. How greedy and short-sighted were they?! Just because it did not match the numbes and could not deliver. The news spread rampant and diesal cars became under the spotlight for investigation from multiple companies. The call for greater adoption for biodiesal was being rang though louder voices were preaching government intervention, citing the corrupt history of these sort of companies on lack of accountability. The Germans themselves were not happy with this and it was a blow to the pride of German engineering. Many did see this as a further rallying call for the need to radically "green" the industry.
Former Volkswagon CEO, Martin Winterkorn
Meanwhile, the Canadian elections brought some attention to people, if namely due to the work of Jack Layton. After his upset victory with the NDP securing a minority government with the Liberals, Jack Layton steadily rose in popularity over in Canada. His early years saw him combine environmentalism with economic reform by taking advantage of a new study showing the surprising and extensive geothermal power and worked to shift government investment from fossil fuels to that. For utility-scale electrical generation using traditional dry steam and flash stream power stations were being devloped in the NW Territories and Yukon while utility-scale electrical generation using binary cycle power stations, saw growth in British Columbia and notably the southern parts Alberta and Saskatchewan. Even geothermal heat pumps were seeing interest. The potential was quite surprising and this shift into grand power generation gave Layton a large boost in popularity within BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan, especially noteworthy because of Alberta's oil sands. Also was the healthcare reform for the inclusion of medicine and integrating the provinces' healthcare together, for greater unity. As such, the NDP gained more seats though not enough for a majority (many attribute this to the Liberals' sudden spike in prevelance due to their new leader, Justin Trudeau.) While the Layton Administration would continue, rumors circulated that Layton may retire near the end of his term to better watch his health, with many wondering who his successor may be. Regardless, people celeberated for Layton's further governance and success along with cooperation with Trudeau for the continued success of Canada, which included further continuation of the previous work along with a focus on civil work. Ultimately, it seem to reinforce the notion that the way of NDP and similar parties were the way to go.
Justin Trudeau, new leader of the Liberal party
...
...
...
"Sir... you may want to look at the Venezuelan elections..."
"So the leaders of the two Chinas end up meeting..."
"Diesalgate just proves that big corporations will lie and damage the environment for a buck..."
"And it looks like Jack Layton will remain Prime Minister for a while longer..."
Autumn saw the leaves begin changing and with the end of the year coming, so were the various new things going on the in the year. Many would begin looking at this as perhaps as a sign for what was coming over for the next year. One of the most memorable moments was the "meeting of the two Chinas." Alternately, known as the Li-Ma meeting, it saw the meeting of President of the People's Republic of China, Li Keqiang, meeting up with the President of the Republic of China/Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou. The meeting was the first between the political leaders of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1950 and the first since the meeting between Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong in Chongqing during the Double Tenth Agreement in August 1945. Of course, while the meeting was praised and lauded by various groups on both sides and other nations outside of it, the meeting was not exactly without its complainers. Namely in terms of how Ma previously noted he would meet with the future leaders during his four year tenure and him doing so ended up disappointing some of his supporters. This naturally gave some fodder for the opposition parties. On the other hand, open discourse noted that Li Keqiang did bring North Korea from being a rabid dog to one being under control, so there was at least a bit of a reason to try and negotiate things. The hope was that the nations could try and come an agreement though the atmosphere was still tense and thick in the air.
Images of Republic of China/Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou (left) and People's Republic of China President Li Keqiang
The good news was not the only sign of major changes. Gearheads and autofans would become plagued with a new word... "Diesalgate". It all started when the EPA issued a notice of violation of the "Clean Air Act" to German automaker Volkswagen Group. The agency had found that Volkswagen had intentionally programmed turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines to activate their emissions controls only during laboratory emissions testing which caused the vehicles' NOx output to meet US standards during regulatory testing, but emit up to 40 times more NOx in real-world driving. Volkswagen deployed this software in about 11 million cars worldwide, including 500,000 in the United States, in model years 2009 through 2015. In layman's terms, they programmed their car to sense when they were being tested and change how they operated. Suspicions started back in 2014 thanks to the work done by the California Air Regulations Board. Multiple investigations occur, Volkswagon stocks plummeted and the CEO would be forced to resign. Being painfully similar to the events of what happened with Exxon-Mobil, it stirred up a sort of familiar rage in people. How greedy and short-sighted were they?! Just because it did not match the numbes and could not deliver. The news spread rampant and diesal cars became under the spotlight for investigation from multiple companies. The call for greater adoption for biodiesal was being rang though louder voices were preaching government intervention, citing the corrupt history of these sort of companies on lack of accountability. The Germans themselves were not happy with this and it was a blow to the pride of German engineering. Many did see this as a further rallying call for the need to radically "green" the industry.
Former Volkswagon CEO, Martin Winterkorn
Meanwhile, the Canadian elections brought some attention to people, if namely due to the work of Jack Layton. After his upset victory with the NDP securing a minority government with the Liberals, Jack Layton steadily rose in popularity over in Canada. His early years saw him combine environmentalism with economic reform by taking advantage of a new study showing the surprising and extensive geothermal power and worked to shift government investment from fossil fuels to that. For utility-scale electrical generation using traditional dry steam and flash stream power stations were being devloped in the NW Territories and Yukon while utility-scale electrical generation using binary cycle power stations, saw growth in British Columbia and notably the southern parts Alberta and Saskatchewan. Even geothermal heat pumps were seeing interest. The potential was quite surprising and this shift into grand power generation gave Layton a large boost in popularity within BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan, especially noteworthy because of Alberta's oil sands. Also was the healthcare reform for the inclusion of medicine and integrating the provinces' healthcare together, for greater unity. As such, the NDP gained more seats though not enough for a majority (many attribute this to the Liberals' sudden spike in prevelance due to their new leader, Justin Trudeau.) While the Layton Administration would continue, rumors circulated that Layton may retire near the end of his term to better watch his health, with many wondering who his successor may be. Regardless, people celeberated for Layton's further governance and success along with cooperation with Trudeau for the continued success of Canada, which included further continuation of the previous work along with a focus on civil work. Ultimately, it seem to reinforce the notion that the way of NDP and similar parties were the way to go.
Justin Trudeau, new leader of the Liberal party
...
...
...
"Sir... you may want to look at the Venezuelan elections..."
The End of the Chavez legacy
The End of Chavismo
The Chavista movement was in peril. Ever since the death of Hugo Chavez after his years of rule in Venezuela, the Chavistas found themselves at a loss of leadership. Granted, they coalsced around Maduro for the elections back in 2013 with the hopes of him winning and it would be business as usual. Of course, it has not been business as usual as of late. After all, the Exxon-Mobil scandal would become a surprisingly defining feature of the early 2000s. It seemed like a slap to the face or the splash of cold water on the nations who were getting buzzed on oil. The companies were lying for profit; to the people and to the government. Gore did not stand for that and brought them to heel, encouraging the rest of the world to follow suit. The people, who's disdain toward the rich have been growing due to the news filled with corporate scandals. peaked here and cemented it. Climate change became accepted fact and a backlash against denalism grew as people were unhappy that they were conned by corporations for their profits. This meant that nations that relied on petrol for their exports found themselves in growing trouble. Venezuela was no excecption and it was there that the failures of the Chavista movement wa shown, at least in the fact they were putting all of their eggs in one basket when it came to exports. The only silver lining was that their more capitalist rivals were just as befuddled and perhaps still villianized. While the Chavistas were viewed as inept, the capitalists ended up looking even more foul. However, The opposition against the Chavistas adjusted, especially welcoming in the rising Ecological Movement and other green parties into their hold. Perhaps this adoption of the green along with the dissatisfication was what led to upset back in 2013.
Which saw Henrique Capriles would beat Nicolás Maduro getting around 5% of the vote more than him.
Of course, the Chavistas were more stung with the fact that protesting the results would spit in the face of Chavez's legacy over promoting the honesty and accuracy of his election processes. Despite this, they refused to cave in and kept asserting they were the ones in charge. As such, for the next two years, they were two Venezuelan governments. The Capriles Administration though was the one acknowledged by a majority of the world, including many of their South American nations. The Maduro Administration meanwhile suffered trouble from the get-go, especially as the other prominent members such as Jorge Arreaza and Diosdado Cabello began competing against Maduro for influence and further weakening the Chavistas in being able to manage things.
This led to another upset over in the 2015 parliamentary elections which saw the opposition gain a supermajority against the Chavistas and their alliances. Tension filled the air, but the result was clear. The Capriles government solidifed their hold as the true government of Venezuela. The Chavistas, now even cornered, tried relying on the courts, but the pushback was relentess. Protests ensued and the in-fighting led to the Chavistas scattering and breaking and the next several months would see Venezuela call for aid to deal with Maduro and prominent others. Military calls were threatened though with Capriles being recognized as the true government by virtually ever foreign power, many of the military kept to Capriles or switched to him.
However, this did not mean all was well with the opposition. The Justice First party saw themselves growing fragmented over since their big tent political stance was not truly needed without the Chavistas around. Of course, while they were the most prominent party and Capriles' own, the second and third largest parties in "A New Era" and "Popular Will" were large to overrule the more conservative elements along with the plans to heard toward renewables and green stances thanks to the Ecological Movement.
Capriles would work to have meetings with various world leaders to try and resolve Venezuela's problems while keeping mind for the people. The embargos would start lifting off of Venezuela to assist them. At the same time, the socialist ties did not exactly go away, given "A New Era" and "Popular Will"'s ties to the Socialist International, plus the growing idea of "ecosocialism" now being embraced. Venezeula still maintained ties with Cuba.
Many would see this as a large turning point. Some for victory and others for lost while others took pragmatic stances. All was what known was that it was the dawn of a new day in Venezuela.
The Chavista movement was in peril. Ever since the death of Hugo Chavez after his years of rule in Venezuela, the Chavistas found themselves at a loss of leadership. Granted, they coalsced around Maduro for the elections back in 2013 with the hopes of him winning and it would be business as usual. Of course, it has not been business as usual as of late. After all, the Exxon-Mobil scandal would become a surprisingly defining feature of the early 2000s. It seemed like a slap to the face or the splash of cold water on the nations who were getting buzzed on oil. The companies were lying for profit; to the people and to the government. Gore did not stand for that and brought them to heel, encouraging the rest of the world to follow suit. The people, who's disdain toward the rich have been growing due to the news filled with corporate scandals. peaked here and cemented it. Climate change became accepted fact and a backlash against denalism grew as people were unhappy that they were conned by corporations for their profits. This meant that nations that relied on petrol for their exports found themselves in growing trouble. Venezuela was no excecption and it was there that the failures of the Chavista movement wa shown, at least in the fact they were putting all of their eggs in one basket when it came to exports. The only silver lining was that their more capitalist rivals were just as befuddled and perhaps still villianized. While the Chavistas were viewed as inept, the capitalists ended up looking even more foul. However, The opposition against the Chavistas adjusted, especially welcoming in the rising Ecological Movement and other green parties into their hold. Perhaps this adoption of the green along with the dissatisfication was what led to upset back in 2013.
Which saw Henrique Capriles would beat Nicolás Maduro getting around 5% of the vote more than him.
Of course, the Chavistas were more stung with the fact that protesting the results would spit in the face of Chavez's legacy over promoting the honesty and accuracy of his election processes. Despite this, they refused to cave in and kept asserting they were the ones in charge. As such, for the next two years, they were two Venezuelan governments. The Capriles Administration though was the one acknowledged by a majority of the world, including many of their South American nations. The Maduro Administration meanwhile suffered trouble from the get-go, especially as the other prominent members such as Jorge Arreaza and Diosdado Cabello began competing against Maduro for influence and further weakening the Chavistas in being able to manage things.
This led to another upset over in the 2015 parliamentary elections which saw the opposition gain a supermajority against the Chavistas and their alliances. Tension filled the air, but the result was clear. The Capriles government solidifed their hold as the true government of Venezuela. The Chavistas, now even cornered, tried relying on the courts, but the pushback was relentess. Protests ensued and the in-fighting led to the Chavistas scattering and breaking and the next several months would see Venezuela call for aid to deal with Maduro and prominent others. Military calls were threatened though with Capriles being recognized as the true government by virtually ever foreign power, many of the military kept to Capriles or switched to him.
However, this did not mean all was well with the opposition. The Justice First party saw themselves growing fragmented over since their big tent political stance was not truly needed without the Chavistas around. Of course, while they were the most prominent party and Capriles' own, the second and third largest parties in "A New Era" and "Popular Will" were large to overrule the more conservative elements along with the plans to heard toward renewables and green stances thanks to the Ecological Movement.
Capriles would work to have meetings with various world leaders to try and resolve Venezuela's problems while keeping mind for the people. The embargos would start lifting off of Venezuela to assist them. At the same time, the socialist ties did not exactly go away, given "A New Era" and "Popular Will"'s ties to the Socialist International, plus the growing idea of "ecosocialism" now being embraced. Venezeula still maintained ties with Cuba.
Many would see this as a large turning point. Some for victory and others for lost while others took pragmatic stances. All was what known was that it was the dawn of a new day in Venezuela.
2015 in Reflection
2015 In Reflection
Looking back, 2015 would be viewed as a year of plenty of change and perhaps even a sign that more change was to come in the future. The legalization of gay marriage, first through various court cases across the states and then the Supreme Court itself federalized it. All under a Republican president no less. This was seeing a reflection of the changing values and community within the United States. Furthermore, with it over a year since "Occupy Wall Street", while the protests that followed were smaller, they were still clamoring to be heard. While some of the media tried not to pay attention or others noted for all the talk there was seemingly little activity, others noted some politicians were taking note and that there were presidential elections coming up. With the world seemingly reaching some levels of peace and stability, the McCain Administrationw as forced tof ace inwardly and take stock of their legacy. While granted another Supreme Court choice, it was quite influenced by Congress and the changing sentimentalities of the new wave of voters. At the same time, the familiar troubles remained if not some more. There was a rise of police brutality as cops would respond with escalating violence on unarmed African-Americans, which would be spread and shared on social media, leading to growing commentary and lines in the sand. Some advocated for listening to the cops while others responded in frustration and anger in the violence, especially compared with how often white criminals, even cop criminals, would be brought in alive rather than ust shot. The economy still remained sluggish, even with a gradual recovery in people spending and while things were better, the fear and anxieties were changing into resentment and disappointment into the system and with the new elections coming up, it was clear that there would soon be an opportunity for their voices to be heard and to solve the problems at hand.
In the rest of the world though, more change was coming. The United Kingdom, at a crossroads on their political path after the years of Tory rulership and the near-leaving of the Scots, would end up choosing the Labor party, only for inter-party affairs resulting in a populist self-proclaimed socialist becoming Prime Minister. While some were hoping that it would lead to his and the Labour's downfall, others noted that the change may be what is needed. Yemen's conflict resolution saw that the new Middle East is willing and able to take care of itself (with reinforcements from the West being only a measure due to how new the states were). Ireland also voted in for gay marriage, showing a further shift for nations around the world and was granting more influence for supporters and pressure on those dragging their feet on the situation. Even the two Chinas meeting up with one another showed some faith in a better tomorrow and with the change of administration over in Venezuela, it looked even change would be going there as well. At the same time, there were other problems such as the corruption in FIFA as well as in univerisities, showing the concerns and that there is a lack of objectives being done.
Pop culture continued to change and evolve, with the superhero craze continuing. The surprise hit of Ant-Man came out and brought attention to the series. Starring famed biologist and phycist Hank Pym, the film is considered to be the most daring, namely for showing the struggles of someone with bipolar disorder. The writes were lauded for their research and balanced his condition with his own awkward personality. Pym is a researcher turned hero when he discovers "Pym Particles" and is forced on the run along with his former mentor's daughter, Janet Van Dyne, with the help of his prototype Antman suit, allowing him to shrink to intensely small sizes and later communicate/control ants. The film's sub-plot has the dynamic between Hank and Janet; the former is a bipolar scientist who is quite bright yet socially awkward while the latter is a socialite-turned-sports star who struggles with how people see her along with her thrill-seeking nature. Howeve, they find common ground in wanting to help people and being optimists. The film is relatively tongue-in-cheek, one scene mocking the infamous "smack" scene of the comics (Hank's helmet is obscured and when trying to find Janet by flailing his arms, accidentally hits her head, which gets her attention to help him. He apologizes frantically while she downplays it, saying it was no big deal before helping him calm down.) The two would end up making a surprise appearance over in Avengers: Rise of Ultron. With the success of dealing with HYDRA, the team discuss their next objective; they end up meeting Hank and Janet who reveal how the Yellowjacket armor had Stark tech in it, with the revelations some of the blueprints arrived in criminal hands, they discuss solutions, Hank reveals a project in creating an artifical intelligence to find the solution, the Utilitarian Lookout & Threat Resoluton Operations Network or ULTRON for short. He and Tony work on the project, viewing it as a way to counter the loss of espionage forces like SHIELD. However, the artificial intelligence ends up gathering information on the Internet and becoming more powerful. It helps the team track down Ulysses Klaue, who is trafficking a contraband material... Vibranium. As they go to interfere, ULTRON appears in a suit made from an Iron man armor turned droid and mixed with Pym Particles, claiming that he will be taking over the operations. He reveals that the Avengers are insufficient for the purposes of protecting the world from extraterrestial threats along with that of ineffective governments. The film protrays ULTRON as utilitarianism without humanity; well-intentioned but cold. He even grants some of the members genuine advice on self improvement. The climax has ULTRON fight with a legion of robots along with coming out with a new powerful body. The fight ends with the team's morale shaken and trying to work out the next step. Hank and Janet declined to turn down the team though the film also premiered the Wasp suit. However, two post-credits scenes are present: one has Spider-Man taking care of some ULTRON droids targeting him, getting a feeling something is wrong before he meets War Machine and The Falcon, who say they need to discuss something. The other has an empty building with a recording of ULTRON's voice saying he will create a legacy that will carry out his vision, the chamber being a form of advanced 3D-printer beginning the plants to construct a synthetic humanoid through the stolen Vibranium. Many noted that on higher definitions, there is a silhoutte of someone near the doorway...
Of course, superhero films were not the only big name. Amblin Entertainment blew everyone away with a brand-new Star Wars film in Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens, the first of a trilogy, directed by none other than Christopher Nolan. Interviews revealed that JJ Abrams was considered, but did not show interest in making more than one film. Furthermore, Peter Jackson was considered, but was too burnt out from the Hobbit film trilogy. Nolan eventually agreed to do so if Amblin Entertainment assisted with a pet project down the line. Force Awakens stars a young Force sensitive woman named Kira who after a brief encounter with the Force sets out to find Luke Skywalker and ends up embroiled in a fight between the young Republic and the new threat in the First Order, a cult-like military junta. Beyond meeting Luke, she meets up with old characters like Leia, Han and Chewbacca along with Luke himself and new characters like former Order trooper Finn who's meeting with Kira triggered the Force, Resistance pilot Poe and the Jedi Killer, a mysterious Dark Jedi revealed to be Skylar Solo, Han and Leia's son, who's obsessions led him astray and kills his father in a fit of madness. The film is filled with the classic Nolan existential and epistemological themes along with time, memory and identity though now tied to the Force. Nolan notes the Light and Dark sides remain the same, but the ambiguity lies in its users and the conflict between that moral ambiguity and the ethics of the Force. Despite the experimental tones, the film is a triumphant success and becoming the film of the year. Other standout films included Jurassic World, which saw the return of the dinosaurs in a new way that confronted questions of genetic engineering, Spectre with more James Bond action and questions of surveilance and espionage, The Martian with its surprising scientific exploration, high flying action with Mission Impossible- Rogue Nation, Mad Max: Fury Road and Furious 7, the return of the Rocky franchise with Creed and a surprising year of Disney beating their friend Pixar as Frozen would end up beating Inside Out.
Video games also saw their own new successes. Nintendo released Super Mario Maker on the Nintendo Twin to test out their players' creativity and passions for what they could do while they surprised everyone with a run-and-gun game in Splatoon, a game playing as squid kids and claiming turf through their ink. Yoshi's Wooly World on the Nintendo UDS was a sweet game and a new success on the Nintendo Twin with Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, a spiritual successor to Canvas Curse ad relying on the tablet, being gorgeous with its claymation aesthetics. Fire Emblem Fates also came in with different versions and raised questions on ethics with its "third" game, Revelations, coming out in the future. However, the favorite for many was the release of Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask UDS and Johanna Dark UDS along with Krystal: Dinosur Planet HD TW. Beyond Nintendo though, other companies were bringing it in, Yakuza 0 brought praise and tears from their fans courtesy of SEGA on the Xbox One along with Forza Motorsports 6, Ori and the Blind Forest and most of all, Rise of the Tomb Raider. Sony meanwhike had exclusives like Ratchet and Clank Remastered, Uncharted 4, and Bloodborne. Meanwhile, various games dominated cross consoles such as Fallout 4, Witcher 3, Batman Arkham Knight, Mortal Kombat X and various others though the news was on the complicated release on Metal Gear V: Phantom Pain, which saw the end of Kojima's time with Konami and created large ire at the company for their mistreatment. On the computer, the new big game was Overwatch, a fascinating superhero multiplayer game though what rivaled it was an indie game that spread through the internet like wildfire during a drought, Undertale.
Looking back, 2015 would be viewed as a year of plenty of change and perhaps even a sign that more change was to come in the future. The legalization of gay marriage, first through various court cases across the states and then the Supreme Court itself federalized it. All under a Republican president no less. This was seeing a reflection of the changing values and community within the United States. Furthermore, with it over a year since "Occupy Wall Street", while the protests that followed were smaller, they were still clamoring to be heard. While some of the media tried not to pay attention or others noted for all the talk there was seemingly little activity, others noted some politicians were taking note and that there were presidential elections coming up. With the world seemingly reaching some levels of peace and stability, the McCain Administrationw as forced tof ace inwardly and take stock of their legacy. While granted another Supreme Court choice, it was quite influenced by Congress and the changing sentimentalities of the new wave of voters. At the same time, the familiar troubles remained if not some more. There was a rise of police brutality as cops would respond with escalating violence on unarmed African-Americans, which would be spread and shared on social media, leading to growing commentary and lines in the sand. Some advocated for listening to the cops while others responded in frustration and anger in the violence, especially compared with how often white criminals, even cop criminals, would be brought in alive rather than ust shot. The economy still remained sluggish, even with a gradual recovery in people spending and while things were better, the fear and anxieties were changing into resentment and disappointment into the system and with the new elections coming up, it was clear that there would soon be an opportunity for their voices to be heard and to solve the problems at hand.
In the rest of the world though, more change was coming. The United Kingdom, at a crossroads on their political path after the years of Tory rulership and the near-leaving of the Scots, would end up choosing the Labor party, only for inter-party affairs resulting in a populist self-proclaimed socialist becoming Prime Minister. While some were hoping that it would lead to his and the Labour's downfall, others noted that the change may be what is needed. Yemen's conflict resolution saw that the new Middle East is willing and able to take care of itself (with reinforcements from the West being only a measure due to how new the states were). Ireland also voted in for gay marriage, showing a further shift for nations around the world and was granting more influence for supporters and pressure on those dragging their feet on the situation. Even the two Chinas meeting up with one another showed some faith in a better tomorrow and with the change of administration over in Venezuela, it looked even change would be going there as well. At the same time, there were other problems such as the corruption in FIFA as well as in univerisities, showing the concerns and that there is a lack of objectives being done.
Pop culture continued to change and evolve, with the superhero craze continuing. The surprise hit of Ant-Man came out and brought attention to the series. Starring famed biologist and phycist Hank Pym, the film is considered to be the most daring, namely for showing the struggles of someone with bipolar disorder. The writes were lauded for their research and balanced his condition with his own awkward personality. Pym is a researcher turned hero when he discovers "Pym Particles" and is forced on the run along with his former mentor's daughter, Janet Van Dyne, with the help of his prototype Antman suit, allowing him to shrink to intensely small sizes and later communicate/control ants. The film's sub-plot has the dynamic between Hank and Janet; the former is a bipolar scientist who is quite bright yet socially awkward while the latter is a socialite-turned-sports star who struggles with how people see her along with her thrill-seeking nature. Howeve, they find common ground in wanting to help people and being optimists. The film is relatively tongue-in-cheek, one scene mocking the infamous "smack" scene of the comics (Hank's helmet is obscured and when trying to find Janet by flailing his arms, accidentally hits her head, which gets her attention to help him. He apologizes frantically while she downplays it, saying it was no big deal before helping him calm down.) The two would end up making a surprise appearance over in Avengers: Rise of Ultron. With the success of dealing with HYDRA, the team discuss their next objective; they end up meeting Hank and Janet who reveal how the Yellowjacket armor had Stark tech in it, with the revelations some of the blueprints arrived in criminal hands, they discuss solutions, Hank reveals a project in creating an artifical intelligence to find the solution, the Utilitarian Lookout & Threat Resoluton Operations Network or ULTRON for short. He and Tony work on the project, viewing it as a way to counter the loss of espionage forces like SHIELD. However, the artificial intelligence ends up gathering information on the Internet and becoming more powerful. It helps the team track down Ulysses Klaue, who is trafficking a contraband material... Vibranium. As they go to interfere, ULTRON appears in a suit made from an Iron man armor turned droid and mixed with Pym Particles, claiming that he will be taking over the operations. He reveals that the Avengers are insufficient for the purposes of protecting the world from extraterrestial threats along with that of ineffective governments. The film protrays ULTRON as utilitarianism without humanity; well-intentioned but cold. He even grants some of the members genuine advice on self improvement. The climax has ULTRON fight with a legion of robots along with coming out with a new powerful body. The fight ends with the team's morale shaken and trying to work out the next step. Hank and Janet declined to turn down the team though the film also premiered the Wasp suit. However, two post-credits scenes are present: one has Spider-Man taking care of some ULTRON droids targeting him, getting a feeling something is wrong before he meets War Machine and The Falcon, who say they need to discuss something. The other has an empty building with a recording of ULTRON's voice saying he will create a legacy that will carry out his vision, the chamber being a form of advanced 3D-printer beginning the plants to construct a synthetic humanoid through the stolen Vibranium. Many noted that on higher definitions, there is a silhoutte of someone near the doorway...
Of course, superhero films were not the only big name. Amblin Entertainment blew everyone away with a brand-new Star Wars film in Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens, the first of a trilogy, directed by none other than Christopher Nolan. Interviews revealed that JJ Abrams was considered, but did not show interest in making more than one film. Furthermore, Peter Jackson was considered, but was too burnt out from the Hobbit film trilogy. Nolan eventually agreed to do so if Amblin Entertainment assisted with a pet project down the line. Force Awakens stars a young Force sensitive woman named Kira who after a brief encounter with the Force sets out to find Luke Skywalker and ends up embroiled in a fight between the young Republic and the new threat in the First Order, a cult-like military junta. Beyond meeting Luke, she meets up with old characters like Leia, Han and Chewbacca along with Luke himself and new characters like former Order trooper Finn who's meeting with Kira triggered the Force, Resistance pilot Poe and the Jedi Killer, a mysterious Dark Jedi revealed to be Skylar Solo, Han and Leia's son, who's obsessions led him astray and kills his father in a fit of madness. The film is filled with the classic Nolan existential and epistemological themes along with time, memory and identity though now tied to the Force. Nolan notes the Light and Dark sides remain the same, but the ambiguity lies in its users and the conflict between that moral ambiguity and the ethics of the Force. Despite the experimental tones, the film is a triumphant success and becoming the film of the year. Other standout films included Jurassic World, which saw the return of the dinosaurs in a new way that confronted questions of genetic engineering, Spectre with more James Bond action and questions of surveilance and espionage, The Martian with its surprising scientific exploration, high flying action with Mission Impossible- Rogue Nation, Mad Max: Fury Road and Furious 7, the return of the Rocky franchise with Creed and a surprising year of Disney beating their friend Pixar as Frozen would end up beating Inside Out.
Video games also saw their own new successes. Nintendo released Super Mario Maker on the Nintendo Twin to test out their players' creativity and passions for what they could do while they surprised everyone with a run-and-gun game in Splatoon, a game playing as squid kids and claiming turf through their ink. Yoshi's Wooly World on the Nintendo UDS was a sweet game and a new success on the Nintendo Twin with Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, a spiritual successor to Canvas Curse ad relying on the tablet, being gorgeous with its claymation aesthetics. Fire Emblem Fates also came in with different versions and raised questions on ethics with its "third" game, Revelations, coming out in the future. However, the favorite for many was the release of Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask UDS and Johanna Dark UDS along with Krystal: Dinosur Planet HD TW. Beyond Nintendo though, other companies were bringing it in, Yakuza 0 brought praise and tears from their fans courtesy of SEGA on the Xbox One along with Forza Motorsports 6, Ori and the Blind Forest and most of all, Rise of the Tomb Raider. Sony meanwhike had exclusives like Ratchet and Clank Remastered, Uncharted 4, and Bloodborne. Meanwhile, various games dominated cross consoles such as Fallout 4, Witcher 3, Batman Arkham Knight, Mortal Kombat X and various others though the news was on the complicated release on Metal Gear V: Phantom Pain, which saw the end of Kojima's time with Konami and created large ire at the company for their mistreatment. On the computer, the new big game was Overwatch, a fascinating superhero multiplayer game though what rivaled it was an indie game that spread through the internet like wildfire during a drought, Undertale.
Last edited:
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
McCain Administration- Spring 2016
Spring 2016
"Well, well, looks like a certain somebody got snubbed from the Nuclear Summit..."
"Looks like DreamWorks is heading home..."
"Just what the hell are the Panama papers?!"
While the Spring of 2016 was becoming defined by the Democratic primaries, there were plenty of other new stories that were catching the eyes of the media. One of which was the Nuclear Security Summit. Hosted every two years, it was started by President McCain in 2010 based on prior ideas and thoughts with former President Al Gore. The idea being that the summit would be done to prevent nuclear terrorism in the world. It grew to encompass other aspects like safe nuclear procedures and even some aspects of nuclear power, done as an informal tie-in to the greater danger of climage change. FIrst held in Washington DC, it would be hosted in Seoul and later Hague, with this year's summit returning back to DC. Various leaders and powers attended and back in 2010, it was a sign of the changing times that Iran was there sing the beginning. Of course, this year became notable for the absence of Russia. Supposedly, they had turned down the summit, a sign of the growing Russo-American tensions as a result of the Ukraine crisis on top of various other notable instances. Ultimately though, the summit went relatively smoothly, especially as the newer nations began getting used to the discussions along with ensuring good cooperation. The last discussions on the next location of the Nuclear Security Spring and after some discussions, it would be decided that Canada would become the next host for the meeting over in 2018.
Nuclear Security Summit 2016 logo
Meanwhile, the entertainment industry became lit with buzz over the news regarding Dreamworks. After the mixed success of Rise of the Guardians falling short of expectations, the animation giant fell into a slump, namely with films that, while did relatively well, did not seem to truly match what was needed. Even with the films being financially well. However, glimpses into discussion forums and blogs revealed that Dreamworks was becoming formulaic with their films. Additionally, there was a growing community who desired to see the traditionally animated cult classics that Dreamworks started off with make a return, despite the stance Dreamworks had on them since making Shrek. In fact, it was speculated that the formula of current Dreamworks film resulting in a backlash that lead to the increased interest in their traditionally animated ventures. The CEO continued to try looking for buyers of the company and while there were some potential investors, most notably NBCUniversal, things like asking prices and other concerns made it difficult. However, a new light appeared when their old friend in Amblin Entertainment considered the possibility of Dreamworks returning to them. Amblin gained some major attention since their aquisation of LucasArts and the success of Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. After various discussions being the heads, it would be decided that DreamWorks Animation would return over to Amblin Entertainment and the hopes were the fresh blood could rejuvenate some of the longer standing franchises of DreamWorks Animation. Various details such as on distribution, television animation and so on were still being discussed, but the hopes were that DreamWorks could experience a renaissance under Spielberg. The last film released for DreamWorks prior to the changes completed would be Trolls.
DreamWorks campus entrance- Glendale, CA
However, if there was one issue that dominated the news, even beyond the Democrat primaries, it was the release of the so-called Panama papers. The Panama Papers, or Papeles de Panamá, are 11.5 million leaked documents that detail financial and attorney/client information for more than 214,400 offshore entities. These documents, some of which dating back to the 1970s, were created by Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca. As such, they were called the Panama papers when they were taken from them. These documents contain personal financial information about many individuals and public officials, all of which would be considered wealthy. While offshore business entities are legal, however, reporters found that some of the Mossack Fonseca shell corporations were used for illegal purposes, including fraud, tax evasion, and even evading international sanctions. Unsurprisingly, the entire matter blew up on social media and the news over blatant tax evasion and fruad. It brought a fresh tidal wave of outrage and anger at the various millionaires and billionaires invovled along with resurrecting the dormant issue over dealing with such matters. Greater calls against the rich were made and those who advocated for tax cuts or similar political techniques that benefitted the wealthy. A spiritual successor to the protests of "Occupy Wall Street" occurred once more across various nations, one being near Trump towers, given how the deceased mogul's name appeared plenty of times on the paperwork.To the shock of no one, this became one of the largest debate points for primaries and for the general election, allowing populist leftists or those perceived as such, to begin rising more and more to the top in regards to popularity.
"Panama Papers"article from the newsource
"Well, well, looks like a certain somebody got snubbed from the Nuclear Summit..."
"Looks like DreamWorks is heading home..."
"Just what the hell are the Panama papers?!"
While the Spring of 2016 was becoming defined by the Democratic primaries, there were plenty of other new stories that were catching the eyes of the media. One of which was the Nuclear Security Summit. Hosted every two years, it was started by President McCain in 2010 based on prior ideas and thoughts with former President Al Gore. The idea being that the summit would be done to prevent nuclear terrorism in the world. It grew to encompass other aspects like safe nuclear procedures and even some aspects of nuclear power, done as an informal tie-in to the greater danger of climage change. FIrst held in Washington DC, it would be hosted in Seoul and later Hague, with this year's summit returning back to DC. Various leaders and powers attended and back in 2010, it was a sign of the changing times that Iran was there sing the beginning. Of course, this year became notable for the absence of Russia. Supposedly, they had turned down the summit, a sign of the growing Russo-American tensions as a result of the Ukraine crisis on top of various other notable instances. Ultimately though, the summit went relatively smoothly, especially as the newer nations began getting used to the discussions along with ensuring good cooperation. The last discussions on the next location of the Nuclear Security Spring and after some discussions, it would be decided that Canada would become the next host for the meeting over in 2018.
Nuclear Security Summit 2016 logo
Meanwhile, the entertainment industry became lit with buzz over the news regarding Dreamworks. After the mixed success of Rise of the Guardians falling short of expectations, the animation giant fell into a slump, namely with films that, while did relatively well, did not seem to truly match what was needed. Even with the films being financially well. However, glimpses into discussion forums and blogs revealed that Dreamworks was becoming formulaic with their films. Additionally, there was a growing community who desired to see the traditionally animated cult classics that Dreamworks started off with make a return, despite the stance Dreamworks had on them since making Shrek. In fact, it was speculated that the formula of current Dreamworks film resulting in a backlash that lead to the increased interest in their traditionally animated ventures. The CEO continued to try looking for buyers of the company and while there were some potential investors, most notably NBCUniversal, things like asking prices and other concerns made it difficult. However, a new light appeared when their old friend in Amblin Entertainment considered the possibility of Dreamworks returning to them. Amblin gained some major attention since their aquisation of LucasArts and the success of Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. After various discussions being the heads, it would be decided that DreamWorks Animation would return over to Amblin Entertainment and the hopes were the fresh blood could rejuvenate some of the longer standing franchises of DreamWorks Animation. Various details such as on distribution, television animation and so on were still being discussed, but the hopes were that DreamWorks could experience a renaissance under Spielberg. The last film released for DreamWorks prior to the changes completed would be Trolls.
DreamWorks campus entrance- Glendale, CA
However, if there was one issue that dominated the news, even beyond the Democrat primaries, it was the release of the so-called Panama papers. The Panama Papers, or Papeles de Panamá, are 11.5 million leaked documents that detail financial and attorney/client information for more than 214,400 offshore entities. These documents, some of which dating back to the 1970s, were created by Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca. As such, they were called the Panama papers when they were taken from them. These documents contain personal financial information about many individuals and public officials, all of which would be considered wealthy. While offshore business entities are legal, however, reporters found that some of the Mossack Fonseca shell corporations were used for illegal purposes, including fraud, tax evasion, and even evading international sanctions. Unsurprisingly, the entire matter blew up on social media and the news over blatant tax evasion and fruad. It brought a fresh tidal wave of outrage and anger at the various millionaires and billionaires invovled along with resurrecting the dormant issue over dealing with such matters. Greater calls against the rich were made and those who advocated for tax cuts or similar political techniques that benefitted the wealthy. A spiritual successor to the protests of "Occupy Wall Street" occurred once more across various nations, one being near Trump towers, given how the deceased mogul's name appeared plenty of times on the paperwork.To the shock of no one, this became one of the largest debate points for primaries and for the general election, allowing populist leftists or those perceived as such, to begin rising more and more to the top in regards to popularity.
"Panama Papers"article from the newsource
McCain Administration- Summer 2016
Summer 2016
"Making it harder to get an abortion won't solve anything..."
"I don't think anyone expected this... game is changed now..."
"Good grief, Louisiana. Really gives the comparisons between McCain and Gore when you remember Katrina..."
Political turmoil boiled to it speak over in the summer of 2016 for the United States. While election season tended to grasp at plenty of attention, there was a greater sense of urgency and even excitement. Of course, framing the entire affair were several events going in the US and in the world. June would see a rise of violent crime along with a flood in West Virginia. However, the large commotion would be over near in the end of June, with a court case coming over from Texas. Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt became a rather prominent case in regards to abortions. Namely, that Texas cannot place restrictions on the delivery of abortion services that create an undue burden for women seeking an abortion. It was the result of Texas attempting to instate restrictions on abortions back in 2013, specifically by having requiring ranges for hospitals along with stricter requirements. While initially presented as a good thing, it did not take long for skeptics to dig in and uncover the vairous consequences and technicalities. Whole Woman's Health called the requirements unnecessary and expensive, viewing the whole thing more as a way to restrict access to safe abortion, which coincided with the decrease of abortion centers in the states. Furthermore, the fact that Texas had waived some or all of the surgical-center requirements for 336 of the 433 (78%) licensed ambulatory surgical centers in Texas while leaving the ones for abortion centers intact reeked hypocrisy. The court case found the ordeal a grand victory and opened a new political discussion in regards to the indirect ways certian state governments would try and deny safe abortion. Others mocked the reasoning of protecting women's health when examining the overall health problems and the lack of funding related to it.
Photograph of protestors over the abortion restriction
Of course, what became the talk of the Summer of 2016 was the Democratic Primaries. Election season became hotter than ever this year due to the prolific rise of independent running as Democrat, Senator Bernie Sanders. Being touted as a populist, his discussions on Medicare For All, on taxing the rich and break up large corporations among various other leftist positions that few other politicians were running on. Viewed with an initial range of suspicion and annoyance by most of his fellow Democrats, it turned into quite a large surprise when Senator Sanders began gather large rallies and attentions, along with plenty of small donations from a growing number of supporters. Besides him running would be most prominently Senator Obama and Hiliary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Initially, the media framed the two as the going ehads while ignoring Sanders for the most part. And then the primaries began happening. Sanders' strong support and message resonating with many people, allowing him to win various primaries. But perhaps no other was the case on Super Tuesday where he managed to clinch California and even Texas. The ordeal served as an earthquake to the Democratic estasblihment and Sanders used the growing hype to call attention to state primaries regarding represenatives, senators and governors, with many fresh faces and newbies jumping onto the bandwago to support Sanders. Many have noted that a large reasoning for Sanders' victory was also on how a large number of voters were split between Obama and Clinton. Furthermore, the latter two's positions were largely the same in comparison to Sanders. Clinton would end up dropping out of the race to endorse Obama though the big shock came when Sanders would be endorsed by former President Gore. This was due to Sanders' cooperation and support among the Green party. Wile Obama's support grew, it was too late to match Sanders' pace and Gore's endorsement was the push Sanders needed. By the end of July, the DNC would be forced to accept Senator Bernie Sanders as Democrat's candidate for presidency.
Bernie Sanders at the 2016 DNC Convention regarding become the Democrats' presidential candidacy
With the stage set over for the presidential race itself, perhaps the first hall mark came in near the end of summer. Prolonged rainfall in August would cause catastrophic flooding over in Louisiana, causing the governor to declare a state of emergancy. Many rivers and waterways, particularly the Amite and Comite rivers, reached record levels, and rainfall exceeded 20 inches (510 mm) in multiple parishes. Many have noted that there was more than double the water put onto the state than Katrina and most of all, there was the presence of climate change within the discussions. Namely that human-caused climate change increased the likelihood of potential repeats or similar storms to happen in the future. In fact, regional simulations suggest that the climate warming since 1985 may have increased the event precipitation (August 11–14, 2016) on the order of 20%. The lack of preparation led to alot of misfortune for the people, where the rest of the nation went to help out their neighbors. However, federal resources were strained to help the nation, which just led to greater frustrations at the financial policies of the McCain Administration. This fed into the elections as people were noting the conservatvie fiscal policies were turning out to be duds in such emergancies and Sanders' cries for the govenment to do more became much more receptive among skeptics. This along with the news and potential concerns of climate change began having people begin normalizing that more radical actions would be needed. Moreover, the lack of proper media coverage by the large newstations led to growing disappointment in them and a greater leanings toward independent enws as well as cries to reform the large news networks to do their jobs better. The storm and its mishandlings seemed to show the true troubles of America... along with the opportunities for the people to choose better and make the changes that would be needed.
US Coast Guard rescuing Baton Rouge residents following the floods
"Making it harder to get an abortion won't solve anything..."
"I don't think anyone expected this... game is changed now..."
"Good grief, Louisiana. Really gives the comparisons between McCain and Gore when you remember Katrina..."
Political turmoil boiled to it speak over in the summer of 2016 for the United States. While election season tended to grasp at plenty of attention, there was a greater sense of urgency and even excitement. Of course, framing the entire affair were several events going in the US and in the world. June would see a rise of violent crime along with a flood in West Virginia. However, the large commotion would be over near in the end of June, with a court case coming over from Texas. Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt became a rather prominent case in regards to abortions. Namely, that Texas cannot place restrictions on the delivery of abortion services that create an undue burden for women seeking an abortion. It was the result of Texas attempting to instate restrictions on abortions back in 2013, specifically by having requiring ranges for hospitals along with stricter requirements. While initially presented as a good thing, it did not take long for skeptics to dig in and uncover the vairous consequences and technicalities. Whole Woman's Health called the requirements unnecessary and expensive, viewing the whole thing more as a way to restrict access to safe abortion, which coincided with the decrease of abortion centers in the states. Furthermore, the fact that Texas had waived some or all of the surgical-center requirements for 336 of the 433 (78%) licensed ambulatory surgical centers in Texas while leaving the ones for abortion centers intact reeked hypocrisy. The court case found the ordeal a grand victory and opened a new political discussion in regards to the indirect ways certian state governments would try and deny safe abortion. Others mocked the reasoning of protecting women's health when examining the overall health problems and the lack of funding related to it.
Photograph of protestors over the abortion restriction
Of course, what became the talk of the Summer of 2016 was the Democratic Primaries. Election season became hotter than ever this year due to the prolific rise of independent running as Democrat, Senator Bernie Sanders. Being touted as a populist, his discussions on Medicare For All, on taxing the rich and break up large corporations among various other leftist positions that few other politicians were running on. Viewed with an initial range of suspicion and annoyance by most of his fellow Democrats, it turned into quite a large surprise when Senator Sanders began gather large rallies and attentions, along with plenty of small donations from a growing number of supporters. Besides him running would be most prominently Senator Obama and Hiliary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Initially, the media framed the two as the going ehads while ignoring Sanders for the most part. And then the primaries began happening. Sanders' strong support and message resonating with many people, allowing him to win various primaries. But perhaps no other was the case on Super Tuesday where he managed to clinch California and even Texas. The ordeal served as an earthquake to the Democratic estasblihment and Sanders used the growing hype to call attention to state primaries regarding represenatives, senators and governors, with many fresh faces and newbies jumping onto the bandwago to support Sanders. Many have noted that a large reasoning for Sanders' victory was also on how a large number of voters were split between Obama and Clinton. Furthermore, the latter two's positions were largely the same in comparison to Sanders. Clinton would end up dropping out of the race to endorse Obama though the big shock came when Sanders would be endorsed by former President Gore. This was due to Sanders' cooperation and support among the Green party. Wile Obama's support grew, it was too late to match Sanders' pace and Gore's endorsement was the push Sanders needed. By the end of July, the DNC would be forced to accept Senator Bernie Sanders as Democrat's candidate for presidency.
Bernie Sanders at the 2016 DNC Convention regarding become the Democrats' presidential candidacy
With the stage set over for the presidential race itself, perhaps the first hall mark came in near the end of summer. Prolonged rainfall in August would cause catastrophic flooding over in Louisiana, causing the governor to declare a state of emergancy. Many rivers and waterways, particularly the Amite and Comite rivers, reached record levels, and rainfall exceeded 20 inches (510 mm) in multiple parishes. Many have noted that there was more than double the water put onto the state than Katrina and most of all, there was the presence of climate change within the discussions. Namely that human-caused climate change increased the likelihood of potential repeats or similar storms to happen in the future. In fact, regional simulations suggest that the climate warming since 1985 may have increased the event precipitation (August 11–14, 2016) on the order of 20%. The lack of preparation led to alot of misfortune for the people, where the rest of the nation went to help out their neighbors. However, federal resources were strained to help the nation, which just led to greater frustrations at the financial policies of the McCain Administration. This fed into the elections as people were noting the conservatvie fiscal policies were turning out to be duds in such emergancies and Sanders' cries for the govenment to do more became much more receptive among skeptics. This along with the news and potential concerns of climate change began having people begin normalizing that more radical actions would be needed. Moreover, the lack of proper media coverage by the large newstations led to growing disappointment in them and a greater leanings toward independent enws as well as cries to reform the large news networks to do their jobs better. The storm and its mishandlings seemed to show the true troubles of America... along with the opportunities for the people to choose better and make the changes that would be needed.
US Coast Guard rescuing Baton Rouge residents following the floods
That'll be revealed in the next thing, though right now taking the time to figure out who. I do have a short list.
I will be honest, it was a tough time choosing between Obama and Sanders. I initially leaned on the former because it seemed like the realistic option. I know there are probaby more than a few people who see this timeline as utopic, but well... I'm an optimist at heart. Furthermore, everything I did here I tried to tie it to a reason and plausible, something that would be likely but not for certain happen. Sometimes events line up the way you do.
Sanders won here because the Dems underestimated him here. The status quo keepers did not see him as a threat until it was too late for him to stop. Plus, Obama and H-Clinton split the field between them while more leftists and skeptics of the former 2 coalesced around Sanders. The different environment (that of a slow boiling pot of frustration and so on, is quite different than how it was back in 2008 for Obama.)
So it seemed to make sense for Sanders to be able to win.
I hope everyone is still enjoying the timeline
McCain Administration- Autumn 2016
Autumn 2016
"Wonder what we are gonna find on an asteroid?"
"The Caribbean needs our help!
"Why would there be a cyberattack on Dyn...?"
Election season may be dominating the news coverage, but they were certainly not the only worthwhile news going on. For a select portion of people, some excitement came in the form of the OSIRIS-REx mission. Short for "Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer", the purporse of the spacecraft and its mission was to study asteroids by landing on one and taking a sample so it can be returned to Earth for analysis. The material returned is expected to enable scientists to learn more about the formation and evolution of the Solar System, its initial stages of planet formation, and the source of organic compounds that led to the formation of life on Earth. According to the calculations, the spacecraft would not return to Earth until 2023. For the most part, the project went off with relatively little fanfare though it did briefly revive attention into space exploration, which has seen a renaissance of sorts within pop culture media thanks to the revival of film franchises such as Star Trek and Star Wars along with new television shows such as the dueling animated "cosmic comedies" or "cosmedies" in Rick & Morty and The Orville. While there have been some slight cuts in NASA or rather the gradual allocation of resources toward more security-oriented purposes, this was an encouraging sign that NASA as still moving forward. At the same time, it was a bitter reminder on how the McCain administration cancelled the Space Shuttle and Constellation programs back in his first tenure as President.
Model of OSIRIS-REx space shuttle
Of course, the importance of satellite imagery, atmospheric modeling and calculations regarding remained vital and new evidence came in the devastating storm known as Hurricane Matthew. The first Category 5 hurricane since Hurricane Felix back in 2007, Hurricane Matthew caused catastrophic damage throughout the Caribbean and would lead to a near-humanitarian crisis in Haiti. There would even be widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Stan in 2005, Matthew was the thirteenth named storm, fifth hurricane and second major hurricane of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season. It compunded greater damage onto the islands of the sea, especially the Bahamas, who were still recovering from Joaquin from the previous year. While the storm had been able to be tracked and advancements made since the Gore Administration have been made to help predict and prepare for powerful storms, it still meant that the damages done were large-scale and recovery was difficult. While thousands of people went in to assist and millions of dollars went to rebuild, it did lead to alot of concerns in the future, especially for Haiti, which was teetering on the edge of even greater problems. Notably, Democrat candidate Bernie Sanders urged for greater involvement in rebuilding, including opening up relations with Cuba once more.
Hurricane Matthew at peak strength in the Caribbean Sea | October 1, 2016
Besides storms and space, there was always plenty of trouble that could be connected by politics. One of the stranger examples a series of cyberattacks that rendered several sites inaccessible for a bit of time. However, this one was a domestic affair, even if it was supposedly done for international purposes. Specifcially, it was a series of distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS attacks) in October. Their commonality was that all of the targeed system were operated by Domain Name System (DNS) provider Dyn. The attack caused major Internet platforms and services such as, but not limited to Twitter, Reddit, Netflix, Spotify, The New York Times, BBC News, and PayPal to be unavailable to large groups of users in Europe and North America. The denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks were accomplished through numerous DNS lookup requests from tens of millions of IP addresses, which are believed to have been executed through a botnet consisting of many Internet-connected devices, i.e. printers, IP cameras, residential gateways and baby monitors, all that would've been infected with the Mirai malware. According to newsite Politico, the hacktivist groups SpainSquad, Anonymous, and New World Hackers claimed responsibility for the attack in retaliation against Ecuador's rescinding Internet access to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, at their embassy in London, where he had been granted asylum. However, the claim was never verified and even WikiLeaks themselves had this to say: "Mr. Assange is still alive and WikiLeaks is still publishing. We ask supporters to stop taking down the US internet. You proved your point."
map of internet outages in Europe and North America caused by the Dyn cyberattack
"Wonder what we are gonna find on an asteroid?"
"The Caribbean needs our help!
"Why would there be a cyberattack on Dyn...?"
Election season may be dominating the news coverage, but they were certainly not the only worthwhile news going on. For a select portion of people, some excitement came in the form of the OSIRIS-REx mission. Short for "Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer", the purporse of the spacecraft and its mission was to study asteroids by landing on one and taking a sample so it can be returned to Earth for analysis. The material returned is expected to enable scientists to learn more about the formation and evolution of the Solar System, its initial stages of planet formation, and the source of organic compounds that led to the formation of life on Earth. According to the calculations, the spacecraft would not return to Earth until 2023. For the most part, the project went off with relatively little fanfare though it did briefly revive attention into space exploration, which has seen a renaissance of sorts within pop culture media thanks to the revival of film franchises such as Star Trek and Star Wars along with new television shows such as the dueling animated "cosmic comedies" or "cosmedies" in Rick & Morty and The Orville. While there have been some slight cuts in NASA or rather the gradual allocation of resources toward more security-oriented purposes, this was an encouraging sign that NASA as still moving forward. At the same time, it was a bitter reminder on how the McCain administration cancelled the Space Shuttle and Constellation programs back in his first tenure as President.
Model of OSIRIS-REx space shuttle
Of course, the importance of satellite imagery, atmospheric modeling and calculations regarding remained vital and new evidence came in the devastating storm known as Hurricane Matthew. The first Category 5 hurricane since Hurricane Felix back in 2007, Hurricane Matthew caused catastrophic damage throughout the Caribbean and would lead to a near-humanitarian crisis in Haiti. There would even be widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Stan in 2005, Matthew was the thirteenth named storm, fifth hurricane and second major hurricane of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season. It compunded greater damage onto the islands of the sea, especially the Bahamas, who were still recovering from Joaquin from the previous year. While the storm had been able to be tracked and advancements made since the Gore Administration have been made to help predict and prepare for powerful storms, it still meant that the damages done were large-scale and recovery was difficult. While thousands of people went in to assist and millions of dollars went to rebuild, it did lead to alot of concerns in the future, especially for Haiti, which was teetering on the edge of even greater problems. Notably, Democrat candidate Bernie Sanders urged for greater involvement in rebuilding, including opening up relations with Cuba once more.
Hurricane Matthew at peak strength in the Caribbean Sea | October 1, 2016
Besides storms and space, there was always plenty of trouble that could be connected by politics. One of the stranger examples a series of cyberattacks that rendered several sites inaccessible for a bit of time. However, this one was a domestic affair, even if it was supposedly done for international purposes. Specifcially, it was a series of distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS attacks) in October. Their commonality was that all of the targeed system were operated by Domain Name System (DNS) provider Dyn. The attack caused major Internet platforms and services such as, but not limited to Twitter, Reddit, Netflix, Spotify, The New York Times, BBC News, and PayPal to be unavailable to large groups of users in Europe and North America. The denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks were accomplished through numerous DNS lookup requests from tens of millions of IP addresses, which are believed to have been executed through a botnet consisting of many Internet-connected devices, i.e. printers, IP cameras, residential gateways and baby monitors, all that would've been infected with the Mirai malware. According to newsite Politico, the hacktivist groups SpainSquad, Anonymous, and New World Hackers claimed responsibility for the attack in retaliation against Ecuador's rescinding Internet access to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, at their embassy in London, where he had been granted asylum. However, the claim was never verified and even WikiLeaks themselves had this to say: "Mr. Assange is still alive and WikiLeaks is still publishing. We ask supporters to stop taking down the US internet. You proved your point."
map of internet outages in Europe and North America caused by the Dyn cyberattack
Elections in 2016
Election Season 2016
Many would see the Election season of 2016 as being a turning point in American history. It was the culimination of at least a decade of modern American politics. Others would trace the build up for this since the rise of neoconservatism and neoliberalism in the 80s. Whatever the case may be, the stage is set and the players are on board. Many, many voters came out to show their support for their candidate in this years' presidential election along within the other elections. One of the biggest conversation pieces was on the importance of local elections. Elections for mayors, state reps and senators, governors and others have been becoming more important and thanks to the power of the internet and social media, keeping track of actions and beliefs and thus, providing people with all the information needed to select the premium candidates of their choice. With this came a massive resurgence of new politicians, many of them running on the left of the spectrum and all of them born from grassroot campaigns, thanks to the power of many small donations, hard work of dedicated believers and the interconnectivity of social media. This caught many politican veterans off-guard as many long-standing incumbents found themselves losing their primary, having rested on their laurels or not made much of the effort. Other places saw some independents gain a couple seats.
The Democrats found themselves now filled with new fresh faces as plenty of incumbents would not return and replaced soon by fresh faces, aligned with more radical ideals. Though the Republicans weren't all that different as some surprising faces came in. The House of Representatives swung more in favor of the Democrats along with the Senate, providing clear majorities for them. The people were wanting change and there were plenty of people willing to do so and charge forward. The old system had been shaken up. And perhaps that was seen nowhere else than in the general presidency. It was one filled with an odd form of anxiety, namely by plenty of the old guard. On the Republicans, it was Mitt Romney with his running mate being former Alaskan senator Lisa Murkowski. Murkowshi was chosen for being a somewhat prominent moderate Republican and hoped that her running as a female VP would help him with his chances. Meanwhile, the Democrats were running with Bernie Sanders who's running-mate was in the debate for a while. Tulsi Gabbard was rumored to be a candidate, but would be rejected due to her complex past and certain opinions in regards to gay rights and so on . Keith Ellison was also another consideration. However, Bernie Sanders would ultimately off the position to Senator Tammy Baldwin, who would accept.
Mitt Romney vs Bernie Sanders saw Romney try to defend the position of not just the GOP, but also inadvertently most of the political system that remained in place. The old guard against the new blood in regards to ideals. While Romney did step up the plate with a modified form of "Romneycare" applied in the nation and try to have the states run it, it did not hold up on Bernie's calls to expand Medicare. The past failures of the Republican party and the lack of addressing the large corporations meant that not many would listen to the more reserved voices. However, it was clear many were nervous. Many heads of the media were worried along with many business leaders, trying to demonize Bernie Sanders. Sanders followed in the footsteps of FDR and welcomed their hatred. The media's attempts to try and deflect from Sanders or twist the answers just got people upset at them and there was a growing space to fill the void.
In Novemeber, the people have spoken. The 45th President of the United States would be Bernie Sanders.
President elect Bernie Sanders & running mate Tammy Baldwin
Many would see the Election season of 2016 as being a turning point in American history. It was the culimination of at least a decade of modern American politics. Others would trace the build up for this since the rise of neoconservatism and neoliberalism in the 80s. Whatever the case may be, the stage is set and the players are on board. Many, many voters came out to show their support for their candidate in this years' presidential election along within the other elections. One of the biggest conversation pieces was on the importance of local elections. Elections for mayors, state reps and senators, governors and others have been becoming more important and thanks to the power of the internet and social media, keeping track of actions and beliefs and thus, providing people with all the information needed to select the premium candidates of their choice. With this came a massive resurgence of new politicians, many of them running on the left of the spectrum and all of them born from grassroot campaigns, thanks to the power of many small donations, hard work of dedicated believers and the interconnectivity of social media. This caught many politican veterans off-guard as many long-standing incumbents found themselves losing their primary, having rested on their laurels or not made much of the effort. Other places saw some independents gain a couple seats.
The Democrats found themselves now filled with new fresh faces as plenty of incumbents would not return and replaced soon by fresh faces, aligned with more radical ideals. Though the Republicans weren't all that different as some surprising faces came in. The House of Representatives swung more in favor of the Democrats along with the Senate, providing clear majorities for them. The people were wanting change and there were plenty of people willing to do so and charge forward. The old system had been shaken up. And perhaps that was seen nowhere else than in the general presidency. It was one filled with an odd form of anxiety, namely by plenty of the old guard. On the Republicans, it was Mitt Romney with his running mate being former Alaskan senator Lisa Murkowski. Murkowshi was chosen for being a somewhat prominent moderate Republican and hoped that her running as a female VP would help him with his chances. Meanwhile, the Democrats were running with Bernie Sanders who's running-mate was in the debate for a while. Tulsi Gabbard was rumored to be a candidate, but would be rejected due to her complex past and certain opinions in regards to gay rights and so on . Keith Ellison was also another consideration. However, Bernie Sanders would ultimately off the position to Senator Tammy Baldwin, who would accept.
Mitt Romney vs Bernie Sanders saw Romney try to defend the position of not just the GOP, but also inadvertently most of the political system that remained in place. The old guard against the new blood in regards to ideals. While Romney did step up the plate with a modified form of "Romneycare" applied in the nation and try to have the states run it, it did not hold up on Bernie's calls to expand Medicare. The past failures of the Republican party and the lack of addressing the large corporations meant that not many would listen to the more reserved voices. However, it was clear many were nervous. Many heads of the media were worried along with many business leaders, trying to demonize Bernie Sanders. Sanders followed in the footsteps of FDR and welcomed their hatred. The media's attempts to try and deflect from Sanders or twist the answers just got people upset at them and there was a growing space to fill the void.
In Novemeber, the people have spoken. The 45th President of the United States would be Bernie Sanders.
President elect Bernie Sanders & running mate Tammy Baldwin
Last edited: