For a Gore Prosperous Tomorrow

[CountDVB]

2009 In Review

When people were going into the McCain Administration, they were unsure of what to expect. They certainly did not expect foreign troubles to pop up all over the place, the return of racial tensions or the econimic anxeities. Despite this, the McCain Administration soldiered on, even if they were not able to pass much of their agenda. While McCain did swing more to the center on certain issues and intelligent enough to not touch certain hot buttons (he was an environmentalist conservative and decided to avoid touching anything of Planned Parenthood), the political factions that were fighting were still seen clearly within both parties and beyond. The foreign troubles did cause for some proposals to increase the military budget, even after the debacle of the various audits of the Pentagon though McCain was successful in increasing funding in military cybersecurity. Additionally, some of the standards in some department were modestly adjusted, likely done to try and not cause too much trouble over on the home front with the people. McCain maintained a focused on troubles abroad; he wanted to utilize Gore increasing the US's prestige to try and justify going in ad resolving economic problems in nations. Support has been mixed for this though the troubles have caused people to consider it may needed. A notable example being Honduras and as talks for new elections fell through, the task of dealing with the intertim government became a discussion. Talks with the OAS regarding a military intervention to restore Zelaya though the details remained in discussion, especially regarding Venezuela leading and possibly even getting Cuba involved.

The economy became the main concern with the autumn seeing the housing bubble burst and the people suddenly entering a state of panic over it along with companies though some hopes remained there. However, it did lead to more talks internationally in concerns over the global economy and the potential problems it could have. Additionally, the speculations over a recession meant that some people were bunkering down. Others meanwhile focused on working to maintain their jobs gained in the few couple of years thanks to the improved Gore economy. Despite the optimism of the Americans, the atmosphere of anxiety and tension remained in the air. Environmentalist messages remained after Gore's departure, even if they are being overshadowed by the concerns of the economy and military risings. At the same time though, this has been leading to a merging of environmentalists and with labour unions and other economics as there was the growing thought that the current economic model and consumerist mindset was a problem tied to it. Meanwhile, some of the more conservative folks, initially relieved that McCain got into power, began growing a little disenheartened by the results, but tried to remain firm. There was a sense in the air that something big was coming.

Pop culture continued on from where last year left off. The aim toward more action-oriented or at least more serious story-telling in adult animation meant that focuses shifted a bit and more chances were taken on different films. Dreamworks' adaptation of of the urban fantasy novel Gil's All-Fright Diner became a cult classic and signaled a bit of a turn for Dreamworks. Disney meanwhile fared well with Princess and the Frog though not enough, concerning them if they could stay in with traditional animation or if they should begin switching to CGI. The topic had come up and after the procedures with Pixar went nowhere outside of Disney continuing to distribute them, Disney did begin funding programs to help get CGI animators to come in. Pixar's Up did quite well in comparison. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince also faired well with a surprise hit being G.I. Joe: Rise of COBRA by Micheal Bay. After rejecting to direct the proposed Transformers film and its subsequent shelving, Micheal Bay was invited to do G.I. Joe, being more up his alley and of course, given support from the military. The plot revolved around the reveal of the secret team known as the G.I. Joes, a top secret American-based team of commandos and their subsequent encounter with the organization known as COBRA, the Counterintelligence Operations Battalion of Regenade Agents, a terrorist organization of mercenaries, spies and assassins who's purpose is destablizing nations for the purpose of global hegemony through shadow governments. However, perhaps nothing was as expected as the large-scale work that was Avatar. Known for pushing the CGI to the limits and the 3D spectacle, it did push into call the idea of 3D graphics though it was still pretty nebulous. Television meanwhile would see the rise of many popular shwos such as Glee, Parks & Recreation and Community. Notably one was Archer, an animated parody of spy films and tropes, it began restoring some faith in Western adult animation in comedy, competiting against Futurama and South Park. However, the big news in media was Disney purchasing Marvel early in the year as Marvel wished to secure their future endeavors after the shaky ground in the restructuring of their continuity. However, this leave questions regarding the remaining film and television rights scattered across non-Marvel properties. While Disney was in no rush to obtain the X-Men film rights due to Marvel's decision to seperate them from the main Marvel comic focus, they did focus on obtaining Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. Iron Man's success and the lackluster results of Incredible Hulk led to some debate on the future of comic book heroes, at least with Marvel. However, the production chaos and subsequent cancellation of Spider-Man 3 along with leaked scripts and further Sony financial problems forced them to the negotiating table. Disney would purchase the full Spider-Man and associated characters film rights and television rights as the new owner of Marvel though Sony would get in exchange exclusivity for Spider-Man video games appearing on Playstation consoles (though Spidey could still appear in non-console exclusive games where he was not the main focus.) After months of debate, it has been confirmed that Spectacular Spider-Man would continue and be confirmed for a third and fourth season. Additionally, Disney secured the film rights to Fantastic 4 back from 21st Century Fox after the disappointment of Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Speaking of video games, many new popular games have been released this year. Batman: Arkham Asylum, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and New Super Mario Bros Wii were all massive big hits to get this year. The Xbox and SEGA then released a new exclusive IP with Bayonetta while Nintendo surprised eveyrone with an exclusive like Madworld. The release date of the two led to jokes of the two characters dating on social media, which the companied noted with humor. Rare established some more games for the Nintendo Wii such as The Fast and the Furriest, a crazy cart-building game that goes through challenges (think Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts meets Diddy Kong Racing) or Other games such as Brutal Legends, Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, and many others have been getting intense attention and the Wii racing neck and neck against the Xbox 360 while the Playstation 3 struggled along. Despite the competition, the two companies remained on amicable terms, likely due to how Nintendo assisted Microsoft with the Xbox. The companies tended to have talks in regards and rumors circulated one of those talks led to discussions in regarding the potential successor to the Nintendo DS. According to rumor, Nintendo had considered trying for 3D graphics much like the attempt with the Virtual Boy years prior, but Microsoft convinced them otherwise not just because of the limitations, but the lack of real popularity for it, noting that 3-D graphics were viewed as short-lasting though the talks ov virtual reality did remain. Furthermore, online games were becoming big with League of Legends and revolutionary game known as Minecraft was released for people to try and change out. The online world was also changing. Project MAY would be entering negotiations, though it appeared that most of the core contract stuff would continue, though some say a new partner would join in OpenFilm, a website devoted for the finding and distributing of independent films, allowing for more potential than what could be done just on Youtube. More and more people were looking to try and make money online by showcasing their talents and creativity. Other websites looked for venues or ways of advertisements though many were wary of going through such venues. Social media was becoming a bigger part of people's lives, especially as smart phones were becoming more available. Interestingly enough, this also led to a growing group of misfits: people who liked repairing their own devices, environmentalists and so on who showed concern in the effect that new technologies would have on the environment. In music, many would claim it was the end of the mainstream dominance of pop punk, noted with the death of Micheal Jackson and the beginning of the Great Recession, providing a new feeling of anxiety and anger for musicians and other artists to draw upon in the oncoming months.

 

[CountDVB]

Well, here it is. I will be more than happy to add corrections or suggestions to this given how I am pretty inexperienced in this. I've taken this from various sources, so expect bias and feel free to suggestion potential corrections.

The Great Recession (2009-2014) Examination Pt. 1

The Great Recession refers both to the American Recession starting in late 2009 and continuing onto the global stage for years to come. The Recession was caused in part by the housing bubble burst, the issues of the banks and other significant issues on the global economy. It would come to define as the starting point of the new Tens, the new political movements and cultural movemenets as a result of such.

Causes
Various causes were linked to the Recession though the Recession's pattern and influence by outside forces also lent to do this. First was the identified failure on the part of the government to regulate the financial industry. This failure to regulate included the Fed’s inability to curb toxic mortgage lending. While the polices long predate this, examining the Gore and McCain administrations in this gives evidence. The Gore administration attempted to lower federal interest rates to try and increase home ownership, especially among the lower class. However, the controversial nature of the election led to such plans and discussions going nowhere and then being shelved indefinitely as events such as 9/11 and the Exxon-Mobil Scandal occurred. The lower interest rates did not kick in until 2006 though they were modestly lower. The growing economy and prosperity involved encouraged home ownership to go up. Additionally, financial innovations such as new types of subprime and adjustable mortgages allowed borrowers, who otherwise might not have qualified otherwise, to obtain generous home loans based on expectations that interest rates would remain low and home prices would continue to rise indefinitely. However, the interest rates were lowered significantly more over in the McCain Administration once they ended up taking hold.

Addtionally, there were too many financial firms taking on too much risk. The shadow banking system, which included investment firms, grew to rival the depository banking system but was not under the same scrutiny or regulation. When the shadow banking system failed, the outcome affected the flow of credit to consumers and businesses. The shadow banking system as it was called was ignored by both liberals and conservatives though may indiciate more prominent left-wing politicians showed skepticism and concern about it.

Of course, over time, new elements added to the Recession, such as the Arab Spring. What started as a gradual decline would grow into a rollar-coaster of economic turmoil.

Approach
Bear Sterns... Lehman Brothers... they were the big names signifying the cascade effect. The collapse of the banks began leading into the downspiral of problems for the United States and for the world at large. Trillions of dollars were being lost as people also began losing their jobs from layoffs. To many, this would be seen as the McCain Administration's opportunity to try and tackle such economic problems. However, the approach done by President McCain and Vice President Romney would end up prolonging the Recession for the United States and begin causing a greater effect over as a result. American and European banks would be undergoing free-fall and the effects everywhere were massive, to where Iceland even would virtually shutdown the current government and force in a new one in the upcoming months, an event that caught fire amongst social media and more and more young people and people slighted by the Recession.

As 2010 rolled in and the new decade started off with large concerns and many nations going into problems, the question was asked on what to do with the economy. While there was the initial consensus of hoping the economy would end up resolving itself, the escalating global problems began trying to force the government to look into solutions while also causing colossal tears and holes into the two political parties and then some. The Libretarian Party would see a drain of supporters as their calls of deregulation would be seen as counterintuitive and in fact, the cause of such problems in the first place. The Republicans were being torn by the deficit hawks, people calling for increased government spending temporarily and of course some who were insisting on blaming Gore and Clinton. The Democrats were relatively more united in the need for a stimulus package to be resolved, but there would be a growing consensus among the more left-wing regarding on how to deal with the banks and the crisis, signifying the true beginning between the neoliberals and a new form of New Dealers and social democrats rising.

McCain adviser Martin Feldstein advocated for the stimulus package, namely for infrastructure and for the military. Meanwhile, Glenn Hubbard, an advisor who was put in at the request of Mitt Romney was pushing for a government program to lower mortgage rates. And of course, there was the classic Republican administration approach of tax cuts aimed at high earners and corporations in the hopes that it would put more money for investors to hire people or to slow down the rate of layoffs. Democrats meanwhile advocated more for tax cuts at the middle and lower classes along with investment in other areas. One big sticking point was the Glass-Steagall Act; many have pointed that Clinton's repealing of it was a cause behind it. However, such critics of the Clinton administration would be shot also with the results showing that more Republicans than Democrats voted in support of the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act both in the House and Senate.

Eventually, after many painful months of debate and the fear and panic of the American populace, the McCain stimulus was passed, creating a large stimulus package over for the build-up in the military, albeit under more regulation to avoid the clusterfuck brought by the Pentagon audits years ago along with infrastructure stimulus. It also cut taxes for a portion of high earners and corporations in the hopes of restimulating the economy. While the solution brought some relief for the people, it would not be long before the calm set in, people looked at what happened and the growing rage at the McCain Administration would grow...

As for the stimulus itself, it called for regrowing and modernizing the military. Among an agreed consencus was an influx of cash for beefing the cybersecurity in the public and private sector. This was brought about as a result of Google revealing the Chinese hacking in "Project Aurora" over in January of 2010. Better software was subsidized, greater defensive regulations were tightened and there was a call for greater internet awareness and safety, especially how the lax defense of Google contributed to the hack, even after prior warnings from the Gore Administration a couple years prior. Meanwhile, the influx of building up forces seemed contrary though many would see it as a response to the growing global turmoil. Best seen in the Honduran Restoration, where the US provided support to Central American nations to restore Zeluya back as Presidency and showed surprising cooperation with Venezuela on the matter. Under normal circumstances, such a thing was highly unlikely, but the concern over US reaction on with the Zeluya coup led to the aggressive approach being taken, even regarding the opposing politics. Unsurprising, this would be seen as a bright spot for McCain in restoring democracy as well as overseeing the next election over in 2011, though the conditions being that Zeluya should not run again (a discussion held between McCain and Zeluya, noting the latter's controversey could unstablize the nation further.)

However, the forces would end up becoming vital in an international occurring later down the year...

 

[CountDVB]

Well, I'll still try! Hopefully, this is passable at the least.

The Epstein Scandal

Few people got such a strange reputation than Jeffrey Edward Epstein . Initially a mathematics teacher, he would rise to become prominent in the finance sector along with rubbing shoulders with many influential and powerful people. He was known for that, as well as his thoughts and words on transhumanism. However, now he will be known for his notorious history of sexual abuse and scandals. In 2008, he would be charged for procuring prostitution involving a minor. Rumor said he tried to get a deal, but the federal attorney didn't budge on that. Namely because of what else was going, regarding the FBI. "Operation Leap Year" as it was known would be started in investing Epstein after some delays in being started along with other issues.

Epstein would eventually be tried in early 2009 and would be sentenced to life in prison, though it would be the beginning of what many would call the "Epstein Scandal." During the latter half of the investigation of Epstein, what was blowing up was the connection to the many many people connected to Epstein, especially with the testimonies reading sexual abuse and trafficking. The investigation was kept under tight wraps in trying to maintain and ensure quiet cooperation. However, word got out and it became a colossal scandal in how many people and organizations were conencted to Epstein in one form or another regarding the entire debacle. As such, this led to investigations on who could also be guilty of other crimes that occurred in association with Jeffrey Epstein.

Several big names were floated such as Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, and Alan Dershowitz. The entire newsmedia was in a colossal circuit of scandal and so on, especially with the various names floated. Some of them were quickly dismissed given how they may have only known the guy briefly, but not have had any distinctive connections (as was the case when Matt Groening once traveled with him and Epstein had a girl massage his feet. Beyond jabs at the poor quality of his feet, there was no actual accusations aimed at him.) Regardless, the amount of names and investigations would be undertaken for a long period of time with some of the cases likely to be settled out of court.

The Prince Andrew aspect would lead to an intense scrutiny and complications regarding American-British relations. Naturally, they denied the entire thing. Interestingly enough, the Clinton one did not end up going anywhere as while he was present with the man, there was no evidence on Clinton. The same goes for real estate mogul Donald Trump. Unlike Clinton though, his troubles did not end there since while he appeared to not have been charged within with Epstein, investigators turned up with many allegations of sexual assault and subsequent suspicious financial activities, such as with Deutsche Bank. Eventually Trump would be jailed for five years for contempt of court and attempting to bribe the jurors and judges during the first couple weeks, meaning he would be sent to jail while further investigations would be going through. Trump would later die in prison after assaulted by a fellow inmate within the first year of his jail time. Trump's financial holdings would become the subject of scrutiny and examination by debt collectors and ongoing investigations such as possible charges for money laundering and fruad. Many Trump-associated companies and businesses would sink and losses would be reccoperated by selling off or liquidating the assets. The remaining assets would end up driving wedges against the Trump family. Alan Dershowitz meanwhile would also be sent to prison as further investigations would be ongoing. The only other major discussing point was the potential connections to the Saudi crown prince which in turn led to increased tension between the US and Saudi Arabia, the two's alliance growing colder.

The investigations would be another reflection of the decade, showing a growing suspicion toward the powerful and the wealthy. While there was a sense of vindication achieved with the arrest of Trump and the subsequent decline and dismantling of his company and subsidaries, the fact that were close calls in the investigations meant there was a growing call to hold white collar criminals and people like them more accountable. The Epstein scandal would have a continued effect in pop culture with the sight of sleazy powerful white collar criminals getting their comeuppance.

 

[CountDVB]

Winter 2010

"Economic troubles is one thing, but to leave hanging our fellow men down? That is not the American way."

"At least the Winter Olympics are a good distraction."

"The Gosnell thing just opened up a can of worns..."

The start of the new decade looked rather chaotic. The housing bubble burst and the prelude to the Great Recession was starting. The economy was becoming shaky and the governments of the world were reacting with the burgeoning economic crisises in different ways. Many nations in Europe as well as the United States were opting for more austerity measures to try and do so, though the consequences of such tactics would come to haunt many of the nations who performed such actions. Meanwhile, while the economy was undergoing seizures due to years of lax maintanance, the world continued to go on by. While troubles abroad continued such as a terrorist attack in Africa or the Honduran Restoration saw the interim government of Honduras deposed and many members of it and of Zelaya's party being cleared out of Court and legislature, there was a brief sense of unity over the Haiti earthquake. The immense damage scale, intensified by nation's history of national debt, prejudicial trade policies by other countries, and foreign intervention into national affairs, made it even worse. Many people came together, volunteers and workers, came to assist in the emergancy rescue and operations of Haiti. President McCain utilized the opportunity to send in the military to assist, using to try and promote his stimulus package, which also included infrastructure rebuilding. On the other hand, the conservative government was somewhat reluctant on contributing large sums of money for assistance. Ultimately though, the US would end up contributing around $50 million dollars over to aid. While the amount was justified in part because of the declining economy, it did become notable that many people came to donate as much if not so more and it became a bright spot of people coming together to help Haiti rebuild though lingering questions on past problems and so on remain. At the same time, the ability to do genuine good and help provided a respite from economic anxiety, a renewed sense of purpose.

Large portions of the National Palace collapsed

Another way that people assisted in rebuilding Haiti was through donations done over at the Winter Olympics of 2010. With the growing sense of economic anxiety and worry, the Winter Olympics ended up bringing a hopeful spot of peace and respite, with the Olympics used to raise more donations to assist in the rebuilding over of Haiti. The Winter Olympics of 2010 were held in Vancouver with various charities and organizations along with maintaining the sense of unity into the year. On the other hand, the entire ordeal was not without controversey or problems. The economic problems did leave some problems in making the buildings along with the lack of decorations though the new buildings were quite practical enough in design to be used post-Olympics. The fear of the displacement of low income people along with the lack of consideration was a mention and moreover there was the protest by some First Nations peoples in regards to the usage of land along with the symbol being used. Overall, the Winter Olympics of 2010 seemed to serve as an appros symbol of the situation. While a symbol of pride and optimism for achievement and prizes, the scandals regarding the First Nations folk, the poor and the cheating (such as the doping scandal by a Russian athlete) is a stark reminder of the problems that lay and what needed to be done.

2010 Winter Olympics logo

Of course, it would not be complete without scandal and controversy over back home. The unity behind Haiti and the Winter Olympics would become cracked back home over in Febuary. The Women's Medical Society abortion clinic in Philadelphia is raided by the FBI in an investigation into suspected illegal drug prescription use. The raid uncovers extreme unsanitary operations, use of untrained staff, and eventually leads to charges against a number of staff members for murdering babies at the clinic. The primary target would be Kermit Gosnell. Naturally, the entire thing led to a fireball of controversy and finger-pointing. Conservatives and pro-life proponents were mroe than happy to use it as an opportunity to attack abortions and paint the entire thing as the norm while pro-choice people were on the defensive though many points were made on the unsanitary conditions and the media coverage was accused to be skewed though many pointed that the Fairness Doctrine was still in place. Others pointed out that the cuts in the State department and federal level made by the McCain administration could've played a part in the ordeal. The incident politicized even more of the people and served as a brief relief over for the Republicans due to the decreasing economy. However, for other people, the news became harder to remain focus due to the worsening economy and other turbulent times and conditions. Additionally, the McCain administration's approach did lead to the Democrats doubling down to maintain their gains and positions to defend Wade vs Roe. This alongside further disturbing news of such as the coup in Niger and another earthquake resulting in a tsunami in Chile have led to greater concerns and worries for the future along with a renewed spirit to keep trudging.

Women's Medical Society abortion clinic in Philadelphia

 

[CountDVB]

Spring 2010

"The Huatree militia is a dangerous example of the real terrorists America has to face..."

"What the hell BP?! Only two years in and the Republicans have let this happen?!"

"It's getting violent in Thailand. I get the feeling it's the beginning..."

The early months of Spring were relatively quiet all things considered at first. The efforts in helping Haiti and later Chile continued, the Honduran Restoration was finalized with Zelaya being restored as Presidency on the conditions of not running for next terms and new elections being held over in 2011. In the meanwhile, interim officials were given emergancy elections to put in. Due to the gridlock caused by the two dominant parties so opposed, the preferences were those of the lesser known parties such as PINU, the Liberals and the Anti-Corruption, done hopefully to mix up the pot. Granted, they were put in temporarily until the elections of 2011. The third parties got some changes to shine, especially after the Zelaya reign and coup left a sour taste for both parties. The Kasubi Tombs, Uganda's only cultural World Heritage Site, burned in a fire of unknown cause, a travesty of the age. Within back home though, the big disruptuon within the United States was a terrorist attack. That of the Hutaree Militia movement. While they were under observation for a while with the assistance of far-right wing radio talk host Hal Turner, Turner would turn against the FBI as he disagreed with the US stance on firearms and used FBI intel instead to assist the Hutaree movement in their attack against law enforcement. Killing a police officer, attacking the funeral held by them and then also luring several FBI agents into a trap to attack them, they would end up being captured after a delayed stand-off with the assistance of another FBI informant, a Muslim militiaman named Matt Savino, who grew mroe disturbed at the behavior. While the Michigan Militia assisted the FBI in the stand-off against the Hutaree Militia, it also served as aroundabout final nail in the coffin. The death along with the disturbing similarities ended with the Michigan Militia being disbanded. Eventually, a successor group was made. It also saw the notion swinging as militia groups began swinging more leftward in the political spectrum. Partly out of the ecological and environmental leanings within survivalist groups that grown in the Gore era, but now accelerated in reaction to frustrations at conservative politics and the distrubing realizations at comparisons between them and the Hutatree. Additionally, coverage by the media showed a perplexing note in how they were unwilling to address the militia as "terrorists", despite htier modus operandi. In fact, it served to some people as an example of the inherent biased in how the mainstream media and other outlets treated white criminals in comparison to minorities. This further served to grow the popularity of certain news outlets while others suffered in part of their views.

Suspected members of the Hutaree Militia; not included (Hal Turner)

While the nation recovered from the deaths occurred from the domestic terrorist attack and the aftermath that ensued, a new problem came afront that brought environmentalism back onto the table. An explosion occurs on BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig, killing 11 workers, causing the rig to sink two days later and initiating a massive offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It spreads for several months, damaging the waters and the United States coastline and the entire disaster starts an international debate and doubt about the practice and procedures of offshore drilling. To say it was a colossal clusterfuck was an understatement. The Deepwater Horizon rig was put in beyond Gore's reach back in his early years, and now it seems his criticisms and warnings about the entire ordeal was now vindicated. While the McCain Administration condemned the entire thing as the worst environmental disaster in US history, the initial lackluster attempts in dealing with BP infuriated a growing number of the populace and House reps and Senators were pressured extensively to resolve the issue. This included working to convince the President to accept outside help offered by other nations in the clean-up duty, The environmentally-minded factions of both parites united to begin pushing legislation to deal with the debacle. Meanwhile, many donors and volunteers went over to assist in the clean up as well while scientists went to survey and expect the damage. Protestors began boycotting BP oil while others went so far as to the same for petroleum in general. Former President Gore spoke on the subject matter, detailing the economic and environmental hazards risk offshore oils along with fracking was. Lawsuits and charges were being lobbied with BP. Lax safety standards and environmental concerns further united labor and environmental groups into cooperation as a result.

NOLA BP Oil Flood Protest Take Tar From Feathers

Meanwhile, across the world, more protests were going on in response to the declining economy and the frustrations over at governments. Protestors of BP would end up sometimes joining up with protestors at the growing economic disparity and problems. One of the largest examples of this was going over in Thailand at the rulign Democratic party. The entire debacle started from a "judicial coup" over regarding a certain political party and led to the formation of a coalition by the Democratic party. Protests were beginning in March and were continiuing on throughout the spring, resulting in violent clashes in April between the protestors and the government. There was a thick atmosphere of tension in the air, as if it was the precipce to something greater. The peaceful protests turned violent in response to the involvement of attempred inference by the government. Violent clashes occurred once more in May and while there was some notice, it just seemed like a backdrop of what was to come. Other problems included plane crashes and the 2010 Ahmadiyya mosques massacre in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, which killed 94 people during Friday prayers at two mosques. It seemed as if the world kept crawling toward a chasm from pent-up frustration and anger at the elites that have disregarded them.

11 April: lit candles commemorating the casualties suffered by the protesters on 10 April 2010

 

[CountDVB]

Summer 2010

"Central Asia is becoming more dangerous. Hope things don't become awful."

"And now we have Russian agents on our homeland? Goddamn, I thought the Cold War ended..."

"I am being told that while monsoons are part of the seasonal climate for Pakistan, that it is still unpredecented."

Summer served as a brief period of calm, which just meant more attention remained on the declining economy, voices growing louder for actions and the growing concerns amongst a few regarding what the McCain Administration's plan was to try and stimulate the economy. Chinese and American relations have taken a hit after the Google hack and now the economy undergoing some more potential trouble with China raising the yuan against the US dollar. Indeed, while Chinese growth was being affected, China also plans for a more aggressive stimulus package to try and assist in dealing with economic troubles in the nation. However, other issues would soon prop up. Namely the South Kyrgyzstan riots, a clash between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks that result in the deaths of hundreds. Moreover, the corrupt problems as the brutality and bribery of officials have led to growing calls for investigation and for a return for order. However, such issues were complicated by the growing nationalist sentiment in Kyrgyz amongst the issues of the economy and ethnic violence. It served as a danger that crisises could lead people to doubling down on bad decisions that will not solve problems. On the other hand, the growing tensions between the US, Russia and China have been cooling down in trying to pressure Central Asia to get its act together.

Roza Otunbayev, leader of interim Kyrgyz government (2008)

However, the fact that some Eurasian experts have viewed this as Russia potentially trying to expand into the region have come to become more impactful in the wake of an extensively infamous event, "The Illegals Program." Named by the US, it was a clandestine operation that had a network of Russian sleeper agents being formed over to try and get close to American intelligence and business communities. They were the target of a multi-year investigation by the FBI. The investigation, called Operation Ghost Stories, culminated at the end of June 2010 with the arrest of ten people in the U.S. and an eleventh in Cyprus. The ten sleeper agents were charged with "carrying out long-term, 'deep-cover' assignments in the United States on behalf of the Russian Federation." The entire debacle drove greater wedges between the US and Russia in regards to the matter and led to the US working more to improve relations with China to have them act as a counterweight against Russia. Additionally, the debacle would have an influence in film and media regarding the portrayal of the Russian government. Relations were already stained due to the growing conflicts between the US's efforts of going green and Russia's insistence on petrochemicals and using it to try and grow influence on Europe. This along with cybersecurity has led to greater measures to protect voter integrity within the US and in the EU. Overall, the McCain Administration was able to handle the ordeal successfully, giving them some much needed support with the elections coming up soon.

Collection of Russian agents apprehended (Wikipedia)

While conspiracy and espionage regarding the Russian government brought memories of the Cold War back, the concerns of environmentalism returned with a natural disaster. That with the monsterously strong monsoon season over in Pakistan that led to immense flooding of the Indus River banks. To many, it was quite the shock and perhaps led people more to note the effects monsoons had and greater consideration in environmental methods to better benefit and minimize the damages from the monsoon floods. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had initially asked for US$460 million (€420 million) for emergency relief, noting that the flood was the worst disaster he had ever seen. Only 20% of the relief funds requested had been received on 15 August 2010. The U.N. had been concerned that aid was not arriving fast enough, and the World Health Organization reported that ten million people were forced to drink unsafe water. As such, various nations and others had to go above to assist the flooded nation. While US-Pakistani relations have been complicated in part because of the certain relatios with certain Islamic groups, innocent lives were at stake. Additionally, the worsening economic problems meant that not as much money could be donated though the McCain administration did use the advantage to send in troops to assist with rescue operations in part to further sell his stimulus package.

Indus River flooding map as of the end of August 2010

 

[CountDVB]

Autumn 2010

"More exploding fossil fuels... wonder how McCain will deal with this?"

"Some of us didn't hear about Limewire until now..."

"What the hell is Wikileaks?!"

As the fall came, something fascinating came with the elections. While the Gore Administration brought into attention the importance of the elections of House and Senate, the McCain Administration shown the prevelance of this and the primaries. The old guard of the Republican party has been clamping down on the growing dissenters, prompting them to try and run as independents, fueled by growing frustrations at the RNC and the DNC and their inability to change with the views of the voters or rather in their support of the old guard over the new ones for personal profit. As such, the primaries for these elections were becoming important. Even moreso as environmentalism would rise to prominence, even in the troublesome economy (in fact, some say tying both solutions together is possible.) This environmentalist bent would get a boost of attention with two new bits of news over in September. One is that another oil rig explodes and catches fire in the Gulf of Mexico. 13 workers that were on the rig were rescued from the water. It has been reported the rig was not in production of oil or natural gas at the time of the explosion. It is reported that no hazardous materials have entered the waters of the Gulf. However, it was a reminder to explore the potential leaks and dangerous. Just days later, a Pacific Gas and Electric Company natural gas line explosion in San Bruno, California, destroys 53 homes and damages 120 others. 7 people die, 20 are injured and 6 were missing for a while. It was another brutal reminder of the inadequacies of fossil fuels and each incident kept the idea from leaving peoples' heads or becoming used to it, even if most were more concerned with finances for the time being.

Remains of a portion of the natural gas pipeline after the explosion.

However, a surprising news that became its own news was in regards to the file-sharing site known as Limewire. Namely, because of how a federal judge ruled that the website's ability to share music for free was illegal and violated copyright laws. Normally, copyright law wasn't a big deal, but the growing talks surrounding Limewiere did get more people interestes into looking it and began another examination into copyright law. Copyright law wasn't discussed as much since the expansion of the public domain a couple years ago and the expiration date of copyrighted works for deceased individuals. However, Youtubers talking about it has led to growing interest and so on. People began watching the case more and while it looked Limewire would likely end up losing, it would become a pyrrhic victory over for the RIAA. Project MAY in particular had some interesting things to say as some artists who worked with the RIAA commented on the situation. The fact they were trying to seek over $70 trillion dollars, more than the global GDP, got them scorned and ridiculed over on social media and naturally spread over on talk shows and pundits. However, on a more serious matter was on the distrustful nature of the RIAA when the "Work for Hire" controversey came into the news. As the news reported, that back in 1999, Mitch Glazier, a Congressional staff attorney, inserted, without public notice or comment, substantive language into the final markup of a "technical corrections" section of copyright legislation, classifying many music recordings as "works made for hire", thereby stripping artists of their copyright interests and transferring those interests to their record labels. Shortly afterwards, Glazier was hired as Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Legislative Counsel for the RIAA, which vigorously defended the change when it came to light. The entire shadiness of the situation led to a vehement backlash on the RIAA and furthermore on lobbying. Project MAY in particular commented on this and comparison to their work regarding fan input and connection between musician and fan rather than through the shady middlemen of people like the RIAA. Even if the wording was repealed last year, it left a bitter taste in the mouths of people and various larger record labels were viewed with growing distrust and suspicion. The economic troubles likely fueled this as it brought memories of explotative executive elites hoarding the profits, especially when cases like Capitol Records, Inc. v. Thomas-Rasset were mentioned. What seemed like it would be a minor case grew to be a surprising clusterfuck, likely in part to the connotations of econimic disparity, the chicanery and greed of corporate elites over the little guy and the problems plaguing copyright. While Limewire did indeed still have to pay, many of these companies would be cast a dark shadow. Project MAY began growing some more while others began considering using their methods such as Indiegogo to do so for funding.

Logo of the defunct Limewire

Beyond this, the world continued to turn. Natural disasters continued to occur and global assistance was more vital than ever in a time of economic problems and crisis, with answers being demanded to solve the problems at hand. However, it would seem things would be going all right. The elections would be coming and going though who won and who lost would become trivial with a colossal bombshell that would shake up the news. That of "Cablegate", released by Wikileaks. Beginning on Sunday, 28 November 2010 when WikiLeaks—a non-profit organization that publishes submissions from anonymous whistleblowers—began releasing classifiedcables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates, embassies, and diplomatic missions around the world. Dated between December 1966 and February 2010, the cables contain diplomatic analysis from world leaders, and the diplomats' assessment of host countries and their officials. The entire matter set off a firestorm for everyone. According to what was known, military personal Manning was involved with entire leak when discovering plenty of startling and disturbing information she believed would be needed to be known. The entire thing set off debates about national security vs freedom of the press and this would end up covering all over the internet in regards to the ordeal. Charges through the Espionage Act was being suggested while a growing number of people were calling for the people behind it tpo be recognized as a patriot for exposing corruptuon.It was quite the scandal and while both parties latched onto it to tackle what they saw as a massive breach of security and espionage, the problems of the worsening economy began taking it into increasing priority. Many would note the entire thing of "Cablegate" would change things forever and come to be the first to fully challenge the problems of the US government and of status quo from the years.

The Wikileaks logo

...

...

...

"Mr. President! Mr. President! Revolution has broken out in Tunisia!"

...

...

...

"It's not just Tunisia, but it's spreading all over the Middle East!"

 

[CountDVB]

2010 Elections Results

Several things were primary factors within the 2010 elections. First was the sudden downshift for the economy. As it was gradually become clearer the details and how why the economy was failing, people were calling out for politicians to do something and people who made the promises to do something would be elected. However, the debates grew pretty intense as the debates on whether to do something, or to do tax cuts or so on. However, the 2010 Elections was one of the more infamous ones because of a prominent number of "Blue Dog Democrats" migrating over to the Republican party. Some saw this as a resulting of the changing times while others more cynically viewed it as trying to secure more prominent futures. It helped that many of these "Blue Dogs" were welcomed into the Republican Party to try and counter the rise of a few loud-mouth reactionaries, who would be accused of being back by heavily conservative think tanks.

Another was thanks to the end of gerrymandering. With an even playing field, centralists and collaborators had a higher chance of securing themselves and appeal to as many people as possible. After all, in such trying times, the presentation of bipartisanship, especially on part of the Republicans, would do some good for the McCain Administration to go and push over their stimulus package, being aimed at the military though some at infrastructure as well. Given some of the military successes of the McCain Administration in disaster managing and over in Honduras, along with support from the computer industries because of an emphasis onto cybersecurity, it would be passed on a bipartisan basis. However, not everyone was happy with this. A prominent voice in this was Senator Bernie Sanders, who noted that little to no reforms were being implemented to prevent this and that many of the institutions like certain banks would be getting away with what was going on.

The House and the Senate made some Republican gains, but not enough to gain a majority, with both sides having around equal numbers, and thus requiring bipartisan behaviors to be had. However, despite the frustrations, people at large still had faith in the system. The bailout and so on was going to help of course. However, a growing number of people on the Democrats and independents began realizing where the problems laid and began growing more vocal and prominent in their disdain and frustration.

However, with the governorships though, the Democrats maintained a majority, even if the primaries did see a growing number of tension and problems.

To many though, they would begin seeing this as the last main hurrah over for the neoconservatives who dominated since the Reagan years and it was showing...

 

[CountDVB]

2008-2010 The #MeTwo Movement

The arrest of Jeffrey Epstein was initially viewed as surprising, if relatively quiet for a lot of people. Granted, ongoing preliminary investigations and onterviews meant there was plenty going on in the back, but nothing conclusive. Eventually, the entire matter crescendoed in mid-2009 and continued into 2010. Namely, regarding the people Epstein were connected too that were not either dead ends or inconclusive leads. And what was happen was an unraveling of a long web weaved by many very powerful individuals. Mostly men, but some women involved as well.

It all started with a few individuals that were connected with Epstein and that their names present warranted further investigations. These investigations led to cracks and the promises of secrecy and security began having people come out with their experienced. These individuals were Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey. The former was the most notorious as the secrets involving the immense allegations against him were coming out. The accusations have gone back as far as 1980 with Harvey Weinstein and even reports of settlements as back as 1990. With the growing investigations and people coming forward, it was like a snowball effect. This became accelerated with the accusations and investigations into Kevin Spacey regarding the numerous accusations of sexual assault, especially a same-sex one.

The fact that these were men in the entertainment industry did not go unnoticed. Women in the industry began going out and encouraging more and more people to come out with their stories, claiming they will not be silenced and encouraging for them to come out and share their stories. Naturally, this came to escalate as several figures were accused and investigations were warranted.

Of course, while in a few cases, there was enough evidence to warrant arrests or charges, others were into settlements or lawsuits. Others were dismissed from not enough evidence or were not pursued. Commentators noted the struggling economy may have raised frustrations in the process of investigators while a few conspiracists claimed all of it was done to get money, something that would earn scorn.

However, it was still shocking to hear of many big names that would end up falling from such accusations though others were not as surprising. Les Moones, Kevin Spacey, R. Kelly, Tom Brokaw, Joel Kramer, Louis C.K., Roy Moore, Brett Ratner, Steven Seagal, Oliver Stone, and most shockingly of all, Bill Cosby. For many, it seemed to expose the dangers and menace in it. Companies and organizations began doing whatever to try and do damage control over the growing movement of listening to women. Some of this included mandatory “sensitivity training” classes while others including counseling.

Not even animation was safe from this. Chris Savino would end up become accused by several of his colleagues and end up black listed from the industry. The infamous John Kricfalusi would be charged for several incidents and forced to leave. Vic Mignogna, who had a history of rumors and shady details, would be let go from current and future projects, delaying several of them, such as Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Despite attempts at lawsuits as Funimation and his accusers, said lawsuits would be dismissed and Mignogna dropped other attempts at charges from new legal advice. Others meanwhile, were more asked to step down and let go while the entire ordeal was being investigated, such as John Lasseter stepping down from Pixar.

Reactions were complicated since while they were given plenty of attention and scandal, they ended becoming background noise in the face of the worsening economy. For some, it did serve as an additional irritation or problem as they felt some of their outlets from the economic stress were now tainted with controversy though others coped with new outlets. The rise of prominence of Internet entertainment became a draw for people. Independent reporters on it and new shows drew in bigger crowds. Additionally, the #MeTwo movement, born on MySpace, was able to circulate through Project MAY-O (with OpenFilm agreeing to join as a fourth party) and set several ground rules and promoting a safe work environment, with videos being promoted on the importance of professional courtesy, treating people equally and respecting personal space. Initial concerns of this affecting content did spread, it died down. As one noted, “making racy, profane or provocative content does not necessarily make a person an @$$hole.”

The silver lining was that people turned to alternate sources of entertainment and gave attention to what could’ve otherwise gone ignored. Indiegogo and Kickstarter would see a spike in projects being invested in for entertainment outside of what was viewed as an “elite sphere”. The rampant details and convictions forced the growing Internet culture to face the problems of misogyny and disrespect that ran through it.

While the entire controversy unearthed plenty of nastiness, life went on. There was some minor hope for improvement, but the Damocles sword of the failing economy overshadowed it. However, some noted in retrospect that this was beneficial in the long run for the movement. The emphasis on the economy meant that the potential for backlash was crippled by the more immediate concerns of economic troubles, lost income and other issues. This allowed the processing to go on relatively smoothly and was able to take advantage of the growing frustrations at the “economic elite” and how the wealthy and powerful often get away with it. Given how several businessman were investigated as well, it was satisfactory enough.

No one predicted arresting one man in 2008 would have this affect, but it certainly opened a Pandora's Box and forced plenty of people to confront the consequences of their actions.

 

[CountDVB]

2010 In Review

2010 was seen as an end and a beginning. To many, the oncoming recession saw it as an end of economic prosperity and hope that was introduced over by the Clinton administration and then galavanized and superceded by the Gore Administration. It was the end of the optimism brought forth by the end of the Cold War and even as the post-Cold War political era set in, it seemed things would go okay. Palestine and Israel were making real steps to peace to where the former was now a recognized nation, Iran and the US had buried the hatchet and approaching a better relationship born of cautious optimism. Environmentalism cemented itself in the mainstream far-greater than anyone predicted with the Exxon-Mobil scandal and subsequent problems and solutions accelerating the decline of the fossil fuel industry, especially as growing streams of thought led to a divergeance from consumerism. For some though, they saw 2010 as the beginning. Of a shaking up of the status quo and a new opportunity. Hopes to achieve dreams such as same-sex marriage legalized in the US and approaching the long haunting problems within politics and the economy.

Moreover, the world was standing at a precipe. As the Recession spread from American housing loans leading to bank failures and a cascading effect, it began threatening the established foundations and people began pointing fingers at one another. Regarding the Recession, not even the Russian bear was safe from this as this would further harm their exporting interests. Other nations meanwhile were benefitting from the Recession in some form or fashion. China responded with further investment into their infrastructure and moreover, began accelerating their ecological and green interests, noting that Gore's example for the Americans surprised them and forced them to reconsider their pace. In fact, they saw it as a semi-friendly challenge. After all, if Gore was able to accomplish enough in a decadant capitalist system for noticeable difference, then a more controlled economy like theirs should be able to do more and they have been crafty enough to listen the growing routes that the Americans have been discussing regarding biofuels, various electric sources and so on. Another was Iran as they were doing their best with the oil and investing into the infrastructure. However, they have also been investing further into the military. While part of it was because their new American ally was doing it, they also noted that tensions have been increasing with their neighbors of Iraq and Saudi Arabia and they wanted to be able to defend themselves. Many sense that the winds of change were about to go in a new direction, but which one, no one is sure. The coalition of Conservatives won in Austrailia, but with not that much confidence and the same could be said for the Cameron government in the UK, the Harper government in Canada or even the McCain governemnt in the US. Indeed, the Anglosphere holds a fair bit of prominence and influence and growing signs are showing a shift is coming.

Despite this and the pop culture shift coming along from the #MeTwo movement, it proved to be quite a good year for films and so on. The big winner was Disney with a film that was long rumored to have been in their final traditionally animated film. They have pulled all the stops and even rumored they pushed for copyright reform to make this film because of public domain. None other than The Thirteen Clocks, a fantasy tale by Thurber considered his best and Disney even got Neil Gaiman to assist in the adaptation given how he provided an introduction in the reprint. The film was a colossal smash success and beat out even Toy Story 3 if barely. Meanwhile, Inception dazzled everyone as an immense thriller and other animated classics earned their way to the top such as Despicable Me and How to Train your Dragon, restoring more faith in animation. Of course, not everything was hunky-dory. The changes made along with growing behaviors meant some films had more production. Percy Jackson as a film adaptation would become shelved due to problems in early production that appeared in pre-production. The Scott Pilgrim Vs the World film would undergo a troubled production in part due to the caution of adopting a six-part (well five, given the final book did not come out at the time) graphic novel series into a single film. However, the film would survive in part due to the indie scene; it would go from being distributed by Universal to being distributed as an indie film thanks to Openfilm and their partners of Project MAY-O. Indeed, Project MAY-O took a heavy interest because of the age bracket and connection of indie scene. While the film would be delayed (due to the decision to make it a trilogy), it would allow the film to succeed. Additionally, many Canadians and indie artists would appear in the film, either as soundtrack, cameos or extra, including the "Canadian Timberlake" and said musician's protege, Justin Bieber. The cult classic success of the film would allow the funding of the next two films and in the growing backlash against the elite, bring more attention to indie projects as a while. However, the bigger news was on Iron Man 2. The film sees Tony meet up with a new ally in famed spy, Natasha Romanov, aka Black Widow. She has comes to assist him and warn him on an oncoming danger, all while Tony wrestles with updating his ARC Reactor's component given it is poisoning him. The threat is none other than Boris Bullski, an old aquiantance of Natasha and former KGB agent. Boris' conflict with Tony is personal; his exoskeleton predates Tony's, but lacked a portable power source. Tony's triumph thus kept Boris from rising to fame for the glory of his nation. Boris teams up with Justine Hammer, daughter of Justin Hammer, an old business rival of his father Howard. The British Hammer Industries was once the formidable arms industry before the rise of Stark Industries and his bowing out gives the a chance to do so. Tony's alcoholism in dealing with his poisoning led to his prototype being taken by his best Rhodey, resulting in the creation of War Machine by Hammer Industries. However, during his time in studyign and designing the War Machine armor, Boris uses it and Hammer's resources to make his own superior version, the Titantium Man armor, including making a modified version of Tony's ARC Reactor. The film had themes about fatherhood, given the contrasts beteen Tony and Justine with theri fathers (Tony and Howard being complicated but genuinely affectionate while the affable appearance in Justine and her father give way to resentment as Justine is in her father's shadow and now Tony's as well) Another is on reflections in the past, such as the former British age being supplemented by the Americans and the callback to the old days of the USSR and now that it's gone. Many were surprised to catch a glimpse of the Mandarin in a post-credits scene, namely in that such a character would be used. Interviews note they went with him because he is Tony's biggest foe; moreover, they maintain the theme of facing the past with what Mandarin represents: imperialism.

Meanwhile, video games continued on into the future. Nintendo found further success with Super Mario Galaxy 2 doing quite well. Donkey Kong Country Returns also did well with one of the big things being Pokemon Black & White Versions. However, perhaps the big news was on the delay of Metroid: Other M. According to rumor, the delays happens in part due to production troubles, which led to the game having to become reimagined after the troubles led to intervention from the higher-ups. Many people were captivated by the story and the new Pokemon within it. SEGA meanwhile released some enw games over for the Xbox such as Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and more notably, Sonic Colors, which many saw the franchise move forward and provide new fun with the Wisps, serving as new power-ups. Additionally, it contained a couple of references to Sonic Chronicles: Dark Brotherhood. Meanwhile, other successful Xbox games included Mass Effect II, the extensively popular and successful sequel to the game. It would become a surprising smash out hit over in Japan as it became promoted on the Xbox 360. So much so that during a showcase with the original Mass Effect at a video game expo, Miyamoto was invited to play a little and he noted he was pretty impressed by it. There was even a joke on who would win between Shepard or Samus Aran. Other popular Xbox games included Bioshock 2, Red Dead Redemption, Fallout New Vegas and Assassin's Creed. Sony meanwhile managed to keep up if barely in part due to a rough couple of years. However, Heavy Rain became a big classic over time along with some other games. World of Warcraft meanwhile saw further expansion with Cataclysm and new games showed up, like Scott Pilgrim vs the World The Game, coming out on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii, adapted by Rare-Ubisoft. The beat-em-up game is quite popular, with a chiptune soundtrack and wonderful sprite work, though with some collecting elements coming from a touch by Rare. And of course, plenty of changes were coming from #MeTwo movement and some wondered how this would affect gaming...

 

[CountDVB]

The Arab Spring (Part 1)

While some would see the Great Recession as the defining start of the decade, others believe it was none other than the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring is a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Islamic world in the early 2010s. It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, starting with protests in Tunisia, many citing Cablegate as being associated with it. The protests then begin to spread to five other countries: Libya, Egypt, Yemen, and Bahrain, where either the regime was toppled or major uprisings and social violence occurred, including riots, civil wars or insurgencies.

Sustained street demonstrations took place in Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Sudan and Saudi Arabia. Minor protests occurred in Djibouti, Mauritania, Iranian Khuzestan, and the Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara. A major slogan of the demonstrators in the Arab world is ash-shaʻb yurīd isqāṭ an-niẓām ("the people want to bring down the regime"). Other places meanwhile saw restrictions and curfews placed on them, such as Iraq and Syria. To most of the world, the Arab Spring was quite the shock with some hoping it would be led to the rise of progress in the Middle East. others were more concerned with the rise of potential autocracy and instability within the region. Unsurprisingly, the McCain Administration began having more meetings and discussions on what to do in the matter. Iran was perhaps the most notable example of them being there though thanks to the reformers in charge, changing viewpoints and slight pressure from the neighbors, they were able to pass some reforms to bring the issue to rest and focus on their neighbors.

Tunisia and Algeria would see their governments overthrown. Jordan and Oman made various reforms and changes, overseen by the Arab League in addition to the UN to ensure smooth transitions. Egypt meanwhile would see their government overthrown. The Yemeni Crisis would see American troops intervene regarding the elections along with assistance of neighbors, notably Iran. While it was for peacekeeping, the primary problem was namely the big tent Houthi movement. Negotiations and tensions were all over the place though one memorable moment was McCain's surprisingly sharp-edged "Do you even have a plan if you win? What are your policies and solutions?" comment, evoking former President Gore's speech against Bid Laden nearly a decade prior. The moment would come to be something repated within Arabic news and translated, noting it was a stark reminder on the realities of day-to-day governance. The military expansion through the stimulus pushed by the McCain Administration was considered useful in trying to gain the Yemen Crisis under control.

Sudan and Bahrain would see major protests through it. Other nations like Morocco would see social reforms be put in after the protests. Saudi Arabia meanwhile would see growing protests grow throughout and already the Americans and their allies have been preparing for the worst. Syria and Iraq meanwhile seem to just bubble over, more and more. Protests were getting bigger and no one was sure if civil would break out between the two Baathist nations. However, in the Summer of 2011, the guns of the Baathists came out...

And pointed to each other.

The kettles have burst, the Americans, the Europeans and many Middle-East nations scrambled as the whole thing exploded.

The Iraqi-Syrian War has begun.

 

[CountDVB]

Well, here is somethign new for a personal touch! Me writing a reflection as if I grew up here in this timeline.

Through the Decade 2000-2009

"I was in third grade when 9/11 happened. I did not think much of it. I was one of those kids that lived kinda in my head. Plus I was in third game. Not much I could remember. I could remember everyone celebrating when Osama Bin Laden was caught. I did watch a bit of the trial with my dad. My younger brother and I were grade schoolers so large improtant international affairs like this were above our head, but our dad thought it is important. One thing I did remember that my dad clarified was on how the people that did the thing had no plan for what they supposedly wanted to do. My dad taught me that if you were gonna complain about something, you need to at least try to have a working solution. The whole thing I think made me think of Gore as someone who knew what they were doing. Otherwise, I was more focused on my personal stuff like school, reading, drawing, toys and video games. I was just a kid after all. What else could I do? I just played my Gamecube and games like Super Smash Bros Melee with my brother. He usually beat me though I liked Krystal because she used magic. Looking back, there was one major thing that I did not recognize until I was older and looked into it. Namely that the company my dad worked at, Hewlett-Packard, was gonna buy another Compaq, but the thing that happened with Microsoft and its division into MSApps and Microsoft Operations gave everyone cold feet. Wonder what would've happened if the deal went through... "

"Of course, as I grew older, I was able to better understand stuff. The Exxon-Mobil scandal was another. I was around 10-11 during 2004. I was a middle schooler and the whole thing was talked about by the teachers so naturally even some of the students talked about it. I mean, it's not everyday when a president forces a big company to tell America and the world that they were lying to them and hiding the truth. They obviously wouldn't say it was because of money, but even back then, it was kinda obvious. It blew my mind. I was a person of reason and purpose, even if I was emotional. The thought of that selfishness bothered the heck out of me and still does. Being green became more popular, but it was the how that was different. I grew up in a smallish town in the northenist part of Georgia so the guys preferred more outdoorsy ways for protecting the environment. Of course, some of the kids who had dads that hunted noted this. Looking back, I think the scandal did kinda serve as a massive thing even for teens and tweens. That big companies can and will lie to you for the sake of it. For alot of ys that were young, such a blatant example did not escape us and I think it changed how some of us grew back . I know it changed some of the grown-ups. When we went back to class, I entered middle school and some of us recalled how our parents voted for 2004. More people voted for Gore than they did for Bush, some saying that Gore changed some of their parents. I didn't understand the whole conservative or liberal thing back then. None of us around my age did, but we could see Gore becoming an important president. Another was on the talk of Medicare for Kids. I grew up with good insurance thanks to my dad's job. The idea that some kids had trouble going to the doctor because their parents couldn't pay blew my mind. It... it sounded so wrong. The fact some places in Europe covered kids and adults just made it big. I began talking a bit more on politics back then. My dad encouraged it. It made me sound more grown-up and I liked that. I also began learning about taxes and so on. I still didn't wholly get it, but I did know that if it's working for one group, it should work for us. I also heard about Facebook and Myspace for the first time. I did not really have full internet access yet on my computer, but I did think about it. Only news that hit me was on Marvel and Nestle. My dad's a Spider-Man fan so he was a bit surprised by what it mean and my uncle, a bigger fan, had to. I did not know what to think of it, but remembering how old Spider-Man was and how it ran and how things were the same. Maybe a redo was good, I thought. Nestle was also where I learned about environmental costs to stuff. I mean, I loved hocolate so hearing the news was worth my interest. Learning about the stuff regarding bottled water was seriously messed up. I think even at school it was noticed as I saw less water bottles and more people bringing their own or like those big water jugs."

"Change was more gradual, but more noticeable once I became a teenager and began experiencing all the ups and downs. Now having the internet, it meant I could do stuff like check out the social media stuff and so on. Myspace looked neat and hearing Gore talked about it, would make one around 2007. I was exploring more the Internet. I was going on to learn about Project MAY. Myspace's partnership with Artistshare and Youtube. The idea of people giving money to support artists seemed really cool and I couldn't help but show my dad. He found it fascinating. My folks always tried to maintain interest and so on with our stuff, but it was because it meant a lot to us. This was something that even grabbed his attention and I think some of his co-workers. Entering high school had me websurfing as my main hobby and I delved deeper. I discovered a lot. I did not grow up watching Fred Rogers as a kid, so discovering his stuff on Youtube touched me like never before. I felt better about myself. I began taking a bit more seriously on maybe making money throug the internet. Of course, I was still insecure; I did not think i could match up to all the talented people online. Other things began changing me. I was surprised that Teen Titans could return if people sent money. My dad was skeptical on the thing, but he said it was my money. He helped me send it on Indiegogo. Surprise, surprise, the whole thing caught attention and it worked. I felt empowered and important. Sure there was some stuff on whether they could some names in as credits (I sent in 20 bucks because I was determined) and so on. But I got a commerative item and it felt... really nice. Caught my dad and brother by surprise. I think alot of people saw this as kinda a future thing. People pay and support what they like. It seemed obvious."

"The Simpsons ending was surprising. I did see the movie after all and hearing it ending reminded me of change. I remember being bummed out that Spider-Man 3 was cancelled as a film, but when I read up on the problems, I got a reminder the people making this stuff also have reasons. As time went by, I played new games. I remember getting a Nintendo Wii and have some fun there while my brother got an Xbox 360. I did not spend as much money there because of college coming up. I loved playing Brawl and found alot of the heroines introduced fascinating and pretty cool. My brother and I had different tastes in gaming and he played more mature games. However, there was one game that changed me forever. I first heard about it through roleplaying on the Serebii forums.... Persona. Persona 4 appeared on the Xbox 360 and I wanted to try it out. I asked and I would be recommended it, so I bought the game after my brother agreed I could use his Xbox 360 for it. Persona 4 I think was the game that helped me grow up. I was an insecure teenager wrestling with my problems, especially around the end of the decade. I had little friends. Playing this game... I related to everyone of the characters and the game consumed me. I laughed, I got mad, I even cried. No other game beforehand go to me in such a way. I devoured the game and everything on it, including what went behind it. I learned about Karl Jung there and I also discovered Jojo's Bizarre Adventure through there when i brought it up online. The game helped me through a rough time and helped accept the complicated parts of me. I thought the whole thing with Personas and later Stands would be cool and I thought I would wanna write something like that. Don't think I would've played it if the game was a Sony exclusive since neither my brother nor I had a Playstation 3. With 2010 coming, I guess there's more changes. The Recession sorta hit the family. My dad still remained with the company for the time being. I was a bit more aware of stuff around me than I thought I would be. I guess I have to think more on my future and what I wanna do when I go to college. But looking at the past 10 years, was something special."

 

[CountDVB]

Winter 2011

"What the hell happened in Tucson?!"

"Welcome to the world, South Sudan..."

"Happy Groundhog Day everyone..."

A brand new year and the world was already on edge... after all, the Arab Spring brought attention back to the Middle East and North Africa regarding autocratic governments and nations of varying stability. To alot of people and governments, it warranted importance because of humanitarian purposes, even if people could not afford it as much due to the worsening economic conditions, even if stimulus packages were passed, though their effectiveness has been varied thus far. Additionally, no real changes or punishments were made to the banks behind this. The sense of relief would slowly give way to one of realization, of betrayal, of anger... however, during the course of that time, many other events came. Tucson surprised the nation with the news; U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and several others were shot during a constituent meeting held in a supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobes, Arizona, in the Tucson metropolitan area. The only casuality was Giffords herself. Giffords was holding the meeting, called "Congress on Your Corner", in the parking lot of a Safeway store when Jared Lee Loughner drew a pistol and shot her in the head before proceeding to fire on other people. The entire tragedy sparked a firestorm, especially into the investigation of the shooter, Loughner. Despite Loughner's record of questionable behavior, he was permitted to purchase the handgun. The entire ordeal served as a call for bipartisan unity even with the discussions of things like gun control or investigation on Loughner's behavior. Loughner would end up being shot dead before he could be subdued. Feelings were of widespread anger and frustration and some thoughts were being floated on what could be done.

Roadside sign at the scene the day of the shooting.

Meanwhile, the world deals with its own ups and downs. Through stimulus packages and bailouts, all while finger-pointing over the banks failign was being done. Hell, there was massive protests going on in Iceland that would see a quiet overthrow of the government with the installation of a new Prime Minister, which spread all across social media and held as an exemplar on how to hold accountable corrupt governments. However, other nations were seeing progress with their government, one of which being the future new state of South Africa. A referendum took place in Southern Sudan from 9 to 15 January 2011, on whether the region should remain a part of Sudan or become independent. The referendum was one of the consequences of the 2005 Naivasha Agreement between the Khartoum central government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M). On 7 February 2011, the referendum commission published the final results, with 98.83% voting in favor of independence. While the ballots were suspended in 10 of the 79 counties for exceeding 100% of the voter turnout, the number of votes was still well over the requirement of 60% turnout, and the majority vote for secession is not in question. Several nations commented on the hopes of growing independence and autonomy, while others expressed concern regarding structural integrity and infrastructure. These concerns have led to delaying the date of independence, going from July to December of the year, all while growing connections with their neighbors. McCain has showed his support and also concern on the matter.

South Sudan flag

Of course, disaster have ways of striking or causing problems back at home. As January went over to Febuary, the United States and Canada would become buffered by a large winter storm. Coming to be known as the 2011 Groundhog Day Blizzard, it was a surprising and massive storm of snow that hit over several parts. Predicted and prepared for in part because of the satellite and systems placed by the Gore Administration prior, it still served as a colossal shock for the populations of both nations. An ice storm ahead of the winter storm's warm front also brought hazardous conditions to much of the American Midwest and New England, and many areas saw well over 1 in (2.5 cm) of ice accumulation. Numerous power outages, flight cancellations, airport closures, road closures, roof collapses, rail and bus cancellations, mail stoppages, and school, government, and business closures took place ahead of and after the storm; many of these disruptions lasted several days. Several tornado touchdowns were reported in Texas and a tornado watch was issued for parts of Alabama, ahead of the cold front in the warm sector of the storm. In addition, thundersnow was recorded at some locations, including downtown Chicago. Surprises laid everywhere, including how the cold aur that touched down in a certain spot in Mexico would damage heavily much of the tropical trees there. Up further north, a prior blizzard ended up serving as the appetizer to this intense storm. All in all, it tested many people and the idea of climate change returned into people's minds. However, while the prepartions and plans did well, some of the budget cuts and mishandling did lead to some criticisms down the line.

In a winter marked by several crippling storms, the storm of February 1–2, 2011, stands out. Heavy snow, ice, freezing rain, and frigid wind battered about two thirds of the United States, making it “a winter storm of historic proportions,” said the National Weather Service. In the image, the storm measures about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) from west to east.

 

[CountDVB]

Spring 2011

"Looks like the Supreme Court is pretty busy..."

"First the crazy blizzards and now these twisters?! This ain't normal! And we ain't ready for stuff like this!"

"What the flood?!"

The "Spring of the Supreme Court" would be labelled this season, if namely due to the surprising amount of notable Supreme Court decisions that were implemented over during the spring time. First of all was one regarding over the case of a deceased soldier killed during a peacekeeping mission during the Arab Spring, with his funeral being protested by the infamous Westboro Baptist Church. While there was the question in regards over decency and so on, The case brought up the issue of whether or not the First Amendment protected public protestors at a funeral against claims of emotional distress, better known as tort liability. It involved a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress. On the one hand, the First Amendment was one of the most sacred and fundamental pillars of American society along with freedom of religion, especially on public spaces. On the other hand, emotional distress and harassment had to be considered, especially since some of the protest signs were less about "public issues" and more "private harassment". Much to the outrage of many, in Snyder v. Phelps, the Court sided with Phelps, citing an infamously previous case regarding filming animal violence and that the signs were mainly of public issues.The anger went beyond partial circles however given the relative unanimous agreement barring one dissent. Other case results were greeted more postively, such as Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn , which saw the repeal of a state law regarding providing tax credits to people who donate to school tuition organizations providing scholarships to students attending private or religious schools. Kentucky v. King, regarding warrantless searches violating the 4th Amendment under suspicions of destruction of evidence ended up claiming that it did, since such suspicions could be claimed on behalf of the police. Brown v. Plata maintained that a court-mandated population limit was necessary to remedy a violation of prisoners’ Eighth Amendment constitutional rights. Some displayed concerns over letting prisoners go while others used to point out the surprisingly large prison populatons in general and the comparisons of some crimes over others. Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting would rule that an Arizona state law suspending or revoking business licenses of businesses that hire illegal aliens is illegal, noting overreach. Concerns over the practice of hiring illegals were displayed though others pointed out that it would not stop businesses from trying. It got many people to closer examine the view of the Supreme Court, especially with how it was they who more-or-less decided a Presidential election over back in 2000. Others began pressuring their legislatures for better laws or further actions while others took matters in their own hands.

Supreme Court image

Meanwhile, with the nation recovering the intense snow storms, they would be attacked by perhaps the biggest outbreak of tornados. The 2011 Super Outbreak was the largest, costliest, and one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks ever recorded, taking place along the Southern, Midwestern, and Northeastern United States and leaving catastrophic destruction in its wake. The event not only affected Alabama and Mississippi the most severely, but also produced destructive tornadoes in Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, and affected many other areas throughout the Southern and Eastern United States. In total, 360 tornadoes were confirmed by NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) and Government of Canada's Environment Canada in 21 states from Texas to New York to southern Canada. Widespread and destructive tornadoes occurred on each day of the outbreak, with April 27 being the most active day with a record of 216 tornadoes touching down that day from midnight to midnight CDT (0500 – 0500 UTC). Four of the tornadoes were destructive enough to be rated EF5, which is the highest ranking possible on the Enhanced Fujita scale; typically these tornadoes are only recorded about once each year or less. Following the snow storm, the entire ordeal weighed heavily on the American people, especially with many people trying to recover from losses of the snow storm or even the Great Recession. More emergancy services were being requested and people trying to rebuild themselves. The disasters became a painful reminder over the potential disaster of climate change and the lack of money coming in for infrastructure or emergancy services, leading to growing frustrations over toward the McCain administration. This also led to a revitalization of emergancy packs or people saving money for a rainy day, with the disaster causing a bit more problems for the economy.

April 27 and April 28, 2011, brought the deadliest tornado outbreak in the United States since 1974. By dawn on April 28, at least 250 people had been killed in 6 states.

However, this was not yet bad enough for the Americans, especially those living near the mighty Mississippi. The Mississippi River floods in April and May 2011 were among the largest and most damaging recorded along the U.S. waterway in the past century, comparable in extent to the major floods of 1927 and 1993. In April 2011, two major storm systems deposited record levels of rainfall on the Mississippi River watershed. When that additional water combined with the springtime snowmelt, the river and many of its tributaries began to swell to record levels by the beginning of May. Areas along the Mississippi itself experiencing flooding included Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The ordeal was calling for the worst flooding to be labelled federal disaster areas. This along with the troublesome economy would end up costing people even more, pushing Americans to the limits. Additionally, the problems and cracks weighed down on them. While the Medicare for Kids made sure youngsters got free healthcare, the adults weren't as lucky, especially with job losses, or business damages and so on. For the first time in 37 years, the Morganza Spillway was opened on May 14, deliberately flooding 4,600 square miles (12,000 km2) of rural Louisiana to save most of Baton Rouge and New Orleans The links to the tornadoes were unsurprising and by near the summer, a growing number of people were growing pretty pissed. Climate disasters, unsteady economies and it seemed like politicians were not listening or providing the assistance needed. Growing radical voices began proclaiming what was needed.

Flooding along Beale Street in downtown Memphis, Tennessee

...


...


...


"Mr. President! Mr. President! Iraq has just declared war on Syria!!!"

 

[CountDVB]

The Arab Spring Part 2: The Iraqi-Syrian War

Iraq and Syria were unique nations. They were the last nations upholding the so-called Baathist ideology. However, rather than be allies, they are antagonistic, a relationship that has grown more bitter and angry over time. The United States had plans to deal with Iraq since the Gulf War from decades prior, but never enacted on it. There was no real casus belli on it. However, the idea has died down if namely due to the criticisms lobbied at neoconservatives and to a lesser extent neoliberals for their attempts to try and persuade people for the war. That does not mean that a scenario to deal with Iraq was not on the table nor with Syria. Syria was Russia's primary contact within the Middle East and Iraq had long been the target of Iran. As such, plans were drawn up though still in the planning phase. Iran wanted the Shia Iraqis in their sphere of influence and the Americans would be willing to grant them though questions remained on Kurdistan and the Assyrians as well. This was a very complicated situation. Iran was anxious that the creation of a Kurdish state could resuilt in the Iranian Kurds wanting to seperate with the traditional Kurdish lands. On the other hand, the situations between the Iraqi and the Iranian Kurds were quite different. The Iranian Kurds had shared history and positive relations with Iran so they saw no reason to want to leave and preferred autonomy at most. The Iraqi Kurds on the other hand were pretty keen on statehood after the the brutal conflicts between them and Saddam and Kurdish autonomy was only maintained through American and British swords protecting them, with their civil rights growing restricted due to Saddam's growing paranoia. This left Sunni Iraq as one more thing to figure out. Iran agreed to the terms though noted the creation of Kurdistan would in all likelihood create trouble with Turkey.

According to some of the information leaked from Cablegate, Erdoğan was described by U.S. diplomats as having "little understanding of politics beyond Ankara" and as surrounding himself with an "iron ring of sycophantic (but contemptuous) advisors". He is said to be "isolated", and that his MPs and Ministers feel "fearful of Erdogan's wrath". Diplomats state that "he relies on his charisma, instincts, and the filterings of advisors who pull conspiracy theories off the web or are lost in neo-Ottoman Islamist fantasies". This did not give much hope for the Americans on that front and they sure did not want to fight with Turkey. However, the economic problems in Turkey have been leading to greater tensions as of late, and trouble for the Erdoğan government, especially if he will be capable to help the Turkish economy.

However, Turkey dealing with their economic problems served as a convienent excuse for the Americans, though instead, they began stationing more forces at Israel, Palestine and Jordan, with them eyeing warily Syria and Iraq. They also wanted to limit the Sauds' movement in the area due to the growing revelations on the Sauds' connection with the 9/11 hijackers along with them spreading what has been deemed the "Westboro Baptism of Islam". Another issue was the Russians, being the main ally of Syria with their relations with Iran having grown more distant as a result of them moving to the US. Of course, this was more the Assad government than anyone else. However, the plans would come in handy when it all hit the fan.

Syria was affected by the Arab Spring unsurprisingly and while attempts at delaying and maintaining was held, not much else could be done. And so by May, the Syrian Civil War officially begun. With Russian in economic troubles, they did not lend much assistance, nor did they think they needed to. Everyone hoped peace could try and be achieved and the fighting would reach an end soon. However, it was not to be. In June, a few weeks into the civil war, Iraq declared war on Syria, citing the dangers of Syrian insurgents and dangers spilling into his nation. The Syrian forces attempted to try and unifying, but Iraq was better equipped and more-suited, with Saddam desperately hoping for a quick enough victory and it seemed to be going that way.

He was sorely mistaken.

When word got out, the Americans and their allies in the Middle East, including Iran, executed their operation to invade Iraq under the pretense of bringing stability as well as liberating the Kurds. Reception was mixed to say the least, but ample preparation time and the invasion from several sides allowed for a powerful advantage. Of course, their inclusion into the war led to the powderkeg exploding. Kurdish nationals flooded into Iraq. Despite the violence, by early August, Iraq had been defeated by the rise of Iraqi civilians, the coalition of American, Iranian and other allies triumphed over Saddam. The next few weeks and months would be devoted to administering the different regions and working to figure the best solution while dealing with Saddam loyalists and extremists. Of course, the fighting was far from over.

Iraq had done some significant damage to Syria in the few weeks Iraq could run rampant over in Syria and the forces remained became mercenaries or joined the various sides, forcing the coalition to further involve themselves in Syria, The Syrian Army got heavily injured and several groups began splintering, resulting in more effort being put in by the Coalition. The entire affair was bedlam yet the Coalition continuqed, especially as Jordan, Israel and Palestine closed in, working to try and secure the area. Assad himself would become assassinated by a suicide bomb attack by a supposed cabinet (some suspect with links over to a former member of Saddam's forces or religious extremists.) The Americans among many others like the Iranians, Jordanians, Israelis and Palestianians would spend more manpower and time into trying to bring order, especially as the Syrian Civil War dissolved into madness and looking to restore order. New organizations would spring up and it would be clear the stabilzing the region with a long term plan would be an option, especially as more and more of the Baathists would be retreating.

The Iraqi-Syrian War technically ended with the end of that summer with the fall of Iraq and the destabilization of Syria, but an official peace would not be signed for years until the new nations stablized. The war was marked with sorrow, with hope, with violence and with promise...

American involvement was viewed with various looks across the world though given Saddam's lack of reputation and Syria's pre-existing conditions, there was little anyone could actually complain though Russia's antagonism with the Americans grew further with Syria's collapse, but the economy was being very turbulent for them and the Americans have become wary of Putin designs... Calls of imperialism were shut down as the Americans had little to gain regarding resource and indeed, no oil fields or anything went to any companies or anything. Gore's eco legacy was too deep-rooted and the people too wary and on edge for them to try and anything. The war did serve to solidifying the growing relationship on Iran with the Americans as well as Israel, Palestine and Jordan. The Kurds and Assyrians were grateful for American assistance though it was right now a matter of resolving the issue on the various regions formed from the past failures of British and French imperialism. American intervention would serve as a much needed bost of confidence for the McCain Administration in that they were doing good though the judgement of what next remains...

 

[CountDVB]

Summer 2011

"Holy heck... go Canada..."

"Holy hell, what happened in Norway?!"

"Gaddafi has fallen, looks like Arab Spring seems to be dying down..."

The Great Recession lingered on and across the world, solutions were desperate to be found and people trying to figure out what to do. Governments were being viewed with more criticism and judgement over their perceived failures to deal with the troubles of the economy, at least back home. The supposedly traditional ways of dealing with it were not working and solutions were being looked to. Then the news would hit this summer over what's going on in Canada. That of the victory of NDP and the election of Jack Layton as the new Prime Minister of Canada. The Great Recession hitting Canada added further stress to Jack Layton and forced him to take a leave of absence over in early 2010, especially to deal with his newly discovered prostate cancer. As such, the news was joyful when it was heard Jack Layton would beat prostate cancer. This triumph, his criticisms at the Harper administration, the voter suppression scandal and the return of the infamous In and Out Scandal proceeded to crush the Conservative party of Canada and ruin Harper's credability. The so-called "Orange Crush" would see Jack Layton ascend to become the PM, forming a minority government with the Liberals along the total annihilation of the Bloc Québécois. The Layton Administration focused on promoting on renewable energy for the purposes of creating jobs as well as expanding healthcare for everyone. When asked which route for renewable energy route, the Layton adminsitration have decided to focus on the potential of geothermal power., especially with the potential job prospects it would have. Most notable of this was in Alberta, due to their oil sands. The idea being to replace the oil sands with geothermal energy. The world and the Anglosphere in particular were looking at the NDP of Canada for defying the traditional ways and seeing where it could go.

Newly-elected 2011 Prime Minister of Canada and NDP leader, Jack Layton

However, not everything was exactly well and the world was stunned to hear of a terrorist attack over in Norway, caused by Anders Behring Breivik, a far-right wing anti-immigrant terrorist. According to him, the entire reason for his terrorist attack was to spread his manifesto. The entire ordeal was quite a shock and brought back attention to the notion of homegrown terrorists. The whole thing spurred talks regarding matters of national security, the failure in Norweigian child services of the past and in anti-immigration sentiment, especially with the talks in the European Union to try and take in refugees from the Iraqi-Syrian War. The world shwoed empathy to Norway and led to a sense of greater security to combat extremism. Breivik would come to become the model where modern terrorism would be based on for the 2010s. Some even noted that Breivik operated like Islamic terrorists and noted that for all the talk of one's hatred for the other, that they were all cut from the same cloth, violent individuals who used ideology to justify their own hatred of the other along with all of them being on the right-wing politically. People took more note of this as they believed the troubling economic times would force these extremists to crawl out of the wood work, which resulted in further talk that troubling economic times did not justify cruel behavior. Norway was being rebuilt and perhaps partially to spite Breivik, a good deal of donations and assistance in rebuilding the area came from the Middle East such as Palestine and Iran.

Oslo city centre, shortly after Breivik's ANFO car bomb detonated

Elsewhere in the world, more turbulent issues occurred. While the Iraqi-Syrian War continued and the Arab Spring began slowly dying down with some resolutions or reforms, though the fears of an Arab Winter remained. Issues remained prominent in Yemen while Syria and Iraq continue to require manpower to be stabilized and talks being discussed over the fate of the nations and how to progress in the future. The newest example of this was the revolution going on in Libya combatting Gaddafi. He was quite the controversial figure to say the least; he was decorated with various awards and praised for his anti-imperialist stance, support for Arab—and then African—unity, and for significant improvements that his government brought to the Libyan people's quality of life. On the other hand, he was opposesd for his reforms, his human rights violations and various other problems such as accusations iof sexual abuse and using the oil money to fund revolutions abroad rather than focus at home. Unsurprisingly among the west, he was painted as some sort of super-villainous figure while others such as Catro and Chavez applauded him. The last days of August saw the Battle of Tripoli, which saw the Gaddafi regime fall and the man would end up escaping. Libya was under new management, though how they would fare, people awaited with wary eyes.

Frontlines during the Battle of Tripoli (20 - 28 Augusts 2011)

 

[CountDVB]

Autumn 2011

"Hurricanes and wildfires, ho man..."

"RIP Steve Jobs..."

"Boldly go, Mars Rover"

The end of summer and the beginning of fall came about, yet it proved that the beginning of the new decade was still filled with surprises, the bad kind of surprises for many people though... The end of August saw some more storms come about to cause trouble for the East Coast. And that was through Hurricane Irene, a rare hurricane that drove North up the mid-atlantic and Northeast coast. 9 million homes lose power. Total Caribbean and U. S. fatalities and flooding damage are 55 dead and US$10 billion respectively. The New England state of Vermont suffers its worst flooding in 100 years. Overall, the storm was a brutal pain for people to overcome and added troubles for people struggling in a sluggish economy, especially since it seemed the stimulus package did little, with the McCain Administration being pressured to try and do another stimulus package on the economy alongside with more assistance for the storms. Furthermore, there were more disasters beyond the wrath of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. The Bastrop County Complex fire was the most destructive wildfire in Texas history, striking areas of Bastrop County in September and October 2011. The vitriolic reaction toward the government because of budget cuts for services while conflicts for FEMA occured as a result. This unsurprisingly set off trouble over for the political sides as trying to decide how much is enough for this. The bipartisanship is cracking from the disaster though for now, there was no populist yet to rock the boat for now. There were some voices growing for reform such as Senators Obama, Sanders and Feingold calling for more to be done and stoking the flames of frustration at the government. Furthermore, there was the fact for who would be running for presidency. Perhaps out of fear for losing the White House after such a short time, the Republicans worked to maintain unity though with the growing number of younger ecoconservatives and former Democrats, said unity was achieved by going further center. Democrats meanwhile saw the cracks develop further between the moderates and the growing progressives. It was 10 years since 9/11 and while most of those years seemed alight with optimism and hope from the Gore Administration, the McCain Administration seemed to be haunted with disasters they were not handling because of ideological policy though some questioned whethered Gore would've done better...

CH-47 Chinook helicopter from the Texas Army National Guard using Bambi Bucket to dump water on a blaze near Bastrop; September 6, 2011.

As people struggle and pick up from the scene, some starlingly tech news hits the mainstream. That of the death of Apple founder, Steve Jobs. With the death of such an industry magnate especially being only 56, it sent bombshells. Many have wondered if anything could've been done regarding his health though some noted that Jobs' health was likely impacted by the Great Recession related to stress along with managing Pixar with his work in Apple. Unsurprisingly, his death sent a shockwave of condolences and grievances were sent by people who knew Jobs and the nation at large. Unsurprisingly it included big names like Steve Wozniak, who noted that he began repairing his friendship with Steve Jobs after multiple meetings and invitations during the Gore Adminsitration's meetings for the various tech heads and newcomers to discuss the growing importance of computers and the internet and by his death, they were closer than they had been in many years and thus part of the small private funeral for Jobs. Speaking of, former President Gore also sent words of kindness on his passing while President McCain himself announced condolences. Disney themselves had the flags lowered in half-mast in respect over Jobs and discussions over the future of Pixar was being discussed overall with it along with future endeavors. Lucas was invited to take on a more predominant role back at Pixar, which he declined though he did not he would give some input on who should come next. Notably, John Lasseter declined from the role and James "Jim" Morris would become the new CEO of Pixar for the time being. Pixar noted it would maintain its professional relationship with Disney though the issue regarding Lasseter did mean that more than a few Pixar animators and associated joined up with Disney to help bolster their CGI-specific animation studio, formerly known as Circle 7 Animation. Initially planned to create Pixar sequels in the event of a potential Disney-Pixar fallout (avoided due to Eisner being forced out with Iger taking over, but cirumstances leading to contract negotiations rather than fully purchasing the company, giving Pixar a better deal to avoid losing them), they instead served as "back-up" animators for Pixar films though they did release various shorts and played a key role in Wally's Secret Life's CGI aspect though Pixar got more credit. Disney released Pixar's The Incredibles II this year, and the final film that Jobs oversaw as Pixar. It focused on Helen Parr regarding heroics while Bob was with reconnecting with his kids; both dealing with the Super Relocation Act, the film was a large critique of McCarthyism, propaganda and the industrial-military complex, through its two villains, Mezmerella, a powerful hypnotist and archenemy of Elastigirl along with Xerek, a two hundred year old criminal kingpin who was implied to have been a financial backer of Syndrome. The film served as a strong reassurance given to employees and fans that cooperation would remain well between the two companies.

Flags flying at half-staff outside Apple HQ in Cupertino, on the evening of Jobs' death

Throughout the chaos and disaster, there was a spirit of determination to try and keep moving forward and overcoing the adversity. Even with the passing of Jobs, Apple contiues to go forward with innovation. Even with the budget cuts of the McCain Administration, renewable energy technologies and other ecologically friendly solutions are being researched. And more of all, the search for the quest into space has not yet been lost. This is seen with NASA launching the Mars Science Laboratory into space. A robotic space probe mission, the craft is carrying with it the new Mars rover, Curiosity. The overall objectives include investigating Mars' habitability, studying its climate and geology, and collecting data for a human mission to Mars. The rover carries a variety of scientific instruments designed by an international team. Concerns regarding the project were discussed, but a bulk of the work was done under the Gore Adminsitration and finishing touches put upon before the Recession so as such, they were so close to completion that the McCain Administration noted that cancelling would mean all the money already put in would be for naught. The lab and rover was launched, witht he expected landing being summer of the next year.

Mars Science Laboratory in final assembly

 

[CountDVB]

A Blue Blur of a Decade

2011 became a notable year in video games, namely for it being the 20th birthday of one of the most prolific mascots of the medium, Sonic the Hedgehog. Coincidentally, it has been a decade since the merger between SEGA and Microsoft Operations and thus, having the Blur Blur move in to become the mascot for Microsoft's line of video game consoles along with a shift in regards to the design of the game. Sonic has always had a large Western approach and following and perhaps moving him to the Xbox seemed perfect, especially as over time, they gained the sort of older sort of teenage gamer that likely grew up with him. It had a large benefit as Microsoft Ops' funds helped out with SEGA and the Xbox was able to do much better than expected in Japan thanks to SEGA games on the machine, especially games like the Yakuza franchise. However, Sonic remained the top prize within for SEGA and Microsoft and SEGA celeberated with Sonic Generations, a game celeberating the Blue Blur. While the classics were venerated like usual, the newer stuff was also given a chance to shine and people used to look back at the last 10 years since that fateful moment

Xboxes and... Cubes?
After the purchase, perhaps the strangest thing were SEGA games on Nintendo consoles. This came about due to a prior deal already establish to have some Sonic games and a couple other SEGA cames on Nintendo consoles. When SEGA merged with Microsoft Ops, the deal was maintained with the thing being used as testing grounds for when the games would be ported onto the Xbox.

The main Sonic games ported were Sonic Adventure 2 and later Sonic Adventure DX. The first would be called Sonic Adventure 2: Battle for the Gamecube while on the Xbox it would be called Sonic Adventure 2X. It was much like the original Sonic Adventure 2, though while Battle would have GBA connectivity with the Chao Garden and Sonic Advance, 2X would have boosted graphics to make the game look slicker along with sounding nicer and playing a bit smoother. The same was said for Sonic Adventure DX, a port of the original Sonic Adventure onto the Nintendo GameCube, though for the Xbox it was Sonic Adventure 1X, where it got a beefier bost in graphics, noting for makign the characters speaking look nicer. The last being Sonic Mega Collection, a compliation of classic Sonic games that was brought onto the Gamecube and Xbox to be enjoyed. The collection in question contained Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic CD, Knuckles Chaotix, Tails Adventure, and Tails Skypatrol. The games were chosen to give a strong selection of Sonic games for both consoles, especially since for Nintendo. Nintendo would have some games for the handhelds as well, that being the aforementioned Sonic Advance 1 and Sonic Advance 2. Both were for the Gameboy Advance though they were later called Sonic 4 and Sonic 5 when they were released on Xbox Live as they were considered to be very popular games and comparable to the original Sonic games. Cream the Rabbit was welcomed for her unique mechanics and capablities and people enjoyed playing as Amy. The Xbox versions did add more contents and tweaked level design, especially for Sonic 5, which saw reduced amount of rails and more diverse levels.

Of course, Microsoft and SEGA began showing what they can do with their first enw game for the Xbox, Sonic Heroes. The game featured 4 trios as they went to stop Eggman and actually Metal Sonic in his plan to try and take over the world. The game was quite the success with its unique mechanics and bringing back the Chaotix trio with their comical antics. Moreover came the sequel to Sonic The Fighters, Sonic Battle. It introduced a new character in Emerl, a robot known as the Gizoid that was connected to an ancient civilziation that vanished 4000 years ago before being restored and abandoned by Eggman. Sonic discovers it and bonds with the robot, trying to help discover the secrets of it with Tails. Besides Emerl and Sonic himself, the playable characters included Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Shadow and Rouge along with some surprise such as the return of Nack the Weasel, Bean the Dynamite and Bark the Polar Bear, this time as a trio of bounty hunters though more the latter two trying to keep Nack out of trouble. Emerl copied many of their fighting styles and grew as a person in getting the Chaos Emeralds. However, the game ended in surprising tragedy as Eggman drove Emerl overloaded with powers and forced Sonic to defeat him, with Emerl terminating his program after becoming too much of a threat. The game won a surprising number of people over for the battling mechanics, the co-op mode and the storyline showing the various characters' battle styles and perspectives, especiall Nack's blaster use or Bean's explosives.

Other Sonic games included the Sonic Riders Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic GEMS Collection, which included various Sonic spin-offs within it such as Sonic R, Sonic the Fighters and Sonic Labyrinth though also with some more pleasant surprises such as a few non-Sonic SEGA games and Sonic 4 and Sonic 5 released on there for those preferring hard copies. Another was Sonic Rush, an Xbox Live game. Named because of the new "Boost" mechanic introduced, the new game had Sonic meet up with the mysterious Blaze the Cat, the Princess of the far-off land of Soleanna. As Princess, she must guard the Flame of Solaris, a powerful mystic flame said to hold unlimited power of the sun. Sonic meets her when she follows Eggman who steals it to try and power up a monstrous new machine and she grows to accept his help along with that of his friends, notably Cream the Rabbit. The player went through two routes, getting assistance from the other characters and the final batle including Blaze getting her own Super form through the Chaos Emeralds. Many found the game engaging though wished it was a main release rather than a spinoff. Many believed it was the lead-up to something bigger though...

360 Revolution
The introduction of the Xbox 360 brought the beast up and nearly dominated the console war of that era, narrowly losing to the Nintendo Wii with its motion graphics. However, it still outcompeted well against the Playstation 3. The first game to come out on the 360 for Sonic was another Xbox Live game, Sonic Rivals. It was a racing game and done as a bit of a test to see if it would be good to try and do that into the swing of things. The racers were Sonic, Shadow, Blaze, Knuckles and Metal Sonic. The heroes can race across various tracks to claim the various prizes at the end, whether it be Chaos Emeralds or pieces of the Master Emerald, with the plot being instigated by the Eggrobo, who rebuilt himself and used the races as a distraction to try and take over Eggman's robots and uses the power of the Chaos Emeralds.

However, aroud 2006, would be the 15th Birthday game, Sonic the Hedgehog Revolution. It was a massive transition for the series as it took the elements of the previous Adventure games and brought them to the peak. A love letter to the franchise, players chose Sonic, Tails, Knuckles or Amy going through various unique stages tailored to unique playstyles. The plot was relatively simple in comparison, but still memorable in its exceution. Dr. Eggman has acquired all the Chaos Emeralds and used them to begin powering up his largest army as robot-building centers powered by them were built and implemented to try ad grow. The story has Sonic and his friends travel across the world to reclaim the Chaos Emeralds and liberate the areas, all while Eggman awaits them in his official fortress, the one that has been foreshadowed since Sonic Adventure I... Eggmanland. Many fans adored the execellent execution of the games' mechanics and a return to form after the questionable decisions of last year's Shadow the Hedgehog. They praised the mechanics and level design along with the character interactions as they reminscence on stopping Eggman. The stages were wide and expansive, being heavily inspired by past Sonic stages. However, the variety of characters meant that there many ways for each character to go through the same stage though with different routes or even redesigns of the stages. Many have called it "classic 2D Sonic game in three dimensions.) Each one of them possessing unique abilities to traverse the level and solve certain unique levels to them.

Of course, this was not the only fun to be had on the Xbox 360. Sonic Riders Zero Gravity, sequel to Sonic Riders, was enjoyed even more by simplifying some of the game aspects while given more links to how Eggman earns his funds, through corporations as fronts in constructing robots for all sorts of purposes. Another Xbox live game was a sequel to Sonic Rush, with the return and expansion of the new "Boost" mechanic, Sonic Rush II. Blaze the Cat returns and tries to stop Captain Whiskers and his band of robotic pirates who have been targeted the Cane of Jewels, a magical artifact that helps control the seas. When Whiskers breakts it, it sends the land into chaos, causing Soleanna to split into smaller islands. Blaze is saved by Marine the Raccoon, a sailor who fishes her out of the water and upon seeing the state of her land, she travels to recruit Sonic for his help against Whiskers alongside Tails (who Marine gains an admiration for.) It's revealed that Eggman built Whiskers and his robot pirates to try and claim the Cane of Jewels to understand its power with Tails finding out by comparising the designs. Another game was a sequel to Sonic Rivals with Sonic Rivals 2. Of course, Sonic appeared in other games such as SEGA Tennis Superstars and more notably in Super Smash Bros Brawl for the Nintendo Wii. However, yet another game, albeit a bit controversial was Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Another Xbox Live game, it was known for being a remarkably fascinating Sonic RPG that built on the cosmos of the world along with several shoutouts to the Archie comic. This would land the game in some trouble regarding the comics though when Microsoft began shifting their weight around, the whole ordeal ended quick though it did lead to some rammifications in the future. However, the RPG was still good as players controlled various Sonic characters exploring the Twilight Cage, a mysterious zone where powerful alien races were exiled, including the long-gone rivals to the Knuckles clan, including Shade, one who joins up. It's later revealed that they were the ones who created Emerl as their ultimate Gizoid and it's implied that its power was the final straw to get them kicked out.

Afterwards there was the long-awaited Sonic Adventure III. The plot had Eggman awaken the dark spirit of the land, Dark Gaia to rein havoc on the world by draining the Chaos Emeralds of power in order to bolster his forces and plan to coerce the world nations to bow to him to stop the madness. The game also followed in its predecessor games to have multiple characters in dealing with the Gaia Crisis in differing approaches with help fro Sonic's new friend, Chip, later revealed to be Light Gaia. The eight playable characters being Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadows, E-123 Omega, Rogue and surprisingly Blaze the Cat in her full 3D view. The game has four different play styles between the 8 characters with subtle differences between the two for comparisons. Sonic and Shadow play much like they do in Sonic Adventure 2 though with a couple of differing tricks. Tails returns in his Cyclone walker with his and Omega's levels being run-and-gun levels. Knuckles and Rouge focused on exploration and treasure-hunting in expansive levels while Amy and Blaze meanwhile have platforming levels using their unique tricks to navigate like Amy and her hammer or Blaze's fire powers. The characters' stories are different, depending on their goals. Sonic and Shadow (the latter by order of GUN) are trying to reach the Gaia Temples to activate them, Tails and Omega are assisting by combating Eggman's robots and gathering intel, Knuckles and Rouge go to investigate (Knuckles because of how the Master Emerald detected the awakening and Rouge by GUN as well) and find out more on the Manuscripts while Amy and Blaze go out to help out (Blaze goes because her nation got endangered by Dark Gaia while Amy goes to save Sonic.) Other aspects included a day and night cycle which affected the levels in navigation. Like its prequel, it also had some fun mini-games and racing.

And of course, as the twilight is coming, there were other games like Sonic All-Stars Racing, Sonic Free Riders and more notably, Dance Central Sonic Style. Said to be inspired from the Nintendo GameCube's Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix, it was done as a fun dancing game using the Xbox360 Kinect for people to enjoy dancing too and having alot of fun. And of course, there is Sonic Colors, which show a more classic return to form and returning a greater sense of humor between them and focusing on Sonic and Tails against Eggman while introducing the Wisps as new alien allies and power-ups for them to use to stop Eggman's plans along with running into plans. Most of all is of course, Sonic Generations, the game released for the 20th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog. After the end of Colors, Eggman ended up in a place beyond time and space and would end up coming across some sort of "Time Eater" which he managed to get under his control with his past self. However, a mysterious figure is introduced to stop him, Silver the Hedgehog. A powerful psychic and watcher over time, he is flung into the past and meets up with Sonic on his birthday. The two alongside Sonic's younger counterpart work to try and navigate through the "Timeless Zone" to various aspects of the past to rescue Sonic's friends. It also sprinkled hints on Silver's backstory such as the reveal that he used to guard the Time Stones on Little Planet before using them to deal with the Time Eater With their defeat and Sonic celeberating his birthday, Silver decides to return to his duty of watching voer time, but promising to come buy every now and then. Alot of people had fun with Classic Sonic's 2D levels and Modern Sonic's levels though the real fun was with Silver, who many wished to see be playable in the future with his psychic powers.

Beyond the Consoles
Of course, Sonic's reach was far outside of video games and Microsoft for the most part did have some influence in the affairs of Sonic beyond video games. First and foremost was in television. The three Sonic the hedgehog television series did pretty well so why not another one? This led to the creation of Sonic X, a Sonic anime though having both Japanese and American influences. While Microsoft did not handle much of the affairs, they did have the American offices have more influence on it, especially in what would make them appealing to Western audiences. It was a pretty good success, all things considered. Sonic X was in essence, an animated adaptation of many of the classic Sonic games though expanded upon for greater characterization and world-building. Overall, it became a fondly remembered show for its mix of zany action and surprising heartwarming moments.

Of course, beyond the silver screen, there was the comics, which was a bit more controversial. While a Sonic manga was released that functioned like Sonic X (being a retelling of the classic Sonic games albeit with more references to the Japanese material and more obscure source material such as the Tails standalone games), the Sonic Archie comics were among the big surprising point. Or rather namely because of the Penders lawsuit that occurred after the release of Sonic Chronicles: Dark Brotherhood due to the similarity of certain characters introduced there to the ones in the comics. However, when Microsoft began flexing their legal muscles regarding an artist trying to claim his fan-based creations and the growing widespread condemnation of Penders over threatening the Archie comics, he settled out of court. One final event was written and controversy rose when Archie ended their deal with SEGA and they headed to IDW to publish the new stuff. However, people were assured that favorites like Sally Acorn and the others of SatAM would be coming back. The Sonic IDW run began in was viewed as a spiritual sequel though as while it did contain elements of the SatAM cartoon, it also contained reimaginings of charactrs from the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and of course, characters introduced from the video games. While there was a good deal of hesitation and reluctance, the IDW has built up a good following for reintroducing or reinventing some of the characters.

What Lies Ahead
Sonic has been doing surprisingly well since moving in with Microsoft and many wonder what the future holds. There is of course the next main Sonic game coming onto the Xbox 360's successor coming out in 2013 and rumors are circulating whether if Sonic will be in the next Smash game or if it was a one time thing. Other rumors have been HD remasterings of Sonic Adventure 1X and 2X for the next consoles. Of course, whatever the future will hold, it looks like it will be pretty great, all things considered.

 

[CountDVB]

2011 In Review

2011 pushed plenty of people's patience to the growing limit. The year showed a relentless barrage of blizzards, storms and hurricanes against the United States and natural disasters around the world seem to be a grim reminder of the raw force of nature. It also showed the failure of some governments to be willing to fully shell out the funds to rebuild or support the communities and turning more toward more potentially radical solutions. The economic growth was pretty stagnant and people began looking for blame in somewhere and the growing amount was toward the banks and the governments that enabled them, especially after Iceland's successful governmental change after the issues regarding the bailouts. For many prominent leftists, they saw this as their time to shine. To try and reclaim what was lost in the years of neoconservatism and neoliberalism, especially with the rise of environmentalism as well. Regardless of what may come, the old guard came crumbling and there was growing divisions. There was those clamoring for the good ol days associated with people like Tony Blair or Al Gore. Others were wondering if they were not enough to really solve the problems. There were a few reactionary elements, but there were little incentive to lean there, especially with the terrorist attack in Norway, mainly being a homegrown one. The new decade was marked with turmoil yet opportunity. Unsurprisingly, the year filled with storms and propaganda fueled the pseudohistorical 2012 phenomena.

Furthermore, across the world, the remnants of the Arab Spring played out in war with the last of the Baathist powers and the Americans with their Middle East coalition stepped in to bring order and stability, especially with Iraq's callous attack and the civil war/anarchy of Syria, especially with the death of Assad. The end of the year saw the old states of Iraq and Syria fall with efforts heing discussed how to restore the nations along with the likelihood of new nations coming out. A Kurdish state, maybe even an Assyrian state. Iraq divided among Shia and Sunni along with what else could be done with Syria. Various voting options were being implemented and planned and the painful reminder of the paperwork and logisitics required for proper governing returned to the mainstream The recession continued to drag on with some nations recovering sooner than others. One noteworthy nation was Canada, who defied conventions by electing the NDP and Prime Minister Jack Layton, sticking out among the otherwise conservative-headed Anglosphere. Meanwhile, other places were faring better than most others in regards to the Recession such as China, whom many note of interest given that within a couple of years will have a new leader. Several candidates have been floated, but among the people of interesting were Li Keqiang, Xi Jinpeng and Bo Xilai in regards to potential future leaders, especially the latter two as they're considered rising stars.

Pop culture meanwhile began reflecting the slightly darker and more concerning reality, albeit in different ways. Mainly that in some instances, escapist films and flights of fantasy became more prominent as a coping mechanicism and even nostalgia for how things used to be. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 2 came out and bringing about an epic end to the film saga. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 also came out which seemed to be symbolizing the potential end for teen-aimed fantasy stories since some did not do as well, though some note the atmosphere for escapism could still assist in it. One example was the Winnie the Pooh film who's innocence and charm would make it something that young adults and even some older ones clung onto as a way of coping with the difficult times. Another was the new Marvel film Captain America: The First Avenger and another being The Muppets. However, there were various other films that would grow to become cult classics like Hugo. However, perhaps the big one was none other than the Green Lantern film. Delayed because of the #MeToo movement shaking up stuff behind the scenes, the film underwent some rewrites and the announcement caused a Twitter trend over a desire to John Stewart within the film. The film would shock everyone as this trend would be taken seriously (likely as a way to gain good publicity and ignite positive interest within the film..) The plot had Hal Jordan (played by Ryan Reynolds) as the Green Lantern of Earth returning home and dealing with changes, such as trying to reconnect with his old flame Carol Ferris (played by Blake Lively, who would date Reynolds after working together in film) among his other friends. However, his return back home is in part to find a new partner, which is revealed to be John Stewart (played by Edris Ilba). The antagonist is none other than Hector Hammond with a vendetta against Stewart. The whole thing was played as a superhero buddy cop film with Stewart help save Hal from Hector and the two learning to trust the other. The ending sees Stewart officially inducted and Stewart asking how Hal got involved in all this, Hal sighing and saying it's a story for another time. The film was warmly recieved with Elba noting that he chose the role over a rumored choice to play Heimdall in Thor, due to the greater potential as John. However, Thor also did quite well, with Tom Hiddleston being lauded for his role as Loki.

In video games, the last of the old consoles were coming out with large hits. Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword was considered a delightful surprise though it did have a few minor issues. Some noted the reason for not delaying it was to celeberating the 25th anniversary of zelda as a result. However, Kirby's Return to Dreamland was more better recieved and another even warmly received game was Metroid: Other M. After numerous delays, it came out and surprised many, declaring it was worth wait. The delays came about due to troubled productions over the different visions and who to appeal though also conflicts regarding Sakamoto and Team Ninja played a part in this. Eventually, Sakamoto was forced to be much more hands-off regarding the plot and characterization with Samus. She is portrayed as the powerful warrior many envisioned her as though caught off-guard regard by her scientific mind, her compassion and even her philosophical side. Many have also noted that the characterization of some characters were inspired by an earlier manga. Of course, various other characters got attention such as Point Man Anthony Higgs. Of course, the big talk was on the release of the successor to the Nintendo DS, the Nintendo Ultra DS or UDS. Possessing stronger graphics, processing and sound to the original DS alongside the inclusion of a control pad allowing for better movemenet. The Nintendo UDS was apparently named as a reference to the original name of the Nintendo 64. Appropriately enough, they used this to market two launch title games, Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Ultra and Super Mario 64 Ultra. These were enhanced remasterings of the Nintendo 64 classics onto the handheld device. All of them coming with additional features and capabilities, such as the latter allowing the player to play as Luigi as well as a co-op mode to have two players working together as the brothers along with expanded and redesigned levels. This has of course to led rumors that more Nintendo 64 games would end up remastered for the UDS. This rumors grew when one of the rumors said that Banjo & Kazooie would get a reamstering on the UDS. Of course, those were far from the only games. Dark Souls came about and introduced a new level of difficulty for players to face. Portal 2 came and exceeded all expectations while Elder Scrolls Skyrim brought a return to focus for fantasy. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 came out as the last of a trilogy. Deus Ex: Human Revolution brought a cyberpunk vision that the prequel maintained. Rayman Origins came out and brought attention to the series of the limbless wonder by delving into his backstory and keeping in line with the lore. Overall, the excitement is held over the upcoming new consoles, especially with Nintendo delaying theirs by a year to further work on it.

 

[CountDVB]

Winter 2012

"I'm getting the feeling austerity is kinda not working..."

"So the economy is still sturggling, but still find time to take down a media-sharing website?"

"Are we really gonna wait this long to legalize homosexual marriage federally?"

The beginning of 2012 marked a time of recovery somewhat. From economic turmoil and from the weather disasters that had been chewing the US through the past several months. However, the recovery itself would be marked with its own turmoil and began growing the seeds of frustration and anger that were planted at the start of the Recession. Over in the Eurozone, austerity measures were implemented through spending cuts to try and stablize the economy. However, it just deincentivized from spending their money for the most part and caused further troubles for the Europe and within the European Union. Romanians have been clashing with politicial officials with growing protests while Greece has been seen in some serious danger over its debts and whether it can repay them. Furthermore, there has been increasing calls for the other method of uasteirty, that being increasing taxes, predominantly on the wealthy. The hesitation and reluctance of politicians to do so led to the growing popularity of more radical politicians who were willing to take on the rich and their political toadies. The political traditions of Europe were being shaken up and more leftist groups were seeing this as their opportunity. Other nations began taking note of this and tried doubling down on their old paths, such as the Tories of Great Britain. Of course, the economic troubles of Europe did cause influences around the world as an example. The McCain Administration have been following similar practices though not suffered as many problems with it due to differing ideologies and a few more niche reasons. However, this goodwill is fading and while the military victories and foreign affairs work in the Middle East served as a nice bolster of support for the McCain Administration, it was not going to be enough to deal with domestic issues in the economy. So much has made of it that not even the culture war is enough for it. Moreover, this was affecting the Democrats as well. Some were on the fence on whether to run, such as Senator Barack Obama. Others such as Joe Biden and Hilliary Clinton were considering running along independent Vermont senator Bernie Sanders for the Democrat primaries. Sanders gathered growing attention for his radical policies that seemed to be receptive for a growing disenfranchised population.

Peaceful anti government protesters- University Square, Bucharest. January 15, 2012.

In other news meanwhile, there was some surprisingly larger news than people expected; the takedown of the file-sharing website Megaupload based in Hong Kong by the FBI. The entire debacle opened the case of digital piracy and tis explorations. While multimedia creators had long struggled against piracy, the debate was now set on exploring the motivations behind it. Youtubers and other content creators of other media sites gave their own thoughts, with some supporting the anti-piracy measures while others played devil's advocate. Others merely examined the cause for digital piracy. The prominent note behind many of these observations was that of convienence; it was often difficult to get a hold of certain shows, films or songs because there was no easy access to them. While musicians struggled against digital piracy and the claims of lost funding, others noted that problem has been a while for longer. Project MAY in particular was in a unique position as the musicians associated there were funded directly by their fans for content. One fascinating lead-in was from an old episode of adult animation show South Park, that being "Christian Rock Hard", specifically its B-plot; the B-plot focused on the nature of musicians on strike regarding digital piracy with the "moral" being that there should be gratitude in having fans and that people will still buy CDs, band tickets, merchandise and so on, only for the boys to be disappointed in some of the musicians just being about the money. This also ended up being correlaed to the growing business model of Project MAY-O. Because the musicians are directly funded by their fans and connected through them regarding music sales, special albums, concert tickets, merchandise and so on, it helped provide a more personal and unique experience that online piracy has been unable to keep up with, even if it does still happen. As such, some began applying this to the film and television industries, though moreso though the latter due to it being serialized. After all, some of them watch TV shows who have not gotten a release or are scarce. Unsurprisingly, the more outspoken members of the internet community, such as hacktivists and groups like Anonymous responding with takedowns and cyberattacks which led to issues regarding cybersecurity, which supposedly the first stimulus package was supposed to assist in addressting. Others began turning over to copyright companies and their deal. Overall, while Megaupload was taken down, its legacy will live on as part of the growing story over in digital piracy, content creators, copyright criticis, consumers, producers, prosumers and so on. At the same time, it existed

The seized domain name redirected to this joint FBI, DoJ, and NIPRCC English notice of federal crime charges.

Despite the increasing frustration and negativity being brought about, there was some hope and optimism. The upcoming elections were becomign a buzz as primaries became more important. Senators like Russ Feinhold and Bernie Sanders were urging for more progressive measures to be taken regarding the lurching Recession while pushing against House members and Senators who were more supporting of the questionable stimulus placed in by the McCain Administration to deal with the Great Recession. Republicans can have attemtped unification though problems stemmed with the growing number of moderates, former Democrats and ecoconservatives becoming more prominent within the leadership of the part. However, there has remained some cohesion while the Democrats were growing further cracked between the moderates and the progressives due to perceived failures to fighting for policy along with enabling the 1% to get away with financial chincanery. Unsurprisingly, the McCain Administratio pushed their success abroad forward and even noted how said success affected domestic policy; the US was not an isolationist nation and relied strongly on connections. As such, their success in the Middle East was being translated as a victory to make domestic affairs more smoothly. The patriotic sentiments were mixed though they hoped that successful peace talks regarding the future of the former nations of Syria and Iraq, finalized in the spring, would help with the elections. However, other domestic issues were bright brought up. More and more states were legalizing gay marriage and there was a growing call for federal legalization and recognition, especially with how DADT ended nearly a decade ago, but other states were remaining steadfast and the poisonous fruit of "states' rights" were tossed along with the inevitable backlash over how well that argument well last time.

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire; legalized same-sex marriage in Febuary. Washington now 7th state to legalize gay marriage.