Major Events of 2011: A Year for the History Books

[Ivan Seeking]

It has been a year for the history books. What were the major events of 2011?

I put the Arab Spring, Libya, leaving Iraq, and getting Bin Laden, right at the top of the list.

 

[Evo]

Kim Jong Il died.

 

[russ_watters]

Steve Jobs died.

 

[KrisOhn]

Dennis Ritchie died.

 

[apeiron]

Japan Tsunami...population topping 7 billion...European sovereign debt crisis...COP 17 failure...it keeps going...

 

[zoobyshoe]

Castro officially relinquished power.

 

[Proton Soup]

fukushima, worst tornado disaster in alabama in my lifetime

DennisRitchie++;

 

[daveb]

What?? Nothing about Kim Kardashian?

 

[cristo]

Unfortunately nothing too positive on the list. Here's to a better 2012!

 

[Borek]

Kim Jong Il died.

Steve Jobs died.

Dennis Ritchie died.

Come on, it can't be that people only died. I am sure someone important was born.

 

[turbo]

The last of the US Space Shuttles was retired.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Come on, it can't be that people only died. I am sure someone important was born.

Yes, President Sally Patterson was born. So was Nobel Prize winner, Kenjiro Kamimoto. Most important, though, Dr. Mayim Turelei, who will unify all Africa into one country and drive the white man out of the continent, was born this year in the South Sudan capitol of Juba.

 

[Brandon_R]

2011 was neither the year of the linux desktop nor dictators.

 

[AlephZero]

It was a pretty average year. Worse than 2010, but better than 2012.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

It's a bit early to be looking back on 2011, but this year is a special case, being the last full year. Indeed, today starts the countdown to the end of the world. And this time I really mean it. January got off to a good start beating out February by over four weeks. Then February failed to reach 29 days for the third year in a row. May's end of the world did not live up to its promise except in a spiritual sense, and October's was a total wash out leaving us with over 7 billion refugees. It was a year of continued recession and gridlock in Congress as the two parties had differing visions of which method that hasn't worked in the past should be tried again in the future hoping for a different outcome. On a personal level it was a good year, better than 2010 and worse than 2012 to recoin a phrase. All of us can say, like the optimist who just fell down a flight of stairs, I'm glad that's over.

 

[Kevin_Axion]

Here's a great video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAIEamakLoY

 

[Andre]

Here's a great video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAIEamakLoY

The video failed to mention the death of Wangari Maathai. Do read her bio.

 

[Borek]

Add Vaclav Havel to the list.

There were several important deaths in Poland as well, but you probably never heard these names, so I will spare you the obituary column.

 

[coelho]

The speedy neutrinos!

 

[Evo]

It's a bit early to be looking back on 2011, but this year is a special case, being the last full year. Indeed, today starts the countdown to the end of the world. And this time I really mean it. January got off to a good start beating out February by over four weeks. Then February failed to reach 29 days for the third year in a row. May's end of the world did not live up to its promise except in a spiritual sense, and October's was a total wash out leaving us with over 7 billion refugees. It was a year of continued recession and gridlock in Congress as the two parties had differing visions of which method that hasn't worked in the past should be tried again in the future hoping for a different outcome. On a personal level it was a good year, better than 2010 and worse than 2012 to recoin a phrase. All of us can say, like the optimist who just fell down a flight of stairs, I'm glad that's over.

Oh, that's right, the world didn't end...again.

I can't wait for the 2012 daily armageddon updates. Mexico has even set up fake Mayan tourist attractions with fake Mayan priests performing fake Mayan rituals.

 

[turbo]

Oh, that's right, the world didn't end...again.

Harold should go camping. He needs to loosen up a bit.

 

[Lacy33]

Add Vaclav Havel to the list.

There were several important deaths in Poland as well, but you probably never heard these names, so I will spare you the obituary column.

 

[Lacy33]

Oh, that's right, the world didn't end...again.

I can't wait for the 2012 daily armageddon updates. Mexico has even set up fake Mayan tourist attractions with fake Mayan priests performing fake Mayan rituals.

And fake wergins to sacrifice?

 

[QuarkCharmer]

No mention of all the "Occupy" protests going on?

Are they still even going on? I really don't know, it gets no news coverage, but everything on the internet I read makes it out to be some big deal.

 

[Evo]

No mention of all the "Occupy" protests going on?

Are they still even going on? I really don't know, it gets no news coverage, but everything on the internet I read makes it out to be some big deal.

It was an ineffective, small fringe thing, with no point, IMO. Sure people like to hate Wall Street types. I doubt it will be remembered. About as significant as those stupid flash mobs. That's a trend that needs to die.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

No mention of all the "Occupy" protests going on?

Are they still even going on? I really don't know, it gets no news coverage, but everything on the internet I read makes it out to be some big deal.

I think we may finally be seeing the American Awakening.

CNN) -- Over the past few weeks, cities have continued to remove Occupy Wall Street protesters from their encampments. Occupy has responded to these ejections by changing its focus from public spaces toward private property: foreclosed homes.

This shift may end up leaving Occupy even stronger than it was before the ejections began. It answers critics who have accused Occupy of lacking a political program and will help the movement build stronger ties with working-class Americans. To understand why, it helps to view Occupy in the context of earlier social movements that employed similar tactics.

A straight line runs from the 1930s sit-down strikes in Flint, Michigan, to the 1960 lunch-counter sit-ins to the occupation of Alcatraz by Native American activists in 1969 to Occupy Wall Street. Occupations employ physical possession to communicate intense dissent, exhibited by a willingness to break the law and to suffer the -- occasionally violent -- consequences...

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/16/opinion/katyal-penalver-occupy/index.html

Legalities aside, it is crazy to have empty homes driving down the value of previously nice neighborhoods, while families are driven out of their homes with no place to go.

The incredibly lopsided distribution of wealth in this country can no longer be ignored. This is where all right-wing ideology and media hype has met its match.

In short, this is just a birth pang of more to come.

 

[Evo]

I think we may finally be seeing the American Awakening.


http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/16/opinion/katyal-penalver-occupy/index.html

Legalities aside, it is crazy to have empty homes driving down the value of previously nice neighborhoods, while families are driven out of their homes with no place to go.

The incredibly lopsided distribution of wealth in this country can no longer be ignored. This is where all right-wing ideology and media hype has met its match.

In short, this is just a birth pang of more to come.

If I had a bunch of druggies squatting a home I lost, I'd be pissed. If they trash these homes the way they trashed the parks and other places they squatted, I hope they are hauled off to jail. These people trashing vacant homes is only going to bring down property values more.

Watch a movie from the 1930's if you want to see extremes of wealth. I watched a bizarre movie on TCM the other night on the physical and emotional harm that prohibition did to Americans. How it was a law no one wanted and even law enforcement didn't support it. It was called The Wet Parade.

 

[rootX]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/12/photogalleries/111220-top-ten-new-discoveries-2011/?source=link_fb20111221news-toptendiscoveries

I don't know if this has been posted. But other than all political disturbances and natural disasters, I missed these top 10 discoveries.

P.S. thread seems to be turning into another occupy discussion I didn't bother to keep track of the occupy movements.

 

[Evo]

P.S. thread seems to be turning into another occupy discussion I didn't bother to keep track of the occupy movements.

Agreed no mas.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

There was a wedding by some posh rich people which meant that everyone in the UK got a day off; win.