| Title | Word Count |
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Fidel Castro Lashes Out at Republican Party Presidential CandidatesFormer Cuban President, Fidel Castro, berated the US Republican Party presidential candidates for their "idiocy and ignorance" after they announced their intentions to bring freedom to Cuba upon election. Just days before the Republican Party's primary in Florida - a state that many Cuban Americans call home - the Cuba Debate website posted Castro's discontent in the "Reflections" column. After rebuking the US for thinking Cuba would "fall into her bosom like ripe fruit," Castro wrote, "the fruit did not fall." He continued to lash out at "the candidates that aspire to be the president of that globalized imperialist reign" (Williams). |
803 |
FAMU Band Member, Robert Champion, Dead from HazingFlorida A&M President, James H. Ammons, will keep his position during an investigation into a student death believed to be a result of hazing despite Governor Rick Scott's orders to suspend Ammons. The university's board of trustees headed by Solomon Badger as the chairman decided to wait until the end of the criminal investigations into the death of a marching band member on November 19th and then potential fraud by the school's employees to decide on Ammons' fate (Alvarez). |
557 |
Defense Secretary Panetta Announces Formal End of Iraq WarDefense Secretary Leon E. Panetta announced the official end to the United States' mission in Iraq on December 15th - nine years after US forces stepped foot on the foreign ground. US troops initially staged a war to rid Iraq of the weapons of mass destruction that they were thought to possess, but after almost a decade in the hostile country, no such weapons were found. Instead, the nine-year invasion revamped American politics and provided Muslims with a solid foundation for their hatred towards Americans. With American troops absent from the country, Iraq has a long and arduous road ahead of rebuilding (Shanker). |
292 |
Ross Truett Ashley Kills Virginia Tech OfficerRoss Truett Ashley, the gunman from the most recent Virginia Tech shootings, was very normal, according to friends who cannot recall any warning signs that Ashley was on the brink of such a meltdown. Ashley stole a car at gunpoint from his landlord's office, shot Officer Deriek W. Crouse during a routine traffic stop, and then shot himself in a parking lot. The campus locked down on December 8th as memories from the 2007 rampage that left 33 people dead flooded back. Crouse had a car stopped when Ashley approached his car and shot him before fleeing. |
311 |
Survivors' Association Celebrates Last Memorial of Pearl Harbor AnniversarySeventy years after the event that changed America, a memory of silence across the nation honors the tragic events of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on November 7th at 7:55 AM Hawaii time. At this time in history, a surprise attack by the Japanese caught America completely off guard, resulting in 2,400 American deaths, 12 sunk ships, and 188 aircraft carriers destroyed, and ultimately leading the US into World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan on December 8th, stating that the attack would go down in history as a "date which will live in infamy" (Lynch). |
589 |
Komisarjevsky Sentenced to Death for Triple Murder in ConnecticutJurors sentenced Joshua Komisarjevsky, 31, to death on December 11th for the triple murder he committed in 2007. Komisarjevsky's partner during the crime, Steven J. Hayes, received the same sentence just one year earlier. The two broke into the Connecticut home of the Petit family where they proceeded to beat up and sexually assault the family members before setting the house on fire. Dr. William A. Petit Jr. was tied up in the basement and beaten with a baseball bat while his wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, was raped and strangled. Komisarjevsky and Hayes also sexually assaulted the two daughters, Hayley and Michaela, before tying the girls to their beds and setting the house on fire, killing the two girls from smoke inhalation (Glaberson). Dr. Petit, the only survivor of t |
525 |
New York City Proposes Early Treatment of HIVDr. Thomas Farley, New York City's health commissioner, recently proposed a groundbreaking policy toward eradicating HIV in the area if city doctors adhere to his recommendation. According to Farley's aggressive proposal, doctors should treat HIV immediately after it is diagnosed. This measure would significantly reduce the transmission of HIV, which also causes AIDS, so much so that Farley believes new transmissions could potentially be unheard of in his lifetime (Hartocollis). |
804 |
Nationals Catcher Wilson Ramos Kidnapped in Home Country of VenezuelaWilson Ramos, catcher for the Washington Nationals, was kidnapped from his mother's home in Santa Ines, Carabobo state by two gunmen who ushered him into an orange SUV on November 9th. Following the World Series, Ramos returned to his home country of Venezuela where he was to play in a winter baseball league after finishing off an extremely successful rookie season in the MLB. In 2011, Ramos played his first full season on the big stage, batting .267 with a whopping 15 homeruns and 58 RBIS. Ramos also replaced Ivan Rodriguez, the 14-time All-Star behind the plate. |
584 |
Merchant of Venice: Shylock as VictimGiven the extensive history of Jews in England, which Shakespeare's audiences would have been fully aware of, Shakespeare's character of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice does not expect to gain much sympathy. There would have been no Jews in his audiences to sympathize with Shylock's oppression. However, Shakespeare manages to create pity for Shylock while also villainizing him. It is a known fact that Jews could only sustain a living through usury, and when this job title is stripped from Shylock, there is nowhere else he can turn. Because of this, Shakespeare creates pity for Shylock, as the entire courtroom turns against him. However, this pity is tempered by the fact that Shylock was about to take a pound of flesh from Antonio, for no reason other then the fact that he wanted revenge. Shylock gains pity merely from the fact that he is a Jew in Elizabethan England. He is continually chastised in public by people who admit that they have nothing against him except for his r |
1060 |
Police Officials Peacefully Evacuate Los Angeles Occupy CampLike many of the Occupy movement sites, police officers stepped in to clear the campgrounds, but unlike the recent violence that has broken out recently, officials were able to clear out Occupy L.A. protestors in a peaceful manner. The camp, which resided in City Hall's south lawn, was the nation's largest Occupy camp before hundreds of police officers quickly encircled the demonstrators and peacefully arrested more than 200 demonstrators (Linthicum). |
574 |
Dr. Conrad Murray Sentenced to 4 Years in JailAfter rebuking Dr. Conrad Murray for his irresponsibility and unremorseful attitude after Michael Jackson's death, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor sentenced Murray to the maximum of 4 years in prison. However, under the new state law regarding conditions in state prisons, Murray will serve time in the LA County Jail rather than in the state prison. Even at that, a spokesman for the county Sheriff's Department said Murray would only spend a maximum of two years behind bars, with a potential for even less time if the jails get overcrowded (Ryan). |
798 |
Iranian Student Mob Attacks British EmbassyAfter angry mobs ambushed the British Embassy located in Tehran, Britain withdrew all of its 24 diplomats from Iran and, in turn, ordered all 18 Iranian diplomats out of the United Kingdom. The Iranian mob wrecked the embassy by tearing down flags, setting fire to vehicles, and ransacking important documents. Iran and the West already have a strained relationship caused by Iran's international isolation and suspicions of the country's dangerous nuclear program. This recent attack not only increased the tension between Iran and Britain, but other Western countries, such as Germany, France, and the Netherlands, followed suit and withdrew their diplomats as well. Italy is also discussing doing the same. |
511 |
Egypt Still Under Turmoil as First Ever Election BeginsAlthough protestors in Egypt won their longstanding fight against the country's military rule and succeeded in overthrowing their oppressive leader, Hosni Mubarak, the demonstrations continue, and citizens still do not trust the democratic elections that began on November 27th. The first ever elections for Egypt will begin at 8 AM and will determine the members of the lower house. These elections consist of three stages spanning until January. Upper house elections will take place from January until March, and then the presidential election will begin (CNN). |
173 |
YouTube Video Reveals Texas Judge William Adams Beating His DaughterTexas judge William Adams, who ironically presides over child abuse cases, caused uproar when daughter Hillary Adams uploaded a video on YouTube of him savagely beating her with a belt when she was sixteen years old. According to Hillary, the abuse was not a one-time thing. Her mother, Hallie Adams who has since divorced William, claimed that her ex-husband had bouts of violence caused by his "addiction," which they kept as a "family secret" for a long time. Because the statute of limitations has lapsed, William cannot be charged with child abuse, although it is yet to be seen whether his career is affected. |
531 |
The West Memphis Three Released after 18 Years in JailAfter 18 years of "an absolute living hell," Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, Jr., and Jason Baldwin were released from prison, where they were currently serving out their sentences for the murder of three second-graders in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993. Steven Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore were found dead in a ditch with their bodies mutilated and hog-tied by their own shoestrings. Police immediately suspected Echols, Misskelley, and Baldwin, claiming that they were driven by satanic ritual, regardless of the extreme lack of evidence that they had to indict the boys. |
794 |
The Occupy Movement in Oakland Turns ViolentThe Occupy movement that began months ago in New York and has since grasped hold of the rest of the country turned violent for the first time on November 2nd in Oakland when a small group of protestors smashed the windows of a Wells Fargo bank branch during a protest of wealth inequalities. The Occupy Oakland movement scheduled a noon rally in front of City Hall and then a free lunch afterward. The day's events were planned to end with a "general strike mass convergence, rally, and labor cookout." Each of these were intended to be peaceful protests, but a small faction began passing out fliers promoting a violent response, which may have been the beginning of the violent turn. |
804 |
Militants Attack Pakistani Naval BaseLess than three weeks after an American raid resulted in the death of al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden, Islamist militants coordinated a strike against the Pakistani naval base in Karachi, where they attacked a US-supplied surveillance aircraft, fired rockets, and battled commandos sent to subdue them. The raid caused quite a stir in Washington, which is trying to support Pakistan in its fight against militants, as well as domestic criticism against the armed forces for failing to foresee or prevent the raid. After intense pressure from the US, security forces engaged in several operations against militants in their heartland close to the border with Afghanistan over the last three years. In June 2010, the US gave two Orions to the Pakistan navy during a ceremony. They promised the Pakistanis that they would have eight of these aircraft by late 2012. One of these airplanes was destroyed during the raid. Since the attack, no one has come forward and laid claim, although the Pakistani Taliban, an al-Qaida allied network pledged to retaliate against the death of Osama bin Laden, and has laid claim to several attacks since his death. |
545 |
MF Global Missing Hundreds of Millions of Customer MoneyMF Global caused a fit of panic on October 31st after federal regulators discovered that hundreds of millions of dollars in customers' money was missing from the company's vaults. In a last ditch effort to redeem themselves, MF Global, headed by Jon S. Corzine, the former New Jersey governor, attempted to seek an agreement to sell a majority share of the company to a rival brokerage firm. Unfortunately for the company, the deal fell through, and they were forced to file for bankruptcy instead. An immediate investigation ensued to discover whether MF Global used customer's funds to support its own trades to bail itself out of bankruptcy. |
812 |
Herman Cain Claims He Opposes Abortion in All InstancesAs the 2012 presidential elections draw even closer, Republican Herman Cain sought to clear up the muddy waters surrounding his stance on abortion. Previously, Cain announced a more lenient viewpoint on the sticky issue that social conservatives and evangelical voters closely consider when choosing a candidate to vote for, but this time he claimed that he opposes abortion in all instances, including rape, incest, or when the birth jeopardizes the life of the mother (McCaffrey). In 1998, during an interview with Nation's Restaurant News, Cain described himself as "pro-life with exceptions, and people want you to be all or nothing" (McCaffrey). |
556 |
Groupon IPO Exceeds ExpectationsAfter a long holdout, Groupon, the company that sends out daily emails to subscribers with discount deals for companies in their area, finally sold its initial public offering to select investors. Although many industry analysts thought the shares would go for anywhere between $16 and $18 a share, the first IPOs were sold for $20, surprisingly greater amount. Groupon was valued at $13.3 billion by the IPO and raised $700 million. Groupon initially announced in its first filings with the SEC that it hoped to raise $479 million by selling stock at $17 per share with a maximum of $552 million if the company also sold its 4.5 million in over-allotment shares. |
1047 |
Eight Police Officers Allegedly Partake in Gun Smuggling SchemeDespite Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's heavy emphasis on eliminating gun trafficking, and New York's crack-down in general, eight of their own police force members were arrested and charged with accepting bribes in return for illegally transporting firearms into the state. The corrupt group was comprised of five officers currently on the force, three who previously retired, a New Jersey correction officer, a former New York City Sanitation Department police officer, and two other unidentified men. The majority of the men all worked at the Brooklyn station house sometime in the past. These eight men accepted thousands of dollars in bribes to drive a caravan of M-16 rifles and handguns, as well as stolen merchandise, across state lines. For these crimes, they face charges of conspiracy to transport firearms across state lines, conspiracy to transport defaced firearms across state lines, conspiracy to sell firearms across state lines, and conspiracy to transport and receive stolen property across state lines. |
837 |
Cain's Sexual Harrassment Accusations Lead Him to Believe He is Victim of Smear CampaignBelieving himself to be a victim of a smear campaign, presidential candidate Herman Cain suddenly recalled the financial settlement he was a part of years before. In the late 1990's, as the head of the National Restaurant Association, Cain battled two sexual harassment claims involving two different women, although he later remembered the first accusation and denies remembering the second accusation altogether (Oliphant). |
530 |
Bank of America Decides Against Debit Card Fee After Customer BacklashThe last of the major corporate banks, Bank of America, resigned from their plan to charge customers a small fee for the usage of their debit cards. Bank of America followed suit after Wells Fargo & Co. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. announced their intention to drop the fee. SunTrust Banks Inc. and Regions Financial Corp. both decided to stop charging their customers, although these fees have been in place long before the recent controversy (Fitzpatrick). |
786 |
Troy Davis' Fourth Stay of Execution DeniedA dispute that began as a mere request for clemency escalated into a heated, public racial battle when a five-member board confirmed that Troy Davis will indeed be executed by lethal injection on September 20th. Twenty-two years ago, Davis was tried and convicted of murdering a police officer who was attempting to break up a fight in a fast food parking lot. According to witnesses, Davis shot Mark MacPhail in the face and the heart, ultimately ending his life. Since then, Davis has been granted three stays of execution. However, those fighting for Davis' fourth stay of execution argue that he was wrongfully convicted in a case that was built on an incredibly insufficient amount of physical evidence and shaky-at-best witness testimony. |
815 |
Weston and Cohorts Arrested for Kidnapping the Mentally DisabledA landlord of a Philadelphian apartment discovered four mentally handicapped people chained in the basement when he went to investigate a short circuit on October 15th. Turgut Gozleveli discovered dogs locked inside of the boiler room and four adults hiding underneath a blanket. They were hunched together in a space not tall enough for an old to stand, surrounded in human waste with only a jug of orange juice (Hoye). He unchained them while asking questions about their identity, but he didn't receive any answers. Believing them to be illegal immigrants, Gosleveli called in the police who quickly discovered the beginnings of a grand scheme to steal monthly Social Security disability checks. |
787 |
