T.L. Winslow's 2014 C.E. Historyscope

2014 Chinese Year: Horse (Jan. 31). Doomsday Clock: 5 min. till midnight. Time Mag. Person of the Year: Ebola Fighters. On Jan. 1 the U.N. Internat. Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People begins; the vote on Nov. 26, 2013 was 110-7 with 56 abstentions; the no votes incl. the U.S., Canada, and Australia; on Jan. 16 Israeli ambassador to the U.N. (since June 8, 2011) Ron Prosor (1958-) utters the soundbyte: "The U.N. continues to oil the Palestinian propaganda machine and produce highly publicized events on their behalf. Rather than putting an end to Palestinian incitement, the U.N. is now the primary platform for Palestinian propaganda. The organization allocates endless resources to advancing lies and half-truths of the Palestinian leadership instead of dealing with pressing issues facing the international community and the Middle East region. While they seek +solidarity, the Palestinians continue to educate an entire generation to hate Israel. The terrorism from the PA's territories into Israel has doubled in the past year, and I have yet to hear the UN propose solidarity with the Israeli victims of terror." Illegal immigrants living in the U.S.: 42.4M (13.3%), highest in 94 years. Four blood moons on Jewish feast days this year and next is the first time since 1967 (1948, 1492). A world-shaking event is due this year to keep up with previous cents., e.g., 1914 (WWI), 1815 (Congress of Vienna), 1618 (30 Years' War), 1517 (Martin Luther's 95 Theses)? The first day of the Jewish Passover falls during a blood-red moon; last 1492, 1948, 1967; next 2015. Tanks to shale oil, the U.S. passes Russia to become the #1 world oil producer; it is also the #2 largest oil consumer after China. The economy of China surpasses the U.S. ($17.6T vs. $17.4T). A good year to launch a human mission to Mars because of an alignment of planetary bodies insuring an escape route back to Earth? China surpasses the U.S. in GDP based on purchasing power parity (PPP), becoming #1, with $17.6T vs $17.4T GDP, and 16.48% vs. 16.28% PPP. U.S. job growth is 2.65M, most since 1999. The first year in which more than half of the members of the U.S. Congress are millionaires. The greatest U.S. job growth since 2000 has been with non-natives (5.7M jobs). The number of Islamic suicide bombings is 592, killing 3.4K, vs. 305 killing 2.2K in 2013; 15 are carried out by women vs. five in 2013. Death toll in Iraq: 15,538, vs. 6,522 in 2013, worst since 2007 (17,956); civilian death toll: 12,282. CO2 emissions from world energy producers level-off for the first time in 40 years since measurement started. On Jan. 1 the 2014 Rose Bowl sees Michigan State defeat Stanford 24-20; the 2014 Rose Parade contains a gay marriage float that features Aubrey Loots and Danny Leclair getting hitched. On Jan. 1 TLW predicts a Great Muslim Apostasy (GMA) AKA Good Morning America, brought about by the Internet, which will cause hundreds of millions of Muslims to finally chuck Islam, Allah, Muhammad and his Great Jihad and dance in the streets with Jews seeking forgiveness for their crimes, causing the lines to be redrawn in the Middle East forever and the region to become a credit to the world instead of its asshole. On Jan. 1 the U.K. lifts restrictions on immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania, causing concerns of a tide of new immigrants. On Jan. 1 the Boy Scouts of Am. begin accepting gay youths. On Jan. 1 the Russian Supreme Court upholds a ban on Muslim hijabs (headbags). On Jan. 1 Lebanese authorities arrest Majid bin Muhammad Al Majid, leader of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades in Sidon for questioning; he dies in custody. On Jan. 1 the announced release of 88 Taliban prisoners by Afghanistan is pissing-off the U.S., according to the New York Times. On Jan. 1 a bomb at a New Year's party in Sumisip, Philippines kills seven and injures five. On Jan. 1 a suicide car bomber attacks a passenger bus carrying Shiite pilgrims in Akhtarabad, Pakistan (near Quetta), killing two and injuring 17. On Jan. 1 madass Muslims set 1,067 carbecues in France, 10% less than in 2013. On Jan. 1 the first legal recreational marijuana stores in the U.S. open in Dirty Denver, Colo.; the first legal sale is one-eighth oz. of Bubba Kush. On Jan. 1 the controversial Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act comes into effect in formerly Roman Catholic Ireland, allowing abortions where doctors believe there is a threat to the life of the mother. On Jan. 1 Latvia adopts the Euro as its official currency, dropping the lat - everybody Wang Chung tonight? On Jan. 1 a truck is stopped in Hatay, Turkey en route to Syria, allegedly carrying goods from the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), but actually carrying members of the Turkish Nat. Intelligence Agency (MIT). On Jan. 1-Dec. 13 the 2014 Calif. Wildfires, caused by the 2012-14 North Am. Drought and Santa Ana winds burn 555K acres, cause $184M damage, kill two and injure 146. On Jan. 2 a large explosion rocks a Hezbollah neighborhood in S Beirut, Lebanon. On Jan. 2 explosives in the embassy safe kill Palestinian ambassador Jamal al-Jamal (b. 1957) in Prague, Czech.; it is officially called a work accident. On Jan. 2 the Italian navy rescues 233 migrants from an overcrowded smugglers' boat in rough seas S of Sicily. On Jan. 2 after Israel approves the release of 26 Palestinian mass murderers from prison on Dec. 28, U.S. secy. of state John Kerry visits Israel for the 14th time for Mideast peace talks; Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu utters the soundbyte: "I know that you're committed to peace, I know that I'm committed to peace, but unfortunately, given the actions and words of Palestinian leaders, there's growing doubt in Israel that the Palestinians are committed to peace"; on Jan. 3 he visits the West Bank to talk with Palestinian pres. Mahmoud Abbas. On Jan. 2 after the new law takes effect on Jan. 1, the Calif. Supreme Court unanimously rules to permit Sergio Garcia to practice law enough though he's an illegal immigrant. On Jan. 2 Israel appoints its first female battalion cmdr., Maj. Oshrat Bachar. On Jan. 2 German environment minister Barbara Hendricks becomes the first German lesbian cabinet minister to come out. On Jan. 2-8 Winter Storm Hercules, based on a life-threatening Polar Vortex blasts North Am. with the lowest temps in decades, reaching -53F in Winnipeg, and creating Chiberia in the Chicago area; on Jan. 2-Apr. 10 the Early 2014 North Am. Cold Wave, caused by a southward shift of the North Polar Vortex breaks low temperature records across the U.S. from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, killing 21 and doing $5B damage; record low temperatures continue into Mar.; meanwhile Calif. has its warmest winter on record, 4.4F above average. On Jan. 3 the warring factions in Sudan hold a peace parley. On Jan. 3 gunmen disguised as officials storm a prison in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico, starting a shootout that kills five attackers and four inmates. On Jan. 3 Muslim Brotherhood protests in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt kill 11 and result in 122 arrests. On Jan. 3 after it strikes first, and Saudi Arabia and Qatar send money to help, rebel militias in Syria led by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), expelling them from Idlib Province, Aleppo et al.; after the Islamic Front (IF) flees to Turkey rather than kill Islamist brothers, ISIS recaptures Raqqa, Jarablus, al-Bab, and Manbij E of Aleppo, and solidifies its control of Deir az-Zour by establishing alliances with local tribes, making it the #1 enforcer of Sunni Sharia in Syria, with sights set on Israel; meanwhile Saudi cleric Abdullah al-Muhaysini proposes the Al-Umma Initiative, calling for cessation of violence and establishment of a neutral Islamic court to arbitrate all disputes according to Sharia, which is accepted by Jabhat an-Nusra, the SRF, the IF, the Mujahideen Army et al., cooling the fighting; ISIS is really an Assad front?; in Feb. U.S. lt. gen. Michael Flynn, dir. of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) briefs the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on the emerging threat of ISIS, uttering the soundbyte that it "Probably will attempt to take territory in Iraq and Syria to exhibit its strength in 2014, as demonstrated recently in Ramadi and Fallujah, and the group's ability to concurrently maintain multiple safe havens in Syria. Since the departure of U.S. forces at the end of 2011, [ISIS] has exploited the permissive security environment to increase its operations and presence in many locations and also has expanded into Syria and Lebanon to inflame tensions throughout the region"; too bad, Pres. Obama ignores him, and on Dec. 8, 2016 as a lame duck on his way out blames his intel agencies for failing to warn him properly. On Jan. 3 an al-Qaida force captures Fallujah, Iraq; on Jan. 5 U.S. secy. of state John Kerry utters the soundbyte: "This is a fight that belongs to the Iraqis … We are not contemplating returning. We will help them in their fight, but this fight, in the end, they will have to win and I am confident they can." On Jan. 3 Pres. Obama issues two new executive actions "aimed at building up federal background record assessments for gun buyers, with a particular focus on restricting gun access for those with mental health issues." On Jan. 4 a Taliban suicide assault team kills an ISAF soldier at a joint NATO-Afghan base in Ghani Khail, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan before being gunned down by troops. On Jan. 4 lawmakers in Tunisia reject Islam as the main source for the country's laws. On Jan. 5 in Anbar Province, Iraq 34 are killed, along with 20 in Baghdad as Iraqi troops try to oust al-Qaida from Ramadi and Fallujah. On Jan. 5 a young girl in a suicide vest (daughter of a Taliban cmdr.) is stopped in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. On Jan. 6 Boko Haram gunmen attack the village of Berom Shanong, Nigeria, killing 30. On Jan. 6 U.N. undersecy.-gen. for political affairs Jeffrey Feltman warns that the civil war in Central African Repub. (CAR) has Muslim-Christian overtones and could turn into a full religious war. On Jan. 6 Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki issues a call for the residents and tribes of Fallujah, which had fallen under al-Qaida's contro, to expel the "terrorists" from their city to avoid "armed confrontations"; meanwhile the Anbar Province Council calls on Maliki to withdraw troops. On Jan. 6 14-y.-o. Aitzaz Hasan (1999-) becomes a hero by stopping a suicide bomber from entering his school in Hangu, NW Pakistan. On Jan. 6 the Utah Supreme Court halts the granting of same-sex marriages pending review by the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. On Jan. 7 Bulgaria announces the construction of a 33km fence on the border with Turkey to stop illegal immigration. On Jan. 7 gunmen kill seven women and five men at a brothel in Baghdad, Iraq. On Jan. 7 Kyrgyzstan's grand mufti Rakhmatullah-Hajji Egemberdiyev resigns after a sex tape of him and a young woman are released, becoming the 6th to be replaced in four years. On Jan. 7 actress Meryl Streep blasts Walt Disney at an awards ceremony for "Saving Mr. Banks", calling him sexist and anti-Semitic. On Jan. 8 U.S. drones kill two AQAP fighters in Hadramout, Yemen. On Jan. 8 basketball star Dennis Rodman, in North Korea to stage a basketball exhibition stinks himself up with comments about imprisoned U.S. missionary Kenneth Bae; on Jan. 9 he apologizes, claiming drunkenness. On Jan. 8 Thomas Hitzlsperger (1982-) of Germany becomes the first prominent prof. soccer player to come out as gay. On Jan. 8 Bridgegate sees N.J. Repub. gov. Chris Christie rocked by leaked emails that suggest his admin. caused a massive traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge at Ft. Lee for political payback against the town's Dem. mayor for failing to endorse him; on Jan. 9 he fires patsy, er, aide Bridget Kelly - Christie's Chappaquiddick? On Jan. 8 (eve.) Fidel Castro makes his first appearance in 9 mo., looking frail, stooped, and carrying a cane. On Jan. 9 (a.m.) Palestinians fire mortar shells into Israel near the border with S Gaza, causing an Israeli counterstrike. On Jan. 9 an ISIS suicide bomber at a military recruiting center near Baghdad, Iraq kills 21. On Jan. 9 all 135 members of parliament of Central African Repub. (CAR) meet in N'Djamena, Chad to discuss the fate of rebel-turned-pres. Michel Djotodia, who is under fire for failing to prevent sectarian violence in the CAR; meanwhile 20K refugees of Chadian origin have fled back to Chad in recent weeks. On Jan. 9 Pres. Obama announces a list of Promise Zones around the U.S. to help the poor. On Jan. 9 Russian authorities go on high alert after six bodies are found in bomb-laden cars in Pyatigorsk, Russia. On Jan. 9 Iraqi troops clash with al-Qaida troops in On Jan. 9 the Taliban assassinates Chaudhry Aslam Khan, police chief of Karachi, Pakistan. Anbar Province, Afghanistan. On Jan. 9 (night) Kenyan troops strike an Al-Shabaab camp in Gedo, Somalia. On Jan. 10 (a.m.) three Americans (two troops and a civilian) aboard a U.S. military MC-12 plane are killed in a crash in E Afghanistan; meanwhile U.S. Marines in Helmand Province, Afghanistan mistakenly kill a 4-y.-o. Afghan boy. On Jan. 10 after 1K are killed in Muslim-Christian fighting, Muslim Central African Repub. (CAR) pres. Michel Djotodia resigns along with his PM. On Jan. 10 after Christian-Muslim fighting leads to a a ceasefire and a summit to select a candidate with no links to either group of fighters, CAR pres. ( since Mar. 24, 2013) Michel Djotodia resigns, and on Jan. 23 Catherine Samba-Panza (1954-) becomes pres. of Central African Repub. (CAR) (until ?), the first woman, after which people relocate to religiously-cleansed neighborhoods incl. Bouar as the U.N. warns of potential genocide. On Jan. 10 the U.S. designates three groups calling themselves Ansar Al-Sharia as terrorist orgs., contradicting the recent NYT story that blames the 9/11/2012 Benghazi Attack on a YouTube video. On Jan. 10 Israel approves 1.4K new housing units in Judea, Samaria, and E Jerusalem, pissing-off the Palestinian Authority. On Jan. 11 four detained Shiite Iraqi soldiers are murdered by the Sunni Al Dalim tribe in Anbar Province, Iraq, increasing sectarian tensions. On Jan. 11 Wall Street Journal reporter David Bird (b. 1958) goes missing; on Jan. 26 banker William Broeksmit (b. 1955), first in a string of banking-connected suicides; it's a conspiracy-coverup? On Jan. 12 Israel passes a law banning use of Nazi symbols or calling someone a Nazi. On Jan. 12 a mortar attack in a pro-govt. neighborhood of Homs, Syria kills 19. On Jan. 12 Iran and six major powers (U.S., U.K., Russia, France, Germany, China) reach an agreement to implement a Nov. 24 nuclear agreement, curtailing Iran's nuclear activities for a 6-mo. period starting on Jan. 20 in exchange for sanctions relief; meanwhile U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid blocks a sanction bill from being voted on; on Jan. 13 U.S. vice-pres. Joe Biden assures Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. is committed to enforcing its "sanctions architecture"; on Jan. 14 Iranian pres. Hassan Rouhani tweets the soundbyte that "world powers" incl. the U.S. have "surrendered" to the "Iranian nation's will"; a secret 30-page document attached to the deal that the West won't acknowledge the existence of stirs concerns that Pres. Obama has allowed Iran to proceed with nuke production. On Jan. 13 a car bomb on a crowded street in Baghdad, Iraq during a visit by U.N. secy.-gen. Ban Ki-moon kills six and injures 13. On Jan. 13 armed vigilantes surround the town of Apatzingan, Michoacan, Mexico to combat the Knights Templar drug cartel. On Jan. 13 Human Shields, er, Hamas interior minister (since Apr. 2009) Fathi Hamad utters the soundbyte that Israel will cease to exist in eight years (by 2022). On Jan. 13 retired Tampa, Fla. police capt. Curtis Reeves (1942-) gets pissed-off at Chad Oulson texting in a movie theater in Wesley Chapel, Fla., and pulls out his gun and shoots him. On Jan. 14 an Egyptian labor ministry official and three trade union activists are kidnapped in Sinai. On Jan. 14 Israeli defense minister Moshe Ya'alon issues the soundbyte that U.S. secy. of state John Kerry is "obsessive" and "Messianic". On Jan. 14 U.S. secy. of state John Kerry visits the Vatican, whose spokesman Pietro Parolin urges an unconditional ceasefire in Syria and the involvement of all regional players incl. Iran in peace talks on Jan. 22. On Jan. 14 Nigerian pres. Jonathan Goodluck signs a law giving up to 14-year prison sentences for homosexuality and banning same-sex marriages, causing U.S. secy. of state John Kerry to utter the soundbyte that the U.S. is "deeply concerned". On Jan. 14 Turkey raids the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) in Kilis near the Syrian border (known for the infamous Gaza Fake Freedom Flotilla) for suspected al-Qaida ties - the U.N. owes Israel an apology? On Jan. 14 Israeli ambassador Yoram Ettinger utters the soundbyte: "Iran is now at the last lap of the nuclear marathon." On Jan. 14 Moscow city hall rejects a Muslim petition to hold a rally against Islamophobia and Caucususophobia. On Jan. 14-15 a referendum on Egypt's constitution sees 98% of 20M voters approve the new constitution, vs. 10M who approved the Muslim Brotherhood constitution in 2013. On Jan. 15 a protest in support of Russian dissident Alexey Navalny in Manezhnaya Square, Moscow causes the Russian govt. to begin censoring the Internet. On Jan. 15 a wave of bombings in Love Shack Iraq kill 44. On Jan. 15 a sweep for Muslim terrorists in S Russia results in a shootout that killtThree Russian servicemen and four militants. On Jan. 15 a U.S. drone in Hadramout Province, Yemen accidentally kills a farmer in the dell, er, village of Houta near Shibam. On Jan. 15 after Pres. Obama bows to Muslim and Hispanic pressure groups, the U.S. Justice Dept. announces new guidelines that prohibit federal agents from considering religion, national origin, gender, and sexual orientation in their investigations - there's no middle ground, or that's how it seems? On Jan. 16 an Al Nusrah Front suicide bomber in Hermel, Lebanon kills five. On Jan. 16 the U.S. State Dept. holds a meeting by 30 nations on the future of space exploration - and no mention of the Knowledge Ark Project? On Jan. 16 Muslim Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov is killed by Russian security forces - don't need no Maybelline cause you're a beauty queen? On Jan. 16 a planned first-ever speech by a woman by Masoumeh Ebtekar (1959-), Iranian vice-pres. for environmental affairs at the Mosalla, Tehran's biggest mosque is cancelled at the last minute. On Jan. 16 a court in Tokyo, Japan rules that police may profile Muslims. On Jan. 17 Pres. Obama announces an end to U.S. govt. control of phone data from hundreds of millions of Americans, ordering intel agencies to get a secretive court's permission before accessing records, and directing them to stop spying on friendly internat. leaders, also calling for extending some privacy protections to foreign citizens whose communications are monitored by the U.S., calling it a "special obligation" to reexamine intel capabilities because of the potential for trampling on civil liberties; "This debate will make us stronger. In this time of change, the United States of America will have to lead" - I'm swimming around in a vagina, I try to make a princess? On Jan. 17 after Israeli ambassadors to the EU are called in over settlements, Israel calls in the ambassadors of U.K., France, Italy, and Spain, and tells them that "their perpetual one-sided stance against Israel and in favor of the Palestinians is unacceptable and creates the impression they are only seeking ways to blame Israel"; meanwhile Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu utters the soundbyte that those who criticize him are out of sync; "They should go to some of the countries in the Middle East who now support Israel, who think about Israel in different terms... Many of Israel's Arab neighbors share a common goal of peace in the region, as well as concern over a nuclear-armed Iran. Other Arab countries see a bigger threat in hardline Islamist groups, so I say to those who criticize a pro-Israel position in Canada, I ask them, come to the Middle East. Go to the Arab world and you'll discover, you'll discover a lot of people are reconsidering their positions", adding that many Arab countries now "see Israel not as an enemy but as a friend" - but never turn your back on them? On Jan. 17 a suicide attack in Kaboom, Afghanistan kills 14 incl. two Canadians. On Jan. 17 the first attack of the year on the Sinai gas pipeline is at El-Riysan by Ansar Jerusalem; the 2nd attack is on Jan. 27 near el-Arish. On Jan. 18 a stampede at a Muslim funeral in Mumbai, India kills 18 and injures 46. On Jan. 19 (Sun.) Turkish security forces stop and search three trucks heading for Syria that are carrying Turkish intel officers, finding Russian munitions headed for Syrian rebels fighting Bashar al-Assad, which are later traced to Turkish pres. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who on Nov. 24 utters the soundbyte: "What does it matter if it was arms or not." On Jan. 19 Russian pres. Vladimir Putin utters the soundbyte that the way Russians love Elton John proves they don't discriminate against gays, with the soundbyte: "People have different sexual orientation. We will welcome all athletes and all guests of the Olympics", telling other reporters: "We do not have a ban on non-traditional sexual relationships. We have a ban on the propaganda of homosexuality and paedophilia. I want to underline this. Propaganda among children. These are absolutely different things, a ban on something or a ban on the propaganda of that thing... We are not forbidding anything and nobody is being grabbed off the street, and there is no punishment for such kinds of relations. You can feel relaxed and calm [in Russia], but leave children alone please"; meanwhile Elton John performs in Beijing, shocking the audience by announcing that he's dedicating his performance to dissident Ai Weiwei. On Jan. 19 Pres. Obama gives an interview to The New Yorker, with the soundbyte: "As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol." On Jan. 19 (eve.) an unmarried woman in West Bengal, India is gang-raped on the orders of a village elder for having an affair with a Muslim man. On Jan. 19 (night) a Boko Haram attack in Alau Ngawo Fatie, Nigeria kills 18 and burns several houses. On Jan. 20 the implementation of the Geneva Accord by Iran begins with them dismantling its most sensitive (20%) uranium enrichment devices, er, just not operating them, with foreign minister Javad Zarif on Jan. 22 uttering the soundbyte "We're not dismantling anything", causing Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Jan. 26 to utter the soundbyte that there is "no chance" of a final deal; "If Iran will stand by that statement, that means that a permanent agreement "which is the goal of the entire diplomatic process with Iran cannot succeed." On Jan. 20 Russian deputy defense minister Gen. Pavel Popov warns that war can be expected to erupt between the U.S., China, and Japan "within weeks" due to a power struggle "exploding" within the Communist Party of China (CPC). On Jan. 20 after the U.N. issues a last-min. invitation to Iran to attend the Geneva II Conference on Syria, the Syrian Nat. Coalition issues an ultimatum to Iran to commit publicly by 7 p.m. GMT to withdraw its "troops and militias" from Syria and abide by a 2012 transitional roadmap, or else the U.N. should withdraw its invitation for Tehran to take part in a peace conference, else it will boycott the conference, causing the U.N. to uninvite Iran. On Jan. 20 al-Qaida attacks across Iwreck kill 26; meanwhile on Jan. 19 Pres. Obama utters the soundbyte that al-Qaida is totally JV (juvenile varsity). On Jan. 20 a Taliban suicide attack at an ISAF base in Zhari, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan kills one soldier. On Jan. 21 a Syrian defector produces evidence of Nazi-like mass industrial killing by the Assad regime. On Jan. 21 Iran sends two warships on their navy's first-ever mission to the Atlantic Ocean. On Jan. 21 Iraqi provincial affairs minister Torhan al-Mufti announces that the Iraqi govt. has agreed to transform two Turkmen-majority districts, Talafar in Ninevah Province and Tuz Khurmato in Salahuddin Province into their own provinces. On Jan. 22 (Wed.) the Geneva II Conference on Syria. On Jan. 22 amid violent protests that kill three, Ukrainian pres. Viktor Yanukovich holds talks with opposition leaders. On Jan. 22 during a hunt for Islamic black widows, Russian police kill Islamist Elgar Magatov in a shootout in North Caucasus. On Jan. 22 Iraqi airstrikes in Anbar Province, Iraq kill 50+ Islamist militants. On Jan. 22 the Israeli air force kills Palestinian terrorist Ahmed Za'anin along with family member Mohammed Za'anin near Beit Hanoun in N Gaza. On Jan. 22 Israel announces the thwarting of an al-Qaida attack on the Jerusalem Convention Center and U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv. On Jan. 23 al-Qaida head Ayman al-Zawahiri releases an audiotape calling on Islamists in Syria to quit infighting and attack Assad, and surprisingly opposing attacks on Christians. On Jan. 23 (9:05 a.m. EST) NASA launches its 3.8-ton TDRS L satellite to speed up the system. On Jan. 23 after three weeks of talks in Addis Ababa, pro and anti govt. forces in South Sudan sign a ceasefire agreement; too bad, it is broken within 24 hours. On Jan. 23 U.S. atty. Eric Holder announces that U.S. Treasury and law enforcement agencies will soon issue regs opening banking services to state-sanctioned marijuana businesses even though cannabis remains classified as an illegal narcotic under federal law. On Jan. 24 Chinese pres. Xi Jinping is named chmn. of the nat. security commission, giving him ever-greater powah over the gigantic police state. On Jan. 24 a string of anti-govt. attacks in Cairo, Egypt incl. a bomb at the main police station near the pyramids kills five and injures 100; al-Qaida-linked Ansar Beit al-Maqdis claims credit; the Muslim Brotherhood denies involvement. On Jan. 24 after being given orders to kill rather than capture terrorists, Iraqi forces in Baquba, Iraq kill six men they claim are planning a suicide bombing on a govt. bldg. On Jan. 25 19-y.-o. Darion Marcus Aguilar (b. 1994) kills two young employees and injures another in the Columbia Town Center in Howard County, Md. before killing himself. On Jan. 25 a mass grave with 169+ bodies is uncovered in Baluchistan, Pakistan, victims of Pakistani intel agencies, causing the govt. to attempt a coverup. On Jan. 25-26 (Sat.-Sun.) Boko Haram attacks in Borno and Adamawa, Nigeria kill 74. On Jan. 26 the 3rd anniv. of the Arab Spring uprising in Cairo, Egypt sees police clash with protesters, killing 29. On Jan. 26 four Egyptian soldiers are killed and nine injured in North Sinai. On Jan. 26 after progress at the talks, women and children are allowed to leave Homs, Syria. On Jan. 26 the 2014 Tunisian Constitution is passed by the nat. assembly, and signed on Jan. 27 by Pres. Moncef Marzouki, becoming a rare V for the Arab Spring as it makes Islam the state religion but furnishes protections for freedom of belief and sexual equality, banning takfirs (religious edicts against apostates from Islam). On Jan. 26 the 56th Grammy Awards in the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif. is hosted by LL Cool J (3rd time); Jay-Z receives nine nominations (the most); album of the year goes to Daft Punk for "Random Access Memories"; record of the year goes to Daft Punk, and Pharrell Williams for "Get Lucky"; a mass wedding of gay and hetero couples is presided over by Queen Latifah, to the singing of "Same Love" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, who win best new artist. On Jan. 26 large-scale political demonstrations in Paris, France see the first explicitly anti-Semitic slogans being shouted since WWII? On Jan. 27 former secy. of state Hillary Clinton addresses the Nat. Automobile Dealers Assoc. in New Orleans, La., and calls the 9/11/2012 Benghazi Attack the "greatest regret" of her tenure; she also admits that the last time she drove a car was in 1996. On Jan. 27 Boko Haram militants slaughter 30 Christian churchgoers in Waga Chakawa, Adamawa, Nigeria. On Jan. 27 the Mexican govt. strikes a deal with vigilantes in Michoacan to share policing and military duties to fight the Knights Templar drug cartel. On Jan. 28 after the govt. announces that troops won't be used to quell continuing pro-West protests and riots, Ukrainian PM Mykola Azarov resigns; amid calls for his resignation, pres. Viktor Yanukovych goes on sick leave; on Feb. 5 first deputy PM Sergei Arbuzov is made acting PM (until ?); meanwhile EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton offers support for Ukraine's constitutional reform plans plus help to investigate alleged abuses against protesters. On Jan. 28 a group of armed Muslims attacks the Coptic Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary in Cairo, Egypt, killing one. On Jan. 28 Pres. Obama's 2014 State of the Union Message calls 2014 "a year of action" and "a breakthrough year for America", promotes raising the min. wage, and stumps for Obamacare and immigration reform, saying that the immigration system is "broken" and leaving room for Repubs. to make a deal with Dems.; he warns Congress that he will veto any Iran sanctions. On Jan. 28 Palestinian Authority chmn. Mahmoud Abbas announces to Israel that it has three years to withdraw from Judea and Samaria, with the soundbyte: "Those who are proposing 10 to 15 years do not want to withdraw at all." On Jan. 28 the Turkish lira collapses, causing the central bank to raise interest rates in defiance of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's longstanding pledge to keep them low and his frequent denunciation of an "interest rate lobby" that sought to bring down his Turkish economic miracle. On Jan. 28 Fatah deputy secy. Jibril Rajoub makes a visit to Tehran, surprising many since Iran formerly mainly befriended its enemy Hamas. On Jan. 28 after the military announces that they're backing him for pres., newly-promoted field marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi gives a speech, with the soundbyte: "Religious discourse is the greatest battle and challenge facing the Egyptian people, pointing to the need for a new vision and a modern, comprehensive understanding of the religion of Islam, rather than relying on a discourse that has not changed for 800 years", referring to the 1258 declaration by the mujtahids that the gates of ijtihad (independent reasoning on Islam) are closed, making him the new Martin Luther of Islam?; on Mar. 28 he resigns from the military and announces his candidacy for pres. On Jan. 28 a snowstorm in Atlanta, Ga. brings 3 in. of snow, paralyzing the city, with cars abandoned, the airport closed, 12 killed in traffic accidents, etc.; a worse icestorm hits on Feb. 11, with all 50 U.S. states except Fla. receiving snow. On Jan. 28 after they fire a grenade into Turkish territory, Turkish troops return fire against ISIS rebels in Cobaney (al-Ra'i), Syria. On Jan. 28-30 Philippine troops occupy a Muslim rebel stronghold in Maguindanao, Philippines, killing 50 Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement fighters. On Jan. 29 Libyan deputy PM Sadiq Abdulkarim survives an assassination attempt in Tripoli. On Jan. 29 U.S. nat. intel dir. James Clapper writes a report to the Senate intel committee, claiming that Iran has the capacity to make a nuke if it wishes, but that the U.S. would detect it. On Jan. 29 industry minister (since Mar. 14, 2013) Mehdi Jomaa (1962-) becomes PM of Tunisia (until Feb. 6, 2015), running a technocratic govt. On Jan. 30 six ISIS suicide bombers break into the transportation ministry bldg. in Bagdead, Iraq, killing 12 plus themselves. On Jan. 31 two roadside bombs explode near a police car in Cairo, Egypt, injuring a policeman. On Jan. 31 the U.S. State Dept. releases a 2K-page report giving the 1.7K-mi. Keystone XL Pipeline a green light. On Jan. 31-Feb. 2 the 50th Munich Security Conference is attended by about 20 govt. heads and 50 foreign and defense ministers; German pres. Joachim Gauck utters the soundbyte that the German govt. is proclaiming "the end of military restraint" becuase it has to defend its interests more decisively around the world, stirring fears of a new aggressively militarized Germany. In Jan. a tape is recorded in which actor Tom Sizemore claims to two pals that in a 1998 White House screening of the film Saving Private Ryan, Pres. Clinton pulled him aside from the crowd of celebs incl. Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Ed Burns, and Dennis Farina, asking if he'd like to see the Lincoln Bedroom, and after shaking his Secret Service detail, asks him, "Did you go with Liz Hurley for four years? Do you still see her?", then demands her phone number so he can call her for a date, flying her to Washington D.C. and bedding her in the White House in a room next to where First Lady Hillary sleeps; on Feb. 5 Sizemore recants, claiming drug use. In Jan. the African Am. Intellectual History Society (AAIHS) is founded at the U. of N.C. in Charlotte, N.C. In Jan. the U.S. unemployment rate rate drops to 6.6%, adding 113K jobs. In Jan. the death toll in Iraq is 733. On Feb. 1 World Hijab Day celebrates women who are very, very modest. On Feb. 1 an Al-Nusra Front suicide bomber in a Jeep Cherokee detonates in the Hezbollah stronghold of Hermel, E Lebanon killing four and injuring 15. On Feb. 1 two election workers for Abdullah Abdullah are murdered in Herat, Afghanistan. On Feb. 1 U.S. secy. of state John Kerry meets with leaders of the Ukrainian opposition, and utters the soundbyte: "Nowhere is the fight for a democratic, European future more important today than in Ukraine. While there are unsavory elements in the streets in any chaotic situation, the vast majority of Ukrainians want to live freely in a safe, prosperous country... They are fighting for the right to associate with partners who will help them realize their aspirations, and they have decided that means their futures do not have to lie with one country alone, and certainly not coerced. The United States and EU stand with the people of Ukraine in that fight." On Feb. 2 Boko Haram gunmen in Unguwar Kajit, Nigeria kill a Christian family of seven, causing Christian reprisals against Muslims. On Feb. 2 group of 20 Muslims in S Thailand disrupt elections, killing three soldiers and a district election official in a bomb attack. On Feb. 2 Saudi Arabia passes a new Counterterrorism Law that incl. anybody calling for reforms or regime change, allowing protesters to be jailed at will; on Feb. 3 King Abdullah issues a decree dishing out 5-30 years in prison to any citizen who leaves the kingdom to fight in conflicts. On Feb. 2 elections in Thailand are disrupted, causing protesters on Feb. 3 led by Suthep Thaugsuban to march toward downtown Bangkok, Thailand, demanding the ouster of PM Yingluck Shinawatra. On Feb. 3 an armed student in School No. 263 in Moscow kills a teacher and policeman before being arrested. On Feb. 3 Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif gives an interview to German TV station Phoenix, and utters the soundbyte: "If the Palestinians are happy with the solution [an Israel-Palestinian peace deal] then nobody outside Palestine would prevent that from taking place", and the soundbyte: "Once the Palestinian problem is solved the conditions for an Iranian recognition of Israel will be possible", stunning Israelis by seeming to accept the existence of the Little Satan. On Feb. 4 a standoff between Tunisian forces and militant Salafists in Raoued, Tunisia kills eight. On Feb. 4 Hyderabad, India-born Satya Narayana Nadella (1967-) is named CEO of Microsoft Corp., replacing Steve Ballmer; Bill Gates is replaced as chmn. by John W. Thompson (1949-). On Feb. 4 New York City mayor Bill de Blasio announces special treatment for Muslims, closing schools for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, along with the Lunar New Year, but not the Hindu festival Diwali. On Feb. 4 the New York Times claims that Afghan pres. Hamid Karzai has been holding secret peace talks with the Taliban. On Feb. 4 U.N. secy.-gen. Ban Ki-moon pub. a report on rape and torture of Syrian rebel children by Syrian troops, along with recruitment of child soldiers by rebel troops. On Feb. 4 alawsuit against Google for hosting an anti-Islam video on YouTube filed last Feb. by the Jordan Bar Assoc. is adjourned. On Feb. 5 three explosions rock Bagdead, Iraq, killing 16. On Feb. 5 the British govt. announces that membership in the Muslim Brotherhood is not proof of extremism, and that its members are free to operate in the U.K. as long as they respect its laws. On Feb. 5 U.S. secy. of state John Kerry utters the soundbyte that the chemical weapons deal didn't strengthen Bashar al-Assad, but that happened because of support from Iran and Hezbollah, and infighting among the opposition. On Feb. 5 Iranian pres. Hassan Rouhani gives an interview on Iranian TV, grumbling that it had been blocked by the network, then bragging how he "broke the chains around Iran" and struck a blow against "Iranophobia". On Feb. 5 mass protests in Bosnia-Herzegovina start in Tuvla, spreading across the country, becoming the biggest since 1992. On Feb. 5 a U.N. Report on Sex Abuse by Roman Catholic Clergy accuses the Vatican of systematically placing its own interests over those of victims by enabling priests to rape and molest tens of thousands of children through its own policies and code of silence recommending that the Vatican immediately remove any priest suspected or known to have abused children, open its archives on abusers and the bishops who covered up for them, and turn the cases over to law enforcement; on Feb. 7 the Vatican responds that it's none of your business. On Feb. 6 the 10th Internat. Day for Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation sees Saudi cleric Sheikh Mohamad Alarefe tweet the soundbyte that FGM is a "noble act" to do to lesb, er, women. On Feb. 6 Turkey passes a new Internet censorship law, further restricting freedoms in the increasingly Islamist country, causing protests in Istanbul on Feb. 8. On Feb. 6 by 96-0 the U.S. Senate confirms U.S. Sen. (D-Mont.) (since 1978) Max Sieben Baucus (nee Enke) (1941-) as U.S. ambassador to China #11, taking office on Mar. 20 (until Jan. 20, 2017). On Feb. 6 U.S. envoy to Sudan Joseph D. Stafford resigns after converting to Islam. On Feb. 6 (night) Jay Leno hosts his last episode of The Tonight Show, featuring Billy Crystal, his first guest in May 1992. On Feb. 6-23 the XXII (22nd) Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Krasnodar, Russia sees Russia spend $51B to host it w/beefed-up security incl. a 60 mi. x 25 mi. Ring of Steel with 40K security personnel; the debut of snowboarding slopestyle, which is won by Sage Kotsenburg (first gold of the games) and Jamie Anderson of the U.S. On Feb. 7 Syrian rebels free hundreds of prisoners in a prison near Aleppo, Syria; meanwhile hundreds of thousands of residents evacuate Aleppo, leaving it a "city of ghosts". On Feb. 7 a passenger claiming to have a bomb tries to hijack a plane to Sochi en route from Kharkov, Ukraine to Istanbul. On Feb. 7 thousands of Muslims flee Bangui, Central African Repub. (CAR) as Christians jeer them. On Feb. 7 Salah I. Salahadyn and Universal K. Allah are charged with the attempted theft on Jan. 28 of a $6M-$10 Stradivarius violin; K. stands for Knowledge. On Feb. 7 a 3-day truce allows civilians to be evacuated from Damascus, Syria, while the Syrian govt. agrees to peace talks on Feb. 10 in Geneva. On Feb. 7 the U.S. announces the sailing of warship USS Donald Cook for Rota Spain to strengthen its ballistic missile shield, to be followed within two years by USS Ross, USS Porter, and USS Carney. On Feb. 7 new U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson gives his first major speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., uttering the soundbyte about the 11.5M+ illegal immigrants: "They're here, and they're not going away." On Feb. 8 U.S. atty. gen. Eric Holder announces that the U.S. Justice Dept. will vigorously enforce same-sex marriage rights on a level with hetero marriages, and on Feb. 24 tells state attys. gen. to fall in line regardless of state laws; on Feb. 25 the Coalition of African-Am. Pastors calls for him impeachment for violating his oath of office by trying "to coerce states to fall in line with the same-sex 'marriage' agenda." On Feb. 8 Iran announces that it's sending its warships to U.S. waters for the first time, causing the U.S. to pooh-pooh the claim - I'm the last of the good old-fashioned steam-powered trains? On Feb. 8 U.S. Lt. Gen. Joseph Anderson succeeds Lt. Gen. Mark Milley as head of the Internat. Security Assistance Force Joint Command, the #2 military position in Afghanistan. On Feb. 9 a Maoist landmine in Sukma District, Chhattisgarh, India kills two police and injures 12. On Feb. 9 Mo. Tigers defensive lineman Michael Sam announces his homosexuality on Twitter, becoming the first openly gay NFL draft pick on May 10, by the St. Louis er, Rams, weeping and kissing his white boyfriend on TV. On Feb. 9 (Sun.) CBS-TV airs The Beatles: The Night That Changed America - A Grammy Salute in honor of the 50th Anniv. of the Beatles' first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, featuring Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, Olivia and Dhani Harrison, Maroon 5, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Katy Perry, John Mayer, Stevie Wonder, Imagine Dragons, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Pharrell Williams et al.; Julian Lennon snubs it. On Feb. 9 a Gallup Poll finds that for the first time more than half (53%) of Americans don't believe that Pres. Obama is respected by other world leaders, vs. 43% last year. On Feb. 10 Iraqi militants accidentally denote their own bomb in a training camp N of Baghdad, Iraq, killing 21. On Feb. 10 voters in Switzerland vote to end treaties allowing anybody in the EU to immigrate, causing the EU to threaten loss privileged access to the EU single market. On Feb. 10 Panama Canal officials fine North Korea $693,333 for trying to sneak Cuban arms through. On Feb. 10 the Wall Street Journal claims that the U.S. has decided to wait until Afghan pres. Hamid Karzai leaves offices to complete a long-term security deal. On Feb. 11 (early a.m.) Islamists blow up a gas pipeline to Jordan in Sinai, Egypt. On Feb. 11 an army plane crash in E Algeria kills 103. On Feb. 11 a grenade attack in a movie theater in Peshawar, Pakistan kills 11. On Feb. 11 the Baghdad, Iraq offices of Al-Sabah Al-Jadid ("New Morning") newspaper are bombed after hundreds protest an allegeldy insulting depiction of Ayatollah Khamenei pub. on Feb. 7. On Feb. 11 Taiwan mainland affair council head Wang Yu-chi and Zhang Zhijun, dir. of China's Taiwan Affairs Office meet in Nanjing, China, a historic first meeting of official reps. On Feb. 11 a grenade attack at the Shama porno theater in Peshawar, Pakistan kills 12 and injuring 24. On Feb. 11 a Boko Haram attack in Konduga, Nigeria kills 39. On Feb. 11 Salafist groups Ahrar ash-Sham (AS) and al-Qaida branch Jabhat an-Nusra (JN) declare war on ISIS in E Syria; on Feb. 12 ISIS occupies Raqqa, and is surrounded by AS and JN, but AS withdraws because they don't want to encourage fitna (civil strife) among Muslims, leaving JN to be mopped-up. On Feb. 11 Cobra Gold 2014 opens at Camp Akatosarot 230 mi. N of Bangkok, with 14K troops from the U.S. and Asia-Pacific countries participating; the first-ever participation by Chinese troops. On Feb. 11 despite 19 of 28 EU states voting against it, the European Commission approves the growing of TC 1507 GMO corn by DuPont. On Feb. 11 (eve.) Pres. Obama holds a state dinner (2.5K calories) at the White House for French pres. Francois Holland, who arrives sans Valerie Trierweiler, who recently separated; both criticize Russian pres. Vladimir Putin, saying that they are united in backing rebel forces in Syria's civil war and that Putin has the blood of the Syrian people on his hands. On Feb. 12 the first green-on-blue-attack of the year in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan kills two coalition soldiers. On Feb. 12 Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Chile sign an agreement to eliminate tariffs on 92% of trade amont their countries, which Mexican pres. Enrique Pena Nieto calls the "largest [Mexico] has signed since the Free Trade Agreement with the United States"; Childean pres. Sebastian Pinera says that it is "not against anybody, only in favor of increasing the quality of life in our countries"; Colombian pres. Juan Manuel Santos admits that there will be "winners and losers", with the winners incl. Cemex in Mexico and Antofagasta in Chile, and the losers being mainly the poor. On Feb. 12 (night) an Islamist attack in Pattani, Thailand kills five incl. a Buddhist monk and child, and injures six. On Feb. 13 a Boko Haram ambush in Izhe, Nigeria kills six Nigerian soldiers. On Feb. 13 an Al-Shabaab attack outside Mogadishu, Somalia unsuccessfully targets a U.N. convoy outside the airport. On Feb. 13 the parliament of Belgium votes 86-44-12 to permit child euthanasia with no min. age limit. On Feb. 14 2K protest in Plovdiv, Bulgaria over a court-ordered return of Muslim property seized during the expulsion of the Ottomans in the 19th cent. On Feb. 13 Hillary Clinton addresses the No Ceilings Project, uttering the soundbyte that women who want to get ahead in politics or other high-profile jobs should "grow skin like a rhinoceros." On Feb. 13 a trilateral meeting between the U.S., Russia, and the Arab League in Geneva, Switzerland during the 2nd round of negotiations between the Syrian govt. and rebels achieves nada? On Feb. 14 Pres. Obama utters the soundbyte that he'd like to pass immigration reform before he leaves office in Jan. 2017, and "I'd like to get it done this year." On Feb. 15 a Boko Haram attack on the Christian village of Izghe, Borno, Nigeria kills 106. On Feb. 16 (Sun.) U.S. secy. of state John Kerry visits the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia accompanied by grand imam (2005-) Ali Mustafa Yaqub (1952-), beating a huge drum to call Muslims to prayer, uttering the soundbyte that the largest mosque in the world's most populous Muslim country is an "extraordinary place... I am very privileged to be here and I am grateful to the grand imam for allowing me to come"; Pres. Obama already visited him on Nov. 10, 2010. On Feb. 16 an IED on the Unnar Wah Railway in Jacobabad, Pakistan kills seven and injures 30; Baluch separatists claim responsibility. On Feb. 16 a bomb on a South Korean tourist bus in Saba, Sinai, Egypt kills five and inures 20. On Feb. 16 a bus bombing in Taba, Egypt kills three South Korean tourists and their Egyptian driver; Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis claims responsibility, and warns all travellers to leave Sinai by Feb. 20. On Feb. 16 security forces thwart an al-Qaida attack in Aden, Yemen, arresting 27. On Feb. 16 U.S. secy. of state Kerry releases a statement welcoming a new Lebanese govt. even if it incl. Hezbollah. On Feb. 17 the U.N. releases a Report on Human Rights in North Korea, documenting "widespread, systematic abuses". On Feb. 17 amidst continuing anti-govt. protesters, Venezuela expels three U.S. diplomats for conspiring with the protesters. On Feb. 17 Pakistani negotiators cancel a scheduled meeting with the Taliban after they claim to have killed 23 soldiers they kidnapped in 2010. On Feb. 17 riots at an asylum seeker detention center in Papua, New Guindea kill one and injure 77. On Feb. 17 Naglaa Mahmoud, wife of ousted Egyptian pres. Mohamed Morsi claims to have been close friends with Hillary Clinton since the 1980s, claiming that the Muslim Sisterhood has regular dealings with her and her hubby Bill. On Feb. 18 final talks with Iran on the nuclear deal. On Feb. 18 protests in Bangkok, Thailand sees police and anti-govt. protesters engage in gun battles, killing one police officer and injuring dozens of police and protesters. On Feb. 18 Pres. Obama names Robert Malley (1963-) as senior dir. of the Nat. Security Council despite firing him from his campaign in 2008 for ties to Hamas, the PLO et al; his father was an Egyptian-born Jewish Communist who supported the Palestinian cause. On Feb. 18 a Economist Poll reveals that 71% of Obama voters and 55% of Democrats regret their votes. On Feb. 19 an Abdullah Azzam Brigades twin suicide attack in Beirut, Lebanon kills five and injures 12+. On Feb. 19 Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud meets with Japanese Emperor Akihito in Tokyo; meanwhile the newspaper Al-Arab reports that Saudi Arab has threatened to close its border and airspace with Qatar if it doesn't stop supporting the Muslim Brotherhood. On Feb. 19 Iranian pres. Hassan Rouhani utters the soundbyte that Jerusalem "should be liberated from the yoke of Israel". On Feb. 19 Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes a phone call to Pres. Obama, asking him to do something about Turkish Islamic cleric Fetullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in rural Penn., misunderstanding his response as an okay. On Feb. 19 a Gallup Poll reveals that 49% of Americans say that involvement in Afghanistan was a mistake, compared to 48% who say it wasn't, becoming the first time the initial massive support has become a push. On Feb. 19 the Three Amigos North Am. Summit in Toluca, Michoacan, Mexico, attended by Pres. Obama, Mexican Pres. Enrique Pena Nieto, and Canadian PM Stephen Harper produces no results - did they discuss my Megamerge Dissolution Solution or play video games? On Feb. 20 violence in Kiev, Ukraine sees troops fire on protesters, becoming the worst in two decades; meanwhile Pres. Obama warns Ukraine of possible sanctions; on Feb. 21 pres. Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leaders sign an agreement for early elections; on Feb. 22 Yanukovych flees the pres. palace as protesters take control, ending up in Sevastopol, home of a Russian naval base; on Feb. 24 an arrest warrant is issued for him by the acting govt. for crimes against protesters.; meanwhile on Feb. 23 the U.S. warns Russia to keep its military out of Ukraine, calling it a "grave mistake" to try it, which doesn't stop Russian troops from massing at Belgorod 25 mi. N of the Ukrainian border; on Feb. 26 kiss-me-again Russian pres. Vladimir Putin orders massive military exercises in W Russia, and docks a Russian warship in Havana, Cuba; on Feb. 27 armed men seize the Ukrainian parliament bldg. in Simferopol and raise the Russian flag; on Feb. 28 Yanukovych appears on TV for the first time in Rostov-on-Don, with the soundbytes "I intend to keep fighting for the future of Ukraine" and "Any military action in this situation is unacceptable"; meanwhile Swiss authorities announce an investigation into money laundering by Yanukovych. On Feb. 20 Facebook buys Internet startup WhatsApp for a record $19B, or $45 for each of its 450M users. On Feb. 20 as the Knesset debates ending Hashemite control and replacing it with Israelite control, pissed-off Muslims clash with Israeli security guards at Al-Aqsa Mosque; on Feb. 23 King Abdullah II of Jordan issues an order promoting the possibility of making Jordan an alternative homeland to Palestinians; on Feb. 27 the Jordanian parliament unanimously decides to expel the Israeli ambassador in Amman and recall Jordan's envoy in Tel Aviv. On Feb. 21 (6:20 a.m.) a 4-man Taliban assault at a police HQ in Surobi District, Kabul Province, Afghanistan kills two policemen. On Feb. 21 10 Al-Shabaab militants stage a suicide assault on the pres. compound in Mogadishu, Somalia, killing several govt. officials. On Feb. 21 a new law goes into effect forcing the U.S. Defense Dept. to only buy U.S. flags made in the U.S., in an attempt to curtail purchase of Chinese-made flags. On Feb. 21 the Fairmont Case sees several sons of Muslim businessmen drug and rape a woman in the 5-star Fairmont Nile Hotel in Cairo, Egypt then writing their initials on her body, recording the gang rape and posting it online, claiming it was a consensual sex party. On Feb. 22 Mexican Sinaloa cartel drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is arrested in Mazatlan after running from authorities for 13 years while controlling 25% of the action in the U.S. On Feb. 22 Florence mayor (since 2009) Matteo Renzi (b. 1975) becomes PM #56 of Italy (until Dec. 5, 2016), going on to prove a centrist that tries to reform the hopelessly socialist constitution in vain. On Feb. 22 the Ragnarok (Viking Apocalypse) sees Norse gods Thor, Loki, Odin, Freyr, Hermodr fight; Odin will be killed by Fennir and the other creator gods will fall; Earth will fall into the sea, and life as we know it will cease to be; the world will re-emerge anew and fertile, and two human survivors will be in charge of repopulating the Earth :) On Feb. 22-23 a weekend of violence in Honduras kills 39. On Feb. 23 (01:10 a.m.) Prague-born Theresienstadt Concentration Camp survivor Alice Herz-Sommer (b. 1903) dies in London, becoming the oldest known Jewish Holocaust survivor; her 2013 bio. film The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life, about her 100+ camp piano concerts of Chopin's etudes is nominated for best short documentary at the 2014 Academy Awards. On Feb. 23 Pres. Obama eases immigration restrictions on Muslims, offering asylum to "minor" terrorist who only provided "limited" material support to terrorism; meanwhile thousands of Christians fleeing Muslim attacks in Egypt, Syria et al. are put back in line. On Feb. 23 Taliban militants overrun a military outpost in Ghaziabad District, Kunar Province, Afghanistan killing 20 Afghan soldiers and capturing eight. On Feb. 23 after being given an ultimatum by the Islamists who control it, Christians in Raqqa, Syria sign a dhimmi document prohibiting them from practicing Christianity in public. On Feb. 23 top al-Qaida cmdr. Abu Khaled al-Soury (Abu Omair al-Shamy) of the Salifist group Ahrar al-Sham is killed with six others by ISIL in Syria in a suicide attack, causing Al Nushrah Front emir Abu Muhammad al Julani on Feb. 25 to warn ISIS to end attacks on jihadist and rebel units in Syria or face destruction. On Feb. 24 Egyptian PM Hazem el-Beblawi announces the resignation of his cabinet, a surprise move paving the way for Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to leave his defense minister post and run for pres.; on Feb. 25 Adly Mansour names Ibrahim Mehlib as new PM (until ?) - I'd rather live in his world than mine? On Feb. 24 the pissed-off Iranian parliament summons foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for making comments calling the Jewish Holocaust a "tragedy". On Feb. 24 Libyan police find eight dead Egyptian Christians near Benghazi, Libya, the 2nd execution-style killing of the year. On Feb. 24 Ugandan pres. Yoweri Museveni signs a harsh anti-gay law that gives out sentences of up to life in priz for sucking er, and drinking er, homosexuality, pissing-off the Obama admin., with secy. of state John Kerry calling it "a tragic day for Uganda and for all who care about the cause of human rights", announcing "an internal review of our relationship with the government of Uganda"; on Feb. 25 the Ugandan newspaper Red Pepper pub. a list of the Uganda's "200 top homosexuals", outing several incl. a Roman Catholic priest; on Aug. 7 the Ugandan supreme court strikes down the law on a technicality based on how it was passed in parliament. On Feb. 24 the New York Times reports that the Pentagon is planning to reduce the size of the U.S. Army to its smallest size since before WWII, down to 440K-450K troops; the peak since 9/11 was 570K. On Feb. 24 (eve.) Israeli warplanes hit Hezbollah targets near the Lebanese-Syria border. On Feb. 25 after the Iraqi govt. refuses to pay govt. employees in the region their wages, Kurdistan Regional Govt. (KRG) pres. Masoud Barzani utters the soundbyte that it's a "declaration of war". On Feb. 25 (7:50 a.m.) after an attempted break-in on Feb. 6 causes 15 of 250 to be drowned on the coast, 500 sub-Saharans crash their way from Morocco into Melilla, Spain. On Feb. 25 Boko Haram militants kill 43 boys at the Federal Govt. College secondary school in Buni Yadi, Yobe, Nigeria by closing the doors and burning them alive, sparing the girls. On Feb. 25 German chancellor Angela Merkel visits Israel while riots by Palestinian youths break out on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem over a planned Knesset debate about its sovereignty; too bad, a photo-opp of Benjamin Netanyahu pointing something out to her causes a Hitler mustache shadow on her lip. On Feb. 25 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 6-3 in Fernandez v. Calif. that although an objecting co-resident may stop police from searching a dwelling, if he is removed via a lawful arrest and another co-resident consents, police may do the search, giving them the option of you know what to get what they want. On Feb. 25 (eve.) a gas pipeline in el Arish in Sinai, Egypt is blown up, becoming #4 of the year. On Feb. 26 the monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announces that 3.3K have been killed in fighting between Syrian rebels since Jan. 3. On Feb. 26 (dawn) a Syrian army ambush kills 175 rebels in E Ghouta, Syria. On Feb. 26 Pakistan announces that it is ending its 7-mo.-old policy of trying to retaliate against every Taliban strike in NW tribal areas, but won't end its attempt to engage them in peace talks. On Feb. 26 after intense pressure by the PC establishment, Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer vetoes the Senate Bill 1062 ("the Religious-Freedom Bill"), which would have allowed businesses to refuse to serve gays on religious grounds. On Feb. 27 the European Parliament votes to allow the UAE to join the Schengen Agreement, allowing their citizens visa-free travel in the EU. On Feb. 27 the U.S. rejects a request for a 100-day extension on the U.N.-backed deadline for destroying its chemical weapons, calling any further delays "unacceptable". On Feb. 27 a suicide attack at a busy restaurant near a security checkpoint at the entrance to Habar-Khadijo Intel Base in Mogadishu, Somalia kills 12. On Feb. 28 3,546 pages of documents are released by the Clinton Pres. Library, giving Hillary's political opponents mucho ammo. On Feb. 28 after the 2011 conviction of John Demjanjuk emboldens a new "grandchildren generation" of German prosecutors of ex-Nazis, the case against Auschwitz cook Hans Lipschis (1909-) is dismissed due to dementia, pissing-off prosecutor Ralf Dietrich, who created 3-D models of the camp to prove he could see what was going on from his kitchen window. On Feb. 28 the Ahmadiyya Muslim Caucus representing 15K-20K Ahmadis living in the U.S. is officially unveiled. In Feb. during a drought in Calif., U.S. rep. (R-Calif.) (2013-) Devin Gerald Nunes (1973-) pooh-poohs any connection with global warming, uttering the soundbyte: "Global warming is nonsense", becoming one of the top climate skeptics in Congress; in Aug.-Sept. 2018 after a series of wildfires in Calif., he pub. a series of official podcasts funded by his campaign featuring classicist historian Bruce S. Thornton (1953-), who says that he isn't sure if global warming exists, mocking "the hysteria over this imagined two degrees centigrade warming that is going to make the oceans rise", and blaming the wildfires in Calif. on "the environmental movement, Earth Day, federal laws, species protection, etc." In Feb. after receiving help from Tex. Muslim Asher Abid Khan and Australian Muslim Mohamed Zuhbi, Tex. Muslim Abdullah Ali (-2014) AKA SRG flies from Houston, Tex. to Syria via London and Turkey to fight for ISIS before being KIA by the end of the year. In Feb. U.S. unemployment rises to 6.7% as 175K new jobs are added. On Mar. 1 (1:00 a.m.) the Ukrainian ministry of defense announces a Russian military attack on Ukrainian military installations, along with the receipt of an ultimatum to surrender by 2:00 a.m.; at 2:00 a.m. the military airfield at Kirovske is captured; on Mar. 1 pres. Vladimir Putin asks and receives approval from the Duma to send troops into the Crimea, causing the U.S. to call it a "violation of international law" that will lead to "greater political and economic isolation"; on Mar. 1 10 Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet ships leave the naval base in Sevastopol and head to Odessa; on Mar. 2 the White House announces a $1B loan guarantee package to bolster the Ukrainian govt., along with technical support; on Mar. 4 U.S. secy. of state John Kerry visits Kiev, while Putin orders tens of thousands of Russian troops participating in military exercises near the Ukrainian border to return to their bases, and troops loyal to Moscow fire warning shots against Ukrainian soldiers in the Crimea; meanwhile the U.S. sends warships to the Crimea, and hundreds of NATO troops land in W Ukraine, while former Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko appeals to the West to intervene. On Mar. 1 the Pakistani Taliban announces a 1 mo. ceasefire with the Pakistani govt. On Mar. 1 (9:20 p.m.) "China's 9/11" sees a gang of 10 black-dressed knife-wielding Uighur Muslims at Kunming Railway Station in Yunnan Province, China kill 29 ethnic Chinese and injure 130, causing officials to call it an attempt at jihad. On Mar. 1 (night) two Boko Haram explosions in a crowded marketplace in Kawuri, Maiduguri, Nigeria kill 51, incl. several children watching a soccer match; in the evening more gunmen hit the nearby village of Mainok, burning houses and killing 51+. On Mar. 1 (night) an Islamist car bomb prematurely explodes in Logar Province, Aghanistan, killing nine Islamists and four civilians. On Mar. 2 Spanish journalist Marc Marginedas is freed after being kidnapped in Syria in early Sept. On Mar. 2 knife-wielding Muslim Uighur jihadists at a railway station in Kunming, China kill 29 and injure 130 before four are shot dead and one arrested. On Mar. 2 Pres. Obama gives an interview to Jeffrey Goldberg of Bloomberg View, with the soundbyte: "If you see no peace deal and continued aggressive settlement construction. If Palestinians come to believe that the possibility of a contiguous sovereign Palestinian state is no longer within reach, then our ability to manage the international fallout is going to be limited"; Goldberg later paraphrases Obama as saying "Israel is going more isolated and we can't defend it in the same way", saying: "I took it to be a little bit of a veiled threat... It's almost up there with, you know, nice little Jewish state you got there, I'd hate to see something happen to it. It was, look, I want to help you, but you're not helping me help you, and, therefore, there's only so much political capital I'm going to spend in the U.N., with the EU, with the Arab League, on your behalf. I think it was all couched very carefully but it's there and certainly the government in Israel feels like it's there." On Mar. 2 the 86th Academy Awards, presented at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., hosted by Ellen DeGeneres (first time 2007) awards the best picture Oscar for 2013 to 12 Years a Slave, which also wins for best adapted screenplay; "Possibility No. 1, '12 Years a Slave' gets Best Picture. Possibility No. 2, you're all racists" (Ellen); Alfonso Cuaron (first Latino) wins best dir. for Gravity, which wins a total of seven awards; Matthew McConaughey wins best actor for Dallas Buyers Club; Cate Blanchett wins best actress for Blue Jasmine; Jared Leto wins best supporting actor for Dallas Buyers Club; Lupita Nyong'o wins best supporting actress for 12 Years a Slave; Spike Jonze wins best original screenplay for Her; Frozen wins best animated feature, and Let It Go by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez from Frozen wins best original song; American Hustle loses all 10 nominations; Ellen tweets a selfie that becomes the most retweeted message in Twitter.com history, overloading the site for a short time, with the caption: "If only Bradley's arm was longer. Best photo ever." On Mar. 3 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Pres. Obama in the White House, telling him that stopping Iran from getting nukes is the "greatest challenge" facing their two countries. On Mar. 3 new Islamist group Ahrar-ul-Hind stages a suicide attack at a courthouse in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing a judge and 10 others. On Mar. 3 Emirati police officer Tariq Al Shehi and two Bahraini policeman are killed by a homemade bomb in Daih, Bahrain; on Mar. 5 two children are injured while trying to plant another bomb in the same village. On Mar. 3 (eve.) the Israeli air force attacks a terror cell in Gaza, killing two and injuring two. On Mar. 3 a Gallup Poll reveals 72% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Israel, vs. only 19% for the Palestian Authority, highest in 23 years since the 1991 Gulf War (79%). On Mar. 4 an ISIS suicide squad in Iraqi military uniforms attacks a govt. complex in Samarra, Iraq, killing four policemen and three civilians, and injuring 47. On Mar. 4 Pres. Obama proposes a $3.901T budget that seeks $651B in new revenue from the wealthy, incorporates Warren Buffet's tax code rule, expands social programs and cuts the military size and pay. On Mar. 5 (early a.m.) the Israeli navy raids ship KLOS C in the Red Sea and seizes dozens of advanced Syrian-made M-302 rockets from Iran destined for Gaza. On Mar. 5 Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Bahrain withdraw their ambassadors from Qatar for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, signalling a rift in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) (founded 1981); on Mar. 6 Egypt does ditto. On Mar. 5 U.S. drones kill four militants in Khalka, Al Jawf, N Yemen, incl. al-Qaida cmdr. Ali Saleh Juraym Al Olyan. On Mar. 5 a PKK IED kills Turkish soldier Sgt. Musay Somay near Orasu, Turkey near the Iraqi border. On Mar. 5 the U.S. Senate by 52-47 (incl. seven Dems.) rejects Debo P. Adegbile as head of the Justice Dept.'s civil rights div. for his past defense of a cop-killer et al. On Mar. 5 ex-U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton compares Russian pres. Vladimir Putin's aggression in Ukraine to Adolf Hitler, giving conservative critics a field day. On Mar. 6 the Crimean Parliament announces a referendum on Mar. 16 on whether to break away from Ukraine and rejoin Russia. On Mar. 6 al-Qaida militants execute a suspected U.S. spy in Shahr, Yemen, then crucify his body on some soccer goalposts. On Mar. 6 the Dalai Lama opens a session of the U.S. Senate with a prayer to "Buddha and all other gods". On Mar. 6 Leah McGrath of Newsweek pub. an article revealing the identity of the mysterious creator of Bitcoin as 64-y.-o. Japanese-Am. Satoshi Nakamoto (1949-); meanwhile Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, founded by Mark Karpeles files for bankruptcy. On Mar. 7 Saudi Arabia officially designates the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group. On Mar. 7 the first Nat. Summit to Reassess the U.S.-Israel Special Relationship is held by the Nat. Press Club in Washington, D.C. On Mar. 8 Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 (Boeing 777) vanishes 1 hour after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing, carrying 239, then can't be located until ?, causing conspiracy theorists to have a field day; devout Muslim pilot Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah (1960-) was a fanatical supporter of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, whose trial and 5-year jail term he witnessed hours before takeoff; residents of Kudahuvadhoo Island in the Maldives reporting seeing a low-flying jumbo jet four hours after the plane vanishes from radar. On Mar. 8 Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi utters declares a "red line" on North Korea, saying that China will not permit chaos or war on the Korean Peninsula, and that peace can only come through denuclearization. On Mar. 8 two dozen Iraqi women protest in Baghdad, Iraq against a draft law that would permit the marriage of 9-y.-o. girls a la Muhammad and give custody to their fathers. On Mar. 9 a suicide minibus at a crowded security checkpoint in the Shiite town of Hillah, Iraq kills 42 and injures 57. On Mar. 9 (10:18 p.m. local time) a 6.8 earthquake hits 52 mi. W of Eureka, Calif. causing little damage. On Mar. 9 (midnight) after Qatar agrees to pay $16M ransom and release 150 female Syrian prisoners, the 13 kidnapped Syrian Maaloula Nuns are freed. On Mar. 10 Ukrainian MP Pavlo Rizanenko warns that if the U.S. et al. refuse to enforce a security pact obligating them to reverse the Russian takeover of the Crimea, Ukraine may go nuclear again. On Mar. 10 after he attacks them with a metal pole and shouts "Allahu Akbar", Israeli border guards fatally shoot Jordanian judge Raed al-Zaytar (b. 1975), shaking ties between the two countries. On Mar. 10 (night) a U.S. drone strike in Marib Province, Yemen (E of Sana'a) kills four al-Qaida cmdrs. and fighters. On Mar. 11 an ISIS suicide bombing in Qamishli, Syria, unofficial capital of the Kurdish regions kills nine civilians. On Mar. 11 Ansar Jerusalem (Ansar Bayt al Maqdis) founder Abu Abdullah (Tawfiq Mohammed Freij) is killed along with Mohamed al Sayed Mansour al Toukhi by Egyptian authortities in Ain Shams, Cairo. On Mar. 12 (a.m.) after hijacking a SUV with a 4-y.-o. boy inside in Longmont, Colo., wanted man Ryan Stone (1985-) leads police in the Denver, Colo. area on a wild car chase before being apprehended as viewers watch on TV from a heli cam. On Mar. 12 the Israeli Knesset by 67-1-52 passes an Ultra-Orthodox Draft Law, no longer exempting the 8% of Israeli citizens who are ultra-Orthodox. On Mar. 12 tens of thousands mourn in Istanbul, Turkey for teenie Berkin Elvan, who was killed in summer street protests. On Mar. 12 Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades et al. launch 130 rockets from Gaza into S Israel, with 64 landing in 24 hours causing retaliatory strikes by the Israelis; On Mar. 13 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu slams PA Pres. Mahmoud Abbas for failing to condemn them; on Mar. 14 PIJ head Ramadan Abdullah Shallah announces that the attack was coordinated with Hamas, and that Egypt had contacted them offering to mediate; video released by the PIJ warns Israelis to "get out of our country" and not try invading Gaza. On Mar. 12 Bihkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan is declared the 2014 capital of Islamic culture. On Mar. 12 the U.S. Council of Muslim Orgs. (USCMO) is founded in Washington, D.C. as an umbrella org. by 10 Muslim-Am. groups incl. the Muslim Am. Society (MAS), Council on Am.-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and Am. Muslims for Palestine to give Muslims greater clout in U.S. politics; on June 10 it holds its inaugural banquet at the Hilton Hotel in Crystal City, Va. - but Islam is just a religion? On Mar. 12 Minyon Moore, former asst. of Hillary Clinton in her 2008 pres. campaign is accused of illegally channeling $600K into the campaign. On Mar. 13 U.S. secy. of state John Kerry utters the soundbyte to the House Foreign Affairs Committee that it's a "mistake" for Israel to demand recognition by the Palestinian Authority in order to achieve peace. On Mar. 13 New York rapper Le1f (Khalif Diouf) becomes the first openly gay rapper to perform on a late night TV show when he debuts on the Late Show with David Letterman. On Mar. 14 yet another jihad stabbing attack by a Uighur Muslim in Changsha, China kills six before police kill him. On Mar. 14 Sunni rebels in Syria release a video announcing the kidnapping of 94 women and children belong to Assad's Alwawite sect and demanding a swap for 2K prisoners. On Mar. 14 the U.S. Commerce Dept. announces that after pressure over reports about NSA surveillance, it's relinquishing its 2000 contract with the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers in fall 2015. On Mar. 15 a Palestinian Arab driver runs over four Israeli border policemen near Beit Ummar in Gush Ezion, Israel. On Mar. 15 U.S. State Dept. spokesperson Jen Psaki tells Al-Quds that Palestinians don't have to recognize the Jewish state of Israel as a condition for peace negotiations; another spokesperson Mary Hart announces that the U.S. is in regular contact with the Muslim Brotherhood. On Mar. 16 (a.m.) N.J. teenie Justin Alexander Casquejo (1997-) sneaks into 1,776-ft.-tall Freedom Tower on top of the old WTC in New York City and works up to the antenna, roaming the top floor for two hours before being caught, exposing the lack of working surveillance cameras. On Mar. 16 the 2014 Crimean Status Referendum votes overwhelmingly in favor of seceding from Ukraine and annexing to Russia, pissing-off the U.S., which rejects the vote as illegal; on Mar. 21 Vladimir Putin formally annexes it; the Muslim Tatars don't waste time in demanding their own autonomous region in Crimea. On Mar. 16 after rumors of desecration of a Quran, a Muslim mob burns a Hindu temple and community center in Larkana, Pakistan. On Mar. 16 Vatican spokesman Monsignor Vittorio Formenti utters the soundbyte in L'Osservatore Romano: "Islam has now become the world's largest religion. For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top. Muslims have overtaken us." On Mar. 17 the U.S. House by 233-181 passes the ENFORCE Act, giving either chamber of Congress the authority to bring a civil action in U.S. district court alleging that the the "President, the head of any department or agency of the United States, or any other officer or employee of the United States" has failed to enforce the law pursuant to the Constitution. On Mar. 17 U.S. Navy SEALs seize stolen Libyan oil tanker Morning Glory carrying $38M (200K barrels) of oil from the rebel-held port of Sidra. On Mar. 17 Fulani Muslim herders attack three Christian villages in Kano, Nigeria, killing 100+ and burning hundreds of thatched-roof huts. On Mar. 17 ISIS begins sieging Kobani (Ain al-Arab), Syria opposite Suruc, Turkey, which is defended by Syrian Kurds as a critical link of their 3-canton autonomous region. On Mar. 17 2-y.-o. Mohammed al-Hamadin (b. 2011) dies from injuries sustained when a rocket explodes during assembly at his home in Gaza, killing his father and three other Hamas al-Qassam Brigades members. On Mar. 17 Mick Jagger's girlfriend L'Wren Scott is found dead in her Manhattan, N.Y. apt. of suicide. On Mar. 18 (dawn) a suicide bomber at a military intel HQ in Lahj Province, Yemen injures five soldiers and eight civilians. On Mar. 18 (a.m.) despite Muslim riots, right-wing Israeli housing minister Uri Ariel visits the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for Purim; meanwhile Israeli bulldozers take possession of the Har Homa (Jabal Abu Ghneim) hilltop in SE Jerusalem. On Mar. 18 a Taliban suicide bomber on a rickshaw outside a checkpoint near a market in Maymana, Faryab Province, Afghanistan kills 15 and injures 46. On Mar. 18 the U.S closes its embassy in Syria and orders diplomats out of the country. On Mar. 18 Russian soldiers kill their first Ukrainian soldier in Crimea shortly after Russian pres. Vladimir Putin officially asks his Parliament to accept Crimea into the Russian Federation; on Feb. 19 Russian troops storm and occupy Ukraine's naval HQ in Sevastopol. On Mar. 18 a roadside bomb hits an Israeli patrol at the Syrian border, injuring four, causing retaliatory airstrikes. On Mar. 18 North Korea test-fires 25 short-range rockets into the sea off the E coast, causing South Korea to urge them to stop the "provocative activities". On Mar. 18 83 U.S. senators sign a letter to Pres. Obama spelling out conditions for a final deal on Iran; a less restrictive letter is signed by 395 U.S. reps.; a clear V for Obama? On Mar. 19 Iran holds talks with six countries in Vienna, which EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton calls "substantive and useful". On Mar. 20 a Taliban suicide assault on a police HQ in Jalalabad, Nangarhar, Afghanistan kills 18 incl. 10 Afghan policemen, a district police chief, a student, and seven Taliban fighters. On Mar. 20 as dozens of wounded cross during heavy fighting, Syria closes its border with Lebanon. On Mar. 20 Pres. Obama delivers a statement on Ukraine, announcing a new round of economic sanctions on individuals in Russia incl. Vladimir Putin. On Mar. 20 after damaging tweets piss him off, Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erodagan bans Twitter in Turkey; too bad, it fails, as pres. Abdullah Gul nixes the idea on his own Twitter account. On Mar. 21 Taliban gunmen with minipistols in their socks storm the luxury Serena Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing nine incl. four foreigners and two children. On Mar. 21 gunmen ram an explosives-laden tanker into a police HQ in Sulaiman Pek, Iraq 100 mi. N of Baghdad, killing ?. On Mar. 21 Muslims massacre 80 Christians in the Armenian village of Kessab, Syria after being put up to it by Turkey? On Mar. 21 Pakistan announces a $1.5B "no strings" grant from Saudi Arabia, raising suspicions about a secret deal to provide weapons to Syrian rebels. On Mar. 21 the supreme court of Thailand annuls last month's gen. election, leaving the country in limbo. On Mar. 22 (early a.m.) Israeli forces in coordination with the Palestinian Authority storm the Jenin Refugee Camp, killing three and injuring 14. On Mar. 22 (10:37 a.m.) a major mudslide 4 mi. E of Oso, Snohomish County, Wash. kills 28 and injures 30 - that's why they call it Washington, a ton of mud will wash out your town? On Mar. 22 residents of Venice, Italy vote overwhelmingly (89%) to form a new independent repub. On Mar. 22 Glenna DeJong (53) and Marsha Caspar of Lansing become the first gay couple to marry in Mich. one day after the 2004 landslide ban was overturned by a federal judge. On Mar. 22 member of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) execute a Christian man in Raqqa, Syria and leave his body crucified on public display with a sign reading: "This criminal's deed is that he killed and robbed a Muslim man." On Mar. 22 60+ Palestinian, Israeli, and other journalists working with media outlets in Israel receive threatening text messages on their Israeli mobile phones from the al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas. On Mar. 23 foreign ministry employees in Israel declare their first-ever strike, paralyzing the Israeli diplomatic system (until ?). On Mar. 23 hooded Muslim gunmen kill six Christian worshippers in a church service near Mombasa, Kenya, injuring 20+. On Mar. 23 150 Israeli Christians gather in front of the EU embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel to demand that the EU do more to help Middle East Christians, who are being snuffed out by Muslims. On Mar. 23 Nigerian state govs. meet in the White House with U.S. nat. security adviser Susan Rice, accusing Pres. Goodluck Jonathan of being in collusion with Boko Haram to perpetuate the conflict. On Mar. 24 Egypt sentences 529 Mohammed Morsi supporters to death out of 545 on trial for killing a single police officer, causing U.S. secy. of state John Kerry to issue the soundbyte that he is "deeply troubled", calling for the Egyptian govt. to "remedy the situation". On Mar. 24 after its illegal annexation of Crimea, Russia is suspended from the G8 Summit, which is moved from Sochi to Brussels, becoming the G7. On Mar. 24 the Armenian Christian town of Kassab, Syria 3 km. from the Turkish border is captured by Islamic fighters; on June 14-15 the Syrian army recaptures it, destroying all the Armenian Christian churches - when it comes to Christians all Muslims are on the same team? On Mar. 24 an earthquake swarm begins hitting C Idaho, with hundreds incl. a 4.9 one on Apr. 12, strongest in the state since 2005, followed by a 4.4 one on Apr. 14 in Challis. On Mar. 24 Towson U. students Ruffin and Korey Johnson become the first African-Am. women to win a U.S. nat. college debate tournament, the Cross Examination Debate Assoc. (CEDA) championships at Indiana U. On Mar. 25 Ukrainian defense minister Igor Tenyukh resigns as thousands of Ukrainian troops withdraw from Crimea under Russian orders; meanwhile far-right Ukrainian leader Oleksander Muzychko (AKA Sashko Billy) is shot dead by police in Rivne. On Mar. 25 the sunny-side-of-life Taliban stages three suicide attacks in Afghanistan incl. Kabul, Kunduz, and Kunar Province. On Mar. 26 federal agents arrest 28 defendants incl. Dem. lawmakers Calif. state sen. Leland Yin Yee (1948-), Charlotte, N.C. mayor Patrick Cannon, and N.Y. state assemblyman William Scarborough on bribery charges in connection with marijuana legislation and conspiracy to traffic in firearms from the Philippines; Yee was a well-known gun control advocate. On Mar. 26 (midnight) same-sex marriage becomes legal in the U.K. (England and Wales). On Mar. 26 Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, known for appearing with Osama bin Laden in a video on Sept. 12, 2001, and the June 2002 soundbyte: "Al Qaeda has the right to kill four million Americans, including one million children, displace double that figure, and injure and cripple hundreds and thousands" is convicted in New York City of terrorism charges. On Mar. 27 after seven sessions of the U.N. Security Council result in draft Resolution 204/189, sponsored by 42 countries, only to be vetoed by Russia, the non-binding U.N. Gen. Assembly Resolution 58/262 is adopted by 100-11-58, titled "Territorial Integrity of Ukraine", affirming commitment to the territorial integrity of Ukraine and rejecting the 2014 Crimean Status Referendum. On Mar. 27 Taliban fighters storm a guest house used by ? in Kabul, Afghanistan, taking four (incl. three U.S. citizens) hostage before four insurgents blow themselves up and one is killed by security forces. On Mar. 27 al-Qaida-linked Sunni ISIS militants bomb the Shiite Shrine of Ammar bin Yasser and Owais al-Qarni in Raqqa, Syria, raising Sunni-Shiite tensions. On Mar. 27 Saudi King Abdullah appoints ex-intel chief Prince Muqrin as deputy crown prince, putting him in line for the throne after Prince Salman. On Mar. 28 clashes between police and Morsi supporters in Ein Shams, Cairo, Egypt kills four and injures dozens; Egyptian journalist Mayada Ashraf is shot in the head by a sniper. On Mar. 28 Pres. Obama visits Saudi Arabia for talks over their fears about what he's doing with Iran, Syria et al.; too bad, he fails to discuss human or women's rights with Da King; on Mar. 29 (a.m.) he ends his trip by presenting an Internat. Women of Courage award to Dr. Maha Al-Muneef, dir. of the Nat. Family Safety Program. On Mar. 28 ex-Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg is chosen as new NATO secy.-gen., to succeed Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Oct. 1. On Mar. 28 Pope Francis issues a call to the Church to "intensify" its dialogue with Islam. On Mar. 28 Muslims returning from mosque prayers attack the Virgin and Archangel Michael Coptic Church in Ein Shams (near Cairo), Egypt, killing five Christians. On Mar. 29 Libyan state TV airs a video of Madman Daffy's son Saadi Gaddafi apologizing to the nation from prison "for the disturbance and destabilization I have caused". On Mar. 29 7+ terrorists are killed while making IEDs in a mosque in E Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. On Mar. 29 Israel balks at releasing the last of four bathces of Palestinian prisoners, causing U.S. secy. of state John Kerry to rush to Israel on Mar. 31 to "salvage" the peace process. On Mar. 30 Muslim gunmen in Benue, Nigeria kill 19 and kidnap 15. On Mar. 30 Chadian troops escorting a convoy of Muslims back to Chad fire on Christian civilians in Bangui, Central African Repub., killing 10+ and injuring dozens. On Mar. 30 municipal elections in France give a big V to the anti-Muslim-immigration Nat. Front Party of Marine Le Pen over the ruling Socialist Party of Francois Hollande, which holds Paris with first-ever female mayor Anne Hidalgo (1959-); Socialist French PM Jean-Marc Ayrault resigns, and on Apr. 1 Socialist Manuel Valls (1962-) becomes French PM (until ?); many Muslims vote for the NFP because of their stand against homosexual marriage. On Mar. 30 local elections in Turkey are a V for PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist agenda, with 44% of the popular vote. On Mar. 31 an attempted jailbreak in Nigeria kills 21. On Mar. 31 North and South Korea exchange artillery fire into each other's waters. In Mar. the U.S. unemployment rate remains at 6.7%, with the economy adding 192K jobs. In Mar. a group of 27 Palestinian college students led by Mohammed S. Dajani visits Auschwitz Concentration Camp, stirring up a firestorm of controversy. In Mar. China wins a $2B contract to build the Red-Med, a 300km freight railway between Eilat on the Red Sea and the Mediterranean port of Ashdod; on June 19 they win another $1B contract to build a new Israeli port on the Mediterranean. In the spring the Bureau of Economic Analysis introduces the Gross Output (GO) measure of economic production, the first new economic aggregate since the GDP was introduced by Simon Kuznets in 1934. On Apr. 1 an 8.2 earthquake off the coast of Chile creates a tsunami, and kills six; 300 women inmates escape in the chaos. On Apr. 1 after rumors of a blasphemous comment about Muhammad, angry Muslims burn two Christian churches in Katsina, Nigeria; meanwhile Muslim suicide bombers at a Nigeria Nat. Petroleum Corp. facility in Mule, Nigeria kill 15 civilians. On Apr. 1 protester Eric Brazau is sentenced to 9 mo. in jail by Ontario judge S. Ford Clements for distributing flyers criticizing Islam, plus shouting "in a tone of voice that suggested he was very angry and had little interest in debate", causing a firestorm of controversy about Canada kowtowing to Sharia; fellow protesters dressed in a burqa et al. are not prosecuted?; one had a sign saying "Expose jihad with free speech or die". On Apr. 1 Pres. Obama gives his Pope Francis-blessed rosary to House minority leader Nancy Pelosi one week after she is honored with the Margaret Sanger Award for her support for abortion; Obama carries another rosary in his pocket along with a lucky metal poker chip - proving he's no Muslim? On Apr. 1 (night) Palestinian Authority Pres. Mahmoud Abbas pulls an April Fool's Surprise on the U.S. and Israel by taking steps to join 15 U.N. agencies in violation of their July 2013 agreement to refrain from unilateral moves in an end-around run for statehood, causing U.S. secy. of state John Kerry to cancel an Apr. 2 trip to extend negotiations through 2015 after the U.S. releases spy Jonathan Pollard and Israel frees hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and slows down Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank; meanwhile on Apr. 3 Israel announces that it's sanctioning the Palestinian Authority, suspending high-level contacts et al. On Apr. 2 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 5-4 in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission that the First Amendment invalidates aggregate contribution limits to nat. party and federal candidate committees; Justice Clarence Thomas decries all contribution limits. On Apr. 2 non-Muslim soldier Ivan Lopez (Iraq vet) opens fire at Ft. Hood, killing three and injuring several before committing suicide; meanwhile self-professed Muslim jihadist John Thomas Booker (1994-) of Topeka, Kan., who enlisted in the U.S. Army in Feb. and was scheduled to report for basic training on Apr. 7 is interviewed by the FBI and discharged on Mar. 28. On Apr. 2 NATO secy.-gen. Anders Fogh Rasmussen utters the soundbyte that further Russian intervention in Ukraine would be a "historic mistake" that would further its internat. isolation. On Apr. 2 buried bombs near Cairo U. in Egypt kill a brig. gen. and injure five others; the new jihadist group Ajnad Misr (Soldiers of Egypt) claims responsibility. On Apr. 2 an al-Qaida suicide assault on an army HQ in Aden, Yemen. On Apr. 2 former U.S. pres. Bill Clinton appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live, claiming that as pres. he had aides look into Area 51 to see if there were E.T.'s there, not finding any, but that he wouldn't be surprised if we were visited by them one day. On Apr. 2 during March Madness UMass guard Derrick Gordon comes out, becoming the first openly gay male athlete in NCAA Div. 1 basketball. On Apr. 3 Brendan Eich (1961-), creator of JavaScript steps down as CEO of Mozilla after online dating service OKCupid urges a boycott because he donated $1K to support Proposition 8 in 2008 that opposed the legalization of same-sex marriage in Calif., which passed by a slim majority after pres. candidate Barack Obama came out in support. On Apr. 3 the EU passes a Resolution on EU Strategy Towards Iran, proposing the opening of a delegation in Tehran, economic and academic cooperation, and political cooperation vis a vis the Syrian civil war and Afghanistan, with possible lifting of nuclear-related sanctions after a final agreement on the nuclear issue. On Apr. 4 a Taliban suicide bomber in Gelan, Ghazni, Afghanistan kills 15 of his own commanders and injures nine in an attempt to keep them from disrupting the upcoming elections. On Apr. 4 Tunisian caretaker PM Mehdi Jomaa becomes the first Tunisian leader to visit the White House since Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 1990, securing a $500M loan guarantee. On Apr. 4 Allah-Akbar-screaming Afghan policeman Naqibullah murders AP photographer Anja Niedringhaus (b. 1965) in E Afghanistan, and injures AP correspondent Kathy Gannon. On Apr. 4 the U.S. Inspector Gen. issues a report claiming that the State Dept. under Hillary Clinton misplaced or lost $6B due to improper filing of contracts over the past six years. On Apr. 4 after giving them a safe haven from the Egyptian govt. with a HQ in London, British PM David Cameron orders British security services to look into the Muslim Brotherhood incl. planned terrorist attacks in Britain, causing them to move their HQ to Ahnuldtown Graz, Austria; not really, it was just a rumor? On Apr. 5 pres. elections in Afghanistan. On Apr. 5 after an Egyptian man sexually assaults a woman, a family feud is triggered in Aswan, Egypt, killing 23 until the military intervenes. On Apr. 6 Muslim insurgents launch a wave of attacks in Yala, Tahiland, killing one and injuring 24. On Apr. 6 an explosion in Homs, Syria kills 50+ rebel fighters incl. dozens of senior officers. On Apr. 6 former Fla. Repub. gov. Jeb Bush utters the soundbyte that many who come illegally to the U.S. do so out of an "act of love" for their families, and should be treated differently than those who don't; on Apr. 13 fellow Repub. Rand Paul calls him "inarticulate", saying that those immigrants "are not bad people" but that the U.S. "can't invite the whole world" to move on in. On Apr. 7 famed activist Dutch Jesuit priest Francis Van Der Lugt (1938-) is assassinated in Homs, Syria after being kidnapped and beaten. On Apr. 7 the U.S. Senate unanimously votes to bar new Iranian U.N. ambassador Hamid Aboutalebi from entering the U.S. because of his involvement in the 1979 hostage-taking affair. On Apr. 7 U.S. defense secy. Chuck Hagel visits China's first aircraft carrier; on Apr. 8 Chinese Gen. Chang Wanquan utters the soundbyte about the Chinese military: "With the latest developments in China, it can never be contained." On Apr. 7-9 more talks between Iran and the six world powers in Vienna. On Apr. 8 Pres. Obama attempts to force equal pay for women by issuing two executive orders forcing federal contractors to report what their employees earn broken down by race and sex; on Apr. 9 the Senate blocks the Paycheck Fairness Act, aimed at narrowing the gender pay gap. On Apr. 8 an al-Qaida attack at a military checkpoint in E Hadramout Province, Yemen kills four Yemeni soldiers. On Apr. 8 a bomb on a train in Baluchistan Province, Pakistan kills 13 and injures 40; the United Baluch Army (UBA) claims responsibility. On Apr. 8 Jordanian King Abdullah II arrives in Vienna, Austria to hold talks with pres. Heinz Fischer one week after a visit by Shimon Peres. On Apr. 8 Germany bans the Orphan Children Project Lebanon as a front for Hezbollah. On Apr. 8 famed investigative reporter Seymour Hersh announces that high-level U.S. sources told him that it wasn't Assad but the Turkish govt. that carried out the chemical weapons attacks in Syria, and that the U.S. has been sending Libya's spare weapons to the Syria rebels through Turkey. On Apr. 9 1-y.-o. British Prince George of Cambridge goes on his first royal tour, 19 days in Australia and New Zealand. On Apr. 9 legislative elections in Indonesia see the vote for Islamic parties to rise from 29% in 2009 to 32%. On Apr. 10 Boko Haram jihadists attack three towns in Borno, Nigeria, killing eight schoolteachers in a teacher training college, and 60+ in another village. On Apr. 10 HHS secy. Kathleen Sebelius resigns over the Obamascare, er, Obamacare rollout scandal, and is succeeded by OMB dir. Sylvia Matthews Burwell (until ?). On Apr. 10 Israel launches the Ofek 10 spy satellite to monitor Iran's nuclear activities. On Apr. 10 the U.N. Security Council unanimously votes for Resolution 2149, approving a 12K-man peacekeeping force for Central African Repub. (CAR). On Apr. 10 after lobbying by Muslim convert prof. Joseph E.B. Lumbard, world-famous feminist atheist ex-Muslim crusader Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1969-) has an offer of an honorary degree withdrawn by Brandeis U., stinking it up. On Apr. 10 protester Alison Ernst (1977-) of Phoenix, Ariz. throws a shoe at Hillary Clinton during a keynote speech for the Inst. of Scrap Recycling Industries at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nev., who utters the soundbyte: "My goodness, I didn't know that solid waste management was so controversial. Thank goodness she didn't play softball like I did"; Ernst is charged with two federal counts, facing two years in federal prison - convicted of throwing like a girl? On Apr. 11 a ship carrying weapons for al-Qaida successfuly docks and unloads in Aden, Yemen. On Apr. 12 less than a week with being charged with forming a new cabinet, and just weeks after his predecessor was ousted by parliament for being unable to stop rising lawlessness, Libyan interior minister Abdullah al-Thani and his family are targeetd in an armed attack, causing him to resign on Apr. 13. On Apr. 12 a Russian fighter jet repeatedly buzzes destroyer USS Donald Cook in the Black Sea for 90+ min. On Apr. 12 new U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power utters the soundbyte that the "systematic targeting" of the Muslim pop. in Central African Repub. (CAR) is "heatbreaking"; she doesn't forget to mention "retaliatory attacks against Christians", as if the Christians started it and the Muslims are the good guys? On Apr. 12-13 Boko Haram outdoes itself with the slaughter of 200+ students on the way to take state-sponsored exams. On Apr. 13 former KKK Grand Dragon Frazier Glenn Miller (1940-) kills a man and his grandson at a Jewish community center near Kansas City, Kan., then kills a woman at a nearby Jewish assisted living facility, yelling "Heil Hitler" while being arrested; too bad, while he thought he was killing Jews, they were all Christians. On Apr. 13 actress Roseanne Barr tweets the soundbyte: "If Israel doesn't nuke Iran, then nothing makes sense anymore." On Apr. 14 Muslims blow up the Nyanya Motor Park bus station in Abuja, Nigeria, killing 88 and injuring 200. On Apr. 14 after the number of schools investigated in Operation Trojan Horse (Muslim subversion) in Birmingham, England increases to 25, the Bradford Council sacks all of the governors at Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College; on Apr. 20 British PM David Cameron utters the soundbyte that Britain "is a Christian country", and on Apr. 21 former home secy. Jack Straw utters the soundbyte that Muslims must accept that Christianity "permeates our sense of citizenship"; on May 4 David Cameron pledges to wipe out extremism and Islam from U.K. schools; too bad, Cameron "defenestrates" education secy. Michael Gove, whom Damian Thompson, assoc. ed. of The Spectator calls "the only minister who understands Islamism". On Apr. 14 a Passover ceremony is held in Kaifeng, China, attended by 100 of the city's 500-1K Jews. On Apr. 15 (7:30 a.m.) a missile hits an Armenian Catholic school in Bab Tuma, Damascus, Syria, killing one child and injuring 61. On Apr. 15 Ukrainian troops sent in to Kramatorsk in E Ukraine to take control from pro-Putin militiamen trade gunfire. On Apr. 15 the Chibok Schoolgirls Kidnapping sees 276 female students in Chibok, Borno, Nigeria kidnapped by Boko Haram for sexual fun and games, causing an internat. outcry, but of course it has nothing to do with Islam?; they are finally released on ?. On Apr. 15 India's supreme court issues a landmark ruling recognizing transgender rights as human rights, giving them the right to identify themselves as a third gender on official documents. On Apr. 15 the Washington Times reports that secret U.S. State Dept. assessments show that the Afghan govt. is woefully unprepared to govern after the U.S. withdraws its troops, and is in danger of collapsing. On Apr. 16 (9:00 a.m.) the MV Sewol Ferry en route from Incheon to Jeju Island in South Korea capsizes, killing 304 of 476 aboard, mostly h.s. students from Ansan; on Apr. 21 South Korean pres. Park Geun-hye utters the soundbyte that some crew members committed "unforgivable, murderous acts"; on Nov. 10 the captain is sentenced to 36 years. On Apr. 16 Israeli police storm the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to disperse a protest by Palestinian Muslims, injuring 30+. On Apr. 16 Muslim religious scholars in Karachi, Pakistan issue an edict declaring that terrorism and violence in the name of Islam is haram. On Apr. 17 corrupt Algerian pres. Abdelaziz Bouteflika runs for a 4th term. On Apr. 17 Pres. Obama announces that 8M have signed up for Obamacare, with 28% of them in the 18-34 age bracket. On Apr. 18 a car bomb outside a mosque in Homs, Syria kills 14+. On Apr. 18 Syrian fighter jets strike a rebel refugee camp in Quneitra on the Golan Heights near the Israeli border, causing Israeli jets to be scrambled. On Apr. 18 Am. Muslim Mohammed Whitaker is charged in Kansas City, Mo. with 18 felony counts of highway sniper shootings in nine separate incidents - Safari USA? On Apr. 18 senators and govs. of nine Western states hold their first summit in Salt Lake City, Utah to win control over the federal land within their borders. On Apr. 18 the CIA announces that it will pay the Red Hot Chili Peppers band $200K for illegally using their music to torture Gitmo prisoners. On Apr. 19 a rush-hour jihad bomb at a bus station in Abuja, Nigeria kills 75+ and injures 141. On Apr. 19 a U.S. drone strike in Baydah Province, Yemen kills 16 AQAP fighters and five civilians. On Apr. 19-20 the annual 420 Denver Weed Rally in the Denver, Colo. Civic Center celebrates state marijuana legalization and protests remaining restrictions. On Apr. 20 (early a.m.) Boko Haram gunmen attack the Govt. Girls Secondary School in Yana, Nigeria, firing buildings and killing a 5-y.-o. girl. On Apr. 20 an avalanche on Mt. Everest kills 12 Sherpa guides and injures three, becoming the deadliest single accident (until ?). On Apr. 20 Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau releases a video bragging about the Abuja bombing and telling Pres. Obama and Ban ki-Moon to go "to hell". On Apr. 20 Palestinian pres. Mahmoud Abbas utters the soundbyte that the Holocaust was the "single greatest tragedy in modern-day history" during a meeting with U.S. Rabbi Marc Schneier in Ramallah; too bad, he really means that it was a crime by Zionist Jews against Euro Jews? On Apr. 21 a U.S. drone strike in Shabwa Province, Yemen kills three suspected al-Qaida militants; more strikes over 24 hours kill 50+ of the buggers. On Apr. 21 the U.S. conducts a spy flight over Russia - stop questioning me? On Apr. 21 Julia Collins (1983-), "the Giant of Jeopardy" begins appearing on Jeopardy, becoming the highest-winning woman, winning 20 shows and $428,100 until losing on June 2, turning her into a women's lib icon. On Apr. 22 a group of Jewish children and their founders are assaulted by mad Muslims as they ascend the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. On Apr. 22 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 6-2 in Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action that voters in Mich. have the right to ban race-based preferences in college admissions, upholding the 2006 Mich. Civil Rights Initiative. On Apr. 23 600 U.S. Army paratroopers arrive in Poland to support as a chess move against Russia's aggression in Ukraine. On Apr. 23 Palestinian orgs. Hamas and Fatah sign the Palestinian Nat. Reconciliation Agreement, forming a nat. unity govt. within five weeks, causing Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to utter the soundbyte: "Whoever chooses Hamas does not want peace"; on Apr. 24 the Israeli govt. unanimously votes to impose economic sanctions on the Palestinian Authority, and suspends negotiations after 9 mo. of talks brokered by U.S. secy. of state John Kerry, causing chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat to utter the soundbyte: "The Palestinian leadership will look into all options"; too bad, Hamas won't give up its military wing; on Apr. 30 the hardcore Islamic Jihad predicts that the reconciliation will fail; on Nov. 30 Hamas announces that the unity govt. with Fatah has collapsed. On Apr. 23 after U.S. U.N. ambassador Samantha Power fails to object, Iran is reelected to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) despite its dismal record on women's rights. On Apr. 23 Hamas agrees to pay $60M to families of people killed in the 2006 Gaza Coup. On Apr. 23 Maher Abdul-Hafiz Hajjar becomes the first candidate to register for the Syrian pres. election. On Apr. 23 Luxemburg Income Study (LIS) pub. new data showing that Canada's middle class has passed up the U.S. middle class as the world's most affluent - I've discovered that you have to work twice as hard when it's honest? On Apr. 23 former British PM Tony Blair delivers a speech at Bloomberg's HQ in London, complaining about Western complacency on Islamic extremism, with the soundbyte: "The Middle East matters. What is presently happening there still represents the biggest threat to global security of the early 21st century... At the root of the crisis lies a radicalised and politicised view of Islam, an ideology that distorts and warps Islam's true message... It is not Islam itself that gives rise to this ideology. It is an interpretation of Islam, actually a perversion of it which many Muslims abhor. There used to be such interpretations of Christianity which took us years to eradicate from our mainstream politics..." - sorry but political Islam is set in concrete in the Quran, and can't be bleached out? On Apr. 24 a Muslim police officer murders three Am. Christians in a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, incl. humanitarian pediatrician Dr. Jerry Umanos, a father and a son. On Apr. 24 the White House announces the hiring of two Muslim chaplains for active U.S. military service, Sgt. Mustapha Rahouchen of the U.S. Army and Capt. Rafael Lantiqua of the USAF. On Apr. 24 Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erodogan issues a surprise condolence message to descendants of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, without using the G word. On Apr. 24 U.S. Repub. senators incl. senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) write a letter to Pres. Obama dissing him for threatening the "entire constitutional system" with his immigration "enforcement review" that threatens to "nullify" U.S. immigration laws. On Apr. 24 Latvian foreign affairs minister Edgars Rinkevics visits Tehran, Iran, indicating an EU desire to overlook Iran's nuclear program. On Apr. 24 Vt. becomes the first state to pass a law requiring the labeling of GMO foods. On Apr. 25 heavily polluted China passes sweeping new environmental protection laws, becoming the first since 1989. On Apr. 25 explosions at a Shiite election rally for the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Party in Baghdad, Iraq kill 31. On Apr. 25 an explosion at a fishing competition in Saiburi District, Thailand kills three policemen and injures 17 others. On Apr. 25 the Deputies Committee of senior U.S. policy officials meets in Washington, D.C. to discuss the deteriorating situation in Iraq; meanwhile the U.S. quietly expands the number of intel officers in Iraq - it's safe to dance? On Apr. 26 a British Army heli crash near Kandahar, Afghanistan kills five U.S.-led troops; on Apr. 27 the Taliban claim to shoot down a USAF AC-130 gunship in Logar Province, Afghanistan. On Apr. 26 Sharia Watch UK is launched at the British House of Lords to campaign for the recognition of the danger of Sharia esp. to women's rights; meanwhile Liberty GB Party leader Paul Weston is arrested on the steps of Winchester Guildhall for quoting excepts from Winston Churchill's book "The River War" slamming Islam as barbaric; after an internat. outcry charges are dropped on June 11 - how low can once-proud Britain sink to appease Islam? On Apr. 26-27 Pres. Obama becomes the first U.S. pres. since LBJ in 1966 to visit Malaysia, praising its "moderate brand of Islam" and visiting the Malaysian Nat. Mosque on Apr. 27, replying from a request from the imam Ismail Muhammad to end oppression against Muslims worldwide with "Pray for me"- cause I'm a liar? On Apr. 27 Popes John XXIII and John Paul II are canonized at the Vatican in the first-ever double sainthood ceremony attended by two living popes. On Apr. 27 tornadoes kill 16 in Ark. and one in Okla. On Apr. 28 (11:20 a.m.) a bomb inside a mosque in Karachi, Pakistan kills four seminary children and injures 16 others. On Apr. 28 (11:30 a.m.) after leaflets are distributed calling for all Jews to register a la the Nazi era, and ultranationalists clash with anti-govt. protesters on Apr. 27, injuring 14, Gennady Kernes, Jewish mayor of Kharkiv, E Ukraine is shot in the back by unidentified gunmen. On Apr. 28 the U.S. and the Philippines sign the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), permitting U.S. forces to operate on Philippine military bases and hold joint training. On Apr. 28 an Egyptian court sentences to death Muslim Brotherhood guide Mohamed Badie and 682 others, reducing the sentences of the 529 Mar. defendants to life in prison, upholding only 37 death penalties. On Apr. 28 the White House imposes a new round of target sanctions against Russian pres. Vladimir Putin's cronies and 17 cos. over its aggression in Ukraine. On Apr. 28 al-Qaida head Ayman al-Zawahiri issues a tape calling on his followers to kidnap Westerners, esp. Americans to exchange them for jailed jihadists incl. Blind Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman. On Apr. 28 militant strikes on polling stations et al. in Iraq kill 46. On Apr. 29 a car bomb in an Alawite neighborhood of Homs, Syria kills 36 and injures 85. On Apr. 29 a car bomb near a special forces barracks in Benghazi, Libya kills two and injures two. On Apr. 29 the deadline for Israeli-Palestinian talks is reached, and nada happens. On Apr. 30 a Muslim bomb-knife attack at a train station in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China kills three and injures 79. On Apr. 30 Afghan and Coalition forces beat back an assault by 300 Haqqani Network fighters in Paktika, Afghanistan. On Apr. 30 Robert George of the U.S. Commission on Internat. Freedom announces that the U.S. State Dept. should double the number of countries blacklisted for violating religious freedom, starting with Pakistan. On Apr. 30 the U.S. unemployment rate drops to 6.3%, adding 288K jobs; a record 92,594K Americans (62.8%) are not in the labor force, lowest percentage in 36 years; a record 55,116K women are not in the labor force. In Apr. the Flint, Mich. Water Contamination Crisis sees the city change its water supply from treated Detroit water coming from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the stinkin' Flint River, contaminating it with lead and causing serious corrosion and health problems affected 6K-12K children, possible causing an outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease; on Jan. 5, 2016 Mich. Gov. Rick Snyder declares the city to be in a state of emergency, sending $28M for a fix; it is finally fixed in ?. In Apr. Apr. 2019 Joe Biden's atty. son Robert Hunter Biden (1970-) serves on the board of Ukrainian natural gas producer Burisma Holdings, with a salary of up to $50K/mo. despite no experience, with Burisma paying a $7M bribe to local prosecutors in May-Dec. 2014 top block corruption investigations, causing vice-pres. Joe Biden, who was put in charge of U.S. policy towards Ukraine waving away all the rumors of conflict of interest and corruption, going on to pressure Ukraine to fire their top prosecutor Viktor Shokin in Mar. 2016, after which in 2019 Pres Trump and his personal atty. Rudy Giuliani claims that he did it in order to protect his son and/or Burisma, causing the leftist police to jump to defend him while keeping it outside court. On May 1 a total of 19,793 U.S. service personnel have been wounded in the Afghanistan War since it began on Oct. 7, 2001, with 17,095 (86.4%) wounded on Pres. Obama's watch. On May 1 a Taliban suicide bombing at a busy checkpoint in Panjshir Province, Afghanistan kills 12+. On May 1 the U.S. offers to help Nigeria "find and free" 200+ mostly Christian schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram 18 days earlier (Apr. 15). On May 1 China sets up an oil rig in the South China Sea in waters claimed by Vietnam, increasing tensions by ramming Vietnamese ships and firing water cannons. On May 1 Brunei begins ramping up Sharia with punishments for promoting religions other than Islam and pregnancy outside marriage, ramping up to amputation for theft and stoning of adulterers and homosexuals, causing Hollywood stars Ellen DeGeneres, Jay Leno, Patrick Stewart et al. to boycott the Beverly Hills Hotel, which is owned by Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah; too bad, the sultan gave $1M-$5M to the Clinton Foundation through 2013. On May 2 U.S. House speaker John Boehner proposes the U.S. House Select Committee on Benghazi, which is approved after seven Dems. vote with Repub., with the Dem. Nat Committee calling it a "ploy" and "political stunt"; on May 12 U.S. Sen. (R-Tex.) Ted Cruz proposes that the Senate form a joint select committee, but they reject it. On May 2 (eve.) the worst violence in Ukraine so far sees 42 killed in Odessa, Ukraine after a pro-Ukrainian govt. march is attacked by pro-Russia militants, with civil war looming. On May 2 a day after accusing the Obama admin. of potentially criminal behavior by withholding emails from deputy nat. security adviser Ben Rhodes, U.S. House Oversight Committee Chmn. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) issues a subpoena to secy. of state John Kerry to testify about the 2012 Bengazi Attacks on May 21, while House Speaker John Boehner utters the soundbyte that a special committee is needed to investigate Benghazi chaired by S.C. Repub. Rep. Trey Gowdy, with Boehner uttering the soundbyte: "With four of our countrymen killed at the hands of terrorists, the American people want answers, accountability, and justice"; on May 8 the House votes 232-186 to create the committee. On May 2 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announces the first confirmed case of Middle East Respiratory Virus (MERS) in the U.S. On May 3 twin landslides in Afghnistan kill 2K+. On May 3 Malaysian authorities arrest 11 terrorists with links to al-Qaida in connection with the disappearance of Flight MH370. On May 4 after criticizing Sharia groups for beheadings, Syrian rebel cmdr. Col. Ahmed Nehmeh (chief of the Deraa Military Council) is kidnapped in Deraa, Syria by Jabhat Al Nusrah. On May 4 ISIS occupies the village of Jadid Bakkara, Syria, imposing Sharia, going on to take control of oil-rich Deir ez Zor Province from Jabhat Al Nusra and force Syrian rebels to join its ranks. On May 4 Hillary Clinton tweets about the 200 Nigerian girls kidnapped by Beaucoup Harm, er, Boko Haram, with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls; too bad, she spent two years as head of the State Dept. fighting to keep Boko Haram off the official list of foreign terrorist orgs.? On May 5 Russian pres. Vladimir Putin signs an anti-pornography law, effective July 1, banning profanity in all new works of art, and requiring existing works to carry warning labels. On May 5 talks on Iran's nuclear program resume in New York City; on May 13 the next round of talks in Vienna begin for drafting a comprehensive agreement, with target date of July 20. On May 5 the World Health Org. (WHO) declares a global health emergency over the spread of polio to several countries, the first since 2007. On May 5 a 3K-person Muslim mob attacks a Hindu temple and households in Comilla District, Bangladesth after rumors spread over loudspeakers that two youths had slandered the prophet of Islam Obama style. On May 5 (eve.) Egyptian army chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi gives his first televised interview, saying that the Muslim Brotherhood is "finished" and will not return if he is elected, and that if elected he would respect the peace treaty with Israel and consider a state visit; "I see that the religious discourse in the entire Islamic world has cost Islam its humanity. This requires us, and for that matter all leaders, to review their positions", saying that there is no such thing as a "religious state"; on May 11 he utters the soundbyte: "If we are asked to make amendments to the peace treaty with Israel, we will do it", and that if Israel won't recognize the "state of Palestine" with capital in Jerusalem he will never visit Israel. On May 5 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 5-4 in Town of Greece v. Galloway that legislative sessions may be begun with prayers. On May 6 the Nat. Climate Assessment 2014 Report is unveiled by the White House, claiming that the climate has already changed, with the soundbyte: "Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present"; on May 18 a group of scientists pub. a rebuttal, calling it a "masterpiece of marketing" that crumbles like a "house of cards" under real-world evidence. On May 6 China and Iran announce that they're "strategic partners", pissing-off the U.S. On May 6 German pres. Joachim Gauck and Turkish pres. Abdullah Gul open the Turkish-German U. in Istanbul, with Gauck calling it the start of a "new chapter" in relations. On May 6 two timed Muslim rebel explosions in Hat Yai, Thailand injure five. On May 6 a Muslim mob at St. George's Orthodox Church near Beit Jala, Israel stabs one and injures several. On May 7 a huge explosion in Qazvin, Iran; related to their nuclear program? On May 7 Boko Haram attacks the village of Gamboru Ngala, Nigeria on the Cameroon border, killing 300+, burning some alive; the area had been used by troops as a base to search for them. On May 7 after revealing the location of their booby traps, 1.2K rebels and civilians are permitted to evacuate Homs, Syria. On May 7 a year after revelaing that the IRS gave inappropriate scrutiny to Conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status, former IRS head Lois Lerner is voted in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify; six Dems. join the Repubs.; two dozen Dems. later join Repubs. to vote to ask the Justice Dept. to name a special prosecutor to look into IRS targeting. On May 7 undeclared 2016 U.S. pres. candidate Hillary Clinton speaks to the Nat. Council for Behavioral Health, uttering the soundbyte that the U.S. "gun culture" has gotten "way out of balance"; "We've got to rein in what has become an almost article of faith that anybody can have a gun anywhere, anytime. I don't believe that this is in the best interest of the vast majority of people." On May 8 a huge explosion levels the historic Carlton Hotel in Aleppo, Syria, killing ? soldiers using it as an army base. On May 8 former head of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission Uzi Eilam utters the soundbyte: "The Iranian nuclear program will only be operational in another 10 years... Even so, I am not sure that Iran wants the bomb", contradicting PM Benjamin Netanyahu. On May 9 U.S. officials reveal that a kidnap attempt by two armed Yemeni civilians in Sana'a, Yemen was foiled by a U.S. Special Ops commando and a CIA officer, who shot and killed them before being flown out of the country. On May 11 the 2014 Google Mother's Day Massacre sees Google bow to Islam and shut down the popular Historyscoper's Islam Watch Blog without notice or explanation, then fail to respond to requests for explanation; Google's promise of being above politics and censorship proves a lie, and Google loses its reason to exist, and is living on borrowed time as the free world races for something better?; on May 30 they restore service without notice or explanation, but the shine is off their apple as the search engine ranking is greatly lowered? On May 11 U.S. defense secy. Chuck Hagel gives an interview to ABC-TV's "This Week", saying that the prohibition on transgender people in the U.S. military should be "continually" reviewed, floating the possibility with "I'm open to that." On May 12 a U.S. drone strike in S Yemen kills six al-Qaida militants. On May 12 the Taliban launch their summer offensive, starting with the U.S. Bagram Airbase near Kabul, Afghanistan. On May 12 a Satanic Black Mass scheduled for the evening at the cultural studies club of Harvard U. is canceled after an uproar. On May 13 ex-Israeli PM Ehud Olmert is sentenced to six years in prison for bribery and corruption, becoming the first Israeli PM to be sent to prison. On May 13 a wave of Sunni car bombings in Shiite areas of Baghdad, Iraq kills 34. On May 13 the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg rules that online users have a right to be "forgotten" by search engines like Google, which should erase links to Web pages unless there are "particular reasons" not to, turning the concept of a search engine on its head. On May 13 a Soma Holding Co. coal mine explosion-fire in Soma, Turkey 70 mi. NE of Izmir kills 282+ out of 787, becoming Turkey's deadliest mining accient since the 1992 Zonguidak gas explosion, the lame govt. response incl. comments by PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan that such accidents are "normal" causing riots throughout Turkey. On May 13 U.S. judge Candy Dale rules that Idaho's 2006 same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional; Repub. Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter vows to appeal. On May 13 (night) anti-China protests in Vietnam see thousands of protesters set fire to factories. On May 15 the M.V. Miraj-4 ferry capsizes in stormy weather in the Methna River in Rasulpur, Bangladesh (27km from Dhaka), killing ? of 200 aboard. On May 15 thousands of steelworkers in Mariupol, Ukraine, take to the streets to oust pro-Russian militants. On May 15 pregnant Christian physician Meriam (Maryam) Yahya Ibrahim Ishaq (1987-) is sentenced to death by hanging in Sudan for apostasy for embracing the faith of her mother rather than her Muslim father, causing an internat. outcry; on June 3 a bipartisan U.S. Senate unanimously votes to approve a resolution demanding the "immediate and unconditional release" of Meriam and her two children from prison in Sudan; on June 23 she is acquitted, then released on June 24, then rearrested hours later on June 25 at Khartoum Airport as she tries to leave the country, then freed again on June 26 after a row with the U.S. ambassador - there's no compulsion in what? On May 15 Anglican canon Eric Woods, vicar of Sherborne, England pub. an article in the Western Gazette lamenting the "invasion of halal meat" and "the creeping Islamisation of our country". On May 15 a federal judge upholds registration requirements for hand guns in Washington, D.C.; on July 26 federal judge Frederick J. Scullin rules that a ban on carrying handguns in public in Washington, D.C. is unconstitutional, invalidating a 2008 law requiring handguns to be kept at home. On May 16 Russia and Cuba sign a security deal. On May 16 two Muslim (Boko Haram?) bombs rock a market in Nairobi, Kenya, killing 10 and injuring 70, causing hundreds of British tourists to be evacuated. On May 16 a clash between the Libyan militia and Islamists in Benghazi, Libya kills 12. On May 16 after allegations that treatment delays in veterans hospitals have led to preventable deaths, along with a coverup attempt, the 2014 Veterans Admin. Scandal of 2014 sees undersecy. of health Dr. Robert Petzel resign amid calls for the resignation of Veterans Admin. secy. Eric Shinseki, who resigns on May 30 after firing mucho subordinates. On May 16 (night) Boko Haram militants from Nigeria kidnap a Chinese national and 10 others in N Cameroon. On May 16-19 massive floods in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia cause 2K landslides. On May 17 leaders of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Benin meet in Paris, France, agreeing to wage "total war" on Boko Haram, with Nigerian pres. Jonathan Goodluck uttering the soundbyte: "Boko Haram is no longer a local terrorist group. It is operating clearly as an al-Qaida operation. It is an al-Qaida of West Africa." On May 17 Hillary Clinton holds her first campaign fundraising event of 2014 to benefit the congressional campaign of her daughter Chelsea's mother-in-law Marjorie Margolies (1942-); too bad, on May 20 she loses the Dem. Penn. primary. On May 17 the Jewish holiday of Lag BaOmer sees a public debate over permission given to Jews from Israel to visit the El Ghriba Synagogue on Djerba Island in SW Tunisia, which was attacked by terrorists in 2002. On May 17 an ISIS jihadist posts a video calling for the conquering of Jerusalem and Rome. On May 17 members of the Afghan parliament accuse Iran of "forcibly sending Afghan refugees to Syria" to fight for Pres. Bashar al-Assad. On May 18 forces loyal to renegade Libyan gen. Khalifa Haftar (Hifter) attack the Gen. Nat. Congress in Tripoli, Libya, targeting Islamist legislators, causing them to flee under fire; on May 27 after Ansar al-Shariah declares war on him, with leader Mohammed al-Zhawi calling him an "American agent", military assets are positioned in Sicily and the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan is moved to the Mediterranean Sea, the U.S. State Dept. issues a warning to Am. citizens not to travel to Libya and urges those there to leave immediately. On May 18 retired former NSA dir. (2005-14) Gen. Keith Alexander pub. an interview in the New Yorker, claiming that the U.S. could be attacked by terrorists again; "The number of attacks that are coming, the probability, it's growing. What I saw at NSA is that there is a lot more coming our way." On May 18 Syrian Islamist rebels issue a manifesto calling for the downfall of the Assad regime and its replacement by an anti-Western Islamist state; on May 19 they pub. a video calling on Muslims to wage jihad in Ukraine, Poland, and Russia. On May 18 Iranian actress Leila Hatami appears at the Cannes Film Festival, and is publicly bussed on the cheek by the pres. of the festival, pissing-off Iranian deputy culture minister Hoseyn Nushabadi. On May 18 after the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth pub. a report of a proposed bill by Labor Party MK Yehiel (Hilik) Bar to grant freedom of movement, religion, and worship on the Temple Mount to Jews and Arabs alike causes a firestorm among Muslims, causing him to withdraw it on May 23. On May 19 the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights pub. a report claiming that the 3-y.-o. Syrian conflict has a death toll of 160K+. On May 19 the U.S. govt. charges five Chinese army personnel with hacking into computers of U.S. cos. incl. U.S. Steel, Alcoa, and Westinghouse, becoming the first time that criminal charges have been filed by one country against another for computer espionage, pissing-off China, who on May 20 suspends cooperation with the U.S. in a joint cybersecurity task force, calling the U.S. "the biggest attacker of China's cyberspace". On May 19 Credit Suisse pleads guilty to a tax evasion scheme that "spanned decades", and agrees to pay $2.6B in fines and hire an independent monitor for two years, becoming the first guilt to plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing in over 20 years. On May 19 Egyptian Islamist preacher Mustafa Kamel Mustafa (1958-) is convicted in U.S. federal court of providing material support to terrorist orgs. On May 19 U.S. district judge Michael J. Shane strikes down the 2004 marriage amendment in Ore., saying that it has no "rationally related government purpose"; on May 20 U.S. district judge John E. Jones III strikes down the 1996 marriage law in Penn., with the soundbyte: "We are a better people than what these laws represent. It is time to discard them into the ash heap of history". On May 19 (night) a Boko Haram suicide bomber in the Christian quarter of Kano, Nigeria kills 20. On May 20 twin bombings in a bus station and market in Jos, Nigeria kill 100+. On May 20 the Internat. Labour Org. (ILO) pub. Profits and Poverty: The Economics of Forced Labour, claiming that the internat. slave trade generates $150B in annual profits, $99B of it from sexual exploitation. On May 20 a group of young Iranians are arrested for uploading their "Happy in Tehran" video based on the Pharrell Williams hit song, the govt. calling it "A vulgar clip which hurt public chastity." On May 20 Taliban fighters storm checkpoints in Badakhstan Province, Afghanistan; on May 21 the decapitated bodies of eight policeman kidnapped two weeks earlier are found in Zabul Province, Afghanistan. On May 20 the Islamic Front, the Army of the Mujahedeen, the Al-Sham Legion et al. in Syria sign a rev. code of honor for Syrian rebels, stating that "the political objective of the Syrian revolution is to topple the regime, its icons and pillars". On May 21 Pres. Obama declares the 500K-acre Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Nat. Monument in S New Mexico, pissing-off local ranchers who say it will create a safe haven for drug cartels. On May 21 a court in Cairo sentences ex-Egyptian pres. Hosni Mubarak to three years in prison for stealing $17M from the govt. On May 21 the IAEA and Iran issue a joint statement that they have agreed on a further set of practical measures within the framework of their Nov. 11, 2013 cooperation agreement. On May 21 Russia and China sign a $400B energy deal, allowing the Russian Gazprom oil monopoly to export gas to China for 30 years. On May 21 courts in Xinjiang, China jail 39 Uighur Muslims for spreading "terrorist videos" et al.; on May 22 a Muslim Uighur car and bomb attack on a busy street market in Urumqi, China kills 31 and injures 90+, causing the Obama admin. to finally uses the word "terrorism" to describe an attack by Muslim Uighurs. On May 21 (eve.) gay buds Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) get married on an episode of the ABC-TV sitcom Modern Family. On May 22 European Elections in the U.K. are a big V for UK Independence Party leader Nigel Paul Farage (1964-), with 27.5%, vs. Labour Party leader Ed Miliband with 25.4%, and Conservative Party leader David Cameron with 23.9%, becoming the first for a third party since 1906. On May 22 the U.S. House of Reps votes 303-121 to halt NSA bulk data collection incl. phone record snooping. On May 22 the Egyptian cabinet passes a law proposed by interim pres. Adly Mansour to annul all pardons issued to Islamist prisoners by ousted pres. Mohamed Morsi. On May 22 a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution to refer the widespread human rights violations in Syria to the ICC, submitted by France and co-sponsored by 65 countries is vetoed by Russia and China. On May 22 a military coup in Thailand suspends the constitution, dissolvies the govt. and imposes a curfew, becoming the 2nd bloodless coup in eight years. On May 22 Jordanian-born Houston, Tex. Muslim Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan (1957-) is charged with killing 30-y.-o. Iranian student Gelareh Bagherzadeh for helping his daughter convert to Christianity and find a non-Muslim boyfriend. On May 22 (night) rebels in Deraa, Syria shell a tent packed with supporters of pres. Bashar al-Assad, killing 21; meanwhile leaflets are dropped telling them it's their "last chance" to surrender or be sent "to Hell". On May 23 four gunmen attack the Indian consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, planning to take the staff hostage until they are killed after a 9-hour gunfight. On May 23 a 67-y.-o. Vietnamese woman self-immolates in Ho Chi Minh City to protest China's May 1 deployment of an oil rig in disputed waters. On May 23 a massive rally by Hizb ut-Tahrir on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to mark the 93th anniv. of the end of the caliphate calls for Arab nations to destroy the Jewish state of Israel. On May 23 (Fri.) (9:27 p.m.) after filming a video vowing to kill "blond sorority sluts" for never giving him any, along with lucky men who get it regularly, 22-y.-o. "virgin gunman" Elliot Oliver Robertson Rodger (b. 1991) stages a drive-by shooting spree at the UCSB campus in Isla Vista (near Santa Barbara), Calif., killing six and injuring 14 before killing himself during a shootout with police; he leaves a 141-page manifesto plus several YouTube videos calling himself an "incel" (involuntary celibate). On May 24 an anti-Semitic shooter at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels kills four; at night two Jewish men are attacked as they are leaving a synagogue in Creteil, France outside Paris; on May 27 Czech pres. Zilos Zeman utters the soundbyte that Islamic ideology is to blame for the "hideous attack"; on June 1 French police arrest Kalashnikov rifle-carrying Muslim suspect Mehdi Nemmouche (1985- in Marseilles. On May 24 (eve.) Muslim insurgents stage simultaneous bomb attacks at 15 locations in Pattani, Thailand, killing three and injuring 73. On May 24-26 Pope Francis visits the Holy Land incl. Bethlehem and Jerusalem, where he declares himself the "Che Guevara of the Palestinians", becoming the first pope to fly directly into the West Bank and refer to the "State of Palestine"; on May 25 he makes an unscheduled stop at the security fence in Bethlehem, with "Free Palestine" in large letters facing him, issuing an invitation to host the Israeli and Palestinian presidents for a prayer summit meeting in Vatican City. On May 25 (Sun.) former trade minister (2012) "Chocolate King" billionaire Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko (1965-) is elected pres. of Ukraine with 55% of the vote; meanwhile the pro-Russia separatist movement bloodily clashes with Ukrainian troops. On May 25 the 2014 European Earthquake sees elections for 751 EU seats give the center-right European People's Party 214, the center-left Socialists and Dem.s 189, and the far-right parties 36; elections in France give a V to the anti-Muslim-immigration Nat. Front of Marie Le Pen, with 26%, giving them 25 seats, while the conservative party of former pres. Nicolas Sarkozy gets 20.6%; meanwhile elections in Denmark give a V to the anti-Muslim-immigration Danish People's Party; elections in Britain are a V for the guess-what U.K. Independent Party (UKIP); the Finns Party in Finland wins a 2nd EU seat; the Sweden Democrats Party wins its first EU seats; the Jobbik Party in Hungary wins four seats; the Golden Dawn Party in Greece wins three seats; the FPO in Austria wins four seats. nt On May 25 Pres. Obama makes a surprise visit to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan for Memorial Day weekend, telling troops that they'll be out of the country by the end of the year as their presence will be brought to "a responsible end"; on May 27 he announces that he plans to keep 9.8K troops for training and to fight al-Qaida, pissing-off conservatives incl. Fox News journalist Charles Krauthammer, who calls it "an act of personal narcissism", retired USAF Gen. Michael Hayden, who utters the soundbyte that it's "fairy dangerous", and might lead to making Afghanistan look like Iraq, and Ariz. Repub. Sen. John McCain, who on May 28 utters the soundbyte that Obama is sending a signal to the Taliban and al-Qaida that amounts to "Hang on, we're leaving." On May 25 Boko Haram militants attack Kamuyya, Nigeria, killing 20. On May 25 Iranian supreme assaholah Ali Khamenei gives a speech to members of parliament, saying that negotiations over their nuclear program are over and that the Islamic republic's ideals incl. destroying America, with the soundbyte: “Battle and jihad are endless because evil and its front continue to exist... This battle will only end when the society can get rid of the oppressors' front with America at the head of it, which has expanded its claws on human mind, body and thought... This requires a difficult and lengthy struggle and need for great strides." On May 25 a massive landslide in Mesa County, Colo. is 4 mi. x 2 mi. x 250 ft. deep. On May 25 after learning that his firm bought $24.3M worth of shares of the Israel-based SodaStream co., the BDS movement calls for a boycott of its own benefactor George Soros. On May 26 Hindu nationalist Gujarat state minister (since 2001) (former tea vendor) Narendra Damodardas Modi (1950-) becomes PM #16 of India (until ?); Muslim jihadists vow revenge attacks worldwide. On May 26-28 elections in Egypt give a V to Field Marshal Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi (1954-), who on June 8 becomes Egyptian pres. #6 (until ?). On May 27 after mass protests by Muslim Uighurs for detaining 20+ women and girls for wearing headscarves in Xinjiang, China, police fire on the crowd, killing two, injuring five, and detaining 100. On May 27 members of a U.N. fact-finding mission into alleged chlorine attacks in Syria are ambushed and briefly held captive by gunmen in rebel-held Kfar Zeita in Hama Province. On May 28 Pres. Obama gives the commencement speech at West Point Military Academy, telling grads that while "American isolationism is not an option", a "willingness to rush into military adventures" since 9/11 has produced "some of our most costly mistakes", and the U.S. must lead by "empowering partners" with our values to meet threats, announcing a $5B "counterterrorism partnership fund" to defeat the "diffuse threat" of decentralized al-Qaida affiliates worldwide, and giving conspiracy theorists ammo with a mention of plans to create a new "international order"; he got a reception described as "pretty icy". On May 28 the U.S. House of Reps passes new sanctions on Venezuela for its handling of ongoing anti-govt. protests. On May 28 Muslim jihadists storm the Roman Catholic Church of Fatima in Bangui, Central African Repub. (CAR), killing 30. On May 28 the city council of Houston, Tex. pass an ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. On May 28-? elections in Syria. On May 29 (night) a group of madass members of the Islamist Jafar Umar Thalib org. attack a group of Roman Catholics holding a home prayer meeting in Java, Indonesa, telling them not to do it again or else. On May 30 Jay Carney resigns, and on ? deputy press secy. Josh Earnest (1975-) becomes White House press secy. #30 (until ?). On May 30 Pres. Obama issues a proclamation declaring June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month; meanwhile speaking outside the Stonewall Inn in New York City, U.S. interior secy. Sally Jewell announces that the Nat. Park Service will begin marking places of significance for LGBT Americans to mark their contributions to er, history. On May 30 the Nat. Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia announces that it has agreed to return a portrait to the heirs of its original owner, Jewish industrialist Richard Semmel, becoming the first successful Nazi restitution claim in Australia. On May 30 (04:00 a.m.) Spanish authorities raid a Muslim terrorist cell in Melilla, Spain, arresting six. On May 30 police in Perth, West Australia arrest six for running a drug ring, incl. Rateb Jneid, pres. of the West Australian Islamic Council. On May 30 Turkish Twitter user Ertan P. is sentenced to 15 mo. in prison for using the handle "Allah C.C." because it "humiliates the religious values accepted by a part of the people". On May 30 the U.S. House of Reps votes 219-189 to block the federal govt. from interfering with state medical marijuana laws. On May 30 the Spanish supreme court rules that Pakistani ex-Muslim refugee (since Oct. 2006) Imran Firasat, author of the film "The Innocent Prophet: The Life of Mohammed from a Different Point of View" should be deported for criticizing Islam, calling it "a danger to the security of Spain"; he calls it a death sentence - is that what they call Islamophobia? On May 31 (10:30 a.m.) Sgt. Bowe Robert Bergdahl (1986-), the only U.S. POW in Afghanistan (since June 2009) is handed over by the Taliban in exchange for five Gitmo POWs sent to Qatar, pissing-off Congress at Pres. Obama for not consulting with them first and observing a 30-day waiting period, esp. since they already rejected the idea in 2011 and 2012; on June 2 the Afghan govt. protests the deal, arguing that it violates internat. law; Bergdahl converted to Islam in captivity under the name Abdullah, and declared jihad?; Bergdahl's Pashto-speaking (Muslim?) father Robert Bowe Berdahl, who grew a Taliban-style beard in sympathy for his son issues the Islamic war cry "Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim" (In the Name of Allah the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"), causing Pres. Obama to smile?; daddy also tweeted that he wants all Taliban POWs freed to pay for all the Afghan children killed by the U.S., with the soundbyte: "God will repay for the death of every Afghan child, ameen." On May 31 the Slender Man Stabbing see two 12-y.-o. girls in Waukesha, Wisc., Anissa Weler and Morgan Geyser stab a 12-y.-o. classmate 19x to become proxies of the Slender Man, an online char. created on June 10, 2009 on the online forum Something Awful, a tall faceless man in a black suit with tentacles growing out of his back that can cause amnesia, coughing bouts, and paranoid behavior, becoming the first publicized creepypasta (horror-related stories or images copy-pasted around the Internet); after the victim recovers, they are found not guilty by reason of insanity, facing up to 65 years in prison each. In May a treaty launching the don't-say-Soviet Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in Jan. 2015 is signed in Astana, creating a free trade zone incl. Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. In May the U.S. unemployment rate remains at 6.3%, adding 217K jobs; unemployment among women increases by 60K; there are now 138.5M on non-farm payrolls, a new high topping the record of 138.4M set in Jan. 2008, signaling a recovery from the recession?; meanwhile the number of disability beneficiaries tops 11M for the first time (11,004,507). On June 1 a Christian militia defends the villages of Attangara and Agapalwa, Borno, Nigeria, killing 37 Boko Haram fighters and losing nine; Boko Haram ashholes behead a 6-y.-o. boy for being a Christian; more attacks on Attagara kill 88, for a total of 168. On June 2 hundreds of women protest in gettin'-lucky Lucknow, India after two teenage girls are gang-raped and hung from a mango tree; they belonged to the Maurya subcaste, while the three suspects belong to the higher Yadav subcaste? On June 2 the U.S. EPA announces that existing power plants must cut greenhouse gas pollution to 30% below 2005 levels by 2030, causing Repub. to decry Pres. Obama's "war on coal". On June 2 fighting between Shiite Houthi rebels and govt. forces in Omran Province, Yemen kills 100 Houthis and 20 soldiers. On June 2 after 47,017 children sans parents are caught crossing the SW U.S. border since Oct. 1, mostly from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, citing an "urgent humanitarian situation", Pres. Obama issues an order to provide special services for the tens of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children crossing the U.S. border from Mexico. On June 2 the city council of Seattle, Wash. raises the min. wage to a whopping $15 an hour. On June 3 Pres. Obama visits Warsaw, Poland, telling Pres. Bronislaw Komorowski that he is planning to spend $1B to boost its military presence in Europe, calling on Congress to provide the funding. On June 3 pres. elections in Syria are a no-surprise V for Bashar al-Assad. On June 3 Turkey designates designates Jabhat al-Nusra a terrorist org. On June 4 (a.m.) Chester Nez (b. 1920), last of the WWII Navajo Code Talkers dies. On June 4 U.S. secy. of state John Kerry visits Lebanon, meeting with PM Tammam Salam in Beirut and pledging more aid for the 1M Syrian refugees in Lebanon. On June 4 Rambo wannabe Justin Bourque (1989-) goes on a shooting spree in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, killing three mounties and wounding two; he is captured on June 5 (12:10 a.m.) hiding in a backyard. On June 4 the Rand Corp. releases a report contradicting Pres. Obama's view of the terrorist threat to the U.S., claiming that it isn't waning but growing by leaps and bounds, with the world experiencing a 58% increase in Islamist terrorist groups since 2010, along with a doubling of Muslim terrorists and tripling of al-Qaida affiliates. On June 5 Sylvia Mary Mathews Burwell (1965-) is confirmed by the U.S. Senate as U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) secy. #?, taking office on June 9 (until ?). On June 5 rage shooter Aaron Ybarra at $15 min. wage Seattle Pacific U. kills one before being subdued by student Jon Meis while trying to reload. On June 5 the govt. of Australia announces that it will no longer refer to East Jerusalem as "occupied territory", pissing-off Palestinians. On June 6 world leaders meet to commemorate the 70th Anniv. of D-Day, becoming the first meeting between Pres. Obama and Pres. Putin since the Ukraine crisis; Obama raises eyebrows by chewing gum during the ceremonies; 1M rose petals are released over the Statue of Liberty; Obama becomes the 2nd U.S. pres. to visit the D-Day Monument on D-Day twice (200-9). On June 6 the convoy of leading Afghan pres. candidate Abdullah Abdullah is hit by two bombs in Kabul, killing six civilians and injuring ?; he is uninjured; the Pakistani govt. blames Lashkar-e-Taiba and an unnamed "foreign country". On June 6 two ISIS (ISIL) car bombs in Shabak, Iraq (E of Mosul) kill 25 and injure 35; on June 6 Iraqi troops repel an ISIS assault on Mosul, Iraq; on June 9 after the 30K-man U.S.-trained Iraqi army cuts and runs, 2K ISIS militants led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi overrun parts of Mosul and seize the provincial govt. HQ along with $429M in gold and a large store of weapons incl. 2.3K Humvees, causing PM Nouri al-Maliki to ask parliament to declare a state of emergency while thousands flee; on June 10 ISIS captures Mosul; on June 11 ISIS abducts 49 members of the Turkish consulate, while occupying Tikrit; on June 12 ISIS issues a decree ordering unmarried women into "sex jihad" with the fighters; on June 12 Iraqi Kurds seize control of Kirkuk while ISIS rebels advance toward Baghdad and Iraqi troops cut and run, causing Pres. Obama to consider air-drone strikes and other aid short of troops, while Iran sends 150 elite Rev. Guard troops to defend Baghdad, and on June 13 Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani issues a call to Iraqis to take up arms against the Sunni rebels; on June 13 (Fri.) Pres. Obama gives a press conference outside the White House with his big heli in the background, saying that the U.S. won't send troops to Iraq because the Iraqis must take full responsibility for their own security, with the soundbyte "We can't do it for them", although he is looking at a "range of options"; on June 15 a video is pub. showing Shiite Iraqi soldiers rounded up and shot Nazi-style in Salahuddin Province N of Baghdad, pissing-off Shiites and pumping them up to resist; meanwhile 440K+ are displaced by the fighting in Anbar Province; 39 Indian Sikh construction workers on the univ. campus in Mosul are kidnapped and murdered, then buried in a mass grave near the village of Badush. On June 7 (Sat.) the first-ever U.S. military color guard marches in the gay pride parade in Washington, D.C.. On June 7 Pres. Obama gives a radio address on student loans, announcing his intention to "keep doing whatever I can without Congress" to help "responsible" young people pay them off, with the soundbyte: "Protect young people from crushing debt, or protect tax breaks for millionaires." On June 7 (8:00 p.m.) three inmates at the Orsainville Detention Centre near Quebec City, Canada escape via heli, becoming the 2nd heli escape in two years. On June 8 (lunchtime) the Las Vegas Killers, white supremacist couple Jerad and Amanda Miler, shouting "This is the start of a revolution" shoot and kill Las Vegas police officers Alyn Beck and Igor Soldo lunching in CiCi's Pizza in Las Vegas, Nev.; after killing another person in a nearby Walmart, they commit prearranged suicide as the police close in. On June 8 at Pope Francis' instigation, Muslim prayers will be heard from the Vatican for the first time ever supposedly to usher in peace between Israelis and Palestinians to go along with his invitation to Israeli pres. Shimon Peres and PA pres. Mahmoud Abbas to pray with him, which they do on June 8; the Muslim prayer calls for victory over the infidels? - Francis will be the last pope after all? On June 8 a Gallup Poll finds that 51% of Americans don't believe that the phrase "honest and trustworthy" applies to Pres. Obama. On June 8 (night) 300+ Pakistani pilgrims returning from ceremonies marking the 25th anniv. of Ayatollah Khomeini are attacked by Jeish Al-Islam in a hotel in Taftan, Pakistan near the Iranian border, killing ? and injuring ?. On June 8 (night) 10 Muslim terrorists attack Jinnah Internat. Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 28 incl. eight security personnel, and injuring 24; the Taliban claims responsibility; on June 10 more gunmen attack a training facility for airport police. On June 9 a friendly fire incident in S Afghanistan kills five U.S. service members. On June 9 (eve.) Hillary Clinton gives an interview to Diane Sawyer on ABC News for her new book Hard Choices, trying to explain away her inaction during the Benghazi attack, with the soundbyte: "I'm not equipped to sit and look at blueprints to determine where the blast walls need to be, where the reinforcements need to be. That's why we hire people who have that expertise"; on June 10 (a.m.) after remarking that she and her Bubba were "dead broke" when they left the White House, causing a firestorm of controversy, Hillary gives an interview to Robin Roberts on Good Morning America, uttering the soundbyte: soundbyte: "Let me just clarify that I fully appreciate how hard life is for so many Americans today. It's an issue that I've worked hard on and cared about my entire adult life." On June 10 after PM Benjamin Netanyahu tries in vain to prevent it, former Knesset speaker Reuven "Rubi" "Ruvi" Rivlin (1939-) of the Likud Party (known for backing the 1-state solution) is elected pres. #10 of Israel, taking office on July 28 (until ?). On June 10 the U.S. ambassador to Israel hoists a gay pride flag over the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv for the first time ever. On June 10 (Tues.) after Conservative radio blasts him for wanting immigration reform, House majority leader (since Jan. 3, 2011) Eric Ivan Cantor (1963-) is defeated in the Va. Repub. primary by Tea Party candidate Mad Hat, er, David Brat, becoming the first House majority leader to be defeated in a primary since the office was created in 1899; on June 11 he resigns, effective July 31. On June 10 student Jared Padgett shoots up Reynolds H.S. in Troutdale, Ore., killing one student before committing suicide. On June 10-13 an Internat. Summit on Rape of Women in War Zones attended by 100+ countries is opened by U.N. envoy Angelina Jolie and British foreign secy. William Hague, who calls rape in war zones one of the "great mass crimes" of the last 2 cents. On June 11 the U.S. launches its first strike in North Waziristan, Pakistan since late Dec. 2013, killing six jihadists incl. four Uzbeks. On June 11 after a Hamas rocket strike into S Israel, an Israeli strike in N Gaza Strip kills one Palestinian and injures two. On June 12 three Israeli teens, Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar, and Naftali Frankel are kidnapped near Hebron, Israel by Palestinians, causing the Israelis to arrest 150+ Palestinians in a crackdown on Hamas; on June 30 their bodies are found in Halhul (near Hebron), causing efforts to be ramped-up to capture the perps Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha; Pres. Obama utters the soundbyte that the killings were a "senseless act of terror against innocent youth"; meanwhile Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu blames Hamas, which denies responsibility, and responds that it will "open the gates of Hell" if Israel attacks it; on Jan. 6 mastermind Hassam Hassan Kawasme (1974-) is sentenced to three life terms for the murders. On June 12 U.S. Sen. (D-Mass.) Ed Markey introduces the Internat. Human Rights Defense Act of 2014, to establish a special envoy at the U.S. State Dept. to coordinate America's "global response" on LGBT issues and to allow LGBT persons "who have a well-founded fear of persecution... to seek protection in the United States." On June 13 (Fri.) Pres. Obama makes his first visit to an Am. Indian rez, pledging to partner with tribes 'on just about every issue that touches your lives." On June 13 the Guardian UK pub. an article revealing the $1M U.S. Defense Dept. Minerva Research Initiative to study ways to deal with large-scale civil unrest, giving conspiracy theorists grist for their mills. On June 13 Ansar al Sharia in Tunisia pub. a statement calling for reconciliation between ISIS and other jihadist groups based on their Vs in Iraq. On June 14 for the 2nd time in 10 weeks, pres. elections in Afghanistan sees former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and former finance minister Ashraf Ghani. On June 14 U.S. drones in Al Saeed, Shabwa Province, S Yemen kill AQAP cmdr. Mussad al Habashi and four other AQAP fighters. On June 14-21 the 221st Gen. of the Presbyterian Church (USA) votes to join the anti-Israel BDS movement; a resolution to replace the word "Israel" in prayers and hymns doesn't pass. On June 15 Benghazi 9/11/2012 terrorist attack suspect Ahmed Abu Khatallah is captured near Benghazi by U.S. troops working with the FBI. On June 15 a bus filled with Jewish kindergartners is attack by a mob of rock-throwing Muslim teenies in Antwerp, Belgium; no one is hurt. On June 15 (night) an offensive in NW Pakistan near the Afghan border, causing 80K to flee. On June 16 ISIS captures the town of Tal Afar, Iraq 260 mi. NW of Baghdad. On June 16 Al-Shabaab militants attack Mpeketoni, Kenya (near Lamu Island), targeting hotels and businesses and killing dozens before the army repels them, becoming the deadliest attack on Kenyan soil since Westgate Mall. On June 16 Hillary Clinton gives a speech in Toronto, Ont., Canada, telling the audience that she supports Pres. Obama's decision to work with the Palestinian Authority's new unity govt. even though it incl. the Hamas terror org. because the new officials are "largely technocrats... academics and business people. They don't represent sort of what you might call hardcore Hamas leadership." On June 16 (night) a double tornado in Pilger, Neb. levels it, killing two and injuring 19. On June 17 U.S. Rep. (R-Tex.) Ted Cruz utters the soundbyte: "You cannot win a battle against radical Islamic terrorism if youre unwilling to utter the words"; meanwhile U.S. state secy. John Clueless, er, Kerry utters the soundbyte that "extreme poverty" breeds terrorism - he's got an extremely poor brain, he should know? On June 17 (eve.) a Boko Haram suicide bomber in a tricycle taxi kills several people watching a World Cup match in Yobe, N Nigeria. On June 18 U.S. Joint Chiefs chmn. Gen. Martin Dempsey tells Congress: "It is in our national security interests to counter ISIL wherever we find them." On June 18 UAE recalls its ambassador to Iraq, demanding an end to discrimination against the Sunni minority. On June 18 Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman meets in Nairobi with Kenyan pres. Uhuru Kenyatta, saying that the internat. community has proven unable to respond effectively to the global terror threat, and proposing an info. exchange between Middle East and African countries as a remedy. On June 19 76-y.-o. king (since Nov. 22, 1975) Juan Carlos of Spain (b. 1938) abdicates in favor of his 46-y.-o. son Crown Prince Felipe of Asturias, who becomes king Felipe VI (1968-) of Spain (until ?). On June 19 after the surprise June 10 defeat of Eric Cantor, House Repubs. choose Calif. Repub. rep. (since 2007) Kevin Owen McCarthy (1965-) as new House majority leader, taking office on Aug. 1 (until ?). On June 19 Pres. Obama holds a press conference, saying that U.S. troops "are not going to be fighting in Iraq again... Ultimately this is going to have to be solved by the Iraqis", with the soundbyte: "There's no military solution inside of Iraq, not one that's led by the United States", announcing that up 300 JFK, er, military advisers will be sent to Iraq, along with "targeted and precise" military action. On June 19 Pres. Obama makes a phone call to Mexican pres. Enrique Pena Nieto, telling him that the hordes of children from Central Am. crossing the U.S. border illegally won't qualify for legal status or deferred deportation, asking him for help in developing a "regional strategy" to address the surge. On June 19 U.S. secy. of state John Kerry issues a soundbyte that the U.S. govt. recognizes same-sex marriages of foreign diplomats, and expects all other countries to follow suit, calling any effort to deny visas for gays "discriminatory... unacceptable... no place in the 21st century." On June 19 the Pew Research Center pub. a report revealing that immigrants make up 49.7% of Latino workers in the U.S., down from 56.1% in 2007. On June 19 (night) fighting with pro-Russian rebels in E Ukraine kills seven Ukrainian troops. On June 20 Pres. Obama issues an executive order granting the same benefits to same-sex couples as hetero couples, incl. in the majority of states where gay marriage is still against the law. On June 20 the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR issues a report revealing that for the first time since WWII the number of world refugees exceeds 50M. On June 20 pissed-off at Pres. Obama's decision to release five Taliban leaders, the Repub.-controlled U.S. House by 340-73 approves a $570B defense bill that halts transfers from Guantanamo Bay for one year, and pulls back on NSA spying, limiting Obama's authority. On June 20 the White House promises an enforcement surge on the SW U.S. border in response to the children flood, promising to add more judges to allow border-crossers to be deported faster, along with tax funding to help Central Am. countries El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala warn their people against making the journey. On June 20 the U.S. govt. reveals that Joint Chiefs of staff Gen. Martin Dempsey met with Pakistani Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Rashad Mahmood in the Pentagon, becoming the first such high level meeting since 2007. On June 20 after attacks on them by smart, er, extremist Buddhists, Muslim businesses in Sri Lanka close in protest. On June 20 Muslim Uighur terrorists kill five police guarding a checkpoint in Qaraqash (Moyu), Hotan, China; on June 21 police kill 13 in Kargilik County, Kashgar, Kinjiang after they drive into a police bldg. and set off an explosion. On June 21 Muslim jihadists in Xinjiang, China attack a police station, explosives-laden vehicles into it; the police kill 13 of them. On June 21 Syrian jets attck the ISIS stronghold in Muhassan in Deir Ezzor Province, killing 16+. On June 21 ISIS gains control of the Syrian border town of Al-Qaim (Al Qa'im), Iraq, giving the ability to ship weapons into Iraq.; meanwhile Moqtada al-Sadr's Shiite Jaish al-Mahdi paramilitary force stages a demonstration in E Baghdad pledging to fight ISIS. On June 21 Pope Francis excommunicates all members of the Mafia, calling it an example of "the adoration of evil"; a spokesman later says that the ecommunication is theological only. On June 21 ISIS captures the oil refinery in Baiji, Iraq, Iraq's largest, which supplies 320K barrels of oil a day, and one-third of its fuel oil. On June 21 the Pentagon declassifies a report from the Nat. Ground Intelligence Center, which contains the soundbyte: "Since 2003 Coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist" - Bush didn't lie, he just withheld intel even though it made him look like an ass? On June 22 (Sun.) Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge becomes the first openly transgender priest to deliver a sermon from the Canterbury Pulpit at the Nat. Cathedral in Washington, D.C.; presiding over the service is the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, Right Rev. Gene Robinson - Sodom and Gomorrah jokes here? On June 22 Pres. Obama gives a speech defending his handling of the Iraq crisis, saying that he rejects a "whack-a-mole strategy" for fighting Islamist extremists. On June 22 (a.m.) a cross-border military attack in Israel kills 15-y.-o. Israeli boy Muhammad Karaka and injures two men, causing a retaliatory Israeli air strike on the Syrian military on June 23. On June 23 U.S. secy. of state John Kerry visits Baghdad, and meets with Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki, urging him to give more govt. power to Sunnis before the Sunni insurgency "sweeps away hopes for lasting peace". On June 23 a suicide bomber outside Abou Assaf Cafe near a Lebanese army checkpoint in Beirut, Lebanon injures several; they were watching the Brazil v. Cameroon World Cup game. On June 23 a U.S. federal appeals court releases a classified memo that concludes that it's okay to kill Americans suspected of terrorism overseas if they're part of the forces of an enemy org. On June 23 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules that the Obama admin. has no authority to require some cos. to draft new plans for cutting CO2 emissions as part of the permit process for expanding or building new facilities; the more ambitious program to cut CO2 emissions from new power plants by 30% by 2030 is unaffected. On June 24 former Pres. Reagan budget dir. (1981-5) David A. Stockman pub. the article WWI and the United States: Woodrow Wilson's Wisdom or Folly? in The Globalist, arguing that if the U.S. had stayed out of WWI the world would be a better place. On June 25 the U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously in Riley v. Calif. that warantless cell phone searches are unconstitutional; it also rules 6-3 in Am. Broadcasting Cos. v. Aereo Inc. that a video-streaming device allowing users to capture and view broadcast TV content on portable devices violates copyright law. On June 25 the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colo. rules regarding a Utah case that states can't prevent same-sex marriages, causing Boulder, Colo. county clerk Hillary Hall to begin issuing marriage licenses, pissing-off Repub. Colo. atty. gen. John Suthers, who sends her a letter ordering her to stop without specifying consequences; on July 1 six gay couples file a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Colo. gay marriage ban. On June 25 Iraqi-Am. ex-Muslim Ali Hassan Al-Assadi (1964-) of Detroit, Mich. is arrested for burning a Quran in front of the Karbalaa Educational Center in Dearborn, Mich., and charged with "unlawful escape of soot" and littering. On June 26 a Mexican police heli crosses into Ariz. onto the Tohono O'Odham Indian Nation and fires two shots at U.S. border agents; Tomas Zeron of the Mexican atty. gen. office claims they were attacking smugglers in Altar, Sonora, and denies they crossed the border or fired any weapons. On June 26 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules that Pres. Obama overstepped his authority by trying to circumvent the U.S. Senate and install recess nominees to key positions, saying that he must wait for Congress to break for at least 10 days before he can use his recess powers, and that the lawmakers get to decide what constitutes a recess. On June 26 Pres. Obama promises to send the Free Syrian Army (FSA) $500M; too bad, on June 27 the high command is disbanded over corruption charges. On June 27 Ukrainian pres. Petro O. Poroshenko signs a trade pact with the EU, defying Russia and declaring that Ukraine would like to become a full EU member. On June 27 to counter Serbia's official commemoration of the June 28, 1914 assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, Nebojsa Radmanovic, a Serb member of Bosnia-Herzegovina's tripartite presidency unveils a 2m bronze Statue of Gavrilo Princip in majority Serb E Sarajevo. On June 27 police arrest 17 in the U.S. and U.K. for membership in a khat distribution ring based in Flatbush, Brooklyn, N.Y. On June 27 Pres. Obama visits, Minn., and utters the soundbyte: "By every economic measure we are better off now than we were when I took office. You wouldn't know it, but we are." On June 28 the 100th Anniv. of the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. On June 28 the Iraqi army claims to rout Sunni militants in Tikrit, Iraq; the rebels deny it. On June 29 (Sun.) Boko Haram jihadists attack Kwada, Nigeria (near Chibok), burning five churches during Sun. service and killing 100+. On June 29 (1st day of Ramadan) the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria/Levant (ISIS/ISIL) releases an audio message by Abu Muhammad Al-'Adnani declaring a new Islamic caliphate under the name Islamic State (ISIS) (Daash), with leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi (Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai) (1971-) as caliph, ordering all Muslims to pledge allegiance "so that you may return to [the position] you once held for ages", becoming the first such declaration in the Arab world since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, announcing "the end of Sykes-Picot"; on July 1 Al-Baghdadi announces that all Muslims capable of immigration to the Islamic State are required to do so; meanwhile the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announces that ISIS crucified eight rebel fighters in Aleppo Province, Syria on June 28 for being too moderate; on June 30 the Islamic State raises its flag in Tell Abyad, Syria near Akcakale, Turkey; at the start of Ramadan Adnani announces a plan to reconquer Spain by 2020. On June 29 an annual rally by 30K held by the Nat. Council of Resistance of Iran in Villepinte, France calls for regime change in Iran, backing the dissident Mujahedin-e Khalq opposition group. On June 30 days after Ajnad Misr (Soldiers of Egypt) announces that it has planted bombs to target security forces, then aborts the mission due to concern for civilian safety, but is unable to remove them all, an explosion near the pres. palace in Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt kills one police officer and injures several. On June 30 Pres. Obama announces that he will respond to Congress' inaction on immigration legislation by using executive orders, starting with a border surge to stop border-crossers, followed by a, er, decrease in deportations, pissing-off Repubs. On June 30 the deadline for the complete destruction of Syria's chemical weapons program is missed. On June 30 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 5-4 in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. that closely-held corps. can opt out of a regulation for religious objections incl. providing contraception coverage under Obamacare. In June the Ice Bucket Challenge raises $115M for research to cure amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), 5x more than in 2013. In June violence in Iraq kills 2.4K. In June U.S. crude oil production begins to eat into OPEC's market share, creating an oil glut that cuases prices to begin declining sharply from $110/barrel. In June U.S. labor force non-participation reaches a record high of 92.12M (62.8%). On July 1 the first session of the Iraqi parliament since Apr. sees Sunni Muslim and Kurdish members walk out. On July 1 the Strasbourg-based European Court by 15-2 rules that the French ban on full face coverings doesn't violate religious freedom, okaying it. On July 1 Japanese PM Shinzo Abe announces a reinterpretation of Japan's pacifist constitution, freeing its military for the first time since WWII to thwart expansionist China, allowing it to come to the aid of friendly countries incl. the U.S. who are under attack; after election Vs in Dec., Abe pledges to turn Japan into "one of the greatest powers in the world" via the new foreign policy approach of "proactive pacifism". On July 1 Russian pres. Vladimir Putin utters the soundbyte that the West should stop forcing its principles on other countries and making a "world barracks" out of the internat. stage. On July 1 federal judge John G. Heyburn II strikes down the ban on same-sex marriage in Ky., with the soundbyte: "In America, even sincere and long-held religious beliefs do not trump the constitutional rights of those who happen to have been outvoted", d issing Ky. Dem. Gov. Steve Beshear for arguing that the ban preserves the state's birth rate and contributes to economic stability, with the soundbyte "These arguments are not those of serious people." On July 1 Michelle Janine Howard (1960-) becomes the U.S. Navy's first female 4-star adm. On July 1 Massimo Bitonci, mayor of Padua, Italy orders all public bldgs. and schools to display a crucifix, and bans Muslims from praying in them. On July 1 ISIS releases a video promising to liberate Spain, with the soundbyte: "Spain is the land of our forefathers, and Allah willing, we are going to liberate it, with the might of Allah." On July 1 a report from the Pew Research Center reveals that 74% of Americans don't believe they need to give up privacy and freedom in order to be safe from terrorism. On July 2 Iraqi Shiite PM Nouri Al-Maliki offers amnesty to Sunni tribes who "return to their senses", but refuses to step down. On July 2 pissed-off residents of Murietta, Calif. block buses carrying illegal immigrants, continuing until ?; orders from the Obama admin. to use force against the protesters are resisted by the U.S. Border Patrol? On July 4 a suicide car bomber in Al-Wadia, Yemen kills one Yemeni soldier and injures another; on July 5 militants attack a border post between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, killing two soldiers and three militants. On July 6 Fatah begins firing rockets into Ashkelon and Sederot, Israel, causing worries of the U.S. Congress cutting off their funding. On July 7 the first red poppy is placed by Yeoman Warder YS Crawford Butler on the Tower of London to commemorate the centennial of the WWI; the installation officially opens on Aug. 5, the day Britain entered the war. On July 7-8 Operation Protective Edge sees Israeli air strikes hit 150 targets in Gaza, followed by 160 more on July 9, becoming the first large wartime use by Israel of drones; on July 8 Hamas attempts to infiltrate a terrorist team into Zikim; on July 9 (night) an Israeli air attack kills Islamic Jihad senior cmdr. Hafiz Hamad; meanwhile the Israeli Iron Dome intercepts 56 of 255 rockets fired out of Gaza in the last few days; meanwhile moderate Israeli leftists found Smola (Heb. "leftward") movement to try to find a way to keep supporting the IDF; in Apr. 2015 Defense for Children Internat.-Palestine pub. a report accusing Israel of deliberately targeting and murdering Palestine children during the Gaza offensive. On July 8 Iraq U.N. ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim circulates a letter with the news that "armed terrorist groups" have seized a former chemical weapons facility NW of Baghdad. On July 8 Pres. Obama requests $3.7B from Congress as emergency appropriations to handle the influx of Central Am. child immigrants. On July 8 a Taliban suicide bomb attack near a school in ?, Afghanistan kills 18 incl. 11 students and four U.S. soldiers who were giving out pens and exercise books; another suicide attack in Parwan Province, Afghanistan kills 16 incl. four Czech soldiers, injuring one. On July 8 Al-Shabaab militants attack the pres. palace in Mogadishu, Somalia. On July 8 Boko Haram raid a police border post in Zina, Cameroon as part of a gen. incursion into N Cameroon. On July 8 (night) Muslims launch a rocket attack against Jerusalem, causing hundreds of Arabs to celebrate atop the Temple Mount. On July 9 the 2014 Indonesian Pres. Election is a V for Barry Soetoro wannabe Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (1961-) over Gen. Prabowo Subianto by 53%-47%; he is sworn in on Oct. 20. On July 9 Iraqi officials discover 50 mainly blindfolded bodies of men aged 25-40 in an agricultural area outside the Shiite city of Hillah, Iraq 60 mi. S of Baghdad. On July 9 French authorities announce that they've foiled a Muslim plot by AQIm leader Ali M to blow up the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and a nuclear power plant. On July 9 Islamic Jihad launches rockets at Tel Aviv, Hadera, Hof Hacarmel S of Haifa, and Zichron Yaakov 73 mi. N of Gaza Strip. On July 9 Hamas launches long-range Iranian M-75 rockets towards the nuclear reactor at Dimona, Israel. On July 9 Glenn Greenwald and Murtaza Hussain pub. Under Surveillance: Meet the Muslim-American Leaders the FBI and NSA Have Been Spying On, complaining that Muslims with terrorist ties are being spied on. On July 10 (a.m.) a U.S. drone strike in Datta Khel, North Waziristan, Pakistan kills six militants; meanwhile the Pakistani army occupies the capital of Miranshah, North Waziristan. On July 10 U.S. Berlin CIA station chief ? is expelled from Germany for alleged spying. On July 10 a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan-Pakistan kills six al-Qaida militants. On July 10 (p.m.) three police officers are ambushed and murdered by Muslim terrorists in Yala Province, Thailand while returning from a peace conference at a mosque during Ramadan. On July 11 the Zelenopillya Rocket Attack (Battle of Zelenopillya) sees a single Russian artillery fire strike almost destroy two Ukrainian mechanized battalions in a few min., killing 23 and injuring 93. On July 11 the U.S. House of Reps passes Resolution 657, affirming Israel's right to defend itself against rockets fired from Gaza; the U.S. Senate passes a similar resolution on ?. On July 12 gunmen attack two apt. bldgs. in Zayouna, Baghdad, Iraq killing 33 incl. 29 women. On July 14 the Church of England Gen. Synod votes to allow women to become consecrated bishops. On July 15 (9:00 a.m.) an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire begins, but Hamas continues to fire 50 rockets, causing the Israelis to retaliate at 3:00 p.m., ending the ceasefire; on July 15 Dror Hanin (b. 1975) is killed by a Hamas mortar shell while handing out gift bags to Israeli soldiers at the Erez Crossing near Gaza, becoming the first Israeli death. On July 15 rebels shell the airport in Tripoli, Libya, destroying 90% of the planes parked there, causing the U.N. to withdraw its staff. On July 15 citizens of Oracle, Ariz. take the streets to block a bus carrying Central Am. illegal aliens. On July 15-16 a conference in Amman, Jordan by 150 opposition Iraqi figures is held, which calls on the internat. community to "end its support for the current government" and "back the people's revolution and its demands", pissing-off Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki. On July 16 Pres. Obama imposes a new batch of economic sanctions on Russia for its aggression in the Ukraine. On July 16 pro-Palestinian protests in Paris turn violent with attacks on synagogues and Jewish-owned stores, causing authorities to ban further protests, becoming the first country to ban prop-Palestinian protests, pissing-off leftists. On July 16 Russian separatists shoot down Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 with a Russian-made Buk SAM 30 mi. inside the Ukrainian border near Russia, killing all 298 aboard, incl. Joep Lange and several other AIDS researchers, causing Ukrainian pres. Petro Poroshenko to call it an "act of terrorism"; on July 17 Pres. Obama calls for a ceasefire and full internat. investigation; on July 25 after Russian pres. Vladimir Putin tries to blame Ukraine, Hillary Clinton utters the soundbyte that he "bears responsibility". On July 17 (3:45 p.m.) African-Am. citizen Eric Garner is murdered in broad daylight in Staten Island, N.Y. by police officer Daniel Pantaleo et al. via a chokehold as they claim to be arresting him for selling untaxed cigarettes; on July 13, 2015 the city of New York agrees to pay Garner's family $5.9M; the officers are not indicted until ? - the police are now completely above the law? On July 17 (eve.) after the Hamas rocket attack fizzles, Israeli forces invade Gaza. On July 17 (night) riots in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey at the Israeli embassy and consulate cause Israel to recall its diplomats and their families, blaming speeches by PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan accusing Israel of killing women and children. On July 18 after ISIS captures Mosul, Iraq, Christians begin fleeing after an ultimatum to leave or convert to Islam, causing Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako to utter the soundbyte: "For the first time in the history of Iraq, Mosul is now empty of Christians"; deputy dir. Zuhair Shurba announces that fleeing Christians can find refuge in the Shrine of Imam Ali in Karbala. On July 18-19 a group of Muslim women led by atty. Nadia Shahram hold a convention in Seneca Falls, N.Y., issuing the Declaration of the Equalities for Muslim Women. On July 20 the deadline for reaching a deal on Iran in the P5+1 negotiations. On July 20 Tex. Repub. gov. Rick Perry visits Clear Lake, Iowa, and utters the soundbyte that if the federal govt. doesn't send more troops to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, the state of Texas will. On July 21 Pres. Obama signs an executive order prohibiting discrimination against LGBT employees working for the federal govt. or its contractors. On July 22 a Hamas rocket lands 1 mi. from the Tel Aviv Airport, causing the FAA to impose a travel ban, pissing-off Repubs. Ted Cruz, who calls it an economic boycott of Israel, causing the FAA to flop and resume flights on July 24 (p.m.) after 48 hours, during which time Hamas calls the flight ban to Tel Aviv a "great victory". On July 22 Iranian-Am. journalist Jason Rezaian and his wife Salehi are arrested in Iran on unknown charges, and imprisoned (until ?); in Oct. Salehi is released on bail; in Mar. 2015 boxing legend Muhammad Ali asks Iran to free him. On July 23 (1:30 p.m.) Russian separatists shoot down two Ukrainian Sukhoi-25 fighter jets in Savur Mogila. On July 23 the U.S. House by 404-0 passes the Hezbollah Internat. Financing Prevention Act, sponsored by Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), enacting strong sanctions and restricting its access to the global financial system. On July 23 to counter Obama's $3.7B proposal, U.S. House Repubs. propose a $1.5B border security plan that incl. setting up repatriation centers in Central Am. countries and sending troops. On July 23 the U.N. Human Rights Council passes a resolution condemning Israel for its Gaza offensive and establishing a 3-member commission of inquiry, headed by Canadian genocide scholar William A. Schabas (1950-), known for the 2011 soundbyte that Benjamin Netanyahu should be "in the dock of an international court" because he is "the single individual most likely to threaten the survival of Israel"; despite Pres. Obama, the U.S. is the sole no vote, with 17 members abstaining; on Aug. 13 Netanyahu replies, with the soundbyte: "UNHRC gives legitimacy to murderous terror organizations like Hamas and Daash (Islamic State)", accusing them of overlooking "massacres" committed elsewhere in the Middle East. On July 23 three men and two women are charged in Alexandria, Va. with funneling money to Al-Shabaab in Somalia. On July 24 Air Algerie Flight 5017 en route from Burkina Faso to Algiers crashes, killing all 110 passengers and 6 crew aboard incl. 50 French nationals. On July 24 gunmen attack a prisoner convoy N of Baghdad, Iraq, with 52 prisoners and eight soldiers killed in the gun battle. On July 24 a UNRWA school in S Gaza is hit by munitions, killing 15 and injuring dozens; the Israelis and Hamas blame each other; Canadian foreign minister John Baird calls for an investigation of weapons caches at UNRWA-run schools in Gaza. On July 24 ISIS blows up the 8th cent. B.C.E. Mosque of the Prophet Younis (Jonah) in Mosul, Iraq. On July 24 U.S. Repub. Rep. Michele Bachmann introduces the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2014 to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist org. On July 24 (night) 10K+ riot near the Kalandia Checkpoint in the West Bank between Jerusalem and Ramallah, protesting the Israeli military operation, becoming the biggest mass protest since the last intafada; on July 25 Mahmoud Abbas urges mass Gaza solidarity protests in the West Bank, citing a Quran verse permitting those who are wronged to fight for Allah. On July 25 ISIS uploads its first beheading video, of 75 Syrian soldiers; on Aug. 15 a video is uploaded showin Australian-born Khaled Sharrouf with his 7-y.-o. son holding the severed head of a Syrian soldier; on Aug. 19 a video showing Jihadi John beheading Am. journalist James Wright Foley (b. 1973) is uploaded, becoming his first victim; several more follow through Aug. 20, 2017, Iranian soldier Mohsen Hojjaji. On July 26 amid violent clashes, the U.S. closes its embassy in Tripoli, Libya, and evacuates its personnel to Tunisia. On July 26 ISIS captures a large military base in Raqqa, Syria, beheading several captured soldiers. On July 26 U.S. secy. of state John Kerry meets in Paris with Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Qatari foreign minister Khaled al-Attiyah regarding a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which neither side accepts. On July 27 (Sun.) after Hamas rejects a 24-hour Eid al-Fitr ceasefire requested by the U.N., the Israeli military resumes fighting in Gaza. On June 27 heavy fighting in Benghazi, Libya between the Islamist Misrata Brigade and and forces loyal to Gen. Khalifa Hifter kill 37. On July 27 Boko Haram militants kidnap the wife of Cameroon vice-PM Amadou Ali and her maid. On July 27 (Sun.) to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Fitr, closet Muslim Pres. Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama release a statement thanking Muslim-Ams. for their many "achievements and contributions... to building the very fabric of our nation and strengthening the core of our democracy"; he should have thanked Christian-Ams. and Jewish-Ams. instead?; afterwards he chows down on pork spare ribs in a Kansas City restaurant. On July 27 the Internat. Union of Muslim Scholars calls for a "global uprising by free people, especially Arabs and Muslims" in support of the Gaza Strip; meanwhile on July 23 the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade of Fatah declares "open war" on the "Zionist enemy". On July 28 the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rules 2-1 that the Va. ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, joining the 10th Circuit in Denver, which did ditto for Okla. On July 29 Pres. Obama announces a new round of U.S. sanctions against Russia incl. the Bank of Moscow, VTB Bank, and Russian Agricultural Bank, with the soundbyte: "Today is a reminder that the United States means what it says. It didn't have to come tot his. There continues to be a better choice", adding that it's "not a new Cold War". On July 29 Boko Haram militants attack two mosques in Potiskum, Yobe, Nigeria, killing six and injuring several. On July 29 Molotov cocktails are thrown at the synagogue in Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; on Jan. 14, 2014 three Palestinians admit to the attack. On July 29 Italian Muslim cleric Sheikh Abd Al-Barr Al-Rawdhi delivers a sermon in San Dona di Piave, calling for Jews to be killed "to the very last one", causing him to be removed from the Italian ministry and expelled from Italy. On July 30 after speaking out against anti-Muslim extremists Jume Tahir (b. 1940), imam of the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar (China's largest) is murdered by three anti-Muslim extremists. On July 30 (eve.) the U.S. House votes 225-201 along party lines to sue Pres. Obama over his abuse of pres. power, with House Speaker John Boehner calling him a tyrant while denying that Repubs. have plans to pursue impeachment, claiming that Dems. would use it as a fundraising tactic. On July 30 (night) Israeli uses new drone technology to demolish 40 mosques in Gaza that are suspected of storing rockets. On July 30 an investigation confirms that the CIA hacked into computers used by the U.S. Senate. On July 30 (p.m.) Ansar al-Sharia seizes complete control of Benghazi, Libya, declaring it an Islamic emirate. On July 31 an independent panel appointed by Congress and the Pentagon announces that Pres. Obama's downsizing of the U.S. military leaves it too weak to handle global threats. On July 31 in an unprecedented move, six top grand ayatollahs announce public support for Iraqi Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Sistani, indirectly calling for PM Nouri Al-Maliki to go take a liki, er, hiki. In July Hillary Clinton aide Cheryl Mills sends an email inquring about the identity of The Energizer, a secret lover of Bill Clinton. In July venture capitalist Tim Draper unsuccessfully attempts to put the secessionist Six Californias incl. the states of Silicon Valley, West Calif. on the Nov. 2016 Calif. ballot despite claiming 1.3M signatures. In July the U.S. unemployment rate increases to 6.2%, adding 209K jobs; so far 11.472M working age Americans have left the workforce since Pres. Obama took office in Jan. 2009. On Aug. 1 (Operation Protective Edge Day 25) Israel and Hamas agree to a 3-day humanitarian ceasefire as Egypt tries to broker a peace deal; too bad, less than three hours after it goes into effect, Hamas terrorists emerge from a tunnel, detonate a suicide bomb, then kill two Israeli soldiers and kidnap Israeli soldier 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin, ending the ceasefire, with Benjamin Netanyahu telling John Kerry that "Hamas will pay", and telling the Obama admin. "not to ever second-guess me again", with Pres. Obama calling for the soldier to be "unconditionally released as soon as possible", with the soundbyte: "No country can tolerate missiles raining down on its cities... No country can or would tolerate tunnels being dug under their land"; on Aug. 1 the U.S. Senate passes legislation sponsored by Repub. leader Mitch McConnell allocating $225M for Israel's Iron Dome; meanwhile Israel continues destroying infiltration tunnels from Gaza; on Aug. 2 after the Israeli army triggers the Hannibal Protocol, killing 130 Palestinian civilians in Rafah to try to ensure that he doesn't remain in their hands, Goldin is confirmed dead? On Aug. 1 a new law in Colo. takes effect allowing illegal aliens to sign up for drivers licenses and ID cards; meanwhile the U.S. House votes 216-192 to halt the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that gave 600K young adult illegal immigrants work permits, and votes 223-189 (one Dem. for it, four Repubs. gainst it) to pass a $694M emergency funding bill reimbursing state govs. who deploy Nat. Guard troops to the border, both of which the Dem.-controlled Senate (which is on a 5-week summer vacation) opposes. On Aug. 1 U.N. high commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay slams Israel for committing war crimes against her darling boy Hamas, and suggests that they should share their Iron Dome defensive system with it. On Aug. 1 Pres. Obama appoints German Brig. Gen. Markus Laubenthal as chief of staff of U.S. Army Europe, becoming the first non-Am. officer to hold the position. On Aug. 3 the Israelis allegedly shell a UNRWA school in S Gaza sheltering 3K civilians, killing 10 and injuring 35, causing U.S. State Dept. spokesperson Jen Psaki to call it "disgraceful"; the incident was staged by Hamas, with an Israeli shell hitting outside the school and bodies moved into the courtyard? On Aug. 3 an Israeli missile kills three Hamas fighters riding a motorcycle in Rafah, the shrapnel killing 10 civilians near a school, causing the U.S. State Dept. to send a decree to the Israeli military telling it how it may or may not target Hamas terrorists, pissing-off Israel. On Aug. 4 a construction vehicle rams an Israeli bus in Jerusalem, killing one pedestrian before the Muslim driver is killed by police; a speech had been given on July 30 by Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum calling for rage attacks "to avenge the blood of Gaza", with the soundbyte: "Don't you have bulldozers? Don't you have trucks? Anyone who has a knife, a club, a weapon, or a car, yet does not use it to run over a Jew or a settler, and does not use it to kill dozens of Zionists, does not belong to Palestine." On Aug. 4-5 Pres. Obama holds the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C. for 50 African heads of state amid hundreds of protesters. On Aug. 5 Rafiqullah, an Afghan soldier being trained to take over for the U.S. opens fire at Camp Qargha W of Kabul, Afghanistan, killing U.S. 2-star gen. Harold J. "Harry" Greene (b. 1959), who becomes the highest-ranking U.S. officer killed in the Afghanistan War (begun 2001), and highest-ranking since the Vietnam War; 15 are injured incl. U.S. troops and a German brig. gen.; Greene was working for the British-run Marshal Fahim Nat. Defense U., whose first class graduates at the end of Aug.; the killer is a disgruntled Afghan soldier not a Taliban member? On Aug. 5 a ferry capsizes on the Padma River near Dkhaka, Bangladesh, killing 125. On Aug. 5 it is announced that Russian hackers have stolen 1.2B passwords, but just which sites have been robbed isn't revealed to prevent them from bidding up the price. On Aug. 5 a 72-hour ceasefire is called in Gaza, which is broken as soon as it expires by Hamas two rockets fired into S Israel, followed by 57 more after Israel waits 2.5 hours than resumes air campaign. On Aug. 5 after a month-long siege to starve them out, causing some women to throw their children from the top of Sinjar Mt., ISIS fighters begin exterminating thousands of 30K heterodox Muslim Yazidis trapped on Mt. Sinjar, Iraq, incl. a smattering of Christian families; on Aug. 6-7 200K Christians flee the Nineveh Plain in Iraq; on Aug. 7 calling the situation "close to a humanitarian catastrophe", Pres. Obama authorizes air drops to save the Yazidis, authorizing air strikes on "barbaric" ISIS to protect the Kurdish city of Erbil (Irbil); on Aug. 8 (6:45 a.m.) the first U.S. airstrike is performed against ISIS positions near Erbil; on Aug. 9 Pres. Obama utters the soundbyte that the airstrikes may continue for months; on Aug. 13 after sending in advisors along with humanitarian food-water airdrops, the Pentagon announces that the Mt. Sinjar siege is over, stopping the rescue mission. On Aug. 6 Boko Haram militants kill 100 Christians in Gwoza, Nigeria; later reports indicate 1K shot, hacked to death, and burned alive. On Aug. 7 a U.N.-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia sentences Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea for crimes against humanity in the 1970s reign of terror that killed 2M, the only two surviving leaders. On Aug. 7 ISIS captures the Kurdish-held city of Qaraqosh, Iraq, Iraq's largest Christian city (pop. 50K). On Aug. 9 Peter Leahy, former head of the Australian army warns that Australia needs to fight a 100-year war against radical Islam. On Aug. 9 (12:00 p.m.) in Ferguson, Mo. (near St. Louis) a police officer shoots and kills unarmed 6'4" 290 lb. black teenie (strongarm robbery suspect of a handful of Swisher Sweets cigars at a convenience store) Michael "Mike" Brown (b. 1996) after a scuffle, shooting him 6x from the front incl. two to the head, pissing-off the mainly black town pop., who begin rioting, bringing in massive police power incl. military equipment; only 3 of 53 police officers are black; on Aug. 11 the FBI opens an investigation; on Aug. 12 Pres. Obama offers his condolences; on Aug. 14 Pres. Obama gives a press conference, expressing concern over the "violent turn", urging calm and saying that people need to "come together", lamenting excessive police force, and calling on police to be "open and transparent" in the investigation, saying that he will work with federal and local authorities to ensure that "justice is done", uttering the soundbyte: "Police should not be bullying or arresting journalists who are just trying to do their job; meanwhile police chief Thomas Jackson refuses to reveal the name of the shooter until Aug. 15, and it turns out to be 6-year white vet Darren Wilson (1986-), sparking more protests and rioting, causing the Nat. Guard to be called in (until ?); on Aug. 18 Pres. Obama holds another press conference, calling for calm, and announcing that he's sending U.S. atty. gen. Eric Holder to personally take over the big investigation; on Nov. 24 a grand jury refuses to indict Wilson, sparking protests and riots. On Aug. 9 (12:01 a.m.) Israel and Hamas accept another 72-hour ceasefire, brokered by Egypt, who invites them to resume talks after 2K have been killed; on Aug. 13 a 5-day extension is announced; too bad, Hamas fires five rockets into Gaza 2 hours before the first ceasefire's scheduled end. On Aug. 10 the Egyptian supreme court dissolves the banned Muslim Brotherhood party, and orders its assets liquidated. On Aug. 10 Hillary Clit, er, Clinton gives an interview to Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic Mag., calling Pres. Obama's "don't do stupid shit" foreign policy approach not "an organizing principle" worthy of "great nations". On Aug. 10 U.S. Sen. (R-S.C.) Lindsey Graham utters the soundbyte that it isn't enough for Pres. Obama to provide limited military aid to Iraq, because if he doesn't crush ISIS now "then he will have committed a blunder for the ages." On Aug. 10 a photo of the 7-y.-o. son of Sydney, Australia-based jihadist Khaled Sharrouf holding up the head of a decapitated Syrian soldier while daddy coos "That's my boy" is posted on Twitter, causing an internat. sensation and helping turn people against the Islamic State. On Aug. 11 Pres. Obama calls to offer his support to Haider Al-Abadi (1952-), the nominee to take over as PM of Iraq, urging him to form an inclusive govt. along with Sunnis and Kurds. On Aug. 11 an ISIS instructor in a falafel shop near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad, Iraq demonstrating suicide bombing accidentally detonates his suicide belt, killing himself and 21 students, injuring 15 more. On Aug. 13 Iranian mathematician Maryan Mirzakhani becomes the first woman to win the Fields Medal in mathematics for "contributions to the dynamics and geometry of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces." On Aug. 13 the U.N. declares the situation in Iraq a Level 3 Emergency. On Aug. 14 clashes between ISIS and Iraqi troops W of Baghdad, Iraq kill at least four children. On Aug. 15 EU ministers meet in Brussels, Belgium, offering to take charge of Gaza's border crossings, saying that a return to the status quo is "not an option". On Aug. 15 after giving them option of converting to Sunni Islam or dying, ISIS kills 80 Yazidis in Sinjar, Iraq. On Aug. 15 U.S. Army manual ATP 3-39.33 is pub., calling for use of deadly force on peaceful protesters? On Aug. 16 U.S. planes carry out air strikes in N Iraq near the ISIS-held Mosul Dam, with Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces following up, capturing it on Aug. 17. On Aug. 18 Pres. Obama announces that the U.S. won its mission in Iraq, and is only sending a token force to kick the butts of the "savages" in asshole, er, ISIL (ISIS). On Aug. 18 Pope Francis endorses the use of force to stop Islamic militants from attacking religious minorities in Iraq, but leaves it to the internat. country to decide how, adding that it is legitimate to "stop the unjust aggressor", but that "to stop" doesn't mean "to bomb". On Aug. 19 rocket fire from Gaza breaks the umpteenth ceasefire, bringing retaliatory Israeli strikes. On Aug. 19 after the U.S. refuses to pay $100M ransom and botches a rescue attempt, ISIS releases a video showing the beheading of missing (for 636 days) Am. journalist James Wright Foley (b. 1974), with a warning to the U.S. to stay out of their turf and threatening to behead Am. hostage Michael Sotloff (b. 1983) if Pres. Obama doesn't meet their demands, causing angry disgusted Obama to hold a press conference on Aug. 20, saying "Today the entire world is appalled", "No just God would stand for what they did yesterday", calling ISIL a "cancer", and promising that the U.S. will be "relentless" to "do what's necessary to see justice is done"; Obama adds a typical lie covering for his lethal pet Islam: "ISIL speaks for no religion. Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents"; on Aug. 23 British authorities identify the masked beheader as British rapper Abdel_Majed Abdel Bary (1991-) AKA Jihadi John of Maida Vale, W London, son of Egyptian militant Abdel Abdul Bary, who was granted political asylum in 1993, then extradited to the U.S. in 2012 in connection with the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa; in Feb. 2015 he is identified as Kuwaiti-born West London computer programmer Mohammed Emwazi (1988-); the ransom demands incl. the release of "Lady Al-Qaida" Aafia Siddiqui; too bad, on Sept. 2 they release a video of the beheading of Sotloff, threatening the life of 3rd hostage David Cawthorne Haines of Britain, causing Pres. Obama on Sept. 3 to utter the soundbyte that the U.S. objective is now to "degrade and destroy" ISIS so that it no longer poses a threat to the civilized world; it later is revealed that Sotloff was Jewish and an Israeli citizen, and concealed it from his captors; on Sept. 13 ISIS releases a video showing the beheading of Haines and threatening to behead fellow Brit Alan Henning; on Sept. 19 the U.S. Senate approves a $10M reward for info. on the murderers of Sotloff and Foley. On Aug. 19 a ballot initiative to legalize personal consumption of marijuana passes in Alaska. On Aug. 19 thousands of protesters led by Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri protest at the house of Indian PM Nawaz Sharif, demanding that he step down; by the end of Aug. the continuing anti-govt. protests cause the army's 11 corps cmdrs. to decide to force Sharif to resign, meeting in Rawalpindi, but army chief Raheel Sharif talks them out of it. On Aug. 20 ISIS soldiers attack the Syrian govt.-held Taqba Air Base in NE Syria. On Aug. 20 a riot is sparked in Monrovia, Liberia after govt. troops seal off a seaside slum to prevent the spread of Ebola. On Aug. 21 (early a.m.) the Israelis assassinates three top Hamas cmdrs.; too bad, they miss al-Qassam Brigades cmdr. Mohammed al-Daif. On Aug. 21 ISIS reaches the outskirts of the Syrian rebel-held town of Marea, Syria N of Aleppo. On Aug. 21 U.S. defense secy. Chuck Hagel gives a press conference, saying that ISIS is "beyond any terrorist group. They marry ideology, sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess. They are tremendously well-funded. This is beyond anything that we've seen, so we must prepare for everything, and the only way you do that is you take a cold, steely hard look at it and get ready"; meanwhile U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee ranking Repub. member Jim Inhofe (Okla.) utters the soundbyte that the U.S. is now in "the most dangerous position we've ever been in... They're crazy out there, and they are rapidly developing a method of blowing up a major U.S. city"; meanwhile on Aug. 22 U.S. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey utters the soundbyte that ISIS has an "apocalyptic, end-of-days strategic vision", and cannot be defeated without a coalition of partners confronting it head-on in Syria, adding: "They can be contained, not in perpetuity." On Aug. 21-22 Chinese pres. Xi Jinping visits Mongolia (his 2nd visit), signing 26 agreements for a "comprehensive strategic partnership". On Aug. 22 (p.m.) Shiite gunmen attack a Sunni mosque in Diyala Province, Iraq during Fri. prayers, killing 40 and injuring 30. On Aug. 22 two teenie French Muslim girls are indicted for conspiracy to blow up the Great Synagogue in Lyon. On Aug. 23 a suicide bomber in the interior ministry bldg. in Bagdead, Iraq kills 11+. On Aug. 23 a group of WWII Holocaust survivors pub. an open letter in the New York Times dissing Israel for trying to "justify the unjustifiable: Israel's wholesale effort to destroy Gaza and the murder of more than 2,000 Palestinians", also dissing Elie Wiesel for playing the "Holocaust trump" card in a prior open letter calling upon "President Obama and the leaders of the world to condemn Hamas's use of children as human shields". On Aug. 23 Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie finally wed in Chateau Miraval in Correns, Provence, France. On Aug. 24 (eve.) after 2K Christian families abandon Bartella, Iraq to join 60K Christians who also fled there, a bomb explodes in a busy thoroughfare in Erbil, Iraq, becoming the Islamic State's first attack, shocking the city. On Aug. 24 (3:20 a.m. local time) a 6.0 earthquake rocks San Francisco, Calif., waking residents of wineland Napa Valley. On Aug. 24 Arab foreign ministers led by Saudi Arabia meet in Abu Dhabi, UAE to discuss the problem of the Islamic State, pledging to maintain "security and stability". On Aug. 24 Islamists of Fajr Libya (Operation Dawn) seize control of the airport in Tripoli, Libya, leaving another govt. holding on in the E; on Aug. 25 the Islamic State captures Tabqa Air Base in NE Syria. On Aug. 24 after pressure by Qatar, Am. freelance writer Peter Theo Curtis (1969-) is unexpectedly freed after two years in captivity by Al Nusrah Front. On Aug. 24 Iran claims to shoot down an Israeli drone over Iran, causing Iranian Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami to utter the soundbyte: "Our response to this aggression will not be diplomatic. We will retaliate in the battlefield, but will not necessarily announce it." On Aug. 24 African-Am. Muslim Douglas McArthur McCain of San Diego, Calif. becomes the first American to be KIA fighting for ISIS. On Aug. 24 Saudi Christian convert Khalid Muidh Alzahrani is kidnapped from his home in New Zealand and flown back to Saudi Rabies, er, Arabia. On Aug. 25 the U.S. announces that Egypt and the UAE secretly launched air strikes against Islamist militias in Tripoli, Libya, keeping it from them. On Aug. 25 200+ Hollywood celebs incl. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Roseanne Barr, Kelsey Grammer, Minnie Driver, Kathy Ireland, and Ziggy Marley sign a statement condemning Hamas's and its charter (article 7) as an "ideology of hatred and genocide". On Aug. 25 Mexican pres. Enrique Pena Nieto visits Calif., complimenting Gov. Jerry Brown for legalizing drivers licenses for illegal aliens, and calling for immigration reform, uttering the soundbyte: "We want to be a factor of cohesion, not division, with full respect for the sovereignty of the United States. This, at the end, is about, and only about a matter of justice for those who contribute so much to the development of the American society." On Aug. 26 another Gaza ceasefire (#12 in 50 days) is announced, to go in effect in the evening, with the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas calling it "permanent"; too bad, before evening a massive rocket barrage from Gaza kills one Israeli and injures six. On Aug. 26 the Rotherham Child Sexual Exploitation Scandal in Britain sees a coverup end with a report by a commission led by Prof. Alexis Jay that 1.4K children had been sexually exploited by gangs of Pakistani Muslim immigrant men in 1997-2013, but that the govt. was afraid of "giving oxygen" to racism. On Aug. 27 after plotting to bomb Oprah Winfrey's Chicago studios in the Sears Tower in 2009, Am. Muslim Emad Karakrah (1965-) of West Lawn is arrested in Chicago, Ill. after a high-speed chase in his car with an ISIS flag waving from it, after which he lies to officers that his car is rigged with explosives to prevent search; he goes on to become an FBI informant before going rogue, helping expose a narco-terrorist network based in El Paso, Tex. and N.M.; too bad, after the FBI intervenes, he is released in 2015 and put in the Lincoln Correctional Center min. security facility 165 mi. S of Chicago, with discharge set for July 13, 2020. On Aug. 28 PM (since Mar. 14, 2003) Recep Tayyip Erogan (1954) becomes pres. #12 of Turkey (until ?); he goes on to sue 1.8K+ people for allegedly insulting him. On Aug. 28 Pres. Obama holds a press conference, with the soundbyte that "We don't have a strategy yet" for defeating ISIL - can't hack the Winslow Plan? On Aug. 28 U.S. Rep. (R-Tex.) Louie Gohmert calls for a "declaration of war against radical Islam". On Aug. 28 a new study is pub. that reveals that Mohammed (Mohammad) is the most common name for newborn boys in Oslo, Norway. On Aug. 29 Bardabunga Volcano in C Iceland begins erupting (until Feb. 27, 2015), emitting large amounts of sulfur dioxide but little or no volcanic ash, extruding basaltic lava covering 33 sq. mi. of terrain in 6 mo., becoming the largest basaltic lava flow since 1783, driving rapid global warming in 2014-16. On Aug. 29 as Sept. 11 approaches, British PM David Cameron raises Britain's terrorism threat level to severe. On Aug. 29 NATO calls on Russia to cease its "illegal" military operations in Ukraine; meanwhile the Russian foreign ministry warns Poland that its closure of its airspace for the plane of defense minister Sergey Shoygu won't go without an "appropriate response"; meanwhile NATO is planning on sending 10K troops from seven member states if necessary. On Aug. 30 the U.S. launches air strikes at ISIS fighters sieging the ethnic Turkmen town of Amerli, Iraq, creeping from its original mission of protecting U.S. personnel in Erbil. On Aug. 30 Al Nusrah Front announces the kidnapping of 45 Philippine U.N. observers at the Quneitra border crossing between Syria and Golan Heights; luckily they all escape to Israel; another group is surrounded and holds out until ?. On Aug. 30 a Taliban suicide assault at the Nat. Directorate of Security in Jalalabad, Afghanistan kills four intel service members and two civilians. On Aug. 30 Indian security forces fire on peaceful protesters in Ukhrul, Manipur, India, killing two and injuring 10+. On Aug. 31 an Al-Shabaab suicide team hits a govt. intel HQ in Mogadishu, Somalia. On Aug. 31 Pres. Obama gives a White House briefing, with the soundbyte that he has no strategy to defeat ISIS; he wears a tan suit, drawing snickers from journalists; every year on this day the PC press celebrates Obama's admin. as scandal-free. On Aug. 31 a BBC Pool finds that 95% believe that Muslim, er, multiculturalism in Britain has failed. In Aug. conservative Am. activist James E. O'Keefe III (1984-) crosses the U.S. border into Mexico wearing an Osama bin Laden disguise, then sneaks back into Tex.; too bad the Dept. of Homeland Security begins persecuting him, stopping him for questioning every time he tries to reenter the U.S. In Aug. U.S. unemployment falls to 6.1%, with 142K new jobs added to the economy. On Sept. 1 U.S. vice-pres. Joe Biden gives a speech at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine, with the soundbyte that the U.S. will follow ISIS "to the gates of Hell". On Sept. 1 the 56-point Tokyo Declaration is issued by India and Japan as a blueprint for future collaboration. On Sept. 1 (night) a U.S. Hellfire missile air strike kills Al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, in an encampment 105 mi. S of Mogadishu, Somalia; he is succeeded by Abu Ubeid Ahmed Omar (until ?). On Sept. 2 English-born Am. citizen Luke Somers (1981-) is kidnapped in Yemen by AQAP; on Dec. 4 AQAP releases a video giving Pres. Obama three days to save him, while the U.S. admits it made a failed rescue attempt in Nov., personally authorized by Pres. Obama; too bad, on Dec. 5 he is killed by AQAP during another rescue attempt; South African teacher Pierre Korkie is killed hours before he is due to be released for $200K ransom, pissing-off his U.K.-based family; the U.S. claims it didn't know about the ransom agreement. On Sept. 2 Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2006 campaign strategist Matthew John Dowd (1961-) reveals to the New York Post that he had a love affair with Maria Shriver during the 2006 campaign that Ahnuld knew about but wanted hushed-up. On Sept. 2 the 24m blue Glass Wall Memorial in Berlin to the 300K mentally ill and disabled victims of the Nazi regime is unveiled. On Sept. 2 Israel-based CYBERTINEL announces the uncovering of the Harkonnen Operation, an internat. cyber espionage ring targeting 300+ orgs. in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. On Sept. 2 the first same-sex marriage in Turkey hitches Ekin Keser and Emrullah Tuzun. On Sept. 3 Russian pres. Vladimir Putin calls on insurgents in E Ukraine to "stop advancing", and urges Ukrainian troops to withdraw; meanwhile Pres. Obama visits Estonia in a show of solidarity with NATO allies who fear Russian aggression. On Sept. 3 U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman upholds the same-sex marriage ban (by a 78% vote) in La., calling the concept "inconceivable until very recently". On Sept. 3 to counter the bad rep ISIL/ISIS is giving to Islam, U.S. secy. of John Kerry appoints Pakistani-born Shaarik H. Zafar as the U.S. State Dept.'s special rep to Muslim-Am. communities, with the soundbyte: "The real face of Islam is a peaceful religion based on the dignity of all human beings. It's one where Muslim communities are leading the fight against poverty. It's one where Muslim communities are providing basic healthcare and emergency assistance on the front lines of some of our most devastating humanitarian crises. And it is one where Muslim communities are advocating for universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the most basic freedom to practice one's faith openly and freely. America's faith communities, including American Muslims, are sources of strength for all of us. They're an essential part of our national fabric, and we are committed to deepening our partnerships with them" - teacher's pet needn't be ashamed of his grades? On Sept. 3 after arriving in Mexico from Istanbul via Paris, four Turkish men are captured by the border patrol in Tex. while trying to cross the U.S. border; U.S. homeland secy. Jeh Johnson claims they are Kurdish resistance fighters not terrorists. On Sept. 4 the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals issues a ruling that the same-sex marriage bans in Wisc. and Ind. are unconstitutional; meanwhile 31 states ask the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the issue. On Sept. 4 Abu Hajar al-Souria, top lt. for ISIS is killed in an air strike in Mosul. On Sept. 4 Nigerian-born recent Muslim convert Fat Nicholas beheads 82-y.-o. Italian Cafe owner Palmira Silva in Edmonton, London, England. On Sept. 4 after being indicted on Jan. 21, former Repub. gov. #71 of Va. (2010-14) Robert Francis "Bob" McDonnell (1954-) is found guilty on 11 counts of corruption for accepting $177K in gifts in cash from vitamin exec Jonnie Williams. On Sept. 4 low-wage fast food workers strike in 100 cities throughout the U.S., demanding a pay raise to $15 an hour. On Sept. 4 11 Muslims in Wuppertal, Germany are arrested for trying to implement a Sharia-Controlled Zone, patrolling around in uniforms reading "Shariah Police". On Sept. 5 after his letter to the New York Times blaming rising anti-Semitism in Europe on Israel draws a firestorm of controversy, Yale chaplain Bruce Shipman resigns. On Sept. 4-5 the Wales NATO Summit sees the 28 members acknowledge that their formal role in Afghanistan is coming to an end with an official declaration, and pledge to spend at least 2% of their GDPs on defense, approving a rapid response team to counter the Russian threat. On Sept. 5 an Afghan coalition chartered plane en route from Bagram Air Base to Dubai is forced to land in Bandar Abbas, Iran. On Sept. 6 ISIS releases photos showing the beheading of two Lebanese soldiers, causing families to stage demonstrations. On Sept. 7 Nabil Elaraby, head of the Arab League calls on members to fight ISIS "militarily and politically", and to consider an attack on any member as an attack on all members. On Sept. 7 (night) Arab riots in Jerusalem injure several Israelis and cause light rail service to be curtailed. On Sept. 8 it is announced that Egyptian pres. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has proposed that the Palestinians in Gaza move to a new 1.6K sq. km Palestinian state in Sinai and drop the demand to return to the 1967 borders. On Sept. 8 Jordanian Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein (1964-) (Jordanian ambassador to the U.S. in 2007-10, and claimant to the throne of Iraq) becomes the first Muslim U.N. human rights chief (until ?), issuing a warning to world powers of a "house of blood" in Iraq and Syria if they don't protect women and minorities, calling the conflict "increasingly conjoined". On Sept. 8 a bomb explodes outside an underground train station in Santiago, Chile, injuring 10+; anarchists are suspected. On Sept. 8 Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar U. in Egypt denounces ISIS, calling its members "criminal tarnishing the image of Islam", and calling ISIS and allied groups "products of colonialism serving Zionism". On Sept. 8 on the 40th anniv. of his movie "Young Frankenstein", Hollyweird celeb Mel Brooks puts his handprints in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd., using a prosthetic finger to give his left hand six fingers. On Sept. 9 Al Nusrah Front captures the town of Naba Al-Sakhr, Syria in Quneitra on the Israeli border. On Sept. 9 a mysterious blast rocks the leaders of Syrian rebel group Ahrar al Sham. On Sept. 9 the U.S. House votes by 249-163 (incl. 11 Dems.) to officially condemn Pres. Obama for releasing five Taliban POWs in exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl without Congressional notification. On Sept. 9-11 the In Defense of Christians Conference in Washington, D.C. sees Eastern and Western church leaders bemoan the fate of Christians in the Middle East; too bad, one of the organizers is James Zogby, pres. of the Israel-hating Arab Am. Inst., and on Sept. 10 U.S. Rep. (R-Tex.) Ted Cruz is booed off the stage by anti-Israel elements of the audience, with the soundbytes: "Those who hate Israel hate America, and those who hate Jews hate Christians", "Christians "have no greater ally than Israel", and "Antisemitism is a corrosive evil, and it reared its ugly head tonight." On Sept. 9 Yemeni police open fire on Hawthi rebel-led protesters marching toward the PM's office in Sana'a, Yemen, killing four and injuring 10. On Sept. 9 a Washington Post-ABC News Poll finds that Pres. Obama's approval ratings for handling of foreign affairs dip to a new low of 38%, with 56% disapproving. On Sept. 9 7K Md. students from 56 schools build the largest U.S. flag ever on the grounds of Francis Scott Key's tourist trap Ft. McHenry. On Sept. 10 Lebanese troops recapture the town of Arsal, Lebanon from ISIS, which they held since Aug. On Sept. 10 Pakistani planes strike five Taliban hideouts in North Waziristan, Pakistan near the Afghan border, killing 65. On Sept. 10 Arvada, Colo. Muslim convert Shannon Conley (1995-) pleads guilty in Denver federal court to trying to help ISIS. On Sept. 10 the British Trades Union Congress, led by Muslim bus driver Mohammed Taj (6M members from 54 unions) votes in Liverpool to adopt a Statement on Gaza, which condemns Israel and calls for stopping arms shipments to them. On Sept. 10 U.S. Rep. (D-Tex.) Beto O'Rourke tells the Homeland Security Committee that the U.S. is already at war with Iraq. On Sept. 10 Pres. Obama gives his ISIS Speech, outlining his plans for air strikes in Syria and deployment of 475 more military advisers in Iraq (joining the 1K+ already there), but denying that the U.S. is renewing the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, saying that the U.S. is building a global coalition to "degrade and ultimately destroy" ISIS, which won't incl. Syria ("an Assad regime that terrorizes its own people"), warning that "eradicating a cancer" like Isis will be a long-term challenge even at the risk of some U.S. troops, with the soundbyte: "This is a core principle of my presidency: If you threaten America, you will find no safe haven", and adding that the er, crusade "will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil", asking Congress for $500M to train and equip anti-Assad and anti-ISIS Syrian rebels, with Saudi Arabia agreeing to host their training camps. On Sept. 11 (9/11) Turkey refuses a U.S. request to let its 10 Arab-nation coalition use its bases for attacks on ISIS, and also refuses to join, as does Germany, with Britain waffling; meanwhile U.S. secy. of state John Kerry meets with the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where 10 members pledge a united front against ISIS; meanwhile Syria warns that it must approve any foreign intervention else it would constitute an act of aggression. On Sept. 11 Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a Taliban splinter group releases a graphic celebrating al-Qaida's big V on 9/11/2001. On Sept. 11 mass demonstrations by 1.5M (20% of the pop.) in Catalonia, Spain for independence on the 300th anniv. of the loss of sovereignty. On Sept. 11 Pres. Obama meets with Eastern Orthodox patriarchs in the White House, surprising them with the soundbyte that Syrian pres. Bashed Ass, er, Bashar al-Assad "protected the Christians in Syria". On Sept. 11 Islamic jihadists raid a village office in Pattani Province, S Thailand, killing four. On Sept. 12 the EU imposes new sanctions against Russia for its aggression against Ukraine; the U.S. does ditto. On Sept. 13 Iranian Peshmerga forces clash with Iranian forces; the Peshmergas claim that they acted in self-defense. On Sept. 14 (Sun.) U.S. secy. of state John Kerry gives an interview to CBS-TV's Face the Nation, admitting that the U.S. is at "war" with ISIS. On Sept. 14 Ugandan police arrest 19 for planning an Al-Shabaab terrorist attack on Kamapala, Uganda. On Sept. 14 (a.m.) a Taliban bomb in Kabul, Afghanistan kills 1+. On Sept. 15 a meeting in Syria of 50 senior cmdrs. of a coalition of Islamic moderates opposed to ISIS are killed by an explosion in their secret command bunker. On Sept. 15 hundreds of Taliban fighters storm Ajristan District in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, capturing several villages and beheading civilians. On Sept. 15 the Internat. Conference on Peace and Security in Iraq in Paris is attended by leaders of 30+ countries, incl. French pres. Francois Holland, who utters the soundbyte about ISIS: "With these terrorists you can't reason, you have to conquer them." On Sept. 16 Pres. Obama announces the deployment of 3K U.S. troops with their own general to Liberia to handle the Ebola crisis, which he says is "spiraling out of control." On Sept. 16 the FBI announces that its Next Generation Identification System facial recognition system is fully operational. On Sept. 16 the U.S. Army Rangers announce that the first female volunteers will be considered next spring. On Sept. 16 Pres. Obama unknowingly rides in an elevator with a man carrying a gun during a visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga.; he turns out to be a CDC security officer who wanted to take pictures. On Sept. 17 Pres. Obama utters the soundbyte to U.S. troops at MacDill AFB that they "do not and will not have a combat mission" against ISIS", adding "As your commander in chief, I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq." On Sept. 17 the U.S. House votes 273-156 to back Pres. Obama's plan to train Syrian rebels. On Sept. 17 Dept. of Homeland Security secy. Jeh Johnson announces that most of the 6K unaccounted-for foreign students who had overstayed visas as announced earlier in the mo. have been tracked down and concerns allayed. On Sept. 17 the Muslim-infiltrated U.N. Human Rights Council by 30-12-1 votes to remove beheading, mass shootings, and mass starvation from its purview, deeming such acts not worthy of their attention, unless it involves Israel; Britain abstains, and Obama's rep isn't present. On Sept. 17 800 police in Sydney, Australia stage raids in 12+ places to stop an ISIS plot to kidnap and behead infidels, arresting 15. On Sept. 18 ISIS stages an unsuccessful attack on Adala Prison in Kadhmiya, N Baghdad, Iraq, and another in the Iskan neighborhood of Baghdad, home of the offices of the Shiite Badr Org. On Sept. 18 U.S. secy. of state John Kerry utters the soundbyte that the Islamic State is "not a state and they do not represent Islam", calling it "the order of Satan". Fish jokes here? On Sept. 18 (Thur.) the 2014 Referendum on Scottish Independence sees 55%-45% vote to stay in the U.K. after a 84.6% turnout, highest in the U.K. since Jan. 1910 over universal suffrage, causing Scottish PM #4 (since May 16, 2007) Alex Salmond to resign, and Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (1970-) to become Scottish PM #5 on Nov. 20, becoming the first woman. On Sept. 19 a mass Muslim protest in Germany sponsored by the Coordination Council of Muslims (2K mosques) calls for peace and tolerance and against the alleged misuse of the name of Islam by ISIS et al. On Sept. 19 (Fri.) Pres. Obama walks out of a Pentagon meeting about ISIS over remarks made about Islam, with the soundbyte that it "inappropriate" to "try and paint all of Islam with the same brush"; he then heads to Camp David for the weekend. On Sept. 19 (7:20 p.m. local time) intruder Omar J. Gonzalez (an Iraq War vet with PTSD) jumps a fence and runs into the White House before being tackled. On Sept. 20 (6:30 a.m.) 46 Turkish hostages taken on June 11 by ISIS are freed. On Sept. 20 the Lebanese army shells ISIS positions near Indrajith, Lebanon, killing 11 and arresting two. On Sept. 20 Qatar expels senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders. On Sept. 20 the IAEA in Vienna votes 58-? against an Arab-backed draft resolution calling on Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). On Sept. 21 Climate Change Protests are held in hundreds of cities worldwide, incl. 310K in New York City. On Sept. 21 ISIS closes in on the N border town of Ayn al-Arab, Syria, causing 100K Syrian Kurds to flee into Turkey. On Sept. 21 a riot caused by Allah Akbar-shouting Muslims in Goulburn Jail in N.S.W., Australia becomes the worst riot in the country in 10 years. On Sept. 21 British politician Paul Weston gives a speech in London calling PM David Cameron a "coward" and "traitor" for calling for more Muslim faces in govt. On Sept. 21 (night) Israeli authorities arrest seven Palestinians near Hebron, Israel for plotting a Rosh Hashana attack near Jerusalem. On Sept. 21 Pres. Obama gives his Latte Salute to the U.S. Marine Corps while stepping off a heli in New York City. On Sept. 21 Pope Francis gives a Speech on ISIS, with the soundbyte: "May no one use religion as a pretext for actions against human dignity and against the fundamental rights of every man and woman, above all, the right to life and the right of everyone to religious freedom." On Sept. 22 China and Iran begin their first-ever joint naval exercises in the Persian Gulf. On Sept. 22 Jordan arrests 11 ISIS members for planning "terrorist operations". On Sept. 22 the Obama admin. confirms that the FBI is only monitoring American Muslims who have returned to the U.S. after fighting for ISIS. On Sept. 22 (night) the U.S. stages its first bombing missions in Syria against ISIS targets, becoming the first combat missions for the new F-22 Raptor; Pres. Obama orders night missions to minimize terrorist deaths? On Sept. 22 Calif. gov. Jerry Brown signs a law that deletes the terms "husband" and "wife" from the state marriage law, and substitutes "spouse" in order to accommodate same-sex marriages. On Sept. 22 the Algerian jihadist Jund al-Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate) group kidnaps French citizen Herve Gourdel, then on Sept. 24 releases showing him beheaded after its demand that French airstrikes on Iraq halt is not met. On Sept. 23 China sentences Muslim Uighur leader Ilham Tohti to life in prison. On Sept. 23 the 2014 U.N. Leader's Climate Summit in New York City tries to get world leaders to unite in actions toward closing the emissions gap and achieving a low carbon emission paradise, aiming for a 2C limit but really wanting a 1.5C increase, resulting in the New York Declaration of Forests, written by Washington, D.C.-based Climate Advisers, pledging to halve the deforestation rate by 2020 and end it by 2030, while restoring a degraded land area larger than India; it is signed by 37 govts., 20 sub-nat. govts., 53 multi-nat. corps., 16 indigenous community groups, and 63 NGOs; on Sept. 23 Pres. Obama gives a speech at the U.N. Climate Conference in New York City, calling for an internat. effort to combat global warming, and dissing China and India, with the soundbyte: "Nobody gets a pass. We have to raise our collective ambition." Clueless in New York? On Sept. 24 Pres. Obama gives a speech to the U.N. Gen. Assembly, vowing to lead a coalition to dismantle ISIS, which he calls a "network of death", with the soundbytes: "We come together at a crossroads between war and peace, between disorder and integration, between fear and hope", with "a sense that the very forces that have brought us together have created new dangers, and made it difficult for any single nation to insulate itself from global forces"; the world's problems demand attention but "are also symptoms of a broader problem, the failure of our international system to keep pace with an interconnected world when it's "inconvenient"; but "All of us, big nations and small must meet our responsibility to observe and enforce international norms"; "America is not the same as it was 100 years ago, 50 years ago, or even a decade ago because we fight for our ideals, and we are willing to criticize ourselves when we fall short, because we hold our leaders accountable, and insist on a free press and an independent judiciary, because we address our differences in the open space of democracy, with respect for the rule of law, with a place for people of every race and every religion, and with an unyielding belief in the ability of individual men and women to change their communities and their circumstances and their countries for the better"; "In a summer marked by instability in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, I know the world also took notice of the small American city of Ferguson, Missouri... And like very country, we continually wrestle with how to reconcile the vast changes wrought by globalization and greater diversity with the traditions that we hold dear"; "[W]e have reaffirmed that the United States is not and never will be at war with Islam. Islam teaches peace. Muslims the world over aspire to live with dignity and a sense of justice. And when it comes to America and Islam, there is no us and them, there is only us, because millions of Muslim Americans are part of the fabric of our country." On Sept. 24 after trying to convert co-workers and being fired from Vaughan Foods in Moore, Okla. for preaching Sharia incl. stoning of women, Muslim convert Jah'Keem Yisrael (Alton Alexander Nolen) (1984-) goes on a killing spree, stabbing employee Tracy Johnson and beheading employee Colleen Hufford (b. 1960) before being shot by COO Mark Vaughan; in Oct. 2017 Nolen is convicted of murder and sentenced to death; meanwhile an Obama official flies in from Washington, D.C to thank Nolen's Muslim congregation in Okla. City, with the soundbyte: "Your service is a powerful example of the powerful roots of the Abrahamic faiths and how our communities can come together with shared peace with dignity and a sense of justice." On Sept. 25 ISIS overruns ? Army Base near Baghdad, executing 300 Iraqi soldiers. On Sept. 26 the Iguala Massacre sees police fire on protesting student teachers (normalistas) in Iguala, Guerrero State, Mexico, killing three and disappearing 43, who the Mexican atty. gen. announces are dead on Nov. 7, launching the Mexican Autumn, a nat. protest movement that verges on a rev.; on Oct. 22 50K march in Mexico City to protest corruption in Guerrero state. On Sept. 26 the U.N. Human Rights Council by 25-14 passes a landmark LGBT Rights Resolution backed by the gay U.S., condemning violence and discrimination, which Pakistan calls a "divisive and controversial initiative". On Sept. 26 Palestinian Pres. Mahmoud Abbas gives a speech to the U.N. Gen. Assembly, dissing Israel for its Gaza "genocide", with the soundbyte "We will not forget, and we will not forgive." On Sept. 28 Pres. Obama gives an interview to Steve Kroft of CBS-TV's 60 Minutes, with the soundbyte: "Well, I think our head of the intelligence community, Jim Clapper, has acknowledged that I think they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria"; meanwhile Repub. House Speaker John Boehner utters the soundbyte that the U.S. may "have no choice" but to send combat troops to fight ISIL. On Sept. 28 Shiite suicide bombers attack Majzar, Yemen E of Sana'a, killing 15 and injuring 50+. On Sept. 29 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech to the U.N. Gen. Assembly, dissing Mahmoud Abbas for "the brazen lies spoken from this very podium against my country and the brave soldiers who defend it", saying that Israel's fight against hamas is part of a global fight against militant Islam which is "on the march", adding that "Hamas is ISIS and ISIS is Hamas", and that they share a "fanatical creed"; "The Nazis believed in a master race, militant Islamists believe in a master faith"; "To disarm ISIS but leave Iran with the bomb would be to win the battle but lose the war"; "Would you let ISIS enrich uranium... develop ICBMS? Of course you wouldn't. Then you mustn't let Iran do those things either." On Sept. 29 U.S. State Dept. spokesman Jen Psaki utters the clueless soundbyte: "The Palestinian people are friends of the United States". On Sept. 30 (dawn) with assistance from British warplanes and Sunni tribal forces, Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces seize the strategic Rabia border crossing with Syria. On Sept. 30 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) announce that the first case of Ebola has been diagnosed in the U.S., in Thomas Eric Duncan (b. 1972) of Dallas, Tex., who dies on Oct. 8; on Oct. 12 Dallas, Tex. nurse Nina Pham (1988-) becomes the first person to contract Ebola within U.S. borders, fanning the flames of an Ebola scare; on Oct. 14 Amber Joy Vinson becomes nurse #2. On Sept. 30 new (since Sept. 29) Afghan pres. Ashraf Ghani signs the bilateral U.S.-Afghan Security Agreement, which continues past the end of the year, allowing 10K U.S. troops to remain; the agreement pisses-off the Taliban, which threatens "Sharia judgment and punishment". In Sept. Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) announces its formation. In Sept. Bulgaria completes the first 20-mi. section of a border fence with Turkey to stop illegal immigration, mainly Muslim. In Sept. the article Ten Percent Is Not Enough, condemning the effort to integrate African slaves into Am. white society as futile is pub. in the American Renaissance Blog, after which it circulates slowly until it is attributed to the Baltimore Sun and renamed "The Black Dilemma", after which it goes viral; it contains the soundbytes: "The experiment has failed. Not because of culture, or white privilege, or racism. The fundamental problem is that white people and black people are different. They differ intellectually and temperamentally. These differences result in permanent social incompatibility"; "Our rulers don't seem to understand just how tired their white subjects are with this experiment. They don't understand that white people aren't out to get black people; they are just exhausted with them. They are exhausted by the social pathologies, the violence, the endless complaints, the blind racial solidarity, the bottomless pit of grievances, the excuses, the reflexive animosity. The elites explain everything with 'racism', and refuse to believe that white frustration could soon reach the boiling point"; "They will be the only ones who are surprised when real revolution comes to the United States, and that it is white people who lead the revolt." In Sept. the U.S. unemployment rate falls to 5.9%, adding 248K jobs. On Oct. 1 two car bombs near a school in Homs, Syria kill 48 incl. 41 children; meanwhile ISIS releases videos of the beheading of nine Kurish fighters incl. three women. On Oct. 1 a car bomb near some markets in Baghdad, Iraq kill 15 and injure 40. On Oct. 1 former U.S. pres. Jimmy Carter gives an interview to CNBC, saying that he couldn't beaten Ronald Reagan if he had been "more manly" and bombed Iran. On Oct. 2 the parliament of Turkey votes to authorize cross-border military operations against ISIS and to permit U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition forces to use Turkish military bases; too bad, their real goal is not to defeat ISIS but to oust Syrian pres. Bashar al-Assad? On Oct. 4 (a.m.) al-Qaida-linked militants ambush U.N. peacekeepers in Mali, killing nine, becoming the deadliest peacekeeper attack in Mali since their mission was launched in July 2013. On Oct. 4 the Pakistani Taliban declares allegiance to ISIS, then backtracks with the statement that it's loyal to supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar. On Oct. 5 an explosion at the Iranian Fordow Nuclear Plant kills two; a Mossad operation? On Oct. 5 (night) the Al Nusrah Front raids Qunyeh, Syria in NW Syria and kidnaps a Franciscan priest and 20 other Christians. On Oct. 6 (Mon.) the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court begins its session, promptly denying seven petitions regarding same-sex marriages, allowing them to to proceed in five states incl. Va. On Oct. 7 Hezbollah bombs Israeli troops in the Shebaa Hills on the Lebanon border, injuring two. On Oct. 7 London police arrest four Muslims for plotting to behead people on the streets of London. On Oct. 7 protests by Kurds throughout Europe draw attention to the ISIS attack on Kobani; on Oct. 10 (a.m.) protests in Hamburg turn violent when local Salafis confront them. On Oct. 8 a blood moon. On Oct. 9 two suicide bombings targeting Houthis in Sana'a, Yemen kill 67. On Oct. 10 Sweden recognizes the state of Palestine; not to be outdone, on Oct. 13 the British Parliament votes 274-12 to do ditto. On Oct. 12 (10/12/14) three suicide car bomb attacks in Kurdish-controlled Baquba, Iraq kill 25 Kurdish veterans lining up to reenlist. On Oct. 12 U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess strikes down the same-sex marriage ban in Alaska, calling the legislature's actions "irrational" - what was he sitting on? On Oct. 12 after her 78-y.-o. patient Rosa Calderoni at Umberto I Hospital in Lugo is found dead on Apr. 8 with abnormally high blood levels of potassium, along with two more the same day, Italian nurse Daniela Poggiali (1972-) is arrested for kiling up to 38 patients for being "annoying" with "pushy relatives". On Oct. 13 U.N. secy.-gen. Ban Ki-moon criticizes Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu for going ahead with plans to build 2.5K new Jewish homes in Givat Hamatos in East Jerusalem, calling it a "clear violation of international law", causing Netanyahu to respond that "Israel doesn't occupy Gaza. Israel left Gaza to the very last centimeter, to the the very last inch." On Oct. 13 the city council of Seattle, Wash. votes unanimously to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day. On Oct. 14 Iran and six major powers begin a new round of nuclear negotiations in Vienna, Austria to try and reach a draft final agreement before the Nov. 24 deadline. On Oct. 14 Turkey denies the U.S. permission for use of Incirlik Air Base to fight ISIS, embarrassing Obama admin. officials Susan Rice et al., who had announced a deal; instead Turkey announces that it's not interested in fighting ISIL, only the Assad regime, and bombs Kurds instead of ISIS? On Oct. 15 the Pentagon officially names its Combined Joint Task Force campaign against ISIS Operation Inherent Resolve, backed by 60+ countries. On Oct. 16 the U.N. Gen. Assembly elects Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain, and Venezuela to serve as non-permanent members of the U.N. Security Council for two years starting on Jan. 1; Venezuela's election pisses-off the U.S., with Samantha Power uttering the soundbyte: "Venezuela's conduct at the U.N. has run counter to the spirit of the U.N. Charter, and its violations of human rights at home are at odds with the Charter's letter." On Oct. 17 Ariz. and Alaska become U.S. states #30 and #31 to recognize same-sex marriage. On Oct. 17 Pres. Obama appoints Al Gore's former chief of staff Ron Klain as the new U.S. Ebola czar. On Oct. 17-? the Big Swedish Sub Hunt sees Swedish forces stage the biggest sub hunt since the dying days of the Soviet Union in the Stockholm Archipelago after a foreign sub is suspected of illegally entering; Russia denies involvement. On Oct. 18 100K protest in Piazza Duomo in Milan, Italy against the immigrant rescue operation Mare Nostrum and all Muslim immigration. On Oct. 18 Roman Catholic bishop in the Vatican scrap a landmark welcome to gays after breaking ranks with Pope Francis. On Oct. 19 Comet Sliding Spring skims Mars, bombarding it with thousands of fireballs an hour. On Oct. 20 Sunni attacks on Shiites in Baghdad, Iraq kill 33+. On Oct. 20 Kenyan soldiers kill five suspected Al Shaab militants in Moyala, Kenya near the Ethiopian border. On Oct. 20 Muslim convert Marin Couture-Rouleau (1989-) runs down two Canadian soldiers in his car in Quebec before rolling, er, running, chasing police officers with a knife, and being shot; one soldier is killed. On Oct. 20 Nigeria declares itself officially Ebola-free. On Oct. 20 (9:57 p.m.) African-Am. Laquan McDonald is shot 16x and killed by white police officer Jason Van Dyke (1978-) in Chicago, Ill. while walking down the street carrying an unopened 3 in. folding knife, after which the officers lie about the incident, claiming that McDonald lunged at them, and end up charged with first-degree murder after a public outcry and protests; in Jan. 2017 the U.S. Dept. of Justice releases a report describing the Chicago police as having a culture of "excessive violence" esp. against blacks, plus poor training and supervision; on June 27, 2017 three officers are indicted for their attempted coverup; on Jan. 18 after they are declared not guilty, Jason Van Dyke is sentenced to 81 mo. for 2nd degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery. On Oct. 21 Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announces that Turkey will permit Kurdish fighters from Iraqi Kurdistan to cross into Syria to defend Kobani, but not Turkish Kurds. On Oct. 21 three Am. Muslim (Somali, Sudanese) teenie girls missing since Oct. 17 from their homes in Colo. are arrested in Germany while en route to Syria to join ISIS. On Oct. 21 a judge upholds the same-sex marriage ban in Puerto Rico. On Oct. 22 Sinai-based Ansar Bait al-Maqdis terrorists attack and injure two Israeli soldiers near the Egyptian border. On Oct. 22 an explosion outside Cairo U. in Egypt injures nine incl. five policemen. On Oct. 22 (10:00 a.m.) Muslim convert gunman Michael Abdul Zehaf Bibeau opens fire at the Canadian Parliament and War Memorial in Ottawa, killing Cpl. Nathan Cirillo (b. 1990) before being killed. On Oct. 22 British PM David Cameron awards £8M to the Charity Commission to "confront the menace of extremism" by policing bogus charities that divert money to terrorists. On Oct. 22 (eve) a Hamas terrorist rams a light rail station near the nat. police HQ at Guzh Etzion in Jerusalem, Israel, killing 3-mo.-o. baby Chaya Zisel Braun and injuring 7+ pedestrians before being killed; on Oct. 26 1K new Israeli security forces arrive in Jerusalem. On Oct. 23 masked Muslims throw rocks at a kindergarten in Ma'ale ha-Zeitim, Jerusalem, Israel On Oct. 23 (2:00 p.m. EDT) the 2014 Queens Hatchet Attack in Jamaica, Queens, N.Y. sees recent Am. Muslim convert Zale H. Thompson (b. 1982) attack four police officers, injuring Kenneth Healey and Joseph Meeker on a crowded street corner in Jamaica, Queens, N.Y. with an 18 in. hatchet before he is killed by the officers, who injure a female civilian with a stray bullet. On Oct. 23 New York physician Craig Spencer tests positive for Ebola, becoming #4 in the U.S. On Oct. 23 China launches the Chang'e 5 T1 lunar probe, which returns on Oct. 31. On Oct. 24 Palestinian-Am. teenie Orwa Abd al-Wahhab hammadi (b. 1997) is killed by Israeli troops while trying to throw a gasoline bomb in Silwad (near Ramallah). On Oct. 24 a car bomb in Sinai Peninsula in Egypt kills 26 soldiers and injures 28 more; hours later three security forces are shot dead at a checkpoint near El Arish, causing Egypt to close the Gaza crossing until Nov. 26. On Oct. 24 "1-man crime spree" Marcelo Marquez (1980-) of Salt Lake City, Utah shoots three N Calif. sheriff's deputies, killing two, and injures a civilian before being captured in a massive manhunt. On Oct. 26 the first-ever elections in Tunisia see voters pick 217 legislators from 13K candidates in 90 parties. On Oct. 26 (Sun.) the U.S. and British close their last bases in Afghanistan, Camp Leatherneck and Camp Bastion; on Oct. 27 Taliban militants attack a court in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing 7+. On Oct. 26 the police dept. of Boston, Mass. promotes Habeeb Hosein (1962-) to captain, becoming the first Muslim. On Oct. 27 an ISIS suicide bomber in Jurf al-Sakhar, Iraq kills 27 Shiite militiamen. On Oct. 28 the $200M unmanned NASA Antares rocket explodes seconds after liftoff from Wallops Island, Va. On Oct. 28 an anon. "senior Obama administration official" gives an interview to Atlantic mag. journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, calling Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu a "chickenshit" - and these are your friends? On Oct. 29 ISIS executes 46 fighters from the Albu Nimr tribe in the street in Heet, Iraq in Anbar Province. On Oct. 29 an assassination attempt against prominent right-wing Jewish activist Yehuda Glick (1965-) on the Temple Mount (Al-Aqsa) of Jerusalem leads to Israel closing it on Oct. 30, causing Palestinian Authority pres. Mahmoud Abbas to call it a "declaration of war"; the area is reopened on Oct. 31; on Nov. 7 Palestinians in Jerusalem stage a Day of Rage against Israel to protest entry restrictions on the Temple Mount. On Oct. 29 30 Islamic jihadists kill French commando Thomas Dupuy in a firefight in Kidal Province, Mali; 20 jihadists are killed. On Oct. 30 a firefight with al-Qaida militants kills nine troops in Niger. On Oct. 30 mass graves containing 220 victims of ISIS are found in Anbar Province, Iraq. On Oct. 30 after pres. (since Oct. 15, 1987) Blaise Comparore tries to change the constitution to stay in office, the Burkinabe (Burkinabé) Uprising in Burkina Faso begins, with rioters burning the nat. assembly and other govt. bldgs., causing Compaore to dissolve the govt. and declare a state of emergency, which doesn't stop them, after which on Oct. 31 he flees to Cote d'Ivoire. On Oct. 31 Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo space tourism rocket crashes in the Mojave Desert in Calif. during a test flight, killing pilot Donny Youngblood. On Oct. 31 Mexico frees U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi after 7 mo. (214 days) in prison on trumped-up charges while the Obama admin. yawns. In Oct. the Russian inventory of nukes passes that of the U.S. for the first time since 2000, 1,643 to 1,642; both are in violation of the 2010 START treaty, which prescribes a limit of 1,550. In Oct. PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident) is founded in Germany by former cook Lutz Bachmann (1974-), gaining 10K members by Dec. who march in Dresden and other German cities against Islamization of Germany, becoming known as the Pinstriped Nazis for their middle class middle aged membership; meanwhile chancellor Angela Merkel ostriches and wallows in the racist label, saying that there is "no place in Germany" for hatred of Muslims, and "no alternative" to freedom of movement within the EU for Muslims et al.; in 2015 Bachmann steps down as leader after a photo of him posing as Adolf Hitler goes viral - love them even though the Quran teaches them to hate you and rule you? In Oct. the U.S. unemployment rate drops to 5.8%, with 9M unemployed, and nonfarm payroll employment rising to 214K. On Nov. 1 (Feast of All Saints) Pope Francis gives a speech to a crowd in St. Peter's Square in Rome, calling for the faithful to pray for violence-soaked Jerusalem. On Nov. 1 the Pan-Arab Nat. Movement in the Palestinian Interior AKA Kifah (Arab. "struggle"), founded by Ayman Hajj Yahya and Ghassan 'Athamla holds its organizing meeting with the goal of returning all Palestinian refugees to the Holy Land and delegitimizing Israel. On Nov. 1 (night) moderate Syrian Harakat Hazm rebels surrender to Jabhat al-Nusra in N Idlib Province, capturing U.S. TOW missiles. On Nov. 2 a suicide blast at the Pakistani-Indian border in Punjab kills 55+; Pakistani Taliban splinter group Jundallah takes credit. On Nov. 3 U.S. oil prices fall to below $80 a barrel (lowest in two years) after Saudi Arabia cuts prices in response to the U.S. oil drilling boom, which has increased production by 70% in the last six years and reduced OPEC imports by 50%; U.S. retail gasoline prices fall below $3 a gal. for the first time since 2010. On Nov. 3 German police announce that the infamous iron "Arbeit macht frei" gate in Dachau Concentration Camp has been stolen. On Nov. 4 anti-Shiite violence in Saudi Arabia results in 15 arrests in six cities and two killed. On Nov. 4 after hearing that a BBQ briquet, er, Quran has been desecrated, a Muslim mob beats and burns pregnant Christian mother Shama and her Christian husband Shahzad to death in a kiln in Kot Radha Kishan, Pakistan 60 km SW of Lahore; 44 are arrested; on Nov. 6 (5:00 a.m.) Pakistani police officer Faraz Naveed hacks Tufail Haider (b. 1959) to death in his cells after he is heard blaspheming Islam. On Nov. 4 (Tues.) the 2014 U.S. nat. elections are a landslide for the Repubs., who take complete control of the House and Senate; the worst election performance by a sitting president's party since Truman; the first Congress with 100 women concurrently serving; marijuana is legalized in Washington, D.C., Ore., and Alaska; meanwhile in Iraq the annual Shiite Ashoura celebration takes places sans murders. On Nov. 4 Calif. passes Proposition 2: the Rainy Day Budget Stabilization Fund Act, which fills-up fast, reaching $13.5B by July 1, 2019. On Nov. 4 U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree rules that the same-sex marriage ban in Kan. is unconstitutional, citing the 10th Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court. On Nov. 4 (night) a drone strike in C Yemen kills Ansar al-Sharia leader Nabil al-Dahab and four other al-Qaida members incl. Shawki al-Badani, a leader of AQAP. On Nov. 5 (noon) Hamas jihadist Ibrahim al-Akari driving a van rams pedestrians along the light rail line in Jerusalem, Israel, killing one border patrol officer and injuring 14; hours later a vehicle driven by a Palestinian rams and injures three IDF soldiers near a refugee camp in al-Arroub (near Hebron), Israel. On Nov. 5 mortars fall on a school in Qaboun, Damascus, Syria, killing 11 children. On Nov. 5 Canadian immigration minister Chris Alexander announces the new Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, banning entry of migrants who practice "barbaric" polygamy. On Nov. 6 Muslim Brotherhood leader Sheik Yusuf Qaradawi posts a message on his Web site calling on Muslims to fight "the greatest battle of liberation" against Israel and the Jews. On Nov. 6 ISIS fires a Russian-made scud missile from Kobane, Syria, which Turkish defenses fail to stop, raising concerns. On Nov. 7 a column of 32 Russian tanks cross into E Ukraine. On Nov. 7 police in the U.K. arrest four suspected Islamist terrorists in London, England, foiling an attack planned for Remembrance Day (Nov. 11) to stab Elizabeth II to death. On Nov. 8-11 U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura presents the De Mistura Plan to Syrian pres. Bashar al-Assad, calling for a freeze in fighting and preservation of the status quo. On Nov. 10 an Arab terrorist stabs an IDF soldier near the central bus station in Tel Aviv, Israel; later a second attack in Alon Shvut, Samaria injures two. On Nov. 10 a Boko Haram suicide bomber in a student uniform detonates at a h.s. assembly in Potiskum, Nigeria, killing 48 and injuring 79 students of 2K; a suicide bomb a week earlier in the same city killed 30 moderate Muslims during a religious procession. On Nov. 10 Pres. Obama arrives in Beijing, China to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, where Chinese pres. Xi Jinping uses the loaded term "Asia-Pacific dream"; on Nov. 11 Obama and Jinping announce a joint pledge to make steep cuts in carbon emissions by 2030. On Nov. 11 Germans celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall with lights and (99 red?) balloons. On Nov. 12 (early a.m.) a U.S. drone strike in Azzan, Shabwa, Yemen kills seven AQAP terrorists gathered under a group of trees. On Nov. 12 (1:00 p.m.) a Dutch suicide bomber detonates at a police HQ in Baghdad, Iraq, killing five and injuring 10. On Nov. 12 protesters in Istanbul, Turkey attack three U.S. sailors, attempting to place plastic bags over their heads while shouting "Yankee go home". On Nov. 12 Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu announces that Russia is sending long-range bombers to maintain a military presence in the W Atlantic and E Pacific incl. the Caribbean (Cuba, Mexico). Muslim infiltration of the federal govt. proceeds at jet speed? On Nov. 13 (Thur.) the U.S. House of Reps in Washington, D.C. allows Muslim imam Hamad Ahmad Chebli of the Islamic Society of N.J. to deliver the opening prayer; on Nov. 14 (a.m.) (Fri.) (after Muslim Brotherhood influence?) (100th anniv. of the last call to jihad by the Ottoman caliphate) the first-ever Muslim prayer service (Jumu'ah) is held at Wash. Nat. Cathedral in Washington, D.C., run by Rev. Canon Gina Campbell; Christian woman Christine Weick (1964-) of Tenn. yells "Jesus Christ is Lord", and is ejected; Rev. Franklin Graham calls it "sad to see". On Nov. 16 (a.m.) an explosion targets female Afghan lawmaker Shukria Barekzai in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing four and injuring 20; she survives. On Nov. 16 ISIS releases a video showing the beheading of Am. Islam convert (2013) hostage Peter "Abdul-Rahman" Kassig (b. 1988) (former U.S. Army Ranger) in Dabiq, Syria, causing Imam, er, Pres. Obama to utter the soundbyte: "ISIL's actions represent no faith, least of all the Muslim faith, which Abdul-Rahman adopted as his own. Today we grieve together, yet we also recall that the indomitable spirit of goodness and perseverance that burned so brightly in Abdul-Rahman Kassig, and which binds humanity together, ultimately is the light that will prevail over the darkness of ISIL", calling the murder "an act of pure evil by a terrorist group that the world rightly associates with inhumanity"; radial Jewish-Am. lawyer Stanley Cohen almost gets al-Qaida to unite with ISIS in an attempt to free Kassig? On Nov. 16 a female suicide bomber at a mobile phone market in Azare, Bauchi, Nigeria kills eight. On Nov. 16 the UAE designates 85 orgs. incl. the Am. Muslim groups CAIR and Muslim Am. Society (MAS) as terrorist groups, pissing-off the latter bigtime, since they've worked so hard to infiltrate U.S. society and govt.; British groups on the list incl. Islamic Relief, Muslim Assoc. of Britain (MAB), and Cordoba Foundation. On Nov. 16 leaders of the G20 Group of Nations give permission for banks to pledge depositor accounts as collateral to make leveraged derivative bets, AKA worldwide bail-ins. On Nov. 17 Palestinian bus driver Yusuf Hasan al-Ramouni (b. 1982) from al-Tur, East Jerusalem, Israel is found hanged to death in his vehicle by an Israeli lynch mob at the Har Hotzvim bus terminal NW of Jerusalem; meanwhile Palestinians in Gaza and Lebanon celebrate the Jerusalem synagogue attack. On Nov. 17 the Chinese govt. announces the arrest of 288 people for corruption, claiming that 18K officials have fled in the past 20 years taking $129B with them. On Nov. 17 Mo. Gov. Jay Nixon declares a state of emergency in Ferguson, Mo. on the eve of the grand jury decision about white killer cop Darren Wilson and his Aug. 9 killing of black resident Mike Brown. On Nov. 17 Pres. Obama disavows knowledge of the statements by MIT prof. Jonathan Gruber that ObamaCare is a con game based on the stupidity of the Am. people because it's not insurance it's yet another tax on the rich to give to the poor. On Nov. 18 (a.m.) the 2014 Jerusalem Synagogue (Haredi Har Nof) Massacre sees two gun-and-axe-wielding Palestinians burst into a synagogue during morning prayers in Jerusalem, killing three American and one British Israeli immigrant, and wounding eight, incl. an Israeli Druze police officer, who later dies; seven worshipers are injured; the police kill the attackers, becoming the deadliest terrorist attack in Jerusalem since the Mar. 2008 Mercaz HaRav Massacre; the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claims responsibility; meanwhile a vote in Spain recognizes a Palestinian state. On Nov. 18 all 50 U.S. states experience a cold wave, hitting freezing temps incl. 30F on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, smashing 1,360 daily low records across the U.S. in a single week, incl. a record 76 in. of snow near Buffalo, N.Y.; meanwhile Pres. Obama devotes his final two years in office to combating global warming :) On Nov. 20 a Boko Haram attack in Azaya Kura, Borno, Nigeria kills 45+. On Nov. 20 senior ISIS leader Radwan Taleb al-Hamdouni is killed in an air strike in Mosul, Iraq. On Nov. 20 a gunman at the Strozier Library at Fla. State U. in Tallahassee, Fla. injures three students before being killed by campus police. On Nov. 20 Pres. Obama issues an executive order for "deferred action", which would allow 45% of illegal immigrants in the U.S. to legally stay and work, taking the heat off 5M illegal immigrants but not granting them amnesty, pissing-off Repubs., who are looking for any excuse to impeach him for overreaching; on Dec. 16 U.S. federal judge Arthur J. Schwab finds it unconstitutional, overstepping lawful pres. authority. On Nov. 20 Am. country music star Ty Herndon (1962-) comes out as gay, followed hours later by country singer Billy Gilman (1988-). On Nov. 22 Al-Shabaab militants massacre 28 infidels on a bus near the Somalian border of Kenya. On Nov. 22 Allied Dem. Forces (ADF) Islamists massacre 50 near the Ugandan border with axes in 90% Christian Beni, DRC. On Nov. 22 (3:30 p.m.) after reports that a black male "keeps pulling a gun out of his pants and pointing it at people", 12-y.-o. Tamir Rice (b. 2002) is gunned down by police officers Timothy Loehmann (1988-) and Frank Garmback (1968-) at the Cudell Recreation Center in Cleveland, Ohio; the gun is later found to be a toy lacking the usual orange markings, causing a public outcry and protests, which whip-up after a grand jury decision on Nov. 24 not to indict the shooter; on Dec. 28 a grand jury decides to not indict either officer; on Dec. 5 Rice's family files a wrongful death suit, which is settled on Apr. 25, 2016 for $6M. On Nov. 23 Boko Haram militants kill 48 fish vendors in Doron Baga, Borno State, Nigeria on the shores of Lake Chad near the border with Chad. On Nov. 23 a suicide bomber at a volleyball game in Paktika Province, Afhanistan kills 50 spectators and injures 60 incl. children. On Nov. 24 after being asked by Pres. Obama on Nov. 21 because of a lack of a skill set for dealing with ISIS, U.S. defense secy. Chuck Hagel offers his resignation. On Nov. 24 the deadline for nuclear negotiations with Iran lapses, and a new date of June 30 is set. On Nov. 24 U.S. Sen. Rand Paul calls for a 1-year official declaration of war against ISIS, the first war declaration since WWII. On Nov. 25 (early a.m.) a U.S.-led raid rescues eight hostages held by al-Qaida in a cave in E Yemen. On Nov. 25 two female suicide bombers in a market in Maiduguri, Nigeria kill 44. On Nov. 26 the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announces that Syrian govt. air strikes on the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa has hit 95. On Nov. 27 a roadside bomb near a bus station in Yola, Nigeria kills 40 incl. five soldiers. On Nov. 27 the Taliban begins sieging Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. On Nov. 27 the Rev. Command Council (RCC) is formed in Syria to lead the Syrian revolt, headed by Qays al-Sheikh. On Nov. 27 the centrist Kulanu Party in Israel is founded by Moshe Kahlon, focusing on economic and cost-of-living issues. On Nov. 28 Pope Francis visits Turkey, meeting with pres. Recep Tayyip Erogan and top cleric Mehmet Gormez; on Nov. 29 he visits the Blue Mosque in Constantinople amid the Muslim call to prayer, and prays with his head bowed in the direction of Mecca, going on to betray his predecessor by claiming that Islam shouldn't be equated with violence, and calling for Europe to open up to mass Muslim immigration. On Nov. 28 two bombs explode outside Emir's Palace Mosque in Kano, Nigeria during Fri. prayers, killing 36. On Nov. 28 after a complaint from a Muslim, the Ethiopian govt. demolishes the Heaven's Light Church in Harar. On Nov. 29 former Egyptian pres. Hosni Mubarak is acquitted of murder and corruption charges. On Nov. 29 Taliban suicide bombers in Kabul, Afghanistan attack a foreign guesthouse. On Nov. 30 Iraqi PM Haidar al-Abadi announces the discovery of 50K "ghost soldiers" on the military payroll, cutting off the funds. On Nov. 30 the Swiss people vote on the Gold Initiative, prohibiting gold sales, requiring the Swiss Nat. Bank to hold 20% of its assets in gold, and requiring the return of Swiss gold to the country, reversing the 1999 federal constitution which removed the 40% gold backing of the currency. On Nov. 30-Dec. 12 180 mph Typhoon Hagupit hits the Caroline Islands, Palau, Philippines, and Vietnam, killin 18 and causing $114M damage. In Nov. Microsoft purchases Mojang, maker of the online game Minecraft for $2.5B, making 35-y.-o. Markus Alexej Persson (1979-) AKA xNotch a world billionaire #1415. In Nov. ISIS caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdad calls on followers to "erupt volcanoes of jihad everywhere", claiming Saudi Arabia and other states as part of his caliphate; they finally strike on May 22, 2015? In Nov. 1,232 Iraqis are killed and 2,434 injured, incl. 296 Iraqi and Kurdish troops, according to the U.N, vs. 1,273 in Oct. In Nov. the U.S. unemployment rate was 5.8%, with 321K new jobs. On Dec. 1 unknown Muslim assailants invade the home of a Jewish family in Creteil, Paris, France, rape the 19-y.-o. woman, and rob them, with the soundbyte "because you are Jewish" - that means get the hell out? On Dec. 1 a female suspect dressed in a Muslim burqa stabs Am. mother of 11-y.-o. twin boys Ibolya Ryan (b. 1967) to death inside a mall restroom in Abu Dhabi; after she is arrested the authorities announce that she is not a lone wolf because her home was a "base of operations". On Dec. 2 (1:00 a.m.) Al-Shabaab kills and beheads 36 Christians in Koromey, 15km from Mandera, Kenya. On Dec. 2 France votes 339-151 to recognize a Palestinian state. On Dec. 2 Jewish, Roman Catholic, Anglican, orthodox, Buddhist, Hindu, Sunni, and Shiite leaders sign a Vatican initiative to end slavery by 2020 incl. human trafficking, organ trafficking, forced labor, and prostitution, declaring them crimes against humanity. On Dec. 2 (dawn) ISIS stages its first-ever attack on an Egyptian missile ship at the N end of the Suez Canal 40nm N of Damietta. On Dec. 3 a suicide car bomber attacks the Iranian ambassador's residence in Sana'a, Yemen, killing three; AQAP claims responsibility. On Dec. 3 a grand jury clears white NYPD cop Daniel Pantaleo for his July 17 chokehold murder of 6'3" 350 lb. African-Am. illegal cig seller Eric Garner (b. 1970), sparking massive protests; U.S. atty. gen. Eric Holder announces a civil rights investigation. On Dec. 3 (night) Muslim terrorists attack govt. bldgs. in Grozny, Chechnya, killing 10 police officers and injuring 28 while losing nine. On Dec. 4 the U.S. House votes along partisan lines 219-197-3 to stop Pres. Obama's immigration action in a measure sponsored by Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.); the Senate doesn't plan to take it up. On Dec. 4 Pres. Obama meets at the White House with Jordanian King Abdullah II, who is seeking U.S. support to handle Syrian refugees and ISIS; Obama pledges an increase of aid to Jordan from $600M to $1B. On Dec. 4 (4:15 p.m.) a 16-y.-o. Palestinian Muslim teenie terrorist stabs two Jewish shoppers in the Rami Levy Market E of Jerusalem before police shoot him. On Dec. 5 Pres. Obama nominates physicist Ashton Baldwin "Ash" Carter (1954-), U.S. deputy secy. of defense #30 (since Oct. 5, 2011) as new U.S. defense secy. to succeed Chuck Hagel, becoming his 4th defense secy. On Dec. 5 after Lebanese authorities arrest the wives of ISIS cmdr. Abu Ali Al Shishani and Abu Bakr Al Bahgdadi, Al Nusra execute captured Lebanese police officer Ali Al Bazzal to get even. On Dec. 5 the Nut Rage Incident (Nutgate) (Nut Return) sees Korean Air vice-pres. Heather Cho go nonlinear at the way nuts are served her by a flight attendant, ordering the plane to taxi back to the gate before takeoff, after which she resigns, is found guilty in Korea of obstructing a flight and given a 12-mo. prison sentence. On Dec. 5 (eve.) twin blasts in Baidoa, Somali kill 15 and injure dozens. On Dec. 6 Interpol issues arrests warrants for 40+ senior Muslim Brotherhood figures incl. Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, who is holed-up in Doha, Gutter, er, Qatar. On Dec. 7 the U.S. Congress unanimously passes a law stripping expatriate U.S. Nazis of federal benefits. On Dec. 8 the U.S.-NATO Internat. Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command lowers its flag for the last time in Afghanistan after 13 years; the ISAF mission officially ends on Dec. 31, and will be replaced on Jan. 1 by Resolute Support, a narrow-mandate mission to train, advise, and assist the Afghan Nat. Security Forces. On Dec. 8 the U.S. Dept. of Justice announces new stricter policies forbidding racial profiling by federal officers and agents. On Dec. 8 Rolling Stone mag. retracts a story of alleged gang rape at the U. of Va., saying that accuser Jackie's credibility is in doubt. On Dec. 8 Greenpeace activists deface the 1.5K-y.-o. Nazca Lines archeological site with large yellow cloth letters reading "Time for change! The future is renewable Greenpeace!"; the Peruvian govt. refuses to accept their apology. On Dec. 9 Calif. Dem. Sen. Dianne Feinstein releases the Senate Report on CIA Torture of Terrorism Suspects, revealing not only waterboarding but sexual humiliation, even of cleared suspects, with Pres. Obama uttering the soundbyte that the investigation "reinforces my long-held view that these harsh methods were not only inconsistent with our values as a nation, they did not serve our broader counterterrorism efforts or our national security interests"; the CIA denies the report's conclusion, saying that torture thwarted terror plots. On Dec. 9 U.S. secy. of state John Kerry informs Congress that Pres. Obama wants expansive war powers to fight ISIS incl. ability to commit troops. On Dec. 9 the Internat. Criminal Court (ICC) accepts Palestine as a "non-state observer", allowing it to be able to request investigation of alleged war crimes by Israel. On Dec. 9 Palestinian Fatah minister Ziad Abu Ein (b. 1959) dies in Turmus Aya near Ramallah, Israel after a confrontation with Israeli soldiers, causing allegations of murder, which Israel dies, er, denies; on Dec. 11 thousands attend his funeral. On Dec. 9 after pressure by the OIC-controlled U.N., U.S. govt. official Anne C. Richard announces a plan to resettle 9K Muslim Syrian refugees in the U.S., ignoring the fact that they will bring Muhammad's jihad with them. On Dec. 9 (night) a Muslim bomb on a bus in Maramag, Philippines near the main gate of Central Mindanao U. kills 11 and injures 34. On Dec. 10 Ireland announces that it's considering parliamentary recognition of a Palestinian state, pissing-off Israel, which gets even more pissed-off at news that all mention of it is being banned from the Jan. 27 Holocaust Memorial Day. On Dec. 10 a Pew Research Center Poll fins that for the first time more Americans (52%-46%) believe that protecting their gun rights is more important than gun control. On Dec. 11 the Taliban stages two suicide attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing six German soldiers in one, and another in an auditorium watching a drama condemning suicide attacks, injuring 16 and killing a German man. On Dec. 11 after a 5-mo.-long campaign by U.S. Sen. (D-Va.) (since 2013) Tim Kaine, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations committee by 10-8 approves a measure authorizing the use of military force gainst ISIS, but barring the use of ground troops. On Dec. 11 (eve.) two bombs explode near a bus station in Jos, Nigeria, with the 2nd one killing 40+. On Dec. 11 10:00 p.m. the U.S. House of Reps votes 219-206 (incl. 57 Dem. yes votes) to pass an Obama-backed $1.1T spending bill to keep the U.S. govt. running. On Dec. 11 (midnight) French troops kill Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) co-founder Ahmed el Tilemsi in a raid in Gao, Mali, along with a dozen terrorists. On Dec. 12 (early a.m.) terrorists fire dozens of bullets at the Israeli embassy in Athens, Greece; no injuries. On Dec. 12 the U.S. Senate by 89-11 passes the 2015 Defense Policy Bill, which passed the House earlier on a 300-119 vote; on Dec. 13 the Senate votes 56-40 to send it to Pres. Obama; it funds the govt. through Sept. and sets up a Feb. showdown over Dept. of Homeland Security funding. On Dec. 12 a Palestinian hitchhiker throws acid at an Israeli family in a car in Gush Etzion, Israel S of Israel before being shot by a passerby and arrested by police. On Dec. 13 two Taliban attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan kills two U.S. troops, 12 workers clearing mines, and a top Afghan court official; a third attack brings the body count to 19. On Dec. 13 ISIS storms Al-Wafa, Iraq 27 mi. W of Ramadi in Anbar Province, killing 19+ policemen. On Dec. 13 ISIS shoots down an Iraqi heli in the Shiite city of Samarra, Iraq 60 mi. N of Baghdad. On Dec. 13 Yemeni security forces kill several AQAP militants disguised as veiled women in a border crossing in Hawdh, Yemen. On Dec. 13 Indian manufacturing exec Mehdi Masroor Biswas (1990-) is arrested by police in Bangalore for running the #1 pro-ISIS Twitter account. On Dec. 13 after they fire at a soldier inspecting their Saudi-bound bus, Yemeni troops kill five and injure one al-Qaida suspect disguised as women in robes and niqab in Harad, Yemen. On Dec. 14 Boko Haram gunmen kidnap 100+ women and children and kill35 in Gumsuri, Nigeria. On Dec. 14-15 an attack by al-Nusra Front in Idleb, Syria kills 180+. On Dec. 15 (9:45 a.m.) hours after two suspects were arrested in a terror raid, Iranian-born armed Muslim terrorist Sheikh Haron (Man Haron Monis) (Manteghi Boroujerdi) (b. 1965 (ISIS preacher) takes over Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Martin Place, Sydney, Australia, taking 40+ hostages and forcing them to hold a black shahada flag against the window, demanding to speak to PM Tony Abbott, until five hostages break free, and commandos storm the cafe after a 16-hour siege and kill the bum, with two killed and four injured. On Dec. 15 ISIS pub. a new legal code enforcing Quranic Sharia incl. death for blasphemy of stinkin' Muhammad and Allah. On Dec. 15-16 the U.S. and Iran hold a bilateral meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. On Dec. 16 (5:00 a.m.) 6-9 uniformed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants attack the Army Public High School (500 teachers and students, mainly children of Pakistani military members) in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing and beheading 148 incl. 132 school children, mainly girls, injuring 122 and taking hostages after burning a teacher alive with gasoline in front of students; on Dec. 17 Zabihullah Mujahid of the Afghan Taliban releases a statement condemning the attack; ditto Usama Mahmood, spokesman for Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS); senior Pakistan Taliban leader Latif Mehsud was released by Pres. Obama on Dec. 8, making it his fault?; on Dec. 17 a U.S. airstrike in Nangarhar, Afghanistan kills 11 Pakistani and Afghan Taliban members. On Dec. 16 (Black Tues.) the Russian ruble falls to 80 to the U.S. dollar; by Fri. the ruble is restored to its previous value of 58 to the dollar. On Dec. 17 (noon) Pres. Obama gives a Speech on Cuba, announcing a "new chapter" incl. reestablishment of diplomatic relations and relaxing restrictions, causing U.S. Sen. (R-Fla.) Marco Rubio (son of Cuban immigrants) to slam him, calling him "wilfully ignorant" and "the worst negotiator" the U.S. has had in decades; meanwhile Cuba releases Am. Jewish hostage Alan Gross (accused of bringing computers to Jews) after five years in jail in exchange for three hardened Cuban spies. On Dec. 17 the first-ever battle between ISIS and U.S. ground troops near Ein al-Asad Base in Iraq is a huge V for 100 U.S. military advisers supported by fighter jets, who send them running. On Dec. 17 a European court rules that Hamas should be temporarily removed from the EU's terrorism blacklist, although it still consider it a terrorist org., pissing-off Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who calls it an example of "staggering" European "hypocrisy" which "grants a prize to extremist, Islamic terror", saying that he expects the EU to correct their mistake quickly. On Dec. 17 the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France votes 489-88 to support statehood for Palestine, without recognizing it yet; meanwhile in the eve. the Palestinians submit a draft resolution calling for peace with Israel within one year followed by Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank by the end of 2017, which Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Liberman says is a "gimmick" that is "meant solely to taunt Israel" and will only worsen the conflict, and which Israel intel minister Yuval Steinitz calls an "act of war" because it doesn't mention Israel's status as a Jewish state, saying that it's time to cut ties with the Palestinian Authority and even dismantle it; meanwhile Palestinian Authority pres. Mahmoud Abbas orders the arrest of Palestinian Legislative Council secy.-gen. Ibrahim Khraisheh in Ramallah for criticizing PM Rami Hamdallah for arresting public employees union head Bassam Zakarneh, then after criticism cancels the order, but sends police to the parliament bldg. to block Ramallah from entering. On Dec. 17 after North Korean-backed hackers hack their Web site and release personal info. to embarrass them, threatening more attacks, Sony Corp. removes its Xmas movie "The Interview" (about a plot to kill North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un) from theaters. On Dec. 17 an AQAP car bomb near a Shiite Houthi rebel checkpoint in Radaa, Bayda Province, Yemen kills 25 incl. 15 children; another goes off near the home of a Houthi leader. On Dec. 17 amid reports of the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, Kurdish Peshmerga forces launch an offensive against ISIS in N Iraq, taking Mount Sinjar by Dec. 19, free 1.5K Yazidi families. On Dec. 18 Indonesian army chief Gen. Moeldoko gives an interview, saying that Indonesia wants to join the fight against ISIS, which it considers a grave global threat. On Dec. 19 the annual U.N. Gen. Assembly resolution condemning human rights abuses in Iran drops in support to 83 nations out of 186 (45%), down from 86 in 2013 and 2012, 89 in 2011; 78 in 2010, 74 in 2009, and 69 in 2008. On Dec. 19 forgetting about Cuba, Pres. Obama signs the U.S. Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act, sanctioning Venezuelan officials for human rights abuses during anti-govt. protests earlier this year. On Dec. 19 Pres. Obama gives a year-end press conference, saying that it was wrong for Sony to pull "The Interview" from theaters because they should have "spoken to me first", which pisses-off Sony CEO Michael Lynton, who blames theater owners. On Dec. 19 WHO announces that 1M have been wounded so far in the civil war. On Dec. 19 Turkey issues an arrest warrant for U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen after Pres. Erdogan accuses him of subversion of his govt. On Dec. 19 the U.N. Gen. Assembly passes a non-binding resolution demanding that Israel pay Lebanon $850M. On Dec. 19 NYPD cops Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos are assassinated (shot in the head in their cop car) by Arabic-speaking Quran-quoting Am. Muslim Ismaaiyl Brimsley, who commits suicide to avoid capture; he did it for jihad, or in revenge for Eric Garner and Michael Brown?; on Dec. 27 hundreds of cops turn their backs on NYC mayor Bill de Blasio at Ramos' funeral, where vice-pres. Joe Biden gives a speech with the soundbyte that the "assassin's bullet" touched the "soul of an entire nation". On Dec. 20 knife-wielding Muslim Bilal (nee Bertrand) Nzohabonayo (1994-) shouting Allahu Akbar is shot dead at the entrance to a police station in Joue-les-Tours, France after injuring two; on Dec. 21 a Muslim driver shouting you know what runs over 11 bystanders in Dijon, France, seriously injuring two. On Dec. 20 two (Muslim?) car bombs in Malmo, Sweden cause no injuries. On Dec. 20 a U.S. drone fires two missiles at a Taliban hideout in NW Pakistan, five militants; in a separate operation Pakistani forces kill five terrorists on the outskirts of Peshawar. On Dec. 21 (Sun.) elections in Tunisia are a V for veteran politician Beji Caid Essebsi by 55.68% vs. 44.32% for rival Moncef Marzouki. On Dec. 22 (night) a madass Muslim in a Christmas market in Nantes, France drives into a crowd, injuring 10 before jumping out with a knife and getting arrested; officials blame mental illness not ties to Islamist groups. On Dec. 23 the U.S. FDA announces that it's lifting its 31-y.-o. ban on gays donating blood as long as they haven't sucked, er, had sex for one year. On Dec. 23 the Dow-Jones Industrial Avg. tops 18K for the first time ever, reaching 18,051.14, up 75% from the 12-year low of Mar. 9, 2009. On Dec. 23 (night) after pointing a gun at him, 18-y.-o. black teenie Antonio Martin is shot and killed by police officers at a Mobil gas station in Berkeley, Mo., sparking protests. On Dec. 24 Hamas snipers attack Israeli forces working on a border fence at the Gaza Border, injuring one soldier. On Dec. 24 Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath Kassasbeh (Kaseasbeh) (Moaz al-Kasasba) (1977-2015) is shot down in NE Syria and captured by ISIS; the U.S. denies that ISIS shot the plane down; after ransom demands fall through, a video of him being burned alive in a cage is released on Feb. 3; he was killed on Jan. 3 before starting phony ransom negotiatons. On Dec. 24 a suicide bomber in Madaen, Iraq (15 mi. S of Baghdad) kills 33 and injures 55. On Dec. 24 Saudi Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Sudais appoints Fatimah Al-Rashoud as head of the women guidance committee, becoming the first woman to hold a leading position in the gen. presidency of the two holy mosques. On Dec. 24 the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) (ratified by 50 nations on Sept. 25) goes into effect; a snare for the people of the U.S.? On Dec. 24 dozens of Roman Catholic priests march in Ciudad Altamirano, Mexico to protest a series of robberies, kidnappings, and murders of priests, and to demand the release of kidnapped priest Rev. Gregorio Lopez Gorostieta. On Dec. 24 police in Australia arrest Australian Muslim Sulayman Khalid (1994-) and another man for plotting a Christmas terror plot in the Blue Mountains. On Dec. 25 after an announcement by PM Narendra Modi, India celebrates its first Good Governance Day. On Dec. 26 a U.S. drone strike in two compounds in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan kills seven militants. On Dec. 26 a new law comes into Sweden criminalizing criticism of Muslim immigration or even a politician's unwillingness to stop it. On Dec. 27 (7:24 a.m.) AirAsia Flight 8501 carrying 155 passengers is lost en route from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore; the last words of the pilot are "Allahu Akbar". On Dec. 27 Chinese vice-PM Wang Yang gives a speech, with the soundbyte: "The United States is the guide of the world; China is willing to join this system... China and United States are global economic partners, but America is the guide of the world. America already has the leading system and its rules; China is willing to join the system and respect those rules and hopes to play a constructive role" - more saving, more doing, that's the power of Home Depot? On Dec. 28 as a ceremony is held in Kabul, Pres. Obama issues a statement marking the end of the U.S. Afghanistan war, touching a 90% troop reduction on his watch, with the soundbyte: "For more than 13 years, ever since nearly 3,000 innocent lives were taken from us on 9/11, our nation has been at war in Afghanistan Now, thanks to the extraordinary sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, our combat mission in Afghanistan is ending, and the longest war in American history is coming to a responsible conclusion." On Dec. 28 (night) a Greek ferry en route to Italy catches fire off Albany, killing 10. On Dec. 29 Jordan submits a final draft of a Palestinian Authority-backed statehood resolution to the U.N., calling for a peace deal with Israel within a year and an end to occupation of Palestinian territories by the end of 2017; the capital will be in Jerusalem; the U.S. opposes the bid, calling it "not constructive"; Mahmoud Abbas' own Fatah Party also opposes it; Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu utters the soundbyte: "Israel will oppose conditions that endanger our future"; too good, on Dec. 30 the U.N. Security rejects the resolution, with the U.S. and Australia voting against, Nigeria abstaining, and France and Russia for; Hamas supports the bid; on Dec. 31 Mahmoud Abbas signs papers to join the Internat. Criminal Court so it can sit in judgment of Israeli officials, along with an Israeli war crimes probe request - the abomination of desolation sits where? On Dec. 31 the Italian coast guard rescues a cargo ship carrying 970 illegal Syrian immigrants after its crew abandons ship and sets it to crash into the coast off Puglia, Italy. On Dec. 31 U.S. unemployment is 5.6% (vs. 5.8% in Nov.), adding 252K jobs. On Dec. 31 (midnight) Syrian pres. Bashar al-Assad inspects his troops on the front line in Joubar, Damascus after 76K have been killed. All U.S. public school students above the 2nd grade are proficient in reading and math, thanks to Pres. G.W. Bush's 2002 No Child Left Behind Law? The 2nd scout mission to Mars returns surface samples to Earth (NASA). As he is about to flee his country, Yemeni pres. Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi signs a 99-year lease of Socotra Island with UAE to use as their main military base. The new city of Songdo, South Korea opens on a manmade island 40 mi. SW of Seoul. The Nakba Museum Project of Memory and Hope in Washington, D.C. is founded by Bshara Nassar to "bring the Palestinian refugee story to Washington, D.C." The Facebook page Olim L'Berlin (Let's Immigrate to Berlin) is created, protesting the high cost of living in Israel and urging Israelis to move to Germany, raising a firestorm of protest. Chicken passes beef to become the #1 most popular meat in the U.S. By this year five beer cos. control 51% of the global beer market, incl. Anheuser-Busch InBev, SABMiller, Heineken, Carlsberg, and China Resources Enterprise; in 2015 Anheuser-Busch InBev merges with SABMiller, giving them a 30% share. Sports: On Jan. 13 the Chicago Cubs debut their new mascot Clark. On Jan. 26 the 2014 NFL Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium in Hololulu, Hawaii becomes the first with a "fan-friendly" format aimed at fantasy football nuts; Team Jerry Rice defeats Team Deion Sanders by 22-21. On Feb. 2 Super Bowl LXVIII (48) (2014) ("Marijuana Bowl" because Colo. and Wash. are the only two states to permit recreational marijuana use) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (first outdoor SB in a cold weather city) sees the 13-3 Seattle Seahawks (NFC), led by QB (#3) Russell Carrington Wilson (1989-) and coached by Peter Clay "Pete" Carroll (1951-) defeat the 13-3 Denver Broncos (AFC), led by QB (#18) Peyton Williams Manning (1976-) (first to lead two different teams to the SB) and coached by John Fox (1955-) by 43-8 as Seattle's Legion of Boom shuts Denver's offense down; Denver muffs the first snap of the game to give Seattle a safety at 00:12; the score is 22-0 at halftime; Seattle linebacker (#53) Malcolm Smith (1989-) is named MVP; a U.S. TV record 111.5M viewers watch it; ads sell for $4M for 30 sec.; Manning blames fan noise, but Seattle already defeated Denver in the preseason by 40-10; Denver loses a record 5th Super Bowl. On Feb. 23 the 2014 (56th) Daytona 500 is won by "Pied Piper of Daytona" Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1974-), who breaks a 55-race winless streak, becoming his 2nd win (2004). On Feb. 23 basketball center Jason Paul Collins (1978-) becomes the first openly gay athlete in North Am. pro sports, signing with the New York Nets of the NBA for a 10-day contract, then getting two rebounds in a 108-102 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. On Mar. 26 NLRB regional dir. Peter Sung Ohr rules that college athletes at Northwestern U. can unionize. On Apr. 21 the 118th (2014) Boston Marathon takes back the streets from Muslim jihadists; Ethiopian immigrant Mebrahton "Meb" Keflezighi (1985-) becomes the first U.S. male to win since 1983; a Kenyan has won 19x since 1991. On Apr. 29 after recorded racist comments are released by his ex-girlfriend V. Stiviano, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling (Tokowitz) (1934-) is banned from the NBA for life and fined $2.5M by the NBA; on May 22 citing the quick action by the NBA on Sterling, 49 U.S. Dem. Senators send a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Gooddell to change the Washington Redskins' name, calling it a racist slur; on May 30 Microsoft's Steve Balmer buys the Clippers for a record $2B. On May 20 a group of retired NFL players incl. Jim McMahon, Richard Dent, and Keith Van Horne of the Chicago Bears, and Jeremy Newberry of the San Francisco 49ers file a lawsuit alleging that the NFL illegally supplied them with narcotics and other drugs to mask injuries to keep them playing, leading to medical complications after retirement. On May 25 (Sun.) Dallas, Tex.-born Ryan Hunter-Reay (1980-) (who drives IndyCar No. 28 to show support for the 28M living with cancer worldwide) of Andretti Autosport wins the 2014 (98th) Indianapolis 500 by .06 sec. over Helio Castroneves, the 2nd closest finish since 1992 and first Am. winner since 2006. On June 5-15 the 2014 NBA Finals sees the San Antonio Spurs defeat the Miami Heat by 4-1, after which LeBron James returns to the Cleveland Cavaliers; MVP is small forward Kawhi Anthony "the Klaw" Leonard (1991-) (#2) of the Spurs. On June 7 the 2014 Belmont Stakes and Triple Crown #12 are won by ("the People's Horse") (fans are called Chromies, known for wearing purple band-aids on their noses) California Chrome (2011-) (jockey Victor Espinoza), who was on a 6-game winning streak and hoping to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978; er, he comes in a tie for 4th in a field of 11 with Wicked Strong, and Tonalist (2011-) wins in 2:28.52, with Commissioner and Medal Count coming in 2-3, causing owner Steve Coburn to grumble that California Chrome was targeted by the other owners, who ran fresh horses that didn't have to run the other two legs of the Triple Crown, calling for reform, with the soundbyte: "It's all or nothing. This is not fair to these horses and to the people that believe in them. This is the coward's way out." On June 12-July 13 the 2014 (20th) FIFA World Cup is held in Brazil for the 2nd time (first in 1950), becoming the 5th time in South America; it is won by Germany, with Argentina coming in 2nd, Netherlands 3rd, and Brazil 4th; the 2nd consecutive World Cup held outside Europe (2010 in South Africa). On June 18 after debuting in 2011 as the youngest player in the MLB, Dallas, Tex.-born lefty pitcher Clayton Edward Kershaw (1988-) of the Los Angeles Dodgers (#22) becomes the 22nd Dodger to pitch a no-hitter, going on to become the first-ever pitcher to lead the ML in ERA for four straight seasons (2011-14). On June 23-July 7 2014 (128th) Wimbledon Championship sees defending champion Andy Murray lose in the quarterfinals to Grigor Dimitrov, and defending champ Marion Bartoli retire before the match; Novak Djokovic of Serbia wins the gentleman's singles title, and Petra Kvitova (Kvitová) (1990-) of Czech. Repub wins the ladies' singles title. On Sept. 8 after a video of him knocking out his fiancee Janay Palmer in an elevator at the Revel Casino in Atlantic City, N.J. on Feb. 15 emerges, the Baltimore Ravens fire star running back Raymell Mourice "Ray" Price (1987), who is banned by the NFL; previously on Mar. 27 a grand jury indicts him for 3rd deg. assault, on Mar. 28 Rice and Palmer are married, and on July 25 Rice is suspended for the first two games of the 2014 NFL season, the video release causing mgt. to backpedal at jet speed. On Oct. 19 (Sun.) Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning bests Brett Favre's career TD record of 508 with 510 in a 42-17 blowout of the San Francisco 49ers in Denver, with four TDs to his credit, plus two more running TDs. On Oct. 21-29 the 2014 (110th) World Series sees the San Francisco Giants (NL) defeat the Kansas City Royals (AL) 4-3; Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner throws a complete game shutout in Game 5, then closes with 5 straight shutout innings in Game 7 after a 2-day rest; the 2nd WS after the 2002 one to feature two wild card teams. On Nov. 23 (Sun.) New York Giants rookie WR (#13) Odell Beckham Jr. (1992-) makes The Amazing Catch on Sun. Night Football on NBC-TV, which many call the greatest of all time. Architecture: On Feb. 13 $2.2B Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in the Mojhave Desert of Calif. 40 mi. SW of Las Vegas, Nev. opens, designed to produce 392MW; too bad, in Nov. 2014 AP reports that it is only producing "about half of its expected annual output". On May 21 the 911 Museum in New York City opens. In June the 20M euro Copenhagen Grand Mosque opens, becoming the first in Scandinavia. On July 17 Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. (cap. 68.5K-75K) opens as the home of the San Francisco 49ers; on Aug. 7 their first game is a 23-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, followed by a 34-0 loss on Aug. 17 to the Denver Broncos; on Feb. 7, 2016 it hosts Super Bowl 50 (L), which is won by the Broncos. On Sept. 20 the Wangjing Galaxy SOHO complex of three assymetric curvilinear skyscrapers in Wangjing, Beijing, China opens, designed by Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. The Citadel in the Netherlands opens, becoming the world's first floating apt. bldg. The Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, Korea, designed by Zaha Hadid opens. The Guangzhou Circle in Guangdong, China opens, becoming the world's tallest circular bldg. (until ?). Nobel Prizes: Peace: Kailash Satyarthi (Sharma) (1954-) (India), and Malala Yousafzai (1997-) (Pakistan); Lit.: Jean Patrick Modiano (1945-) (France); Physics: Isamu Akasaki (1929-), Hiroshi Amano (1960-), and Shuji Nakamura (1954-) (Japan) [blue LEDs]; Chem.: Robert Eric Betzig (1960-) (U.S.), Stefan Walter Hell (1962-) (Germany), and William Esco Moerner (1953-) (U.S.) [super-resolved fluorescence microscopy]; Med.: John O'Keefe (1939-) (U.S.), May-Britt Moser (1963-) (Norway), and Edvard Ingjald Moser (1962-) (Norway) [hippocampus place cells]; Econ.: Jean Tirole (1953-) (France) [market power and regulation]. Inventions: On Feb. 21 Khashayar Khoshmanesh et al. of RMIT U. in Australia pub. an article in Proceedings of the Nat. Academy of Sciences announcing the first liquid metal-enabled pump, which will enable microfluidic lab-on-a-chip technology. On May 24 NASA launches the Colo. High-Resolution Echelle Stellar Spectograph (CHESS) to study atoms floating between stars. On July 9 the U.S. Air Force issues a request for proposal for the $550M Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) nuclear-capable heavy payload strategic stealth aircraft, giving the U.S. the capability of striking deep inside China or Russia for the first time since the B-17; 80-100 are planned; on Oct. 28, 2015 the $80B contract is awarded to Northrop Grumman, beating out the team of Boeing and Lockheed-Martin. On July 24 Google announces their Pigeon algorithm, which warps search rankings to give preference to local listings. On Sept. 24 the Indian Mangalyaan Mars Orbiter Mission enters Mars orbit, making India the first Asian country to reach Mars. On Nov. 12 (11:00 a.m. EST) the Philae lander of the ESA's Rosetta mission makes the first-ever spacecraft soft landing on a comet, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. On Nov. 17 the 3D Printing in Zero-G Technology Demonstration sees the first object 3-D printed in space aboard the ISS. On Dec. 5 the NASA Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) makes its first flight atop a Delta IV Heavy rocky, er, rocket; too bad, massive cost overruns delay the first mission until 2023? The SolarEagle developed by Boeing is a solar-powered unmanned aircraft that can fly nonstop for over five years while sending surveillance data to the ground. The Precision-Guided Firearm (PGF) from TrackingPoint Inc. uses Google Glass technology to help a firearm hit targets behind corners. The 2014 Honda Odyssey minivan features the first built-in vacuum cleaner for a vehicle. The NeuroLife chip is implanted into the brain of quadraplegic man Ian Burkhart (22) in Ohio by surgeons from Ohio State U., allowing him to pick up objects, stir beverages, play video games, etc. Science: On Jan. 2 Japanese scientists Kazuya Iwamoto et al. pub. an article in Neuron announcing that a class of junk DNA retrotransposons called Long Interspersed Nuclear Elements (LINEs) (discovered in 1980), which make up 21.1% of the human genome might be responsible for schizophrenia. On Jan. 9 Martin Leeb et al. of Cambridge U. pub. an article in Neuron describing a fast and comprehensive method for determining the function of genes using transposons (jumping genes). On Jan. 14 Jan van Hest and Ruud Peters of Ribaud U. Nijmegen pub. an article in Angewandte Chemie announcing the creation of the first artificial cell containing organelles capable of carrying out the various steps of a chemical reaction. On Jan. 15 s Bijan Pesaran et al. of NYU pub. an article in Nature revealing that humans use both sides of their brains for speech. On Jan. 28 Matthew Rushworth et al. of Oxford U. pub. an article in Neuron announcing the discovery of the lateral frontal pole prefrontal cortex, which is unique to humans and is connected with higher level thinking. On Jan. 29 researchers at Amherst College and Aalto U. pub. an article in Nature reporting the creation of an artificial magnetic monopole. On Jan. 30 researchers at Nanjing Medical U. and Yunnan Key Lab of Primate Biomedical Research in Kunming, China pub. an article in Cell reporting the creation of genetically-modified monkeys using a new method of DNA engineering known as CRISPR. On Feb. 7 Ali Tavassoli et al. of the U. of Southampton pub. an article in Angewandte Chemie International Edition announcing the first workable Click Chemistry, the artificial joining of oligonucleotides. On Feb. 14 researchers at the U. of Tex. announce the first human lungs grown in a lab. On Feb. 21 Boris Vinatzer pub. an article in PLoS ONE proposing a new naming system for all organisms based on their genome sequence. In Feb. NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory detects low-energy X-rays emanating from Pluto, detecting ditto 3x more by Aug. 2015. On Mar. 10 after irregularities are found, Japanese scientist Teruhiko Wakayama calls for his study on stem cells that claims they can be created by putting mature animal cells in an acid bath to be withdrawn. On Mar. 17 using data from the BICEP2 microwave telescope at the South Pole, physicists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announce the discovery of gravity waves from the Big Bang, proving the Theory of Inflation; William Jones of Princeton U. et al. announce that the conclusion overreaches the data; it's really just ashes from an exploding star? In Mar. an internat. team synthesizes SynIII, the first synthetic chromosome for yeast; only 15 more to go. On Apr. 3 scientists at the U. of Va. announce the first fish embryo grown from stem cells. On Apr. 3 the Nat. Inst. of Standards and Technology announces NIST-F2, their new atomic clock, replacing NIST-F1 (1999) with 3x the accuracy, about 1 sec. per 300M years. On Apr. 8 scientists at the U. of Edinburgh announce the first successful regeneration of a living organ, a thymus in a mouse. On Apr. 17 Garry Taylor and Helen Connaris of St. Andrews U. announce the discovery of Kepler-186f, the most Earth-like planet yet discovered, and potentially habitable. On Apr. 17 after a study reveals the limited effectiveness of Tamiflu, scientists at St. Andrews U. announce a new nasal spray that could protect against any kind of flu. On Apr. 17 scientists in South Korea pub. an article announcing the first therapeutic cloning of adults, creating stems cells from the skin cells of two adult men. On Apr. 21 scientists at MIT announce a revolutionary advance in CRISPR, a rev. genome-editing technique that can correct adult genes and cure diseases. On Apr. 30 scientists using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VOT) announce the first determination of the rotation rate of an expoplanet, Beta Pictoris b (8 hours). On May 7 Floyd Romesberg et al. of the Scripps Research Inst. pub. an article in Nature announcing the first viable organism with two artficial DNA building blocks. On May 8 Siegfried Hekimi et al. of McGill U. pub. an article in Cell reversing the "free radical theory of aging", proving that free radical production increases during aging because they combat aging. On June 1 Hrvoje Petek et al. of the U. of Pittsburgh pub. an article in Nature Physics announcing the detection of the exciton, which makes reflection of light from a metal mirror possible. On June 4 physicians at Am. Family Children's Hospital in Madison, Wisc. pub. an article in the New England Journal of Medicine reporting the first successful use of quick DNA sequencing to diagnose an illness. On June 7 the 1950 Turing Test was allegedly passed for the first time by supercomputer Eugene Goostman at the Royal Society in London, convincing 33% of human judges that it was human (30% required); simulating a 13-y.-o. boy, Eugene was developed in St. Petersburg, Russia by Vladimir Veselov and Eugene Demchenko. On June 7 an infant born to grad student Razib Khan in Calif. becomes the first healthy person born in the U.S. with their entire genome deciphered in advance. On June 17 a UNSW Australia-led team pub. an article in Proceedings of the Nat. Academy of Science reporting a discovery of how algae can switch the quantum phenomenon that occurs in photosynthesis on and off to survive in very low light levels. On June 17 the first scentgrams (champagne and macaroons) are sent from New York City to Paris. In June Battelle Inst. and Ohio State U. Wexner Medical Center announce Neurobridge, which allows a paralyzed person to move his extremities with his thoughts. In June after Steyer launches NextGen America in 2013 to support climate change policies and candidates, the Risky Business Project, founded by billionaire hedge fund mgr. Thomas Fahr "Tom" Steyer (1957-), billionaire New York City mayor (2002-13) Michael Rubens Bloomberg (1942-), and former U.S. treasury secy. #74 (2006-9) Henry Merritt "Hank" Paulson Jr. (1946-) to combat climate change pub. its Nat. Report, followed by the Midwest Report (Jan. 2015), and the Calif. Report (Apr. 2015), examining the economic risks and opportunities of climate change. On July 21 Jonathan Thorn et al. of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Mass. announce a new way to make fully functional human platelets using human stem cells and a bioreactor. On Aug. 11 Outernet begins beaming free Wi-Fi to Earth from satellites; too bad, it's only a 1-way data service. On Sept. 1 Alvaro Pascual-Leone et al. of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center pub. an article in PLOS ONE reporting the first direct brain-to-brain communications in humans via the Internet. On Oct. 20 George Fraser et al. of the U. of Leicester pub. an article in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society announcing the first detection of axions, Dark Matter particle candidates by the XMM-Newton Observatory. In Oct. after protests by nativists who claim they want to build it on sacred land, the $1.5B Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii is delayed by the courts, with each new attempt to build it being blocked by more protests (Apr. 2 and June 24, 2015); in Dec. 2015 the Hawaiian Supreme Court invalidates the building permits. On Nov. 6 Nature Communications pub. an article announcing that the 1999 conjecture by Asher Peres that the weakest form of quantum entanglement can never result in the strongest manifestation of the phenomenon has been proven false by scientists at the U. of Geneva and Hungarian Academy of Sciences. On Nov. 13 Timothy Lu et al. of MIT pub. an article in Science announcing the first successful method for storing memory in bacterial genomes. On Nov. 27 Daniel Baker of the U. of Colo. pub. an article in Nature reporting the discovery of a boundary layer in the Van Allen belts that blocks "killer electrons". On Dec. 11 doctors at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa perform the world's first successful penis transplant on a 20-.y.-o. man from Cape Town who had his penis amputated three years earlier in a botched circumcision ceremony; after he begins intercourse five weeks after the procedure, next June 13 Anthony van der Merwe of the U. of Stellenbosch announces that he has conceived his first baby with a partner. Art: Nonfiction: Youssef H. Aboul-Enein (ed.), Reconstructing a Shattered Egyptian Army: War Minister Gen. Mohamed Fawzi's Memoirs, 1967-1971. Sonia L. Alianak, Transition towards Revolution and Reform: The Arab Spring Realized? David C. Archibald (1955-), The Twilight of Abundance: Why Life in the 21st Century Will Be Nasty, Brutiish, and Short (Mar. 24); warns of a future prolonged global cooling period, and how nuclear power and transformation of coal into liquid fuels can help survive it, going on a book tour that pisses-off global warming advocates, who call him a fringe scientist. Vladimir Avdeyev, Raciology: The Science of the Hereditary Traits of Peoples and Races; attempts to take on anthropology. Rick Atkinson (1952-), D-Day: The Invasion of Normandy, 1944. Mohammed Ayoob, Will the Middle East Implode? Tim Ball (1938-), The Deliberate Corruption of Climate Science (Jan. 21); disses the progressive left for politicizing what should only be a science. Edward E. Baptist, The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism. Mitchell Bard, Death to the Infidels: Radical Islam's War Against the Jews. Ofra Bengio, Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland. Kai Bird (1951-), The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames. Brian Robert Calfano (ed.), Assessing MENA Political Reform, Post-Arab Spring: Mediators and Microfoundations. Nicholas Carr, The Glass Cage: Automation and Us; automation is making the world less interesting? Richard Carrier (1969-), On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt; "The concept of Jesus we're supposed to believe existed is actually getting more confused the more people study it"; Hitler Homer Bible Christ: The Historical Papers of Richard Carrier, 1995-2013. Christopher Catherwood, From the Ashes of War: The Creation of the Middle East (May 29). Hillary Clinton (1947-) and Edward "Ted" Widmer, Hard Choices (June 10); 656 pages; sells 85,721 in week #1 vs. 467,604 for Sarah Palin's; "I will not be a part of a political slugfest on the backs of dead Americans... Those who insist on politicizing the tragedy will have to do so without me." Alan Dershowitz (1938-), Terror Tunnels: The Case for Israel's Just War Against Hamas (Sept. 10). John Dunn, Traditionalism: The Only Radicalism (Aug. 11); blames the world's troubles on usury. Russell Edwards, Naming Jack the Ripper (Sept. 9); claims that he's Polish Jewish immigrant Aaron Kominski. Barbara Ehrenreich (1941-), Living With a Wild God: An Unbeliever's Search for the Truth About Everything (autobio.) (Apr. 8); her childhood quest for the truth of life. Alex Epstein (1980), The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels (Nov. 13); NYT bestseller making the case for fossil fuels as a great benefit to humanity and knocking wind, solar, and biofuels as too expensive and unreliable while dissing climate alarmists; "If our goal is human flourishing and we look at the full context there is a strong moral case for using more fossil fuels, not less"; "This is not a debate over facts. It's a debate over philosophy and our assumptions." Eve Epstein and Leonora Epstein, X vs. Y: A Culture War, a Love Story (Mar. 18); Gen. X and Y siblings. Thomas Erikson, Surrounded by Idiots: The Four Types of Human Behavior and How to Effectively Communicate with Each in Business (and in Life); internat. bestseller (1.5M copies); Red, Blue, Green, Yellow; a pseudoscientific scam? Elizabeth Anne Fenn (1959-), Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People (Pulitzer Prize). Alain Finkielkraut, The Unhappy Identity (L'Identite Malheureuse); the failure of multiculturalism in France is threatening French civilization. Robert M. Gates (1943-), Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War (Jan. 14); claims that Pres. Obama and secy. of state Hillary Clinton told him that they opposed the Iraq surge because of politics. Glen Greenwald (1967-), No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State (May 13). Stephen Green, Reluctant Meister: How Germany's Past Is Shaping Its European Future (Dec. 15). Larry Hancock and Stuart Wexler, Shadow Warfare: The History of America's Undeclared Wars (Mar. 18). Peter Heather, The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians (Jan. 31). Gerald Horne, The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America; the U.S. was founded on slavery, and the liberty-equality b.s. is just window dressing to keep whites in power? Raymond Ibrahim (1973-), Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians. Abdisaid Abdi Ismail, The Rule of Apostasy in Islam: Is It True? (Sept.) (Kenya); questions the concept of the death penalty for apostasy in Islam, causing him to be called "Somalia's Salman Rushdie". Salim Ismail, Exponential Organizations: Why new organizations are ten times better, faster, cheaper than yours (and what to do about it) (Oct. 18). Raphael Israeli, Hatred, Lies, and Violence in the World of Islam. Jang Jin-sung (1970-), Dear Leader: Poet, Spy, Escapee - A Look Inside North Korea. Kent A. Kiehl, The Psychopath Whisperer: The Science of Those Without Conscience; "Symptoms should be present by age 10... as early as age 5." George Frost Kennan (1904-2005), The Kennan Diaries (posth.). David I. Kertzer (1948-), The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe (Feb.) (Pulitzer Prize); claims that Pius XI played a significant role in supporting the rise of Fascism in Italy, but started to flop after the rise of Nazi Germany, causing future Pope Pius XII to struggle to restrain him from breaking with Mussolini until he could take over and play Vatican footsie with Hitler. Ronald Kessler (1943-), The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives of the Presidents (Aug. 5); NYT bestseller; retired Secret Service agents tell all about former presidents and First Ladies, incl. all-time worst Hillary Clinton: "When in public, Hillary smiles and acts graciously. As soon as the cameras are gone, her angry personality, nastiness, and imperiousness become evident. Hillary Clinton can make Richard Nixon look like Mahatma Gandhi." Aaron Klein, The Real Benghazi Story: What the White House and Hillary Don't Want You to Know; claims that Hillary Clinton signed waivers the doomed ambassador Christopher Stevens et al. Edward Klein (1937-), Blood Feud: The Clintons vs. the Obamas (June 23); claims a feud between the Obama and Clinton clans, with Bill Clinton despising Pres. Obama, and Michelle Obama calling Hillary Clinton the "Hildebeest". Naomi Klein (1970-), This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate (Sept.), a NYT bestseller claiming that capitalism has waited too long to address climate change, and that neoliberal market fundamentalism and its profligate consumption, mega-mergers, and trade agreements immune to concerns about the environment stands in the way of the solution, making it necessary to cross "the river of fire" and dump it and start an ecological rev.; filmed in 2015 by her hubby Avi Lewis. Elizabeth Kolbert (1961-), The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History (Pulitzer Prize); climate alarmist hit predicting that humans are next, starting with 20%-50% of "all living species on earth" by 2100. Joseph Morgan Kousser (1943-), Do the Facts of Voting Rights Support Chief Justice Roberts's Opinion in Shelby County?. Arun Kundnani, The Muslims Are Coming! Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror (Mar. 18); claims that Muslims are all innocent victims entrapped by the FBI, but never explains why they so often take the bait if it isn't because it's what's Islam is really about? Mark LeVine and Mathias Mossberg (eds.), One, Two States: Israel and Palestine as Parallel States; the parallel sovereignty solution. Eric Lichtblau (1965-), The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men (Oct. 28); NYT bestseller; how they recruited and harbored former Nazis to use against the Russians, incl. a possible invasion of the Soviet Union, and covered it up into the 1990s. James Lovelock (1919-), A Rough Ride to the Future. Andrew C. McCarthy, Faithless Execution: Building the Political Case for Obama's Impeachment (May 20); "All presidential lawlessness is not the same....and real impeachment will never happen unless the people are convinced, by the nature of the president's lawlessness, that it must be stopped and that it will not be stopped unless the President is removed from office." Seyed Hossein Mousavian, Iran and the United States: An Insider's View of the Failed Past and the Road to Peace (May). D.M. Murdock (AKA Acharya S) (1960-2015), Did Moses Exist? The Myth of the Israelite Lawgiver (Mar. 27). Mike O'Connor, A Commercial Republic: America's Enduring Debate Over Democratic Capitalism (May 28). Leon Panetta, Worthy Fights; claims that the U.S. should have used more force in Iraq and Syria to stave off ISIS. Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen, HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton (Feb. 11); reveals that during the 2008 campaign Hillary Clinton kept an enemies hit list. Michael Paulkovich, No Meek Messiah; cites the lack of mention by 126 1st cent. authors to claim that Jesus Christ never existed. Thomas Piketty (1971-), Capital in the 21st Century (Mar. 10); brilliantly marshals 250 years of economic data to show that ever-increasing inequality is the inevitable outcome of free market capitalism, calling for the global taxation of capital to prevent social upheaval, which becomes an instant internat. bestseller, causing a flood of "Piketty Porn" by his eager believers. Sidney Powell, Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice (May 1). Akif Princci, Germany Out of Her Senses: The Mad Cult Around Women, Homosexuals, and Immigrants (Mar.). Gareth Porter, Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare. Nomi Prins, All the Presidents' Bankers. Mitri Raheb (1962-), Faith in the Face of Empire: The Bible Through Palestinian Eyes (Jan. 17); how the Biblical story must be interpreted through the eyes of the various empires that controlled Palestine. Paul Craig Roberts (1939-), How America Was Lost: From 9/11 to the Police/Warfare State. Lisa Robinson, There Goes Gravity: A Life in Rock and Roll (autobio.). Barry Rubin and Wolfgang G. Schwanitz, Nazis, Islamists, and the Making of the Modern Middle East (Jan.). Saxonshieldwall, Rivers of Blood: Why Enoch Powell Was Right! (Nov. 26). Daniel Schulman, Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America's Most Powerful and Private Dynasty (May 20); first bio. of the Koch brothers Frederick, Charles, David, and Bill. Fred Schruers, Billy Joel: The Definitive Biography. Nicolai Sennels, Among Criminal Muslims: A Psychologist's Experience from the Copenhagen Muncipality; "Islam creates monsters." George Soros (1930-) and Gregor Schmitz, The Tragedy of the European Union: Disintegration or Revival?; whining about resurgent xenophobia among Euro whites, who still don't see anything wrong with Europe staying white, but never advocate mass white migration to non-white countries. Robert Spencer (1962-), Arab Winter Comes to America: The Truth About the War We're In (Apr. 14). Bryan Stevenson (1959-), Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (memoir) (Oct. 21); NYT bestseller; paints the U.S. prison system as Jim Crow redesigned, getting prescribed for college freshmen; filmed in 2019 starring Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx. Roger Stone (1952-), Nixon's Secrets: The Rise, Fall and Untold Truth about the President, Watergate, and the Pardon (Aug. 11); the CIA tried to assassinate Nixon like they did JFK? Morten Storm, Paul Cruickshank, and Tim Lister, Agent Storm: My Life Inside Al Qaeda and the CIA. Sir Hew Strachan, The Direction of War; British defense strategist claims that Pres. Obama's foreign policy is a mess; "If anything it's gone backwards instead of forwards... Bush may have had totally fanciful political objectives in terms of trying to fight a global War on Terror, which was inherently astrategic, but at least he had a clear sense of what he wanted to do in the world. Obama has no sense of what he wants to do in the world." Margarita Torres and Jose Manuel Ortega del Rio, Kings of the Grail (Mar.); claims that the real Holy Grail is on display at the San Isidro Basilica in Leon, Spain. Nicholas Wade (1942-), A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History (May 6); claims that race is real, not a social construct, and subject to natural selection, and that political correctness is making the subject of race and genetics taboo in the West, allowing mono-race China to pass it up; too bad, it brings out the PC police. Peter Townsend, Questioning Islam: Tough Questions & Honest Answers About the Muslim Religion (June 26). Stephen Ulph and Patrick Sookhdeo (eds.), Reforming Islam: Progressive Voices from the Arab Muslim World. Richard Vinen, National Service: Conscription in Britain, 1945-1963 (Aug. 28); wins a Wolfson History Prize and Templer Medal. Ibn Warraq (1946-), Christmas in the Koran: Luxenberg, Syriac, and the Near Eastern and Judeo-Christian Background of Islam (Aug. 26). Elizabeth Warren (1949-), A Fighting Chance (autobio.) (Apr. 22); launches her U.S. pres. candidacy? William J. Watkins Jr. and William F. Shughart II, Patent Trolls: Predatory Litigation and the Smothering of Innovation (Aug. 18). Alison Weir, Against Our Better Judgment: The Hidden History of How the U.S. Was Used to Create Israel (Feb. 21). Allen West (1961-), Guardian of the Republic (Apr.) (first book). Carrie Rosefsky Wickham, The Muslim Brotherhood: Evolution of an Islamist Movement. Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957), Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography (posth.); ed. Pamela Smith Hill. Naci Yorulmaz, Arming the Sultan: German Arms Trade and Personal Diplomacy in the Ottoman Empire Before World War I. Eric Zemmour (1958-), The French Suicide (Le Suicide francais); makes him an internat. star; the 3D Theory of Derision, Deconstruction, and Destruction is seen in French politics from 1970-present; since the fall of Napoleon "France is no longer a predator but a prey". Mitchell Zuckoff, 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi (Sept. 9); filmed in 2016 by Michael Bay. Plays: Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields, The Play That Goes Wrong (comedy) (Duchess Theatre, West End, London) (Sept. 14) (Lyceum Theatre, New York) (Mar. 9, 2017); a production that's plagued with disasters. Alan Menken (1949-), Chad Beguelin (1969-), Howard Ashman (1950-91), and Tim Rice (1944-), Aladdin (musical) (New Amsterdam Theatre, New York) (Mar. 30) (Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, West End, London) (June 15, 2016); based on the 1992 Disney animated film. Poetry: Louise Gluck (1943-), Faithful and Virtuous Night: Poems (Nat. Book Award). Marilyn Hacker (1942-) and Deema Shehabi (1970-), Diaspo/Renga: a collaboration in alternating renga. J.R.R. Tolken (1892-1973) (tr.), Beowolf (posth.); finished in 1926. Novels: M.R. Carey (1959-), The Girl with All the Gifts; bestseller about a world infected with a fungus that turns people into mindless cannibal zombies, but some hybrid children don't lose their minds; filmed in 2016. Robin Cook (1940-), Cell (Feb. 4). Lela Gilbert and W. Jack Buckner, The Levine Affair: Angel's Flight. Liane Moriarty (1966-), Big Little Lies (July); NYT bestseller. B.J. Novak, One More Thing. Joseph O'Connor, The Thrill of It All; Robbie Goulding. Anne Rice (1941-2021), Interview with the Vampire (Oct. 28)>; #11 in the Vampire Chronicles (1976). J.K. Rowling (1965-), The Silkworm; pub. under alias Robert Galbraith. Charles Stross (1964-), The Lambda Functionary; sequel to "Rule 34" (2011). Akhil Sharma, Family Life; an Indian immigrant family to suburban U.S. in the late 1970s. Timur Vermes, He's Back Again (Er Is Wieder Da); Hitler wakes up in modern-day mongrelized Muslimized multicultural Berlin. Music: AC/DC, Rock or Bust (album); first sans Malcolm Young. Dierks Bentley (1975-), Riser (album #7) (Feb. 25) (#1 country) (#6 in the U.S.); incl. Riser (#8 in the U.S.) (#24 country), I Hold On (#3 country) (#40 in the U.S.), Drunk on a Plane (#3 country) (#27 in the U.S.), Bourbon in Kentucky (#40 country). Johnny Cash (1932-2003), Out Among the Stars (posth.) (album) (Mar. 25) (#1 country) (#3 in the U.S.) (#4 in the U.K.); incl. Out Among the Stars, Baby Ride Easy (w/June Carter), She Used to Love Me a Lot, I'm Movin' On (by Hank Snow) (w/Waylon Jennings). Dan + Shay, Where It All Began (album) (debut) (Apr. 1) (Warner Bros. Records) (#1 country) (#6 in the U.S.); from Nashville, Tenn., incl. Dan Smyers (1987-) (Wexford, Penn.) and James Shay Mooney (1991) (Natural Dam, Ark.) (formerly hooked up with Veronica Ballestrini); incl. 19 You + Me (#7 country) (#42 in the U.S.) (700K copies), Show You Off (#29 country) (100K copies), What You Do to Me (#39 country). Morgan Evans (1984-), Morgan Evans (album) (debut) (#20 ARIA) (#1 Australian country). Phoebe Killdeer (1977-), Fade Out Lines (Sept. 26) (#1 in Germany) (#3 in France); a reworking of "The Fade Out Line", featured in the film "Colombiana" (2011). Maddie and Tae, Maddie & Tae (album) (debut) (Nov. 4) (Dot Records); Maddie Marlow (Sugar Land, Tex.) and Taylor Elizabeth Dye (Ada, Okla.); incl. Girl in a Country Song (#8 country) (#62 in the U.S.) (250K copies). Eric Paslay (1983-), Eric Paslay (album) (debut) (Feb. 4) (#4 country) (#31 in the U.S.) (EMI Records); incl. Friday Night (#6 country) (#47 in the U.S.) (500K copies), Song About A Girl (#18 country) (#12 in the U.S.) (200K copies), She Don't Love You. Bob Seger (1945-), Ride Out (album #14) (Oct. 14) (#172 in the U.S.); incl. It's Your World, about climate change, uttering the soundbyte: "There are a lot of culprits in climate change, and everybody's responsible, myself included. Nobody gets a free pass on this one. We've got to change our ways and change them fast." Blake Shelton (1976-), Bringing Back the Sunshine (album #9) (Aug. 18) (#1 in the U.S., #1 country); incl. Neon Light (#43 in the U.S.) (#1 country), Sangria (#38 in the U.S.) (#1 country). Taylor Swift (1989-), 1989 (album #5) (Oct. 27); (#1 in the U.S.) (9.5M copies); her "first documented official pop album", ditching country; incl. Shake It Off (#1 in the U.S.) (#58 country) (2M copies), Blank Space (#1 in the U.S.), Style (#6 in the U.S.), Bad Blood (w/Kendrick Lamar) (#1 in the U.S.). Cole Swindell (1983-), Cole Swindell (album) (debut) (Feb. 18) (#2 country) (#3 in the U.S.) (Warner Bros. Records); incl. Chillin' It (#1 country) (#28 in the U.S.), Hope You Get Lonely Tonight (#7 country) (#50 in the U.S.). U2, Songs of Innocence (album) (Sept. 9); free distribution by Apple pisses-off millions for clogging their equipment. Movies: Dille Woodruff's Addicted (Oct. 10), based on the bestselling novel by Zane stars Sharon Leal as married nympho Zoe Reynard, Boris Kodjoe as her hubby Jason, Tyson Beckford and William Levy as her lovers, and Tasha Smith as sexual addiction pshrink Dr. Marcella Spencer; does $17.4M box office on a $5M budget. Clint Eastwood's American Sniper (Nov. 11) (Warner Bros.) stars Bradley Cooper as Tex.-raised U.S. Navy SEAL sniper champ Chris Kyle (1974-2013); does $547.4M box office on a $58.8M budget. Jennifer Kent's The Babadook (Jan. 17) (Screen Australia) (Entertainment One) (Umbrella Entertainment) debuts, starring Essie Davis as widow Amelia Vanek, whose 6-y.-o. Samuel "Sam" becomes plagued by an imaginary monster after asking mommy to read the pop-up storybook "Mister Babadook", about a tall pale-faced humanoid monster with taloned fingers who wears a top hat and torments anybody who becomes aware of its existence; "A rumbling sound then three sharp knocks, ba BA-ba DOOK! DOOK! DOOK! That's when you'll know that he's around. You'll see him if you look"; "You can't get rid of the Babadook"; Kent's dir. debut; does $7.5M box office on a $2M budget. Don Hall's and Chris Williams' Big Hero 6 (Oct. 23) is the first Disney animated film to feature Marvel Comics chars.; stars 14-y.-o. robotics genius Hiro Hamada of San Fransokyo, who has to build a superhero team to fight a masked villain; does $546M box office on a $165M budget. Alejandro Inarritu's Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Aug. 27) (Regency Enterprises) (Fox Searchlight Pictures) stars Michael Keaton as washed-up Hollyweird Birdman actor Riggan Thomson, who hopes to revive his career via a Broadway adaptation of a Raymond Carver short story; Emma Stone plays Riggan's daughter Emma Stone; Zach Galifianakis plays his atty. Jake; Edward Norton plays actor Mike Shiner; Naomi Watts plays Mike's girl Lesley; does $103.2M box office on an $18M budget. Richard Linklater's Boyhood (Jan. 19) stars Patricia Arquette as single mom Olivia, who moves to Houston, Tex. to complete her degree, taking 6-y-o. son Mason Evans Jr. (Ellar Coltrane) and older sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater), causing father Ethan Hawke to visit the children, while she hooks up with Prof. Bill Welbrock (Marco Perella), after which the family really becomes dysfunctional over the next 12 years. Michael Almereyda's Cymbeline (Anarchy) (Sept. 3) (Lionsgate), based on the Shakespeare play turned into a war between a biker gang and dirty cops stars Ed Harris as drug kingpin King Cymbeline, Mila Jovovich as Queen, Ethan Hawke as Iachimo, John Leguizamo as Pisanio, and Penn Badgley as orphan Posthumus, who secretly marries Cymbeline's daughter and is banished, while Queen schemes to put her son from a previous marriage onto the the throne in their place; Anton Yelchin plays Cloten, son of Queen by a former hubby; Dakota Johnson plays Imogen, daughter of Cymbline from a previous marriage. Louise Osmond's Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance is a British documentary set in South Wales about a racehorse who wins the Welsh Grand National. Neil Burger's Divergent (Mar. 18), based on the 2011 novel by Veronica Roth and set in a future dystopian Chicago stars Shailene Woodley as Beatrice "Tris" Prior, and Theo James as Tobias "Four" Eaton; followed by "Insurgent" (2015), "Allegiant" (2016), "Ascendant" (2017). Bobby Farrelly's and Peter Farrelly's Dumb and Dumber To (Nov. 14), a sequel to "Dumb and Dumber" (1994) stars Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, who search for the long-lost children and a new kidney; does $129M box office on a $40M budget. Doug Liman's Edge of Tomorrow (May 28) (Warner Bros.), based on the 2004 novel "All You Need Is Kill" by Hiroshi Sakurazaka stars Tom Cruise as Maj. William Cage, Emily Blunt as Pvt. Rita Vrataski, and Bill Paxton as MSgt. Farrell Bartolome, who fight an invasion of W Europe by aliens called Mimics, with Cage getting a dose of alien blood that allows him to loop back in time one day until he hunt down the Omega hive mind; does $370.5M box office on a $178M budget; "Live. Die. Repeat." Joe Lynch's Everly (Sept. 20) (iTunes) stars Salma Hayek (after Kate Hudson bows out)( as a Yakuza sex slave who is caught being a police mole, causing mob boss Taiko (Hiroyuki Watanabe) to order the murder of her entire family incl. mother Edith (Laura Cepeda) and cute young daughter Maisey (Aisha Ayaman); Togo Igawa plays Tako's asst. The Sadist. Ridley Scott's Exodus: Gods & Kings (Dec. 12) (20th Cent. Fox) stars TLW, er, Christian Bale as Moses, Joel Edgerton as Rameses II, John Turturro as Seti I, Aaron Paul as Joshua, Sigourney Weaver as Tuya, and Ben Kingsley as Nun; banned by Egypt, with the soundbyte "Jews didn't build pyramids"; does $107M box office on a $140M budget. Amy J. Berg's Every Secret Thing (Apr. 20) (Hyde Park Entertainment), based on the 2004 Laura Lippman novel and produced by Frances McDormand stars Dakota Fanning and Danielle Macdonald as preetens Ronnie Fuller and Alice Manning, who kidnap and murder the 3-y.-o. biracial granddaughter of the county's first black judge; Diane Lane plays mother Helen Manning. Josh Boone's The Fault in Our Stars (May 16) (Temple Hill Entertainment), based on the 2012 John Green novel stars Shailene Woodley as 16-y.-o. cancer patient Hazel Grace Lancaster; does $256M box office on a $12M budget. Bennett Miller's Foxcatcher (May 19) (Sony Pictures) stars Steve Carrell as big-nosed philanthropist John E. du Pont, ignoring his mother Jean du Pont (Vanessa Redgrave), who disses wrestling as a "low sport" and helping the U.S. Olympic wrestling team recruit the Schultz brothers Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) and Dave Schultz (Mark Ruffalo) to train on his 800-acre Foxcatcher Farm near Philly to win medals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, after which in Jan. 1996 he freaks and murders Dave after his mother dies; does $13.6M box office on a $24M budget; "Ornithologist, philatelist, philanthropist". David Ayer's Fury (Oct. 15) (Columbia Pictures) stars a U.S. Army 2nd Armored Div. Sherman Easy Eight tank named Fury, manned by U.S. SSGt. Don "Wardaddy" Collier (Brad Pitt), gunner Boyd "Bible" Swan (Shia LaBeouf), Grady "Coon-Ass" Travis (Jon Bernthal), Trini "Gordo" Garcia (Michael Pena), and raw recruit Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman), painting Nazis as patriotic gung-ho vermin and Americans as superheroes; does $211.8M box office on a $68M budget. Rupert Wyatt's The Gambler (Nov. 10) (Paramount Pictures), based on the 1974 film stars Mark Wahlberg as L.A. lit. prof. Jim Bennett, who suffers from a severe gambling addiction, ending up owing big bucks to Frank (John Goodman) and Lee (Alvin Ing); Brie Larson plays his babe Amy Phillips; the final film role of George Kennedy as Ed; does $39.3M box office on a $31M budget. Phillip Noyce's The Giver (Aug. 15), based on the 1993 Lois Lowry novel stars Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites, and Taylor Swift. Gareth Edwards' Godzilla (May 15) returns to the terrifying force of nature theme a la the original Toho series. Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel (Feb. 6), filmed in Germany stars Ralph Fiennes as concierge M. Gustave H., who teams up with one of his employees to prove his innocence after he is framed for murder. Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Dec. 1) (New Line Cinema) (MGM) (WingNut Films) (Warner Bros.) stars Martin Freeman and Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins, Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey, Richard Armitage as dwarf king Thorin Oakenshield, Orlando Bloom as Legolas Greenleaf, Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel, Lee Pace as elf king Thranduil (who rides on a domesticated elk), Billy Connolly as dwarf leader Dain Ironfoot (who rides on a giant boar), and Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman; Smaug goes down way too fast and easy at the beginning, and all the giants fall too easy and fast later?; does $956M box office on a $250M budget. Tommy Lee Jones' The Homesman (May 18) (Saban Films), based on the novel by Glendon Swarthout stars Hilary Swank as homely single middle age Neb. woman Mary Bee Cuddy, and Jones as claim jumper George Briggs, who escorts her to Iowa; John Lithgow plays Rev. Dowd. Lasse Hallstrom's The Hundred-Foot Journey (Aug. 8) (Touchstone Pictures), based on the 2010 novel by Richard C. Morais about feuding restaurants located 100 ft. apart stars Helen Mirren as French restaurant owner Madame Mallory, Om Puri as rival Indian restaurant owner Papa, Manish Dayal as Chef Hassan Haji, and Charlotte Le Bon as Chef Marguerite; does $88.9M box office on a $22M budget. Stuart Beattie's I, Frankenstein (Jan. 24) (Lakeshore Entertainment) (Lionsgate), based on the graphic novel by Kevin Grevious set in 1795 stars Aaron Eckhart as monster Adam, created by Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Aden Young), who chases him to the Arctic after he kills his wife Elizabeth (Virginie Le Brun), where he gets into a war between demons, led by Prince Naberius (Bill Nighy) and gargoyles, led by Queen Leonore (Miranda Otto) and Cmdr. Gideon (Jai Courtney); does $71.2M box office on a $65M budget. Morten Tyldum's The Imitation Game (Aug. 29) (Black Bear Pictures) (Weinstein Co.) stars Benedict Cumberbatch as British cryptoanalyst Alan Turing, and Keira Knightley as his babe Joan Clarke, attempting to cover-up his homosexuality?; does $233.6M box office on a $14M budget. Christopher Nolan's Interstellar (Oct. 26) (Paramount Pictures) (Warner Bros.), co-written by Jonathan Nolan stars Matthew McConaughey as Joseph "Coop" Cooper, Anne Hathaway as Amelia Brand, David Gyasi as Romilly, and Wes Bentley as Doyle, a crew of astronauts traveling through a wormhole orbiting Saturn provided by 5th Dimensional aliens to find a new habitable planet before Earth's pop. implodes; Jessica Chastain plays Cooper's daughter Murph(y); Michael Caine plays Prof. Brand; John Lithgow plays Donald; Casey Affleck plays Tom Cooper; does $675.1M box office on a $165M budget. Evan Goldberg's and Seth Rogen's The Interview (Dec. 11) (Columbia Pictures), written by Dan Sterling stars Rogen and James Franco as Am. journalists on a mission to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un (Randall Park) during an interview; after hacker threats against parent co. Sony Pictures, it is pulled from theaters on Dec. 17; on Dec. 19 the FBI announces that North Korea is behind the hacking, after which North Korea claims that the U.S. shut down its Internet, denying the Sony incident and calling Pres. Obama a monkey on Dec. 27; too bad, the film portrayed Jong-un as a likeable guy? Chad Stahelski's and David Leitch's John Wick (Sept. 19) (Thunder Road Pictures) (Summit Entertainment), a Gun-Fu hit starring Keanu Reeves as a retired hitman known as Baba Yaga (the Boogeyman) whose vintage car is stolen and his new puppy killed that his recently-deceased wife Helen (Bridget Moynahan) left him by Russian gangster Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen), son of crime boss Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist), causing him to go on a revenge tour and end up killing 76 people to get to the one he wants; also stars Ian McShane as Continental Hotel owner Winston, John Leguizamo as chop shop owner Aurelio, Dean Winters as Viggo's lt. Avi, Willem Dafoe as Wick's mentor Marcus, and Adrianne Palicki as hit woman Ms. Perkins; does $88.8M box office on a $30M budget; followed by "John Wick: Chapter 2" (2017); Wick has the Latin inscription "Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat" tattooed on his back, which the movie claims means "Fortune Favors the Bold", when it actually is an ancient pagan saying that means that the Goddess Fortuna helps only the strong, the exact opposite of the Biblical saying "The meek shall inherit the Earth". James Ford Murphy's computer-animated musical short film Lava (Nov. 23) (Walt Disney Pictures) (Pixar Animation Studio) ,a musical love story that takes place over millions of years, inspired by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's 1990 hit version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow; features the song Lava. Renny Harlin's The Legend of Hercules (Jan. 10) (Millennium Films) (Summit Entertainment) stars studly Kellan Lutz as Alcides, son of bad king Amphitryon of Tiryns ca. 1200 B.C.E. who falls for Princess Hebe of Crete (Gaia Weiss), who is betrothed to Iphicles (Liam Garrigan), and finds out that his real name is you know what; does $61.3M box office on a $70M budget. Ira Sachs' Love Is Strange (Sony Pictures) (Jan. 18) stars John Lithgow and Alfred Molina as gay couple Ben and George, who get married after 39 years together, causing George to be fired from his Roman Catholic school, causing them to split. Luc Besson's Lucy (July 25) (Universal) stars Scarlett Johannson as 25-y.-o. Am. woman Lucy, who lives in Taipei, and is tricked into become a drug mule by her beau, getting a massive dose of new synthetic drug CPH4, which turns her into a telepathic Amazon babe; does $270M box office on a $40M budget. Woody Allen's Magic in the Moonlight (July 25) stars Colin Firth as medium-exposing skeptic Stanley Crawford, who investigates gorgeous medium Emma Stone, and falls for her as well as her act; does $51M box office on a $16.8M budget. Wes Ball's The Maze Runner (Sept. 19) (20th Cent. Fox), based on the 2007 James Dashner novel and filmed in Baton Rouge, La. stars Dylan O'Brien as 16-y.-o. Thomas, who is given amnesia and sent in the Box (a rusty elevator) to the Glade, a clearing inside a gigantic moving stone maze, where 30+ other boys are trapped and have to live like primitives, led by Alby (Aml Ameen), incl. Chuck (Blake Cooper), Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Gally (Will Poulter), Minho (Ki Hong Lee), and Ben (Chris Sheffield); each day a door opens into the maze, allowing Runners to be sent in to try and find a way out; at night it closes, and anybody trapped inside is killed by giant spiders called Grievers; after Thomas becomes the first to kill a Griever, the first girl, Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) arrives, helping Thomas to regain his memory and remember that he and her were working for the creators, and that it is all a test, after which they finally find a way out of the maze and end up in the lab, where terrorists have killed all the personnel, and rescue them, taking them outside, revealing that the world is a vast desert with a scorching Sun; does $150M on a $34M budget. Karen Leigh Hopkins' Miss Meadows (Apr. 21) stars Katie Holmes as tap-dancing suburban first grade school teacher Mary Meadows, who is also a pistol-packing vigilante with issues with her mama, causing her to wear old-fashioned dresses and speak old-fashioned speech while popping-off perverts, hooking up with local sheriff James Badge Dale, who makes her pregnant and proposes, while suspecting her; meanwhile released pervert Skylar (Callan Mulvey) hovers over her kids, tying the plot into a neat bow; "Be careful" (sheriff); "I always am" (Meadows). Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner (May 15) (Film4) (Focus Features Internat.) (Thin Man Films) stars Timothy Spall as English Romantic painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) in his last 25 horny crotchety years; does $17.8M box office on an £8.4M budget. George Clooney's The Monuments Men (Feb. 7), based on a book by Robert M. Edsel about an Allied group tasked with saving artwork from Hitler at the end of WWII stars Clooney as George Stout, Matt Damon as Lt. James Rorimer, Bill Murray as Capt. Rich Campbell, and John Goodman as Capt. Walter Garfield. Roger Donaldson's The November Man (Aug. 27) (Relativity Media), based on the novel "There Are No Spies" by Bill Granger stars Pierce Brosnan as ex-CIA agent Peter H. Devereaux, who must protect witness Alice Fournier (Olga Kurylenko) from his former CIA boss John Hanley (Bill Smitrovich) and his henchman David Mason (Luke Bracey); Will Patton plays CIA station chief Perry Weinstein; does $34.8M box office on a $15M budget; "Know what we used to call you Peter? The November Man. Cause after you passed through, nothing lived. You were one bleak motherfucker my friend." (Hanley) Edward Zwick's Pawn Sacrifice (Sept. 11) (Gail Katz Productions) stars Tobey Maguire as chess champ Bobby Fischer, Liev Schrieber as his arch-rival Boris Spassky, and Peter Sarsgaard as Fischer's second Father William Lombardy; "You have Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon calling Bobby Fischer; you have Brezhnev and the KGB agents following Boris Spassky. Both of these men were pawns of their nations" (Zwick); does $5.6M box office on a $19M budget. Luis Estrada's The Perfect Dictatorship (Oct. 16) (Bandidos Films); Mexican state gov. Carmelo Vargas (Damian Alcazar) pays TV network MX to coverup his corruption, getting elected pres. of Mexico, channeling Enrique Pena Nieto and Televisa; "Any resemblance or similarity to reality is not mere coincidence"; #1 box office hit in Mexico ($14M box office). James DeMonaco's The Purge: Anarchy (July 18) (Platinum Dunes) is a sequel to the 2013 film; does $111M box office on a $9M budget. Ava DuVernay's Selma (Dec. 25) (Harpo Films), based on the 1965 Selma-Montgomery Marches stars David Oyelowo as MLK Jr., Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King, and Tom Wilkinson as LBJ. Sergei Bodrov's Seventh Son (Dec. 17) (China Film Group) (Legendary Pictures) (Universal Pictures) stars Jeff Bridges as roving witch hunter John Gregory AKA the Spook, last member of the Falcon knights, Ben Barnes as Tom Ward, the 7th son of a 7th son, Julianna Moore as evil witch Mother Malkin, and Alicia Vikander as Tom's babe Alice Deane; Antje Traue plays Malkin's sister Bony Lizzie, mother of Alice; does $114.2M box office on a $95M budget. Richard Glatzer's and Wash Westmoreland's Still Alice (Sept. 8), based on the 2007 novel by Lisa Genova stars Julianne Moore as a Columbia U. linguistics prof. diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease, showing her systematically turning into sponge cake; Alec Baldwin plays her hubby John. James Marsh's The Theory of Everything (Sept. 7) (Focus Features) (Universal Pictures), written by Anthony McCarten based on the memoir "Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen" by Jane Wilde Hawking stars Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking, and Felicity Jones as his babe Jane Wilde; does $123.7M box office on a $15M budget. Wally Pfister's Transcendence (Apr. 18) stars Johnny Depp as terminally-ill AI genius Dr. Will Caster, who creates a god machine and uploads his mind into it. Marjane Satrapi's The Voices (Jan. 19) (1984 Private Defense Contractor) (Lionsgate) is a dark comedy starring Ryan Reynolds as bathtub factory worker Jerry, who lives above an abandoned bowling alley with his dog Bosco and cat Mr. Whiskers, who talk to him while he goes on a killing spree with Lisa (Anna Kendrick), Fiona (Gemma Arterton), Alison (Ella Smith), cutting up their bodies and storing their heads in his refrigerator so they can talk him to, while he bares his soul to pshrink Dr. Warren (Jacki Weaver); does only $444K box office on an $11M budget. Scott Frank's A Walk Among the Tombstones (Sept. 19) (Cross Creek Pictures) (Universal Pictures), based on the 1992 novel by Lawrence Block is a film noir starring Liam Needson as retired detective Matthew "Matt" Scudder, who searches for the brutal murderers of women in New York City; Laura Birn plays victim Leila Andresen; Dan Stevens play drug dealer Kenny Kristo; Brian "Astro" Bradlay plays black vegeterian T.J.; Olafur Darri Olafsson plays cemetery groundskeeper Jonas Loogan; does $62.1M box office on a $28M budget. Thomas Carter's When the Game Stands Tall (Aug. 4) (TriStar Pictures), based on the 2003 book by Neil Hayes about the 1992-2003 De La Salle H.S. football team in Concord, Calif. stars Jim Caviezel as coach Bob Ladouceur, Laura Dern as his wife Bev, Michael Chiklas as asst. coach Terry Eidson, and Alexander Ludwig as RB Chris Ryan; does $30M box office on a $15M budget. Damien Chazelle's Whiplash (Jan. 16) (Bold Films) (blumhouse Productions) (Sony Pictures Classics), based on a jazz piece by Hank Levy stars Miles Teller as jazz drummer Andrew Neiman, who attends the Shaffer Conservatory in New York City and aspires to become a jazz great under the brutal regime of teacher Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons); "I will gut you like a pig. You are a worthless pansy who is now weeping and slobbering over my drum set like a 9-year-old girl"; "I'd rather die drunk, broke at 34 and have people at a dinner table talk about me than live to be rich and sober at 90 and nobody remembered who I was"; stars Miles Teller as jazz drummer Andrew Neiman, who attends the Shaffer Conservatory in New York City and tries to become a jazz great under the brutal regime of teacher Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons); "I will gut you like a pig. You are a worthless pansy who is now weeping and slobbering over my drum set like a 9-year-old girl"; "I'd rather die drunk, broke at 34 and have people at a dinner table talk about me than live to be rich and sober at 90 and nobody remembered who I was"; "I don't think people understood what it was I was doing at Shaffer. I wasn't there to conduct. Any fucking moron can wave his arms and keep people in tempo. I was there to push people beyond what's expected of them. I believe that is an absolute necessity. Otherwise, we're depriving the world of the next Louis Armstrong. The next Charlie Parker"; "Are you a rusher, or are you a dragger, or are you gonna be on my fucking time?"; "There are no two words in the English language more harmful than good job"; "Full Metal Juilliard"; features a cool jazz drum solo; does $49M box office on a $3.3M budget. Births: Hong Kong entertainment mogul Sir Run Run Shaw (b. 1907) on Jan. 7 in Kowloon. Swedish heiress Princess Leonore of Sweden, Duchess of Gotland on Feb. 20 in New York City; eldest child of Princess Madeleine and Christopher O'Neill; holds dual Swedish-U.S. citizenship. Deaths: Am. "Annie Johnson in Imitation of Life" actress Juanita Moore (b. 1914) on Jan. 1 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. Everly Brothers singer Phil Everly (b. 1939) on Jan. 3 in Burbank, Calif. Am. black activist poet Amiri Baraka (b. 1934) on Jan. 9 in Newark, N.J. Israeli PM #11 (2001-6) Ariel Sharon (b. 1928) on Jan. 11 in Ramat Gan; dies after an 8-year coma; his death will signal the return of the Jewish Messiah, according to Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri. Am. "The Professor in Gilligan's Island" Russell Johnson (b. 1924) on Jan. 16 in Bainbridge Island, Wash. (kidney failure). Canadian-born Am. "Reuben Kincaid in The Partridge Family" actor Dave Madden (b. 1931) on Jan. 16 in Jacksonville, Fla. (cancer). Russian climate scientist Yuri Izrael (b. 1930) on Jan. 23 in Moscow. Am. basketball player Tom Gola (b. 1933) on Jan. 26 in Philadelphia, Penn. Am. folk singer Pete Seeger (b. 1919) on Jan. 27 in New York City. Am. poet-artist Rene Ricard (b. 1946) on Feb. 1 in New York City (cancer). Am. "Capote" actor Philip Seymour Hoffman (b. 1967) on Feb. 2 in Manhattan, N.Y. (OD); Broadway dims its lights in his honor - aw shucks, he missed the Super Bowl? Israeli journalist Barry Rubin (b. 1950) on Feb. 3 in Tel Aviv (lung cancer). Am. baseball hall-of-fame player Ralph Kiner (b. 1922) on Feb. 6 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Am. poet Maxine Kumin (b. 1925) on Feb. 6 in Warner, N.H. Am. child movie star Shirley Temple (b. 1928) on Feb. 10 in Woodside, Calif. Am. comedian Sid Caesar (b. 1922) on Feb. 12 in Beverley Hills, Calif. Am. "Ralph Monroe in Green Acres" actress Mary Grace Canfield (b. 1924) on Feb. 15 in Santa Barbara, Calif. South African geneticist Anthony Clifford Allison (b. 1925) on Feb. 20 in Belmont, Calif. Armenian astronomer Grigor Burzadyan (b. 1922) on Feb. 22 in Yerevan. Am. "Ghostbusters" actor Harold Ramis (b. 1944) on Feb. 24 in Chicago, Ill. (vasculitis). Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia (b. 1947) on Feb. 25 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico (heart attack). Am. writer Justin Kaplan (b. 1925) on Mar. 2. Am. political scientist Rudolph Rummel (b. 1932) on Mar. 2 in Kaneohe, Hawaii. Am. surgeon Frank Jobe (b. 1925) on Mar. 6 in Santa Monica, Calif. Am. "Alice Kramden in The Jackie Gleason Show" actress Sheila MacRae (b. 1921) on Mar. 6 in Englewood, N.J. Am. diplomat Samuel Winfield Lewis (b. 1930) on Mar. 10. Am. Korean War hero Col. Ola Lee Mize (b. 1931) on Mar. 12. Am. actress Patricia Wymore (b. 1926) on Mar. 22 in Portland Parish, Jamaica (pulmonary disease); dies on the coconut plantation left her by hubby (1950-9) Errol Flynn (1909-59). U.S. defense secy. #12 (1973-5) James Rodney Schlesinger (b. 1929) on Mar. 27 in Baltimore, Md. U.S. Adm. Jeremiah Denton (b. 1924) on Mar. 28 in Virginia Beach, Va. English "Caress Morell in Dynasty" actress Kate O'Mara (b. 1939) on Mar. 30 in Sussex (ovarian cancer). Am. comic book artist Fred Kida (b. 1920) on Apr. 3. Am. actor Mickey Rooney (b. 1920) on Apr. 6 in Los Angeles, Calif. English TV journalist Peaches Geldof (b. 1989) on Apr. 7 in Wrotham, Kent. Am. prof. wrestler the Ultimate Warrior (b. 1959) on Apr. 8 in Scottsdale, Ariz. (heart attack). Am. writer Gregory White Smith (b. 1951) on Apr. 10 in Aiken, S.C. (brain cancer). Am. basketball player Lou Hudson (b. 1944) on Apr. 11 in Atlanta, Ga. (stroke); served as an ambassador for the Power to End Stroke org. French writer Pierre Autin-Grenier (b. 1947) on Apr. 12 in Lyon. Romanian poet Nina Cassian (b. 1924) on Apr. 15 in New York City (cardiac arrest). Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez (b. 1927) on Apr. 17 in Mexico City, Mexico: "Think of love as a state of grace not as a means to anything... but an end in itself." English playwright-actor Anthony Marriott (b. 1931) on Apr. 17. Am. boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (b. 1937) on Apr. 20 in Toronto, Ont., Canada. Am. Mr. Coffee co-inventor Edmund Abel (b. 1921) on Apr. 21 in Rocky River, Ohio. English "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" actor Bob Hoskins (b. 1942) on Apr. 29 in London (pneumonia). Am. "Stu Bailey in 77 Sunset Strip" actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (b. 1918) on May 2 in Solvang, Calif. Ukrainian-born British tennis player Elena Baltacha (b. 1983) on May 4 (liver cancer). Swiss "Alien" artist H.R. Giger (b. 1940) on May 12 in Zurich; dies of injuries from a fall. Am. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" poet Maya Angelou (b. 1928) on May 28 in Winston-Salem, N.C.: "One would say of my life, born loser, had to be, from a broken family, raped at eight, unwed mother of sixteen"; "History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again." Canadian basketball player Bob Houbregs (b. 1932) on May 28 in Olympia, Wash. Am. "The Godfather" cinematographer Gordon Willis (b. 1931) on May 18 in North Falmouth, Mass. (cancer). Czech-born Am. climate scientist George Kukla (b. 1930) on May 31 in Suffern, N.Y. (heart attack). Am. "Alice Nelson in The Brady Bunch" actress Ann B. Davis (b. 1926) on June 1 in San Antonio, Tex. Am. psychedelic chemist Alexander Shulgin (b. 1925) on June 2 in Lafayette, Calif. (liver cancer). Polish-born Am. world's oldest man Alexander Imich (b. 1903) on June 8 in Manhattan, N.Y. Am. baseball pitcher Bob Welch (b. 1956) on June 9 in Seal Beach, Calif. Am. American Top 40 disc jockey Casey Kasem (b. 1932) on June 15 in Gig Harbor, Wash. Am. "Flowers for Algernon" novelist Daniel Keyes (b. 1927) on June 15 in Boca Raton, Fla. (pneumonia). Am. baseball hall-of-fame player Tony Gwynn (b. 1960) on June 16 in Poway, Calif. (cancer from snuff). Australian businessman Ray Evans (b. 1939) on June 17 in Melbourne. Am. country singer Jimmy C. Newman (b. 1927) on June 21 in Nashville, Tenn. Italian physicist Bruno Zumino (b. 1923) on June 21 in Berkeley, Calif. Lebanese-born Am. scholar Fouad A. Ajami (b. 1945) on June 22 in Maine (prostate cancer). English science writer Nigel Calder (b. 1931) on June 25. Spanish novelist Ana Maria Matute (b. 1925) on June 25 (heart attack). Am. Repub. politician Howard Baker (b. 1925) on June 26 in Huntsville, Tenn. (stroke). Am. musician Bobby Womack (b. 1944) on June 27 in Tarzana, Calif. German historian Hans-Ulrich Wehler (b. 1931) on July 5 in Bielefeld. Polish-born Canadian real estate tycoon David Azrieli (b. 1922) on July 9 in Montreal, Quebec. English "Help!" "Superman II/III" film composer Ken Thorne (b. 1924) on July 9 in West Hills, Calif. Am. writer Curt Gentry (b. 1931) on July 10 in San Francisco, Calif. Am. historian James MacGregor Burns (b. 1918) on July 15 in Williamstown, Mass. Am. "Bret Maverick" actor James Garner (b. 1928) on July 19 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. country singer George Riddle (b. 1936) on July 20 in Indianapolis, Ind. English economist John Blundell (b. 1952) on July 22. Am. nightclub owner Manny Roth (b. 1919) on July 24 in Ojai, Calif. German-born Am. "Up the Down Staircase" novelist Bel Kaufman (b. 1911) on July 25 in Manhattan, N.Y. Am. White House press. secy. #15 (1981-9) (gun control symbol) Jim Brady (b. 1940) on Aug. 4 in Alexandria, Va. U.S. Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene (b. 1959) on Aug. 5 in Qamp Qargha, Kabul, Afghanistan (KIA). Israeli dir.-producer Menahem Golan (b. 1929) on Aug. 9 in Jaffa. Am. "Good Morning, Vietnam" actor-comedian Robin Williams (b. 1951) on Aug. 11 in Paradise Cay, Calif.; commits suicide by hanging in his home near Tiburon, Calif.; he had been experiencing depression from alcoholism rehabiliation, and was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's, although he really had Lewy body dementia; "Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien, but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most - from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets" (Pres. Obama): "Cocaine is God's way of telling you you are making too much money." Am. actress Lauren Bacall (b. 1924) on Aug. 12 in New York City (stroke). Am. diplomat John Edwin Mroz (b. 1948) on Aug. 15 in Manhattan, N.Y. (cancer). Am. serial murderer Robert Christian Hansen (b. 1939) on Aug. 21 in Seward, Alaska. English composer Sandy Wilson (b. 1924) on Aug. 27 in Taunton. Am. Survivor lead singer Jimi Jamison (b. 1951) on Aug. 31 in Raleigh, Memphis, Tenn. (heart attack). Argentine rocker Gustavo Cerati (b. 1959) on Sept. 4 in Buenos Aires (stroke and coma on May 14, 2010). Am. comedian Joan Rivers (b. 1933) on Sept. 4 in Manhattan, N.Y. (cardiac arrest). Am. Chick-fil-A founder Samuel Truett Cathy (b. 1921) on Sept. 8 in Clayton County, Ga. Am. jazz musician Gerald Wilson (b. 1918) on Sept. 8 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Duke Shannon in Wagon Train " actor Denny Denny Scott Miller (b. 1934) on Sept. 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada (ALS). Am. musician-producer Bob Crewe (b. 1930) on Sept. 11 in Scarborough, Maine. English actor Sir Donald Sinden (b. 1923) on Sept. 12 in Wittersham, Isle of Oxney, Kent (prostate cancer). Irish Protestant leader Rev. Ian Paisley (b. 1926) on Sept. 12 in Belfast. Am. country musician George Hamilton IV (b. 1937) on Sept. 17 in Nashville, Tenn. (heart attack). Israeli spy Mike Harari (b. 1927) on Sept. 21 in Tel Aviv. Am. mountaineer Barbara Washburn (b. 1914) on Sept. 25. Am. physicist Martin Lewis Perl (b. 1927) on Sept. 30 in Palo Alto, Calif.; 1995 Nobel Physics Prize. Haitian pres. (1971-86) Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier (b. 1951) on Oct. 4 in Port-au-Prince (heart attack). Am. Paul Revere and the Raiders founder Paul Revere Dick (b. 1938) on Oct. 4 in Caldwell, Idaho. French novelist Claude Ollier (b. 1922) on Oct. 18. Dominican-born Am. fashion designer Oscar de la Renta (b. 1932) on Oct. 20 in Kent, Conn. (cancer). Am. Washington Post executive ed. (1968-91) Ben Bradlee (b. 1921) on Oct. 21 in Washington, D.C. Scottish Cream rocker Jack Bruce (b. 1943) on Oct. 25 in Suffolk, England (liver disease). Dominican baseball outfielder Oscar Taveras (b. 1992) on Oct. 26 in Puerto Plata (automobile accident). Am. poet Galway Kinnell (b. 1927) on Oct. 28 in Sheffield, Vt. Am. economist Gordon Tullock (b. 1922) on Nov. 3 in Des Moines, Iowa. German physicist Gerhard Gerlich (b. 1942) on Nov. 8. Am. screenwriter Ernest Kinoy (b. 1925) on Nov. 10 in Townshend, Vt. Am. Chicago mayor #40 (1979-83) Jane Byrne (b. 1933) on Nov. 14 in Chicago, Ill. (stroke). Am. film critic Charles Champlin (b. 1926) on Nov. 16 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. KFC franchisee #1 (1952) Pete Harman (b. 1919) on Nov. 19 in Los Altos, Calif. Am. "The Graduate" dir. Mike Nichols (b. 1931) on Nov. 19 in New York City (heart attack). Am. Washington, D.C. mayor (1979-91, 1995-9) Marion Barry (b. 1936) on Nov. 23 in Washington, D.C. English Small Faces musician Ian McLagan (b. 1945) on Dec. 3 in Austin, Tex. (stroke). Belgian queen (1960-93) Fabiola (b. 1928) on Dec. 5 in Laeken. German-born Am. video game developer Ralph Henry Baer (b. 1922) on Dec. 6 in Manchester, N.H. Am. Miss America 1959 Mary Ann Mobley (b. 1937) on Dec. 9 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (breast cancer). Am. Miss America 1945 Bess Myerson (b. 1924) on Dec. 14 in Santa Monica, Calif. Am. writer Carleton Mabee (b. 1914) on Dec. 18. Welsh Profumo Affair model-showgirl Mandy Rice-Davies (b. 1944) on Dec. 18 London, England (cancer). Am. basketball coach Frank Truitt (b. 1925) on Dec. 21 in Columbus, Ohio. English singer Joe Cocker (b. 1944) on Dec. 22 in Crawford, Colo. (lung cancer). Am. Denver, Colo. mayor #39 (1963-8) Tom Currigan (b. 1920) on Dec. 27 in Chicago, Ill. Am. "narrator of The History Channel" actor Edward Herrmann (b. 1943) on Dec. 31 in Manhattan, N.Y. (brain cancer).

Historyscoper Home Page