Tuesday, December 31, 2013

The Passing Scene: 2013


Herewith the annual V for Victory! year-end highlights, with thanks as usual to Wikipedia for refreshing my recollection:

January

2: The "fiscal cliff" is allegedly averted with the signing into law of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.
4: The Church of England admits homosexuals in civil partnerships to its episcopacy, on condition that they live in continence.
5: Murder spree, Aurora, Colorado: a gunman murders three inside a home before dying as a SWAT team storms the house.
10: A 16-year-old student opens fire inside a classroom at a high school in Taft, California, critically wounding another student before surrendering to authorities.
15: Murder spree, Hazard, Kentucky: shooter kills two and wounds one at Hazard Community and Technical College before turning himself in to authorities.  The motive appears to have been domestic-related.  Also: horse meat begins to be discovered in beef products in European supermarkets.
18: Lance Armstrong admits to Oprah Winfrey that he doped.
20: Murder spree, Albuquerque, New Mexico: shooter, aged 15, murders two adults and three children at a home.
23: The U.S. military lifts its ban on women in combat.
24: North Korea announces a new nuclear test and states that long-range missiles are aimed at the United States.
27: 240 people perish and 168 are wounded in a fire at the Kiss night club in Santa Maria, Brazil.
29: An outbreak of at least 57 tornadoes within a 25-hour period begins to strike the American Southeast from Oklahoma to Georgia.  Also: A gunman kidnaps a five-year-old boy from a school bus in Midland City, Alabama, after murdering the driver, who dies defending the children on the bus; he holds the child hostage in a bunker for seven days before being shot by police, who then rescue the boy.
30: Murder spree, Phoenix, Arizona: a gunman murders two and wounds one during a mediation session, and later turns the gun on himself.

Deaths: Huell Howser (host, California's Gold); Patti Page; Pauline Phillips, aka Abigail van Buren ("Dear Abby"); Quentin Smith (Tuskeegee Airmen); Conrad Bain (father in Diff'rent Strokes); Ned Wertimer (Ralph the doorman in The Jeffersons); Stan "The Man" Musial; Patty Andrews (last of the Andrews Sisters).

February

1: Two die in a suicide bombing outside the U.S. embassy in Ankara, Turkey.  Also: Hillary Clinton steps down as Secretary of State and is replaced by John Kerry.
2: Former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and another man are gunned down at a shooting range near Glen Rose, Texas.
4: A skeleton found by archaeologists in Leicester, England is publicly identified as the remains of King Richard III.
7: Beginning of the February 2013 nor'easter, a massive blizzard that affected Canada, the northeast United States, Iceland, Britain and Ireland, leaving 18 dead and hundreds of thousands stranded or without power.
11: Pope Benedict XVI announces his abdication, effective February 28th at 20:00 Rome time.
12: North Korea announces the successful test of a nuclear weapon.  Also: A three-county shooting rampage in southern California that left four dead ends when the shooter, ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner, commits suicide during a stand-off with police in the San Bernardino mountains.
14: Oscar Pistorius, South African amputee sprinter and Olympic contender, is charged with murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
15: A 66-foot, 11,000-ton asteroid enters the earth's atmosphere and explodes in the air near Chelyabinsk, Russia.  The shock wave damages 7,200 buildings in six cities and results in about 1,500 injuries.  On the same day, a near-earth asteroid approximately 160 feet across passes within 17,200 miles of the earth's surface.
19: North Korea threatens the final destruction of South Korea at a UN disarmament conference.  Also: murder spree, Orange County, California: a murder-carjacking spree leaves three dead and three more wounded before the shooter turns the gun on himself.
25: Keith Cardinal O'Brien, Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburg, steps down amid allegations of sexual misconduct with priests.  He will decline to take part in the upcoming papal conclave.
26: Murder spree, Santa Cruz, California: a suspect in a sexual assault case murders two plainclothes detectives, and is shortly thereafter killed in a shootout with police.  Also: Chuck Hagel is confirmed as Secretary of Defense.

Deaths: Ed Koch; Peter Gilmore (British actor); Paul Tanner (trombonist, last surviving member of Glenn Miller's orchestra); Rev. Mr. Bill Steltemeier (attorney, Catholic deacon and chairman and CEO of EWTN); Mindy McCready (country singer); C. Everett Koop; Van Cliburn; Dale Robertson; Richard Street (The Temptations).

March

3: A two-year-old Mississippi girl who was born with HIV is pronounced HIV negative following treatment.
7: North Korea threatens a pre-emptive nuclear strike against its enemies.
11: North Korea cuts the telephone hotline between North and South.
12: The Cardinals of the Catholic Church meet in conclave in the Sistine Chapel to choose a successor to Benedict XVI.
13: Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio is elected Pope, and chooses the regnal name Francis.
25: In another pathetic attempt to prop up the failing Eurozone, the government of Cyprus and the EU reach a "bailout" agreement that involves the theft of funds from people's bank accounts.
28: New scientific experiments show that the Shroud of Turin is not a medieval fraud and can indeed be dated to the first century A.D.
29: North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un orders preparations for rocket strikes against the United States mainland.
30: North Korea declares itself to be at war with South Korea.
31: Kaufman County, Texas District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, are murdered at their home, two months after another district attorney from the same office was murdered on his way to work.

Deaths: Anthony Lewis; Harry Reems; Frank Thornton (Are You Being Served?, Last of the Summer Wine); Ieng Sary (co-founder of the evil Khmer Rouge); Malachi Throne (character actor); Hugo Chavez; Bonnie Franklin; Phil Ramone.

April

3: South Korea reports that North Korea is denying workers access to the jointly-run Kaesong Industrial Park.
9: North Korea threatens to launch a missile the following day.
11: Servant of God Fr. Emil Kapaun is posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his valor during the Korean War.
12: A tornado-laden storm strikes the midwestern and southern United States, causing three deaths.  Also: North Korea threatens Japan with annihilation.
15: A pair of brothers from Chechnya set off home-made bombs at the Boston Marathon, killing three and wounding 183, from motives of Islamic jihad.
18: The Boston Marathon bombers murder a policeman in his car at MIT.
19: The Boston Marathon bombers engage police in a firefight, in the course of which one bomber is run over by the other and killed; the other is found in a boat by a man who stepped outside for a smoke, and eventually captured.
21: Murder spree, Federal Way, Washington: shooter murders his live-in girlfriend, then murders three other people in the apartment complex before being shot by police.
24: Murder spree, Manchester, Illinois: shooter breaks into a house, murders a family of five, then dies in a shoot-out with police.  Also: The feds admit to having been previously warned about the Boston Marathon bombers by the Russian government.  Also: A garment factory building in Bangladesh collapses, resulting in 1,127 deaths.
29: Back-bencher Jason Collins of the Washington Wizards announces his homosexuality,  making him the first NBA player to do so, to the delight of the media and the White House.
30: Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicates the throne in favor of her son, King Willem-Alexander.

Deaths: Margaret Thatcher; Milo O'Shea; Roger Ebert; Leslie Broderick (one of the last survivors of the Great Escape); Annette Funicello; Maria Tall Chief (first American Indian prima ballerina); Jonathan Winters; Frank Bank ("Lumpy" on Leave It to Beaver); Richard LeParmentier (telekinetically throttled by Darth Vader in Star Wars); Allan Arbus; George Jones.

May

2: Rhode Island legalizes same-sex "marriage."
5: A bomb explodes inside a Catholic church in Arusha, Tanzania, killing 1 and injuring 57.
6: Cleveland, Ohio: three women and one child are rescued from captivity in the home of Ariel Castro, who had held the women and sexually abused them for a decade, fathering the child on one of them.  Castro will later hang himself in prison.
7: Delaware legalizes same-sex "marriage."
8: Jodi Arias is convicted of the first-degree murder of her boyfriend in Arizona.
13: Pennsylvania abortionist Kermit Gosnell is convicted of various felonies, including three counts of murdering newborn infants.
14: The IRS admits to targeting Tea Party and other conservative organizations for special treatment.  Also: Brazil legalizes same-sex "marriage."
17: The brightest meteor impact yet observed takes place on the Moon.
20: The Church of Scotland votes to allow openly homosexual ministers.
22: Lee Rigby, a British army drummer, is hacked to death in the street in Woolwich, London, with knives and meat cleavers by two jihadists.
23: The Boy Scouts of America is opened up to openly homosexual members.
26: 150,000 people take to the streets of Paris, France to protest same-sex "marriage."
30: Nigeria bans same-sex "marriage."

Deaths: Dr. Joyce Brothers; Marshall Lytle (Bill Haley and the Comets); Fr. Andrew Greeley; Jean Stapleton.

June

2: Heavy rains lead to disastrous floods all over Europe.
3: The U.S. Supreme Court holds that DNA samples can be collected from criminal suspects without their consent.
4: Britain celebrates the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation.
6: Classified documents leaked by NSA contractor Edward Snowden are published, revealing massive U.S. government surveillance activities.  Snowden will flee the country to avoid arrest.
7: Murder spree, Santa Monica, California: shooter sets a house on fire and goes on a rampage at Santa Monica College, killing 4 before being killed.
13: Murder spree, St. Louis, Missouri: a home health-care business owner kills three and then himself.
14: Heavy rains begin in northern India that will result in flooding that will leave thousands presumed dead.
15: Murder spree, Omaha, Nebraska: gunman kills two and wounds two more before being shot by police.
17: The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down an Arizona law requiring voters to show proof of citizenship in federal elections.
18: Russia passes a law banning adoption of Russian children by foreign same-sex couples.
21: Edward Snowden is charged with espionage.
25: The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down that part of the Voting Rights Act that required certain jurisdictions to seek federal approval before making changes to voting practices.
26: The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down that part of the Defense of Marriage Act that codified non-recognition of same-sex "marriages" for federal purposes. Also: Proposition 8, which had banned same-sex "marriage" in California, is stricken down.
30: 19 firefighters perish in a wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona.

Deaths: Frank Lautenberg (U.S. Senator from New Jersey); Esther Williams; Jiroemon Kimura (verified oldest man in history, dying at age 116); Vince Flynn; James Gandolfini; Slim Whitman; Marc Rich.

July

3: The Egyptian military seizes control of the government from the Muslim Brotherhood.  Also: King Albert II of Belgium announces he will abdicate in favor of his son, Philippe.
5: The forthcoming canonizations of Bl. John XXIII and Bl. John Paul II are announced.
13: George Zimmerman is acquitted of the murder of Trayvon Martin.
17: Same-sex "marriage" becomes legal in England and Wales.
22: A son, now third in the line of succession to the throne of England, is born to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
26: Murder spree, Hialeah, Florida: gunman starts a fire, murders six people and takes two more hostage at his apartment complex before being shot by police.
30: Suspected U.S. spy Bradley Manning is acquitted of aiding the enemy but convicted of five counts each of espionage and theft.  He will be sentenced to 35 years.

Deaths: Paul Jenkins (character actor); Leonard Garment (figure in Watergate scandal); Mel Smith (the albino in The Princess Bride); Helen Thomas; Dennis Farina; Eileen Brennan; Michael Ansara.

August

8: Murder spree, Dallas, Texas: shooter kills four and wounds four more in two homes before being apprehended.
10: James Lee DiMaggio, who kidnapped a teenage girl and murdered her mother and brother in Boulevard, California, is found with the girl at a campground near Cascade, Idaho, and shot by the FBI.
17: Start of the Rim Fire, the third largest wildfire in California history, which will take more than two months to contain.
19: Track star Oscar Pistorius is charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
22: Aaron Hernandez, formerly of the New England Patriots, is indicted for murder in the gunshot death of Odin Lloyd.
23: Nidal Malik Hassan, the jihadist shooter in the 2009 Fort Hood massacre, is convicted of multiple counts of murder and attempted murder.  He will be sentenced to death.

Deaths: Gail Kobe (character actress and producer); Margaret Pellegrini (one of the last surviving Munchkins from The Wizard of Oz); Karen Black; Eydie Gormé; Jack Germond; David Frost.

September

8: My birthday.
12: The Anglican Church in Wales votes to allow female bishops.  Also: NASA announces that Voyager I has left the solar system and reached interstellar space.
16: Murder spree, Washington Naval Yard in D.C.: gunman murders 12 and wounds three more before being shot by police.
21: Jihadist gunmen attack the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, killing 61 civilians and six soldiers.

Deaths: Rochus Misch (last survivor of the Führerbunker); Cal Worthington; Ray Dolby (inventor of Dolby surround sound); Kim Hamilton (To Kill a Mockingbird).

October

1: Beginning of a partial shutdown of the federal government over the debt ceiling crisis that sends liberals into apoplectic fits.
3: A boat carrying Libyan migrants sinks off the Italian island of Lampedusa, killing 359.
16: The government shutdown ends in a deal that merely kicks the can that started the crisis down the road.
21: A student at Sparks Middle School in Sparks, Nevada murders a teacher and wounds two other students before killing himself.  Also: New Jersey legalizes same-sex "marriage."
26: Murder spree, Phoenix, Arizona: gunman murders four and shoots two dogs at their home before committing suicide.
27: Murder spree, Brooklyn, New York: killer stabs his cousin's wife and four children to death, and is later arrested.  Also: the St. Jude Storm strikes northwest Europe, killing 17.
29: Murder spree, Greenwood County, South Carolina: shooter kills five and then turns the gun on himself at a house along Callison Highway.

Deaths: Tom Clancy; Tom Foley (former Speaker of the House); Nigel Davenport (Norfolk in A Man for All Seasons); Marcia Wallace; Lou Reed; Graham Stark (character actor).

November

1: A gunman opens fire at LAX, killing a TSA employee and wounding several others.
3: Formation of Typhoon Haiyan, which will strike southeast Asia and especially the Philippines, causing more than 6,100 deaths and at least $1.5 billion in damage, and displacing millions of people.
12: Hawaii legalizes same-sex "marriage."
22: Crystal Mangum, false accuser in the 2006 Duke Lacrosse case, is convicted of second-degree murder for the 2011 stabbing death of her boyfriend.
24: For the first time, the relics of St. Peter are publicly displayed for veneration.
28: Comet ISON grazes the sun and (mostly) disintegrates.

Deaths: Paul Walker; Manfred Rommel (son of Erwin Rommel); Jane Kean (Trixie Norton on The Honeymooners); Paul Crouch (televangelist).

December

2: Pope Francis meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
6: The beginning of an extraordinary wave of cold weather, snow and ice storms that will strike the United States east of the Rockies.
10: Barack Obama humiliates the United States by taking a selfie of himself with the Prime Ministers of Britain and Denmark during Nelson Mandela's funeral.
11: Pope Francis is named Time magazine's Person of the Year.  Also: India's Supreme Court upholds the criminalization of homosexual activities.
13: Snow falls in Cairo, Egypt, for the first time in more than a century.
19: Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame is suspended by A & E for his frank comments about the sinfulness of homosexuality in an interview; the network will later do an about-face as a result of an immense viewer backlash.  Also: New Mexico legalizes same-sex "marriage."
20: The Canadian Supreme Court strikes down that country's anti-prostitution laws.
23: World War II codebreaker Alan Turing is given a posthumous royal pardon for the homosexual acts for which he was was convicted and chemically castrated in 1952.

Deaths: Ray Price; Joan Fontaine; Peter O'Toole; Tom Laughlin (Billy Jack); Eleanor Parker (character actress); Nelson Mandela.

May 2014 be a vast improvement over 2013.

2 comments:

  1. Yes, I hope 2014 is much better. 2013 was pretty dismal. Happy New Year Ms. Moore. Thank you for all your posts!

    ReplyDelete