Happenings of 2009

Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. The world watches as the first black president is sworn into the presidential office; news reports stated that not a single arrest was reported inauguration day. Thousands of liberal moms cried in happiness.

President Obama signs an order to close within a year the Guantánamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, where the US had held non-citizens whom it accused of terrorism. The camp had been a center of controversy for decades. The closing of the detention center created new issues such as where to relocte the detainees. Many states refused to house the detainees.

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is appointed as the new Prime Minister of Iceland, becoming the world’s first openly lesbian head of government.

North Korea announces that it has conducted a second successful nuclear test in the province of North Hamgyong. The United Nations Security Council condemns the reported test. Certainly frightening for a majority of Americans, the character of Team America is now capable of actually hurting people. Not a good sign for relations between U.S. and Korea.

The outbreak of the H1N1 influenza strain, commonly referred to as “swine flu”, is deemed a global pandemic, becoming the first condition since the Hong Kong flu of 1967–1968 to receive this designation. This was before we where able to use it as an excuse to skip class.

R iots erupt in Iran over the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. After a record 85% voter turnout, the supporters of his rival, Mir Hossein Mousavi, storm the streets of Tehran. Mir Hossein Mousavi insists he’s the winner and appeals to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei insists the election was conducted fairly.

T he death of American entertainer Michael Jackson triggers an outpouring of worldwide grief. Online, reactions to the event cripple several major websites and services, as the abundance of people accessing the web addresses pushes internet traffic to potentially unprecedented and historic levels. I was waiting tables when it happened, everyone table in the restaurant was alerted of the death at the same time by their separate iPhones. He was one of the most beloved musicians of all time, and pop culture’s biggest loss of the year.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il pardons two American journalists, who had been arrested and imprisoned for illegal entry earlier in the year, after former U.S. President Bill Clinton meets with Kim in North Korea. Well folks, Bill still has it.

The International Olympic Committee awards the 2016 Summer Olympics to Rio de Janeiro. Chicago and the United States lose out in the first round of voting. Jobless citizens of Chicago take to the streets in protest of the text dollars necesary to house the Olympic Games. Many of the protests are aimed directly at Barack Obama.

B arack Obama is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Sparks debate as to whether he deserved the prize, many people disagree with him being granted the reward. For example, some guy with a pack of girls yells at me on the street “DO YOU SUPPORT OBAMA!?!?!” I responded hesitantly. “I guess you don’t?” He turns to the girls “Oh man, I guess we have a democrat on our hands.” This happened. I felt awkward.

Tiger Woods is involved in a one car automobile accident. He withdraws from his own tournament. No one cares.

B arack Obama announces the deployment of 30,000 more troops to Afganistan. The news comes with mixed reactions for Democrats on capital hill. Along with the deployment of more troops, he issues july 2011 as the deadline for withdrawal.