Recent Current Events

The world has been a busy place in the past couple weeks--so busy in fact that I found it necessary to post a current events update. 

1.  Hurricane Irene makes landfall in North Carolina.  Approximately 65 million people will be in the direct path of Hurricane Irene over the next few days.  The storm is expected to arrive in the Washington area late Saturday and into Sunday morning before heading north to New York and New England.  For the first time in memory, citizens of New York were ordered to evacuate flood-prone areas in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Lower Manhattan.  Experts have feared this kind of storm for decades largely because of rapid expansion of coastal resorts and housing developments on the East Coast. 

2. The Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China barred 100 songs from music download sites including Lady Gaga's "Judas" and Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night".  The ministry said the rule was meant to preserve China's "national cultural security". On a related note, the Japanese National Police Agency reveals that 90% of cyber attacks on its website on July 10 came from IP addresses in the People's Republic of China.

3. Scientists at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne announce their discovery of a planet made entirely of diamond--only the second time such a planetary mass has been discovered.  Co-investigator Willem van Straten said this pulsar rotates thousands of times per second.  It is likely that the planetary body is all that remains of a once massive star that has lost 99.9 percent of its original mass to leave it a shadow of its former self--just five times bigger than earth.

4. Libya's National Transitional Council announces plans to move its headquarters to Tripoli following the capture of the city from Muammar Gaddafi.

5. Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate headed by Warren Buffett, announced a plan to invest $5 billion in Bank of America.  After the deal was announced on August 25, bank stocks were bid up, but settled down in the afternoon as the market absorbed the information. 

6. The New York Yankees hit three grand slams in a single game, the first time such a feat has occurred, in a win over the Oakland Athletics.  In all, the Yankees pounded out 21 hits against A's pitchers.  Yankees backup catcher Jorge Posada played second base for the first time in his major league career.

7. Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple, Inc.  Tim Cook took over the CEO position for the company. "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know.  Unfortunately, that day has come." Job said in his resignation letter.  After a brief halt, Apple's shares slid 5.13% to $355.70 in after hours trading on Wednesday.