Lackluster performance as of late, I know, I know. I've been relatively a bit out of the loop lately, but here's the latest.
UNITED STATES
Strong Storms-Strong storms and several tornadoes ripped across the southeast US this week, killing almost 300. The hardest hit was Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where destruction was pretty intense.
Cabinet Shakeup-We've known something like this would happen for awhile since the Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made it known he will be resigning, but it became official this week that General David Petraeus (currently the head of the coalition troops in Afghanistan) will become head of the CIA and the CIA Director, Leon Panetta, is going to become the Defense Secretary.
Long Form Birth Certificate Released-A couple weeks after Donald Trump re-ignited the dead, fringe debate over whether Obama was actually born in the United States, the White House officially released Obama's long form birth certificate.
-As expected, Trump claimed credit over the release as he did a media blitz the next day. Some question the timing of the release being odd, others think this could have been a tactful political move by the White House because around now is when Republican candidates typically would declare their intent to run for President in 2012. This released gave Trump a media blitz and shot his poll ranking up amongst Republicans, potentially overshadowing any news release on a candidate running or maybe even discouraging potential candidates after seeing Trump's numbers. Since Trump wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell at winning the election, it could have been a smart move.
-The Administration's stated reason for the timing was that the debate is silly and there are more important things that need to be talked about.
INTERNATIONAL
Israel-The two ruling Palestinian governing bodies Hamas (Gaza Strip) and Fatah (West Bank) announced that it had reached an accord, ending an almost 5 year dispute between the two groups. This comes as a relative surprise to the world and will endanger peace talks with Israel, as Israel considers Hamas a terrorist group and refuses to negotiation any settlements with them or a government that includes them.
Morocco-At least 14 people were killed in Marrakesh, Morocco after an explosion went off at a cafe. The cause is not yet known, but all signs point to a terrorist attack.
MENA (Middle East - North Africa)-Syria continues to meet anti-government protests with severe force, death toll keeps increasing and is currently in the several hundred range.
-Yemen's President agreed to a 30 day time frame to step down and have elections. The move was welcomed in the international community, but was met with skepticism by the protestors.
-Libya continues as pretty much a stalemate right now. Misrata has essentially become deserted of civilians and is a giant hell hole. Two western photojournalists were killed on the "front line" by an RPG attack.
Royal Wedding-Blah. Kate is hot.
As reported by Jason Van Thiel.
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