Top News Stories of 2017

Top News Stories of 2019
 

Top News Stories
of 2019

Quote of the Year

 

“.The rules have to
change today..'”


Greta Thunberg


Estimated 2018
World Population

7.8 Billion

CO2
415 ppm

John Tyner

In reference to the security pat downs taking place at US Airports

 

"tdc's Froggy"
             tdc's Animated Frog   Be patient, I'm coming!

Our thanks to Fred Webster for this great animation  

 

Notable Passings in 2019 

 

Burt Reynolds - January
Ron Joyce - February
Paul Dewar - February
Michael Wilson - February
Karl Langerfeld - February
Ted Lindsay - March
 André Previn - April
Dr Wilbert Keon - April
Jerrie Cobb - April
Wayson Choy - April
Red Kelly - May

Doris Day - May
Tim Conway - May
I.M. Pei - May
Murray Gell-Mann - May

Gloria Vanderbilt - June
Lee Iacocca - July
Ross Perot - July
Hal Prince - July
Deepak Obhrai - August
Toni Morrison - August
Peter Fonda - August
David Koch - August
Jessi Combs - August
Valerie Harper - August
Deepakl Obhrai - August
Cokie Roberts - September
Diahann Carrol - October
Elijiah Cummings - October

Froggy's  Comments 
Right  From The Pond


"
I May Be all Wet but I know
what I'm talkin' about..."



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USA Politics


The US House of Representative has impeached President Trump on two independent charges

The US House Judiciary Committee has approved two impeachment charges against President Donald Trump

House Democrats have announced two articles of impeachment charging President Donald Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

December 5, 2019 US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says that the Congress should impeach President Trump based upon his actions in breaking his oath of office in not complying with the Constitution of the United States.

President Trump announces at the end of October that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died by detonating a suicide vest in northwest Syria

Trump makes the Middle East initiate war between the Kurds who had fought ISIS for the US and the Turks by his removal of 50 US troops.

It is revealed that President Trump had asked the Ukrainian President to get dirt on Presidential candidate Joe Biden thus breaking a constitutional law.

It is estimated that there are 200+ mass shootings in the USA per year and still no sign of a major federal new laws to silence the guns.

Late in August the US-China trade war ratcheted up, with Beijing unveiling a new round of retaliatory tariffs on about $75 billion worth of US goods afterChina said it would take countermeasures after the United States announced it would impose 10% tariffs on Chinese imports worth $300 billion. It looks
very much that prices at companies such as Walmart will increase significantly.

In early August the number mass shootings in 2019 in the USA during the past 216 days is 251 - the most in the world. two mass shootings in early August
in El Paso and Dayton Ohio left 29 people dead and the reaction from the public for more stronger gun laws have plagued the White House and Senate calling for immediate action.... But to no avail.

Former White House communications director Hope Hicks has agreed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee.  She arrived and did not answer
stating executive privilege.

Trump imposes 60 Billion dollars of tarrifs on goods made in China and Walmart says higher tariffs on China goods will increase prices for U.S. shoppers.

Judge's ruling allows banks to hand over Trump's financial records to Congress

Newly obtained tax information by the New York Times reveals that from 1985 to 1994, Donald J. Trump’s businesses were in far bleaker condition than was previously known.

The numbers show that in 1985, Mr. Trump reported losses of $46.1 million from his core businesses — largely casinos, hotels and retail space in apartment buildings. They continued to lose money every year, totaling $1.17 billion in losses for the decade.

Attorney General of the United States Bob Narr has refused to appear as a witness of the Congress and could be charged in contempt and lying.

Blow to Trump as his popularity plummets to lowest level of the year after release of the Mueller report.

The Attorney General of the United States reveils a partial redacted Mueller report on the President's obstruction of justice and whether or not the Russians were involved with the presidential election.  The report concluded that the President did not obstruct justice and that the Russians were involved with the election but were not instructed by members of either the Republican or Democratic parties.

Trump threatens to shut the US/Mexico border if Mexico does not stop the flow of refugees fleeing Central American countries who are trying to reach the USA.

Robert Mueller, special counsel reports says that President Trump did not obstruct justice nor did he suggest that any criminal charges for collusion with Russia during the Trump presidential campaign.

Nancy Polosi says that she does not recommend an impeachment of President Trump but will rely on the Nov 2020 vote to displace him.

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's personal lawyer for over 10 years appeared before Congressional Commitee both in-camera and also in public answering questions about the behavior of Donald Trump.  Cohen's testimony triggers a public investigation and gathering of evidence from all of Trumps associates and companies. Cohen said Trump is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat.

In mid February, President Trump signs an agreement to spend 1.3 Billion to construct a southern border wall.  Then declares that there is a state of emergency fro which additioinal monies must be spent to complete the southern border wall. The Democrats headed by Nancy Pelosi says there is no emergency and sends the President's state of emergency into the federal courts to decide.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announces that the U.S. will withdraw from a treaty that has been a centrepiece of superpower arms control since the Cold War and whose demise some analysts worry could fuel a new arms race.

The US government was shut down for 35 days as debate goes on betweeen President Trump and the Congress over whether or not to fund ($5.7) for a border wall with the Mexican border.  800,000 US government workers were effected.

Trump discussed pulling the U.S. from NATO on a news item in the New York Times.

Nancy Pelosi returns as Speaker after Democrats take control of the House of Representatives in a government that has been closed down by Trump for 13 days

 Science
11,000 scientists sign declaration of climate emergency

AI can now detect whether or not a person is gay or straight in their sexual orientation as well as whether or not a person has a gun.

Scientists find out that bees can add and subtract.

2019 celebrates the Year of the Periodic Table. This important table of elements  was first designed by the Russian scientist Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev 150 years ago.

Economics

 

Now in Britain with Boris Johnston as Prime Minister, and his pro Brexit political position, it leaves the British people wondering
what a ProBrexit no deal with the European nations will look like.

 

Wal-Mart is betting it can convince time-strapped customers to let strangers deliver groceries into their refrigerators while they're away from home.

 

Energy

 

A Scottish tidal energy business has been issued with a permit to develop a project in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia. In an announcement, Nova Innovation said a total of 15 tidal stream turbines would be installed by the year 2023. The project, according to the firm, will produce enough electricity to power 600 homes.

 

In 2014, the share of world energy consumption for electricity generation by source was coal at 41%, natural gas at 22%, nuclear at 11%, hydro at 16%, other sources (solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, etc.) at 6% and oil at 4%. Coal and natural gas were the most used energy fuels for generating electricity


Sports
Finland wins the World Jr. Championship in Hockey in early January. Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic win the Women's and Mens Single Tennis Championship at the Australian Open. New England Patriots win the Super Bowl and Tom Brady wins his 6th Superbowl ring.  Kevin Koe wins the Canadian Curling Championship, Virgina Cavaliers win the March Madness Men's College Basketball championship. Tiger Woods wins the Master's Golf Tournment in Augusta for the fifth time. Rafael Nadel wins the French Open Tennis. The St Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup for the first time. Toronto Raptors win the NBA Championship. Novak Djokovic wins the men's singles at Wimbledon England beating Roger Feder. Shane Lowry wins the golf Open in Ireland.  Canadian Bianca Andreescu wins the US Open Single Women's Final and Rafael Nadel wins tthe US Open Single Men's Final. Washington Nationals win the World Series in Baseball. Spain wins the Davis Cup in Tennis and the Winnipeg Bluebombers win the Grey Cup in Canadian Football.
Space

A SPACESHIP powered by a lightsail is so fast it could travel 3.6 million miles per day has been successfully tested in Earth orbit.

NASA’S instruments in orbit around the Moon have found evidence of water molecules “bouncing” around in the lunar orb’s dayside, a groundbreaking Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) study has claimed.

Ancient planet-wide water system discovered on Mars hints at past alien life

Japan's space agency pulled off something awesome. Its spacecraft Hayabusa2 touched down on asteroid Ryugu, collected a sample, and jumped off again and headed back to earth.

Mars One Ventures — the company that claimed it was going to send hundreds of people to live (and ultimately die) on the Red Planet — is now bankrupt

Seeds taken up to the Moon by China's Chang'e-4 mission have sprouted, says China National Space Administration.

Far outside our Milky Way galaxy, something is causing repeating short bursts of radio waves to be released into space. Scientists have recorded the second repeating fast radio burst to be discovered, according to a study published in the journal Nature.
Health

 

The number of measles cases reported worldwide in the first three months of 2019 has tripled compared with the same time last year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 

 

The memory of older people has been returned to the state of someone in their 20s for the first time by applying electrical stimulation to the brain to reconnect faulty circuits. Scientists at Boston University have proven it is possible to restore working memory by “recoupling” areas of the brain that become out-of-sync as people grow older. 

 

 ACC/ AHA experts offer science-based guidance that aspirin should only rarely be used to help prevent heart attacks and stroke in people without known cardiovascular disease. Recent research suggests that the chance of bleeding, given the blood-thinning effect of aspirin, may be too high and the evidence of benefit—the number of heart attacks or strokes that are actually prevented—is not sufficient enough to make a daily aspirin worth taking for most adults in this setting.

 

Maikel Rheinstadter, a physics professor with McMaster University, and Andree Khondker, an undergraduate biochemistry student, said they found bacteria fight off antibiotics by stiffening their cell membranes and changing the barrier's electrical charge, becoming a less attractive target to the drugs.

 

Researchers from Washington University at St. Louis and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Tübingen have developed a simple blood test that shows evidence of brain damage due to Alzheimer’s almost seven years before any kind of cognitive changes occur.

 

Environment

 

Canada was one of the worst countries to fight climate change in the past 10 years.

 

Greta Thunberg, 16 year old environmental activist is named Person of the Year by Time Magazine.

 

Scientists say that the oxygen level in our oceans is falling causing serious fish habitat issues.

 

Earth set to warm 3.2 C by 2100 unless efforts to cut emissions are tripled, new UN report finds 

 

Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere hit a new record in 2018, exceeding the average yearly increase of the last decade and reinforcing increasingly damaging weather patterns, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said

 

India has cancelled plans to build nearly 14 gigawatts of coal-fired power stations – about the same as the total amount in the UK – with the price for solar electricity “free falling” to levels once considered impossible.

 

Research has found Arctic soil has warmed to the point where it releases more carbon in winter than northern plants can absorb during the summer.

 

About one in eight bird species is threatened with global extinction due to factors such as the expansion of agriculture, logging, invasive species, hunting, and climate change, according to a new report from the conservation group BirdLife International. Overall, 40 percent of the world’s 11,000 bird species are in decline.

 

Trending is e-Bicycles and predictions for lots of sales for 2020. 

 

Brazil's Amazon forest is littered with many forest fires threatening the world's 20% production of oxygen.

 

Data from the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii has recorded atmospheric carbon dioxide levels at 415.26 parts per million (ppm), marking a historic precedent in the last 800,000 years, since before the evolution of homo sapiens..

 

Carbon dioxide grew by 2.87 parts per million (ppm) at the mountain top observatory during 2018, jumping from an average of 407.05 ppm on Jan. 1, 2018, to 409.92 on Jan. 1, 2019, according to a new analysis of air samples collected by NOAA’s Global Monitoring Division (GMD).

 

Of 54 countries reporting, Sweden is the best country in the world for Climate  Change performance with United States and Saudi Arabia the worst.

 

Reported that Canada is warming at a rate which is twice as fast as the rest of the world.

 

The Tesla Model 3 was the best-selling electric car in the world in 2018 with sales of 138,000 cars.

 

2018 was the fourth-hottest year ever recorded, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA, which means that the past five years have been the five warmest years in the modern record.

 

Global warming is melting ice in Antarctica faster than ever before -- about six times more per year now than 40 years ago -- leading to increasingly high sea levels worldwide.  By the years 2009 to 2017, the ice loss had increased more than six fold, to 252 billion tons per year.

 

Peace
 Hong Kong's pro-democratic parties swept the board in highly anticipated local elections seen as a barometer of public opinion after nearly six months of increasingly violent protests that have polarized the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

Hong Kong citizens riot for 5 months over attempts to maintain a free democracy for Hong Kong.

A wave of bombings across Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday killed 321 people and injured hundreds more. Authorities have arrested 40 people.

New Zealand has banned the sale of assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons after the country's worst-ever attack that killed 50 Muslims in two mosques.

50 Muslims are killed and about 20 more injured in two Mosques in Christchurch New Zealand by a 28 year old Australian man.

President Trump speaks to reporters in Hanoi, Vietnam, after the White House said no agreement was reached between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying sanctions were a key sticking point in their two days of negotiations. The US wanted North Korea to disarm their nuclear arms.


Religion

Fire destroys Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Pope Francis issued sweeping new sex abuse legislation for Vatican personnel and Holy See diplomats that requires the immediate reporting of abuse allegations to Vatican prosecutors, a policy shift aimed at being a model for the Catholic Church worldwide.

In a remarkable admission, German Cardinal Reinhard Marx said that documents that could have contained proof of clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church were destroyed or never drawn up.

Ex- US Cardinal McCarrick has been defrocked by the Vatican for sexual abuse.
Internet
China is installing a surveillance network of cameras which blankets China’s cities, giving police vast powers.

WINDOWS 7 End of Life will take place on January 14, 2020, when Microsoft ceases to release security updates for the computer operating system.

The European Union has approved a copyright overhaul that aims to give more protection to artists and news organizations but which critics say will stifle freedom of speech and online creativity and punish smaller web companies.

Communications


Microsoft says they will no longer support Windows 7 after January 2020

Living


Millions of people - overwhelmingly children and teenagers – have taken to the streets around the globe, calling on their governments to take serious action to tackle climate change.

US fertility rate falls to 'all-time low.

For the first time, U.S. adults this year will spend more time using their mobile devices than they’ll spend watching TV, eMarketer says.

More than 550 children have taken part in the US National Spelling Bee.and there were 8 winners.

Theresa May resigns as PM of Britain over failure to implement Brexit

A survey found that British people who are married or living with a partner are having sex less often, driving an overall decline in sex within UK society.

Up to a million species facing extinction in the world’s sixth mass die-off – as big a risk as climate change, say scientists

The British government has voted to extend their Brexit to European Common Union.  This was suppose to happen on March 29, 2019


In the UK, rules aimed at preventing illegal immigrants from renting properties are "discriminatory" and breach human rights laws, the High Court has ruled.

In the US the retail sector took a blow in the final month of 2018, adding to a list of consumer economic casualties amid year-end turmoil in the financial markets and a protracted U.S. government shutdown.

More than 1,200 children in US killed by guns in 2018

After deciding to establish a second home office in New York City, Amazon.com reverses its decision.

Americans are falling behind on car loan payments in record numbers. More than 7 million car loans were past due by at least 90 days in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to data released this week from the New York Federal Reserve.

In Britain in mid January, the British Parliament voted down the Prime Minister's proposal on how Brexit would work.

Agriculture


Winnipeg-based Richardson International Ltd. had its export permit revoked in March due to hazardous organisms allegedly found in the company’s product as China has revoked buying Canadian grown Canola.

Entertainment


Walt Disney Co. reached a record high in trading after its new video-streaming platform attracted 10 million customers, a blistering pace that reflects the strength of the family-friendly brand in an increasingly crowded market.

Biggest Achievements
of the Year

Being able to photograph a black hole 55 million light years away from Earth.

 

It seems that there was lots of talk in 2019 about climate change but little action.

Your Comments?

 

Have a Happy 2020 Folks !


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