Forecasting 2013

Will 2013 be any different from 2012? Yes, definitely. I predict that Apple will release at least twenty newer models of the iPhone (forcing you to trade in your "obsolete" model after only a few months of use), men's pants will soon be worn around their ankles, and 'swaggy,' as used frequently in Justin Bieber's hit "Boyfriend," will officially be added as, like, a def totes legitly correct word. Dogs will be the new chauffeurs, all of the socks belonging to young girls in Japan will be stolen, Old John Smokey will strike a record deal, more popes will be opening Twitter accounts, indoor playgrounds (complete with pigeons and sheets) will become popular, giraffes performing good deeds for random strangers will become a common sight, and even more people will be killed as a result of pushy crowds during Black Friday sales. So while we may not see the end of the world, we will probably see the end of the human race as we know it.  

The Fin Whales' Plight

On December 3rd, a young male fin whale washed up on the Malibu coast between Paradise Cove and Point Dume, near the homes of Bob Dylan and Barbra Streisand. The whale is 40 feet long and 40,000 pounds and officials are finding it difficult to remove the rotting, smelly carcass. Some say that it would take a tug boat to drag it out to sea but others claim that it would be impossible to tow even at high tide. The whale, with a large gash on its back and a damaged spine, seems to have been hit by a ship. Accidents like this are common because blue, fin, and humpback whales migrate to California's coast to eat krill. Fin whales are endangered and only 2,300 live along the West Coast. They the second largest species of whale and can live to be 90 years old. The fin whales' plight is heartbreaking, this whale's in particular.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/rotting-whale-casts-foul-stench-malibu-17894358#.UMI_DeRfArU

Evacuations after Train Derailment

In Paulsboro, New Jersey, officials have stopped working at the site of last week's train derailment after unsafe chemical levels were found in the air. Residents of Paulsboro were ordered to stay inside and schools were closed after monitors detected high levels of vinyl chloride on Monday. Nearly a hundred residents within a twelve block radius have been evacuated as workers try to remove the chemicals from the tanker car. Since Friday people have reported breathing issues and a dozen have gone to the hospital. The precautionary evacuations and shelter-in-place orders will likely remain in effect through early this week.

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/science/article/Air-quality-raises-concern-at-train-wreck-site-4086337.php

Taliban Attacks during Ashura Processions

On November 25th, during the Shia commemoration of the holiday of Ashura, a seventeen pound bomb exploded, killing six people and wounding ninety others. Ashura brings together many Shia Muslims and, as a result, the holiday has become a common target for Pakistani Taliban and Sunni extremist attacks. A similar bombing occurred on Saturday, in which seven people were killed and thirty were injured. In the previous week, thousands of extra police were deployed across Pakistan to stop the attacks; mobile phone services were even shut down in large cities because phones are often used as remote detonators. Clashes also broke out over the holiday in universities in Kabul, Afghanistan. Ashura, which was originally used to mourn the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, has become a holiday of bloodshed and fear.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/9701589/At-least-six-dead-and-90-wounded-in-Pakistan-bomb-blast.html

Pregnancy Tests for Men

Recently, an unnamed man detected testicular cancer by taking a pregnancy test. When the test came back positive, the man took it as a joke and made a comic strip about the incident on Reddit. A user on the site commented that the positive results could mean that he had testicular cancer. The man had himself examined- a small cancerous tumor was found on his right testicle. Researchers are now asking, "How can this happen?"

It turns out that pregnancy tests detect beta human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone in the urine. This hormone can be a sign of pregnancy, as well as testicular cancer. A fair number of testicular cancers make the same hormone. There are few things in the body that produces beta hCG and testicular cancer is one of them. This method of detecting testicular cancer could become a popular way to detect cancer early, without a doctor's visit. Expect an increase in male purchases of pregnancy tests.

http://www.privatemdlabs.com/blood-testing-news/Male_Specific_Tests/Pregnancy-test-helps-detect-testicular-cancer$800902997.php

New Pope for Egypt's Christians

The Egyptian Orthodox Church has chosen Bishop Tawadros, 60, to be the new pope of the largest Christian church in the Middle East. Tawadros previously headed the diocese of Beheira in the Egyptian Delta. His name was pulled out of a chalice by a young, blindfolded boy at an elaborate ceremony which thousands attended at Cairo's St. Mark's Cathedral on Sunday. The new pope will be formally enthroned on November 18th. Tawadros will lead the ancient church at one of the most challenging periods of its history- the church has faced mounting religious discrimination and periodic sectarian violence, which has led to isolation. While the new pope has stated that he hopes to focus on spiritual roles, he will most likely end up dealing with politics, as have his predecessors.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9ba82ede-266d-11e2-9295-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2BH8tgein

Nanny Suspected in Stabbings

In Central Park on Thursday, Marina Krim returned home to find two of her young children, Leo and Lucia, dead of stab wounds in the bathtub; their nanny was nearby with self-inflicted stab wounds in her neck. Krim had left the children with the nanny, Yoselyn Ortega, to pick up her other child, Nessie, from swim class. When she returned to the apartment on the Upper West Side, she entered the darkened rooms and came upon the bloody scene. Neighbors who heard her scream called 911. Police suspect Ortega in the stabbings; she remained hospitalized until Friday.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-children-slain-20121026,0,3134331.story

1679 Shipwreck Found?

Thirty years ago, the search for the oldest shipwreck began and, finally, it is making some headway. The Great Lakes Exploration team has just closed a legal dispute with the State of Michigan concerning the oldest shipwreck in Lake Michigan. The Griffon, French explorer Robert de La Salle's ship that sank in 1679, is thought to be near the islands off of the Garden Peninsula. Historian Francis Parkman says that La Salle's crew betrayed him, sunk the ship, and made off with the furs. In 2001, the Great Lakes Exploration team, headed by Steve Libert, discovered a beam of wood in the area that could be the bowsprit of the Griffon. Since then, the team has been involved in a legal battle with the State of Michigan in an attempt to attain a permit to investigate the site. From October 1st to October 3rd, the team scanned the area using low frequency sound waves from aboard the Atlas, captained by Dave Harris. The information gathered on this trip will hopefully provide proof of the Griffon's location.
http://ipr.interlochen.org/print/23071

School Girl vs. Taliban

Tuesday, Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, 14, was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban as she left her all-girls' school. Yousafzai was targeted for trying to spread Western culture through campaigning for girls' education. She has received numerous death threats because of the work she has done, but now the Taliban has stated that if she survives, they will try to kill her again. Yousafzai is in critical condition, but sources say her arms and legs have begun moving slightly. On Wednesday, surgeons in Peshawar removed a bullet from Yousafzai's head. This young girl stands as a symbol of courage and hope.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/11/malala-yousufzai-specialist-hospital

New York City Needs Evidence

New York City is demanding that documentary filmmaker Ken Burns hand over footage. The footage captures the story of five men who were wrongfully imprisoned and then exonerated for the rape of a woman in Central Park in 1989. The city is trying to defend itself against the lawsuits that have been filed by "The Central Park Five," the nickname for the exonerated men. The footage contains interviews from the plaintiffs that get to the heart of the case and cannot be obtained elsewhere. Ken Burns is saying though that he will fight; he states that he is a journalist and there are shield laws that protect him from having to compromise his sources. The irony in this case though is that New York City tried to stop Burns from originally getting the interviews but now the city needs them to defend itself in the lawsuit.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/05/justice/new-york-central-park-5/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

Apple "Cut Up" after Yelp Maps Issues

Friday, Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized for the new Maps application. With the iOS 6 update on September 19th, the new Maps application from Yelp went out to millions of iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches. This map application is powered by significantly less data than its predecessor, Google maps. iPhone users have found the info in Yelp's maps to be incomplete and off target. Cook has said that patience is needed; more than 100 million Apple device users are using the new maps with nearly 500 million locations searched so far. Cook's official statement is that Apple will continue to work until the "high standard" Apple users have grown accustomed to is achieved.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/28/technology/apple-maps-apology/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Shooting for the Moon

On Friday, September 21st, Houston's MD Anderson Cancer Center announced its goal to reduce death from a handful of cancers by the end of this decade in its "Moon Shots Program." The program is inspired by John F. Kennedy's program from the 1960s to land on the moon. Doctors at MD Anderson believe that dying from cancer could eventually become as rare as dying from pneumonia. The Moon Shots Program is aiming at five types of cancer: lung cancer, melanoma, triple negative breast cancer and ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, and the blood cancers acute myeloid leukemia/myelodysplastic syndrom and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. These cancers were chosen to be eradicated because of the knowledge of prevention treatment, and survivorship. New technological advances will assist with the program. It will be backed by a $3 billion investment over the next ten years and it plans to launch in February 2013.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/21/health/cancer-program/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

Pink Slime or Perfectly Safe?

Beef Products Inc. is suing ABC News for $1.2 billion in damages. The company has suffered after ABC reported on BPI's lean finely textured beef product (LFTB), which has also been called "pink slime." ABC made 200 reportedly false statements that led the public to believe that LFTB was not beef an not safe for consumption. Dan Webb, the company's lawyer states that there is overwhelming evidence that their product is 100% beef. BPI makes the "pink slime" by grinding beef scraps and connective tissue together. Ammonia and water treats the beef to prevent E. coli or salmonella. The Food and Drug Administration has determined this safe practice but many consumers still question the lean finely textured beef product.

http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2012/09/13/pink-slime-manufacturer-sues-abc-news-for-1-2-billon-in-damages/?hpt=hp_t3

Blow to al Qaeda in Yemen

Monday, Saad Al-Shehri, al Qaeda's number 2 leader, was killed in an airstrike.A missile, fired by a U.S. operated drone, killed the Saudi national. A senior official at the Yemeni president's office confirmed the attack by DNA tests have not been conclusive.  This is a major blow to the militant group; this will cripple the group in Yemen, which is a crucial battleground for the terror network. Yemen's branch of al Qaeda is the world's most active and the most dangerous to the U.S. Al Qaeda in Yemen has been linked to several attempted attacks on U.S. targets.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444100404577643462142706758.html

Pregnant Persecution

The state-funded Delhi Charter School in Louisiana recently adopted a new "Student Pregnancy Policy," which placed a classroom ban on pregnant students and mandated pregnancy tests for students suspected of being pregnant. The school stated that pregnant girls should leave the school and study at home. Those who do not comply with taking a pregnancy test will be asked to leave the school also. This policy discriminates against pregnant students and targets those who may be pregnant. The school treats pregnancy like “a contagious disease,” says Marjorie Esman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana. The ACLU says that the policy violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bans discrimination based on gender in education programs, AND the equal protection  clause of the Constitution. As a result, the school has been asked to revise the policy so as to be in compliance with constitutional law.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/48554183/ns/today-back_to_school/t/schools-policy-requires-girls-take-pregnancy-tests/#.UEevFrJlQzA