Current Events Cheat Sheet: Ding, Dong the Wicked Kim is Dead (Not Kardashian…)

December 19, 2011 1:00 pm     Posted in News  Avery - UNC Chapel Hill g+ page


By Avery

Kim Jong Il, the longtime, ruthless dictator of North Korea, died from a heart attack on Saturday at the age of 69. Under Kim’s reign, hundreds of thousands of North Koreans died from a devastating famine and North Korea embarked on a dangerous nuclear journey. Kim didn’t want anyone to forget his country’s nuclear power, either. He used it to squeeze resources and aid from other nations and sent ‘practice’ missiles out over the ocean, hoping to build one strong enough to reach North America. North Korea will now enter an unstable period as Kim’s third son, Kim Jong Eun, transitions into power.

The Iraq War is over. Wait, really? You’d think there’d be more hub-bub surrounding the end of such a controversial, significant war (it’s a war, hello!) but, yes, there was a quiet ceremony on Thursday to mark its finish. After eight years, the American flag that flew over the U.S. troops’ headquarters in Baghdad was lowered indefinitely. Hopefully, the democratic government that has been set up will continue to grow stronger, but some are worried the negative influence of Iran will be too strong without American support. The Iraq War cost 4,483 American lives and about 110,000 Iraqi civilian lives. The total monetary price tag was a steep $800 billion.

Teenagers are smoking record amounts of weed. Yes, we have reached the pot-smoking levels of the 1960s, free-love era. According to a University of Michigan study, half of students surveyed had smoked by the time they graduated high school, and one in four had gotten high in the past month. Numbers on other tsk-tsk inducing behaviors are down, including smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and teen pregnancies. Could there be a correlation? Maybe we’re just so blazed out we can’t do anything else?

Pic o’ the Week:

Pete Souza/White House

The Obamas released a new family portrait just in time for the holidays. Some commentators takeaways? The president is aging fast. Well, what do you expect?

4 Comments on "Current Events Cheat Sheet: Ding, Dong the Wicked Kim is Dead (Not Kardashian…)"

  1. Bee says:
    Mon, 19th Dec 20111:03 pm 

    Whether you like Obama or not, it's sad to see how quickly he has aged. He has been under enormous amounts of pressure and even if you don't like the way he handled things, he is probably losing sleep and a few years off his life (and, consequently, with his family) due to all the stress.

    Also, I think it's a bit soon to be rejoicing Kim's death. His son has been named the successor and since we don't know much about him, we don't know how bad (or possibly good but probably not) this may be.

  2. Katie Garrity - North Central College says:
    Mon, 19th Dec 20112:28 pm 

    Whether you like Obama or not, that picture is precious. At the end of the day, he's a husband and a father and this picture shows it.

    Also, I'm pretty freaked out that Kim Jong Il is dead because his son is young, and young people can be stupid. The feeling of uncertainty is frightful sometimes.

  3. Kenzie says:
    Mon, 19th Dec 20116:39 pm 

    Can we all just take a moment to agree that the Obamas are officially the most attractive family on the planet? He's definitely aged a lot, this past year especially, but you can tell how happy they are whenever they're all spending time together.

  4. Eliz says:
    Tue, 20th Dec 201110:41 am 

    Yeah it's all about age. Kim Jong Il def never did anything stupid..

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