You’ve probably heard about Occupy Wall Street by now unless you live under a rock. But you’ve probably only seen things about the 1% versus the 99% and jokes on TFM. Kanye West even showed up. This has spiraled into something that I don’t even think the protestors knew it would. Occupy Wall Street is now on college campuses across the country, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going away any time soon. For the past month countless protesters have been well, occupying Wall Street, without any specific demands. Right now, it’s unclear really what the goal of the group is.

Here’s what you should know:

1. In July, Adbusters, a Canadian-based media group proposed the movement to peacefully occupy Wall Street to protest corporate 1% (being the wealthiest in the country) on the government. On September 17th, the movement started and protesters set up camp all over New York City. They’ve been protesting corporate greed and involvement and social and economic inequality.

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The news event of the week: since last Tuesday, Egyptians unhappy with their authoritative government have taken to the streets in protest. Inspired by the week prior’s events in Tunisia, the protesters are calling for the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the in-statement of a democratic government. So far, though, American politicians have remained pretty quiet on their stance on the week’s riots. A well-known Egyptian Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Mohamed ElBaradei, even said that the U.S. appears to be “lending support to a dictator,” which is, of course, never a good thing. On Friday, the Internet in Egypt went dark, a response to the key organizing role the web has played.

On Tuesday night, President Obama delivered his second State of the Union address. If you know three words from his speech, know these: win the future. He mostly discussed how to make the U.S. competitive again as we become less and less of the superpower we once were. For a more complete summary of and response to the speech, read this. The more notable thing about the night was the bi-partisan seating arrangement of the audience. Usually, Congress sits exactly divided: Republicans on one side, Democrats on the other. This year, they were all mixed up, with politicians scrambling for the choicest seats much like high schoolers in a lunchroom. The power pair of the night may have been John Kerry (D- MA) and John McCain (R- AZ), chummily sitting side-by-side. Oh, and there was some not-that-funny joke about salmon.

A suicide bomber set off a deadly blast at an airport in Moscow, killing 35 people and injuring more than 100. The explosion happened last Monday, and the details as to who the bomber was and what his motivations were are as of yet unclear, though there have been reports that he was linked to a terrorist camp in Pakistan. The incident has made many anxious about airport security (more so than they already were); apparently, the bomber walked right through deactivated metal detectors to enter the arrivals section of Russia’s busiest airport.

Rahm Emanuel was taken off, then put back on, the ballot for Chicago’s mayoral election. Emanuel, Obama’s former chief of staff, stepped down from his position at the White House in order to run for mayor in his hometown. He is famous for his dirty, dirty mouth; some choice quotes include referring to D.C. as “f**knutsville” (creative, at the very least) and saying of the Obama’s un house-trained dog, Bo, “I’m going to kill that f**king dog” (awww, poor puppy!). He was thrown off the ballot because he was not a Chicago resident while working in D.C., but the Illinois Supreme Court overturned that ruling on Thursday, deciding he did meet the rules of residency. Watch out, Chicago!

In several previous posts I discussed the intense controversy surrounding the upcoming Beijing Olympics. In recent weeks the traditional international journey of the Olympic Torch has served as a flash point for clashes between supporters and protesters.

Ironically, this torch relay was supposed to be the largest in Olympic history—a showcase of international cooperation and sport. Instead, it has become a testament to international outrage over China’s human rights abuses, especially over Tibet.

March 31: A huge carefully scripted ceremony at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square sent the torch off across the globe

April 3: In Istanbul, Turkey, the Uighur expat community staged demonstrations against Chinese persecution of their “brother” expats in Xinjiang. In February 2007, for example, an Uigur activist named Ismail Semed, was executed on the shaky grounds of attempting to “split the motherland” and possessing explosives.

April 6: Massive clashes occurred between Free Tibet protesters and police during the London relay. Thirty-seven protesters were arrested including a man who tried to snatch the torch away from one of the runners. Another tried to put out the torch with a fire extinguisher. Read More »