Media Hype….What’s Going On

Have you been living in a hole for the past 5-10 years?  Curious about what has been causing quite a stir in the media?  Well, inspired by all my ignorant friends who possess no worldly knowledge whatsoever, I decided to compile a list of hot topics from the past years.

 

Latin America is in the broadest sense, the entire western hemisphere south of the United States. Currently it has been known as a political hotspot. Venezuela presently has a modern day dictator and President George W. Bush recently toured the area on a peace mission. 

 

Nancy Pelosi made history on January 4, 2007 when she became the first woman to serve as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.  Pelosi is leading House Democrats in the charge for a New Direction for America.  She has unified House Democrats around key issues that they believe will provide all hard-working Americans with national and economic security.

 

Dr. Condoleezza Rice became the 66th Secretary of State on January 26, 2005. Her objective of transformational diplomacy is to “work with our many partners around the world to build and sustain democratic, well-governed states that will respond to the needs of their people — and conduct themselves responsibly in the international system.” As Condi stated at her confirmation hearing, “we must use American diplomacy to help create a balance of power in the world that favors freedom. And the time for diplomacy is now.”

 

North Korea has been at odds with the United States, Japan and South Korea (with whom it remains technically at war) since the cease fire of the Korean War in 1953. North Korea’s relations with the United States have become particularly tense in recent years as President George W. Bush labeled North Korea part of an “axis of evil.”

 

Global Warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation. Since the scientific findings surrounding global warming have been made known it has led to the involvement of many, including governments and prominent politicians.

 

Iraq is a developing nation that is the focus of increased attention from the West because of the Iraq War.  Many individuals believe that we are over there for the wrong reasons, while many other individuals fully support the war.

 

Executive orders are edicts issued by the President of the United States. The concept of an executive order is loosely derived from the grant of “executive power” given to the President by Article Two of the United States Constitution, Section 1, and the statement “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed” in Article II, Section 3.

 

In 2004 Mel Gibson directed the Academy Award nominated film The Passion of the Christ about the last twelve hours of Jesus Christ’s life, from the moment of his arrest, trial to crucifixion, known to Christians as “The Passion”. Learn more about Gibson’s controversial film The Passion today. 

 

Al Gore is an American politician, teacher, businessman, and environmentalist. From 1993 to 2001, Gore was the 45th Vice President of the United States, serving with Bill Clinton. Most recently he has been known for his documentary An Inconvenient Truth about global warming.

The gun control debate is centered on the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which protects “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” Gun control advocates believe that right does not extend to ownership of military-style firearms that are otherwise known as assault weapons. On the other hand gun rights groups, led by the NRA, argue that these and other proposals infringe on the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens. Learn about Gun Control by reading NewsMax Hot Topics. Also read more about the National Rifle Association.

Steven Hatfill is the former U.S. Army bio-weapons scientist named a “person of interest” in the 2001 anthrax attacks. He denied having any connection to the fatal anthrax mailings and filed suit against Attorney General John Ashcroft, the Justice Department and the FBI because he believed his constitutional rights had been violated.

The right to impeach public officials is secured by the U.S. Constitution which indicates the grounds for impeachment: “the President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Impeachment requires a majority vote of the House. The vice president presides over the Senate proceedings in the case of all officials except the president, whose trial is presided over by the chief justice of the Supreme Court. Learn more about impeachment and its existence in present day.

Janet Reno is the first female Attorney General of the United States. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993 and served until the end of the Clinton administration in January 2001. She was the second longest serving Attorney General.

Senator John Kerry is the junior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, in his fourth term of office. As the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, he was defeated in the 2004 presidential election by the Republican incumbent President George W. Bush. Senator Kerry is currently the Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He is also a Vietnam Veteran. 

Senator John McCain is an American Republican politician, currently the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. He was a presidential candidate in the 2000 election, but was defeated by George W. Bush for the Republican nomination. McCain formally announced on April 25, 2007 that he is seeking the Republican Presidential nomination in the 2008 election.

The United States is currently attempting to develop several components of a missile defense system designed to protect U.S. territory from attack by long-range strategic ballistic missiles. According to the National Missile Defense Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-38), “It is the policy of the United States to deploy as soon as is technologically possible an effective National Missile Defense system capable of defending the territory of the United States against limited ballistic missile attack (whether accidental, unauthorized, or deliberate) with funding subject to the annual authorization of appropriations and the annual appropriation of funds for National Missile Defense.”