George W. Bush
On September 11, 2001, Islamic terrorists, with the support and funding of the renowned terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, attacked the United States. The assault on the nation was unconventional in nature. Instead of a military invasion, terrorists hijacked four aircraft and used them as projectiles. The first aircraft struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center facility in New York City at 8:45 a.m. Then, just shortly after 9 a.m., a second plane barreled into the World Trade Center's South Tower. It immediately became apparent that the United States was under attack. Two additional incidents occurred in Washington, D.C. and in western Pennsylvania. In Washington, terrorists used a third plane to assault the Pentagon at 9:45 a.m. In Pennsylvania, hijackers commandeered a fourth plane, but, thanks to a valiant effort from several passengers and crew members, the aircraft crash landed into a field instead of another significant target. By nightfall, both World Trade Center buildings had collapsed, the Pentagon suffered significant damage and the United States was shaken. Over 3,000 Americans perished during the September 11 attacks, including all individuals on board the aircraft, thousands at the World Trade Center and dozens at the Pentagon. President George Bush rejected as "non-negotiable" an offer by the Taliban to discuss turning over Osama bin Laden if the United States ended the bombing in Afghanistan. Returning to the White House after a weekend at Camp David, the president said the bombing would not stop, unless the ruling Taliban "turn [bin Laden] over. A report says the Bush administration knew in May of Al Qaeda's plans to attack. Then President George W. Bush received more frequent and detailed warnings about Al Qaeda’s plans to attack the United States than have previously been disclosed. While the Bush administration had revealed an Aug. 6, 2001, presidential brief titled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.,” other earlier briefings also warned of an attack.
George W. Bush
George W. Bush was the 43rd president of the United States. He led his country's response to the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and initiated the Iraq War in 2003. Born in July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1999, George W. Bush began his quest for the presidency, and after a contentious series of primary elections, he won the Republican presidential nomination. Bush had 246 electoral votes and Gore had 255, with 270 needed to win. Florida’s 25 electoral votes were held in the balance where several counties reported problems with balloting. After more than a month of recounts and legal maneuvering, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the election, giving George Bush the victory. In the first two years of his presidency, George W. Bush enjoyed a political majority in both Congressional houses but faced a strongly divided government. At times, his political rhetoric fueled this divide. Taking a budget surplus left by the previous Democratic administration, Bush pushed through a $1.35 trillion tax cut to stimulate the economy, but critics contended it favored the wealthy. In October, it was revealed that Bush's heart condition was more serious than originally described. He had a 95% blockage in that artery before his surgery. If he had not been treated, Bush would have been at risk of having a heart attack.
Osama Bin Laden
Osama bin Laden is a terrorist extremist who planned the attacks on the World Trade Center and is intent on driving Western influence from the Muslim world. Osama bin Laden was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 1957. At the age of 18 he married his first cousin, 14-year-old Najwa Ghanem, who had been promised to him. Osama graduated from Al Thager in 1976, the same year his first child, a son named Abdullah, was born. September 11, 2001, Osama would deliver his most devastating blow to the United States. A small group of Osama's Al Qaeda jihadists hijacked four commercial passenger aircraft in the United States, two of which collided into the World Trade Center towers. Another aircraft crashed into The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. A fourth plane was successfully retaken, and crashed in Pennsylvania. The intended target of the final aircraft was believed to be the United States Capitol. In all, the attack killed nearly 3,000 civilians. Then, on May 2, 2011, President Barack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed in a terrorist compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans Levees
Early in the morning on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. When the storm made landfall, it had a Category 3 rating on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale–it brought sustained winds of 100–140 miles per hour–and stretched some 400 miles across. The storm itself did a great deal of damage, but its aftermath was catastrophic. Levee breaches led to massive flooding, and many people charged that the federal government was slow to meet the needs of the people affected by the storm. Hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were displaced from their homes, and experts estimate that Katrina caused more than $100 billion in damage. Corps officials were quick to say that the assumptions used in designing the existing levees remain sufficient to protect from surges caused by a hurricane with a 1 percent chance of occurring in any year, the so-called 100-year storm. The reanalysis would include a comprehensive review of all decisions that were made in redesigning and rebuilding the levee system that failed catastrophically during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. One of the key differences between the design method used to build the levees that failed during Katrina and the new system was the use of so-called "Monte Carlo" analyses to determine the odds of various sized storms to produce overtopping at different locations around the levee system.
Barack Obama & Sonia Sotomayor
President Barack Obama called Judge Sonia Sotomayor at 9 p.m. on Memorial Day to say she was his pick for the Supreme Court. Obama showed he was willing to pick a fight with his choice — Republicans do not consider her a “consensus” nominee and had signaled that they considered her the most liberal of the four finalists. He played smart base politics with the historic selection of a Hispanic (a first) and a woman. And he fulfilled his pledge to pick someone with a common touch by nominating someone who was raised in a Bronx housing project, and lost her father.
If confirmed, Sotomayor, 54, would be the first Hispanic U.S. Supreme Court justice and the third woman to serve on the high court. Sotomayor "is an inspiring woman who I believe will make a great justice," Obama said at a White House announcement. She "has worked at almost every level of our judicial system, providing her with a depth of experience and a breadth of perspective that will be invaluable as a Supreme Court justice," he added. Obama said Sotomayor would bring more experience on the bench than anyone currently serving on the Supreme Court when appointed. "Thank you, Mr. President, for the most humbling honor of my life," Sotomayor said. She thanked family members and mentors who helped her throughout her life and career.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/26/supreme.court/
If confirmed, Sotomayor, 54, would be the first Hispanic U.S. Supreme Court justice and the third woman to serve on the high court. Sotomayor "is an inspiring woman who I believe will make a great justice," Obama said at a White House announcement. She "has worked at almost every level of our judicial system, providing her with a depth of experience and a breadth of perspective that will be invaluable as a Supreme Court justice," he added. Obama said Sotomayor would bring more experience on the bench than anyone currently serving on the Supreme Court when appointed. "Thank you, Mr. President, for the most humbling honor of my life," Sotomayor said. She thanked family members and mentors who helped her throughout her life and career.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/26/supreme.court/
Barack Obama
Born on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Barack Obama is the 44th and current president of the United States, and the first African American to serve as U.S. president. First elected to the presidency in 2008, he won a second term in 2012. In February 2007, Obama made headlines when he announced his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Obama coaxed Congress to expand health care insurance for children and provide legal protection for women seeking equal pay. A $787 billion stimulus bill was passed to promote short-term economic growth. Housing and credit markets were put on life support, with a market-based plan to buy U.S. banks' toxic assets. Loans were made to the auto industry, and new regulations were proposed for Wall Street. He also cut taxes for working families, small businesses and first-time home buyers. The president also loosened the ban on embryonic stem cell research and moved ahead with a $3.5 trillion budget plan.
Technology of the 21st Century
Third graders texting on their cell phones. Kindergarteners who can navigate an iPod Touch better than we can. Middle schoolers who already have an Internet following on their blog or YouTube channel. These are not the same 21st century learners we came to know over the first decade of the new millennium. For these students, simply watching videos or images during class, playing an Internet multiplication game, or even taking turns at an interactive whiteboard is no longer enough. These new 21st century learners are highly relational and demand quick access to new knowledge. More than that, they are capable of engaging in learning at a whole new level. With the world literally at their fingertips, today’s students need teachers and administrators to re-envision the role of technology in the classroom.
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs co-founded Apple Computers with Steve Wozniak. Under Jobs' guidance, the company pioneered a series of revolutionary technologies, including the iPhone and iPad. Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco, California, on February 24, 1955. In 1976, when Jobs was just 21, he and Wozniak started Apple Computer. . The Apple I earned the corporation around $774,000. Three years after the release of Apple's second model, the Apple II, the company's sales increased by 700 percent, to $139 million. In 1980, Apple Computer became a publicly traded company, with a market value of $1.2 billion by the end of its very first day of trading. Jobs looked to marketing expert John Sculley of Pepsi-Cola to help fill the role of Apple's president. Early in 2009, reports circulated about Jobs' weight loss, some predicting his health issues had returned, which included a liver transplant. Jobs had responded to these concerns by stating he was dealing with a hormone imbalance. After nearly a year out of the spotlight, Steve Jobs delivered a keynote address at an invite-only Apple event September 9, 2009. He died in 2011, following a long battle with pancreatic cancer.