Stuff YOU Should Know
Aviatrix Extraordinaire
July 24 was Amelia Earhart Day, a celebration of a famous female pilot innovator. The small town of Atchison, Kansas (Earhart’s birthplace) celebrates the accomplishments of their favorite daughter by drawing the community into its downtown for a day of food, crafts, carnival games and a concert. The first annual celebration took place in 1997, marking her 100th birthday.
It was still the infancy of flight when Earhart fell in love with the airplane, taking lessons in 1921 and setting a world record for female pilot not two years later. Following in the wake of pilot Charles Lindbergh’s fame following his 1927 transatlantic flight, Earhart became a celebrity, making regular public appearances and drawing much press attention for her various flights. On July 2, 1937, during her attempt to fly around the world (with stops), she and navigator Frederick Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean, en route to Howland Island. They were never heard from again.
Dig Deeper In 2010, personal items possibly belonging to Earhart and Noonan were recovered from the small island of Nikumaroro, suggesting they could have lived out her days as castaways. In 2013, another recovery group called TIGHAR claim to have found remains of the plane’s twin-engine. Do some further research and gain more insight into either of these discoveries or report of any new findings.
Israel’s Action toward Hamas Expands
Following up on our ongoing coverage of continuing fighting between the Israelis and the Palestinians, both sides continue to suffer casualties. At least 13 Israeli soldiers and 65 Palestinians were killed on July 20 alone, the deadliest day so far in this most recent flare up of the ages-old conflict. The fighting has escalated from missile attacks to a ground offensive, with Israeli tanks and soldiers entering Gaza with the goal of attacking alleged tunnels used by the Palestinians to store weapons. This action on the ground marks Israel’s first major incursion in Gaza in more than five years.
Secretary of State John Kerry has visited the region on behalf of the United States. He made a public statement that, “Israel is justified in taking action to protect itself from attacks launched from Gaza,” but adding his concern for the civilian impact. President Obama reinforced Kerry’s message in talks with Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. One of the main proposed resolutions to the conflict between these countries is a “two-state solution” where Palestine is established as an independent state in Gaza, with the rest of the surrounding region left to Israel. The problem is that both sides disagree over how to make it work.
What Do You Think? Continue to follow this story, making special notice of any proposed political solutions that both sides might consider.
Another Malaysian Plane Goes Down
Back in March, btw brought you news of a Malaysian Airlines plane (Flight 447) that departed from Kuala Lumpur and disappeared over the Indian Ocean on its way to Beijing. After an exhaustive search, the fate of the plane has never been discovered. On July 17, another Malaysian Airlines plane (Flight 17), departing from Amsterdam en route to Kuala Lumpur, was reported missing. Soon after, officials confirmed the plane was shot down over the Ukraine, where it crashed into farmland near the village of Grabovo. Russia is being blamed for the attack, although they have, so far, denied involvement.
Credit: Michal Krakowiak/Getty Images
American Intelligence officials believe that the missile that struck the plane was a Russian-made SA-11, although there are several military forces in that area with possession of such weapons. This act of aggression is seen as the latest in the ongoing conflict between Russia and the Ukraine. The United Nations Security Council approved an investigation of the crash site that involves experts from the US, Germany, Great Britain, Australia, the Netherlands and Malaysia. Given the unrest in the region, many are wondering why Malaysian Airlines were flying above the Ukraine in the first place. The answer is that Russia had closed its airspace only for aircraft flying under 32,000, which did not include commercial flights.
Dig Deeper There will continue to be many new developments regarding this incident. Pay close attention to the role of the United Nations in days to come.
VMA Nominations
It’s good to be Beyonce these days. The wildly popular superstar leads the recent nominations for the cable channel MTV’s annual Video Music Awards with eight, including Video of the Year, Best Female, and Best Collaboration (with husband Jay-Z). Rapper Eminem and newcomer Iggy Azalea are tied for second with seven noms apiece. In addition to awards for the best in many genres, MTV recognizes excellence in editing, choreography and Best Video with a Social Message.
Since its inception in 1984, the annual VMA ceremony reliably generates buzzworthy, morning-after headlines. Live performances that push the limits of appropriate wide-audience viewing (usually involving suggestive behavior). Madonna has managed to continually raise eyebrows throughout the years, first dressed as a bride and writhing around the stage to her hit, “Like a Virgin,” and years later engaged in an onstage lip lock with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Miley Cyrus seems determined to follow in her footsteps with her twerk-heavy performance last year. Meanwhile, heated altercations between feuding tough-guy rockers has become standard backstage behavior at the VMAs. The biggest was Kurt Cobain and Axl Rose, each fronting the biggest bands of the early 90s (Nirvana and Guns N Roses respectively).