CURRENT EVENTS CHECK-IN

kimberlymacrae

So many great topics to go over, sorry I missed last week! I have had a lot of my mind.

1. Security at the Winter Olympics. A little recent is the 2 “attacks” in Russia as the Winter Olympics near, killing 14 people. The previous suicide bomber (a day before, I think) killed 17 and injured 35. Recently the Volgograd attacks have a lot of people questioning how safe the Sochi Olympics will be. I listened to this NPR piece with the former Director of the FBI who was responsible for coordinating the security at the Athens Olympics and he mentioned that there is no comparison between how prepared the Athen’s security teams were and the utter confusion that the Russian security teams have created. Eeeek. The Olympics are 6 weeks away!
     a. CNN article: https://www.cnn.com/2013/12/30/world/europe/russia-volgograd-explosion/index.html?iref=allsearch

2. Drones for Commercial Use. So last night I jumped on Amazon and ordered a damn amber anklet for my recently teething son. And I remembered an old article with Amazon’s CEO about how they plan to use drones to deliver the package to your doorstep within 30 min.s! Overnight shipping charges were $56 so I wonder what drone-shipping charges would be. Less because there is less labor involved or possible more because “the want can justify the increase price”. I always see posts on TB about ladies forgetting a pumping part at home, etc. etc. Well just jump on Amazon and the part can be to you in 30 min.s!!
     a. CNN article: https://www.cnn.com/2013/12/02/tech/innovation/amazon-drones-questions/index.html?iref=allsearch

3. Muslim Brotherhood Officially Categorized as a Terrorist Group. I use the term categorize loosely. Egypt’s interim cabinet has officially labeled the MB as a terrorist group. I know that doesn’t seem to hold a lot of water but it’s a slippery slope. Sort of like the idea of precedent in legal terms (i.e. once one decision is made, in one court, in one state… it can affect future law) I think the same might happen here. This is the crack in the dam and I would expect within the next year for the UN or Interpol to follow. Thoughts?
     a. CNN Article: https://www.cnn.com/2013/12/25/world/africa/egypt-muslim-brotherhood-terrorism/index.html?iref=allsearch

kimberlymacrae

Oh and also, a little Sports for this section. Mayweather is bound to fight Amir Khan on May 3rd of 2014. My husband loves Khan and I never cheer agaist Mayweather. So this will be an interesting night in our house. Any other boxing fans in the building?

HBirdie

My really good friend works at Amazon and he's working on a secret project. Like, seriously, you have to be vetted like crazy to join his team, and all of the members have signed agreements saying they won't discuss what they're working on with ANYONE, including their spouses. Pretty crazy. When I saw the drone thing, I texted him asking if that was his project, but it isn't. He said it's really big and I might know about it in a year... I can't wait!

ETA: He's a programming/computer science/physics geek, in case anyone was wondering.