The Year That Was 2004 by Dexnell Peters - Writers Forum

Dexnell · 01-03-2005, 03:23 PM

The Year That Was 2004
By Dexnell Peters

2004: A year like any other year with ups and downs, highs and lows and plenty of hot topics, however with devastating disasters, corruption and war, it gave itself a unique flair.

An incumbent US President stood tall among the ranks in 2004 as the Man of the Year. To most he deserved this title, as he was the most talked about man whether good or bad in 2004. With the seemingly vast majority of people as portrayed in the media rooting against Bush he raised eyebrows as he won back his title as President. In my opinion, one, which would put me in support of Kerry, is that Bush handled his role as commander of chief badly. Already faced with a troubled Afghanistan Bush decides, rather than take troops and start an all out search for Osama he decided that he would go after the man that tried to kill his father. Oil, is being gained from all these actions as there is a pipeline running through Afghanistan and Iraq, which of course is a obvious factor. In event, we get what I'd like to call a immense mess. Rather than take things one at a time and make
things easier it's now much harder when the army is split up in many areas. And don?t forget an over-boastful North Korea at the side. Not to mention the current deficit, which will not be decreasing because of the fees, that has to be paid for running an active army. In 2005, I predict Bush will remain a hot topic as the world watches closely on his second term.
Asian Tsunami: This event, which happened nearing the end of the year has really spoilt what was a not, a bad year for me and most people worldwide. Hearing almost 200,000 people dead is not good news. It is something that will linger on in people?s mine in 2005 and onwards. Currently, the effects of the earthquake caused great havoc in small town areas in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, these countries haven't done a census in years ? which is quite delinquent in my mind ? and I can clearly state that I'm sure over 500,000 people have died. More money must be spent on technology especially in Asia, because the majority of the times these things can be predicted giving at least a day in advance to alert the population.
Hurricanes: Hurricanes devastated the Caribbean and North America this season. Florida was hit with four hurricanes right after the other. The worst being Hurricane Ivan which flattened Grenada, parts of Jamaica, The Cayman Islands and Florida.
AIDS: In 2004 this epidemic increased greatly and it will continue to increase in 2005 if we do not do something to stop the spread and stop the disease. More people than ever are attracting this deadly disease and it has to stop now. Africa and the Caribbean are facing this disease the worst. Many babies are being born with it. I don't know when we'll get a breakthrough and find a cure, however we need to learn to live with these people and accept the fact that life shouldn?t end when HIV or AIDS is contracted. There?s a lot of work to be done in 2005.
Entertainment: In the entertainment world of 2004, we saw Micheal Jackson, the king of pop, fall victim to a load of lawsuits against for allegations of child molestation. Jackson also found his name in a song called ?Just Lose It? by Eminem parodying his recent allegations. His sister Janet had a wardrobe malfunction at the super bowl. Jennifer Lopez married again so did Britany Spears. Passion of the Christ, a movie on death of Jesus Christ, suffers to allegations of being anti-Semitic.
Deaths: In 2004, the world has lost some treasured ones, including: Marlon Brando -American Actor, Ronald Reagan, former actor and President of the United States, Ray Charles - world-renowned Jazz musician and legend and Yassar Arafat, former President of Palestine.
Sports: The Olympics were held this year in Greece, Athens. Marion Jones found herself under investigation as a former trainer admits to giving her steroids, Barry Bonds also found himself being investigated for the same. West Indies Cricket Team wins ICC One Day Tournament.
2004 was a good year to the champions in sports, the musicians with best-selling albums same too with movie stars and their movies and a bad year for tsunami, earthquake and hurricane survivors. Some may disagree but we can all agree that 2004 is over and its time to look forward to the year that will be 2005.