Developments in late December of 2019.

On January 13, 2018, there was the killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud in an encounter staged by the police officer Rao Anwar in Karachi, Pakistan. This sparked nationwide protests against extrajudicial killings.  The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (or the Pashtun Protection Movement), led by Manzoor Pashteen, launched a campaign to seek justice for Mehsud. On January 20, 2018, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the start of a military offensive to capture a portion of northern Syria from Kurdish forces. This continued the Kurdish and Turkish conflict. From January 20-22, 2018, there is a federal government shutdown over a dispute over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (in dealing with immigration). Scientists in China by January 24, as reported in the journal Cell, created the first monkey clones using somatic cell nuclear transfer. These scientists are Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua. On January 31, a total lunar eclipse takes place. The Moon appears as super moon, with perigee being on January 30. It is also the first blue moon eclipse since 1983. It was also referred to as the super blue blood moon. Space X conducted its maiden flight of its most powerful rocket to date. It was the Falcon Heavy from LC39A at John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February 6. The Winter Olympics took place in Pyeongchang, South Korea on February 9-25, 2018. On February 10, Kay Goldsworthy becomes the first woman archbishop in the Anglican Communion on her installation in the Anglican Diocese of Perth, Western Australia. Jacob Zuma resigned as President of South Africa after 9 years in power on February 14. On that day, a school shooting occured at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, United States, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others. This caused a regrowth of the gun control movement nationwide in the United States of America. Protests and walk outs occur in schools nationwide. Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, are poisoned by the Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, England. UK counter-terrorism police investigate amid speculation the Kremlin was behind the incident. It happened on March 4. The 2018 Winter Paralympics are held in Pyeongchang, South Korea from March 9 to March 18, 2018. On March 9, President Donald Trump accepted an invitation from the North Korean leader Jim Jong-un for a meeting in May to discuss the denuclearization of North Korea. Putin is reelected. On March 24, over 900 cities have the March for Our Lives in protests against gun violence and mass shootings. More than 100 Russian diplomats are expelled by more than 20 countries in the wake of the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal by March 26. North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un meets Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping, leaving the country for the first time since assuming office in 2011 (on March 28). The 2018 Commonwealth Games were held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia (from April 4-15).

On April 5, 2018, Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was given an arrest warrant after a vote by the Supreme Court voted 6–5 in favor of denying his habeas corpus, due to corruption and other scandals. Lula da Silva is a progressive person, and the far right wanted Lula to be gone unjustly in order to prop up a right wing Brazilian government. The sarin chemical attack happened in Douma, Syria kiled at least 70 people. Cinemas open in Saudi Arabia for the first time to show the film Black Panther. Miguel Diaz Cnael was President of Cuba in April 19. Kim Jong-un crossed into South Korea to meet with President Moon Jae-in, becoming the first North Korean leader to cross the Demilitarized Zone since its creation in 1953 (on April 27). Trump ended the Iranian nuclear agreement in May 8. On May 19, 2018, there was the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is held at St George's Chapel, England, with an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion. The 2018 Venezuelan presidential election was held with incumbent President Nicolás Maduro reelected with 67.8% of the vote and the lowest turnout in Venezuela's modern democratic history since the 1958 coup d'état. This was on May 20. America and the European Union plus others want Venezuela to be a pro-Western puppet state. On May 31, 2018, the U.S. announced that it will extend its tariffs on imported steel (25%) and aluminum (10%) to include the EU, Mexico and Canada, starting at midnight. The G7 meeting happened in Canada. Eritrea and Ethiopia end their conflict in July 9, 2018. Apple Inc. becomes the world's first public company to achieve a market capitalization of $1 trillion on August 2, 2018. On October 2, 2019,  the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, triggering a diplomatic crisis for Saudi Arabia. The United States Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the United States Supreme Court by a margin of 50-48, making it the closest successful confirmation vote of a Supreme Court nominee since 1881 (on October 6, 2018). The IPCC releases its Special Report on Global Warming (on October 8, 2019) of 1.5ºC, warning that "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society" are needed to ensure that global warming is kept below 1.5 °C. The far-right Jair Bolsonaro is elected as the next President of Brazil, with 55% of the vote on October 28. The Camp Fire ignites in Butte County, California. It became California's deadliest and most destructive wildfire, with 88 deaths and 18,804 buildings destroyed (on November 8, 2018). November 11, 2018 was when many nations commemorated the end of World War I in a centenary. There was Armistice Day, Veterans Day, and Remembrance Day ceremonies in Europe plus in America via speeches, parades, and memorials. NASA’s Insight probe landed on the surface of Mars on November 26. Chinese scientist He Jiankui, at a public conference in Hong Kong, announced that he has altered the DNA of twin human girls born earlier in the month to try to make them resistant to infection with the HIV virus; he also reveals the possible second pregnancy of another gene-modified baby in November 28. By December 1-8, the yellow vest movement existed in France. The United States government entered a second government shutdown (starting on December 22, 2018), arising over a dispute over funding for the U.S.–Mexico border wall. The shutdown, which lasted until January 25, 2019, is the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.



2019 is the last year of the 2010 decade. Jair Bolsonaro or the right wing extremist started his four year term as President of Brazil. The unmanned space probe called New Horizon went to the Kulper belt. Qatar leaves OPEC, and Austria legalized same sex marriage on January 1, 2019. China landed the probe of Chang’e 4 to land on the far side of the Moon. A faction of the Armed Forces of Gabon announces a coup d'état. Gabon's government later declared that it has reasserted control. On January 10, 2019, Venezuela entered a constitutional crisis as Juan Guaidó and the National Assembly declare incumbent President Nicolás Maduro "illegitimate" and start the process of attempting to remove him. A suicide bombing happened in Bogota, Colombia killing 22 people and injuring 68 others. The U.S. Justice Department charges Chinese tech firm Huawei with multiple counts of fraud, raising U.S.–China tensions (on January 28, 2019). On February 7, 2019, many anti-government protests happen in Haiti. They want Haitian President Jovenel Moise to resign. India and Pakistan had a standoff over lands. The February 27-28, 2019 North Korea–United States summit is held in Hanoi, Vietnam. It is the second summit between United States President Donald Trump and the North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un. There is the March blizzard in Colorado and other places of America. On March 15, 2019, 51 people are killed and 50 others injured in terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand: Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre, both of which were the target of shootings by Australia-born Brenton Harrison Tarrant. It is the deadliest mass shooting and terrorist attack in New Zealand's history and described by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as "one of New Zealand's darkest days.” Subsequently, Facebook announced they had disabled 1.5 million videos of the gunman's rampage. In March 2019, the final area of the ISIL is liberated. April 11, 2019 was when Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange was forcibly arrested after 7 years in Ecuador’s embassy in London. Questions about due process relate to Assange. Sudan is deposed of Omar al-Bashir. The Notre Dame cathedral almost burns up on April 15, 2019. The Mueller report is released to the public on April 18, 2019 that exposes the Russian interference in the 2016 United States Presidential Election. Avengers: Endgame is released in theaters, breaking many box-office records, including becoming the highest grossing movie of all time by April. On May 3-6, 2019, the Gaza–Israel conflict escalates after the Israeli military launched airstrikes into Gaza killing more than 20 Palestinians including a pregnant woman and a toddler following the injury of two soldiers from Gazan sniper fire. In its first report (on May 6) since 2005, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) warned that biodiversity loss is "accelerating", with over a million species now threatened with extinction; the decline of the natural living world is "unprecedented" and largely a result of human actions, according to the report. June 3, 2019 was the Khartoum massacre. It was when more than 100 people are killed when Sudanese troops and Janjaweed militiamen storm and opened fire on a protest camp outside of a military headquarters in Khartoum, Sudan. The African Union suspends Sudan's membership "with immediate effect" after the Khartoum massacre. The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup is held in France and is won by the United States by July 7. The July National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported on August 15, that July 2019 was the hottest month on record globally, at 0.95 °C (1.71 °F) above the 20th-century average. On July 17, 2019, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, former head of the Sinaloa Cartel, which became the biggest supplier of drugs to the U.S., is sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years. July 21 was when a mob of over 100 suspected triad members dressed in white and armed with batons attack commuters indiscriminately at MTR Yuen Long station in Hong Kong, injuring 45, including a pro-democracy legislator and a pregnant woman. Hong Kong police have been accused of allowing the violence to happen due to their delayed response and decision to limit emergency services in the area. In August of 2019, there were mass shootings in a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas and at Dayton, Ohio.

Hurricane Dorian damaged the Bahamas on September 1 with winds of 185 mph. 43 deaths are reported. September saw Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announcds the official withdrawal of the controversial Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019, and setting up of an independent study to probe social and economic inequality within the territory. Chandrayaan-2, India's second lunar probe, was successful to put the orbit in lunar orbit, but the lander Vikram crashed into the surface of the moon. On September 27, 2019, 500,000 people march in a climate change protest led by activist Greta Thunberg and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Montreal, Canada. 70 years after the Chinese Revolution, Hong Kong protests continue. On October 27, U.S. President Donald Trump announces that the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed in a U.S. special forces operation. It was reported that al-Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest after being chased into a tunnel. Twitter bans all political advertising worldwide. November 13 was when public impeachment hearings against Donald Trump started in the House of Representatives. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust on November 21. December 5 was when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asks the House Judiciary Committee to begin drafting articles of impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump. The World Anti-Doping Agency (on December 5, 2019) votes unanimously to ban Russia from international sport for four years for doping offences, meaning it will be excluded from the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. December 20 was when the House announced charges of impeachment against Trump. He is the forth U.S. President to face impeachment.


The 2019 Joker film has many meanings. It didn’t portray the Joker as a villain, but a more sympathetic anti-hero character. The Joker is played by Joaquin Phoenix. The film gives the origin of the Joker and outlines why he acted the way he acted. The film is set in 1981. It was directed and produced by Todd Phillips. The screenplay was written by Todd Phillips and Scott Silver. This is part of the DC Comics entity. The movie is about the life of Arthur Fleck. He fails as a standup comedian. Later, he develops severe mental illness and inspires a violent countercultural revolution against the wealthy. The whole scene is based on Gotham City. The actors and actresses in the film include Robert DeNiro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Controy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Bill Camp, Shea Whigham, and Marc Maron. It has been controversial as some believe the film glamorizes terrorism. The movie mixes truth with error. It shows the truth about the immorality of capitalist exploitation, human dehumanization, and the status quo harming the lives of so many people including those who are deemed the outcasts of society. I disagree with parts of the movie outlining the view that nihilistic violence (instead of nonviolence and self-defense) is a legitimate way to solve problems. Nihilistic violence doesn’t work, because the state will use that as a justification to ironically pass more draconian, anti-liberty laws. Also, it is morally wrong to destroy innocent human life. Phillips was inspired by the characters found in the King of Comedy film and Taxi Driver. The graphic novel: Batman: The Killing Joke (1988) was the basis for the film too. The film was shot in NYC, Jersey City, and Newark. Joker premiered at the 76th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2019, where it won the Golden Lion, and was released in the United States on October 4, 2019. The movie is emotional. The movie describes Arthur Fleck as living with his mother and struggling in Gotham’s City. The community is poor and crime is abundant. Class oppression is real. Arthur is harmed by people. He gets a gun for protection. The single mother Sophie (played by Zazie Beetz) dates him. He is fired for having a gun. He defends a woman being harassed by three businessmen from Wayne Enterprises. People support Arthur. Arthur passionately said that society abandons the disenfranchised.

He shot Murray (who is a talk show host), and riots take place in Gotham. Rioters in an ambulance crash into the police car and free Arthur. He smears blood on his face in the form of a smile and dances to the cheers of the crowd. At Arkham, Arthur laughs to himself about a joke and tells his psychiatrist she would not understand it. He runs from orderlies, leaving a trail of bloodied footprints. As of December 13, 2019, Joker has grossed $332.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $724.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.057 billion. It is the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2019 and the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, as well as the first R-rated film to pass the billion-dollar mark. In terms of budget-to-gross ratio, Joker is also the most profitable film based on a comic book, due to its small budget and little decline in week-to-week grosses during its theatrical run. The Joker film is popular in part, because it is a reflection of the complex issues in America plus the world that we have to deal with. There are mental health issues, abuse, crime, economic exploitation, bullying, and other realities. I don’t think that the film glamorizes mass shootings. We can take the Joker as a means to deal with society’s ills, so people won’t act like The Joke character to begin with.  The movie does make an accurate point that American austerity and lack of respect for those with mental health issues is completely wrong. I don’t agree with nearly sympathizing with a nihilistic person though. I don’t believe that the movie will promote copycat murderers either. Some in the mass media don’t like the film, but you have to analyze information critically. We should oppose oligarchy, injustice, and corporate media propaganda. The Joker is a mirror to how modern society is. We can take the Joke for what it is. It’s a cautionary tale and a lesson about how the Golden Rule can save lives literally.



One of the easiest ways to prove that symbolism is part of the mainstream music industry is to witness it in award shows. The 2019 American Music Awards had tons of symbolism. Many of the performers showed the themes of literal hellfire. Selena Gomez had a panic attack before her AMA performance. Kesha performed in a church scene that melted into rainbow colors. She performed the song “Raising Hell.” She started by saying “Welcome to our Sunday service” which seen to be a shot at Kanye West’s church services. Obviously, the song isn’t about promoting church themes. It mocks Christians in its lyrics. If she mocked Islam or other religions like that, she wouldn’t get away with that. Her lyrics mentioned the following words, “Hands up, witness, Solo cup full of holy spirits, Something wicked (ooh), Speaking in tongues in my blood red lipstick.” Billie Eilish’s “All good girls go to hell” song is something else. In the performance, Kesha’s backup dancers do devil horns when she sings, “I Don’t wanna go to Heaven without raising hell.” How self-explanatory can you get that many in that industry hate Christianity and want new age doctrines to dominate world society. Other performances from Ozzy Osbourne, Post Malone, Travis Scott, and Camila Caebello show many artists being under corporate control. Corporations tell these artists where to go, what to see, and how to perform. Therefore, the truth is not mocked. People reap what they have sown. What is strange yet not surprising is the admission of Christopher Lee. Back in 1975, the actor admitted that black magic and satanic rituals exists and more people have an increased interest in occultism. He has a long career in the film industry. He played Saruman in The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit trilogies. He has been on over 200 TV shows. He has been in movies with occult and satanic themes since the 1970’s. Also, Will Ferrell’s comedy skit about child trafficking is disgusting too. The modern entertainment industry promotes agendas, oligarchical control, and other things beyond just music.



Disney Plus is a recent American subscription video on demand streaming service. It is owned by the Direct-to-Consumer & International (DTCI) division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced by The Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Television, with the service advertising content from Disney's Marvel, National Geographic, Pixar, and Star Wars brands in particular. Original films and television series are also distributed on Disney+, with ten films and seven series having been produced for the platform as of November 2019. Serving adjacent to Disney's other streaming platforms – the general programming-oriented Hulu and the sports-oriented ESPN+ – Disney+ focuses on "family-oriented entertainment", and does not feature R-rated films or TV-MA-rated programming. It serves America, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, and Puerto Rico. It will come into European nations by March of 2020. It will expand into Latin America by late 2020 and early 2021. Alterations made to The Simpsons and Gravity Falls also attracted media attention. Within its first day of operation, Disney+ earned 10 million subscribers. Such a plan has been proposed since 2016. Disney acquired much of 21st Century FOX. Disney Plus is mainly about family friendly programming. There will be original scripted content too based on Marvel properties and Star Wars.  Disney+ is available for streaming via web browsers on PCs, as well as apps on Apple iOS devices and Apple TV, Android mobile devices and Android TV, Amazon devices such as Fire TV and Fire HD, Chromecast, Chromebook, Samsung smart TVs, LG smart TVs, Roku devices, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows 10. Content available on Disney+ is also listed in the Apple TV app.


 
The Report is movie that exposes the CIA torture program during the war on terror. The movie was directed by Scott Z. Burns. The U.S. Senate Intelligence Community investigated corruption and wrote a report on widespread CIA torture under the Bush administration. The report involved dealing with millions of pages of reports. It involved cables and other evidence. It was completed in three years. July 2012 was the time when it was finished. The CIA used actions to obstruct the release of the report. It was on April 2014 when the Intelligence Committee voted to publish a version of the executive summary and findings. It was made to the public on December 2014 after eight more months of efforts to suppress or sugarcoats the findings of the report. The original 5,700 page report remains unpublished to this day. Much of the report is blocked by the CIA and the U.S. political establishment for so-called, “national security” reasons. Even the public got to see the evil, sadistic methods of the CIA via American imperialism to harm human lives. Both parties are complicit in many policies of the war on terror not just the Republicans. The movie showed Dan Jones (played by Adam Driver) as the principal author of the report. He worked for the Intelligence Community, and he just left the FBI. Dianne Feinstein (played by Annette Being) task him with leading an investigation into the CIA’s use of torture after the 9/11 attacks. The research will last six years into the initial report come by 2009. Jones and his team find that at least 119 people would be abused by enhanced interrogation techniques via the CIA. This is contrary to the CIA’s claims that a number of individuals involved in EIT were less than 100. The CIA uses 2 outside contractors. These victims of torture deal with sleep deprivation, shackled above the head, cold showers, mock executions, vulgar feedings, etc. One of the operatives is known as Bernadette played by Maura Tierney. Some believe this is based on now CIA Director Gina Haspel. The Report movies showed intensive torture. John Yoo is played by Pun Bandhu. John Yoo wrote the torture memos that justify ETIs. Jones said that the CIA tortured them. Ted Levine played the notorious John Brennan. Brennan oversaw and defended the CIA’s actions. Barack Obama made Brennan his chief counterterrorism advisor during his first term. He was the CIA Director during Obama’s second term of office. The film is very powerful in many items. The depiction of Feinstein as an anti-torture crusader is not completely accurate. She was a Senator. She defended the National Security Agency spying programs. She criticized whistleblowers like Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and Chelsea Manning as criminals and traitors. The movie shows her denounce Snowden. Feinstein praised Brennan even after the release of the Intelligence Committee report on December of 2014. No one was prosecuted for the CIA torture program. The illegal Iraq War cost lives too. The military industrial complex and the political establishment are complicit in policies that violate the rights of the American people and the rights of people abroad. The war on terror continued under Obama with drone strikes, kill lists, and new wars in Libya plus Syria. The crimes and oppression of the American capitalist social order is a bipartisan affair. Today, we witness the racism and extremism from Donald Trump. The Report film tells the truth about the CIA torture program being unjust and evil.


 By Timothy