12/22/14: TOP 8 NEWS EVENTS OF 2014

I know I haven't blogged in a while, but I decided to get back in the swing of things as 2014 wraps up. With that, I'll be honoring the best this year had to offer in movies, video games and news events. It'll be a three-part series that I'll have plenty of time to accomplish over my Winter Break. This is all based on my opinion, and even though I haven't seen all these movies, played all these video games and paid attention to all these news events, I was still alive gosh dang it, and they still had an impact. Probably not personally, but nevertheless I looked into them.

You've seen movies. Now it's time to hand it over to the news, our captured past, recorded throughout 2014, to take it all.

#8: Booty

Yes my friends. Unfortunately, the place where you defecate from was one of the big (no pun intended) highlights of this year. Social media and pop culture exploded with the bo-tay-tay that don't play. From Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" music video and Kim Kardashian's various photos, a collection "breaking the Internet" to several Instagram models (models that aren't legal models but just pose with their "socially acceptable" bodies for pictures) and people like Jennifer Lopez and Iggy Azalea, who collaborated in a music video of a single literally called "Booty." Now everyone likes a couple cheeks every now and then, but this year was an overwhelming overload that it got really flat.

#7: Malaysian Airline Flights

It was a bad year for Malaysian Airlines, with two of their flights that made international news, one of them---Flight 270---disappearing with 227 passengers and 12 crew members aboard, last contacted with when the plane was flying over the South China Sea. This was back in March and even after the most expensive investigation of all time, nothing has been found. If this flight wasn't tragic enough, Flight 17 was shot down, killing 283 passengers and 15 crew members aboard near the Ukraine-Russia border during the Ukrainian conflict (read more in #4) by, well, no one really knows. Everything that goes down (terrible joke; I just realized it) in Malaysian Airlines is all a mystery.

#6: Sports World Chaos

Super Bowl XLVIII, Sochi and the World Cup were all sporting events that played (no pun intended) out in the 2014 year, and it brought on some chaos in the world of sports. The two most notable games left one team the supreme champions and the others creamed, like the Super Bowl XLVIII match between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos in which the Broncos were destroyed 8-41 by the Seahawks or the World Cup match between Germany and Brazil, ending in Brazil getting battered 1-7 by Germany who just couldn't stop scoring. To be honest, after watching both televised events, I feel sorry for the losers.

#5: Sony Pulling "The Interview"

I saw the first trailer for "The Interview," a crude comedy starring James Franco and Seth Rogen about the two potheads assassinating the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un, during the previews of a Fury viewing, and it looked like just another adult funfest of ridiculous immaturity. Little did I know that a few weeks later Sony Pictures Entertainment (the studio that owns the movie's distribution company, Columbia Pictures) was hacked by a North Korean group in retaliation of the offensive portrayal of Mr. Un. But what really got the attention for me was Sony pulling the release of the movie after receiving terrorist threats, which basically let the bad guys win. Many are split between playing it safe or fighting for what's right, and we shouldn't go through with this. What's your opinion?

#4: Ukraine

As you may have read in #7, Malaysian Airline Flight 17 was shot down near the Russian-Ukrainian border by, like I said, no one knows, but it was caused from the chaos from the Ukrainian civil war caused---in simple terms---from a division of some Ukrainians wanting to join with Russia and others wanting to stay away. Unrest exploded between these two sides in February and really got big when Russia invaded the Ukrainian region of Crimea, bringing Putin's power into the conflict. But Putin invaded illegally, which is why it caused some anger. All I got to say is that that Flight 17 didn't have to be shot down, because it had nothing to do with anything, so it's best if that one side just admits it so people know the bad guys.

#3: ISIS

One does not simply walk into Iraq and Syria, because there's one terrorist group to rule them all. Okay enough of the LOTR references, these were some babies that meant business. They decapitated themselves to the stardom at first, calling themselves the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, who claimed that they would---in simple terms---be the group that would make the perfect state following pure Islam. Now Islam is a very peaceful religion in fact, one of the requirements to actually give away money to others in need, but groups are making their religion and people look back through this destructive power. Unfortunately, this is the modern age, so they used social media to their full advantage, even getting Westerners to join them, promote themselves or threaten others. Buddies, look, you're really just asking for us to walk in there and take care of you (or at least someone), so what's your big point? Just practice Islam gosh dang it and respect the other branches. 

#2: Ebola

From the jokes and hysteria to the volunteers risking their lives and the deaths of hundreds, the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the largest one in history, was definitely one of if not the biggest story of this year. Starting in West Africa---specifically Liberia---it spread like wildfire, eventually to international locations such as Spain and the United States, causing organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and the World Health Organization taking action. For a virus spread through bodily fluids, it made a significant impact that affected all of us really. Listening to the stupid and pointless jokes and hysteria while thinking about how we're all lazy, sitting on our butts being disrespectful while others volunteered, knowing their lives were at stake, just to help people they didn't even know. I'm definitely inspired by the fighters out there, and I'm glad to know that the outbreak is slowly getting beat.

#1: Police Brutality

It was a terrible year for cops in the United States, especially with racial prejudice, like Eric Garner, a middle-aged black man in New York choked to death by a cop, Michael Brown, a black teenager in Ferugson, Missouri who was shot to death six times by a cop, Tamir Rice, a black 12-year-old boy in Cleveland, Ohio who was shot to death by a cop for carrying a toy gun. See the pattern? Well all these cops are white, which causes outrage across the country for racial prejudice and racial discrimination. But the worst part was the fact that none of these cops were indicted (meaning put on trial) even though they clearly killed these three unarmed civilians. Get it together po-po; you're making yourselves look bad.