Top News Stories
of 2004

 See Top News Stories
2020

2019
2018

2015
2014

2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2000
1999

"tdc's Froggy"
            

The US Presidential Election dominated
and influenced the politics of fear, global news
especially the war in Iraq

November 2, 2004 -  the day that the American voter chose either John Kerry or George W Bush. As expected, it did not fail to be a close race.  As the polls closed the American Television Networks refused to predict winners as they had during the last election in 2000 except in States where plurality of votes were assured like California and New York. In the  so called 'battleground" states where pre- election polling  had predicted a very close race, they refused to predict the outcome until nearly every vote had been counted.  This was a very close election and finally during the morning of November 3, John Kerry conceded the election to George W Bush.  George W now had control of the White House and the Republicans had control of the Congress and the Senate.  A clean sweep.  George W had won both the popular vote as well as obtained the necessary number of votes  necessary for the Electrical College to become the President of the United States.  

Pundits then had a field day analyzing why he had won and concluded that the Democrats were out of step with the "real" America which had turned to right wing conservatism for continued answers to their war on terrorism regardless of the cost.  The rest of the world could not understand how a President who lied on the rationale for going to war could possibly win.  The only answer could be that the majority of the  America people believe what George W is doing in Iraq is right no matter how he does it and that was to bring democracy to Iraq. 

As the election neared, it became very clear that the American people would elect a President who would guarantee their safety from terrorists at what ever costs which included human rights issues. Americans were faced with elected whoever in their minds would be the best leader against terrorist attacks - 9/11 would be the rationale for the downfall of the United States. 

John Kerry and George W Bush battled all year to be president of United States but many times their campaign policy promises were overshadowed by announcements about the war in Iraq.

In July a U.S. Senate report  concluded that Americans and their allies marched to war in Iraq last year based on exaggerated or false information, part of a "global intelligence failure," 

On June 28th, Iraq was officially handed back to the Iraqis' two days earlier than was previously announced and on July 30, Saddam Hussein and his captured compatriots were officially handed over to the new Iraq government and charged with crimes against humanity.

In June, the world was stunned when Iraqis insurgents beheaded three civilian contractors for the US in protest over the US being in Iraq.  One was a South Korean who died after a demand that South Korea reverse its decision to send 3000 troops to Iraq was refused. 

Late in April, images of returning dead US solders appeared on the Net much to the surprise of the Bush administration who tried to suppress the photos. Then to add wood to the fire, images of Iraq solders being tortured appeared on CBS's 60 Minutes II creating a bonfire of resent in the Arab world. Despite efforts by Rumsfield and Bush to try to put a positive spin on these stories, it only made the situation in Iraq worse. 

In March and April  there were congressional hearings to try to determine if the 9/11 catastrophe could have been avoided by the Bush team.  Evidence has shown that George Bush, knew that Bin Laden  was going to make something happen in the United States prior to 9/11 but there were no specific details despite warnings from the FBI and CIA.  The blame game continued between the White House and the FBI and CIA.

At the end of October, scientists found fossil skeletons of a hobbit-like species of human that grew no larger than a three-year-old modern child 13,000 years ago in Indonesia.

In July, it was announced that around half of all carbon dioxide produced by humans since the industrial revolution has dissolved into the world's oceans

And --- After 30 years of arguing that black holes never release "information," astrophysicist Stephen Hawking now believes the galactic traps eventually do.

In June, a privately funded plane rocketed to the edge of space 100 km above the earth's surface.

In March an experimental plane built by NASA has flown at seven times the speed of sound breaking the world record. 

In June 2005 the price of a barrel of oil exceeded $60.00 US a barrel giving economists worries about growing inflation and the slowing of the economy.

In October, an experiment using two orbiting satellites has proved that as the Earth turns it drags space and time around itself, like a spinning top in treacle

Late September Burt Rutan's group SpaceshipOne attempts to win the 10 million dollar prize of being the first non government business to launch successfully into space twice in a short time period.

In July, The Cassini spacecraft has successfully entered orbit around Saturn, after a seven year voyage and started to send back some amazing images and information about this huge planet with the great rings.

In March - NASA said that the surface of Mars once was "drenched" in water that could have supported life forms, though no direct traces of life have been detected by the two robots on the surface 

In January the US puts two working  robot rovers on Mars to look for evidences of water.

Using the instruments on the rovers they concluded that saltwater once flowed freely on Mars' surface

Astronomers believe they have discovered the most distant object in the universe approximately 13 billion light years from earth

Astronomers have found a frozen object 4.4 billion miles from Earth that appears to be more than half the size of Pluto and larger than the planet's moon

Astronomers announced  the discovery of the most distant object ever found orbiting the sun: a shiny, red body of rock and ice about three-quarters the size of Pluto. The planetoid is so far out that it takes 10,000 years to circle the sun.

 People kept downing more and more pills putting more and more pressure on the health care systems of the Western Nations.  However in December the US government said that two popular medications for arthritis were pulled off the market sending signals that everything was no right in the world of pills that were advertised openly on television. 

There was no peace in Iraq in 2005 as people fought the Americans and new Iraq police using suicide bombers and road side bombs as their chief tactic.  Nearly every day there were attacks with no political end to the killing in sight.  Iraq was a much more dangerous place for foreigners in 2005 than in 2004.

Late in June, the Canadian high court rules that downloading of illegal music from the net is not the responsibility of internet service providers.

Spam was quite evident mid - year as consumers were convinced that spam was a bad thing.  However anti-spam companies continued to make lots of money as evidenced by Symantec who is going to buy Brightmail, one of the leading anti-spam vendors, for $370m in cash ~~~ who said there was no money in spam?

Two in five Internet users in the United States now have high-speed access at home as telephone companies slash prices to better compete with cable broadband services

The explosive photos of abuse in an Iraqi prison drive home a defining fact of 21st century life - that the pervasiveness of digital photography and the speed of the Internet make it easier to see into dark corners previously out of reach for the mass media.

Some of the most shocking or memorable photos from the Iraq war were almost certainly taken by soldiers or government contractors - and zipped around the world with an ease that never existed in the days of film.

And during 2004, the cost of long distance communications is still tumbling downward as wireless communication technology becomes more and more accepted. 

 In June, legendary blues singer Ray Charles dies and in July Michael Moore released his documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 to the public in an attempt to discredit the Bush administration.

The failure on George W Bush's part to admit that the war in Iraq was not necessary.