2011 Timeline

• January:
• Floodwaters wreak havoc in Victoria, Australia.
• Devastating mudslides and floods hit Brazil.
• February:
• Thousands celebrate the toppling of Mubarak in Egypt.
• Protest marches jam Bahrain's capital.
• March:
• Magnitude nine earthquake and tsunami hit eastern Japan.
• Lava erupts after Pu’u O’o crater collapses in Hawaii.
• April:
• Japan holds a moment of silence one month after the disasters.
• Storms bring tornadoes and floods to US Midwest
• May:
• Osama Bin Laden was killed.
• Volcanic ash cloud plunges Icelandic town into darkness and disrupts flights.
• June:
• Anti-austerity riots cause chaos in Athens.
• Lightning turns volcanic ash cloud into spectacular light show in Chile
• July:
• UN declares famine in parts of Somalia.
• CIA-trained covert forces in Afghanistan.
• August:
• HSI shuts down Arizona smuggling tunnel
• Forensic Document Lab serves as authentication authority
• September:
• Charlotte: Man Pleads Guilty to Supporting Terror Conspiracy to Wage Violent Jihad.
• San Juan: Thirty-Nine Individuals Indicted for Drug Trafficking in the Municipality of Ceiba, Puerto Rico.
• October:
• Philadelphia: Two Indicted in Connection with ‘Jihad Jane’ Terrorism Conspiracy.
• Minneapolis: Two Women Convicted of Providing Material Support to al Shabaab.
• November:
• San Antonio: Judge Limas Associate Pleads Guilty.
• Atlanta: Tennessee Man Sentenced to 40 Months in Prison for Fraudulent Hedge Fund Scheme.
• December:
• Kim Jong il died.
• Snow storm slams great plains.

Jefferson's Embargo

Thomas Jefferson envisioned a peaceful, agrarian society that used diplomacy, rather than military might, to execute America’s foreign policy. Jefferson believed that a large standing army was an invitation to dictatorship, and he drastically reduced the size of both the American Army and Navy. On the Barbary Coast of North Africa, rulers of Algiers, Morocco, Tunis, and Tripoli extorted money from countries wishing to send cargo ships through their waters. For years, American shipping was safe because Britain regularly paid the pirates. In 1801, the pasha of Tripoli increased the tribute demanded for safe passage. When Jefferson refused to pay, Tripoli declared war on the United States, and the president reluctantly sent warships to Tripoli. Jefferson reassessed his decision to scale back the military and ordered several small gunboats that critics nicknamed “Jeffs” or the “mosquito fleet.” The undersized boats were fast but featured just one gun. In 1803, American shipping became entangled in European hostilities when Napoleon revived his war with England. The American Navy, which was no match for the heavily armed English and French, could offer only limited protection for American merchants. In the summer of 1807 off the coast of Virginia, the crew of the British frigate Leopard stopped the American ship Chesapeake and demanded to search it. When the captain refused to obey the orders, the British warship opened fire, killing three Americans and injuring several more. Jefferson set in motion his idea of “peaceable coercion” by encouraging Congress to pass the Embargo Act of 1807, which stopped all exports of American goods. Jefferson reasoned that both England and France relied heavily on American products and would be forced to work with the United States. Jefferson’s popularity plunged and the Federalist Party began to make a resurgence as voters eyed the upcoming election. Critics shouted that Jefferson’s decisions damaged the economy and left America unprotected.

The Monroe Doctrine

At the great European conference, the Congress of Vienna, the monarchs of Europe gathered to return the continent to its status before the French Revolution. The European powers banded together to eradicate democratic movements that threatened their thrones.  Britain had profited from the breakup of the Spanish monarchy in South America by developing a thriving commerce with the Spanish republics. In 1823, the British foreign minister, George Canning, sought to join with the United States and renounce any interest in acquiring any South American territory and declare opposition to any French interference with the South American colonies.  Monroe agreed with the arguments Adams made and decided to include a statement of American policy that reflected those arguments in his seventh annual message to Congress in December of 1823. The “Monroe Doctrine,” as it was later called, had two main points.  At the time, since the Monroe Doctrine was not a treaty or a law, it drew little attention either in the United States or abroad. In reality, the U.S. didn’t have the power to enforce this unilateral announcement.

Marbury vs. Madison

      John Marshall was appointed by John Adams during the last days of his presidency.  The Judiciary Act of 1801, one of the final laws passed by Adams and the Federalist-controlled Congress, created sixteen new federal judgeships and other judicial offices.  The Republican-dominated Congress fought back by repealing the Judiciary Act of 1801. When Secretary of State James Madison refused to deliver a commission to William Marbury, one of Adams’s midnight appointees, Marbury sued for its delivery.  The Court’s unanimous opinion, which was written by Chief Justice Marshall, stated that Marbury deserved his commission, but the Court had no jurisdiction in the case. Marshall then ruled that part of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which dealt with the authority of the Supreme Court, was unconstitutional.  Marshall’s decision prompted Jefferson to strike back. The president, who let many of Adams’s midnight appointments stand, sought the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase.

Who We Met...

         In our travels, we met many interesting people.  The first group we encountered were the men in black.  They were not very colorful people.   Along our path, we came to a split in the road.  It made a perfect “Y”.  This is where we met the village people.  They were very vocal.   We met our favorite group in the backwoods. They called themselves the “Backstreet Boys.”

Expanding America

“Hey!  Look Louis!  It’s a bird…It’s a plane…nope, definitely a bird!”

“What is a bird?”

“It’s that thing over there in the sky!”

“Whoa…what kind of bird is that?”

“I’m not sure.  Let’s call it a Lobogold.”

“Sounds good to me.”

            This is how bored we have become on our great quest.  Always seeing new things and never having any idea on what to name it so we are just trying to come up with the most random things.  As for the plane thing, I have no idea where Clark came up with that one.