Top Stories of 2011

1. Steve Jobs retires and then passes away: My 'review' file, which I am cleaning out right now, has over a dozen articles written in the wake of his passing. Most are commendatory.

2. The Navy SEALS kill Osama bin Laden in his Pakistan secret hideout.

3. Connecticut's Governor Malloy shows his mettle during his first year in office; he extracted 1.6 billion dollars in concessions from the State's unionized workers and he enacted 1.5 billion dollars in tax increases. He is the first Democratic governor in 20 years and faced an estimated $3.5 billion deficit.

4. US forces pull out of Iraq; nearly 4,500 American servicemen lost their lives in nearly 10 years. Our hearts go out to their families.

5. The global and local weather turns hostile. A violent tsunami that hit Japan killed thousands and turned into a nuclear catastrophe. Here in southwestern Connecticut, January brought the greatest accumulation of snow in history. March brought a northeaster that leveled trees all over. Hurricane Irene stormed up the coast in August causing more tree damage and a loss of electrical power to more than half of the state.
   Finally, a snowstorm hit our area in October with up to 18 inches of snow. Many residents were without light or heat for up to 2 weeks.

6. The Arab Spring spreads all over the Middle East. Beginning in Tunisia, the popular protests against repressive regimes spread to Egypt, Syria, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain. Leaders such as Mubarak and Qaddafi have been dethroned.

7. US foreclosures continue to climb. Over 2 million homes are in foreclosure and about 1 in 4 homes have mortgages that exceed the value of the homes.

8. Occupy Wall Street movement spreads nationwide.

9. We are still awaiting prosecution in the sub-prime mortgage crisis. No one has been convicted in the three years since the scandal broke.

10. Penn State and Syracuse are beset with sex abuse scandals.


11. The Post Office has been losing billions each year and announced it's considering closing over 200 branches and will no longer guarantee overnight mail delivery.

12. The European debt crisis is in the news every day with the collapse of the Greek and Italian economies dominating the events.

13. The former Stamford Advocate building is demolished to make way for a 5 story residential complex.  (I had previously blogged about saving the copper beach tree in front of the building.)