Alexander Lee

News Editor

This is a brand-new, monthly column that will outline the top five world-stories that you need to know. These are not just stories that are interesting but rather those that are essential. Each edition will have a general theme, and this month’s is the “avant garde” (groundbreaking).

1. The Strikes and Protests in France

Current President of France, Nikolai Sarkozy, is a strong advocate of retirement reform. He recently passed a bill to reform the French pension by cutting some of its benefits. The French senate also voted to raise the retirement age from sixty to sixty-two. Though the French government supports these changes, the French people clearly do not, for they, adamantly rejecting the reforms, have been protesting for days.

The French people, both the aged and the youth, are remonstrating against the changes by holding riots in the streets, blocking off oil refineries, blocking airports, and clashing with police officers.

French journalist Pierre Haski described the situation as, “This confrontation is getting harder by the day, more violent by the day, particularly with the growing involvement of young people from schools but also from disenfranchised suburbs. Confrontations with police are becoming routine, with their share of looting and even the burning of a school in Le Mans”.

2. Rangers-Giants World Series

If someone told you six months ago at the start of the baseball season that the Rangers and Giants would be facing off in the world series, you would deem him a maniac. However, he was right, and what at the time seemed like an absurd dogma is now a bona fide prophecy. On Wednesday October 27th, the Texas Rangers, a team that had never won an AL pennant, and the San Franciso Giants, a team that had not made the playoffs since 2003, faced off in the World Series. The Giants emerged victorious by 4-1, but the series was nevertheless a groundbreaking series.

3. Chilean Miners Rescued

A few months ago, several Chilean Miners were trapped in their mine in an accident. Though their situation was not lethal, it was nevertheless problematic. Their only contact with the outside world was a small hole that led to the outside. Though it was not large enough for a man to climb through, food and other items essential to livelihood could be transported. Thus, the thirty-three Chilean Miners waited for sixty-nine days for their rescues. Finally in October, by means of a small capsule attached to a rope, each miner was pulled to the surface one at a time. Then, each was showered with gifts and honored by President Sebastian Pinera.

4. State Election Day- Nov 2, 2010

Though the actual vote will take place on November 2nd, 2010, the reform bills of this year have been causing much controversy during the month of October. In this three part state ballot, the first change proposed concerns the state tax on alcoholic beverages. Last year, there was both a sales-tax and an excise-tax on alcohol, and this proposal serves to eliminate its sales tax. The next reform is proposing a repeal of the state law which requires a permit to build low income houses. The final and arguably the most important reform is the one which is proposing to lower the state tax from 6.25% to 3%. This will affect much of the funding that government institutions receive possibly including our own school.

5. Netflix Online Streaming

Google’s analysis of online usage reports that in October 2010, 20% of all internet memory-transferring was due to Netflix Online Streaming. The company was originally founded in 1997 and was based on a system of loaning out DVDs through the mail. Because of the internet bubble, the Netflix system, like Blockbuster and other rental services, began to die. However, this year Netflix has experienced a rebirth. For just a marginal fee of $8.99 a month, Netflix allows a subscriber to watch many of its selections for an unlimited amount of time. These include hit TV shows such as The Office, Family Guy, Lost, Heroes, and many more. Furthermore, there are thousands of major movies such as 2012, Forrest Gump, the Shawshank Redemption, and When in Rome. This eclectic mix and appealing price has elicited many new views, thus the company is currently experiencing an economic boom.