2012 DOOM AND GLOOM: Multiple tragedies in one week

 Justice for Tia Sharp

Tia Sharp's grandmother and step-grandfather have been held in custody after the 12 year old's body was found on the 10th August in her grandmother's house, 7 days after her Grandmother's boyfriend and Mother's ex-boyfriend Stuart Hazell, said she had left the house just for the day to buy shoes in Croydon (five miles away). Grandmother Christine Sharp (46), next door neighbour Paul Meehan (39) and Stuart Hazell (37) were arrested for questioning. Christine and Paul have been released on bail.

Texas Massacres

On the 14th August 2012, two people were killed near Texas A&M University when 35 year old Thomas Alton Caffall III shot Brazos County Constable Brian Bachmann (age 41) and Caffall's landlord Chris Northcliffe (43); as well as the two aforementioned, Caffall himself died from retaliation fire by the police. Three other law enforcement officers and a 55 year old woman were injured. The motives for the attack is from Caffall being unwilling to be evicted from his home; Bachmann went to give him his eviction notice before Caffall opened fire.  Caffall's stepfather, Richard Weaver, told CBS station KHOU that the Caffall refused to work after quitting his job less than a year ago and shut himself away from society, playing video games to the extent that "it seemed to be warping his sense of reality".

Sadly, on the 18th August there was another gun crime in Texas where one man was killed and
two wounded early Saturday in a shooting at Music Hall Shopping Mall in the west Texas town of Odessa. The shooter was 24 year old Braushlyon Richards and the casualty 23 year old Pablo Jimenez. Police arrived after receiving reports about people refusing to leave a Sports bar (the staff unlikely knowing that people arrived for shelter from the shooting);several 911 calls came in about shots being fired in the mall parking lot. Richards handed himself in.

Unfortunately, a THIRD shooting has occured in the space of a week in Texas-4 people have been shot and injured at a Wall Mart in Cedar Park, Central Texas.At 4.30 AM police arrived at the scene of the crime and arrested the suspect. Nobody seems to have any life-threatening injuries.

Kai-Tak Strikes

Typhoon Kai-Tak has so far claimed 27 lives in North Vietnam and 2 in Southern China while leaving hundreds homeless from flooding. Condolences to the victims.

Russia's Islamic Tragedy

In Russia eight people have been killed and eleven wounded through a suicide bombing when policemen were at a funeral of a colleague in Caucasus. This was following a same-day attack on a Mosque when two masked gunmen opened fire in a Mosque in the nearby Dagestan region,killing one and wounding eight. A bomb was found but deactivated. The Dagestan area of Russia (in the North Caucasus region) has been having problems with Islamic insurgents and it seems these same insurgents did this as a retaliation. Russia has always have strained relations with Muslims and like America, have been troubled by Al Qaeda affiliates for Russia was at war with Afghanistan during the Cold War and also supported Bosnia-Herzegovina who, at the time, commited genocide of Bosnian Muslims between 1992 and 1995, killing over 8,300 and expelling 25-30,000 in Srebrenica.

Japan and China-New Disputes

Finally, enemies-turned-friends-turned-frenenemies Japan and China have been caught in a week-long dispute that looks extremely volatile. The islands,  known as Senkaku in Japan and Daioyu in China have been claimed by each country, particularly as they are a source of natural gas. Since 1972 the islands have been administered by the Japanese even though they have been nearer to China. The Chinese from Peoples' Republic of China and Taiwan (a sovereign state with its own system and government but claimed by the Chinese to this day) state the Islands were discovered by them from the 14th Century. The islands are uninhabited but a recent dispute has occured due to 10 Japanese activists planting flags there, one week after Japan arrested 14 Chinese activists. The reason this is a serious situation is the fact that thousands of Chinese have took to protest on the streets and have also attacked Japanese businesses and vandalised Japanese cars; although they have $160 billion worth of trade each way (China is Japan's largest trading partner) China and Japan have been to war twice, once between 1894 and 1895, and once in World War II.
Japan has controlled Okinawa (now part of Japan), Taiwan and both North and South Korea so it would seem from that, and their wars with China, that history is not on their side. However, China to this day has occupied Tibet and Kashmir (areas claiming to be independant and also having been part of India) while claiming Taiwan even though the latter has its own economy and government while previously having ruled China before Mao's Communist Party. Considering the areas Japan have relinquished after 'knowing better' after the wars, it seems China is at fault for trying to claim islands that were never originally part of the 'modern' or 'official' Qin Dynasty China.

2012 really does seem to be the year of doom and gloom