Highlights (and Lowlights) of 2003

December 31, 2003

January:

• A high school in western England announces it will be using retinal scanning technology to make its cafeteria "cashless" and to allow students to check out books in the library.
  
• A portion of a sandstone tablet is discovered which appears to confirm the Bible's account of the rule of King Joash, closely resembling passages from 2 Kings 12 in which King Joash commands repairs for the long-neglected Temple. Several paleographers conclude the writing on the tablet is a clever forgery.
  
• A number of companies begin purchasing supplies of RFID (radio frequency identification) tags for their products. Retailers become excited about the prospect of ID tags that work like "smart" product barcodes on their "smart" shelves (equipped with scanners), greatly streamlining the inventory process.
  

February:

• The Space Shuttle Columbia tragically disintegrates on reentry and all crew members are lost.
  
• Tony Blair tries unsuccessfully to convince French President Jacques Chirac to join the U.S. coalition for military action in Iraq.
  
• The Israeli cabinet reverses a previous decision and agrees to allow a group of Ethiopian Jews, the Falash Mura, to immigrate to Israel.
  

March:

• The Transportation Security Administration arms 48 commercial airline pilots after putting the pilots through a federal training program to become "federal flight deck officers."
  
• Two new embassies are dedicated in Tanzania and Kenya, to replace the ones that were destroyed by terrorists in August 1998.
  
• Eighteen judges for the new International Criminal Court are sworn in.
  
• About 2:30 UTC on March 20, after US President Bush's 48-hour deadline expires, "surgical" bombing starts in Baghdad. The war in Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power officially begins.
  
• SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) erupts in Southeast Asia, causing worldwide alarm.
  

April:

• Two baby bantengs, an Asian breed of wild cattle, are born in Iowa after having been successfully cloned from the skin cells of adult bentengs. Remarkably, the skin cells used had been preserved in the San Diego Zoo's "Frozen Zoo" since 1980.
  
• Baghdad falls to U.S. forces on April 9. Iraqis cheer as a huge iron statue of Saddam Hussein is pulled down, marking the end of his 24-year rule of Iraq. The war is officially declared over on April 15, after the fall of Saddam's hometown of Tikrit.
  
• Abu Mazen is confirmed as the first Palestinian Prime Minister, and many are optimistic for the peace process in Israel. Mazen pledges to end "armed chaos" in Palestinian areas.
  

May:

• Hundreds of tornadoes rip through America's Midwest. A total of 298 tornadoes nationwide are reported to the National Weather Service in one week, the most in the Service's recorded history.
  
• Seattle and Chicago simulate biological attacks, testing the ability of local, state and federal authorities to handle a terrorist attack.
  
• In the African country of Eritrea, 56 members of the Rhema Church, including 2 pastors, are arrested and taken to jail to be punished for holding illegal prayer meetings in two private homes. Since February, over 300 Protestants have been arrested, beaten, threatened and humiliated for having held church meetings without government approval.
  
• The Convention on the Future of Europe releases the first draft of the EU constitution.
  

June:

• On June 15, the U.S. begins Operation Desert Scorpion - a series of raids across Iraq to find enemy weapons and to uproot pockets of Iraqi resistence.
  
• The homosexual agenda receives several boosts: - The U.S. Supreme Court votes 6-3 to overturn a Texas law banning sex between homosexuals. - Ontario, Canada, legalizes homosexual marriage. -Canon Gene Robinson, an open homosexual who moved in with his boyfriend after he left his wife and children, is appointed as the new Bishop of New Hampshire.
  
• The UN Security Council votes in favor of giving Americans immunity from prosecution by the International Criminal Court as peacekeepers on UN missions.
  
• Norma McCorvey - the former "Jane Roe" - files motion to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized abortion. Her motion asks the courts to consider new evidence that abortion hurts women.
  

July:

• Terry Wallis of Mountain View, Arkansas wakes up and starts talking after having been in a coma for 19 years.
  
• The U.S. House of Representatives votes to continue funding the U.N. but also to continue to block U.S. aid to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) which has funded forced abortions.
  
• North Korea threatens to conduct underground nuclear tests just days after the 50th anniversary of the armistice between North and South Korea. Relations between North Korea and the U.S. have been strained since October 2002 when North Korea admitted to having a secret nuclear program in violation of international agreements.
  

August:

• August 5, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson orders the Ten Commandments monument to be removed from Alabama's state judicial building within 15 days. Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore refuses to remove the monument, arguing that to do so would violate his oath of office and would "deny the God that created us and endowed us with certain inalienable rights."
  
• Earth and Mars approach closer to each other than they have been for thousands of years. Mars outshines everything but the Moon and Venus in the night sky.
  
• The Mississippi Supreme Court rules that unborn children are persons and wrongful death lawsuits may be filed on their behalves.
  

September:

• Miguel Estrada, one of President Bush's judicial nominees, withdraws his name from consideration after 2 years and 7 attempts at cloture. Like several other conservative nominees, Estrada's nomination was repeatedly filibustered in the Senate and never received a fair up-and-down vote.
  
• Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen resigns after a power struggle with Yasser Arafat left him essentially helpless to disarm terrorist groups. Ahmed Qureia takes his place as Prime Minister soon after.
  

October:

• California voters recall Governor Gray Davis and replace him with actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
  
• Mexico and Brazil launch programs to use the VeriChip implantable microchip for finding missing children and for security purposes.
  
• The Florida state legislature passes a bill that allows Governor Jeb Bush to step in and save the life of Terri Schiavo, whose husband won a court battle to remove her feeding tube while her family has fought to keep her alive.
  
• David Kay's Iraq Survey Group reports that it found little evidence of WMD in Iraq, though it found evidence of plans to further develop weapons. Inspectors also report finding a "network of biological laboratories" and a deadly strain of botulin toxin.

November:

• President Bush signs the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 after it is successfully passed by the House and the Senate. Almost immediately, lawsuits are filed in several states to try to overturn the ban.
  
• Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is removed from office for having refused to remove the Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama judicial building.
  
• President Bush makes an unannounced visit to Baghdad on Thanksgiving Day and is well received by the troops and by ordinary Iraqis.
  

December:

• Saddam Hussein is captured in a "spider hole" in Tikrit by the U.S. 4th Infantry Division on December 13th. His identity is confirmed and his capture announced the next day.
  
• Libya announces that it will be halting its weapons of mass destruction program and will allow unconditional inspections by the UN.
  
• Over 28,000 people are killed and 12,000 injured when a 6.3 earthquake hits Iran. Some 1,700 international relief workers from 30 countries travel to the hard-hit town of Bam to offer help.
  

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