Geography
What’s going on in Azerbaijan?
You may have heard in the news about problems between the United States and Azerbaijan. Where is Azerbaijan, and what is the problem? Azerbaijan, slightly smaller than Maine, is a republic sandwiched between Iran to the south and Russia and the Caucus Mountains to the north. Armenia and Georgia border Azerbaijan on the west, and [...]
Volcanic Eruption and Tropical Storm in Guatemala
Guatemala has been hit with a double whammy in the past few days: a volcano has erupted, and a tropical storm has hit the southern coast. These two natural disasters have devastated Guatemala, killing hundreds of people and forcing the relocation of thousands more. The Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala’s southern department of Escuintla started to [...]
Who are the Red Shirts and why are they angry?
Shortly after leaders called off protests in Thailand, a group of Red Shirts still set fire to Thailand’s Stock Exchange floor. Headlines about Red Shirts are all over the world news, and you are wondering who they are and why they are so angry. Red Shirts is the unofficial name given to the members of the [...]
Times Square bombing attempt
The big news in America the past couple days has been the attempted bombing in Times Square. A suspect has been found and more details have been released. If you haven’t been following the news, here are the basics: On Saturday, an SUV in Times Square was set on fire with explosives inside, but luckily the [...]
Summary of the Gulf oil spill
It has been a rough decade for the planet, and the latest oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico isn’t helping things. Let’s get you up to speed about this massive oil spill which is threatening to be worse than the Exxon Valdez in 1989. Cause: a rig owned by BP called the Deepwater Horizon exploded [...]
Iceland – island, fishing, volcanoes and more
Thanks to a spewing volcano from Iceland over the past 48 hours, air traffic from several parts of Europe has been halted and dramatic scenes of the Icelandic volcano are leading newscasts. Before you find yourself involved in a conversation about Iceland, you want to make sure you aren’t just blowing smoke (pun served and pun [...]
The Pentagon – world’s largest office building
Yesterday evening’s shooting at the Pentagon is sure to keep the famous building in the news. If you haven’t read about the shooting, you can find that story here. While talking about it tonight, it would help to know some facts about the Pentagon other than its obvious shape. Not obvious from the many overhead [...]
Brief date night primers – Georgia, Nordic combined
If you’re going to find yourself out to dinner tonight in celebration of Valentine’s Day, your date is likely to bring up the tragic death of the luger from Georgia. You should know that Georgia is a country south of Russia and north of Turkey. 4.3 million people live in the country which the United [...]
