Bringing them home

President Obama announced that all U.S. troops will be withdrawing from Iraq by the end of the year. Out of 39,000 troops currently in Iraq, only about 150 will stay to help with arms sales. The decision will effectively end of the War in Iraq. This was a campaign promise made by Obama in 2008 that he is just now acting on, but some of his critics say that this is an attempt to boost his 2012 reelection campaign.

Seven billion strong

The seven billionth living human entered the world on Oct. 31 putting a new concern on the lack of natural resources, not only worldwide but especially here in our backyard. A recent study done by the University of Washington shows that by the end of this century, the total population in western Washington is expected to increase by 10-15 million people. A huge factor for this dramatic increase are the forecasts on the impact of climate change. Most forecasts show huge severe droughts in California and the southwest, while there will not be as much of a dramatic change in the northwest in the future.

End of Gadhafi

The Libyan Civil War lasted for eight long months and finally ended with the death of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.  Gadhafi, 69, was in power for 42 years and was killed in his hometown of Sirte. He was caught in the crossfire between rebel forces and his own loyalist forces. Now that Gadhafi is out of power and all major Libyan cities are controlled by the rebels, Libya has a lot of rebuilding to do. The National Transitional Council is the interim government in power.