World Without Borders
The killer of independent bookstores is killed itself this month, when Borders, the nation’s second-largest bookstore chain, announces that it is filing for bankruptcy.
Hosni Mubarak Forcibly Removed or Graciously Resigned, Depending On Who You Talk To
After 18 days of civil protests and worldwide attention, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak steps down, marking the beginning of a re-energized Arab revolution. Simultaneously, this also marks a stressful increase in spell checking for Fox News.
Housing Slump? What Housing Slump?
Russian 1 percenter Yuri Milner sets a real estate record by paying $100 million for a 25,500-square-foot house in the Los Altos Hills. Of course, it helps that Milner, a Facebook and Twitter investor, got a $50 million loan from the home’s owner, Fred Chan, founder of ESS Technology. Milner has reportedly bought Chan lunch, so they should be even.
We’d Like You to Pay Taxes Anyway
San Jose invites the operators of the city’s 100-plus cannabis clubs to City Hall to discuss a new 7 percent tax on medical marijuana sales under a measure voters overwhelmingly approved in November. Even though the city will be collecting taxes, it still considers the dispensaries to be operating illegally, which cannabis experts and researchers cite as “totally bogus.”
It’s Die Day
Rebecca Black’s YouTube arrival-anthem, “Friday,” is released on Feb. 10. By month’s end, she is getting telephoned and emailed death threats. The video receives close to 200 million views over subsequent months, as well as a spot on the iTunes charts, further proof that irony is the silent killer of culture.
Tsunami Devastation
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster rocks Japan and the world on March 11, with news spreading via Twitter before Japanese officials even have time to announce evacuation plans.
Hello, We Hate You
Westboro Baptist Church threatens to protest San Jose’s Gunderson High School student-production of The Laramie Project. The church is, of course, doing it for the children.
Conflict Zone
State Attorney General’s office drops its case against Williams Rodriguez in murder of Vahid Hosseini. The case was a plum for former DA Dolores Carr until revelations that her husband was a consultant for the victim’s family forced her recusal. Carr’s successor, Jeff Rosen, will get his chance at the plate now.
