Lesbian Pop Culture Reviews

The Whole 9 Yards: Year in Review

We associate the number nine with extremes: highs (cloud nine), lows (the ninth Psalm, predicting the coming of the Antichrist), good luck and bad. Considering the spectrum of events we lived through in 2010-2011—from the greatest victories to the worst tragedies—the number nine seems a particularly apt symbol for the past twelve months’ happenings. On the plus side, DADT was repealed; on the minus side, a near-apocalyptic disaster devastated Japan. Last year, we opened our Annual Year in Review with the crisis in Haiti, which proves again that life is fragile.

24. WALL STREET GLITCH CAUSES FLASH CRASH

Why did the market plunge nearly 1000 points in an otherwise normal trading day last May 6? One theory: an anonymous trader mistyped an “m” (for million) instead of a “b” (for billion), causing the value of blue chip stocks to plummet. Other theories point to the unsettling economic climate in Europe and political turmoil in Greece. According to the New York Times, whatever caused the sell-off “set off algorithmic trading strategies, which in turn rippled across everything.” The incident highlighted the role that technology—allowing high-frequency trades in nanoseconds—plays in the business markets.

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