A Week in the United States: A Sniper, a Liar and Under-Inflated Balls

But also elected female Republicans against the party males and Google’s space bet. Every week, the news that has excited Americans.

A Fake Tourist in Paradise

Alex Malarkey lied; he never took a walk the Garden of Bliss. What a disappointment for the million fans who bought his book and believed his story. In 2004, Malarkey, a young boy of six, was the victim of a serious car accident that left him in a coma for two months. When he woke up, he declared that he had visited the celestial kingdom and recounted his adventure in a book written with his father, “The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven,” now a bestseller.

But Malarkey, now a teenager and still paralyzed, just wrote a letter on the website Pulpit and Pen in which he says: “I did not die. I did not go to Heaven. I said I went to Heaven because I thought it would get me attention.”

Last year, Alex’s mother, who divorced his father, had already sounded an alarm, saying in a blog, “It is both puzzling and painful to watch the book ‘The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven’ not only continue to sell, but continue, for the most part, to not be questioned.” She added that Alex had not received a penny from the publication’s earnings. “Heavenly tourism” books, as they are called, are a godsend for editors. “Heaven Is For Real,” which also tells the story of a little boy in the kingdom of God, was an enormous bestseller on which a film was based. Tyndale House, Malarkey’s editor, has pulled the book off the market.

The Republicans Put Up a Fight

Only just established, the new House of Representatives, dominated by Republicans, had decided to vote on a law of the utmost importance: the prohibition of abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. But to the great surprise of the party’s big shots, for once the opposition did not come from Democrats, but from several elected Republican women who protested strongly against the law, especially a provision that requires rape victims who seek to obtain a special dispensation to abort later in pregnancy to provide a police report confirming what they were subjected to. The elected females called attention to the fact that not only was this painful for the victims, but also that with such a law, the Republican Party would further alienate itself from the females of the electorate. After a stormy debate behind closed doors, the male big shots of the House capitulated and decided to cancel the vote that they had planned for Thursday, the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion. But these gentlemen have not given up completely. They voted on another anti-VTP law that forbids the usage of public funds for abortion procedures. According to a Gallup poll after the election, less than 0.5 percent of voters put abortion at the top of their list of concerns.

The Hollywood Sniper

Hollywood just cannot get over it. Clint Eastwood’s film, “American Sniper,” blew up the box office. In a few days, it brought in more than $120 million in North America. This success happened mainly in the conservative America of Tennessee, Texas and Oklahoma, where people went en masse to see the patriotic film based on the autobiography of a very controversial sniper. Chris Kyle, a SEAL who went on missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, is considered the most formidable sniper in American history. He was killed at a shooting range in Texas by a mentally unstable veteran. There were mixed reactions to the film featuring actor Bradley Cooper. Michael Moore, maker of the documentary “Bowling for Columbine,” declared that his uncle was killed by a sniper during World War II and that for him snipers were “cowards” who “shoot you in the back,” not “heroes.” Even if Moore did not mention the film’s name, his declarations aroused such an outcry that he had to put water in his wine, explaining that he was speaking of snipers in general and that Bradley Cooper’s performance was “awesome.”

Google Believes in Elon Musk’s Dreams

Google and Fidelity Investments have invested $1 billion in SpaceX, the Elon Musk group that builds and launches rockets, which gives them about 10 percent in shares. This contribution of capital should help Musk, the billionaire already involved in all sorts of innovative activities such as Tesla, to finance various projects. He has announced his intention to build and launch 4,000 satellites to provide the planet with cheap Internet. Google has already developed Project Loon, a network of balloons designed to connect populations in isolated places to the Web and sell more advertising besides. But the association with SpaceX should allow it to get ahead of Facebook, which is also investing in various technologies such as drones to bring Internet to poorer regions. Elon Musk is also working on producing low-cost space flights that will eventually make the existence of a permanent colony on Mars possible.

Suspicion of Cheating at the Super Bowl!

It’s a little like learning that the PSG reduced the size of its goals to qualify for the French Cup! In the United States, during the Super Bowl semifinals, the New England Patriots crushed the Indianapolis Colts 45 to 7. The problem: 11 of the 12 balls used were under-inflated, which, according to specialists, makes them easier to catch and throw in cold weather. Yet, the balls are checked by the referee before the match and left on the field afterward for each team. The coach denied any knowledge of the incident and implied that it was the fault of Tom Brady, the team’s quarterback and husband of model Gisèle Bundchen, who, for his part, categorically denies having tampered with the balls.

This is the second time that the Patriots have been accused of cheating. In 2007, sanctions were imposed on them after they spied on an opposing team.