My fault. Just haven't been up to posting lately, and been busy with class. So for the next few weeks posts are going to sporadic. Sorry. And it was a slow news week three weeks ago in the outside world, but we'll make it up today with ten (count them, ten!) points each. So here we go.
10 Points-
1. Lady Bird Johnson passes away- Everybody has been talking about her legacy as an early environmentalist before being green became popular, and rightly so. She was a forerunner to the modern environmental advocate, even having a bill named after her, the Lady Bird Bill, because of her tireless efforts to help beautify America. What should not be overlooked is the fact that she was a strong supporter of her husband, President Lyndon Johnson, during a tumultuous time in the nation's history, even overcoming her fear of public speaking so that she could campaign for Johnson.
2. Wildfires across California- Just devastating, especially when hundreds are asked to leave their homes for fear of safety, and firefighters trying to control the blaze for days, sometimes even weeks at a time in the middle of nowhere, with limited resources. Is there any way to control these fires before they get out of hand, even if it is started by nature (lightning strike)? Or should people not live so close to such potentially dangerous places?
3. Los Angeles Archdiocese settles sexual abuse cases- $660 million for 500 people. Money really solves everything, huh? Of course, Cardinal Roger Mahoney had to make the obligatory statement of how he could not give the victims their innocence back, but those are just words, really. And their innocence obviously can't be given back. Thus the only option left is money. A sad situation all around.
4. Earthquake hits Japan- Kashiwazaki, in northwestern Japan, was hit with a 6.8 magnitude earthquake. As devastating as this event was, Japan is no stranger to these disasters unfortunately. So why is it that these tragedies cannot be mitigated with preparation and foresight? I doubt it is because people get complacent when nothing happens for a while (read: 9/11 in the United States). And then reports are that a nuclear power plant is having trouble due to radioactive leaks, flooding, fire, and electrical problems because of the earthquake. Shouldn't such a place be ready for even the worst-case scenario?
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2007/2007-07-24-01.asp
5. Final book of Harry Potter comes out- More than eight million sold in the United States, and seventy million in the whole world in the first 24 hours. Is Harry Potter really that good? It's a quick read, with compelling storylines (that get ridiculously crazy as the series goes on; it seems like Rowling is adding stuff to make things she wrote earlier make sense) and interesting characters, but is it so magnificently grand that it requires the largest first printing of a book and thus holds the record for most books sold in the first 24 hours? I like my Huckleberry Finn, thanks very much. Maybe in a hundred years the series will be considered classic children's literature, but it shouldn't deserve that much attention now.
6. National League loses All-Star Game again- And for the second year in a row, there is controversy over managerial decisions late in the game. Arguably the best hitter in baseball, and the only Cardinal representative, Albert Pujols, doesn't even get to play at the discretion of his own manager, Tony La Russa. The argument is should Pujols have batted for Aaron Rowand with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. And my answer is: don't question Tony. There's a reason he's won two World Series, been to the playoffs seven of the past eleven years, and the third winningest manager of all time: he knows what he is doing. St. Louis should really give him a break; he's done much better than fan favorite Whitey Herzog already.
7. Roger Federer wins Wimbledon again- The best tennis player hands down currently, and arguably one of the best all time. His dominance over most aspects of the game and his professionalism and class (read: absolutely minimal controversy surrounding him, if at all) make him a wonderful role model for all tennis players and others. Eventually, someone's going to accuse him of cheating. What a sad world we live in.
8. Tour de France- Even after all the accusations of doping and cleaning house of all the top riders in the world who are alleged to be cheating (is there a correlation?), apparently those in charge still have not done a good job saving the sport from controversy. Now Union Cycliste Internationale president Pat McQuaid, the head of cycling's world governing body, says that it would be best if Michael Rasumssen, the Dane accused of alleged doping who is the current leader of the 2007 Tour de France, did not win the race. So now the body that governs the sport are rooting against their own athletes? Even Bud Selig isn't so stupid as to say he hopes Barry Bonds has a career ending injury sometime in the next few days so that he won't break Hank Aaron's record. And then Rasmussen is taken out of the race for "violating team rules". I think we all know what that means.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2007/news/story?id=2945911
9. David Beckham comes to the United States- The only controversy caused by his arrival is how amazing his wife's show, "Victoria Beckham: Coming to America" was, that NBC decided to make it a special instead of the six week run it was originally scheduled for. Seriously, most people know that Beckham will not single-handedly push soccer to the top of the list of sports in America, and quite possibly Major League Soccer will maintain the status quo, but at least the Los Angeles Galaxy got some exposure, which was the point all along: to let people know that there's actually a professional soccer league in the United States.
10. Padraig Harrington wins British Open (or the Open Championship, depending on who you are)- What a finish. Sergio Garcia goes into the final day leading, then loses his lead, and a bunch of people who are atop the leaderboard drop out one by one, including Harrington with his double bogey on the eighteenth hole. And Garcia missed a put for par on the eighteenth to go into a four hole playoff, which Harrington won by one. As dramatic as golf can get.
More 10 points
1. Finally done with half of Orgo- Great. Now five more weeks to go. Did okay, almost as well as I would've liked, but still fell short. Story of my life. At least much better than last year, and this proves that I actually learn material despite my grades, as everything was quite familiar.
2. Brio and Waitress- Went to one of my favorite restaurants, Brio, in Plaza Frontenac, and saw Waitress with friend Ai-Lin. There were some cheesy moments (in the movie mind you) but got a good laugh.
3. Saw Sicko- Actually saw it the next night with Ai-Lin because she needed to see it for her Med Prep class. While it's obvious that Michael Moore only tells his side of the story, the facts he presents about the American health care system, especially compared to those in other countries, are disheartening to hear. The system is cruel, especially with the insurance companies and their tactics, and shows one of the downfalls of the current capitalistic system with all the money-grubbing. If Cuba can treat its own patients and others (people that Moore brought while trying to get them medical attention at Guantanamo Bay), and have inhalers there for five cents that cost over $100 here, something is definitely wrong. Especially with the grim pictures that we paint of Cuba, this is ironic.
4. First two weeks of Orgo 2- Didn't do that well on the first test, but beat the average (by one, but it still counts) after getting one point back on grader error. Exact replay of first semester. Let's see if things play out to be exactly the same, except hopefully a little bit better this time. Shouldn't be too hard, considering how close I was.
5. STARS students done- Had two STARS students (Students and Teachers as Research Scientists, a summer program that assigns students to do research at labs in St. Louis I attended before senior year of high school) this year working in the Heart Rate Variability lab at the Washington University School of Medicine, and they finished last week. Hope the papers that they wrote, which are judged by professionals in their respective fields of research, turn out well.
6. Temple- Worked on restoring the brook and pond at the new location for Fo Guang Shan St. Louis Buddhist Center, which really was carrying rocks from the parking lot and placing them in the brook. Others tried to clean the pond at the bottom, and when we turned on the water again, it was still as dirty as ever, though I'm sure we made some headway. There's actually a fish living in the pond. I don't know if there's anything else, but even one fish is cool.
7. Saturday Tour- Andrea from the Washington University Admissions Office called me on a Friday Afternoon to ask that I give a tour Saturday morning last week. Probably the best group I've had; they asked no questions and just took every word I said. Polar opposite from the one I wrote about last time. Lab Sciences 300 was not open, so that was the one mishap (someone rolled her eyes when I talked about the sorority suites and the old law in Missouri, but usually people chuckle, so I'm going to ignore her reaction), but otherwise it was a nice, relaxing stroll, though I had to do it backwards. Even ended on time this time, which usually never happens with me.
8. Kemper Art Museum- Dropped into the Kemper Art Museum after the tour just to see what it was like, and it was pretty nice from what I saw. The coin collection was a bit disappointing; I was expecting more of a display of various different numismatic materials rather than a select few that are shown for informative purposes above anything else, and the hologram of Ben Franklin is scary. The other parts that I saw were actually quite interesting, and the docent who asked me to leave my water bottle at the front desk was very cordial, unlike most in his position. I'll be returning to check out the whole museum, definitely.
9. Pizzeria Uno/Wapango- Had a craving for Uno deep dish pizza lately, and satisfied it when I went there with my mom last Tuesday for dinner. Uno is quite an underrated restaurant, in my opinion. I don't know why it never has a packed house when I go (on weekends, obviously, not on Tuesdays). Also tried out this South American-inspired restaurant in Chesterfield Mall called Wapango. The salad my mom ordered was huge, so I didn't get to finish my dish (which is really sweet for an entree of vegetables and rice, but good nonetheless). The appitizer we ordered reminded me of high quality crab rangoons without the crab, and the mango salsa on the side was very good. Even the cute little and the accompanying dips (black beans and a cilantro oil) were good. I don't quite remember the names, unfortunately, but it comes with a high recommendation. Service was kind of lacking, but it's a new restaurant. It'll work out its kinks.
10. Facebook- This requires a rant all by itself. Definitely will talk about my qualms relating to Facebook (and others) sometime before the summer is over; possibly in my next column if nothing of note comes up before then, whenever that will be.
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