5 Points for 8/19

I'll try to make this one quick.

1. Karl Rove leaves White House- Disliked by Democrats, but hailed by Republicans, obviously for putting George W. Bush into the White House twice, despite the shortcomings of the candidate that are so obvious now. One cannot take away his shrewdness in regard to political strategy, but you have to wonder if he left because of Bush's tanking rankings, and/or to put himself in a good opportunity to help a 2008 candidate, like Rudolph Giuliani? Either way, this is not the end of the road for Karl Rove.

2. Hurricane Dean pounds Jamaica- The hurricane season has finally kicked off. Already eight people have been killed with winds reaching 160 mph. There are stories that some residents have decided to stay in their homes rather than seek safer shelter, and while I don't believe that is a prudent move, I've never been in a hurricane while these people go through it annually, so maybe they know what to expect and feel that they can ride it out. Either way, good luck to them.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070820/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/tropical_weather_211

3. Officer Norvelle Brown killed in St. Louis- Since I am from St. Louis, this has led off all the local newscasts since the incident happened. It's very unfortunate that these even happen, especially a senseless one by a fifteen year old. While understandably there is not enough manpower to have all cops paired up, there is no question that this would provide more safety to all officers (Brown was alone when he was shot). Thoughts and prayers to Officer Brown and his family.

4. Tropical Storm Erin provides some dazzling dramatic rescues in Oklahoma- If anybody has seen video of these rescues on the news, they're pretty remarkable, with helicopters plucking people out of the water, having them fall in again after dangling from the helicopter, and then rescuing them again. It's also remarkable what weather can do, even a tropical storm in Oklahoma making waters rise up to the tops of some houses.

5. High School Musical 2 premieres- As I'm not a tween, I can't imagine how big this movie is (I'm getting old). Honestly, I had never even heard of High School Musical until I was reading about it in Newsweek a few months after the first movie had been shown. The story seems cheesy, though wholesome, and definitely appeals to the tween population. Disney strikes again.

My 5 points
1. Finally done with orgo- Not as well as I would have liked, but much, much better than last year. If I weren't so focused on grades, the subject material would be interesting, but alas, all academic subjects cannot have appeal because learning for the sake of learning is ruined by tests for the sake of grades.

2. Gave final tour of the summer (maybe) on Saturday- Saturday groups are really chill; they're less tense than weekday groups, ask less unnecessary questions, and go with the flow of things (it is a weekend with less stringent schedules, so that helps I guess). But giving tours on Saturday is worth it just because the weekday fuss isn't present.

3. Baseball- Watched a lot of baseball (mainly due to the many rain delays at Wrigley this weekend, so the two hour game in effect took six). Not the most pleasant game yesterday from the Cardinals' standpoint. It always seems this year that it's only one bad pitch or one bad inning that gives the Cardinals their losses, such as Looper's and Reyes' pitches the past two games. If these didn't happen, think of how much better the Cardinals would be in the eyes of everybody who follows baseball.

4. America's Got Talent- Also got to watch for the first time in more than a month; I was proud that I got to see the first auditions for seven of the final eight. Julienne Irwin has a wonderful voice, but she is often off on her notes; I didn't think she'd even make it to the final ten or so, but props to her for proving everybody wrong (including Piers Morgan and me). My bet is on either Cas Haley or Terry Fator; they're both really good and wildly entertaining in their own rights. Beyond that, I was torn between whom to vote for, so I voted for Cas ten times and Ai-Lin voted for Terry ten times. Cas sang two really good songs well, and that turtle of Terry's is cool.

5. Cell phone calls- Not only do I have a problem with Facebook now, but with people not returning my phone calls as well. A massive rant will be forthcoming very soon, now that I'm done with orgo.