And Now the News with Kandy Korrespondent.

As the average price of gas rose to $3.80 nationally, Congress made further attempts to placate their angry constituents. Also on Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved legislation that will allow the Department of Justice to sue the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for conspiring to restrict supplies and/or drive up prices. It goes without saying that such legislation is mainly symbolic. Even if the DOJ were to sue OPEC, there would be no way to enforce any ruling upon the countries.

On Wednesday, with oil at a record-breaking $134/barrel, congress summoned oil executives to the Hill and demanded answers.

The executives responded that they were doing all they could to aid renewable energy and help the country through the current crisis.

It should be noted that, ConocoPillips executive John Lowe received cash compensation of $5.7 million in 2007. Peter Robertson of Chevron received $14.2 million. Exxon Mobil exec Stephen Simon received $12.5 million. Yet, as Robertson stated, “I’m a regular person.” Read More »

“At the wedding, someone will pull the president aside and say, listen, you’re not losing a daughter, you’re losing a war” –Bill Maher

5. This is actually a perfectly lovely picture of Jenna, I add it only to remark on how much Barbara Bush (daughter) looks like Alanis Morissette.

4. As her father’s daughter, I would have expected that she could hold her alcohol better. Read More »

This past Wednesday, April 16th, Senators Clinton and Obama faced off for the twenty-sixth time.

Now I must admit– I have long since stopped caring about the debates and I am dangerously close to apathy with regards to the DNC.

Moreover, I am of the opinion that after the first few debates they become pointless and simply a chance for candidates to get free TV time.

A debate could be held where moderators ask questions and the studio uses old footage of the candidates answering because seriously guys—THERE IS NOTHING NEW TO ADD!

Take this last debate for instance: Read More »

I’m tired of talking to my friends about this ONE guy who has been haunting my love life, or lack thereof, since the fall. I’m sick of pretending like I don’t care when I talk to him, too. The fact of the matter, Travis, is this: Even my PARENTS know all about you and the sort of emotional mud you’ve been dragging me through. I see pictures of you and cringe. It’s time you received an open letter. And for once, I’m gonna go ahead and NOT care if your cute little girlfriend, who is, by default, an idiot, reads this.

Dear Travis,

I respect the fact that you refuse to cheat on your girlfriend of three years. You are a very noble man. In fact, I respect you for doing all that you can to avoid being in the same room as me these days. You and I both know that it’d be easier to get American troops out of Iraq than it would be to get your tongue out of my mouth if we were ever to, tragically, be left alone together.

I respect your ability to use your mind and step outside of this situation so that you can ascertain its importance in the long run. You have an impressive ability to weigh out your options, Travis. You should be a stock broker.

The only problem? Well, you’re a snakey asshole. Here’s what I DON’T respect about you: Read More »

April Fools’ day and I have never gotten along.

In second grade, my Elementary School decided it would be cute to ring the warning bells every five minutes—you’re late for class… APRIL FOOLS’!

Middle School saw surprise pop quizzes—it’s worth 90% of your grade and you didn’t study—APRIL FOOLS’!!

High School? College? More of the same…

This morning, at midnight on April 1st, my boyfriend paused on the sidewalk, looked at me significantly, and said “Suzie, I’ve decided to go to Med School”—APRIL FOOLS’! (he’s applied to grad and law school so for a minute I was like… omg!– then I saw his smirk and was like… oh right… )

When I saw the Reuters article on pranks this year, however, I had to chuckle at the new heights of advertising that this day of strange glee has allowed two Australian companies to ascend:

Google Australia announced a new feature enabling one to search the Internet for future content, including sports results…

Australian airline Virgin Blue took out ad space in newspapers offering special “Stand Up fares” complete with complimentary calf massages for flights longer than two hours. Read More »

In my last post I discussed how, despite President Bush’s claims of success within Iraq, secretarian violence continues to force Iraqis to leave their homes in fear of their lives. At least four million Iraqis have left their home country since the beginning of the war.

Leaving Iraq is only the beginning of their problems. Thanks to this large number, it is increasingly difficult for an Iraqi to gain asylum.
How difficult you may ask? Read on:

→ According to the Independent, Iraqi asylum applicants within the European Union rose by 98% between 2006 and 2007. In 2006 there were 19,375 and in 2007 there were 38,286.

→ Within many countries traditionally known for their openness to refugees such as Sweden, the saturation of the system brought on partly by the deepening Iraqi refugee crisis, is resulting in a backlash. Read More »

That quote comes from a 26-year old Iraqi doctor to whom the BBC gives the pseudonym “Matthew”. Matthew fled Iraq for Sweden in September 2007 after armed men came to his door trying to kill him. He goes on to state,

“I can now live without fear […] When you hear that Sweden has fought its last war 400 years ago, there’s no expecting any war […] So you feel you can live in safety. You feel more human.”

At the time of this article’s publication, there have been between 82,349 and 89,867 civilian deaths in Iraq since March 2003 according to Iraq Body Count.

It is true that under Saddam Hussein’s regime thousands were killed and even more simply disappeared. As Matthew says, however, what ever improvement the new government brings, the fear of death and continued violence prompts many to seek a better life elsewhere. According to UNHCR’s September 2007 report, approximately 60,000 Iraqi’s are forced to leave their homes each month due to ongoing violence. Read More »

According to an article on ParentDish, a nine-year-old Girl Scout was recently selling cookies in a supermarket when two teenagers snatched her money (a little over $150) and ran. The teens were later caught, providing a few classic quotes, such as “We went through all that effort…and we had to give the money back.” Yeah, that sucks, doesn’t it?

I think we can all agree that this is a “WTF” moment. You don’t steal money from a Girl Scout, no matter how stupid you are! Girl Scouts, in the eye of the American public, are on approximately the same level as troops in Iraq or bald eagle chicks.

Plus, how traumatizing would it be for the Girl Scout to watch her hard-earned money be plucked away like that? True, I can think of worse things, but not many.

I was a Girl Scout once. Not for long, because I hated wearing the uniform and I wasn’t girly-girl enough to hit it off with all the other girls, but I know what it’s like to shoulder the doom and responsibility of big-ticket cookie profits. Read More »