A week of headlines

Many things have been happening in the world over the past week of us that I wanted to write about and document.

There have been numerous tornadoes which have ripped through the southern US leaving some states severely damaged. I remember when St. Peter had a tornado come through town. The day it actually happened, it was really nice outside {at least at my parent's house}. My mom and I were outside enjoying the weather and it wasn't until our neighbor drove up in the driveway and told us St. Peter looked like a war zone that we knew anything even happened. Storms like these are awful - they do So much damage. It really amazes me just how powerful Mother Nature is. Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc - these forces as nature have so much energy and do so much damage. So while the South has been having record numbers of tornadoes, we've still be getting snow flurries up here in the North :( This is the first time that I can remember in my life ever have snowflakes in May. And even now as I write this, it is only 50 degrees outside. Nothing compared to the weeks of 70 degree weather we had already experienced at this time last year, that is for sure.

Prince William and Kate Middleton got married almost a week again. Ryan was getting SO sick of all the news coverage the week leading up to the wedding. He is sure glad it is over. For me, I still try to catch a glimpse of the wedding festivaties when they are on the TV. To me, I'd rather had news of a wedding be all over the morning news than violence and war like it normally is *sigh*

President Obama showed his long-form birth certificate as verification he is a US citizen. This debate has been going on since he was running for president. I'm kind of on the fence with this whole issue. I feel maybe the president should have just shown the document in the first place so this didn't drag on and on and on, because really....it isn't that hard to show a birth certificate. But on the flip side, why is it that we are questioning the citizenship of the first black president? I know there were some things that didn't seem to line up but come on, do you really think the Democratic party would have endorsed someone for the presidential ticket without verifing citizenship first? As the president said during his press conference, "We don't have time for this silliness. We've got better stuff to do. I've got better stuff to do." That's all fine and I agree but then the president and his wife went and filmed an episode of Oprah. He also mentioned during the press conference that we have to stop "vilifying each other" and I could not agree more. I get sick and tired of everyone bashing everyone else. Later after he released his birth certificate, the White House held their Correspondents Dinner and it was good to see that the president had a sense of humor about the matter. But then went on to "jokingly" question the citizen oh well known Republicans. Come on. Let's be a little more tactful, after all you do hold the highest office in the government and just said a few days prior that we should stop vilifying each other. Do as I say, not as I do. That gets old. Politics get old. In fact I don't really like talking politics with people because they can get down right nasty. I hate the mindset of "my candidate is the best and can do no wrong." I seriously drives me nuts. No one person is perfect. No one person is always right. Ok, enough politics, I got a little off topic.

American soldiers found and killed Osama Bin Laden nearly 10 years after the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attack. I am not one for violence but I'm glad that this chapter is done and over with and now hopefully we can move on. Bin Laden was the leader of many terrorists, but I just can't help but think that other terrorists will try to step up and fill his position. Why are people like this? War, war, war - when is it even going to end.

Tomorrow is a big day for me.  I graduate for medical school!! More to come later. And with that, this concludes a busy week in headlines. {I hope the American people do not overlook all the people that are suffering in the South from the tornadoes as so many headlines have maybe overshadowed the devastation.}

~Ashley