National Spelling Bee

Lori Anne Madison, a six year old from Lake Ridge, VA, became the youngest competitor ever in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. She made it through the first round, but was eliminated in the second with the word "ingluvies" meaning the crop of a bird or insect. She didn't seem to be too disappointed and said that she still had plenty of years left to win.

Charles Taylor

The former president of Liberia and powerful warlord was sentenced to 50 years in jail by the international court yesterday for his role in the atrocities in Sierra Leone during its civil war in the 1990s. He had been found guilty in late April of crimes against humanity and war crimes for his part in the mass brutality that included murder, rape, the use of child soldiers, the mutilation of thousands of civilians, and the mining of diamonds to pay for guns and ammunition. If there was anybody who deserved to spend the rest of his life in jail, it's this guy.

French Open

With no resolution to the European debt crisis and the situation in Syria getting worse by the day, it's hard to know what you can count on. Well there is one thing, Nadal at the French Open. He started the quest for his seventh title today with an easy win. I always thought that Borg was the best to ever play on clay, but it's really hard to argue against this guy.

Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge just celebrated it's 75th anniversary. While it might seem silly to have a birthday party for a bridge, this one is special. It's an iconic structure that's a symbol of San Francisco. Plus it was quite an engineering feat at the time.

SpaceX

The SpaceX unmanned capsule successfully docked with the space station yesterday. That's a first for a private company. I do wonder, however, how much it cost to use them instead of the old space shuttle. Did we actually save money and was there any new technology that made a difference? I guess we'll find out.

Etan Patz

After 33 years the NY police have arrested somebody for his disappearance. I hope this means that the case really is closed, but the FBI just finished digging up a basement and getting nothing and somebody else, already in jail, also confessed. Thus we don't really know if this is the guy. There is no evidence, only his confession.

More Nukes in the News

Yesterday a US nuclear submarine caught fire while undergoing maintenance. It took firemen from 5 states hours to put it out. They said that the reactor was not on and undamaged. Thus we avoided a nuclear disaster, but this is pretty scary stuff.

Iran's Nuclear Program

Iran is meeting with six world powers in Baghdad about their nuclear program. We've been down this road several times before and nothing ever changes. They say this time might be different. I guess that will depend on how effective the sanctions have been and whether or not the world community presents a united front. We'll see.

DWTS Finals

It came as no surprise that all the dances last night were good and the scores very close. The worst that any couple got was 59 out of 60. The second half of the finale will be tonight. It should be exciting.

Mark Zuckerberg

Big week for the young CEO of Facebook. On Thursday he became an instant billionaire when his company went public and on Saturday he got married to his long time girl friend. He should be happy.,

Facebook IPO

Facebook became a public company yesterday when it's shares started trading on the NASDAQ exchange. Unfortunately for some it didn't live up to the hype. It basically "flat lined" rising only from $38 per share to $38.23. The bigger question however is whether or not the company can continue to grow and increase profits without alienating its users with excessive ads

Donna Summer

Donna Summer died yesterday of cancer at the age of 63. She was the Queen of Disco, a title that she richly deserved. Most dance music from the disco era was techno pop. It was made more by computers than musicians and frequently had  very little singing, but not hers. You listened to her voice and even learned the words. That's why her career continued long after the disco craze ended.

Good Story

There was a good story for a change this morning. A guy in Kentucky was shopping at the local K-Mart, which was going out of business. He's a successful businessman now, but he grew up poor in the same town. Thus he decided to buy everything left in the entire store and give it all away to charity. It took 4 cashiers 7 hours to check him out, and it cost $20,000. Then he had to rent a warehouse to hold all of it until the local charities can distribute it.

Town Elections

Our annual town elections are today. We'll vote on seats on the Board of Selectmen, School Committee, etc. Outside of my small town, nobody cares, and for that matter a lot of the residents don't care either. When you live in a democracy, however, it's your duty (and privilege) to vote, and I'll be headed to the polls in a few minutes.

Mother's Day

I hope that all the mothers out there, especially mine, had a wonderful day. You certainly deserve it for all the hard work that you do. The weather in the Northeast was terrific, so that should have helped make it a special day.

J.P. Morgan Chase

Will the outrage ever stop? The company just lost $2 Billion in trades last quarter taking the same risks with the same type of securities that caused the financial meltdown (and public bailout) in 2008. Meanwhile the CEO, who makes $23 Million per year, has been the most vocal of all the bankers arguing against any more regulation of risk. No wonder Occupy Wall Street had so many followers.

They're Safe

Great news this morning that the two missing girls kidnapped from Tennessee were found safe in Mississippi. They lost their Mom and sister to this murdering bastard, but he's dead now and they are alive. It doesn't usually end that well.

Same Sex Marriage

I was very pleased to see President Obama speak out supporting same sex marriage. He sounded like the "adult in the room" to me. There should be no reason why a homosexual couple shouldn't have the same legal rights as a heterosexual one. Interesting that he also did not criticize the vote in N.C. on Tuesday.

N.C. Bans Gay Marriage

The religious right won yesterday in passing an amendment to define marriage as solely between a man and a woman. No surprise there as it's a conservatve state full of close minded bigots and hypocrites, but it's still very disappointing.

Underwear Bomb

I can't believe that al Qaeda tried this again. The first time was a dud and the guy ended up with burnt balls. This "new and improved" version never even got to the airport. Good job on the part of the intelligence folks.

French and Greek Elections

The election results from this weekend are causing a huge drop in the stock markets around the world. It's clear that the people of both countries don't want austerity measures, but that raises major concerns about the European debt crisis again, and the markets don't like uncertainty. The good news is that the price of crude oil is dropping because the economic recovery is also uncertain.

Kentucky Derby

Today is the 138th "Run for the Roses". It will be quite a scene with all the colorful outfits, mint juleps, and extra large hats on the ladies. Oh, there will be a horse race, too.

Tanning Nut

A New Jersey woman has been accused of taking her 5 year old daughter into a tanning booth. Whether she did or not will be up to the courts to decide. What I do know is that she has gone way over the top in getting  herself tanned. One report said that she goes to the tanning salon 20 times a month and her photos are hard to believe. If there really is such a thing as tanorexic, she is.

Junior Seau

Shocking news that Junior Seau apparently shot himself and died yesterday. This guy was one of the greatest linebackers of all time. He was all pro 12 years in a row. Absolutely nobody was better than he was. He was a warrior on the field and would do anything to stop the ball carrier. He was also a great guy off the field beloved by his team mates and the fans. What a pity that he died so young.

Rain

We got some much needed rain yesterday. We were well below our normal rainfall and really need it this time of year for all the plants and trees that are coming back to life. Plus the grass is green and growing again, so it needs the water, too. Let's hope that we get more.

An Outrage

I just read a story yesterday about a woman, Sara Barnes, who burned down a 3500 year old bald cypress tree while smoking meth inside its hollow. The tree was known as "The Senator" and believed to be one of the 10 oldest trees in the world. It was in Florida's Big Tree Park. She took cell phone pictures of the fire and bragged about it to friends. Reportedly she told them, "I can't believe I burned down a tree older then Jesus."