Welcome to your first official summer-y of the news! (Okay, the puns with my name will stop eventually. (I retract that, they probably will not.)) Like what you see? Well, Share It Maybe. (YouTube videos are part of the news too! My favorite line? ”Me start to really freak out. Please someone call the girl scout.”)
First, I’d like to give a round-of-applause to my readers: I checked my blog statistics this morning and as of writing this sentence, I had 448 clicks. WOOT WOOT! While I would like to think 448 people really care about what I had to say, I am going to conclude that 448 people ACTUALLY want to know what’s going on in the world. Kudos! (Do people still say that? I’m making it hip again and writing to AP Style Book.)
So, now that I’ve made my blog manifesto public, I woke up this morning contemplating my GP (game plan) of how to precede going forward. Where would I get my news? What types of stories would I really write about? How could I make seemingly boring and complex topics to people my age…interesting?
Naturally, I decided to do what I observe most adults do and I picked up the paper over breakfast. And so, I skimmed the covers and big features in The New York Times and The Washington Post. After that, I checked my daily morning email from The Daily Beast. (Here is my first piece of advice to people wanting to know about the news: go to The Daily Beast and sign up for their free daily email Cheat Sheets. I signed up in April and it was one of the best decisions I have made. After you sign up for that of course, sign up for another great news blog, That Sums It Up. Love. Her. Work.) After I did that, I looked over a few other news sites, and from them I am bringing you the following news summer-ies.
According to a poll released jointly today by The Washington Post—ABC News, President Obama and Governor Romney are tied at 47% among registered voters. Additionally, the poll found among Obama supporters, their vote signified support for the current president and his policies; however, among Romney supporters, their vote stood more for a vote AGAINST Obama than a vote for the GOP candidate. Also, almost 2/3 of the individuals polled believe the country is heading in the wrong direction at 63%.
Health care is still up in the air.
The House will begin debates today that will continue through tomorrow on whether or not to repeal the 2010 healthcare law that the SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) upheld on June 28. While the Republican House has already tried to repeal the decision 30+ times and have failed due to the Democrat Senate, this is the first time the process has happened since the decision was released that health care was constitutional. The debates will go on through tomorrow.
Tension between Pharaoh and the Army
Egypt’s new President Mohamed Morsi assembled legislators for session and some negotiations today despite the disapproval from the country’s key military figures and high-court judges. The only topic discussed was the country’s Supreme Constitutional Court’s declaration that around 1/3 of the members of parliament were elected unconstitutionally, but the meeting’s broader significance highlights the tension between the new government controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood party and the old military control.
She’s beauty and she’s grace, she’s…Mrs. North Korea?
Kim Jong-un, the Supreme Leader of North Korea, has been seen at multiple official public appearances with a date. However, in typical North Korea fashion, no one knows anything about who this mystery woman is! Some speculate she could be a lover, a wife or a family member. Some analysts claim he may be appearing with the women to make him more likeable and “humanlike,” but maybe he is just lonely and looking for love. Let’s face it: wouldn’t you be looking for companionship if you lived there too?
Carry-ons are the new bassinets.
I have often joked to friends when they are going on vacation that I want to join their trip by smuggling into a box with holes and “LIVE ANIMAL” written on the side. Key word: joked. However, a family traveling in an United Arab Emirates airport doesn’t have my same humor and were stopped by authorities when their baby was found in a carry-on. The five-month-old boy was detected while going through x-ray screening. The family claims its reasoning was that they were forbidden to enter the country because the child didn’t have an visa, and instead of waiting two days for the office to open, they decided to speed up the process by smuggling the child through. The infant is fine, but police are still questioning the parents.
So, that sums it up for a first post! Usually I probably won’t have as much commentary at the beginning and dive straight to the news, but again I am experimenting with how this whole thing will work. If you have any suggestions or story ideas, please let me know by either commenting or reaching out to me directly; Jaime Toplin texted me this morning about the hidden baby! One post down…and many more to go.