Tuesday Stories

Update

Once again, the CNN crew of people I work with are incredibly nice. Spoke to Jack Cafferty for the first time today, and he was really nice. We definitely will be buddies by the end of this internship. For a New Yorker growing up watching him anchor the Ch 11 news, it's been incredible seeing them in person. I think sometime later this week or early next week, I'm going to sneak in upstairs and check out Anderson Cooper, Paula Zahn, Nancy Grace, and Greg something or other. I've been relegated to all the afternoon kiddos here. Otherwise, this internship has been going very well, but considering it has only been 2 days, I won't get my hopes up too much.

Basic schedule for the weekdays; Wake up at 6 and read papers and get ready for work till 9. Commute. Work nonstop from 10:30-8, with lulls and lunch breaks, but also with exciting running back and forth fact checking before we go on air. Eat dinner on the commute home. Work out and read some more news before I go to bed around midnight. Insane. Weekends mean so much more to me, but to be honest, I've been waiting for an opportunity to actually DO something, because the idleness of summer days have always been a pain.

College Studies Defend Sweatshops? WHAT?

Interesting take from NY Times Nicholas Kristof on sweatshops. Usually a man who fights for the rights of the poor, he ACTUALLY DEFENDS sweatshops and hopes to see more intelligence from American college students. Interesting take. I'll comment on this later in the week. Check out the story here.

Ivy but Illegal

I hate to continue riding on the bandwagon of illegal immigration, but CNN's Tom Foreman wrote an interesting entry in the 360 blog, regarding a Princeton student who a whiz kid, but is also an illegal immigrant. The dilemma is that if he goes to Oxford for school, he cannot return to his family here. But if he stays in the states, it would be hard for him to keep a job. Therefore, he turned himself in. The question for American authorities now is much more complex than even the initial story. If they deport him, is that really wise in letting someone go who was trained in the US and not take advantage of his gifts and talents that he is willingly wants to contribute to the nation. But if they keep him, would they not be blamed for picking favorites on who and who not to deport? (For example, Americans have already been claimed for doing so by importing nurses from around the world as there is a shortage of nurses everywhere). Check on the entry here.

What if I want to play XBOX 360 when I retire?

Aparently, 43% of us will not have enough money to retire. That is a little bit sad to hear, but also quite easy to understand in our culture of luxury and comfort while continually going into debt. At this point, many Americans are one move away from bankruptcy. I guess we should all just move to Florida, so this won't happen (bankrupty laws there are incredible. You're pretty much guaranteed you won't be left in the streets). Check out the retirement story here.

Batwings are what I want for Christmas

Great story. Not really. But great picture!!! Special forces are beginning to replace parachutes to these strap-on "Batwings" in order to glide onto the land coming out of airplanes and will be undetected by those on the ground. I began by laughing at the ridiculousness of X-men meets Star Wars costume, but after reading about what it can do, I want one...REALLY BADLY.