News from Home/Abroad, or Links a-plenty!

For the most part, I've avoided following the news regularly while on vacation here in Chicago.  This was helped early on by accidentally catching a bit of the local news which ran not one, not two, but three separate reports on the local kid who has made it to the final round of American Idol.  Buried somewhere later in the news was a story about the whole school book fiasco.  This was then followed by a commentary in support of the Texas school board by a local radio shock jock though no graphics ever stated it was a commentary.  At least we have the Daily Show to soften the blow.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Don't Mess With Textbooks
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

By the way, the final vote was last week.  And in case you are curious, it passed.  (Thanks again, Texas!)

But not all the scary news is coming from this side.  I'm not going to try to pretend I understand everything related to the EU/Greece crisis.  Germany has agreed to lend quite a large hand, though it seems they squandered a lot of time playing politics.  Although I've had Germans tell me the blame lies solely with Greece, it sounds to me like everyone had a hand in this mess and it is only going to get uglier.  Unless, of course, you're an American planning to visit the EU next summer.  I guess if there's a silver lining to all of this, maybe I can look forward to seeing some more friends visit next year.