The well respected patriarch of the Kennedy family, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Recently, Senator Kennedy was stuck by a sudden seizure that sent him straight to Massachusetts General Hospital. There, doctors confirmed that Senator Kennedy had a tumor on the left parietal lobe of his brain.

Sources report that Senator Kennedy is in full recovery mode, though fighting the tumor will mean chemotherapy, radiation, and other harsh treatments. Not only is Senator Kennedy part of the living legacy that is the infamous Kennedy family, he is also a man that has spent his life fighting for those things that he believes in. Despite losing a presidential race in 1980, Mr. Kennedy has worked to improve health care, education, and civil rights. Amazingly, even though Mr. Kennedy is a liberal through and through, those that do not believe in his various causes believe in the man himself. President Bush remarked on the situation stating that “Ted Kennedy is a man of tremendous courage, remarkable strength, and powerful spirit.” President Bush also stated that he and his wife, Laura, will be “praying for his full recovery.”

A friend of the Kennedy family spoke to press concerning the Senator’s condition stating: “right now, he’s his normal self, except for the news that he’s dealing with. I bet he’ll be back at the Cape sailing this weekend. I expect he’ll go back to work.” All those that know Kennedy claim that “he’s a fighter,” and all believe that he is willing to stand up and fight this brain tumor the best that he can. For now, Senator Kennedy has returned to his Cape Cod home where he will rest prior to returning to work shortly.

In a move that may have caused deep and far reaching damage to the already tenuous relationship between the United States and Iraq, a U.S. soldier admitted to using the Quran for target practice.

The Quran is the most sacred and respected book in Islam and used not only as a source of religious law and identity by Muslims around the world, but also as a source of secular law and the source of wisdom for Muslim and state leaders.  The world has seen over the past few years with the various incidents of outrage sparked by Westerners’ thoughtless portrayals of the Prophet Mohammed that the commonly accepted mockery of religion and religious icons in the West is treated with rage and often death in Islam.

The U.S. soldier responsible for the act was not named, as his safety is understandably at peril.  He was the leader of a U.S. sniper unit, and the Quran in question was found with several bullet holes, an expletive written on one of its pages, as well as a target marked in the center front cover.  Although the soldier claimed he did not realize the book was the Quran, the military investigation rejected this argument and he was found guilty.

The soldier was released from his duty and sent back to the United States to be reassigned.  He made a public apology to the village in which the act happened, and Major General Jeffrey Hammond, commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, also made a public apology on the behalf of the whole U.S. armed forces in Iraq.  

Despite mounting pressure for her to leave the Presidential race, Senator Hillary Clinton continues to score primary victories, winning a substantial triumph in Kentucky to keep alive her dwindling hopes of claiming the Democratic nomination.  

Senator Clinton won by a significant margin over Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama, taking 65 percent of the vote to Senator Obama's 30 percent.  The victory in the Bluegrass State provides an emotional boost to Senator Clinton's sagging campaign right when she needed it the most.   

Critics have been pleading with her to drop from the race in order to unify the Democratic party before the convention in August. As the race for the Democratic nomination continues to drag on and on, with neither candidate capable of securing the necessary delegates to capture the nomination outright, it's believed the in-fighting will only serve to fracture the party and give the Republicans an edge in the upcoming November election.  

Of course, this tends to be the idea of only Obama supporters and not necessarily everyone within the Democratic party.  For her part, Senator Clinton has no intention of ending her campaign before the convention.  She sees her victory in Kentucky as yet more proof that the American people have not given up on her despite the long odds.  And if the people haven't quit on her, Senator Clinton certainly isn't about to quit on them.  It will all make for some fascinating political intrigue over the coming months.  

The presidential candidates have been quiet about possible Vice Presidential running mates in their campaigns, particularly because the nominations haven't been made official yet.  While the party front runners, John McCain and Barack Obama have been keeping their thoughts to themselves, other people are more than happy to weigh in on who might be sharing the tickets for the fall.

Of course, there has been plenty of speculation that the Democrats might be best served with the so-called "Dream Ticket" that would feature Senator Hillary Clinton as the VP choice under Obama.  However, some anyalysts have said that isn't a very likely scenario, which means that the choices for Obama are wide open.  While Obama has said that he may be open to having Clinton serve as Vice President, it seems that the deal is far from done.

For the Republicans, people are gearing up to throw their hats into the ring.  Former candidate Mike Huckabee has recently stated that he would like to be offered the position.  Huckabee was a candidate during the primary until it became clear that McCain was going to clinch the nomination. He was one of the last candidates to drop out of the race for president in the Republican race.  Huckabee has great support among the conservative voters of the party, but his recent remarks about Barack Obama have caused a stir.  During a speech at the National Rifle Association, Huckabee joked that an off-stage noise made during his talk was Obama diving to the floor after someone aimed a gun at him.  Huckabee has since issued apologies for the remark.

On May 12, 2008, an earthquake measuring a magnitude of 8.0 struck the Sichuan province of China.  The epicenter of the quake was 80 kilometers west-northwest of the province capital of Chengdu, with a depth of approximately 19 kilometers.  The quake was felt for more than 1,500 kilometers, shaking buildings in Beijing and Shanghai, and the devastation and loss of life were tremendous.

In areas directly affected by the earthquake, as many as 80% of buildings collapsed or were heavily damaged.  In the nearby city of Shifang, a pair of chemical plants were destroyed, resulting in the release of more than 80 tons of liquid ammonia.  Communication and travel throughout the region was disrupted due to the destruction of communication towers and the heavy damage to roads and highways in the surrounding area.  In Dujiangyian, a school collapsed, trapping more than 900 students in the rubble.

Recovery efforts are still underway, but the danger to the residents of the area is still considerable.  The Zipingpu Hydropower Plant located east of the quake was heavily damaged, and further upstream, the dam at the Tulong reservoir is in danger of collapse.  Efforts to relieve the pressure on the structure have been taken, to prevent a catastrophic flood on top of the previous devastation.

So far, the quake has claimed more than 34,000 lives, with a quarter of a million people reported injured.  The number of missing is still considerable, and officials expect these numbers to rise, possibly as high as 50,000 dead.  This would make it the deadliest earthquake since the 1976 Tangshan quake, which killed more than 240,000.