The Good: Sometimes things happen that make me wonder if there is really a higher power up there, or if some people are just lucky. John Slemp, a 52-year-old man from Oregon fell his way into the record books a week ago when he had a slight snafu. Slemp, his son, and a friend were riding snowmobiles near the crater of Mount Saint Helens a week after Slemp returned from Iraq when they stopped to take a few photos. Slemp and his son stepped onto a shelf of snow to look over the rim of the crater when the shelf collapsed. Slemp fell about 200 feet and landed on a snow bank unharmed. He then attempted to climb back up the crater when the bank collapsed and he fell another 1,500 feet. Alone, 1,700 feet in the crater of Mount St. Helens, Mr. Slemp set a record; he was the first person ever to fall into the crater. When Slemp was rescued, he had a few minor injuries, but was okay.

The Down Right Nasty: A few weeks ago we heard about the sexual misconduct in juvenile detention centers, and now it seems that no one who is imprisoned is safe. An Oklahoma sheriff was recently charged with multiple crimes against his former female charges. Sheriff Mike Burgess, who has ranked top officer in his county for the past 14 years, was accused of abusing his inmates by making them perform sex acts for his favoritism. Inmates had to perform in wet t-shirt contests and oral sex on the sheriff. In total, the sheriff will face 14 counts of second-degree rape, seven counts of forcible oral sodomy, five counts of bribery, two counts of sexual battery, two counts of rape by instrumentation, two counts of subornation of perjury, and one count each of engaging in a pattern of criminal offenses, indecent exposure, and kidnapping. The Sherriff was released on $50,000 bond for his 35 total counts. If he is convicted on all counts (which I hope he is) he could be sentenced to 467 years in prison.

Expanding the mind: Today I was lucky enough to get a free audio book from Audible.com because I bought a new MP3 player. I decided that I should download a book I’ve never had time to read, Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. I figured getting it on audio book would give me an opportunity to slowly finish the book over a couple weeks—that was this morning. Here I am, fifteen hours later and I have spent the past three solid hours listening to it. The book doesn’t seem like an economics book—despite the title—and feels more like a sociology lesson. I highly recommend this book for just about anyone who wants to learn a tad more about anything. Cheating teachers, drug dealers, money, realtors, sumo wrestlers, and baby names are all in this book. The authors are witty and fun and everyone should read this.

Mourning the loss: Today is the one year anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre. While to me it feels as if this has come too quickly, for many students of Virginia Tech, this has been the longest year of their lives. The shockwaves that Virginia Tech’s tragedy sent through university campuses was palpable, and now it seems only fitting that we turn to look back at them. A memorial today began at midnight with the Corps of Cadets beginning a 24 hour guard of a memorial candle. Throughout the day, students, faculty, parents and others have come on and off campus in an attempt to keep life going and remember the past. To all those who were there and who felt the pain of Virginia Tech, our hearts are with you.

The Good News: China is turning its ever judgmental eye within its own boarders. The near constant pollution creation in Beijing has lead china to suspend all “digging and pouting” of concrete from July 20th until September 20th. The goal of this construction slow down—because the world turns on cement—is to reduce the smog that is coating the city. In addition to the cement rules, nineteen of China’s heaviest polluting companies have been told to cut their emissions by 30% in that same time frame. The toxic mix of carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide that blankets the city will be further reduced by adding car and paint restrictions closer to the games. If the pollution has not thinned in time for the Olympic games, outdoor activities lasting more than one hour would be shortened.

The Scary: Recent cancer research has shown that drinking alcohol (even only one or two drinks) could increase breast cancer risks. Drinking can cause variations in genes that metabolize alcohol and this can lead to an increase in breast cancer. Those women with tumors caused by estrogen and progesterone (ER+/PR+) increased their risk as they drank. Moderate drinkers showed a marked increase in cancer diagnoses, and researchers found that the kind of alcohol you drink (vodka, whiskey, beer, wine) had no effect on your risk. So switching from tequila to wine won’t do you anything. Put down that glass sister.