It’s your daily dose of Kandy Korrespondent!

A tornado ripped through the Little Sioux boyscout camp in Iowa, on Wednesday afternoon, killing four and injuring at least 40. Most of the injured were on a hike when the tornado struck. The 93 boys ages 13 to 18 along with 25 staff members had been attended a week-long leadership training camp.

In Other News:

On Thursday, for the first time in nearly a decade, China and Taiwan sat down at the negotiating table. Only two issues are up for discussion: the reinstatement of direct flights (banned since 1949) and the opening of Taiwan to Chinese tourism. The two countries have been in a stony “cold war” ever since the defeated Chinese Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan in 1949. Tensions have been aggravated by Taiwan’s insistence that it is the real Republic of China and China’s continuing claim to Taiwan as one of its provinces.

Pakistan-US relations remain tense following Tuesday night’s American air-strike on the Pakistani-Afghan border which killed 11 Pakistani soldiers. The Pakistani Military has condemned the attack as “unprovoked and cowardly”. The Pentagon maintains that it was a mission carried out in self-defense during a clash with pro-Taliban militias. US strikes on Pakistani territory have resulted in 50 deaths so far this year.

On Wednesday, Glast (Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope), NASA’s space telescope successfully blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida to begin it’s exploration of the universe. Armed with “gamma-ray glasses”, it is hoped that the Glast mission will increase our understanding of some of the universe’s most violent events, such as massive cosmic explosions, giant black holes, and neutron stars—all of which release energy in the form of gamma-rays.

Also on Wednesday, Jim Johnson, the head of Obama’s Vice Presidential exploratory group resigned from his post following questions regarding loans he had received from a company involved in the current housing crisis. Obama released a statement saying that Johnson requested to step aside so as not to distract from the rest of the campaign.

And Now for Something Completely Different…

An Italian couple detained earlier this month for having sex in a church confessional box during morning Mass, have repented and made peace with their local bishop. The two individuals, both in their 30s, told their lawyer that they had been drinking all night and apparently had gone too far. The Bishop accepted their apology ad gave his forgiveness. Last week the bishop celebrated a “Mass of reparation” to cleanse the cathedral’s confessional box of the sacrilege.

Make a note of it ladies—it may seem incredibly rebellious and exciting to do it in the confessional box—but the aftermath SO isn’t worth it. There’s nothing worse than an righteously offended bishop to dampen the afterglow.

That’s the news!

[Photo courtesy of The New York Times]

Diablo Cody: She stripped…and no one wants to forget that

Gas has almost doubled in a year. I smell the fumes of a conspiracy…

Blohan is poor and boring.

The Pentagon wanted Guantanamo Bay interrogation notes destroyed. Conspiracy #2?

Rupert Everett isn’t a fan of America. That’s okay. I can’t remember ever being a fan of him.

The dreaded College Wait List just got more confusing.

Midwesterners are drenched. But if you live there…your basement has already told you this.

Man, do I love the Golden Girls

This is pretty much the scariest picture that has ever been burned into my rentas