I haven’t taken this year for granted one bit after surviving the April 27, 2011 tornado. My senior year could have easily not happened had the storm taken campus or had my building fallen or had I been driving down 15th Street at the time if my teacher didn’t cancel our conference. While most of the country has forgotten about our devastation in Tuscaloosa, we haven’t. We see it every single day as we drive by the emptiness of where our normal lives were. We see it in the debris that still sits where the tornado dropped it. We see it when clouds roll in and when there’s a slight drizzle. We see it in houndstooth ribbons.

A year later, I get anxious and scared with the idea of a storm. April 27, 2012 was hard for us. While my sisters and I were recovering post senior bar crawl, we were still reflecting on what happened a year ago that day. Friday was a beautiful day, but the feeling of it was rough. However, our community is stronger than it has ever been. Last weekend, we had UA Day of Service where we went to different areas of devastation to clean up debris. You’d be surprised how much was still left over. My group was placed right where I had walked a year ago to find my friend Meridith’s house. Right where my roommate Kelly and I had climbed over fallen trees and power lines along with our fellow students. While I drive by that area all the time, standing there was a completely different feeling. Read More »

Another blow for Lindsay Lohan.

Oh no. Dina Lohan’s on Twitter.

Tornadoes tear through Mississippi.

Do you want Fergie’s undies?

Legalizing marijuana is good for California.

Jamie Lynn Spears says no to marriage.

Problems for Pete and Ashlee?

Where are condoms made?

Goodbye, Blender!

Don’t be afraid of fear.

Watch out Brangelina - Madonna getting another kid?

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. Read More »