It's been a relatively quiet week as far as our clown show of an election this year goes, thankfully, so this week it's been a lot easier to relax and read other articles. And watch the Olympics, of course. Here are my 7 favorite stories I had the pleasure of reading this week. Links to the articles are on the numbers.
#1: Extremely Intact T-Rex Skull Found in MT
I just absolutely love it every time a story like this surfaces, because it tends to feel like Montana gets thrown into the 'Rednecks and Cowboys' stereotype when it doesn't have any sort of national publicity surrounding it. Which is virtually all the time. Dinosaurs are good for the reputation around here, not to mention awesome in general. The best part about this story though? The T-Rex's name is 'Tufts-Love'. Yep.
#2: Usain Bolt's Legacy
Call him cocky, call him a sell-out, call him what you will; Usain Bolt is a dominant athlete, the likes of which has never been seen before. 9 years of consistently being the single fastest man in the world is simply insane, and deserves as much recognition as one would think it would. Also, on top of all of this, I recently learned that Bolt suffers from scoliosis and STILL trashes any opponent he comes across.
#3: 22 Push-up Challenge
It's being teased as the next ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, and to a cause that has needed some love for a long, long time. Established for the alleged 22 military veterans who take their own lives every day, this challenge has made its way to major celebrities and is getting a lot of publicity for the fantastic cause. And although the numbers of the stats behind it are under a bit of scrutiny, it nevertheless has its heart in a good place and hopefully can generate some change and awareness for struggling veterans.
#4: Nationwide Statues of Trump in the Buff
Although many a writer and news source has scoffed and condemned the statues created by the art group INDECLINE, I simply couldn't help but laugh at the irony behind this. in any other election year, this would have caused ten times the waves of shock and anger (imagine if this happened to Obama, the country would lose its mind). But this year, it just fits the scene so well that most people either cracked up or could only muster an exasperated sigh. They could've given him a fig leaf or two, however...
#5: The International Docking Adapter
Gotta get science-y on you now, but this story is huge for the advancement of space industry and, thus, exploration. Elon Musk and SpaceX had to be giddy when this was finalized, because it essentially means that they have been handed the skeleton key of space development to all of the metaphorical doors NASA built in its time. Private space industry has officially taken over, and sooner rather than later we will begin to see many a headline regarding space again. YES!
#6: July 2016
I didn't add this because I enjoy watching the Earth gradually move faster and faster to incineration, but because it's doing exactly that and no one can deny it. It is important that things like this get publicity, because the less doubters we have about man-made temperature change occurring, then the faster we can move to do something about it.
#7: Discontinued Use of Private Prison System
This is a big one as far as the betterment of quality of inmate life goes. The move had been in the works for months, but the finalization of this is certainly a step in the right direction for the prison system. One can only hope this generates more change for the better in the prison system (the abolishment of extensive mandatory minimums is a good start).
An honorable mention goes to the LochteGate debacle, because I never really believed him in the first place and watching him squirm with being called out and facing his actions is oddly satisfying.
