I just think it's hilarious that ****** Cheney's name is considered a swear word. Ha!

So apparently Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are related to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Does that make them cousins-in-law?

In a rather strange article published today in the Pioneer Press, it said that Barack Obama is apparently distantly related to the George Bush, Winston Churchill, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, Harry Truman, ****** Cheney (yikes!) and of course Brad Pitt. It also stated that Hillary Clinton is related to Madonna, Alanis Morissette, Celine Dion and Angelina Jolie.

Thats a little weird...

So I was reading an interesting article yesterday in the New York Times about a strange sickness afflicting bats in the New York area. The disease apparently is spreading rapidly, and the article suggested that as much as 90 percent of the bats hybernating in four different caves had died since last winter. So far, scientists can't explain what, or why this is happening. They dont know if a virus, a bacteria, or a toxin is causing the sickness. Call me crazy, but I thinks its a little alarming.

A study released by the Center for Disease Control and prevention found that AT LEAST one in four teenage girls is infected with a sexually transmitted disease. The teenage girls used in the study were tested for Chlamydia, HPV, genital herpes and trichomoniasis, only four of the most common STD infections threatening public health today. So why did they test girls instead of boys?

So here's an interesting piece of information - sales of organic beer are on the rise nation wide. According to an article on msn, sales have been increasing steadily since 2003. Not being much of a beer drinker, I have never heard of organic beer, but I suppose its not surprising that organic products have extended into this industry - People don't really want to drink pesticides either. According to a few online articles it costs about the same as imported beers and supposedly tastes good too - but having never tried it before I cant really say. Has anyone out there tried it?

I think that now we can say that our healthcare system is officially in crisis. People cant pay for the drugs, companies cant pay for the insurance, and insurance companies are unwilling to insure the people who will cost them a great deal of money. And who's to blame? Well the Democrats blame the Republicans and the Republicans blame the Immigrants, and really, is there only one group that is causing this whole mess that we call healthcare? It's sort of ridiculous to argue about who's to blame when everyone has done their part. So what is the answer to our health care crisis?

So here's a scary thought - sleeping on your stomach might actually give you wrinkles. I was reading an article today that suggested that sleeping with your face on a pillow can leave permanent lines on you face if you do it over a long period of time. Now to me this sounds kind of bogus, but I suppose that squishing your face into the same position every night might do some damage. I mean adults do always tell their chidren that if they keep making funny faces their face will eventually get stuck that way - maybe there really is something to that.

Well, here I am, at long last. I suppose now that I am officially a published journalist (my first published story EVER was in last Thursday's paper!) its time for me to get going on this blog. So todays topic?

Hi all, I'm Lauren Olson, the new intern at the Chanhassen Villager. I am a fourth year student at the University of Minnesota and I am majoring in professional journalism with a minor in Portuguese. I will also be interning with Let's Go! and the Prior Lake American. If you want, you can contact me at intern@swpub.com.