The Patriots, as everyone knows anywhere recently accused of deflating footballs before the AFC Championship game. The PSI was to low in the balls and as a result the NFL did a full-fledged investigation that ended with the release of the “Wells” report, that highlighted that it “more likely than not” happened and that Tom Brady, probably was “Generally aware of it”. A lot of people are questioning the legitimacy of the report. This, I disagree with. I think the report is correct I’m almost positive that Tom and the Patriots did this. Should Tom Brady be suspended? I think yes, he broke a rule and got caught; he has to pay the price for that. But does that put the legitimacy of the super bowl into question? Or his legacy? No. To me, his legacy is as stable as ever. Every athlete looks for a way to get ahead in a little way like that. Jerry Rice admitted to using stickum on his gloves, it turns out, the Colts actually did the same thing with their balls during the game. Tom Brady is guilty and deserves to be punished, but, he is still unquestionably the G.O.A.T.

           

            Update

Brady suspended four games and team fined one million dollars. My first response to this is suck it up and eat it. But, to be honest, Ray Rice got two games for knocking his wife out cold. Four games seems a little excessive when lined up next to what Ray Rice did.

May 11^th

Recently, there has been an upsurge in the amount of invasive species in the world. One that is talked about often, the Lionfish, a voracious predator from the Indo-Pacific that is destroying Caribbean Reefs continues to ravage. Another deadly invader in Italy is destroying not reefs, but Italy’s prized olive trees. Italy, the planet second largest olive oil producer is suffering from bacterial infections in its tree’s. The spittlebug, native to Brazil is chewing on the leaves and spreading the infection. Italians don’t know what to do and are panicking as the base of their livelihoods comes into question. Right now it appears the best course of action is to cut down infected trees and make a quarantine zone where the infected trees have been found. That’s however, is unfortunate for the many farmers who will lose huge amounts of profits due to the lack of production that will occur. This is also unfortunate for you and me, I like olive oil and since it will become less accessible it will likely become more and more expensive. That’s right, get ready to have your salads with vinegar only as some fine dining establishments probably including Lawrence Academy’s very own dining hall may soon send olive oil off with sriracha as a luxury item.

The worst has happened for Nepal. Just a few weeks after being struck with a 7.8 magnitude earthquake it was struck early this morning with yet another earthquake. This time a 7.3 magnitude. Nepal was still experiencing the occasional aftershock from the first earthquake. So initially that's what many thought this was but it kept getting stronger until it became obvious that this was no small aftershock. Though this earthquake was far less powerful than the first (each .1 means *2 shaking) the damage is still major and damaged infrastructure. The first earthquake happened about 50 miles West of Kathmandu, Nepal's capital city and this one about seventy miles east. In the coming weeks, we will see just how damaging this earthquake has been and it will be years before we are able to fully understand the scope of the problems that it has caused. 

May 12^th

Good news for coffee drinkers like myself. Today, a Times Opinion article talked about the misconception that coffee is a harmful drink that is bad for one's health. But studies have shown that coffee is very much not that. Coffee actually appears to have more beneficial effects than negative ones. For example, coffee speeds up metabolisms. Coffee also has been shown to decrease the chances of kidney diseases. Every single study into the claim that coffee stunts growth has also been proven wrong time after time. With mass-consumed products like Coke, Pepsi, Monster and Mountain Dew being consumed every day somehow Coffee has been dubbed the bad one despite having zero calories and a very small number of side effects.

May 13^th

Today I read an article that seemed to be out of a twisted Sci-Fi novel. Kim Jong Un, dictator of North Korea was holding a meeting this week. Apparently, he became a little too boring for his Defense chief, Hyon Yong Chol who dozed to sleep during the meeting. Big mistake. As almost any boss would do, Kim Jong Un yelled at the man. Clearly not thinking due to being rudely awoken, Chol yelled back at Kim Jong Un. Unfortunately for him, that’s treason in North Korea, which is punishable by death. In the case of Chol, he was punished by way of being publically executed by means of an anti-aircraft gun. Well things clearly escalated quickly there. To me, this was yet another of North Korea’s