Bummer… it’s always sad to hear about animals dying in captivity like this. I’m not sure what the typical lifespan of a Bald Eagle is, but it sounds like Leah lived a fairly long time.

This is only the beginning for BP. They’ll probably get hit with lawsuits involving the Louisiana Jones Act, loss of livelihood, health problems stemming from the oil spill, and who knows what else.

Usually I’m against people suing corporations for tens of millions of dollars, and think that there should be a cap on damages awarded by juries. But it’s very hard to feel any sympathy for BP in this case. Pictures from the ongoing oil leak are sickening, and it’s extremely difficult to wrap my head around the kind of long-term devastation this will cause to the Gulf region. What a terrible situation all around.

I really don’t know what to make of all this. It certainly seems that van der Sloot is guilty of something. After all, he was clearly on the run, the news report I read said he resisted arrest, and it looks like he cut his hair very short and even dyed it. These are not the actions of an innocent man.

But at the same time, would he really be so brazenly stupid as to let himself get caught on camera with the victim and then kill her on the anniversary of Holloway’s disappearance??? That just seems so ludicrous. Plus, an FBI agent familiar with the Holloway investigation said that the violent nature of Flores’ death didn’t really fit with van der Sloot’s profile.

I would love nothing more than to see this smug little asshole put away for life, but I just have a feeling that there’s a bit more to this crime than meets the eye.

(AP Photo/Roberto Candia)

The downside, obviously, is that the boy lost his parents and brother in the crash, and will likely be scarred for a long, long time. He will also likely contend with survivor’s guilt at some point — and will probably be in the media spotlight for a good long while, especially as anniversaries of the crash come up.

I hope Ruben can come to terms with all of this someday. Maybe with the right support system in place, he’ll turn out just fine.

(AP Photo/Libya TV, via APTN )

WTF??? This certainly doesn’t make me feel any safer about flying. I thought all those security measures were supposed to ensure that this sort of thing doesn’t happen!

According to early reports, the pilot of the plane disregarded a recommendation to land at a different airport, choosing instead to try to bring his craft in through heavy fog. This resulted in a death toll of 97, including 88 from the Polish state delegation.

(Photo: REUTERS/Ria Novosti/Pool/Alexei Nikolsky)