"U.S. Death Toll in Iraq Hits 2,000" - October 26th, Richard Boudreaux, Louise Roug, Paul Richter.

This was in my opinion the most important article I came across last week. It seems like only yesterday to me that we hit the chilling figure of 1,000 deaths in Iraq; now it is 2,000. Bush asks for patience, arguing that progress is being made and that these casualties aren't for naught. On the opposite side of things, protesters are doubling their efforts to try and end what they feel is an unnessecary war ASAP. The majority of deaths have come via car bombings. Regardless of ones feelings on the war, it is impossible not to feel some remorse over the loss of 2,000 American lives, especially when no end is in sight.

"Leinart Played Conquest in Clutch" - David Wharton, Sunday 16th of October

As an avid sports fan, there was no question in my mind what my article was going to be about this week. The Notre Dame game was absolutely insane, and easily the best college football game I have ever seen. After much review, I decided that this was my favorite article on the game. It basically pointed out how lousy of a day Leinart had - how many mistakes he made, how many opportunities he missed - but despite all that, he was still able to win the game when it came right down to it. Wharton makes the point that perhaps more importantly than stats is the ability to win the game in the clutch, which is exactly what Matt Leinart did on this amazing Saturday.

"Rain Adds to Quake Victim's Misery" - Today, by Paul Wilson.

As if the world was not emotionally drained enough after dealing with hurricanes Rita and Katrina, a much worse (more life tolling) tragedy has happened in Pakistan. The area was hit with a 7.6 earthquake, and was completely unready for it; the death toll is now at a stunning 23,000. 50,000 confirmed injured, and over 2.5 million are left homeless. As if this is not bad enough, heavy rains and hail are now hitting the area and making relief efforts much harder, and making more people lose lives. This article stands out as my favorite of the week because it does the terribly unenviable job of being the bearer of bad news. It does so with poise and emotion however, delivering the news but giving it a human feel, not just rattling off stats. I found it exceptionally powerful, and my heart goes out to the victims of this awful tragedy.

"Why Skid Row Has Become L.A.'s 'Dumping' Ground" Todays newspaper.

I thought this was a great article simply because it brings to light (with the use of images and a map) a subject that is very important here in Los Angeles. "Skid row has the country's largest concentration of services for homeless people and those with drug and alchohol addictions". This is a pretty amazing stat, but it doesn't all together suprise me. The article goes into detail about how all of the homeless and drug-addicted are dropped off at skid row because it is much easier to just throw them all together in a concentrated place instead of actually fixing the problem. The article goes on to say that the areas around skid row are upset at the condition of it, and want it cleaned up. I believe that it was the goal of the article to bring this problem into the public eye so that it would hopefully cause a public uproar and be addressed by our politicians. I'm not sure how successful this will be though; it seems that most people are content with just turning a blind eye to the plights of others.