By now, I’m sure you’ve heard the news of Senator Edward Kennedy’s passing. To me it came in the form of a facebook status, not too long after it happened. And while some may say, as a friend of mine did last night when I first heard the news, that he’s had terminal brain cancer for over a year, his passing still comes as a shock, at least to me. Hell, an article of his was featured in Newsweek just last month. An article that certainly resonated with me, and helped inspire me to get my ass out of the house and (try to) attend a town hall/community dinner on the subject. How could he be gone?

Senator Kennedy may have started out well before my time, but he was a man who was definitely in touch with the concerns of my generation. Healthcare was just one of the issues, though it was one he felt to be most important. He was also revered, even among his colleagues who didn’t agree with him on anything. Sheldon Whitehouse said at a Q&A session that after Kennedy returned to the floor after a medical leave, senators from both sides of the aisle rose, some with tears in their eyes.

Chappaquiddick notwithstanding, Kennedy was a respected man and public servant with a huge legacy, from a political family filled with mystique. His name will go down in the history books, just as his brothers’ names did.

On a much lighter note, let’s talk about some junk mail I received today. This piece is from a company called “Domain Renewal Group,” and they sent me a notice offering to transfer my domain, theamigan.net, to them for the “low” price of $30 for one year. Let’s recap here. I pay $9 a year from namecheap, the domain’s original and current registrar. Why the hell would I go through the trouble to pay more money? Why did they waste their time and money printing the notice? This is the type of garbage environmentalists should be hooting and hollering about; I rarely see more of an utter waste of trees.

That’s all.