What you may have missed this fall

In just a few days, the academic marathon known as the fall semester will come to an end and I can proudly tell my friends and family that I survived half a year at NYU without dropping out and transferring to The New School. Of course, this joyous finale comes with the loss of dignity and social existence known as Finals Week. However, I have started my own "don't ask, don't tell" policy on this subject, so I will spare my readers. Instead, I have decided that it would be appropriate to reminisce over the past few months, as most critics obsessively do during December, on the national news of the country.

Where should I start?

President Obama officially finished his first year in office in November, and surprisingly enough, Rush Limbaugh and company have not left the country yet. In recent political news, many Americans asked themselves the familiar question, "Sarah Palin wrote a book?" Of course not, silly, she has a ghostwriter … but yes, "Going Rogue: An American Life" by Sarah Palin is now on bookshelves. It chronicles all of Palin's major achievements, from her role on her high school basketball squad to her resignation as governor. PALIN IN '12!

Congress dedicated the past few months to the debate over a sustainable health care plan that covers our entire nation, and the weak Democratic plan has already passed in the House. Since the issue dominated the political talk of the nation, I have come up with a list of Republican catch phrases that have best characterized our president's broad plan: death panels, Orwellian, Hitler-esque, socialist, Marxist, communist, fascist, totalitarian, evil and let us not forget Rep. Joe Wilson screaming out "YOU LIE!" during Obama's State of the Union address. There are probably a bunch I forgot, but reading "1984" or "Brave New World" usually builds up a good anti-health care lexicon. It is safe to say the bipartisan message of Obama's electoral campaign is definitely working.

We still do not know where any of the TARP funds that the Bush administration gave to Wall Street are … but they'll show up eventually, right? Having said that, the major banks are celebrating the holiday season with huge bonuses for employees! On a more serious note, banks like Goldman Sachs and Citibank have avoided any serious financial regulation or scrutiny from the Obama administration. This failure of accountability is a major F on Obama's report card so far, and the continued wars Iraq and Afghanistan will soon be as well if this president who promised change to the citizenry does not get his act together immediately.

In pop culture, Jay-Z has once again proved that he is king of the rap game, and has attempted to replace Sinatra's "New York, New York" with his own Gotham-centric masterpiece, "Empire State of Mind." Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift during the VMAs, there is now a Beatles Rock Band, Lady Gaga has a new CD out and mainstream music still sucks. More importantly, the New York Yankees won their 27th World Series and the entire city, including yours truly, went absolutely wild.

Over the break, we will see how our affairs overseas play out while the Senate will revisit the debate on health care and hopefully pass something worth praise. With that finished, I would like to say that I have enjoyed writing for the Washington Square News for the beginning months of my NYU career, and hope to continue to do so for the months to come. I wish all my readers happy holidays and a much-needed break.