How to Sound Smart this Week
Sunday, May 22, 2011 at 11:54PM 
How to Sound Smart this Week is your weekly cheat sheet for hobnobbing at cocktail parties and shmoozing with your boss. Every Monday we will preview the stories that will be making the headlines over the coming days and break them down for you so that you can, well, sound smart this week.
Moneygall
What it is: a small town in central Ireland with a population of 298, one Roman Catholic church, and two pubs.
Why we’re talking about it: the town will be one of Obama’s first stops on his week-long trip to Europe, kicking off today. During Obama’s first presidential campaign, geneaologists from ancestry.com revealed that the president’s great-great-great grandfather on his mother’s side was Fulmoth Kearney, a resident of Moneygall who immigrated to Ohio in 1850.
Random fact: Guiness brewed a special keg for Ollie’s Bar, to be poured when Obama visits the bar. The bar features a bronze bust of the president. No word on why this pub was chosen over the other one.
http://whitehouse.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/22/obamas-irish-roots/ [CNN]
http://www.npr.org/2011/05/22/136553686/tiny-irish-town-welcomes-obama-home?ps=cprs [NPR]
Kathy Hochul
Who she is: democratic candidate for New York State’s 26th Congressional District, located in the Western part of the state.
Why we’re talking about her: the open House seat was once seen as reliably Republican, and until recently Hochul was considered a long shot. However, the latest poll shows Hochul 4 points ahead of her Republican opponent, Jane Corwin. The race is gaining national attention as it is seen as a referendum on Paul Ryan’s controversial plan to overhaul Medicare, and Corwin has been quoted as being “open to other proposals” as Hochul gains in the polls.
Random fact: Bowzer from Sha Na Na has been vigorously stumping for Hochul, appearing all over the district on her behalf.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/nyregion/as-an-upstate-ny-house-race-tightens-national-interest-grows.html?_r=1&hp [NYT]
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2011/05/ny-26-at-t-3-days-poll-says-hochul-leads [NYDN]
Sue Espinoza
Who she is: 60 year-old daughter of 89 year-old Harold Camping.
Why we’re talking about her: by now you are at work and fully aware that the Rapture and subsequent apocalypse, predicted by Harold Camping to arrive on Saturday, did not occur. Camping has been mute on the subject, his office has been closed and the curtains to his house drawn. Luckily, Sue has been in touch in with her father and has reported to the press that Camping is “a little bewildered that it didn't happen." Sounds like the understatement of the century.
Random Fact: I don’t have one for you. This whole thing has been random.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8080467/whats_next_for_harold_campings_rapturists.html [Associated Content]