Wow.

Great Physician Dies: In May, Lee Jong-wook died at the age of 61. He passed away a few hours after suffering a stroke, then undergoing emergency surgery that failed to remove a blood clot from his brain. Who was Lee Jong-wook? One of the world’s leading physicians — an expert on tuberculosis pathology and, on the day of his death, director general of the World Health Organization. Where did he die? At Geneva University Hospital in Switzerland, one of top health care institutions of any nation. So the head of the World Health Organization died young after receiving the best possible care. Memento mori: in Latin, “Remember that you too will die.” The knock on your life’s door could come at any hour. If it comes today, will your heart be ready?

A $54,000 Per Night Hotel Room Costs the Same as the U.S. Median Family Income for a Year: Ian O’Connor of USA Today recently praised golfer Phil Mickelson as generous to the poor, writing, “[Mickelson] pulls over to the curb, with no cameras or notebooks in sight, and hands hundred-dollar bills to homeless men.” Hmmm — if no one with a camera or notebook was present, how does USA Today know this happened? For its part the Wall Street Journal recently reported Mickelson paid $3.4 million for a nine-week penthouse timeshare at Saint Andrews Grand in Scotland, an ultra-lux condo overlooking the Old Course at Saint Andrews, frequent site of the British Open. The price works out to $54,000 per night, making this perhaps the most expensive hotel room in human history. Phil Mickelson — do you really believe that in a world where the impoverished of Africa die for want of a dollar a day, you are justified in spending $54,000 per night to make yourself feel important? “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation,” Jesus taught.

It’s refreshing and a little shocking to see Gregg Easterbrook being so open in his first column back on ESPN.com. [I guess a little mis-perceived anti-Semitism is okay when Mike Eisner is gone, eh?]