Team USA routs Slovenia 7-0, their first opening game victory since 2002

MSNBC Sports

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Other News: Bettman should suspend talks with Bertuzzi

The NHL has reserved a decision on Todd Bertuzzi's request to have his suspension lifted and be reinstated.

Rightly so. What's the hurry?

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Bertuzzi, lawyers, agents and assorted others (including Bertuzzi's victim, Steve Moore) met for six hours the other day.

Never mind that if Bettman was meeting with anybody for six hours, it should have been with representatives of the NHLPA.

Fact is, Bertuzzi doesn't have anything to come back to at this point.

Fact is, Bertuzzi didn't miss any games this season and, as a result, hasn't served nearly enough of a suspension for what he did.

Fact is, Bertuzzi is about 738th in line when it comes to players returning to the NHL (unfortunately for Moore, because of the injuries inflicted by Bertuzzi, he might never be in line again).

Get a new CBA.

Then it might be time to start talking about Bertuzzi and his fate.

Slam Sports

Discovery Channel's Viatcheslav Ekimov was injured Friday during a crash while riding with Lance Armstrong, and the Russian's Tour de France may be in jeopardy.

Armstrong escaped injury in the Austin mishap, but the 39-year-old Ekimov was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken sternum.

According to www.thepaceline.com, Armstrong's fan-club website, Ekimov hit a hole in the road, lost control of his bike, hit the stem with his chest and landed on his back.

VeloNews

Let us not talk of karma, but simply of responsibility toward the whole world.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Imagine All the People"

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More Buddhist Widsom

On Monday, Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton is due to tell the seven feuding governors how much water they can draw from the river and its tributaries this year.

The battle is over how much water to transfer from the 1/3 full Lake Powell (pictured) that the "upper basin" states, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico, use and the 2/3 full Lake Mead that the "lower basin" states, Nevada, Arizona and California, use.

In 1922 these states agreed to split the water between them. The upper basin states claim that they should not have to transfer as much water this year because Lake Mead is more full than Lake Powell.

The Washington Post

Is bottled water just a clever marketing ploy?

Have you ever noticed that Evian is naive spelled backwards?

On Sunday morning, Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson told TV viewers nation-wide that the threat posed by liberal judges is "probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings." When an incredulous George Stephanopoulos asked if Robertson really believed that these judges posed "the most serious threat America has faced in nearly 400 years of history, more serious than al Qaeda, more serious than Nazi Germany and Japan, more serious than the Civil War?," he responded, "George, I really believe that."

NY Daily News

Media Matters for America

For the second day in a row, I have seen a school bus in an accident on my bike ride in the afternoon.

I guess I will stay off school buses for awhile!

Stuart Carlson - 05/06/2005

© Dan Wasserman - 05/05/2005

Place Your Bets is an interesting editorial by John Tierney on the NYTs:

... Still, stocks could yield much lower returns in the future, as critics of private accounts have pointed out in advertisements comparing the market to a slot machine and extolling the "guarantee" of Social Security.

But there's also another kind of risk to consider, one that Chilean workers kept mentioning to me. The best part of their private accounts, they said, was that they'd put "la plata donde mis ojos la vean" - the money where my eyes can see it. They knew they might lose some of it in the stock market, but they preferred that to watching it all disappear into politicians' hands.

... My Social Security, far from being a guarantee, comes with a political risk that will become clear around 2017, when I'll be 64. That's when the Social Security Administration expects to start paying out more than it collects in taxes.

In theory, there is a trust fund to cover this shortfall. When Congress sharply raised Social Security taxes in the 1980's, the idea was to generate surpluses during the baby boomers' working years that would finance our retirement. Instead, Congress spent our money, leaving the Social Security trust fund with a file cabinet full of i.o.u.'s in the form of Treasury bills.

Read it.

Flash interactive movies based on a paper by Edward H. Adelson.

http://web.mit.edu/persci/gaz/gaz-teaching/index.html

From the AP:

Reaction across the West to the Bush administration's decision Thursday to open up nearly a third of all remote national forest lands to road building, logging and other commercial ventures.

ALASKA:

"It's a hotly debated item, but what we're going to see out of this, I think, is an effort by this administration to balance the areas that don't have roads in them and allow other areas to have road access.'' —Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski.

"In Alaska where so much of our land is federally controlled, local input on the use and management of those lands is critical to a community's success. I applaud the administration for setting out a policy where the people of each state can be heard. — U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.

ARIZONA:

"It's a shame and one of the most striking things about the whole process is how dishonest it's been. ... The old plan helped to protect roadless areas in national forests. The new plan completely reverses protection for roadless areas. It's a wholesale abandonment of protection for roadless areas. Putting a fancy name on it does not change the facts.'' —Erik Ryberg, a Southwest forest advocate for the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity.

"The Bush administration is focused on harming the national forests. Arizona forest is public land, and they don't belong to the timber industry or any one industry.'' —Sandy Bahr, a spokeswoman for the Sierra Club.

CALIFORNIA:

"California's forests are one of our state's most treasured and valued resources. I am committed to protecting the vibrant health and sustainable future of our forests. In keeping with that commitment and the assurances we have from the U.S. Forest Service, roadless areas in California will remain roadless.'' —California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"We have no plans to build roads in the roadless areas of the national forests in California. ... Areas are roadless here for a reason.'' —Matt Mathes, regional spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

"It's a much more sane policy in dealing with our roadless areas.'' —Phil Aune, vice president, California Forestry Association.

"We think this is a tragic gutting of the roadless rule that had such popular support and would have done so much to protect California's roadless areas.'' —Ryan Henson, policy director, California Wilderness Coalition.

COLORADO:

"We're disappointed the way it's turned out, but we look forward to working with Gov. (Bill) Owens to save as much roadless land in Colorado as possible.'' —David Petersen, head of the roadless land program for Colorado's chapter of Trout Unlimited.

"Trees, wildlife, and fish don't respect state boundaries, and I don't think decisions about management of roadless areas — or other parts of the national forests — should be based on those lines, either,'' —Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., who also called the rules "a significant step backward.''

"There is not one single Western state that's not been asking the federal government for more power to determine these kinds of decisions.'' —Jim Sims, executive director of the Denver-based Western Business Roundtable.

IDAHO:

"We congratulate the Bush Administration for taking such a positive step toward resolving the roadless debate. This rule recognizes that a broad dictate over 60 million acres is simply unacceptable. By empowering states to offer suggestions on the management of roadless area in their states, the Forest Service can craft management plans to local conditions, reflecting local priorities while maintaining the lands for everyone.'' —Statement issued by Idaho's congressional delegation.

"We are extremely disappointed that the new Bush plan fails to provide adequate protection for the last roadless areas in the country. These areas are some of the most important areas for fish and wildlife. They provide far and away the best hunting and fishing opportunities in the country.'' —Jonathan Oppenheimer of the Boise-based Idaho Conservation League.

MONTANA:

"It's a complete betrayal of the trust, the promises the Forest Service and the Department of Agriculture made to keep our backcountry lands intact. ... Our hope is that the governor will prevent this senseless assault on Montana's heritage.'' —John Gatchell, conservation director with the Montana Wilderness Association

"The Bush administration has put subsidizing timber companies ahead of clean drinking water and wildlife habitat.'' —Michael Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies.

"We welcome our opportunity to provide input and we won't be shy about providing it.'' —Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

NEVADA:

"While this has been a volatile issue nationally, I'm in favor of this policy change because I strongly believe in state's rights. I look forward to seeing the details of the new roadless designation rule which sounds like a more reasonable and measured approach than the one it's replacing.'' —Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn.

"This action is one of the biggest environmental rollbacks by the Bush administration. ... Roadless areas provide some of the best fishing and hunting in the West. — Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

NEW MEXICO:

"The Bush Administration has provided a way to deal with the roadless issue that empowers states. I was deeply disappointed with the Clinton Administration's attempt to shut out state and local voices in the management of federal roadless land.'' —Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

"This is a classic example of the Bush administration trashing our democracy and trashing our forests. Today, the clean drinking water, wildlife and recreational opportunities of our wild forests are severely damaged.'' —Bryan Bird, forest program coordinator for Forest Guardians, a Santa Fe, N.M.-based environmntal group.

OREGON:

"This administration is not replacing or doing away with the Clinton rule. They're coming up with a process to protect and manage these important areas, because for the last couple years there has been no rule.'' —Chris West with Portland, Ore.-based American Forest Resource Council, who noted that in 2003 a federal judge ruled that the Clinton rule was illegal.

UTAH:

"I can't say that we're shocked given this administration, but this is really a travesty of a policy. In the course of the process that led to the roadless rule, about four million comments were collected and they were overwhelmingly in favor of protecting the land.'' —Heidi McIntosh, conservation director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

"This rule gives great flexibility to governors to respond on a forest-by-forest basis. It also allows the needs and concerns of local communities to be addressed.'' —Mike Styler, executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources.

WASHINGTON:

"The administration couldn't hear thunder in a quiet room. The public has said very clearly they want these areas protected. They are special places. People understand that pristine forests are unusual, they are rare, they are unique. "They have said by the millions that they want them protected.'' —Todd True with Seattle-based Earthjustice.

"We value our national forest roadless areas in Washington state. They are important habitat for endangered fish and wildlife, help provide clean water and opportunities for recreation and solitude, and contribute to the wonderful natural environment we enjoy in the Pacific Northwest. We hope to have most, if not all, of our national forest roadless areas in Washington protected.'' —Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire.

WYOMING:

"This procedural rule change does not alter any of the existing Forest Service planning criteria, regulations or law. It is a cosmetic attempt to appear to act without any real change. This is really a costly exercise in futility for the states and a mechanism for the Forest Service to deflect political pressure. I frankly wish they would have spent their efforts on making the planning process more effective and efficient for the average citizen rather than adding another layer.'' —Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

"I think it would really help a lot of these small communities that rely on it. ... We would like to see it for the plain and simple reason the town was very dependent on logging.'' —Mary Pigg, co-owner of RJR Logging in Saratoga, Wyo., which has not had any business for nearly years because the lack of logging forced area sawmills to close.

With Dubba using an iPod now, I guess it's time to move onto some other coolness of electronics. Man could you image what would have happened it George the First had showed up at a Dead show. What would all the Deadheads have done?

What do you thinks on Dubba's iPod anyway? Hard to imagine what POTUS would listen to. Well, this one at least.

Thingamablog v1.0b5 has been released.

I have to say I have been happy with Bob's program for a couple on years now.

Thanks Bob

Big Brother isn't here yet, is an interesting read about wire tapping here and abroad. Some of the interesting numbers from the article:

• There where 3,464 wiretaps approved for all state and federal investigations, which works out to 1 for every 100,000 U.S. residents.
• Italy is the highest with 174 wiretaps per 100,000 people
• Wiretaps in federal investigations cost an average of $75,500.
• ...cases involving wiretap evidence generated 4,506 arrests but only 634 convictions, a success rate of about 14%. (in the U.S. Compared to 89% conviction rate overall.

After spending more than $4.5 billion, the federal government has concluded that much of the antiterrorism equipment is ineffective.

New York Times

Among the problems:

• Radiation monitors at ports and borders that cannot differentiate between radiation emitted by a nuclear bomb and naturally occurring radiation from everyday material like cat litter or ceramic tile.
• Air-monitoring equipment in major cities that is only marginally effective because not enough detectors were deployed and were sometimes not properly calibrated or installed. They also do not produce results for up to 36 hours - long after a biological attack would potentially infect thousands of people.
• Passenger-screening equipment at airports that auditors have found is no more likely than before federal screeners took over to detect whether someone is trying to carry a weapon or a bomb aboard a plane.
• Postal Service machines that test only a small percentage of mail and look for anthrax but no other biological agents.

Ah, our tax dollars at work!

The NHL has tabled a new proposal to the NHLPA, but the offer was met with a cool reception.

The Ottawa Sun

Yep, I changed up the look a little bit. New background with pages for the blog and archives.

I also spent a few hours today to get the blog to look about the same in IE, Opera and Firefox. IE and Opera are the same, but in Firefox the text is smaller. For some reason Firefox doesn't read CSS the same way as IE and Opera. Oh well.

** Update: 06/11/2005 **

Well, I have gone back to just plain color backgrounds. They just load faster.

Today, CNN is reporting the FBI has confirmed a story in the NYTimes yesterday that starting in April of 2004 U.S. military instillations, labratories and NASA computers where compromised.

Now Fox is reporting the hacker has been detained in Sweden for stealing Ciscos source code.

Here is a little of Cliff Clavin's famous logic for you:

"Well ya see, Norm, it's like this. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine! That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers."

More tidbits on beer:

Sometimes when I reflect on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. I think, "It is better to drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver.
Babe Ruth

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I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.
Lyndon B. Johnson

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When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.
Paul Hornung

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24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not.
L. Mencken

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When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. So, let's all get drunk and go to heaven!
George Bernard Shaw

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Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.
Dave Barry

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Remember, "I" before "E", except in Budweiser.
Professor Irwin Corey

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To some it's a six-pack, to me it's a "support group." Salvation in a can!
Leo Durocher

Remember all that talk about "red states" versus "blue states"? Turns out, America has plenty of purples. On Tuesday, the nonpartisan Pew Research Center released a new study of political affiliation in America. Among the findings: more potential U.S. voters think of themselves as independents (36 percent) than as Democratic "blues" (34 percent) or Republican "reds" (30 percent).

Meet Walt Whitman
(1819-1892)

• Occupation - poet, nurse, federal worker, printer, publisher, journalist, teacher, carpenter, "kosmos"
• Philosophy - "The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem"

On May 15, 1855, Walt Whitman registered the first edition of Leaves of Grass with the U.S. District Court in New York. A few weeks later, he published the book of poems himself--and changed American literature forever. To mark the 150th anniversary of Whitman's essential work, let's get to know the old "rough" himself.

Before Walt Whitman, American literature consisted largely of political treatises, moral allegories, and poetry derivative of English verse. Ben Franklin and the rest weren't bad, but they were busy building a nation. By the time Whitman made the scene, the literati were clamoring for the creation of a distinctly American literature.

Man of Vision and Revision

Enter Walt Whitman and his "barbaric yawp." Born into a working-class family in Brooklyn, Whitman was largely self-educated, drawing his curriculum from the libraries, museums, and theaters of up-and-coming New York. After several years in the newspaper business and a five-year stint as a teacher, he began to focus his energies on creative writing.

In 1848, Whitman left New York to travel to New Orleans for a new newspaper gig. His trip down the mighty Mississippi broadened his understanding of the land and people, and he returned to New York with a sense that America possessed unique power and potential. Whitman then set about creating a literary form to celebrate his novel nation.

The poetic medium seemed sufficiently grand, but the rhythmic and structural constraints of traditional verse just wouldn't do. So, to write his love letters to America, Whitman positioned himself as a kind of cosmic moderator--and threw out the rules of poetry in favor of free verse.

Those Lovely Leaves

After honing his new style for several years, Whitman sponsored his own coming-out party in 1855, putting up the money to publish a collection of 12 poems titled Leaves of Grass. At first, the volume didn't excite much enthusiasm in critics or regular readers, but it did serve to solidify Whitman's status as a writer and stated his artistic purpose:

I CELEBRATE myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

Anointing himself as the nation's spokespoet ("Walt Whitman, an American, one of the roughs, a kosmos"), Whitman continued, forging linguistic connections between facets of America as diverse as city and country, master and slave, prostitute and priest.

As Whitman's years increased, so did Leaves of Grass. Eight editions of the title eventually appeared. He revised the work copiously, rearranging, adding, and removing poems with each new release. In reality, the various editions of Leaves of Grass are different books, each reflecting Whitman's evolving view of American society and the poet's role in it.

Beltway Bard

Just as Whitman settled into his vocation, the Civil War broke out, endangering both the country he loved and his literary venture. During the war's early days, he wrote little and began visiting military hospitals around New York, offering comfort to patients. When his brother George was injured during fighting in Virginia, Walt took his nursing on the road, first to Fredericksburg, Virginia, then to Washington, D.C.

George rejoined the fray, but Walt stayed in Washington. He had become attached to hospital work and spent the remainder of the war conversing with the wounded and dying, writing letters to their families, and bringing them small gifts.

Of course, Whitman still had to pay the bills. So he did what any Washingtonian worth his salt does--he networked furiously until he landed a government job. His first position, in the Indian Affairs Bureau, was short-lived. His boss thought Leaves of Grass, with its frank treatment of human sexuality, was morally suspect. In 1865, Whitman began clerking in the Office of the Attorney General, where he remained until 1873.

Required Reading

The end of the Civil War marked the beginning of a difficult period in Whitman's life. He was traumatized by Lincoln's assassination in 1865 and composed two celebrated elegies mourning the president: "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" and "O Captain! My Captain!"

Despite suffering a stroke in 1873, Whitman continued to tinker with Leaves of Grass until his death in 1892. By then, he was recognized as a writer of some stature in American literary circles. Yet the Great American Poet's greatest accolades came from Europe, where he was appreciated for his unabashed celebration of democracy, liberty, and America's cultural diversity.

Whitman's work has now made its way into countless classrooms, anthologies, movies, and songs. It has also influenced entire generations of American writers. Not bad for "one of the roughs."

Laura Kane - The Knowledge News
May 13, 2005

© FoxTrot by Bill Amend - 05/09/2005

When I saw this I just started laughing, it was only later when I realized that both of them would probably be to young to remember when James Earl Jones did that voice over for CNN.

The Claim Jumper restaurant in Nevada City, CA fired a bartender for wearing a LAF "Live Strong" bracelet. The company claims the bracelets are a safety hazard and violate a new uniform policy.

A week later the company reverses its policy and donates $10,000 to LAF.

Matt Davies - 05/06/2005

City and county attorneys are defending Wheeling police who arrested a man for wearing a Grinch mask while walking along a city street.

Norman Eugene Gray, 42, was arrested Tuesday. He was arraigned and released on a personal recognizance bond.

Officers saw Gray about 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, told him to take the mask off and not put it on again. Gray removed it and asked why he could not wear it, according to Wheeling police reports. Officers told him wearing masks in public is illegal.

Gray said he felt he had a right to wear it and said it was not illegal. He put the mask back on and was arrested. The mask was confiscated.

Wheeling City Solicitor Rosemary Humway-Warmuth and Ohio County Prosecutor Scott Smith said masks as well as dark window tinting in vehicles can pose a safety hazard to law enforcement officers and hinder efforts to identify criminal suspects.

"When we think about masks, we don't always think of Halloween," Humway-Warmuth said.

Smith said wearing a mask or hood in public is a misdemeanor under state law, punishable by a fine of up to $500 or up to a year in jail, or both. Children up to 16 years old can wear masks. Traditional Halloween masks, safety gear used in occupations, theatrical productions, civil defense or protection from bad weather also are legal.

Information from: The Intelligencer, http://www.theintelligencer.net

In an airplane hangar north of Fort Worth, technicians are preparing to mount a fire-hydrant-shaped device onto the belly of an American Airlines Boeing 767. It is an effort that could soon turn into a more than $10 billion project to install a high-tech missile defense system on the nation's commercial planes.

Detecting and Repelling MissilesThe Boeing 767 - the same type of plane that terrorists flew into the World Trade Center - is one of three planes that, by the end of this year, will be used to test the infrared laser-based systems designed to find and disable shoulder-fired missiles. The missiles have long been popular among terrorists and rebel groups in war zones around the world; the concern now is that they could become a domestic threat.

The tests are being financed by the Department of Homeland Security, which has been directed by Congress to move rapidly to take technology designed for military aircraft and adapt it so it can protect the nation's 6,800 commercial jets. It has so far invested $120 million in the testing effort, which is expected to last through next year.

Yet even before the tests begin, some members of Congress, and several prominent aviation and terrorism experts, are questioning whether the rush to deploy this expensive new antiterrorism system makes sense.

Homeland Security officials have repeatedly cautioned that no credible evidence exists of a planned missile attack in the United States. But there is near unanimity among national security experts and lawmakers that because of the relatively low price and small size of the missiles, as well as the large number available on the black market, they represent a legitimate domestic threat.

The New York Times

The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level, Ridge now says.

Ridge, who resigned Feb. 1, said Tuesday that he often disagreed with administration officials who wanted to elevate the threat level to orange, or "high" risk of terrorist attack, but was overruled.

His comments at a Washington forum describe spirited debates over terrorist intelligence and provide rare insight into the inner workings of the nation's homeland security apparatus.

Ridge said he wanted to "debunk the myth" that his agency was responsible for repeatedly raising the alert under a color-coded system he unveiled in 2002.

USA Today

It is being reported that ESPN passed on it's $60 million option for 40 games next year. At this point there is no planned national coverage of next years hockey season, if there is any season. The NHL continues to spiral deeper into the ground. A sad state of affairs for Bettman and company.

5 years ago ABC & ESPN where paying $120 million a year for rights to game coverage. Last year NBC paid nothing for 2 years of a handful of games. On top of that replacement programming is getting better ratings than many of last years hockey games.

Pro Ice Hockey; The Globe and Mail.

The Political Campaign Action Fund has put out a fun little list showing how close your representative is to Tom Delay.

Reps from Colorado come in at #'s 2, 17, 36, 203, 256, 358 and 377.

I am happy to say my rep, Diane Degette, is the last one.

Bill Frist has gone nuts. The rich, aristocratic, Harvard-educated, Presbyterian, country-club senator who was chosen by Republicans to be majority leader to portray a more "moderate" image for their party - has become a raging Christian extremist, pushing the entire nutty agenda of the ultra-right-wing televangelists.

Jim Hightower

A ring tone available as either a download or a cd could outsell Coldplays new single preventing it from reaching number 1 on the U.K. music charts.

International Herald Tribune

In the last few months, the small commercial air service to the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has been carrying people the military authorities had hoped would never be allowed there: American lawyers.

And they have been arriving in increasing numbers, providing more than a third of about 530 remaining detainees with representation in federal court. Despite considerable obstacles and expenses, other lawyers are lining up to challenge the government's detention of people the military has called enemy combatants and possible terrorists.

The New York Times

Guantanamo Bay has always needed a brighter light shining on it and what is going on there. No matter how you feel, we are only as good as how we treat those we disagree with. If we do not give them the rights we demand how can we say we are better or doing the right thing?

This Memorial Day is not a good one for the country that was once the world's most brilliant beacon of freedom and justice.

State Department officials know better than anyone that the image of the United States has deteriorated around the world. The U.S. is now widely viewed as a brutal, bullying nation that countenances torture and operates hideous prison camps at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and in other parts of the world - camps where inmates have been horribly abused, gruesomely humiliated and even killed.

Bob Herbert - The New York Times

Come July, all eyes will be on Lance Armstrong as he tries to win his seventh Tour de France in his final race. The eyes of American cycling will look behind him as well, in hopes of seeing his replacement emerge.

Who will be the next Armstrong? Can there be another Armstrong? Those questions have been bantered about since Armstrong announced in April he was retiring after the Tour de France.

The Salt Lake Tribune

The possible riders include: Tom Danielson, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, Bobby Julich, David Zabriskie and Saul Raisin.

Here is an interesting fact I found out today.

When flying the flag on Memorial Day:

• Up until noon you fly it at half mast for those that have died.
• After noon you fly it at full mast for those still living.

It being Memorial Day, we remember those that gave their lives for our opportunities and freedoms as U.S. citizens.

To become a U.S. citizen you need to "be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of U.S. history and principles of government." Can you?

U.S. Citizenship Test