Hey, everyone else is using that headline after cycling's biggest event has been plagued by doping scandals yet again, so don't blame me :-) ... I find this photo of people mocking the event pretty funny:

"Tommy:

I'M FREE-I'm free,
And freedom tastes of reality,
I'm free-I'm free,
AN' I'm waiting for you to follow me.

If I told you what it takes
to reach the highest high,
You'd laugh and say 'nothing's that simple'
But you've been told many times before
Messiahs pointed to the door
And no one had the guts to leave the temple!

I'm free-I'm free
And freedom tastes of reality
I'm free-I'm free
And I'm waiting for you to follow me.

Chorus:

How can we follow?
How can we follow?"


- The Who, "I'm Free"

A couple days ago I posted on the "first ever" presidential debate to be focused on all gay issues. I noted that while 3 top Democrats had agreed to attend (Clinton, Obama, and Edwards), no Republicans had agreed. I inquired whether they were even invited.

As it turns out, top Republicans were invited, but none agreed to come. Mitt Romney specifically declined to attend. Giuliani and McCain never even bothered to respond at all. Furthermore, none of the GOP candidates even responded to a questionnaire sent out by the HRC.

My response: simply pathetic by the Republican presidential candidates. I can understand that they might feel that the HRC is biased, but that is not a sufficient excuse for hiding from a debate on such important issues.

On New Years Eve 2006, I made 11 predictions for 2007. Here they are reprinted along with how I'm doing so far:

1. The Nintendo Wii will outsell the PlayStation 3.

Woohoo, I'm right on this one so far.

2. The Chicago Bears will win the Super Bowl.

Oops. I was close. They did make the Super Bowl. But I'm glad to be wrong on this one!

3. Justice Stevens will retire from the Supreme Court.

Yet to be seen...

4. The Indiana Pacers will barely make the NBA playoffs but lose in the first round.

I should have been even more pessimistic regarding the Pacers.

5. At this date in 2007, more U.S. troops will be in Iraq than are there currently, and we'll be discussing a pullout in terms of a cautious victory for our objectives there.

Yet to be seen, but looks to be right at least in regards to the troop numbers.

6. A Japanese auto company will make a play to buyout Ford but will be rebuffed. This will spark a national discussion on how to make the American auto manufacturers more competitive.

Ford's doing worse than ever and Toyota just overtook them in global sales... Might happen.

7. Fatah will regain control after the next Palestinian elections.

Well the Palestinian Authority is essentially in a state of civil war. So I'm going to give myself a N/A here :-)

8. Fidel Catro will die.

Yet to be seen.

9. Osama Bin Laden will be captured or killed.

Yet to be seen.

10. Apple Computer will release an iPhone (but perhaps under some other name) in addition to their already announced television set-top box, and will split their stock 2-for-1 after it continues to rise.

Yay, another one right. Not exactly a difficult prediction though.

*bonus: Juan Pablo Montoya will win the Nascar Nextel Cup.

He's not even in the top 10 in the standings.

Just came across the best site in the whole world: willitblend.com. Basically, they put really cool objects in blenders. This time they blended an iPhone. What a shame! Even better than blending an iPhone would have been to have given it to me.

Smoking, chewing, dipping, and snuffing tobacco are all considered unhealthy habits. And of course they are. But what you may not know is that there are some positives associated with tobacco-use too.

Researchers at UCLA analyzed 11 studies that looked at the relationship between tobacco-use and Parkinson's disease. While none of the individual studies was large enough to make too certain of conclusions, UCLA was able to use the larger combined sample to show that smoking cigarettes can have a noticeable decrease in one's chances of getting Parkinson's Disease. Current smokers had the lowest risk, but former smokers also showed gains.

Smoking pipes and cigars showed similar effects, with a 54% decrease in Parkinsons' incidence. But let's not forget the original benefit of smoking: coolness! ;-) ... As I made made clear in this Notre Dame Pipe Club ad a few years ago:

The LOGO gay-themed network is hosting a debate on August 9 centered completely on gay rights issues. The debate will be televised on LOGO and on streamed on its website. So far Clinton, Obama, and Edwards have agreed to be in the debate. Its unclear from the article if any Republicans have been invited, but I'm guessing its a Democrat contender debate.

My question is this: how much difference will the candidates actually show on these issues? I expect very little. Now if we got some Republicans up there too, then we'd have an interesting event.

This kindof behavior might be entertaining, but in the long run it hurts the image of open-wheel racing in America. So did the IRL try to bury or diminish the event? Nope, it promoted it via a big link to a video on its site.



In the big scheme of things, Mario Andretti is worried that American open-wheel racing is falling behind Europe because of the split between the IRL and Champ Car.

Finally the U.S. has its pride back... And by pride I mean the Nathan's hot dog eating championship :-)

American Joey Chestnut shattered the record by eating 66 hot dogs with buns in 12 minutes. Six-time winner Takeru Kobayashi upped his game as well, chomping down 63. He claimed beforehand that his jaw was sore. If this is so, I hate to see him eat in perfect health.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler continue to post sales declines, while Honda, Toyota, and Nissan make market share gains... I'm sorry, but this is pathetic. If these American companies can't get their collective act together, I pray that some businessman with big enough you know what steps in to provide them some competition.

It's one of my favorite holidays...

The first part of the second paragraph of the Declaration:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

And the preamble to the Constitution:

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.