Now this is a bike ride.
A long distance bike ride (e.g., across America) would be awesome to accomplish. Unfortunately, it's no small feat to (1) establish support for such a ride, and then (2) actually do it. So I probably won't be attempting one anytime soon. Alas.
In a break with President Bush, the Senate Republican leader, Bill Frist, has decided to support a bill to expand federal financing for embryonic stem cell research, a move that could push it closer to passage and force a confrontation with the White House, which is threatening to veto the measure.I'm not sure whether this is simply an instance of Mr. Frist acknowledging the writing on the political wall, or what. But props to him for apparently moving in the right direction on an issue.
One might think the answer to this could be found during the 10 p.m. TV news channel broadcasts. I conducted a survey during the first 15 minutes and here's what I found:
MSNBC: missing white girl
CNNHN: missing white girl
FNC: missing white girl
CNN and its rebel program directors covered the purportedly at-large London terrorists. I'm not sure why it devoted the first 15 minutes to a London story (it might be a different case if suspects were running around in Philadelphia), but at least it gets points for covering news.
With all due respect to missing white girl, by my count her disappearance affects only the people who knew her before she was lost. Meanwhile, a trade deal which could have a direct impact on the lives of millions of American workers goes largely unnoticed on TV news.
Granted, a trade deal isn't nearly as sexy as a story as a missing "graduate," but you'd think a few producers might use some editorial discretion in determining what is most newsworthy.
You'd think wrong.
Speaking of CAFTA, isn't this a curious story?
I was listening to Michael Savage last night. [If you listen long enough, he occasionally offers a nugget of interest buried amongst the angry screeds.] Dr. Savage observed that some of what we hear regarding Iraq today sounds similar to what President Woodrow Wilson said regarding World War I.
Here's part of what President Wilson said before Congress on April 2, 1917, in making the case for war:
The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them.Obviously the parallels are crude, but you do hear a bit of an echo in the marketing campaigns for both wars.
The millions who died in World War I created a world safe for democracy which lasted less than 20 years. Let's hope today's sacrifice isn't so short lived.
The summer edition of the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization's Pedal Press is out.
Heh.
One can safely say President Bush's Iraq policy is a deferred success!
Road bicycling is enjoying a resurgence:
Road bikes, which sell for an average of $1,150, accounted for 28 percent of dollar sales by specialty dealers in 2004, up from 16 percent in 2002, according to the National Bicycle Dealers Association. Overall, the U.S. bicycling industry has remained flat since 1999, generating an estimated $5.5 billion in sales of bikes, parts and accessories in 2004, the group says.No American manufacturer has reaped greater benefits from this up tick than Trek, thanks, in part, to its affiliation with Lance Armstrong:
Trek refused to release sales figures, but Ash Jaising, president of the Bicycle Market Research Institute in Boston, estimated Trek's sales have increased from less than $50 million in 1990 to $500 million this year.Yes, people are spending more money and helping Trek. I could serve as Exhibit A to that.Jaising said the company is No. 1 in terms of units sold and value of sales in the specialty-market sector, and has increased its market share to 30 percent. The company's success has, in turn, allowed the independent bicycle dealers that sell Trek bikes to increase their market share, which had been losing ground to sporting-goods stores and large retailers.
"The growth is high among the more serious bikers. People are spending more money for the equipment and that has helped Trek," he said. "Trek has the momentum and has had it for the last couple of years."
Which has received more media coverage: a vanishing girl in Aruba, or a vanishing Bill of Rights?
Here's what British Prime Minister Tony Blair said regarding the incident in London this morning:
I think all I would like to say is this: we know why these things are done. They are done to scare people and to frighten them, to make them anxious and worried. Fortunately in this instance there appear to have been no casualties.If this was the perpetrator's intent, they are getting an assist from TV news. Granted, whatever happened this morning was a big news story, and it could have been much deadlier than it turn out to be. But ultimately only one person was injured. So I'm not sure it warranted hours of breathless we-don't-really-have-much-to-say-but-we'll-keep-talking-anyway coverage.
It appears the Rocky Top Brigade lives on.
I hope SKB has merely gone on a sabbatical and will return to blog again. Like others, I considered his site to be the hub of the local blogosphere, and it was one of the places that got me interested before I started this site.
Cheers, SKB.
Here's what President Bush said yesterday about where he was in the Supreme Court justice nomination process:
And of course I'm reviewing a different candidate. I'm reviewing their curriculum vitae, as well as their findings. I will sit down with some and talk to them face-to-face, those who I have not known already. You know, we've got some people that -- perhaps in contention that I've already spent time with, that I know; in other words, I'm familiar with some of the people that are being speculated about in the press. And so I don't need to interview those. But of course I'm going to take a very thorough approach.A thorough and deliberate process. A review of curriculum vitae. Face-to-face interviews with candidates [who presumably aren't sitting in a White House waiting room]. Sounds like the process could take a few weeks--or at least a few days.What they're referring to is a Supreme Court vacancy. And this is a really important decision. And I'm going to take my time and I will be thorough and deliberate.
But mysteriously, I tune into TV news this morning, and reporters are breathlessly speculating on how the aforementioned nomination could come today! Since they don't know who the nominee is, there's not much for them to say about it, other than the flash news that it could be soon! Stay tuned and we might have actual news to report later!
How could this be? Yesterday Bush was talking about thorough interviews of candidates, and today we may have the selection. Either:
(1) Bush was blowing his typical news conference smoke yesterday, or
(2) As Reuters puts it:
Sources said the timing of an announcement had been moved up in part to deflect attention away from a CIA leak controversy that has engulfed Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove.I guess we'll find out whenever the nomination is announced. If it comes within the next day, then Bush was blowing smoke (i.e., lying) yesterday. If it comes later, the White House is simply (and successfully) using the media to get Rove off the front page.
. . .
"[I]t helps take Rove off the front pages for a week," [a] strategist said.
UPDATE: Annoucement tonight. Perhaps Mr. Bush was pouring over those resumes during his meeting with the Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
MARYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A teenager was jailed for nine days after being accused of burning an American flag on the Fourth of July, and he faces trial next month.If the guy took and destroyed someone's property, charge him for that. Why file a special charge because it was a flag? Or, more pointedly, why do we even have a law about desecrating a flag? I assume the statute at issue is this:While the case could test a state statute against flag burning - an act the U.S. Supreme Court says is protected under the First Amendment - prosecutors said Andrew Elisha Staley has yet to argue that he was exercising free speech rights.
"Bottom line is, the kid got drunk," said Lisa Lee, his mother. "He's never been in trouble before."
Staley, 18, is accused of taking the flag from a residence and setting it on fire. His father said the teenager "has no reason for anger against the United States" and could easily have ignited a garbage can instead of a flag.
. . .
The teenager was released from jail Thursday on his own recognizance while he awaits his Aug. 2 trial on charges of desecrating a venerated object, underage drinking, littering, evading arrest, burning personal property and theft.The Tennessee flag-burning statute makes the crime a misdemeanor, punishable by less than a year in jail and up to $2,500 fine.
39-17-311. Desecration of venerated object.Why do we have a law protecting the Tennessee and United States flags? Because people place more stock in symbols than in their supposed principles.(a) A person commits an offense who intentionally desecrates:
(1) A place of worship or burial; or
(2) A state or national flag.(b) A violation of this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
Let freedom reign.
Ouch. Our "popular, war-time president" has a few issues.
This number doesn't bode well:
(June results are in parentheses)Frankly, I'm a little surprised the economic approval number (42%) is so low. The economy, while not spectacular, has been chugging along consistently for a while. The only real negative development of late is the up tick in oil prices. Either gas prices are really tainting the way people view the economy, or they simply don't approve of Bush these days.1. Generally speaking, would you say things in this country are heading in the right direction, or are they off on the wrong track?
-Right direction, 36 percent (35)
-Wrong track, 59 percent (59)
-Not sure, 5 percent (6)
Hollywood has been in an unexplained slump this summer. Here are a few movie proposals which should help turn things around.
Nothing like terror to push a hurricane (and missing white females) out of the news. I hope those in its path are still paying attention. It looks like it could be a rough one.
On occasion of our "first" cyclist's latest mishap, here are a few tips on bicycle safety.
Or, if you don't want to be bothered with "boring" reading and have a fast connection, go here, click and watch "drag race NYC 50 mb", and DON'T ride like they do. That's some crazy stuff.
Amid all the injustice and suffering on our planet, isn't it refreshing when the lessor among us selflessly embrace a noble cause and make the world a better place?
So said Retired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. James Stockdale in most memorable moments of the 1992 presidential campaign. Mr. Stockdale died yesterday at age 81.
Mr. Stockdale, with his 26 combat awards, certainly ought to be remembered for more than his short stint as Ross Perot's running mate. But man, that was a funny debate moment.
In recognition of Le Tour, road cycling will be a theme here at Resonance this month.
And why not? The road bike is "most efficient machine known to man," it provides great exercise, and it's a whole lot of fun.
* $526.95 for one phone call from the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Chicago to Iowa City.All told, a federal audit "calls into question $303 million of the $741 million spent to assess and hire airport passenger screeners for the newly created Transportation Security Administration after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."* $1,180 for 20 gallons of Starbucks Coffee -- $3.69 a cup -- at the Santa Clara Marriott in California.
* $1,540 to rent 14 extension cords at $5 each per day for three weeks at the Wyndham Peaks Resort and Golden Door Spa in Telluride, Colo.
* $8,100 for elevator operators at the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan.
* $5.4 million claimed for nine months' salary for the chief executive of an "event logistics" firm that received a contract before it was incorporated and listed its address at a post office box.
It's funny how may Rightists nearly have a cow regarding the government "waste" when it comes to NPR and other cherished whipping boys, yet are silent when it comes to this kind of stuff.
So much for a quiet holiday news weekend. This retirement is much more significant than the rumored Rehnquist retirement, as O'Connor often served as the moderating swing vote.
Unfortunately, much of the noisy debate on the impact of her successor will focus on abortion. In reality, this change could shift the legal landscape on a host of issues.
