Wonderful. CNN is preempting it’s noon broadcast of CNN International news–one of the best news broadcasts of the day–for a news conference with parents of a once-lost boy.
Since the news channel ratings are in the toilet anyway, I don’t know why one of them just doesn’t convert over to a 24 hour lost and found network. Exclusive coverage of lost white girls (and the token male once in a while), brides, pets, keys, nuclear secrets, whatever. People are always losing stuff–this network could be there when it gets found.

Houston and Iraq:

DeLay offered this response: “These things take time and they take a long time, and some people get weary of the constant barrage that we see in the media.
“You know, if Houston, Texas, was held to the same standard as Iraq is held to, nobody’d go to Houston, because all this reporting coming out of the local press in Houston is violence, murders, robberies, deaths on the highways,” DeLay said.

Yes, except for the liberal media coverage, Houston and Baghdad are very similar. Only Houston doesn’t have the daily suicide bombings. And it has electricity more than a few hours a day. And has functioning water and sewer. And a functioning government.
Were it not for the above you’d have a hard time telling one from the other.

Yesterday:

HENRY [CNN Anchor]: But, now when you say the Democrats need to walk the walk, Democrats will respond that, in fact, the president has not actually put a plan on the table. He’s talked about private accounts. He’s talked about principles in his State of the Union back in January, but he has not actually put a plan on the table. Why is that?
DEVENISH [White House mouthpiece]: Well, you and I know that’s laughable. If he hasn’t put a plan on the table, what have they been attacking for six months? We have a bold and a very reasonable plan on the table. We have a plan on the table for making sure that everyone’s benefits get bigger. Under our plan, everyone’s benefits grow. We just adjust the rate at which they grow for the very wealthy.

Wow, that’s news to me. Admittedly, I’m operating in a “summer mode,” but I would think that I’d hear something about the unveiling of Bush’s proposal on the news, sandwiched between the missing children and celebrity justice segments.
No matter, we now have the road map by which “everyone’s benefits grow.” Why didn’t someone come up with this earlier?
I eagerly await Congress’ handling of Bush’s proposal. Will the Democrats continue to be obstructionists? Or will it get an up or down vote on the Senate floor?

Coming soon to a street near you:

McDonald’s Corp. will begin selling skateboards and bikes bearing the fast-food company’s brand in a new effort to get kids to burn off burgers and fries with exercise.
The McKids branded outdoor play equipment will be rolled out internationally later this year and in 2006. A few McKids items are already sold at retailers like Amazon.com Inc. and Target Corp.
. . .
McDonald’s, the world’s largest restaurant chain, is making an aggressive push to deflect criticism of its food as unhealthy and fattening.
. . .
In recent months, the chain has promoted physical activity with the tag line “It’s what I eat and what I do. I’m lovin’ it” in much of its marketing. Just last week, McDonald’s even said it was making over its famous clown, Ronald McDonald, to make him more athletic.

It’s always touching when a company plays good corporate citizen looking out for the health of our children–tobacco and alcohol companies are particularly noteworthy in this way. And I’m sure the “more athletic” Ronald McDonald will make a difference for impressionable young minds.
If McDonald’s really wanted to combat child obesity, they’d run ads saying, “Kids, don’t eat here.”
I don’t suspect we’ll see those anytime soon.

What would you get if you won the lottery? I think this guy has got it right [emphasis added]:

A man who won a $220.3 million Powerball lottery jackpot � the second-largest single-ticket Powerball winning � plans to invest the money and become a billionaire.
Brad Duke, a 33-year-old regional fitness director for a health club chain, said he hopes to build a $1 billion portfolio within 15 years.
. . .
Other than a high-end racing bicycle, Duke has no plans for any large purchases.
“One of my goals is keeping my feet on the ground, not forgetting who I am and where I came from and staying active in the things I like now, like biking, the fitness industry, camping and rafting with my friends,” he said. “Keeping my feet on the ground does not include going out and buying a yacht.”

With that kind of money, he can afford to get me one too.