Why of course women and children are to blame for being bombed.

Thursday:

The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice offered a “prayer for peace” at a gala dinner of Asia’s largest security meeting last night.
The talented pianist played a Brahms sonata at the summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) to reflect her sombre mood following a diplomatic visit to the Middle East.
“It’s a serious time,” Dr Rice said before the gala dinner — traditionally a night of song and dance performed by the diplomats themselves — but others did not share her sentiments and went all out to entertain.

Yes, it is a serious time for world leaders, what with deadly bombs exploding like popcorn in the Middle East.
How are they dealing with the somber tremors of World War III back at the White House?
Friday:

“President George W. Bush welcomes nine of the top 10 American Idol finalists to the Oval Office at the White House.”
Sunday:

“White House South Lawn Tee Ball”
Video
Yes, as President Bush briefly emerges from his bunker situation room for some fresh air, you can see that the strain of round-the-clock crisis management is clearly taking its toll on him.
Weighty times indeed.

A “noncommercial hearse”? That’s one way to save money on vehicle registration.
A defense if you’re sued by RIAA?
Bill would require federally-funded libraries and schools to block social networking websites. Isn’t that basically why kids today use the Internet?
The world’s 100 most valuable brands.
An overlooked (by history) sleeping sickness epidemic affected over a million people between 1916 and 1928.
President Bush on the conflict in Lebanon:

My goal is exactly what I said it was, and that is to hopefully end this as quickly as possible, and at the same time, making sure there’s a lasting peace — not a fake peace, not a fake, you know, kind of circumstances that make us all feel better, and then, sure enough, the problem arises again.

Uh, right. We have no interest in an artificial, feel-good peace. Which explains all the hoopla the administration made regarding the Iraqi elections, since those have undoubtedly ushered in permanent stability.

It almost seemed too good to be true: An American with a bad hip overcoming an eight minute deficit to win the Tour de France.
It looks like it was:

Floyd Landis, the winner of this year’s Tour de France, has tested positive for a banned substance, according to his Phonak team.
. . .
According to sources in France, the rider concerned is said to have tested positive for testosterone after last Thursday’s stage through the Alps to Morzine, which was won, after a 130-kilometre solo breakaway, by Landis who went on to secure overall victory in the Tour, which finished in Paris on Sunday.

This news comes to a Tour that had already been plagued by drug scandal when several big-name riders were disqualified from participating. It’s going to be tough overcoming this black eye.
UPDATE: As commenters note here, the test reportedly failed isn’t a conclusive finding that Landis is guilty. There’s apparently another test and some sort of appeals process. Still, even if he is somehow cleared, this whole incident is still bad public relations for cycling.

I’ve never understood how to interpret the yield curve. This explanation helps.
I’ve still got a way to go.
By the way, I only recently discovered this weblog, and it looks like a pretty good one if your interested in learning economics.