Good news. Lamar! says that clean air is projected to invade Knox County . . . in 2015:

Revised air pollution forecasts predict Knox County will comply with federal limits for fine particle pollution by 2015, an improvement over previous projections.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., announced the new projections at a meeting Monday with East Tennessee county mayors and Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam.
Knox and several other East Tennessee counties aren’t in compliance with federal limits for fine particle pollution, which includes soot and other tiny airborne particles. Previous projects had indicated that Knox County wouldn’t meet the federal standards until sometime after 2018.

So not to worry, lungs, help is on the way.
Here’s an interesting line:

Alexander said local actions like restricting outdoor burning can have a big impact on air quality.

Yes indeed. Forget those tens of thousands of vehicles on the roads or the TVA power plant smoke stacks billowing away. The real culprit ruining our air is those pesky brush fires.
Come on, people. Stop it.

Per newsrack blog, someone at the National Review actually wrote this:

Ah, but here President Bush reveals his moral depth. He grasps how one of the fundamental lessons of Sophocles’ Antigone applies to this case: in a democracy the purpose of the state is to safeguard the dignity of each and every individual.

Yeah, I can just imagine Bush waxing eloquently with his aides regarding the moral lessons of Greek drama.
How do people come up with this stuff?

CNBC’s “On the Money” had a segment on cycling last week.
Reportedly, 2005 was the best year for bicycle sales since 1970. Reasons for the surge include higher gas prices and the “Lance factor.”
Even for my tastes, $15,000 (or more) seems like a lot to spend for a custom bike, but apparently the market is there.

I was flipping through the news channels as they were reporting on the evacuation of San Diego’s Cox Arena, due to the discovery of a suspicious object.
On Fox, one of the talking heads was giving a run down on San Diego, implying why it might be a terrorist target. He mentioned that there are several U.S. military bases nearby. Then he noted that San Diego is also “a big Fox News town.”
That’s it! Terrorists hate America and they are now targeting Fox News Channel viewers. Protect freedom; protect Fox News.

Bombs away:

U.S. and Iraqi forces on Thursday launched the largest air assault operation since the invasion of Iraq nearly three years ago, the U.S. military said.
More than 50 aircraft are involved in Operation Swarmer, supporting more than 1,500 Iraqi and U.S. troops near Samarra, about 75 miles (121 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

Just don’t anyone call this a major combat operation, because we know those ended three years ago.