Armstrong Misses Yellow By A Hair

Stage four was a change of pace for the Tour de France. It was a team trial. Each team raced together against the clock, and they all added to their individual times the time scored by the top five members of the team. The course was a hilly and narrow 39 kilometer course that started and ended in Montpellier. Several teams suffered crashes, and in the end, it was a very exciting stage.

Astana was expected to win the stage and they did. Garmin finished second, Saxo Bank third, Liquigas fourth and Columbia fifth. Astana needed to beat Saxo Bank by more than 40 seconds to give Lance Armstrong the yellow jersey of the race leader, but they won by 40 seconds and Armstrong is now in second place. He is 0.002 seconds behind the leader, Fabian Cancellara. It couldn't have been any closer.

Stage five is a fairly flat course, with only two small catagorey 4 climbs. It should be the last stage for the sprinters to shine, because stage six and seven start a series of fairly mountainous stages. Here are the current standings:

YELLOW JERSEY (OVERALL LEADERS)
1. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank)
2. Lance Armstrong (Astana)..........0.002
3. Alberto Contador (Astana)..........0.19
4. Andreas Kloden (Astana)..........0.23
5. Levi Leipheimer (Astana)..........0.31
6. Bradley Wiggins (Garmin)..........0.38
7. Haimar Zubeldia (Astana)..........0.51
8. Tony Martin (Columbia)..........0.52
9. David Zabriskie (Garmin)..........1.06
10. David Millar (Garmin)..........1.07

GREEN JERSEY (SPRINTERS)
1. Mark Cavendish (Columbia)..........70 pts
2. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo)..........54 pts
3. Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis)..........36 pts
4. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank)..........35 pts
5. Maxime Bouet (Agritubel)..........31 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (CLIMBERS)
1. Jussi Veikkanen (Francaise)..........9 pts
2. Tony Martin (Columbia)..........6 pts
3. Koen De Kort (Skil-Shimano)..........6 pts
4. Cyril Dessel (AG2R)..........5 pts
5. Maxime Bouet (Agritubel)..........4 pts

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Astana
2. Saxo Bank..........2.33
3. Columbia..........2.45
4. Garmin..........3.05
5. Liquigas..........4.26

The Sign

Political Cartoon is by Jimmy Marguilies in The Record (New Jersey).

Planning The Next War

From the gallery of Destonio.

Recruiters And Ethical Behavior

I ask you to consider the following story from the Los Angeles Times:

"A few days after he arrived at boot camp here, Joshua Fry no longer wanted to be a Marine.

He was confused by the orders drill instructors shouted at him. He was caught stealing peanut butter from the chow hall. He urinated in his canteen. He talked back to the drill instructors. He refused to shave.

Finally, he set out toward the main gate as if to head home. He was blocked, but now he had the chance to tell his superiors a secret: He was autistic. Fry figured this admission would persuade the Marines to let him return to the group home in Irvine for disturbed young adults where he was living when he enlisted.

Instead, he was sent back to Platoon 1021, Company B. The drill instructors became more helpful, and in April 2008 he finished the grueling 11-week regimen and was sent to Camp Pendleton for infantry training.

Within weeks he was under arrest for desertion and possession of child pornography.

Documents in Fry's court-martial case detail a troubled upbringing and a Marine career that was both improbable and misbegotten.

But far from being a routine instance of a young man unable to adjust to military life, the Fry case has exposed an awkward issue for the Marines and other military services: Recruiters sometimes take ethical shortcuts to make their quotas at a time when Americans have tired of the nation's wars and finding recruits is difficult.

According to court documents, Fry's recruiter knew he was autistic. "

The truth is that Joshua Fry should never have been recruited for any branch of the military. His recruiter knew that but signed him up anyway. And this is not an isolated incident. Some 265 Marine recruiters have been relieved of duty for misconduct -- most of the time for hiding something in a recruit's background.

In 2007, there were 2426 claims of recruiter misconduct. Of those, 593 were verified. In the Marines alone that year, there were 211 claims with 118 verified. What is happening here? Are these just bad people? I don't think so.

These recruiters have been put in a very difficult position. They are given a quota to fill because the military needs soldiers to fight two unpopular wars -- one of which was totally unnecessary. If they consistently fail to meet their quota, they could possibly ruin their military career or any chance of advancement.

Most didn't want the job to begin with, and now they're under pressure to fulfill an almost impossible task. So some of them cut corners. It's not right or ethical, but it is kind of understandable. The real culprits are the people who started these wars, especially the Iraq War, and the people who refuse to end it and bring our soldiers home.

Isn't it time? Now matter how much the politicians in Washington or the military generals would like to solve the problems we have created in Iraq, they cannot do it. We may have opened Pandora's Box in that country, but it is the Iraqis (and only the Iraqis) who must put the lid back on that box.

We cannot solve their problems. They must do it themselves. All we can do is stand in the way and delay their solution. And by doing so, we lose more American lives and destroy the readiness and effectiveness of our military.

It is time to pull ALL of our troops out of Iraq. No -- it is well past time to do that!

Congress

Political Cartoon is by David Fitzsimmons in the Arizona Daily Star.

Minimum Wage Rises This Month

On July 24th, the federal minimum wage will rise from $6.55 an hour to a "lofty" $7.25 an hour. This will only affect 29 states, since 14 states already have a minimum wage higher than that (see chart at left) and another seven states are already at the $7.25 level.

The new level is still sadly inadequate for anyone trying to pay their own way, and totally inadequate for anyone with a family. In fact it is below the federally-designated poverty level. But I'm sure that won't stop the wailing, crying, whining and gnashing of teeth of Republicans and their business masters.

I'm sure we'll hear all the old and already discredited lies about how this will cause employers to lay-off employees and maybe even go out-of-business. Frankly, any business that cannot afford to pay their employees $7.25 an hour is already in dire financial straights and I doubt anything could save them.

Of course the Republicans will also try to use our ailing economy as a reason to delay or do away with the new minimum wage. Some of them have already started mouthing this new excuse to abuse workers.

John Lonski, chief apologist for Moody's Investors Service, says, "You wonder if this might be a little too much for certain employers to shoulder, especially in a time that's been marked by a decline in business sales. This might actually delay the return of job growth."

They want us to believe that outrageously high executive salaries and bonuses are good for the economy and business growth, but paying an employee a poverty-level wage will hurt the economy. That makes no sense, but they're not in the business of making sense. They're in the business of reporting ever larger profits, even if they have to abuse their workers to do it.

The fact is that every bit of the extra $28 a week that these minimum wage employees will make will be spent. These people aren't making enough to live on as it is, so the money will not be saved or tucked away (like it would be to give more to the rich). And since it must be spent, the chances are good that it will actually help the economy.

I really think $7.25 an hour is too small a minimum wage (and 14 states already agree).

The GOP

Political Cartoon is by Pat Bagley in the Salt Lake Tribune.

Columbia Has Surprise For Tour's Stage 3

For awhile, it looked like stage 3 of the Tour de France would go according to expectations. As the race started, four riders broke away from the peloton. They were able to put as much as 12 minutes between themselves and the peloton, but it was not to last. With about 20 miles to go in the race, they were swallowed up by the peloton and it looked like the race would finish like stage 2 -- with the sprinters going for the win out of the peloton, and everyone receiving the same time.

But America's team Columbia had a different idea. As they headed into a strong crosswind about 18 miles out, nine riders from Columbia took off. Only 18 other riders were paying enough attention to see what was happening and took off with them -- race leader Fabian Cancellara and Lance Armstrong among them.

These 27 riders were able to open a gap of over 30 seconds over the peloton, and they maintained that gap all the way to the finish line. This allowed these riders to actually pick up nearly 40 seconds of time over the field and shook up the overall standings. Columbia's Mark Cavendish was able to win his second stage in a row, while Norweigan Thor Hushovd finished second.

While Cancellara retained the yellow jersey, Lance Armstrong worked his way up to third in the overall standings. Armstrong's team, Astana, is regarded as the favorite in tomorrowa's team trial, and if they win as expected, it could put Armstrong in the yellow jersey as race leader. Here are the standings after stage 3's surprise finish:

YELLOW JERSEY (OVERALL LEADERS)
1. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank)
2. Tony Martin (Columbia)..........0.33
3. Lance Armstrong (Astana)..........0.40
4. Alberto Contador (Astana)..........0.59
5. Bradley Wiggins (Garmin)..........1.00
6. Andreas Kloden (Astana)..........1.03
7. Linus Gerdemann (Milram)..........1.03
8. Cadel Evans (Lotto)..........1.04
9. Maxime Monfort (Columbia)..........1.10
10. Levi Leipheimer (Astana)..........1.11

GREEN JERSEY (SPRINTERS)
1. Mark Cavendish (Columbia)..........70 pts
2. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo)..........54 pts
3. Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis)..........36 pts
4. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank)..........35 pts
5. Maxim Bouet (Agritubel)..........31 pts
6. Tyler Farrar (Garmin)..........30 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (CLIMBERS)
1. Jussi Veikkanen (Francaise)..........9 pts
2. Tony Martin (Columbia)..........6 pts
3. Koen De Kort (Skil-Shimano)..........6 pts
4. Cyril Dessel (AG2R)..........5 pts
5. Maxime Bouet (Agritubel)..........4 pts

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Astana
2. Columbia..........1.46
3. Saxo Bank..........1.53
4. Garmin..........2.47
5. Cofidis..........3.14

Bridge To Nowhere

Political Cartoon is by Nate Beeler in The Washington Examiner.

Not One Of Those !

From the archives of Atheist Cartoons, via The Friendly Atheist.

A Simple Cure For Alzheimer's ?

According to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA), "Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative disorder that attacks the brain's nerve cells, or neurons, resulting in loss of memory, thinking and language skills, and behavioral changes." They go on to say, "Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, or loss of intellectual function, among people aged 65 and older."

It is believed that the disease is caused by "two types of abnormal lesions clog the brains of individuals with Alzheimer's disease: Beta-amyloid plaques—sticky clumps of protein fragments and cellular material that form outside and around neurons; and neurofibrillary tangles—insoluble twisted fibers composed largely of the protein tau that build up inside nerve cells."

Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer's. AFA estimates that between 2.4 and 4.5 million Americans now have the disease. With the large number of "Baby Boomers" now starting to reach retirement age, it is expected the disease will mushroom. As many as 16 million Americans could have the disease by the middle of this century.

That is a terrifying vision, especially since there is no cure. But there may be a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Researchers at the University of Florida believe there may be an incredibly simple solution to the Alzheimer's problem -- coffee (caffeine).

The Florida researchers have been doing tests on mice bred to have Alzheimer's. According to the BBC, "First the researchers used behavioural tests to confirm the mice were exhibiting signs of memory impairment when they were aged 18 to 19 months, the equivalent to humans being about 70. Then they gave half the mice caffeine in their drinking water. The rest were given plain water. The mice were given the equivalent of five 8 oz (227 grams) cups of coffee a day - about 500 milligrams of caffeine."

"When the mice were tested again after two months, those who were given the caffeine performed much better on tests measuring their memory and thinking skills and performed as well as mice of the same age without dementia. Those drinking plain water continued to do poorly on the tests."

The mice that had received the caffeine also showed a 50% reduction in beta-amyloid plaques. The researchers believe the caffeine actually inhibits the production of the two enzymes needed to produce beta-amyloid.

And there was even better news. It seems the caffeine may actually act as sort of a vaccine against Alzheimer's. Other tests done by these researchers showed that "younger mice, who had also been bred to develop Alzheimer's but who were given caffeine in their early adulthood, were protected against the onset of memory problems."

Could the solution to Alzheimer's really be that simple? Could five cups of coffee a day (or 14 cups of tea or 20 carbonated soft drinks) really prevent Alzheimer's, or improve performance in those who already have the disease?

Dr. Gary Arendash, who led the research, says it is exciting and important "because caffeine is a safe drug for most people, it easily enters the brain, and it appears to directly affect the disease process."

But we must be careful about making too much of this research. So far, the study has only been done on mice. It might or might not work with humans. We'll just have to wait and see what the caffeine does for humans when studied.

As Rebecca Wood of the Alzheimer's Research Trust says, "In this study on mice with symptoms of Alzheimer's, researchers found that caffeine boosted their memory. We need to do more research to find out whether this effect will be seen in people. It is too early to say whether drinking coffee or taking caffeine supplements will help people with Alzheimer's."

Even so, for us "Baby Boomers", this is a welcome ray of hope.

The Player

Political Cartoon is by Steve Sack in The Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Violent Unrest In China

Most people are well-aware that China has had problems in pacifying Tibet since they occupied it and claimed it as a part of China. The Tibetans still have dreams of being an independent country, as they once were. But people generally think that the rest of China is peaceful and fairly happy with the national government of China. That is just not true.

For instance, consider the case of Xinjiang province in the northwestern province of China. The Han Chinese share that province with 8 million people of a different ethnicity -- the Uighurs. The Uighurs are Muslims, For decades, they have wanted to be independent of China.

In fact, Xinjiang province has experienced violence as recently as last week. China's state media is reporting that three people have been killed and at least twenty injured in this latest outbreak of violence. One eyewitness told Reuters, "It started as a few hundred, and then there were easily over 1,000 involved."

An American studying in the region said he saw protesters smashing bus windows and overturning police barriers. He said the police responded with batons, fire hoses and tear gas. Then after nightfall, more police and soldiers flooded into the city of Urumqi. Uighurs in Japan and Germany said they had received reports of many arrests.

This isn't anything new. The Uighurs have maintained a fairly low-level campaign against the Chinese government, and it sporadically breaks out into violence. Earlier this year, the U.S. State Department released a report saying "severe cultural and religious repression" had increased in Xinjiang province.

In an effort to get more oil for their rapid industrial growth, the Chinese have been trying to convince Muslims in the Middle East that they are an ally. The continuing unrest in Xinjiang shows that is just a lie. The Chinese repression of the Muslim religion is far worse than in any Western country.

UPDATE-- It seems the riots in Xinjiang were much worse than originally reported. State media is now reporting that 156 have been killed and 800 wounded. The World Uyghur Congress disputes those figures, and says as many as 600 people were killed.

This Is Help ?

Political Cartoon is by Cameron (Cam) Cardow in The Ottawa Citizen.