Tour's Stage 6 Finishes In The Rain

Stage six of the Tour de France started in Gerone and ran through several Spanish vacation spots and finished in Barcelona -- locations that are usually sunny and hot this time of year. But today was an exception, and the last half of the race was run in the rain and a cool 75 degree temperature.

For a while it looked like a stage might be won by a breakaway rider two days in a row (which would be a real rarity). Scotsman David Millar led the race for slightly over 110 miles. The only problem for him was that it was a 111 mile course. Millar was caught by the peloton with about one-half mile to go, and then the sprinters took over.

The final sprint was won by Norweigan Thor Hushovd of the Cervelo team (pictured). It's kind of fitting that Hushovd would win the sprint held in the rain, since his nickname is "God of Thunder". Second place was claimed by Oscar Freire who cycles for Rabobank.

There were a couple of crashes near the finish on the slippery road, and this caused some gaps in the peloton. Because of this, some of the leaders lost some time, although the first five overall places remained the same.

There should be a big shake-up in the standings after stage seven though, as the race enters a stretch of the mountains that should favor only the best climbers. The course has a catagorey 4 climb, two catagorey 3 climbs, a catagorey 1 climb, and finishes at the top of a climb that is so difficult it is not even rated. This stage will separate the men from the boys. Here are the current leaders:

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. Tony Martin (Columbia)..........0.52
8. Christian Vande Velde (Garmin)..........1.16
9. Gustav Larsson (Saxo Bank)..........1.22
10. Maxime Monfort (Columbia)..........1.29

GREEN JERSEY (SPRINTERS)
1. Mark Cavendish (Columbia)..........106 pts
2. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo)..........105 pts
3. Gerald Ciolek (Milram)..........66 pts
4. Tyler Farrar (Garmin)..........54 pts
5. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank)..........53 pts
6. Jose Rojas (Caisse)..........53 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (CLIMBERS)
1. Stephane Auge (Cofidis)..........14 pts
2. Jussi Veikkanen (Francaise)..........9 pts
3. David Millar (Garmin)..........8 pts
4. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step)..........8 pts
5. Tony Martin (Columbia)..........6 pts
6. Anthony Geslin (Francaise)..........6 pts
7. Koen De Kort (Skil-Shimano)..........6 pts

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

Turning The Tables

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

Free Speech

The billboard above has caused a lot of negative reaction in Florida. Many people want it taken down. I guess for them, "free speech" is only for speech they agree with. I think it's sad these people don't agree with our Constitution.

Sheila Jackson Lee - The Democratic Nut

If you've read this blog very much, then you know I consider most Republicans and right-wingers to be nuts who believe some strange things. But not all nuts are in the Republican Party. The Democrats have a few of their own, and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) proved that with her "performance" at the Michael Jackson memorial and extravaganza.

Many conservatives are upset with Rep. Lee because of what she said at the memorial. It pains me to agree with conservatives, but I happen to think many of them are right about this. Let me explain.

Rep. Lee starts off by telling Americans that they have to believe Michael Jackson is innocent of perversion and pedophilia, because he has not been found guilty in a court. She says this is demanded of us by our Constitution. That's a load of crap.

The U.S. Constitution only demands that 12-15 people believe he is innocent until proven guilty -- the jurors and alternates in a trial. The Constitution allows the other 300 million of us to believe anything we want about Mr. Jackson, because we live in a free country.

Personally, I believe he was a pedophile who was protected by his wealth and fame, and being a free American, I have the right to believe that. I think it's very sad that a member of Congress actually believes our Constitution would force any American to believe something he knows is wrong (unless that American will be sitting on a jury).

Then she tops that by saying she's introducing a resolution in Congress to honor Michael Jackson. She goes on to say, "Many people don't understand the hearts of entertainers. They don't know how big their hearts are. They don't know how they heal the world on behalf of America."

She sounds a little starstruck to me. Some entertainers do some good work for the benefit of others. So do a lot of ordinary Americans, and they don't do it for rewards or recognition. They do it because they love their country and their fellow humans.

I hope Congress does not pass her silly resolution. I don't think his few good deeds make up for the evil he perpetrated against children. If you think he was a good entertainer, then buy some of his CDs. But Congress has no business passing resolutions honoring this pathetic man.

Sheila Jackson Lee is an embarrassment to her party.

The News

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

U.S. Government Is Victim Of Cyber Attack

The United States in general, and it's government in particular, are heavily dependent on computers. Even our military and most of our weapons are computerized. If you want to attack or damage the United States, the smartest and safest way to do it would be with a cyber attack. And that's just what happened on July 4th.

The BBC is reporting that several government agencies and other entities in the United States were the victim of a computer attack starting on July 4th. The known victims of this attack are the White House, the Defense Department, New York Stock Exchange, the National Security Agency, Nasdaq Stock market and the Washington Post.

The government is not talking, but Ben Rushlo of Keynote Systems describes the attack as a "massive outage". Some systems were just slowed, while others were knocked out for several hours.

Who did it? Perhaps a clue can be gleaned from the only other country that was targeted in this cyber attack -- South Korea. In South Korea, the presidential Blue House, the Defense Ministry and the National Assembly were all victimized by the attack. The South Korean National Intelligence Service believes North Korea is responsible for the attacks on both countries.

For several years now, North Korea has been acting like they are bullet-proof. In defiance of world opinion, they have developed nuclear weapons. They are also testing missle delivery systems in spite of being warned not to do it. A cyber attack is just as serious as these other violations of international peace. In fact, it could be considered an act of war.

If it is verified that North Korea is the origin of the cyber attacks, perhaps it is time to take some action against them -- something more serious than begging them to be good. They have shown they are a dangerous outlaw nation.

America's Puppet

Political Cartoon is by R. J. Matson in The New York Observer.

Breakaway Survives In Tour's 5th Stage

A breakaway is when one or several riders take off and try to outrun the peloton to the finish line of a bicycle race. If the riders in a breakaway are not among the race leaders, the peloton usually lets them go for at least a while. The riders all know that breakaways are rarely successful. The peloton can ride faster due to many riders taking the lead and breaking wind for the others.

But every now and then, a breakaway is successful. Stage five of the Tour turned out to be one of those times. Six riders took off early in the race and got a lead of several minutes. The peloton was able to gobble up four of those riders, but the other two survived and finished the stage in first and second place.

Winning the stage was a frenchman, Thomas Voeckler (pictured), who rides for Bouygues Telecom. Finishing second was Mikhail Ignatiev of team Katusha. Mark Cavendish of team Columbia finished third, leading the peloton across the finish line. Voeckler and Ignatiev were not anywhere close to the race leaders, so the overall standings remained virtually unchanged.

Stage six will take the Tour to Spain, from Gerone to Barcelona. This stage will be a little harder, since it has three catagorey 4 climbs and two catagorey 3 climbs (the lower the number, the harder the climb). While the pelonton could finish together, it is likely that some riders will use the catagorey 3 climbs to attack.

It should be an exciting next few days as the Tour enters the mountains. The mountains are where the Tour's contenders are separated from the pretenders. Here are the current race leaders:

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)..........96 pts
2. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo)..........70 pts
3. Tyler Farrar (Garmin)..........54 pts
4. Gerald Ciolek (Milram)..........42 pts
5. Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues)..........41 pts

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

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

Health Insurance

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

Hogging The News

Political Cartoon is by David Horsey in Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

It's Official Now - Senator Al Franken

Well, it is official now. On Tuesday, comedian and radio host Al Franken was sworn in as the United States Senator from Minnesota. From now on, I'll be referring to him as Senator Al Franken (D-Minnesota). I love the sound of that, and I think he'll make a great senator -- certainly much better than anyone Texas has sent to the Senate in at least a couple of decades.

He has been assigned to several Senate committees, including the Judiciary Committee (which meets tomorrow to begin consideration of Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court). Franken's chair on the committee certainly won't hurt Ms. Sotomayor's chances. Other committees that Franken is on include Health, Education, Labor & Pensions and Indian Affairs and Aging.

Republicans can do all the whining they want, but Senator Franken is going to be on Capitol Hill for at least another five and one half years. And he's no spineless blue-dog Democrat. He's a real liberal, and he's not the least bit ashamed of that.

Outsourcing

Political Cartoon is by Gary McCoy in The Suburban Journals (Illinois).

Goodnight's Panhandle Home To Be Restored

Charles Goodnight was an Old West and Texas legend. Although born in Illinois in 1836, he moved to Texas at the age of 10. He served as a Texas Ranger, an Indian Scout, and a Civil War Scout.

After the war, he and his partner Oliver Loving put together a cattle drive to New Mexico that created what came to be known as the Goodnight-Loving Trail. After the death of Loving, Goodnight later extended the famous trail to Colorado and then Wyoming. In preparation for that first cattle drive, Goodnight reconstructed an old Army wagon and made changes to it. The result has come to be known as a chuckwagon, and it became a necessity for any cattle drive.

He later partnered with John Adair to creat the JA Ranch in what is now known as the Palo Duro Canyon. The ranch ran over 100,000 head of cattle and covered a million acres. The ranch homes of Goodnight and Adair have been preserved by the Palo Duro Canyon State Park.

In 1889, he left the partnership and started in own ranch in Armstrong County (about 40 miles east of Amarillo). It was on this ranch that he became the first rancher in the Panhandle to use barbed wire, He lived in the frame house on that ranch until his death in 1929.

It is that house on the south side of U.S. Highway 287 that is currently being restored. The Armstrong County Museum has raised about $1.8 million dollars and has already started on the restoration. The property belongs to the museum and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

The museum is going to restore the house to the way it was when the Goodnights lived there. They have been donated some of the Goodnight's furniture, and are looking for other period pieces to finish furnishing the house.

The house will serve as the centerpiece to the Charles Goodnight Historical Center. A Visitor's Center and a caretaker's home will also be built, and an endowment will be created to pay for day-to-day operations. To complete all of this, the museum will need another $600,000.

I think this whole thing is a wonderful idea. Too often, we Americans let our history decay and disappear, and that is a shame, because we have a rich and varied history that we should be proud to pass on to future generations. Charles Goodnight was an important part of that history here in the Panhandle.

I hope the museum can find the funds to complete their project, and to do it right.

Going Hiking

Political Cartoon is by Dana Summers in The Orlando Sentinel.