I just got this from the live Tour de France feed:

16 H 50 - Armstrong Goes Cross Country It's like a Nike ad... Lance has cut out a hairpin turn and raced across a field to rejoin the peloton after racing off the road to avoid the fallen Beloki.

16 H 49 - Beloki Down!
Beloki has fallen!

16 H 49 - Armstrong Chasing Stage Win...
Lance and Joseba are riding together in pursuit of Alexandre Vinokourov. With 5km to go, their chase was closing in on the stage leader. There was just 10" seperating the leader from the chasers.

16 H 47 - Results of Final Climb
The points for the Cote de la Rochette were won by:
1. Vinokourov 10pts
2. Armstrong 7pts at 15"
3. Beloki 5pts
4. Zubeldia 3pts
5. Mayo 1pt

16 H 46 - All Downhill Now
The final 8km of the 9th stage are all downhill. Vinokourov's lead over Armstrong, Beloki, et al is 15".

16 H 45 - Hamilton Also Present
Hamilton is one of the few riders able to respond to Armstrong's pace. They are 15" behind Vinokourov.

Wow. Way to go Lance!

For anyone who has forgotten, here's a nice look back at the extensive preparation of the President's State of the Union Address. You can almost hear Karen Hughes saying, "Hey, if we try to insert this uranium thing in here again, I bet that Tenet guy will pull his hair out like he did a couple months ago! And come on guys, put the tubes in. I love the tubes!"

Read this column. Then read the simple Slashdot version of what happened. As an IT person, I can fully identify with the number of times that I've thought to myself "Well, I warned them, over and over and over again, but if they're so damn insistent, let's let the chips fall where they may."

It's like a bad cd-w commerical become reality. Instead of office-workers asking "Fred the IT Worker" if they could recover files they deleted two years ago from the computer they just set on fire, we would actually have Condi and Dubya and various White House staffers, asking Tenet about issues of national security. Hmm. That'd actually be a pretty funny commercial. You could have them asking if we could invade different countries (after we'd already done so) or if we could UN support for invasion (after we ruled it out) or if the budget could support massive tax cuts (after we'd already pledged to lower taxes yet again.). Instead of "Fred" you could just have Tenet, Powell and Snow.

I've seen a great deal of idiotic spam in my time, but never any with a subject line that says ". : Good morning Hi stupid Edward. : . obtuse@NB641U28j9pvTieBBv". Just who do they take me for? An idiot? Who opens a message like that?

The latest unemployment claims numbers are out. To all those crazy GOP people who think that the Dems relish the economy going into the toilet, let me say this: that it'd be much easier to fight for clean air, water and a sensible foreign policy if we weren't scrambling to make ends meet. Only the rich have the luxury of being able to ride out the tough times with nary a scratch. And as the ranks of the unemployed climb, so too does my fear that, god forbid I lose my job, that it would be difficult to get back to where I am right now.

As a barometer of what's wrong with the country, however, unemployment is a good measure.

Yes, the other Bush today. Beat up here. Why do Republicans always rail against government? Don't they know that the entire point of government is to protect the rights of the minority against the tyranny of the majority? Whether through property rights, the rule of law or many other facets of government, the basic deal is this: angry mobs can't beat up on those with more money because of the government. This may sound like an oversimplification but if we were in a true state of nature, those in power would have to be highly armed to keep said power.

Just look at Africa and Chuck Taylor's All Stars!

The alarming thing about the yellowcake incident is merely that it's the latest in a long string of lies from the administration. So while searching for clues on the latest scandal, I ran into this:

Executive Summary

"It is not a lie when you are ordered to lie." – a senior Iraqi biological weapons official

In December 1998, when U.N weapons inspector Dr. Richard Spertzel became exasperated by Iraqi evasions and misrepresentations, he confronted Dr. Rihab Taha, the woman the Iraqis identified as the head of their biological weapons program and asked her directly, "You know that we know you are lying. So why do you do it?" She straightened herself up and replied, "Dr. Spertzel, it’s not a lie when you are ordered to lie."1

Dr. Taha's brief reply is one symbol of a highly developed, well disciplined, and expertly organized program designed to win support for the Iraqi regime through outright deceit. This elaborate program is one of the regime's most potent weapons for advancing its political, military, and diplomatic objectives. In their disinformation and propaganda campaigns, the Iraqis use elaborate ruses and obvious falsehoods, covert actions and false on-the-record statements, and sophisticated preparation and spontaneous exploitation of opportunities. Many of the techniques are not new, but this regime exploits them more aggressively and effectively – and to more harmful effect – than any other regime in power today.

Yeah, if you just switch "Iraq" with "America" and replace "weapons official" with "A. Fleischer" you get a fairly succinct summary of our current political climate. Lies are okay, as long as either the President didn't know (in which case he's not staying awake during his intel briefings) or if someone important told you to do it.

Things have calmed down somewhat. First I'd like to share a little letter a friend received. It's the latest Nigerian letter scam:

Dear Mister Gaorge Bush:

Please keep this in the strictest confidense. You do not know me, but my name is Umbuto Johnson, and I am the grandson of Ashtari P. Johnson, in charge of the nuclear programme of the African country of Niger.

For severale years, my grandfather had been secretly selling radoactiv materiels to the little known country of Iraqe. He was given the sum of twenty million dollars by Saddem Hussan, of Iraqe, for this materiels. When my grandfather was discovered, two years ago, he was shot by the government. The money from those sales however remained hidden to all.

Before he was caoght, my grandfather shared with me his secret, and gave me instructions on how to move the moneys out of the country. In order to do this, I need the help of a trustworthy American friend and this is why I am seeking to write to you today.

In order to recieve the moneys I must pay a fee bribe of twenty thousand American dollars. I do not have this moneys. If you can send to me these moneys, I will split my grandfathers moneys with you.

Please tell nobody of this message, for I fear I will be in grave danger if it is known. I am relying on you, George Bush, to keep my secret. Respond to me and I will tell you how to send the moneys to me.

Your frend,
Umbuto Johnson

Yeah, nice, eh?

From the same school of weirdness, I noticed this today on Salon. Yeah, two stories about how drunken debauchery leads to a lousy lifestyle punctuated by a girl advertising herself as being a good drinker. Someone get me a scotch!

And, yes, I do browse with that many websites open at once. They're actually fairly indicative of some of the websites I traffic too, so I don't feel bad showing them off. Check them all out.

So far this morning has been an unmitigated disaster from beginning to end. I'm not even sure the storm is over yet.

Oh, the July 4 weekend. I'm sure America appreciated its birthday. I sure did.

Between a book, a movie, fireworks, numerous social affairs and plenty of hot weather, I feel somewhat renewed.