What Caught My Eye Today

Islam - Here are some fascinating factoids that I got from a recent Newsweek article. There are an estimated 2.35 million Muslims in the United States. While 52% of adults regard U.S. Muslims as more peaceful than those living overseas, attitudes toward the U.S. Muslim community remain mixed. Here are some survey responses:

Do you think that the United States allows too many immigrants from Muslim countries (responses by age group)?
18 - 39: 32% Yes; 47% About the right amount; 7% No; 14% Don't know
40 - 59: 49% Yes; 33% About the right amount; 2% No; 16% Don't know
60+ : 58% Yes; 22% About the right amount; 3% No; 17% Don't know

Should U.S. Muslim students be allowed to wear headscarves?
69% Yes; 23% No; 8% Don't know

Should the FBI be allowed to wiretap mosques?
52% Yes; 39% No; 9% Don't know

Do you think most U.S. Muslims condone violence?
19% Yes; 63% No; 18% Don't know

My personal opinions aside, here's what I don't get. What's up with all these 'Don't know' responses? These are pretty simple questions.

2008 Presidential Campaign - Barack Obama led all other candidates in second-quarter fundraising, bringing in a record-breaking $33 million from April to June. Hillary Clinton came in a distant second with $27 million. Tops among Republican contenders was Rudy Giuliani with $17.3, followed by Mitt Romney with $13.8 million. Other big names didn't do so well. John Edwards raised $8.9 million on the Democratic side while John McCain scraped together only $3.2 million for his floundering campaign. You know, this would be a lot more interesting if someone came up with a Fantasy Game for this. We could pick our candidates through a draft, make trades, the works. Hello, ESPN...are you listening?

Oil - Average global demand for oil will increase by 2.2 million barrels a day in 2008, according to the International Energy Agency. It predicts that increased production by OPEC will cover the increased demand, making 2008 "slightly more comfortable" for consumers than 2006 and 2007. Why doesn't that make me feel better?

Big Business - Wal-Mart, with $351 billion in 2006 revenue, edged past ExxonMobil in the Fortune 500 to reclaim the title of world's biggest company. ExxonMobil remains the most profitable with earnings of $39.5 billion on $347 billion in revenue. First of all, when was Wal-Mart ever the world's biggest company? Secondly, based on my previous post, I'm guessing this will be a short stay at the top for Wal-Mart.

Air Travel - According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, these are the most delayed big city airports (all reporting less that 70% of their flights leaving on time):
Chicago O'Hare - Gee whiz, you don't say?
Portland (Maine) - I thought they said big city airports.
New York Kennedy - Fascinating how LaGuardia doesn't appear here as well.
Newark (New Jersey) - Okay, this one makes sense. It's got to be pretty crowded with all those people trying to get out.
Charlotte-Douglas (North Carolina) - Daggum those NASCAR fans.
Philadelphia - Sounds like the same deal as Newark.

Lindsay Lohan - You go, girlfriend! Just last week, I remember pining away for someone to go and do something stupid. So here you go. The troubled saga of Lindsay Lohan took another turn early Tuesday when police booked her for investigation of drunken driving and cocaine possession after a frightened woman dialed 911 to report being chased by Lohan's SUV. Less than two weeks out of rehab, with another drunken-driving case pending, Lohan had a blood-alcohol level of between 0.12 and 0.13 percent when police found her about 1:30 a.m. The movie star was booked for investigation of driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license, both misdemeanors, and possession of cocaine and transport of a narcotic, both felonies, authorities said. During a pre-booking search, police found cocaine in one of Lohan's pants pockets. Several hours later, Lohan was released on $25,000 bail. Lohan's attorney said her client had relapsed and was again receiving medical care. "Addiction is a terrible and vicious disease," she said. True enough, but I bet you'll keep on cashing those checks for your legal services without losing too much sleep over it.

Cycling - Today was a rest day for the Tour de France, but that didn't stop the race from grabbing the headlines...for all the wrong reasons. Tour de France rider Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for a banned blood transfusion after winning last weekend's time trial, prompting his Astana team to pull out of the race Tuesday and police to raid the team hotel. The Kazakh rider, a one-time favorite to win cycling's premier event, was tested after his victory in the 13th stage time trial on Saturday. Vinokourov, a pre-race favorite, also won Monday's 15th stage. He was 23rd in the overall race standings. Once seen as a favorite to win the Tour, Vinokourov dropped out of contention for good Sunday after losing 28 minutes, 50 seconds to race leader Michael Rasmussen.

Race director Christian Prudhomme said the case showed that cycling's drug-testing system doesn't work. "It's an absolute failure of the system," he said. "It is a system which does not defend the biggest race in the world. This is a system which can't last."

World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound, a frequent critic of cycling's doping record, said the sport should have cleaned itself up by now. "It's almost impossible to be at the front of the pack these days without doping," he said.

"With a guy of his stature and class, in cycling's current situation, we might as well pack our bags and go home," said British rider David Millar, who came back from a two-year doping ban in the Tour last year.

On the bright side...gimme a second, I'm sure I can come up with something...Nope, I got nothing.