What Caught My Eye Today

Iraq - The U.S. military said Tuesday that a Marine was killed in fighting west of the capital. The attack raised to at least 73 the number of U.S. service members who have died in Iraq in July, the lowest number since November 2006, when at least 70 U.S. deaths were reported. The monthly toll topped 100 in April, May and June. In all, at least 3,652 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003. President Bush's nominee to head the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, acknowledged that slow progress in Iraq is hurting America's credibility and emboldening Iran's regional ambitions. Can anyone figure out if this is meant to be good news or not? I'm rather confused, myself.

Meanwhile, here's what our friends in Congress are up to...

House Democratic leaders are intent on sidetracking bipartisan attempts to change course in Iraq at least until fall rather than allow nervous Republicans to vote for legislation that lacks a troop withdrawal deadline. Several lawmakers and aides said the goal was to deny members of the GOP rank and file a chance to proclaim their independence from President Bush by voting for a limited measure — after months of backing his policy in an increasingly unpopular war. Polls have long shown the war to be unpopular. In one of the latest surveys, 61% of those polled want their lawmaker to begin requiring a reduction of troops and that 35% want their representative not to undermine the president. So I guess if the purpose of having polls confirm that public sentiment is basically the same as it was, oh I don't know, a year and a half ago, then I guess this latest survey is right on the money.

And here's my favorite news item of the day...

Vice President Dick Cheney acknowledged he was wrong in 2005 when he insisted the insurgency in Iraq was in its "last throes." It was Cheney's most direct public admission of how badly the administration had underestimated the strength of America's enemies in the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq. He said, "My estimate at the time -- and it was wrong, it turned out to be incorrect -- was the fact that we were in the midst of holding three elections in Iraq, elected an interim government, then ratifying a constitution, then electing a permanent government, that they had had significant success, we'd rounded up Saddam Hussein. I thought there were a series of these milestones that would in fact undermine the insurgency and make it less than it was at that point. That clearly didn't happen. I think the insurgency turned out to be more robust." The part that I like best is that Cheney points out that his estimates weren't just wrong, but also incorrect. Thanks for the clarification there, Professor.

Sudan - The United Nations Security Council has voted in favour of sending peacekeepers to Sudan's troubled Darfur region. Up to 26,000 troops and police will make up the world's largest peacekeeping force, under a joint UN and African Union mandate. The resolution will allow peacekeepers to use force to defend civilians and aid workers in Darfur from any attack. At least 200,000 people are thought to have died in Darfur and some 2 million have fled their homes since 2003. The conflict in Darfur began in February 2003 when ethnic African tribes rebelled against what they consider decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government. I'd like to say 'better late than never' in drawing an international peacekeeping force to stop this 4 year old massacre, but that would be akin to thanking a doctor for coming to administer treatment after the patient is already dead.

Vegansexuals - I heard this one on the radio today. A new phenomenon in New Zealand is taking the idea of you are what you eat to the extreme. Vegansexuals are people who do not eat any meat or animal products, and who choose not to be sexually intimate with non-vegan partners whose bodies, they say, are made up of dead animals. Cruelty-Free Consumption in New Zealand: A National Report on the Perspectives and Experiences of Vegetarians and other Ethical Consumers asked 157 people nationwide about everything from battery chickens to sexual preferences. One vegan respondent from Christchurch said: "I believe we are what we consume, so I really struggle with bodily fluids, especially sexually." Another Christchurch vegan said she found non-vegans attractive, but would not want to be physically close to them. "I would not want to be intimate with someone whose body is literally made up from the bodies of others who have died for their sustenance," she said. Another respondent said she could understand people not wanting to get too close to non-vegan or non-vegetarians. "When you are vegan or vegetarian, you are very aware that when people eat a meaty diet, they are kind of a graveyard for animals," she said. I'd like to come up with some witty epitaph for this story, but you tell me how I could possibly top this?

Sports - In keeping with the theme of the day, I'm a bit late this week on my weekend sports wrap:

Baseball - In a nutshell, Barry Bonds managed a single dinger in a 6 game homestand bringing his total to 754, one shy of tie and 2 short of breaking Hank Aaron's record. The San Francisco Giants play their next 6 games in Los Angeles and San Diego before returning home August 6. At the rate he's going, Bonds will have a pretty decent shot at tie or breaking the record at home

Football - Bill Walsh, nicknamed "The Genius" for his original schemes that became known as the West Coast offense, died at his Woodside home Monday morning following a long battle with leukemia. He was 75. Walsh changed the NFL with his innovative offense and a legion of coaching disciples, breaking new ground and winning three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers along the way. Walsh twice served as the 49ers' general manager, and coach George Seifert led San Francisco to two more Super Bowl titles after Walsh left the sideline. Walsh also coached Stanford during two terms over five seasons. Even a short list of Walsh's adherents is stunning. Seifert, Mike Holmgren, Dennis Green, Sam Wyche, Ray Rhodes and Bruce Coslet all became NFL head coaches after serving on Walsh's San Francisco staffs, and Tony Dungy played for him. Most of his former assistants passed on Walsh's structures and strategies to a new generation of coaches, including Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden, Brian Billick, Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, Gary Kubiak, Steve Mariucci and Jeff Fisher.
In 2004, Walsh was diagnosed with leukemia -- the disease that also killed his son, former ABC News reporter Steve Walsh, in 2002 at age 46. Walsh underwent months of treatment and blood transfusions, and publicly disclosed his illness in November 2006. I'd say his legacy is on rather firm ground, wouldn't you?

Incidentally, I haven't forgotten about the Michael Vick story related to dogfighting conspiracy charges. I just cannot be bother to give this scumbag the time of day.

Cycling - Spaniard Alberto Contador won the drug-tainted Tour de France here on Sunday when he held on to his 23sec lead overnight lead on Australia's Cadel Evans to secure the race's fabled yellow jersey. Contador, who rides for the Discovery Channel team, becomes the first Spaniard to win the three-week race since Miguel Indurain, the first ever five-time consecutive winner, in 1991-1995. Evans, in second at 23sec, is Australia's highest ever finisher in the race having equalled compatriot Phil Anderson's achievement of a fifth place finish last year. Like Contador and Evans, American Levi Leipheimer achieved a career best to finish third overall at 31sec, well ahead of fourth-placed Spaniard Carlos Sastre, of CSC, at 7:08. It is the second smallest winning margin in the history of the race, following Greg Lemond's eight-second victory over France's Laurent Fignon after a final day time trial in Paris in 1989. Of the 189 riders that started the Tour, 47 failed to finish, including 2 entire teams (Ouch).

Team Discovery had a rather good showing, all things considered. Alberto Contador of Spain won the title, Levi Leipheimer of the United States finished third and Yaroslav Popovych of Ukraine came in eighth. And, once again, American rider George Hincapie was there in support for the U.S. squad. Johan Bruyneel and Hincapie reeled off their eighth Tour victory -- Bruyneel as sporting director and Hincapie as a key support rider. Discovery, which won the team competition by nearly 20 minutes also banked nearly three times more money than any other team. The team made more than $987,000.

Lest you forget the rest of the highlights from this 3 week cycling affair, here is a recap of the highlights, or perhaps more appropriately, the lowlights...

This just in... German authorities said today they have received documents from doping expert Werner Franke which he claims show Tour de France winner Alberto Contador was involved in doping. Franke said he has documents from last year's Operation Puerto doping investigation in Spain which show that Contador had taken HMG-Lepori as a testosterone booster and an asthma product called TGN. This should be interesting.

German Patrik Sinkewitz was suspended earlier this month after a test taken in June tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone. He withdrew a request for the B sample to be tested on Tuesday. Sinkewitz, who pulled out of the Tour with a broken nose and a shoulder injury following a crash with a spectator after the eighth stage, faces a two-year suspension and could be fined a year's salary.

Spanish rider Iban Mayo, who finished the race in 16th place, was suspended by his team Saunier Duval on Monday after cycling's governing body confirmed traces of erythropoietin (EPO) in a sample taken on the July 24 rest day.

Michael Rasmussen was sacked by Rabobank on July 25 while leading the race after the Dutch team said he had lied about his training whereabouts in June, an allegation the Dane denies. Rabobank, however, decided that the rest of the team were to continue in the Tour. Rasmussen had already received two warnings from the International Cycling Union (UCI) for failing to provide the sport's governing body with his training schedule.

Cofidis announced on July 25 they were pulling out of the Tour de France following Italian Cristian Moreni's positive test for testosterone. Moreni, who was arrested by the French gendarmerie, failed a dope test after the Tour's 11th stage from Marseille to Montpellier. He is due to appear before Italy's anti-doping body on Aug. 8.

Pre-race favourite Alexander Vinokourov tested positive for blood doping after winning a time trial on July 21. The Kazakh's Astana team left the Tour and confirmed on Monday that they had sacked Vinokourov, who denies any wrongdoing.