What Caught My Eye Today - Barack Obama, India, Postal Service, Olympics

India - Grids supplying electricity to half of India's 1.2 billion people collapsed on Tuesday, in the second major blackout in as many days. More than a dozen states with a population of 670 million people were without power. Revised estimates put the number at closer to 700 million which, for those of you who like context, is the same as the entire population of the United States, twice; or if you prefer a more global perspective, 10% of the world population. Either way...damn, that's a lot of people. The outage was the worst to hit India in more than a decade and embarrassed the government, which has failed to build up enough power capacity to meet soaring demand. India's Power Minister blamed the system collapse on some states drawing more than their share of electricity from the over-burdened grid. India's electricity distribution and transmission is mostly state run, with private companies operating in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Less than a quarter of generation is private nationwide. Although I don't mention it here, it seems India relies upon the honor system to ensure that there is enough energy to go around. No doubt a noble idea. Then again, so is world peace. More than half the country's electricity is generated by coal, with hydro power and nuclear also contributing. Power shortages and a creaky road and rail network have weighed heavily on the Asia's third-largest economy's efforts to industrialize. Grappling with the slowest economic growth in nine years, the government recently scaled back a target to pump $1 trillion into infrastructure over the next five years. Yeah, these guys can't catch much of a break at the Olympics either. The world's second most populous nation has managed just one medal so far, a bronze in Shooting. Still that one more than our hapless Bangladeshi friends have managed. More on the Olympics in a moment.

Barack Obama - A study from Ancestry.com has determined that President Obama is related to John Punch, the first black African enslaved for life in America--which would make Punch the 11th great-grandfather of Obama. I'm telling you, this guy's family tree must look more like a tropical forest than a tree. The connection is made through Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunhan. Punch tried to escape indentured servitude in colonial Virginia in 1640 and was punished by becoming enslaved for life. Records show that Punch had children with a white woman, and her status as free was passed on to her offspring. Punch's descendants became successful landowners in the slave-owning state of Virginia. This would mean that the first documented slave and the first African American president have a shared lineage. Anyone want to place bets on whether or not someone (paging Michele Bachmann) tries to draw the conclusion that Obama's root can be traced by to slave owners? Ironic, wouldn't you say? Genealogists seem to be fascinated with the current president's family tree: The site has also traced an Irish branch of Obama's family. And researchers at the New England Historic Genealogical Society claim he is the distant cousin of movie star Brad Pitt and six past presidents, including George W. Bush. In all fairness, what else do genealogists have to occupy their time? This sort of thing is pretty much what they do.

Postal Service - Here's an amusing followup to an item I mentioned in my lavish praise of Congress' recent accomplishments. In the 18 months, the 112th Congress has been sworn in, the House has introduced 60 bills to rename post offices. 38 have passed the House and 26 have become law. Not a single bill has come to the House floor aimed at reforming a Postal Service, which is bleeding billions of dollars because of Congressional mandates. Naturally. That would require some actual decision making and, I daresay, compromise. The United States Postal Service just defaulted on a Congressional mandate to pay $5.5 billion to "prefund" health benefits for future retirees, and will miss an additional $5.6 billion payment due on September 30. The Postal Service is trying to pull itself out of a $22.5 billion budget shortfall. Still, the USPS could have it worse; it could be facing a the $1.1 trillion deficit facing the U.S. government. Come to think of it, maybe the Postal Service should look elsewhere for solutions to it's budget crisis. I'm not sure Congress is a beacon of fiscal discipline.

Olympics - Five days into competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, medals have been awarded for 71 of 302 events. The People's Republic of China tops the medal table with 30 medals. 17 of which are gold, which apparently is all that really counts unless, of course, you happen to be one of those 142 athletes who received a silver or bronze medal. The United States is second with 29 medals. Japan (17), France (13) and Germany (13) round out the top 5. However, if you gauge success solely on gold medals, then the top five looks like this: China - 17, United States - 12, South Korea - 6, France - 5, North Korea - 4. Host nation, Great Britain is tied for 8th with 9 medals including 2 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze. For an Olympics remarkably short on controversy (despite the media's fervent attempts to create some), we finally have one, sort of. A scoring controversy in Fencing? No. Sour grapes over the performance of a rather gifted young swimmer? Not so much. Racist remarks on Twitter? Nope. All of these happened, but the controversy I'm referring to comes from the world of badminton. I kid you not. In successive games two opposing women's doubles teams lined up against each other and tried to lose. It appeared they were trying to secure a more favorable draw in knockout play or, in the case of a Chinese team, to avoid playing their fellow countrymen until the finals. Badminton World Federation officials were aghast, even though it isn't uncommon in sports for teams to attempt to manipulate results in pool play to set up the best possible route in a playoff. An elaborate disciplinary machine was churned up, and eventually all eight athletes were thrown out of the competition, which inspired frustration, outrage, finger pointing, and one of the most enduring parts of Olympic competition: nationalistic indignation. The Chinese, to their credit, declined to even appeal. Yeah, they did it. Indonesia did at first, but eventually they sheepishly pulled the argument and conceded the point. That left South Korea in the awkward position of saying that while it appeared they were trying to lose on purpose, the truth is their players were just terrible. I'm going stop now. How in the world could I possibly top this?

What Caught My Eye Today - Barack Obama's plan for jobs and economic growth

Fred's Note: It occurs to me that in recent posts regarding the upcoming U.S. Presidential election that I am guilty of doing the same thing as various media outlets by rendering opinions on statements that I may have taken out of context. To be fair, I'm not a professional journalist and doubt very much that my blog will ever reach the critical mass that the New York Times does. However, the information is readily available to anyone who truly wants to make an informed decision come Election Day in November. With that in mind, over the next several days and weeks, I'll be posting excerpts from the websites of both the Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney and the incumbent Democratic candidate, Barack Obama. It goes without saying that I will be adding some color commentary, but the content will be from the candidates themselves.

Second in our series , Barack Obama's plan for jobs and economic growth.

The President is taking aggressive steps to put Americans back to work and create an economy where hard work pays and responsibility is rewarded. We’ve added back more than 4.4 million private sector jobs and seen 28 straight months of job growth—but there’s more work to do. When President Obama took office, he both addressed the immediate economic crisis and laid the foundation for a U.S. economy that’s built to last.

• Putting Americans Back To Work: When President Obama took office, the economy was losing more than 700,000 jobs per month. President Obama acted quickly to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which cut taxes for small businesses and 95% of working families. It also included emergency funding to support about 300,000 educator jobs, more than 4,600 law enforcement positions, and investments in the clean energy sector that supported 224,500 jobs through 2010. Through May 2012, the economy has added 4.4 million private sector jobs over 28 consecutive months of job growth. In his State of the Union address, the President laid out a blueprint for an economy that’s built to last—an economy built on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers, and a renewal of American values. I have to say, I'm a bit underwhelmed by Obama's plan, or lack thereof, regarding the economy. Almost all of his positions regarding the economy highlight past accomplishments. No offense, Mr. President, but we live in a world where "What will you do for me?" counts for much more that "What have you done for me?". I'm not saying that's fair, but that's the world we live in.
• Investing in American Manufacturing and Innovation: President Obama wants to grow high-technology U.S. manufacturing capacity and supply clean energy projects with American-made parts and equipment. That’s why he’s provided tax incentives to and made investments in clean energy technologies such as wind turbines and advanced car batteries. He has launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, a national effort to invest in technologies that will create high-quality manufacturing jobs and enhance America’s global competitiveness. He also signed the America Invents Act, historic patent reform legislation that will help American entrepreneurs bring inventions to market sooner, helping to create new businesses and new jobs. While amounting to a snooze-fest for most of the general population, the America Invents Act is a pretty big deal and has the potential for paying vast dividends in terms of preserving the United States' place at the top of the value chain. But again, what is the plan for the next four years.
• Supporting Small Business: President Obama has passed tax cuts for small businesses 18 times and streamlined the patent process, providing a new fast track option to cut wait times by two-thirds and help small business innovators move ideas from the lab to market. The Affordable Care Act provides small business owners with better affordable health care options for employees, simpler administrative operating rules, and billions of dollars in tax relief. Eighteen times? I don't remember that many, but I will chalk that up to either boring press or a lousy PR guy in the Obama Administration. And I'm not sure I'd be touting the Affordable Care Act as the silver bullet that will solve all that ails the nation just yet. Most of provisions don't kick in for another two years.
• Made in America: President Obama created the National Export Initiative, an effort to help businesses compete in the global marketplace and double our nation’s exports by 2015, a target we’re on track to meet. To level the playing field for American businesses and workers, Obama signed trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama. Together, the agreements are estimated to increase exports by approximately $13 billion and support more than 70,000 American jobs. More great sound bites, but where is the substance?
• Rescuing the U.S. auto industry: President Obama made the tough and politically unpopular decision to extend emergency rescue loans to the American auto industry, saving more than 1 million jobs and preventing the loss of over $96 billion in personal income—and the collapse of manufacturing in the Midwest. Other than getting his health care reform legislation enacted, this is probably Obama's next biggest achievement. And for once, I agree that he should use this in his stump for another term. Romney doesn't really have a leg to stand on with regard to this one issue.
• Wall Street Reform: President Obama passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to hold Wall Street accountable, prevent future financial crises, and end the era of "too big to fail." Wall Street reform ensures that if a financial company fails, it will be Wall Street that pays the price—not the American people—and sets ground rules for the riskiest financial speculation. President Obama also enacted a Credit Card Bill of Rights to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive practices, like over-the-limit charges and hidden costs. Too bad Congress has done a great job of doing practical nothing to enact any of the provisions of the legislation. More than likely, the opposition will spin this as Obama being unfriendly to big business and entrepreneurship. A bogus claim, but since when has that mattered?
• Protecting Consumers: Through Wall Street Reform, President Obama created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The agency defends consumers from unfair and abusive financial practices and makes sure that credit card companies and mortgage and payday lenders follow the rules. Again, unless the Democrats manage to keep a majority in the Senate and, somehow, take back the House, I fear this act will be much ado about nothing

Once again, I urge you to form your own opinions rather than rely on my brilliant insights or anyone else's. You can read up on Barack Obama's position on the economy here. Next time, Mitt Romney's stance on health care.

What Caught My Eye Today - Michele Bachmann, Israel, Congress, Time, Olympics

Michele Bachmann - Minnesota Congresswoman, Michele Bachmann has alleged that Huma Abedin, one of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's top aides, has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. This should be good. Bachmann cites reports that Abedin's long-deceased father once "crossed paths of people" associated with the organization. If that isn't ironclad proof, I don't know what is. Based on this information, Bachmann alleges that Abedin is helping Islamists "secretly burrow their way into our government." Well, duh. With a name like Abedin, he must be be a radical Islamic fundamentalist. Fellow Republicans, including Senator John McCain of Arizona, are condemning Bachmann for launching "an unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable woman." Bachmann refuses to relent, and Abedin is now receiving death threats. I sometimes wonder what sort of cranial wiring it takes to to dream this stuff up. Seriously, was it a slow news day or what? You wouldn't believe how many media outlets picked up on this story. I have to confess I was laughing after reading this, and then it dawned on me that some poor guy has received death threats based on the preposterous rantings of a government official who clearly lives in a different reality than the rest of us. Shame on me, and shame on Michele Bachmann.

Israel - Moshe Silman, a son of Holocaust survivors set himself on fired during a protest and later died of his burns. If memory serves, this is not the first time someone has resorted to this form of protest. Don't help me...it'll come to me. A few years ago, Silman lost his business and incurred a small debt, and his nightmare began. Tangled in a web of bureaucracy, he was harassed by various government agencies. His appeals for public housing were ignored until, on the brink of homelessness, he set himself alight in public at a rally marking the anniversary of last year's protests for social justice. Yup, I definitely remember reading something like this...oh, when was it? February, 2011...just before spring. Same part of the world too, I think? The demonstrations following his self-immolation reveal that a portion of the Israeli population is "like a powder keg ready to explode." Ah ha! Arab Spring. That's it! Of course, I'm not sure I would have predicted that Israel would be prone to this sort of protest. Then again if you had asked me in January 2011 if Tunisia, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya and Syria were all going to be subject to regime change and/or civil war, I probably would have said no that that as well.

Congress - The U.S. Congress has sent only 54 bills to President Barack Obama so far this year, including 14 to rename post offices, 9 to approve real estate transactions, and 6 to renew existing laws. That record puts the current Congress on track to be one of the least productive sessions in recent times. THUD! That would be me falling out of my chair at that shocking revelation. Truth be told, I'm surprised they were able to agree on that many.

Time - A new study used atomic clocks to confirm Albert Einstein's prediction that time runs faster the higher off the ground you are. For every foot about ground, a person ages about 90 billionths of a second (0.000000009) faster over a lifetime. Let's put some context to this, shall we? The average global life expectancy in 2010 was 67.2 years which equates to 2,403,043,200 seconds. Now, let's say that you choose to spent your entire lifetime in residence at the summit of Mount Everest (elevation 20,029 ft). Well, my friend, you would be 2.6 ten thousands of a second older than the dude who decided to spend his lifetime at sea level. But maybe we aren't thinking big enough. What if terra firma just isn't your deal? Let's say you spend your lifetime on the International Space Station, with has an average orbit of about 230 miles (1,214,400 feet) about the earth. Well now we are talking about some serious aging, just over one hundredth of a second (0.01). Bottom line, well I'm not sure there is one. I probably lost the vast majority of you at that "90 billionths of a second" bit.

Olympics - Three days into competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, medals have been awarded for 38 of 302 events. The People's Republic of China and the United States top the medal table with 17 medals apiece, though China has more gold (9 to 5). Japan (11), Italy (8) and France (7) round out the top 5. Host nation, Great Britain is tied for 10th with 3 medals, a silver and 2 bronze.

Did You Know? #4

How much of the U.S. tax dollar is spent on Healthcare?

In 2011, 23.7% of every tax dollar was spent on healthcare. The complete breakdown of 2011 taxpayer receipts (according to the White House) looks like this:

• National Defense - 24.9%
• Health care - 23.7%
• Job and Family Security - 19.1%
• Education and Job Training - 3.6%
• Veterans Benefits - 4.5%
• Natural Resources, Energy, and Environment - 2.0%
• International Affairs - 1.6%
• Science, Space, and Technology Programs - 1.0%
• Immigration, Law Enforcement, and Administration of Justice - 2.0%
• Agriculture - 0.7%
• Community, Area, and Regional Development - 0.5%
• Response to Natural Disasters - 0.4%
• Additional Government Programs - 7.9%
• Net Interest - 8.1%

In 2010, the breakdown was as follows:

• National Defense - 26.3%
• Health Care - 24.3%
• Job and Family Security - 21.9%
• Education and Job Training - 4.8%
• Veterans Benefits - 4.1%
• Natural Resources, Energy and Environment - 2.1%
• International Affairs - 1.7%
• Science, Space, and Technology Programs - 1.2%
• Immigration, Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice - 2.0%
• Agriculture - 0.8%
• Community, Area, and Regional Development - 0.5%
• Response to Natural Disasters - 0.4%
• Additional Government Programs - 2.4%
• Net Interest - 7.4%

What Caught My Eye Today - Mitt Romney's plan for jobs and economic growth

Fred's Note: It occurs to me that in recent posts regarding the upcoming U.S. Presidential election that I am guilty of doing the same thing as various media outlets by rendering opinions on statements that I may have taken out of context. To be fair, I'm not a professional journalist and doubt very much that my blog will ever reach the critical mass that the New York Times does. However, the information is readily available to anyone who truly wants to make an informed decision come Election Day in November. With that in mind, over the next several days and weeks, I'll be posting excerpts from the websites of both the Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney and the incumbent Democratic candidate, Barack Obama. It goes without saying that I will be adding some color commentary, but the content will be from the candidates themselves.

First up, Mitt Romney's plan for jobs and economic growth.

Fostering job creation through economic growth will be Mitt Romney's top priority from his first day in office. Romney plans to introduce 5 bills on his first day in office:

• The American Competitiveness Act: Reduces the corporate income tax rate to 25%
  Given that the U.S. has the distinction of having the highest corporate income tax rate on the planet (39.2%), this sounds like a good idea. However, what Romney neglects to say is that Obama has a similar proposal to cut the corporate tax rate (though only to 28%) and that even if this tax cut goes through, the U.S. will continue to have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, so it is not exactly clear to me just have much of any impact this will have one way or the other. I suspect not much, but it sure sounds good, don't it?
• The Open Markets Act: Reinstates the president’s Trade Promotion Authority to facilitate negotiation of new trade agreements.
  Pretty much every President, regardless of party affiliation wants this authority. Basically, this legislation allows the President to expedite the implementation of free trade agreements, like the ones Obama signed with Panama, Colombia and South Korea. So good luck with that, Mr. Romney. Unless the Republicans take control of the Senate, Romney will face the same obstacle that Obama has. Oh, didn't you know? Obama tried to renew the bill but got rejected by the Senate.
• The Domestic Energy Act: Directs the Department of the Interior to undertake a comprehensive survey of American energy reserves in partnership with exploration companies and initiates leasing in all areas currently approved for exploration.
• The Retraining Reform Act: Consolidates the sprawl of federal retraining programs and returns funding and responsibility for these programs to the states.
  I'm sure there is a "drill, baby, drill" reference in here, someplace. Here's the thing. Domestic oil production is at a 10 year high as are stockpiles, not that gas prices reflect that (which is where I suspect, Romney is going with this). Most experts agree that supply is not as much of a factor as speculation when it comes to the price of oil.
• The Down Payment on Fiscal Sanity Act: Immediately cuts non-security discretionary spending by 5%, reducing the annual federal budget by $20 billion.
  A whole $20 billion? Whoop-de-do! That amounts to just over 1.5% of the 2012 budget deficit. Way to reach for the stars, big man.

Tax Policy: Romney will hold the line on individual income tax rates and eliminate taxes on interest, dividends, and capital gains for low- and middle-income taxpayers. He will eliminate the estate tax. He will immediately lower the corporate income tax rate, and then explore opportunities to further lower the marginal rate while broadening the tax base. He will also begin the process of transitioning to a territorial corporate tax system. A territorial system must be designed to encourage multinational companies to bring their profits back into the U.S. and it must avoid the creation of incentives for outsourcing. Great news for all of lower and middle-class working class stiffs who lie awake at night trying to figure out how to shield their stock portfolios and inheritances from the big bad tax man. And don't even get me started on which off shore tax havens I should set my my "blind trust" in.

Regulatory Policy: As president, Romney will work to repeal laws like Obamacare and Dodd-Frank that have given bureaucrats unprecedented discretion to craft unpredictable, job-killing regulations. Romney will also initiate the immediate review of all Obama-era regulations with the goal of eliminating any that unduly burden the economy and job creation. he will impose a regulatory cap on all agencies at zero dollars, meaning that an agency issuing a new regulation must go through a budget-like process and identify offsetting cost reductions from the existing regulatory burden. Other initiatives in a Romney Administration will include a new, cost-conscious approach to environmental regulation; an increased role for Congress in the approval of new regulations; and reforms to the legal liability system. So in a nutshell, if it is in any way connected to the Obama administration, it must be bad for business, stupid, illegal or some combination of all three. But hey, at least Romney is applying the same standard for everything.

Trade Policy: Romney will work to open foreign markets for American goods and services on terms that work for America. Romney will submit pending Free Trade Agreements to Congress, conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, and seek Trade Promotion Authority to pursue new trading relationships. He will also create the "Reagan Economic Zone," a multilateral trading bloc open to any country committed to the principles of open markets and free enterprise. Romney will also ensure that existing trade agreements are enforced. Romney will seek to build a constructive relationship with China on the basis of mutual respect, while also making clear that the United States will no longer tolerate Chinese practices that unfairly benefit their economy at the expense of ours. Yeah, I think we covered this already. I suppose, if Romney wins in November, that all this idyllic hyperbole (wishful thinking seems a bit harsh), won't really matter in the giant scheme of things.

Energy Policy: Romney will pursue an energy policy that puts conservative principles into action: significant regulatory reform, support for increased production, and a government that focuses on funding basic research instead of chasing fads and picking winners. Romney will streamline federal regulation of energy exploration and development so that the government acts as a facilitator of those activities instead of as an obstacle to them. He will significantly expand the areas available for energy development, including in the Gulf of Mexico, the Outer Continental Shelf, Western lands, and Alaska. He will strengthen partnerships with Canada and Mexico to expand opportunities for American companies in the development of those nations’ resources. And he will encourage continued development of unconventional reserves like shale gas and oil that hold enormous promise for expanding the base of U.S. reserves. Here's a fun fact. If you substitute Obama everyplace you see Romney's name, you pretty much have the same energy policy.

Labor Policy: Romney will protect the worker rights and employer flexibility crucial to innovation, economic growth, and job creation. His first step in improving labor policy will be to ensure that our labor laws create a stable and level playing field on which businesses can operate. Romney will seek amendments to the National Labor Relations Act that protect free enterprise, free choice, and free speech. The Act must be amended to ensure that it does not allow the National Labor Relations Board to constrain companies in their investment decisions. I don't profess to know squat about labor relations and, to be honest, I'm not sure the need for unions is the same as it was when they first came into being. The workplace has evolved a bit since 1827. However, I find it curious that in one breath, Romney says he will protect worker rights and in the next he plans to gut one of the organizations whose sole purpose is to do just that. And another thing, since when have worker rights and employer flexibility ever been in alignment?

Human Capital Policy: Romney sees two important objectives that America can pursue immediately to build on the extraordinary traditional strengths of its workforce. The first is to retrain American workers to ensure that they have the education and skills to match the jobs of today’s economy. The second is to attract the best and brightest from around the world. Romney will focus retraining efforts on a partnership that brings together the states and the private sector. Romney will also press for an immigration policy that maximizes America’s economic potential. He will raise the ceiling on the number of visas issued to holders of advanced degrees in math, science, and engineering who have job offers in those fields from U.S. companies and will also work to establish a policy that staples a green card to the diploma of every eligible student visa holder who graduates from an American university with an advanced degree in math, science, or engineering. That comment I made about Romney's Energy Policy above by and large applies here too.

Fiscal Policy: Romney will immediately move to cut spending and cap it at 20% of GDP and to cut non-security discretionary spending by 5%. He will also work to reform Medicaid, converting it to a federal block grant administered by the states, and he will provide the leadership necessary to make progress in reforming other entitlement programs. He will undertake a fundamental restructuring of the federal government that places the burden on the federal agency to establish why a program or service must be provided at the federal level and gives to the private sector and the states whatever functions they can perform more effectively. Finally, he will pursue a Balanced Budget Amendment. Yeah, yeah. Good for you.

Should you wish to draw your own conclusions, I applaud you. Here's where you need to go (click here). Next time we'll see how Barack Obama's plan measures up.

What Caught My Eye Today - Poverty, Olympics, Berlin

Poverty - An Associated Press survey found the official U.S. poverty rate will rise from 15.1% percent in 2010 to as high as 15.7% in 2011, the highest level since 1965. Among the survey findings:

• Poverty will remain above the pre-recession level of 12.5% for many more years.
• Suburban poverty, already at a record level of 11.8%, will increase again in 2011.
• Part-time or underemployed workers, who saw a record 15% poverty in 2010, will rise to a new high.
• Poverty among people 65 and older will remain at historically low levels, buoyed by Social Security cash payments.
• Child poverty will increase from its 22% level in 2010.
• The poorest poor, defined as those at 50% or less of the poverty level, will remain near its peak level of 6.7%.

It's a shame that the one bright spot in all this--Social Security--is headed for insolvency. But that is not the most discouraging thing. Nor is the fact that none of these statistics come as much of a surprise. To me, the biggest tragedy here is that neither of the candidates for President seem to have the slightest interest in talking about how they plan to tackle this issue.

Olympics - Guor Marial, a South-Sudanese refugee qualified for the Olympics last October after meeting the Olympic "A" standard with a run of 2 hours, 14 minutes and 32 seconds at the 2011 Twin Cities Marathon. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) requires athletes to be full citizens of the countries they represent. Though Marial has lived in the U.S. for 11 years, he has yet to gain full citizenship and his status as a permanent resident isn't enough to allow him to wear red, white and blue at the games. Marial was born in what is now the Republic of South Sudan, a newly independent country without a National Olympic Committee, an IOC requirement for nations to be able to compete in the games. I appreciate the fact that without rules there would be chaos, but still, you have to feel for this poor guy. With no country to represent, Marial petitioned the IOC to run as an independent participant under the Olympic flag. Just days before the Games begin, Marial found out the IOC will allow him to run in the Olympic marathon as an independent participant under the Olympic flag. I don't imagine I will have much to praise the IOC about in the coming days, but they did the right thing here. Bravo.

Olympics - Incidentally, although the Games don't officially begin for two more days, competition is already underway in soccer stadiums across the United Kingdom as women's group play commenced. For those of you who keep track of stuff like this, early results include: Great Britain 1 - 0 New Zealand; Canada 1 - 2 Japan; France 2 - 4 United States; and Brazil 5 - 0 Cameroon.

Berlin - By far, the most amusing news item I've read in a long, long time. The sleepy hamlet of Mittenwalde in eastern Germany could become one of the richest towns in the world if Berlin were to repay it an outstanding debt that dates back to 1562. A certificate of debt, found in a regional archive, attests that Mittenwalde lent Berlin 400 guilders on May 28 1562, to be repaid with six percent interest per year. How much could that possibly amount to?. The debt would amount to 11,200 guilders today, which is roughly equivalent to 112 million euros. That doesn't seem so bad. Adjusting for compound interest and inflation, the total debt now lies in the trillions. Halt deine Fresse! The debt-laden German capital would have difficulty meeting Mittenwalde's demands anyway. According to a report released by the senate finance administration in June 2012, Berlin is already close to 63 billion euros in the red. Indeed. I don't know about you, but if I'm a Berliner and some wichser from Mettenwalde came looking for payback, I might feel compelled to say, "fahr zur holle" (Fred's note: Assume it's funny. Trust me, it's not worth the effort to translate).

Did You Know? #3

What do the following have in common? Beef Production, Cement Work, First Aid to Animals, Hog and Pork Production, Nut Culture, Rabbit Raising, Stalking.

These are merit badges formerly offered by the Boy Scouts of America. In some cases, the entire subject has been dropped from the merit badge roster. In others, the merit badge's name has been changed, with or without significant revision to the badge's requirements. At the start of 2012 there were 129 merit badges, with another 5 expecting in the next couple of years: Search and Rescue, Programming, Game Design, Animation and Signs, Signals & Codes. Click here to see the complete list of current merit badges.

What Caught My Eye Today - Olympics, PACs and Canada

Olympics - For those of you living under a rock or otherwise preoccupied, the 2012 Summer Olympics kick off this Wednesday, with some preliminary soccer matches in advance of the official opening ceremonies this Friday.  So, on one hand you'll see a lot more postings on this topic than usual, but on the other, I promise that most of my stuff probably won't make the scant 3500 hours of coverage, our friends at NBC will be offering (more on that in a moment). To wit, I give you this first little gem on the ultimate underdog nation. Bangladesh is home to more than 152 million people, making it the eighth most populated country in the world, yet its Olympic futility is so bad it makes one wonder if a statistical mistake has been made. Bangladesh has never won a single medal at the Olympic Games and is unlikely to do anything to change that tortured record over the next few weeks. Of the International Olympic Committee's 204 members, 80 have never medaled. Many of the nations are tiny by comparison, although Myanmar (the world's 25th most populated country) and Nepal (45th) are also on the medal-free list. Meanwhile, Tonga (195th in population) has an Olympic silver, Barbados (181st) a bronze and Iceland (178th) two of each. The Bahamas, ranked 177th, has excelled with 10 total medals, four of them gold. Perhaps most extraordinary about Bangladesh is not its dearth of medals, but that it has never had an athlete qualify for an Olympics based on performance in competition. Every one of the country's representatives, stretching back to 1984, has been courtesy of the IOC's wildcard system, devised to assist competitors from nations low on the international sports pecking order. That is the case again for London, where a four-strong Bangladesh team featuring an archer, a gymnast, a shooter and a swimmer will march in the Opening Ceremony, all of them thanks to the wildcard allotment. Kind of makes you hope that one of these wildcards can somehow manage to make it beyond the first round. Not likely, but one can always hope. So 3500 hours, huh? I did some checking and if you take 17 days of competition multiplied by 24 hours, that gives you 408 hours or roughly 12% of the 3500 hours of boob tube coverage that NBC is offering. That's a lot of coverage...which is my way of transitioning to this next item.

Television - Binge viewing is transforming the way people watch television and changing the economics of the industry. The passive couch potato of the broadcast era turned into the channel surfer, flipping through hundreds of cable channels. Now, technologies such as on-demand video and digital video recorders are giving rise to the binge viewer, who devours shows in quick succession, episode after episode, season after season. Ain't technology grand? And how about that advanced civilization we are all so proud to be part of. We've evolved from mere couch potatoes to hardcore bingers. Way to go, team. Brain chemistry plays a role in bingeing. Viewers identify with characters on screen and subconsciously begin to mimic their emotions—be it sadness or triumph or anxiety, and each emotional state triggers different brain chemicals, which linger. The urge to sustain that inner experience leads you to press "play" on the next episode, and the one after that, the equivalent of the book you can't put down. Longer, uninterrupted viewing sessions can lead to a deeper virtual-reality experience of the narrative. It can seem more real, from a neurological point of view. I'm going to go off the reservation, just this once and suggest a couple of remedies for those of us suffering from binge viewing. Option 1, read a book; option 2, go outside and get some fresh air; option 3, get a life, you degenerate blight on humanity!

Political Action Committees (PACs) - 0.000063 percent of the United States' population, 196 super wealthy people, have given more than 80 percent of the Super PAC money spent in the current U.S. presidential election. Freedom of speech or buying an election? I guess it is all a matter of perspective.

Olympics - For the first time in history, the U.S. Olympic team will have more female athletes competing than males in this summer's Games in London. The 530 member team consists of 261 males and 269 women. First time for everything, right?

Canada - The average Canadian is now richer than the average American. The net worth of the average Canadian household in 2011 was $363,202, while the average American household had a net worth of $319,970. I never liked those Canadians; they talk funny.

What Caught My Eye Today - Colorado, Warner Bros., Syria

Colorado - I bet if you asked most Coloradans they would be hard press to recall a month as lousy as July has been. Half state got ravaged by firestorms and if that's not enough, some whack job takes completely takes leave of his senses in the middle of a packed movie theater. A gunman in a gas mask and body armor killed 12 people at a midnight premiere of the new "Batman" movie in a suburb of Denver early on Friday, opening fire on moviegoers after hurling a gas canister into the theater. Armed with an assault rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, he wounded 59 others with gunfire during a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" at a mall in Aurora. Arriving on the scene within 90 seconds of the first emergency calls, police immediately took into custody the suspect in a parking lot behind the cinema, where he surrendered without a fight. President Barack Obama and his Republican presidential rival, Mitt Romney, toned down their campaigns, pulled their campaign ads from Colorado and dedicated their scheduled events to sympathy for the victims. I am generally an optimist. Sure, my sense of humor is a bit twisted, but I really am a glass half-full sort of guy. Then something like this happens. I cannot help but wonder what sort of world we live in where someone has the capacity and will to commit such an atrocity. However, I'm confident this feeling will pass as the survivors of this tragedy show us all what it means to get back on their feet and get on with the business of living. See...glass half full. Warner Bros. - The midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises," of one of the most anticipated films in years became enmeshed with a horrifying tragedy. The shooting reverberated through Hollywood and upended carefully laid plans for the global release of "The Dark Knight Rises."

Warner Bros. quickly canceled a premiere planned for Paris and canceled press interviews in France. "Warner Bros. and the filmmakers are deeply saddened to learn about this shocking incident," read a statement from Warner Bros. "We extend our prayers and deepest sympathies to the victims, their loved ones and those affected by this tragedy." I cannot imagine a worse nightmare scenario for a movie opening than this. It almost makes you feel sorry for the guys in the corner office...almost.

Syria - What a mess. The Syrian uprising, also referred to as the Syrian civil war, is an ongoing internal armed conflict in Syria. It began in March 2011 with public demonstrations as part of the wider Arab Spring and developed into a nationwide uprising. Protesters have demanded the end to nearly five decades of Ba’ath Party rule, as well as the resignation of Bashar al-Assad. On July 15, the International Committee of the Red Cross assessed the Syrian conflict as a "non-international armed conflict" (the ICRC's legal term for civil war), thus applying the international humanitarian law under the Geneva Conventions in Syria. According to various sources, including the United Nations, between 18,925 and 50,170 people have been killed, of which about half were civilians. Thousands of protesters have been imprisoned, and there have been reports of widespread torture in the government's prisons. International organizations have also accused the government and Shabiha of using civilians as human shields, and of intentionally targeting civilians. The U.N. refugee agency said between 8,500 and 30,000 Syrians had entered Lebanon in the past 48 hours, and thousands of Iraqis have also returned home, a bitter trip for many who fled to Syria from their own country's civil war. Jeez. Some people just cannot catch a break. The U.N. refugee agency estimates that some 120,000 Syrian refugees were in neighboring countries and another 1 million were displaced inside Syria. Note to self: glass half full, glass half full, glass half full...

Did You Know? #2

What do Helium, Neon, Argon, Radon, Xenon and Krypton have in common?

They are noble gases. Noble gases are a group of chemical elements with very similar properties: under standard conditions, they are all odorless, colorless, monatomic gases, with very low chemical reactivity. The abundances of the noble gases in the universe decrease as their atomic numbers increase. Helium is the most common element in the universe after hydrogen. The prices of the noble gases are influenced by their natural abundance, with argon being the cheapest and xenon the most expensive. Noble gases have very low boiling and melting points, which makes them useful as cryogenic refrigerants. Noble gases are commonly used in lighting because of their lack of chemical reactivity. Argon, mixed with nitrogen, is used as a filler gas for incandescent light bulbs. Some noble gases have direct application in medicine. Helium is sometimes used to improve the ease of breathing of asthma sufferers. Xenon is used as an anesthetic because of its high solubility in lipids, which makes it more potent than the usual nitrous oxide, and because it is readily eliminated from the body, resulting in faster recovery. Radon, which is highly radioactive and is only available in minute amounts, is used in radiotherapy.

What Caught My Eye Today - Healthcare, Supreme Court, Citizenship

Healthcare - Alaska's Governor Sean Parnell announced his state will not set up a program allowing residents to buy health insurance across state lines as envisioned under the Obama administration's new healthcare law, leaving that task to the U.S. government. Parnell said it is too expensive for the state to set up an insurance-exchange program, as required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and that the federal government should bear the responsibility of creating and running the exchange. Bear in mind that this is the same state that in 2011 sent $1174 checks to every one of its residents as a result of Alaska's vast oil wealth. But I digress. Under the healthcare law, states must have insurance exchanges in place by 2014. If states decline to set up their own exchanges, the federal government will establish an exchange. Alaska, at Parnell's direction, was one of the states that sued to overturn the healthcare law. The U.S. Supreme Court last month upheld the U.S. healthcare overhaul, but allowed states to opt out of the provision to expand the Medicaid program for the poor, which is jointly funded by federal and state governments and represents the biggest spending item in most state budgets. Five Republican governors (Wisconsin, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Alaska) have said publicly they will refuse the broader eligibility criteria that aims to provide insurance to an additional 16 million Americans nationwide.I know we haven't heard to last of this debate, not by a longshot. But I wonder, is it really the interests of the citizens that these governors are basing their decisions on or something more...oh, I don't know...maybe something more political?

Supreme Court - Justice Antonin Scalia said he hasn't had a "falling out" with Chief Justice John Roberts over the Supreme Court's landmark 5-4 decision validating much of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Isn't that nice? One less thing to worry about. The Supreme Court earlier this month upheld much of Obama's signature health care law, with Roberts siding with the court's liberals to uphold the hotly debated core requirement that nearly every American have health insurance. The decision allowed the law to go forward with its aim of covering more than 30 million uninsured Americans. Since then, Roberts has been the focus of derision from some of the nation's leading conservatives, and there have been reports of fractures in the relationships on the court's conservative wing, of which Roberts and Scalia are members. Scalia emphasized "the court is not at all a political institution" and said he believed "not a single one" of his Supreme Court colleagues considers politics when making decisions at the court. "I don't think any of my colleagues on any cases vote the way they do for political reasons," he said. "They vote the way they do because they have their own judicial philosophy." I want to believe Justice Scalia, I really do. Perhaps I've just become too jaded to accept his assertion as absolute truth. I happen to agree with the Roberts decision and think his rational was spot on. That said, I think Roberts was motivated by something much bigger than this one opinion. Roberts believed that the integrity of the Supreme Court was at risk and he needed to do something to "stop the bleeding" so to speak. Perhaps that is not political motivation, but it certainly goes far beyond judicial philosophy.

Citizenship - Members of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's posse said in March that there was probable cause that Obama's long-form birth certificate released by the White House in April 2011 was a computer-generated forgery. Posse? Really? Now, Arpaio says investigators are positive it's fraudulent. Of course they are. The Arizona posse's chief investigator said numeric codes on parts of the long-form birth certificate indicate those parts weren't filled out, yet those sections asking for the race of Obama's father and his field of work or study were completed. So-called "birthers" maintain Obama is ineligible to be president because, they contend, he was born in Kenya. Seriously, guys, the dude has been in office for almost 4 years. You need to get over this. However, Hawaii officials have repeatedly verified Obama's citizenship, and courts have rebuffed lawsuits over the issue. The Obama campaign declined to comment on Arpaio's allegations. No doubt because they have their hands full playing tit-for-tat with the Romney campaign. But a special assistant to Hawaii's attorney general, said his state's vital records are some of the best-managed and have "some of the strongest restrictions on access to prevent identity theft and fraud." In a other news regarding Sheriff Joe... A civil trial is set to begin this week in a lawsuit that accuses Arpaio's office of racially profiling Latinos. The suit is a precursor to a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit that alleges a broader range of civil rights violations against Arpaio's office. I'm sure these two stories have nothing to do with the other.

What Caught My Eye Today - Political Campaigns, Globetrotting, Supreme Court and the Kilogram

Political Campaigns - John Sununu, a top surrogate to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, issued a withering attack against President Barack Obama accusing him and his campaign of being "a bunch of liars" for their attacks on the presumptive GOP nominee. Is it just me or can you not say Sununu without giggling just a little bit? Obama's campaign is on record for suggesting Romney might have committed a "felony" for misstating his role at Bain Capital back in 1999. Sununu issued a nearly equal counterpunch, telling reporters Obama "comes out of that murky political world in Chicago where politician and felony has become synonymous." Sununu added, "I am shocked that the president introduced the word 'felon' into the political discourse." That's the ticket. Rather than take the high road, why don't we just pile on the hyperbole. What are we...like five? Later Sununu said, "I wish this president would learn how to be an American." When asked to clarify what he meant by that statement, Sununu explained he only meant that he wished Obama would adopt the "American formula" for creating businesses and introducing an environment where "entrepreneurs can thrive." I'm sort of surprised he didn't trip over himself what with all that backpedaling. When asked to respond to Sununu's statements, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign said the Romney campaign "has officially gone off the deep end." Does this sort of remind you of that time in first grade on the playground when Sally called Tommy a "poo-poo head" and Tommy replied by saying "I know you are, but what am I?" Christ, it's not even August yet. We still have almost 5 more months of this nonsense.

Globetrotting - Since becoming secretary of state in 2009, Hillary Clinton has logged 351 days on the road, traveled to 102 countries and flown a whopping 843,839 miles, according to the State Department. So like are those anytime miles or are they subject to blackout periods? Clinton just completed a 13-day journey of 27,000 miles (about 2,000 miles more than the circumference of the Earth) visiting France, Afghanistan, Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Egypt and Israel. Damn. She got more stamps in her passport in one trip than I have in my entire life. Clinton broke the previous record last month, eclipsing Madeleine Albright's total of 98, when she traveled to Finland for number 99 and then hit the 100 mark in Latvia. You know, it is sort of a shame that Hillary is already on record as saying she won't sign on for a second stint as Secretary of State should Obama win a second term. She certainly seems to have a knack for it. I wonder what she's going to do with all that free time? Then again...2016 is only 4 short years from now.

Supreme Court - Here's a shocking revelation from our friends at Gallup.The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act, anchored by Chief Justice John Roberts' majority opinion, has apparently caused a major shift in Republicans' and Democrats' views of both the court and Roberts. Whereas Republicans were initially highly favorable toward Roberts in 2005, when he was considered a conservative justice appointed by a conservative Republican president, their opinions are now more negative than positive. Democrats, initially evenly split in their views of Roberts, now appear to be big fans, with a +35 net favorable over unfavorable rating. Wow. I'm stunned. The guys that Roberts sided with like him more than they did while the other guys like him less. Who would have thought such a thing possible? Seriously, we needed a poll for this?

Kilogram - We Americans mock the metric system more than we probably should. After all, we are one of the few countries that does not use this as our primary system of measurement. That said, maybe that isn't such a bad thing. Turns out, all is not well in the metric world. Hidden in a vault outside Paris, vacuum-sealed under three bell jars, sits a palm-sized metal cylinder known as the International Prototype Kilogram, or "Le Grand K." That's right, this is no ordinary K; it's Le Grand K. I love the French. Forged in 1879 from an alloy of platinum and iridium, it was hailed as the "perfect" kilogram, the gold standard by which other kilograms would be judged. Not to split hairs, but if its made of platinum and iridium, shouldn't it be called the platinum-iridium standard? Gold just seems to cheapen it, don't you think? At its most recent weigh-in in 1988, it was found to be 0.05 milligrams—about the weight of a grain of sand, lighter than its underling replicas. If you are anything like me, your reaction to this story can probably be summed up in two words--Who cares? Turns out this is sort of a big deal. It’s bad news when your standard is no longer standardized. While no one’s worried whether a single kilogram of apples is a hair lighter or heavier at the produce stand, a small discrepancy can become a gargantuan one if you’re dealing with, say, a whole tanker of wheat. The kilogram is also used as a building block in other measurements. The joule, for instance, is the amount of energy required to move a one-kilogram weight one meter. The candela, a measure of the brightness of light, is measured in joules per second. If the kilogram is flawed, so are the joule and candela, which could eventually cause problems in an array of industries, particularly in technology. Hold the phone. You're not telling me that Le Grand K is going to screw with the Privacy Settings on my Facebook account? That crap is already hard enough to manage. Forget what I said earlier. I hate the French.

What Caught My Eye Today - Norway, Political Campaigns, Olympics and the Tour de France

Norway - Norway's government invoked emergency measures to order striking oil workers to return to their jobs. More on why they were on strike in a moment. After two weeks without progress, the government ordered the unions into arbitration, and forbade any further work stoppages for two years. The strike cut Norway's oil production by 13%, sending the international price to more than $101 a barrel. As of this posting, the price of oil was just shy of $89, so I guess things have settled down on that front. I find myself conflicted whenever I read about labor disputes such as this. On one hand, I fully support the workers' right to look after themselves as a collective body, after all, if the 1% can look after its interests why shouldn't the rest of us? But then, you see what these guys are on strike for. It seems these oil workers are looking to retire will full pensions at age 62, five years earlier than Norway's general population. And, by the way, Norwegian oil workers are the highest paid in the global oil industry, working 4 months annually and earning an average of $180,000. I will readily admit that I have no clue how demanding off shore oil drilling is. I'm sure it is rather unpleasant. However, it is sort of hard to muster up much sympathy for a group of workers already at the top of their food chain.

Political Campaigns - You all better sit down for this next one. It seems we have accusations of dishonesty related to this year's U.S. presidential race. Yeah, I know. How rare is this? Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama of running a campaign based on "falsehood and dishonesty" and brushed aside suggestions, including from some Republicans, that he should release more years of tax returns, arguing it would only give more ammunition to the Obama campaign. Romney lashed out at the Obama team's "dishonest" attacks on his business record, but the president again questioned his rival's credentials and Democrats repeated charges that the Republican flag-bearer may have committed a felony over his Bain Capital disclosures. Romney maintains he quit the day-to-day running of Bain in February 1999 and was not making the decisions when companies it owned subsequently laid off US workers and "outsourced" jobs to plants in Mexico and China. But a recent Boston Globe report revealed that filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission still listed him as Bain's chief executive between 1999 and 2002. Doesn't it make you all warm and fuzzy inside that the next leader of the free world has time to engage is this sort of nonsense? First to Romney. Dude, grow a freaking backbone already. You don't see Obama whining about the unsubstantiated claims that Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have made up to fill their airwaves, have you? As for the President. Sure, all things are fair in love, war and politics, and obviously, this story is putting Romney on the defensive...but that doesn't make it right. I have an election to win, I get that. I was just sort of hoping you wouldn't have to resort to the same tactics as the other guys.

Olympics - The dominance of the United States for much of modern Olympic Games history has continued unabated, with Americans enjoying some level of success in virtually every sporting discipline. I sense a "but" coming up here. Yet there are three events coming up in London this summer where the U.S. has drawn a complete blank, with no medals won, by men or women, in any Olympics. Ever. And there it is. While American athletes have been largely unrivalled on the track, in the pool and on the basketball court, the Star Spangled Banner has never been hoisted to celebrate overall glory or even a top three finish in badminton, table tennis or handball. Clearly, the guys at the International Olympic Committee just don't get it. It's not really a sport if the U.S. isn't good at it. Don't believe me? I bet you if we showed the sort of dominance that Spain has over the past few years, soccer would enjoy a lot more popularity than it does now.

Tour de France - And finally, a glimmer of hope that sportsmanship and fair play are not dead yet... An appalling act of sabotage from an unidentified person in the crowd lining the road at the Tour de France triggered an extraordinary display of sportsmanship from some of the leaders of the race. Carpet tacks were strewn across the road at the summit of the final climb in Sunday's stage, causing defending champion Cadel Evans and more than 30 other riders in the peloton to suffer tire punctures. Overall race leader Bradley Wiggins decided to slow the pace over the final 25 miles of the race to allow him to catch up. Wiggins could have used Evans' misfortune as an opportunity to all but eliminate one of his chief adversaries in this year's Tour, but instead he and the rest of Team Sky eased their tempo and encouraged the rest of the peloton to follow suit. As a result of the sportsmanship of Wiggins and the other leaders, Evans remains in the same position he was entering the day — fourth overall and 3:19 out of first place. Skeptics will probably argue that Wiggins waited because no one in front of him threatened his overall position in the race. Boyfriend is, in all likelihood going to win the Tour de France regardless of what he did yesterday, but that is beside the point if you ask me. Yes, there is always a winner; that's the nature of athletic competition. But every once and a while sport produces a moment that transcends winners and losers. This was one of those moments and should be celebrated. Cheers, Bradley. Well done.

Did You Know? #1

Fred's Note:  I used to publish weekly polls sharing fun little tidbits that I would come across. It was pointed out to me, that once I published a new question, no one could see previous questions.  So with that in mind, some of my posts will be fun facts.  Hope you enjoy the new format.

What to do the following grape varietals have in common: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah?

They are also known as the noble grape varieties. The phrase "noble grape" is a classical term used to describe the grapes traditionally associated with the highest quality wines. Noble grape is not as commonly used today as the more modern term "international variety" which denotes a grape variety that is widely planted in most of the major wine producing regions and has widespread appeal and consumer recognition.

What Caught My Eye Today - Wealth in America

The Occupy Wall Street movement claims that it represents the 99%. One of the biggest issues, if not the biggest, that will dominate the upcoming presidential election is the state of the US economy and, by extension, concerns about the widening wealth gap among the citizenry. I'm not suggesting that the United States is in imminent danger of an 'American Spring' but all of these headlines got me to thinking, who exactly are the 1%, do they really have an unfair advantage and finally, is that advantage really that damaging?

First, let's see if we can determine who the 1% are. This is a bit tricky because you have to decide what top you wish to measure and then the criteria by which you determine represent the top 1% and who doesn't.  For purposes of this particular rant, I have chosen to measure the top 1% of wealth as determined by household income. The statistics that I cite are based on publicly available information collected primarily by our friends at the Internal Revenue Service in the form of tax returns. Based on 2009 tax returns, you needed to report an adjusted gross income of $343,927 to make it into the top 1%, which 1.4 million taxpayers did. To provide some context, to make it into the top 50%, you needed to earn $32,396.

Having identified our top 1%, let's see just how much those rat bastards are sticking it to the rest of us. Using 2009 tax returns as our basis for comparison, the top 1% reported 17% of all income in 2009 while the top 50% reported 87% of all income earned.  For those of you who aren't that good at math, that means roughly half off all income earners reported just 13% of the total income reported in 2009. Now, before we draw any hasty conclusions, perhaps we should get some insight into the other side of the equation--is the top 1% paying it's fair share of taxes? In 2009, the top 1% paid 37% of the taxes collected and the top 50% accounted for 98% of total tax revenue.  It would seem, based strictly on this metric that the top 1% is paying it's fair share...and more. Therein lies the problem. Using a very narrow measure, one can draw broad conclusions, often to support a position that may not take into account the "whole picture". But that is a rant for another day.

Let us assume, that the top 1% does, in fact, have some sort of advantage over the 99% (as I see it, this is not exactly a huge leap of faith). Let us also assume that this advantage manifests itself as a wealth gap between the top 1% and the other 99%.  Is this wealth gap growing and if so does it pose a threat to baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet (I'm dating myself a bit here by making a reference to a kitchy little jingle the guys at Chevrolet came up with a few decades back to tie their cars to all things American)? We'll start by trying to quantify the wealth gap between the top 1% and everyone else.  If we consider net worth (the value of everything a person or family owns, minus any debts), the wealth gap hasn't varied that much over the past several years. In 1983, the top 1% accounted for 33.8% of wealth distribution compared with 34.6% in 2007. Not a huge variance, if you ask me. Even if you take the home out of the net worth equation, which for most of us is the biggest contribution to our net worth, the numbers tell basically the same story. In 1983, the top 1% held 42.9% of the wealth compared with 42.7% in 2007. So far, it seems that the wealth gap hasn't changed much, but are we missing something?

Yeah...we are.

As it turns out, most of us have no idea that wealth distribution is as concentrated as it is. Stunning, right?  Popular opinion indicates that most of us think the top 20% control about 60% of wealth when, in reality the percentage is about 85%. And when it comes to the bottom 40%, we think that the amount of wealth is about 10%; it's closer to 0.3%. Clearly, there is a disparity, or gap if you will. between the top and bottom. Interestingly, when asked to define an ideal wealth distribution, those surveyed thought the top 20% should have 30 to 40% of wealth and the bottom 40% should have 25 to 30%. So even in an "ideal" world we think there will be a wealth gap of some significance. Not nearly what it currently is, but a gap nonetheless.

I won't bore you with all of the analysis; trust me there is a lot out there. What it all boils down, in my mind, is a few not too surprising things. First, wealth and well-being are highly valued. Second, those who have the most goodies are the most powerful. Third, it is hard, really hard for the bottom 90%, to move up the power pyramid. Fourth, taxes don't have much of an impact on wealth redistribution.

Alright then. Time to bring this rant to closure.

Here's my take. We live in a society that rewards the "haves" over the "have nots". In and of itself, I don't see that as necessarily being bad. I think you should have some incentive or motivation to work hard and be rewarding appropriately for your efforts. However, it is my contention that such incentives are only effective if you have a level playing field. I would further argue that the playing field has been tilted to favor the "haves" much more than the "have nots". Herein lies the threat of damage. I started off by mentioning Occupy Wall Street and alluding to the Arab Spring.  Movements such as these, and heck you can include the TEA Party if you like, suggest a rising level of discontent driven by an underlying sense of inequality. Most people aren't looking for hand outs. All they want is a fair shot at achieving their American dream. For a good manner years we took this privilege for granted. As a result, there were some folks that seized upon the opportunity to secure a bigger pie of the pie for themselves. We've finally noticed that our slice is much smaller than it used to be. Statistics and analyses are great for pointing out what has happened and might even provides some insights as to why. Unfortunately, they cannot tell us what to do going forward. We need to figure that out for ourselves.

Run, Fred, Run Update

Fred's Note: It only took 3 years and 819 miles, but I finally made it out of Texas and into Louisiana!  Perhaps, I'll make it through the lovely Bayou State at a slight faster clip.

Check the Run, Fred, Run portlet on the side to see my progress to date.

What Caught My Eye Today

Norway - Anders Behring Breivik has admitted bombing Norway's capital and opening fire on a political youth group retreat on an island near the capital last week. He told authorities that he expects to spend the rest of his life in prison. Saying he wanted to save Europe from Muslim immigration, he entered a plea of not guilty that will guarantee him future court hearings and opportunities to address the public, even indirectly. Breivik faces 21 years in prison for the terrorism charges, but he has told authorities he never expects to be released. While 21 years is the stiffest sentence a Norwegian judge can hand down, a special sentence can be given to prisoners deemed a danger to society who are locked up for 20-year sentences that can be renewed indefinitely. Amen to that. Breivik wrote a 1,500 page manifesto criticizing Norway's openness and embrace of immigrants and said his attacks were intended to start a revolution to inspire Norwegians to retake their country from Muslims. He blames liberals for championing multiculturalism over Norway's "indigenous" culture and claimed that the killings were meant to wake people up to these problems and to serve as "marketing" for his manifesto. It is tragic and unfortunate that acts of terror can happen anywhere, at anytime, by anyone. At the same time, it is important to remember, as was the case with the Oklahoma City bombings, that terrorism is not limited to any particular religion or ethnicity. Sadly, it seems anyone with enough determination has the ability to inflict great harm. Thankful, Norway refuses to compromise its values in the face such acts of cowardice. It is such steadfastness will ultimately defeat terrorism, and the terrorists know that.

Physics - Scientists hoping to puzzle out how the Universe began will find a long-sought theoretical particle, or rule out that it exists, by the end of 2012. Thank, God. Maybe then I will finally be able to get a good night's sleep. The Higgs boson isn't just any particle. It's the linchpin of the Standard Model of particle physics theory that explains the Big Bang, because it is believed to answer a fundamental question about why matter has mass. The particle itself is thought to give mass to other particles, and thus to objects and creatures in the Universe. These are the latest findings to come out of test conducted at The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. Physicists also hope the collider will help them see and understand other suspected phenomena, such as dark matter, antimatter and supersymmetry. Dark matter has been theorized by scientists to account for missing mass and bent light in faraway galaxies. Scientists believe it makes galaxies spin faster. Lest you had forgot, this is the same contraption that critics have suggested has the potential for creating a block hole that could envelop the entire planet. I think the lesson here is pretty clear. Don't piss off physicists.

Cycling- Aussie, Aussie, Aussie...Oy, Oy, Oy!!! It was a Tour de France many hailed as a classic. There were crashes, dropouts, surprises and, above all, a new champion. With Cadel Evans becoming the first Australian to win cycling's most prestigious race, the Tour de France had a completely new look this year. This year, with defending champion Alberto Contador far from his best, the race was wide open. Despite the early departure of some pre-race favorites, seven key riders were in contention halfway through the final week. And that's not counting Frenchman Thomas Voeckler, who led through the Pyrenees and most of the Alps. I'm not a huge fan of Contador, but let's not forget, due won the Giro Italia 3 weeks before the start of the Tour, and has won 6 Grand Tours that he participated in. The French went crazy for Voeckler, who expected to hold the yellow jersey for only a day or two but showed extraordinary strength to stay with Evans and the Schlecks through most of the mountain stages and finished fourth overall. The race for the green jersey, given to the best sprinter, went to Britain's Mark Cavendish. Dude has 20 stage wins after riding in just 4 events. It is also worth noting that he won the points competition despite being docked 40 points for finishing outside the stage time limits...twice. Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez, finished sixth and won the polka-dot jersey for best climber. For American fans, the top finisher was Tom Danielson in ninth place. American based BMC claimed the yellow jersey, courtesy of Cadel Evans and American based Garmin Cervelo claimed the team classification. Next up the Vuelta a Espana in August.

NASCAR - Here's a story you will only see in the world of stock car racing...God love 'em. Pastor Joe Nelms likely had folks gathered at the NASCAR Federated Auto Parts 300 race in Nashville looking around for his "smokin' hot wife," after he thanked God for her during his pre-race invocation. He thanked God for such things as "these mighty machines that you've brought before us," going on to cite the wonders of Dodges and Toyotas and Fords. Prayerful thanks then were directed to, among other things, "Sunoco Racing Fuel and Goodyear tires that bring performance and power to the track." But it was when he got to his family that he had fans and drivers unsuccessfully holding back laughter. "Lord I want to thank you for my smokin' hot wife tonight, Lisa, my two children, Eli and Emma, or as we like to call them the Little E's." But he wasn't done. He prayed and blessed the drivers and said, "may they put on a performance worthy of this great track." Then he borrowed NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip's trademark phrase in his closing: "In Jesus' name. Boogity, boogity, boogity. Amen." Seriously, this is one of the most hilarious moments in sport that I have ever seen (click here).

What Caught My Eye Today

Space Shuttle - A picture is worth a thousand words. You did the nation proud, Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour. Well done. Well done, indeed.

Debt Ceiling - House Speaker John Boehner predicted that a majority of House Republicans will end up supporting some kind of compromise to avoid a government default. My first reaction was, "like they have a choice," followed almost immediately by, "I'll believe it when I see it." Several media outlets reported that President Barack Obama and Boehner were near an agreement on a grand bargain trading $3 trillion or so in spending cuts and a promise of $1 trillion in tax revenues through a later overhaul of the tax code as part of a deal to extend the government's borrowing authority. Sounds promising, doesnt' it...until you read this. "We're not close to a deal," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. "While we are keeping the lines of communication open, there is no 'deal' and no progress to report," Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said. Officially, the president continued to push for a big compromise that would cut the nation's budget deficit and extend the government's tapped-out borrowing power above the current $14.3 trillion cap, but he relented slighted saying he would back a short-term deal to prevent a disastrous financial default on August 2 but only if a larger and still elusive deficit-cutting agreement was essentially in place. I'm all for getting a deal done to avoid the end of the world as we know it on August 2, but we've been down this road before. There is something to be said for the urgency of the moment providing the motivation one needs to act. Congress really needs to work "stuff" out now before silly season (also known as the 2012 Presidential election) descends upon us.

Soccer - Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that the FIFA Women's World Cup came to a close this past weekend...and if you are a fan of the underdog, you were not disappointed. Japan beat a heavily favored U.S.A. squad 3 to 1 in penalty kicks after drawing 1-1 in regulation and 2-2 after extra time. As for me, I should have stopped my predictions after the semifinals. I blew both the third place game (Sweden over France) and the Final. And it is really hard not to applaud achievement of the Japanese women and its affect on the nation...not after the year they've had to endure. Overall, I picked 12 out of 16 teams correctly (7 out of 8 in group play, 3 out of 4 in the quarters, 2 out of 2 in the semis, and... well, you know). And now, we can all relax for a bit as we enjoy the build up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup, just 50 days from now.

Cycling - With 18 stages down and 3 to go in this year's edition of the Tour de France, French sports fans must be going out of their minds. Frenchman Thomas Voeckler has confounded pretty much everyone who claims to know anything about professional bike racing by remaining the overall race leader for a tenth consecutive day. And if you happen to be a Norwegian, it has been a pretty good day at the office for you as well. With all of 2 riders participating in this year's event, Thor Hushovd and Edvald Boasson Hagen have each won 2 stages apiece, double what Spain has managed with its 20 riders and 4 more than France, which has no stage victories. Pre-race favorite, Alberto Contador, fell out of contention after today's stage. The smart money (say the experts) now lies with Cadel Evans of Australia or Andy Schleck of Luxembourg. If you ask me, until someone can wrestle the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) from Voeckler, who has a 15 second lead over Schleck, I say, "vont Thomas Voeckler. Vive le français. Vive le tour".

What Caught My Eye Today

U.S. Debt - Horror stories are flying about the damage that might be wreaked should Congress and President Barack Obama fail to cut a deal by the August 2 deadline to increase America's borrowing limit. Absent a deal by then, the government would find itself tight on cash and unable to borrow and have to start deciding which of the 80 million bills due in August it should pay and which it should put off. Forgive me if I don't sound sympathetic to the government's plight. Like most normal people, I content with this conundrum pretty much every month. One analysis, by the Bipartisan Policy Center, suggests that once the government runs out of cash and lacks the power to further borrow, it would need to slash spending at once by as much as a whopping 44 percent. The U.S. now borrows more than 40 cents for every dollar it spends. Some conservative congressional Republicans have questioned whether there would really be a crisis if the deadline were missed. They note that the government could cut programs instead and still make interest payments at least for a while. On one hand, we're being asked to call the government's bluff and go into default. On the other had, we're being told, even if we go into default, it's not so bad. We'll just cut some government programs. Nice choice. Here's my question to that those Republicans. What makes you think that it will be any easier to reach some sort of agreement on which programs to cut after the government defaults than finding some sort of middle ground before it runs out of money? I like to think of myself as an optimistic realist. In this case, the best chance for the government to come up with some sort of palatable compromise is while it still has some options to choose from. Meanwhile, I, along with the rest of the country, will will continue find ways to survive on what I actually have.

North Dakota - A constitutional error recently discovered shows that North Dakota has never technically fit the requirements for statehood. An 82year old Grand Forks resident discovered the error in 1995 and has been been campaigning to fix North Dakota's constitution ever since. The problem lies in the state constitution's omission in requiring the governor and other top officials to take an oath of office. In failing to require these oaths, North Dakota's constitution is at odds with federal requirements established by Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, therefore making statehood illegitimate. A State Senator introduced a bill fixing the mistake that will be put to voters next spring. The thing I like about this story is that it demonstrates no matter how old you are, you have the ability to affect change. And don't look now, but boyfriend appears to be ready for his encore. The eagle eye claims he's found another error in the constitution, this time having to do with the state's eastern border. If Minnesota had a functioning government, I'm thinking the legislators might be keeping tabs on this guy to make sure it's borders don't get redrawn. If you hadn't heard, Minnesota literally shut down two weeks ago because it could hammer out a budget. Seriously, is anyone in Washington paying attention?

Traffic - I don't want to sound unsympathetic to my friends in Los Angeles, but oh my God, what is it with you and your freeways? How Angelenos are coping with "carmageddon" – the 53 hour shutdown of a crucial 10 mile segment of freeway here – is the topic of conversation no matter where you go in Los Angeles. This segment of Interstate 405 linking the Los Angeles International Airport and the San Fernando Valley, the most traveled freeway in the United States, will be closed so that engineers can demolish a bridge to create a carpool lane. Many say it’s tearing the city apart by spotlighting the entire metropolitan region’s long term over dependence on cars in place of adequate public transportation. Others say it’s bringing the city together as never before, because everyone is in the same predicament and helping each other out. Still others, like myself, are wondering what it says about these people, when with all that is going on in the world, all they can think about is how they are going to survive without a freeway for 2 days. Here's a thought. Spend some time thinking about just how petty this sounds to the rest of the world.

Sports - And then there were two. No, I'm not talking about the number of riders left in the Tour de France, but the finalists in the FIFA Women's World Cup. It took until the semifinals, but I final picked all the winners (all 2 of them). Before I roll out my final picks, let's give a shout out to the U.S.A for dispatching of a rather impressive French squad and to Japan for showing the exit to Sweden. Now then, in the third place game between France and Sweden, I'm going with France. Based on their performance against Japan, I think Sweden has run out of go-go juice for this tournament. And in the main event pitted the U.S.A. against Japan, as much as I would like to see them bring the trophy back to a ravaging homeland, I think Japan is going to meet its match against an inspired American squad.

What Caught My Eye Today

The Hague - Read this carefully and see if you are as perplexed as I was. Former Bosnian Serv military chief Ratko Mladic was evicted from his trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia after repeatedly interrupting the proceedings with complaints. Mladic is charged with genocide and crimes against humanity in the 1992-95 Bosnian war, including the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica. I don't know much about international law, but isn't it going to be a bit challenging to conduct a trial for the defendant if you expel him from the proceedings? Isn't that going to make it rather difficult to see justice served? I'm guessing that is the primary purpose of the Tribunal in the first place.

Potpourri - After the last installment, we're switching gears back to some normalcy, though if you are looking for a theme, "coincidence" would certainly fit the bill.

• Wars on Terrorism - According to a new study by Brown University, the final bill for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will come to between $3.7 trillion and $4.4 trillion, including nation-building efforts; the cost of providing medical care, services, and long-term benefits to veterans; and interest on what the U.S. borrowed to fund the wars. For those of you who pay attention to such things, President Obama is currently working with Congress to reduce the federal debt by $4 trillion. I'm sure this is purely coincidental.
• Executive Pay - Despite the soft economy, high unemployment and stagnant wages for most workers, top executives got huge raises last year. The average paycheck for top executives at 200 big companies in 2010 was $10.8 million, a 23% increase from 2009. Perhaps there might be some correlation between that and the resentment some many workers have against their bosses. Not me, of course. I'd take a bullet for my boss.
• Eating - Over the last three decades, Americans went from eating 3.8 meals and snacks a day to 4.9 a day. The average American now consume about 2,375 calories per day, 32% more than in the 1970s. Interesting. A 32% increase in calorie intake matched by a 29% increase in meals and snacks. Yeah, there's no cause and effect here.

Soccer - If you recall, I picked 7 out of 8 teams advancing out of Women's World Cup group play. In quarterfinal action, I managed 3 out of 4:

• Germany vs. Japan
• Sweden vs Australia
• England vs. France
• Brazil vs. U.S.A.

I'm not sure how the remaining team could possibly match the drama of the quarterfinals, but I sure hope they try. The experts almost universally agree that the U.S.A. squad is the clear favorite to win the World Cup. Last time I checked, the team that claims the Cup still needs to win two more matches. Here are my semi final picks:

• France vs. U.S.A. - Honestly, how could you pick against the U.S.A. after what they pulled off in the quarterfinals?
• Japan vs. Sweden - I'm sort of at a loss on this one. Both teams have overachieved and played extremely well. I'm going with the team that knocked off the host nation, Japan

What Caught My Eye Today

Sports - I don't usually start off with sports stories, but have to make an exception. Between the epic finishes of the quarter final matches in the Women's World Cup and the bloodbath (literally) that the Tour de France is becoming, yesterday had so much drama, you would have had a hard time selling the stories to Hollywood if they had not actually happened. First, soccer. Three of the four quarterfinal matches when to extra time and two of those went to penalty kicks. No match came close to rivaling the U.S. - Brazil contest. Thanks to some of the lousiest refereeing--ever--on both sides of the ball, the U.S. played a man down for the last 25 minutes of regulation plus thirty minute of extra time. If that isn't enough, the U.S. was less than a minute away from exiting the tournament before Abby Wambach put in a last second (again, I mean that literally) to tie the match. And if that isn't enough, the U.S. finally won on penalty kicks thanks to an amazing save by goaltender Abby Wambach. And if that isn't enough, check your pulse, you might be dead and just not know it. And then there is the Tour de France. I've already mentioned numerous crashes in prior stages and yes they continued into stage nine. But there was another twist in yesterday's action. A car actually took down two riders in a breakaway to avoid hitting a tree. Apparently, the idiot driver thought it was better to nudge a bicycle going about 35 miles an hour rather than to apply his brakes and let the rider pass--but I digress. The amazing thing is that the two riders taken down by the car not only got back on their bicycles, but they both finished the stage and plan to continue riding when the Tour resumes tomorrow. And did I mention that one of the riders that got thrown when flying into a barbed wired fence?

India - A stunning hoard of treasure, possibly the largest in the world, was discovered in the vaults of a Hindu temple including bags of diamons, other gems and gold coins worth at least $22 billion. This next part is what caught my attention. I love this country. The vaults were opened after a local lawyer asked for an audit to settle allegations that the temple funds were being mismanaged. The temple is run by a trust controlled by descendants of the royal family which once ruled the area and is believed to have donated much of the treasure over the centuries as offings to the god Vishnu. India's Supreme Court ordered that the remaining treasure be preserved in a museum. Dude, there are 3 sets of people you never piss off, your food server, your boss's administrative assistance, and divine beings. I can just imagine the headline, "India's Supreme Court Mysterious Disappears Off The Face Of The Earth; God Vishnu Reported To Smile At The News"

Potpourri - Let's call this installment the "Oh my god, you cannot be serious" edition.

• Sunscreen - Children attending summer camp in Maryland must get parental permission to wear sunscreen. Camp counselors have been banned from applying sunscreen to campers, out of concern for inappropriate touching, but then said it was okay with written consent. Camp officials said they are trying to "walk a fine line between protecting kids' skin and making sure they feel personally safe." Say it with me now (you know you want to)... Oh my god, you cannot be serious!!!
• A Michigan prison inmate is suing his jail for the right to read pornography saying he suffers from Chronic Masturbation Syndrome. The inmate says that because he suffers from CMS, the jail's ban on pornography constitutes "cruel and unusually punishment" and is clearly designed to deprive him of any sort of sexual gratification. For the record, I did not make this story up. Second (because I clearly have too much time on my hands), I did a search on CMS and could not find a single credible source to that suggests this is a legitimate condition. I found a listing for Traumatic Masturbation Syndrome, but was afraid to click on the link. That not withstanding, oh my god, you cannot be serious.
• Shaving - An Oregon company has begun selling the Safirro Iridium razor, featuring solid white sapphire blades that are sharpened to 5,000 thinner than the width of a hair and will last forever for $100,000. I'm not sure which is more perplexing--what motivates a company to produce a $100,000 razor, or the idiot who feels the need to spend $100,000 on said razor.
• Dog Poop - The manager of a New Hampshire apartment complex requires dog owners to submit a DNA sample form their pets, so that any unscooped poop can be traced. And with this little gem, we conclude this edition of "oh my god, you cannot be serious"

What Caught My Eye Today

Fred's Note: First, on a personal note, I just read that a high school friend died in a plane crash this past weekend. That brings to three the number of Panthers from the Class of '89 that are no longer with us. Life is short. Don't take a single day for granted. As for my friend, Kristen, you'll be missed.

In today's post we bid farewell to one era and usher in a new one. Yeah, I totally planned it this way...totally.

Space Shuttle - The space shuttle Atlantis and its four astronauts launched into orbit Friday on a cargo run that will close out three decades of both triumph and tragedy for NASA and usher in a period of uncertainty for America's space program. This is the 135th shuttle flight since the inaugural mission in 1981. Atlantis' crew will dock with the International Space Station on Sunday, deliver a year's worth of critical supplies to the orbiting outpost, and bring the trash home. After Atlantis' return, it will be lights out for the shuttle program. Thousands of workers will be laid off within days. The spaceship will become a museum piece like the two other surviving shuttles, Discovery and Endeavour. And NASA will leave the business of building and flying rockets to private companies while it turns its attention to sending humans to an asteroid by about 2025 and Mars a decade after that. It will be at least three years before astronauts are launched again from U.S. soil. Good grief, this reads like an obituary. My goodness, aren't we a sorry lot. I'm thinking this is a time to celebrate 30 years of accomplishment and look toward the future. This is space exploration we're talking about people. As much as I applaud the Space Shuttle program, how much more are we going to learn by continuing to orbit the Earth. I'm thinking the nearly 21,000 orbits the space shuttles made are enough. It's time to embrace our inner Star Trek and "boldly go where no one has gone before."

South Sudan - Ladies and gentleman, put your hands together for the 193rd officially recognized nation, South Sudan. The Republic of South Sudan
became the world's newest nation, officially breaking away from Sudan after two civil wars over five decades that cost the lives of at least 2 million people. South Sudan earned independence at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, the culmination of a January independence vote guaranteed in a 2005 peace deal that ended the most recent north-south war. Sudan was the first country to officially recognize South Sudan. That's a nice gesture don't you think? One has to believe that the north is still pretty bummed out about losing half its turf, you know, the part with all the oil.

Belgium - It seems our Belgian friends still cannot find a way to form a government. Belgium's King Albert II urged the country's politicians on Friday to consider "the gravity of the situation," after the resignation of the latest mediator in talks to form a coalition government. Elections in June 2010 brought the anti-Belgium N-VA regionalists to the fore in Flanders and left the pro-Belgium PS Socialists as the main party in the Francophone regions. The two need to work together to form a unitary national government, but talks have repeatedly broken down over demands for reforms and more self-rule to the two communities. The nation now holds the record for time without a government for a modern democracy. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed that Belgium has held itself together so well. After all the turmoil of the Arab Spring (can we call it Arab Summer yet?) and the havoc caused by the sudden collapse long standing governments, when you look at the state of affairs in Belgium, you might pause for a moment to ponder just how important it really is to have a functioning government.

Cycling - Dude, the peleton hasn't even hit the mountains and there is carnage galore. Here's a quick recap. Pre-tour favorite Alberto Cantador got caught up in a crash on the first stage and is a minute and 42 seconds off the pace (at this level of competition, that's quite a bit). Stage 5 had at least 10 crashes that pretty much took out at least one rider from every team (and yes Contador was involved in a crash yet again). On stage 6, American Levi Leipheimer crashed late (his second spill in two days) and lost more than a minute on the leaders, which pretty much hoses his chances for a podium finish. And then today, a crash at the end of the stage left dozens of riders, including poor Levi, to finish more than 3 minutes behind stage winner, Mark Cavendish. This guy is the man. Cavendish has now taken 27 stage wins in major Tours, including 17 stages of the Tour de France, 2 stages of the Giro d'Italia in 2011, as well as 68 wins on the road since turning pro in 2007. HTC-Highroad has racked up 42 victories this season alone, making them the most successful ProTour team. As for the top of the leader board, Thor Hushovd (Norway) still leads the way with Cadel Evans just one second behind, and Frank Schleck still in third place, four seconds behind Hushovd. Just think, the first high mountain stage isn't until stage 12. I'm not sure how much more drama I can handle.

What Caught My Eye Today

Space Shuttle - It is the end of an era, my friends. One might think that the upcoming final mission of the Space Shuttle program would evoke fond memories. Not so much. The space shuttle was sold to America as cheap, safe and reliable. It was none of those. It cost $196 billion over 40 years, ended the lives of 14 astronauts and managed to make less than half the flights promised. The total price tag for the program was more than twice the $90 billion NASA originally calculated. The nation spent more on the space shuttle than the combined cost of soaring to the moon, creating the atom bomb, and digging the Panama Canal. Of the five shuttles built, two were lost in fiery tragedies. The most shuttle flights taken in one year was nine — far from the promised 50. One out of every 67 flights ended in death — a fatality rate that would make the most ardent daredevil cringe. Based on deaths per million miles traveled, the space shuttle is 138 times riskier than a passenger jet. In fairness, this is rocket science we're talking about here. As for some of those other criticisms. Nine flights a year is a far cry from 50, but honestly, what's the big deal? It's not like the shuttle went anywhere beyond the orbit of the Earth (okay, maybe that's not a great argument in favor of the shuttle). Let's move onto those cost overruns. $90 billion in cost overruns spread over 40 years...on a government project? Sounds like the model of efficiency to me. Bear in mind, we are burning through $2 billion a week on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. By comparison $90 billion over 40 years is a rounding error. As for the mortality rate, no one said space travel was a trivial undertaking. I for one applaud the accomplishments of the Space Shuttle program and all those dedicated to its successes over the past 30 years.

Cell Phones - Nothing amuses me more than a study that points out the obvious. A study by the Governors Highway Safety Association found driving distractions, primarily by cell phones and other electronic devices, are associated with up to 25% of U.S. car crashes. One wonders what causes the other 75% of crashes. Perhaps a topic for another day. The study showed that drivers are distracted up to half the time and that crashes caused by distractions range from minor damage to fatal injury. Cell phone use raises the risk of crashing, but texting is likely to increase crash risk more than cell phone use. I don't understand what people are thinking sometimes. Where I live, there is more than enough to keep my attention getting to and from work in one piece without the need for challenging myself even further by not keeping my hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. Some folks that suggest they have to stay connected to work and have no choice but to pick up the phone while they are driving. My, but what delusions of grandeur these folks have of themselves. Speaking strictly for myself, if my company cannot survive the time it takes me to drive to or from work, they clearly are not paying me enough.

Soccer - Group play has concluded Soccer at The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. Lets see how my picks fared (my pick in bold type).

• Group A: Canada, France, Germany, Nigeria
• Group B: England, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand
• Group C: Colombia, North Korea, Sweden, United States
• Group D: Australia, Brazil, Equatorial Guinea, Norway

Seven out of 8 isn't too bad. The big surprise is that the United States lost to Sweden in Group C making its quarterfinal matchup a lot tougher. Speaking of which, here are my quarterfinal picks:

• Germany vs. Japan: Germany. The host nation advances.
• Sweden vs Australia: In a match up between the two biggest surprises of group play, I'm taking Sweden.
• England vs. France: A toss-up if you ask me, but I'm leaning toward France. They looked awfully good against Germany in group play.
• Brazil vs. U.S.A.: This is what happens when you don't win your group. Brazil beat the U.S.A. 4-0 in the last World Cup. I'm hoping the U.S. exacts revenge this time around.

Cycling - Ah yes my friends. The Tour de France is back! Sadly, Mr. Lance Armstrong is not competing this year (dude retired), but plenty of folks are ready to compete for the coveted yellow jersey (and endless accusations of blood doping after the fact). The usual suspects to win this year's event include Alberto Cantador (Spain), Cadel Evans (Australia) and Andy Schleck (Begium). The best American hopes lie with Chris Horner and Levi Leipheimer, who both happen to ride for Lance's former team, RadioShack. Should you be curious (and I know you are), 6 stages are in the books and the first mountain stages are just around the corner. Thor Hushovd (Norway) riding for U.S. team Garmin Cervelo has a commanding one second lead over Cadel Evans. Twelve seconds separate the top 10 riders after nearly 1,000 kilometers.