Floyd Landis will wear the yellow jersey tomorrow. Congratulations to Floyd. This guy is amazing. He will have hip replacement surgery after the Tour. Stage 11 was the first real mountain stage. Wouldn't it be nice......

Captain's Quarters
See my post below about this and about my friend who has been there.

Hot Air Has a link to site with pics of US soldiers' tortured bodies. I just don't think most Americans realize what kind of war we are in. Most of us go about our daily lives and we don't think of the sacrifices that our military personnel are making. I have a friend that has just returned from his tour of duty in Iraq. He and I had a opportunity to talk and drink a few cold ones the other day. He spent more than a year in Iraq and missed many things while there. As he talked about the things he missed and the things that he saw, I begin to realize what sacrifices he had made. He and I emailed each other many times while he was there. He sent me pictures of Iraq. I sent him boxes of candy and good ole southern food.

I found that the longer we talked the more I wished that I could have done for him while he was gone. He told me he appreciated my emails and all the boxes of goodies that I had sent. It seemed to be so little...

When we left our little chat session that day, I looked him in the eyes and told him how much I appreciated him and his service.... and how glad we all are that he is back home safe and sound.

These pictures are horrendous and make me sick to see them. We are dealing with animals worse than the Nazis during WWII. This war is our generation's test. Sometimes I worry how we will handle this challenge, but then I remember the look in my buddy's eyes as he talked to me about his experiences in Iraq. He had a steely look that gave me some reassurances that these guys we are sending over there are dedicated and determined to win this one too. God bless our soldiers and God bless those families whose soldiers don't come back alive. We will never forget.....

ESPN.com - OLY/TDF2006 - American cyclist Landis to have hip surgery after Tour
What a man, what a man, what a man. I could not believe this ESPN article about Floyd Landis. Cyclists are a tough breed of athlete. Floyd says his arthritic hip will be replaced in August after the Tour. I cannot believe he is riding at such a high level. I hope this does not end his career, but wouldn't it be great if he could win this thing before the surgery. Come Floyd, we all rooting for you!!

The World Cup.....Italy wins in a shootout!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hugh Hewitt analyzes Bill Keller's interview on the Charlie Rose show this weekend. I say the interview and it was just amazing to hear the arrogance coming from this guy. Charlie was just gushing but not asking any hard questions. He allowed Mr. Keller to say what ever he wanted without any challenge. I think we all have got to be aware of who put personal gain and political advantage above national security. Mr. Keller says the uproar about this is a Republican ploy for political gain and that the Whitehouse is embarrassed because they pride themselves on controlling leaks and the NYT has successfully published at least two stories with classified information with impunity. What's next? More later....

OLN - Tour de France
Bobby Julich goes down in a crash and Levi Leipheimer had a horrible time trial. George Hincappie lost over 2 minutes to winner. Floyd Landis is 1 minute back. He is said to have had a problem with his bike and had to change bikes during the time trial.
The story is that he was forced to change the handle bar position right before the time trial. The handle bars broke during the race when he hit a bump and had to go to his backup bike. Sergei Gontchar of the Ukraine won the time trial and the will wear the yellow jersey tommorrow.

The RCP Blog
I have a post on my blog about this linked to Cal Thomas's column. I,too, live in a small southern town but I obviously don't agree with the emailer at RCP. I do believe the LDS church has changed alot in the last fifty years but many are not aware of the changes. A visit to Salt Lake was very educational for me and my family a few years ago. No, we were not there for educational purposes, we were there for a college football game, Mississippi State University vs Brigham Young University. We learned alot that long weekend and we won the football game as well.

Townhall.com::Can a Mormon be president?::By Cal Thomas
This column by Cal Thomas struck me as strange that he would be asking this question. I thought we had come further than that in our progression as a country. Obviously not. In politics, as in life for me, I judge people by their character and their actions not by the color of their skin or their religious beliefs. If a man or woman is qualified and live their lives as the office that they aspire to requires, let's hear them out. Each must make up his own mind about who is qualified and who can do the job at hand. Race, religion or the sex of the candidate should not be the filters that exclude consideration.

Ken Lay's Last Evasion
What a sick article about a man who has just died of a massive heart attack. The Post should be proud of this work. These are the same pages selectively hold others as heroes when they are actually cold blooded terroists and killers. Mr. Lay was convicted of his crimes and this article seems to be disappointed that he only died.

OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan
This is Peggy Noonan's take on the death of Ken Lay, former chairman of Enron. She takes the point of view that the massive coronary was really a broken heart. She says that Mr. Lay's life was ruined and the scandal of Enron's demise broke his heart. She goes on to explain that in today's modern media, there is no place to hide, no place to start over when you have messed up. She summed up Lay's death as a person who came from little, worked his way up through his education, then on through the business world, reached the top and then messed up. The weight of this literally killed him. A sad ending to a very sad story.
Other news outlets are already investigating what will happen now with the legal case. More to come...

Belfast Telegraph
This is the stuff that makes me wonder if I want to spend my money on vacations in the UK anymore. American tourist need to be aware of the feelings that are so deep in the British people. They continue to say that it is not against the American people that they dislike our government or our president. Well, it's my government and it's my president. I just can't help believing that it focused on ordinary Americans as well.

OLN - Tour de France
Robbie McEwen is unbelievable on the sprints. Tom Boonen retains the yellow jersey with Michael Rogers second and George Hincapie third. It is still interesting even after Lance Armstrong's run.

Top of the morning this July 5. News this morning is all about the Korean missile test yesterday. What can the world really do about such a kooky North Korean leader. China and Russia still block all efforts to do anything about this. The UN is a completely useless institution that is corrupt and should be revamped. All the news outlets are just buzzing about the test and a lot of hand wringing about what to do.

Michelle Malkin: INDEPENDENCE DAY 2006
We all have much to be thankful for on this Independence Day. A day that saw the Shuttle return to space without a hitch, and North Korean missile tests that was a dud. We all enjoyed our hometown fireworks and all is well for a few moments. Back to the real world tommorow.

The RCP Blog
This continues to be a concern for me and my family. I hope we hear the voices of those that will dispute this poll. We love our visits to the UK.

Telegraph | News | Britain falls out of love with America
What does this mean to a family that is planning a trip to the UK? I know my family has been planning a three week vacation in England and Scotland for next year and we are begining to have second thoughts. We are not sure if we want to spend our money in a country that the majority of the people don't like us or want us in their country. We may find other places to visit.

The New York Times is at it again. What are these guys thinking. Today, on Meet the Press was a shamefull display of MSM arrogance when Andrea Mitchell hosting a segment. It was absolutely the reason why most Americans do not believe anything they hear or read from the Press today. It was an absolute cover up for the New York Times and a knock on the government. The argument is being framed by the MSM as Republicans against the press. It is Americans against the press.

Le Tour de France
George Hincapie wears yellow for next stage. Congratulations George.

Today's LA Times published another letter to the public attempting to explain away why they keep on publishing our country's classified secrets during a time of war. The editor of the LA Times and the Executive editor to the NY Times proclaim to be competitors but something doesn't ring true. The Public editor for the NYT says he has done some investigation of his own and guess what, he thinks that his boss and his newspaper were right in publishing the latest effort to aid and abet our enemy. Although, he did admit that 85% of the emails that he has received(1000 in all) were very much against the paper's position on all of this, he proceeded to tell us all just how wrong we are and that we just don't understand the high minded reasoning that goes into running such a story. When will the arrogance stop?

Le Tour de France
Thor Hushovd wins the prologue time trial by less than a second over George Hincappie with David Zabriskie in third.

I just read the WSJ's editorial differentiating their publishing of the secret SWIFT program with that of the New York Times. WSJ's editorial board said that they were contacted by Treasury officials and given a list of talking points about the SWIFT program. I surmised it was given this info because in meetings with the NYT they had been informed that the Times was going to publish their article. WSJ' says that this is common place when a government agency knows that an article is going to be published that they attempt to get others to publish that might have a straighter article than what is being published by others. The WSJ's reporting was probably straighter than the Times which had been gathering leaks for weeks to get their story together. Who knows what goes on with these Pulitzer Prize coveting people. All I know is that this should stop all efforts for the federal shield law that all the press have been lobbying for. In fact, I think we should look into new laws dealing with publishing classified information that is harmful to our country in a time of warl. These laws should clarify what can and cannot be published and the penalties for doing so. Obviously, we already have laws to punish the leakers, if only we had the will to do so.