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From NYTimes.com: Pickens Says Gas And Wind Would Slash Oil Imports

Texas energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens on Tuesday called for a massive switch to natural gas as a transportation fuel and a boost in wind power in a plan aimed at reducing U.S. foreign oil dependence by a more than a third.

The one thing that is clear, is the government is not going to be able to solve our energy problems.  It’s going to be entrepreneurs and visionaries that will lead the way.  Wind may not be the answer to all our problems, but it’s a start, especially when an old oilman is leading the way.

From NYTimes.com: A Private Dance? Four Million Web Fans Say No

Nice a little profile of Matt Harding, creator of the Where the Hell is Matt video, now viewed over 4.6 million times!

Here’s a good way to keep your cats nice and trim!
Cats On A Treadmill – Watch more free videos

From NYTimes.com: Rising Convention Costs and Delays Worry Democrats

Am I alone in thinking that way too much money is being spent for Political Conventions?  What purposes do these Conventions serve these day with the nominees already in place?

Found this display of Independence Day decorations at Lowes in Cincinnati. 

From Knight Rider Online: Mio Knight Rider GPS has voice of KITT Inside

It might be fun to have KITT give you turn by turn directions, but I could do without the picture of David Hasselhoff appearing every time you turn it on.

From ESPN.com: Hammon’s Olympic dream puts her in Russian uniform

“The jersey that I wear has never made me who I was. It has nothing to do with what’s written on my heart,” Hammon told ESPN.com Tuesday. “Will I be playing for Russia? Yes. But I’m absolutely 100 percent still an American. I love our country. I love what we stand for. This is an opportunity to fulfill my dream of playing in the Olympics.”

What might make Hammon’s decision an eye-opener in this country is that — in addition to her scrappy point-guard play — her popularity stems partly from the perception that she is the ultimate small-town all-American girl: blond hair, ponytail and near perfect smile. And now the all-American girl will suit up for Russia, which could knock a dent into that image.

Becky Hammon, a popular WNBA player, is U.S. born with no Russian ancestors.  Hammon became a naturalized Russian citizen last year to be able to play on the Russian team.

I have no problem with naturalized citizens joining a country’s Olympic team- there are a number of them that have been on the U.S. Olympic team.  However, I think if you become a citizen of a country you should show some allegiance to the country. 

When Hammon says that she’s 100% American, that should be a slap in the face to every member of the Russian Olympic team.  I’m surprised that the Russians would allow her to stay on the team with statements like that.  Imagine an U.S. Olympic team member saying that he/she had 100% allegiance to another country.

From NYTimes.com: China Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo

The military trainers who came to Guantánamo Bay in December 2002 based an entire interrogation class on a chart showing the effects of “coercive management techniques” for possible use on prisoners, including “sleep deprivation,” “prolonged constraint,” and “exposure.”

What the trainers did not say, and may not have known, was that their chart had been copied verbatim from a 1957 Air Force study of Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to obtain confessions, many of them false, from American prisoners.

Come on!  Do we have to import everything from China?  What happened to old fashioned American torture?

Seriously, this is a disturbing article about how torture was used to gain confessions of captured American soldiers, often false.

From Dayton Daily News: Telling it as (like) it is

Ken Griffey Jr. was not in Monday’s lineup and he saw 9-year-old Darren Baker standing in the clubhouse.

“Why am I not playing tonight, Darren?” asked Griffey.

“Because you can’t hit lefthanders,” said Darren, son of manager Dusty Baker. “And you’re old.”

Ha ha.  At least one Baker isn’t afraid of saying how it is.