First a hearty congratulations to my brother Guy and his lovely wife Clare, who eloped on Canada Day.  I'll be attending the reception in Boston next month (okay, usually the reception and wedding are the same day, but this works too.)

Michael Moore was on with Leslie Blitzer on CNN to discuss Sicko this week and got blindsided by a misleading hit piece on the movie engineered by Sanjay Gupta, CNN's medical go-to guy.  The so-called 'fact check' was, in fact, completely bogus.  Just a taste of things to come as the AMA and medical insurance industry fight to win the propaganda war against treating health care as a basic human right.  If this subject interests you, you should check out Moore's website.



I incorporated a daily mile on the treadmill into my workout this week.  I've got bad knees, so I've never used a treadmill before, but so far so good.  Something about the pounding your body takes from running just makes you feel like you've actually done something (and probably stimulates your body to work on some repairs.)  It's also nice to set a goal to complete the mile, even if it's just a couple of seconds faster than you managed yesterday.

Barry Bonds is approaching Hank Aaron's home run record.  A lot of people are raising a stink about it because Barry used steroids for a couple of years to become a power hitter.  I have no problem with that argument if you were equally incensed at Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa at the time they were breaking Roger Maris' single-season record.  Too many people who are quick to attack Barry were cheering wholeheartedly for McGwire and Sosa.  Meanwhile, Barry Bonds, who had been the best player in baseball before steroids and the long ball took over the game, noticed the attention and adulation that McGwire and Sosa were getting and made the rational decision to become the best player in the game in the steroids era.  He accomplished that objective, becoming the most feared hitter of all time (instead of just the most feared lead-off hitter of his generation.)  He followed the rules as they existed at the time.  That's all you should ask of anyone. 

Another sex scandal in Washington.  Senator Vitter of Louisiana, a married father of four, admitted to using the services of the so-called 'D.C. Madam' while he was a congressman.  It's sad that America is so obsessed with sex and other people's business.  From Clinton's impeachment, to Janet Jackson's nipple, to Paris Hilton, to Miss USA to this latest crap, I'm just sick of it.  About the only reason to focus on Senator Vitter is that like most Republicans, he's a hypocrite on this issue.  And rampant hypocrisy (we're all little hypocrites) is a far worse offense than going a couple rounds between the sheets with a call girl.  As somebody said on Hardball recently, 'I'm sick of the French laughing at us on this subject.'  Well put.

I'm thinking of taking the MENSA test.  Kind of conceited, I know.  I don't plan to become a participant in their activities (they look like a bunch of dorky geeks (or maybe geeky dorks) on TV) but it would be nice to qualify.  I'll keep you posted if I go through with it.

Some are making a stink today about John Edwards and Hillary Clinton chatting at a Fox debate (thinking their mikes were off) and discussing narrowing participation at future debates to 'serious' candidates.  For the most part I side with the stink-makers.  The election isn't for another 16 months.  Americans need to hear from the so-called 'fringe' candidates like Ron Paul (who I greatly admire and support) and Dennis Kucinich (who would also get my vote if he weren't an Oompa Loompa) because invariably the corporate-sponsored leading candidates are much more reluctant to tell Americans the truth.  They've also reported that Ron Paul has more cash on hand than John McCain, whose campaign appears to be imploding, so who's to say which is the more 'serious' candidate.

The World Series of Poker is coming to an end.  I love playing Hold 'Em for fun, but I can't stand bad beats (and they happen all too often.  But of course, I also suck out on occasion too.)  When I look at all the casualties in the Main Event and realize that the best in the world probably aren't even favored to cash in most big events, I know that's not the game for me.