[iowa] hillary not the flavour of the month

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) has not set foot in the state all year, and the futures market in Clinton political stock here has been suffering. Early polls by the Des Moines Register have shown Edwards, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) all rate more highly in Iowa. Iowa Democrats say Clinton's standing reflects more than her absence. They say there is general unease within the party about her ability to win a general election plus her support for the war in Iraq has seen a drop in her ratings. Attitudes in Iowa are important in part because the state holds the opening caucuses of the nomination battle every four years. But Bill Clinton’s visit to Des Moines on Saturday, in lieu of his wife, may have help stem the tide. Who knows?

[drugs] nearly all in tour de france on them

Clean riders - George W. Bush and Lance Armstrong

Matt DeCanio, a confessed drug cheat and now an anti-doping crusader, tells Tuesday night's Insight program on SBS TV that he's willing to go before an inquiry and name cyclists who are using drugs. "At the highest level I would say 99 per cent of the guys are on it [drugs]. If I were to have to bet my life on how many athletes in the Tour de France are on drugs, I would say one guy was clean," the 29-year-old told the program entitled "The Cheating Game". Former Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson also says athletes do whatever it takes to win, including taking drugs. It’s the old dilemma – you can’t win without them and you’re vilified for taking them. In my own weight training, taking creatine and a power mix before adds up to 7 kg more metal I can push on that particular day. So what to do?

[balen report] demand its general release

We should join together, all of us and demand the release of this report but it requires a voice or two to get it rolling. If we knew to whom to e-mail, it would help.

[our troops] the daily reality of war

What do a British expat in Moscow and a Canadian conservative have in common? They bring the reality of war home and the sacrifices our soldiers actually make: 1] We who sit complacently in our living rooms debating the rights and wrongs of war should remember that it means men like this, superb human beings, end up proving their worth in hellish ways. 2] Another two Canadian soldiers have paid the ultimate price. In Kandahar, Afghanistan, two Canadian soldiers were killed Saturday afternoon near the same dangerous road construction project in southern Afghanistan where three other Canadians have lost their lives this month. Do follow the links to these two sobering posts.

[eureka] first hatemail and from a lady

I think it was DK who once said: You haven’t really arrived in blogging until you get your first hatemail. Well, my first one has arrived and I proudly present it here: Stop using this blog to pimp out your own failed and ugly blog. Nobody cares. This was written by a lady who was herself inflicting her views on Sam Brett and was clearly a reaction to this. The thing is, I did leave my url there and it doesn’t look all that hot the way I did it. On the other hand, a hundred people had viewed the piece before breakfast, so maybe the piece was of interest. I’ve apologized to Sam for leaving the url.

[creaking planet] earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, fire

A strong earthquake shook Hawaii early yesterday, jolting residents out of bed and causing a landslide that blocked a major highway. Ceilings crashed at a hospital, and aftershocks kept the state on edge. Does anyone else feel that there’s just a bit too much of this earthquake and tsunami business going on around the globe at this time? I’d like to see the stats on seismic activity in the last few years. Seems to me the poor old earth is creaking at the joints somewhat.