$700 billion to bail out the apparent financial crisis - that is what President Bush has proposed. The bill went to the House today, and even the Republican party wouldn't back it wholeheartedly. The score? 228 to 208 against - so no passage in the House. Bush's own party wouldn't support it - so now he not only has a lousy approval rating with the voters, but apparently he also has a lousy trust rating with the House as well.
Shortly thereafter, there was a 778 point drop in the Dow stock exchange at the end of the trading day. For those who like numbers, that's $1.2 trillion dollars in market value.
That's a lot of zeros. In fact, it's the budget for the whole Iraq war - in one day.
If you listen to the politicians, the world is about to end. Chicken Little, the sky is falling.
John McCain went to bed one day convinced that the country was on a solid financial foundation. I remember him telling us so. He then arose the next day to discover that the economy is now of dire importance as we face an urgent global economic crisis. So the next day, the "New Maverick" went back to Washington to immerse himself in the "old politics" of Capital Hill during the heated discussion over Bush's proposed financial buyout plan. And suddenly, the man who told us he was against "more government" found himself creating - federal economic regulation - and more of it.
Whatever happened to multi-tasking, John?
Dear Longhorns:
Hey, that 52 - 10 thrashing of Rice sure does look impressive. Colt McCoy is moving up the ranks of all-time UT quarterbacks, and now that he has passed Major Applewhite in career touchdown passes, I am sure he'll be able to apply for sainthood sometime soon. The defense had a memorable stand as well, stopping Rice 11 times inside the 10 yard line.
On the surface, it all looks pretty good as we head towards our re-scheduled game against Arkansas and then conference play.
But is the future as rosy as it may appear?
Technology fascinates me.
It could be cars. It could be computers. It could be just about anything.
I am not the person that has to be on the cutting edge of owning all the latest cool tech toys. But I would suspect that I am probably not too far off being an "early adopter" as Seth Godin notes in "The Purple Cow" .
Recently I have been exloring the realm of social media. Most people are at least familiar with MySpace, and maybe you've even heard of Facebook or LinkedIn. Another one of the intriguing social media tools these days is Twittter.
I will look back at this weekend as a time when the over-rated made their true colors known in college football. There are certainly a couple of solid examples. Let's start with the Big 10 and, yes, Ohio State. The Buckeyes are perenially the darlings of the pollsters. You could have 22 freshman lining up and some media hack in the Iron Belt would claim that Jim Tressel would take them to the national championship this year. This year has been no different. Ohio State is, imagine this, over-rated. Again. Beanie or no Beanie, they had their livin' Brutus' handed to them by USC. And, once again, USC is looking like it might be for real - now imagine that - again.
Let's perhaps even extend that to the Big 10 in general. Though they remind us that they have five 3-0 teams in conference, who have they played? Wisconsin only put up 13 points on Fresno State. Maybe Penn State will change my mind, but right now, I doubt it, even though I am a big fan of Joe Paterno.
I've been a fan of Formula One racing since I was about 5 years old. I went to my first Grand Prix in 1972 or 1973, and I have been hooked ever since then. Though it may seem hard to believe for many on this side of the Atlantic, F1 is the number one watched sport in the world. Yes, the world. In this country, people speak of NASCAR, but it simply doesn't hold a candle to the level of F1 - in so many areas. Imagine an open-wheeled car weighing a minimum of 585 kg (about 1300 pounds) with an eight cylinder 2.4 liter engine that produces about 800 - 900 horsepower. If you are thinking fighter jet technology, you wouldn't be far off. Designers move from aerospace engineering to F1 because of the technology. With budgets up to about 500 million dollars per team, it is all rather mind-boggling.
So now, the news. Today was a landmark day in Formula One racing. Scuderia Toro Rosso - formerly known as Minardi - scored it's maiden victory at Monza. Their driver, Sebastian Vettel, scored his maiden win in the process. The 21 year-old Vettel became the youngest to win a Formula One race, which is a phenomenal accomplishment unto it's own.
But there is so much more to this story than meets the eye.
Usain Bolt,
Michael Phelps.
Lance Armstrong.
What do they have in common? That should be an easy answer. It's certainly not their chosen sports - track and field, swimming, and cycling. These three fine athletes have shown us a glimpse of the levels of human performance that are possible. They have done things in their sports that many thought weren't possible.
Usain Bolt was running with arms spread wide for 30m of his 100m final - and still ran 9.69, a new world record. Then he arrives at what he calls "his event", the 200m, and runs 19.30 - then proceeds to mug with the camera and play to the crowd and run around like a little kid, so carefree and playful.
Having been in Atlanta to witness Michael Johnson's world record in the 200m in 1996, I can only say that I for one thought it would be a very long time before we witnessed another 200m world record. Bolt showed us it could be done.
Up to 60% of runners will sustain an injury within any given year. Poor running mechanics, in conjunction with poor, ineffective and outdated training methods, can pose a significant injury risk. "RunSmart" was written to address these issues in the running community.
"Running Injuries: Etiology And Recovery- Based Treatment" (co-author Bridget Clark, PT) appears in the third edition and fourth editions of "Clinical Orthopaedic Rehabilitation: A Team Approach" by Charles Giangarra, MD and Robert C. Manske, PT.
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.
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