Coming Up For Air

Since all the other Big Tenters are either on the road or congregating together to celebrate our buddy Ricky's wedding, I figure this is a good time for me to surface from my dissertation work (almost finished, I am happy to say) and guard the fort for a few days. Or harbor, since I used a submarine metaphor. Never mind.

That said, here is a list of stuff going on this morning:

Floyd Landis failed his second doping test, sending all fifteen cycling fans in the U.S. spiraling into depression.

The US and France have put together a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Lebanon, but also make clear Israel's right to defend itself. So essentially, the resolution depends entirely on Hizbullah deciding to stop launching rockets into Israel or on Israel deliberating on the resolution long enough for the IDF to do as much damage as possible to Hizbullah. The latter, to me, is the more likely result.

Fidel Castro continues to "recover" in a Havana morgue....err...hospital. Everyone in Cuba and leaders throughout Latin America are bending over backwards to assure anyone who is listening that Fidel is indeed still alive. Seems like overkill to me. Meanwhile, Little Raul is having fun playing army, gearing up Cuban defenses for a U.S. attack. In all seriousness, though, concerns are building here that the uncertainty in Cuba could cause another wave of refugees trying to flee from Cuba to Florida. Condi is telling Cubans to stay put for now.

Finally, Joe Lieberman is still under the bus.