First, I am rather proud of myself: I competed in the Siesta Key Triathlon yesterday (0.5 mile swim, 13 mile bike, 3.1 mile run) and, while I wasn't near getting a medal, I did finish 12th out of 35 in my age group.

More than the decent finish (I had a better finish in the Venice Triathlon, 3rd, although it was against a smaller and weaker field), however, I am pleased with how fresh I felt at the end. Yes, I was breathing very heavy for the first minute or two after finishing the run, but I recovered quickly and felt great. I'm just better now at managing the race and myself. Nice feeling.

All right, this is old, old news by internet standards (> 30 days), but I still want to comment. This picture is the world's first image of an actual molecule, a million times smaller than a grain of sand. Mind blowing.

There is more evidence that global warming is non-event, and Jonah Goldberg discusses the matter quite reasonably. It all shows how legislation such as the proposed "cap and trade" bill are not really about the environment, but about the expansion of government at the expense of capitalism and sound science.

Rich Lowry has Obama the Arrogant nailed in An Obama Speech in 13 Easy Steps. If there was every a president that was actually the complete opposite of what he claimed to be during his campaign (in Obama's case, a "uniter"), it's Obama.

I haven't quite made up my mind about Sarah Palin. My horse sense tells me that she is what she appears to be: a plain-spoken, honest, corruption-fighting conservative who is not afraid to speak her mind. Her message and language aren't focused-grouped and slickly packaged to move polls, thank God. She's more like the people of America than she is like the people in Washington. She "gets it," so to speak.

No, she's not perfect human being, and yes, she needs experience, but there is no denying that she has one quality that conservative politicians (as distinct from conservative pundits or voters), at least on the national stage, have recently lacked: she's very, very attractive. I hate symbolism over substance, but the harsh reality is that more attractive people have a distinct edge over less attractive people, in a number of situations, most especially including politics.

Let's face it, she's hot. She's as far from the stereotypical old-white-man GOP politician as you can get.