Maureen Dowd

Maureen Dowd’s Sunday column plagiarized a paragraph from a post on Talking Points Memo about the timeline of torture and Iraq. The Times has issued a correction online, and, in an email to the Huffington Post, Dowd admitted that the “line” came from a conversation with a friend, who she didn’t know had taken it from TPM. But that hardly explains how the TPM writer’s entire paragraph appeared word-for-word in her column without attribution. Whatever happened here, MoDo definitely has it coming.

The country survived graduation weekend without any major incidents: the President spoke at Notre Dame, where he talked about abortion and kind of admitted the divisions over it are irreconcilable. And wearing a metallic red cap and gown, Bristol Palin walked across the stage at Wasilla High School and collected her diploma. She finished with a 3.497 grade-point average. No word on Levi.

23-year-old Alexander Rybak, universally and awkwardly described as a “boyish, fiddle-wielding Norwegian singer,” won Eurovision, the world’s biggest song competition held in Moscow on Saturday. A colossal event famous for its dramatic performances, stunts and pyrotechnics, was Eurovision was briefly visited by gay-rights protesters before Moscow police rounded them up. Rybak’s song “Fairytale,” which he performed while fiddling and dancing, took the top honor.

Preakness Stakes 2009

Preakness Stakes 2009 at online bookmaker Bodog.com have Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird listed at 11 to 2 odds to take the second race of the Triple Crown Series. The three year old gelding had not demonstrated enough in his three races prior to the Run for the Roses to warrant any sort optimism from the odds makers; he certainly shocked them — along with most everyone else_by winning the coveted race. Count Preakness Stakes 2009 horse racing expert Anthony Stabile of VegasInsider.com among those flabbergasted by Mine That Bird’s Derby victory.

“I can honestly say, him crossing the wire first in the Derby was one of the most shocking things I've seen in my 32 plus years on this planet” Stabile said. However, there were those who felt that Bird would be in the race because of jockey Calvin Borel. Preceding the Run for the Roses, Steve Hastings of Point-Spreads.com had this to say: “In the history of Churchill Downs, Calvin Borel is the sixth jockey to win six races on a single race card so if anyone can get it done on a long shot horse it is him. Borel won the Kentucky Derby in 2007 riding Street Sense. [I would] suggest bettors grab the +5000 odds on Mine the Bird for a few bucks as a long shot to make history.”

Unfortunately for Mine That Bird and his trainer, Chip Woolley, Jr., Borel will be riding Rachel Alexandra this afternoon. The Cajun jockey has had the mount on Alexandra’s last five races, all wins. Woolley understood Borel’s decision and was not blindsided by it. “This is a business, and Calvin has to watch out for himself,” Woolley said. “It was his choice and I respect his choice. It was a hard choice for him to make and I appreciate the fact that he and his agent were really upfront with us from Day One, as soon as they knew the prospect was out there (to ride Rachel Alexandra). They came and told us and gave us the opportunity to get the best rider we could.”

Joint Services Open House 2009

The Joint Services Open House 2009 is held at Andrews Air Force Base. I haven't been there in several years. When we arrived at the gate to the flight line, we were denied entrance. But we have the pink pass, our Marine driver argued, we were told yesterday that that would get us to the hanger, we have stuff to drop off. The Air Force security guard told us the pink pass was only good until 7 a.m. that morning. Phone calls were made to find who had a red pass to bring to us. We were directed to go to the operations office since the Marine who had the red pass was at the safety briefing.

Well, gosh darn it. I got a large shirt so it wouldn't gap in this area! So all I wanted to do the rest of the day was stand there with my arms across my chest. While we were waiting in line, the Public Affairs officer came up to us and asked if we wanted to take pictures of what was going on inside. Well, gosh darn it. I got a large shirt so it wouldn't gap in this area! So all I wanted to do the rest of the day was stand there with my arms across my chest.

As you can see, it is surrounded by video screens. These screens project a computer generated display as if they were driving through an Iraqi village when all of a sudden, they are ambushed. The targets in this station looked like people. In another station, the targets were little red Xs. I sat in the back of one of the Humvee in an attempt to get some pictures of the action. You really feel like you are moving when you are sitting in the vehicle. I'm sure this will be very popular. When we left, I felt like I was deaf - - so it is quite loud.