Defeated: The Last Monday Before Fall Practice Begins

Fear not, cubicle (productivity center) dwellers, football season is nearly upon us. Meanwhile, waste time (and your business' expensive man hours) with this assortment of Snead approved link. (Note: Not all Snead approved links will be approved by your boss if he happens to be behind you while you view them.)

Find Your Phobia!
I'm cypridophobic and isolophobia, a bad Saturday night combo

Sciece Project
Guaranteed to get you expelled from school in 18 states

Galileo's Middle Finger
Great for conversations and picking your nose

Lifted
Watch a Pixar short film without sitting through Ratatouille

The Lee Corso Skin Tone Watch
Current Level: Apricot

WWII Vet Makes Eagle Scout at 88
It's never too late

SOS Hates Pigeons, Loves Gamecocks

Football season cometh.

Spurrier and His Team May Not Be Done Drawing Attention (NY Times) (Yeah, we're kind of a big deal)
Ol' Ball Coach feeling good about South Carolina (ESPN)
Spurrier fit to call his own plays (The State)
Spurrier tops SEC coach list (Mobile Register)

Friday Follies: Hitting The Streets (and Dress Code Violators) with Iran's Fashionistas

On patrol with Iran's fashion police (AFP)

First, women are given a verbal warning on the street. If the problem is not resolved there, they are taken to the police station for "guidance" and to sign a vow not to repeat the offence. Should this be unsuccessful, their case is handed to the judiciary.

"Sure my manto is short, but there are many others whose clothes are more seductive than mine and they walking by without any punishment," one of the arrested girls in the minibus complained bitterly.

Iran police step up crackdown on unIslamic dress (Reuters)

Unless you live in Iran, make every attempt to run naked this weekend.

In Steve We Trust

I'm looking forward to the season. Yeah, it's fun. It's fun for me. I guess the competition's the most fun. It's fun trying to win at South Carolina. Lee Corso said it couldn't be done. Trying to do things for the first time. We have so many accomplishments that have never happened there that we have a shot at. So that's the fun part for me. I know it's a wonderful situation. I know we've got pretty doggone good players, real good players. I think we've got real good players right now. It's just a wonderful opportunity. I sort of feel lucky that I got a shot to be the coach there to try to do some of these things for the first time ever.

SEC Media Days: Steve Spurrier Press Conference

Kickoff is still 37 days away, but football season has unofficially begun with the SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama. Practice is only two short weeks away.

Here's more tidbits from SOS:

Spurrier's up. Takes him about ten minutes to address the possible officiating/gambling issues. "There has been some games that I thought should be investigated due to officiating," he said with a chuckle. But only a small chuckle.

First contender for "dumb question, dumb answer?" Spurrier is asked how his recruiting will change on August 1 when the NCAA rule outlawing text messages begins. "We'll quit text-messaging on August 1."

"I thought we had done something when we beat Clemson," Spurrier said. "But then Kentucky beat them in the bowl game."

Duh

U.S. Is Seen in Iraq Until at Least ’09 (The New York Times)

BAGHDAD, July 23 — While Washington is mired in political debate over the future of Iraq, the American command here has prepared a detailed plan that foresees a significant American role for the next two years.

The classified plan, which represents the coordinated strategy of the top American commander and the American ambassador, calls for restoring security in local areas, including Baghdad, by the summer of 2008. “Sustainable security” is to be established on a nationwide basis by the summer of 2009, according to American officials familiar with the document.

The detailed document, known as the Joint Campaign Plan, is an elaboration of the new strategy President Bush signaled in January when he decided to send five additional American combat brigades and other units to Iraq. That signaled a shift from the previous strategy, which emphasized transferring to Iraqis the responsibility for safeguarding their security.

Now I'm no Katie Couric, but maybe this will come as shocking news to some people: We're going to be in Iraq for a very, very long time unless something radical happens in Washington in the near future. Troop rotations and deployments aren't scheduled at the last minute. The end strength of the Army and Marine Corps wasn't increased just to match the latest escalation in Iraq. We have plans, committments and huge investments in Iraq. We're in for the long haul, win, lose or draw.

Happy Birthyear!

Gamecocks greats on hand to celebrate 100 years of basketball (The Sporting News)

Two of South Carolina's top three all-time scorers are expected to be on
hand Tuesday to begin a season-long remembrance of the Gamecocks 100th year of
basketball.

Scoring leader BJ McKie and No. 3 on the list John Roche are scheduled
to appear Tuesday at the Colonial Center for the kickoff ceremonies.

McKie, who played for four seasons through the 1998-99 season, finished
with 2,199 points. Roche was with the Gamecocks for three seasons through
1970-71 and scored 1,910 points. NBA great Alex English is second in South
Carolina history with 1,972 points during four seasons ending in 1975-76.

Others former Gamecock greats expected to attend are College of Charleston
coach Bobby Cremins and Zam Fredrick, who led the country in scoring with a
28.9-point a game average in 1980-81.

Carolina to host Opening Ceremony for 100 Years of Basketball Celebration (USCSports.com)
Gamecocks celebrate centennial (The State)

Maybe Now I Can Catch Up With The Rest Of My Generation...

Online Media God: 400+ Tools for Photographers, Videobloggers, Podcasters and Musicians

For photography gods, we’ve brought together more than 90 photo resources
and tools. There are thousands of sites serving photographers these days, but we
hope this acts as a good overview.

Video blogging, live video shows and professional film-making are all
blossoming now that almost everyone has access to webcams, video cameras and
affordable editing tools. In fact, many of the tools for editing, mixing and
sharing your clips are now completely free. Here’s a wide selection of video
tools available online.

Podcasting - distributing shows over the web for downloading to computers
and mobile devices - has been a big trend over the past few years. While
over-hyped in the early days, podcasting is proving itself to be a great
communication medium. Many podcasters now make a full or part-time income from
their shows: here’s a plethora of tools to help out all those self-made podcast
stars.

Musicians need to reach fans; fans want to find musicians. The web is the
perfect way to connect them. There are now literally hundreds of music social
networks where you can sample a wide variety of music, plus hundreds of online
stores and marketplaces that ensure the artist gets a fair cut. Here’s our
selection of the most interesting services in the online music space.

More Reasons Not To Get Out Of Bed On A Monday

http://www.globalincidentmap.com/

I'm pleased to report there have been no dam incidents in the last 72 hours. Your dams are safe, for now. As for everything else, be afraid. Be very afraid.

For Your Sunday Reading Pleasure

• Their War (Washington Post)
  Less than 1 percent of the U.S. population serves in our military. In a time of war, what should that mean to the rest of us?
• Corps behind on health screenings (Marine Corps Times)
  A year after launching a program to reassess the mental and physical health of Marines 90 days after they return from a deployment, less than a third of post-deployment Marines have taken the assessment.
• Conway: Minority accession decline troubling (Marine Corps Times)
  The Marine Corps has made significant strides in attracting and retaining more minorities in uniform, but troubling signs loom on the horizon.
• Graduation not qualification for inept, second-rate teachers (The Daily Gamecock)
  This is a terrible op/ed not really worth reading, but if you'd like to see some of the garbage The Daily Gamecock is publishing just to fill space this summer, feel free. I also encourage any and everyone to send this chick an email and let her know what an asshole she is and that reading her work has actually made you dumber.
• Traveling the old coast road (The State)
  South Carolina's natural jewel offers gilmpse into state's wild past.
• This could be the year South Carolina becomes the beast in SEC (Savannah Morning News)
  The ball coach at South Carolina knows what big seasons are all about. Could it be that in his third season, the Gamecocks make a bold move past Georgia, Tennessee and Florida? There are those that believe it can happen.
• A Genuine Radical for President (The New York Times)
  The Antiwar, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Drug-Enforcement-Administration, Anti-Medicare Candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul
  

Happy Birthday, America

My favorite song from one of my favorite bands. Ironically, this was only two months before the Dixie Chicks became the most hated band in country music history. But, they still get my vote. They just made the mistake of questioning a war before it was cool to question the war. Happy Independence Day. Here's hoping for good health, long life and the knowledge and leadership to carry us into the future.