The Tour de France finishes up this morning riding to Paris and around the Champs d'Elysees. Alberto Contador is the winner.

Open Thread.

Things I'm reading:

• NY Times: States ratcheting up fear of driving while taking prescription medication, and looking for ways to prosecute more cases. "Drug recognition experts" (cops who go to school to learn what a person who is impaired by pharmaceuticals acts like and then claim to be an expert at trial) are all the rage.

• NY Times: The Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roberts is the most conservative in decades according to an analysis that used four sets of political science data.

• In the Sunday magazine, an article on how the internet doesn't let you forget, or as I usually put it, people need to remember the internet has no eraser.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Alberto Contador held off Andy Schleck in a heartstopping final time trial battle this morning to virtually assure he will win the Tour de France. Incredible Tour this year.

Open Thread.

Open Thread.

It's time for me to stop following other people's cases and concentrate on my own the rest of the day.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

In case you missed it, President Obama signed a bill labeled "financial reform." Since I do not think the bill particularly meaningful (not even the consumer agency part), I have chosen not to blog about it.

Open Thread.

There seems to be a lot of news today, and even though we posted a lot, we didn't cover everything.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

I'm not seeing any interesting news to write about so far today.

I did figure out why I still need my iPod touch even though I have the iPhone 4 -- the treadmills and bikes at the gym that have tv screens attached and let you hook up your iPod or MP3 players aren't updated for the iPhone 4 and I got a warning that it wouldn't play right and there would be sound interference. Good thing I brought both this morning.

It's only 2:00 and I'm already thinking about dinner, not a good sign. Anyone have some good ideas? I think this spicy quinoa, cucumber and tomato salad in the New York Times looks pretty good.

I'll be working the rest of the afternoon, so here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Still working.

Open thread.

Has anyone noticed Comcast just added dozens of new HD channels, including, finally, news channels like CNN, Fox and MSNBC? Also lots of the smaller cable channels. Mine went live yesterday, and they didn't even announce it, they just showed up in my channel guide. I feel a little bit better now about how much I pay them. A very welcome change.

Another good move by New York Governor David Paterson today: He signed a law preventing cops from storing information gained from their notorious "stop and frisks" when no charges are filed.

Last year alone, the New York Police Department stopped 575,304 people, mostly black and Hispanic men, and recorded their names, addresses and descriptions into an electronic database. The stops are based on a standard of reasonable suspicion, lower than the standard of probable cause needed to justify an arrest. Only about 6 percent of those stopped are arrested.

For those of you indoors and online tonight, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Senate passes the financial overhaul bill. It now goes to Obama for signature.

Arizona's SB1070 is getting its first court hearing today. Only one of the seven lawsuits against the law is being heard, that of Officer David Salgado and the statewide nonprofit group Chicanos Por La Causa.

Scott McInnis vows on Facebook not to quit ("I'm in it to win it" he says) but our local Fox affiliate is reporting the Republican Governor's Association is withdrawing its support and canceling fundraisers for him.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Is anyone following the new Big Brother season? I think Kathy (the Arkansas Deputy Sheriff) is the saboteur. Other possibilities: Lane or Matt.

My iPhone 4 dropped two calls today. My 3G never dropped one in two plus years. I still like the 4 better because the sound is clearer and the internet is so fast. But I'd give it up quick for the IPad which has become my favorite. Especially for reading books and magazines and watching Netflix and videos.

Whoever thought Ward Churchill and Scott McInnis would have something in common? The plagiarism story continues to escalate, with the Denver Post calling on McInnis to "throw in the towel" and Colorado Ethics Watch filing a complaint against him and asking for an investigation. But McInnis defused the second accusation somewhat today when the Washington Post columnist whose column he appropriated said it was with his permission.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.