Since the Well from Hell and Florida legislature aren’t enough to worry about, we now have Invest 97:

A vigorous tropical wave located near the eastern Dominican Republic is producing a large area of showers and thunderstorms extending from the northern Leeward Islands westward to Hispaniola.

Surface observations indicate that a closed circulation has not yet formed. However environmental conditions are expected to be favorable for tropical cyclone formation as the system moves west-northwestward at about 10 mph during the next day or so.

There is a high chance, 60 percent, of this system becoming a tropical depression or a tropical storm during the next 48 hours.

Regardless of development locally heavy rainfall and gusty winds will likely affect the Virgin Islands Puerto Rico the Dominican Republic Haiti eastern Cuba the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas during the next couple of days. The heavy rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mud slides in mountainous areas.

The current track has this heading across the Florida peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Republicans sold out the people of Florida to help the oil companies.

The Miami Herald documented the atrocity:

The Florida House abruptly adjourned a special legislative session after 49 minutes Tuesday, rejecting Gov. Charlie Crist’s proposal to let voters place a permanent ban on offshore drilling in the Florida Constitution.

The party-line vote to adjourn the session was 67-44, with Republicans supporting adjournment and Democrats in favor of continuing the debate.
…

[Florida House Speaker Larry] Cretul formed six “work groups” of House members to study various aspects of the spill response and to propose “meaningful legislative solutions, if possible,” by the end of August. The six work groups are all being led by junior Republican members, including three freshmen members. None of the six is from the Panhandle, the area experiencing the most severe economic hardships so far.

I hope everyone sees how important speaker “Cretin” thinks the Gulf Gusher is, and how much respect the Republican Party of Florida has for BP’s victims and the Panhandle.

If you vote for a Republican in Florida, you are voting for drilling in the coastal waters, All 67 of them in the Florida house voted to deny the people a voice on the issue.

Bagnères de Luchon – Pau

Distance: 199.5 kilometers.

A day for mountain goats. You start with two category 1 climbs, Col de Peyresourde and Col d’Aspin, and then things get really serious with a pair of Hors Catégorie ascents, Col du Tourmalet and Col d’Aubisque. There is a sprint into Pau for the survivors.

Lance made the break away and was ahead of the peloton all day, but didn’t have enough left for the sprint at the end which was won by Pierrick Fedrigo.

Thor Hushovd took the green back by virtue of being the only ranked sprinter with anything left at the end and able to pick up some points.

Alberto Contador ( Esp – AST – 001 ) [Yellow] 78h 29m 10s
Thor Hushovd ( Nor – CTT – 095 ) [Green] 191 points
Anthony Charteau ( Fra – BBO – 153 ) [Polka Dot] 143 points
Andy Schleck ( Lux – SAX – 011 ) 2 [White]
Team: Radio Shack RSH ( 021-029 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Pierrick Fedrigo ( Fra – BBO – 154 )
Combative: Carlos Barredo ( Esp – QST – 132) [Red numbers]

They’ve gone 3,115.4 kilometers [1,935.8 miles] at an average speed of 39.7 kph [24.7 mph].

OVERALL STANDINGS:

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Día de la Independencia
República de Colombia

¡Viva Colombia!