Floyd Landis' Stage 17 ride on Thursday was the most amazing ride I have ever seen in my life and will go down as one of the best rides of all time, and Landis will go down as one of cycling's gutsiest riders.

... I have nothing but praise for Floyd, and if I was in the peloton, I'd think the same thing. Every rider will congratulate him before Friday's stage. It was history. It doesn't happen often. If there was ever a miracle in cycling, it happened Thursday.

BREAKING NEWS: MICROSOFT REPORTED a 24% decline in net income as legal expenses offset increasing sales in its server and videogame businesses. Also, Microsoft's board has authorized stock repurchases worth up to $40 billion. 4:32 p.m..

GOOGLE'S PROFIT more than doubled and revenue surged as it continued to capitalize on strong Web-advertising demand and its dominance of online searches. 4:16 p.m.

American Floyd Landis dramatically vaulted back into the Tour de France title hunt Thursday, winning the final Alpine stage in a stellar solo finish to move from 11th to third.

..."After yesterday's stage I had to do something, because that was a disaster," Landis told Outdoor Life Network immediately after Thursday's stage. "The race isn't over yet. I came here to win the race, and it's not over yet."

Landis came into the stage in 11th place, down 8 minutes and 8 seconds to race leader Oscar Pereiro of Spain -- a former teammate on the Phonak team who finished seventh in Thursday's stage. At the end of the day, Landis was 30 seconds off the lead. Team CSC's Carlos Sastre is 12 seconds back.

If the Bush Administration, which still has two and a half years to go before America and the world are rid of it, is to be restrained and held accountable, then it is more important for at least one branch of the national legislature to be controlled by the opposition party than it is for Connecticut to be represented by a senator who is against—or for—the Iraq war.

Catching W. off-guard, the really weird thing is his sense of victimization. He’s strangely resentful about the actual core of his job.

''The overwhelming majority of the American people support traditional marriage,'' said Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., sponsor of the amendment. ''And the people have a right to know whether their elected representatives agree with them.''

Opponents dismissed the proposal as both discriminatory and legislatively irrelevant because of the Senate vote. The measure is ''all for the purpose of pandering to a narrow political base.'' said Rep. Tammy Baldwin, an openly gay Democrat from Wisconsin. ''This hateful and unnecessary amendment is unworthy of our great Constitution.''

...''I do not understand what motivates you,'' (Rep. Barney) Frank said Monday, addressing Republicans on the Rules Committee. ''I don't tell you who to love.''....

The marriage amendment is part of the ''American values agenda'' the House is taking up this week that includes a pledge protection bill and a vote on President Bush's expected veto of a bill promoting embryonic stem cell research.

"Pregnancy resource centers" telling women that abortion results in high risk of cancer, infertility.