SPORTS BUZZ – After having been at it for only four years, she holds the United States record in women’s pole-vaulting. In the tightly geographic world of the sport, she and her coach are outsiders. Now, it looks like she’s headed to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The Best Links:

1. Out of Nowhere
2. “… she now threatens to become the best in the world.”
3. Video of Her 16’ Jump
4. A Photo Galery
5. Her Biography and Record
6. Jenn Stuczynski for Nutrilite
7. Her Official Website
8. Allison Stokke - BuzzFeed’s Favorite Pole Vaulter Last Year
9. US Olympic Comittee’s May Athlete of the Month

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STYLE BUZZ – The fictional shoe worn by Marty McFly in Back to the Future is being released by Nike sometime in July. It seems someone finally told Nike that they already make this shoe and that all they need to do is give the Kobe Bryant-backed Hyperdunk a different paint job. Maybe we really are living in the future (despite the lack of flying cars, and the coveted hoverboard.)

The Best Links:

1. Every Appearance of a Nike Shoe in the Movie
2. The McFly 2015 Project
3. The Amazing Musical Plea to Nike to Make the Shoe
4. “Flywire Technology”
5. It May Have Been the Original Inspiration for the Hyperdunk
6. Probably Not Actually This Cool
7. A Handful of Pictures
8. Kobe Promoted the Hyperdunk in This Video Hoax
9. The Hyperdunk Was Designed With the Olympics in Mind

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TECH BUZZ – The image you see when Twitter is down (which is often), has a fan club. The stolen piece of illustration by Yiying Lu is spawning comics, t-shirts, and throngs of followers.

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The Best Links:

1. Yiying Lu, the Artist Behind the Whale
2. Fail Whale, the Fan Club
3. The Artist Probably Recieved Less Than $10
4. Fail Whale, the Brand
5. Fail Whale, the Gear
6. Not the Whale’s Preferred Mode of Transportation
7. Do the Fail Whale
8. Twitter Sleeps With the Fishes
9. What Twitter Users Are Saying

POLITICS BUZZ – Ralph Nader is getting into hot water after making some racially charged comments about Barack Obama. He seems to have outed himself as an essentialist, or at least someone who thinks that black politicians need to heed to a certain ideology that would be considered “more natural.” I am a little shocked.

The Best Links:

1. “Obviously, we missed the memo that Barack is running for President of Blackville, USA.”
2. Nader: “It’s just more natural.”
3. Nader: “He’s half African-American.”
4. In His Own Words: the Interview Video
5. Alienating the Net-Roots
6. Unsafe at Any Speed

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POLITICS BUZZ – Although he doesn’t take their cash, Obama is surrounding himself with ethanol backers and has flown on jets subsidized by Archer Daniels Midland, the largest domestic producer. In the U.S., ethanol comes from corn, and corn comes from Iowa, Obama’s first caucus win. Did he ride Big Corn to a Democratic victory?

The Best Links:

1. He Surrounds Himself With Ethanol Promoters and Manufacturers
2. “… substituting ethanol for gasoline consumes more energy than it creates.”
3. “In Illinois we’ve got some corn too.”
4. “Look, I’ve been a strong ethanol supporter because Illinois … is a major corn producer.”
5. Obama’s Official Line on Biofuels: 2 Billion Gallons by 2013
6. For Ethanol From the Start
7. An Ethanol Roundup
8. Obama and Ethanol IM Eachother

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CELEBRITY BUZZ – Her father, Mitch, says in an interview that Amy has been diagnosed with “early stage emphysema.” It’s the cigarette and crack combination that is doing her in, apparently.

The Best Links:

1. She May Need an Oxygen Mask Soon
2. “… could be in a wheelchair within a month if she doesn’t stop smoking crack cocaine.”
3. She Still Has 70% Lung Capacity
4. “… it won’t just ruin her voice, it will kill her.”
5. After She Fainted Last Monday

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TECH BUZZ – The web designers at Fox Interactive take their stab at making MySpace look more like Facebook. It’s not an earth shattering change, but, for the ugliest social networking site of all time, its a welcome one. It should launch sometime next week.

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The Best Links:

1. More Screenshots
2. “… the largest scale relaunch of a website of its size…”

POLITICS BUZZ – The Governor of Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius, is receiving a lot of mentions as a possible running mate for Barack Obama. As a popular female official in a largely white (and conservative) state she may provide all the benefits of Hillary Clinton with less awkwardness. She’s not that much of a centrist either.

The Best Links:

1. She Would Complete the “Obama Puzzle”
2. Along With Other Possibles, She is Raising Her Profile
3. She Endorsed Obama Before It Was Cool
4. “… Kathleen Sebelius is Obama’s best bet.”
5. She Gave the Democratic Response to the 2007 State of the Union Speech
6. She Signed an Executive Order Banning Descrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
7. Sebelius on Wikipedia
8. The Official Biography

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BUSINESS BUZZ – His gaunt appearance during the 3G iPhone launch is re-igniting concerns over the virtuosic CEO’s health. He beat pancreatic cancer 4 years ago but kept it a secret until it was clear he was recovering. Apple fans, investors, and industry watchers are hoping that won’t be repeated. Get well soon, Steve!

The Best Links:

1. Apple Admits He’s Feeling “a Little Under the Weather”
2. Weight Loss is a Side-Effect of the Surgery That Saved His Life
3. Who’s Next?
4. Jobs is “Widely Considered Nearly Irreplaceable”
5. He Makes His Own Rules About Cancer
6. A Blogger Gets an Official Response From Apple
7. He Faught Through His Present “Bug” to Attend the WWDC
8. But He’s Always Been Skinny
9. His Email to Employees About His Cancer
10. A Q&A on His Cured Cancer

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SCIENCE BUZZ – The Transportation Security Administration has installed a number of people-scanners at airports that can see through your clothes. The images are high resolution, and are created by hitting you with millimeter-wavelength radio waves.

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The Best Links:

1. As Explained by the TSA
2. “… it allows screeners to see airport passengers without clothing.”
3. For Detecting “Non-Metalic Weapons”