It has to be said.

It's the only sporting thing to do I guess. Congratulations to the Detroit Red Wings. They knocked off the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 last night at Mellon Arena to take a 4-2 series win and claim their 4th Stanley Cup since the 1997-98 season. So now I've said it, but don't ask me to say it again.

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Summertime and the living is...
...hot. Not merely uncomfortably warm, we're talking about brain-boiling, energy-sapping, chipotle-seasoned temps over the next 6 days (or more?). Today's high is supposed to reach 97, then a string of 99's through Sunday before we drop to 98 on Monday and Tuesday and 95 on Wednesday. When did this happen? We were cruising along with a nice mild spring right up through the end of May. Then suddenly somebody turns the gas on and we jumped from the low- to mid-80's into triple-digit heat indices. Not funny guys. Knock it off.
And should we manage to climb to an actual temperature of 100 or more before Sunday, it will be the earliest 100-degree day ever recorded in Raleigh. It's a record I wouldn't complain about not breaking.

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Presidential race green-flagged
I guess it's official. Barack Obama has apparently locked up the Democratic nomination for the White House. The question now becomes whether or not America is willing to put a non-Caucasian with a foreign sounding name in the Oval Office. Because that's what it will come down to. Obama could have single-handedly fed all the starving people in his home state, reconciled the Russians and the Chinese, found a cure for cancer... and it will still come down to a question of whether or not he can take the job from a white dude. Never mind that this particular white dude courts the company of every special interest known to the western world, and seeks support from right-wing extremists like John Hagee who refer to Hurricane Katrina as "God's punishment of New Orleans". (I wonder know how he explains why the rest of the Gulf Coast had to suffer along with them. Anyone? Anyone?) McCain hasn't merely shot himself in the foot with the company he keeps, he's blown his whole leg off. Will it matter?
Are American voters smart enough to realize that breaking the mold in November can go a long way in restoring our cred with the rest of the world? Or will they play it "safe" (a very relative term in this case) and maintain the status quo?
It's going to be an interesting summer, that much is certain.Stumble This!