@ Michael Brown, former Director of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), who was heavily criticized and subsequently fired for his agency's slow response to Hurricane Katrina, tells the Rocky Mountain News he's starting a disaster preparedness consulting firm! Brown is quoted as saying officials need to "take inventory" of what's going on in a disaster to be able to answer questions to avoid appearing unaware of how serious a situation is.

@ The U.S. Pentagon is considering setting up a commodity-market style trading system in which investors would be able to bet on political and economic events in the Middle East � including the likelihood of assassinations and terrorist attacks.

@ Giant NIKE has agreed to pay a 13-year-old soccer prodigy, named Freddy Adu, $1 Million to wear NIKE shoes and clothing. Just one week earlier, the Beaverton, Oregon company agreed to pay 18-year-old LeBron James, the expected No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, close to 100 times that amount for endorsing their brand.

@ Two Words: Freedom Fries. Yes folks, this is what U.S. citizens pay some of our elected representatives in the U.S. House of Reps to do -- change the name of "French Fires" to "freedom fries"... and just in time for war, too! I wonder, are plans underway to return the Statue of Liberty, given to the United States of American by FRANCE? For help with changing words or phrases appropriately, click here (flash required).

@ Liz Claiborne, the fashion designer known for professional career apparel for both men and women, has launched Claiborne Flooring -- coordinated flooring, incuding carpet, vinyl, wood, laminate, ceramic tiles and area rugs. The television commercial promoting the new brand of flooring looks like a Saturday Night Live spoof of a commercial, with an attractive woman saying something like, "She dresses me; now she can dress my floors."

@ Sports Illustrated has launched an outdoor adventure website called SI Adventure: Outdoor Sports. Click here to see for yourself.