one tough lady

When Suzanne G. Devlin saw a man nearly twice her size attacking people in the baggage claim area of Dulles International Airport, she did what came naturally. She collared him.

Devlin, the acting Fairfax County police chief, was dropping off her husband at the airport Tuesday morning and was out of uniform and unarmed. But she sprang into action anyway, tackling the man and placing her knees on his spine until airport police arrived.

Police from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority took the man into custody and charged Andrew C. Hython, 45, of the District, with three counts of assault and battery, disorderly conduct, grand larceny and destruction of property. He was being held last night in the Loudoun County jail without bond.

An airport spokesman said Hython is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs about 260 pounds. Devlin said she is 5 feet 7 inches and weighs about 140. Devlin's takedown also was captured on surveillance video, which confirmed her role in the incident, spokesman Jonathan Gaffney said.

rest of article here

(no subject)

D.C. United teenager Freddy Adu said yesterday that he overreacted last weekend when he complained about his recent lack of playing time and that he and Coach Peter Nowak have had constructive conversations about his role this week.

Adu, who turned 15 a month ago, played a season-low 14 minutes during Saturday's 1-1 tie with the Dallas Burn -- the third straight game he's played less than 30 minutes. Afterward, he told reporters at the Cotton Bowl that he was disappointed how late he had been entering games and that he found it difficult to contribute in those late stages.

Yesterday, however, he said, "I was [frustrated] because it was after the game and I wasn't really thinking. I was mad. But we talked about it, resolved the situation and now everything is back to normal.

"[Nowak] just told me to be patient. He's just trying to help me out, he's on my side. So now I'm going to just try to stay calm and be patient and when I do get my chance, I take advantage of it. I've just got to work hard, keep my mouth shut and play both sides of the ball, and everyone will respect you."

more here

This kid constantly impresses me with how mature and grounded he is, especially for a 15 year old with $1.5 million in his pocket. "I've got to work hard, keep my mouth shut, and be patient." Hell, I can think of plenty of adults who could stand to say that to themselves more often (including probably me).

no DC-Cape Cod showdown

Richmond will be United's U.S. Open Cup round-of-16 opponent on July 21 after the Kickers defeated Cape Cod, 1-0, last night.

Sorry, Kathy!

moderate success

So, I was feeling very frustrated with my new hammock last night. For one thing, I've worked late two days in a row now (partly to make up time I took off Monday, but mostly because I got wrapped up in what I was doing and didn't notice that the hour was getting late), so I haven't been able to enjoy a relaxing evening among the ropes. On top of that, I've found that I didn't plan carefully enough, and the stand and hammock I got are really a little too big to fit along the rail of my porch space as I intended; I spent half an hour in the near-dark last night wrestling them around trying to find a good position where the stand didn't block my doorway (a significant drawback). And when I finally collapsed, covered in sweat, into the netting to enjoy a little peace, I got bitten about half a dozen times by mosquitos. Because, yes, the other thing I forgot was that, unlike the upstairs side porch, my porch has no screens. Frustration!

Today was slightly better. I woke up this morning and realized that, if I don't try to "maximize" space and project the end of the stand out through the corner of the deck by putting it an an angle, I can actually fit it parallel to the wall, under the shelter of the maindeck :-) and with plenty of room to clear the door and good views both fore and aft of the woods around the house. Sometimes it just takes sleeping on something to get a new perspective. I'm thinking this looks good to take care of the other problem. If it's circumference is 41 feet, and I need it to surround a rectangle 15' long by 5' wide, that should just about fit, right?

detailed, if not comprehensive, rebuttals of Michael Moore's nonsense

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5335853/site/newsweek/site/newsweek

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5251769/site/newsweek