August 22, 2008 22:45:  ABC News has just confirmed that likely Democratic presidential nominee is to be Joe Biden.  Biden, a US Senator from Delaware, himself ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party nomination.  Bided, who has served in the Senate for thirty-six years, is viewed as an expert in foreign policy and is expected to appeal to some of the party's core constituencies where Obama has performed poorly.

August 22, 2008:  Once again, there has been no change in the position of the two top countries: China with the greatest Gold Medal total and the USA leading in the overall medal category.  The US has extended its lead in the total number of medals won and narrowed the gap slightly in its Gold Medal total difference with China.  Britain still remains in third place in the number of Gold Medals, though Russia, which has more oveall medals, lags by just a single award.  Ireland entered the count today with two bronze medals.

For kicks, the tally of the EU countries was added up; here they are.

If it were a single entrant, the EU would have a commanding lead over other competitors.  If the Roman Empire were reconstitued, it would have an impressive tally, as would the Mongols and the British Empire at its peak.

The medal tally table follows.

So, can dogs sniff out cancer?  While there are about 65 million dogs in the US, only a few are being used to hunt out cancer.  Dogs are highly emotive animals, reading and responding to the whims and moods of their answers.  They also possess better olfactory senses than their humans owners.  There is anecdotal support the notion that dogs can "sniff out" changes in their owners, alerting them to tumors.  Many people have reported that the actions of their dog alerted them to health problems.  In England, researchers have investigated these claims, and have found that dogs can detect signs of cancer in the urine of patients diagnosed with the problem.   The research is being carried out by Dr. Donald Broom at Cambridge University in Britain.

August 21, 2008: Paddy Power, the Irish bookie renowned for taking bets on almost anything, continues to post odds on the US presidential election.  The latest betting favors Barack Obama, the Democrat from Illinois.  Senator Obama has odds of 2-5, while his opponent, John McCain, has odds of 7-4.  The news isn't all that bad for Senator McCain, Paris Hilton has odds of 1000-1.

In the 2005 Papal election, punters favored Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.  He was elected Pope.  In a separate bet, the favorite name for the new Pontiff was predicted to be Benedict, the name chosen by Cardinal Ratzinger.

You can get the latest odds on the US presidential elections from Paddy Power by clicking on this link.

Irish rider Dennis Lynch has protested his innocence at the Beijing Olympics following the decision to ban his horse, Lantinus, after the animal tested positive for a banned substance.  He has been forced to withdraw from the games dashing hopes of a medal win.  The horse tested positive for capsaicin, a compound found in chili peppers and used clinically as a model for pain.  The International Equestrian Federation imposed the ban as capsaicin could also be used for its pain relieving properties.   The veterinarian for the Irish team claimed in a press conference that Deep Heat, a pain relieving topic medication, was used on the horse.  This product contains capsaicin which could result in false positive on the tests applied to Lantinus.  Ireland lost a Gold Medal in the Athens' Olympics when a horse tested positive for a banned sedative.