Etc...

Really, we love you guys

It was enough to cause the Scots to - ahem - get their Irish up. From London comes word that Independent Television (ITV), a consortium of production companies that competes for viewers with the BBC, has apologized for opening last Saturday's "Dumb Foreigners" program with the Scottish flag, the Saltire. The show itself featured no Scots, but the incident prompted almost 200 complaints. Harrumphed the Saltire Society, anyone "who insults the Scottish flag deserves to have their knuckles rapped." Wait, protested an ITV spokeswoman, it was a "graphics error" and, anyway, "Scotland obviously is not a foreign country."

Travel over the Fourth of July holiday period is traditionally the heaviest of the summer, according to the American Automobile Association, which estimates that almost 40 million people may travel 50 or more miles from home this weekend. With gasoline prices dipping from record highs in recent weeks, 87 percent of the total probably will do so in cars. But where will everybody go - and stay? The answers, by percentage of those surveyed by the AAA:

Destinations
Oceans and beaches 24%
Towns/rural areas (tie) Cities 22%
Lakes 12%
Mountains 8%
Theme/amusement parks 3%
State/national parks 2%
Accommodations
Bunking with friends and family 35%
Hotel or motel 33%
Camper/trailer/RV/tent 11%
Rented cabin/condo 9%
Owned cabin/condo 5%
Bed and breakfast 1%