Tour de France, Boeing and Bird Flu Caught Readers' Attention

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I don't feel there is any need to save cycling. Cycling will always be popular because it's an awesome sport. What about all of the other sports that have problems with drug use? Cycling is one of a few entities actually trying to be real and do something about it. This should be celebrated. I believe the effort will make cycling even more popular in the long run. The problem is not saving cycling, it's selling the efforts to do the right thing and really address drug use for what it is. Cycling is trying to fix the corruption brought about by participants who have lost sight of their sport because of their own greed. If society attacked the problem with the same vigor maybe it wouldn't be the terrible problem it is. -- John Patrick Murphy, US

This year I'm blogging about the tour at www.tdf07.com and I feel my greatest challenge will be learning new names and faces while the riders whirl past me. Having watched the tour in 1998 in Ireland and in 2005 in Meribel and Courchevel, I have grown to love this sport. But the only thing I see as a fix for the doping issue is a complete collapse and rebuild. Unfortunately, that will likely cause the sport to lose its American fan base (as many people over here are fickle and selfish) and that could affect the profitability of the sport -- all of which might send the sport and the Tour de France into a spiral again, where people feel the need to dope to create magnificent performances. C'est la vie. -- Jeff Cutler, US

Boeing vs. Airbus

I prefer Boeing aircraft to Airbus. I find them more comfortable in flight and softer on the landing. My favorite is the Boeing 777. If the 787 is going to be an improvement, then I can't wait to ride in one. -- Maurice A. Cooper, Liberia

I think Boeing has always had the best record based on planes in service, crashes/deaths per total passenger miles, etc. The new 787 is just another example of Boeings ongoing pursuit of better fuel mileage, customer comfort and safety. -- Ron Learmond, Canada

Outbreaks of bird flu

H5N1 is adapting slowly to enable it to jump to humans more easily. Recent evidence has shown that H5N1 is now picking up resistance to Tamiflu, has been able to exist in poultry without killing them, and more cases of human to human transmission are suspected. I believe that H5N1 will soon be moving from human to human within a few years. Death rates by H5N1 in humans who are healthy and young are 70 percent plus. Any European nation with this kind of mortality rate among the young will be crippled economically and socially. -- Mabon Dane, Great Britain

I know the UK has had its mind on the weather and extremism of late, but I would have thought the current outbreaks of H5N1 in Germany and France would have featured in UK national news publications and broadcasts. Everyone I have spoken to over the last few days have no idea about the bird flu situation in mainland Europe, never mind for the last month. It is this kind of insularity which highlights the UK's indifference -- dare I say arrogance --- to European affairs. -- Bryan Ross, Great Britain