9/13 Morning Communiqué

THESE DAYS

About 250,000 Chinese commit suicide each year, making it the leading cause of death in China.

Cyclists who wear protective helmets are more likely to be knocked down by passing vehicles, new research from Bath University suggests.

The average life expectancy of a Minnesotan is 78.8 years. We're ranked Number 2 in the nation behind Hawaii. Mississippi is ranked last with a life expectancy of 73.6 years.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Karah Bausch and Chelsea Slawson are sisters living in Minneapolis, blogging side by side at Bauschy.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

How Star Wars should have ended

William Shatner performing "Taxi" on the Dinah Shore Show

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"We saw his security guard walk up to him. And his face just started turning red. And I thought, personally, that he had to go use the bathroom. And he just got up and left."

-- Tyler Radkey, an Emma E. Booker School student, recalling the classroom visit by President Bush on the morning of September 11, 2001