By STEVE AHILLEN, Scripps Howard News Service

The American Community Survey's five-year estimates come out Tuesday.

So what does that mean to you? Well, at least to some extent, everything.

Is Big Brother dead?

According to many in the surveillance industry, author George Orwell's iconic personification of government and industry peeking, prying and poking directly into your public and private life is ready for a funeral.

BEIJING -- The days of Dream Team dominance are likely gone forever, but in the new world basketball order the United States once again resides on top.After a disastrous 2004 that totally reshuffled how international basketball is done in the U.S., the Americans here set things right with a bruising 118-107 victory over Spain in the championship game Sunday.

BEIJING -- They can take down that dang bronze medal now.The United States women's basketball team rolled to its fourth consecutive gold medal Saturday night and advanced their streak of consecutive Olympic wins to 33 with a 92-65 win over Australia.

BEIJING -- The foot was the only thing different.Former Tennessee decathlete Tom Pappas had to bow out of his second straight Olympics on Thursday, this time just two events into the first day of competition.

BEIJING -- United States women's basketball coach Anne Donovan has been preaching defense since the first day of practice to her group of WNBA superstars - Thursday at the Summer Olympics they found out why.

BEIJING -- The basketball-crazy Chinese crowd is fond of doing the wave. The only waves Korea was feeling Tuesday night at the Summer Olympics were coming off the United States bench.The U.S. team's depth has made things miserable for any of the six opponents who have tried to deal with it. None has succeeded.

A is for air. Early this year the World Health Organization said air pollution in Beijing was five times the safety level recommended. Beijing has taken billion-dollar measures to improve the quality. We shall see ... and breathe ... maybe.

The shouts of "Beijing! Beijing!" are likely still echoing through this city of more than 16 million.