Deputies Reprimanded After Officer Bitten By Alligator - Orlando News Story - WKMG Orlando

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME
Volusia County (Orlando) Sheriff's Deputy Keith Baughman threw a towel on an alligator he and other deputies encountered in an apartment parking lot. He jumped on its back and tried to wrestle it. Baughman was thrown off the back and then bitten, witnesses said. "His pants ripped up and blood was gushing out and everything," witness Carlos Martinez said. "He started limping away and the alligator was laughing at him. The dude then shot it twice in the head."
(LOCAL6.COM, unearthed by Fark)

The Associated Press: Texas GOP cuts off vendor that sold racist button

NOW THEY'RE PC!
The Texas Republican Party is distancing itself from a vendor who sold campaign buttons at last weekend's state convention that asked, "If Obama is president ... will we still call it The White House?
(AP)

Fairhope safe opened, marijuana found inside - Breaking News from the Press-Register - al.com

EAT YOUR HEART OUT, GERALDO
A crowd of nearly 30 Fairhope, Alabama citizens and media folks watched as a locksmith lifted away the heavy, black door of a city safe that had been abandoned and unused since 1971. The event, planned and advertised for weeks as a promotional for the new Fairhope Museum of History turned out to be a surprise. Apparently, (hopefully?), it had last been used by the Police Department prior to 1971 to store drug evidence and yielded a small cache of marijuana.
(PRESS-REGISTER BLOG)

West Virginia Blue - Democratic politics and progressive policies for WVa

MCCAIN IGNORES GOVERNOR'S REQUEST
An aide to Gov. Chet Culver said Thursday that Republican presidential candidate John McCain ignored the governor's request to cancel a campaign visit amid a massive flood recovery effort in the state.
(WEST VIRGINIA BLUE)

t r u t h o u t | Big Oil Firms Ready to Sign Agreements With Iraq

BIG OIL TO GARNER IRAQ CONTRACTS
Iraq is preparing to award contracts to several Western energy companies to help develop its vast oil resources. The two-year, no-bid contracts will be awarded to companies that have been advising the Iraqi Oil Ministry in recent years, said Asim Jihad, a spokesman for the ministry. He said officials expect that U.S.-based Exxon Mobil and Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, France's Total and British oil company BP will secure the biggest contracts.
(TRUTHOUT)

Op-Ed Columnist - Frank Rich - Do Angry Clinton Women Love McCain? - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

MCCAIN'S SOFTER SIDE
While the McCain campaign apparently believes that women are easy marks for its latent feminist cross-dressing, a reality check suggests that most women can instantly identify any man who’s hitting on them for selfish ends.
(NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED)