GAG REFLEX
Chuck Shepherd's News of the Weird, a recap of news about stupid people and things reports that Tim Ekelman, 33, was hospitalized in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1998 with a collapsed lung, a sliced throat and voice-box damage after he, believing there was nothing to it, attempted to swallow a friend's 40-inch-long sword.
(MSN)

DOG ODS
"A police sniffer dog died of a suspected overdose while out hunting for drugs, British police said. Todd, a 7-year-old Springer spaniel, had been looking for drugs in a field and car in Preston, northern England, when his handler noticed he was looking unwell."
(PAKISTAN DAILY TIMES, unearthed by Kate Varner)

"THE BOSS" STUMPS AGAINST "NUMBER 1"
"Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, the Dixie Chicks, Babyface and more than a dozen other stars are fanning out to play concerts in the most hotly contested terrain of the presidential election. MoveOn.org, a group dedicated to defeating President Bush, yesterday announced the 'Vote for Change Tour,' which will land in 34 cities in nine states.
CLICK HERE FOR SPRINGTEEN'S OP-ED PIECE IN NYT"
(WASHINGTON POST AND NEW YORK TIMES)

WHITHER THE TRUTH?
These are incredibly difficult issues and an honest search for solutions can only come from a sustained effort by the broadest array of America's brightest and wisest men and women. What the U.S. really needs is leadership that could marshal that effort.
Unfortunately, we've become a society addicted to the fantasy of a quick fix. We want our solutions encompassed in a sound bite. We want our leaders to manipulate reality to our liking.
(NYT)

MRS. C's MISSION
After the toxic life of the wreckage at ground zero, patients like David O'Neal, a day laborer in Local 79, and Joseph Lebretti, a Local 580 ironworker, thank the doctors. Who do the doctors thank? Who do the unions thank? Hillary Clinton.
(VILLAGE VOICE)

HOBBESIAN?

I was reading the article below (NUMBER TWO) that called Cheney a "Hobbesian". Given that I am prone to using metaphors and images I thought I would follow that trail to refresh my memory about Thomas Hobbes. I Found the definition on a website that is very interesting. Some professor at Oregon State has put together an instructional site (click here)that has a wealth of information and that is quite fun. If you just want the bare bones part of the site go to the site map link.

DEFENSE OR EMPIRE? Ultimately, the real rationale for missile defense is to protect U.S. forces so they can engage in military intervention throughout the world to enforce a Pax Americana -- a strategy of empire by another name. ... A better alternative -- especially given the post-September 11, 2001, realities of the al-Qaeda terrorist threat -- is for the United States to adopt a more restrained foreign policy." (CATO INSTITUTE)

THAT'S RICH
How do you determine who's rich, middle class or poor? President Bush weighed has clairified things with a broad, new definition of rich and not rich.
(WASHINGTON POST)

SHADOW GOVERNMENT
"A 43-page, painstakingly annotated report, 'Ending Secret Detentions,' by Human Rights First (formerly named the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights). claims that the the U.S. is holding prisoners in more than two dozen secret detention facilities worldwide. "At least half of these operate in total secrecy...these offshore prisons are 'beyond the reach of adequate supervision, accountability, or law [and the Geneva Conventions]. "
(VILLAGE VOICE)

NUMBER TWO
"Dick Cheney Is a Hobbesian whose doom-laden vision of life as a dog-eat-dog struggle has not only defined our nation's foreign policy but his own public persona."
(VILLAGE VOICE)

SAME SEX MARRIAGE AMENDMENT FLIP-FLOP
"This week the Senate formally debated the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) - which would change the U.S. Constitution to eliminate the right of any state to permit same-sex marriage. Having failed to muster sufficient votes to bring it to the floor for a vote, Republican leaders have avowed to continue efforts to pass such a constitutional amendment, though. But, only eight years ago, they were advocating the opposite solution: Rather than federalizing the issue of same-sex marriage, they advocated leaving it to the states. "
(FINDLAW)

CUBAN EMIGRATION EXPLAINED
"When compared with most migratory waves until that time, Cuba's post-revolutionary emigration was a historic anomaly. The emigrants represented the most privileged sectors of the previous regime and their decision to emigrate reflected a clear political choice against the Cuban revolution. Under this premise, the United States accepted them under exceptional conditions and the emigres became the social base for the counter-revolution.
Beginning in 1980, those presuppositions were radically altered and a crisis afflicted the bases that had created both the United States' preferential policy and the Cuban government's overall opposition to the emigration movement. "
(Progresso)

ALABAMANS SUPPORT MEDICAL MARIJUANA
A statewide survey finds overwhelming support among Alabama residents for legalizing marijuana use for medical purposes, the Mobile Register (CLICK HERE FOR THAT STORY) reported July 4.
(JOIN TOGETHER, unearthed by Joel Sogol)

PATRIOT ACT REMAINS UNBRIDLED
"The Republican-led House bowed to a White House veto threat Thursday and stood by the USA Patriot Act, defeating an effort to block the part of the anti-terrorism law that helps the government investigate people's reading habits.
The amendment appeared on its way to victory as the roll call's normal 15-minute time limit expired, but GOP leaders kept the vote open for 23 more minutes as they persuaded about 10 Republicans who initially supported the provision to change their votes, losing by 210-210, with a majority needed to prevail. "
(COMMON DREAMS)

DEATH PENALTY APOLOGIA
Acting under severe constraints imposed by our own constitutional system, we execute some people here and there, episodically confessing worry and even shame that we're not quite sure about what we're doing. Then we nervously try it all again. Politically, we can't live without capital punishment. Morally, we have some trouble living with it. So we impose just enough of it to keep the art form alive.
(SLATE, unearthed by Kate Varner)