• Investigators say DNA from the anthrax scare that killed 7 people in 2001 helped lead them to an Army lab and the man they believe sent the poison-laced letters.  His suicide shortly after being identified as a suspect was a big disappointment–not only will he not be able to explain why he did it, but he won’t be able to receive the kind of punishment he deserves for what he did to his country…
• President Bush leaves today for a trip to Asia, where he wil speak wih leaders in South Korea and Thailand before arriving in China to witness the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Beijing.  I understand that he’s pretty excited, but also disappointed he won’t be throwing out the first pitch…
• Texas has been warned to be ready for Tropical Storm Eduoard, which formed in the Gulf Of Mexico Sunday and is likely to graduate to a hurricane when it makes landfall Tuesday along the state’s eastern shore bordering Louisiana.  The opposite side of the state’s shore was affected by Hurricane Dolly almost 2 weeks ago–so do you call that equal opportunity destruction or what?
• Al-Qaida has confirmed that of one of its top commanders was killed–the individual believed to have trained the suicide bombers who attacked the USS Cole in 2000.  CBS News also reported that Al-Qaida’s #2 and Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenant was killed at the same time.  I certainly don’t believe that the taking of anyone’s life should ever be celebrated, but I am nonetheless feeling that whole "two-for-one bargain" concept …
• Nobel prize-winning author Alexander Solzhenitsyn died of heart failure late Sunday at the age of 89.  He fearlessly recounted his own experiences in Soviet Union labor camps over several books in the 1960’s and ’70’s–and lived long enough to see the end of everything he worte about…
• A lightning bolt struck 91 fans at a auto race track in Norway Sunday, with 45 of them treated at hospitals for minor burns.  Authorites say no one was seriously injured–and several fans actually left with more smoked fish than they brought…

Barack Obama was in Berlin Thursday telling a huge crowd that "the walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand", while John McCain was in Ohio with fellow cancer survivor Lance Armstrong talking about its treament and prevention.  In other words, they were both dealing with people the French hate..

A Senate committee considering a bill that would create a task force to combat polygamist sects heard testimony from former members of the now-infamous FLDS church, who said former leader Warren Jeffs had a "tyrannical hold" on members.  It’s just so sad that none of these women were able to put the same kind of hold on Jeffs–you know, a quick, hard squeeze in just the right place…

South Texas residents are cleaning up following the departure of Hurricane Dolly, which began breaking up Friday.  Fifteen counties there were declared federal disaster areas and losses were estimated at $750 million, but the sense is that everyone is relieved it wasn’t worse–I guess we could call that "The Katrina Mentality"…

A new study of test scores from 7 million students has concluded what many people already believed: girls are just as good at math as boys.  That’s why they’re always ahead of boys–they know the score a whole lot faster…

A knockoff of word game Scrabble that has become a popular activity on social website Facebook is facing legal action from the owners of the original game, claiming that Scrabulous violates its copyright and trademark.  So was it filed in crossword form, with lots of triple-letter and triple-word scores?

Serbian officials say recently-captured Radovan Karadzic, accused of war crimes while a leader of Bosnian Serbs, had maintained a false identity using an ID card belonging to another man–who was surprised and shocked to learn it had happened.  In a way, it’s too bad it was discovered–where Karadzic is going, he’d really appreciate others not knowing who he is…

• Hurricane Dolly hit the Texas coastline Wednesday, but the levees many worried would collapse managed to hold and kept the heavily-populated Rio Grande Valley from serious flooding.  That’s certainly good news–it means it’s likely FEMA won’t have as much to not do in time to do any real good…
• The House easily passed the Housing And Economic Recovery Act of 2008 just hours after President Bush signaled that he would not veto the bill that would help many avoid foreclosure and prevent both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from collapsing.  Each side made concessions to pass a bill both sides believed vital to many Americans’ survival–I guess there’s a first time for everything…
• A California woman mauled by a bear not only managed to escape but drive herself to a nearby fire station for help.  It’s such great news that she’s survived it all–I just don’t want to see her on America’s Got Talent next season…
• DNA tests indicate that a Guatemalan baby reported stolen from her parents was adopted by a couple in the US, suggesting that their troubled adoption system has been relying on abducted children.  This spells heartbreak for everyone involved–except whoever is getting rich from it…
• Radioactive particles from a French nuclear reactor spewed from a pipe Wednesday and slightly contaminated 100 employees.  I’m told their risk was very slight–they’ve probably spewed worse from their own mouths about the US…
• A British activist, anxious to get an audience with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, got his wish–by gluing himself to the PM’s sleeve as the two shook hands.  I imagine he spent a great deal longer glued to several of their Secret Service agents…

• Today appears to be the end of Hillary Clinton’s bid to become the nation’s first female president, as campaign officials say she will concede the delegate race to Obama.  It will also mark the end of Bill Clinton’s coast-to-coast Mile High Club…
• Doctors at Duke University who completed a delicate three-and-a-half hour brain surgery on Senator Ted Kennedy yesterday called it a success and added that "it accomplished our goals".  Not only did they remove much of the tumor, but Teddy no longer remembers ever drinking…
• The Mars Phoenix lander was able to pick up its first scoop of soil from the planet in a test run before more thorough digging and analysis begins later this week.  NASA scientists say they could see some white particles in the sample, which they believe suggests Martians have a serious dandruff problem…
• A Texas judge yesterday ordered the immediate return of over 400 children taken from a polygamist sect’s ranch by the state.  In response, sect leaders have clarified their policy on marriage, saying women will only be allowed to wed when they are legally old enough to give consent–or 13, whichever comes first…
• UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon will ask world leaders today to help bring down soaring food prices by suspending price controls and trade restrictions.  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has promised to do his part and make nuclear weapons more affordable for struggling nations…
• Vice president Dick Cheney’s remark yesterday that there are Cheneys on his wife’s side of the family, quote, "And we don’t even live in West Virginia", brought a hailstorm of condemnations from the state’s governor and Congressional delegation.  Poor guy–so many to offend, and so little time to get to them all…

• Democratic Congressional leaders say they will pressure uncommitted superdelegates to make their candidate choice public by next week, so campaigning can focus now on who the nominee will be.  Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton has her advisors working on how to postpone the general election until next spring…
• The Texas Supreme Court ruled yessterday that the state’s Department Of Family and Protective Services had no right to take more than 400 children from a polygamist compound, which should reunite most of them with their families.  It’s a lesson we learned from Richard Simmons–just because someone is freakishly bizarre, it doesn’t mean they’re bad…
• Federal commodities regulators say they have been investigating crude-oil trading the past six months with a focus on possible "futures market manipulation".  Who wants to bet it will lead to finding Ross Perot in a room on a telephone, saying, "Listen buddy–I’m sellin’ premium in a regular world here…how much you want?"…
• Former US attorneys from both parties have told a federal judge in a friend-of-the-court brief that they agree that Congress can demand documents and testimony from President Bush’s aides in their investigation of claims that US attorneys were fired for political reasons.  Unfortunately, Vice President Cheney has warned them that anyone who talks will go hunting with him…
• Bahrain’s king has named a woman believed to be the Arab world’s first Jewish ambassador to the US.  I have no doubt she is eminently qualified and it really is a forward-thinking move–but perhaps it was the only way he could get Michael Jackson to leave the country…
• Documents just released by Britain’s National Archives reveals that their Cabinet knew of the link between smoking and cancer over 50 years ago but considered it a minor threat and did little out of fear of losing tax revenue.  It’s too bad they didn’t realize then what we know now–there seems to be no relationship between our vices and their prices…