In a change from every newscast ever, I'm leading with the good news before moving on to the bad.
- The good news: al-Qaeda in Iraq's highest-ranking member captured.
- The bad news: That same al-Qaeda "leader" is telling U.S. military interrogators "a prominent al Qaeda-led group is just a front and its leader fictitious."
- The even worse news: Bush aides are calling the administrations strategy to fight Osama bin Laden "a failure." Bush aides also characterize Dick Cheney as "unpopular."
- Here's some "hide under your bed" news: We're no safer than on 9/10/01, and it's getting worse.
- The bad news for Amtrak: Two fatal train derailments in two days, within 8 miles of each other near Plant City.
- Some sickening news: "More than a year after President Bush unveiled a plan for coping with a pandemic flu outbreak, the federal government still has limited capacity to detect a disease outbreak and track its progress across the country."
- The crappy birthday party news: Is that a dead body floating in the water?
- Finally, the unfortunate piracy news: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has leaked online through BitTorrent.
This article appears in Jul 18-24, 2007.