Former hot dog eating champ arrested  —  New York (CNN) — He didn't compete for the hot dog eating title this year, but he did cause a scene at the contest.  —  Takeru Kobayashi was arrested at Coney Island after his rival, Joey Chestnut, won the annual Nathan's International Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Declaration of Independence: A Fisking  —  This post was originally published July 4, 2006.  —  Today marks the 230th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  Jim Lynch sent out an email to several of us asking us to blog the event as if we were there.

Dying Lockerbie bomber ‘could survive for 10 years or more’  —  The Lockerbie bomber could survive for 10 years or longer, according to a cancer specialist who last year said he would be dead within three months of his release.  —  Professor Karol Sikora, who assessed Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi …

Republican Steele's Afghanistan Remarks Praised by Ron Paul  —  Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, whose remarks suggesting the U.S. will lose the war in Afghanistan have prompted some Republicans to demand his resignation, won praise from Representative Ron Paul.

Beck plans ‘university’, hires Dr. Stoner and 'the right's favorite pseudo-historian' to teach  —  Only “extreme” insiders are cool enough for this school.  —  That's apparently the one requirement to get new media content directly from a few individuals who Fox News opinion host Glenn Beck …

Petraeus Urged to Change Rules of Engagement for U.S. Troops in Afghanistan  —  Gen. David Petraeus, the new commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, speaks during a ceremony July 4 in Kabul.  (AP Photo)  —  Sen. Joe Lieberman on Sunday urged Gen. David Petraeus to change the rules of engagement …

Islamist leader Burhan Hanif tells Aussie Muslims to ‘shun democracy’  —  Briton Salim Atchia from global Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir addresses the conference yesterday.  Picture: Amos Aikman  —  The Australian Protectionist Party said Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir have no place in society.

Big Peace  —  A little less than a year after announcing it, in front of Vice President Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and many other American foreign policy elites at Frank Gaffney's “Keeper of the Flame” Award Dinner in October 2009, we are finally launching Big Peace.

Teachers' Union Shuns Obama Aides at Convention  —  NEW ORLEANS — For the last two years, Barack Obama addressed educators gathered for the summer conventions of the two national teachers unions, and last year both groups rolled out the welcome mat for federal Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Iran unveils human-like robot: report  —  Iran has developed a new human-like walking robot to be used in “sensitive jobs,” government newspaper Iran reported on Sunday.  —  Soorena-2, named after an ancient Persian warrior, was unveiled by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday.

Can These Men Fix the Deficit?  —  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has said that the federal deficit is on an “unsustainable path.”  Erskine Bowles, former White House chief of staff under President Clinton, and Alan Simpson, former Republican Senate whip, are co-chairs …

They Did Their Homework (800 Years of It)  —  THE advertisement warns of speculative financial bubbles.  It mocks a group of gullible Frenchmen seduced into a silly, 18th-century investment scheme, noting that the modern shareholder, armed with superior information, can avoid the pitfalls of the past.