Morning News Roundup

Hope everyone had a good 4th - a belated Happy Birthday shoutout to our nation.

• North Korea's been putting on a special fireworks show of its own. At last count, the Hermit Nation's armed forces have loosed seven missiles, including one Taepo-Dong 2, supposedly capable of hitting the Western US, though we'll never know for sure since it exploded shortly after launch. The Security Council is meeting this morning to discuss sanctions, but considering the regime's isolation that's hardly sufficient. However, after years of inter-allied dickering and tantrums, it looks like this has finally gotten everyone's attention and put us all on the same page.
• Space Shuttle Discovery launched yesterday, after days and days of trying. Is anyone else bemused by NASA's continued befuddlement - it's afternoon in Florida in the summer and it's raining?! Who would have expected that!
• The CIA confirms it's shut down the agency's Bin Laden unit, instead focusing its resources elsewhere. While I'm sure Lefties everywhere, with their unnatural fixation on OBL, are screaming, I say bravo. The man's less of a symbol, gallavanting around northwest Pakistan than he would be dead and a martyr.
• Mexico, welcome to Florida. Contrary to conservative candidate Felipe Calderon's claims of victory, Chavista-lite Obrador has called for a complete recount, rekindling fears of violence. I've heard persistent rumors that Obrador would pull Mexico out of NAFTA if elected...
• A new Washington Post poll on the Democratic Senate primary in Maryland shows former NAACP chairman Kweisi Mfume slightly leading Congressman Ben Cardin in a racially polarized race. In a race with a black GOP candidate in Michael Steele, race could be the issue. I'll keep an eye on this one, as I continue to think it's a prime GOP pickup opportunity, or should be if Steele is given a chance to explain himself.