JAMES WEBB TO OBAMA: “Under no circumstances will I be a candidate for Vice President.”

AROUND THE WORLD, demand for bourbon is booming.

WELL, THAT’S A RELIEF: Research: Frequent sex is good for men.

THREE ESSENTIAL gadgets for business travel.

AMERICA’S AUSTIN’S CHICKENS, coming home to roost! Er, pretty much literally . . . . “Austinites’ backyard chicken flocks grow.”

FARC RESCUE RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT NGOs AND TERROR:

As we learn more about the Colombian military’s daring hostage rescue last week, one detail stands out: In tricking FARC rebels into putting the hostages aboard a helicopter, undercover special forces simply told the comandantes that the aircraft was being loaned to them by a fictitious nongovernmental organization sympathetic to their cause called the International Humanitarian Mission.

It may have taken years for army intelligence to infiltrate the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and it may have been tough to convincingly impersonate rebels. But what seems to have been a walk in the park was getting the FARC to believe that an NGO was providing resources to help it in the dirty work of ferrying captives to a new location.

Plus, the Che T-shirts, of course.

HEH. Yeah, that’s putting me in my place all right. An Army of Clark Stooksburys!

DOES OBAMA HAVE A PROBLEM WITH SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS? Bredesen: McCain a “Very Attractive Candidate”.

UPDATE: Reader Paul DiGiovanni emails:

Phil Bredesen is among the most respectable Democratic office holders that I can recall. As a Tennessean, I salute his margin of victory in his reelection campaign in a red state. That brings me to this question: would he make a reasonable choice of running mate for, gulp, John McCain? A pseudo-Bubba (he is a native of upstate New York) might help to solidify McCain’s grip on “Reagan Democrats” and should take the South out of play (if it hasn’t been already). I think that there is a case to be made for Sara Palin, or one of the Ohio/PA/Michigan names being floated (Kasich, Portman, Romney (native of Michigan), etc.). However, I think that whatever choice McCain makes will be colored by Obama’s choice, and the state of the race at the time of the Republican convention. But shouldn’t Bredesen be in the mix?

I’d see Bredesen as a better choice for Obama — might even put Tennessee in play, which Bredesen says it’s not for Obama now. Some more thoughts on Bredesen here.

CHINA: Doing what we should be doing? “China wants to have 100 of Westinghouse Electric Co.’s nuclear reactors in operation or under construction by 2020 — more than double what was anticipated.” Lots more nuclear information at the link.

“NEW” DIGITAL PICTURES of Abraham Lincoln.

MORE ON EXPLOITED GRADUATE STUDENTS. Any other business that treated one of its largest labor constituencies the way universities treat graduate students would get a lot more flak for its practices.

VIDEO: “Record setting re-up – 4 July 2008. 1,215 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines take the oath of enlistment once again, in Baghdad.”

MORE CLINTON PUSHBACK: “Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, faces dissent from dozens of top fund-raisers and other supporters of former rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, who are angry over how she was treated during their bruising primary battle and are hesitating to back Sen. Obama.”

MONICA CONYERS: Not smarter than an eighth grader, and now ensnarled in a bribery scandal.

UPDATE: Bribery link was bad before. Fixed now. Sorry!

MICROSOFT VS. ADOBE: The next big clash of tech titans?

MARY GRABAR: The Oprahization of Academia.

TAXPROF: How GE Cheated On Its Taxes.

TRIUMPH OF the mud.

IN THE MAIL: Charles Stross’s Saturn’s Children. With a fembot heroine.

A TELLING HEADLINE. And an ouch.

MORE LAWFARE: British Muslim group threatens blog.

EXPLAINING TO THE A.P. THAT Yahoo! is not the government.

TRYING TO BRING BACK RAILROADS, but is this really true?

“Nobody in the world makes money hauling passengers,” he said. “There are no passenger train operations in the world that sustain themselves with the money they get selling tickets.”

Though many observers deride Amtrak’s financial record, it is actually one of the most successful rail systems in the world, recouping 75 percent to 80 percent of its operating expenses through revenues, Claussen said. Remaining expenses, as with most all rail systems, have to be subsidized.

Read the whole thing.

UPDATE: Various readers note some profitable rail systems (mostly commuter rail) in Japan. They have World War II to thank for that, apparently.

HOW THE WAR ON DRUGS is damaging the war on terror.