AIR RAGE: “Safety violations, nakedness, violence, sexual assault, dead amphibians and general nastiness: Welcome to the 2008 summer travel season. We warned you that flying this summer was going to be hell, but even we weren’t ready for this. . . . Some of this is just plain insanity, but most incidents are being fueled by a combination of factors that have turned air travel from somewhat unpleasant to downright intolerable. Flights are packed. Passengers are paying more for everything and spending ever more time sitting on the runway. Fly on US Airways and you’ll be subjected to a plane that’s plastered with advertising and not-so-good coffee that goes for a buck a cup. ”

One of the reasons that airlines tried hard to make flying pleasant in the early days was the belief that it was necessary to pacify passengers in a stressful environment. Maybe they were right?

FREEMAN HUNT EMAILS about The Arkansas Project, a new Arkansas political blog.

TOPPLING TYRANTS, with cell phones.

TAYLOR MARSH: Obama’s Doing Just Fine With Women, Thank You. “His problem is that he’s losing altitude with everyone else.”

DAVID BROOKS: Where’s the landslide? “Why isn’t Barack Obama doing better? Why, after all that has happened, does he have only a slim two- or three-point lead over John McCain, according to an average of the recent polls? Why is he basically tied with his opponent when his party is so far ahead?”

And it’s happening in spite of all the pro-Obama media cheerleading, too. I think this indicates the power of alternative media, where the stories on Obama aren’t nearly so cheerleaderish. As we saw with polling on the surge — which showed public perceptions improving in advance of the Legacy Media coverage — blogs, etc., are now having influence directly, not simply by impacting the coverage of traditional journalists.

FRED KAPLAN: Finally, the Army is promoting the right officers. “Last November, when Gen. David Petraeus was named to chair the promotion board that picks the Army’s new one-star generals, the move was seen as, potentially, the first rumble of a seismic shift in the core of the military establishment. The selections were announced in July, and they have more than fulfilled the promise. They mark the beginnings, perhaps, of the cultural change that many Army reformers have been awaiting for years.”

SUPPORTERS TO OBAMA: STOP FLIP-FLOPPING!

Since your historic victory in the primary, there have been troubling signs that you are moving away from the core commitments shared by many who have supported your campaign, toward a more cautious and centrist stance–including, most notably, your vote for the FISA legislation granting telecom companies immunity from prosecution for illegal wiretapping, which angered and dismayed so many of your supporters.

From an open letter to Obama published in The Nation. (Via Geraghty).

WHY COFFEE IS GOOD FOR YOU.

HUFFINGTON POST: The Molten Core of Barack: Why Obama Can’t Win. “Despite the McCain campaign’s effectiveness, however, the best campaign against Barack Obama is not being run by his opponent, but by Barack Obama. . . . This is the trap Barack Obama has made for himself, the one he cannot escape, the one Hillary Clinton foresaw, the one that may doom him. The Obama campaign knows it too. In fear the dream is being lost drop-by-drop, they are going negative on John McCain.”

IN THE MAIL: John Ringo’s The Last Centurion. It says it’s written in blog-style.

UPDATE: A reader sends this review.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Less positive review here, courtesy of another reader.

THE GREENSBORO NEWS-RECORD EDITORIALIZES:

Tabloid allegations have trickled into mainstream media outlets concerning an alleged affair involving former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and a former campaign videographer.

But if those reports are as scurrilous and flatly wrong as Edwards contends, why does he dignify them by running away from them? . . . As a man who has waged two campaigns for president and might well have been vice president, Edwards should clear the air and set the record straight.

Indeed.

ANOTHER COURT DECISION striking down a campus speech code.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS — PRUDENCE, OR PARANOIA? The latest Ask Dr. Helen column is up!

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE WOMAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN:

California Democrat Nancy Pelosi may be trying to save the planet — but the rank and file in her party increasingly are just trying to save their political hides when it comes to gas prices as Republicans apply more and more rhetorical muscle.

But what looks like intraparty tension on the surface is part of an intentional strategy in which Pelosi takes the heat on energy policy, while behind the scenes she’s encouraging vulnerable Democrats to express their independence if it helps them politically, according to Democratic aides on and off Capitol Hill.

Hmm.

OIL DROPS TO $118 A BARREL.

A LIBERTARIAN APPROACH to health care.

L.A. TIMES: Accused Al Qaeda sleeper agent in custody. “One of the more elusive and mysterious figures linked to Al Qaeda — a Pakistani mother of three who studied biology at MIT and who authorities say spent years in the United States as a sleeper agent — was flown to New York on Monday night to face charges of attempting to kill U.S. military and FBI personnel in Afghanistan.”

MCCLATCHY: New poll shows Obama losing support among young, women.

A LOOK AT aging researchers’ attitudes toward extending human longevity.

REVIEWING THE REVIEWERS: A roundup of book reviews from all over.

WHY WRITE ABOUT THE EDWARDS SCANDAL: Mickey Kaus explains. Plus, more from Emily Bazelon.

Here’s my take: Failure to cover this just gives people more reason to tune out mainstream news media in the belief — once again supported by media behavior — that they filter the news in service of their own agenda, and are not to be trusted.

UPDATE: Censorship at Wikipedia. More reason to distrust them, too.

DID OPRAH’S ELECTIONEERING cause her ratings slide?

WILL HIGH FUEL PRICES produce a Zeppelin comeback? “Thanks to their low fuel consumption, airships are enjoying renewed attention as an alternative in an era of high fuel prices. But while zeppelins inspire enormous loyalty among those who work on them and a sense of wonder among all who watch them soar, the financial returns have barely gotten off the ground. . . . The airships are proof that flying can still be a joy and a prod to the imagination. The experience is singular enough that tickets start selling at $300 for half an hour’s flight.”

JONAH GOLDBERG: “Capitalism is the greatest system ever created for alleviating general human misery, and yet it breeds ingratitude.”

THEY TOLD ME THAT IF GEORGE W. BUSH WERE RE-ELECTED, protesters would be herded behind fences. And they were right! “Denver officials announced today that the protest zone for Invesco Field where Sen. Barack Obama will deliver his nomination acceptance speech will be in the parking lot. The lot will be fenced.” Plus, this: “In related news, the protesters are offering Denver a ‘doo doo accord’ (pdf copy here) and yes, it’s just what it sound like — it’s in reponse to the City Council’s upcoming final consideration of a law banning protesters from carrying buckets of the human stuff.”

Earlier posts on this “free speech zone” stuff here and here. Actually, this kind of thing has been going on for over a decade.