READER BOOK PLUG: Reader Joel Engel asks me to plug his L.A. ’56: A Devil in the City of Angels. “It’s a true-crime story, written novelistically, about a previously untold and otherwise phenomenal story.”

MORE AMMO SHORTAGES? “Those of you shopping for economically priced .223 and 5.56 ammunition may be discovering that it is getting harder and harder to find. There is significant demand for these calibers at this moment, with the US Army the main buyer of the lower-priced ammunition. From our various sources, we are hearing that the Army is bringing their reserves back up to a reasonable level in anticipation of the perceivable conflicts our military may be engaged in over the next 24 plus months.”

REMEMBERING Sergio Pininfarina.

RANDY BARNETT: The Declaration of Independence, Annotated.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

JOE PAPPALARDO: Video: Inside Spec Ops Armored Vehicles During Live Fire.

JUSTICE: Ex-Commerce chief won’t face criminal charges in hit-and-run.

AT AMAZON, coupons galore in Grocery & Gourmet Food.

Also, today only: The Twilight Zone on Blu-Ray, 24 discs for 179.99.

I’M GLAD THAT Dan Riehl finally found the courage to come out.

READER JOHN CASTEEL SENDS A TALE FROM BIZARRO-LAND: “Glenn, my 29 year-old daughter, who has no medical insurance, badly cut her hand a short time ago. She had to go to the emergency room to have it cleaned and stitched. And, who paid for the medical expense? Why, she did! Interesting concept, that.”

Is that allowed?

SCOTT JOHNSON: The Eternal Meaning of Independence Day.

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: The Declaration of Independence, modernized. “As part of our ongoing project to update and improve the core documents of American history, we present the opening sections of the Declaration of Independence as they ought to have been written, and indeed as it would have been written if the still primitive colonial political process had only been sophisticated enough to restrict participation at important conferences to the appropriately certified, trained and peer-reviewed experts who could have produced a document worth remembering.”

BUT HE’S VERY POPULAR: More Dems Refusing to Endorse Obama. “Earlier today, news broke that North Carolina congressman Larry Kissell is refusing to endorse President Obama and might not attend the Democratic convention later this year in Charlotte, N.C. And now, there’s word that Rep. Hayden Rogers won’t be endorsing Obama or even attending the convention.”

Nothing to see here, move along. But even Andrea Mitchell isn’t buying it.

UPDATE: The quote above says Rep. Hayden Rogers, but reader John Richardson writes: “Rogers is the chief of staff to Rep. Heath Shuler and is the Democrat nominee for the 11th District. He is not a Congressman. Given the elimination of the Democrat stronghold of Asheville from the 11th District, Rogers has to do everything in his power to distance himself from Obama.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Report: Rep. Cuellar to skip Dem convention. “Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar is joining a growing list of lawmakers who will be skipping their party’s nominating convention this September. The four-term lawmaker from Texas says he wants to focus his efforts on his reelection bid in his district and will not attend the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, Politico first reported.”

You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

JIM TREACHER: Hey, Remember How Obama Admitted He Eats Dogs?

WHAT’S “LET’S ROLL!” IN CHINESE? “Six hijackers were in for a surprise last week when they tried to commandeer a Tianjin Airlines jet bound for Urumqi, China. The passengers overpowered the gang, apparently killing two, and averted disaster.”

WAIT, WE VOTED FOR HAPPY SOCIALISM, NOT THIS! French voters get a wake-up call via harsh message on national finances. “Although Mr. Hollande campaigned on a promise to avoid harsh cuts, he may have little choice.” Do tell.

HMM: Doctor: Zimmerman had black eyes, broken nose.

KEITH HENNESSEY: A Strategy To Undo ObamaCare.

RULING ON BLOGGER sparks First Amendment debate.

VIRGINIA: Neighbors Helping Neighbors in Burke, Springfield.

ROGER SIMON: The Last Fourth of July.

UPDATE: Holy crap, he may be right!

I DREAMED I SAW ANDREW BREITBART LAST NIGHT, ALIVE AS YOU AND ME. It was at some conference, and he had faked his death as part of some sort of Breitbartian scheme. I wish it had been true.

21st CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: “Have fun at your spanking party!” “Sure, this online dating guy was technically a stranger, too, and we hadn’t met in person yet, but we’d been messaging online for a few days so at least I would know someone there. A weird technically-first date? Yes. But you only live once.”

KURT SCHLICHTER: ObamaCare: Don’t Get Mad, Get To Work. Indeed.