INDUBITAB-LEE!  Okay, Internet, you really do have everything now: "The Lees of Old Virginia," from the musical 1776, as performed by the characters of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

IN CONGRESS JULY 4, 1776: The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

[See Isaac Spaceman's "A Word From Your Editor" (July 4, 2008) here.]

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY:  Remember four years ago when I went apoplectic over an American woman's mercenary decision to suit up for the Russians in Olympic basketball after she didn't make the cut to play for Team USA?  Because Sudanese-born Chicago Bull Luol Deng's reasons for suiting up for Great Britain's Olympic basketball team are the opposite of that:

"What people don't understand," [Deng] said [in May] with a tinge of irritation in his voice, "when we were in Egypt, we were refugees. My family and I were homeless. For five years, out of all of the countries in the world that my father was contacting, the only one that took us in was England. So how do I not participate [in the Olympics]? If I don't play for them, knowing that I had the opportunity to, explain to me, how am I supposed to live with that for the rest of my life?"

Also suiting up for the Union Jacks: former Bull Ben Gordon (born in London), Tottenham-born GWU star (and NBA vagabond) Pops Mensah-Bonsu, and ... oh, never mind: Ben Gordon's out. Yikes.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? YOU NEVER SEEN A GUY WHO SLEPT WITH A FISH BEFORE?  The federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is now on the record denying the existence of mermaids.

IN YOUR CASE, SAID O'BRIEN, THE WORST THING IN THE WORLD HAPPENS TO BE MASCOT RACES: We may find no love from Randall Simon for this, but here is a short history of -- and guide to -- the finest mascot races in the Minor League.

And speaking of the minor leagues, while I've only gotten to one MLB game so far this year (with our own Kim Cosmopolitan), I've hit three minor league games so far this year (Fresno Grizzlies, Modesto Nuts and Visalia Rawhide) with the Reno Aces on schedule for tomorrow night. I'm not sure I'm saving money, given that the Little Earthling has a penchant for baseball hats and the Wee Earthling for foam fingers, but it remains great baseball and a great price.

ROLL THE STONE AWAY, LET THE GUILTY PAY:  So how, exactly, is the world handling this unfortunate midweek Fourth of July?  If the holiday were any other day of the week, America would know what days to take off work, but this? It suggests the wisdom of my dad's longtime suggestion that we just declare the first Monday in July "Independence Day" as a legal holiday, but I'd hate to give up the four-day weekends we often get as a freedom bonus.

WE DISCLAIM THE DISCLAIMER:I'm sure folks want to talk about The Newsroom, and two legal points to jump-start the discussion:

• Given that the primary message of the showis that "current news operations are full of crap," I'm kind of shocked Fox News cleared the clip that was used during the course of the episode.  (I assume HBO would clear the clip rather than risk suit, though that'd be an interesting First Amendment commentary defense.)
• Given the "real stories from two years ago" element, the disclaimer at the end of the episode is particularly interesting--it reads "THE NEWSROOM incorporates fictional and fictionalized elements and events, and any similarity between characters in the series and actual persons is purely coincidental and unintentional.  Nothing in the series is intended to convey or imply facts about any persons, elements, or events."  Anyone buy that disclaimer for even a single hot minute?