An indiscriminate wave of Israeli airstrikes—an asymmetrical answer to militants' rocket attacks from Palestinian militants—has killed nearly 70 civilians in the Gaza Strip, many of them children. One report said several people were killed and injured while gathering at a café to watch the World Cup semifinal. Israel's government sort of acknowledged the staggering collateral damage loss of civilian life—but only to accuse Hamas of tempting fate by basing itself in hospitals and schools, etc. (No one has been killed in the rocket attacks.)

America's chief spy in Germany just got das boot (yeah, I know that's not what that means) from Chancellor Angela Merkel, who's still irate over fresh evidence that the US has been spying on the European Union's dominant power.

Chinese hackers poked their way into databases, held by the Office of Personnel Management, full of details on US government workers. The hackers seemed most interested in the thousands of workers with top-secret clearance. Curiously enough, Secretary of State John Kerry is in Beijing right now, inveighing against this very thing. Never mind that the Americans, thanks to Edward Snowden's NSA leaks, have done similar things to China.

The Sunni insurgents sitting on large swaths of Syria and Iraq have come into 88 pounds of uranium. For kicks.

Speaking of Mister Snowden... His one-year asylum visa in Russia expires July 31. No one's yet rolled out the welcome mat back home, so he's asking if he can stay in Russia just a wee bit longer.

Guns. A man in Texas, north of Houston, apparently in some kind of domestic dispute, shot and killed four children and two adults. It could have been worse. A 15-year-old girl who'd been shot in the head called 911 and got cops to stop the gunman before he killed anyone else.

Colorado has joined the parade of states in which same-sex marriage is legal (19 plus the District of Columbia), thanks to a state judge's ruling. That judge, however, has stayed his ruling while we all wait to see what the US Supreme Court decides to do.

President Obama listened to Texas Governor Rick Perry's self-promotional demands on immigration enforcement. Before reminding him, and other Republicans, that government services like effective and efficient border usually require money. Which is a problem, since Congress is refusing to lift up its right buttcheek, just a little, and fart any out.

Let's remind people again why so many children have been fleeing Central America for a chance at an undocumented life in the north: Gang violence south of Mexico has taken a terrible turn, with children increasingly falling prey to it. And many of those same countries are covered under a 2008 Bush-era law that provides extra legal protections for migrants.

The first fellow to buy legal pot in Spokane enjoyed the fruits of his infamy only briefly. It all happened like so: He worked for a local security company. One of his company's clients happened to see him on TV. The client ratted him him out. And, so, he got fired.

Last night, outside the Greyhound depot in Old Town: A man who'd been part of a group approached by a mounted parol cop suddenly ran at a police horse, cops say, "issued a karate-like battle cry, and delivered a jumping, double-kick" to the horse's right thigh. The horse didn't go wild and stomp on anyone. The man was arrested.

Racist billionaire Donald Sterling, the former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, is still a total charmer. "Get away from me, you pig!" he shouted at his wife during a court hearing on his mental competence.

AND NOW HOW ABOUT SOME WEIRD CANNIBALISM. WHICH IS WHAT THAT SAGA REMINDS ME OF.