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USA: The New York Times > Schwarzenegger, Confident and Ready for Prime Time: Ahhh-nold. “‘Whether I’m speaking, I’ll leave that up to them,’ said Mr. Schwarzenegger, a global celebrity who has emerged as perhaps the most intriguing new Republican face of the political season. ‘If they’re smart, they’ll have me obviously in prime time.’ But Mr. Schwarzenegger, who has been defining himself as a moderate, also made it clear that when prime time is over, he intends to keep some distance from Mr. Bush, who is not particularly popular in Democratic-leaning California.”

USA: The New York Times > Washington > Author of ‘02 Memo on Torture: ‘Gentle’ Soul for a Harsh Topic: “he Bush administration is distancing itself from a memorandum prepared two years ago by a government lawyer asserting that the president’s power to use torture to extract information from suspected terrorists is almost unlimited. Before the recent controversy concerning his work, however, some of the officials who received the memorandum worked diligently to elevate the lawyer, Jay S. Bybee, to the federal bench. Nominated by President Bush in 2002 and confirmed by the Senate last year, he now sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.”

Comics: Comic Book Resources: Hello, I am Spider-Man, er, Pavitr, uh, Peter. May I have your service tag? “Though we will remain true to the underlining mythos of Spider-Man, which is epitomized in the phrase ‘With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility,’ the character will be reinvented so his powers, problems and costume are more integrated with Indian culture. Unlike the US origin, which is deeply rooted in science, the Indian version is more rooted in magic and mythology. This version of Spider-Man will gain his powers from ancient mystic in order to combat the evil threat of the Green Goblin, who will also be reinvented as a modern day Indian demon from myth.”

World: Yahoo! News - Trade Official: China Car Imports by 2010: “Cars built in China’s low-cost labor market could start pouring into the United States in large volumes by the end of this decade, a senior U.S. trade official said on Wednesday.”

Sports: SI.com - Writers - Verducci: Sweet Lou’s Devil Rays are impressive - Wednesday June 23, 2004 3:35PM: Going for win 13 right now. Rays lead Jays 1-0 after 3 innings. “Only eight teams in history ever began a 12-game streak when they were playing less than .400 baseball. I wouldn’t call it a fluke, but this is almost once-in-a-generation stuff. I’ve been surprised how well they’ve pitched during this stretch, especially the bullpen. They’re making a believer out of me. Put it this way: I’m beginning to think the Devil Rays can win 81 games this year. Before the season, I figured they would win about 70 games — and that would have been enough to give Piniella a parade.”