6/28 Morning Communiqué

THESE DAYS

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported that they had successfully reversed mental retardation in mice.

British landlord Bob Beech is getting around a forthcoming cigarette ban by turning his bar in Southampton into an embassy for the uninhabited island of Redonda, which is 35 miles off Antigua.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Philip and Alvey conduct interviews and record podcasts about beer, with a local angle, at What Ale's Thee?

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Canadian family band The Bordens' 1980 cover of the Star Wars theme [via BoingBoing]

Some Novelty Items That Never Caught On [via McSweeney's]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I've heard he's been called Bush's poodle. He's bigger than that."

— Pres. George W. Bush, on British Prime Minister Tony Blair's leaving office, replaced by former Treasury chief Gordon Brown